Coffee shoppe boys

The many faces

In a fish bowl









Picasso













World Domination










Big Hair










Vintage Look

It's so pretty

I shot my pc and put it out of its misery.

Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire

This has been out for almost a year but I decided it was worth posting. I like how Sarah shows in her video the diversity of way to empower others that are suffering all over the world in a sustainable way.

High School Reunion

Last night I talked to my one and only friend that I keep tabs on from high school, Veronica. Roni for short. In fact, she is my oldest friend, we grew up in the same neighborhood in Live Oak, a suburb of San Antonio, Texas.We met each other when we were nine years old. It was a great time reminiscing about growing up together. It made me think of other random memories:

1. The mean kid in the neighborhood, Karmin and how I reached my limit of her one afternoon and decided to push her down and give her a good beating. My brother, the younger, even tempered sibling pulled me off of her. I don't feel guilty about that, she needed a good beating.

2. Roni lived in a part of the neighborhood that was behind a wooded area, which I was not really allowed to go - but that did not seem to stop us. There was a long hill where we would take card board and slide down - a very nice memory.

3. I remember when I was over at Roni's house we would play Debbie Gibson's album, Electric Youth, Tiffany, and gasp.... New Kids on the Block. Yikes.

4. Our friends in the fifth grade or so had a slumber party and we watched Nightmare on Elm Street, which scarred for me the next month, because I was convinced if I fell asleep a man with long claws would come after me.

5. 8th grade history: Our teacher, Mr. Haxton forced us to mount a rocking horse and recite The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. In front of our peers. With a big hat on. And on top of that he took our picture while we rocked back and forth like mental patients and stumbled over verse.

6. Going to orchestra practice and playing the oboe. Later on in high school I would regret giving it up for atheletics. The band people always seemed to have more fun than the atheletes.

7. Tenth grade and on a trip to Round Rock, Texas to play in a volleyball match in the Fall. Our bus catches on fire and we have to pull over and run for our lives. I don't remember if we won the volleyball match.

8. Watching Channel One before class and thinking Anderson Cooper was cute, as he dodged bullets in Kosovo.

9. Going to Sonic after volleyball practice and ordering a cherry lime slush with a cherry on top.

10. Running for hours at practice and actually enjoying it.

11. Getting my braces off for Senior Year Pictures!! Woo Hoo!!!

No lie can live forever

I had vaguely heard of Project Row Houses, a project to revitalize the Third Ward in my very own Houston Texas. Yesterday I saw an article about it in The New York Times: In Houston, Art is Where the Home Is

The project provides housing for low income families and also estalishes a place for art and celebration and restoration of African American culture and history.



This is a sign by artist Sam Durant, not sure where this is in the Third Ward. When i go to Houston in a week or so, I plan to check it out:

We're on a budget plan

The lovely Jadine Johnson (my roomie) is in charge of electricity and I am in charge of the gas bill.

Roomate Jadine: Look at our electric bill, it is way down this month, see...

Me: Oh wow, that's great because i might have to cut one of my arms off to pay for the gas bill this month.

Roomate Jadine: But we still have to pay XX because we're on that budget plan.

Me: We have to pay XX? How is that possible?

Roomate Jadine: Uh...because we're on a budget plan?

Me: (Laughter)

Roomate Jadine: (Laughing now at me)

Me: I'm posting this conversation

Roomate Jadine: Don't post about our conversation

Me: Oh yeah it's definitely going on the internet.

Texas vs Virginia

At lunch today:

Me: There is no point in arguing about this any longer: Texas will always be superior to Virginia.

Coworker: Jen, you sill haven’t convinced me.

Me: We were our own country

Coworker: We were one of the 13 original colonies

Me: We were an independent country for ten years

Coworker: My state was named after the virgin queen

Me: Texas means “ally” or “friend". A name from a Native American language, you know – the guys that were here first. Who cares about the Virgin Queen? What’s so special about being named after a virgin?

Coworker: JEN!!

Me: Okay that was tacky, I’ll give you that…

Conflict Diamonds

You should go see the movie Blood Diamond - which gives an account about the Civil War in Sierra Leone and how consumerism for diamonds, found in-country helped fuel the war.

The rebel group in the Civil War (the RUF) would often use child soldiers to get their missions accomplished. They would first force them to shoot their own parents and then train them to be without mercy in killing whoever stumbled across their path. Many of these children were drugged and brainwashed, many of them sexually abused.

There is an estimated 200,000 children that are "soldiers" in Africa today.

The RUF used amputation as a tool in their warfare. Over 20,000 people had their hands, legs, and arms cut off.

Here is more information on conflict diamonds if you are interested. As the movie suggested, I would rather not have a diamond on my finger, if it means the life of some child or someone getting their hand cut off...


Facts About Blood Diamonds
Find Out More About Blood Diamonds And How To Avoid Buying One

Sierra Leone's traffic in diamonds has left a trail of carnage. While they may seem a symbol of happiness, the reality of the gems is far from that. What are conflict diamonds?
Conflict, or blood diamonds are mined in a war zone and sold, usually clandestinely, in order to finance an insurgent or invading army's war efforts.How can I ensure a diamond is conflict-free?
The Kimberley Process is a joint government, international diamond industry and civil society initiative established in 2002 to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - rough diamonds that are used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones has contributed to devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.

Click here for states and regional economic integration organizations who have met the minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. How many conflict diamonds are there?

The diamond industry estimates that conflict diamonds represent 4 percent of the total trade in rough diamonds. Others have estimated that conflict diamonds could amount to as high as 15 percent of the total trade. In 2001, the diamond industry produced rough diamonds with a market value of $7.9 billion. At the end of the diamond chain, this was converted into jewelry worth $54.1 billion. What areas of the world are affected by conflict diamonds?
The fighting that is fueled by the trade in conflict diamonds has been relegated to a few Central and West African countries. Many of these countries have diamonds that are easier to mine and thus more readily available to smuggle, according to the Kimberly Process.To learn more about conflict diamonds:

• To find out the latest news and information on conflict diamonds, you can refer to the World Diamond Council. • Click here to read more about the movie. • Click here to read more about Sierre Leone in a CBSNews.com interactive. • You can read about the Diamonds Are For Never campaign here. • The The Sierra Leone Global Education Partnership Project has additional resources.

All I want for Christmas is some steely resolve please

It is becoming quite evident that it is "that time of year again"... Although "that time of year" has commercially arrived since before Halloween and I am already feeling Christmased out.

Never fear - I am not going to wax poetic about the real meaning of Christmas.

If i had to make out a Christmas list this is how it would go:

1. Uncle Sam would take less out of my paycheck next year

2. My car, Samson would definitely take on its namesake (FOR GOODNESS GRACIOUS SAKES ALREADY) and start behaving like a real car that doesn't leak, sputter or generally make the gutteral sounds of an old man. Samson, please for once ... be good to me.


3. I could devise a genius way to make some extra bucks without exhausting myself


4. I would learn how to knit so I would never have to make my way to the mall again and buy overpriced stuff that no one wants anyway.


5. Blossoming within me, would be some good old fashioned, unadulterated steely resolve to keep me going forward. A double portion of however much the Lord is doling out to everyone else. I need me some steely resolve... with a capital S.










I am thinking #5 is something that is slowly emerging...maybe. The other night, I was praying out loud, and one of the things that popped out of my mouth was "Lord, let my face be like flint, unmoved to what I feel is happening in my life - and remember You."

Okay, it wasn't that eloquent, but it was along those lines.... I got interested in this word flint, and looked it up. It comes up in Isaiah 50: "For the LORD God helps Me, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.... who is among you that fears the Lord, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on His God...."

Teachable

One of the things I admire most about my father is that he is man with a teachable heart.

I would say that many have an attitude, especially in the church of "you can't teach me anything new", or an intellectual pride in what they know. And....the people that are puffed up in their own knowledge usually do not see it.

Months ago, when I was in Houston, I was having a conversation with a friend about church, and my friend remarked to me, "I have heard every sermon there ever was - pastors out there have nothing new to offer me." The comment saddened me a little - because it sort of closes the door of your heart to receive anything new or fresh.

I have to confess that I can be prideful in what I know, or what I think I know. I have to pray, as the scriptures say, "that the eyes of my heart would be enlightened" to the words and the wisdom of all those around me. To the words of my pastor, to my roomates, to the next door neighbor. God can and in fact will use anyone or anything to speak to me.

I do not want to miss out on what He has to say.

My father is one that never wants to stop learning and the things of God are no exception. He finds himself approaching his 60th year and knows he has more to learn. I think of him and remember Jesus' words to the people, "that whoever humbles himself as a little child...he is the greatest in the Kingdom of God."

Six months after the departure, she discovers a goodbye video

My friends gave me a good bye video in May and i just discovered it this week. It had been ahem... misplaced.


But it is now found and I actually had access to a camera to clip the video. Here is the end of it, my Sara and her words.


I love my H Town friends...they are irreplaceable. MY SALVAGED VIDEO

Here comes the sun

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

Pr 4:18