Using today's Gregorian calendar, we would say that Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach. However, it is very common to commemorate JSB's birthdate as March 21, 1685, the day of his birth in the Julian Calendar, the system in effect in central Germany in 1685. I say: let's use both days to remember and enjoy the life and work of this most amazing composer and musician. Happy Birthday, Bach!
One of my favorite books in the Bible is the Book of Ruth. Â Laura and I read it to each other last night through the inevitable tears that spring from me when I contemplate the story of family devotion and divine providence. Â This book is also an inspiration for some of my favorite lines of poetry, found in the latter verse of John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale (text of poem):
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
I think often of Keats' image of Ruth when I think of the journeys to foreign lands that my parents -- and I -- have made, when we too have been "sick for home, ... [standing] in tears amid the alien corn."
Laura and I had an invigorating and restorative weekend in Maryland and DC.   On Friday and Saturday, I attended the MITH Workshop on APIs and the Digital Humanities, at which I gave  an introductory talk on APIs.  We took the workshop as a chance for the both of us to take a road trip to visit family, friends, and some of the big sites of the DC area.   Here are some photos I took from the weekend:
Books pile up barely read beside my bed. Â They make their way from various places of origin: Â the bookshelf of my office next door, the new bookshelf of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, and occasionally from the warehouses of amazon.com. Â I think to myself that I must read that book, yes, that book, right away and take it home with me. The problem is: Â I don't have enough time dedicated to reading books to get through many pages, let alone, entire books. Â It takes only minutes before the book I chose for the night slips from my sleepy hands and falls thud on the floor. Â Sleep triumphs over even the most seductive book.
I just started reading Listen to This, a collection of edited essays by New Yorker classical music critic Alex Ross. Â As I sit down to write a presentation for next week, with all of Bach's music on shuffle, one quote from Ross' introduction pricks my conscience: Â "For even as we worship our musical idols we also force them to produce particular emotions on cue." Â Guilty as charged?
Listening to Closing the Book (CBC Ideas Jan 31, 2011) and reading Adam Gopnik's How the Internet Gets Inside Us was a good match.
Some points that stood out for me:
I've not understood the value of pool noodles and kickboards until I practiced floating on my back and my kicks in the pool last night. Â It's time to turn to YouTube for some very helpful instructional videos; one of the things I'm learning to do is to tread water:
Big personal news: I became a citizen of the United States yesterday morning. Laura and I celebrated with a big American cafe breakfast at the sunny Square Cafe.  The citizenship ceremony was quite moving. New citizens from India, Burma, and UAE provided powerful personal testimony of coming to US.  My own feelings  were complicated; I decided to pass on the opportunity to speak to my fellow new citizens and their friends.  Becoming an American is a bigger deal emotionally than I had anticipated. I was ecstatic but wiped out yesterday by the experience.
Ironically, it was distrust in American bureaucracy that motivated naturalization. I wasn't in a big hurry to move from permanent residence status to citizenship. That is, until a nasty encounter with an immigration officer at the border showed me that USCIS has way too much power for me to ever feel securely part of this society while I remained an alien. Now as long I don't commit treason or take a super high level position in a foreign country (all quite manageable tasks), I won't have my American citizenship taken away.
On a more upbeat note, I was reminded yesterday morning that it's all easy to take the right to vote for granted.  I will register to vote soon and look forward to voting in American elections. As a newly minted American, I've also become more responsible for what the US does in the world in my name; I can't pass the buck like I used to.
Something I need to do soon: Â apply for my US passport. Â I find it odd that I will have to part with my hard earned naturalization certificate one federal agency (USCIS) just gave me to prove to another agency (Dept of State) to send me a US passport. Â USCIS has already scrutinized me thoroughly to grant me citizenship. The Dept of State could get data directly from USCIS instead of me. Â On further reflection, I probably should be glad that the government doesn't have me all figured out.