life is a work in progress; see it from behind the scenes

Mountain Dew and Dor..."turn your head and cough"

I just went in for my physical today for Africa and it brought on a flashback to early elementary school. I've never been much into sports, so the last time I had a full physical would have been for coaches' pitch or soccer or something back in the little years.

Anyways, I figured out that the day of that last physical was quite possibly the last time I ever drank Mountain Dew, by choice at least. I remember scarfing down a sandwich and a ton of Doritos with a Mountain Dew before we left for the doctor's office and the urinalaysis people telling me I needed to drink less Mountain Dew, etc. Blah, blah, blah...I listened. I moved to the brown sodas and have never enjoyed flourescent sodas since.

So, this time, I didn't think to cheat the system and drink a lot of water ahead of time; in fact I didn't eat anything all day and I can't remember what I had to drink, if anything, so when I came in the doctor's office and peed while waiting for my appointment, I didn't think at all about how I was wasting my precious sample pee. A huge glass of ice water and 20 minutes later, I finally filled the tiny cup.

(gross.)

Spring Retreat

Spring Retreat came and went and was nice while it lasted.

The design stuff for it turned out well and it meant I got to use the letterpress (and count it for a project). The theme for the retreat was "Fly" (subtitle: recognizing and realizing your God-given dream), based also on Romans 13:8—generously paraphrased down to: "the debt I owe is love."

To Market, To Market

It's official. From June 17 to July 28, 2007 I will be in Dakar, Senegal.

insert Mat Kearny line: "one foot on the water to face these fears..."

or something like that. After pushing everyone else to interest in global affairs (cough, Africa), I'm taking the first step to what I hope will be my future investment in the developing world.

I'll be studying photography. No animals, but rather documentary photography. Now if only I could find my missing Canon Digital Rebel, which was surely stolen by some toddler the Sunday after Sweetheart's Banquet.

They've asked for a photocopy of my Passport (which I'm pretty sure is completely illegal to make) and some exciting immunizations. By the way, if your stalking brings you to Senegal this summer (and not just facebook), make sure you get the right malaria medicine. At least 2 kinds are completely ineffective in the region.

This is going to be an exciting time out of the country of self discovery and an eye-opening isolation from American culture. the less you have, the better off you are. (Longbrake)

Wish me luck.

oh, and be jealous. starting now.

Welcome to my new blog.

I created this to get used to before I head off to Africa this summer, but I'm looking forward to using it for everything.

I hope I end up being someone you look forward to meeting, if I may be so presumptuous.