tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-133807242024-03-12T19:01:10.418-07:00Owl-light StudioThe blog of Jenny HainsworthUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger216125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-23302440479106316842010-11-11T13:24:00.000-08:002010-11-11T13:26:22.736-08:00For Remembrance Day 2010Red Lips are Not So Red<br /><br />Red lips are not so red<br /> As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.<br />Kindness of wooed and wooer<br />Seems shame to their love pure.<br />O Love, your eyes lose lure<br /> When I behold eyes blinded in my stead!<br /><br />Your slender attitude<br /> Trembles not exquisite like limbs knife-skewed ,<br />Rolling and rolling there<br />Where God seems not to care;<br />Till the fierce Love they bear<br /> Cramps them in death's extreme decrepitude.<br /><br />Your voice sings not so soft, —<br /> Though even as wind murmuring through raftered loft, —<br />Your dear voice is not dear,<br />Gentle, and evening clear,<br />As theirs whom none now hear<br /> Now earth has stopped their piteous mouths that coughed.<br /><br />Heart, you were never hot,<br /> Nor large, nor full like hearts made great with shot;<br />And though your hand be pale,<br />Paler are all which trail<br />Your cross through flame and hail:<br /> Weep, you may weep, for you may touch them not.<br /><br />Wilfred Owen, 1916Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-32614437452280807162009-12-13T01:44:00.000-08:002009-12-14T23:12:10.359-08:00Back in the Studio!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68NJmwHr3yskHMt1sHCpoOWhsxnZhiZiPigFwicuHQWNsyN5Z6Oz_9jMJffCUF4864SrETtKwKjfkRYd8GqOD6blgaIPRoLyM84k2spcGAfLXKIsYOi09vrb_UPPRjjyGnkh7GQ/s1600-h/image0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; clear: both;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68NJmwHr3yskHMt1sHCpoOWhsxnZhiZiPigFwicuHQWNsyN5Z6Oz_9jMJffCUF4864SrETtKwKjfkRYd8GqOD6blgaIPRoLyM84k2spcGAfLXKIsYOi09vrb_UPPRjjyGnkh7GQ/s400/image0.jpg" border="0" /></a>Interestingly (at least to me), I worked in my icon studio for the first time since the summer yesterday and today, and tonight I'm writing on my blog for the first time in forever also! Hmmm.<br /><br />Well, the pretty good reason for the hiatus was that I was working day and night trying to get our Orthodox home exchange website up and running, which it now is! The link is in the righthand margin if you're interested - it's called Egeria Home and Hospitality Exchange. I won't go into the details here; all the information is on the site itself at egeriaexchange.com.<br /><br />The picture on this post is a bit of drawing I did for the website - I recently started doing calligraphy with a quill (ie a goose feather cut at the end into an edged nib) and boy, now I know what all the fuss is about. There is nothing like drawing or writing with a quill. I don't know if I can go back to metal nibs. The quill nib is flexible and sensitive to tiny changes in your hand's movement, and enables so much more expression. If you write with a modern metal nib it is nearly impossible to understand how the writing and drawing in the famous manuscripts (eg The Book of Kells) could be so beautiful. With a quill, even if you are not a great calligrapher, it makes a lot more sense.<br /><br />Anyway, the doodads above were early experiments with the quill. I was replicating some decorations pictured in a book of medieval Russian (although they lump a lot of Armenian stuff in there) manuscript decoration. I love it - it's so fresh and inventive, like so much art from the period. I copied a bunch of these little illustrations and we included them in the Egeria website to add warmth and charm to the look and feel. The idea was one of homeyness and antiquity at the same time, which I liked as being very appropriate for an Orthodox home exchange site!<br /><br />That done for the time being, I'm continuing work on a largish icon too - a family icon commissioned by a friend as a surprise for her husband. It is quite complicated; a portrait-format board about 14"x 20"with a routed center which is rounded at the top (yes, I will try to post photos at some point) and with generous raised margins. In the routed area are the three standing figures of Sts Peter, Herman and Mary (sister of Lazarus). These are the dad, the family, and the mom's saints, respectively. On the lower margin below are three medallions depicting Sts Finnian, Victoria and Simeon (now some of you will know who this family is. . .shhhh!!!), the three children in the family. These medallion shapes are wreathed with entwined olive branches, a reference to the wedding psalm which says "your children will be like olive shoots around your table." Above the whole group, on the top margin, is the Theotokos holding a protecting veil over the whole composition.<br /><br />It has taken me a long time to get to where I am now. Namely I 'established' the drawing today and yesterday. This means that I went over the preliminary drawing, which had been put on the gesso with water-soluble pencil crayon, with more 'permanent' egg tempera. I put that in quotation marks because when it is fresh egg tempera is not very permanent, but it's much more so than the pencil, which disappears easily with a little water.<br /><br />The use of water soluble pencil crayons, especially in a nice sepia colour, is a great trick from my teacher Heather. They allow you to draw fluidly and directly onto the board, which makes the drawing much more alive. Those of you who draw will know that as soon as you attempt to transfer a drawing in some way, something in it dies, no matter how careful your copying or transferring. You do have to be slightly crazy or confident to work a drawing directly onto a gessoed board; I'm a little of both but I always have a lot of studies and preliminary drawings informing the seemingly 'freehand' drawing onto the board. Plus there is always the reassurance that if you mess up at this stage there are fixes in the form of water and sandpaper! Of course for more formal elements, like the olive branches, I have the design carefully worked out in advance. But faces and hands, etc, I prefer to draw in a more immediate way so as not to lose the aliveness.<br /><br />Anyway, today saw the breaking of an egg, always auspicious in the studio of an iconographer! It means something is getting done. This is the most exciting phase, because you are now able to 'open' the painting, that is, to begin to lay down fields of pale colour and watch the icon begin to take shape and come alive. This process will be especially rewarding in the case of this icon because it was such a complicated icon to compose, and the drawing is, naturally, very detailed.<br /><br />One other thing I have observed while working today; that is that I am applying knowledge of the end of the process to how I proceed here at the beginning. That is to say, now that I have a bit more experience both in painting icons and in egg tempera itself, I know what things to avoid at the outset, because they will just make life harder down the road.<br /><br />A good example is drapery lines. When I was more of a rookie, I would establish too many of these lines - that is, lines describing drapery inside the figure, as opposed to the outlines. What I learned later is that as the icon is being painted (as opposed to drawn -- I don't use the term 'written' very much, because it's not very useful in this type of discussion, but that's another post) -- as the icon is being painted it shifts and changes, and decisions you may have made at the drawing stage seem crazy to you now. It is hard to describe. It's like choosing a route by looking at a map, but when you hit the open road you can see a much more beautiful way to go, and you start to take a new route.<br /><br />The problem is, if you have lain down your lines in egg tempera which has been allowed to cure a bit (ie it's more than a few days old), you are now fighting with these lines even as you are deciding on new lines, because as egg tempera ages it becomes more and more difficult to remove.<br /><br />This characteristic is wonderful, of course, -- it's what allows egg tempera paintings and icons to last ages and ages, and it's inherent in the very technique of painting with it -- it's what allows for that tremendous subtlety --but it's a problem if you want to change something! You always have the option of sanding lines off, and goodness knows I've done plenty of that, but it's a nuisance to be avoided as it creates dust. Not to mention that any washes or layers of colour you have done over those lines will now be ruined when you have to go beneath to get rid of the lines. If your wash was nicely applied and you like it, having to ruin and redo it can be sad, since it can be difficult to replicate exactly what you did the first time that was so successful!<br /><br />So all of that laborious discussion was just to say that now as I draw I have all the memory of that stuff in my mind, so I don't bother to establish interior drapery lines until some painting has been done already. It makes life easier all around - flexibility further into the process, and a simpler, faster drawing now!<br /><br />However: I DO include all those interior lines in the studies and preliminary drawings for the icon, because without them you won't end up with a believable outline. You don't want St Peter to look like he was made with a cookie cutter. Don't ask me what the logic is of coming up with lines at the beginning and then losing them and then finding them again is - maybe it's something you have to do to understand.<br /><br />Happy St Spyridon's and St Herman's days to those on the new calendar! Glory to God for all things.<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-87567380380661395512009-06-24T19:28:00.000-07:002009-06-25T00:14:10.370-07:00Prayers by the LakeI first encountered St Nikolai Velimirovich in excerpts read on Ancient Faith Radio, and every time one comes on I drop everything and stare into space listening. He is as fresh as a slap with a fresh thing on a fresh morning.<br /><br />Recently I was at a Byzantine chant workshop in Dunlap California, where there is a beautiful women's monastery called Life Giving (/Receiving) Fountain. It's a monastery only for beautiful women. They are very strict about that.<br /><br />Why can't I be serious? Really, what is wrong with me? Okay, but this is about St NV, whose book I found to my total JOY in the monastery bookstore. So now I get to post things of great beauty and profundity on this blog just by opening this book pretty much at random. Here's the first one.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is clothing worth, if there is no body to clothe? What is the body worth, if the soul is not covered with it? What is the soul worth, if You do not keep vigil in it, like fire in ashes?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">My clothing is smoke and ashes, if my body does not give it value. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">My beautiful lake is blind mud, if its wide-eyed water is drained from it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">My soul is smoke and ashes, if You, my morning dew, are drained from her.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You write Your name over the ashes of all things, and the flame of Your radiance dazzles the smoke of all things.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Your flame is a dew for the thirsty, who find refuge in your embrace. But your flame is a consuming fire for those who flee from it.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Truly, you are paradise for the pure and hell for the impure. . .</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Your prophets, O heavenly Mother, were the discoverers of the fire beneath the ashes, who dove into the mouths of volcanoes. Through your boundless mercy you allowed each prophet to discover the spark for which he dove, until all the sparks merged into the blazing conflagration of your Son, O heavenly Mother.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">O Lord, you raised up shepherds for every flock, and the shepherds kindled fires for their flocks, lest they freeze on the rugged road of history, leading to a time when the Ultimate Man, the Only Begotten Son, would burst into a great fire and summon all flocks to warm themselves.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Indeed how deeply hidden are all the precious metals -- the eyes of the depths of the earth! Just as you are concealed beneath the ashes of the world, O most precious Stone!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The poor man plows his field and shakes his head when I say to him: "Rich man, deep beneath your barren field lies a lake of molten gold."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do not shake your heads, impoverished sons of the King, when I tell you that the body is more precious than clothing, the soul is more precious than the body, and the Blazing King is more precious than the soul.</span><br /><br />St Nikolai Velimirovich<br />Prayers by the LakeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-27108589167228786592009-05-04T11:19:00.000-07:002009-05-04T11:19:35.804-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQ86uAOMUpPy8qY_jHKJg3Q56rgnk3gTPgN86bRCdG1w9YDSdEvFeLjeyQHDaZylmREJy6Oc3cp-H0GvTmWr4ohENHFjJKlapKpnE3t5XaB1BvVHVCj4Z1rsu7D-UQZUwqY6Rmg/s1600-h/PICT0129.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; FLOAT: left; CLEAR: both" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQ86uAOMUpPy8qY_jHKJg3Q56rgnk3gTPgN86bRCdG1w9YDSdEvFeLjeyQHDaZylmREJy6Oc3cp-H0GvTmWr4ohENHFjJKlapKpnE3t5XaB1BvVHVCj4Z1rsu7D-UQZUwqY6Rmg/s400/PICT0129.JPG" /></a><div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-64211007418422701962009-05-04T09:18:00.000-07:002009-05-04T11:16:25.534-07:00Angels Stages 2So here is a detail of one of the Archangels in a beginning stage. After the greenish brown sankir was applied, the drawing lines were reestablished and the facial highlights begun. The lighter skin colour looks patchy, but that was corrected later. Egg tempera can be a little unpredictable -- sometimes that's wonderful, at other times not so much. That is, for a beginner with only eight years under my belt it's unpredictable! But I'm getting a little more comfortable with it every year.<br /><br />The red you see on the halo and the collar of the angel's robe is underpainting for the gold leaf. Gold leaf is so thin that it's transparent. You can affect the overall look of it by your choice of colour underneath. A good bright red results in a warmer gold once the leaf is applied.<br /><br />I generally prefer to gild over bole (more on what that is later) -- if you know gilding at all you know why. But because I had not used bole for the Christ and Theotokos icons, I didn't use it for the saints or archangels. I can't remember why I didn't use bole to begin with; it must have been expedience, since gilding with oil size is much faster and easier.<br /><br />Bole is a clay mixture which goes on wet, dries into a hard surface and provides a slightly raised effect to the gold -- very pleasing to the eye. It also makes a 'cushion' so that the gold can be burnished. Burnishing is basically polishing to a high shine. Up close I think it could be described as sort of 'mashing' the gold flatter so it is more reflective. There's my high tech description. Later I'll describe the whole bole-gilding process, at least as I know it (imperfectly). It's quite an involved thing in itself.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStJ4Zlrr3GkaBdkQLIgkIfZirADz2Zd5ZkL93aj3gx9dEVKpAgdEPMBnUrtRA29qgIbzLsOI-t83wwVPbJixFJY25Q-BqKis9iYOsdSnDu_cBu7hqyBK-ZXmxRwJIWg8-dEfCrA/s1600-h/PICT0128.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; clear: both;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStJ4Zlrr3GkaBdkQLIgkIfZirADz2Zd5ZkL93aj3gx9dEVKpAgdEPMBnUrtRA29qgIbzLsOI-t83wwVPbJixFJY25Q-BqKis9iYOsdSnDu_cBu7hqyBK-ZXmxRwJIWg8-dEfCrA/s400/PICT0128.JPG" border="0" /></a><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-27194698830253640032009-05-02T22:15:00.000-07:002009-05-02T22:56:09.157-07:00Angels -- Stages<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaC5HYd4Vsru8YwuO_fhHJiAulvz1mwu5NWkI_iP7koAIt-jx85EykYHFMvcIxG_Wp_tfHGYeBRhn3x6rI2KP_SO4Ophg_HPLnnjxQg4ODFct3Xz70B3DbLeExxwdrzveqxYRM2w/s1600-h/100_2125.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; clear: both;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaC5HYd4Vsru8YwuO_fhHJiAulvz1mwu5NWkI_iP7koAIt-jx85EykYHFMvcIxG_Wp_tfHGYeBRhn3x6rI2KP_SO4Ophg_HPLnnjxQg4ODFct3Xz70B3DbLeExxwdrzveqxYRM2w/s400/100_2125.JPG" border="0" /></a> Christ is Risen!<br /><br />I'm trying to recover a sense of this blog as my art/ studio/ iconography blog, so I thought I'd put some "stages" photos up of recent projects. The archangel you see here is now completed, along with its companion. To the right you can see the (underpainted) edge of the Christ Enthroned (also completed, a long time ago). The dark yellow is the underpainting for the blue robe. Ultramarine blue cannot be trusted to go onto white gesso on its own. It's hard to explain.<br /><br />If you are new to icons, the greeny colour of the face and hands is called <span style="font-style: italic;">sankir</span> (gotta look up what that means literally -- never thought about it!) In iconography you work from dark to light, so the faces seem very dark and depressing at first. As you put on the highlights the face comes to life and seems to glow from within. It is a wonderful and humbling process to participate in!<br /><br />As I look at this drawing it's interesting for me, because I've not seen it without colour for a long, long time. The drawing seems weird and top-heavy, and I'm not sure whether that's the photo, or whether I changed the drawing, or what. I think it's the angle of the photo. Ha ha, no pun intended -- angle. Ouch.<br /><br />So, in the next while I will put up the photos of the angels completed (and any mid-process photos I find -- there are a few) as well as some more 'stages' photos of my next projects. These are 'secret' commissions by clients for their loved ones, so I have to be a bit cagey about what they are in case said loved ones check out this blog! I also have a Sign icon (more on what that is later) for a dear friend in Fife, Scotland, whom I've not seen in far too long. Could have something to do with her living in Scotland. I will put up some photos of that too, very shortly. The icon, not Scotland. Scotland you need to see in the flesh.<br /><br /><br />Oh: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dream projects for when I get time</span>, or someone sponsors me to do them, HINT HINT:<br /><br />St Euphrosynos the Cook for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jamie Oliver </span>(a hero of mine, although I hate cooking. I actually think he is a saint of sorts.)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>St Maria Skobtsova (the former atheist) for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ricky Gervais</span> (who said in a podcast that he thought icons were incredibly beautiful -- made my hair stand on end!)<br /><br />Sts Boris and Gleb AND St George for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mikhail Ryabko</span> (greatest living teacher of Systema -- Russian martial arts -- from what I saw of his home chapel in a documentary that cat needs a few original icons!)<br /><br />St Vladimir for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Vladimir Vasiliev</span>, greatest student of Mikhail, teacher of my teacher!<br /><br />St Thomas for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fr Thomas Hopko</span>, dear to my heart.<br /><br />St John Chrysostom for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr Jeannie Constantinou</span>, my scholar-priest's-wife-kick-ass-take-no-names Scripture heroine!<br /><br />Whoa, this is way too fun. To be continued!<br /><br /><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-999100710117680902009-04-04T23:10:00.000-07:002009-04-05T00:27:45.304-07:00The Gift of AtheismAs promised above/below, Fr Alexander Men again. Amazing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As a result of difficult trials, the Church received a great gift from heaven -- and don't grin, now -- this gift is <span style="font-style: italic;">atheism</span>, wretched atheism and the whole anti-Christian movement.<br /><br />Only worse things would have befallen the Church if these movements had not occurred, if there had been no atheism. I fear then that the Christian world would indeed have been suffocated, by atheists in the guise of Christians. . .[atheism] is not at all a defeat for Christians. It is a great healing and strengthening force. . .</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Of course, it is bad that the churches are closed. Who would say this is good? It is bad from the standpoint of the faithful as well as from the standpoint of the law. But I am convinced that not a single temple was closed without the will of God. Good things were always taken from the unworthy. The history of the Church is that of the Bible, where the covenant prevailed. "I give you life or death" says the book of Deuteronomy, "choose your path." "And don't say 'We have the temple', reminds Jeremiah, " I will destroy the temple, and its ark will not be remembered." </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">It would seem that the temple is the very place of God's dwelling. He chooses it for his own mystical presence, and yet He makes it a place where jackals roam.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Does this apply only to the Temple of Solomon, or to the Temple of Herod II, as well? No, this applies to any place of worship of the God of revelation. It applies to all temples. Of course, without argument, we feel sorrow over the destruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. On the other hand, we must admit there was some deficiency in our Christian life which allowed this to happen. . .</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Many have fought against atheism. . .what we need more is to do battle with the false Christianity inside each of us, it is much more important because atheism appears as a result of our own unworthiness. Today the Church must hear the call addressed to itself "Physician, heal thyself." I am aware that it's easier to say "We are good, we are the bearers of truth, while they are the bearers of lies; they are the oppressors, while we are the oppressed," and so on -- much easier. In addition, it's enjoyable. Do you understand? Enjoyable! The narcissistic complex is common to all, particularly to the immature. And it's enjoyable to talk about oneself, about one's group, one's community, one's church, one's people, it's enjoyable to talk about what pleases us. But all this applies to the level of immature thought, of immature spirituality. This is easily verified.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notice what pleasure we derive in criticizing our opponent, even an ideological one.: "How we bashed him!" we say to ourselves. My wish, my sense, is that we need to solve our own internal problems first in order to be able to witness to the world. . .</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I think that the Lord God in His pity for us simply doesn't allow us to surface, because we are like nobles who do not know how to use their own wealth, we resemble that miserly ruler who was dying from poverty and hunger, while he had everything.</span><br /><br /><br />Fr Alexander Men<br />About Christ and the ChurchUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-10937762651424442052009-04-04T19:11:00.000-07:002009-04-04T22:34:49.274-07:00Death by Death<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBIt-LjdKO2R0UTfBEwNoiuhTwoOQV1eLj_t7lZWAP1D6YqGbJabEMKY6VqbvhwFh6d4KknVWjJ2hbJ8MDBZocUyaLUZvPSfb-iLa0rGoHa1Y5QqdQvOJ5XipOzhxR7HNDu6w_iQ/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBIt-LjdKO2R0UTfBEwNoiuhTwoOQV1eLj_t7lZWAP1D6YqGbJabEMKY6VqbvhwFh6d4KknVWjJ2hbJ8MDBZocUyaLUZvPSfb-iLa0rGoHa1Y5QqdQvOJ5XipOzhxR7HNDu6w_iQ/s400/7.jpg" alt="" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: left;" border="0" /></a> I'm reading the amazing Fr Alexander Men right now -- a small book generically titled "About Christ and the Church", translated by Mark Weiner.<br /><br />I gather that this book is actually a sort of transcript of secret and highly illegal meetings of Fr Alexander with Orthodox Christians in Soviet Russia. So, filled with the spontenaiety of a modern, brilliant, and utterly courageous mind, the book is in fact anything but generic. Here is an excerpt, and I'll post another one soon (in which Fr Alexander argues that atheism is a gift of God to the Church! Cliffhanger. . .)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">No matter where pagan concepts originated, they always had elements adaptable to Christianity, not in a spirit of compromise or expediency, but because of their innate worthiness. If some of our hymns contain echoes of the hymns to Osiris, that only makes me happy, knowing that we have received that eternal intuition of the resurrection which the ancient Egyptian experienced on the shores of his native river. Within the surrounding lifeless desert, he suddenly saw from this clay, this earth, this silt, the rising of first shoots. He saw the sun pulling them upwards and he sang, "Osiris has conquered death by death." And we repeat those marvelous words, the Church adopts them. In the Church there were poets enough to invent something original. But this early Christian sensitivity was an act of reverence, if you will, of love and affection toward the whole non-Biblical world, which we inaccurately call "pagan."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But this is not enough. There is a neutral symbolism -- for example, our painted Easter eggs, our festal foods, all sorts of customs. . .rooted in paganism. They are neutral, yet they are wonderful. Why are they wonderful? Because they are connected with matter, with the world, with nature. Christmas trees, coloured eggs lying in baskets of growing grass -- these things which enter one's soul from childhood are a kind of hymn of nature, related to our understanding of God's presence in the world.</span><br /><br />Father Alexander Men<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-19696233850096914182009-01-18T21:20:00.000-08:002009-01-18T21:27:28.293-08:00Wendell BerryOh, how I love Wendell Berry. For your enjoyment:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The cult of progress and the new, along with the pressure to originate, innovate, publish, and attract students, has made the English department as nervously susceptible to fashion as a flock of teenagers. The academic "profession" of literature seems now to be merely tumbling from one critical or ideological fad to another, constantly "revolutionizing" itself in pathetic imitation of the "revolutionary" sciences, issuing all the while a series of passionless, jargonizing, "publishable" but hardly readable articles and books, in which a pretentious obscurity and dullness masquerade as profundity. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-41746939655302515762009-01-18T21:03:00.001-08:002009-01-18T21:13:09.369-08:00Lava Lady does LinguisticsTonight we were eating spaghetti. We got out the parmesan cheese and a debate began between Heulwen and Ella. Yes, they can get into it about literally anything.<br /><br />Ella, who can read, said it was "parmesan cheese". Heulwen, who is not quite literate yet, declared that it was "Farmers an' Cheese". (Ew.)<br /><br />"Heulwen," I said, "that's folk etymology."-- not thinking she was listening at all. Why would she?<br /><br />A triumphant cry burst from her corner: <span style="font-weight: bold;">YAAAY!!! FOLK ETYMOLOGY!!!"</span><br /><br />I guess, for her, that inkhorn term settled it. Heulwen one, Ella nil.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-33898765752892654662008-12-20T23:04:00.000-08:002008-12-20T23:04:51.557-08:00Lava Lady on No Sleep<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggS3HTU8RfsnK-rtAvdhpkepkwKdvJFzM2MNfTWTmdeXxJC8vW4cEwF20bGaPwUiMN9W_NqGv6kgfXJdx93t-vZWoUbbOfVR65kNg5BgG5-ovwkUz8k5IfVWrj9T565gwv3wREvQ/s1600-h/PICT0933.JPG"><img style="CLEAR: both; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggS3HTU8RfsnK-rtAvdhpkepkwKdvJFzM2MNfTWTmdeXxJC8vW4cEwF20bGaPwUiMN9W_NqGv6kgfXJdx93t-vZWoUbbOfVR65kNg5BgG5-ovwkUz8k5IfVWrj9T565gwv3wREvQ/s400/PICT0933.JPG" border="0" /></a> This picture makes me laugh.<br /><br />This is us on the way home from Hawaii, tucked into the only cafe open anywhere near the Seattle Clipper terminal at 7 am (which felt like 4 am to us). Look how happy I am diving into that coffee, how utterly spaced out/ miserable Ella loooks. And then, wedged in between -- Lava Lady's hilarious little cookie plate face!<br /><br />Hahahahhahahahahaaaa!<div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-16109733563857855952008-12-16T10:33:00.000-08:002008-12-16T10:37:05.388-08:00The Bathroom and the Icon CornerI was standing there one night waiting for the toothbrushing extravaganza to be over (our bathroom only accommodates so many bodies, and it was not my turn!) and snapped this. I loved the contrast between the everyday, messy -- dare I say gross -- reality, and the transcendent super-reality around the corner just waiting for us to show up. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFWJGcTlrHihp5rs3jVq1_brUxA5nYGX-hy-NwXsa8c2pHUjSb__rux8jE2q7k6F1m47lUqB984HD57iqznBCvBOe6p6ZRlhpC1PjzoJw-eIGe85JLUuyYVSehjm9NHOg1_ukEBA/s1600-h/PICT0325.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; clear: both; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFWJGcTlrHihp5rs3jVq1_brUxA5nYGX-hy-NwXsa8c2pHUjSb__rux8jE2q7k6F1m47lUqB984HD57iqznBCvBOe6p6ZRlhpC1PjzoJw-eIGe85JLUuyYVSehjm9NHOg1_ukEBA/s400/PICT0325.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is our holy Orthodoxy -- always patient and ready to receive us into its healing light. Amazing how a little corner in the house like this becomes a complete church in itself; in turn a whole cosmos filled with God's love, embracing all who approach "in faith and love". Our own threshold to Aslan's country.<br /><br />Right there, next to the bathroom.<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-59005166168811757452008-12-01T02:06:00.000-08:002008-12-01T02:06:29.402-08:00Crepe II<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QSSUCks7Qvj9zzqiUkjmv_mJL2GsFf3j-iWdhBHJzJUQDl0gm8BO4Zfh2gjnH4QlNqg5Zc6EM7jaEsCGnp0CGUZRENRvtXBGHF01OAMzg2TUeHz_u2Pus9qefJywVj08Sbuj-Q/s1600-h/PICT0432.JPG"><img style="CLEAR: both; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QSSUCks7Qvj9zzqiUkjmv_mJL2GsFf3j-iWdhBHJzJUQDl0gm8BO4Zfh2gjnH4QlNqg5Zc6EM7jaEsCGnp0CGUZRENRvtXBGHF01OAMzg2TUeHz_u2Pus9qefJywVj08Sbuj-Q/s400/PICT0432.JPG" border="0" /></a> Here's Lava Lady, pre-lava, with the most magnificent crepe. Okay, I'm really going now.<div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-89577332448430365392008-12-01T01:56:00.000-08:002008-12-01T01:57:06.760-08:00Hawaii -- the Drive Up Volcano -- or, Lava Lady Sees Actual LAVA!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3Cq_YdYobPW064C3-03JdLNCkhFWBMWX5CtFzx-hpy3fvDg6Rcka6cAoHO47uGPCzwf1HHM5a5gVcRukzTTq6Fg1OHHCs_HWz0ZqgBlhhFL3FZ8-98EDTqlvijvbk7Ex_NVlOw/s1600-h/PICT0476.JPG"><img style="CLEAR: both; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3Cq_YdYobPW064C3-03JdLNCkhFWBMWX5CtFzx-hpy3fvDg6Rcka6cAoHO47uGPCzwf1HHM5a5gVcRukzTTq6Fg1OHHCs_HWz0ZqgBlhhFL3FZ8-98EDTqlvijvbk7Ex_NVlOw/s400/PICT0476.JPG" border="0" /></a>Rather stupidly, I just created a post about Hawaii and then put it on the wrong blog! It was supposed to be here, and it was all about how I had been putting off posting Hawaii pictures because it was overwhelming for some reason, but how I was just going to start. Anyway, on the Egeria blog there is a different picture. Please visit and lend your support to the Egeria blog, if you would! As Egeria (the website) gets closer to launch, I need all the traffic and publicity I can get. Baby needs new shoes! Seriously, she does.<br /><br />This is a seriously adorable espresso van at the top of the "world's only active drive-up volcano", outside Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. No, really. You drive up it. You park. You get your coffee/water/flashlight from this guy. And you go see LAVA, BABY!<br /><br />I will tell you more about that when it isn't 1:51 am. Drat, I did it again. . .<br />I am convinced I have that circadian rhythm disorder where you stay up waaaay too late, but it just feels like everybody else is a big silly baby going to bed too early! If you're normal, it would be as if everyone else went to bed at, like, 6:00 pm or something. Okay, I'm going, I'm going.<div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-40145314562103446532008-08-27T00:30:00.000-07:002009-04-29T19:46:31.820-07:00An icon of our Canadian saint, Arseny, comissioned by Archbishop Seraphim<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdOZEONNaurGJlzWu02N8EFhd0ko2N1mfpKiOlKjitgglgdItQICxPGhdCthyphenhyphenlHfQy9ODMLmpHm8nYCeEl2GpqQCW9syIg4JbehL9jMXQu7yNjxSbU-NdYt_ng_UBoiGOeQZXmg/s1600-h/IamReady+FatherJohn.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; clear: both; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdOZEONNaurGJlzWu02N8EFhd0ko2N1mfpKiOlKjitgglgdItQICxPGhdCthyphenhyphenlHfQy9ODMLmpHm8nYCeEl2GpqQCW9syIg4JbehL9jMXQu7yNjxSbU-NdYt_ng_UBoiGOeQZXmg/s400/IamReady+FatherJohn.jpg" border="0" /></a><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-50206951201876267332008-07-19T21:54:00.000-07:002008-07-19T22:12:06.822-07:00My favourite camp photo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTqgaUl6LcagJ_AL-1f84JDhJSY70BwhTLwOZhOdzCtJyQ3rV4WxE-caz71fpvGU7ytmKNu9i0gzgWw0t-C_VQj4HGxOeow4m-AzrPHVQqmubPv-nWDDkOHtHJ6dmKFrZK7pyow/s1600-h/PICT0376.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; clear: both; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTqgaUl6LcagJ_AL-1f84JDhJSY70BwhTLwOZhOdzCtJyQ3rV4WxE-caz71fpvGU7ytmKNu9i0gzgWw0t-C_VQj4HGxOeow4m-AzrPHVQqmubPv-nWDDkOHtHJ6dmKFrZK7pyow/s400/PICT0376.JPG" border="0" /></a> My godson Luke, preparing antidoron on a straw bale. It just sums up camp so beautifully.<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-70449390300055228982008-07-15T21:51:00.000-07:002008-07-19T22:08:39.855-07:00Weird Pascha Picture<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUFBEyFfFA47AQBEncguEw8izqqM4llWnC-9P0GRvkmWYwGwkELJTb_Hh_U9iRVum3tzEdRh3Wj7MA961Nlc_HpgLOYmcI3gpLLM6rarw_akPEwhJGeQNqPSmfvrrUm6133KWyg/s1600-h/PICT0251.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; clear: both; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUFBEyFfFA47AQBEncguEw8izqqM4llWnC-9P0GRvkmWYwGwkELJTb_Hh_U9iRVum3tzEdRh3Wj7MA961Nlc_HpgLOYmcI3gpLLM6rarw_akPEwhJGeQNqPSmfvrrUm6133KWyg/s400/PICT0251.JPG" border="0" /></a> Yep, it's weird, but it kinda captures something, don't you think? One of the side benefits of being a lousy technician photo-wise is that occasionally I end up with something semi-cool through sheer stupidity. I imagine a real photographer would agree with the second part of that statement. . .<br /><br />I just want to mention a couple of random things. One: I wish I would stop running into that quotation of Oscar Wilde: "I have nothing to declare except my genius". Enough already, I just read your "The Soul Under Socialism" -- I think that's what it's called -- and I have to say the rumours of your genius are mildly exaggerated. I have pinko leanings myself, but honestly, you are making me want to change my mind. . .then again, Wilde was probably considerably younger when he wrote that than I am imagining -- or than I am!? A slightly disturbing thought.<br /><br />Secondly! Or is it thirdly now. . .let's talk about the word <em>desultory. </em>The last two major books I have read have been written by brilliant contemporary American writers (yes, they do exist): <em>Middlesex</em> by Jeffrey Eugenides and <em>Paris to the Moon</em> by Adam Gopnik. At least I think it's Jeffrey in that first one. I claim three-child-induced brain death on that one. Anyway, the thing is that they are under the impression, along with at least half the English speaking population, that desultory means "lazy" or "sulky", or at any rate something related to <span style="font-style: italic;">slow</span>. No! It means jumpy or inconsistent! As in, I do housework in a desultory manner! (Yes, I am sulky, and I am lazy, but those are actually completely different things.) Now, it's one thing to use it wrong in conversation, or even in a college paper. Whatever. But these guys both received major accolades--rightly so--and as I said, are excellent writers. So what gives? PLUS they have editors, who are presumably paid to notice these things! Aaaaaaaaaargh. Okay, I am going to have some chamomile or something now to calm down.<br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-69850816313060385022008-06-21T22:30:00.000-07:002008-06-21T23:49:13.709-07:00The strange and funny ways of my middle daughterWalking with Heulwen and Ella (and Bridget, in the stroller, obviously) yesterday. Somehow we got onto how to say stuff in French, just individual words. In the process I discovered that Heulwen can do a perfect French throaty 'rrrrr' -- that was cool -- and was really into repeating what I said. So then I started feeding her longer phrases and trying to think of sentences (my French n'est pas merveilleux). She asked what 'fox' was, so I taught her to say "J'aime les renards". So she was waking down the street, repeating "J'aime -- les -- renards. J'aime -- les -- renards. J'aime -- les -- renards", like a hundred times. Then she started freaking out because we walked to Gabriela's house to show her how Heulwen could say this and do the great 'rrr' and stuff, and Gabriela was out. Heulwen was worried that she would never be able to remember her little sentence. Poor wee scone. So I said "Don't worry Heulwen, even if you forget it, I won't -- I can just tell it to you again -- or I can write it down for you ".<br /><br />"But I can't read!"<br /><br />"You can read a bit, honey -- "<br /><br />"No! I want to read but I can't read anything!"<br /><br />"Come on, sure you can. Listen: p-o-t. What does that say? Sound it out, Heulwen."<br /><br /> "<span style="font-style: italic;">ELEPHANT!!!! -- <span style="font-style: italic;">SEE?!"<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Then there was the time she was looking for something. I asked what she wanted. A shovel, she says. Why do you want a shovel, I say. <span style="font-style: italic;">So I can take my raspberry plant for a walk.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>No, honey, you can't take a plant for a walk. They don't like it, they like staying in the ground where they are.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"<br /><br /></span>For those who<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span> </span></span>don't know Heulwen very well, these were real, heartfelt, bitter tears of sadness. She doesn't do manipulation. Not that helped me at the time. All I could do was shake my head in disbelief.<br /><br />One more, this time about Ella. This is vintage from four years ago, when Heulwen was a baby and Ella was three. Heulwen's full name is Heulwen Theresa Catherine May.<br /><br />"Ella", I remarked one day, "Heulwen's name is longer than she is".<br /><br />Ella: "And thinner!"<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-77450545868662605372008-06-11T14:41:00.000-07:002008-06-11T14:48:43.653-07:00Be Careful What You Ask a Baby to DoEarly this morning I was playing with Tiggy (nearly one year old for those who don't know) and trying to see what she could understand. We know she can 'high five', but it occurred to me: does she understand if I say 'kiss mommy'? Well, sort of -- she kind of leaned forward and snuggled me -- I'll take that. Then I thought, she has to learn to kiss the Gospel and icons, etc. So I grabbed a random book off the bedside table -- Henry David Thoreau's Walden (which, btw, is AMAZING -- far less stultifying than I remembered) and said 'kiss book', not thinking that she would. Wrong -- she totally planted one. So, for our family history -- Bridget's first book that she kissed: not the Gospel, but Walden. I guess it could be worse.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-19881005951960297482008-06-09T16:39:00.000-07:002008-06-09T16:41:09.805-07:00new blogHey guys -- I just started a NEW BLOG for matters and discussion relating to Egeria Orthodox Home Exchange. It's called Egeria Orthodox Home Exchange -- the Blog.<br /><br />I have to run, but please check back soon and I will have my links sorted out!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-75521589545769053362008-06-09T10:34:00.000-07:002008-06-09T11:41:11.030-07:00Egeria Part 2, or Greyhounds with Credit CardsOkay, as I was saying before <span style="font-style: italic;">chronos</span> so rudely interrupted with the whole "it's midnight" thing. . .<br /><br />Oh! I promised to discuss the <span style="font-weight: bold;">membership fee</span>. We're thinking it will be something like 50 bucks (Cdn) for a year and maybe 70 for two years.<br /><br />Ten percent shoots straight to <span style="font-weight: bold;">IOCC</span> -- I will attempt to put a link from my blog to their site if you want to check it out; suffice to say it is <span style="font-weight: bold;">International Orthodox Christian Charities</span>, a fantastic pan-Orthodox organization who actually manage to get over 90% of each donated dollar to the people who need help (who are not just other Orthodox, but people of all groups, btw). We may set up another automatic donation (eg to OCMC, Project Mexico, etc) down the road as well, but IOCC will benefit right away. If you are interested, go to the Ancient Faith Radio website where you can listen to an interview on The Illumined Heart with the (very young!) director of IOCC. It's really interesting, and makes you proud to be Orthodox.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There are three other reasons we have to charge a fee.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One: </span> Baby needs new shoes. And an education at some point. Et cetera. In other words, I'm partly in it as a source of income for my family. Also I just really believe in the idea and think there is a real need for it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Two:</span> It costs time and money to build, maintain and promote a site like this, which in its full form will involve people from all over the world, have an active blog/ forum on travel and related topics from members and general silliness from me, a photo gallery, travel tips and information and maybe even some special deals for members (TBA!)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Three:</span> This concept only really works if you as a member can be sure that everyone on the list is serious about arranging an exchange with someone. There are free sites out there but they don't work because it's too easy to sign on and then forget all about it. If the other members have paid a (modest) fee you know they will actually keep track of offers to exchange and give them serious consideration.<br /><br />Next Topic: <span style="font-weight: bold;">How do we get this baby started?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So</span></span> here's what I'm thinking. For the three reasons above, especially the third one, we are going to charge you from the very beginning, even though there will not be many folks listed to choose from at first. BUT! This means that either you will be charged well below the 50 mark, or your membership will automatically be extended (perhaps several years), or BOTH. I'm not sure whether we will do this offer for a period of time or until the number of listings reaches a certain level, or what. Keep checking this blog for further updates. No, really, I will post stuff here, and if you're on FB I will mention the updates there. And please, if you are reading this, spread the word! The more listings we have, the better for everybody! The site is not up yet but if we have lots of folks primed like greyhounds in the slips, greyhounds with credit cards, that is, but no pockets so maybe their credit cards are in a little pouch around their necks, then we can really set this thing up!<br /><br />Which leads me to a question which even now may be playing about your lively minds: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Do people really have to be Orthodox for this? Like, will there be a quiz when you sign up? </span>Answer: Not really. It's not some big formal thing, it's more of an ethos. If you're Orthodox, fine. If your cousin is Orthodox, fine. If you once saw an onion dome and thought, "Huh. What the heck is that all about", fine. The idea is that people who are going to be drawn to this club already have Orthodoxy on their radar in some way and they like the vibe. They don't have to be poised to 'convert' or anything. It's more a matter of friendship and a desire to encounter people and life in an authentic way when you travel, instead of being shoved around by tour guides and eating at MacDonalds by the Colosseum. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but only a bit. We had pizza by the Colosseum, but it was flavoured with our lonely tears.<br /><br />What I mean is that when you arrive you are already part of the community of your brothers and sisters in the faith, who can tell you things that no tour guide or guide book ever would, or not in the same way. For example! We went to Europe a few years ago, and while France and Italy were terrific, Greece was utterly spellbinding. Now, I'm a great fan of Greece as a place, but what really made the difference was that in Greece we <span style="font-style: italic;">knew people</span>. We were shown around, fed, beamed at and generally LOVED by folks whose hearts were practically bursting with pride that we were there to see their world. It was at the home of a friend in Athens that I wondered, in all seriousness, whether you could die from eating too much in one sitting. It was at a church summer camp in the hills of Crete that children gathered around us to show us that when you look up close, cicadas have little smiles on their faces, and the 25-year-old geronda (elder!) from Mt Athos told us that the lore about the chant of cicadas is that they provide the "terirems" (nonesense syllables, like la la las)<br />along with the chanting in the church. You can't get that stuff by traveling anonymously and enriching the hotel industry! You are not some schmo! You have friends there!<br /><br />Okay, that will do for now. I have to go subdue my hair and face the day now. I will write again, mes amies! If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there, and tell your friends!<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-54933234668669045092008-06-08T13:11:00.000-07:002008-06-09T00:09:28.736-07:00coming soon. . .egeriaexhange dot com, baby!Hey friends in blog land!<br /><br />I promise some great quotes and silly stories in the days ahead (okay, weeks for you reality-niks)<br />but in the meantime, some shameless self-promotion. Well, not exactly self, but self's nascent enterprise!<br /><br /><br />Okay, what am I talking about. It's<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Egeria: Holiday, Academic and Pilgrimage Home Exchange -- </span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> for Orthodox Christians and their Friends<br /><br /></span><span>The</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span><span>concept isn't new -- there are lots of home exchange 'clubs' (so the lingo goes) out there, but this one would be specifically for us Ortho-folk. As Matthew D put it: you never have to bring your icons!<br /><br /><br />But seriously folks, this is gonna be cool. When Egeria is up and running and has had a chance to get established, you will be able, for a small membership fee (more on that in a minute), to connect with other members all over the world who, like you, want to exchange homes at a mutually agreeable time. This means that, whatever your reasons for traveling, you pay only for the transportation itself -- no hotels, hostels, or paid accommodation of any kind! You save hundreds of dollars a trip; thousands over a few years, depending on how much you take advantage of your membership. Plus instead of just a room you could potentially have an entire house, complete with kitchen, computer, extra rooms, back yard, etc! Some exchangers even swap vehicles, boats, bikes, etc. And maybe best of all, you get to live like a local instead of a tourist -- meet the neighbours, get great advice on day trips, where to eat and shop, what to see, what to skip.<br /><br />Many people who do home exchanges make lifelong friends on their adventures. This type of travel is also extremely child-friendly (rooms! toys! outdoor space!) and great for people with dietary concerns, since you can do all your own cooking. But the best thing is that at the end of your stay there is <span style="font-style: italic;">no bill</span>.<br /><br />Members can exchange close to home (eg Vancouver with interior BC, Montreal with Toronto, etc) or internationally; for many months, a couple of weeks or just a weekend -- whatever suits both parties. Possibly clergy can even do exchanges where they serve in each others' parishes -- what is known in some parts as a 'busman's holiday' :-)<br /><br /><br />The other form this takes is called <span style="font-weight: bold;">hospitality exchange</span>. This is where two parties host each other at different times. So, for example, you go hang out with Ioanni in Thessaloniki this September, and he comes to Vancouver in April to hang out with you. This way your host shows you around and you meet a lot of locals, maybe even pick up some language skills, and in an Orthodox context, gain an appreciation for how Orthodoxy looks and feels in other parts of the world.<br /><br />I know there are other questions to answer about this concept, and I will post again soon with some FAQs about home exchange in general and what Egeria is going to be like. Right now: bedtime, and Love Over Scotland, the new Alexander McCall Smith book! Oh bliss!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-75922537511432963582008-02-04T14:07:00.000-08:002008-02-04T14:07:43.276-08:00Bride by Ella<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxTJQlMcfUMo-QN3a9h1eR_Ead7IhrW0_2drvEXqrnm9_aX2tMvDPoz5OsBYsjLb0ZH-6y1mkSo5IQxCLcwXv3gejjwzCH8Rlb38r_KjSLv2q4bls_X6OT6rL-kHX48qx6p4ivA/s1600-h/100_1964.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="CLEAR: both; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxTJQlMcfUMo-QN3a9h1eR_Ead7IhrW0_2drvEXqrnm9_aX2tMvDPoz5OsBYsjLb0ZH-6y1mkSo5IQxCLcwXv3gejjwzCH8Rlb38r_KjSLv2q4bls_X6OT6rL-kHX48qx6p4ivA/s400/100_1964.jpg" border="0" /></a> I just love this chalk drawing by Ella. I noodled with it a bit for this neat colour/ gauzy effect. Rather fun.<br /><br />Hey, speaking of brides, congratulations Laurenn and Dave!<div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-24582531433357092282008-02-04T14:01:00.000-08:002008-02-04T14:01:12.752-08:00Saturday night<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJk3d_s6CZx38-KFqNXPwVbCs1RaR2KFe0Xwdn-CRQyGw2DHjck6UzKKpDP8zSSIbf83eZJk-gQPNwU6R68Moaiha6vvAMYf8T72ylLUruHWTsoYmNlKJy-PWCamWOfXXpX2oaQ/s1600-h/100_1960.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="CLEAR: both; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJk3d_s6CZx38-KFqNXPwVbCs1RaR2KFe0Xwdn-CRQyGw2DHjck6UzKKpDP8zSSIbf83eZJk-gQPNwU6R68Moaiha6vvAMYf8T72ylLUruHWTsoYmNlKJy-PWCamWOfXXpX2oaQ/s320/100_1960.jpg" border="0" /></a> My favourite corner of the house, with the girls' Liturgy clothes laid out for the morning. I just like the mood of this photo.<div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13380724.post-42152863335762711422008-01-28T20:28:00.000-08:002008-01-28T20:28:59.522-08:00cool jacket, Tiggy!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPclIEDyDWDmvE6pdLuUd6vvvXLbm6VW5IUv_dVJxVjzAiSNMpHZuq6xBudhPGjszTqG7cEpNBsBqJrMUQs_1EbVavpnPSvy8-uZWxDyXdutlvgYj88c8AKKB9DIkUXODV5wk86A/s1600-h/PICT0132.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="CLEAR: both; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPclIEDyDWDmvE6pdLuUd6vvvXLbm6VW5IUv_dVJxVjzAiSNMpHZuq6xBudhPGjszTqG7cEpNBsBqJrMUQs_1EbVavpnPSvy8-uZWxDyXdutlvgYj88c8AKKB9DIkUXODV5wk86A/s320/PICT0132.JPG" border="0" /></a><div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0