USH-Enews for August 9, 2007 Print Only Edition

Home Page for the website of the Unitarian Society of Hartford.
Word Version of this document in color with photographs, which will print nicely for those who use Microsoft Word.
Link to various "normal" newsletters.

The USH-Enews is a weekly email newsletter produced for members and friends of the Unitarian Society of Hartford. The USH web address is: http://www.ushartford.com/ Check at the end of this USH-Enews for information on submissions, subscriptions and escape from the mailing list. And, to read the monthly Meetinghouse Messenger (newsletter) on line, or past issues of the weekly USH-Enews click here.

Office hours: M-F 9-3 (excluding W 10 -11); Rev. Jamestone: Phone: 860 233-9897; Email: RevBJ@USHartford.com - Rev. BJ office hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday by appointment.

Sunday - 12 August - Big Rocks & Golden Handcuffs (10 AM Service) - A personal tale of how we put first into our lives' "jars" the biggest rocks that came our way - even if it didn't quite make "cents." - Karla and David Principe More

Music - Sunday for both the Musical Call to Worship, and Postlude, John will be performing different interpretations of "When The Saints Go Marching In." This piece was chosen at David Principe's request, as it was his father's favorite tune. Through this song, as well as a stirring John Williams piece, reflections can be made on the concept of "family." - John Jesensky, Music Associate and Organist

REflections - This week we are pleased to have Carol Davidson teaching Yoga Postures.

Have you ever wondered what happens downstairs after the congregation sings "Go Now in Peace"? More

Note revised August 19 date for Special Congregational Conversation (Talkback) - More

From the Editor: From time to time we offer something of general interest relating to cyberspace communications: using email, the web, avoiding spam, and that sort of thing. One such item appears below. Do you find such items helpful?

Getting to Know You - Karla Principe, Board Member - Council on Community Within Elected At-Large

Karla and her husband David are relatively new to USH but old hands at things Unitarian. Both were active members at a Fellowship (Eno River UU in North Carolina) before coming to us. Karla’s educational background includes a BA in English from Mount Holyoke College in 1991 and a M.Ed from Antioch New England Graduate School in 1998.

Karla is in her 10th year of teaching high school English, having taught seven years in Bridgton/Naples Maine, two years in Chapel Hill, NC and now teaching in Somers, CT. Along the way, Karla took six years off from full-time teaching to be at home with the children: Zach age nine & Erin age seven. During that time she also tutored in English privately for five years and earned a certificate to teach ESL and did so for two years.

Karla has been married to David for 11 years and, as many of you may know, he is currently active in the USH Worship Associate program.

Asked about her new duties, Karla says, “Being new to USH, I am looking forward to my new role on the Board and getting to know USH better." As for her passions, they include gardening, birding, puzzles (jig saws, cards, etc), reading and spending time in VT.

Karla tell us that she and David became UUs when their son was an infant— As she put it, “..we were looking for a religious community—one that fit our values. Being a UU has become a very important part of our life and a very important aspect of our parenting. I love having a welcoming community in which to raise our children. I am also especially looking forward to our theme on family this year.

“I love being a UU for selfish reasons as well. I love sitting in the pews on a Sunday morning—time just for me to sit, ponder, listen and re-charge. It may sound corny, but being a UU makes me feel good. “

And, speaking on behalf of everyone else, we are all delighted to have you and your family with us! - DCN

Meetinghouse Messenger Deadline Approaching - Do you wish to submit an announcement about your sub-council's activities planned for September to be published in the September Messenger (That is the hard copy or paper monthly USH Newsletter), or announce an event? If so, please remember the deadline for the Meetinghouse Messenger is the 15th of the month prior to publication. For information about deadlines and how to submit (don't panic, an email will usually do the job) information for the Messenger, USH-Enews and Meeting House Weekly, please see this web page.

Caring Network Seeks Some Help - Has any member or friend of the Meeting House had experience using Home Health Aide services either for themselves or for family members? If you would be willing to share this information with the Caring Network, please contact Diana Heymann at 461-0908 or heydiana(at sign)comcast.net. Thank you!

SUNDAY RIDES - Fall is fast approaching. We need drivers for members who need us to get them to Church! If you can help on any Sunday, at either service, please email Diana Heymann heydiana(at sign)comcast.net or call (860) 461-0908.

Caring Network - A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble. ~Charles H. Spurgeon - You are the ears of the Caring Network. Diana Heymann is the Chair of the Caring Network. Please tell Diana (heydiana(at symbol)comcast.net) 860.461.0908, or call the office when you learn of any of our members enduring the stresses of life so we can reach out to those in need. - Offer your services.

A wide range of community services are available to help you. Call InfoLine at 211.

Thursday, August 9
7:00 pm Small Group Ministry, David
7:30 pm Rental, Chapel

Saturday, August 11
9:00 am Classroom Renovations, Lower Level
9:30 am Rental, Chapel

Sunday, August 12
9:00 am Music Rehearsal, Chapel
9:00 am Building and Grounds, Murray
10:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
11:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:00 pm RE Curricula Showcase, Fellowship Hall
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel

Monday, August 13
6:30 pm Survivors of Incest Anonymous, Murray

Tuesday, August 14
7:00 pm Board of Directors, Library
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall

Thursday, August 16
6:00 pm Performing Arts Sub-council, Servetus
7:00 pm Small Group Ministry, David
7:00 pm Council Chairs, Minister’s Study

Saturday, August 18
9:00 am Pathways to Membership, Library
9:00 am Classroom Renovations, Lower Level
9:00 am Rental, Murray

Sunday, August 19
8:30 am Council on Social Justice, Library
9:00 am Music Rehearsal, Chapel
10:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
including New Member Welcome
11:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
11:15 am Two Services Conversation, Chapel
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel

Italicized entries are non-USH events. - Please notify Brian Mullen (233.9897) of all additions or changes to the calendar. More general calendar information covering several months may be found here.

Fool for Christ - A One-Woman Play Portraying the Life of Dorothy Day - September 27 More

Nothing Short of Movie-going Nirvana - That’s how one noted critic described the movie slated to open the 2007-8 USH Dinner and Movie Season on Friday, October 12.

During this past July, a large turnout of eligible voters marked their favorites from a long list of nominated films; results were tallied, and nine films chosen for the upcoming season. These films will be presented at USH on the second Friday of each month, October to June. This series is one of the longest running adult programs.

The full list of winning titles will be available at the Adult Programs Fair during coffee hours on Sunday, September 16, in the Programs catalog, and, subsequently, on the USH website.
The opening movie, one of the most popular on the ballot, received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Best Screenplay and Best Actress awards. Our much-appreciated caterers will prepare a special menu influenced by the setting of this movie.

External Events and Educational Notes - Who is this USH member with a paddle in hand? (link will expire rather soon)

Do you have a piano in good condition that you would like to donate? The Retreat would love to give it a new home. Call John McMahon at the Retreat 560-7780

Did You Know? - Forwarding Emails - USH Computer Gnome Wants To Help -The cousin of the USH Kitchen Gnome, made famous in last week’s E News, wants to offer some help to those of us who might like to improve the manner in which we forward email. Clutter is clutter whether electronic or paper unnecessary communications.

While many of us know how to forward emails, there may be some of us who do not.

Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you find it troublesome to receive this kind of material? Every time you forward an email, there is information left over from the people who got the message before you - namely their e-mail addresses and their names. As a message gets forwarded along, the list of addresses can build, and build and build. Then, all it takes is for someone to get a virus or worm, and his or her computer can and very well may send that virus or worm to every E-mail address that has come across his or her computer as a result of all of the forwards.

Alternatively, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them soliciting traffic to a certain website and the "arranger" will make five cents for each hit. That's right, you may experience all of that inconvenience because of a nickel! How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps:

1) When you forward an email, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. Remember, You MUST click the "Forward" button first and then you will be able to edit the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the BCC:(blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. This way the people to whom you send the email will only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your BCC: option click where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will probably say "Undisclosed Recipients" in the "TO:" field of the people who receive it. If that phrase does not appear, type your own email address in the "TO" field, but everyone else's in the BCC field.

(3) Remove any "FW :" in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are reading. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open half a dozen to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop their having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent. (AMEN!) If you can't forward from that page, "Copy" the info and then open a new email blank page and "Paste".

(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained in it. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition. (Actually, if you think about it, who is supposed to send the petition to whatever cause it supports? And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced, it just isn’t so!)

One type of troublesome emails are the ones that say something like, - Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something great run across your screen or something really cute will happen. NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN! (Trust me, I’m still seeing some of the same ones that I saw 10 years ago!) I don’t let the bad luck ones scare me either-I simply delete them. (Maybe that’s why I haven't won the lottery!) Before you forward an Amber Alert, or a Virus Alert, or some of the other ones floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that has been circling the internet for a long time. Just about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at one of two web sites that specialized in verifying the validity of this sort of thing. One is Snopes. Just go to http://www.snopes.com/ Another good web site for this purpose is Truth Or Fiction at http://www.truthorfiction.com/. These are two very user friendly web sites. If you find out that the message had no validity, please don't pass it on. Let’s all do what we can to stop the junk mail and the viruses.

Finally, here's an idea!!! You may wish to send this information to people with whom you regularly exchange emails. Now you know how to do it! -