The ol' tugging at the ankles

The quarter-life crisis is real. Why isn't it comforting to know that other 25-year-olds are going through the same period of turmoil and confusion? I'm finishing up Mountains Beyond Mountains, the biography of infectious disease specialist and humanitarian Paul Farmer. The book talks incessantly about the conflict between being comfortable in the life you know and taking the chance to do what you know will have real meaning.

Another autumn is fast approaching, which means another season of self-reflection, apple cobbler, stealing pumpkins and permission to listen to very mellow music.

From Mary Oliver's "The Journey"

...But little by little,
As you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world...

And yes, Life is beautiful

It's a beautiful Sunday morning. Looking through photos again for inspiration, I came across this one - it's actually my favorite photo from Uganda, taken at Sanyu Babies Home for Abandoned Babies in Kampala, Uganda.

I've determined that writing a personal history and fitting it on one page is the most frustrating, nerve-wracking experience. At this point I'd rather do interpretive dance to convince the committee to send me back to Uganda.

The Nigerian voyeur

I'd like to introduce you to the newest addition to my red wall - very close to Bakuba, the Congolese engagement mask, and at the side of my [increasingly dusty] classical guitar - a Nigerian wedding mask, purchased from a new friend at Eastern Market last weekend. As a result of my feverish wanderlust in the past few years, I've begun what I fear will be a consuming passion for collecting masks and maps. I'm now on the hunt for pre-colonial maps of Africa.

Why post it?

Because I'm captivated by his squinty glare over my left shoulder as I try and write my personal history in application for the Fulbright. It's quite distracting.

Oh how I do miss the loo with a view

It's just a rainy, nasty September day in Washington, D.C., which is the perfect excuse to sit at the computer all day and get some thinking done. And the perfect day for "working from home." Coffee and pajamas and rain all... day... long. I just took a break from writing and spent the past hour or so sifting through my photo collection from traveling. The loo with a view was an easy choice - set up by Arthur on our very small island about thirty miles off the coast of Belize - the vacation home for Venessa and I for a week in April of this year.

Why post it?

Because it's not everyday you experience sheer beauty while using the loo. And on this drizzly day you actually appreciate that you can't always be in Belize. Maybe that's what makes it so memorable. And that you're being spied on by large sea birds and nosy sand crabs dancing around your toes while you're trying to pee.

Belize 2006