2009 Highlights #4: thearts!

Well, maybe this is cheating since the arts would land on any highlights list for me. But, I will be more specific and choose a few experiences that were particularly memorable for me.
Shakespeare: It was a banner year for me and Shakespeare. I was fortunate enough to take in at least three Shakespeare plays, including As You Like It, King Lear and Much Ado about Nothing. (Am I forgetting one? Maybe there were four...?) DC is a great Shakespeare town, with two great theaters entirely devoted to the bard's work and I have been fortunate enough to take in several of these great performances this year. King Lear was particularly notable.
Brandenburg Concertos: Or shall I say Concerti? This spring, we presented the Academy of Ancient Music at the Center for the Arts and they played a rare program consisting of all of the Brandenburg Concertos. What a great program! To hear them all together, in succession, on period instruments, and played with their historical expertise was pretty awesome. It reminded me how very much I do enjoy Baroque music. I've gotten so wrapped up in late romantic and 20th C. works that it is easy to forget both the simplicity and intricate complexity of those earlier works. Good for the soul, I say. Good for the soul.
Barnes Collection: I meant to write a more complete post on this weeks ago, but time just got away from me. At the end of November, I finally (!) made it up to the Barnes Collection just outside of Philly. This is one of the largest collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in the world. The art itself is incredible, but it's not just the art that is notable about this museum. The founder, Albert Barnes, purchased almost all of the art himself and arranged it in the building where it is currently housed so that it could be available to engage and educate "common" people, including the workers in his factories, etc. Maybe one of the reasons, this collection was so attractive to me was because Dr. Barnes passion is similar to my own -- to engage anyone and everyone in the arts. But, his collection is unique -- not only for the incredible depth of art, but the fact that it is housed on his estate. So, it's essentially just a building on private property out in the suburbs. It's pretty cool that way. The collection is going to be moved downtown into a new space within the next two years, though, so I wanted to be sure to get there while it was intact in it's original habitat. I think the most striking thing, though, is the arrangement of the art. This is no typical gallery. This is room after room after room with every wall absolutely crammed full of art. It wasn't unusual for one wall to house 9 or 12 paintings. And, every wall was perfectly symmetrical. Oh, there's so much more I could say, but alas, I will lose you, dear reader. So, here's a picture instead.

2009 Highlights #3: smaller-ness

How could I almost have forgotten this one!!?? I lost somewhere around 35 pounds this year. Though I still am not quite down to the weight where I want to be, I am so much healthier and am getting quite a kick out of fitting into a size that I've never worn before in my life. Yay!

2009 Highlights, #2: Alpha

One of the year's highlights is definitely the two courses of Alpha I helped to lead at Ebenezers. It is such a privilege to be part of something that allows people to re-engage in their faith, connect them with other people on a similar journey, or discover the joys of Christianity for the first time altogether. The team of people that have been working alongside me to make this happen are incredible and I couldn't have done it without the energy and spirit of people like JT, Kim, Aaron, and Min. It is so encouraging to see people developing their leadership skills right in front of my eyes. Plus, the group of people who just went through Alpha seemed to have an incredible experience and I can forsee many of them being an important force in the leadership at NCC in the future. Very cool!

2009 Highlights, #1

I thought I would write about a few of my highlights from the year. And, so, I will start with of my earliest experiences this year. In January, I joined a few hundred thousand of my closest friends (and a few of my actually close friends) on the National Mall for the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama. It was the first inauguration since I've lived in DC. And, of course, this inauguration held historical implications beyond that of most years. Not to mention the personal implications. Despite the near-frozen toes, claustrophobic conditions, and long walk, I am very glad that I braved it to go to this event. It is likely to be something I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Thundersnow pierogies!

So, our (fourth?) annual Bows not Bags Christmas party/gift exchange got postponed due to massive amounts of snow that prevented several integral members of the group from safe travel. But, in its stead, Meredith, Jeremy, Nathaniel, Colleen and I (and eventually Chris) gathered about for stew, Jeremy gift bestowment and my inaugural homemade pierogies. The general consensus was "awesomeness". Yay! I wasn't sure about the thickness of the dough, the dough to contents ratio or even the general structural integrity of these pockets of yumminess. However, they seem to have turned out well. This attempt included pumpkin pierogies (soon to make a repeat appearance at Kim's potluck) and cheddar potato with onion and herbs. Hmmm... if people continue to react so positively, this may well become my signature. Oh, them many ways I could customize them!!! I'm getting excited just thinking about it. There will be goat cheese pierogies and cheeseburger pierogies and cherry cream cheese pierogies and sauerkraut pierogies and, and, and.....!

Ok - my tired self is going to bed. Too much trudging about in the snow today!

Beautiful thought from my current read

I'm currently reading Transformation of the Heart by Dallas Willard with my fall small group. It is a deeply philosophical book that is, honestly, difficult for me to wrap my head around frequently. However, I've been enjoying the challenge and it's good to read and discuss something out of my comfort zone. Anyways, I came across this beautiful passage in the book today and just thought I'd share it here:

"Our soul is like an inner stream of water, which gives strength, direction and harmony to every other element of our life. When that stream is as it should be, we are constantly refreshed and exuberant in all we do, because our soul itself is then profusely rooted in the vastness of God and his kingdom, including nature; and all else within us is enlivened and directed by that stream."

Fall culinary experiments

I derive great joy from putting together a great meal with minimal time and money, particularly without a recipe. Experimental cooking that turns out tasty is its own reward! And, so two minor victories from earlier this week:
1 - pumpkin mashed potatoes -- simply made mashed potatoes and mixed in pumpkin puree (from Mom and Dad's garden!) These were good, but good have used a little more flavor. Next time, I will either add cumin and nutmeg or go the spicy route with cayenne.

2 - roasted butternut squash with turkey kielbassa on a bed of spinach - This was pretty awesome, but would be even better with a little goat cheese and some pepitas. I didn't have those things on hand so I went with what I had.

Just some simple fall meal ideas to put out there for ya!