Last Sunday I went to the Cathedral for mass.  Because it was a solemn mass to celebrate the installment of a new priest it may not have been typical, but my liturgical snobbery was satisfied with its traditionalism, from the Asperges at the beginning, to the frequent censing, to the Latin plainsong.  (The hymns, admittedly, were of post-Vatican II provenance.)  The homily was also conservative, the new priest upholding the authority of the pope and in particular his teaching on life issues such as contraception and euthanasia.

This morning I went to my local parish in the burbs and had a very different experience.  80s praise music led by a soft rock combo, a homily about social justice, Stations of the Cross represented by abstract expressionist banners.  I was impressed, however, that the capacious semicircular sanctuary was filled almost to capacity, and that by a surprisingly racially diverse congregation, considering the neighborhood.  I won't go there regularly but since it's only a five minute drive from my house it will do in a pinch when I need to sleep in.  

Evelyn Waugh wrote to a friend saying "Wish I could persuade you to be a Catholic.  You have the real mens catholic (Latin for Catholic mind) and all that isn't happy in your nature would be made straight."  I wonder (1) what comprises the "mens catholica," (2) whether I have it, (3) whether this means converting will straighten me out.  As for (2), a Catholic psychologist did tell me I thought like a Catholic, by which he meant (apropos of (1)) a keen awareness of sin, but he didn't prescribe (3).

The Lewis letters are entertaining.  Most of the letters in this first volume were written in his youth when he was discovering the joys of art and nature.  They do make me a bit wistful for that period in my own life, although my tastes weren't as sophisticated as Lewis'.  While he got excited about opera and literature, for me it was mostly classic rock and science fiction (although there were a few high-brow works I genuinely liked--I still remember the fascination of reading Yeats and Hopkins for the first time when browsing the stacks at my undergraduate library).

Went to the R.C. basilica this morning for church.  I might keep going until I either convert or work Catholicism out of my system.  I would miss the Anglican liturgy and hymnody, however.  The text of the Novus Ordo Mass is flat compared to the Book of Common Prayer, and American Catholic worship music is cheesy by any standard.  I think the church organist might not take it too seriously either; the recessional hymn happened to be in 5/4, and in the postlude he or she starting riffing on Brubeck's "Take Five." 

Thanks to BitTorrent I got all three of Halcali's albums.  (I can rationalize this act of piracy since they aren't for sale in the U.S.)  While the two more recent ones are uneven, the debut "Halcali Bacon" is terrific.  I've listened to it about 20 times in the past three days.  I haven't been engrossed by a rap album that intensely since The Score back in 1996.

Just got back from the fellowship interview.  It was a bit intimidating at first, since whereas I had been expecting a committee of two or three, there were actually six sitting in judgment.  However, the interview questions were helpfully typed out on a sheet in front of me and I could respond to most of them by simply repeating what I wrote in my letter of application.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to be clean cut, so I shaved off my beard.  I look weird to myself but maybe it helped my chances with them.  Anyway, the chair said they'd make a decision within a week.  I hope I get it!