I got home tonight from a good day at work. Gave Carolyn a kiss. Hung out with her for a while before she had to take off for soccer practice. (it’s 22 degrees F…not jealous). I made myself a big salad for dinner, watched some post-Super Bowl interviews, read a bit of Tolstoy, talked to Jared and JoeMoe, and then had a hankering for a new playlist. Here’s the track list:
If you’ve been reading my blog lately, you will know that Yeasayer and Fanfarlo have been mainstays over the past few months. Also, my very good friend Michael Dallas Miller sent me a big manilla envelope full of his writings and a few good cds a couple of weeks ago, and from those, I’ve been listening to the Final Spins, an up-and-coming Seattle band, pretty much non-stop. I really like their jangling guitars, and very straight-forward delivery. Also, have been really into the Dodos for some reason too. They have given performances at the Interface and at La Blogoteque lately, and I’ve enjoyed watching them. If you’re interested, you can check out those websites @:
Happy Monday! Found this live recording via kitsune noir today, and enjoyed hearing some new words and music from Jónsi of Sigur Rós (not Sigur Ross as the dj says:)). The picture is now almost 4 years old, from when I saw Sigur Rós in London. It is fun to see that picture as that was and is still by far the most beautiful concert I’ve attended. I probably revisit thoughts and emotions from that concert a few times a month…one great evening I wish I could somehow step back into! I miss that amazing hair as well, but glad to report that I wore the same blue sweater just this morning. Good to know you can take memories and sweaters with you along the walk through time.
So, next weekend, while you are all meeting one another, discussing who made the best seven layer dip, Carolyn, myself, and possibly a few friends of ours are gonna ring in the work-week by watching the Saints take it to the Calls of Indianapolis…oh Germany…still so much to learn!. I predict a 28-24 win for Mr. Brees and his boys.
Making a cup of tea used to be so simple. Yet, in the future described in this video, we (humans) will become so dependent on our computer technology, that even such a simple task will require search engines, social-networking breaks, and reminders to heed bodily functions.
In a way, this film is ridiculous, yet in another I find it to be very scary. Might we become so dependent, or will these systems eventually prove to be meaningless, giving way to a cultural renaissance of sorts in which we reevaluate our relationship to technology?
Whatever the future holds, I hope that as we continue to progress, invent, and develop, we do so with common sense in mind.
If you don’t have time to watch the whole speech/sermon, it’s worth checking out the last two minutes. I thought this was a powerful and very relevant speech from our president. I appreciate that his isn’t a hollow faith in mere “progress” or “hope” but rather as he says, in the God who cares for each of us and the future of our nation in his hands.
“It’s faith that gives me peace. The same faith that leads a single mother to work two jobs to put a roof over her head when she has doubts. The same faith that keeps an unemployed father to keep on submitting job applications even after he’s been rejected a hundred times. The same faith that says to a teacher even if the first nine children she’s teaching she can’t reach, that that 10th one she’s going to be able to reach. The same faith that breaks the silence of an earthquake’s wake with the sound of prayers and hymns sung by a Haitian community. A faith in things not seen, in better days ahead, in Him who holds the future in the hollow of His hand. A faith that lets us mount up on wings like eagles; lets us run and not be weary; lets us walk and not faint.
So let us hold fast to that faith, as Joshua held fast to the faith of his fathers, and together, we shall overcome the challenges of a new age. Together, we shall seize the promise of this moment. Together, we shall make a way through winter, and we’re going to welcome the spring. Through God all things are possible.
May the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King continue to inspire us and ennoble our world and all who inhabit it. And may God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you.
our friend katie taylor from spu is here at the moment en route from paris to rome on a month-long eurotrip. we all went to a birthday party of a friend of mine in nürnberg last night, and had a really good time.
today, we’ll walk around lauf a bit, and then probably head off to bamberg. i haven’t been there for a while, so i’m looking forward to it!
Number 12 Kriemhildstraße is my home. My German home, I guess. When I first moved here, I didn’t know how to pronounce Straße, the German word for street. I also knew nothing of the great Germanic legend of Queen Kriemhild. It is now two and a half years later, and most of my friends here openly admit that I know more about the history of this region than they do.
I had made a special arrangement with the landlord to postpone the cleaning of carpets for a month or two so that I could move in immediately. My good friend Nick and I had made an agreement 6 months prior that we would move into a place together, but after a long and oftentimes frustrating apartment search, this was the single apartment which fit what we needed.
I clearly remember the feeling as I was led up the stairs and into the apartment by the real estate agent. I remember thinking it seemed smaller than when I had seen it for the first time a month before. I remember noticing all of the little patched up holes in the walls, wondering if the place was worth all of the hassle. Mostly, I recall the desperate feeling of surrender as I was asked to sign a on the dotted line of a binding contract with my landlord. Because of my limited German skills, I wasn’t able to ask many questions about the conditions of the contract; I simply trusted that all would be well.
After going to a thrift store later that same day, Nick and I each had a twin mattress to sleep on. Other than that, we had stocked the fridge with a bounty of good food and drinks to celebrate the feat of moving in.
That was two and a half years ago. As we furnished the apartment slowly, I remember making some very momentous purchases. Buying a washing machine was an incredible symbol of commitment for me. Hanging curtains with Carolyn was a sign of transition into a more classy style of living. Lugging the breakfast table into the flat by myself is still an image to me of the excitement and determination I had of creating a good place in which I could rest and where others would feel welcome.
This evening, as I look around, the other stuff which occupies this space all seems to share in this story of creatively establishing a little space, these things tell of the relationships and growth which has happened here over the last years. A little plant with white flowers which was given to Carolyn and I in September as a wedding gift from the 90 year old woman who lives below us. The glass candlesticks which were given as a Christmas gift by the elder of our little church and his wife as a part of a 24 day long advent calendar. The tiny television given to me by my boss. The blue picture frames now hanging above the queen size bed Carolyn and I now sleep in, which are actually old windows, reclaimed from a dumpster near the apartment with Stefan last summer.
It is truly unbelievable to see this place, knowing how bare it was for the first few months of being here. Many people have met needs, and Carolyn and I are so grateful to have received so much tangible love from our friends here in Lauf. I’m sure we will quickly forget the things which were provided for us, but always cherish how they cared for and befriended us as strangers in a foreign country. God is good, and we have much to be grateful for. Amen.
