The Week in Meep: Re-Reading Some Men at Sea, Lent is Coming, Sumo Valentines, and Walking in a Park
Oh, and I went to IKEA today
Happy Presidents’ Day!
As per all Week in Meep posts, comments are open to all.
Master and Commander: A Re-Read
It’s easy to be in the middle of the discourse if you’re always reading the series…
I went to look because I knew I had written about it: I finished the series in March 2024 with the stub of a book Patrick O’Brian left when he died.
I have a bunch of the books in physical form, because the local library was dumping their copies:
But I have the first book in e-book form now, alas.
I wrote a few times about being in the middle of the series:
The bathysphere one is a lot of fun. My favorite plot line doesn’t have to do with Aubrey/Maturin at sea at all, but is about stock market fraud — a very real one that occurred, even. I see I didn’t write about it my last read-through, but when I get to it in the series again, I’ll have to write about it, because it’s a good one.
Oh, and the movie is really good.
For those who get into reading the books… the movie is not really based on the first book, but the tenth (yes, some details from the first book are thrown in, but it’s mainly the 10th).
Lent is Coming
Ash Wednesday is on February 18.
By this point, St. John Cantius Church in Chicago will have buried its Alleluia in preparation.
During the days of Lent, we Catholics change the Gospel acclamation away from Alleluia to one of many forms:
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ, Wisdom of God the Father!
Glory to you, Word of God, Lord Jesus Christ!
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God!
Praise and honor to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!
Marvelous and great are your works, O Lord!
Salvation, glory, and power to the Lord Jesus Christ
It can be any of these… sometimes the priest (or musical director/cantor) keeps us on our toes guessing. That’s the “fun” of Lent liturgies!
There are three main categories of activities during Lent, with many people paying attention to just the first:
Fasting & Abstinence (aka “giving up something for Lent”)
Prayer
Almsgiving
I usually recommend some prayer/contemplation practices. There’s always the daily rosary (which I already do).
But here are some other ideas:
Daily Reading of the Early Church Fathers during Lent - (remember Sundays are not included in the 40 days) - starts with the Didache and ends with an Easter sermon from Pope St. Leo the Great. [The original source referenced in this pdf no longer exists, but I remember seeing this 20 years ago]
Remember Your Death: Memento Mori Lenten Devotional
I actually wrote about this book in the post linked above on Patrick O’Brian’s unfinished book.
I got two copies of this, one for Stu (physical copy) and one for me (e-book copy).
Both of them are mine now.
Sumo Valentines
Here is a post in my Sumo Stats Substack:
It’s got some actual sumo stats… but the fun stuff in there are some sumo valentines.
Winter Walk in a Park
Thought you might like to see the beauty of a park (Lasdon Public Gardens and Veterans Memorial) — as pretty much nobody goes there when it’s frozen.
(Except, obviously, the people working there.)
It thawed a little bit so I decided to do my rosary in a walk and take a few pics after I finished:
Reminds me of when I took the girls when they were little to Central Park in the deep of winter… when nobody was on the playground. That was actually kinda cool. In the middle of the big city, nobody there (for good reason), and you could stand up at the top of the slide and say I’M KING OF THE WORLD!
Maybe a weird kind of carnivale, but I’ll take it.
I haven't read the Master & Commander books in years, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. I loved the contrast between Aubrey and Maturin as characters. It's unfortunate they didn't make a second movie, since the stage was set for a Master & Commander sequel.