obsessed. i'm obsessed with laura veirs' new album, 'july flame'. it's not out yet (coming january 2010). but she's so cool to offer two free tracks. and they are so good. like i can't get enough of them, i play them on repeat all day, so good. i think this will be one of the best albums of the year. you have to hear for yourself. please download. and then leave a comment if this post was helpful to you. because i'm really sharing some love here. after all, music is for sharing. and this, here, is an honest form of sharing. so go.for.it! this album is too.wonderful.for.words, yes? this is what good music is supposed to do to you. it does something to me. bah-rilliant.
this is great. always happy to see the growing support for local, farmers' markets. but to see this pilot project developing makes me extra excited.
from npr:
The Obama administration wants Americans to buy more locally grown food. Problem is, the way we grow food today means that local is sometimes more expensive, so farmers markets can be cost-prohibitive for lower income families.
But the White House farmers market and a handful of others around the country are part of a pilot project. This market accepts food stamps — and those stamps are worth twice as much here as they would be elsewhere....
cool, yeah? no more 7-11 diets for those in inner-city areas! fresh produce should not be reserved for only the wealthy. let's rally to see more farmers markets accepting food stamps. it only makes sense.
i think we could all benefit from takin' a look at the times which presently surround us. the u.s. news is chalk-full of stories about so.much.name-calling.and.bickering. and.finger-pointing.and.blame-gaming. just all-around negativity goin' down. my daily podcast reel (thank you AC360) continues to show how divided people are. on all fronts. on all issues. on all 'isms'.
but stevie is here to remind us (& ms. india.arie backs him up) what time it really is. please read. and ponder. and act. let's.act.in.love. it's the time.
We have time for racism We have time for criticism Held bondage by our ism's When will there be a time to love
We make time to debate religion Passing bills and building prisons For building fortunes and passing judgments When will there be a time to love
At this point in history we have a choice to make To either walk a path of love Or be crippled by our hate
We have time to cause pollution We have time to cause confusion All wrapped up in our own illusions When will there be a time to love
We make time to conquer nations Time for oil exploration Hatred, violence and terrorism When will there be a time to love
At this moment in time We have a choice to make Father God is watching While we cause mother earth so much pain It's such a shame
Not enough money for The young, the old and the poor But for war there is always more When will there be a time to love
We make time for paying taxes Or paying bills and buying status But we will pay the consequences If we don't make the time to love
Now's the time to pay attention Yes now is the time... to Love... A time to Love... Love... A time to Love Please, please won't you tell me When will there be a time to Love...
thanks goes out to my dear friend soph who reminded me of the brilliance that is bell hooks. here's what bell hooks (her name is intentionally spelled without capital letters!) has to remind us all about today,
"If I were really asked to define myself, I wouldn't start with race; I wouldn't start with blackness; I wouldn't start with gender; I wouldn't start with feminism. I would start with stripping down to what fundamentally informs my life, which is that I'm a seeker on the path. I think of feminism, and I think of anti-racist struggles as part of it. But where I stand spiritually is, steadfastly, on a path about love."
i just can't get enough of this live set from the oh-so-delightful esperanza spalding. she tore it up at the newport jazz festival last month. she's been one of my new fav women of jazz/soul/rhythm [she plays the upright bass and sings!] ever since i discovered her music last winter, but this live set has been quite the show-stopper to top all that i've heard from her so far.
please listen in. all the way through. and then repeat. she's great. reeeally great. as always, thank you npr for providing such treats and sweet jams. you're my favorite.
A few of the homes in Huntsville, Tex., that Dan Phillips has built using old picture frames, wine bottles and other salvaged materials.
i love that the new homeowners are a part of the building process. so very empowering. and every home is just so brilliant. and be-a-utiful. what creativity. what ingenuity. three cheers for dan phillips, the brilliant recycle dude.
i fell in love with travis wall in season 2 of sytycd. and i've been so happy to see him as a choreographer now. so.happy. i love his non-verbal response to ellen's costuming comments. classic. and i love the dance too. the song really drives it. mia's right; travis does have it going on.
i've been meaning to put a link on here to joel p west's dust jacket project for nearly a year now. so now i finally am.
a very inspiring project. believe me, you'll thank yourself for looking into it and for participating in it yourself. share your art and receive some of joel's music. all for free. a brilliant exchange of created goods. beside's the album being wonderful, the blog is updated daily with each new submission, so that is always a treat to look through. enjoy friends.
with all of the memorable mj tributes that i could post (where to begin?!), i am thankful for this fellow stevie fan who recorded stevie just being himself at one of his concerts last week. mourning but also celebrating the brilliance that is michael jackson. this is the total essence of stevie live but taking a break to remember a friend.
on stevie's left is his daughter aisha (as in "isn't she lovely" -- love her!) and then my faaaaav stevie back-up singer is on his right: keith. he's rocking, as usual, the silver music note earring that i kept trying to convince cody to also rawk last year. but to no avail.
like the rest of the world (quite literally) i'm missing mj too.
meet my sweet swinging friend from bangalore. just a lil' taste of an indian side street for you. not too busy, but luckily you get some flava' from the rick-shaws, cow cameo, and passers-by. love.love.
today i get to say goodbye to 'junior'... and let's be honest, jr. really wasn't all that good to me. jr. was two sizes too small. jr. left me stranded on the side of the road while amy and i had to yank his chain back into place. we had to use rocks and sticks and our she-power to do it. it was no easy task; jr. could be pretty unaccommodating. jr. wasn't open to change; when i tried to up the gears upon approaching an incline, he threw a fit. click-click-click, click-click-click. no luck. oh pah-leaze jr., grow up! but he just wouldn't budge. in the end, all the greased-up promises and perpetual coaxing got us nowhere. -- nowhere, i tell you. needless to say, i was left feeling pretty glum, ride-less and depressed.
• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • but then someone new came along. daaaaaaaang.oh, no he di'nt. could this be what i've waited for? everything i've dreamed and hoped for?
saddlin' up... giving him a go.
oh, boooyyy. -- mmmmm-hmm. you betta' believe it. pure and total joy. i didn't know it could be this good. built-in headlight, complete with a generator. a jolly lil' bell to greet friends or passers-by. an added shelf for groceries, picnics, books or treasures. and just my size. just.my.size. 'yazoo'. he's foreign. ya-zoooo, hunny. we're gonna' live it up here. here, in the büs. what grand adventures lie in store. this one's made of love.
Hello all. Please read this nytimes article (shout out to Meg & Bridge for passing it on to me) about a German town (only a few hours from where I live) that has decided to forgo all automobiles. Bikes only. Pretty sweet. People are living intentional. I really applaud their efforts. I probably should take a journey up to see the town for myself... not in a car, mind you. : ) In German Suburb, Life Goes on Without Cars By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL A young development in Vauban illustrates a trend of planning communities to thrive without automobiles.
So my mom just sent me the link to this video, and I immediately knew it was worthy of posting on here. We've all seen the group-choreographed vids' on youtube, but this one has found a special place in my heart. It's especially pertinent because:
1. I'm becoming more and more convinced that my one constant these days is a train station. I live in them. I even stopped at the very station that this video takes place in while passing through Belgium last summer. Euro train stations are always a-buzz, always a-flutter, and this video does the atmosphere, my seemingly one true constant, justice.
2. I'd say the number-one reason why people knock musicals is because they argue that "it's just not realistic to have people spontaneously breaking-out in song and dance". Oh contraire. After watching this video, you'll see why the ol' "realistic" argument is just rubbish. Rubbish, I tell you. It's obvious that song and dance, whether choreographed or spontaneous, is simply a normal part of life. I know it is for me.
3. Um, hello -- this is the Sound of Music! Do.rey.mi.fa.so.la.tee.do in Europa! And to top it all off I'm going to Austria this weekend! I'll be in Vienna and then Salzburg... I'll be standing (and of course dancing) in the very places that made this song so beloved, so treasured. Life-long dream being fulfilled here... after having the line about 'my birthday being on Tuesday and wanting a pink paracel' and all that jazz quoted to me too many times to count, it's about time I explored Salzburg first-hand.
there is so much i want to share on here. so much to say. and so much to catch up on. but for now, this will have to suffice:
more and more, i am seeing the truth that there are saints all around us... everywhere you go. living in a million and one different contexts. but living such real and full and bold lives. i was able to see and simply be with such people this past week.
there's the two sisters in lisbon, portugal, age 50 and 60, who decided last fall that they wanted to open their home up to the kids in their neighborhood... teaching them in creative ways and loving on them by simply sharing life. these kids probably wouldn't be inclined to step into a church building, but they're experiencing community through the intentionality of these two sisters.
then there's the volunteers i met in madrid, spain; one from tijuana, mexico (we know the same people from there!) and one from nicaragua. both women, in their mid-20's, moved to madrid for a two-year commitment to build relationships in a totally new place by partnering with a local church and various community groups in the city. yes, they both were spanish speakers, but they entered a totally new cultural context in spain and have learned and loved with such openness and humility and grace. they both just love people. period. in word and in deed. they refer to their work as, "the gospel of friendship." amen and amen.
and then there's my new family member; my sister francine. francine opened up her home to my friend jenna and i while we spent time in montpellier, france. what rich hospitality. it's difficult to formulate into words how much her life and her creativity sparked something in me. francine shows me what i want 60 to look like: sanding a table and then repainting it eggplant purple, picking up fresh bread from the nearby bakery for guests, an ever-eagerness to hear someone's story, long walks in the cool of evening, allowing myself the grace to still take risks... francine is planning a solo backpacking trip in the states for the late summer - i reeeeeeally hope we get to see each other in colorado! francine loves. that was a complete thought there. she loves. loves being alive. loves tapping into creative energy through her artwork. loves her church. loves sharing her story. loves listening to other people's stories. loves helping. loves sharing. loves the creator, the sustainer, the giver of all life.
i realize now that the three examples that came spilling out were all from women; of course i don't espouse that one gender has more to offer the church than the other, but i guess for me, i seem to connect most quickly with women who are living lives of risk and purpose and even adventure in their local context. i love seeing that age is no issue for them; there's no thought of, 'oh, i'm too young to be doing this,' or 'i'm too old to be doing this.'
they just live life. and love life. and love people. deeply and truly and beautifully. if you look, really look, the saints are all around us.
An afternoon with the Swiss National Circus in Schaffhausen = sehr fantastisch!
After a semi-traumatic experience at the Wringley Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in San Diego a few years ago (all of the PLNU RA's were required, yes required to go), I swore I would never go to a cirucs again. But then I heard from some Swiss locals how incredible their National cirucs was, and they were right! Amy and I scored tickets in the cheapest seats, and it was totally worth it. The acrobats were absolutely phenomenal... like blow-your-mind unbelievably good.
I think my jaw remained dropped through most of the show. It was pretty unreal. And the poster advertisting this year's show is a pretty sweet design too, no...?
I'm a real couch-surfer now. My new travel friend from work, Amy, and I joined the couch surfing community a few weeks ago in hopes of scoring a place to stay when we flew up to Berlin for Bob Dylan. And after a lot of searching and what felt like endless requests (Berlin has more users on couchsurfing.com than any other city in the world!), we found a place to stay -- and just in the knick of time. The place we found was not your standard house/apartment but really more of an intentional community; intentional in the sense that they want to practice real hospitality. And they really do.
At 'Project Volunteering', it was more like your typical hostel experience where you're sharing living quarters with strangers (but soon strangers turn to friends -- well that's the hope anyway); I think we had about 12 people crammed into every imaginable space on the floor/mattresses/couches in the living room of a Euro-style flat. The photo above is what the living room looks like without anyone in it. So you can use your imagination to creatively fit 12 travelers into that space. : )
As soon as we arrived, we were welcomed in by our contact and literally told to "make ourselves at home". So we tried our best to do just that... The permanent members of the home are friends from various countries who wanted to create a shared space that would always be open to travelers by offering the true gift of hospitality... like 365 days a year. Read all about their efforts and their dreams by going to the Project Volunteering web-site; you'll definitely want to peek at their ideas and practices described on each page. This is a real community of hospitality... I've never seen nor experienced anything quite like it.
Word to Berlin. Word to experiencing hospitality from strangers. And word to couch-surfing (look into it yourself -- no matter what corner of the globe you may find yourself in; of course be wise and be safe, but be adventurous too!)
I can't wait to keep this up in my travels... no hostel fees and new friends in new places... why didn't I use this site before now?!
So the way to this girl's heart is through an assortment of flavored nuts. Whoa, that sentence sounds a bit weird. Eh, I'm not going to delete it. You see, I received the best care package ever today. Ev-er. And nestled among all the lil' treats was a new treat: wasabi soy alonds. Um, yum. These are dang good. Good call Mom and Emi!
The rest of the parcel was jammed-packed with love notes and things that make me happy and colors that make me sing. All good things, such as: textured.tights.and.family.photos.and.itunes-moolah.and.gold.earrings. and.manhattan.plumb.nail.polish.and tapatio.(big.yay.).and.tabasco.too. and.corn.tortillas.(mexican.food.is.sorely.missed.in.deutschland!). and.a.'pegasus.crossing'.sign(not.lying.--.thanks.meltita!). and.even.a.funky.vintage.ring.from.my.grandma's.jewelry.box. <-- [that may be my favorite surprise out of everything].
Plus, if that all wasn't enough, there was this major outpouring of love from family and friends and friends who really should just be called 'family'. Thanks to all! Seriously though, your notes (and good taste in stationary!) made my month. That's right. They didn't just make my day. They made the whole month shine brighter -- and it's already been a very bright month. And, it's not even over yet...
I might not be able to share my wasabi soy almonds with you, but I do send my love and gratitude and good thoughts through this blog. I'll write back to ya' now too -- hooray for new pen pals and the best birthday package ever.
I recently began reading "Harry Potter" [hopefully you inserted a British accent as you read his name] on my lil' trip to London -- a fitting place to delve into the series, wouldn't you agree?... Yeah, I know, I'm lagging over a decade behind on this one... no time to start like the present though, right? Especially when the present (at this particular juncture in life) means I have the freizeit (free time) to generally do as I please and read each day simply for leisure... because I sure do like a good read. : )
Everyone who has recommended the series to me since middle school is right; these books are quite good! J.K. Rowling is such a clever writer; I especially enjoy (what I would interpret to be) her definition of what it means to be family, to be in community with one another:
"From that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."
-- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, pg. 132
Even pulling that quote out of context still does it justice, because it's true.
We often make the assumption that those who we share very little in common with/those who might tend to annoy us (like in the case of Hermione & Harry) can't really be our friends. I know I've had that thought before. But, after walking through a particularly difficult circumstance together, (for instance, knocking-out a twelve-foot mountain troll), we end up not only tolerating each other but we even like each other.
The Deutsch greeting for Valentine's Day is so much better (yes, better) than the English greeting on this day. It basically translates to, "All love at Valentine's Day". Nice, huh? I sure like it.
I've been in Europe for over two weeks now (photos & posts concerning both Taize and Büsingen are pending... I need to get on that), and it feels like home. It really does; I'm not just saying that. A new home for the next six months... It feels pretty natural to be here, but at the same time, I have to remind myself that I'm actually living here – and not just passing through.
For those who have traveled a bit in Europe (henceforth to be referred to as Europa -- the Deutsch spelling) you've no doubt experienced the "pay to pee" policy in public restrooms.
It often costs a couple Euros to use the facilities -- especially at big train stations and various tourists’ attractions. So, you always have to be prepared... because when you gotta' go, you gotta' go. Am I right? While you might think this is an absurd policy, think again.
In most of Europa, higher education is virtually free or close to free. While traveling in Deutschland this past summer, a friend asked me, "Would you rather pay for your entire college education or have to pay to use the toilet now and then?" Umm, yeah. That's not a hard question for me; no deliberating there -- especially as student loans are already staring me down and will be for the next 10 years... eek. I opt to paying for die Toilette.
So, in honor of bothlove and lavatories today, I present my new favorite short film for your viewing pleasure. It's a Russian film (by Konstantin Bronzit), but not to worry -- there's no dialogue. Instead it uses all non-verbals to convey the story, quite brilliantly actually. Also, take note, Lavotory Lovestory is in the running for an Oscar right now (in the Short Film category). The Academy Awards are on February 22nd -- one week away. There are a lot of good short films this year (nytimes: Oscar Shorts, Low-Hype and Sweet), but I think I'll be rooting for this one.
You can't help but smile... It is simply de-lightful.
All love to you and yours today! {Because pouting on Valentine's Day is soo overrated. Get over it (this is me talking to myself); celebrate life; and love people. But, remember, you (still talking to myself) should celebrate life and love people every day of the year... I guess we might as well emphasize the fact of the matter today though. Right? Sure; why not.} ♥
