Piano Man

i am continually amazed at the giftings humans have and how touching those gifts are. i have been blessed to encounter several individuals with a spirit about them...a spirit that runs through them. just the other night i was broken by music...but broken in such a beautiful way that the tears that fell were wonderful tears...feelings i could not justly explain. and at such a random time. i thought i was just going to be able to relax and listen as my friend practiced his jury pieces...but something shifted and with that shift came a rush of emotion...a musical piece that shouted something different...a piece that danced...and my heart danced with it.

i am so grateful for those who are open to sharing their gifts for through those gifts there is liberation. i pray i too will always be willing to share my gifts with others.

we are crazy people us humans...able to birth things we don't even understand.

Geetaring it Up

come to chicago tonight...specifically to north park university...then to java...and well....i will lullaby u for a while.

SnowBalls!

on tuesday we had the first "real" snow of the winter....or is it still fall? anyway, we got several inches and u know what else we got?....

TO HAVE AN AMAZING SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Megs!

meg is here visiting me. and let me tell u...it is amazing. we have been having a lot of fun goofing around the citay. our adventuring started right when we got on the el from the airport. we met a man from texas named richard. we talked history, politics, pizza, accents, different things. it was fun. and since then we have been nonstop. let's have a bit of a recap:

italian food restauranting
michigan avenue walking
store shopping
picture taking
movie making
stopping in hershey and ghiradelli stores for the sole reason of getting some free chocolate samples
snowfall fest
millenium park
bean sculpture
rainy slushy snowy mess
numb toes
chatting it up with a guy from the crunch fitness gym as he kindly searched google for directions for us
gigantic christmas tree admiring
strangers....yea....we have had some interactions with strangers....but really...is that a surprise?
classical music concert attending complete with us looking HOT:according to roomate Havs...and several other people
mcdonalds late night bonding....i know...i said it. mcdonalds....i don't like to eat fast food....but we got desserts so it's kinda different...haha
movie watching with friends
cozy tea timing
morning breakfast eating (i made french toast)
blue man group ushering and show watching for free! (it was extremely creative and awesome and crazy and megs got a blue man lap dance...okay well she was sitting and he was standing on her chair arm rests...shaking his groove thing...near her face....it was SO funny.)
blue man group staff conversing resulting in free cds from chad!
the grafton beverage and burgering to live irish music
walking walking walking
and we still have a day...or half a day of free time

i am so thankful to have megmegs here. it has been great sharing some of my life here with her.

u guys are welcome to come too.
COME!

Amen

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that really matter."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Black Friday

today is black friday.

i received some money from loved ones for my birthday this year and although i need to get some close-toed shoes as the weather has been dropping to the thirties...i could not justify shopping today.
i don't know when we became like this. that we would line up in front of stores the day after thanksgiving at 3am in order to get a good deal.
and i'm not judging u, if u are one who likes to do that. i mean, lots of ppl do, and saving money is great, i like saving money too, but it's something i have been struggling with lately.
and not just black friday but with shopping in general. i mean, i like to buy things cheap but i know it is at the expense of so many others. seriously, i don't even know which stores are non-sweat shop stores besides a couple. and that saddens me...yet at the same time...i don't have very much money and fair trade and eco friendly is so expensive. i have been looking at eco friendly shoes too. and they are cute....but about $80 for a pair of sneakers. and i could go down to famous footwear and get a pair of shoes and then another for 1/2 off and THEN 10% off on top of that...and honestly, i probably will check that out....and does that make me a terrible person? sometimes my conscience screams so loud at me. if we all wanted to do things right, perhaps that process could lower fair trade and environmentally friendly items, but we'd need so many participants.

so tell me....can we do it?

Hmm

"Perhaps the tragedy of our time is that such an overwhelming number of us who declare Jesus as Lord have become domesticated-or, if you will, civilized. We have lost the simplicity of our early faith. Beyond that, we have lost the passion and power of that raw, untamed, primal faith."

-McManus, The Barbarian Way