city delights

Noel 2007 blog

2007-12-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

[boxing day]

Oh, I am so too very tired that almost the first time ever I went back to bed and back to sleep this morning. Christmas Eve? Don't ask. Christmas Day? Excellent dinner (turkey, dressing/stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cran, gb casserole, rolls and butter, creamed onions, olives, mixed veggies, mince pie (baked by Richard) with brandy, California chardonnayl some kind of vin de France, red wine of some type, good company (Patti, Floyd, Miriam, Richard, Carla, me, Ava April, Copper Queen, Dakoda, Easter Angel, Nikki, Spirit of 2004, Tigar). No church...no PM, Cruiser or AM... I don't know how I'll return to Paradise another time. I thought Carla would be driving back and I didn't make a reservation on the Socialist (or on any other) Airline. This afternoon we met Jim and Cheryl at the Humane Society so they could meet, greet and drive home with Kino, their new pup they just happened to meet serendipitously.

62% Cluttered

2007-07-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

Another new fun blogthings quiz, but I won't say whether or not I believe this one.

Your Mind is 62% Cluttered

Your mind is quite cluttered. And like most clutter, it's a bunch of crap you don't need.
Try writing down your worst problems and fears. And then put them out of your mind for a while.

How Cluttered is Your Mind?

Friday 5: What Are You...

2007-04-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

ReverendMother actually was early with (for me, tomorrow's) Friday 5, so for the first and probably the last time as long as I'm still living way out Left, I'm playing early. EARLY!

PS The time of ReverendMother''s blog reads Friday morning @ 9:52.

Friday Five: What Are You...

1. Wearing

Long sleeve cotton sweater with wide yellow and 3 blues stripes; Cherokee stonewashed blue painter jeans; black flipflops.

2. Pondering

Life's meaning and purpose, direction and detours, and especially discerning the meaning the purpose and the direction of my ministry in the very near and medium-term future.

3. Reading

Trying to read through the Dead Sea Scrolls to prepare to see the exhibit--in seminary I took a semester-long course on the DSS but still don't know the content. I'm also digging into some books on typography and graphic design.

4. Dreaming

First I'll mention the atypical for me several weeks-long series of dreams of being with people I don't spend much time with and never being able to reach wherever I'm going; for daydreams, a world on Fire with the Holy Spirit!

5. Eating

Nothing at this very moment--I had dinner at Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes for a sort of local Young Life or maybe it was a generic youth group benefit this evening. I especially enjoyed the clam chowder and baked potato--on the potato I did the whole enitre Mexican salsa-condiment thing.

cityfence 2007

2007-03-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

American Idols Friday 5

2007-02-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

Another Friday 5 from the RevGals, appropriately posted on one of my city blogs, but not my theological urban blog.

American Idols! I've never watched the show, but I know of Kelly Clarkson and love her singing "Breakaway" (Avril Lavigne is so good) and "Because of You." True I have a degree in classical piano and organ performance and love attending symphony, but my casual radio listening almost always tends to current pop and oldies, so within the usual guidelines of Friday Five, I'll take my own twist on today's 5.

1) If I could sing like anyone, it would be Jewel Kilcher.

2) I would love to sing the songs Absence of Fear by the aforementioned Jewel and Faces in the Wind--the only version I know is by Karla Bonoff; I don't remember the composer or lyricist.

3) It would be really cool to sing at the local 4th and B.

4) If I could sing a dream (duet) trio it would be with Robin and Linda Williams, the song, Don't Let me Come Home a Stranger. You need to scroll down the page for the lyrics.

5) If I could sing on a TV or radio show, it would be the theme song written and composed by me for my own future production of Adventures in Reformation Theology, since that's the kind of topic people always ask me about, so why not go public, esp given the intense popular interest.

How Ghetto Am I?

2007-01-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

I've posted a couple of go to quizzes over on this far by faith--here's another one, but for some reason the chart isn't displaying correctly on this quiz result, either. Please note spelling errors, which were in the code I copied and pasted. Do you not believe they add a touch of uniqueness?

Congratualtions! You are 50% ghetto

You definatley have ghetto tendancies, but you're probably refined enough to cover it up when needed.

How Ghetto Are You
Create Your Own Quiz

Feline Friday Five

2007-01-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

Badda Bing Badda Boom Friday Five

Today's RGBP's F5 is so fun! I challenged myself to play without peeking at anyone else's answers. Since I'm way out on the Left Coast, a lot of Fridays I don't play until later than everyone else, and today isn't an exception :((

This time I'm actually trying not to be my usual formally theological self...

It's been a very full, busy week. Here's the F5, short and sweet.
The questions are simple, the answers unlimited. Go!

Who: My former neighbors, Lisa, Al and their two kids;

What: my decision to adopt their young brown tabby boy cat they'd found in an alley and named "Alley";

When: almost 5 years ago, during spring 2002;

Where: from their house to my house;

Why: they claimed he was outrageously aggressive; I thought he was gorgeous and full of potential--(hey, I need to take some pics and get them online soon!);

Bonus: How: making a deal with them I'd go 50/50 with the cost of his neutering; Lisa brought him to me together with his dishes, some food and a cat bed;

My self-defined extra bonus: So what? since I already had Pumpkin Marigold, an orange tabby girl cat I usually called "PM," I renamed my new adoptee, keeping Alley as the first part of his name and adding a middle name beginning with "M" so I could have both AM and PM. His middle name? Malibu, after the strip beach not far away from the Central Artery in Boston and not the more illustrious California beach of the same name. AM has grown up to be amazing, affectionate and very large!

Summer's Sandals

2006-08-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

starstruck hibiscus garlands
decorating orange sandals
enhanced by windchimes’ breeze of the Spirit
surprised me with a burst of hope

sandals! icon of summer's freedom
symbol of discipleship’s unshod liberty:
wear sandals

La Jolla Cove on summer weeknights
De Anza Cove for Fridays
sprinkled by airborne mist
in the company of seagulls
treading sand, tripping across baptismal rocks
we follow the Rock and our Rock is Christ
who named Simon Rocky Peter
who names us friends and servants

Rocky Mountain Low

2006-08-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Fresh fall of Rocky Mountain powder
Very Dry Day
California dreaming...of California
from a blizzard balcony

end o'day caramel slag
Pride's Crossing
Proud's Lossing
proud losing
Mountainy Rocks dusted with freshly fallen snow
Intermountain Westward dreaming
reassembling
Seven illustrated Canyons of Salt Lake City
Protégé's prodigious Nautical Décor
Unfolding unusual Energy

Clydesdale Snowfight

2006-07-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Clydesdale Snowfight - Awesome Video!

82% Independent

2006-07-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

You Are 82% Independent

You do things your own way, and most people respect you for it...
Not that you'd care what anyone thinks of you!

How Independent Are You?

Power Color: Indigo

2006-07-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

Your Power Color Is Indigo

At Your Highest:
You are on a fast track to success - and others believe in you.
At Your Lowest:
You require a lot of attention and praise.
In Love:
You see people as how you want them to be, not as how they are.
How You're Attractive:
Your dramatic flair makes others see you as mysterious and romantic.
Your Eternal Question:
"Does This Work Into My Future Plans?"
My note: it doesn't get any more accurate than that!

What's Your Power Color?

earth.

2006-07-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

Your Element Is Earth

You excel at planning and strategizing.
You could be a champ at chess or Survivor.
Well grounded, you are able to be realistic and rationalize.
On the inside, you have a hard core. It's tough to phase you.
You are super productive, and you are able to think anything through.
Focused and super charged, your instincts are a good guide for your next step.

What's Your Element?

Romantic Realist

2006-07-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

You Are A Romantic Realist

You are more romantic than 30% of the population. You tend to be grounded when it comes to romance.
Sure, you can fall hard... but only for someone you've gotten to know.
And once you're in love, you can be a total romantic goofball...
But you'd never admit it to your friends!

Are You Romantic or Realistic?

Fairly Accurate

2006-07-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Your Scholastic Strength Is Developing Ideas

You can take a spark of inspiration and turn it into a full fledged concept.
You are talented at brainstorming, visualizing, organizing, and independent thinking.

You should major in:
Natural sciences
Computer science
Creative writing
Math
Architecture
Journalism

What Should You Major In?

Blogthing about Summer

2006-07-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

You Should Spend Your Summer in the City

You're a trooper, and the summer heat doesn't really get to you.
So you'd rather stay in the city, where you can sip iced lattés and go to midnight movies (not! on that one).
Forget the beach! Not quite true--city beaches are cool. You rather be where the good restaurants and stores are.

Where Should You Spend Your Summer?

Another Amazing Blogthing!

2006-07-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a wanderer. You constantly long for a new adventure, challenge, or even a completely different life.
You are a very grounded, responsible, and realistic person. People may not want to hear the truth from you, but they're going to get it.
You believe people see you as a bit small and insignificant. People pay more attention to you than you think.
Your near future is calm, relaxing, and pretty much what you want. And it's something you've been anticipating for a while now.
For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

What Color Blue Am I?

2006-07-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

Another blogthing--and I like periwinkle a whole lot:

You Are Periwinkle

You're very intuitive and sensitive. You often know other people better than they know themselves.
You're also quite optimistic, and you think well of yourself and others. You know your dreams will come true.

What Color Blue Are You?

What American City am I?

2006-07-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

This one's surprising!

You Are Austin

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll.
You're totally weird and very proud of it.
Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way.
Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick

What American City Are You?

Spatial Intelligence?!

2006-07-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

Your Dominant Intelligence is Spatial Intelligence

You've got a good sense of space and how the world around you looks.
You can close your eyes and "see" images. You have innate artistic talent.
An eye for color and shapes, you're also a natural designer.
Since you think in pictures, visual aids and demonstartions help you learn best.
You would make a good navigator, sculptor, visual artist, inventor, architect, interior designer, or engineer.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

70% Extrovert; 30% Introvert

2006-07-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

Despite this being a short quiz, the results are true, since I'm a moderate E.

You Are 70% Extrovert, 30% Introvert

You are quite outgoing
You are a social connector - you know a ton of people
While you aren't a wild extrovert, you are a great talker
A fantastic storyteller, you keep everyone laughing

Are You An Extrovert or An Introvert?

What Kind of Weather am I?

2006-07-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

You Are a Rainbow

Breathtaking and rare
You are totally enchanting and intriguing
But you usually don't stick around long!
You are best known for: your beauty
Your dominant state: seducing

What Type of Weather Are You?

What's my Year?

2006-07-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

You Belong in 1978

If you scored...

1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!
1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too.
1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!
1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.
1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Where Does My Inner Californian Belong?

2006-07-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

These blogthings are so fun!

You Belong in Los Angeles

Whether you'll admit it or not, a huge part of you likes being in the spotlight.
And you may just have enough star quality to make it big in LA!
Even if you don't become famous, you still belong in a place where you can get a year round tan.

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

Honda Civic Nation

2006-06-07T08:06:00.001-07:00

Remember this wonderful commercial from 2003? Here's the link--you still can download the movie!

Advantage Ad

2006-06-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

My (maybe) all-time favorite tv commercial has started playing again; I tried embedding the QuickTime movie here, but it didn't work, so here's the link:

In the jungle, the mighty jungle
the lion creeps tonight...

California2 in LiveType

2006-06-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'm cross-posting this from this far by faith, where I've been posting a lot of my stuff from Design School, since school always qualifies as part of my Journey in Faith.

no one is to blame

2006-05-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

seems as if i've been hearing this song almost every day!!! but who ever imagined life was just? it's from howard jones' 1985 album, dream into action.

no one is to blame

you can look at the menu, but you just can't eat
you can feel the cushion, but you can't have a seat
you can dip your foot in the pool, but you can't have a swim
you can feel the punishment, but you can't commit the sin
and you want her, and she wants you
we want everyone
and you want her and she wants you
no one, no one, no one ever is to blame

you can build a mansion, but you just can't live in it
you're the fastest runner but you're not allowed to win
some break the rules, and let you cut the cost
the insecurity is the thing that won't get lost
and you want her, and she wants you
we want everyone
and you want her, and she wants you
no one, no one, no one ever is to blame

you can see the summit but you can't reach it
its the last piece of the puzzle but you just can't make it fit
doctor says you're cured but you still feel the pain
aspirations in the clouds makes your hopes go down the drain
and you want her, and she wants you
we want everyone
and you want her, and she wants you
no one, no one, no one ever is to blame
No one ever is to blame
No one ever is to blame

Bostonians

2006-03-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

You might be a Bostonian if...

• You think of Philadelphia as the deep south.
• You think there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R).
• You think three straight days of 90+ degrees is a heat wave.
• All your pets are named after Celtics Hall-of-Famers.
• You refer to 6 inches of snow as a dusting.
• Just hearing the words New York puts you in an angry frenzy.
• You know the significance of 1918.
• Your favorite adjective is wicked.
• You think 63 degree ocean water is warm.
• You still can't bear to watch highlights from game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
• You believe using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
• You don't realize that you talk twice as fast as everyone else.

Lifestyle Ambience, Fall 2005

2005-11-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

Recently I came across this collection of recollections; as you can tell by the reference to Salt Lake City, it is rather old!

Buzz. Statement of Mission: No mission. It's the year of the goose. [1995 was a Year of the Goose in the Canadian Zodiac, so that’s probably when I compiled this.]
It's the year of the one-of-a-kind love affair [from the Spinners 1973 album, The Spinners]. Or is it? I wonder.

Early morning breakfasts: Guess who's coming to
Breakfast.

IMAGE IMAGE IMAGE IMAGE IMAGE

Sunstream. A slow sunstream on an early morning, on an early summer in the city [#1 hit from 1966] morning.

A sundance, a raindance, all in clay animation.

Take a risk!
Here's a Hug

Things are gonna get easier
Things'll get brighter
Some day
We'll get it together and we'll get it all done
Some day
When your head is much lighter
Some day
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day
When the world is much brighter [1970, from the Windy City’s Stairsteps]

In Salem we had UCC ladybugs and Federal architecture. And the Salem Tab – a tabernacle!
In Salt Lake we have no bugs and Early Mormon architecture. And The Tabernacle.

We have our hope set on the Living God
Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight, Time Passages [Al Stewart, 1978]
Home is Shelter. Where is home?

Who was Saint Bavo? I don't seem to be able to ask anyone who knows.

In my entire time I've learned only one thing:

If money is making money, someone is being exploited.
And that's an important thing to know.

You said you'd give me life, but you never told me about the fire.

Creativity!

2005-07-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

From an old ad about one of my favorite activities...
oh, yeah,...I'm definitely a grown-up person in the visual arts!

In the beginning...a small bell chimed

Creativity! It chimes like a small clear bell at the heart of the human spirit.

Remember the first time you spoke to the world from a piece of shirt cardboard?

Chances are we made some of that board for you...

Now that the quality of your message has changed, however,
you really should know more about some of our professional products.

...for all kinds of grown-up people in the visual arts.

Columbia 1776 Illustration Board

Way back in the days of routine mechanical layout and paste-up, for a lot of projects I used Letraset's (and other manufacturer's) dry transfer letters, while persistently referencing Pantone and Crayola © colors.

For several years I've gradually been updating my graphic art skills so that in this era of computerized graphics maybe some day I'll be as proficient at art on the puter as I am at freehand and mechanical art--at least as expert as I've become with word processing and spreadsheets.

The very first graphic design app I worked with was Pagemaker; among other things, since then I've learned some Macromedia Dreamweaver, and Adobe's Creative Suite remains my most important project. In my quest for expertise, a couple years ago I took a semester-long course in Photoshop; this summer I'm enrolled in a fast-paced Illustrator class and I'll have a couple of sessions looking at InDesign, which I need to pursue more next fall. And finally, I've learned a very limited amount of Macromedia Flash.

cityfence

2005-07-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Now that I have DSL plus image-hosting, I can post some pics! However, since I've scanned only a few dozen, it looks as if more scanning or a digital camera needs to be in my near future. Since this is a cityblog, my first image is a cityfence:

San Diego Padres at Petco Park

2005-07-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

Beach Towel Night!
In another expression of Americanism, Friday evening [since this'll stay on this blog for untold ages, the date was yesterday, 15 July 2005] again I attended another winning game at San Diego's extraordinarily state-of-the-art Petco Park. Amazingly, it was Beach Towel Night, so I arrived home with my awesome Padres towel that folds up into its own bag.

San Diego Padres 10, Arizona Diamondbacks 7
Read all about it.

Fireworks from Navy Pier
Toward the ballgame's finale, fireworks from the not-too-distant Navy pier amounted to a short display, but plenty enough to crown the evening.

Half Moon, Nighttime Sky
Remember Janis Joplin's 3-times platinum Pearl? Yesterday evening's moon reminded me of "Half Moon."

Spirit in the Sky
My review of this game gets to include some Pauline theology--believe it! At the top of the 9th they played Norman Greenbaum's famous Spirit In The Sky!

When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that's the best
Prepare yourself, you know it's a must
Gotta have a friend in Jesus
So you know that when you die
He's gonna recommend you
To the Spirit in the sky
That's where you're gonna go when you die
When you die and they lay you to rest
You're gonna go to the place that's the best
Never been a sinner I never sinned
I got a friend in Jesus
So you know that when I die
He's gonna set me up with
The Spirit in the sky

Trevor Saved the Game!
The absolutely unparalleled Number 51, Trevor Hoffmann's save added up to number 26 for this season and a career number 419.

Stewed Tomato

2005-07-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

Because I wrote this for an online site (notice my review still is online), this restaurant review is shorter and less detailed than the others. Terrific restaurant; I am so looking forward to going back there--soon, I trust!

Stewed Tomato is a cool restaurant in the once-seafaring, now tourist and residential town of Harwich on Cape Cod. The town was settled around 1665, named after Harwich, England, and incorporated in 1694; currently Harwich Center is one of the Seven Harwiches.

Stewed Tomato Review

Though it's been several years since I was there, the Stewed Tomato at 707 Main Street in Harwich Center is one of my fondest memories and one of the prospective experiences I anticipate with the most yearning and the greatest longing. As a little kid I visited Harwich all the time--my grandparents owned a house with gardens on Church Street near Bay Road, eight furlongs from Pleasant Bay Beach. A few years ago, when I returned to the Cape after some time away, my friend Heather introduced Stewed Tomato and me to each other and I fell in love: in love with the food – especially the breakfasts – and, of course, in love with the matchless ambience! I highly recommend Stewed Tomato for breakfast, lunch, dinner and whenever.

Most recommended: Kitchen Sink Omelet; coffee.

Get Together

2005-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, The Youngbloods produced a major hit, "Get Together." In May 2004, Wilson Phillips, in their California CD, included "Get Together," with its poetically expressive call to love despite the fears we all experience all too often.

Wilson Phillips: Carnie Wilson, Wendy Wilson, Chynna Phillips here's Sony's WP site; and a WP fan site. Get Together Love is but a song we sing And fear's the way we die You can make the mountains ring Or make the angels cry Though the bird is on the wing And you may not know why Come on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another right now Come on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another right now Come on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another right now Some may come and some may go And we will surely pass When the one that left us here Returns for us at last We are but a moment's sunlight Fading in the grass If you hear the song we sing, You will understand You hold the key to love and fear In your trembling hand Just one key unlocks them both, you know It's there at your command Come on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another right now Come on people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another right now Right now Right now

The River Is Here!

2005-03-29T05:38:00.000-08:00

1. Down the mountain the river flows
And it brings refreshing wherever it goes
Through the valleys and over the fields
The river is rushing and the river is here.

Chorus:

The river of God sets our feet a-dancing
The river of God fills our hearts with cheer
The river of God fills our mouths with laughter
And we rejoice for the river is here!

2. The river of God is teeming with life
And all who touch it can be revived
And those who linger on this river’s shore
Will come back thirsting for more of the Lord.

3. Up to the mountain we have to go
To find the presence of the Lord
Along the banks of the river we run
We dance with laughter giving praise to the Son!

Chorus

4. Down the mountain the river flows
And it brings refreshing wherever it goes
Through the valleys and over the fields
The river is rushing and the river is here.

Chorus

Tag

And we rejoice for the river is here!

Fallen

2005-03-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

from album, Afterglow | Sarah McLachlan

Fallen

Heaven bend to take my hand
And lead me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer
To a long and painful fight
Truth be told I tried my best
But somewhere long the way
I got caught up in all there was to offer
But the cost was so much more than I could bear

Though I've tried I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here and
Tell me I told you so

We all begin out with good intent
When love is raw and young
We believe that we can change ourselves
The past can be undone
But we carry on our back the burdens time always reveals
In the lonely light of morning
In the wound that would not heal
It's the bitter taste of losing everything
I've held so dear

Though I've tried I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here and
Tell me I told you so

Heaven bend to take my hand
I've nowhere left to turn
I'm lost to these I thought were friends
To everyone I know
Oh they turn their heads embarrassed
Pretend that they don't see
That it's one wrong step one slip before you know it
And there doesn't seem away to be redeemed

Though I've tried I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here and
Tell me I told you so
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here and
Tell me I told you so

love after love

2005-03-05T07:26:00.000-08:00

From my fall 2001 management class, this poem - by the 1992 Nobel Laureate in Literature - says it all!

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes;
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

~~Derek Walcott~~

dawnwashed blues

2005-02-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

On Desert Spirit's Fire, my theology blog, in a post called morning watch, I wrote: Patterned after ancient practice but now in remembrance and anticipation of Easter dawn, there's a Christian tradition of Morning Watch. The fourth and last segment of the night watch, the morning watch of antiquity and of the New Testament epoch (that's us!) is from 3-6 AM; during this final watch of the night, darkness gently eases into the quiet early light of Easter dawn and God's Glory softly splashes over all creation. Here's a poem I wrote about that hour of...

dawnwashed blues

during each night's final watch, darkness gently eases into quiet early light of daybreak's dawn God's Glory softly splashes over drowsing creation yesterday's final light of day followed by a slender slice of moonglow held no starshimmer during middle night's intensely indigo blues today's hushed daybreak whispered itself over creation’s night's end watch anticipating dawn's first light the sunup-washed sky shined with light-washed sheen dawnwashed new morning blues made fresh-sprung break of pale day blues

Sure on this Shining Night

2005-02-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

long ago I discovered this exquisite poem via the setting Samuel Barber wrote for voice and piano

"Description of Elysium," from Permit Me Voyage... 1934

Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.

The late year lies down the north
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.

Hearts all whole
Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder wand'ring far alone
Of shadows on the stars.

James Agee, 1909-1955

Song of Church Unity

2005-01-31T19:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a favorite from long ago:

All living creatures with the same bread you sustain
And to your Spirit's well nobody comes in vain.
Give that we understand the language of your call,
Uphold us by your hand; write your name on us all!

To You, Word in the flesh, we shall allegiance give:
Because you suffered death, we will forever live.
Show all who long for life the way to where you dwell,
Oh Son, whose sacrifice broke down the gates of hell!

O Spirit, pioneer, keeper of humankind,
We are a scattered rear, rebelliously behind.
Abide with us and slay the powers that disunite,
Oh Truth and Life and Way, Oh everlasting Light!

C. Michael De Vries

A Child In These Hills

2005-01-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

by Jackson Browne

From the album Jackson Browne, a.k.a. Saturate Before Using
Released on January 2, 1972 | on Elektra/Asylum

I am a child in these hills
I am away
I am alone
I am a child in these hills
And looking for water
And looking for life

Who will show me the river and ask my name?
Is there nobody here who'll do that?

Well I have come to these hills
I will come to the river
As I choose to be gone from the house of my father

I am a child in these hills
I am a child

Chased from the gates of the city where no one had touched me
I am away
I am alone
I am a child in these hills
And looking for water
And looking for life

Who will show me the river and ask me my name?
Is there nobody here who'll do that?

Well I have come to these hills
I will come to the river
As I choose to be gone from the house of my father

I am a child in these hills
I am a child
I am a child
I am a child

when the winter's gone | song for a stranger

2005-01-09T14:47:00.000-08:00

by David Benoit and David Pack

lyrics by Jennifer Warnes

from Urban Daydreams

Pardon me sir, I don't know who you are.
But I think I see something in your eyes
Though I could be wrong.

Winter is here and all the roses lie deep beneath the snow
That's where lovers go to hide from pain and sorrow.
Never for sure when your luck will turn
Waiting out that snowy day
Hope for a cure that someday you'll learn
Why love keeps on going when there's no one there.

Pardon me sir, I think it's up from here.
Take this one from me, one day you'll feel free to
Fly away wherever you want to.
Never can tell where the dawn will break
When you find your shoulder to cry on.
After a spell you won't feel the ache
And you'll forget the corner you've been living in so long.

You'll breathe a sigh and see it's time to move along
Just a little stronger when the winter's gone.
When the winter's gone.

angel

2005-01-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

Angel | Sarah McLachlan

from the City Of Angels soundtrack

Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance,
for a break that would make it okay.
There's always some reason
to feel not good enough,
and it's hard, at the end of the day.

I need some distraction,
Oh, beautiful release.
Memories seep from my veins.

Let me be empty,
Oh, and weightless,
And maybe I'll find some peace tonight.

CHORUS:

In the arms of the angel, fly away from here,
from this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you feel.

You are pulled from the wreckage, of your silent reverie.
You're in the arms of the angel, may you find some comfort here.

So tired of the straight line,
and everywhere you turn,
there's vultures and thieves at your back.
The storm keeps on twisting.
Keep on building the lies
that you make up for all that you lack.

Don't make no difference, escape one last time.
It's easier to believe in this sweet madness,
Oh, this glorious sadness, that brings me to my knees.

REPEAT CHORUS

You're in the arms of the angel,
may you find some comfort here.

Kenny Loggins | Celebrate Me Home

2004-12-17T15:42:00.000-08:00

From the album Alive

Home for the holidays, I believe I've missed each and every face,
Come on and play my music, let's turn on the love light in the place

It's time I found myself, totally surrounded in your circles
Whoa, my friends

Please, celebrate me home,
Give me a number, please, celebrate me home
Play me one more song, that I'll always remember,
and I can recall, whenever I find myself too all alone,
I can sing me home.

Uneasy highway,
Traveling where the Westerly winds can fly...whenever I find myself too all alone,
I can make believe I've never gone, I never know where I belong,
Sing me home.

Please, celebrate me home, give me a number,
please, celebrate me home
Play me one more song,

Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate, celebrate
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate me home

But I'm bound to roam, come on celebrate me home!

Please, celebrate me home,
Please, celebrate me home,
Please, celebrate me home...

Every Star Shall Sing A Carol!

2004-12-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

1. Every star shall sing a carol! Every creature, high or low,
come and praise the King of heaven by whatever name you know.
God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

2. When the King of all creation had a cradle on the earth,
holy was the human body,holy was the human birth.
God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

3. Who can tell what other cradle, high above the milky way,
still may rock the King of heaven on another Christmas day?
God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

4. Who can count how many crosses, still to come or long ago,
crucify the King of heaven? Holy is the name I know.
God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

5. Who can tell what other body he will hallow for his own?
I will praise the Son of Mary, brother of my blood and bone.
God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

6. Every star and every planet, every creature high and low,
come and praise the King of heaven by whatever name you know.
God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

~~SYDNEY CARTER~~

Edison School

2004-11-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

This article also published in the Interfaith Peacemaking Resource Center of Utah’s newsletter.

With these observations about Edison Elementary, we continue our series on Salt Lake City public schools that have a high proportion of “at-risk” students.

EDISON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
“I believe in kids, I trust kids…if you expect great things, you get great things.” –Dale Harding, Edison Elementary Principal

Edison School in Glendale first impressed me as a Place to Be – it had a sense of great calm, and it was clean and orderly, without any of the confusion one often expects in an urban setting. Kids’ art covered the walls.

With 517 students in grades K-6, a preschool of 20, and a teaching staff of about 31—all in a building built for 380 students—Edison is bursting its boundaries, both physically and in the many ways it exceeds the limitations and expectations much of the larger society tends to place upon low income, high mobility persons.

Class size ranges from 24 in the lower grades to an outrageous 38 in the upper grades; nineteen classrooms of all kinds as well as two trailers house the classes. A gym, an auditorium and a gigantic playground accommodate sports, arts, cultural, social, and other enrichment activities. 3,000 donated books as well as other resources fill the new, light and airy library.

Volunteerism from the greater Salt Lake community runs extremely high: last year it amounted to 14,000 hours! Neighbors of all kinds, senior citizens, businesses (including the Bureau of Reclamation and The Salt Lake Tribune, which has an intense, ongoing involvement with the school), and University of Utah student nurses are only some of the volunteer categories.

Edison is a mini-world where fifteen languages are spoken, with 72% of the students being other-than-white. They include Pacific Islanders, African-Americans, Hispanics of many kinds, various ethnic Asians. To be a minority is to be in the majority!

Dr. Harding spoke of the poverty of moral values and the absence of hope that pervaded the school when he first arrived there. Most of the families—only 40% of which have two parents in the home—are struggling to survive in every dimension of their lives. But a sense of hope and optimism is beginning to take hold at Edison. Harding and the rest of the staff have been working energetically to make certain these kids will believe in themselves and in each other, that they will be open to a free and meaningful future.

“We have three rules: ‘Respect yourself; Respect other people; Respect property,’” explained Dr. Harding.

Dale Harding is in his fourth year [1995] as principal at Edison. He has had a long, wide-ranging and clearly impassioned career in education. Not only has he been teacher or administrator in Salt Lake City, coming to Edison after a term as principal at Uintah Elementary—he also has worked in Chile, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia and Wyoming. For six years he directed the experimental school at Utah State University.

Surprisingly, Harding is the only Edison staff member fluent in Spanish. Four years ago there was no PTA, no community council at Edison; now both organizations are active. Very significantly, Harding has visited every home in the area. And observing the success he and the kids are having, he says, “‘I can’ is more important than IQ.”

Although there’s apparently a large amount of alcohol and other drugs used in the families many of these kids hail from, very few Edison students are drug users themselves. “Just Say No” and D.A.R.E. Clubs help them resist the pressure to experiment. During 1993-94 there were thirteen gang members – now there’s only one.

As Harding said, although many had learned to use “I’m a minority” as a copout, most of them are learning not to use it as an excuse, but to take on responsibility for themselves and responsibility for others. There’s also a group of kids at Edison who live in stable settings in which they experience a relatively normal, supportive environments without having to contend with overwhelming social pathology; many of those will be at the school from Kindergarten through 6th grade. Dr. Harding is optimistic that about 80% of Edison’s current population will graduate from high school.

The fine arts and the cultural arts are major aspects of life at Edison. I was pleased to hear the violin program of 5th and 6th graders in action! Ririe Woodbury Dance Company works with all of the students; the Salt Lake Tribune offers writers’ workshops; celebrations such as Black History Month and Cinco de Mayo help the kids find meaning and excitement in their heritage. The arts and cultural assembly was one of the very first things Harding told me about! The assembly is a recurrent events featuring the diversity of expression that has helped make Edison a miniature extension of the world beyond its borders.

For fun, there’s reading the books from the library, computer games in the 30-computer lab (when the academic stuff has been finished), a donated arcade that serves as a reward system, and of course the playground and sports, many of the sports facilitated by an after-school physical education teacher. Open until 9 pm three days of the week, until 6 pm on the other days, the building also houses and hosts various adult classes such as parenting, GED preparation and ESL.

As the very low absentee rate absolutely bears out, during the school day the students at Edison Elementary live a good life. Prior to arriving at Edison, many of these kids had been caught in multi-generational layers of ignorance and violence; they’d become what they had seen. With love, affirmation and support, the cycle of ignorance and abuse is breaking down and their fear is beginning to leave. At Edison, not only do they see an alternative—the environment actually enables them to be that alternative, to become different from what they had been. They’re becoming the free, responsible and responsive persons they were created to be.

They also are learning to live in a world in which diversity and difference is seen as normative and as very good. For them, divergent styles mean learning to lives with dissimilarities, and that leads to acceptance of differences. As Dr. Harding mentioned, he will not tolerate violence and aggression, and the question to resolve first always is “What happened?” – not “why?” As they are learning from the staff and from each other how to live with diversity and to resolve conflict without fists or violence or any kind, hopefully the young peacemakers at Edison will grow up to become adult peacemakers.

At this point in time and space, Edison students are learning to live in a real community, with an authentic commonality. They’re in the process—just as all of us continue to be—of discovering the challenges and rewards of living together as friends, neighbors and citizens. But what of their futures? What of their lives beyond the Sixth Grade graduation day?

“So all of us, in union with Christ, form one body, and as parts of it we belong to each other.” –Romans 12:5

These words have become commonplace to many of us: we need to read in them, to feel in them, a live calling to reach out and to be interresponsive to one another. Just as in great measure we have been created by each other, by one another, that creative process will continue to happen. The students at Edison will continue to need positive influences that will form and shape them into good citizens of their neighborhoods, of their cities, of their countries of this universe and of this galaxy—and even of unknown galaxies!

The students at Edison Elementary are ours, now and in the future. And we belong to them! Let us always remember that, and live our lives in response to it!

Wasatch School

2004-11-27T19:05:00.000-08:00

Another phase of my sometime journalistic career included articles on a pair of elementary schools; here’s one I wrote for the Interfaith Peacemaking Resource Center of Utah’s newsletter.

Good things are happening in the Salt Lake City schools! This month’s feature is Wasatch Elementary.

WASATCH SCHOOL
With their faces in the sunshine, students at Wasatch Elementary School in Salt Lake’s Avenues neighborhood are planting theme gardens. About half of the classes are involved in this year’s Outdoor Project! It’s an extension of their regular curriculum, as well as an activity in which they claim ownership and learn caretaking, sensitivity and environmental awareness. The gardens will become part of the neighborhood, and the project’s navy blue t-shirts will carry the endeavor even beyond the school and Avenues boundaries, as a reminder that Wasatch is preparing citizens to interface with the world around them and the world beyond them!

Close to downtown, close to the University of Utah, Wasatch is the school of choice for many parents seeking the very best, with students attending from all over the Salt Lake Valley. Abundant diversity included a 50/50 poverty/affluence ratio, many different races and ethnicities, single parent families, children of university professors, children of university students, kids from House Of Hope and from Ronald McDonald House...a vast range of students in every sense of the word.

“Kids Zone / – Future Leaders being built – Enter with care & love” reads the poster greeting front door arrivals. Amy Wadsworth, Wasatch’s principal, speaks of the “global development” of the child. Advancement in academic and social skills is generally assumed in any learning environment, but this school goes much further and also pays careful attention to physical and emotional development, to awareness and growth in the fine and performing arts. The school is not traditional in the conventional sense of the word—the total approach is far more interactive, giving each one an opportunity to function at his or her optimal level.

How does a grade school administrator who never has taught on that level feel about her credibility as a principal?

Amy Wadsworth believes interest and expertise in teaching and education are easily interchangeable among the various levels. In her third year [1995] at Wasatch, her earlier experience included teaching English and French at Highland High School and serving as Assistant Principal at Clayton Intermediate School. Ms. Wadsworth impressed me as being readily available to the students, but also as someone who doesn’t fill or overwhelm the space that’s rightfully theirs. This is a students’ school!

Additional staff at the K-6 school total about 40. including teachers, aides, art and physical education specialists. There are “lots of good volunteers” (mainly parents), and an active corporate sponsor. Class size averages in the 20s. with three classes for each grade. There’s also a library, a playground, and a gymnasium. Although Wasatch was one of the very first schools in Salt Lake City to have computers, its computers now are among the oldest!

A sense of contentment fills the air at the residential R Street and South Temple location; the school actually feels calm and well organized. This “whole child” approach works well. With serious and usually successful attempts by the teachers and other staff to reach every area in each student’s life, they don’t often need to act out in frustration and violence in attempts to be heard and attended to. Because of this, the students get along well with each other and with the adults in their lives.

Ms. Wadsworth observes that blending students from more troubles areas into the lower-risk population helps a great deal to offset at-riskedness. Accepting of each other, the kids generally don’t isolate themselves into demographically defined groups. Once again, their needs are being met well enough there’s little need for a particular student or group to seek special attention.

Usually the kids are polite, respectful, and considerate of others. But despite the all-round success the Wasatch students and their principal are enjoying, sometimes there’s dissension. Classroom teachers try to process conflict in a problem-solving modality, and if the discord actually reaches the principal, she applies similar procedures.

Ms. Wadsworth feels that in the future these techniques will need to be taught more formally. She says the goal is for peaceable conflict resolution to become a day-to-day practice and not just something occasionally imposed from without.

As these students find peaceful solutions becoming natural to them, they’ll easily take the skills they’ve learned at school into their family setting and into the larger Salt Lake City and world communities. This will be a great and ongoing advantage to all of us!

“Keeping high expectations” in every area helps make sure outstanding results happen. Future leaders are being built at Wasatch Elementary, and they are being treated with care and respect. And as Amy Wadsworth says, they’re “such a delight!”

Faces in the sun, Wasatch School students are busy planting gardens to enhance their own lives and as a gift to their community...

Restaurant Review

2004-11-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

Here’s a semi-spoof takeoff on what I did during my probably all-time favorite job--a volunteer job writing restaurant reviews for the local radical newsrag.

Codman Square’s Newest Temptation

Lunches to Savor and Remember

by Leah Chang

With all the yuppies, graduate students, young families and assorted others who’ve been moving into Dorchester, it’s high time for the arrival of an establishment like Urban Coastal Cuisine!

Since we’d been wondering if the restaurant’s name was overstated, too trendy or aptly descriptive, last Tuesday a pair of us ventured into Urban Coastal’s luncheon buffet. UCC occupies a storefront on Washington Street in Codman Square vacated several months ago by a retail outlet of a recently defunct small grocery chain; current tenants on the surrounding blocks include several national retail outlets. In reviving and redesigning the site, Abigail Janssen and Rich Krone, the restaurant’s owners/managers, both recent graduates of Johnson & Wales, retained the original plate glass windows and two of the original entryways, blocking the 3rd door with a subtle, freeform graphic done in dense, textured acrylic with metallic accents by local artist and teacher Maya Gutierrez. The banner signage announces “local seafood and ethnic cuisine”; a quartet of Boston Benches, commissioned from Nancy Jamison of Dorchester Fair Food’s associates and co-workers, offer inviting spots to rest, wait, or meet people. Inside the windows and peering out to greet passersby and potential diners, window boxes filled with floral plantings add a spot of bright color to an otherwise subtly sophisticated presentation mostly done in natural hues.

Once inside UCC, we discovered the atmosphere attempts to mimic what I’ve experienced in Cambridge’s Harvard and Central Squares but in a less in-your-face “this is the way to be ‘in’ these days” manner. Clearly there is “a way to be” if you’re well-educated and you’ve opted for inner-city rather than suburban living, and one of the requisite lifestyle accoutrements includes at least occasional dining at places that serve other than the more classic and traditional “Americana” fare.

Perusing the bill of fare, we noticed the prices were high for lunch in Codman Square. But sometimes the image is costly, right? So going for the expected splurge, one of us ordered grilled (unspecified) seafood fajitas with Caribbean chutney-style salsa and “Thai style” fruit compote. Yes. The other decided on non-coastal, choosing slightly blackened (that’s still current?) chicken breast au poivre, wild rice medley, (local!) and a garden-fresh tomato and mixed green salad with the obligatory house vinaigrette. Since the wine selection was too pricey for us, we decided to drink bottled water. Then on to dessert: this time a different ethnicity with Tiramisu and an American favorite: strawberry-rhubarb tart crowned with homemade vanilla ice cream. With dessert one of us had an herbal and black tea blend created by one of our J&W graduate hosts and served with honey from New Hampshire; the other chose a double latté from a plethora of specialty coffees. On a side note, while we were lunching folks at two nearby tables had come in for coffee and pastry, so that less-expensive option may help restaurant revenue.

The food? Yes, the food! Presentation of everything that came to our table was clean, fresh and appealing, served on natural-colored stoneware. All the flavors of everything were nicely married, with no particular accent overwhelming another one. However, none of the food we ordered had a particularly distinct or novel taste, either: it was more in keeping with the expected standard of this kind of cuisine, but that works well!

Ambience definitely is a big part of this restaurant’s draw (at least for Leah, who’s writing this review). With the interior walls painted a light sandy beige, pale wood tables and chairs, and newly-refinished wide-plank floors coupled with the natural stoneware dishes, silk flowers on the table and hanging on the walls a diversity of silk-screened city scenes, beach scenes and city beach scenes, including one of my local favorites, Dorchester’s Malibu, the calming effect of it all took me back to a more tranquil era and will draw me back to Urban Coastal Cuisine. Recorded music definitely would enhance the entire mise-en-scéne or – ideally – live music, such as guitar or mandolin. But I can dream! Rich Krone, who together with Abigail Janssen is UCC’s owner/manager, told me a live music series s part of his vision, and acquiring an arts grant to provide the live music is another hope for the future.

CITYLIST

2004-11-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

Urban Oasis

Special Edition: Some Extras

Limited Edition: Lots of Extras

you can live in ours!!!!!

Sailing through the city: easy living

cloudbreak

...when the Winter's gone...

Urban Daydreams

cityblues...

the kitchen at dawn--takes you back

Cities are Beautiful: a world of real living

Sun Country House | HomeWorks 1, 2, 3

Look this way | It's Summer. | It's about time!

Starshine--Dawn--Sunshine

Summer Breakaway | easy living

Sun-Country Living

City Lights!!!!!

New England Temperature Conversion Chart

2004-11-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

60º F: Southern Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in New England sunbathe.

50º F: New Yorkers try to turn on the heat. People in New England plant gardens.

40º F: Italian & English cars won't start. People in New England drive with the windows down.

32º F: Distilled water freezes. Maine's Moose head Lake's water gets thicker.

20º F: Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, and wool hats. People in New England throw on a flannel shirt.

15º F: New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in New England have the last cookout before it gets cold.

0º F: All the people in Miami die. New Englanders close the windows.

10º below zero: Californians fly away to Mexico. The Girl Scouts in New England are selling cookies door to door.

25º below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. People in New England get out their winter coats.

40º below zero: Washington DC runs out of hot air. People in New England let the dogs sleep indoors.

100º below zero: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. New Englanders get frustrated because they can't start their "kahs."

460º below zero: All atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale). People in New England start saying, "cold 'nuff for ya?!"

500º below zero: Hell freezes over. The Red Sox win the World Series...

Testify To Love

2004-11-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

All the colors of the rainbow
All the voices of the wind
Every dream that reaches out
That reaches out to find where love begins
Every word of every story
Every star in every sky
Every corner of creation lives to testify!

For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough
With every breath I take I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love!

From the mountains to the valleys
From the rivers to the sea
Every hand that reaches out
Every hand that reaches out to offer peace
Every simple act of mercy
Every step to kingdom come
All the hope in every heart will speak what love has done!

~~ G. Cunningham, C. Peacock~~

too long a time

2004-11-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

This is how I've been feeling for too, too long...I found this in the "First Person" series on page 67 of the February 2000 print version of Life magazine; John Trotter is the author. Yes, that long-past Friday afternoon did become a watershed, but rather than celebrate it as I wanted to do then I now have too much to grieve.

I struggle each day to find that once familiar person, me, closest companion. I've lost so much precious time. It's been rolling over me like a river in a nightmare, having neither length nor brevity. The waters...tangled me in a dark eddy of lonely struggle, apart from the world, where time hardly seemed to exist at all, even as it flowed past me. But as my awareness has gradually risen...I see that my loved ones, my friends, the rest of the world, have gone a long way down that river without me.

a free future

2004-11-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

"...a free future must begin with the right to talk freely about the past."

--George F. Will, quoted in [print, of course!] Newsweek, June 19, 1989, page 72.

Reformation Day, 2004

2004-10-31T18:31:00.000-08:00

this afternoon at the Ecumenical Council's Reformation Day celebration the choir sang this awesome song:

Make Our Church One Joyful Choir

Make our church one joyful choir on this glad and festive day
   and by song invoke the fire that invites our hearts to pray:
Shape us, Christ, to live and claim all it means to bear your name.

Bend us low by song and prayer, low enough to lift the cross
   and to take the weight and bear love's uncounted final cost:
Shape us, Christ, to live and claim all it means to bear your name.

Lift us up by song and prayer till the way we deal with loss
   and our acts and words of care trace the pattern of your cross:
Shape us, Christ, to bear your name.

Bend us, lift us, make us strong, send us out with wind and fire,
   so the world may hear the song that we offer as your choir:
Shape us, Christ, to live and claim all it means to bear your name.
Amen, amen, amen!

Thomas H. Troeger
© 1994 Oxford University Press, Inc.

round of blues

2004-10-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

some lyrics from "Round of Blues" from album, Fat City, 1992

Here we go again
Another round of blues
Several miles ago
I set down my angel shoes
On a lost highway
For a better view
Now in my mind's eye
All roads lead to you
...
I hear the sound of wheels
I know the rainbow's end
I see lights in a fat city
I feel love again
...
All this time
I been missing
Something so real
All this time
I been a face in the crowd
Now I'm living in color
And laughing out loud
All these names
For just foolin' around
It's a new breakthrough
It's an old break down

by Shawn Colvin and Larry Klein

Here In This Place!

2004-10-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Gather Us In!

Here in this place new light is streaming, now is the darkness vanished away;
see in this space our fears and our dreamings brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in, the lost and forsaken, gather us in, the blind and the lame;
call to us now, and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.

We are the young, our lives are a mystery, we are the old who yearn for your face;
we have been sung through-out all of history, called to be light to the whole human race.

Gather us in, the rich and the haughty, gather us in, the proud and the strong;
give us a heart, so meek and so lowly, give us the courage to enter the song!

Here we will take the wine and the water, here we will take the bread of new birth,
here you shall call your sons and your daughters, call us anew to be salt for the earth.

Give us to drink the wine of compassion, give us to eat the bread that is you;
nourish us well, and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true.

Not in the dark of buildings confining, not in some heaven, light years away--
here in this place the new light is shining, now is the kingdom and now is the day!

Gather us in and hold us forever, gather us in and make us your own;
gather us in, all peoples together, fire of love in our flesh and our bone.

Marty Haugen, Here in This Place, © 1982
GIA Publications, Inc.

so worth the long wait!

2004-10-28T06:26:00.000-07:00

RED SOX NATION!!!!!

official site

When peaceful silence...

2004-10-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

Wisdom 18:14-15a

When peaceful silence lay over all,
and night had run the half of her swift course,
down from the heavens, from the royal throne
leaped Your all-powerful Word.

When all things were in quiet silence
and the night was in the midst of her course,
Thine Almighty Word, O Lord,
came down from Heaven,
out of Thy royal throne.

Way To Go!!!!!

2004-10-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

from JC Penney's print catalog A(rizona)J(ean)C(ompany) and a few St. Johns Bay ads, fall-winter 2000.

Hang out on your own urban range!

Let your own rhythms set the beat...

For your special utility closet.

Just be yourself.

When you're all just hangin' out

'cause girls just wanna have fun!

FLAT-OUT COMFORT: for the dog days of summer

...unique and fun...

Surround yourself with happiness!

totally cool; totally comfortable

...relax and leave the world behind...

What feels good?!

unassuming ease

easy does it--comfort counts

cool gear, style: urban--stand out from the crowd

colorful comfort

put your life into it!!!!!

casual cool

change is good.

weekend attitudes...

...totally yourself

It's high time you joined in the dance!

In the beginning...

2004-10-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

In the beginning...a small bell chimed.

Creativity! It chimes like a small clear bell at the heart of the human spirit.

Remember the first time you spoke to the world from a piece of shirt cardboard?

Chances are we made some of that board for you...

Now that the quality of your message has changed, however,
you really should know more about some of our professional products.

...for all kinds of grown-up people in the visual arts.

Columbia 1776 Illustration Board

Celebrate the City!

Where the mind sees more than the eye...

Summer comes to America: Paradise...

Sun-Country-Living!!!!!

body image

2004-10-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Body Image, where:

body,
mind,
psyche,
spirit and
culture

converge. Its impact reverberates in all areas of life:

mental,
physical,
emotional and
spiritual.

...the world celebrates...

2004-10-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

...the world celebrates the love of God in the world celebrates...

faces in the wind

2004-10-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

I went down to the sea
To see if you were sleeping
If your dreams covered all your cares
Like a ship flying three sheets to the wind
You might have been crazy
With all the things you've been

I went down to the sea
To lay beside you sleeping
And you woke and told me of your life
Like a ship been caught inside a wind
You might have been broken
With all the things you've been

Chorus:

Good-bye
Too many faces have I
To see that only one has ever been
Too many faces in the wind

I went down to the sea
To hear your storytelling
And your eyes followed me around
Like a light been turning in the wind
You might have been crazy
With all the things you've been

Chorus

words and music by Craig Safan

horses

2004-10-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

"HORSES"

brought to las americas in the mid-16th century by Spanish conquistadores

horses have that *ephemeral quality* -- horses have heart!

Nez Perce horse--stallions and ahkal-teke

1995 Appaloosa mares: "a Palouse Horse"

Reykjavik, 5th gait--*TOLT* = slower, fast running walk

quarter horses from Virginia: 1/4 mile!

drafting=pulling

clear cutting--even age management, "skudder" and "wedge"

way to go!

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sleep...

2004-10-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

...and the forgetfulness of our sleep is strange and beautiful in itself--and what would you rather have than sleep?

citydelights one

2004-10-19T01:21:00.000-07:00

another day, another blog

...later I'll be back to edit, etc. but this blog may remain private from friends but public for blogger, as in public blog.

Since I'm somewhat of a listmaker, I'll mention my theology blog, Desert Spirit's Fire Alive is my main site as well as part of my résumé/CV; the blog styled "Poetry and Other Passions," suntreeriver [persistent biblical images] is for my poetry, some of my not-formally-theological writing and favorite poems written by other people. In addition, this far by faith contains my testimony along with related events; more recently I began sun country living as a journaling-type and commonplace book site, but it quickly evolved into a commonpalce book and a place for other stuff, like some writing I've posted only there as well as elsewhere and, of course, my list of Beethoven Sonatas.

On a final note for now, finally I have a site with *city* in the title! Although I was divided between citydelights--one of my favorites from long ago--and citysafari, ultimately both won, since I made citydelights the site title and citysafari the blog address!

So this blog actually will be a place for journaling and a space for reflection.