Tout pres de personne.

When I go stargazing, it's usually a very real time of worship and silence and awe and... well, you could just say "all things that are good." I went out after Perspectives, and it was not that.

Tonight, I just got mad at the stars for being so far away.

I got mad at GOD for being so far away.

I got mad at everyone who lives 5 minutes from me and who I never see for feeling so far away.

It wasn't even the crisp, clear sky that set it off. It was the song In Your Arms of Love. I don't know who wrote it. We sang it at Perspectives, and for about the tenth time in the past 300 days, I realized, "I know that melody, but the words sound wrong... I do not know this song in English." While everyone else sang what was on the screen, all I could hear was Dean and Audrey:

Je ne veux pas être ailleurs
Que dans tes bras d'amour
Dans tes bras d'amour
Tout pres de toi
Contre ton coeur
Dans tes bras d'amour.

I got mad at myself for being so far away.

Gender Panel

For all of the Challenge kids who were at the things this afternoon, here are some of the questions that students submitted that they DIDN'T address:

*Why do girls like the rebellious bad boys? Don't they realize they are all shallow tools?

*How should you deal with women during that time of the month?

*Why do girls go on dates with guys they don't like? Isn't that just leading them on?

*Is it ok to rule out a girl because she isn't pretty enough?

*What do women want?

*What if I am attracted to a woman 40 years older than me?

*Why did girls come up with the whole "friend zone" thing just to torture nice guys like me?

And my personal favorite:

*Would all the single ladies put your hands up?

I'll let you guess how many of those were submitted by my brother.

-Katie

Syncretism

I got exceptionally frustrated this morning when a certain professor I greatly respect informed us of how heavily the modern language/linguistic/anthropology departments are being targeted by budget cuts. Apparently they are "nonessential" fields.

Um... excuse me? Is money completely blinding the fact that the world is rapidly shrinking? That understanding of foreign languages, cultures and PEOPLE is now absolutely crucial to do anything in any other field?

Here's some random proof of the rapid-fire cultural collisions going on.

>sarcasm<
Remember that year I spent in France? You might've heard me mention it here and there.
>/sarcasm<

The regular occurrence of making and sharing Italian food with Moroccan guys while discussing Islam in French.

Watching an American movie with Greek subtitles, talking about it in French.

While cooking at a hostel in Barcelona, managing to explain to several German and Spanish guys that you can tell if spaghetti is done by tossing it onto the side of the fridge and seeing if it sticks. I don't speak a word of German or Spanish.

Buying things at a Vietnamese grocery store to make Korean barbecue the day after Thanksgiving in Wichita.

A Somali refugee recently escaped to India, where for some reason she contacted a U.S. senator for help with getting temporary residency in the states.

Meeting a 25-year-old former "Compassion child" at a conference who had grown up in Uganda, been supported by an Australian family, and later came to the states to get her degree in social work. She speaks Achouli, Luganda, a good bit of Swahili, and English. And she laughed and hugged me when I said, "O kwagala kwe kusingayuna!"

A British film set in India, the soundtrack of which features a Sri Lankan pop star who randomly sings in Spanish.

Or check out Andrew's life right now: "sometimes, I would just order my food in Russian and they would understand me. (and then they don’t think I’m an ignorant American tourist, just an ignorant Russian one. Or a weird American trying to speak Russian in Prague)"

Two Seconds Away cover of Apologize, and the microwave went off, beeping in perfect tune and time with the song. It was a very "August Rush" moment. (But really more of a wow-the-whole-world-seems-to-be-somehow-in-sync moment.)

Things from other countries are exotic and desired. When we find out about something that interests us, we long to be a drawn into it, to make it part of our lives.

"When people first encounter beauty, they tend to linger... even if they don't at first recognize it for what it is."

With all of the ways that the world is getting smaller, all the ways we're now able to understand each other, mix our lifestyles and traditions together and call it "multiculturalism", there's so much beauty. Sometimes I wonder if we're just rebuilding the Tower of Babel, and it will all come crashing down in chaos.

For now, I really really like it.

SB2K9

Everybody, even if it's not written down, has a list of things they want to do in life.

Like touch a dolphin.
Or be on a first-name, numbers-exchanged basis with a really famous person.
Or take that one cliche tourist picture by that famous landmark or monument.
Or eat a Pronto Pup at the State Fair.

You know, those necessary experiences that you must have before you die.

Today, after making (*ahem* several...) wrong turns on the way back to the Man Cave from Neptune Beach, I stopped Tony's car on the side of the road and started yelling out the sunroof. A bright red streak of smoke rose on the southern horizon... FREAKING SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH.

Ever since one summer night 11 years ago, when my dad woke me up at 4am to watch the Shuttle dock with the MIR Space Station directly over Kansas, seeing a launch has been on my list.

Check.

-Katie

Simply Couldn't Be Happier

I think I'm still living under the fallout of the nuclear explosion of love and happiness that was my birthday last week.

My presentation for Wesch's class is falling together, accompanied by the Slumdog soundtrack and the ever-eclectic crowd of Radina's regulars. This includes my frequent table neighbor Mara, who couldn't have said it better:

"Society is too global for me to keep up."

But we're trying. There are some ladies speaking Chinese at the table by the door. I can't even try to keep up with that.

Maybe I seem unfocused. So many things are going on at once in my mind.
Art, humanity, technology,
steamed milk temperatures,
phonemes and morphemes,
connection and isolation.

St. Augustine and St. Patrick, Dr. Seuss and Starbucks.
Indian novels and tongue-in-cheek memoirs.
Laundry and Target, brother and pseudo-sisters.

Yes, this ALL has to do with my project. Holism is a lot to handle.

-Katie

Don't tell me that a building is capable
Of holding all of the time that forms our bones...

We glow with whatever we've ever known.

(dustjacketproject.com)

-Katie

Karibu Coffee

I'm in the union, waiting for a phone interviewer to call me. And suddenly there are lots of things I want to post here.

1. If you're speaking French on your phone as you wait for your appropriately strong espresso shot, stop and talk to me. The whole world should know that I am willing to converse with anyone francophone at any time. Come on now.

2. I'm really not a fan of people who go about their day/life with this mentality: "You only believe what you believe because you don't know what I know." How about another French idea: "Everyone is reasonable." I guarantee that people will like/respect/appreciate your existence more if you find out why they think the way they do and not the way you do.

3. I still can't figure out why the Swahili word for "you're welcome" is the same as a large mammal native to the Arctic Circle. What the heck?!

4. KC this summer is gonna be fantastic.

-Katie

So much dishonesty...

Today, I found out that dozens of my friends have been straight-up lying to my face for several days.

Not only were they knowingly and willfully misleading me, but they were enjoying it. And it wasn't just my friends, it was my very own little brother. Come to find out, he was actually the mastermind of the whole thing.

When this all came to light, I just about cried. I didn't really know how to handle it.

So I just grabbed some french toast and strawberries and enjoyed my surprise birthday party.

Love you guys.

-Katie