odds and ends

It's been awhile, and currently all I have are a few Random J&D in NYC Fun Facts.

1. I've never liked chihuahuas, that is until I met a really charming one who happened to be *this* close to being *the* chihuahua in Legally Blonde! His career was cruelly cut short by a knee injury.

2. One of my former students who is a young actress was in an episode of Gossip Girl. (Blech)

3. Someone I know managed to escape being mugged at knifepoint in Hell's Kitchen at 1:30 AM by

a) advising his teenaged attackers to stay in school since "it will end up paying off more than mugging in the long-term" (this guy swears that engaging attackers in dialogue is proven statistically to better than not)
b) convincing them they were amateurs since only one of them had a knife and was holding it in an amateurish way
c) relying on his Thai boxing skills to out maneuver them, and giving him time to get the heck on outta there!

An early pre-Christmas treat: we threw a birthday/Christmas party for a good friend yesterday.

enemy

I've read some interesting pieces of writing on the subject of "enemies" recently.

There was a chapter in a Don Carson book about Big Enemies and Little Enemies. We may not all have to deal with "Big Enemies", but "Little Enemies" are everywhere: the co-worker who forgot to do the thing you asked, the obliviously chatty (and sketchy) guy sitting beside you on the plane, the friend of a friend who tells awful jokes and votes for that OTHER party.

Yes, Little Enemies are everywhere.

But, what I actually want to share today is how a very famous man dealt with some Big Enemies:

"Towards the end of his 27 years in jail, Nelson Mandela began to yearn for a hotplate. He was being well fed by this point, not least because he was the world’s most famous political prisoner. But his jailers gave him too much food for lunch and not enough for supper. He had taken to saving some of his mid-day meal until the evening, by which time it was cold, and he wanted something to heat it up.

The problem was that the officer in charge of Pollsmoor prison’s maximum-security “C” wing was prickly, insecure, uncomfortable talking in English and virtually allergic to black political prisoners. To get around him, Mr Mandela started reading about rugby, a sport he had never liked but which his jailer, like most Afrikaner men, adored. Then, when they met in a corridor, Mr Mandela immediately launched into a detailed discussion, in Afrikaans, about prop forwards, scrum halves and recent games. His jailer was so charmed that before he knew it he was barking at an underling to “go and get Mandela a hotplate!”

From Mandela and Rugby

So. We've heard it said that we should love our enemies. And though Mandela was probably motivated to educate himself on rugby for other reasons--I wonder if this isn't at least a tiny bit instructive for those of us who (sometimes) strive to love our enemies--big or little.

Know your enemy, disarm your enemy, make it possible to love your enemy?

And then this insight by Bill Keller in his NY Times review,

"Having read their history and studied their sport, Mandela astonished the Afrikaners by addressing them in their language (learned in prison), but mostly by not hating them."

Hmm. That sure sounds familiar, doesn't it?

NY Times Review of Playing the Enemy

Reem Acra

Like so many other events in life, there was a lot of waiting.

Waiting for everyone's invitation to be checked. And then waiting through several rounds of musical chairs as extremely fashionable ushers filled any empty front row seats. Waiting for the protective covering on the runway to be removed, for the lights to go dim and the music to pound even louder than during the musical chairs period.

But who am I kidding, it was still a NYC dream come true!

Thanks to our friend MT, I sat in the second row at the Reem Acra show at Fashion Week this afternoon! In Bryant Park! Inside the tents! I so enjoyed wandering around in the sea of stilettos and men with boldly colored polka dot socks and beautifully attired, furiously thumbing Crackberry addicts.

I did my best to look bored and disinterested out of fear that wide-eyed glee would totally give me away as Fashion Week crasher!

Reem Acra Spring 2009

singled out

Our church is something like 80% single. That's like 4000 out of the 5000 or so people that regularly attend. As you can imagine, it does not take long before any conversation among any random group of people quickly turns to talk of relationships.

This article by Paige Benton Brown linked below is one of the best I've read on "singleness". But whether we're single or married the core message is profound: There is no plan B with God. And that applies to marital status, career ambitions, having babies or what have you.

A sampling:

"It is not that hell hath no fury like a women scorned, but that life has no tragedy like our God ignored...

"Can God be any less good to me on an average Tuesday morning that he was on that monumental Friday afternoon when he hung on a cross in my place? The answer is a resounding NO. God will not be less than good to me tomorrow either because God cannot be less good to me...

I long to be married. My younger sister got married two months ago. She now has an adoring husband, a whirlpool bathtub and all new Corningware. Is God being any less good to me than he is to her? The answer is a resounding NO! It is a cosmic impossibility for God to shortchange any of his children..."

An oldie but a goodie. Check it out: Single Out by God for Good

it's almost fashion week

After all.

And every so often, I feel the need to digress from the usual candeo type of observations.

I succumbed to this trend. Yes, I did.

Who said dresses would die out this fall?

This is not an endorsement in any way. I can't even vote here. I just appreciate this no-fuss, long-range look.

j and r's wedding

We're so happy for J and R who are happily on their way to Thailand after putting together a fabulous wedding. I had so much fun and partook of so many of my favorite Boston things all in one weekend:

1. Oishii Sushi (especially the soup!)
2. Tealuxe Kashmiri Chai Tea in Harvard Square
3. Tealuxe tea and sandwiches on Newbury
4. Boston Public Gardens
5. Driving down Memorial at night

But most of all--it was so so wonderful to catch up with our CCFC and Friday night potluck gang! Thanks MSC for hosting, must do this again soon!