Falling Whistles Interns

Today a couple of us had the opportunity to have lunch with some remarkable young women traveling from L.A. to OKC via ABQ. They are interns at a non-profit called "Falling Whistles" and are on their way to join other groups from around the country to support the activists staked out in front of Senator Coburn’s office.

"Senator Coburn has put a block on the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. The bill authorizes $40 million to post-conflict recovery efforts in Northern Uganda and directs President Obama to come up with a peace and recovery plan for war-ravaged Northern Uganda.

The number count varies, but people from all over the country are gathered in OKC, sleeping outside in the freezing cold to request a meeting with the Senator to state their case."


These young women, ranging in age from 18-23 have a great energy and passion about them and it was exciting to get a chance to get to know them. One of them is a kid I've known and loved her entire life, and I could not be prouder to see her spending her time this way!!


Please pray for the 7 of them as they travel 1400 miles in a van, then sleep outside for the next 3 nights in an effort to bring more awareness to what is happening to children in Congo and Uganda.


You can learn more about what's going on here:
Falling Whistles

Quotable Quotes

“I dont believe in charity.
I believe in solidarity.
Charity is vertical, so it’s humiliating.
It goes from the top to the bottom.
Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other and learns from the other.
I have a lot to learn from other people.”

-Eduardo Galeano.

ht: Falling Whistles

Marvel - by Liberty Hyde

“Marvel”
Liberty Hyde Bailey

(From WIND AND WEATHER: POEMS
Doulos Christou Press, 2008 edition)

Ah, the wonders I have seen
At dawn and sunset and between!

The ocean beach on wild midnights
Deep steaming swamps and northern bights
The cirrhus clouds in high moonlights
The magic calm of tropic seas
The nameless sails at distant quays
The long long walks on lonely strands
Dead vacantness of desert lands
The constellations in new skies
The rounding landscape’s million dyes

The fling of frost on country side
The burning stacks on prairies wide
Surpassing peace of autumn leaves
Ten thousand stooks of harvest sheaves
The ruddy camp-fire’s holy zest
Howbe the catbird builds its nest
And how the palm-tree rears its crest
The sanctity of falling snow
The lull before the thunder-blow
The sacred naves of forests old
Strange rivers bearing freights untold
Serenity of mountain peaks
The youthful worlds in rolling creeks
The glacier gleams on headlands far
Deep chambered caves and calcic spar
The iceberg’s crystal citadels
And all the people in the towns
In all the sleeping virgin towns
And all the partings and farewells,—
Oh the spaces and the sweep
Of the zenith and the deep!

Ah, the marvels I have seen
At gloam and sunrise and between!

ht: @ERbks 

quotable quotes

Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace -- not in the infantile ... sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth. - James Baldwin, from his book The Fire Next Time

Typography

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.
ht: Abraham Piper although I'm not sure he'd be thrilled to know I found it funny. ;-)

Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers - Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts

As a former band geek, I have to say I absolutely LOVE this song!

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 01.11.10

Yes, slavery still exists. Even in America!
Learn more here

Quotable Quotes

“To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God molds us according to God’s love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control.” - Henri Nouwen

Pirate Radio

Went to see Pirate Radio with my nephew tonight and really enjoyed it!
The story line was good, with lots of twists and turnsc The actors seemed to actually be enjoying each other's company, and the sound track was a perfect fit!
The young actor that plays the ship captain's godson did a great job with his role.  He had the perfect balance of innocence, surprise and michief.  
Philip Seymour Hoffman was fantastic as the only America DJ.

This was the first movie I've been to in a while that people clapped at the end.  It was a really fun night out!

Happy New Year!!!