Unstuck

Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.
                         – Slaughter House – Five

Possibly my favorite line in all of literature. Certainly, for me the most memorable.  Because it’s brief, no doubt. I’ve been thinking on it. At night, lying in bed. Wishing in someway that it was possible. To come unstuck in time. I’d make use of the gift. Would you do the same? If you could travel to that precise point in time that you, or someone you knew became stuck, paralyzed, wounded, left to hobble or spin or crawl along more blind, more meek in a forsaken way, would you meet them there to pull them unstuck?  
 

One, Not the Same.

The person I imagine myself to be accuses me of being only who I am.

Is there anything else to do today?

I have been a lot of things already,

The worst being a man with no good ideas.

It’s a blank day.

How will I see that as a gift?

Immersion

This is an intriguing project  and, to me, rather disturbing.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/11/21/magazine/1194833565213/immersion.html

That Guy

A certain kind of man will always be in love with two women, simultaneously:

The woman who loves him way better than he ought to be loved. 

And the woman who is, to him, one part mystery and one part imagined perfection. 

 

That certain kind of man would be wise to figure out it’s not two women he loves, but G_d:

G_d who loves him way better then he ought to be loved.

And G_d who is one part mystery, and one part perfection beyond our imagination. 

 

Then, finally, that certain man might find himself able to get on with loving just one woman, completely.

Saturday Plans

Do me, Hmong artists and the community at large a solid by coming out to Visage Night Club this Saturday for their Masquerade Ball. Proceeds from the event go to support the Center for Hmong Art and Talent (CHAT) and their forthcoming documentary project about the emerging expressions and identities of Hmong art. It should be bananas as the kids say if they’re still saying it. There’s even a hefty prize for best dressed couple ($1,000). 

Oh Water

When will I resolve to dissolve?

What 09 could look like. Part V.

This is what the sky looked like the day of the Presidential Inauguration. Look, I voted for President Obama. And yes, there seems to be a borderline exaggerated swelling chorus of optimism and relief surrounding the beginning of this new administration. And to his credit he has made some swift and resolute moves, some that I agree with and some I disagree with. It is clear to me, and this is where I very much agree with the man, that as the volume of impending economic doom raises, and old and new wars flare, it is only with the work of our hands that the world can become what our best hopes long for it to be. And rather than thrusting all hope on the governments and princes of this world, I firmly believe that the good acts from any of us are measures of G-d’s grace, unlocked by faith in Him. My personal hope for 09 and for the balance of my days is to be fully free to be indebted to such a living and lifting grace. My sense is that all of creation is yearning for the same thing.

What 09 could look like. Part IV.

Over at The Other Journal, I’m in the beginning of a photo blog project simply titled ‘Neighbor.’ 

Here’s the project synopsis.

Who is my neighbor? A timely question in an age that promises heightened connectedness. A timely question in the face of social and economic events that could reframe our ideas about wellness and security to the point where we begin to realize our own well being is better formed when considering the well being of the other. To break from a natural inclination to insularity, the photographer searches out neighbors in his life.

It’s just in it’s cradle stage so if you are interested in somehow participating please let me know. And please, please join the discussion at TheOtherJournal.com on a regular basis. It’s one of the most well done and mindful publications on faith and culture out there.

 

What could 09 look like. Part III.

I’ve teamed up with those bright fellas over at Redwire Creative to do some new projects. They do the work I like to do, often for non profit entities that have a clear purpose, like Here’s Life Inner City who recently orchestrated 150 college students willing to tromp through some of the nastiest weather Minnesota could spew to deliver food packs wherever they might be needed. If you, or anyone you know has an organization making a positive impact and may be in need of on-point and brilliantly designed collateral to tell the story, let us know.