Hello. I just have little thoughts to share today. Maybe I will have big ones later, but I need to learn to let myself say things in little chunks too. That's what this whole kooky blogging thing is about, right? Right.
~ Garage Sale is coming up, as Christine already mentioned. Pretty incredible how hard it is to part with possessions even if they're 'junk'. It's so hard not to think "But what if I need that..." or the even more insidious "But I've had that for years!" Such strange attachments we form to our stuff. I know very few people who do not idealize a exceedingly simplified, borderline ascetic lifestyle in some capacity, and yet the process of letting go of the things that you don't actually want still seems nigh on impossible. Silly humans. Well, a good old fashioned possession purge is in my near future. Wish me luck.
~ National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) is November, and Christine and I and a handful of other friends are going to give it a shot. The notion is to slap down a 50,000 word story in the thirty days. I am setting a personal goal of 2000 words a day so that I have a little buffer if I can't get enough down in one day, or maybe even have some time to do a little editing at the end. Who knows. As I was telling a friend last night, I think the practice of forcing yourself to write a certain number of words everyday is an excellent goal for anyone - it doesn't have to all be one story, or even a story at all. Give it a shot, even for a day. And if that goes well, try another.
~ I feel like it is becoming more and more of a rare blessing these days for people to live in an actual home rather than just a house. I feel awed and honored and privileged that I can count myself among that number.
~ Also? Peanut butter is awesome.
-Ian
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Burundi or Bust!
Hello Friends! It's been a crazy month or so. Fall has come everywhere but Phoenix, though it has cooled off a bit. Ian and I have settled in out very own apartment and into the daily grind of school, work, rest.
So now that we're all comfortable and settled, our next project is a community garage sale to benefit the Global Citizen Journey Burundi trip that Ian and I are going on in June. We are currently collecting any garage saleing items from people around the phoenix area and we will sell them off in mid-late November. All proceeds will go to the project.
If you're not in Phoenix how can you help, you ask? or if you are in phoenix and want to help in other ways? What thoughtful questions! Here are some ideas:
If someone is outside of the phoenix area they could do as follows: If they wish to send money to GCJ they can go to the GCJ website: globalcitizenjourney.org, They can put either my name or Ian's on the donation and the money will go toward our part of the funds--also their contribution will be tax deductible.
If they would like to have their own garage sale and donate the proceeds to GCJ they can do so and write a check and send it along to GCJ as per the address on their website or they can send it to us 2855 E. Broadway #240 Mesa, AZ 85204.
Other ideas would be to invite folks over to their house for a dinner party and ask for a 10 dollar donation per person. They could have a movie night, again asking for donations to benefit the trip and show Hotel Rwanda and have discussion afterward--it is important to note that Rwanda is Burundi's neighboring country and shared in this race war. The same groups of people were effected. Burundi simply didn't get the publicity. It is a question of global citizenship. Burundi is poor and small and so doesn't get the face time that its neighboring countries do.
Anyone here in the phoenix area can again, send money for the project directly to GCJ or to us. Also they can volunteer to help us with the garage sale, they could have a dinner party with us over to talk to their friends about Burundi and explain a little more about the project, show Hotel Rwanda and have conversation etc.
To recap from previous entries: This trip is through a federally recognized 501c3. Please check out their website: www.globalcitizenjourney.org. They have done other trips, one to Ghana, and another to Nigeria. Our trip to Burundi will be to do a couple of things: we will be working with a Farming Co-op that is opporated by several widows whose husbands', the fathers of their children, were killed in the war. We will also be meeting with civil and community leaders to discuss subjects such as Burundi's place in the world community, racial and gender prejudice, global citizenship, etc.
Have any questions about the project or how to help out? Please Please contact us. We could really use your help! And part of this project is educating the masses :)
We have until June to raise the money necessary to get this project off the ground. Thanks for all who have already helped.
-Love, Christine
So now that we're all comfortable and settled, our next project is a community garage sale to benefit the Global Citizen Journey Burundi trip that Ian and I are going on in June. We are currently collecting any garage saleing items from people around the phoenix area and we will sell them off in mid-late November. All proceeds will go to the project.
If you're not in Phoenix how can you help, you ask? or if you are in phoenix and want to help in other ways? What thoughtful questions! Here are some ideas:
If someone is outside of the phoenix area they could do as follows: If they wish to send money to GCJ they can go to the GCJ website: globalcitizenjourney.org, They can put either my name or Ian's on the donation and the money will go toward our part of the funds--also their contribution will be tax deductible.
If they would like to have their own garage sale and donate the proceeds to GCJ they can do so and write a check and send it along to GCJ as per the address on their website or they can send it to us 2855 E. Broadway #240 Mesa, AZ 85204.
Other ideas would be to invite folks over to their house for a dinner party and ask for a 10 dollar donation per person. They could have a movie night, again asking for donations to benefit the trip and show Hotel Rwanda and have discussion afterward--it is important to note that Rwanda is Burundi's neighboring country and shared in this race war. The same groups of people were effected. Burundi simply didn't get the publicity. It is a question of global citizenship. Burundi is poor and small and so doesn't get the face time that its neighboring countries do.
Anyone here in the phoenix area can again, send money for the project directly to GCJ or to us. Also they can volunteer to help us with the garage sale, they could have a dinner party with us over to talk to their friends about Burundi and explain a little more about the project, show Hotel Rwanda and have conversation etc.
To recap from previous entries: This trip is through a federally recognized 501c3. Please check out their website: www.globalcitizenjourney.org. They have done other trips, one to Ghana, and another to Nigeria. Our trip to Burundi will be to do a couple of things: we will be working with a Farming Co-op that is opporated by several widows whose husbands', the fathers of their children, were killed in the war. We will also be meeting with civil and community leaders to discuss subjects such as Burundi's place in the world community, racial and gender prejudice, global citizenship, etc.
Have any questions about the project or how to help out? Please Please contact us. We could really use your help! And part of this project is educating the masses :)
We have until June to raise the money necessary to get this project off the ground. Thanks for all who have already helped.
-Love, Christine
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