Grace

Work today was mildly frustrating. I hosed my computer over the weekend and decided to bite the bullet and back everything up, wipe the disk clean, and reinstall from scratch. As part of all this reinstalling, I decided to finally give my PowerBook a proper name. It's geek tradition to give your computers a name, the thinking being that it's a lot easier to refer to "zeus" or "apollo" than "host-56.cis.upenn.edu". Usually folks pick out names using some kind of theme; names from Greek mythology are popular, as are place names (Williams had "lee", "lenox", "colrain", etc.). One of my favorite themes is used by Michigan's ITD for the machines at the Michigan Union: "uaw", "afl", "cio", etc. My machines have always been named for bars in the cities where I've lived: "vatican", "ri-ra", (both Dublin) "cindys" (Cambridge), "doobies" (Philadelphia). Following that tradition, I have dubbed my PowerBook "grace". I chose it both because it is the name both of the closest bar to my new place, Grace Tavern, and also because that other kind of grace has been on my mind too lately. Friar Paul Dressler preached a fantastic sermon on Sunday on 2 Corinthians 12 ("my grace is sufficient") on the 12th anniversary of him taking his OFM vows ("no money", "no honey", and "I got a boss now")... I really enjoy the masses he celebrates. I think he said he may have been raised in a Baptist church, which explains his fondness for "Now Thank We All Our God" (which he's preached on once, and which we sang on Sunday) and, more importantly, his appreciation for the centrality of the Word. Like Fr. Frank @ CtK, Fr. Charlie @ St. Francis, most of the priests at St. Mary's Student Chapel all in Ann Arbor, Fr. Lawrence @ St Vincent de Paul in Baltimore, and Fr. Goudot @ St Victor in Meylan, he understands that the Word can be just as integral to Catholic liturgy as in a service at any Bible-thumpin' church (even if it's centrality is not mentioned at every twist and turn).

Tonight I hit Pottruck for an evening workout. Having my iPod back helped a lot and the adrenaline was up for once! I didn't realize how much I've been missing it. I clocked 2 miles on the treadmill in 13:22, then did an upper body circuit, then closed it out with 17 minutes on the bike.