::: In Exile :::

Since moving to nashville 20 months or so ago, I’ve felt some what disconnected and as my blog title states in exile, from all my forms of community that i had in houston such as family, friends, church, and work friends as most of them didn’t make it through the wreckage. I can’t say which one i missed the most because each served its own purpose and had its own place regardless of time spent in each, let’s call them worlds of my communal life. I realized even more clearly how much i missed one aspect of my life in Houston today as Carter and i convened our first saucer nashville monday night. We bonded over some cool refreshing libations and even connected with our houston brethren via text message.

you will all be pleased to know that carter has signed up for UFO membership and i have reset my card, though it is unclear whether i’ll actually follow through on the quest to be the first of the saucer diaspora to collect a 2nd plate.

It hit home today how much that community meant to me and how much it was needed. I’ve come into contact with some amazing people through those monday nights and i’m thankful for each and every one of you (and i’m not (just) referring to the beer goddesses).
Cheers!

ps.. my tolerance is not even close to where it used to be. :-/

went for a walk this morning with a good friend for several miles it was a good time to think.

i’ve had a lot of different posts come to me this week, some that i’ve started and saved as drafts and others that have only resided in my head if just for a moment.

I’m a fan of birthdays, i love celebrating other peoples birthdays and of course try to enjoy mine. But it’s also a time of reflection on the good, bad, and melancholy. Though i am thankful for another year of my life and looking forward to great things to come, it is always a good oppurtunity to reflect on the past years failures, accomplishments, oppurtunities taken, chances missed, friendships that have drifted away and new relationships that intertwine with your life. life is full of good and bad and all those things are supposed to work together for the good. In comparison to most people in the world my troubles are light and momentary and i should count them all blessings.
Two significant things i’ve learned over the years from a mentor and my maker are about downward mobility and reallocation of assets.

Some of the things about reallocating assets is you are always concerned on how those hard earned assets are being used, utilized and how it will benefit others and on the other hand there is a dilemma in  finding a way to reallocate some funds to something worthy within your means and still feel like it’s making a difference. a ministry i was introduced to recently really has captured my heart. it is part of African Leadership and it is called the MochaClub

here’s an excerpt from their site:

Want to see a change take place in Africa? By giving up the cost of two mochas a month, and joining with your friends, you are creating a team of problem solvers who can alter the future of a continent. We’ll update you on specifically how your money and effort is transforming the lives of Africans, allowing you to engage with people thousands of miles away. It’s time to make the difference you have always wanted to make.

I hope you will take a minute and check out the site and tell your friends about it.

- thats is all

33

Dance of the Seven Scarves

This is Crystal my friend and coworker.The other day we got some scarves in the mail. I asked crystal to figure out what to do with them. I didn’t think she’d wear them all and bring out the trusty light saber.

We have some interesting moments at the office and only some of them get captured.

Dinner 1/13/06

Originally uploaded by ljv.

quiet relaxing night at home..

tonights meal consisted of
chicken breast, green beans, and garlic sauteed spinach and mushrooms..

the charles krug chard would have hit the spot ..

with cooking skills like this its a wonder i’m still single…

Meme of four<- click there to see mike's

Brown Pride
my co worker took this picture.. and said

“i found out about your weekend hobby as a grafitti artist. and i have a picture to prove it.”

click on the picture and view a larger image to see it better

cookies

Perfect afternoon snack.. yeah it comes out of a package (unbaked) but it soo good warm out of the oven.

Tapas

this one is for mike and dov..

chorizo cooked in rioja with toasted bread..

not a bad way to start the day..

someone once called me with this bit of news (circa ‘99) - “I think i just got invited to a topless restaurant with a client.. you think i should go?”

Eye Spy

Dovie and Mike waited patiently as i waited for this shot to happen. After which we went on to explore the Salvador Dali exhibit… the general summation was that he was a brilliant nut job.

Now for some chorizo…