Merry Christmas

I love it when my mom sings.

"that old and rusty Cadillac that sinks into this field collecting rain"
Had a brief conversation with a friend recently about this line (ray lamontagne- empty). The beauty and melancholy at once. Christmas seems to be this way for me, as I try to detach the cultural worth of the holiday from the truth of our rejoicing on this particular day. It's weird feeling, I guess.

bit of new orleans

koinonia, andrea, grace mercy
starting the mural
downtown
our welcoming
jon loved our air mattresses
walkin' down decatur
jose
further along
my gracie girl

ny

makin' friends

origami tree in museum of natural history

more makin' friends

beauties wendi and ellen

outside of U.N. building

bb!

family love

wendi's crepes

it was cold

rothko

New Orleans City Hall Protest - December 20, 2007- Video 1

Paul is famous now! Wait for it... (toward the end)

heart-sick

JieJie made a slideshow of some photos of the previous summer. I keep watching it, and keep remembering how it all changed me. How He changed me. That's what I feel like I'm watching when I look at it. I'm watching the environment in which I became a different person. I'm seeing the people who I encountered and who left themselves all over me. I feel deeply saturated with Him, with my brothers and sisters from the summer, with the country as a whole. It feels so powerful, and all at once I want to watch it more and more and yet I also want to never watch it again-- my senses are overwhelmed, and I feel like I am overflowing with some intangible stream of nostalgia that I want so badly to grab hold of.

oh the ways of the Ancient Of Days,

((come one, come all, come enter in))

ouch.

skip wally weasel wool

peridot dreams cord
unified things
and roll into
frail schemes
of abundance.
of means.

Zahra

Professor Zeidan in class a few weeks ago, on discussing The Story of Zahra, by Hanan al-Shaykh, one of the most admired woman writers in the Arab world:

"Be careful. It's a profound work of literature, and profound work of literature usually leads to depression. Am I right? If I'm happy, I don't have to do anything-- I don't have to write. Happiness is a very shallow sentiment. I'm sorry, I don't want you to get depressed. I believe after reading any book you become a different person. Because I was so afraid after reading The Story of Zahra, I wanted you to be able to discuss it."