Author: Matthew Green

I am a translator, origami artist/teacher, and photographer, a blogger, former philosophy professor, and I love to sing. You can see my photos on Flickr and buy prints of some of them on Fine Art America. You can find me on Instagram, Twitter (@mehjg), and in various and sundry other social media sites on the web.

Meeting at the Dog Bar for Catholic Young Adults

Posted on by Matthew Green

Announcement from Holy Family parish:

Living our faith in today’s world is a challenge.  Combining family life with work is tough enough in itself; finding time to pray and get to Mass can feel like an added challenge. In addition, it can be hard to reconcile contemporary cultural trends, lifestyles, and world view, with Church teachings which are often misrepresented in the media and/or difficult to understand, or can simply seem out of touch.

At the same time, the Catholic Faith is a source of inspiration and strength for countless men and women of all ages around the world.  It can be a moral and spiritual anchor, a driving force for increased respect of human dignity, and a key for interpreting the events and dilemmas of our dynamic, information-filled, and constantly more connected world.

Young Catholic adults, wherever you are in that picture, we want to hear your thoughts and get to know you! As a parish we want to better address your needs and answer your questions, and bring together Catholic adults who can support each other.

So, we would like to invite young Catholic adults (parishioners of Holy Family or not, ages roughly 20’s-30’s) to meet at the Dog Bar on Thursday, February 21, at 7PM, for an informal gathering to get to know each other over food and drink, and to discuss plans for future social, service, and prayer activities. We will be easy to find, as Fr. Matthew Green will be there sitting at a table wearing his distinctive Roman collar, probably munching on a plate of nachos or wings…

If you plan on attending, please RSVP by Wednesday the 20th by email to this address: capeanncya (at) zoho.com

You can also stop in last minute if necessary, but it would be helpful for me to have an estimate of how many people will be there, to give a “heads up” to the management. Hope to see you there!

– Fr. Matthew Green

Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Julius Caesar, coming soon to the Gorton Theater

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I had the privilege of attending part of a CAST (Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe) rehearsal (not in costume) for their upcoming presentation of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.  Here are some photos, alternated with the text of their press release.

Performances February 27 (opening special: all seats $5) through March 2 are at 8 PM; Sunday, March 3 at 3 PM at the Gorton Theatre (home of the Gloucester Stage Company) 267 East Main Street. Tickets, $15, general; $10, student; $5, youth under 19, are available at the door or may be reserved at cast2008@prodigy.net . More information is available atcapeannshakespearetroupe.blogspot.com and Facebook.

Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe presents William Shakespeare’s politically charged drama, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a story of ambition, intrigue, betrayal and assassination. Rome is divided between its support for the military hero, Julius Caesar, and the senate of the republic which sees Caesar’s ambition as a threat to its collective power. Under the leadership of Cassius and Brutus, a faction of senators assassinate Caesar sparking a civil war with his supporters, led by Mark Antony and Octavius.

“This is a story which we are currently seeing played out in many parts of the world: Shakespeare’s play is, unfortunately, still very relevant”, points out Joseph Stiliano, the drama’s director. “We see it in the news,and in the video games that challenge our nimble fingered virtual warriors.Our modern-dress production, though not changing the time or place of the action, stresses its current pertinence.”

Written in Shakespeare’s mid-career, it has a spareness and pace that drives the action to its conclusion. It is less a tale of good and evil, than one of clashing world views between factions that can find no common ground.

The cast includes David Adams, Jonathan Arnold, David Cluett, Stephanie Cochran, Richard Crowell, Timothy Edwards, Ashlee Holm, Ray Jenness, Ian O’Connor, Craig Owen, Dominic Parry, Matthew Recine, Jim Robinson, Jessie Sorrells, Ken Stoeffler, and Pauline Wright.

It was still a rehearsal, of course, so fumbling lines led to some hilarity from time to time…  More photos of the rehearsal are here with other photos from CAST.

– Fr. Matthew Green

 

Origami train

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Each segment is a folded from a single square of paper with no cuts or glue.  The design is from a book I bought more than twenty years ago. It is all in Japanese, by Yoshihide Momotani.  There are instructions for other types of train cars as well.  The theme of the book is transportation, so there are also boats, cars, etc., but in my opinion the train is the best of what the book has to offer.

– Fr. Matthew Green

Snow removal the old-fashioned way on Main Street

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The snow clearing crews have done a fantastic job, and have worked practically around the clock. Still, people on Main Street had to get out last Sunday to make their storefronts accessible. They carved narrow pathways along the sidewalk, which were used by people like me who were out for the Chocolate Tour.

GMG contributor David Cox clearing out in front of his store

The abominable snowman? (Am I the only one who sees a face here?)

– Fr. Matthew Green

Main Street in the snow after Nemo, before cleanup

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I snapped these on Sunday Feb. 10. Amazing piles of snow!

 

 

 
Coming soon: some familiar smiling faces in the midst of the snow!

– Fr. Matthew Green

Instagramming the Chocolate Tour

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On Sunday afternoon, after baptizing five beautiful little babies, I ran out to do the Main Street chocolate tour! I Instagrammed my way from store to store, savoring the variety of chocolate offerings and getting heart stickers, signatures, and fancy checkmarks on my chocolate tour map. I didn’t win the gift certificate, but I had a great time!

Eco Boutique was giving cookies
Toodleloos had chocolate covered pretzels!
The Village Silversmith gave out little velvet bags with chocolate hearts!
The G33K store had “healthy” chocolates (no high fructose corn syrup, etc.)!
Chocolate chip cookies at Local Colors
Harbor Gifts had bags of dark chocolate
Island Art and Hobby had pretzels dipped in chocolate and coconut!
Little cookies at Mark Adrian Shoes
Cookies at Palazola’s!
Hot chocolate with peppermint Schnapps at Fred Bodin’s Historic Photo and Fine Art – scrumptious!

Don’t miss the next one!

– Fr. Matthew Green

Nemo from the window

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A time-lapse .gif file of shots from a window in the third floor of the rectory. To see some of the original frames larger, click on the image, which will take you to my Flickr set of photos from the storm._timelapse nemo

 

– Fr. Matthew Green

Ice art by the artistic storm Nemo

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After all those awesome photos from Len, I decided to try my hand at photographing the frost on the window of our storm door yesterday, using my iPhone and an accessory macro lens.

– Fr. Matthew Green

More Cancellations from Holy Family Parish: No Masses at St. Joachim’s Church

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The morning Masses at St. Joachim’s Church in Rockport are cancelled for tomorrow. Earlier, the Archdiocese sent out the following notice:

The Office of Divine Worship urges all Catholics to heed the travel advisories of their cities and towns, and to stay off the roads during the peak hours of the storm and plow operation. The faithful are encouraged to use good judgment when planning to travel to Mass. Hopefully the storm will have passed on Saturday, and roadways will be clear for travel on Sunday. In the event that roadways are not clear for travel on Sunday, the faithful are reminded that the obligation to attend Sunday Mass does not apply when there is grave difficulty in fulfilling this obligation. (See Code of Canon Law, Canon 1248 §2)

– Fr. Matthew Green

Cancellations at Holy Family Parish

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Due to the weather conditions, there will be no 4PM Mass today at St. Ann’s Church in Gloucester.  The “Whole Parish Faith Formation” program that was scheduled for tomorrow morning, also at St. Ann’s, is also cancelled.  Right now, we can’t even get the doors of the rectory or the church open, although we can get from one to the other through a connecting bridge…

St. Joachim’s Church in Rockport is currently without power and covered in snow (like the rest of Rockport), so stay tuned for possible cancellations of the Masses tomorrow and the baptisms tomorrow afternoon.

– Fr. Matthew Green

Origami at the Hive

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Last night I had an origami class at The Hive, with a Valentine’s Day theme.  Although I had a variety of models ready to teach, we ended up focusing on just making a rose, which is a somewhat complicated model. There were two other meetings going on in other rooms, from which we benefitted by getting spillover snacks!

Snacks, a finished rose, and a rose in the making

We added origami leaves and a stem to the rose at the end, which you can partly see in this photo with David Brooks:

David Brooks with his finished rose

I will be teaching another class in March, although the date is yet to be determined.  The theme is yet to be determined, but some possibilities are:

  • boats and ships (not the typical newspaper sailboat – ones with more variety of shape, maybe some that float, but maybe also some with more detail but less functionality)
  • Origami spirals (kind of abstract but really cool)
  • Suggestions?

– Fr. Matthew Green

Paris, New and Old

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Here are two photos from the Rue Rivoli in Paris, from my vacation last October. First, the tower of St. James (formerly part of a church, which is long gone):

 

I like the close proximity and similarity of the Metro (subway) and McDonald’s signs in the photo below:

– Fr. Matthew Green

 

Cats!

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This is Freya, resting on my mother’s lap and pretending to be a sphinx (with my father in the background).

 

This is Freya’s brother Frey, tying himself up into a cat knot.

The internet is all about cats, right?

cats

 

– Fr. Matthew Green

Beer and Cheese Pairing at Savour Wine and Cheese

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On Friday Feb. 1, Savour Wine and Cheese had a Beer and Cheese Pairing event!  They had a variety of cheeses and beers available for tasting, and a sheet for you to mark what you thought were the best pairings.  If you identified all the same pairings as the store’s expert, you got a gift certificate!  Also, all the featured beers and cheese were on sale %20 off.

I stopped by at the beginning of the event.  I didn’t try the beer because I had to drive right afterwards, but I did try the cheeses, which were all very tasty. I ended up buying a cheese called “Red Dragon”, a Welsh cheddar made with ale and mustard seeds – really good, with a distinctive flavor! Here are some photos I got before the crowd arrived (I only had time to be there at the beginning when there were only a couple of people, but more were arriving as I left).

 

– Fr. Matthew Green

 

Origami Class at The Hive

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I’ll be back at The Hive for another origami class this Thursday!

I am still picking out exactly what models I will teach, but I will probably focus on Valentine’s Day-related models – depending on who comes, we will might make a heart bookmark, a rose, and maybe a gift box (a nice box with a lid from one sheet of paper, which we didn’t have time to make during the last origami class).

The rose and the box are more complex models, so we’ll have to see what the participants are ready to take on. I’ll have a few other models ready just in case. Also, I can try to accomodate specific requests, if someone wants to let me know ahead of time.

The class will be on Thursday, February 7, 7-9pm, $15 student/$20 adult.  If possible, please register ahead of time, so we know how many plan for. Call 978.283.3889 or email thehive@arthaven.org

Dogtown walk

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I haven’t been out in Dogtown much, but I went for a walk there yesterday with a friend. He took a photo of me next to “Peter’s Pulpit”. I wanted to get on top to strike a preachy pose, but there is no easy access to perch on the peak of Peter’s pulpit.We ended up at Whale’s Jaw:

 

 

I hope to get back to hike in Dogtown more regularly! It is a very interesting place.

– Fr. Matthew Green

 

“Top Secret Science” at St. Ann School

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On Friday Feb. 2, Michael Bergen of “Top Secret Science and Math” came to do some activities with the students of St. Ann School.  I’m not sure who had more fun, he or the kids!  I stopped in to take some photos and to see what he would do (I love hands-on science stuff…).  I couldn’t stay long, but I got some shots that show how much fun everyone was having – the kids making rubber balls from water and powdery crystals, and Michael Bergen throwing fire from his hands…

 

 

– Fr. Matthew Green

Origami Mammoth

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MammothDesigned by Satoshi Kamiya, folded by me from one 10″ uncut sheet of paper (foil on one side, white on the other).

– Fr. Matthew Green