Nice suprise

My friend "Spearsie" came into town this week and so we had some Tai food in Silver Spring and back to my house to watch Grey's Anatomy. Grey's Anatomy and old friends are a good combo... I forget how funny Spearsie is and how good it is to laugh with her. She made my week.

The Black Cat

Last night my friends Rachel, Abby, and I went to a concert at the Black Cat.

There we heard the vocal stylings of Rosie Thomas and Damien Jurado. What an evening of music. Rosie was cool because she had an alter ego onstage, but somehow she managed to be very genuine up there, and she had a voice.

I liked Damien for different reasons, namely the cello accompaniment. Beautiful.

My grandma is on the internet

My grandma is becoming internet savy, I'm so proud of her. My goal is to get her started on her own blog.

"Jen, the internet is such a time taker... and a time waster..."

Oh yeah grandma, it's definitely both...

Little Miss Sunshine

Today i went to the movies with new friend Abby (lover of Sufjian Stevens, Russian literature, and Trader Joes) and saw Little Miss Sunshine. Now, let me just add a disclaimer: Bad language is thrown about it in this movie. I don't want people to tell me i led them astray because they were offended by the movie. You've been officially warned.

If you can get over that, i think you will like it, in fact you might be like me and laugh out loud from time to time. It's like Chevy Chase's Vacation meets The Royal Tenenbaums. More than that though, some of the elements in the movie reminded of road trips in the past. Here are my top three most memorable road trips:

1. Trip with Kelli my roomate from college: Drove thru Boston, New Hampshire, Maine, Canada (New Brunswick), and Prince Edward Island. Kel's favorite part of the trip: seeing the house where they filmed Anne of Green Gables. Jen's favorite part: The old cemetaries in Boston. Least favorite part: driving in Boston, i got cussed out the whole time, despite trying to get out of there as fast as i could.

2. Trip with my father from Houston to D.C. this past May: Most memorable part: We broke down in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. My dad was so great about it from start to finish. He was so exhausted after traveling from Phoenix to come get me but didn't complain once. The trip ended with a hug from my dad and him handing over a special gift: a GINORMOUS mace canister that i can hang on my key chain. Love is driving your only daughter 1400 miles in a very sketchy car and hooking her up with a big can of mace.

3. Trip with my friend Tony and his dad to go hiking in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains in Colorado. On that trip I learned why he loves the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, and William Blake, among other things. We had set up camp in Mt. Blanco, and i remember getting out of my tent at about 2 am in the 20 degree weather and gazing up at the sky that was absolutely luminous with stars. Favorite part of the trip: taking naps in my tent and listening to the river below us....

Matt and Christy Rasch and the young'ins

Tuesday night I drove to Baltimore, because some friends, Matt and Christy were in town to visit parents. They now have three...count'em three ankle biters, one of whom was born just a few months ago. The oldest, Eliza is about four, Sophie is almost two and Josiah, the baby is three months.




Is it not surreal to see your friends' children strongly resemble their parents??? Eliza is her father. I'm not kidding. She is strong, incredibly honest and bold, and really funny. We were eating dinner and Christy complimented me on my hair. "Nuh uh!!" Eliza proclaimed, "i don't like it!."



Sophie reminds me a great deal of Christy. She is charming in a quiet way, and is her own person. She is a cuddler too which i like alot. We watched blues clues together and i got a few seconds of video. All i wanted the kid to say was hi, but you know that was not going to happen.

Sophie Take One

Sophie Take Two



Matt and Christy are now missionaries in Budapest, Hungary. They been an encouragement to me over the years. Matt and I were talking about how we both have changed alot since knowing each other in Houston. How am i different? Holy Cow, let me just count the ways. All that to say people like Matt and Christy were part of the catalyst in my life for those changes, and I'm real glad I know them.

Happy 32nd

In 1973, a pilot in training named Peter DiMaggio met a young high school teacher named Sandra Shutkesting in Enid, Oklahoma. They decided to hang out one day. And on August 12, 1974, they decided to hang out every day, for as long as they both shall live...

Happy Anniversary. Love, Jen

Concert at the Wolf Trap

Yesterday evening Jadine and I went to see our Katie interpret at the Guster/Ray LaMontagne concert at the Wolf Trap National Park for Performing Arts. I was excited to see Katie in all her glory, but even before i knew she was interpreting, I had been wanting to see Ray in concert.

Ray quite frankly, is amazing. Ray's influences are greats like Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Stills and Nash... When I heard him sing, it was one of the most sincere performances i have ever witnessed, it's like every fiber of his being is immersed in that moment and that song. Take the time to read about his life below because you just don't hear very many stories like his.

Okay so we weren't allowed to record but..... i did anyway. i couldn't help myself, i wanted to record ray. you won't see much because i was far away and you can hear me no, not singing, but shouting the lyrics. AHHHHH!! RAY!!! SO GOOD!! Here ya go: Ray at the Wolf Trap

I liked Guster too, and better yet, they gave Katie a shout out. Every time they were done with a song, she signed that everyone was clapping by waving her hands over her head. Throughout the concert, the guys in the band started doing it too, and by the end of the night, the audience joined in, with an occasional: "Catie!!!!!" My roomie sort of emerged with a fan club all her own.

So here is Ray's story:

Ray LaMontagne is a living example of the tranformative power fo music. AFter years of working at a shoe factory, LaMontagne had a revelation that completely shifted the course of his life.

One serendipitous morning, he woke up at 4 am to his alarm playing a song that woudl change his life: Stephen Still's "Treetop Flyer". LaMontange was deeply moved by the soulful lyrics and country-blues sound, since he hardly listened to music before, aside from the occasional radio hit. He skipped work that day and bought the Stills Alone album. He then quit his job, taking the bold first step in changing the direction of his life. He bought the well-worn records of music pioneers like Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bob Dylan, and Otis Redding and listened for hours, immersing himself in their seasoned voices and lyrics. LaMontange discovered that music was a form of emotional expression that had immense healing power. He knew he wanted to be a musician, so he taught himself to sing.

By 1999, he created a demo of 10 songs and was booked as the opening act for several fold performers. It wasn't long before he was noticed, and soon he was signed to a publishing deal with Chrysalis, where producer and player Ethan Johans helped create his debut album, Trouble.

With a voice comparable to Van Morrison and Otis Redding, LaMontagne sings with sincerity and soul.

Faces in the crowd: Jeremy S

In H-Town our major newspaper is the Houston Chronicle. I’m not particularly fond of the Chronicle, but they have this little vignette each week called, “Faces in the Crowd”. It features someone in the area that is worthy of knowing, who is just plain cool. A guy I know from Deidrichs coffee shoppe was featured a month ago, which you can view here. You won’t be disappointed.

So I decided to create my own “Faces in the Crowd” because I have some very unique characters in my life that I think others should know about, even if it’s vicariously though my perspective. If you find yourself as a feature, don’t be alarmed. I can promise you that 99.9% of what I write will be good stuff.

My first feature is a fellow partner in crime at ICC: Jeremy S.

Jeremy S. is a unique bird – and it’s not because he was home schooled (please laugh at that Jeremy). First of all, we have to start out with his car, which we fondly call Estelle. She is amazing in that her whole rear end is covered in bumper stickers:



















In fact, some of them that I especially love are : “Make mine Virginia wine”
and “This car protected by a man who plays the bagpipes”, and so on.


Jeremy S is teachable. He frequently asks the girls at our organization how to be a better boyfriend. I don’t know if he would exactly express it this way, but basically I think his motivation is to understand and be more empathetic to the female soul. He always asks good questions.

The man is a pro at picking out produce. Occasionally we trade food items at lunch, and the other day I gave him my avocado for his peach. I definitely got the better deal.


My final story: When Jeremy S was trying to figure out if he was supposed to take the job at our organization, he felt like he needed to include God in on the conversation and what better way to bond man to man than to smoke a cigar? I personally believed God was more of a pipe person, but anyhow he sat in the parking lot and smoked a cigar and at the end of the discussion he decided to take the plunge.. But not untill he had climbed the wall of the building to see inside. When he saw that the suites were looking good that sealed the deal for him. He was ready to go to work.

Is this young man so inspirational to dedicate a whole blog post to him? I think so. Jeremy is a face worth noticing, because he has a heart worth noticing (a bit cheesy but it's true). In my daily observations I have noticed he carries himself in such a self-effacing way, with strength but also with great humility. If you spoke with him, you would have to really dig deep to know that he practically runs the place. As a newcomer to the group, it is a privilege to know and to learn from him.

And by the way, he really does play the bagpipes....

Fourth of July

My fourth was spent with my beautiful roomate Jadine. Along with
new friends: Jessie and Sandra. I am also very happy to report i
spent it with Abe too.

It happened to be a rainy day, and these people decided to wear umbrellas on their heads. Sneaking up on them, one of the ladies turned around. I told them they were going to be on my blog. They were not impressed.










This is Abe's view.















Jessie and Jadine












Sandra












It ended up being a beautiful night. Afterwards, the girls and I walked to
Dupont Circle. There was a bunch of people gathered around the Metro
dancing the night away. This band called The Lively Stones, was playing (think
New Orleans and jazz) . A line began to form and Jadine dropped everything and
joined them. I wish i had taken a picture of her. I was exhausted at the end, but it was
lovely, and I hope yours was too...

Amazing

I met an amazing woman today.

Part of my job is to network with Christians that are serving in some of the most persecuted places in the world. I met this woman because she works in one of the countries I cover. She met me at the metro and when she saw me she came over to greet me, not with a handshake but with an embrace. I think I can't count on my one hand how many times I have been hugged up here. No body hugs on the East Coast, i'm not sure what it is. So right off, I knew I was going to like her.

We had lunch, and she told me about her life, how she endured one tyrannical regime in her twenties and now her own homeland is under a great deal of oppression. She has dealt with being separated from her husband. She has seen her own people starved, beaten, and put into tiny holding cells at extreme temperatures. She has seen so much but there is such a joy and a pure love that came from her, that I can not give justice to it in my own words.

I wonder in our own country, where we sometimes think about freedom with about as much intensity as we did our last meal, could we stand so strong in the face of hardship? And could we emanate the kind of love I felt coming from this woman?