busy, busy, busy… too busy.

I leave today for my trip to Seattle. I’m driving up to Stockton after work, and then will be headed to Gig Harbor tomorrow. I am really looking forward to seeing my family for weddings times two, but I am ready to be a little stationary for a little while…

When I come back, I’m going to really settle into my house – I haven’t done that yet. And I moved into the place in May. Sad, I know. I am taking a carload of stuff up to Seattle, for storage, and it opened up a bunch of stuff in my room!! Yippee!!

I’ll be posting pictures from Russia soon, and will let you know when I do.

about the trip

This is hard for me to do, perhaps this is why I’m better suited to for-profit work, instead of non-profit, but apparently I’m good at it.

The trip I took to Russia is over budget (mostly because the dollar wasn’t as strong as we thought it would be), so I’m cutting and pasting the info for helping out with the trip. The PC(USA) is already in budget trouble, so being over-budget on this isn’t good. The money will initially go to the Russia trip and then after all costs are recovered (God willing that’ll be far and above the amount needed, and quickly), the monies will go to the future travel study seminars.

Here ya go:
If while you are interpreting your experience in Russia people want to make a
specific contribution to young adult travel study seminars, they must send
their check following the instructions below. The contributions will go
directly toward trip costs. Once trip costs are covered, the rest of the
funds will go back into resources available for future travel study
seminars sponsored by the Peacemaking Program.

Russia Special Events Account Number and Instructions

1. Checks can be made payable to the Presbyterian Church (USA).
2. Please put SE06059 and the name of the person on the memo line.
3. The address to send the check to is:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Special Events Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643765
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3765

For any of y’all at the Presbytery level, if you’re reading this, I’m available to speak as well. Please contact Marney or the Presbytery office if you want to get in touch with me. And, for any of y’all who might be reading this elsewhere, please contact me if you want me to talk with you or a committee or something.

a quote of the day

Or, as Sojourners would put it, of the week:

QUOTE OF THE WEEK ^top  
“I love my church, and I’m a Catholic who was raised by intellectuals who were very devout. I was raised to believe that you could question the church and still be a Catholic. What is worthy of satire is the misuse of religion for destructive or political gains. That’s totally different from the Word, the blood, the body, and the Christ. His kingdom is not of this earth.”

- Stephen Colbert, of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

Source: TimeOut New York

wow – picture of the Day from BBC news

I’m not sure if this will work, but I’m going to try…

Medical students hold protests in the Indian capital. New Delhi

Medical students protesting against a government affirmative action plan for India’s lower castes try to push their way past police barricades to India’s Supreme Court in New Delhi.

I’m sooo very wowed by this picture and the caption.

Also, I heard on NPR (there I go again, trying to get smarter) that Israel used cluster bombs in Lebanon. They’ve used them before, but I first came into contact with them while I was in Laos. The US dropped them in Vietnam and then had to empty their loads over Laos on the way home.

The UN works tirelessly to try to warn people of the damage of unexploded ordnances. In Laos, they’ve worked to get people aware of what they can look like. It is very sad to read about it. Kids in Laos think they’re toys, and apparently, so do Lebanese kids. It’s heartwrenching. Here is more information: The Electronic Mine Information Network. There are organizations that work to rid the world of mines, and I think that this one is brililant: Roots of Peace. What a great idea!!

Cambodia and Trials

I was listening to NPR (I’m trying to become smarter) this morning in the horrific traffic I found myself in, and I heard that the UN and Cambodia are working together to produce a tribunal in which some members of the Khmer Rouge are held accountable and put to trial for their part in the Killing Fields of the 70s. If you recall, I visited the Killing Fields a little South of the capital. It was a bit scary. The whole story was quite brilliant, and I’d like to be the reporter who covered it. He has many stories on the NPR site, and he is apparently a traveling story guy. I am jealous. But you all knew that.

On a whiny note, I left the house ten minutes after I have been leaving, and I got here almost 30 minutes later than I have been arriving. ARGH!

Share Our Strength

Next Tuesday, Share Our Strength is holding their apparent second “Restaurants for Relief”  to help the Gulf Coast Recover on Tuesday, August 29th. Red Robin is donating $20k to the cause. You can search for a restaurant in your area participating by at this page (click on the link in the word page).

This was my pitch for money for today… maybe I’ll start highlighting other fun fundraisers around the country… hmm, it’s a thought.

A Fascinating Article

Anyone know anyone who has either an online or a “real” subscription to The Atlantic Monthly or The Atlantic Online? There is a fascinating article in it, about declaring victory on the war on terror. The writer was on NPR’s Weekend Edition on Sunday morning, and I would like to read it… but I’m not subscribing! So, lemme know…

He had a very interesting point, about the reactionary position the US always take with regard to “terrorist acts.” We would do well to learn from the Brits and others who act and react differently.

Anyway, that’s the food for thought for this day. I have found that the Columbia University School of Nursing’s deadline is MUCH too soon, so I will have to try a different route with that school… still exploring other routes just now…

movies

What movies do you have memorized? REALLY memorized, word for word. The good and the bad!

Mine are:
Dazed and Confused (I can fall asleep and wake up and start reciting in the middle! Crazy)
Breakfast Club
Dirty Dancing
X2 (almost)

What are yours?