ok, i'm off to Africa! see you in about a week, God willing.

i think my travel time is the same as my actual time in Burundi, but that's okay. my job there is to sing at all the pastor's conferences and crusade meetings that happen the last three or four days of the two-week outreach. i've learned some Kurundi songs + some French versions of songs we sing at church, plus a couple Swahili songs. they are pretty rad tunes.

you can keep tabs on the happenings by reading the daily field reports on the church webpage. God is good. Pray for me while i'm gone!

This is Marcel Breuer. He loves to pose, and keith and i like to take breaks from drawing and take pictures of him and his wrestling partner, Mies Van Der Rohe (not pictured). While marcel can't hear anything, he loves to cry when he's lonely or hungry or bored. I won't say he has a gas problem, but... whoa! Think twice before letting him crawl onto your lap for a nap. This picture was taken on our display counter. what a poser!

would YOU eat this strawberry? it came in a quart of tasty strawberries from the Green Market in Union Square. I couldn't make myself eat this one.

it's beach season. whoo-hoo! so what a great time to grow a beard. what? i know, what am i thinking? well, i'm thinking that it's summer and i don't feel like shaving, okay? and the bosses were out of town for a week, so why not? my coworker thinks i should get a tan during my upcoming vacation in florida and then shave it off, thereby leaving a white or ghost beard. that would be great.

anyway, here i am after exactly two weeks of not shaving. a special thanks to my imac at work for taking my picture.

Controversial ABCs:

Animal testing: For or against? For, within reason.
Bush, President George W.: Like him or dislike? Both.
Corporeal Punishment: Yes or no? No.
Death Penalty: Yes or no? No.
Euthanasia: Yes or no? No.
Flag burning: Okay or not? Not good, but allowed.
Global Warming: Exists or not? Not as bad as they make it out to be.
Harry Potter: Read it or not? Read it.
Iraq: Stay or get out? Finish it, then get out.
Jam: Strawberry or Grape? Raspberry.
Kids (do you want them if you don't already have them): Yes or no? Yes.
Legalization of Marijuana: Yes or no? No?
Minimum wage: Raised or not? Don't know.
Nuclear weapons: Should they be banned or not? Is that even possible?
Operating System: Windows or Mac or Linux? Both, that's what i have.
Politics: Which party? GOP, but don't feel any obligation.
Quebec: should be own country or not? Don't know.
Routine Infant Circumcision: For or against? Don't know.
Stem cell research: For or against? Against using fetal stem cells.
Tobacco: Illegal or not? Not. but it's disgusting.
UN: good or bad? Good idea, bad execution.
Vaccinations: All, some, or none? All.
Wal-mart: Great store or Evil Empire? Both.
Extra-terrestrials: Yes or no? No.
Year round school: yes or no? Sure.
Zero Tolerance: Good idea or not? Not.

post on your own blog. If you don't have one, start one! And let me know about it.

Someone asked me the other day if i'd seen any movies over the weekend. No, I hadn't, and I realized it's been quite a while since I had. the only movie i've seen this year was "300" while i was away in Pennsylvania for my grandpa's funeral. Perhaps not exactly appropriate, but it was a great time.

Nothing good seems to be in the theaters right now or anytime lately, but i seem to remember a lot of advertising lately that has caught my attention. so when is this stuff coming out? I just found a web site with movie releases and here is what i am looking forward to. there might be other great movies coming out that i don't know about or recognize, but these are the big titles for 2007:

Mar 09: 300 (saw it!)
Mar 23: Shooter
Apr 06: Grindhouse (?)
May 04: Spiderman 3
Jun 08: Ocean's Thirteen
Jun 15: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (?)
Jun 27: Live Free or Die Hard
Jul 04: Transformers
Jul 13: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Aug 03: The Bourne Ultimatum
Nov 16: Beowulf (?)
Dec 07: The Golden Compass
Dec 25: Alien vs. Predator: Survival of the Fittest

spring/summer started today. and since my work trip scheduled for today was canceled, i rode my bike to Prospect Park and relaxed at the big lawn there, whatever it's called. i am so out of shape. my legs were hurting after that ride. but the park was hopping as this was everyone's first chance to get outside and enjoy some sun. and you could tell it was the first chance because all the white people were really white. ha, ha.

i saw this high rise apartment building in midtown on the way to take a friend out for a birthday dinner. red light came down the side street from the setting sun. the juxtaposition of this to the Hearst building next door was nice, but i didn't get a good pic of that. i guess i like the repetition of the balconies. black and white would be nice too.

I found out last week that i get to travel to Burundi this July with church. Africa, here i come again!

Burundi is one of the smallest (maybe?), poorest, and most conflict-ridden nations in the world. You may not have heard of it before, but you probably know its neighbor, Rwanda, which shares similar problems between the Hutu and Tutsi people. Our group also plans to help the Twa people who are native to the area but have been forced into the mountains.

Anyway, i still have a lot to learn about Burundi, but i think it will be a great trip. probably grueling and amazing.

whoo-hoo! i passed ARE #2, construction documents & services. probably barely passed.

i still haven't scheduled the next exam, or even started studying for it. this is mostly because i can't decided which test to take next. i wanted to switch over to the graphic exams, but i have to figure out how to study for them; we don't have study books for them.

but i don't have time to think about it right now. soon...

We were swinging an arc around the top of Brooklyn just then. We had flown over Staten Island, had gotten a long look at the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan through a haze, and had just seen the neighborhood where i live due to a plane dipped into a course change. Our constant descent meant you could see the people on the sidewalks and read the signs on buildings. We were moments from touching down at Laguardia. Ten seconds out i snapped this pic. We have good sunsets in New York.

WHOO-HOO !!! I passed my first ARE! (Architect Registration Examination) and so did my study partner. Such a relief. And the champagne is on the way. Now, only eight more tests to go.

February has really gotten to me. i was already crabby today when i got to work today. and then we didn't have heat again until after lunch... around two, i think. my toes are still thawing. times like these i just want to go home. and then move some place warmer. why put up with this?

i guess i like to think that i enjoy winter. it's great to have changing seasons and see everything die and then regenerate in the spring. and snow can be really beautiful, especially since it covers all the dirt of the city.

but snow is really only fun when you get a "snow day," and that doesn't happen in new york city because the subway doesn't shut down. okay, it shut down twice since i've been using it, and those were momentous occasions: it took a multistate power grid meltdown to stop the trains, and everything else, and then there was the transit strike, which didn't stop me from having to go to work; it just involved lots of walking and bike riding in the freezing cold for a few days.

Perhaps if NYC got 6 feet of snow like upstate. maybe then i'd get a snow day. or that one town that had 12 feet! that would be awesome! excpet new yorkers as a rule don't eat at home, so everyone would probably starve.

i don't know where this complaining was headed, so i'll end it. i guess it's almost March. i think i can make it through the winter. i'm feeling better already. aren't you glad you read this?

Okay, the Puerto Rico pictures are online. (link below) I only uploaded a selection of the images from the picture pool, but these are still a lot. photography credits go to ryan, christina, omar, connie, and me.

here's the itinerary so you can understand what you're seeing:

day1: arrive at rented apartments, walk around Old San Juan
day2: drive to El Yunque rainforest, rehearsal dinner in San Juan
day3: Ocean Park beach, wedding at old fort, reception dinner
day4: drive/boat ride to Culebra island, Flamenco beach, dinner Old San Juan
day5: walk + shop Old San Juan, fly home

picture link: H E R E

two weeks ago i was swimming in a rainforest waterfall, napping on an island beach, and sipping pina coladas. The temp didn't go below 70 or above the low 80's. perfect.

it was 8 degrees going to the gym this morning, and has warmed up now to 16. we didn't have heat in the office this morning until about 11. the gallon jug of water in our fridge was frozen solid, and i was cadding in scarf and a hat. Paul made me some tea to sip and thaw my hands until the heat came back up. but my toes are still frozen.

i miss you, Peurto Rico!

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