nothing

-

-
if we surrender
our bodies
to the flames
but have not love
we gain nothing.
i corinthians 13:3

[click for pc]
-

free our tongues

-

-

-
-
-

-

-

-


The blonde Dutch flight attendant who sat across from me on the nine hour flight from Amsterdam to Uganda told me that Africa would have a distinct scent. And it did. The only way I can think of describing it is that it smelled red and sweat-sweet.

Whenever I have a few moments here and there as I prep for finals this week, I have been returning to the photos from when I went to Uganda in August. These are just a few. I miss Rukuri and Masaka and mosquito nets and G-nuts and the sweat-sweet scent and the sweetest bananas of all and these dear faces.
-

savior joan

-

-

I am thinking about you tonight. Wish I could tell you that I miss you, or how often I look at this one funny picture of us, or how I don't think I fully understood my Mother's love for me until I met you.

-

strengthen our hands

-

-

-

As we look for your coming among us this day,

open our eyes to behold your presence

and strengthen our hands to do your will.

[Common Worship]

This is part of the morning prayer for Advent. There always seems to be those few words from the liturgy that get strung throughout your day. It is these that follow me today. 

I am grateful to one of my favorite professors here at the art department for hosting morning and evening prayer. The psalms spoken aloud, from one side of the room to the other, the waiting, the litany and rhythm of it all in our mock chapel in the corner of classroom on the top floor of Adams Hall. It is a good way to start and end the day.

[pictures from the house, for a project I've been doing for class]

-

the forest you did not plant

-

I think the epitome of home-ness is sitting on the kitchen countertops in the morning with teacups of steaming coffee and Simon and Garfunkel (Dad's choice, always) playing in the background.

Three things:
01. This excellent documentary.

02. This yummy granola recipe.

03. This poem.

Also: made this Wednesday night . . . I kind of just threw everything in the pot, so the recipe is mostly approximations, but it was quite yummy and I want to be able to make it again, so thus I record it here.
 

Barley Vegetable Soup with White Wine and Lemon

1 small onion, chopped

a handful of chopped leeks

3 large carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

5 large mushrooms, chopped

3/4 cup peas

a handful of spinach or kale

fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup white cooking wine

juice from one lemon

3/4 cup cooked pearl barley

Cook all vegetables except peas and greens in a saucepan over medium heat with olive oil and salt and pepper. Cook until soft and onions are translucent. Add fresh herbs and cook for three minutes. Add broth, white wine, lemon, peas, and greens. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Add precooked barley and let simmer for 10-15 more minutes. I like to serve it with a little goat cheese and freshly ground pepper on top.
-

[picture of maybe-someday-my-house, or a house a few blocks away from school whose porch I visit often]

-

ten good things

-
 

The more I live the more I am convinced that gratefulness is a very good thing.

01. salted caramel gelato slathered between whole wheat oatmeal cranberry cookies
02. torunn's hospitality and kindness and dinner tonight at her apartment
03. anticipation for going home (oh how slow this week has been)
04. after-church conversations with people not in my age group
05. my lovely roommates and this cozy attic-space we call home
06. big parties, loud music, and quiet corners to watch and observe
07. friends who are not like me at all
08. people who ask questions and remove attention from themselves
09. warmer air and no coats today
10. sundays and bread and wine and grace that is not my own (which is, after all, all of it)

[picture of my great-grandmother bernadine pratt - isn't that a lovely name?]
-

the space of a body

-
 

 -
(Excuse my Tuesday evening brain release.)

Do we know our bodies? What is the shape of your earlobe? Is pain the only thing that keeps us in touch with them? What does it mean to be trapped in skin?

"It is ironic that at the most superficial layer of the skin's intelligence network, dead cells organize to present our body image to the world." [Greenstein.]

What is the difference between a core and a container? Oh, Brancusi.

Marigold moons.

To-Do List of My Sanity:
1. Sleep.
2. Write.
3. Pray.
4. Create.
5. Love.

Things to Remember:
1. Remember the essential things.
2. Love materials.
3. Buy a thermos.

We the living are the dead.
We the dead are the living.
We are our mothers.
We will become our mothers.
We will die as mothers.
We will live as mothers.

This man makes good music.

If God had eyes, I think they would be purple.

[iPhone picture of the sun on the wall in my room]
-