jonathan safran foer ...

here's a pretty sweet video off of slate magazine about the young author.

fleet foxes ...

Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains

wow what a lobby ...

so this past weekend was the national student leadership forum at the hyatt hotel (hence the police academy reference in the title of this post) in the aussie capital of canberra. for those of you who dont know i went to this forum when i 1st got to australia in august 2k6 and worked as an intern for the forum in 2k7. this year i got to return as an assistant facilitator.

the premise of the forum is to bring people together from various backgrounds, throw them together into small groups and start talking to each other in a open, honest, and trusting way and see where that leads. if you know me you know that this would be right up my alley.

i love it because these groups all start out as strangers. the talk focuses initially on self and then begins to slowly, through the telling of personal stories (fears, goals, faith, family ...), start shifting to focusing on each other, and then eventually on the group 'community'. its amazing! each individual sits there and says we are so lucky that our group works so well together or what are the chances that we would end up being so close ... when in reality those results are a given when you set a safe, trusting, inviting, loving,and warm framework for others to step outside of themselves and feel comfortable in who they are which in turn empowers the individuals to love outside of themselves. fucking love it!

other notes:

one more paper this week and then its 10 days of break - ill be reading tolstoy and sitting on lots of beaches

aunt sammy and uncle ed are in town and its so nice to have loved ones enter into my life over here

redskins are 2-1 and i love waking up at 4am to listen to games.

resurfacing ...

not really sure what this one is supposed to be about other than an exercise in the art that is blogging. you know writing when you dont necessarily have something mind blowing, ground shaking, or really relevant to say but you still want to write. i hope this is as good for you as it is for me.

so for the past month i have been running at a pretty hard pace. it hasnt looked like a break-neck speed where i have been running around like a headless farm friendly fowl; rather its been a toll taking month. guess im not a spring chicken (farm friendly fowl that i was referring to earlier) anymore and the school (a mini-mester class within regular semester is not a recommendation of mine), the 530 mornings for the coffee shop, and the being away from loved ones have all been ground together and mashed into a veggie patty august thats been difficult to swallow.

but its now september ...

man i freaking love how life isnt static! its this on going dynamic mystery that takes weird twists, awkward turns, and brings you to a place that when you snap out of yourself and open your eyes you realize how beautiful your existence is. and when that happens you better be thankful!

here is what i am thankful for and stoked about as of late - the people i share a house and my life with right now, successfully being finished with 5/8ths of my masters degree with a very do-able 3/8ths left, knowing my aunt is making her way to sydney, wilco, gilman beating dematha in football, facial hair, imago dei podcasts, npr's live download of radiohead's sata barbra concert, mom in africa, tolstoy, going back to tasmania, and getting reacquainted with my old buddy - spring time!

i have heaps i want to talk about ...

but yesterday and today are not the days to be bloggin because of work in the coffee shop, universtiy (classes, reading, assignments), and because i am in a new found place of trying to engage in a non performance or task oriented relationships where i can dedicate more head and heart space to others.

if you have been on the receiving end of my conditional friendships, all i can say is that i am sorry, and that i really do care.