The most wonderful time of the year

Hello everyone and welcome to the best month that was ever created by God.

That's right. It is the month of my birth. The month that all other months look up to; the month that all other months envy. Yes, that month is here.

I've been waiting for this month to come for quite some time. A whole 11 months to be exact. I love my birthday. I've been waiting so long in anticipation of it, and is a mere 16 or 16.5 days away.

I've been counting down the birthday for about 4 months now, and it hard to believe that it is now so close.

This year is especially exciting because I will be what they call "of legal age." I will have passed the barrier that the legal system has created and I will be capable of creating havoc and seeing R rated movies...wait, no, forget the last one, that one has already passed.

And just in case you were wondering and worrying, the answer is yes. I plan on going out to at least 10 bars with my friends and having them buy me ridiculous amounts of alcohol which I will consume very quickly, become violently ill and wake up the next morning with the worst hangover of my life.

(That was a joke in case you didn't pick up on that.)

Anyway, I just wanted you all to have the opportunity to join in the excitement and share in my joy and mirth.

Happy July to you all!

happy anniversary! (yesterday)

Dear parents, 

Thanks so much for getting married and having lots of children.  Thanks especially for having seven children so that I, the cutest and most fun, could be born.  I wouldn't be awesome without you.  Much love!

Your cute kid.  

Faces of Jamaica

One of my very good friends from school here who graduated last year is doing missionary work in Jamaica right now. In Jamaica its very common for children to be abandoned if they have any kind of handicap, and the Mustard Seed has set up houses there where these abandoned children live and are cared for.  The saddest part about most of these children's lives is that most of them have handicaps that could be worked with, but there are not enough people there to spend time with them and teach them things, or even to take the time with them to love them.  

Angela is working as the very first counselor this home has ever had.  Her job is to basically show the children the love they would otherwise never see and to try and help them work with their disabilities.  She has been there for about a month now, and will be there for about a year.  Already in her work she has implemented a animal assisted therapy program, which is what she did her thesis on, and she is making incredible progress with it.  

She writes her stories on her blog, faces of Jamaica if you would ever like to read about someone doing something good for people in the world.  I also wanted to say this because I know that working there is hard and that extra prayers for her would definitely be a good thing.  Please pray for Angela in Jamaica, that she will not be too stressed in her work there, and that the rest of her time there continues to be as rewarding as the first month has been.  

Happy Tidings

Happy Easter to everyone!  

Easter here was good and holy as it should be.   Especially exciting to my roomate who got engaged on Easter Sunday.  She's very excited, as she should be, and is jumping right into the wedding plans.  

I knew she was going to get engaged at some point.  However I was thinking it was going to be some time next year instead of being so soon.  For me it was somewhat of a rude awakening of my own situation, especially since she is almost a year younger than me.  But I'm slowly learning to be comfortable with my own situation, and while I am conscious of my un-romantic life I am for now contenting myself to live vicariously through my roomate, the not quite yet twenty year old who is getting married next year.  

RIP Br. Pascal

I was told that I should post this so I thought I would....

My favorite memory that I have of Br. Pascal was how on Holy Thursday when the Abbot would wash the feet of the other monks, Br. Pascal was always one of those brothers. And even when he wasn't doing well the others would help him to his seat and help him with his shoes so that he could be served by the Abbot.

The fact that the Abbot washes the feet of the others has always meant a lot to me, and I think back to it a lot when I think about service and how those of us who are the leaders are called to be less than those people that we serve. And the fact that Br. Pascal was always one of those who was served especially meant a lot to me. Just to see how the others cared for him, and gave him that special spot showed me how much they loved him, and how much they cared for him, and it reminds me daily of how much I have to learn about love, and how much I don't love those around me as I should.

This one is by Peter Shaffer

Salieri: On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse - bassoons and basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly - high above it - an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the very voice of God.

If it helps you, its also a movie....

Other plug of the semester

If you can't go see the other play or if you want to see another play the mainstage play of the semester is

The Playboy of the Western World by J M Synge

The Dates for that one are April 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 at 8PM and April 6 and 13 at 2PM

If you're in my immediate family I can get you in for free :)

I'm not technically "in" this play, but I have great involvement in it, and you should definitely come and see it if you can. I'm co-designing the music, and I am designing the props for the play. I'm also building the set.

Also the music for the pre-show and intermission is going to live and we've put together a little band that I sing for...so you'll get to see me on stage if you come early and if you want to sit through intermission.

The play is an Irish comedy. Its set in Mayo Ireland and its about a boy that comes to a town claiming to have killed his father, and since the townspeople never see any excitement they turn this boy into their local hero.

Just putting it out there....

Some Answers

Answers to the ones that no one guessed:

Jan 17, Tom Stoppard - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Jan 18, Harvey Granville Barker - A Farewell to the Theatre

Jan 22, Moliere - The Precious Young Maidens


More to come!