Uhm... Yes?

First Drafts.

2010-02-13T23:45:00.001-08:00

Theres the dark violence that grasps,
Deep and cold sweat inducing
burning for weakness
for distraction
for failure.

Feeding from lost glances,
barriers ignored.
The dark violence grasps.

Reddened knees of surrender.
Faint, wounded cries.
Beg for strength.

She comes.
Standing, watching, waiting, intercessing.

The dark violence grows and overflows.
Drowning for hours.
She stands, watching, waiting, intercessing.

Reddened face of true surrender.

She smiles and it disappears.
"Next time it will be easier"

Grad apps done

2010-01-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

So My grad apps are finally done... and while writing one of the statements of purpose, I learned quite a bit about my own art. So I thought I'd share it.
============================
I’ve sat with men and women on the dark precipice of death, and seen joy beyond my wildest imagination. Smiles that haunt my saddest memories and that remind me that there is something more to humanity. Something transcendent about our very nature that calls out, indeed begs for understanding. I believe it is only art that can begin this understanding. And that is why I am an artist.

My introduction to art was as a child living in Athens, surrounded by the foundations of our culture. Yet, the idea of art as a career came through my studies in architecture. So perhaps it’s no surprise that some of my influences spawn from formalist, modernist and minimalist backgrounds. I consider amongst my predecessors the architects: Le Corbusier, Tadao Ando, and Steven Hull, as well as the artists: Anish Kapoor, Ann Hamilton, and Richard Serra.

Aside from my upcoming degree in Art, I have received a Liberal Studies degree with a minor in Philosophy. This summer I plan to finish my Associates in Architecture. In addition, I have strong background in physics, math and astronomy. From this rigorous scientific background I have come to believe that art is as valid an area of research as any science. And it is only art that can dynamically and creatively get at the core of who we are as individuals. Art, for me, is an intuitive phenomenological research field. To this end, “Love and Responsibility”, a phenomenologic philosophical work, by Karol Wojtyla has been instrumental in my practice and understanding of art.

My art is also informed by my Catholic faith. My faith has driven me to work with the poor and dying across the world, from New York to Calcutta. In India, I saw people who were covered in years of dirt, puss and decay, overflow with joy when someone offered them a bed, a bath and food. When for the first time someone else understood the basis of their dignity, that they too were human. They craved this understanding, yet their transcendent nature was hidden in a beautiful physicality that blinded.

It is this need for understanding that has led me to my current work. Steganography is the artistic application of code making; the hiding of codes in something beautiful. For me codes parallel personality, in that the essential purpose of codes is to be understood, yet they are hidden until someone invests time and love.

When I work, I let an idea lead me through the mediums it wants to be realized in. Each medium imposes a new essence to my work that challenges me to understand and re-understand my art. This in turn, evolves my interests and affects the path of my work.

An example of this evolution is the color code and color field series evidenced in my slides. They initially began as a series of paintings a la Hans Hofmann. Their rectilinear subjects suggested a three dimensional cube, so I painted six color field paintings on a cube with interchangeable sides. From that I decided to explode the cube and include personality. I then created the installation: “Michelle” which is a phenomenologic portrait of my wife comprised of thirty six boxes of color. While reflecting upon that installation, I realized that I was installing sensory information, which varied by viewer, yet still conveyed an unchanging personality. To push and strengthen the personality, I wanted to include a hidden yet essential aspect. With that spark, I decided to return to my earlier scientific, philosophic and mathematic training and use steganography to hide the building blocks of unique personalities in color.

After research and discussions with a Cryptographer and a Computer Scientist, I figured out a dynamic way to encode any given text into color. I created two initial paintings, including “Rosetta”, which evolved into the Babel installations. Babel is comprised of stacked colored boxes, with the orientation and presence varying by site but the same underlying text: “Did you understand?” From this, I wanted to create a piece that was dynamic and birthed by viewers. For the Secrets series I wrote a computer program, which permits viewers to enter text which is encoded into color and displayed on multiple monitors and projectors. Each step builds off the last and permits a deeper investigation and evolution.

I believe Hunter would greatly assist my development and permit me to continue this process of exploration. Hunter offers unparalleled artistic colleagues, rigorous artistic expectations, and access to a primary center of the art world.

WHooHHooo!

2009-11-16T00:12:00.001-08:00

I got in a show!
I just got word earlier tonight that I was accepted for a juried show!

Exhibition of Mathematical Art
Joint Mathematics Meetings
January 13-16, 2010 - San Francisco, California.
http://www.anneburns.net/jmm10/
http://www.anneburns.net/jmm10/alonzo.html (link may change soon, it's a temporary site).

Anyone remember a Christmas story?

2009-09-13T23:40:00.000-07:00

So the other day I went into the fridge to get something to drink... unfortunately, I didn't know that a finger and a piece of metal are magnetically attractive.
My finger got stuck Just like the tongue in Christmas story, so I told michelle get some warm water. She looked at me confusedly and a little upsettedly, but didn't move. so I said again, get me some warm water fast. she came into the room, got water and poured it... but the first one didn't work, and instead of freeing my one stuck finger, she pushed a second one against the metal.

Luckily the second pour worked. She was my heroine! And my second finger though smarting didn't hurt all that much... but the first one did/does. I've even woken up in the middle of the night from random pains in it.

Goes to show everything you see in movies really does happen!

Website

2009-09-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

here's the google app website:
It's called google latitude:

http://www.google.com/mobile/products/latitude.html#p=default

New camera

2009-09-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

my new camera came in...
My first picture:

Her first picture:

oh and apparently google has a mobile phone application that will show you the location of your friends! (You have to permit others to see your cell phone location first, and they have to do the same.)

Sorta cool.

really creepy.

Possibly useful, esp. in NYC!

30 Rock

2009-09-06T12:39:00.001-07:00

We've been singing this song lately...

Hillarious!

2009-09-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Worst decision this year...

2009-08-30T13:15:00.001-07:00

So graduating this past spring from Iowa State has turned out to be the worst decision I've made this year.

This is because I knew I wanted to take art classes this and next semester to develop my work... so now I'm out $12,000 in GRANT money.

Why did I do that? why? $12,000!

San Antonio!

2009-08-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

So we've arrived in San Antonio for our second reception.

This morning they asked for volunteers to get bumped and we immediately said yes!

In return, we major banked... $1200 in flight money, and $60 in Food vouchers... that's the best bump I've ever done! and only for a 3 hour delay. Michelle and I figured that that equalled about $210/hr. Which is a great pay rate... and we only had to "consult" for 3 hours.

Ah if only that was my consultation fee... that would be amazin'!

great story

2009-08-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Great old Fulton Sheen!
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/07/fulton-sheen-confession-story/

Texas reception

2009-07-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Texas Wedding reception, SAN ANTONIO, AUG 22nd if you want to come, msg me. More info as it comes.

2009-06-23T16:44:00.001-07:00

We also just experienced the slowest pizza ever while waiting for new tires... 2hours for a medium pizza and 2 sodas... The pizza was, however, amazing.

2009-06-23T16:42:00.001-07:00

So we just experienced the fastest tow ever... the guy came in 5 mins and backed up and was done in seconds without leaving the truck. Amazing.

2009-05-08T12:00:00.001-07:00

Checking to see if txt msg blogging is now working.

Finally

2009-05-08T11:57:00.001-07:00

Finally the orthodox Catholics out there point out the the conservative Catholics that there is such a thing as stupid fun,
http://deacbench.blogspot.com/2009/05/vatican-paper-on-angels-demons-harmless.html

Advanced Painting final

2009-05-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

My final for advanced painting was a painting installation. It was highly successful and received rave reviews from my class and professor. I just wish it had been up for much longer than 8 hours after the 12 hours I worked on installation.

In a first, I've uploaded a video of the installation to youtube. But since I can't figure out how to link it easily, I've also uploaded it here on blogger...

WHOOAH

2009-04-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

After a long and interesting residency process, I have finally been awarded Instate in Vermont! YAY!

Now I can start paying off my debt that I've accrued this semester.

Vermont Gay Marriage

2009-04-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Representative Robert South, a freshman Democrat from a conservative district, said he reversed his position after 228 of his constituents reached out and urged him to support the override, compared with 198 who urged him to oppose it.
(NYTIMES)

This man was one of the very few swing votes. And whatever way he voted was THE decision, either to permit or not permit gay marriage. It either would have been 150-49 one way or 149-50 the other. One way barely passing, one way barely stopping the veto override.

30 phone calls/letters or emails decided the Vermont Gay marriage legislation.

30 people like you or me.

Whatever side of the aisle you're on, are you doing your civic duty to inform your representative?

A bit too late...

2009-04-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

"Obama's support among Catholics has eroded.

According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans who disapprove of Obama's job performance increased by nine points from February to March.

Among Catholics as a whole, his disapproval rating jumped 14 points. And among white, non-Hispanic Catholics, the figure doubled -- from 20 percent to 41 percent. "

I've got one thing to say. Why were you guys fooled by his rhetoric?

Amazing!

2009-03-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

Check these out:
movie

epic

mix

Gradumation

2009-03-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

I just found out that my petition for changing the transfer level of two of my classes back to ISU was approved.

So as long as I pass my classes, I am qualified for graduation this semester!

The were transferring back as sophomore level, but now they've been approved as Junior level which means I'm golden!

The attacks

2009-03-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

The scouts are out testing our defenses and resolve.

The full frontal attack may be a year or so away.

Connecticut has a piece of legislation that would attempt to destroy the Church, which church? SPECIFICALLY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

Obama has outlawed conscience in medical care, by removing a presidential conscience order that had protected conscientious objections from prosecutions.

Obama has overturned the stem-cell research funding for embryos, WHEN THERE ARE PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVES, deriving from adult stem cells which are proved to be equivalent scientifically and morally superior (you don't have to kill the adult and its relatively painless).

The Freedom of Choice Act has been announced as being reintroduced "sooner than later" by Democrats. Which does not do as it claims but actually outlaws the states' decisions against abortions.

Euthanasia is now getting protection, surprisingly by the democrats saying they want to help end abortion...

Obama is the president who has used the most biblical quotes and prayers (apparently) but even Satan quotes the bible, in well, the bible (in the 40 days of the desert, aka the first lent).

Christians need to wake up fast... the onslaught is coming. Don't expect there to be peace, don't be deluded. If these scouting actions are permitted by men of good will, like the NAZI's reclamation of the Rhineland was permitted, expect a WWII to follow within months.

Cereal Patriotism

2009-02-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

So I was playing in class...

Whatcha think?

Art

2009-02-03T20:42:00.001-08:00

So I'm in a Sculpture, painting and digital art class...

For sculpture, I've completed a rough copy of a DaVinci model and copied a Kitsch piece.

And today I've completed my podium for my pieces... one side is a fire place and the other is a traditional podium from a museum... both sides are joined by the "light" beneath.

The pieces will both fit on the mantle, one on either side or could fit on the "museum" side together. Suggesting that museums don't usually find it fitting to place both in their repertoire, but the average person would have no problem having both.

The sunset was beautiful today.
And this is my painting in progress.

A defense

2009-02-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

A very good friend of mine pointed out that I should qualify my excitement over the excommunications being lifted, especially in light of the Antisemitism that exists amongst some of the group. So I wrote a short defense to him, which I think would be good to post.
-----

My excitement stems not from their ultraconservative nature or Bishop Williamson. In fact I find ultraconservativism quite distasteful. My excitement is the same that a brother would have, if his father finally told his crazy extremist brother, after several years, that he could come back. A divided family hurts. And it takes humility for the extremist brother to return, and stay home this time.

Plus not all the schismatic Lefebrites are crazy extremists. At least a few are just misguided souls who really could care less about idiocies like Williamson's statement. And there are numerous examples of God saving or being willing to save a whole group of people just for the sake of one just soul.

A third point is that salvation does not depend upon a view of human history. And I don't believe that there's a mandated excommunication in the Church Law books for an ignorant view of history.

And for the most part there will be no difference in the Church, as we already have an almost identical group inside the church called the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. And I doubt any major concessions can ever be made to the Society of St. Pius X, aside from the recent lifting of excommunication. And the excommunication only ever pertained to those four Bishops due to their ordination without the Pope's consent. The rest of the SSPX have never been explicitly excommunicated, and if anyone was implicitly excommunicated, it was most likely only the priests and not the laity.

For me this is a matter of family mercy. Sometimes you put up with your stupid brother just because he's your stupid brother.

Honeymoon!

2009-02-01T13:49:00.001-08:00

We're going to the Domincan Republic for our Honeymoon!

Check it out here

Michelle's Aunt Cindy and Uncle Adam are giving us a week of their timeshare program, and we're using it in style. :-)

Oh and we were blessed by an amazing deal for our Invitations... after Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Michelle and I ran over to the paper store 10 minutes before it closed and got a 98.3% discount on each set of 50... originally averaging around 30$... we got them on clearance for a $1... but it was also a 50% off sale... so it was 50 cents each set of 50!

Sold my first paintings!

2008-07-24T18:08:00.001-07:00

Sunday? I sold my first three paintings! They were sold to two beautiful women I know... and the third (not pictured is the sacred heart that matches the Our lady of Fatima)

Now I am confident enough to say that I'm a painter! I've satisfied all three of the things that make you a "Painter".
1.) Go to a residency (bonus: full fellowship)
2.) Have a Gallery Show
and
3.) Sell Paintings

Any one of the three suffices normally, but due to providence, I got two for "free"... so the third is what was really important for me to feel confident.

End of sale

2008-06-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

So I'm ending the $5 sale as of today... my shop is getting ready to go live (Please do not buy anything there yet!) And will be up in the next two days... it will accept paypal, google checkout and credit, as well as good hard cash/money orders/checks.

The end of the sale was supposed to coincide with the end of my show, but I delayed it hoping for more interest.

Contact Sheets

2008-05-25T18:25:00.001-07:00

Here are contact sheets from the photos in my show... if you want any, I will offer them at the same price as in my show... but... remember that shipping and handling for delicate items is expensive... I'm not sure how cheap I can make it yet, but I'll do my best to find the best deal to get you the prints in the best condition.

So the price is 5$ a print + optional donation to help me work with the poor in India in August + shipping and handling (I haven't researched this yet)... if you do want to buy any, I'd recommend buying several, as that won't increase the shipping and handling much, if at all.

Also the first two sets of pictures (the larger sized images) are on professional glossy paper, where as the rest are on Fine Art Paper, both of which are high quality Canon papers which provide great ranges of color and photo lab quality. The Fine Art paper is Matte (not glossy). And I am willing to print any of the photos out on either paper. Though I personally prefer the paper choices I've mentioned.

Artist's Statement

2008-05-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is the artist's statement that I have out in the Gallery. (It's a one page hand out).

Faith (verb): The pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.

Most people will find this definition pleasing, because it is generous to the human spirit, and because it enlarges the “faithful” to include every human. This is because we are innately attracted to the Truth, the Good and the Beautiful. We only need to look at the last five minutes of our lives, to see this.

We can recall that in the last five minutes we’ve made decisions that involve each of these three things. We’ve decided to look at him instead of her, because he is more pleasing, we’ve decided to come to see an art show because it is good for our enrichment, and we’ve decided to say or do certain things because saying or doing otherwise would not be who we are. Regardless of our Philosophical, Religious or other views, we can all agree that Truth, Goodness and Beauty are worthy pursuits.

A Catholic is one who has discovered a deeper level to this definition; that Truth, Goodness and Beauty are a Person and not solely an idea. Recall the first time you fell in love, the kind of love where every bit of your body yearned to be touching them; you just wanted to be near, or even just close enough to see them. The kind of love that possessed you and every thing you did. You probably pursued the person until they were crazed by you, and ultimately they rejected you. The desire to possess and be possessed by the person you love, is natural to all of us, it is only through our lives, and the rejections that we experience that we learn that to possess and be possessed, we must play act as if we did not desire these things.

Yet, I’ve discovered in the pursuit, in the falling in love with this Person, that we’re never rejected, and instead the opposite is true. We discover in faith, that God is more vulnerable to us, than we are to Him. We discover that He is so vulnerable to us and He wants so much to satisfy our needs that we actually find Him “needy”. And just as we do with our human friend and lovers, we act out, we get angry, we try to hurt Him, we turn away, and we behave in ways that we hate. And just like with our human friends, we come back, we apologize, or just try forgetting.

We seek and then reject, and ultimately we return. This is the nature of our faith.

Mother Teresa and St. Francis had faith. They pursued their lives every moment as if their only desire was to grow ever more deeply in love with Jesus Christ. They lived their lives “Faith or Bust”. Yes, they fell; though we may never know exactly how hard they fell or the details of their struggles, their sins and rejections of God, we know they were human. They pursued Goodness, Beauty and Truth so radically, that the more they pursued their beloved, the more and more they became like Him. They became living “Goodness”, living “Beauty”, and they became living “Truth”.

Their lives speak to generations, to cultures and to every individual. They changed the world, by doing something as simple as falling in love. They viewed each second, each bird, each person, each drop of rain, each poverty, each excruciating agony, and each overwhelming joy as love letters from their Beloved. This is why I am an artist.

Gallery photos

2008-05-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

I'm still exhausted from setting up the show... but here are the photos I promised!

Setting up...

The outside view of the Red Mill gallery at my work.

This is me setting up... I used the flannel fitted sheet (on right) to cover up Ecce Nika until just after dinner was over and everyone was heading to the gallery (didn't want anyone to see it from the street before show time :-) ), and I used the other flannel sheet on the ground as a setup device for my photos...I measured the three walls and then I'd mark the walls on the sheet and then pre-lay out my photos... (easier to do than switching them out on the walls).

The walls are prepped for any volunteers...

Dilini and Lori to the rescue!

My first painting ever... and still one that I love.
Our Lady of She-shan
Sacred heart #1, Our Lady of Fatima, and sacred heart #2.
Ecce Nika!
Photos in the main gallery (where the paintings are also)

walking from the main gallery into the entrance gallery

walls of photos from India (around 240!)

Three small paintings!

okay... sleepytime.

Oh! and I really think I need to retake photos of Ecce... it looks better without the flash/bad camera lighting.

Show

2008-05-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

I will be posting photos of the show in the next few hours.... but it went really really really well!

I sold a lot of photos from India and one from Paris, so far.

It was exciting. And the greatest thing about it, is that the purchasers have all been fellow artists!

And much thanks to a few friends, Lori, Michelle, Dilini, Reid and a new friend from Korea that I never caught the name of. They helped so much to get my show up!

First Century ever...

2008-05-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, just after 9 pm, I completed my first 100 mile day... yup 100.38 miles...

English Law...

2008-05-12T00:30:00.001-07:00

http://www.cwnews.com/offtherecord/offtherecord.cfm?task=singledisplay&recnum=4729

Longest ride of the year so far...

2008-05-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

I rode from my house to Michelle's house today... it took me about 2:15, and was approximately 38 miles. I doubted at the beginning of the ride if I could make it... and the second decade of miles was the hardest... and due to the wonders of technology I now know why they were the hardest...

check this out http://www.heywhatsthat.com/profiler.html... it's a path profiler... type in a point, then the next, and if you're using roads, click smooth path... then type the next point, smooth path, etc. until all points are in... and then click draw profile...

this is my route from today...

(click for a better view)

But now I see WHY my legs hurt most during the second decade... that's where the worst climb was!

Sad. Sad. Mr. Barack Obama

2008-05-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

"I've got 2 daughters 9 years old and 6 years old. I'm gonna teach them first of all about values and morals,but if they make a mistake I don't want them punished with baby, I don't want them punished with an std at the age of 16."

The video from CNN

If a baby is a punishment, then what are the elderly, the sick, the disenfranchised, the forgotten?

Papal Saturday--“You have restored us to life!”

2008-05-02T13:19:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning, I woke up around 530 am... which was about an hour and a half later than I had set my alarm... apparently something happened to where my Cellphone was advanced 11 hrs and 45 minutes... and was thus why my alarm did not go off... so I rushed down to the Empire State Building complex... When I arrived, Michelle and her family had a place near the front of the line which spanned a few blocks... and luckily upon asking a police officer if I could join them, the officer permitted me to cut the line.
A little before 7 they openned the security area and started letting the lines move into the ESB complex... the lines had been well organised before this, but at this point the lines became free form and extremely easy to cut (which many people did).

Luckily for us again, we were able to grab a piece of the railing against the road. (every body wanted to be near the Cathedral, so we went as far away from the mass of people, and found a nice spot).
Eventually the time came and with an escort of Motorcycle cops, secret service in Suvs, and others the Pope's limo came...
I had been told that the Pope was in the second limo... but much to my photographic chagrin, he was in fact in the first (another show of the security tactics they use to protect diplomats).

And as such I was un prepared to get a photo when he came closest, but was able to get this perfect shot of him...

Yup, that's him behind the NYPD.

This was when he came out of the limo to start walking up the steps of St. Pats.
I like this picture, because he's looking at you through the screen... with an incredible depth.
They were prepared for every eventuality... After he entered the Church, I jetted... down 49th to 6th ave, then down to 47th, then back to 42nd and Lexington ave (Grand central)... a circuitous route, but a necessary one so I could catch the subway up to Yonkers, for the Seminarian/Youth rally.
When I arrived at the racetrack after taking the shuttle bus from the subway, I discovered an enormous line!

I took 2 hours to get through line... and it felt like 3... but we all got through.

The security the whole weekend was crazy prepared... A bomb squad, missing persons tent (green) and snipers and submachine guns just out side of noticeable range the whole time.
When I got to the seminary, I luckily went through the short line on the side of the building due to my ticket being for a guest of the vocations director... and upon walking around, I found Fr. Groeschel had also just arrived.
The route down to the field hid the emensity of the day... 25,000!
As we made our way down to the seminarian section, we passed by two things, we would never use unless we had to (due to the enormity of lines)... the food vendors (where in theory you could redeem your free meal, but in reality, you couldn't... as it took apparently 3 hours to do so).
The first group that I saw on the stage, was the St. Michael's warriors Dance troupe... (Michelle's former group). I still don't get it. :-)
There were various entertainment acts that followed, from Korean cultural dancing, to THIRD DAY!!!!!
To Matt Maher, Fr. Stan and many others... each with a brief set, and quickly replaced by the next group. An interesting change in atmosphere occured when the two secular bands played... Kelly Clarkson and the Three Graces... during both of which the seminarian section (comprised of religious, seminarians, and other like minded individuals) fell silent, with most of us asking ourselves how appropriate this music was... the youth sections liked Kelly Clarkson, but also fell silent during the Three Graces.

After having to dress nicely, I decided at the concert to take off my nice shoes (which hurt) and my jacket... I was so much more comfotable with the ants tickling my feet...

I made a few reunions.... Zack from my NET year was the first.

When Benedict came, the crowd went quiet... and as he visited with the disabled children in the Seminary chapel, everyone had an experience of seeing beauty and love being poured out... it was the most touching part of the trip for me... seeing the children come to him, and seeing him light up even more with joy.
As he came down to the field everyone was electrified... we all followed the eyes of the bishops and cardinals on stage to find out where he was as the mass of people was enormous... eventually I managed to stand on the barricade I was at and see him...
The crowds rejoiced to be in his presence... chanting "Christ our Hope, Benedict our Pope" and singing the Regina Caeli and various other latin songs.

Papa gave us a great address, beautiful in it's truth, comfort and exhortation.

"Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Saint John Neumann, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, and Padre Felix Varela: any one of us could be among them, for there is no stereotype to this group, no single mold. Yet a closer look reveals that there are common elements. Inflamed with the love of Jesus, their lives became remarkable journeys of hope. For some, that meant leaving home and embarking on a pilgrim journey of thousands of miles. For each there was an act of abandonment to God, in the confidence that he is the final destination of every pilgrim. And all offered an outstretched hand of hope to those they encountered along the way, often awakening in them a life of faith. Through orphanages, schools and hospitals, by befriending the poor, the sick and the marginalized, and through the compelling witness that comes from walking humbly in the footsteps of Jesus, these six people laid open the way of faith, hope and charity to countless individuals, including perhaps your own ancestors."

..."Have you noticed how often the call for freedom is made without ever referring to the truth of the human person? Some today argue that respect for freedom of the individual makes it wrong to seek truth, including the truth about what is good. In some circles to speak of truth is seen as controversial or divisive, and consequently best kept in the private sphere. And in truth’s place – or better said its absence – an idea has spread which, in giving value to everything indiscriminately, claims to assure freedom and to liberate conscience. This we call relativism. But what purpose has a “freedom” which, in disregarding truth, pursues what is false or wrong? How many young people have been offered a hand which in the name of freedom or experience has led them to addiction, to moral or intellectual confusion, to hurt, to a loss of self-respect, even to despair and so tragically and sadly to the taking of their own life? Dear friends, truth is not an imposition. Nor is it simply a set of rules. It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ. That is why authentic freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in; nothing less than letting go of self and allowing oneself to be drawn into Christ’s very being for others (cf. Spe Salvi, 28)."

"Dear friends, the example of the saints invites us, then, to consider four essential aspects of the treasure of our faith: personal prayer and silence, liturgical prayer, charity in action, and vocations...
Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness, listen to God, adore him in the Eucharist. Let his word shape your journey as an unfolding of holiness."

there was a massive amount of garbage on the ground when we left, with a few CFR sisters taking it upon themselves to help clean up, and a few others here and there. (The priest in this picture was a seminarian at Denver when I was on NET and the guys stayed at the seminary for a week, I believe).

This is Deacon Tommy Chen... A Lambda Omega Alpha fraternity brother of mine from UT Austin... He's getting ordained soon! So pray for him!

Getting back to downtown from Yonkers was crazy, I ended up walking from the seminary (instead of risking another 2 hour wait to go in the reverse direction that I came), with some CFRs, and managed to catch a ride with them to Catholic Underground downtown where Michelle was waiting... after I arrived, we had to leave to go pick up tickets for the Sunday mass for her family... and we also managed to get tickets for a Canadian who was ticketless.

And eventually I managed to get dinner, around 11:30, and to sleep around midnight thirty.

"Friends, again I ask you, what about today? What are you seeking? What is God whispering to you? The hope which never disappoints is Jesus Christ. "
Benedict XVI to the youth and seminarians

Faith or Bust 2008!?!

2008-04-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm arranging a trip to Calcutta again, so far I have about 3 definites, 3 probables and 2 (unlikely) possibles. Pray for us!!! We're going in August for a month to help out Mother Teresa's order (Missionaries of Charity).

Also, if you're interested in coming, email me or post a reply on this blog!

Also, I'll post some things about the pope visit soon... I've been busy trying to arrange things for an art show I'm doing probably at the end of May.

CHANT!

2008-04-23T14:03:00.001-07:00

I have it on Good information, that my suspicion on who started the chant was wrong... it was the Beautiful Sisters of Life!

CHRIST OUR HOPE; BENEDICT OUR POPE!

2008-04-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

... was the most memorable chant we made this past weekend. At the youth/seminarian rally some Dominican sisters from Michigan (I believe it was them) created it right behind my back. With the CFRs joyfully joining in the original volley. Joined quickly by the Sisters of life, and rapidly everyone.

I think it best describes this past weekend. Christ is our Hope, bringing us every good, which includes Benedict being our pope. A courageous medium height man, who's smile and joy shine beauty anywhere he steps.

I had the luxury and honor of meeting Benedict the first day. And it was all obviously by God's design. I had come to New York planning on going to St. Vincent church on Friday night to listen to the Legionaries of Christ give a talk about Benedict, and Going to the Seminarian/youth rally on Friday morning ... but it turns out that the rally was on Saturday, which was fortunate, because I had to pick up tickets Friday during the day, get my clothes pressed, and do various other things... while picking up my tickets, I learned that the Sisters of life were only in a few churches that night, and St. Vincent wasn't one. And the sisters were doing street evangelization, so I had to make a choice, either do what I wanted (listen to a talk) or help the Sisters evangelize. Ultimately, I took an email from the Sisters telling me about the Friday night masses a few days earlier as an invitation by God to help them. So I went and helped on the street.

After helping on the street, and putting away the Pope-Cutout that people took pictures with, I went into Adoration, to get some prayer in. While praying, I got a tap by one of the Sisters of life, asking me to come help. So I got up, and headed out with her. I ended up heading out with the Sisters, rushing down Lexington Avenue... scarfing down half of dinner, and realising I didn't quite look appropriate (I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt that said "I (heart) my German Shepard") By the time I finished trying to eat my dinner (I didn't finish eating it until late late that night), we were at the Secret Service security check point, and I was heading through... Goshea was great and let me put my food into her bag while we waited for the Pope to arrive. (Security by the way was about 1:1 ratio of Law enforcement to visitors... meaning about 60 security :60 visitors)

When he finally came out, he came straight for me,took my hand into his large warm, embracing hands, and kept hold of my hand as he walked left of me... my hand only being severed from his grip by the Secret Service pulling us apart... but then he came back took my hand again and looked into my eyes, when I asked him something, and then he engaged the sister beside me in brief conversation.

And the rest is History.

Comment on another person's comment on another person's post...

2008-01-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

Hehe, so I couldn't think of a blander way of putting that into a title, so I am quite satisfied with this title. :-)

I was reading a blog on another person's site earlier and I read a comment that I ultimately decided to respond to, the topic of the other person's blog or the substance of the comment some one wrote on it, is really of no import to my purpose in publishing my response here.

I've decide to publish my response here on my blog as I found my response a nice concise representation of what I believe about Truth.

I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it encourages all of you to try to understand what you believe.

I appeal to you're sense of truth. And I encourage you to seek it and to speak what you believe is true, but I also encourage you to test it... from my experience Truth is freeing and converts people, changing their lives from one of doldrums and strife to one of essential peace and joy.

I'm former atheist and a philosopher/former physics student (5 yrs in college) so I know how to make arguments that other people can't refute and if they do I know how to make them look like idiots. And with my background I also know that almost ANY position is defensible if you have certain views about the universe.

So I do not wish to argue with you but to ask you to do something so much easier and equally so much harder. Look at what your beliefs about truth are, analyse them and assess if your beliefs about truth match what you see in the truth that you know. I.e., if you believe "truth" is enslaving, then does what you know to be truth enslave or set free, if you believe truth (after the initial internal conflict) ultimately brings peace, does what you know to be truth bring peace or does it bring frustration, anger and hatred about others who oppose you? If you believe truth enlightens you and that others need enlightenment, then when you spread what you believe is truth to others, do they become enlightened or do they dismiss you as an oppressor and not an enlightener? If you believe truth brings joy, then do others find joy in the truth you know or do they find malice and oppression?

For me I believe truth is freeing, joyous, peaceful and enlightening though I also believe when confronted with the truth, it clashes each time with our own egos and we reject it. But it infects us, until at some point it becomes so powerful that we can no longer decide to reject it and remain at peace with ourselves. It is at that point that we have to choose to be honest and humble and accept the truth or be prideful and arrogant and reject it.

And for me, it is hard to decide when I do one or the other. Yet in time I can look at my life and decide am I at peace and do I bless everyone I meet or do I curse every person I meet? Do I find joy with being in silence for an hour? Or can I not stand to be silent for a minute? And find every moment not distracted torturous?

I encourage you to continue seeking truth, speaking truth, and assessing what you think is truth.

I will do the same, though I must say I have met Him, and He is Glorious!

Blessings and Praise,
Sirhair

Women Priests

2008-01-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

A couple of Anglican women "priests" have converted to catholicism...

(http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bestoftheweb/~3/217101104/women-priests-catholics.htm)

My favourite quote...

Christina Rees of Women and the Church says: "Every woman who is ordained as a priest in the Church of England knows in one sense there is still a question mark hanging over her orders in a way which does not hang over the order of her male colleagues."
Catholics, incidentally, would disagree with this last claim. There is no question mark hanging over the orders of any Anglican priest – at least, not according to Pope Leo XIII.

That last line means, Catholics don't believe ANY Anglican (or protestant) has "(Holy) Orders" only Catholics, Orthodox, and a few other churches which are so small and unheard of in the US to really bear mention.

Here's praying and to hoping that those schismatic and excommunicated women who think they've gotten Catholic Holy Orders will repent and convert...

Best christmas wrapping ever...

2008-01-13T17:00:00.001-08:00

Ingredients:
1 Free Friendly's sundae (in bag)
1 Serrated Knife
1 Stuffed animal
1 Present (not pictured)
Step 1: Place items on table.

Step 2: take 1 serrated knife and 1 poor hapless creature... cut seam on bottom.

Step 3: Appear maniacal

Step 4: Show enjoyment while working

Step 5: put knife down and enjoy Friendly's sundae, while holding torture victim inverted.

Step 6: resume operation

Step 7: let girlfriend help

Step 8: Let girlfriend appear maniacal...

Step 9: Relish gutting the poor hapless being.

Step 10: Show pride in workmanship.

Step 11: insert present (e.g., vermont maple cheddar cheese and a venison jerky stick) into gutted creature.

Step 12: Invert creature again, and begin restuffing guts.

Step 13: commence surgical stitching.

Step 14: Tie knot in starting end of stitching
Step 15: Spend 15 hours staring. Just staring.

Step 16: Spend 16 hours staring closer. Closer, I say!

Step 17: Tie end knot in stitching.

Step 18: Let girlfriend stuff candy in poor hapless creature's present bag.

Step 19: Return test subject to original crate.

Step 20: Make test subject look pitiful.

Now... opening best Christmas wrapping ever...

Step 1: Present 1 cuddly stuffed animal to 1 Adult male hunter/bricklayer/Biker.
Step 2: Have adult male read attached letter explaining your desire to have sent him on a hunting expedition in southern South America for penguin.
Step 3: Include in letter your unfortunate moral dilemma of sending him on a trip to South America and thus causing an increase in green house gases due to his travel, or bring a penguin to him.
Step 4: Let adult male biker/hunter know that you just couldn't in any good conscience hurt the planet and thus you can't send him to South America.
Step 5: Present a penguin for him to gut.
Step 6: Watch as adult male hunter/biker guts a poor hapless creature and hear him say "it feels like guttin' a deer"

Step 7: watch as he rips the Penguin's bottom off.

Step 8: Watch him remove presents from carcass.

Step 9: Watch adult male hunter toss carcass to nearby woodland animal to devour.

Snowboarding

2007-12-20T07:15:00.000-08:00

========
Yesterday, I went snowboarding for the first time... with my friend Danny.

We left early (around 8am) and headed to the mountain...
I rented gear (figuring that it was best to do that for the first time up, though I do have a board that I bought from a thrift store...).

Riding the conveyor belt up the beginner's practice slope.

The beginner's slope...
One day I'll ride that up...

We're done.

It was fun... I think I'll buy a helmet and boots now... (I have a board/bindings, and though they are not "perfect" for me, they should be good to practice with).

Skiing

2007-12-14T05:43:00.000-08:00

Two days ago, I went skiing for the first time ever... Cross-country... it was fun but also quite funny... I fell over repeatedly when I began but towards the end of my first excursion, I was able to ski relatively well, and stay standing... which I thought were quite large accomplishments for a first timer who went by himself.
Me after my first skiing trip.

my skis... you can still see the snow.

I was really happy I had ski pants. Nice and waterproof and warm... (they give you the freedom to fall in snow and not worry about getting soaked).

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T14:02:00.001-08:00

So thanksgiving morning I wake up and decide to check the time... finding my alarm off, I check my cell; 6:20am... funny my alarm should have gone off by now... turns out there's no electricity anywhere...

Just darkness..

So we made breakfast (meaning cold cereal and hot coffee from stove top). Meanwhile, Mark is filleting the Salmon and cutting up the turkey, in case it needs to be cooked on the stovetop as this power outage was unexpected... after offering my help, Mark sends me home after breakfast, as others are coming in... I head home to sleep before I have to be back to help out with Thanksgiving dinner... as I get home the power goes on... I can imagine that Mark is thankful as well as everyone else.

When I wake up I go and help setup for dinner...

Later on, we have a wine/cheese/pate course served in the gallery (130) prior to dinner (200).

(Angelo, Gowri and Legend)

Devon, our kitchen help extraordinaire.

Marc (little Marc) and me

Cold Leftovers for 6pm dinner...

JP2 Music

2007-11-23T04:59:00.000-08:00

JP2's life is going to be featured in a new "Trip hop trance" music video...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2858937.ece (apparently produced by St. Paul Multimedia from the Vatican and created by a British Agnostic.)

Anglican hope

2007-11-23T04:51:00.000-08:00

An Anglican Bishop (http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2007/11/episcopal-bishop-joins-catholic-church.html) has joined the Catholic Church... (the first that I've heard of recently, though most likely not the only one who has) Also, the Pope is calling a meeting to discuss the rising influx of Anglicans joining the Catholic Church... All because we've kept to the Truth for so long and so unwaveringly so.
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2926365.ece) Apparently, a traditionalist group of Anglicans has as a whole approached the Pope... reminding me when the Queen (of england) approached JP2 about the Anglican's troubles over a decade ago.

I pray that the Anglicans become the first in a series of Christians who seek and succeed in full reunification.

Winterizing and Baptism

2007-11-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I did two interesting things...

One, I went and did my laundry and talked to a guy at the thrift shop about faith (the shop is run by an international rehab ministry). We talked about original sin and baptism, talked about obedience to the elders and just general faith. It was the most uplifting time I've had here yet... and made me miss having the community I had in Louisiana... where things like that were daily.
while look up baptism today in Canon Law I came across something saddening (because of what state a person would be in to receive baptism) and yet really loving and hopeful (because of the power of the sacrament and what it would prepare the person for... the loving arms of Christ).

Can. 871 If aborted fetuses are alive, they are to be baptized insofar as possible.

It's interesting to me that the people "ARE TO BE" and not "should be".

The other interesting thing was winterizing my house... As you can see it was successful...

yet apparently I was distracted... I'll be staring at that screw driver for 6 months now... but it'll be funny.

God bless!

Blizzard

2007-11-18T15:58:00.000-08:00

So several days ago... (Friday) I had to wake up early to cover someone's shift... and to my chagrin, I discovered it was snowing... though at that early hour of 6 and a half, the ground was not covered, so I expected it to end... but no. It kept snowing for most of the first half of the day, depositing about an inch of snow which is still here, in the first official snowfall.

And yes, one inch does not constitute a blizzard, but...
As you can tell by my face, the wind and snow was brisk...
That's the red mill... the first floor is the gallery, kitchen and dining hall.

The diagonal white lines are snow...

Mary's and God's Love

2007-11-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

When I was visiting Medjugorge,
I heard this story about one of the visionaries

My friend was visiting with the visionary and having a good conversation with a few other friends

when the visonary's child came around

(toddler)

(of 5)

and started acting up and misbehaving

being really annoying and disrespectful

the visionary took no notice of it

until the very worst the child became

at which point she embraced the child

and showered him with kisses

then she asked him "is that better?"

he said no

then he pointed to a few places and said "here"

and she kissed him there

then he went of contentedly

she then said

this is how our Mother treats us

when we misbehave

she showers us with love and graces

(so that we know we are loved)

Hiking up Prospect Rock

2007-11-11T16:30:00.001-08:00

the last two days I've had the luxury of being outside... its been a bit warmer (just above freezing)... yesterday I went on a bike ride which resulted in my mountain bike being out of commission due to a broken pedal... and we weren't even off road! (I was climbing a dirt road and right at the top the pedal broke off, stripping the threads off of the crank arm... turns out that that was the last climb and the rest was all down hill, but not knowing that I went to a tree, took 10 mins to tear off a limb and then stuck it into the hole to sub as a pedal... )

And today Sara, Devon and I went hiking up to prospect rock... it was a FAST ascent, with me almost getting dropped a few times... but I hung on... and breathing heavily made it to the top. Where in the 34 degree weather I stripped to my tshirt because I was sweating and overheating...

Climbing... almost out of breath...

Ah... the view at the top...

The view when you sit... sometimes more beautiful than looking far, is looking at what is near at hand..

Me, Sara and Devon on our descent and the end of the hike.

Trip to the shrine...

2007-11-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

Michelle came up this past week for a few days, and we visited the St. Joseph shrine in Montreal... it was fun and great... It was also really nice to pray with Michelle by my side instead of on the phone.
It takes 2 hours from Johnson to Montreal... but this time it took 3... while I was on the computer looking up maps, Michelle *ehm* missed the turn off I told her to look out for... so we ended up in Burlington... okay, so maybe we both were a bit spacey that morning.

Canada is a beautiful place... it's like Iowa only North and French and has really good food.

Blessed Brother Andre was the doorkeeper of a monastery in Montreal who had a dream of building a Majestic church for St. Joseph, which became the St. Joseph oratory. Michelle is getting a blessing from Brother... yesh she's a nut.

St. Joseph! There was one statue that Br. Andre put into the church while it was being built but had no roof... saying that "if St. Joseph wants a roof he'll get a roof" almost exactly a year later the roof was completed... that particular statue is also in the Oratory near Br. Andre's heart... and that statue is quite weathered.

:-)

Who is that wide mouthed-dragon with my girlfriend?
Michelle wanted to take a few photos of me...
My favourite. :-)
So I invite you all to a brief montage of my life with Michelle starting with Michelle in her purse.

Followed by Michelle in Purse.

And Michelle in purse again...
And Michelle looking for her dinner, in purse...

And Michelle shaking hands with the minuscule purse goblin.

halloween party

2007-11-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

Reid and I had a HBHW party that's Halloween, Birthdays, House Warming party...

So I decorated...

notice the rows of wine glasses in the background... we had maybe 5-6 times as many glasses... I was given them by the women at my church after the end of the rummage sale (they would have been trashed otherwise).

Le coup de grâce.

It was a fun night.

FREE TICKETS TO BELLA!!!

2007-10-26T09:27:00.001-07:00

Dear Ed,

10,000 tickets to BELLA have been purchased by GOYA FOODS for your use this weekend!

This is a free gift from Goya Foods to New York.

(All showings Saturday/Sunday. Manhattan only. See Times/Locations below. First come, first serve).

Goya foods believes in the message of Bella and wants New Yorkers to experience the movie for FREE when it opens this weekend in Manhattan.

Bring anyone and everyone you want and spread the word.

Pick up tickets at the box office or look for people wearing Bella or Goya t-shirts.

The executive producers of Bella and Goya Foods finalized these details yesterday and we've been asked to help, so please get the word out. This will be awesome.

Blessings,

Daniel C. Schreck

_____________________________________

THEATRES and TIMES

SATURDAY and SUNDAY

AMC Empire 25

(Times Square 234 West 42nd St. btwn bway and 8th) 212-398-3939

Showtimes:

11:15am

1:45pm

4:30pm

7:15pm

9:45pm

Regal Union Square Stadium 14

850 Broadway Manhattan

(212)253-6266

Showtimes:

12:00pm

2:35pm

5:00pm

7:35pm

10:00pm

12:15am (no 12:15am on Sunday)

so

2007-10-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

so its been a little over a month since I last wrote... things in VT are going well... I finally have moved into a new/final apt... and it's fantastic... Michelle has visited a few times and Brooks and Kafel have both come up as well. Things are settling in... and I'm planning a trip to SA for Christy's wedding! I'll try to catch up with photos of my recent work but... you know how that goes... My work was recently up in the Center's gallery for a Staff show which was nice... and my old teacher/friend Emily Mason came up with her husband and visited my studio (they were here for a huge 80th birthday bash for her husband).

So... yesh... and I'm working on getting a gallery space in St. Alban's VT... and going from there!

Mother Teresa Icon

2007-09-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

A new icon (and my first painting since I got back).

Gallery

2007-09-01T18:08:00.001-07:00

So... Sarah and I were asked to put our art in the residents gallery (based on the grand fact that neither of us had yet put our stuff in the gallery, and we also had stuff that we could put up).

I also attended a "barn sale" even though it was in the middle of an alley in the town (aka, next door to my studio). It was fun, but I didn't end up buying anything...

Megamoth to Montreal

2007-08-13T16:36:00.001-07:00

During my stay at the Vermont Studio Center (VSC) we had a talent show... it was quite fun and funny, and Oswall broke some boards, after which I promptly begged for the pieces... as they are after all, good canvases.

That night I found a megamoth taking a liking to one of my paintings, a few days later when Michelle came by to help me pack up, I showed it to her (it was still around) and she refused to get anywhere within 10 feet of it... it was 2-3 inches long...

The head in the middle is the one I painted for a collaborative art piece entitled "how to get a head" there were numerous heads, all painted or worked on by other artists at the VSC. The display of the pieces was around the campfire that we would all gather around and hangout during late nights.

This is Michelle helping to pack up my studio... aint she cute?

The day we left from VSC we went up to Montreal and visited the Oratory of St. Joseph which was quite interesting and had numerous masses and confession available! It was a nice pilgrimage after being in Vermont for so long and being unable to go to mass save once a week.

This is the view from the lowest overlook at the Oratory.

And ths is the view down a street in old montreal... it was perhaps Rue du Sainte-Sacrament (Blessed Sacrament Road).

Yet again proof that the world loves me... "King Edward"... note the guy saluting me taking the picture.

Photo op for my adoring fans. :-)

A water fountain that Michelle and I put our feet into after walking for a while... it was a nice refreshing moment.

This is "Big water," the bathroom at our hostel which was in the basement, just like our bunks... which were one small hallway and one usually open door away.

Ah our bunks... Michelle's bunk is the second on the left top, mine the second on the right top.

The Cathedral in Montreal... Notre-Dame Du Monde (Our Lady of the World).

This is two days later (Monday) in Connecticut at the Final vows of the Sisters of Life... it was so beautiful! All the sisters were crying!

The after party... at the Villa Maria Guadalupe... It was so nice to get to talk to them all. On our way out I was happily captured by sister after sister (and occaisionally brother)... it took us quite some time to leave!

When we did finally leave, we headed up to the Mohegan Sun Casino to gamble... well really to baby sit, but we also gambled. (Kenny, Michelle's uncle is pictured with me).

We played a little bit the first night and the next morning, with Michelle losing all her money, and me on my last few dollars going to a quarter slot machine (we had been playing penny, nickle and half-penny slots previously). On the second spin, I hit a win, and pulled in 25$ which covered my 10$ and Michelle's 10$ that we had used to gamble the whole time, and gave me a nice profit of $6.25 (I had 1.25$ left when I won).

A few days later I went golfing with Michelle's brother and sister and her step-dad... Her step-dad and her brother are lefties, so her sister and I had to use lefty clubs... I gradually got better and even hit a few really good hits... not too bad for my first time on a course I'd say.

Seven foot, Four inches and a bit weird

2007-08-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is the seven foot by five foot painting that took me a day to stretch...

This one is a few inches wide...

and this is an abstract that was immediately after the abstract triptych

Doing God's work

2007-07-30T22:10:00.001-07:00

(From an article at http://www.cny.org/)

Ed Alonzo, a 26-year-old student at Iowa State University, said, "One of the things that I like is that (the sisters) understand how work betters human beings." The project provides him and the other volunteers a chance to work on virtues, doing things out of love and working together, he said.

"It's also creative, and people want to be creative," he said. "There's an innate desire to create—so being able to create, you get to mirror the image of God and you feel good about making something that glorifies God."

India...

2007-07-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

I miss India so much... the people, the pollution, the pain, the sickness... I was sitting on the porch of one of the studios tonight thinking of how beautiful it is here, but yet how much more beautiful India is. Living there life was so hard, but so purposeful. You woke up every morning knowing that if you didn't... well... you got up and knew that you had to start your day with Christ, because of the terrors ahead. Because you knew without Him, you couldnt stand or help.

It was hell to live in India, and I truly hated the discomfort I had to go through. But beyond the torture, there was a real meaning to my work. A meaning so real, it makes everything else I've done (save building the church) seem so artificial, so unnatural, so unimportant and so piddly. I touched Christ a thousand times each day in India.

A thousand times I had to overcome my disgust, and my aversions. And a thousand times someone would feel their dignity restored.

I miss India. I miss living that radical life of Love.

Untitled

2007-07-27T15:58:00.000-07:00

These two I did yesterday...

And this is from before dinner today...

I'm finding I really like all these odd pieces of wood that I find in the sculpture trash... they're nice and seem to give me a bit more freedom in feeling like I can just "waste" it...

Paintings series two...

2007-07-25T11:36:00.001-07:00

So these are the paintings I painted a few days ago... the day that I cleared out my studio.

And these are from yesterday...

And this is from today when I was at the river. It was such an amazing day to go swimming and then relax on the pebbled beach!

Michelle's Birthday!

2007-07-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Michelle's Birthday was Saturday, so she came up and I gave her two paintings, a bouquet of wildflowers (i.e., beautiful day lillies and an asiatic lily mixed with real wildflowers) These are the paintings below and some photos from her birthday... She's fantastic and drove all the way up to Vermont to visit me on her birthday!

Michelle at Breakfast/Lunch... right after she arrived... we then went to my studio for a short bit before we decided we all needed naps (she drove 8 hours the night before, partly because she passed up her hotel and 2 hours that morning.)

Michelle and her roommate Michelle, who came along for her birthday.

Continued... from yesterday.

2007-07-24T14:11:00.001-07:00

These are three post-studies of the "pink wheat" painting...

Some painting practice...

A lion by Leonardo Drew... (Sculptor who is in the MET, MOMA and Hirshorn, and resides in San Antonio but was up here for critiques).

A charcoal drawing...

New Beginnings.

2007-07-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

(written yesterday, posted today... you get the idea)
So I've come to the point where I've decided to move on. I've taken down the paintings in my studio, and decided to start anew. I don't know what about them was causing me to stagnate, nor do I know if I'll ever revisit them. But I've decided that it's time to start afresh. To seek that elemental vision that joins all humans in a mutual appreciation of beauty.

I went with Michelle to a ballet on her birthday, and during the ballet I began to probe what Art is. And essentially I've come to the conclusion that it's VISUAL COMMUNICATION. Art can be a compilation of Impressive visuals that move a person to say wow that's enjoyable to look at. Or art can be communication, conveying emotion and thought. But Art needs to aspire to being both at one time. If it fails in visuals, it fails to reach potential, if it fails to communicate, it fails to reach its potential, only when it both creates appealing visuals and conveys something greater, can it be called good art. If it does one to the neglect of the other, it is simply an aspirant whimper that ultimately fails.

Art can also be transparent or opaque in communication, being obvious to the vast majority, to being only understood by each individual viewer. And good art reaches the masses and touches each individual uniquely. And good art is that art which upon cursory and subsequently more in depth examinations touches the viewer and communicates a greatness beyond simple words and images.

Now the question for me and all artists is how do we communicate what we want to communicate?
(le fin)

These are the paintings as they've evolved...

There's more that I want to post but the web is not cooperating with my uploads.

Days 7, 8, and 9

2007-07-17T16:36:00.001-07:00

So the last few days have been good... steady at least. Yesterday was exciting as I was able for the first time to wake up for breakfast... but today was unfortunate to some degree that I couldn't.

My first two oil painting starts:

Continued work....

The last four from the other day...

2007-07-17T16:31:00.001-07:00

Day 3, 4, 5 (and part of 6)

2007-07-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

so today is day six. And I'm heading into the studio later to attack some new and some old. paintings.

These are the paintings as of the end of day 3...
This one is a memory from when I worked in New Orleans after the hurricane... it has a lot to do with Subtext and is tentatively called "N.O. Subtext"

Two Icons I'm working on...

More progress on this painting...

These are the paintings as of the end of day 4...

These are the paintings as of the end of day 5...

There are four more photos I want to put up... but I've got to run...

And now I'm off to a fiction reading and then off to paint!

Day two/two point five

2007-07-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

I saw a duck yesterday right before lunch... he looked gainly and awkward... yet somehow that just made me want to eat it all the more... But instead I just admired it's white plumage and persistence in upstream swimming.

So yesterday I was working on one painting... and today I'm still staring at it and working on it...

I'm also working now on four more paintings... and by working I mean I have two paintings gessoed (aka. primed) and ready for this evening, and I've already started on two panels... I really want to work on a fifth painting, but the store closed and I'll have to wait until tomorrow...

Here is the painting I'm still working on from yesterday... Base layer...
Sketches...
Some filler...
Flipped over and ready for more work.

After dinner yesterday there was a live bluegrass band playing on the lawn near my house...

and there were tons of hippies... which felt very homey for me and reminded me of Austin... oh I miss Austin.

Paintings from Day 1

2007-07-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

So we safely arrived to la guardia Airport Saturday Where Hetti confused a flock of cabbies for a flock of chickens... Michelle and I then enjoyed a lunch at this bagel deli in Queens which was swarmed with ancient locals.

We arrived back at her place, packed up some of my stuff and then promptly headed out to Connecticut that night... The next morning, I pack up my stuff into Michelle's car, and found that she had turned into a dog...
Eventually I convinced her to turn back into a human, but she wasn't so happy about having to change back.

After several hours, we arrived in Vermont ... Ver(t) Mont... Green Mountain (in French)... which makes so much more sense considering we heard French music on NPR up here.

Finally at 330, we arrived in Johnson, home of the Vermont Studio Center... (we had to be here before 4, and Michelle kindly and painfully held her need to use the restroom to get us here on time! She's fantastic!)

So I started painting yesterday... and it was interesting start... they're alot more abstract than in the past, but they're interesting. The first four are a series I call "mercy in India" and the last of the four is entitled "a death in India". The last two are untitled as of yet. And all are on paper.

quick up date.

2007-07-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

Michelle and I have made it to Texas to visit with my family, on our way bumping into the Reverend Al Sharpton... a fact that made Hetti cranky when she woke up from her sleep in our stowaway luggage.

Yesterday, Michelle and I visited the Alamo, hemisfair park, riverwalk, cathedral, basillica, and other parts of downtown San Antonio. And she had the chance to enjoy Bill Miller's Bar B Q! A Texas specialty. And she also learned of the essential place that Iced Tea plays in Texan cuisine.

New Paintings

2007-05-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

This week was the last week of painting class, so we had our final review...

It was great to hear my classmates get excited about my work! and I heard some good criticism that I can use to take my work in new directions.
And here is what I did tonight when Michelle and I (Finally) painted together... if you notice the watermark I've merged on to the painting, I've decided to do this, just to be safe. The painting is entitled "Fear not, I have conquered the world"

Pics of stuff...

2007-05-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

all of the below were found in the trash...

Downstairs:

Paint brushes that I'm trying to save by immersing them in Vinegar (they're hard due to paint drying on them) and a tube of modeling clay... I'll probably pick up several more in the near future.

a brand new fridge (used one year). On its way to the Friars in the Bronx...

My Room:
The whole kit, note the five pieces of wood in the back that is one 84inch stretcher, two 60 inch stretchers (which I found at school, and don't match, unfortunately) and two 40 inch cross beams standing straight up.

The acrylics and one art bin that I found...

The Oils in the same art bin's pull out tray.

Some photopaper, White business cards and labels, a grid ruler, a T-square, and some resume paper...

Several paint brushes, some blue duct tape, the rest of the t-square and note cards...

another brush, another tray, and another art bin, with several pencils, rubber cement, rubber cement thinner, surface sanitizer, mechanical pencils, some "shims" (for stretchers) and a prismacolor pen.

an architecture book, some sand paper, a canvas box, and a triangle.

The new mouse (okay so it quasi works...)

Michelle's stuff:

An office chair sans one original wheel... I found a replacement the day after ;-) Still in my downstairs...

Stuff at her place, some fabrics (some of it has already been used to make costumes for 14 ish kids in her class for the sound of music), a green chair, a clip lamp, a floor lamp, and a oscillating fancy fan..

Her tub after clean up of the oscillating fan (we took it apart and cleaned it... cause it was duuurty).

Things not shown, Yet:
Mine:

Several canvases, matched stretchers, pieces of wood, papers, and drawing books.
Michelle's:

Two other pieces of fabric, four rugs (two throw rugs, two area rugs), a traditional Good fan.

And most of all, my love for a woman who when she found out I was dumpster diving for cool stuff, didn't mock me, but got excited and laughed, and then went with me and looked for stuff (albeit not actual dumpster diving, but dumpster looking and taking) as we would walk to and from various stores.

She's fantastic!

College trash

2007-05-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

So you're mom always tells you never play in garbage...
but I spent several hours this past week doing just that and...
it paid off, quite nicely

35$ optical wireless mouse (works perfectly, even came with battery, owner apparently couldn't get it to work... oh technology.)
Refrigerator (Cleaned out and everything! I got it when I talked to some people moving out... they were going to get rid of it so I took it...)
Lamps
Oscillating fan
Designer fan
Rugs
Paints - oils and acrylics
Paint brushes
Papers- Vellum, Newsprint, sketch, drawing
2 Artbin Art boxes
Paper Cement
Paper Cement thinner
Canvases/stretchers
Architecture book
note cards
Resume printer paper
Business card printer paper
Label printer paper
Triangle
T-square
pristine Yards of silk pink, purple and fancy patterned
etc.

The things art students throw away...

also to all you women out there... YOU HAVE TOO MUCH UNDERWEAR. How do I know this? I kept finding womens underwear everywhere, not a single pair of mens underwear and I even found a BRAND NEW package of womens underwear in the dumpster... Womens underwear was perhaps the single most common item I found while looking for art supplies.

Forgiveness

2007-04-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

"Our Father who art in heaven...
Forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us."

So we all probably realise that this means that how we forgive is tied to how God will forgive us... BUT...

Ever notice that it doesn't say :
"as we forgive those who trespass against us and ask for forgiveness "?

I hadn't really, until just now.

(about the painting: This is my most recent work completed last Wednesday in class, it's acrylic on wood... The painting is entitled "Conversion". It discusses sin, redemption, and conversion. (the gray is not part of the painting, it is just a digital background) )

India...

2007-04-08T01:32:00.000-07:00

So I've been working on a document that is a guide to serving with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata... after an inspiration to do so at the Spy Wednesday mass (did anyone else not know that that's the name of the Wednesday of holy week?) The booklet is up to forty pages... though that's a rough rough rough draft... and needs serious editing and addition.

And as I work, I feel like I'm supposed to go back... my heart is drawn. But how do I go when I don't think I could gather that amount of money so easily??? God will have to provide an opening. But if nothing else, I'm helping at least two people get to India this year... and with the finishing of this booklet, perhaps many more.

These glossy shoes.

2007-04-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

These glossy shoes
They dance
Ahora y aqui.
In Mexico
My shoes were worn
Tired and holy.
Yet they danced
to the sound of
my daughter's cries.
Mi Bonita.

In the desert
I wore new shoes.
My wife bought them.
In the mountains,
Across the Rio,
They danced
Each time my
Heart looked down.
Mi Amor.

In the city
My shoes carried me.
Each morning I woke
I'd pull my pillows
To my feet
Wash my face
and step into
El cielo frio y azul .

My shoes stood the corner
Hoping to be chosen.
Wondering what I would
Do today.
Pacing. Praying.
They carried
Sacks of wheat,
Corn and soy.
Dug holes
Built fences.
Painted.
Yet most of all
They carried
Mi casa.

Last week
I bought new
Shoes.
Y mi alma canta
And these glossy shoes
Dance to the baritone
Of clanging
Plates
The tenor of forks
Clinking with spoons
The orchestra of the
Stove and dishwasher
And the bass
Of water
Dropping
Unto
My
Glossy shoes.

The music makes
Them dance.
Because, now,
I will
Be home
Por mi Bonita's
Cumpleaños.

These glossy shoes
They dance
Ahora y aqui.

-----------
Translations:
Ahora y aqui. ~ Right now and Right Here

Mi Bonita. ~ My Pretty One.

Mi Amor. ~ My Love.

El cielo frio y azul . ~ The sky cold and blue.

Mi casa. ~ My house

Y mi alma canta. ~ And my soul sings.

Forks ~ tenedores

Spoons ~ cucharas

Por mi Bonita's ~ For my Pretty One's
Cumpleaños. ~ Birthday.

Photos: Day 24: Geneve: trop pas. Paris: trop cool

2007-04-03T01:24:00.000-07:00

(so I'm finally catching up on my Winter trip posts...)

This statue was given by the people of Geneva to the people in Geneva for the commemoration of their return into the swiss confederation, after they left a few years before. I'd like to suggest two titles for this statue... 1.) We like to pat ourselves on our backs and celebrate our fickleness. 2.) We can't find anything of import to celebrate. (Apologies to my swiss friends and all you swiss-o-philes).

At first glance at these flags, I thought... the UN? but that's in New York and The Hague... then I realised, oh yeah, and Geneve.

Calvin's Cathedral... (St. Peter's in Geneva)

Some beautifully painted woodwork was to be found inside...

As well as "Calvin's Chair" just me or does anyone else notice a disparity in any comparison between Calvin's Chair and St. Peter's Chair... two examples... one sheer beauty... have you seen St. Peter's Chair? (well you should have I posted a picture of it in January). And two... Claim of Authority (i.e., Name) Hmm... St. Peter an actual apostle ...

The Chapel was pretty and gave me a way to imagine how churches used to be painted inside...

"The jet" or something like that... caused a beautiful rainbow!

And beautiful swans were gathered at the edge of the park

The Lunch I brought on my escape from Geneva... A yougurt drink, Virgin Cola, a sandwich of some sort (Salmon Horseradish?), and CHEESE! Oh and Meds. Not too shabby.

Upon arriving in Paris, I spent some time trying to figure out how to use the pay phones... they didn't accept change... so after trying to figure it out for awhile and asking help from some people I finally was directed to a store where I bought a Calling card... (DUH) Since my credit card wouldn't work without a Smart Chip. Then once I got a hold of Gael, I managed my way through the Subway to his place... while exiting the subway I noticed graffiti in a place that seems primo... yet one that I've never seen before... on the escalator stairs... it's like a moving advert... who wouldn't want to tag there?

Upon exiting the system I noticed the welcome of Paris... They love me so much that they put my name in lights all over the city! We will definitely have to fix their choice in colour, but I'll let it slide this time.

Gael with his GAMBAS! He's an amazing guy, you should meet him! Either in Paris or India!

And this guy... with a great French meal in front of him...

And a great French desert!

Cell phone photos

2007-04-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

So This post is all about the straggling photos on my cell phone...

These are my paintings from week 2(?) displayed for the class critique.

So a few weeks ago Holly, Mitch and some other ISU students came up to Manhattan for spring break... and we came across the largest set of stairs I've seen in NYC yet... while we were half way through a mile uphill detour which could have been solved by sucking up my pride and turning back to the subway station and taking the elevator up...

This is Holly and that is holly. A very big holly.

Beautiful St. Michael at the Cloisters in Northern Manhattan... So beautiful... it reminded me of my wonderful girlfriend. (Her patron saint is Michael).

MASSIVE PAINTING UPDATE

2007-04-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

So for the last five weeks we've had a model in my art class... (week 4 we had two and at one point three models) and my teacher has been trying to drill non-dominant hand/negative space painting into our heads... all of the below are non dominant (left handed) unless otherwise stated (to the best of my recollection) and are all displayed in the orientation that I painted them (thus some look upside down, because I painted them upside down.)

week 2

(tools: a spoon and a foam brush)

(dominant hand)

(same pose, non dominant hand)

(Painted with fingers)

(Painted simultaneously with both hands {left hand on left side, right hand on right side}, then each side is touched up with the opposing hand, i.e., the left side of the painting is touched up with the right hand)

(painted without looking at the paper and with a rag)

week 3
I was really really really sick... thought I was going to have to see a doctor... ugh. so I was obviously in bed at home.

week 4

(dominant hand)

(Top right half: non dominant hand painted upside down, Bottom left half: dominant hand painted right side up)

Week 5

(A spoon, a foam brush and a palette knife.)

(dominant hand)

Also, if you can't tell I got bored with doing the same basic thing over and over and over again... so I kept trying to think of new ways to stimulate my tired mind. This past Wednesday I was bored on pose #2 onwards... for the most part.

Don't look back

2007-03-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

(a really cool photo taken of me by Holly when she was here this past week!)

Genesis 19: 16-17,26
16: When he hesitated, the men, by the LORD'S mercy, seized his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters and led them to safety outside the city.
17: As soon as they had been brought outside, he was told: "Flee for your life! Don't look back or stop anywhere on the Plain. Get off to the hills at once, or you will be swept away."
26: But Lot's wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

How often is looking back a bad idea? Often I look back at "my city" the places I used to spiritually reside and those I used to be intimately involved with, wondering how I can help my brother or sister, how I failed, or how comfortable it was... Just as Lot must have wanted to do when he was told to not look back... he was probably wondering about his sons-in-law whom he had warned. Probably always hoping that at the last minute they left...

14

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had contracted marriage with his daughters. "Get up and leave this place," he told them; "the LORD is about to destroy the city." But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

This weekend I made a mask for a masquerade, Michelle, her roommate Michelle, and I are going to in Connecticut this friday. We also took time out for prayer and cooked several meals together, with Marine providing a nice french meal on Sunday night. And somewhere in all of the excitement, we took time to review St. Ignatius' first six rules as a group. ( http://cfpeople.org/Books/Exercise/EXERCISEp15.htm )

It's incredible, the wisdom in these rules. They remind you how much one needs to focus on God and God alone, how when you look to "earthly things" you begin to fall away from peace, joy, hope and everything that makes life a beautiful symphony.

It's like riding a bike on mountainous trails or on slick roads... point the head wheel in the direction you want to go, the rest will follow. Regardless of how out of control the rest of the frame feels, if you focus on this one thing (and the small things that support keeping the wheel pointed to where you want to go) you'll be riding smoothly soon enough. You just have to trust.

Sometimes I forget to keep my eyes on the Cross. I forget to do the small things, the quick exclamations of prayer, the moments of meditation, the daily reflections, the minor acts of penance (i.e., not eating ice cream after every meal or waiting ten minutes before I do). And in these times I find my feet moving away from the Cross and I find myself becoming the saviour, "how can I.."? Instead of realising that there is only one who can save someone, only one who's prescence can move mountains, can bring hope to desolations dark, can bring joy to someone considering suicide, can bring meaning to a life devoid.

And He bore a cross, I can't even bear discomfort.

A bit of ketchup or is that fried tomato...

2007-03-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

So this is stuff from last week...

Two weekends ago I was trying to head to Iowa for a visit with friends... but turns out I got snowed into Minneapolis/St. Paul... luckily a week prior to that, on my community's retreat in Connecticut, I had felt the prompting of the holy spirit tell me that I was going to get snowed into MSP... so I asked Fr. Joseph for his info. (Mind you I was pretty sure I was flying through Detroit and not MSP, and I also hadn't looked at weather reports since early January... and those were for Paris.) Fr. Joseph is the only priest in the US part of the community right now, and also happens to be living in MSP.

When I got to MSP I discovered I was in one of the worst blizzards in 5 years... Almost complete white out conditions at times.

But we enjoyed our time, and prayed/praised/adored God together so it was quite fantastic...

(Fr. Joseph)

(Fr. Jay)

Fr. Jay is Fr. Joseph's house mate (Each of them serve two separate parishes in the surrounding area. And they are both fantastic men.)

Marine, Michelle (Kafel) and Michelle (Thibodeau aka. the beautiful girl I'm dating.) This is on the subway after adoration/drinks... we were heading back to my place to cook a dinner with my roommate (this was around 10pm... and an hour away from my place... late night late night.)

And this would be me on the same train ride... go fig.

This is the Michelles and Brooks (my roomie) in our dining room eating the first meal I had in the house...

It was a pasta with sautéed veggies, and goat cheese... followed by yogurt with wine, sugar and fruit. Tastey!

so the world seems oh so right

2007-03-03T19:08:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting listening to someone I once had lunch with in Alexandria,
LA sing to the catholic underground in nyc... While a saxaphonist who
toured with Hendrix across the world plays percussion in a franciscan
habit... And the world for the first time in months seems so amazing.
So beautiful. I've been incredibly blessed this past week and
month... I now have a place to eat cereal every morning when I wake
up, a bed that will always be mine and a room that is quiet and
peaceful where I can rest from the world and recjoice in God my
creator. And I have been blessed with an amazing gift, a holy,
beautiful, loving and giving woman of God who has entrusted me with
her heart... My life has been reenchanted... And all it took was hours
and hours of prayer from myself and from every soul I begged from and
a turn in my heart.

My life is amazing and as I told Michelle, it looks as if it is only
going to get so so much better!

--
God bless and keep you,
Edward
Are you a Catholic interested in going to India this summer? Tell me!

http://sirhair.blogspot.com/
http://faithorbust.blogspot.com/
Mortem tuam annuntiamus. Domine, et tuam resurrectionem confitemur,
donec venias.

Negative Model Space

2007-03-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

So we had a model in class the other day, and these are the paintings I made (all on forms of paper)... they are from first to last painted...

ou es edward?

2007-02-23T22:25:00.000-08:00

Je suis a Minneapolis/st. paul!

I got laid over until tomorrow afternoon (330pm, a delay of almost a day... 17 hours) But luckily I for some reason was inspired to ask a priest I know and saw last weekend for his number and etc. just in case I ended up stuck in MSP... so I'll see him tomorrow and we'll pray and hang out! Turns out that he's free tomorrow because of a cancelled wedding (due to paper work)... crazy... I wonder why God wanted me to see him and for him to see me this weekend?

Cause I really dont think I would have asked for his info unless it had been an inspired thing from the big H.S.

also because of the layover I got a hotel room and 18$ in food vouchers (currently waiting on a cheese pizza and a six pack of sprite to be delivered)... crazy... funny thing is that the gate person was shocked that we got rooms, since the delay was weather related and not mechanical... apparently they pretty close to never give free stuff away due to "acts of God"... but I tend to think them giving free stuff away was an "act of God"! Praise His Holy Name!

P.s., something really exciting might be happening to my paintings... we'll see what turns and I'll tell you when it's prudent!

paintings...

2007-02-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

so here are the next four paintings... I did them last week :-) They all go together, and I think they actually look better when displayed together... and in person. My teacher really didn't like them.

free music...

2007-02-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

if you want a free download, you can have it (first come first served):
go to: www.gotdownloads.com/sodexho
and use code: fCwzfdMwN

I checked out the music they have and i'm really not interested...

And I hope to post something more about my weekend soon... but it was FANTASTIC!

Pistachios and Pineapple soda

2007-02-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

(aka, my dinner)

SO I just spent several hours, setting stretchers, stretching, preping and gessoing four canvases...

One thing I'm learning about painting, is that you can't just PAINT, you've got to have prepared canvases... which is a shame, but also a great lesson in patience... I've had an idea for a series of four paintings since saturday... I'm really really excited to start painting them... they've been running in my head for quite awhile... And I'm not gonna tell you what they are yet...

Also I worked on my other painting a bit... and it might be done... not sure... but I think so.

:-)

This weekend was amazing, my friends and I went on this Ignatian spirituality retreat, which was OUTSTANDING... I was a bit "well okay might as well" when I decided to go, but it was perhaps the single best seminar/retreat I've ever been to.

After the seminar on Saturday, several of us went to dinner, then to drinks at Grand central (we were waiting on a few more friends to catch up), and then to a party...

It was a fantastic night. :-) And I got to hangout more with Michelle.

(Grand central view from the bar)

Surgery

2007-02-07T23:25:00.000-08:00

So Yes I KNOW I haven't finished posting from my trip... I'll get to it soon... but school has started and I'm running... though I expect soon to be hitting my stride.

Today, I got the screwdriver set I ordered the other day when I discovered the cost of replacing my cell phone (425$)... so. With my surgical instruments on hand and the internet giving me vague instructions on my cell phone's internal workings, I operated...

The first operation was a grand success allowing me to now use the P, backspace and enter Keys that had been so annoying to work without. But I was unable to get the second menu button (on my screen) to work... And during the first operation, I accidentally caused a slight internal injury that I had to fix...

While the surgeons were debating "going back in," they went to painting class and worked on their first painting... (36x30 inches) which as of yet is unfinished, but here is the progress (the photo colours are a bit off)...

After clearing their heads, the second operation was debated more and finally agreed amongst the surgeons as the best path.

Dinner was ordered in (and delivered to the computer room in the backyard of the hostel)

And surgery quickly followed...

So the second operation has just been completed... the internal injury was fixed, though the Screen button still does not work... I guess I'll have to break it to my cell phone that she's a cripple for life. :-\

Uhm well...

2007-02-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

So I've changed my page back to what its supposed to look like (finally) but I've got a few things I need to fix (colour issues). and The Friends list is still old... so I've lost alot of those I used to have before this thing crashed... sorry guys! Send me your addy again. :-)

But I did add my other blogs on the side, my friends blogs on the side, and changed the background images and colours..

:-)

YAY!

2007-01-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

my cell phone which has been fastly dying over the last few days and which apparently would cost 425$ to replace took a turn today.

starting two days ago the screen has been going wack... the touch screen stopped working two days ago along with most of the colour...

But today I was listening to music and noticed that the screen was different... so i touched it... and the touch screen worked... and the colour was back... so i have hopes that it's getting better... I ordered a screw driver set to clean it out the other day so I should get that soon and the begin surgery... hoping to fix it, and not make it worse by cleaning out the mud. Though it is possible that the mud is what is holding it together...

Ooh and I love the entertainment book... I've saved so much money on food by using coupons... SOO Much... and today when I bought a double bacon cheeseburger from Burgerking (and getting another free) the guys made a mistake making an extra drink, and they gave it to me... right when I was wondering where I could pick up a cheap soda. SCORE!

Photos: Day 23: Snowballs and Snails

2007-01-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Soo lets do a survey...
One French, one cigarette

Another French, another cigarette.

Yet another French, and yet another cigarette.
That's right folks, Three French, Three cigarettes.

After their extended smoke break, a snowball fight broke out...

And Pauline is the obvious loser (well only obvious by the fact she's on the ground but still obvious!)

One american... no cigarette...

A brief intermission of beauty after seeing my mug.

Yummy... Escargot! And the Loser of the bet!

They're pretty aren't they!

The winners of the bet. The bet was that the local small mountain town grocer would have escargot... we bet they would... (It's a rich french mountain getaway, why wouldn't they!)

MMMMmmm Cookin!

Dinner is served!

The first one...

An amused French girl... I swear she's amused... she was really excited... but it's just like the French to never be caught in photos without the "I'm French, why are you looking at me" face.

So beautiful!

Photos: Day 22: In Megeve

2007-01-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

Morning in a beautiful alps town.

Our hike up the mountain begins!

Can you tell someone is out of breath?? Silly french smokers :-)

Oh... the beauty I've seen.

Megeve at night.
So I picked up two habits while in France (well at least two)... one I now eat chips... Pringles to be exact. Two. I now crave appertif... it's a snack prior to dinner... composed of chips or something like that, and a sweet cocktail... eg... Apple liquor and apple juice, Kir (white wine and a fruit liquor), a sweet appertif wine, martinii, or other. I think the first one is the most impressive (I already like good wines and cocktails), as I've throughout my life never taken an interest in chips... shows you that France is amazing huh.

Apparently, if there's a cake in the house Pauline's family holds a birthday for someone... It was Marie's turn.

Who has more joy Pauline or Charles?

After dinner, (ragoule or something like that, with heated cheese, potatoes, and other stuff) it was Pauline's turn to have a birthday... we added fruit, some smelly cheese, apple skins and other tastey delights. :-)

Photos: Day 21: To Megeve

2007-01-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

So I woke up early and was rewarded with a beautiful train ride...

I rode the TGV to Megeve from Lille (this is in the middle of the train, I think there is a total of four engines on most of the TGVs)

Uhm can we say Beautiful??? And you wonder why I love france!

The Alps

The view from Pauline's Flat in Megeve... as the sun sets.

Mount Blanc the highest point in Europe is the tallest snow capped peak on the left

w00000000000t

2007-01-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

I just finally checked my grades (one of the things I decided was unimportant for me to think about until I got back from Europe) and I PASSED MY FRENCH CLASS! YAYAYYAYYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYYAYYAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYYAYAYAYAYYAYA

Day Twenty five, first day of the rest of my life... or was that last week... uhm maybe next week?

2007-01-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

Day Twenty Five
18.1.7
822pm
So the last 24ish hours have been quite nice.

Last night when I arrived, i hung out with Gael in the laundry mat as he finished his clothes, took a picture underneath a sign with my name (apparently I'm a line of grocery stores around here), and then dropped my stuff off at his place, which is a really really perfect appartment.

Afterwards, we headed out for food, and after being offered McDonalds, Chinese or French food, I went for the obvious... French food... I don't even eat McD's very willingly in the US, and I can get Chinese in NYC (probably even more authentic... the patrons and the staff doesn't even speak english in the last chinese place I ate at in NYC).

And well the meal was fantastic! We started with a Kir (Whitewine/blackberry liquor) then I had an entree (entree means entry I believe and thus is the first plate of a meal) terrine de chef(some good pate, condiments and bread), followed by a nice piece of steak that was very very delicious (they eat mustard with everything in france, which is quite fantastic in my books, and the mustard is even strong!), after the meal I had a delicious piece of cake filled with hot gooey chocolate sauce and a scoop of some french ice cream that was mostly sucre de leche (or caramel) with a hint of anise (or liquorice). Gael had the Gambas (HUGE shrimp) on a bed of rice for his main course (he had already eaten a meal just before I showed up in Paris, so he didn't have much else). It was a very nice meal and very french meal (and very expensive). At the end of the meal Gael decided to pay, which was quite amazing.

After that we headed back to his place, talked about Calcutta, God and our friends, as he did some ironing. Then we hit the hay.

This morning he left early for work, and though the room is *maybe* 20x30 I didn't really wake up as I had very little sleep the night before. I was so tired that I even dreamed I had a conversation with him.

I eventually woke up, got ready for the day and headed out to find Notre Dame cathedral and wander aimlessly.

I found Notre Dame rather easily, though after being happily shooed away from the palais de justice ( I was standing just outside it taking pictures as I was quite impressed). Notre Dame was very very impressive I like it so much more than St. Patrick's in NYC... maybe not as much as the church next to my school though. After Notre Dame I headed around trying to find a place for evening mass... and just to wander... I first came upon a horrid sight, well horrid at least to me and my french classmates... the red lips that signal a repeat after me phase... and another church with its doors wide open (the weather here is a bit cold but not too cold)... then I headed around and saw two MC sisters... then I bought a few things at Ed, and headed back to Gael's place... where I checked my email and then headed to findout if I could do evening prayer at a church nearby (aimless wondering aimed at finding a church I was pretty sure must exist somewhere). When I got to the church it was 1900 and I noticed on the door a sign that said mass was at 1900... so I went inside and found it empty... but I also noted a little old lady walking down the other aisle... so I switched aisles and followed behind her... (I think she was a bit scared by that, but I figured little old lady's always know where they're going.) and I was right. The other place I would have looked (the main chapel) was a eucharistic chapel and no one was in it... but the little old lady walked through a nodescript door, which I followed her through, and ended up in another chapel where mass was being held.

And now I'm back at Gaels about to head for dinner...
Ciao.
853pm

Day Twenty four...

2007-01-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Day twenty four
1/17/07
So this time I was even three minutes late! And I made the bus to the train to the bus.

Whew.
710am
1150am
Just got in (to geneve) a bit ago... Bought a soda, sandwich and the little prince (a b00k) en francais.

As I was walking (correction, am walking) people have been noticing and smiling at hetti, some even snicker to themselves.

One guy said "salut!" and then asked me in french where I'm going or were my travels have been.
1155am
1205pm
I'll continue that thought in a second... So I can head to near lourdes tommorrow afternoon by bus which means i'd arrive around 2am on the 19th to a city that I'd have to find a train from which would cost a bit of cash... About as much as taking a train today and getting there either tonight or tommorrow morning. Or I could just go to paris and checkout that city... Tonight.
Hmmm when does my flight leave?
Hmmm
1211pm
301pm
Two things I've noticed about geneva... A lot of ameicans and the city is really not very beautiful
302pm
349pm
So I was going to send a few postcards from geneve... Which by the way was a huge ordeal to decide upon as there are no good postcards for geneve as there really aren't any worthwhile sights, but in the end knowing that they do take credit and I would like people to know that I am thinking about them enough to find a postoffice, speak french, take time to actually handwrite something and spend some money (i.e., that I do care very much for them) I finally decided to do it. Much to my chagrin they don't take credit for postcards, and though they did take euro, all I had was coins when all they accepted was bills (swiss use the swiss franc)... So no postcards from a second rate city... And you will have to guess those who were going to get a card.
358pm
505pm
So I'm on the train to Paris... I decided that due to finances the way they're going and the fact that I anticipate being back in europe (and possibly living here) in the near future, I don't need to get all expensive and drastic. It is just next door!
Anyhow, there are numerous things I want to check out in Paris anyhow... amongst them are the Rue de Bac, a few communities, and my friends :-)

Today in Geneve, Switzerland, I ran around with my full pack on... I always forget how heavy that thing is until I actually carry it for 6 hours on my back... the bad thing is that I don't anticipate it getting any lighter any time soon... probably heavier. The good thing is that I anticipate carrying the full thing only for about four more days of my trip (counting the 23rd twice, since it really does count as two days for me... one day in italy [or possibly paris] and one in NYC)

So back to my earlier story, the guy asked me something in French, and my response was "Je vais a le Gare" or "le Gare" or something of that sort... to which his immediate reply was "so do you speak english?" My guess is that my response was horribly confused and quite likely wrong.

But he's a Kiwi (aka. New Zelander) who's grandmother luckily for him is Swiss, and mother is French, so he can work pretty much anywhere in Europe and was in fact working a construction site in Geneve that I passed by... He offered to let me crash (sleep for the non-native english speakers) with him at the construction site (there's a room with a heater and a stove where he can crash for free and which had a great view of the city according to him). But as I decided later in the day to head to Paris as I have limited days left, I had to bypass that offer. (One thing you notice while travelling is that fellow travellers will quite often go out of their way to help you, especially if they're from your home country or a related country).

So yeah, I'm currently on the TGV again, but to Paris, possibly for the rest of my trip. To meet with friends, practice french and gather my thoughts for the upcoming semester... oh right... THAT. I keep postponing any real thoughts of it... mostly as all that I need to do can be done when I get back there. I'm rethinking my choice of not living in hostels this coming semester... I hope that I can get into the dorms (DEFINITELY BEST option) but if not, I just might live in the hostels or possibly do that for a few months and then house sit for one of my friends for a few months (a possibility). Who knows... we'll see what happens.

I definitely hope I have a spring break (preferably around easter so I can head to Israel with some friends, but if not, I'll just head back to France).

So enough thinking about the coming semester, I'm still on break! I've met some amazing people on my trip, and I expect I still will. I've deepened relationships and seen my friends in their natural habitats. I've learned a little about myself and learned that I can survive "just going" without a plan. That sometimes that leads to things much more fortunate than I could have dreamed. And that I'm almost always perfectly on time (have I missed a bus or train yet?!) even when I don't expect I'll be. I've also learned that people across the world remember me for some reason I don't really understand... Theo put it in some way like this (when talking about the girl in Lille that knew me but not him): "Of course she remembered you! You're Ed! Everyone remembers you." I've been meaning to ask him why people remember me...

I've also learned that people across the world think I'm nicer, more put together, holier, and more trusting in God than I really am. "One day when you know my sins, you'll understand," I think to myself whenever someone smiles at me or comments on some aspect they admire about me. It's funny how many things that are hidden can change a person's view of another, to some, my sins would make me more human, to others more demonic, yet others would laugh at me and say "that's it?"

I can't compare my darkness and selfishness to another, all I can do is look at myself and realise how depraved a human I am at times.

I wonder.
543pm