what is possible

When I read these words I am reminded of what is possible. And what we fail to reach for when we don't realize that we have a moral right to expect more.

What would be possible if this guy was leading us?

One hopes.

be a verb

I went to a short presentation by the King of Ghana this morning, King Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin. Really really cool.

He's leading Ghana into the future and making it a bright spot for development, education, health and the environment. Not just in Africa, but in the world. With a little bit of time and partnership, they will have quite a story to tell.

One of the things HM said that I connected with:

"You can't just live in this world being a noun. Sometimes you have to be a verb."

a little bit of good news

Not much good news these days about a government that actually pays attention to our values.

This is a small bit of good news though. Maybe not directly for you or me, but for somebody. That's a start. A little more of that and we may start thinking about the good of all some day again.

my roof doth magnify the lord

Was driving past a mega-church with a friend a while back (different friend than from the durian disaster).

We both ooh'd at the acres and acres of copper roofing on the monstrosity. The thing positively gleamed.

Can you see it from space? Well, at least God knows where that church is.

She said, "How can they spend so much on a roof?! Aren't there missions they could be funding???

I agreed and surmised the goal was to attract nearby highway-goers as they sped by at 70--

"Ooh! Shiny temple! Let's stop and go in, honey!"

Here it is up close.

Then I felt the words of the noble Magnificat swell and take song, "...My roof doth magnify the looooord!"

For just a moment, the acoustics in my '90 Accord LX were almost perfect. I wonder if I should add a copper roof... -snicker-

Well it was a moment for two high church loonies. We both cracked up.

:?)

singin' fool

Went up Washington way yesterday with boss other trainers and learn-ded us a few things.

We all have high levels of yellow (Insights) energy, so we drove all the way singing songs.

Great car songs:

Gordon Lightfoot (If You Could Read My Mind! -- but it's ALL singable)

Clancy Brothers (Gypsy rover and other irish traditionals)

Jackson Browne (Runnin' on Empty, Staaaaaay just a little bit longer!)

Journey (Do-o-on't stop believin'....admit it, we all pretend we can hit the high notes like Steve Perry)

Talking Heads (so we can warble the low stuff like David Byrn)

Billy Joel (but MAN does he have a lot of tortured songs...)

Garfunkel and that other guy (Koda-chro-o-o-o-me...)

Eagles (But only if Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt get their time!)

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What ones do you like to sing in the car / shower / anyplace you think nobody is listening but are probably wrong? :?p

if the roadies don't mind...

So I am blogging to postpone (just a little bit lo-o-nger) work on my final paper of the term.

I may have to go get a soda in a minute, too. So many things to do...

It has been a fun class and one of the best. Most of my training seems to have taken the long road in reshaping how I think. This latest, while doing that too, also broke out into immediate application.

But.

It is a Sunday and the sun is shining. My porch is swept clean. My trees are sighing. My strawberries are growing so fast, I can practically hear them.

Or is that the sound of the squirrels munching on my strawberries I hear?

The little rodents made short work of my bulbs last year. Now they are nabbing my fruit just as it nears ripeness.

Squirrels [5] Jeremy [1]

One critter bit the dust the other day, cause unknown, and I buried it in my strawberry patch. Seemed fitting.

Squirrels [5] Jeremy [1] Strawberries [1]

I've never been a farmer, but now that I have a few square yards I feel a part of the fraternity. With all the pride and protectiveness.

I reckon that's enough avoidance of responsibility for now. More later... ;?p

don't durian

My Intercultural Competence for Trainers class is wrapping up in two weeks and I've been having a blast thinking more intentionally about my diverse students and cultueral dynamics in my lessons.

Swollen with goodwill from this expanded awareness, I went to Uwajimaya with a friend.

This is a big pan-asian supermarket where you can find EVERYthing. We were just stopping by to find some tasty wafers.

Strolling down the candy aisle, I was tickled by all the variety. If you've been to this store or one like it, you know that the variety of flavors reflects the sheer vastness of the "pan-asian" region. We found straberry wafers and lemon wafers and vanilla wafers. But we also found more...experimental flavors.

One of these was durian.

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Durian is this amazing fruit. It's harmless unless you open it. Then you are in the middle of chemical-warfare. Really aweful stink. Never to be opened inside a home. Or on a train. If they ever weaponized this stuff, it would be even better crowd-control than pepper spray. Less pain, but more revulsion. Humane, but nasty.

“Signs forbidding durians on Singapore’s mass transit system”

(why no fine???)

But beyond the stink, deeper in, lie these wonderful pockets of total ambrosia. The whole point of durian seems that one must suffer a bit to appreciate the divine.

Clearly a "message" fruit is ever God made one.

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So we jumped at the chance to try out this exciting wafer.

Driving back in the car, we opened the package—

Waves of stench enveloped the cabin and we choked-laughed-choked at our folly. The wafers themselves seemed to have captured all of the aroma and none of the ambrosia.

Like skunk stink, it clung. Mostly to our airway membranes. Each time one or the other would exhale, the durian would come back up in full force.

We stopped for a Coke to wash it away. Durian overpowers Coke.

But worse, the carbonation...More burping. More durian recall.

So, if there was a lesson in this, it is that some fruit is forbidden for a reason.

Don’t durian.

:?)

checking in

I've been distracted with a monster paper and a disturbing number of hospitalizations in my circle of family and friends, but I've got a few minutes, so let's play.