Recycling Books......

Gotta love the way that Jim Rosenau's decided to recycle old books.

You know, those encyclopedias that are 30 years old and you just can't part with because they look so nice there on the shelf..... never mind that most of the geopolitical data is so out of date....

Some of the creations are funny, like the one here. Book lovers, recyclers, artists....check out This into That.

"Must Remain Absolutely Still"

Virtual Meniere's.

This guy is amazing. Probably not as brilliant, compassionate, tenderhearted, and servant-minded as our own resident celebrative arts genius, but the product that this guy produced is impressive.

I bought his DVD and watched it today. Its pretty darn good. Made me feel comforted, in a sicko sort of way.

The Wall

Saw a notice for an author/illustrator/artist signing by Peter Sis. His new children's book is called The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain.

Some of his bio: "In 1982 he was sent by the Czech government to Los Angeles to produce a film for the 1984 Winter Olympics. But the film project was canceled when Czechoslovakia and the entire Eastern bloc decided to boycott the Olympics. Ordered by his government to return home, Peter decided to stay in the United States and was granted asylum."

Illustrator/painter/artist. Illustrator of books by Jack Prelutsky, George Shannon, and Sid Fleischman. Writer and illustrator of his own books. Artist (subway stations. films with Bob Dylan. Pieces in the Museum of Modern Art. Awards all over the place)

He had long been thinking about writing the book, but decided to go ahead and do it after seeing our freedoms being taken away as a result of 9/11. My thought: this is a pretty powerful viewpoint from someone who sought asylum in America and enjoyed our freedom. I need to buy the book.

“Peter Sís’s book is most of all about the will to live one’s life in freedom and should be required reading for all those who take their freedom for granted.”
—Václav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic

Go here for more information: www.petersis.com

The author speaking engagement/book signing is free to the first 100 librarians who sign up. Sigh- but it is in Northern California.

Moto dopes

Motos- are the bikes. Dopes are the guys who are the hired drivers.

Moto dopes.
A way cool form of transportation.

Thing is, I would have a fit if Jacob were to hop on one of these. Here are a couple of shots of me at the start of our moto ride into the mud.... (this was near the end of the day after our 6 hour ride on some very interesting roads out to this area in a van...) Good times.

Last shot is a short video of when the great lost shoe escapade happened. I was barefoot the rest of the ride. Shoe was found by the 5th grader on the trip - Jaqueline- who had to go up to her shoulder in mud to reach it. Laughs by all!



Video

Awesome pastor

Sam-n-Stacey Boone. He is amazing. (Notice that there is a polysyllable pronunciation of a three letter word spelled S-A-M). Yes, he came to our church when Rachel was just finishing sixth grade, back in the day when junior high was 6-7-8 combination. Rachel was devastated that the Russells were leaving and just knew that she would never make it though middle school without them. Enter Sam-n-Stacey Boone.

Mind you, the very first activity that Sam-n-Stacey took Rachel on involved TPing. She had never done this, and we were horrified. Jeff and I talked about going to Pastor Tom to discuss why the new Pastor was teaching our daughter to spend time and money doing destructive things. Instead, we went knocked on the door of the Jr High office after the church service and talked to Sam-n-Stacey directly.

We have found, is it 8 years later, that the Boones are a family that will do just about anything to make a difference for God in the life of kids. Thanks, Sam-n-Stacey, for the hard work and love that you've given my kids. I think that our kids have traveled further with you guys than with us....... scary. Rachel to LA and SF, Jacob to SF 2 times, Jacob to New Orleans. Camping at the beach. Day beach trips. SUmmer camps. Other things.

Thanks for being a part of making them into who they are. Iknow that there is still lots of shaping to do, and praying. Oh, man, so thanks.

Brokenness. Can we long for it?

Thinking about a song from the weekend. "Brokenness is what I long for, brokenness is what I need." I wonder about that. Yes, it might be what we need.

But is it what we long for?

When you long for something, you really really desire it. How can we long for something that really, really hurts. Brokenness really, really hurts. So how can we long for it?

Maybe we know we should have it, or we would be accepting of it in the long run for the good it will do us.

But long for it? I think the words are wrong. I think we are not thinking when we are singing this song.

Jonathan in cactus

Jonathan in fall of 2006 while he was Spokesman for Gabrielle Giffords for Congress in Arizona. Successful campaign. I visited him about 10 days before the election and was treated to a glimpse of a very busy weekend, including a backyard reception and meet-and greet the candidate. Her fiance, Space Shuttle commander Mark Kelley was there,

Tonight he called to report on his first day of work for the New Mexico Democratic Party in Albuquerque. I can't remember his title. Oops. But I know he'll do great. Chun's a great spokesman. Gets really involved. Works so many hours.

He had a terrific job in a bank a few years ago. Was all set up an making much money, benefits, was in an evening Master's program. Called me one day in the middle of the day and surprised me by asking me where I thought he was. Hmmm. Well, he had quit his job, loaded up his car and driven to Little Rock to volunteer to work on Wesley Clark's presidential campaign. He felt so strongly about this man, felt that he would make a difference to our country, that my son left his home and comfort and volunteered. Clark eventually hired Jonathan to work for him. WHen Clark backed out of the campaign. Jonathan moved over to Colorado and was the State's Democratic something or other over there (sorry, I can never remember his exact title)- and Colorado was the top fundraising state in the last Presidential election. His state also won (Kerry took the votes in that state) even though Democrats did not win the presidential election nationwide.

Can't you tell that I'm proud of my oldest son for doing what he believes in? And he does it so very well. I would go on and on, but my dizzyness is overtaking me.

Rachel in rice

This is good. Found the files of pics from our Cambodia trip. (Computer crashed while we were there; my camera went missing, so these are a hodgepodge of photos. Still recovering files from my backup - which I had done just before I left :) )

The Kui villagers loved Rachel. This is a picture of her planting rice. We all went to plant for a while. A couple of the group did not participate; the rest of us were in up to our knees before long. Rachel slipped on in and the villagers did not quite know what to do - so they did what they do when they are embarassed - laugh! And laugh! And laugh! We all laughed so much.

The rest of the group quit but we were invited to stay. Jordan Lewis stayed with us until lunch time. The Kui people worked on teaching Rachel how to say "I am planting Rice" and "It is hot" and they kept having fun with her accent. They seem to really like Rachel. They are in awe of her., almost.

My kidzzzz

Went back in my photos and found some great historic photos to post of the kids.

This one is from Jacob's Piano Recital in June of 2006.

End of 8th grade.

Pastor Sam came. He's great. Brought one of his beautiful daughters, Hannah, with him.

Ear bone connected to the eye bone

Funny how they are connected.

When reading on paper, dizziness sets in. Seem to do okay on da computer screen.

Life's been fun the past few months. Gone from Cambodia to New Mexico dramarama to heartbreak at home with a twist of clockwork orange thrown in.

Issues that are tough and downright touching are hitting the heart of this mom. In between dizziness and sleeping and lurking on blogs all over the place when I could, I've been listening to lots of churchy music, including Michael Card's "Hidden Face of God" on my phone. One of the songs talks about God waiting for us to worship Him in our wilderness while we are wounded- for He is wounded, too. Hit me between the eyes.

Not sure what will be happening the next few months. Will I be working? Will Jacob be forced to drive his mom around? And the mundage.....Will our house ever be cleaned? Why do we even have this house? We never have friends over.......The front yard is a mess; I have not done anything with the landscaping since March - and since I am the one that takes care of the these things, the front yard is so embarrassing. Dead plants that did not get watered all summer along the driveway. It is depressing.

I do not think that the living room has been vacuumed for months either.

And here I am. Too dizzy and tired to do much.

Wish we would make some changes in our life. Have wanted to for a while. Things that should be blessings are burdens.

Wobbliness

So, it seems that I will be called the Wobbly Librarian for a while. Maybe forever. I can't seem to walk straight. Nope. Haven't been to work since I was ushered off campus by my husband and principal on the first day of school. I am sure that the PTSA people thought that I was drunk. Sure looked like I was.

That was the day after I had ridden in the ambulance with Rachel to RCH because I could not stand up straight and everything was tilting around me when I was trying to find the right color of sheets in Ross. Kept bumping into things. Felt like I was going to fall down and faint and needed to put my head in the shopping cart on top of a pillow and roll myself to the front of the store. CAT scan in the hospital showed everything okay.

Did not want to miss the fun of the first day of school, so I went.

Was in quite a state within half an hour of looking up and down and back and forth.

MRIs and Audiograms. Good doctors talking to each other have hatched up what seems to be a plausible explanation. Meniere's Disease. Yep. Seems to fit.

I'll go back to work when I've had 7 days with no vertigo episode. (I am dizzy/wobbly most of the time- that does not count, and can't hear most of what is going on from my left ear - that does not count---- it is just the "room is spinning past when I open my eyes so I need to be flat on my back or I'll fall down" sensation that counts. And it happened Sunday night, which put me back to begin again.

I am learning to wait. And to be still. I get tired. I've been sleeping quite a bit.

I also feel silly. At home I can grab the furniture and walls to steady myself when walking around. But when I go places, I need a shopping cart or strong man, or the "little old lady" walker. That is bugging me. It is a pride thing. I was not ready to be a little old lady yet. But I really do need it, because I sort of start flopping around without it. Oh, well. I'll just need to make sure that I don't wear blue hair with the top of support hose rolled up but showing. Or any of those other things that come to mind.