Obama-vox’s Friends

Elvin Bale's Video Biography

nobody@vox.com(Adaline) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:09:36 -0700

Elvin Bale's Video Biography

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Kat the Acrobat, Congratulations!

nobody@vox.com(Adaline) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:03:43 -0700

Congratulations to Kat the Acrobat!

Your blog post on Balloon Couture made the Culture feature page and piqued the interest of many in the creativity of fashion and balloons.

Wonderful!!

Adaline

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Flyers, Catchers, Holding on to Community and Henri Nouwen

nobody@vox.com(Adaline) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:01:19 -0700

Befriending Life: Encounters With Henri Nouen Nouwen
[This book can be downloaded from eBooks.com]

By: Porter, Beth

(An excerpt from Jackie Rand's conversation) A Conversation with Henri

Carlos Urban - The Quadruple - A Work in Progress

Just to make conversation, I asked Henri what he was planning to do during the coming summer and was astonished by his reply. He said he was planning to rejoin a circus troupe in Germany and travel with them while he studied their way of life. When I asked him what prompted him, a priest, to such an unlikely undertaking, he said, "You have to understand that I regard circuses very highly. The best circuses, such as Cirque du Soleil from Montreal, teach me a great deal. They've taught me more than anything else about trust." Here Henri explained how in the trapeze act the flyer must allow himself to fly in the direction of the catcher without grasping, and it is the catcher's responsibility to connect without hurting or injuring the flyer. This requires infinite artistry and precision, and transparent trust. Unless the trapeze artists resolve all problems, doubts, or difficulties between them every day, this ability to connect within a split second becomes flawed and can lead to a fall.
In addition to the beautiful work of the trapeze artists, Henri would observe the circus community as a whole. He said, "I'm very much interested in understanding the workings of this circus community so I can apply my learning to the communities I am involved in, especially L'Arche. All the elements I need to learn are there in the circus: above everything, caring and trust and the ability to take risks without fear because of this caring and trust."

The skill of this completely charismatic stranger in combining philosophical and theological ideas with popular entertainment had for me the force of a parable. Had his ideas been expressed only conceptually, they could have been sterile and dry. Yet as he presented them, they were vivid and utterly engaging. He never seemed to be talking about religion, yet he was talking at a deep spiritual level.

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...there's no seeing one's way through tears...

nobody@vox.com(AJ) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:35:49 -0700

not easy to admit but i've been crying. because?? a few reasons. nothing monumental or tragic. just momentarily overwhelmed by emotions. tears are unusual. not exceptional. i've always thought that crying was a bit pointless. feel worse. look worse. unpleasant. but sometimes it's just necessary.

a promise broken... not actually broken just forgotten. a mistake... it wasn't a mistake then but now it is. a question... my answer was no.

that's why i'm crying. not really an explanation but it's not really a reason either so... sometimes tears come uninvited. this time they had an invitiation. that saying: if you don't laugh you cry. or whatever it is. well the situation called for either tears or laughter. couldn't bear to hear the sound of hollow laughter. tears don't make a sound. sobbing yes. but just letting the tears fall is a noisless action. not a proper action. just stop holding it in for a moment.... two moments. preferably alone.

i'm alone now. i wasn't. i'm always uncomfortable crying in company. i don't want to be consoled. i don't want comfort. i just want to cry and then eventually to stop crying. the emotions, the sadness, the grief, the regret... all of that stuff doesn't necessarily end but the tears always dry up. stop. then sometimes the other stuff doesn't seem so important anymore. maybe it never really was. it just felt that way. it still does but i thought i'd cry anyway.

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Google Translation Gadget

nobody@vox.com(Adaline) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:07:32 -0700

Google Translation Tool

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babelfish Translate Blog

nobody@vox.com(Adaline) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 02:49:54 -0700

Yahoo! Babel Fish

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eclectic thoughts...

nobody@vox.com(AJ) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:35:55 -0700

it's a menagerie in my mind at the moment.

still have death on my mind. can't seem to shake it. not sad death. not my death. not the business of dying or grieving but DEATH. what does it mean to be dead? not to be alive. heaven and hell. rotting flesh. bones. which bit of us might not disintegrate? which is the bit that keeps on keeping on in a fashion of sorts? and if it doesn't all die then it's not really the end... on and on. i'm not sure i like the idea of not being properly dead. dead end. when it ends, whenever it ends, will it end?

then i'm a bit distracted by foreign politics, american foreign politics... nothing specific. read an article by ms. rice... made me wonder what the next lot who set up office in the west wing will change and what will stay the same. i'm sure for the most part it will be much of a muchness. different words and dreams but the reality often doesn't really change. maybe the vocab. maybe the names. maybe the beginnings. but at the end of the road wont the destination be the same? pessimistic but curious nonetheless. kinda like the glass is half empty but the bottle isn't far away.

spanish grammar. when did i decide that it was important not only to practice the words but to understand the language. i like grammar. i like how it all fits together and how the rules aren't fixed but fluid. i like that the exceptions make sense. language is interesting. glad i never had to learn english as a foreign language. nonsense.

and then sleep... sleep is the next chapter that my mind needs to tackle. just drift away and let the dreams reign... not simple but satisfying.

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he says, she says

nobody@vox.com(AJ) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:09:49 -0700

he says: "why didn't you tell me?"

she says: "i did. just not in words... you just couldn't read my mind that's all."

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Rick Wallenda Sets New Record!

nobody@vox.com(Adaline) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:15:05 -0700

Rick Wallenda Sets New Record

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Memory Lapses

nobody@vox.com(DRB2008) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:35:33 -0700

I have to admit, even at 66 (which I become this weekend) my memory isn't working too well. It started with losing my car in big shopping center parking lots. But now, in particular, I have trouble remembering the names of people. I notice this mostly with famous actors in movies and tv, people whose names I ought to remember--but often, I simply can't recall.

Still, I do feel quite superior to some of the people who have been leading candidates for the presidency.

Hillary Clinton, for example, famously couldn't remember if she had landed in Bosnia under a hail of sniper fire, or if she had been greeted by a little girl carrying flowers and reading her a poem. Or, to put it another way, she remembered wrongly.

I would remember that! Either poems or snipers, I would remember.

John McCain has had trouble remembering which Iraqi insurgents Iran was supporting. (He knew he wanted to Bomb Bomb Iran, but he just couldn't remember why).

He also was unable to remember which of the middle eastern countries bordered on which.

Well, on that one, I can't remember either. But then I am not presenting myself as the Future Commander of the Free World!

But now, most recently, McCain can't remember how many houses he and his wife own!

Well--I do remember that. I own one house.

And, in my whole lifetime, I have owned three.

I remember each of them quite clearly.

I am six years younger than McCain. Should I expect to lose these additional faculties as I advance to his age, in such a short additional span of time?

I sure hope not.

If I can't remember how many houses I own, for sure I won't be able to remember where I put the keys!

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