Housewarming/Potluck/DOB Shindy

Last week was a fun bonding-with-Andrea week. We made crafts every night, shopped for groceries and had nice talks. We have fun things in common. I'm so glad we both like ugly things.
Saturday:
Andrea and I woke up early and hit the thrift store circuit to find ourselves some frames, dishes, a crockpot thingie (for her bread) and a punch bowl. We figured it was cheaper to buy dishes than paper plates. We found a set at a garage sale for $5!

Once we finished our shopping, the cooking began. I can't believe we cooked everything we did in our tiny kitchen using one oven. The kitchen use planning paid off. We had a good system of cooking and doing dishes to free up space. Andrea and I had so much fun in the kitchen. She loves to bake, so she's a whiz in the kitchen. I, on the other hand, mess up rice. So, I was quite nervous about making lasagna. I heard it's hard to mess up lasagna, but I had confidence that I would find a way to ruin it.

After about 3 hours of prep work of cutting, roasting, grating and mixing the cheese, etc. the lasagna finally made it into the oven. I started helping Andrea peel apples for her amazing apple pie. It truly turned out AMAZING. For those of you who couldn't come, you must come visit and beg Andrea to make you apple pie. Right around 4:30, a wave of tiredness crashed into me and I sat on the couch for a few minutes. I was supposed to be washing our dishes we bought in the morning. I wished we had bought paper plates. However, I caught a second wind and went back to work. Plus, Johny came and was a wonderful helper. The Johny Jungle Juice was spectacular. I still had to make Grace Guacamole. I made it really fast and called it a good day in the kitchen.

Fun moments of the evening:

• my worlds colliding. A bit awkward at times, but still fun.
• people enjoying lasagna. I was so relieved and happy that people liked it.
• Simpsons Clue. Andrea and I want to play all the time now. Anyone want to come over?
• Andrea's random friends (she met while apartment hunting) coming in with their instruments and playing in our living room. The fiddler was uber rad!
• watching people draw on our coffee table. We asked our guests to draw elephants with their eyes closed. It was fun watching Andy draw an elephant with its eyes closed too.
• doing dishes with Dan and watching him imitate the Survivors of Torture logo. You gotta see it; ask him to show you.
• watching the continuous flow of people in our home. I was continuously pleasantly surprised.

Thank you everyone who came! The home felt so warm, even after everyone left. Andrea and I sat in the dark living room after we finished cleaning and soaked in the warmth of all our guests. Our home really feels like a home now.

On this day...

Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in 1882. Today is World Tuberculosis Day.

Queen Elizabeth I died in 1602. I wish I could have been friends with Elizabeth.

In 1980, Nightline debuted. Although Ted Koppel irritates me at times, I like this show.

Also on this day, the tanker Exxon Valdez spilled more than 11 million gallons of oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. What an evironmental mess!

In 1999, NATO bombed Yugoslavia.

Laugh

Andrea and I went to the San Diego Latino Film Festival last night. We watched Viva Cuba, a movie about Malu, a young girl who runs away from her home with Jorgito, her friend because her mother plans to leave Fidel Castro's Cuba. They both have a crush on one another, but they always fight. The movie was a delight. I really liked it visually as well because of all the wide shots. There were a few surreal sequences and overall, the composition of each shot was beautiful. I enjoyed watching the dynamics between the little girl and boy. Their relationship was so funny and cute. The movie was a perfect light-hearted movie that made us laugh. We both needed to laugh. It was nice to laugh.

If we hug each other hard enough, no one will be able to separate us.

Pleasant Evening and Morning

I came home around 4:30, cleaned, organized and went out for a walk. I really like the area where I live. The small streets are peppered with small bookstores, thrift stores and restaurants. I'm looking forward to exploring San Diego. I live near Balboa Park where they have so many museums in one place! I think they have at least 10. Every Tuesday is free museum day. I believe the Museum of Photographic Arts is free today. I might go check it out today after work.

After I came back from my walk, I sat in the yellow chair in our living room for a while. I invite everyone to drop by and sit in this yellow chair; I guarantee it will make you smile.

I put on some jazz as I prepared dinner and the jazz continued throughout the evening and this morning. There's nothing like listening to John Coltrane's In A Sentimental Mood while eating dinner and reading. I ended the night with some Miles Davis.

I started this morning with Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald. I woke up earlier than I should have so I began the day with some prayer, had an extra cup of tea and read a little bit of God's Word in the one spot where the sunlight warms the room. Jeremiah is getting really interesting. It's scary to read about God's wrath and anger, but it's a good reality check and puts things in perspective.

At around 7:35 a.m., I walked outside and waited for JJ and Marianne to come by and pick me up for work. As I watched other cars drive by, I remembered being in Indonesia and praying for everyone who drove by and the people we drove by. Those prayers felt so necessary because we weren't sure when or how they would ever hear the gospel. I wondered why I didn't feel that sense of urgency here in the States. So I began to pray. Five minutes passed when JJ drove up, stopped the car and drove forward as I reached for the door handle. He thought he was pretty funny for a good 10 minutes after I got in the car.

Now I'm at work where I should be working because we have quite a few meetings today, but I wanted to think about the pleasant evening and morning. I smile.

Reprieved

To find some beautiful place to get lost

I can't stop listening to Elliott Smith. So sad and soothing. I like...

On repeat:

• Last Hour
• Can't Make A Sound
• Let's Get Lost
• Trouble
• A Passing Feeling
• Stupidity Tries
• A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free
• Bye
• Easy Way Out
• Coast To Coast
• Single File
• The Biggest Lie
• Thirteen
• Everything Means Nothing To Me

why should you want any other, when you're a world within a world?

Exhausted

.

...

Today is

International Women's Day.

Facts (from World Vision)

1. It is estimated that 2 million children—mostly girls—are enslaved in the global sex trade.
2. Between 60 and 100 million women who should be alive today are “missing” as a result of violence associated with gender discrimination.
3. Globally, one woman dies every minute due to problems related to pregnancy.
4. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths are in the developing world.
5. Women earn only 10 percent of the world’s income, yet they work two out of three of all labor hours worldwide.
6. More than 2.5 million children are at risk each year of contracting HIV from their mothers, even though preventative interventions are inexpensive.
7. Every year, an estimated 10,000 girls from Myanmar are recruited (many forcibly) to work in Thai brothels.

To do something about it, check out the World Vision website.

In Memory of ... Vaginas ... and Explosions

I like to read obituaries. I got into it when my first assignment in news reporting was to write obits. I think I like to read them as a way of not forgetting the deceased person existed.

There's something beautifully tragic about reading about a person's life after he/she has died. Did the deceased person know that people admired him/her so? Did the deceased person take time to really appreciate his/her accomplishments? Or was the person too busy trying to fulfill new goals never realizing what he/she had already accomplished?

It's a bit odd to read about someone I never knew and admire his/her accomplishments. I'm always left in awe as I read about their lives. I wonder what my own obituary will say after I die. Will I even have an obituary?

I hope my life reflects love rather than accomplishments. I truly do hope... It's not a very fun read though, but oh well.

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I watched Beverly perform in the Vagina Monologues last Saturday. It was... interesting and enlightening.

Quote of the day: I'm counting on you vaginas to look out for other vaginas! - Beverly rebuking Marianne and me after not inviting her to a meeting and blaming it on JJ.
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I feel like an empty shell. A torn up left-over empty shell after the bomb has exploded.