Home

Greetings from the Jungle! (Specifically Cabuya, outside of Montezuma.) There are monkeys in the trees and creepy crawlers in the grass. I am far from home but I am happy. One my new friends here, Lauryn, has fantastic taste in music and has been our resident DJ on this trip. She shared this song with me this morning and I swear I've heard it before, but can't remember when, where, or who with, but from now on I will associate it with a morning in the jungle abroad, so I suppose that's probably cooler anyway...

Here's "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes:

Michael McIntyre

Hey, it's been awhile. Sorry. I moved to Costa Rica, where I've made some international friends. Costa Ricans, you assume? You assumed wrong; some of the friends I've made are English...actually, one friend I've made is English and she lives with other English people. I spent some time with my English friend and her friends the other evening and they were kind enough to share some English comedy with me, particularly the comedy of Michael McIntyre.

Here are some clips from his show at the Hammersmith London Apollo Theatre:

Just Joshin'

I'm supposed to be packing tonight, but instead I ordered Thai food from Ben's Noodles and Rice (for probably the last time while living here) and have been listening to tunes on Groove Shark. I've heard some Josh Ritter, but I've finally started to delve into his repertoire this evening and...I think I've fallen for him.

Here he is doing "Kathleen" live...

(Really, how could I not choose this song?)

Word.

“The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”

Kurt Vonnegut

Sassy Gay Friend

Hi I'm Kate Sammon, writer of this blog, and I'm here to share something very funny from the world wide web with you . It's the Second City network's "Sassy Gay Friend" sketches! I have compiled three sketches for your viewing pleasure:

Sassy Gay Friend: Romeo and Juliet

Sassy Gay Friend: Hamlet

Sassy Gay Friend: Othello



'Njooyyyyy :)

Bling of Blings

I recently found myself staring at one of those baby Jesus statues that are frequently displayed in Catholic churches (see above)...

You know when you're looking at something that's commonplace in your life and suddenly you realize what you're actually staring at? If you stare at it long enough you start to see it from a different point of view. It's like when you realize how odd certain words sound when you say them over and over again. Like "shirt". Say "shirt" enough and it'll eventually start to sound weird.

I grew up in the Catholic church, so this little guy was everywhere and he's familiar to me. My first memory of him was in the "crying room" (the room for loud and/or crying children) at the church I went to when I was little. We go way back.

Alright, so I'm staring at this little guy and suddenly I realize that this baby in ornate clothing looks kind of ridiculous (a toddler in a heavy crown, cape, and jewels, holding a septre??) and THEN it occurs to me that the real Jesus would probably be all, "WTF?!" if he saw this. I mean, the man grew up to allegedly say, "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21) AND "Sell your possessions and give to the poor." (Luke 12:33)

I don't think he meant "And when I'm gone, please adorn child statues of me with unnecessary symbols of material wealth, mmkay?"

I think there are a good many Christians that would readily admit that this representation of Christ misses the mark and is admittedly kind of silly. It's accepted as a remaining relic from the old days. The issue is that even with this acceptance, it remains and becomes commonplace, so common in fact that even critical li'l me is just now taking note of it.

At what point does "tradition" act as a hindrance? It seems to me that it's too often right from the start. This is a clear example of how human perception can effect the greater belief, in any religion, culture or political arena. If a man who's greatest emphasis was on feeding the poor and living a humble life is honored through the generations in a way that completely negates his point, then that most certainly gives cause to question organized religion.

I think this speaks to the abundance of other issues and perceptions that are, in my opinion, stagnating real progress. I think we all need to call into question what we're absorbing- the ultimate truth, or someone else's perception of the truth, even if that perception is tradition. So much of what we think to be true, fail to question and blindly accept, are the exact kinds of things that beg our minds to open and question.

Tuesday Throwback

This song (along with Patrick Simmon's mullet) makes me want to head down south, set up camp, sip on some moonshine and sing around the campfire.