I picked perhaps the worst (best?) time of my life so far to read Vindication of Love by Cristina Nehring, considering her position is that romance is dead in the modern world-“romance” being distance, pain, humiliation, sexual frustration, sexy fights, etc.-and that we need to reclaim it. Her examples of real romance include adolescent folly ( ( Read more... )

Camping this weekend was good for me, in many ways.

The stereotypical ones: Getting out of a city to breathe clean air. Feeling awe at seeing the stars. Being so exhausted that I actually slept through the night. (No dreams, no apnea-I don’t think I even moved.) Breathing in a campfire, and having the smell stay in my hair. Getting sun.

Unique ( Read more... )

For the last two years I have been trying to wean myself off makeup.

I knew AmeriCorps would mean cutting back on personal spending, so when I left Milwaukee, I threw out old mascara, blush and eyeliner, and never replaced those items. I also stopped using hair gel. (Hairdryers and straighteners left my life the year before. So did dye.)

That left me ( Read more... )

Had a lovely first Rumi Reading Club of 2k10. Ended with a reflection on a Rumi poem that says every thing-even inanimate objects-in a way, can pray. That every object on earth is a testament to God. This is part of the concept of Tawhid, or seeing God in all things ( Read more... )

I the last 48 hours I have ( Read more... )

"If you are happier off today than you were in 2000 when there was no Iraq war, gas cost less than $2.00, No Child Left Behind didn't exist and we had a federal surplus, then you know who to vote for. If you are worse off, then you know who to vote for. However, if you sit out the vote, then you just voted....automatically. You voted to continue ( Read more... )

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All of my pillows and blankets have been moved to Ripon, so I've been sleeping straight up on the bumpy living room couch this whole Milwaukee weekend. But I've been so busy and so thoroughly worn-out that it hasn't been a problem at all ( Read more... )

Crazy week! My last in Milwaukee, and I lived it up with a visit from Megan Andreuzzi ( Read more... )

I can't believe it's been a week since the California adventure began ( Read more... )