October 6, 2007 — 7:58 PM
Generosity is a characteristic that I would guess lots of people aspire to personify. This is a characteristic that is expecially appreciated by religious people around the globe. And today I witnessed generosity on a large scale for my second year in a row.
I, along with thousands and thousands of my Bay Area neighbors, we treated to the seventh annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park. This festival is completely free and now boasts five stages for talent to appear on - including the very local to the very famous.
All of this is brought to us free of charge by the generosity of Warren Hellman, an investment banker who enjoys this style of music and wants others to enjoy it too. He took up playing the banjo and liked it so much he wanted to gather musicians around himself to steep in the culture and ethos that they bring.
What I enjoy most is seeing who comes to the festival under the auspices of the "hardly strictly" part of the title. Last year Billy Bragg fell into that category and this year I would guess that Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, which is technically alt country, and Los Lobos would be included.
Wherever they fall on the spectrum, I enjoy hearing as many of them as I can. I am thankful that Mr. Hellman loves this music so much that he can't help himself but to share it with thousands of others.
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October 10, 2007 — 1:47 PM
I am beginning my tenth month as the Director of Vocational Formation and Placement for San Francisco Theological Seminary. Like any job, it has it's ups and downs. But, on the whole, I am very happy with my decision to come here.
This fall I was offered the opportunity to join the teaching team for the Introduction to Ministry course and in future years I will be teaching a 1-unit course on vocation. I appreciate these chances to get back into the classroom - albeit on a much different level than when I was teaching elementary and middle school students! The chance to interact with students on many different levels makes this job exciting and easy to come back to each day.
But there can be too much of a good thing. And I think I reached that point about a month ago without realizing it. My whole life I have either been a student or a teacher in an academic setting. I have always had vacation times forced upon me. When I first took this position I marveled at the idea of being able to decide for myself when I would take time off and how I would spend it.
I now realize that I am no good at doing that! I am going to have to get better at this, and quick, or else I will burn myself right out. I have not taken any significant time off since I began this job. And, in addition to working here during the week, I work on Sundays as a Parish Associate for Mission Bay Community Church. That means I've been working six days a week for ten months without a vacation.
That is not right!
Mostly I have done this because I wanted to save up vacation time so that I can go to New Zealand. I will be using two of the three weeks I get for the year on this one vacation. I think it will all be worth it once I get there. But it's the waiting that's killing me. I feel like I've been talking about and planning for this trip forever.
Well, the time has almost come. I leave in two weeks. And I am so ready. Well, not really. I'm ready for the break, but I really don't have many plans for what I will do while I'm there. I'm still working on that piece. But I'm sure it will all come together nicely.
I have learned my lesson: next year, I'm not going to wait so long to take time away. I don't know what I will do, but I will definitely take time away earlier in the year. Because ten months is way too long to wait to take significant (more than a day here or a day there) time off.
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October 22, 2007 — 5:44 PM
As I have noted before on this blog, I really didn't much follow the baseball action this year. It was mainly due to my apathy towards my hometown team (the Giants) and the spectacle that was Barry Bonds. I occasionally would catch the highlight show on ESPN, but that was about it. But since the playoffs began, I have watch baseball many days each week.
I really love to watch baseball games. I know, I'm one of a dying breed. But I enjoy the rhythm - slow as it is - and the strategy that goes into deciding who pitches against whom, who switches batting sides to try to unnerve the pithcer, who decides to steal a base when, and so on. All of this and more fine play is on full display during the playoff games because the players know that each game could be one of their very last games and they want to draw this out for as long as humanly possible.
The series that really caught my attention was the one that ended yesterday with the Cleveland Indians really taking a dive and completely blowing their 3-1 game lead over the Boston Red Sox. I could sense it from the very beginning of the game. The Red Sox had momentum and the home crowd on their side. Those are two powerful forces to try to fight off. And it proved too much for the poor Indians.
So on to the World Series go the Red Sox to face the Rockies. I'm not really excited about either team but I would have enjoyed watching the games. I'm pretty sure I'll be having my own fun New Zealand, so I don't feel too bad about missing them.
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October 27, 2007 — 8:52 PM
So I've been in the fair city of Auckland, New Zealand for four days now. I've had a good time walking all over the CBD (Central Buisness District), the Auckland Domain (a huge park near the CBD that is home to gardens, playing fields, and the Auckland Museum), Rangitoto (the volcanic island just off of Auckland's shore line), and Devonport. You might guess from that listing - I've done a lot of walking.
I enjoy walking. I prefer it to driving. I find that it gives me the time I need to take things in and process them. I haven't once been almost hit by a car because I looked the wrong way for traffic. Partly that's because traffic isn't that bad here. And partly it's because I am able to see street signs and other clues that help me remember that cars are coming from the opposite direction of what I am used to.
One thing I have noticed while walking is something that I've thought about while walking around San Francisco: our walking patterns are predicated on our driving patterns. In the States we drive on the right so when we walk on a sidewalk we walk on the right (well, usually). Here people drive on the left so they walk on the left as well.
I've gotten the hang of that. Let's see if that helps me at all when I get behind the wheel of a car tomorrow. I keep reminding myself that the key to this whole driving thing is: keep the driver in the middle. As long as I observe that simple rule I should be okay.
Here's hoping for the best!
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