Living the Life

Patchwork Patterns

I went to a snowboarding event otherwise known as a 'rail jam' yesterday with one of the below mentioned good friends :) and remembered although I have absolutely no desire to do anything remotely close to this ever, I do have a fond appreciation for the daring souls that do.

Yesterday I went on a book shopping spree. I bought ten books. Yes, ten. Among the titles are Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline" (I can already tell this book is going to be money), Norweigan journalist, Asne Seierstad's "The Bookseller of Kabul" and Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" (the book that gave Dr. Bello his name) amongst others. Aside from those gems, I bought Noam Chomsky's "Hegemony or Survival" to participate in Ryan Sharp's loose version of a blog book discussion. Wanna participate? Buy the book and hop over to his blog. Do you like how I encourgae my readers to join your book discussion, Ryan? :) Hope so!

....I am using her computer for something and she has a folder entitled "Letters to Senators". How cool is she?

"I know how the people feel. I guess I feel the same way when I watch soccer. I am always frustrated when waiting for my team to score and feel like getting on the field and playing myself."
~Thailand's coup leader, General Sonthi speaking in response to a public demand for an investigation to validify claims that PM Thaksin was in fact involved in corruption. So far claims of corruption have been without solid evidence.


A military coup ousting the Prime Minister is EXACTLY like watching a football match. (and what's the deal with the American English?!)

Most of you know that there is a 95.5% chance that come November 30th I will be settled into yet another home just south of the world's focus for nuclear testing. I say 95.5% because those of you who know me also know that even the most concrete plans are subject to change only weeks before they transpire into actuality.

Anyway, the situation has the potential to turn dangerous between the two Koreas. Ironic thing is, I arranged this job long before the nuclear testing was even announced. We shall see what prevails....

This name has been everywhere in the week and some few days since I've arrived in the states. Everywhere. Well, today the man that goes along with the name graced the Historic LoDo Tattered Cover Bookstore with his presence. He told us lucky enough to be there that he loved the name of Denver's pride and joy as far as bookstores go because "it's obvious that a real book lover named [the place].... a beaten up book shows that its been taken along on a journey." Oh, and after our Denver Mayor gave a few words Senator Obama said, "Let's give it up for the mayor!" What a real guy. Everything he said in his 10 minute speech seemed so authentic, so real, so heartfelt.

Then, as I approached to get my three books signed I was blessed with this mini-dialogue:

Man in front of me: You are going to do so much for America
Nosy me chiming in: Not just the US, but the entire world.
Obama: Thank you. What is your name?
Me: Pamela.
Obama: Nice to meet you, Pamela. Are you a student?
Me: I just finished my masters.
Obama: In what?
Me: International Development
Obama: Oh yeah? Great. My mom did a bunch of that stuff.
Me: Yeah, I know. I read it.
Obama: Oh, great.

That's the end but I was still excited. :) Check out the book, The Audacity of Hope (which he admits, he ripped the title off his pastor in Chicago - but I'm sure the pastor doesn't mind ;) ).

What kind of world do we live in where a democratically elected president of one of the biggest countries in the world cracks jokes about rape? Really. What is going on in the world?

Yesterday I went to the newly opened Denver Art Musuem. They have a really whack exhibit that looks like a collection inspired by a lot of good drug trips. In a weird and twisted way, I liked it. I wanted to take some pics for your viewing pleasures but it wasn't allowed. Sorry! Guess you will have to make your way downtown if you live in the Denver area.

The first time I heard Tony Campolo speak was at chapel my freshman year at Baylor and the message was one that resonated deep in my soul. If you have never seen Tony Campolo, he is an elderly man with an Italian tenacity that proceeds him. He shouts, not speaks. That day at Baylor Tony told us that more than any other place, he hated speaking at Christian universities because they were all the same - rich kids content with their own "personal relationship with Jesus". They were content going to bible studies on Wednesday nights and Church on Sunday mornings. They were content getting a good paying job, praising Jesus for blessings, getting a mortgage for a tiny little box next door to another peron's tiny little box and living in their tiny little world. The students at Christian universities, Campolo said, were content being content. As for issues of social justice? They'll pray for it, but they won't act on it.

Tony Campolo is quite possibly one of my biggest heroes in the Christian faith. He tells stories of throwing birthday parties for unloved prostitutes he doesn't even know at 3 a.m in the morning at diners. He is in your face with the reality that to truly follow Jesus is not about complacency that makes your own life pretty. It's about taking risks, laying down your life, and going out of your way to be love in the life of another. Isn't that what all that being a light stuff the bible talks about is truly about?

Why am I talking about this? I grew up in one of America's nicest places. If you don't believe me, consider the fact that the population of Colorado is growing faster than anywhere else in the US because of the steady influx of people coming here to enjoy our sunshine days, trails, imaculate mountain range, and our hip downtown. I like this life. I love this place. I love the two boxes next to other people's boxes that both my sets of parents have worked to have. I love driving a nice car and to be honest not thinking twice about America's "addiction to oil" (which doesn't look like we are weaning ourselves away from anytime soon!!!). I love that I live in the foothills and its a 45 minute drive to amazing mountains and a twenty minute drive to a worthy downtown.

I love to be content. But at the same time, I hate it. Is this all there is? Is this what Christ called us to? The life of la-dee-dah, as I like to call it? Does he call us to two week feel-good mission trips a year and 50 weeks a year devoted to ourselves?

It's not about going overseas. Not at all. It's about realising the need around you. Does that only come in the form of poverty of mammon? No. There is an abundance of poverty of heart everywhere. There are some who can and are called to live in the subrurbs and truly be a light... who truly extend themselves for those around them, not just exist as a Christian... but for the most part, it seems as though many are waiting for someone else to take the first step, for someone else to do the work.

I will never forget one early Saturday morning when I was going to pick up a twelve year old from the heart of the projects in Waco. As I approached her apartment I saw a little boy of about five sat playing with a toy car. He looked up from the car and my white skin provoked him to ask a question, "are you from Baylor?" Thinking he liked my pious school as much as I did, I smiled and said, "Why yes I am!!!" Unimpressed, the young boy put both of his hands on his hips and shook his head with a frown, "Then why are you here?"

The mention of my university, the place of rich little christians, conjured up images of loveless neighbors who cared not for him.

Can we be content and still be a light?

Hello from really cool Colorado. Do you remember awhile ago I said I hoped it snowed while I was home? Day 3 and it did already!!! Yay! I am freezing and just traded in my beloved purple flip flops that all my BKK friends hate :) for a pair of cool waterproof rocketdog sneakers. I am freezing though!!! and... if you are my friend from Colorado I might be wearing your jacket in this pic. I have no idea where this coat came from but it was at my house, thus the jacketless 90+degree weather loving girl wore it to play in the snow with her shorter but older sister. Isn't my homeland beautiful? And this is just the foothills, my friends... Not even the big, real mountains!!!!

So I am in the states and have way more important thoughts running through my mind but I haven't had time to process them all yet.... so I just wanted to point out that my dearly beloved (sort of beloved...sort of hated!) school, Baylor University, was ranked the 9th fittest college in the USA. I guess that welcome week body-mind-spirit stuff really paid off... as did the good ol' Bear Trail and Student Life Center.... but I don't know if that compensates for last year's US News and World Report review as one of the least homosexual friendly schools and one of the most racially segregated schools in the USA. On a side note, I just learned that Baylor's motto is Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana... which translates into "For Church, For Texas." Seriously, did I actually go to a university that put the state of Texas as one of its top two concerns?!

...for a minute or two. Thanks to good friends who made my last night in the BKK so much fun. You are the best!!! And a special shout out to Breaks, my favourite hole in the wall dive, for being the most random but somehow entertaining club in BKK :) We love your little Japanese seems-like-my-living-room-but-you-call-it-a-club club.

The other day I was talking with a guy and he said, "I am a total feminist." Coming from a guy, the statement caught me off guard. I don't think I have ever heard a guy say that. In fact, I am positive I have never heard a guy say that. Sure, I have heard a lot of guys talk about equality and the likes but there is something about claiming to be a feminist that takes it to a different level. Somehow the proclamation demonstrates a concrete commitment to upholding equality that just talking loosely and vaguely about equality does not often ensure.

Nowadays, even a lot of women reject the term because it conjures up some imagery of radical extremism, so for guy to identify himself as one?! Unheard of. There was something amazingly refreshing and/or encouraging (not to mention totally hot) to hear such a statement from a guy. It was as though he was saying, "yep, I do think that you can do anything I can do and you should." When other guys talk about equality there is still some doubt in my mind that they really believe that statement.

I think a lot of men would never say that statement because it seems imasculating but for me a guy who can say he is a feminist demonstrates the opposite. It shows he isn't intimidated by a strong-willed, strong-minded woman.

Are you a closet male feminist? Let a sister know. :)

Thanks Distar, for pointing out another good article that deals with the issue of debt relief. I've said it before and I will say it again... stay informed - don't just think it is good because it sounds good or because Bono says so... make an educated opinion about the issue!

I had the following phone conversation with my oldest kid, Soraj, the other day:

Soraj: Emma didi (sister) are you crying?
Emma Didi: No. Why, should I be?
Soraj: Hehe... Me thinks you talking us and you coming sad and missing here. Then, you cry.
Emma: Ahh... so basically, you know I love you is that it?
Soraj: Hehe. Yah.

Seriously my lil' gangstas are the coolest kids ever. You should meet them.

Rarely, rarely, comest thou,
Spirit of Delight!
Wherefore hast thou left me now
Many a day and night?
Many a weary night and day
'Tis since thou art fled away.

How shall ever one like me
Win thee back again?
With the joyous and the free
Thou wilt scoff at pain.
Spirit false! thou hast forgot
All but those who need thee not.

As a lizard with the shade
Of a trembling leaf,
Thou with sorrow art dismayed;
Even the sighs of grief
Reproach thee, that thou art not near,
And reproach thou wilt not hear.

Let me set my mournful ditty
To a merry measure;
Thou wilt never come for pity,
Thou wilt come for pleasure; -
Pity then will cut away
Those cruel wings, and thou wilt stay.

I love all that thou lovest,
Spirit of Delight!
The fresh Earth in new leaves dressed,
And the starry night;
Autumn evening, and the morn
When the golden mists are born.

I love snow and all the forms
Of the radiant frost;
I love waves, and winds, and storms,
Everything almost
Which is Nature's, and may be
Untainted by man's misery.

I love tranquil solitude,
And such society
As is quiet, wise, and good: -
Between thee and me
What diff'rence? but thou dost possess
The things I seek, not love them less.

I love Love -though he has wings,
And like light can flee,
But above all other things,Spirit, I love thee -
Thou art love and life! O come!
Make once more my heart thy home!
-Percy Bysshe Shelley

The Dutch man used the fact that foreign films only account for 1% of the US film industry to prove his point about our cultural narcissism. I bet you guys didn't know that Indian films are viewed by more people in the world than Hollywood movies, yet most people I know have probably never even seen one! Weird.

Anyway, to help break down the cultural narcissism, here are a few non-American movie reviews.


Ae Fond Kiss is the typical South-Asian-falls-in-love-with-a-Caucasian-and-it-causes-a-lot-of-family-problems movie. It was okay, but the question remains, why does the white person in these type of movies always have blonde hair? I guess it makes her "more" white or something. I also did not like the personality of the girl's character (or her name for that matter), Roisin. She was completely useless and had no idea about anything outside of her bubble. Plus, this UK film was much more graphic than "pg-13" as it claims to be.... and people always tell me Americans are over sexual! A decent flick, but not a must-see.



Dear Frankie is another British movie and it is beautiful. Lizzie and her son, Frankie have been on the run from her abusive ex-husband since he caused Frankie to go deaf at a young age. The only thing is, Frankie doesn't know why they are always on the go. In fact, Lizzie has been lying to Frankie the entire time by telling him that his father was on a ship sailing around the world. When they land at a port the same time as the ACCRA ship his father is supposedly on, Lizzie is forced to find a man to act as Frankie's father. This movie definitely made me cry.


Of my three movie reviews today, the German film Goodbye Lenin is by far the favourite. Daniel tries to protect his nationalistic mother who was asleep in a coma before and during the fall of the Berlin Wall. As her doctors advise him that any sudden shock could cause the fragile woman to die, Daniel tries to maintain a world free of Western influence in order to give his mother the illusion that East Germany is still independent. This movie is Brilliant with a capital B and definitely on my list of all time favourites.

Yesterday I heard yet another public lecture about the American Empire. The Dutch intellect didn't say anything too revolutionary.... but one thing has stuck in my mind. America suffers from cultural narcissism. Why is it we think that everyone should want what we want/have?

So, I am in Vietnam. Supposedly a typhoon is too. Or it's coming here. To be honest, I didn't even know what a typhoon was exactly. I had to look it up at www.dictionary.com which informed me it is a "tropical hurricane of the western Pacific area and the China seas". Seems to have given the capital of The Philippines, Manila, quite a shake. Keep my dear Maile's family, the rest of Manila and the Vietnamese preparing for Typhoon Xangsane's arrival in your prayers. And if you want to see where I am right now I found this totally random virtual tour of Sapa, Vietnam.