Apples and Oranges

This video is phenomenal.  It was the winner of my college's student-submitted short film festival--made me laugh, cry, and think.  So proud to say I voted for it!

Half marathon!!

En route to accomplishing one of my life goals (qualifying for the Boston Marathon) lies a smaller, but no less significant, hurdle: my first half marathon.  My dear friend Bethany and I will be competing in the Oleksak Lumber Half Marathon this coming April, and while I've always "been" a "runner," it's great to have something tangible and so very very soon to actively train toward.  So here's to early mornings at the gym, eight mile Sunday runs and lots and lots of chicken-based dinners!  Will try to keep this endeavor somewhat updated, as it might lend itself to more reflection on the far end.

Here's the route:

This isn't a topographical map, but you can tell by the shorter distances between miles 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 9 and 10 that there are some significant inclines.  But, as anyone who knows my running preferences can affirm--I do love me some hills.  SO PUMPED.

Shame map

Thanks to my apartmentmates and Alyssa Maine for this.  All I can say is: sucks to be from North Dakota.  Click to zoom!

China and human rights

I've been reading about human rights lately, in large part because my senior thesis has found itself very much a commentary on forgiveness, sin and mourning.  As communities of all shapes and sizes, we are confronted with joys and tragedies (e.g. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords), and political leaders are sought to stand as mediators and interpreters of the pain and uncertainty that is "the next step forward."  President Obama's address regarding the Tuscon shootings was lauded not for its political fervor nor any intense call for partisanship to reign supreme--as if the Democrats respond to pain any better than the Republicans, or vice versa--but for its optimism and belief that the American spirit is one of resilience.  In a remarkably humble return to a large part of his campaign rhetoric, Obama moved for peace and shared story.  The strength of the American Constitution and constitution seems to be this desire for shared story, and then the U.S.'s human rights ethic follows the same lines: how do we write an ethic that does justice to the community?  This goes beyond "majority rules," and instead focuses with surprise sophistication a philosophy of memoir and the cultivation of a graceful aesthetic: what, and how, will we remember and be remembered?

So when in this article we read that the human rights issue in China has been sorely overlooked--even blatantly ignored--I am convinced that recent American events should make us think differently.  What stories will we be willing to take the blame for, and how will we allow ourselves, as powerful Americans on an international stage, to have our lines recorded in playbooks? 

StoryPeople, January 18

It's hard to say the right words without practice, I said & she whispered in my ear, Say them as many times as you like & we practiced late into the night.