STAN'S BLOGS

Now it appears that I'll be coming back "across the pond," as they often say here, on 7 April. It's difficult to maintain a visa for long in Europe in my capacity, and I've already been here for 2 1/2 years. As such, IFOR is sending me to our US branch in Upper Nyack, NY ( FOR USA ) for at least 3 months, time enough to renew my visa. I'll be living at and working from  Shadowcliff , a 42 room mansion and FOR USA's headquarters / conference center. I've already ordered a high-end DELL laptop to take along, with all my publication software included, so I can continue working without interruption. I also have a new assistant, Kim (originally from Phoenix, residing in North Holland), who will handle from the office what I won't be able execute online. Since returning from Norway in December I've been exploring more of Holland's cities, like Maastricht (one of the oldest) and Rotterdam (one of the newest), and visited the Rijksmuseum in Ams

Along with John Schot, IFOR's Director, I recently spend five days in Oslo, Norway. The week began with a planning meeting for a conference, co-sponsored by IFOR and UNESCO, and a dinner served by our local hosts at the University of Oslo (HIO). We assisted IFOR's NVE program director Eva Fussinger, co-ordinator of the four day conference on "early childhood education," facilitated at Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus, and attended by a majority of Norwegian and Swedish educators. I'm involved in organizing a subsequent publication on the program with Eva, a publication which is fully supported by a grant and John was additionally responsible for doing a presentation. John and I ended up with a fifth day in Norway when our flight from Oslo Lufthavn was canceled due to a snow storm at Schiphol in The Netherlands. That day was no fun, I can assure you, as we tied desperately for over an hour in -12c weather to find a bus that would take us to our assigned hotel. Oth

An interesting but kinda' funny thing happened the other night. It was around 7:30p at the library and a friend, Diek, asked me if I would like to go to a "boeklezing" (book lecture/study) with him. He wanted me know that it was located at a church and asked if I was religious or had a problem with that, although the group was open to anyone. Of course, I said no problem and, sure, I would like to go. I then asked Diek if he was religious, still just a bit curious, and he quickly said "nee." A tall, lanky man with a good sense of humor, Diek is a retired, although still part-time, school teacher. We've chatted from time to time over the last two years, gone out a few times for drinks at a local kroeg (pub), and enjoy talking about Alkmaar history. Once we read a German newspaper together, just for fun, when he saw me trying to read it and finding the language similar to Dutch―he teaches German. Diek also knows that I've been reading some Dutch novels,

On Saturday a few friends I encountered in the neighborhood were excited, telling me about a "must see band" called Darmstädter Hübsch. The group was appearing the next day on Sunday, 25 October 2009 at the FEELGOOD FESTIVAL 10 JAAR, the tenth year anniversary of a music festival and benefit held each year at a popular nightclub in Alkmaar. The proceeds are then channeled into local charities and non-profits, making everyone feel good. The well known club, VICTORIE , is located in the Binnenstad at Breedstraat 33 and it frequently draws large, mixed crowds, especially on weekends. Their website says that VICTORIE, "In the heart of Alkmaar, is a place where everyone goes wild on the dance floor, stories are shared and exaggerated in the upstairs café, talent is developed and performed, and above all, there is a feeling of musical freedom that you can share with friends." In short, it's an entertainment extravaganza! My friends said I really should see this gr

I was looking through our collection of books in the apartment last week, hoping to find a new book (in Dutch) to read. Sure enough, I quickly found one, the same one I'd passed up many times. It turned out to be a BookCrossing.com "release;" yellow ID labels plastered on the outer/inner covers, an official BookCrossing bookmark included, and more numbers inside. I immediately got interested, not as much in the book as in what this BC thing was all about: "BookCrossing is the act of releasing your books 'into the wild' for a stranger to find, or via 'controlled release' to another BookCrossing member, and tracking where they go via journal entries from around the world. Our community of passionate, generous book-lovers is changing the world and touching lives, one traveling book at a time." Here's the journal entry I wrote at BookCrossing's website: My name is Stan Morris, I'm the Communications Officer for the International Fe

A few weeks ago Arjan (on left in the photo), IFOR's Accountant and a friend of mine, took three of us volunteers from the office in his car for a tour of an area in 'Noord Holland' where he grew up. We stopped first along the way to show Pauline and Aktuigun, two young interns that were here from Africa and Asia for six weeks to work with our WPP program, several large windmills on the polders (low areas surrounded by dikes and pumped dry of water). Then we went on to visit three nearby, historic, small towns (de Rijp, Graft, and Volendam) and de Beemster polder . De Beemster polder is well-known world-wide and is where all that famously exported Gouda cheese is produced, the cheese sometimes displayed in food-stores in the shape of large, yellow wheels. While in the area, we also met Arjan's parents, who live in the village of MiddenBeemster. Wonderful people, kind and thoughtful, they were so welcoming and had much to tell us about their lives in the village. Arj

A few weeks ago I received a per-arranged and most welcomed visit from my sister Vicky. She arrived right after AZ Alkmaar, a football (soccer) team in the small city where I'm living, won the Dutch League championship. The wild, loud, and several days long AZ Feest ( see YouTube video ) took place soon after, while she was here. We're in the crowd standing on top of a five story parking garage and chanting "kampioen, kampioen!" It really was "wild!" AZ (pron: aaa-zet) won the national championship for the second time this year, and it had been a long time since the first win. As you probably know, football is huge in Europe, it's all sports fans talk about. I have put some photos up on Picasa of Vicky's visit that I received from her and my BVS Director in Europe, who was also here for the first two days of the visit. An acquaintance of mine, Aggie, actually lives in and operates the photographed windmill, and there are probably ten such mills

We also have Monday off for Paasdagen (1st and 2nd days of Easter). I had some time on my hands, so on the Web I found the Geert Dilling Wandeltocht 2009. This morning I biked over to this annual Alkmaar event and registered for the 10 kilometer. A "wandeltocht" is a walking tour or hike through nature areas, forests and dunes along the seaway, and we have many all around us. It was sunny and warm, and I even found a few people to walk with to practice my Dutch, ha! Sunday I went for a run through Kennemer Park along the canals, everything is bursting out and smells wonderful. I had to stop a few times just to sniff some of the bright yellow and white blooming bushes. Baby ducklings are everywhere, following their mamas through the reeds, it's all quite cute. Thought I'd see a film on Saturday evening, Grand Torino with Clint Eastwood didn't look interesting at first, but turned out to be terrific. Clint taking the "active nonviolence" idea to the extre

Yesterday John and I went to Amsterdam for the evening, as our Musicians without Borders friends invited us to their 10 Years Celebration. The event was a concert featuring six individual performances and the music of Sarajevo, Balkans, Mexicaanse, and Holland's Mitrovica Rockschool. On the map I thought the venue looked familiar, then realized I had visited this area over a year ago with Marion, the acquaintance I've mentioned from Austria. This section of the city "you will want to see," as it hosts some of the most historic names in Holland, the Dam , the Royal Palace, AEX (stock exchange), Gothic Nieuwe Kerk, but most importantly the Begijnhof , one of the oldest and most beautiful inner courts in the city and an enclave with a very interesting religious history. And strolling through Amsterdam on a Saturday night is always a magnificent and exciting experience! Well, we arrived at the Begijnhof a little early, so John and I thought we would find a nearby café a

A few weeks ago we hosted one of our annual office "borrels," very similar to cocktail parties in the US. This particular borrel was the IFOR New Year's get-together, done by our staff so that friends and associates have an opportunity to see the office and meet our team. We provisioned the event with a wide assortment of Dutch drinks and snack foods and provided some entertainment for the quests (usually all from North Holland). I may have mentioned that I have been learning a new song, like I was doing while in Rochester, NY, but this time as an effort to study the Dutch language. An acquaintance of mine at the local library, Hein, suggested the song, a classic Dutch "lied" called  Ode aan Maastricht , as he has been learning a new song in English by Scottish singer/songwriter Amy Macdonald.  So, I took the challenge. My musician friend Srdan Kekanovic in the adjacent office found out about this and talked me into singing the same song with him playing the

The Saturday before last, Sinterklaas visited us! He was here last year, as well, but I was in Germany and missed the whole thing. So this was all new for me, and I would have to say another "incredible" Dutch tradition to experience... The tradition of St. Nicholas (our Santa Claus) came to North America via Netherlands Protestant Settlers in New Amsterdam, now New York. It all started back in the 4th Century when a Bishop in Turkey named St. Nicholas became widely known for his good deed with poor children in Europe. His feast day became known as the Celebration of "Sinterklaas" and was held on December 6. St. Nicholas is also known as the patron saint of Amsterdam. I'll let you read more about Sinterklaas on your own, if you want. All I want to add is that Sinterklaas is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colourful outfits. These helpers are called Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) in Dutch, and there is nothing like them. According to tradi

Had the strangest dream: I'm standing in the white, graveled driveway of our house in Cedar Grove. Those bright red, double garage doors at my back and our old, dark green, mid-1950's Buick Century in front of me with the hood open, and there's Dad standing right next to it... (If any of you remember, back then the "old Buick" had been set aside when Mom and Dad bought Otto and Lydia Frisk's newer model Chrysler. I got the idea one day, when I was around 17 or 18, that it would be cool if the Buick was my car. Dad said ok, and we spent the better part of an afternoon one summer trying to get it started. The battery was dead, of course, so Dad pushed me in the Buick with his Ford pickup for miles down Mace Road, attempted to push-start the engine. Well it never happened... we ended up having to push the old Buick all the way back home, and there it sat 'til we moved to Placerville.) ...So, back to the dream. There's the old Buick sitting there with the

I received this photo that was taken at our Berlin retreat by our BVS Director Kristin... We were staying just outside of Berlin in a resort area called Kladow, right on the Wannsee River (more like a lake) at Haus Kreisau . Haus Kreisau is a youth training/seminar center named after the “Kreisau Circle,” a group of church people in resistance during World War II (the place where they met in Poland, and the location of a former BVS project). We also toured Berlin for a day and a half, went on one commercial tour and later up into the dome of the Reichstag (the German capitol building, and the one Hitler tried to destroyed before WWII). Visited many of the more popular sights like the Brandenburg Gate , 'the wall,' stood on top of Hitler's bunker, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews.

I've been seeing one concert or theatrical event after another for over a month (sometimes 4-5 a weekend). I might have mentioned there's quite a music scene right here in Alkmaar, with roots going back to 'the early rock en' roll days of Europe,' and it's happening just a few blocks away. Zomer op het Plein runs all summer, with free music, street theater, art programs and activities for kids. A few of the acts I've seen are: Erik van Muiswinkel & Omnibuzz, well known for his imitations of famous people; Candy Dulfer, regular guest of international pop stars such as Prince, ArethaFranklin, Van Morrison and Pink Floyd; Hilaria/Teatro Pavana, street theater with realistic marine tank, dolphins and a mermaid; Teatro Pavana, life-size giraffes by professional stiltwalkers (the kids went crazy); and Amsterdam Klezmer Band, mix of Eastern European styles and some of the most energetic music I've ever heard. 'Yesterday' Popfoto's of Nico van d

Several weeks ago I found a bright-green flyer in our mailbox, obviously hand delivered and stating that there would be another Wijkfeest Spoorbuurt this year on Saturday, June 14. The flyer was packed with information about the 12 hour event -- in Dutch, of course, so it took days for me to figure out just what was happening and where. Turns out it was our annual neighborhood ( Spoorbuurt ) get-together, held at a primary school called Bello a few blocks away on Snaarmanslaan. The activities included: the Opzoomeren, including the passing of the Vergulde Tuinkabouter (golden garden gnome), a BBQ, snuffelmarkt (flea market), stratenvolleybaltoernooi and in the evening an open-air concert called Single Tunes (local musicians, singers, dancers and actors). My neighbors Mereik, Irene, Rus, Jong, Jon and Annaliese talked me into joining the volleyball tournament (6 games in all). Later, the "wisselbeker" (trophy) was awarded, Spoorstraat had won the tournament last year but

On Thursday, thanks to WPP 's Educational Director, myself and four of my colleagues traveled to Den Haag (The Hague) to sit-in on the Trial of Charles Taylor , at one time Taylor was the President of Liberia. The trial is taking place at the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) and Taylor is accused of aiding the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone. These guys are purported to have killed and raped civilians, cutting off arms, legs, ears or noses, and burned their homes. Albert Hindowa Saidu, an RUF rebel fighter, was being questioned about a brutal attack on a town; we sat just 10' away from him. Saidu was a college student at Bunumbu in his finalyear, pursuing a teacher's certificate when he was abducted in 1991. He stay with the RUF right until the final disarmament in 2001. Child abductions are a common form of recruitment for rebel forces, something our organization hopes to have an impact on. After witnessing the ICC testimony we left to visit an orga

Saturday before last, my friend John and I biked over 50 kilometer, to Egmond aan Zee (5 miles away) and on up through the Schoorl Duin (dunes). John took his son Willem with us on the back of his bike. Willem is a lot of fun to have around, we've spent hours together here at the office (have a big stack of drawings of dinosaurs and monsters). I'm getting quite close to his family, that has really been a blessing. Last weekend was the "60's & 70's" music swap at our Stedelijk Museum. I met the guy who owns the Beatles Museum in Alkmaar. His name is Azing Moltmaker , and I talked with him for quite a while about how he got stated. He had some mock Beatle's jackets with him (the originals are in museums) and two Beatles dresses that girls in the Netherlands wore to concerts back then. He also owns George Harrison's jacket that George wore in the famous Abbey Road photo on the Beatles' White album. Azing said he has the largest collection of Bea

I had quite a laugh when several days ago I was surprised by this photo of Marion Schreiber, Françoise Pétremand and I, while thumbing through the Alkmaars Weekblad (a local weekly I pick up at our library). Marion is a retired English teacher from Austria and Françoise was the mayor of her hometown in France for 50 years. They were both here last week for our organization's annual three day European FOR conference, where I met both of them for the first time. The evening that Marion arrived the three of us went out for dinner to a "gezellig" restaurant in the centrum called Sumangali (Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine). The owner came over to our table soon after we were seated and asked us if we would mind having our picture taken, as he "sometimes likes to use the photos for newspaper ads." Of course, I never thought I would really ever see the photo that the restaurateur took of us that evening and, as such, just forgot about the incident... until now, h

A couple of things I think are really cool here are the “vrije uitloop eieren” (free-range eggs) sold at Albert Heijn -- it's kind of like a Dutch Raley's -- and “Echinacea toothpaste.” All large supermarkets in the Netherlands now carry eggs from poultry farms raising birds in open barns or in free-range systems. The toothpaste is just something I have been using ever since I arrived. I like the stuff a lot, although it's not cheap, and I haven't seen it marketed in The States. Another thing I have found fascinating are the views from my apartment and flat windows over the last two years. My apartment and flats have always been up high enough to see out over the roof tops. This occasional contemplation has spurred me to write this poem... Clocks and water déjà vu I can see the hands of a large clock in a tower from my living room in Alkmaar. I could see the hands of a large clock in a tower from my living room in Minden. I could see the hands of a large clock in a tow

In Alkmaar it's a tradition that on Christmas Eve crowds of people gather at Grote Sint Laurenskerk, a huge, 15th century French Gothic style church just a few blocks away. There was a stage setup inside and groups of people moving in and out all evening as each performance changed. The floor is composed of large, black stone slabs with beautiful art carvings in most of them, and two world-famous organs, the Van Covelens (also known as Koororgel, 1511) and the Van Hagerbeer or Big Schnitger (1636), were played during the service. Hundreds joined in on 12 songs during the service, with readings and a long sermon by a priest/pastor spaced in between the singing. The entire service was in the native language, so we were singing classics like "Silent Night" in Dutch, ha! A friendly guy with his son sat next to me. He couldn't speak English and I'm still not speaking a whole lot of Dutch, yet we actually enjoyed a great conversation and each others company. The whole t

Back in Alkmaar, The Netherlands... Peace work at IFOR is both active and challenging for me, as I need to interact with people from all over the planet, people who are interested in getting involved with the organization. I've just finished the Fall issue of our quarterly publication IFOR in Action and have already begun work on the next edition. As for off-time, I recently shared with Katie O an experience I had that exemplifies what life is like outside the office here in Alkmaar. One evening I had taken a walk along a loop that traverses the Centrum Alkmaar and passes through the "old quarter." By chance, I came upon what appeared to be an endless procession of children parading on the sidewalk. I think every kid in town must have been there, and half of the adults, who were lined-up along both sides of the streets observing. Each child was carrying a short stick with a colorful lantern dangling from one end, and each group of children had a unique lantern theme:

Several days ago I arrived, and for the time being will be living, in Minden , Germany. I'll be here for over a month to help-out one of IFOR's 'member' organizations, Internationaler Versöhnungsbund and to establish temporary residency. Tuesday night I moved into a clean and comfortable, furnished, four bedroom flat on the third floor of a large, Tudor-style home. The address is "Steinstraße 26, 32427 Minden," you can find it using Google maps, although no change to my mailing address or anything else. I'm finally able to have access my email, have a private desk and computer at the office, as long as I'm here. Considering that the software's language setting is 'German' (we haven't been able to change it), that the system is very old, the keyboard is laid-out differently, and the Internet connection is very slow, it's going to take me a while to get up to speed. Ha! Stadt Minden is quaint, historic (over 1,200 years old and has

You think our sales tax is high at 7.75%, how about the 19% I'm paying here in Alkmaar. The tax is levied on all general goods at the rate of 19%. A lower rate of 6% applies for certain goods and services, such as food products, books, medicines, art, antiques, entry to museums, zoos, theaters and sports. The Netherlands has one of the highest tax rates in the world, with income tax and new automobile sales taxes topping out around 52%. But this country also has one of the highest standards of living: employers pay for workers' transportation costs, usually give employees an extra month of wages at the end of a year, and you get a minimum of 25 days paid vacation. Then there are extra days off based on your age. I'm eligible for 3 extra days. Getting older is finally paying off, ha! Most streets here are paved in brick; each brick placed on edge in a bed of fine sand, this same sand covering the entire country. In small towns, like I where I live, homes are built right up t

I've heard from friends at Plymouth Gardens (this is the apartment building where I was living in Rochester, NY) about them receiving the computers I had promised. Months before I left, I had been working with Time-Warner Cable to have two decrepit computers in their activities room replaced. The company's Internet Technology department finally said they would do it, but not until fall. Well, the other day they delivered two, brand new "Dell OptiPlex 745" systems with Windows XP Professional installed and cabled Internet. No kidding! Mom asked me what I saw in the sky here. I have a skylight over my bed, so I can look up at night and see stars. That is on a clear night, of which we don’t have many of here, ha! One interesting thing, though, is that looking out my rear view, which is a large floor to ceiling patio door/window set, on any overcast night, there is a very bright, orangish glow across the northern horizon. I wasn’t able to figure out what this ominous pres

After four days in Geneva with our director, a long train ride through Germany and the Netherlands, I'm finally here in Alkmaar. There's a lot I've seen and experienced already in Amsterdam, at the ocean (5 miles away) and just in our town that is one of the oldest and most historic places in the country. I'll share more of that with you later, but I thought you might enjoy hearing about some of the differences. Ha! Maybe everyone speaks English, but everything else is in Dutch (only): street and train station signs, food labeling, newspapers, tourist brochures, my washing machines, et al. I'm going crazy trying to read info on the stuff I'm buying to eat, drink and clean with. I don't know if it's been washed or not (spinach), if you can use it for machine or only hand washing (detergent), or if I'm using something safely or not (appliances). Here are a few more...   Well-made, touring bicycles are everywhere, painted in dark, classic colors and r

After four days in Geneva , Switzerland, sight seeing, eating out, meeting with our European Director and, on one evening, sneaking across the border into France, fellow BVSer Solomon and I are finally here in Alkmaar. The town is like a fairytale land, and living in-town has made it easier to learn my way around. The Dutch are kind people, and I seem to fit in... as some start right-off speaking Dutch when I meet them, ha! I finally have a day off after 9 days of much activity and discussion here at the office. Along with the high-spirited, daily work in the office the Gender Working Group and the Representative Consultative Committee, including IFOR's President, have both been meeting here in separate sessions over the last four days. I have been interacting often with both groups since they arrived and have made some more new friends. The people on these committees and I are all from different countries: Italy, India, Wales, Columbia, Madagascar, Austria, Canada and, of course,

On the 18th of August, 2007 I had fulfilled my one year volunteer commitment with Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) at the AHEAD Energy project, located on the campus of the University of Rochester in New York. At the same time, I was considering committing to another year at the AHEAD project, after receiving an invitation from AHEAD's Director, Dr. Mary Jeanette (MJ) Ebenhack, and already deciding to continue my volunteer service with BVS. A month earlier, I had received an offer through BVS from the International Fellowship of Reconciliation ( IFOR ), a 90 year old peace and human rights NGO, to come to the Netherlands, again as a BVS volunteer, and serve as their Communications Officer. Although I enjoyed my work at AHEAD and living in Rochester, an opportunity to focus directly on human rights was more important to me. I'd had an interest in such issues, since my early days as the Special Reports editor for KFBK.com , and had begun a blog in 2004, where I was reporting

The City of Rochester has a rich tradition of volunteerism, and it's growing greener by the year. The entire city is invited to participate in two of Rochester's largest annual events and close to 20,000 actually show up . These caring citizens donate a 1/2 day or more of labor to clean-up streets, parks and river banks, repair buildings and/or make improvements to commercial property. All this done in the spirit of "taking pride in Rochester!" Here are three of the volunteer efforts I participated in within the last few weeks: The Otetiana Council of Boy Scouts of America kick's off the "Clean Sweep" program for the City of Rochester! The project, called “ Scout Sweep ,” is centered in Genesee Valley Park and was held this year on Saturday, April 21. When I arrived, Sylvia, Otetiana Council's District Director, introduced me to Florence, the Urban Director, with whom I was to work with at the registration table along with Rose and Sandra. We logged

Last week our associate from the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane arrived here at AHEAD Energy's headquarters, housed within the University of Rochester, to work with us for one month on a bio-fuel experiment. I'm restricted from saying much more about the bio-fuel experiments, but I can say that projects in Mozambique are a major focus for AHEAD Energy. Joao is a chemical engineer and lecturer at the state university in Maputo, Mozambique. He has come to Rochester to help us with some experiments on bio-fuels. He sits at the desk next to mine in our office, where we have a chance to chat throughout the work day about Mozambique, and America.  My supervisor MJ (CEO/President of AHEAD), who along with her husband Ben (founder/COB of AHEAD) sponsored Joao's trip, thought it would be kind to show Joao around Rochester. By now knowing my way around the relatively small, Upstate New York, city of Rochester and always willing to explore more, I offered to do the "showing.&quo

[I’m on volunteer assignment at the University of Rochester , serving an humanitarian non-profit called AHEAD Energy ] Just arrived back from a bike ride; it was so sunny and dry out this morning I thought I'd take the Genesee River Trail into town and do some reading at Java's Cafe . After a hearty cup of Colombia Supremo—there's no better, whatever they say—I decided to explore the nearby Midtown Plaza . I'd heard a lot about the " Clock of Nations ," indoor monorail, famous skybridges, etc. and still had not made a visit. And what better time of the year, huh, it was Christmas in Rochester! In front of Messinger Hall I asked an alert-looking woman walking out of the Eastman Community Music School where the Plaza's main entrance might be located. I'd been in Rochester four month and no one that I'd asked, so far, seemed to really know. She struggled for a while and finally took a guess that it was "catty-corner to the Liberty Pole .&q

We have Web Cams here on the University of Rochester campus that run 24/7 in two places I frequent daily. This spawned the brilliant idea of doing a campus cam appearance for family and friends back home, for no other reason than to "just say hi!" So, there I was on November 18 at 12 noon EST, after notifying everyone via email two weeks before, standing in view of these Web Cams waving wildly at the robotic lens as it swiveled around in my direction. The first stop was Wilson Commons , a huge four story atrium housing the student center, lounges, restaurants and conference rooms, where I stood on the "Hi Mom Balcony" pointing out such U of R attractions as "The Pit," "The Flags" and "Residence Quad." Then I walked a few 100 ft. over to the Eastman Quadrangle , pacing in front of the stately Rush Rhees Library. All this time I was talking to my Mom and my brother Dan and his family on my cellphone, explaining the history and activitie

[Last night I attended the " Off Broadway On Campus " musical review The Bright Side of Life , just to hear this song] Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (from Monty Python) From: Monty Python's Spamalot Words and music by Eric Idle "Some things in life are bad They can really make you mad Other things just make you swear and curse. When you're chewing on life's gristle Don't grumble, give a whistle And this'll help things turn out for the best... "And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life... "If life seems jolly rotten There's something you've forgotten And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing. When you're feeling in the dumps Don't be silly chumps Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing. "And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life..." Click here for the rest of the song, words

I really enjoy exploring the creative thoughts of others, from around the world and especially the Middle East (where cultural roots run deep). I look in libraries, lecture halls, on the streets or wherever and for whomever has a different or new opinion. Bouncing my ideas off someone else's can be exhilarating or exasperating, but always worthwhile to me. So how do I keep from going nuts with all this difference of opinion... The Blind Men and an Elephant! A Jainist version of the story says that six blind men went to determine what the elephant was like. The blind man who touches a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the tail-toucher claims it's like a rope; the one who feels the trunk compares it to a tree branch; the man who felt the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the belly-toucher asserts it's like a wall; and the tusk feeler insists the elephant feels like a solid pipe. A wise man explains to them: All of you are right. The reason every one of you is t

[The students and staff here at U of R have been really nice about allowing me to feel like a normal part of the campus] Last week I saw a flyer on a posting board in one of the "campus tunnels" that caught my attention... and curiosity. It was an invitation for Saturday night to join in the activities of a fraternity sponsored event called "Hookah and Hummus." The location was right nearby my office, I wasn't doing anything else pressing, so I decided to check it out. Now the location is significant because it's the exact center of the campus , the George Eastman Quad ( see Web Cam here ), where six commemorative red marble benches and a 5' stainless steel compass sit in the middle of a large lawn area. The frat brothers, along with some campus coeds, had a huge "and expensive," three hose hookah setup in the center of the compass on the sacred inscription. About 20 people were standing around the compass when I pulled up on my bike around 9:3

Halloween night I went to hear a talk by Patch Adams, held here at the University of Rochester and generously sponsored by the Neilly Series . Patch, as you may already know, is a healthcare physician, professional clown, and founder of the Gesundheit! Institute , a holistic health facility emphasizing laughter and humor as an essential part of the healing process. Robin Williams played Patch Adams in the 1998 movie titled with the eponym. But this night Patch was more than Robin could have ever portrayed on the big screen. Dressed much like his character was in the movie, a ponytail down to the middle of his back and a long earring dangling from one ear, Patch was quite the treat... or trick, depending on your politics . The enormous Strong Memorial Hospital , a top-rated medical training facility, is just around the corner from my office. The auditorium was packed full of med students and Patch was really trying to get them 'fired-up'. Forget capitalism and making the big b

[I walk though this tunnel several times a week on my way to campus libraries, technology centers and food courts] Quietly hidden beneath the UR campus Eastman Quadrangle , lies a 235' long, underground passageway that everyone calls just "the tunnel." This well used, solid concrete corridor is part of a much larger underground pedestrian system that connects eight of UR's integral buildings. But this tunnel is different; painted entirely in passion pink, Smurf blue or you-choose-it —and it can change over night, as it did during this writing—"the tunnel" is also covered from one end to the other in graffiti. "The tunnel" stretches from the Hoyt Auditorium (a large, red brick building: everything is large and red brick at UR) to second tunnel that runs between Morey Hall and Lattimore Hall, after intersecting a third tunnel connecting the Bausch and Lomb Hall and Dewy Hall. Any student that wants to express them self, make a statement or post an ev

Yes, it did snow here last week, can you believe it! It was beautiful, though, looking out over the Genesee River at the huge Rush Rhees Library dome on the UR campus, covered with a light dusting of winter flakes. All this looking, of course, was done from the warm confines of my tenth story apartment. Otherwise... NOT soooo gooood for a California boy, ha! So, now that outdoor activities are at a premium, it's time to enjoy the indoors. On Sunday I went to see my friend Nikola in The Lower Depths at the UR's Todd Theater . He did some nice work! I thought he was talking about a bit part when we used to chat late at night after he got home from classes. But he played a much larger role as Michael, I was impressed! Nice looking stage wife he had, too, that Virginia. Still, I think he could have taken the Walter character during an altercation in the first act&#151Nikola looked much bigger (he lifts weights for entertainment). Kidding aside, all these young actors did a gre