Consider the lilies

"They toil not, neither do they spin.  But I tell you Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."  (Matthew 6:28-29)

Yeah, but I bet he didn't produce pollen and nectar up the wazoo like the Easter lilies that were part of the humongous flower arrangement that was in church last night during choir rehearsal.  One person had to leave, they caused her such breathing problems.  (They didn't exactly help my already scratchy throat either!)

Kudos and thanks to our choir director for moving them out of the room and opening the windows - it definitely helped.  Now if the scratchy throat part would just go away, please?

Science, evolution, and God (article link)

There's a pretty interesting pair of essays over at the Wall Street Journal by Karen Armstrong (comparative theologian) and Richard Dawkins (evolutionary biologist) on the subject of "Where does evolution leave God?" 

I don't have time or energy to write a bunch in terms of my response, but briefly: if his writing is a true indication, Dawkins seems to have a rapturous experience when he considers the wealth and complexity of living things.  Some might compare  his sensation to the rapture a religious person has when in communion with the Divine, and Armstrong herself points this similarity out near the end of her essay.  Both essays are interesting reads; perhaps unsurprisingly, I come down much more on Armstrong's side of the discussion.

Whoa. Big interval!

I've just started learning "Mein Herr Marquis" from Die Fledermaus, aka Adele's Laughing Song.  (Story background: Adele is a chambermaid, to the wife of the Marquis.  On New Year's Eve, they all three of them end up at the same costume ball - Adele knows the Marquis and his wife are there, the Marquis and his wife don't know she's there.  But the Marquis thinks he recognizes her; this song is her rebuttal.  Basically, "Look how aristocratic I am, how could I possibly be a chambermaid, how funny the thought is!") 

Here is a YouTube link to someone who's much better than I am singing the piece (auf Deutsch.  I will be singing it auf English, which will make things a little easier). 

In my edition, near the end, there's a leap from D above middle C (just below the treble staff) to high C - the one waaaaaay up above the staff, just shy of two octaves above the D just before.  (The singer I linked to CHEATS, by putting a bit of cadenza-y stuff in between the two.)  Two octaves... well, a challenge is a good thing, right?