we are hanging out as one great big happy family up in the San Juan Islands. dad knew a great guy who offered to let us stay in his place on the water. beautiful...
I'm trying to relax and can't get my muscles to relax.. can't wait to see Jeanette who I will enlist to massage the knots out in January.

spending a rainy tuesday around multnomah's campus.
found that its café and library are hotspots and registered my LizToppy so that I have access.
updating my records of people, changing girls last names etc...
its kinda strange to be here.

So I arrived finally in Seattle on Friday night. The trip was long and made even longer by the delay in Paris which caused me to miss the connecting flight in Cincinnati. I hit the ground running: left almost immediately for Portland and survived Sunday full of meetings and seeing people.

I haven't even had much time to collect my thoughts... So far everything is very familiar except all the changes for the people around me: relationships, marriages and kids. Everyone here thinks my hair is long.

So far I've been to church and seen many many friends, went to my dear PhotoCraft to have my film developed, stopped in at the Dept. to visit with Mike and Dan and enjoyed Baja Fresh with Bethany. I also savored a McMinimins cheeseburger on Saturday night with Mike and Fay and Courtney and Hayes- ...love these people...

Oh.. I also visited the dentist. They said that my teeth were doing good. "smile pretty"

My bags are packed. Tomorrow I catch a plane to the USA. The day after, I'll see you! Don't be surprised if I mix a little french into my english..."ziss appens after you ave bean een Fronce fo a while". a+++

See Michael Christophe Finley born December 10th at this blog.

After 48hours and one 'sleep' I'll employ the airfrance ticket that I am looking at right now.

Its all over. I spent 10 minutes telling two prestigious Sorbonne professors that "his Majesty- the Fat Cat" ended a dispute between Madame the Weasel and the Little Rabbit by eating them both. I also was quite amused at the primary adjudicator who doodled spider-webs on her note pad as M Fesquet, my professor, and I discussed Louis XIV's politics as it was related to "his Majesty the Furry One". (see the Fables of La Fontaine)

Tomorrow the Finley family will grow by one. Jonathan and Karen will get to hold Michael finally! And "yes, there will be photos" says Jonathan.

tired
calm
anxious
delirious
blaise Pascal
fly
mom and dad
america
need sleep
RER
la belette
manque de temps
disaster
pack
stomach knots
exhaustion

Last night was the Thanksgiving meal to which about 100 people showed up. I joined the super gang of people who tackled the kitchen to help pull off the event that Michelle had planned so carefully starting several weeks ago. I was tired, very tired after it all. We served the usual: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and corn. I got an extra workout in translation.. sometimes I don't even know what is coming out of my mouth as I try to describe how, when, etc.. At one point in time, I felt like a orchestra conductor as the servers moved the food from the kitchen to the buffet tables. It reminded me vaguely of working at the Old Spaghetti Factory on a Saturday night.

So now the fun and games are over for about a week. I am off to memorize my french grammar and vocab. Pray for me.

Today I dive into the last two weeks of classes at the Sorbonne. Saturday the 6th is my written exam and then I'll take an oral the following week before I board a plane for the States.

Yesterday I fought a gnarly headache all day long. It squeezed my brain from my rising to my going down. Thank God I managed to play for two services without too much difficulty. 3 people were baptized yesterday here in France that I saw. How encouraging to hear the testimonies of two young women wanting to follow the Lord with their lives.

More thoughts on the emerging church are bouncing around in my head today. One specifically from Jamie Hoskins is found in his "bechurch" blog title: "Thoughts on the emerging church, the struggle of birthing it... and other stuff".

I'm realizing how difficult this re-naissance is and praying for France.

I've been thinking about the emerging church stuff quite a bit and read Andrew Jones' blog where he writes:

Translate that to church: Our parents defined church by what they DID when they got together. But what if emerging church was defined by what people gave up to be together, by the activities that they sacrificed in order to "assemble" and the assembly itself was an act of worship, valuable because these people stopped the machinery of makingmoney/havingfun/cleaninghouse/etc to BE TOGETHER with God and each other. Not what you do, but what you don't do. The Catholics might do this better than the Protestants - with their discipline of silence, abstenance from foods and things, fastings, etc.

Its good fuel for thought.

Ok. This afternoon I will try the new Beaujolais. Every fall it hits the resto's and today I have a very good reason to go and taste it. What I mean is, this afternoon I will present for about 10 minutes in my class on the subject of lavender. I've done a little research and prepared a quick look at lavender. I'm nervous but have been stressed for about a week now that I really don't have anymore energy to get wigged out...so I tell myself, "Self, go up there, talk to your friends, and then go out and taste the Beaujolais to celebrate."

God bless Jayme for posting shots of both Seattle and Portland, my two beloved Northwest cities in her latest post.

Its Friday already and I'm staring down the barrel of a matrix-like automatic weapon. I'm just hoping I can revert to ceiling mode when it gets rough this weekend. I'm going to see the "frenchmen" to try and speak their language. Let's just hope I have enough energy to survive Monday where I'm expected to entertain my prof and classmates for 10 minutes with the topic of lavender.

When it's chilly out and I have more homework than I think I can finish before it's deadline, I put on jazz, and amuse myself reminding myself of my favorite pasttimes here in Paris. One of my favorite things to watch is people who rush for the RER or Metro making their entry as the buzzer announces the closing of the doors. For each one it is a personal race, and effort to win against the doors- they smile to themselves until they realize that everyone is staring at them and they will quickly apply the 'naked train face' to which everyone is socially obligated.

I also enjoy watching a few adults move large amounts of children. The best scene yet I may have mentioned long ago: 2 adults moved about 20-25 3yr olds in the Paris Metro. It was splendid watching them- like herding chickens.

Today I was reminded that I move in a large city every day. The bus', cars and motorcycles; women with crazy uncomfortable shoes and the smoke!... Paris is a big city, bigger than any city I have every lived in. Thank goodness for jazz...

today was a day off. I sent Sky off on the highway. We prayed that he would be picked up right away and I have faith that that's what happened. I spent the rest of the day creating a powerpoint show of how to create a blog. Its been a learning experience for me as well as tiring. I will be presenting in french on Saturday for about 30 minutes. So I wrote out as best as possible in french my commentary. Now at least I have a working draft. Tomorrow I head back to class.

So today I was pleasantly surprised to find a friend from Multnomah wandering around the Paris area. I didn't find him- he called me. I had just informed my roommates that a sudden visit from a friend was about to take place and he knocked on the door. Sky gets a nice warm place to sleep tonight and we ate chinese for dinner. He's catching up on email and eating and such as he's been backpacking around Europe. He's tracking his adventures at his blog spot. His next destination is Barcelona as long as he can convince the French motorists that he's a nice guy just wanting a ride as far south as they are willing to take him.

Ok for all of you who are trying to learn french along with me... you can follow me over to a new blog that consists of a conversation between the OIKOS living and working in France. I am able to post photos there as well as take my language learning skills for a spin. Check it out and meet other cool people like Lorenzo, Matt Glock and follow the links and comments of Andrew Jones and other OIKOS fans from all around the globe.

I'm sitting here with my toothbrush hanging from my lips as I write. It's gotten late again and I take off early tomorrow morning as well for church at Lagny. I'll venture on the RER and bus to get there. Hopefully it will work out.

Me and the Lagny group went to see the Matrix today. I hoped there would have been a more philosophical conversation afterwards but everyone was still enamered by the plot, trying to figure it all out. I listened to about 7 people talk at once. I don't know if they can all hear eachother when they do that but for me it was like looking at the matrix on the screen...too much activity at one time. I guess conversation is an art that I will have to keep observing for a while. One day I hope I can be one of the 7, sneaking in my perspective at just the right moment.

My friends from Portland, Kathy of the Varis family, posted a sweet memory picture of my beloved Oregon coast. I remember how the dark falls early during these months in Portland. But they were also the best- showing up for skatechurch as the sun went down and watching the guys tear it up in the warehouse. Or heading off to the Viscount for a Tuesday night DJ swing session...

I've heard it said, "When in Rome, do as the Romans." So when in Paris, I do as the Parisiens. I take the train every day, sit in smoky cafes, drink coffee, and speak the language that they speak: french. Today is Friday, and I am tired. We did a round of vocab today in class and I didn't get any of it. I wrote it all down, but this is no guarantee that I will remember this new plethera of words for tomorrow's conversation over the Matrix or for any other chat I may have. I walked away more tired and frustrated than enthused by "all I had learned". I may go to bed early tonight, hanging up my smoky clothes to air out... like the rest of the Parisiens.

I went and saw the Matrix this morning. I needed a jumpstart for a Saturday viewing in French. Anyhow, its late and I want to rock and roll tomorrow morning to catch a few shots of the wood at Vincennes before the rains hit and turn all the leaves to brown mush on the sidewalks. I wish I had enough time to go all the way to Versailles but it will have to wait til later, I guess.

He must be heard!!...même si c'est en français

Lorenzo Monge is a super cool guy working with youth here in France. He's a musician, and camp speaker as well as snowboarder and surfer. I hope to get to know his family better over the next year. We'll be worshiping together at the Chelle church which is launching bit by bit.

Sunday was one of those lazy-day's...time to catch up, etc.. I jumped out of bed one minute before we were supposed to be on our way and made it- dressed! Church went well too. The afternoon I lazed around (because we had a little break from our homework) and upgraded my liz-toppy to the new and absolutely fantastic OS X 10.3 Panther. Ahhh, a clean and rearranged room, best computer on the planet and no homework are a great combo.

Monday...well, monday Monsieur Fesquet loaded on the homework which somehow I finished yesterday evening. Its tuesday and I'm dreaming about what digital camera I want to buy at Christmas time and shopping online for a blog upgrade that suits my personality and budget.

Well, I know some of you are just dying to know how the Friday Night the 31st Party went. It was great! We all worked overtime to make it come together and it did. We had marvelous food prepared by Audrey and Michelle, and a crazy decor that I work on all week. Around 25 people showed to dance the night away. It was quite a mix of people from my language class, Paris, and friends from out east. Check out Michelle's blog for a few photos. Becca won the M&M guessing game and took the whole lot of 637 home with her. Vanessa and Nico showed off their dance skills and I got a lesson in breakdancing. Now I just have to practice.

We are definatly going to wait awile to pull another one of those all nighters...yeah, I was up til 6am saying goodbye. But we all learned a little something about partying: 1. Watch out- the price climbs fast; 2. Set a time limit- say 3am; 3. The Limbo will always go over well.

a picture is worth a thousand words
I just realized that the faithful surfers of this blogspot, are people who most likely pray for me and I just wanted to thank you all. I'm working on budgeting a couple extra bucks to liven up your experience with photos. I really, really want to be able to post color and no-color "1000-word-boxes" for you. Yeah, I guess if you wanted me to shut up, you could just hand me a camera.

I really should have written days ago about the Finale of the Avant Garde Conference we had on Saturday. It started last spring in June: L'Eglise en Devenir or Emerging Church. June was fantastic with a multitude of deep thinkers and wise people to meet and so this fall was follow up with a day full of conference with Stuart Murray-Williams. One of the best communicator's I have heard on the subject, I thoroughly enjoyed and took notes on what he had to say regarding the Emerging church movement. A couple points that got me thinkin were: 1. this younger generation is different from the one previous in that generally it hasn't heard the story of Jesus. Previously, the story was at least known; now a days, one can't be sure. 2. Part A: this country where I am at, has a great divide between church and state. In fact, it seems that if any hairbrained religious thought isn't connected to "institution" it is considered a secte. Part B: This generation rejects "institution". Thus, a huge indicator of difference between the "modern age" and the current emerging generation.

Ok. Today I had my first random meeting of a french skater. I've met a couple others but this was a conversation that was struck up on the metro with a complete stranger. Fortunately he wasn't too strange to me since he had his longboard along for the ride. I noticed right off the bat that he seemed a cheerful person, whistling as he went- almost without a care in the world. Turns out he is from near Valence in the southeast of France and is currently a student in Paris. It was a pleasant conversation. It all started cuz I was carrying a large box with a disco ball in it and I was wearing my Dept sweatshirt- gives away the fact that I know skaters. "You gonna have a party? he asked. -Yup! Friday.

Today the hits this blog receives from the USA caught up with the hits from France: 430 each. This is measuring since June 5th 2003. Kinda cool. That is what that little blue button at the very bottom left corner tells you if you click on it.

So today I took the day for myself and God. I did some homework too. It refuses to be left out. I find myself counting down the weeks til vacation even more than before. 6 weeks of school and one week for the tests. I wish I could just keep up but I'm having to strain every last ounce of energy from my brain and body to follow and even with these efforts, I don't always arrive. Friday as our prof gathered our essaies from our trembling hands, and I finally surrendered mine to his red pen, he said, "Man, Liz! Your face is so red!" I told him that it was because I had put my last ounce of energy for the week onto that paper. I think he knows how hard it is to keep moving forward, but he hasn't backed down on the homework load. I feel more swamped than ever. But today- I have given my best effort to what I had to do, laughed at the second acte of L'Avare, and tried to rest up for next week, not to mention found a topic that interests me for my oral presentation. So I feel like I got something done this weekend.

This is the last week of October. At the end of the week, Audrey and I will throw a little party here in our apartment. I'm in charge of the decor and ambiance and Audrey is thinking about munchies. I hope people come. I really want it to just be a great occasion to hang out, meet others and feel the party. We all need that at times.

I've been dreaming about getting out of the big city. I grew up in the country with the cows, sheep, chickens and dogs. I now live in/near a large city. I like the big city- it is amazing; but everyonce in a while I starting looking for familiar nature scenes of the Pacific Northwest: crashing waves on the Oregon Coast, high speed winds that make the trees look like Dr. Seuss created them, my dad's tall Douglas Firs, green fields and winding roads that I know like the back of my hand.

My best bet is that these things can be found right here on continental Europe so I'm beginning to think about how I can go and find them this next year. They tell me Normandy is incredible, green and with much history, history that America left there 60 years ago. I have friends out in Brittany and I want to see Brest where it rains! Bordeaux wine country calls as do the spectacular castles of the Loire. Today I pray for the swells of the Basque Country. Billabong is trying to have a pro surf competition at Mundaka but they haven't had the waves they deemed worthy of a wealthy sum to ride.

For now, I have 8 weeks to work on my french and then I get to see those great Firs on the farm.

We have 7 weeks of school left. Our prof is tossing an exercise at us that causes me to tremble in my boots: résumés. We listen to a fairly long text twice, taking notes on the most important pieces and then we got 45 minutes to reformulate the text in 120 words. It is tough and scary and also a terrific measuring method of our progress. I'll find out how it went next week. For now I'm just glad that one more is done and that means one less until the end of school. I am also glad that I braved a Chocolate Torte in the kitchen this morning. I borrowed the recipe from Michelle and she left me with many helpful tips to make it turn out. For now, it looks good- the real test will come tonight when I share it with real french kids at the Lagny youth group. I think I shook just as much over the crust as I did over my resume yesterday.

Sometimes I feel like I have to scramble to keep up with the pace of life. School seems to be taking over. I am staring down the barrel of 2 months remaining to understand all that the prof is tossing at us and respond correctly on the final exams. After a very tiring last week and a wearying Monday, I headed out today, Tuesday, with a brave renovation to my spirit... only to have it squashed by the homework we came home with. Anyway, I gave myself a headstart and tried to finish some for Thursday.

Another writing project that is weighing on me is an update letter one month overdue. I will get to it as soon as I have an inspiration.

Well, I've officially survived the first 3 days of my 26th year. I got a bouquet of lovely flowers, several cards from people all around the world and a couple phone calls "en plus". Michelle came like Santa from the States loaded with wonderful treats that she and Randy packed so carefully from my mom and dad. It is nice to be relieved from a particular phonetics class, where I learned lots, but did not appreciate quite so much the pedigogy of the prof. Tomorrow marks the debut of week number 5 at the fall session at the Sorbonne. I'm pondering my blog. I am super tempted to spend the cash to bring a new and improving photo-world to you.

A new adventure that I have embarked on is to learn the dance called the balboa. The balboa is a fast little swing dance- an 8 count dance that really moves. I found a professor who is willing to teach me for an hour a week. Wednesday evening is the day. I had my first lesson yesterday and was overwhelmed, not only at the steps I was learning, but at the new french vocabulary too. I think I will be a pro at 1-8 before long! un...deux...trois - quatre;...cinq...six....sept - huit! (quick, quick, long... quick, quick, long....) We'll be perfecting my lindy, too as well as training for the fastest swing dance= the SHAG! imagine girls in pigtails and stripey socks, kicking up their heels from side to side : )

These guys are crazy! I would take to heart their training program. But they sure do remind me of the good ol' days when I was young and Mel and I used to race around the farm on bike and foot, chasing whatever we could imagine, and fleeing whatever evil we could invent. Those days are now one year farther ago... well, in France they are. My mom might remember the day a little differently and say it all happened the 6th of October 1977.

Theory
There is a scene from the movie The Matrix that we all love. Neo trains in a program where the world moves around him; his eye is caught by the beautiful creation dressed in red- but this is when that world stops, freezes and Neo is left to ponder in a never-ending "event" moment. We've all experienced those moments when the clock seemingly stops or time slows extraordinarily. I have to say that these types of times cross my path daily, now-a-days. The 2-minute RER ride from Noisiel to Noisy Champs, seemingly takes 10. And why? I'm convinced its a brain phenomenon. Too many deep or profound thoughs jam the brain-circuits. The interesting part is that the world around me is spinning just as fast as ever and it doesn't stop. I feel like I do. This fact contradicts the sensation of time slowing for both me and the world. In essense- I actually speed up and process at 3 or 4 times the speed of reality and upon concentration of that moment/event, time is tripled or quadrupled to match the experience.

I've been bombarded lately with the reality of disconnection from the world I knew in the US of A. I see the differences when I read emails with news, and when I realized I haven't heard from people in a while. I know I miss people and certain things very much but at the same time, I'm determined not to let this 'lack' over power my will power to keep moving forward here. I've taking the 'bull' of school "by the horns" and feel like I'm both winning and losing. I've plucked up courage to enter a bar/club to see a photography exhibition of a gal I met once, and wandered into a outdoor swing dance party and left with blisters on my feet.

Its the days of "limbo"; wanting and missing; tired yet driven.

Today has been a good day. I headed off to class and got my coffee to-go and the guy is going to start recognizing me each day at the same hour. But hey- 90 cents for a kick that need after the trainride... Yeah, well tomorrow I'll need two: I'm excited to say tomorrow is my day of art. I'm headed off for a breakfast meeting in the 20th to talk about art in the city and as a Christian. I'll have a two hour break to work on homework before class, two hours for coffee, food and homework, and then the regular 3 hours of class. Then for the evening I'm going to hunt down a photographer's exposition. I met Clara back in August and I've been waiting for her expo. So tomorrow night is the debut as well as a concert in the 11th. Fortunately I have a willing chauffeur for the return- thanks Nico.

As for tonight, we went to celebrate Isabelle's birthday and it was worth it. Homework can wait...till tomorrow- there are plenty of cracks in the schedule to fit it in. Au lit!

I've been thinking: I still want to learn how to play the guitar. Over a year ago Dan Baber helped me learn a bit and I really was making progress. Now the toughened pads on my fingers are gone and I still want to learn. The only problem is that I don't have a guitar. Audrey said she would like to learn too. So I think that is a good sign that the OIKOS house needs a guitar.

Well, I've gotten my fall cold. I hope I can drown it in tea but today its not showing signs of backing down. Monday, monday... I'm going to have to pull myself together and head off for school in a few hours. 10 weeks to go and then 1 week of tests! It can be done!

I received a care "ziplock" from my mom via hand delivery yesterday in Paris. What a sweet incident! The Williamson girls brought a little love, socks, facewash, and some candies that I prefer and even treated me to dinner. There is included a little envelope that I will wait to open as my birthday approaches: you know, delayed gratification. : )

Thank you Mom! I love you!

Took a walk with my camera today cuz I needed an 'out'. I didn't go too far, just around Lognes. I was hunting for texture in brick, stone, mortar with overtones of construction on my mind. I found a whole roll of 36 worth. Our neighborly Catholic church provided a few shots and several different walls and sidewalks, barriers. Then as I headed into unknown territory- I heard the screams of a girl and the bass blaring from a car and several guys. I didn't want to know anymore so I turned on a dime and encountered two men laying a brick wall. I stood there in shock for a minute (because it was just the genre I was looking for) and then bravely asked them in french if I could take a few pictures of their work. I felt like I had stood up to one of my fears (how to approach people to get the photo I want). They said they didn't mind and kept working and let me shoot around their hands, mortar and hammers. I think I got the shot I wanted! I thanked them generously and said I might be back with the photos and started down the sidewalk only to pass two children. A colorful girl, blond curls and purple glasses asked me if I would take her picture. I stopped and said sure, asking if this was where she lived. "No, but it's where he lives," pointing to the boy. So I offered to bring the picture back at some point in time. She took a smiless shot that I think rather creative. It was a relief to have finally made a turn in the town where I live and to have encountered people doing what I love.

And oh, I stopped to hear jazz yesterday and really enjoyed myself. I invited a classmate to join me. Melissa and I talked about all kinds of things and enjoyed the "happy hour" after our long week of school! Totally worth it! She even bought be a drink. Next time's on me, Melissa!

Excited that I found a ticket for Christmas. I'll be soaring the AirFrance skys on December 12th. Can't wait to see everyone! Praise God! Now I just have to keep working away at my studies.

No jazz... they play fridays during happy hour. Now at least I know.

I think I'm just a little overwhelmed by the things going on in my life right now. Fortunately I wasn't tormented by horrifying nightmares last night. It really can't be as complicated as it feels, so let me break it down: I have school which means, grammar, reading and research, conferences, and phonetics (which can be fun); Then I have church activities- Sunday's (sometimes I play piano) and a youth group twice a month; Various meetings and one-time events; Normal things like sleeping and eating, grocery shopping and commuting; Then all the things I want to do but don't necessarily have the time or finances, like meet with a few friends, do photography, go out for jazz, swing dance classes, work on my research for long-term work, talk to people far away.

I hope my new schedule will begin to look a lot less formidable in a week. By the way, if you ever want to talk to people far away there are really amazing deals offered by Bigzoo.com. Ok off I go to work on my homework.

Today was the first church service in Chelles. It was good to be reassembled there in the little Hotel Kyriad conference room. Pascale and her sister and two friends led the gospel worship.

Its been an overwhelming weekend and tomorrow I am launched headlong into my french studies. I did my best with the homework and will feel it out tomorrow as to what we were supposed to have done with that 'Comprehension de l'ecrit' page that he handed us.

This week has been interesting: The STM change team set up camp here for a week as they pounded out a more final proposal to CBInternational. The highlight for me was Thurs evening when we normally do our OIKOS dinner. The team was invited to a french dinner prepared by my roomies, Michelle and Audrey, and Karen. I helped with the serving. It was a great evening and we were given the opportunity to share our experiences with them.

Alliance Jeune met today and I listened to them hammer out details for a youth leadership training weekend. I was so lost. Not until nearly the end did I understand what we were planning. I think I finally got it down although I still don't know where the event will take place. From what I understand though we have a pretty cool plan for the theme of 'networks'. We're going to provoke thought on our personal networks within the area youthgroups, then nationally and internationally. I pray for motivation to become a resounding theme amongst the youth leadership and youth. I think the workshops we are working up might possibly light a few fires in students to live bigger for God, letting their 'life' flow out into their networks. Pray for a revival! Stoked that we'll be having Matt Glock with us and praying that he'll bust out his Alternative Worship- I think a change could do some good!

So tomorrow I wonder if there will be a live jazz group in that little cafe on the corner as I make my way home after class...? You know, a change could do some good.

wanna read an old blog from august that never got published? This was during the heat wave that killed some 13,000 french people.

The evening, as the sun boiled down on us Parisiens, I noticed a Kraft style piece of cheese being melted to the sidewalk. I passed by an Indien family and the little baby girl with wide eyes and frizzy black hair stared at me from her stroller. She must have only been about 1. A little gem was planted squarely on her forehead.

Our grammaire prof thought it would more convenient to take our test today rather than tomorrow as planned...so we did. Fortunately there was no passé simple in subjonctif. I don't know what I would have done if there had been. We spent 2 hours in the un-airconditioned phonetics lab while the rest of the world cooked outdoors in the sun.

Today I learned about the goods and bads of Franco. I'm slowly catching up on my spanish and french and german history thanks to my new classmates.

Gros(se)- /gr oh(s)/ adj; big or fat
Mot- /mo/ (m) noun; word
Gros mot- /gr oh mo/ exp; bad word

Riding along on the RER Friday last, I was being entertained by a young guy challenging the gal across from him in her morals- He asked her if she knew Jesus and then proceeded to either hit on her or preach to her. I couldn't tell which. She was obviously disturbed by this and asked him, "How can a person like you, who doesn't know me, challenge my morality?"

I listened, unable to put all the conversation together... The train approached Bry-sur-Marne. Suddenly the conductor hit the brakes, trying to stop, but instead we cruised through the stop and then we heard his voice: "Sorry, I was supposed to stop there, but I missed it..." A groan when up from all the intending exitors as well as a few "gros mots" directed at the conductor. A smirk formed on my lips as I tried to keep my straight train face; it was just too funny- A train that missed its stop.

The young man continued his haggling of the young woman who began to insist out of nowhere that she loved her son...

Well, my hunt for a good ticket price around Christmas from Paris to Seattle is going to continue. Anyone know somebody who could hook me up?

So today was the grand day that I registered for my language classes. I got up and didn't hurry too much, arrived at the Sorbonne, found the line and stood in it. I didn't realize it, but it worked out nicely that I arrived just before 10h when the doors opened so I was one of the first 50 or so people in line. The rest of the time would have gone just as nicely but didn't. I was instructed to try out the new system which included a hike to one of the other buildings and when I got there, I was waiting patiently to pay with the very simple check method since they don't like "plastic" and the finance lady disappears with a "plastic" machine that has gone "en panne". Station 1 was a gal who checked over our info and prepared our student cards and station 2 was the finance lady. I sat with number 21 in my hand and watched station 1 call to 18 and 19, then 20. Suddenly there was a cufufel and both ladies began to pack up! It wasn't even lunch time! Follow us back down to the old system- this new one doesn't work.

I'm beginning to understand why it takes so long for things to change here in France, especially at the Sorbonne.

Back in the original building, I lost my "next in line" place and became one of many frustrated foreign students. I prayed that they wouldn't "claque" the door in my face as soon as I got to it. My watch arrived at noon and then 12h30. I made it through the process and have a student ID to show for it.

It looks like my schedule will be more afternoon evening classes. I can't figure it out here. So anyway, the adventure has re-begun and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

A guy stopped me at the corner of Blvd. St Michel and Rue des Ecoles. He wanted to know where the metro Cluny La Sorbonne was. I told him that it was right ahead of us and off he went. He was going to meet a friend.

So it is Saturday morning August 30th of 2003 and I treated myself to a 'graisse matinée' until 8h30 because I successfully finished my first month of school at the Sorbonne's langue et civilization program. You would think that by now I would be competely straightened out concerning that powerful little instrument in my mouth and of course entirely civilized now, but alas, I am not. Sometimes the fact that 'the more you know, the less you know' really takes on reality.

Two days ago I had one of those very strange experiences where I was sitting in a little chinese joint on the fringe of the 5th and 6th. I looked out the window and watched the traffic for a minute and was thinking through a fog of grammer and drowsiness. I suddenly realized that those funny looking trucks and little cars and crazy motorcyclists who drive up on the sidewalk as a short-cut were becoming familiar. So I did a quick brain search for what american cars and drivers are like. I remembered but then I was hit with that crazy question that pops up every once in a while, "How in the world did I get here, and what in the world am I doing here?"

The answers are simple: I followed the God I love and my dreams, and I am greatly profiting from my time here. Although I am far from 'rica' where all my family lives and a large part of my closest friends abide, I am equally stoked to be in a city as amazing as Paris. Everyday I see people from what seems like hundreds of nationalities. Last night I ate in the Indian quarter. As Sev and I walked up the sidewalk the city turned into a neon light show and Sarees where being sold in every other store; the markets were transformed on shows hosted by hindi speaking shop-owners. The married women wore little red dots on their foreheads and gold jewelry was abundant.

An hour earlier, I was one of two white people in a métro full of different african-origin people. I live in one of the most multicultural cities in the world.

Today I'm giving myself a break. I slept in and I'm going to talk about ministries in the area with a fellow believer for lunch (in french). I live far from what was most familiar. I now live in a world that is going to stretch me and push me to my extremes-- and its only going to make me a stronger and better person. So today if it is hard, I'm giving myself a break.

I've been discovering the neighboring arrondissements to my school. Since the temperatures have cooled down, I've taken to promenading in the 6th and 5th. A day ago, I sat in the place at St. Sulpice and watched the few tourists and the pigeons.
Its a huge square with a magnificant fountain and plenty of benches and too many pigeons. They all waddle over to a suspect and eyeball their lunch with those beady eyes. One woman tossed the rest of her sandwich over her sholder and they all blew in a torrent to it and devoured it. The birds came from every direction. Then another person across the place dropped their sandwich causing a rucus to ensue. Every bird seemed to have seen it and they flew like a herd of turkeys toward the opposite corner of the place. My hair blew with the rush of their wings and I watched as a unsupspecting Parisien got hit in the face by one of the flying missiles. The bird did a few corkscrew flips before it regained its equilibrium. The young man was smiling and laughing as was I.

Pigeons are one of the ugliest birds known to mankind. These grey, homely creatures in the late summer waddle along until they find a good spot on the cement or perch themselves on unknowning cement and bronze statues, fluff up their weathered feathers, even pick at them with their sharp lips. Then they pretend to sleep, feathers sticking up like Alfalfa's hair. Every once in awhile, a jerk can be spotted- as if he had something more than all his forelorn family, he'll dominate, attack and peck the others who may or may not have both claws. That's my analysis of parisien pigeons.

Of an easterly sunrise: 6:39am
A sea of blue, thin creamy foam in winded patterns, toasted on their undersides with firey white heat and a hint of orange...only momentary until its glory is overtaken by its creator.

wanna read about how hot it is here?

Phenomen this morning as I woke up and jumped from the shower into my clothes: It started to rain! I haven't seen rain in what seems like a lifetime of heat wave. So now we have a small luggy breeze flowing through the house and I don't get to stay and enjoy it. Instead, I'm off to fend for a seat on the RER.

So I survived another week, only to be thrust this morning into another. I am actually excited to be busy studying and learning and practicing my french. The only bummer about another week is the predicted heat.

Things I'm learning about myself: 1. If I sleep on my hair wet, it will be curly in the morning. 2. I have very high arches in my feet and must buy comfortable and, unfortunately, expensive shoes. 3. I hate to get the cash register and give up my carefully selected peaches because I don't have enough change.

so I wrote the previous post yesterday but the blogger was on strike so they didn't post it... I've come through another friday and survived. Today I met a couple french gals. One is a photographer and the other, her agent. It was a very cool contact. I'm hoping to meet Clara again some day.

The evening, as the sun boiled down on us Parisiens, I noticed a Kraft style piece of cheese being melted to the sidewalk. I passed by an Indien family and the little baby girl with wide eyes and frizzy black hair stared at me from her stroller. She must have only been about 1. A little gem was planted squarely on her forehead.

Our grammaire prof thought it would more convenient to take our test today rather than tomorrow as planned...so we did. Fortunately there was no passé simple in subjonctif. I don't know what I would have done if there had been. We spent 2 hours in the un-airconditioned phonetics lab while the rest of the world cooked outdoors in the sun.

Today I learned about the goods and bads of Franco. I'm slowly catching up on my spanish and french and german history thanks to my new classmates.

The evening, as the sun boiled down on us Parisiens, I noticed a Kraft style piece of cheese being melted to the sidewalk. I passed by an Indien family and the little baby girl with wide eyes and frizzy black hair stared at me from her stroller. She must have only been about 1. A little gem was planted squarely on her forehead.

Our grammaire prof thought it would more convenient to take our test today rather than tomorrow as planned...so we did. Fortunately there was no passé simple in subjonctif. I don't know what I would have done if there had been. We spent 2 hours in the un-airconditioned phonetics lab while the rest of the world cooked outdoors in the sun.

Today I learned about the goods and bads of Franco. I'm slowly catching up on my spanish and french and german history thanks to my new classmates.

Its been 7 months or so since I visited the coiffeur. About a week ago, I woke up and noticed a split hair... a long split hair.... with about 20 different splits in it. So I decided to gut it and go to the coiffeur here in France again.

The first time I made this enquête, I felt like a miserable failure and walked out with what the girl wanted to give me instead of what I wanted. It was frustrating and expensive and I gave up and returned to my mom who trimmed my hair for the rest of that séjour in France.

This time I started by hunting around in the little streets around the Sorbonne, my new school. Certain places advertised for student rates and so I began hunting for their prices and watching through the windows to see what kind of work they were producing. I say all this because I am quite attached to a talented hairdresser that I have in Portland- namely Jen at Salon 181. I miss that girl.

The going rate for students in spendy Paris is still 3 times what I payed Jen, but I took the dive today and met my new coiffeuse Marie. I chose a little place a block from my new school and across from a little park where they once beheaded people and just two steps from the café where Jonathan and Karen secretly met all of 4 years ago.

I took a photo along, trembling as I pulled it from my shorty's backpack as she said she couldn't "see the coiffe". Mince! I let her talk and tried as hard as possible to assimilate all the new vocab, but since I had been up since 6:30 when the glass recycler came by, and I had spent a good 3 hours in french class and the phonetics lab, my best was to follow what she said. She gave my head a good washing and quickly whisked it forward into a ponytail and wacked it off. I was a bit scared but I relaxed as I watched her mold it into a nice cut, layered around my face. The head wash was done in cold water which was quite refreshing considering its about 40 degrees Celsius, but she had to insist on styling my new head and swiftly applied her hairdryer to my rebellious hair. I thought my scalp would broil.

Voila! I have a new doo! still quite long but with all the possiblilities of "chic" to "rebel" and a new coiffeuse.

Well, the plan was to go to bed 30 minutes ago; that's changed. My homework took longer that I wanted it to- it always does, but I feel I did my best for the first time round. Tomorrow I have to be at class by 8:30 and I will spend a third hour in phonetics. When I untie my head from the headphones, I'll eat lunch and study and wait for the afternoon conference. I want to get a feel for these lectures.

I can say that after my hour of digging through the dictionary for a one-page exerpt from Maupassant, my brain is dripping with new words that I tried to "redige" back into my little notebook in complete sentence form for my new professor, Mme Vrillaud. I'll let you know what she thought of my few lines. I have a feeling that I will spend quite a bit of time digging through the dictionary, and I'm not talking about one of those French/English ones- I'm talkin' the real thing- french all the way through; so that when I don't know what a word in the definition is, I have to go and dig up its definition.

Well, we've done quite a bit of touring around these past couple days. I need to get back in the swing of bloggin'.

Sunday was a rainy day to start off but it ended bright and shiny with lots of "yellow"!! Yeah, we couldn't resist the crazed 'foule' that pressed all the barricades along the Champs d'Elysees, so we joined them. Michelle, Christina and I pressed in with a wild and diverse crowd of Tour gawlkers. Hours upon hours of standing just to see him speed by in his bright yellow jersey- Lance Armstrong! We came within a couple meters of him and watched him pull out the last 10 laps of the sprints. Among the gawlkers we discovered standing near us "Rowdy Rowdy Piper"- arms as thick as trees, gazing upon the crowd and racers from his perch on the Champs. ....Lance won for the 5th time in a row.

I've taken time to see a few sights before I launch back into school. Christina and I visited the chic department store La Samaritaine and enjoyed sandwiches and juice from the upper terrace. What an incredible view!

I hit the books on Friday at 8:30am. I am reverted to the morning schedule but I think it will work out just fine. I have morning classes and then a few seminars 3 days a week. It will be nice to be in a bigger campus setting. I hope to glean from the French culture in a new way these next few months. I also hope to get to know a bit more this grand city in which I find myself.

We're saying good bye to Sophie who has a teaching post in Austrailia. I'm sad that she is leaving; I wish I could have spent more time with her. Her flight is Monday.

"its raining, its pouring, the old man is snoring..." Some days are grey and so is the case today. We feel lazy and have been hanging around. I did get my email inbox cleaned up a bit. Now I can write another newsletter and get blasted again. So to top off the day, we're taking Christina into Paris to see the Champs d'Elysées at night. I'll take my camera and finish the roll that I started the other day.

I have decided though, that I can't keep shooting film. This must come to an end! I can't afford it. So I'll be looking for a digital camera that will be more useful here on the ministry field.

Tomorrow the chasers of Lance Armstrong will cross the finish line in Paris and I plan to be there. A friend predicts that Lance has already won and followed his comments with "vive les US!"

I did get enrolled to start my next leg of language studies. From August 1 til December, I'll be studying at the Friends of the Sorbonne.

Amazingly I'm back at bloggin'. The OIKOS team has survived another summer of evangelism, the joy and tears of hard work, and, for me, what it is like to slip back into life in France. I watched a terrific team of new friends leave on airplanes from Charles de Gaulle, but I was left here in Paris to begin another chapter of life here. Instead of going "home" to rest or return to school or work- I'm here. Shopping again for bagettes, creatively slapping together my best salsa, and considering the fall.

To be honest, the outreach was very tiring and I've decided to stay in hot Paris for the month of August. Today I go to enroll at an affiliate school to the Sorbonne to begin my studies again on the 1st. This means I will be back in school, but like I have never been in my entire life. The Sorbonne is huge. It is ancient and renown and I am a pitily american trying to learn the language they will teach in. I am so glad that I am not to be enrolled in Paris IV, but that I will occasionally receive the lectures of those profs. My courses will be advanced language learning, phonetics- lab and all, and culture and civilization lectures. August will be my running start for September. It all starts on the 11th and will culminate mid-December with exams.

So I'm going to get to experience August in Paris- and I'm grateful that today and the next couple days are cooling down. There are places to explore, classes every morning and La Rentrée to experience. I have also enlisted myself in an exercise discipline. We can pray that I will be faithful to my commitments and that I will physically benefit from the blood-pumping. Yippee!! I certainly would love to find a program a little more interesting than a morning jog, though.

So I survived my second Bastille Day in the heart of Paris. 2000 was pretty spectacular. We were seated in the front row, if there is such a thing: right up under the Eiffel Tower and just before the bridge over the Seine. We were sprinkled with the cinders of the artificial fire accompanied by a very powerful sound system that stretched the entire length of the Champs de Mars.

This year, 2003, we were again joined by the masses to view the light and smoke display. My perspective was a little different, though. I sat nearly at the end of the Champs, out of earshot of the powerful speakers and my view was blocked by that large pointy monument known as the Eiffel Tower. The show took on a new nuance as the Tower lights were exstinguished and the smoke and lights backlit the scene. They used similar plumes of sparkes as in 2000 and even the same twirly white ones that I had so admired. Our little clan was fortuante enough to take the 3rd to the last train home from the city, while our other half was separated and took the scenic route home..., at 8am. In some ways I'm jealous of the grassy sleep-over they had and the moonrise silhouetted Tower they witnessed.

I am reminded so easily how pitiful man is. Tonight, the 15th of July, God had another light show scheduled. The french are amazing architechs, and serious pyros when it comes to their independence day. But their show only reaches so far into the heavens and their fire leaves smoke, and their sound system sounds like the cheap paper speakers that get blown on the first trip out in comparison to the light show God put on tonight.

Tonight I witnessed, for free, from my own house, viewed from any window or perch with a view of the sky, the spectacular power of a living God. I started into the dishes and a few flashes of lightning lit up the clouding sky. The wind had picked up and the humidity and heat that still clings to the cobble and pavement collided with fantastic bass and frantic white light, fingering out across the sky- 20 times the size of anything we saw at the Tower. It started slow and began to gain momentum. I dropped the dishes and ran for the windows and threw them open to have a clearer view. The storm moved around the house so I went outside and joined 10 more worshipers of our amazing God and his fire show.

I can't help but wonder if one person in Chelles asked God for a sign, or if God was just putting on the show to put us Bastille celebraters in our place, or perhaps he was throwing a rave party for the angels. One can't say; but I know this- That a sky that is lit by fire that cannot be tracked, anticipated, or predicted; accompanied by bass and percussion like no other; and can be explained through scientific means, really is authored by something much much greater than any human ever has or will be. This is my God: awesome, powerful, renown, merciful, and patient.

We stayed out until the rain began to push us in, but I recovered a perch in my kitchen widows. I had a wide angle lens view of a diving lightning bolt that split at the tail and forked into the black sky. Over and over again, but never once the same. Clouds splintered one piercing beam making the lightning remind me of fishbones. Never in my life have I been so in awe of nature powered by my God.

I came to France with anticipation of seeing these lightning storms, but never have I seen one so powerful, expansive and magnificent as was tonight. I'll quote Roy on this one, "I wish my eyes had a record button."

After more than a week of long, hot draining days, the main thrust of our evangelistic outreach is coming to a close. 10 Korean Americans joined the 4 of us OIKOS girls, Jonathan and Karen (and Sammy), a crew from the church at Claye and Lagny, and a clan of Alsacans who love Jesus and play all kinds of brass instruments. We sang love songs to our Savior, talked about our God, and prayed to Him for the select lives that we would meet in the town of Chelles.

46,000 people later, we gleaned an astounding 60 interested souls, listened to Soul music, Gospel music and shared our lunch with neighborhood kids playing in the park. We trudged from door to door in 90 degree weather, trusting the Lord to direct our steps and our tongues. I admit that I have never felt so wonderfully tired in all my life.

Everyone made amazing efforts to keep the team moving forward. We were a generally calm team with few bumps in the road except that we were forced to give up one super team member, Audrey, on Thursday. She finished strong in prayer and in ministering to her hospital roommate. (It is now official that the OIKOS apartment stairs are quite dangerous and all persons must now used the handrail without fail.)

Pictures and video are available for viewing at Michelle's blogspot and at the LA Hanmi website. You can also meet the Korean team here and see stills of people that I know like Evrard and Swanson and the Hodapp family. Enjoy!

We are swinging full speed into our mission in the city of Chelles. We have a team of about 25 people, from France and the States. Tomorrow is the big day when we walk all over the town putting invitations in mailboxes. It is a crazy day and we all get very tired, sore feet.

My responsibilities are for the worship time each morning. So far we are getting in the groove and teaching a few of the main songs in french and english. Our american team is doing wonderfully as they learn to twist their tongues around the new words and sounds. This whole project of leading my team in songs to the Lord is a curious one: I am doing my best to go ahead and struggle- grow and not be perfect. I'm also challenged by coordinating a large populous of talented musicians with differing styles. I keep reminding myself that it will all work out, not to get frustrated.

Well I finally got some pictures up in a new album.

We are full speed into a 10 day mission. I hope to keep updating my thoughts. So far, I'm stoked to be meeting 10 Korean Americans from LA. They bring honest positive attitudes and fresh reminders of why I'm here for a longer time. They have reminded me of the differences and the reasons why I am struggling with certain cultural differences for the moment. I pray that I can reestablish my heart attitude and enjoy the change of pace, even though it is faster than normal.

The gromits of suburb Paris think 'bad' equals burning cars. Today, as I approached my train station for a quick run into Paris, I noted a burned garbage can. The gray plastic mini dumpster had been melted to a meer bassin with wheels.

I'm on the upswing from my cold. Yesterday's nap and long night sleep helped quite a bit.

Its been very tiring lately. I am exhausted and the heat of the sun hasn't been too helpful. In addition, nature saw fit to strike me with a timely cold and sore throat. I'm dealing with it all as graciously as possible. I have one week to recover.

I am beginning to anticipate our 10 day stint in Chelles. There is always an extra bit of energy that surges through the team when we work to invite an entire city to a Gospel concert. This time round, I am more excited to see how things have changed in the world of evangelism since I was last involved in a summer mission. We've been working hard on organization of the music, and others, like my roommate are planning the training of the entire team of 40 people.

Even with this new adrenaline pumping, I feel a personal frustration with language. I don't hear it much at home and only seem to speak it when I am outside the house which is considerably less in the last month. They say learning a language is like climbing a mountain: first, you go up and its super tough but exciting cuz you can see your progress. Then you climb along a flat place that is so dry and hot and, in my case, sun scorched; you can't see too well where you've been nor where you are going; in fact- you feel more like you're doing worse than you were a few steps previous.

Add a few wet tears to the already running nose, a homesick lump in the throat and cracked dry lips and you've got a pretty clear picture of life for the moment...and thank God, its just for the moment.

The much needed vacation behind me, I was greeted by a swift sore throat and cold this morning. There is much work to do in preparation for the week in Chelles but I need to rest.

One highlight from the trip to Nice: Adrienne and I spent the first day in a town called Juan Les Pins, just one stop east of Cannes. We shopped and found our very own spot on a sandy beach, swam in the Mediteranean, dried off, swam again and dried off again. Then for dinner at about 8pm, we targeted a pizzeria on the beach. We sat about 20 feet from the waves, wiggled our toes in the sand and ate amazing pizza's in the "palm tree and sunset sky". This town is my recommendation to any person desirous of a little 'repos'.

A little work, a little play. Every summer that was the theme. I had to weed one row of the garden and I could play the afternoon. Its been a busy spring time with language learning, church ministry and summer ministry preparation. Tomorrow I get to take off and rest for a couple days. I'll be back on Thursday. The sun of the riviera is calling and heaven knows, I need it! This will be my first visit to Nice.

there's a first time for everything

I don't remember my first word, or my first step, but I do remember my first piano recital on that clanky piano at Elk Plain so many years ago with Wanda Fisher so proud of us students. My hands sweat so hard that I thought the piano would melt.

I had my first solo flight into Paris back in February. It was freezing cold and because the Russian president was in town they had closed half of the métro line I needed and so I ended up walking the Champs d'Elysées. Yesterday I experienced my first Fête de la Musique. I have been rehearsing with a group from Noisy Champs for over a month. We took to the stage and played our best renditions of Negro Spirituals. It was quite an experience and I did enjoy myself although I never thought of myself as a gospel accompanist. We took to the city after our little show and I joined thousands of Parisiens and tourists at République for a fantastic show of live music and people. There was a sea of people pouring out of the streets, from the main square, and the métros.

This morning I set out on my next first time adventure. Katie and I jumped in the bus to head for church, my first solo flight. I was able to sucessfully manoeuver the desiel manual transmission, 9 passanger van from our "hill" driveway and out the gate. We then discovered we needed to buy fuel. So I bought desiel for the first time here in France- no problem! We headed off and took the scenic route to church. This means that I missed our exit for one freeway and ended up on another where I had to pay a toll to get myself turned back around. The freeways in Paris run in circles and I've been all mixed up since arriving here but I think, after the solo flight today, I have it straightened out- at least in my head.

We were only 45 minutes late for the practice! It was Katie's first day to play at church with us. She did great.

This weekend will be one of the busiest I've seen in a long time. I've been recruited to be a part of a group that will perform with so many other groups across France during their National Fête de Musique. It should be interesting. I do have a long day ahead of me. Thus, beauty sleep is a must.

I'm not an English teacher but I am considered a native speaker here by some. Tuesday I went to work with my roommate, Audrey. Audrey is an English teacher and I was her "show and tell" all day long. I met approximately 100 kids, told them all my name, where I was from, about my family and about Portland. I showed a little flick prepared by my talented friends in Portland, footage of the Pharmacy guys and Dept of Sk8boarding.

The toughest part of the whole day was speaking English only and not letting on that I understood any french. So many times I just wanted to break out in French, answer questions that were constantly being syphoned through Audrey. Amongst these restless Jr. Highers I discovered a few skaters. One moment in particular was tough for me. I hear a little dude say he wished those guys would come to France and skate with him and his friends. I wanted to say, "Yeah, that's a great idea. I'll call them up and ask them if they'd do that." Each class time I saw so many eyes looking at me wondering what I was, excited to tell me what little English they could. Many talked about musicians and had picked photos of their heros to show me. I saw huge trends toward popular music and musicians who were my own age: one woman killed a few years back in a plane accident- the girl said that she would live on in her heart.

Crazy that girls my age are making millions singing and dressing in hardly anything and changing the lives of some Jr highers all over the world. I ask what kind of impact I make. These women and men may pass just as quickly as the New Kids on the Block, but can I keep going and leave even a bigger legacy? I guess its not so much me who wants the legacy- but I desire a life that counts for more than just a pile of money or fame. My life is filled right now with the hunt for where I can continue to discover a life that is counting for something on this earth.

Ok. I have much to say but it will have to wait til tomorrow. I did update my photo albums at ImageStation. Make sure to look toward the bottom of the page where it offers you to look at my other albums.

Thanks Jonathan for blogging even when you wanted to protect your eyes from the harmful screen rays. I'm snagging your link to Global360. There is just too much cool stuff there.

I didn't stare blankly at the page you should click on above. Instead I pondered where I have been in relation to where I am today. Less than 6 months ago I would never have stumbled onto a blog page or a site like YWAM's and followed links around like a child chasing spilled cheerios. Today I read through people's thoughts on missions, what it is like to be a Christian in their world, be it India, China, Austrailia, UK, or good ol' US of A. Why do I so desperately want to know what they are doing?

For some reason the world seems smaller from over here in Paris. Maybe I see more cultures represented on a daily basis. I'm in a constant struggle to learn to live in another culture, speak another language, and love the people like Jesus loves them. I'm deciding that even though this country has so few Christians, it is just like the US in that Christians exist, they want to love God and worship Him with all their being, and my job is to love them, stand by that flame, and testify to its beauty- praying for its growth and all the while knowing I'm weak, a "foot washer", and leaning on Christ for grace in all the mistakes I'm bound to make.

"ÇA VA?!!!!!!" I was woken again this afternoon from my nap by the return of M. Surf. The ride is up and running again and the music has started again. I guess I'll give him a break today since its Father's Day. It feels like its been an extremely long day so far but the evening is quickly approaching...too bad I took a nap. Now I'll be up til late hours. But that works fine for me, cuz I need to call my Dad and tell him how much I love him...

For the last two nights, the citizens of Lognes have been partying in our backyard until about midnight. Loud music pulsates from little kiddy rides and bumper cars. Madonna screams out her popular hits from a ride called Miami Surf, which tosses it's crazed fanatics around in a large circle. They board the "Surf" and choose one of the 20 seats all lined up in a row. Then a large padded bar gently settles in their laps and the megga board takes off clockwise with a yell from the conductor. "Ça va?" he yells. "Ça va!" and then he sends the ride flying counterclockwise. One particular girl's hair is quite a site as it flies around in circles. It just shows how much more violent the ride is than it looks. "Laissez tout!" and all the hands go in the air! This seemed to be the popular ride for the teenagers. For now- I'm glad they turned off Madonna and the Surf conductor has turned down his lights and smoke and strobes. I will sleep in relative peace...until tomorrow night.

Love/Hate
Why do I have such a love/hate relationship with change? I love change. I think everybody should be looking for change. I think change is great. In fact, I have even taken it so far as to say that "change = learning". If I'm not changing, then I'm not really learning. Learning is a sign of growth. "The minute you stop learning, you stop growing." "Our greatest fear in life is getting 'stuck'." Its a thought of progress, movement, forward action. Its deeper than just memorizing, regurgitation on some exam; it's personalizing, transforming, making me someone I wasn't before. Some have called this developmentalism (thanks Dr. Patty). Its more than a romanticized exploration of self and environment; more than facts and memory tricks, more than discussion with people and theorizing, and more than a 'pavlovization' by culture, teachers, parents and profs. Some of the coolest stories come from people who tell how they were and how they are changed.

I hate change. It means passing from comfort to uncomfort. It means stripping me from "me" and replacing it with new. It means humiliation and an almost seemingly hypocrisy. Its saying one thing and then later, a transformation of thought that comes out saying the opposite. It feels fickle. It makes one eat humility. It means being weak when we had always thought ourselves strong. Its painful to change. It means mistakes, retries, and 'brain smoke'. It makes one tired, a forced battle with self.

I tried to imagine the world full of changing people. Everyone was focused on expanding their reservoir of knowledge from a learner's point of view. People content in their humility and weakness- seeking the better, stronger way but never flanting strength.

Today I had some RUG time with my friends Katie and MaryBeth. It was so awesome to pray together for people we know and love, for ourselves and for France. We praised God for His creation and His love. The more we prayed to Him, the more we were overcome with this Yahweh. It makes me feel small- a good place to be!

Today Audrey brought a few students over to make American Chocolate Chip Cookies with real live Americans. We had a blast. Check the photo link for a new album called Les Français, where you will see picturess from the event! They had a blast and so did we. They made some of the best cookies I have ever tasted...but they were being coached by the pros!

Church Picnics
I remember fondly the little church picnics which were hosted annually at Elk Plain Community Church in Spanaway, Washington. There were always two events that I looked forward to: 1. Watching a crew of adults sing a rhythm of crazy phrases and act them out (my favorite line was "Hark, a lark, flying through the park- splat!" and my second favorite was "Give Betsy give, the baby's gotta live!"). The second and most coveted of all activities was the lawnmower race. Steve Fisher and Mike Sherman would always show up with their souped up mowers, ready to mow down any person fending for their championship. My personal favorite activity: the log they suspended above a pile of hay where two kids would get on it like a horse and beat eachother with pillows, trying to knock the other off. Sorry- its a bit violent but that's how I grew up.

Today I went to another church picnic. They say the weather always is nice and today it proved so again with record heat in the 30's. (celsius!!) All the churches in the Paris region association gathered to eat and play and hang out together. There were soccor games, water fights, basketball and kids activities. I took advantage of the sun and mostly layed around, entertaining a few conversations here and there with friends. I was so encouraged to talk with one friend who is moving soon to Austrailia. Our question of the day: Why do we have to keep re-learning to trust God for our lives? It would be so much easier if we could learn it once and have it over with.

I was walking along on the sidewalk in Noisiel today reading yesterday's calender verse and comments. More than the content of the little piece of paper, I realized I was walking through a French town who had a church growing in it. Elise had just commented that people came to a book stand presented by the church there in a market to ask questions. My mind took a quick side-trip to a town I visited 3 days ago with Jonathan and Chris: Chelles. We had made a visit to the skatepark there. Chelles is without a church.

I just read through a little article associated with Answers in Genesis. They interviewed a french scientist and I found what he had to say worthy of thinking about.

Voila! After a few weeks of a blank, uneditable template chez Blogger, I have changed my template completely and "think" that I have remembered all the usual linkage and then some. Hopefully they won't cause me such douleur next time.

I've got a new roommate. The OIKOS house grows and we are two americans and a french gal now. Lucky Michelle is on a long weekend to Bordeaux, but I am happy for her nonetheless. Audrey and I shared dinner and chatted tonight, mostly in French. What a cool addition to our house.

Today I went to airport to drop off one friend; tomorrow we greet another. Katie is coming from New York and brings another music instrument to the house: her viola. She is staying for 6 weeks. We'll be working together on this summer's worship times.

I can't leave tonights blog without mentioning some certainly very cool people, Lorenzo and Marie-Alice. We were sitting in day one of L'Eglise en Devenir (Emerging Church conf.) when they were presented. A young couple with two small children, and ministry in a fashion that caught my attention: Pays Basque, Surf, Snowboard, only 2 churches, camps, students. I tried to control myself as Marie-Alice spoke about her everyday life being where she lived her faith. My heart resonated with her words and I was able to briefly speak with her after their presentation. As far as I'm concerned, these people are key and a definate link to where my heart is headed. Check them out.

I've just lived an incredible week and anticipate more incredible days to follow. The weather has been warm and humid and sometimes those showers and thunder. Things are a little calmer at the OIKOS now that the Emergent Church conference has passed through.

Although it's past and the calm is settling, it doesn't mean that the ideas and "ologies" that were discussed don't still hang thick in the air. My brain is busting with thoughts and dreams and every once in a while a conversation will dip into topics that are being tossed around from London to Prague and beyond. The second day of meetings came to the OIKOS in Lognes and Michelle and I prepared for about 40 people. It was incredible to have so many people, enthusiastic about their lives in Christ sitting in our living room. The resonating theme of day 2: the kingdom of god is a house full of poor people partying. Everyone is talking about it.

For me though, I was swept away with Andrew Jones' comment on "Do this in rememberance of me." To set the stage: Jesus and his housefull of partying poor people, aka disciples, are hanging out together, talking, eating, sharing a bottle, or skin of wine and Jesus profoundly says, "Hey, do this in rememberance of me." Whatever this is, we ought to be doing it. Somewhere in my finite american brain a bell rang; whenever I hung out with friends and passed such awesome times together, we always would say, "Hey, we oughta do this more often!" Its a THIS.

jump around on my links to jonathan's and jonny's and andrew's and matt's blogs... you'll find not only more profound thoughts on our conference, but pictures as well.

Welcome to June. I've already got a head start on my tan! Paris has been hot this last week and now, its raining and staying warm. There is so much to talk about from the last couple days. But for now, I'll just say that I added some more pictures to my image station and anyone who likes to ride a skateboard should check it out... I'm starting my little collection of places in France!

I have to say that a rollercoaster that takes off backwards with you strapped in can totally surprise you. Not only that, but my brave friend Adrienne didn't know that there was a loop in it which we didn't see until it was too late. You gotta love Indiana Jones!

They told me at Disneyland Paris, to keep my imagination alive by noticing small things. Tonight, as Michelle and I wandered into town for dinner (we still can't get over it, that just going into town means Paris central) we came across the long tubes of Châtelet and Châtelet les Halles. I was tromping down the stairs and saw on the floor a small, but large for it's personal category, very dead and somewhat squished cockroach. I always ask myself, why in the world did God create such an ugly bug? They aren't good for anything, except maybe eating- for some people; nor are they attractive like some beatles, and they are the epitimy of stupidity: they think they are smart, but they really are quite dumb... like the 3 inch one I encountered in Malaga Spain who thought that he could hide and protect himself by scampering over to a table leg and sitting there next to it as if he was a camelion... Someone once told me that a person eats 4 or 5 spiders in their sleep every year... I don't even want to think about the statistics for cockroaches....

By the way, Michelle and I had a wonderful, very reasonable dinner in the 6th arrondissement. I had turkey slices swimming in a pool of crème d'anis (in the family of licorice), laced with pasta. Chelle went for the bœuf Bourguignon. I need to create a list of my favorite places in Paris. The weather is bright and tomorrow its predicted to hit 26°C, quite hot like today. And yesterday I had my first sun of the summer.

This morning I took off with Karen again to the ladies Bible study. We spent most of the time praying for the children of the church, of these women, and of relatives. I was pushed to pray in French. It is a wierd sensation to be forced to do my communication in French; the truth being that I desperately want to pray in French- but I don't want to be the one making all the grammatical fautes in front ot "God and everyone." Oh well, this time I was paired up with a woman who is Malagash in origin and I did my best. What's cool about my God is that He knows me inside and out- whether or not I speak a language of this earth or not.

Well, I scored a free entry into the "america" of Europe today: EuroDisneyland here I come!!

So its been a long weekend in a way... School is behind me and now I'm transitioning into the summer's activities. I've got music on my mind. The next few days I will plunge myself into the worship books in search of songs for this summer. Today has been a day to learn more about iMovie. I'm slowly working my way through the program; my big question in life is "how does it work". This is a decently simple program but all the same, some questions must be answered. I'm thrilled every time I stop and think about how I keep learning. I have been told to never stop learning. So whether its the A,B,C's or MP3's- on I go...Learning = Change.

I added a couple more photo albums to my Imagestation. (Sorry I keep posting this little button; I can't get to my template.)

I today I got the correction of my test. I suceeded! I felt pretty energetic all day until I boarded the RER which rocked me nearly to sleep. I woke up one stop before mine. The man next to me was reading a book about the Christian faith. I didn't disturb him.

So I just got myself some photo space to post my art . Check it out!! Sorry, its one of those that you have to join to see the photos but then you can come and check it out whenever there's something new.

Today I passed my test. Tomorrow I will find out if I suceeded. It was definately a little rougher than the first two... but I'm stoked that it was challenging- it will show more precisely where I am in this whole language learning process. It's a tough one but well worth it. A few days ago I felt stuck; yesterday I started talking and today I even challenged my prof. I guess I have the equivilant of "senioritis" and I'm ready for "summer vacation" which amounts to the reception of an american outreach team, organization, and hopefully dishwashing in a camp somewhere in the south of France.

To celebrate, I treated myself to another trip to the cinemas, this time to watch the Matrix Reloaded... in french. What a workout! I'll have to watch it a second and probably third and fourth time like everyone else, but for the purposes of comprehension. HA! If I suceeded on my grammar test today, I think I got "moyenne" on the comprehension tonight at the cinema. Fortunately there were no known prof's sitting within earshot of my brainwaves.

SWEEEET! It worked! :)

Ok. I think I just told Blogger to speak French; so let's give it a whirl. I want to show you something cool about my God.

Ceux qui sont en bonne santé n'ont pas besoin de médecin, ce sont les malades qui en ont besoin. Ce ne sont pas des justes, mais des pécheurs qui je suis venu appeler à changer de vie. -Jésus

In other words, Jesus came and walked the earth for the sick, hurting, in pain, depressed, injured people. He came calling out to them, healing them, forgiving their sin and recovering them from shame: a changed life.

Canneberge
It took us about 15 minutes of my conversation class to figure out what a cranberry was. I couldn't remember the word in French and we didn't have a dictionary to help us out until the end of the discussion. It all started when I pulled out my notorious "ziplock bag" of Craisins that my wonderful mom brought to me a few weeks back. I was munching on them, (kinda like Audrey Hepburn does in the movie Charade when she tells 'Mr. Bartholemew' that he's "doing a fine job scaring" her) when my prof JB askes what they were. I stuttered and told him that I could explain but that they were a little red, round berry, dried, and a little bitter. I explained that they floated in water, that we like to drink their juice and all kinds of stuff. I finally told him to taste one. So he did. He then agreed with me that he had never had anything like it and didn't know what they were. Several others in the class tried them and couldn't figure it out either. JB went to get a dictionary and I flipped through it to find the word I was looking for, "une canneberge". JB was pretty stoked on them. He said, "Actually, the flavor is found after the berry is gone." I think he liked them.

We're working on the "passe simple". This is the tense I have so much trouble with. Thank goodness I really don't know to know how to write it with ease, only recognize it when I read it. I don't even think they are going to really test me on it. They will, on the contrary, test me on oppositions and concessions. Today I floundered through an exercise where I was supposed to "imagine" the first half of the sentence and make it work with the given "expression de l'opposition" or "concession". My brain went dry. Normally, I am quite and imaginary and creative girl, but not today. I will be sure to spend some quality time with that grammar book that Jonathan lent me before Thursday.

I'm not an electrician, but I made it work!- that dull, dusty stereo that has been sitting on a bookshelf in this apartment since 'who-knows-when'. I peeled the ugly yellowed tape and instructions on how to "turn it on" off the speaker and carefully applied a little fingernail polish remover to remove the "sticky" left by the aged tape. I dusted the sucker, cleaned the connections, reattached the wires and, VOILA! FRENCH RAP!!!! What more could a girl want???! (It was what Marco suggested I listen to ADO in order to orient myself to the subculture of eastern Paris.) I do have to say it is a good thing to have at least one constantly available stream of french broadcast available in our place. This morning's topic: Which God was the incarnation of true love? I listened to France's equivilant of Howard Stern banter with his fellow show-hosts until they decided it was some god I'd never heard of.

It's Monday. It's raining. I have 5 days of school left and an exam on Thursday. C'est lundi. Il pleut. J'ai encore cinq jours d'ecole et un examen jeudi.

The weekend was tiring. Saturday I was able to attend another meeting about the cafe/bar ministry that the church at Pontault is hoping to launch next year. They are working on a name and the details of a budget and ministry goals. It looks to be an expensive endeavor and they have a few name options. I'm intrigued by the whole thing. The french way of doing things is a little different than I am used to, so I just have joined in for the ride. I'm excited about serving coffee and such. Maybe my place will be behind the bar. If you've got a quick connection, you could check out the promo video.

The afternoon I spent helping the choir from Noisy-Champs work on their pieces for the 21st of June. I was good and tired for the rest of the day and Sunday I got myself to the Bussy church for morning worship. My church, Claye, was off on a retreat that I couldn't make because I was already booked for the Pontault/Noisy-Champs projects.... 4 churches: one busy weekend. One of my friends who knows me from Portland warned me on Friday- "be careful not to spread yourself too thin". Thanks Gabe, I need to keep that in mind.

The word for squish in french is much more violent sounding than in english: ecraser (said [a-craz-a]). Bugs can get "ecrased" and then they are smooshed, splatted, or flattened. I was nearly "ecrased" in rush-hour traffic this morning. It wasn't because I was tail-gating or even driving. I was in a metro with people who tend not to have such a defined bubble of personal space as the "american" in me. We had no choice. As the RER line A approached the center of Paris, more and more people tried to flood into the train. There was literally no space left. I was determined to get off at the heart of the city at a stop called Chatelet. The only problem was that the people were so packed into the car that we couldn't get out, and to make matters worse, there was a platform of anxious people, 15 feet deep trying to get into the car I was trying to get out of. At one moment when I thought for certain that my lungs would collapse between the 5 'pressing' people, all trying to go in separate directions in the paralysed mass of bodies, I decided that if I couldn't get out of the train until La Defense, I wouldn't complain. Somehow, I was spit out in the mass of yelling people and one woman caught my arm as I nearly tripped on the hundreds of feet lined up as a gauntlet letting the few of us get off the train. I touched the arm of the woman who has been 'ecrased' up next to me, and wished her a good day and we went our ways. I think this is an experience I will not forget.

I found a little reasonable sandwich place near my school and a park to go with it... I sat and rested from a long weary walk and munched a parisien sandwich and watched a group of young boys get high. Two of them grabbed skateboards and took off in one direction after some time and the others moved on to cigarettes as they headed off for the rest of their afternoon.

They struck again today. Michelle and I wandered down to the RER station today to discover it had been closed all day with the gate down. I hope they open up tomorrow morning because I plan to head into town to meet a friend dropping into town from Amsterdam.

The french people pay a lot in taxes. The working class pays the retirement of the non-working generation. Apparently the people are not too excited about the present nor the proposed situation for the future. So they are striking again today. The metro and train system in Paris is almost completely paralyzed. I stayed home and have been catching up on life.

Life Together

I'm thinking about this life together paper that I'm supposed to have written and posted for the world of Guilder's to read. I wanted to have something readable yesterday but, alas, it is now today and I haven't really made anything available expect my blogspot.

The reason for all this is that I am in 'overdrive' on the integration part of it all. You see, I live in a community whose goal is "life together" for Christ and with Christ. We aren't a hippy compound, just a simple house in the eastern suburbs of Paris France, full of people from the US and France. Some of us can't even speak to oneanother without avoiding 'miscommunication' because of the language. We are calling ourselves OIKOS, a greek term for "household" or "family." We share food, living space and ministry.

Since I am an intern, which is what OIKOS is made up of (interns and full-time workers (aka: missionary), I meet regularly with Jonathan, the full-time worker here. I mentioned that I was working on this paper and the book. I told him about CREDO, Steve Patty, and one of the toughest moments in my life: being rejected for a project that I thought I was capable of. I got to explain the pain of being refused (he knows just like any of us these feelings) and he listened. And then he encouraged me. It was a simple encouragement that I was growing and would continue to, his perspectives from these last 3 months. Funny, it doesn't change the disappointment of those moments or the fact that it happened, but I am reminded that I am indeed a part of the Body- destined for another project in another place for another purpose but with the same goal in mind. And I will continue to grow out of my faults by the grace of God who supports us so strongly until we physically reach His side.

Jonathan's reaction here within our little OIKOS experiment provides an glimmer of example that I want to dwell on in regards to Bonhoeffer's book. None of us is perfect and neither is our little house of saved sinners, but something is happening here that has immense value in the grand scheme of things. According to Bonhoeffer, the community lives out several things: togetherness in worship and love, solitude in the LORD, interpersonal ministries, outreach, and confession and community.

I'll leave it there for now and convert this to a paper for the Guilders... That's enough to keep the head spinning for the afternoon.

funny: my other blog is just as popular in Korea as it is in the US. And I don't speak Korean. I do know of one friend who's probably responsible for the hits... Can't wait til you visit Paris, Steve. We'll have to laugh about all the funny stories in a cafe.

Saturday, I worked with Elise on music for the 21st of June. France a music celebration where everyone gets out and plays or sings in the parks. A local church is going to do a small spectale into which I have been enlisted to play "gospel". So, Elise and I plugged the piano into a stereo and recorded the music so she could practice the parts and teach the choir. We had a blast laughing and singing "Oh 'Appy Day" and "Swing low."

Michelle and I took off around 2pm to sightsee. We decided to get off at Nation and walk to the Bastille. It was a beautiful day to walk and I took the little video camera along for kicks. We discovered green parks with children playing and parents "bronzing" in the sun. We bought icecream and had to apologize to all the french families who's kids squealed with delight that "there [was] icecream!" I tried the Rhum-raisin flavor. Yum...

We made our way into the Bastille and wandered through an outdoor market which reminded me of Saturday Market in Portland. We sat and talked in the make-shift bar/cafe and talked while people milled around checking out Chinese goods and donkey sausage and mimicking people as they went by; "Avec ce-ci?" "Ca te plait?" "Ah bon!"

Our final destination was the latin quarter. But first we walked along the Seine in search of some swing dancers. We found the location but no swing dancers. I will keep my eyes pealed from here out. I miss doing the Lindy Hop at the Viscount and swingin' in the park in Portland. Michelle and I found a little street and wandered down it to discover a nice Moroccan restaurant just outside of the Latin Quarter. We enjoyed the dinner and remarked the location for the next time we crave a nice Moroccan dinner.

Email me for pictures... I took a few and can sent them to you.

Today a man in a suit and tie was dancing in the metro station. It was a Friday after-work commute hour. He had a little stereo playing Michael Jackson and as he moonwalked and did the robot, people stood to the side and let him dance.

A skater carried to worn decks and stood next to me on the platform as we waited for our RER across town. He kept eyeing my Shorty's backpack. It was refreshing to be near those worn down shoes and he even seemed to have that gentle spirit that I miss amongst all my friends at skatechurch. I wondered where he was going when he got off at Nation. It seems that all the skaters get off at Nation. Some day I'm going to get off there and explore.

We ate dinner with the Dixon's tonight. They invited their upstairs neighbor, Eric. He is a third culture guy, having lived in many countries on 6 continents. We learned a lot as he talked about France and the culture here. My theory on conversation being an art was confirmed.

It may sound dull and mundane but I did laundry all day. We started with 5 piles in the living room and I still have one shift to make but it will have to wait til tomorrow morning. I think I can agree with Jadwa on this one thing: I love the smell of laundry detergent. Here in France I buy the Ariel kind and next time I'll purchase the Alpine scent. There's nothing like it! Who ever would have thought that I'd be ordering a t-shirt like Jadwa's that says Laundry Team on it and the number 02 to indicate my position...Bright green!!

I haven't heard much on my little nephew. I am waiting for the latest news and praying for his healing and recovery from the trauma. I pray for my sister and her husband too. I can't imagine what they are going through. One minute things are fine, they expect a baby in several weeks, and they will be a family of 5, healthy and happy. Suddenly an emergency c-section and a little boy is born a tad early and needing life support. The hours they spend in the hospital unable to even hold him, hoping, praying. I am praying for God's grace on them and on little "Zippy" Jonathan Douglas. It is tough to be auntie and be so far away and unable to do anything but pray. I don't know how to process the whole situation either. I need more information...

Tonight I enjoyed a delicious Italian sauce and pasta that Michelle was concocting as I walked in the door from school. I did make a trip to the store before we ate to "cherche le vin" and bread for tomorrow but all the extra walking made it so worth it!

I was so tired today. I slept on the RER both ways and my feet hurt from all the walking but it was nice to be back in class. There are a couple gals in my grammaire class who always invite me to go to coffee with them after class. The only bummer is that I am obliged to stay in my seat for another 2 hours of conversation. I am bummed cuz they seem so cool, one Ukranian and another eastern European. I hope that one day I can go to coffee with them. Today they took down my phone number though and said they plan to call me! I hope it works out to get together another time.

I think a lot about what my "ministry role" is here in France is for these two years and for after. I try to keep in mind what my gifting might be and what my dreams are. My parents mentioned that teams need a person committed to hospitality and this began to ring some bells for me. I keep praying that God will make it clear in time where I should be located and with which team. For now... I'll keep learning french and meeting people and getting braver to talk on the phone and invite people over.

Yesterday my folks and I wandered through the Champ de Mars at the foot of the Tour Eiffel and we found the gardens quite attractive and calm. The military was setting up a display in honor of tomorrow the 8th of May and as we found our way through the trees I discovered a little historic Paris that I've been searching for. It was an ancient carosel, hand powered by a crank and precise gears, colorful horses hanging in geometric organization. A little girl was being strapped to her "horsey" and had a little foot-long stick in her hand. The two men running the ride, started pushing the carosel around and as soon as it reached a "crankable" speed, took to the hand crank to perpetuate the ride. Then all the sudden, the little girl was squeeling with joy and as she came around and around I discovered that she had indeed snagged a couple silver rings on her stick. This was the real thing!!! I read about it in a book!!! The Parisian children do this!!! I looked harder at this contraption built in 1913 and saw that the little girl was collecting the rings from a stand on the far side. But it got more exciting as one of the men grabbed a magnetic stick and put a ring on it and moved to another side of the ride for the girl to catch.. she missed and missed and the man would run along side her to help her get it...

The whole scene reminded me of the movie "Man from Snowy River" when there is a contest and the men are riding horses as full speed and jousting the rings with swords. If I ever have a child here in Paris, I'll certainly take them to the carosel men to learn how to joust... and it takes precision... the rings are only about 2 inches in diameter!

I've just sent my parents off into Paris to find their train back to Frankfurt. It was wonderful having them here. I also know they are ready to be home and are anxious to see their new grandson. The little boy is doing much better and showing signs of recovery each day. We are praying for swift and full healing, health and now for Andrea to be able to hold her little boy on Mother's day.

We have a jour ferie again this Thursday. I intend to clean and get my life together book read and the paper more formalized. In the meantime, you can check out some photos from the reunion party at my place at David's link.

I know "everybody and their mother" knows about homestarrunner, but for those of you who need a link to actually visit it... you should. Check out Strongbad's email. I certainly get a kick out of "techno" since I live here in France and it is considered a popular music style.