and then they got in their jettas and headed back to nova

i really wish that i could have been in d.c. this past weekend.

1. i wish that i could have joined barb et al for her soon to be a bride luncheon. (even though i rushed the game off in the mail, brown let me down. although today, when i sought consumer justice, the u.p.s. store clerk swears that the package was delivered at stacia's on friday morning).
   
2. i wish that i could have cheered for miss bird at her weekly soccer game. yall know she's a baller and shot caller over in a park in anacostia on saturdays? c'est vrai. and this week, the godfather of go go, chuck brown, was kicking it with the kids on an adjacent pitch to celebrate 10 years of charter schools in the district. no child was left behind with his mad beats and percussive sensibilities, to be sure.
3. i wish that i could have taken a nap and then rolled to ESL for a little late night session of dancing and overpriced cocktails.

instead, i was here in the blue puddle of ann arbor.

1. on friday, i hosted a tea party/happy hour on my back porch on friday night with a gaggle of former students and pals. the men assembled the fire bowl, and enkindled a nice, respectable lil flame.
   
2. on saturday, i gardened. seriously. i gardened. and played with the dog. and did laundry.
   
3. on sunday, i taught sunday school -- more accounts of "jesus is like a total superhero." the boys tested: was he in the justice league? yes, i averred the social justice league. the funny thing in this session was i made one of the rowdy boys make like jesus and ascend into heaven while the other kids had to make faces like they were the disciples seeing their homey take off. their faces were so totally precious and expressive. all at once frightened, full of wonder and mischief.
4. after Mass, we crowned the BVM in the courtyard. afterall, it is her month. it has been ages -- decades really since i attended a church that actually ritually crowned the BVM with flowers. i wonder what amma would say to this? at any rate, the little "non-hispanic" first communicants donned their finery again and took the center stage. they offered the bouquets to mary; the led the prayers; they led the songs. (except it was very cold in the shade so we only hailed "o maria" for one quick and truncated verse).
   
5. in the afternoon, i attended a lecture by a british photographer, andy lock. after the talk, i spoke to him and he volunteered to come along and give a talk tomorrow night in history of housing. yahoo. i am pleased that he was amenable to this.

lock's images are v. good and v. interesting. he made color slides of rooms in an abandoned, 21 story housing estate in the u.k. then, he projected the slide onto a panel of green phosphorescent paint. next, he made an image of the projected image on the paint as it faded. the oversized prints of these (fading creepy bright-night vision-green) images hang in the umma gallery's apse right now.