As I drove home this morning after I turned in my final statistics exam (finished!!!), a serious mannered man I know came to mind.

“He likes everything in order,” I thought, and imagined him saying “everything has a place,” illustrating his point by making a chopping movement with his hand and sharply saying, “da-da-da.”

This da-da-da- led me to think about Dadaism. I tried to remember what Dadaism is/was all about. A religion? No, you can’t really have a religion called Dadaism, can you? A philosophy? I felt I was getting warmer, but I added it to my mental list of things to Google to get an exact definition.

There turned out to be no need for the world wide web to find my answer. As I sat down at Cafe Cubano with my coffee and a copy of The Hook, I opened up to a comic about….you guessed it….Dadaists.

What is this all about? As my friend Robbie D. put it, it is the interconnectedness of all things. You can decide what that means on your own, or email him and ask him to explain. My friend Pretzels accounts this interconnectedness idea for why she can complete a crossword puzzle 3-4 days after the publishing date; she says the answers have been put out there and the interconnectedness of all things allows her to be a better crossword completer.

I don’t know about all this, but I will count myself as curious. I’ve decided to keep track of these things and see if I can use my Nancy Drew skills to make sense of it all. Sleuth on, my friends.

Seems that sex and booze are not only the downfalls of humans, but also garden pests.

I’ve found slimy slugs on my dahlias the past couple of mornings. Wanting to avoid putting out poison in the garden, I tried a bowl of beer to catch the slugs instead. I found 3-4 of the suckers at the bottom of the bowl this morning. To catch my other nemesis, the Japanese beetle, I put up a bug bag that lures them in by sending out a sex pheromone. I caught my first beetle within five minutes. What chumps.

Pests meet their demise through the lure of alcohol and sex, just like so many humans. Operating on this logic, it seems that someone should work on creating traps involving greed and pride to take down the next batch of buggers.


Slugs in their watery graves. They may look small, but they are destructive.

The wife and I caught Train and Anna Nalick at the C’ville pavilion last night, a show which I enjoyed more than I had expected. I am not a diehard fan of Train, but enjoy some of their music, and not count myself among a fan of their live performances. A quick review:

- Anna Nalick opened, starting at about 7:45 and playing an eight or nine song set. I had heard a few of her songs before, and thought she performed well on stage. She was warm and welcoming with the crowd, which was milling around aimlessly, as is typical during an opening act. She told a few anecdotes regarding a couple of her songs, which helped personalize the show a bit. The crowd really liked her performance of “Breathe,” which is currently her most popular song. Her voice is strong, but I think her stage presence could use a little work- Perhaps it is the reverse megaphone effect of the pavilion, but from section 201 she looked miniature.

- To the guy wearing the “Wide Open Cycles” t-shirt: The t-shirt you were wearing, is not appropriate for a venue with kids- Honestly, I’m not sure where your t-shirt would be appropriate. Appropriateness aside, thank you for make us laugh. By us, I of course, mean the entire 200 section of the Charlottesville pavilion. You’re burning wit, and apparent negotiation skills somehow wore pavilion security down enough to allow you to continue to stand directly in front of me. When the security women comes to ask you to move, she does not want your drunk, stinky breath anywhere near her face, ear, or any other body part. She wants you to move. When she tells you the aisle is for walking, she doesn’t mean for you to stand in place directly in front of me and walk in place.

- Train took the stage shortly before 9, and played for over an hour and a half. They touched on all their hits including Meet Virginia, Drops of Jupiter, and Calling All Angels. Overall the acoustics were quite good- there is a fair amount of background noise from the nearby road, but bearable overall. The weather was nice, even a bit chilly by the end of the show, which made the experience even more pleasant. The lead singer Pat, is quite charismatic and quickly won over the crowd. On two occasions he brought audience members on the stage- Once a 8 year old girl, who was absolutely terrified, and another time a twenty something fan that was a little awestruck. Train kept the energy up throughout the set, and near the end of their set brought Anna Nalick on stage for a cover of Wild Horses by Rolling Stones. The harmony between Anna and Pat was quite nice, and I think they did justice to a quite legendary song.

- Why do audiences go absolutely nuts at the slightest mention of the name of their city, state or region of the country? I understand local pride, but I honestly don’t think Train (or any other band that comes through) gives a damn what town they are in- They go to sleep in one and wake up in another. Add the song “Meet Virginia” in the mix, and you have half a dozen incidents of the band using pseudo-local pride to rile the audience. I’m not judging, just observing.

- To the guy about to beat your girlfriend on the way out of the show: You’re a jackass, and I truly hope you get what is coming to you. It is not OK to verbally abuse your girlfriend/wife ever, but especially at a concert- I could see the look in your eye- if all the people weren’t around you would have swung at her. Pick on someone your own size and gender- I think you’ll find your beer infused courage lacking. And ya, it was my group that gave the cops a heads up about you- I hope they made your night miserable.

Currently I’m reading Walking the Bible: A journey through the five books of Moses, by Bruce Feiler. I’m feeling a little irritated because my schedule has kept me from reading it devour-style like I usually prefer to do with books. This may be a good thing, however, as the book is so rich with description and information. I’m loving it.

As the title indicates, Feiler decides to journey through the five books of Moses. On his adventure, he stops to talk to an archaeologist named Gabriel Barkay. In response to the question of whether proving the Bible helps with faith, Barkay responds:

“I don’t care whether this or that detail is incorrect in the Bible. It doesn’t change my attitude toward the Bible, toward religion, toward God. Or toward myself. But in America there was an idea that the Bible is a kind of machine; if you prove that two of the screws really existed, then the whole machine existed, and if you take out two of the screws, the whole thing collapses. But the Bible is not a machine. It doesn’t have screws…it’s a book of faith.”

Well put. I wish I had said the following to my friend who claimed he had a hard time believing in the Bible because it failed to discuss dinosaurs.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by options, but I must say that I love getting to mix and match my own six-pack of beer. I first discovered this delightful experience at Sam’s Party Store in Knoxville where a college boyfriend worked. I would try out new imports while mixing in a few standbys. It’s nice knowing that if you don’t like one beer, you’re not going to be stuck with five more lousy ones. I’ve since lived in (let me take a second to count here…) five cities and have never found a store where I can make my own variety pack. Admittedly, I haven’t sought out these stores, but I also haven’t stumbled upon them. Until last night…everything changed when I went looking for discounted furniture at World Market and walked out with a variety pack of beer and a bag of caramel popcorn instead.

My choices: Pete’s Wicked Strawberry Blonde, Spaten Premium, Guinness Draught, Beck’s Dark, Red Stripe, and Red-Tail Ale. Some of these will be new to me, others not.

When sharing my good news of this discovery with friends tonight, I learned that you can make your own variety pack at Market Street Wineshop as well. Not only will it feel good to support a local business, but I hear their beer selection puts World Market’s to shame. Cheers.

A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt

A Brief Chapter is a great book I read over the weekend, that tells the story of a 16-year-old girl whose life changes when her parents encourage her to meet her birth mother Rivka--because her birth mother is dying from cancer. Simone has always tried not to think about being adopted, but now, being forced to face it, she isn't sure how to act or what to think. Slowly her parents reveal more and more details about her adoption, and Simone begins meeting with Rivka. Simone is also dealing with (kind of) dating her first boyfriend, her best friend's not-so-hot choices about boys, and a legal fight led by her mom, an ACLU lawyer. As the book progresses, she learns more about who she is and how to show that to the world. This was a really awesome book, well-written, and it brought up a lot of thought-provoking issues. I highly recommend it! Have you read this book? Let me know what you think by adding a comment!

When I conceived this trip, I thought I would go to the Southwest. Slot canyons, arid terrain, bold colors, and desert creatures all fascinated me. But I knew I had only so much time for my trip, so I was open to making a new plan, especially after my singer/songwriter friend Cathy returned to C’ville from her trip out West and told me how she never made it to Sedona, or a number of other things she’d planned. Instead, she discovered the town of Las Vegas, Nevada beyond the strip, which apparently has a thriving art community. Her total change of plan, despite really wanting to do it all, inspired my sense ot total freedom. Even though I’d asked all my friends for travel recommendations in the southwest, and to some degree I feel really dumb now choosing to travel more-northern roads, I couldn’t have imagined a better trip than the one I chose each day.

My roommate recently traveled to Vietnam. Before she left, we discussed her trip itinerary. I pushed hard for motorcycle rides. She finally had to tell me, “I think that’s your dream, not mine. I’m not riding a bike.”

Well, ‘ole roomie did indeed do some scooter riding in ‘Nam and loved it. The locals shouted out “motobike?!” to tourists and she took them up on the offer. Upon her return, she showed off pictures of her motobike rides. She told motobike stories…motobike rides offered, motobike rides taken….she even dreamt about riding a motobike around town. She made her dream become a reality by purchasing a pearly white Vespa, aptly christened “Motobike.”

Big, Bad T-Girl on the Vespa, a.k.a, “Motobike”

Woke up in: Nye Beach (Newport), Oregon
Slept in: Eugene, Oregon
Traveled: 101 South, 126 East
Notable eats: Hot breakfast at Tables of Content; tempura fried shrimp roll at ??? in Eugene
Miles: 99
Total mileage: 368
Photo Evidence (more are stuck on my phone; who knew that Save to Phone means you can’t upload??? Grr.)

My farewell breakfast at the Sylvia Beach Hotel involved saying goodbye to my new friends Dian and Bonnie, and meeting a fascinating woman who writes children’s books. (She told me I look like her cousin, in spirit as much as physically — whaddya think?) Ann has written a wonderful series about an African-American family following the kids as they grow older — although she didn’t want them to age when she was writing; they just did!

The sun was out, so I wandered the coastline delighting in the warmth. I also bottled some of the Pacific Ocean to send to my British cousins.

It was so delightful to see my friend River again; we’ve both had more than our age’s share of disaster and confusion in our lives since we we parted in 1989 — but at heart, we have have always had much in common, and it was nice to find out we still do. We’d corresponded a bit when she finally tracked me down on the Internets, but really that wasn’t the reason why it felt like it had been mere weeks since we last saw each other. She is the same amazing, bright person she was in ninth grade, only more so — we’ve both grown into ourselves. I got to meet her girlfriend and three cats (Sarah, Bridget, and Shanti) — Sarah turned out to be quite portable in her basket, so we passed her around as needed while we chatted and caught up.

In the evening, we visited the Lichtenstein exhibit at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. We moved around the gallery trying to avoid a talk provided by Jordan Schnitzer, benefactor, himself (River was highly amused that he patted my shoulder in passing and asked if I was having a good time!). You could hear in his voice that he was trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about and impress the art patrons. I felt sad for him, to have such an exciting collection to share and choosing to talk pretentiously rather than what he really loved about the paintings.

In the gallery’s permanent collection, I discovered a delightful beryllium copper sounding sculpture by Harry Bertoia – the site has some MP3s of what happens when you touch these sculptures. First time I’d seen his work, and it added a whole new dimension to my perspective on 3D art.

Here’s why houseguests should always treat when they go out to dinner with their hosts: without a receipt, they won’t remember the name of the sushi restaurant where they had the interestingly-named tempura-fried sushi roll! Help me out, Riv….

Before bed, I looked up where to go for Nia the next day, and figured out where to snack and work subsequently. I was promised that Bridget would want to snuggle with me, but I think she was put off by the airbed’s response when she walked on it. Made me think of my own feline family: who wouldn’t care, who would be suspicious, who would poke holes in an airbed deliberately…!

Wednesday, June 14

Woke up in: Nye Beach, Oregon
Slept in: Nye Beach, Oregon
Traveled: mere steps to the gallery next door
Notable eats: Mostly, the hot cups of tea throughout a cold, gray day. Meals were all at the Tables of Content restaurant: Breakfast; fresh baked lemon bars and muffins, plus perfect scrambled eggs and grilled toast. Dinner; I didn’t keep track because the conversation was so fascinating, but it was fine dining with good wine.
Miles: 0
Total mileage: 269
Photo Evidence

I think there is little better in life than waking after a long sleep to discover that a hot breakfast awaits, accompanied by homemade lemon bars and muffins. My desire to live at Sylvia Beach has been only further reinforced by the company at the breakfast table — a group of fascinating women from various states, including Elizabeth, who does Nia in Eugene. Thanks to her, I didn’t have to go from waking up to highly enthusiastic in seconds flat when someone asked me about it; she was excited to talk about her own experiences.

Elizabeth also pointed me to an exhibit at the Newport Visual Arts Center right across the street: a collection of poetry broadsides, all a collaboration between the poet and the printmaker. The work of William Stafford was featured most heavily, since he’s an Oregon native, but I found lots of poems I knew and some great stuff I didn’t — especially Martin Espada’s poem about an immigrant janitor at Harvard, printed with the Spanish and English translations side by side. I knew I was far from home when I saw Rita Dove’s first name misprinted in the exhibit literature.

Cold, gray weather sent me inside rather than walking the beach, and I spent a wonderful day in the Sylvia Beach’s library, curled in an armchair with the ocean to my left, the fireplace to my right, and my journal and books beside me. I held down this spot for hours, moving only for cups of tea and occasional work on the jigsaw puzzle in the kitchen lounge. Vacation at last!

Dinner downstairs at the Tables of Content restaurant held pleasant surprises in both the five-course meal and the excellent company. I learned there is a monastery within the city of Kyoto, that it’s common to flip a pregnant woman on her side when she’s in labor, and that high school students in Santa Rosa, California have at least one good teacher to challenge their political thinking. I also got a long list of good books I haven’t read yet.

Hey Everyone!Guess what!?! I got into VCU!!! I’ve already got an apartment down there, and with the purchase of my new car, I will definitely have to be looking for a good paying job in the hopes of s…

Half a lifetime ago when I first read Natalie Goldberg’s book Writing Down the Bones, one of her essays struck me as particularly relevant to my own writing. “Don’t marry the fly,” she says, in an eloquent passage about freewriting: that it’s okay to let everything that’s around you or your characters flow onto the page, but getting caught up in revealing the life history of the fly that lands on the narrator’s hand is an excessive amount of detail.

My journey has taught me a lot about how I learn and experience a new place — I can’t just hop out of the car, take a few snapshots, trade stories with a few folks, and then hop back in. I want to know each place I’ve stood, whose boots covered this same path a dozen or a hundred years ago. I want to sit by each river I’ve crossed until I can tell north from south, east from west by their sound. My body wants to absorb and digest the wondrous totality of the beautiful things I find, instead of just taking a quick taste test and making room for more.

So in Oregon, I married the fly — I stopped constantly along the road, exploring anything that looked interesting. The downside of fly marriage in writing is you’ll bore the crap out of your reader. The downside in travel, you’ll run out of time to taste everything you’d wanted between to and fro. I think the only thing I’d change about this trip would be to drive it in three months instead of three weeks. Good to know… for next time!

Tuesday, June 13

Woke up in: Seaside, Oregon
Slept in: Nye Beach (Newport), Oregon
Traveled: 101 South
Notable eats: I tried the clam chowder at Doogers, a dish for which the establishment is apparently renowned. Although it contained much clam, I was otherwise underwhelmed. Snack: fresh cheddar cheese curd at the Tillamook Cheese Factory (yummy, and it squeaks! Er, the cheese, not the factory).
Miles: 171
Total mileage: 269
Photo Evidence: Part I, Part II

So just over a week ago I was sitting in traffic next to Charlottesville’s Lewis and Clark statue, which marks the beginning of their trip west. That statue’s portrayal of Sacajawea is always a hot button (but said portrayal is of course a product of its time when the statue was created about 90 years ago; check out the artist’s original statement). So imagine my surprise when today I found the statue marking the other end of the trail. Sacajawea has been replaced in her position on Charlottesville’s monument by Lewis’s dog — who, so far as we know from his journals, may not have ever made it to the coast! At least Sacajawea is accurately represented on the statue’s base as the mother of an infant. But if you want to be incensed over inaccurate historical representation, you’ll do even better in Seaside than in C’ville.

Up early for a phone call with an East Coast client, I sat with my phone and computer about 100 yards from the tideline and gave thanks for the modern technology that has allowed me the freedom of this trip. A swatch of rainbow hung in the clouds as the sun rose. This is the life!

Today was also a day of following intuition to find what I needed. The zipper on my bag broke; I wandered into a thrift shop that benefits the local SPCA and found an even better replacement within 10 seconds, for $2.50. I needed some good reading that would connect me with the West but also be comforting; in a used bookstore I again found within seconds a Pam Houston collection that includes her recounting of a weekend fishing with my favorite high school teacher. I wanted a satisfying touristy experience; I followed signs for the Tillamook Cheese Factory (as already detailed in my captioned Flickr photoset).

Finally, I chose my night’s lodging based on a one-line writeup from a library travel book that I found mostly useless but decided to photocopy a page or two anyway just in case. The most pleasant surprise awaited me when I finally found the Sylvia Beach Hotel — at first I thought it had everything I could possibly design in a perfect night’s lodging except for cats. When I realized those were provided as well, I could have happily stayed the rest of the month.

Monday, June 12

Woke up in: Seaside, Oregon, Seaside Hostel
Slept in: Seaside, Oregon
Traveled: 101 to and from Cannon Beach
Notable eats: Bistro (no website, alas) – steamers served with a leek-infused nectar; fresh grain bread with a choice of flavored butters (white truffle or honey nutmeg); salad with garlic-caper dressing; Chinook salmon baked perfectly with leeks and morels in a light vermouth sauce; Swedish cream with seedless raspberry sauce. Accompanied by a white Bordeaux, Chateau Thieauley
Miles: 20 (roundtrip)
Total mileage: 98
Photo Evidence

Slept late; woke and met Belinda, who is biking from San Francisco back to her home in Whistler, Canada! Wrong direction, she says, after too many days of being soaked and biking into the wind. We talked about how, when you tell others you’re taking off for a long solo trip, the response is often “Oh, you’re so lucky! I wish I could do something like that!” Well, if we can, you can; it’s a matter of choosing to make it work, which isn’t always the easy path. Belinda told me she’d met a guy who is taking two years to bike from Alaska all the way down the coastline to Chile. Imagine what it must take to put your life in order for that, but how rewarding to find the way to do it!

Had a nice, quiet afternoon catching up on e-mail and walking on the beach in the rain and wind. The Pacific Ocean is not as salty as the Atlantic, but it’s deeper, and that sense of depth comes through to the shoreline. I watched a woman try to rescue a Dungeness crab, but the critter was already not doing well; the extra stress may well have been the final straw. I was tempted to take it home and eat it, but my last experience with off-the-beach seafood did not work out so well. Better to leave it for the seagulls.

Late afternoon I drove down to Cannon Beach to explore; the view of Haystack Rock as I drove through town was breathtaking. Stopped in at Northwest by Northwest Gallery, where I was captivated for the first time by the enormous photos of Christopher Burkett. Months and years go into the timing and creation of his work; it’s really something. The gallery also had some amazing hot glass art; foodie owner Joyce gave me a great tip for dinner – so I wandered down to Bistro, where bartender/scuba diver/carpet cleaning business owner Dustin kept me company and fed me well.

I also chatted with Lloyd and Marilyn from Portland, who invited me to join them at their table as they celebrated their 42^nd anniversary! I’m always so excited to meet couples who’ve loved and tolerated each other for so many decades and still find joy in each other. If the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I have this to look forward to as the Shmoo and I age.

Grace and Peace from Israel! I miss you all and long for the time when we can be together again. God has been faithful and I look forward to sharing what God has been teaching me. You can view pictures from my trip if you are interested in seeing more.

This week in the In the Dust of the Rabbi series you looked at one of the building blocks of discipleship, community. As you journeyed with the disciples in Asia Minor where they lived as a community, much like they did in Galilee, you were able to see some of the challenges they faced. I hope that you entered into their story to encounter the difficult everyday decisions they had to make as they lived for God.

As you consider these questions think about your own community and what actions you could take together to live for God and become His witnesses:

1. What does it mean to be in the world but not of the world? How does your life demonstrate obedience to this commandment?

2. Are you involved in the community that God indwells by His Spirit?

3. What are some specific actions you can take to be a stronger support for other believers who face difficult situations because they seek to live out their faith?

To follow up on this week’s lesson please read the following:

From Galilee to Asia
The Ark of God
He Went to the Synagogue
Temple of the Spirit
The Gods of This World

Hide these verses in your heart:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:42 – 47

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35

To prepare for next week’s lesson please read:

1 Peter 2

Love one another! By this the world will know you are disciples of Jesus!

With props to 5ives, the infamous and the original.

1. Everything has at least two uses. Dirty laundry = cleaning towel. Grocery store cheese container = snack bowl for the car. Slices of sandwich bread = earplugs. (OK, I didn’t really do the last one. But I bet it would work!)
2. If you are going to pack just one eating utensil, pack a spoon not a fork. You can grab bites of food with a spoon, but you can’t eat soup with your Swiss Army knife or a tines-only implement.
3. No matter how many Ziploc bags you pack, it won’t be enough. Or, if you have enough, they aren’t the size you wind up needing.
4. OK, everybody knows this one: always wear sunblock. But to this I will add, even on a cloudy day at 5 p.m. if you’re a few miles up in the atmosphere compared with the likes of what you’re used to.
5. The amazing experiences I’ve encountered by traveling off course (there is no “lost” when you have no set destination) have been the most delightful part of my travels, hands down. Instinct is real. When my gut says “I think you should make that sharp right up ahead,” invariably some wonderful thing occurs that I wouldn’t have had without taking that road. Sounds cheesy (and yes! The Tillamook Cheese Factory was an instinct turnoff!) — but it’s true.

Sunday, June 11
Woke up in: Portland, Oregon
Slept in: Seaside, Oregon
Traveled: 26 West, 101 North
Notable eats: Brunch — a glass of Scharffenberger brut and a plate of lemon-ricotta pancakes with marionberry sauce, Everett Street Bistro. Dinner — a fresh-grilled salmon burger, Whole Foods Market.
Miles: 78 (plus a mile doubling back for elk/tsunami sign photo op)
Total mileage: 78
Photo Evidence

In the a.m. I took my first Nia class as a White Belt; it was a very different class dynamic than I’d seen during the week of my intensive. A lot more playfulness grew from what seemed to be a greater sense of intimacy between our teachers and the group. It was a good way to say “so long” to the studio and shift from that suspended reality into … well, a different suspended reality of being on the road. To smooth the transition I got caught up on some errands and spent an undisclosed amount of money on ribbon at the divine Oblation Papers and Press.

Subsequently I treated myself to an exceedingly yuppified brunch at a café on Everett Street. I chose the place for the aesthetic experience (sunlight, architecture, and a clean, crisp feeling accentuated by baked goods), but I always feel a bit strange when I pass as a member of the upper middle class elite. What I drive, where I treat myself when I shop, and how I look don’t communicate the fact that I’m more comfortable in the company of pool players and people who read paperback thrillers than among those who use “summer” as a verb (without a trace of irony) and literary elitism as a weapon. Still, good food doesn’t care who’s eating it, and I enjoyed my meal very much.

Later in the day after soaking up many blocks of Portland, the smell of fresh-grilled salmon lured me to its source in front of Whole Foods. A lucky chance, because inside WF as I caught up with my checkbook, I met Tasha and Emily, who are in Portland training to fly the new Q400 for Horizon Air. A fellow cat rescuer, Emily shared with me pix of her furry family and good advice about touring Southwestern canyon country by air (go in a helicopter where you can fly below the rim; take Bryce over the Grand Canyon any day).

Tasha, who’d gotten her early pilot training in the Navy, updated me with percentages of women at the Naval Academy these days – “lots,” she said, “I think the latest is around 13 percent.” Perspective is everything; when she graduated there were maybe half again as many other women in her class.

Took 26 West to Seaside, stopping constantly for photos along the way….

OK, so no haircut, because the Shmoo would freak out; it’s already about three times shorter than he desires. (And why would I want anyone but the amazing Kenneth to cut my hair anyway?!)

And Blogger isn’t exactly a “real blog” for a geek-girl wannabe like yours truly, but it’s fast and easy from the road. That means I can actually concentrate my free time on, like, posting. Wouldn’t you rather hear about all the fascinating people I’ve been meeting instead of just looking at a lot of pictures of mountains and road signs? Well, I’ve been writing and not posting since I didn’t want to put my perfectionistic streak through an afternoon of blog setup. Now the posts will roll. Um, a little later.

I’ve been picking up the pace on my programming lately, and have made two trips—to L.A. to consult with members of the Festival’s well-connected Advisory Board and, now, to Vassar College, where I’m participating in the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar.

In L.A., I had an uncanny experience. There’s an upcoming film that may be our closing night event at the Paramount, if we can attract the star and director to come along. I’m uncomfortable about committing to a film I haven’t seen, but the personnel are impressive and I might have booked it sight unseen. But while walking on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, I was handed an invitation to a test screening for this  very film. I had to lie and say I’m not connected with the film business; but, since She’s collaborating on the programming of this year’s REVELATIONS festival, God has forgiven me.  The film was wonderful, and if it all comes together, it’s going to be a spectacular closing night event.

It was an exciting board meeting, and the board members are really pitching in this year with ideas and connections. That’s all I can say for now, but the guests and premieres are going to be thrilling.

Here at Vassar, I just met and invited Stanley Nelson, the director of Jonestown, which I had caught and admired in San Francisco. I’ve recently been in touch with Valerie Cooper, a professor in Religious Studies at U.Va. who is teaching a course on Race, Religion, and Film, and she’s excited about collaborating on this and other programs.

I also was blown away by an amazing work of video game/installation art called Waco Resurrection. When I get back to Charlottesville, I’m going to try to interest the U.Va. Art Museum in helping to install this piece during the festival. It’s a ten-minute game in which the player assumes the role of David Koresh. Here’s how it’s described on its website:

“Waco Resurrection re-examines the clash of worldviews inherent in the 1993 conflict by asking players to assume the role of a resurrected "cult" leader in order to do divine battle against a crusading government. While the voices of far-off decision-makers seem resolute and determined, the "grunts" who physically assault the compound appear conflicted and naive in their roles. The game commemorates the tenth anniversary of the siege at a unique cultural moment in which holy war has become embedded in official government policy. In 2003, the spirit of Koresh has become a paradoxical embodiment of the current political landscape - he is both the besieged religious other and the logical extension of the neo-conservative millennial vision. Waco is a primal scene of American fear: the apocalyptic visionary - an American tradition stretching back to Jonathan Edwards - confronts the heathen "other" - in Waco Resurrection, the roles are anything but fixed.”

The  programmer, Eddo Stern, was fascinating today during the Flaherty discussion on video games and other new media art forms. He and the other artists on the panel talked about the difficulty of interjecting critical thought into the gamer’s experience of playing their alternative video games. In Waco Resurrection, the player, wearing a David Koresh mask and punching keys on the keyboard, can shoot a lot of ATF agents and attract many followers, before he or she inevitably dies. But do any of the ideas in the previous paragraph sink in?  Stern has interesting things to say about how he tries to provoke  reflection, and so I hope to bring him with the piece to Charlottesville.

Outstanding news from San Francisco. Starting now, all San Franciscans will enjoy universal access to health care. They realized that they were paying so much in emergency care in public hospitals and clinics and additional services for the uninsured, that the city would actually save money by encouraging access to health care.
This is brilliant. Pay close attention to this, Charlottesville, because I would be delighted to pay $3 a month for the health care I currently do not enjoy. And consider what a boost to local affordability this would represent.
Am I correct in believing that Charlottesville would need enabling legislation to do this? Any chance of that in Virginia?

It looks like there will be more overpriced condo’s coming to the downtown mall.

The Hook has the story on their blog yesterday.

… the Charlottesville Board of architectural Review approved architect Bill Atwood’s ““Waterhouse”” project, the first of several 9-story buildings projects being developed on or near the Downtown Mall.

Now although I’m playing catch-up and writing something

The Daily Progress has a short article about the Market Street Garage being closed this week to hourly parking because of cleaning.

Uhm.. It’s a parking garage. How dirty can it get? How clean does it really need to be?

That’s just dumb.

This is my 2nd attempt at blogging, and with this blog. I’ve returned from a long break to give this another shot.

This blog was supposed to be about politics.. hense the title “Political Noise” because a lot of politics is just that - noise, hot air, as the gas bags jockey for position and try to push the agenda of “their team” whichever one that might be. In that respect I’m not much different

Go check ‘em out. On to Idaho and Montana today…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_problems_solved_by_MacGyver

If you need the Internet in Eastern Oregon, Baker City has it everywhere. A great way to spend a Sunday morning: buy cheese, plug into outdoor power supply, and connect to the world beyond.

Here’s my desk:

As we complete the second week of In the Dust of the Rabbi we saw how Jesus sent His disciples out to do as He did, to make disciples. They had spent three years following in His footsteps learning how to walk as He walked and now He sends them out to “the ends of the earth” or what they knew as Asia Minor at the time.

As you wrestle with the Text and God speaks to you about where He is sending you to make disciples, consider these questions:

1. How committed are you to carry the yoke Jesus calls you to carry?

2. Are you seeking God’s gift of greater zeal in your walk with Him?

3. Are you seeking the Kingdom of Heaven? (Remember the Kingdom of Heaven comes when God enters with His mighty power and redeems His people (exodus), God’s people acclaim His name and live in obedience to Him.

4. Will you give to God what is His iimage? (Genesis 1:26)

To follow up on this week’s lesson please read the following:

The Rabbi and His Talmidim

Bethsaida: House of Fishermen (send me an e-mail for a copy of this handout)

Hide these verses in your heart:

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ ” – John 20:21

To prepare for next week’s lesson please read:

1 John 3-4

Remember, Jesus said, “You did not choose me, I chose you.” He chose you to become His disciple… to become like Him. What will be your response? You can walk away and say that you won’t be his disciple but you cannot leave and say that you can’t be His disciple.

Stay Dusty! I will see you in three weeks when I return from Israel.