What I did on my Stay-cation

I tried to do interested things that didn't cost very much money. I would have liked to travel somewhere, but alas, I don't have extra money for luxury vacations. I kept trying to plan trips to New York, Jamaica or anywhere with a nice beach, but everything ended up being too expensive, especially for a solo traveler. To be clever, I have included references to geographic locations that loosely pertain to what I did, but in reality, I never left Ann Arbor aside from a short excursion to Toledo.

Rome

It began on April 3rd with the film L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio and I even found two people who wanted to go with me, Adam and Jim. I enjoyed the fact that on old professor I had freshman year for the "History of Jewish Civilization" gave a short lecture to introduce the film. The film documents the formation of a multi-ethnic orchestra of immigrants who live in and around Rome. It just made me happy because I kept thinking, "These people could be at war and fighting, but no, they are making music." It reminds me a little of Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road project, but a lot more grass roots.

Ireland

Then we headed over to Ashley's and I had a perry because that is one of the safest gluten-free options at a pub. After some lengthy discussions on life, we had breakfast at midnight at the Fleetwood. It is just something you have to do because it's the best hole in the wall 24-hour diner in Ann Arbor. My patronage to this fine institution was long overdue. And I was blessed because a complete stranger decided to declare how beautiful he thought I was and it wasn't creepy at all. He wasn't hitting on me. He just felt it was important to tell me I was one of the most beautiful woman he has seen in a long time. : ) And then he told my table to appreciate who they were with. I have to say I enjoyed this, because it's been a very long time since a guy has said something like this. I was trying to be gracious about the whole thing and the guy just kept telling me to own it and believe it. I have issues, so it's good to be encouraged every so often.

The Land of Nod

The following day I slept in as long as I could stand it. Maybe it was a little too long, because I can't remember what happened the rest of the day. The Land of Nod is also the place where Cain was sent, east of Eden, to live outside of God's presence. I hope I did not go to that Land of Nod.



From Jericho to Jerusalem

Sunday was Palm Sunday. The sermon at the Ann Arbor Vineyard was entitled "The Way of the Cross: through Jericho to Jerusalem and Beyond" Jesus gives an extravagant welcome to the outsiders and the insiders did not like it. The sermon was also about the long pilgrimage from Jericho, which is well below sea level, up to Jerusalem. It's about 8 hours of walking with an elevation increase of about 3400 ft. It can serve as a metaphor for the life of a disciple. "The grind from Jericho to Jerusalem is about mastering the skill of faithfulness: Doing what needs to be done. No kingdom fruitfulness without faithfulness...You are following not your dream, but your master." Good point and excellent reminder. Now I just have to figure out what that means for me...

In the evening, we had yet another going away party for Dan. It won't be the same without Dan around. This time we prayed for him and each said something encouraging about what makes Dan such a cool person.

Still in Jerusalem

Most of Monday was not productive because I stayed up so late at the party. I did go to the fellowship of the wild women in the evening. I think we were in Acts 11. Also, I couldn't do anything on Monday because I was completely broke and I told God that it seems to be his will that I starve for the next 2 days. Fortunately, that was not his will and I received some extra funds without explicitly asking anyone. This meant I couldn't stay mad at him. I have been somewhat disgruntled, as opposed to being gruntled, regarding his timing and a long list of other things that I feel are not as they should be.

Tuesday was recycling and laundry marathon day. I made 3 stops to recycle things and then had a marathon of laundry. It really was a marathon: 4 loads of laundry x 3 flights of stairs x 2 trips per load x the number of times I forgot something. Then, in the evening, Adam was kind enough to purge my computer of malware and viruses.

Ann Arbor

On Wednesday, I spent most of the day downtown with Rose because Andrew Bird played at Borders 01. He is a uniquely talented musician and a bit of a dramatist. This is one of the songs he performed, "Why?"

Then, in the evening I went to the Artist's Way group. I didn't feel like doing anything deep or profound, so I colored white bunnies with oil pastels. : )

Memphis

I had my first official guitar lesson with blues master guitarist Mike Brooks on Thursday afternoon. He has decided I'm a worthy student and that I have musical ability. (highly debatable) I was worried he would say that he does not have time for someone like me, but he did not say that at all. I don't know if I have real musical ability; I know I have sheet music reading ability. I would like the change this. I am supposed to practice chord transitions and scales until I drive myself mad.

Then I returned to Borders where I found a blues CD by Susan Tedeschi, Back to the River and Eugene Peterson's Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

Paris

It was just a short trip from Memphis to Paris. For just across the street from Borders Clotaire Rapaille gave a lecture at the Michigan Theater on The Logic of Emotion. He was funny and made some insightful observations, but I was not nearly as impressed as I thought I would be. It was entertaining and he is a good observer of how things are, but he seems to be quite full of himself.

"The Logic of Emotion": Dr. G. Clotaire Rapaille is an internationally known expert in creativity and communication. His marketing strategies have grown out of his work in the areas of psychiatry, psychology, and cultural anthropology, combining a psychiatrist's depth of analysis with a business person’s attention to practical concerns. He has written more than ten books including, Creative Communication, recognized as the standard reference for the French advertising community. His most recent book, the best selling, The Culture Code, sheds light not just on business but on the way every human being acts and lives.

After that, my reptilian brain (that's Rapaille-speak) and I went to DQ for a Blizzard. (pun intended)

Ancient Near East: Antediluvian Anthropology


We discussed the conditions that led up to the Great Deluge. According to Kass, Seth's babies married Cain's babies and this caused all of humanity to become wicked. Hmm... Well, I don't know. I wasn't there. I have heard other interpretations of this passage. Kass argues that the Sons of God and daughters of men represent the lines of Seth and Cain, respectively, and it was not good for them to intermarry, because the line of Seth was humble and oriented toward God while the line of Cain was more prideful and violent.

Toledo

I went to the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art. It also seemed fitting to watch fire on Good Friday. I wandered around the galleries of the museum, but the highlight of the evening was watching a team of people led by glass artist Leonard Marty make a glass sculpture. I loved watching how they used fire: 2 giant furnaces and 3 fire torches. They made a deep cobalt blue sculpture with white running through it. It was fascinating to watch them work together. Each time they put the glass in the fire it kept getting more refined and more beautiful and it reminded me of the concept of the refiner's fire. Two different pieces were created simultaneously and at just the right moment they were joined together. When the piece was finished it was plunged into the aqueous cooling chamber.

Pictures from the Glass Pavilion demonstration.