I'm heading back to the US in a couple days, and wanted to let people know about the Christmas Sampler of two of my songs that you can now download on NoiseTrade: http://noisetrade.com/hiramring - spread the love with your friends! All you do is put in your email address and you will be sent an email with a link to download the two songs.
I've been in the throes of paper-writing for two of my classes, and the papers are due next Friday, December 10th. However, I did want to give an update on the extra-curricular activities I've been involved in, most notably recording songs for another album or two. You can watch the video above for a preview.
My main project is a new solo album of 12 songs which will tentatively be titled 'Home' as many of the songs deal with this theme. I've had some really crazy experiences over the last year and a half (some of which are on this blog) with touring to promote my first album, trying to figure out direction, experiencing intimacy and loss, and traveling half-way around the world, which have really made me ponder the meaning of home. What is it and how do I get there? In this album I suppose I continue one of the themes from the first album, 'Breathe Deep'.
The second set of songs are more worship-oriented prayers and psalms that I've written mostly over the course of the last year as I've struggled with the theme of 'home'. They're directly or indirectly influenced by the time I've spent alone with God, fellowship with friends, and particularly encouraged by the album of sacred songs, '12 Gates', that I worked on with Matthew Monticchio and others. There's two kinds of these tunes - new hymns (some of which we've done in church) and general worship songs (some of which could be congregational). So I'm not sure if that'll turn into two EPs or if I'll just release a full-length album. I welcome your feedback!
It's been really great to record guitar and vocals with the guys at SoundFarm here in Singapore, and later this week I'll be doing another session to get vocals. I'll be taking the tracks back with me to the US for Christmas, where I'm hoping my friend Ross can lay down some drums while I'm there, and maybe I can get some other musicians to contribute as well. I'll try to upload some samples as the arrangements get finalized.
Some of my friends recently had a birthday party celebration at K-Box, which is a local karaoke shop. They provide a full buffet with pretty good food and plenty of it, all you can eat desserts and ice-cream. It was really good. They also had a large selection of songs to choose from so I was able to sing songs in English (Hotel California, I Will Always Love You, etc..) and try to follow along as my friends sang in Mandarin and Cantonese. It was pretty cool - by the end I had learned some new Chinese characters. Here's a short video of the room we rented.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fPhMxM5PBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PeNM_LkBVk
NTU's Graduate Student Club organized an outing to the local island Pulau Ubin, which is just off the coast of Singapore. We took a 10-minute ferry ride (after a 45-minute bus ride) to get to this island, where granite is still quarried, and rented bikes for the day. It was good clean fun and we even saw some wildlife. Some monkeys, a wild pig, lizards, birds - the usual, I suppose. As you can tell from the video, I got the best bike.
Afterwards we got ice cream at a local vendor's stall and talked about life, culture, philosophy, and politics (among other things). As one of my twitter friends (@veve4heart) commented after seeing the video, "Ok...two things, A. It looks HOT over there...and B. Any country with Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream can't be all bad." Right on both counts! Ice cream is one of many reasons to come to Singapore.
The other day, some friends invited me to where they were staying for Chinese dumplings. Having experienced the dumplings before, but not having made any myself, it was quite the experience. First they made me knead the dough (with all my baking and clay-kneading experience I was happy to oblige) and then we rolled out the dough and filled it with meat filling before cooking the dumplings. It reminded me a bit of the meat pies that I would help my mom with in Ghana - though instead of wheat-based flour we used rice flour, and instead of baking them we boiled/steamed them.
A couple weeks ago I went with some friends to Singapore's Esplanade, a theatre and arts complex in center city, by the river. They were just finishing up a festival of dance (called 'Da:ns') and were particularly highlighting cultural dances from across Asia. We weren't able to go for all the dance events (click on the link above to visit the page that describes everything that was going on), but you can see we got to watch Japanese and Cambodian dancing. And true to Singaporean form, also got to participate in the western pastime of line-dancing.
The Japanese dance was very formal and structured, and we got to see three different dances - one with the fan that is the story of a beautiful maiden expressing her love for a visiting general with her precision and graceful movement. Then the men's dance which tells the story of men preparing themselves for war. The last one we saw is the story of a high-class woman who hardly ever has the chance to go out of the house - when at last she is allowed to go for a walk, she makes the most of it, playing and having fun.
The Cambodian dance was also quite formal but in a different way. The proper posture for these classically trained dancers is a curved back while they make precise, sculptural movements. It takes incredible control to keep those postures as they move slowly and carefully. They performed the story of Machhanup, which is unique to the Khmer version of the Ramayana and has been performed for over 1,000 years. I was reminded again how ancient some Asian cultures are.
Macchanup is the story of a great warrior who is the son of the monkey king and the mermaid queen. The monkeys built a stone bridge to the island of the giants so they could make war on them, but the mermaid queen didn't want the bridge across her land, so had her servants remove the stones. The monkeys were angry and jumped in to fight the servants, followed by their king who fell in love with the mermaid queen, resulting in Machhanup.
The rest of the story talks about how Machhanup grew up not knowing his father and became a great warrior, trained by a mighty giant. He ends up fighting his father until the mermaid queen tells them the truth of their relationship. The dance was performed by Apsara Arts Association, and I look forward to seeing more performances from them if I can make it to Cambodia or if they come back to Singapore.
My friend HaoShu and I (see a post below for a link to his books) were invited by another friend for dinner at his house, with his family and a couple others. Dennis lives in a condo and invited us to come early and swim. It was a pretty neat pool, complete with waterfall (have you ever gotten a massage from a waterfall? pretty much the greatest thing ever).
Needless to say, we were pretty famished by the time dinner rolled around. Chinese 'hot pot' (huo guo) is a traditional meal prepared in a single pot. Raw ingredients are selected and people just put in what they want and it boils up. It's usually meat followed by vegetables and noodles, but everyone has their own way of doing it. While the food is cooking, you just sit around and talk and catch up. It was lots of fun! Watch the video above to see how it's done.
I haven't been doing a whole lot of video-ing lately, mainly because school is getting busier and I haven't had as much free time. I'm working on a couple semester projects, one of which includes a survey that I'm developing to study multilingualism and cognition. So for now I'll leave you with the full dragon dance, which I thought was pretty impressive.
Here in Singapore they celebrate the traditional Chinese mid-autumn festival, also known as the Moon Festival. You can read more about the festival here and here - pretty interesting reads, I must say, and not something I learned about in social studies, that's for sure. While it's not as important as the spring festival or the new year festival, it's definitely a reason to get your party on.
At NTU last week the Chinese club organized a big event in Yunnan Garden, right across from the Chinese Heritage Centre. The garden that I usually walk through in the mornings and evenings, to and from my apartment, was transformed by lights, candles, music, and the dancing of lions/dragons (depending on which Chinese person you ask). It was quite fun.
My friend Christina and I waited in line and watched the dancing, then wandered around with our lanterns until the candles burned out, then watched the calligrapher at work, tasted tea served in a traditional ceremonial way, and finally were treated to the traditional orchestra doing a rendition of... you guessed it - Taylor Swift! This is what we call fusion. Check it out below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9oESEf2WtI
Nanyang Technological University is where I'm studying here in Singapore. There are around 30,000 students here, 10,000 of which are in graduate programs. The largest number of graduate students are here to work in engineering, computers, biology or other related disciplines, but the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is growing pretty quickly.
As a PhD student I'm part of the Linguistics and Multilingual Studies department that is quickly making a name for itself in the realm of multilingual research, and is developing an archive of language data on undocumented and endangered languages. It's a really great department to be in, and this video will give you a view into my daily routine and the cubicle that I've been assigned in the graduate office.
Here's a plug for a really cool video I was told about. Have you ever wondered what it's like to grow up in a different culture? To move from one place to another every few years? This new documentary is a really great look at all the issues surrounding Third Culture Kids who grow up 'between worlds'. Check out the trailer below!
Les Passagers : A TCK Story from kalen hayman on Vimeo.
Last week I visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens with my friend (and fellow PhD student) Wang Hao Shu. He also happens to be a novelist in China, which is why I include the link on his name - if you read Chinese, check out his books! A word to the name illiterate: in China you say the family name first and then the given name.
Hao Shu really loves the orchids housed in the Botanic Gardens, and he had recommended we go and check them out. My friend Margie, on hearing that I was in Singapore, asked me about the orchids as well, so for her sake I thought I'd go and take some video. I also took some pictures which you can see more of below the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpSUamHDJzo
The orchid garden is nestled in one of the many corners of the botanic gardens. We walked by the swan lake where people feed the birds, fish, and giant turtles. We kept walking past the large lawn and trees shading picnic-ers and families. Then through the ginger garden with many varieties of ginger plants and flowers, and finally on to the orchid garden, where we found to our surprise that for this particular weekend we got in for free as students! Sweetness!
Needless to say, there was more to see than can be shared in a short video, but find me on facebook and you can see some more amazing photos of our trip.
I found a place to stay! Thanks for all your prayers - I found a small room in a flat only 10 minutes walk from class, which is pretty remarkable. All my classmates are telling me I'm blessed because I'm paying almost half of what most people pay for a room this size. Add this to the movie tickets I won during the first week and the fact that I was interviewed for Chinese national TV recently (CCTV - more about that later), and they're certain I was born under a lucky star.
You can view a tour of my room and the walk to NTU in the video above. A couple notes - no, the Buddhist shrine is not mine (it belongs to the people whose room I'm renting). Mr and Mrs Wong own the flat and live there with their mother, and two other PhD students (chemistry, I believe) share the other free room. It's cozy, but I actually don't see them much, since I spend most of my time reading books (or checking facebook if I'm procrastinating) in my cubicle in the huge room reserved for graduate students on the third floor of the HSS building. I'll be giving a tour of that pretty soon, so stay tuned!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07QuaJJFNeo
While I was staying with Ming-San and Rose and their family, I had the opportunity to try Durian, which is the favorite fruit of Malaysians and Indonesians. It smells a bit like rot, but if you can think of it as old fruit rather than old other things, you are well on your way to enjoying its flavor.
We got four different kinds: King, Pork Fat, Butter and Malaysia 100-year-old Tree, and I got to taste each of them. Durian is rather a unique flavor in general - a bit like really thick, heavy, rich pecan ice-cream. But the texture is a bit more like mango, and depending on the size of the individual fruit the seeds can be rather large. The seeds are brown (and bitter-tasting, I'm told), but surrounded by a yellow-white pulp (again, the color varies depending on the individual fruit).
The King and Butter kinds were very creamy and mild, slightly sweet, while the Pork Fat had slightly more 
of a bite to it. The Malaysia 100-year-old Tree was the most flavorful - you could almost taste coffee or bits and pieces of other fruits/flavors. It was pretty interesting. I might have to try it again at some point. The flavor was pretty rich though - 4 seeds (1 from each) were all I could handle.
I've been here for a week (as of Saturday, 1am) and am slowly getting more used to some of Singapore's unique characteristics. Life moves at a pretty rapid pace here, but interestingly efficiency does not necessarily mean ease of access and getting things done rapidly. 
Some things are very efficient - transportation for one (most of the time) and eating for another. Other things take more time, which might simply be due to the volume of people and the necessity the government feels of keeping track of all those people (including me).
I matriculated on Monday, Aug 30th, which basically means I showed up in person with all my paperwork, paid my registration fees and am now officially a student of Nanyang Technological University. This is all very important, because the only way I can get my 4-year student visa is if I have matriculated. The other thing I need in order to get the visa (student's pass, officially) is a medical exam done by the university. It's all rather time-consuming, and my classes started this past Tuesday.
Another part of the puzzle is finding housing, since I am currently traveling an hour or more (rush hour traffic) on public transport to get to NTU. I was told that as a first-year research student coming from overseas, I would have priority in on-campus housing in the graduate hall, but apparently they are full, so I have been looking for housing off-campus. The slight wrinkle (I have learned) is that in order to rent a room or a flat, the landlord has to submit your information to the local housing authority. Guess what is required for them to approve your stay? Yup - the student's pass with your FIN (Foreigner Identification Number).
I met another American student (from Georgia) this past week, who is in his second year of PhD, but in Sociology, studying social network media, specifically MMOs (Massive Multiplayer Online systems, ie. online computer games). His cubicle is diagonal from mine (see the picture) and he was able to commiserate with me on dealing with the bureaucracy - some of the issue, however, seems to be that I was accepted 4 weeks ago and arrived shortly thereafter. If I had been accepted last May I would probably have housing on campus, etc, etc.. and most of these things would have been taken care of in the two months or so allotted to getting them done - which is actually pretty efficient for a bureaucratic system.
Interestingly, while they gave me appointments for all these things (medical checkup, student pass finalization, etc..) it seems to be just as effective to show up early any day and queue up. The only thing this doesn't really work for is the student pass, but by going directly to the immigration headquarters and explaining my situation (and by God's grace and the prayers of his people), I was able to get my appointment date moved up from September 22nd to the 8th. This bodes somewhat better for my apartment-hunting endeavors.
As a final note, you can check out this video I made of public transport to NTU: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH0Wt52lwkA
I'm sitting in Paul Johnson's place here in Singapore, quite far away from Nanyang Technological University, where I'll be studying - Paul lives off Ang Mo Kio Ave in the Serangoon Garden area. Sound exotic enough for you yet? He was kind enough to pick me up from the airport at 1am this morning (my flight was delayed) and has since been helping me negotiate the process of settling in to life in Singapore.
Singapore is an interesting mixture of western and eastern cultures. Streets are small and traffic drives on the left side of the road, public transport is air-conditioned and everything flora is trimmed and manicured carefully. English is accented in an Asian/Indian manner, and eateries are everywhere.
Paul jokes that eating is the national past-time, and judging by the incredible variety and quality of the establishments I think I'm going to fit right in! Nothing like a pastime that involves gastric exploration, eh? And judging by all the shops that smell heavenly even though I can't decipher the names and signs (they're written in English, but I've 
never come across the names they give these foods), it might take me awhile to explore the options provided.
The house we're in has been in Paul's family since his parents moved to Singapore from England in the 1940s or so. It has a yard and only two floors - quite unusual for Singapore in general, but many of the houses in this neighborhood are that way. We live on the second floor, which has two rooms and is quite spacious. It's actually so large that Paul is looking for an alternative smaller space.
I'll try to keep you all posted on further developments and give thoughts on my new surroundings. You can check out this short video update below for other details and prayer requests/concerns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiJpYpdfpLE
Last week, on Thursday, I was getting ready to head to Plano to represent Math-U-See at a homeschooling convention. I checked my email, and lo and behold I had received... an acceptance letter and a scholarship to a PhD program in Singapore!
I applied a few months ago to a program at Nanyang Technological University for Language Documentation. I knew the program started in September and that I should be hearing yes or no relatively soon, but what a cool day! I remember sitting at my computer and trying to think through this opportunity - should I go or not? I realized that if I didn't go, I would probably second-guess myself for the rest of my life.
So I accepted the offer, filled out a visa application and hit the road for Plano for the weekend. This past week has been crazy busy with work, but I have a plane ticket to Singapore leaving Philly Thursday morning (I have to be in Singapore for registration on August 30th) and will be spending the next 3-5 years training to study an undocumented language in northeast India. What an adventure, eh? =)
I'd appreciate your prayers as I embark, and will try to keep you all updated via blog, pictures and video.. let me know if you have any questions.
A short essay I wrote about writing hymns has just been posted on the New Old Hymns blog/site, an effort by Sandra McCracken and other Nashville-based musicians and theologians. Check it out and give your feedback, let us know what you think, and spend some time on the site checking out the other great resources!
Check out this really sweet compilation CD! 100% of proceeds go to fighting extreme poverty around the world, and the album includes 21 songs from people like David Bazan, OK Go, They Might Be Giants, and (yes) Hiram Ring!
the minimum donation is $10 for the 21 songs, and you can of course donate more. Click on the link above to fight global poverty and learn more about how you can be involved.
I feel like sometimes I only surface long enough to post something on my blog, make a halfhearted effort to let people know I'm playing nearby, and then submerge once again into work and the other details of life that continue to gather around me. It's become such a common thing that I feel like I live a double life to some extent. Music vs. work/family/friends. It's then that I realize my focus needs to be something else.
I'm setting my alarm clock half an hour earlier every day and trying to get to bed by 11pm this week. I've realized that my most fulfilling moments in life were three months in 2006 when I was doing language survey in Central Asia. I would go to bed by 10pm and be up with the sun around 6am. Since there was nothing else to do, I would read scripture, memorize, pray, and commune with God until 8am or so, when I ate breakfast with the friends I was staying with.
"since there was nothing else to do" - that statement makes me realize how little I value scripture. And yet, THAT was what changed me. It was the WORD of GOD that renewed me, bathed me in cleansing water. And I am so thirsty.
Will you drink deep with me from the river of life this week? I'll be sharing some stories and new songs this wednesday with my friend Phil on WJTL at 9pm EST - if I can encourage you, please tune in to 90.3 FM in Lancaster, PA or listen online: WJTL.com/listen
But most of all, listen to the WORD of GOD. Read it, digest it, let it speak to you. Let it renew and transform you. Memorize it and sink your teeth into it. Spend time with the one who gives it and let him teach you and fill you with his life-changing power.
As you can see, I haven't had much time (either on the road or now that I'm home) to blog, but that may change. There are so many things I'm trying to do at the moment, though, that it's hard to remember there are people out there in the blogosphere (or elswhere) that are interested to some extent in what I'm doing.
So... a brief recap: The last week of the banquet tour was really good. I got some great responses and actually met a lady who still sings my parents scripture songs (when my parents first became Christians they wrote a lot of folk-oriented scripture songs and sang them all around Florida at churches in the early days of the Jesus movement of the 70's). It was really cool. Here's some video of me singing 'I'm on a Journey' (which I did every night), as well as another video of parts of Charleston, SC that we got to see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAw74iPV1Gc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvEHnWOO15M
I flew back from the banquet tour on a Sunday (Mother's Day), and the following day my parents flew down to SC to help lead a 2-week spiritual retreat. I started back to work the same day and so it's been somewhat hectic. I've been working overtime for Math-U-See while overseeing house affairs (cooking, cleaning, upkeep, shopping, keeping tabs on things) with the help of my younger siblings, catching up with folks, applying to this PhD program, and working on some new recordings with a few new pieces of equipment. My parents come home on Saturday. =)
So I'm on a banquet speaking tour - the idea being to raise awareness of the need for bible translation into the more than 2,200 unwritten languages that are left in the world. Those 2,200+ languages represent over 350 million people (yes, 350,000,000!) that still have no access to scripture in a language they can understand. My parents have been with Wycliffe since the 70s, which is why/how I was born and raised in Ghana.
As anyone who travels for work can tell you, life on the road can be grueling. Dan and I travel to a different city, set up our equipment for the media part of the presentation, feed a meal and present to a different room of people almost every night. So far we've done 20 banquets over the past four weeks - 5 banquets per week. Tonight is the first banquet of our final week - our 25th and final banquet will be on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida.
This kind of schedule doesn't leave much time for sightseeing (it's kind of like being on tour), but we have managed to see some of the sights, nonetheless (when there were sights to see, that is). This is particularly true of local eateries - there are lots of restaurants down here that I've never been to, chains as well as local delis and cafes. Here's me and Dan in 'Sweet Magnolias' in Gainesville, GA, which is in what used to be the old JC Penney arcade on the square.
And of course I would be remiss if I failed to mention the tour of UGA that my friends Sam and Marie gave me after the banquet in Athens, GA. On our day off (wednesday), they offered to show me around the campus, busting the myth of the 5-year curse, taking me to see the book bound in human flesh in the school library (not shown) and of course the tree that owns itself (not shown) as well as the double-barreled cannon that only fired one round. Check out the video below.
We have finally released the album '12 Gates', and are giving it away for FREE this Easter season! Yup - that's no April Fool's joke either.
You can find it at: http://www.noisetrade.com/pageantmusic - you can donate to help cover our production costs, but all we ask is that you share it with as many people as you think will enjoy it.
Our vision is that these songs would be an encouragement to believers everywhere and express the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a new and different way. Birthed from the artistry and collaborative nature of the believing community in Lancaster, PA, specifically Wheatland Church, we hope that these songs will edify and enrich the worship of churches all over the US and around the world.
The driving force behind this collection and collaboration is Matthew Monticchio and myself, Hiram Ring, but with an incredible amount of interaction from our community both within and without Wheatland Church. Other artists who sing on this album are Joy Ike, Brooke Annibale, Christy Danner, Cliff and Jen Lewis, Dan Kirby, Anna Demme, Keith Winder and Alisha Ring. Matthew Clark created the image for the album cover, and Ned Bustard designed the text. Many more were involved in producing what you hear.
Visit http://pageantmusic.wordpress.com for an outline of the tracks on the album with some additional notes on the performers and musical/textual elements.
I'm in Florida for Wycliffe Associates at speaker training. Since I will be speaking on their banquet tour for the next month, I'm here to learn how to tell my stories effectively to communicate and keep people's attention. We're at a hotel near Orlando and the days are pretty grueling.. but they sure do feed us well!
I've been learning a lot, developing stories that fit into 2 minutes and communicate the truth of the situation I'm describing. Telling stories is more like theater - not so much like songwriting. With songwriting I'm crafting poetry that captures multiple shades of meaning to communicate truth with stories and imagery, but with storytelling I'm capturing emotional and image-rich events in natural, every-day language. A subtle difference. Songwriting relies on the words and music to communicate, while storytelling relies mostly on non-verbal cues.
There is definitely some overlap, and I find I'm taking to it like a fish to water. Or perhaps more like a dog to water - maybe I'll turn into a dolphin eventually. Still working on that and will let you know what happens by the end of the week. If you'd like to come to a banquet (April 5 - May 8 in Georgia and South Carolina) to hear my stories and how you can be part of getting scriptures to the millions of people around the world who still do not have any of God's Word in a language that they can understand, check out the dates below, and my or the WA website for more details.
Apr 5 Valdosta, GA
Apr 6 Americus, GA
Apr 8 Columbus, GA
Apr 9 Warner Robins, GA
Apr 10 Macon, GA
Apr 12 Fayetteville, GA
Apr 13 Conyers, GA
Apr 15 Marietta, GA
Apr 16 Rome, GA
Apr 17 Norcross, GA
Apr 19 Gainesville, GA
Apr 20 Athens, GA
Apr 22 Anderson, SC
Apr 23 Greenville, SC
Apr 24 Spartanburg, SC
Apr 26 Rock Hill, SC
Apr 27 Aiken, SC
Apr 29 Augusta, SC
Apr 30 Columbia, SC
May 1 Florence, SC
May 3 Mount Pleasant, SC
May 4 Savannah, GA
May 6 Statesboro, GA
May 7 Waycross, GA
May 8 Jacksonville, FL
This past weekend I played a couple shows - one near Lewisberry, PA (which I forgot to take video at) and one in Severna Park, MD. They were both a lot of fun, but very different. In Lewisberry I played for a church event in which the audience were mostly older than me. They sat quietly and listened carefully and laughed appropriately - it was very easy to engage them, and they expressed a lot of appreciation afterwards. It was a lot of fun.
The Severna Park event was also at a church, but the listeners were mostly younger than me, and were doing other things while listening (pretty smart, in my opinion - when I was that age I wouldn't sit and listen to someone like me for very long). So it was a very energetic audience, but the energy was different than at the PA show. I also noticed that most of the people older than me who were there moved closer to the stage and when I directed comments to them they really responded and got into the music. It was a lot of fun.
So those are just a few thoughts. Interesting how events can be so different and yet both be incredibly enjoyable. Unfortunately, since I forgot to video the first show, you can't compare them yourself, but here's some video from the second event. Two videos - one of me explaining the event and soundchecking, and a song by Brian LoPiccolo (who just released his first album, so click here to check it out) which features harmonica and bagpipes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPrQeRbeA0I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4uliKFyLwk
One really sweet thing about not having Florence anymore is that I now have a car that is slightly newer. 1991 Honda Accord - six whole years younger! Some friends at church had wanted to get a truck for the last 12 years, and when they heard about my accident, thought it might be the perfect opportunity to bless me. So amazingly cool how God works!
So not only does this car meet my needs for transportation, it also has a sunroof, auto windows and locks, and is a station wagon (so lots more room for stuff). And did I mention cruise control? When I was touring around last year, that was one thing I really wished I had. Those 9 hour drives are no joke.
With all these modern amenities, I thought "hey, why not go overboard and get a real stereo system - with a CD player or something so I can listen to something besides the radio". So my friend Ethan had an extra one lying around which happened to be perfect for my needs - a car CD-player/radio with an aux input for an MP3 player. Pretty cool. Now I just had to figure out how to install it.
Accordingly, around lunch time the other day I began the installation process. And was it a process! I realize now that I should have videotaped the whole thing because it was actually quite humorous. I thought it wouldn't take too long, a couple hours and I'd have it changed out... The reality was a total of 5 hours, with a trip to the store for extra tools. Do you realize that they make some screws impossible to get at?!! The most time-consuming part was connecting the wires (they don't leave much room for this sort of thing, and there are like 50 million of them that have to be properly connected according to the little diagram) and then trying to get it all to fit back properly into the right spot. Honda does not make it easy...
But all's well that ends well - and I now have tunes in my car! Which makes it much easier to listen to mixes and all the CDs that people have given me on my travels. I may still need to invest in an MP3 player (anyone have one lying around that they're not using?) and a new radio antenna (the one I have is a mechanical extender whose motor has broken), and I'm wondering if there's some sort of wire mesh stuff that will help protect against skipping (though it's only skipped once since I put it in, when I happened to drive over a HUGE pothole). It is pretty amazing though - this is the first car I've had where I can listen to music of my own choice. And the choices are endless!
When I first met Florence five years ago, I had just graduated from college. She happened to be born in 1985, just a couple years younger than me, and I was struck by her beautiful voice. We hit it off wonderfully from the beginning - she always seemed to be free when I wanted to go somewhere and so we spent lots of time together. We would go shopping, out on the town, and many times to visit friends. When I went out on tour she accompanied me over the 6,000 plus miles. With just a change of oil, she sang like a nightingale.
Yup, Florence was my car, a 1985 Toyota Tercel hatchback. When I bought her she had 35,000 miles. Five years later she has 104,000 and still runs great. Unfortunately, Florence and I got into an accident in Philly the week of Thanksgiving and will cost $1000 to fix. It's a thousand dollars that I don't have, so I guess it's time to move on.. Tomorrow I'll be driving Florence to the junk yard for the last time. I'm hoping one of the mechanics there will take pity on her and spend the time and effort to fix or replace her door. If that does happen she'll have many more miles and years to run.
In retrospect, we've had a good life together, but fortunately life does not consist of possessions. The past few months have reminded me that everything we have comes from God, and that attachment to the physical objects around us can be detrimental to our spiritual development. I guess the important thing is to be able to recognize the gifts around us and be willing to relinquish them when we must. So here's to Florence!
I'm an introvert, and I like to think. Which also means that sometimes I don't have a whole lot to say - I think it all through and come to my own conclusions and am happy with them.
Some people think while they write - I think of songwriters called 'prolific', and it strikes me that they must be those kind of people. The trouble is, I don't like most of their songs. I'd prefer to create good work rather than lots of so-so. I think we're always creating - I guess the real difference between someone like me and prolific songwriters is that I'm a lot more shy about presenting what i have created. I have a few gems, things I'm polishing, and the offal. I try not to show people my offal.
I suppose I can apply that to blogging. When I don't have much to say I just don't say anything. Especially since there's so much pressure to get and maintain a following. Maybe this is the introvert in me - I'd rather just create and release music periodically, and not have to write about it. But blogging is really more about journaling. You just have to keep it up over a long period of time, no matter what else you do. Sounds like a lot of other things in life. Hopefully this builds character. or something.
So our big project for this course is a language survey proposal - the paper and presentation. We basically take a language about which very little is known, do a lot of research, and write a proposal to carry out a survey that will help answer basic questions about the language situation. The idea is that we are in touch with an actual person on the ground in the country who can direct our studies.
The language I'm researching is... actually I can't tell you. What I CAN tell you, though, is that I have had some cool breakthroughs during the course of the project. Which means that I have learned information directly from an observer of the language who has done recent research in the area but has not published it yet. It's pretty sweet to be on the inside. Maybe I can do this whole academic thing.
It's also cool to think that if I hadn't been here to do the research and send the emails, it is likely that some people who are in a position to make decisions about assisting language development efforts would have inadequate information on which to make decisions. Which I guess doesn't say much, but the little it does say speaks volumes. Here's to the bookshelf warriors.
In other news, I recently uploaded some video of a conference I helped lead worship at with Ishq, an Ethnodoxology group that plays music from an array of different cultures. Here we sing some snippets of an Arab Christian worship song from South Africa, and a jubilant rendition of 'How Deep the Father's Love'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA_TimiEPNU
Yesterday I heard that a friend died. Aimee was a fellow MK who grew up with my friend Katrina in Taiwan. I go to church in Lancaster with some of her cousins. We met a couple years ago around Christmas time when they were visiting the cousins and we road-tripped up to State College area to visit Katrina and her family - she didn't like driving, so I drove. Over the past couple years we kept in touch and I visited her in Charlotte, NC where she was working as a teacher. We went out to eat on my 26th birthday.
On thursday around 7am a pickup truck crossed the center-line and smashed into her head-on. Both cars were traveling at about 55mph. They still don't know why the driver of the other vehicle crossed the line. Apparently the driver doesn't remember either, and there's no evidence of drugs/alchohol or cellphone use. She was on her way to school. She was 25.
I wrote a song last night, but it doesn't do justice to the injustice of death. When my brother died 13 years ago I couldn't find the right words either. Maybe in a million years I'll be able to. Right now all I can do is strain to produce depth of emotion to express the pain of this broken world. I would despair if I didn't know the Intercessor.
So I am learning a lot this month, particularly about languages and creating surveys that answer particular questions about language. I am also reading a lot of scholarly articles and realizing that I am not 'academic' as defined by Princeton as:
a) hypothetical or theoretical and not expected to produce an immediate or practical result" or
b) marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects
In other words, I would rather learn something that leads to action, change, and growth, than simply for the sake of learning it. I need to create something new, important, unique, rather than simply following in the footsteps of others and 'adding to the existing body of knowledge' about a particular topic. In some senses it could be argued that adding to and refining existing knowledge IS new, important, and unique... I suppose I have simply realized by taking this course that I can't sit and read or write about things without having an end-goal in which other human beings are actually affected by the knowledge I gather.
This is not a new realization... but being here and taking this graduate course has given me a fuller understanding of what it all means to me personally. It's a different world here, for sure. As long as I can balance the academics with purpose, I'm sure I'll come out all right.
I'm in Dallas, TX for the month of January, but not because the Cowboys are in the playoffs (are they still? I don't really follow sports).. I'm actually taking a language survey course at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics while exploring ethnomusicology and other opportunities for missions involvement. I'm still trying to figure out where I 'Go From Here'. I'm hoping this month will give me some clarity.
I arrived in what I thought were 'warmer climes' only to discover that it is currently the coldest it has been here in Dallas in over ten years. I guess I brought the cold with me... needless to say, I am glad for all the sweaters my mom made me bring. =) Thanks Mom!
..but the year has only begun. As you well know, Christmas happens every year - a reminder as sure as the sun comes up and goes down of the birth of our savior. It is always good to be reminded of our source, the One in whom we live and move and have our being.
This past season has in some ways been dark and toilsome as I struggle with vocation and purpose while continuing to try and forge ahead creatively. I have needed a reminder of the light that came into the world at our darkest hour, who still meets us there, at the end of our rope, to give us strength and courage for the long climb back into light.
May 2010 be full of joy and light for you and yours!
So I leave you with Wheatland Church's candlelight Christmas Eve service, and the following monday's Christmas Spectacular! in Lancaster. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZOXvGhDwlg&feature=youtube_gdata
