Friday, December 19, 2008

Jesus Christ Superstar back in Columbus

Monday, February 23rd, and Tuesday, February 24th. Both shows at 7:30 PM.

Any interest in trying to go? I'd recommend the Mezzanine level, which is rows 4-15 of the upper level. It's the middle price level ($53 + about $10 in service fees) so it's honestly the best deal. Anything cheaper and you're stuck way in the back. Anything on the lower level, and the view really isn't all that good since you're below the stage. (Balcony seats are $30.)

Any interest? I have no idea if group rates exist (probably not), but maybe we could reach out to the rest of St. Stephen's and have a larger group go? Maybe even reach out to the other University Area congregations as well.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Camp Coast Care, Thursday 12/18/2008

One week before Christmas Day. Here on the Gulf Coast, the temperature feels moderate to us, birds sing through out the day, and we are enveloped by thick pea soup fog morning and night. Most of our group has been working in Picayune on a house renovation. I've been working with a small group of young women from Mount St Aloyisus College in Pennsylvania. We have been working on 2 hoses in WaveLand. One was a "re-build" that is nearly complete. We met the owner, who is excited about his new home and anxious to move out of the trailer where he has been living for the past 3 years. At this house we have been doing the final construction cleanup before he moves in. The second house where we are working is belongs to an elderly woman. We have been working on her kitchen. We've "sheet rocked", mudded, sanded in a small space that will be her kitichen. Both of the owners are hoping to have the work done by Christmas .... or at least have Christmas dinner in their homes.

This morning campers from Indiana U of Pennsylvania left after 3 days of work here. Tomorrow the Mount St. Aloyisus group will leave, so the St Stephen's group will be the only volunteers here and working. We hope to accomplish much that will help the homeowners ave a joyful Christmas.

Peace.
Pam

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

CCC - Tuesday

Hi all,

Today most of us were at the smith house, which is about 45 minutes ENE of our camp. The eye of the katrina passed over the site, and the couple's roof got ripped off. They have got about half of the house fixed up. We're working on finishing the final half, 2 bathrooms, a hall, and a bedroom. The sheetrock was already hung, but it needed sanded and some more mud. So that was most of monday. Today, we continued that and got most of it in primer. Others touched up paint in the living room. Tm we shd be able to get color on the walls, in addition to putting popcorn texture on the ceiling. Oh, and all the doors need painted too. Hopefully most of the house will be ready for cmas.

take care,
matt

Monday, December 15, 2008

From Camp Coast Care, Dec. 15, 2008 -- Monday

Thank You to those who came to see us off on Saturday morning! We drove to Brentwood, TN, south of Nashville on Saturday, and on into Mississippi on Sunday, arriving a Camp Coast Care about 5:30 pm, CST. We checked in, then went to the Lookout 49er Restaurant for supper, since they don't serve food here on weekends. The 49er is a local business in Gulfport, one that is recommended by the CCC staff. Most of our group had a local fish dish, and found it very tasteful and well prepared.

To those who sent tools and supplies to Long Beach with us, the Maintenance Foreman (who handles the tool shed operation) asked my to convey his Thank YOU! to the donors. Everything you sent will be used.

Today it is warm (70 degrees), cloudy and muggy. Most of the St Stephen's group is working on a house in Bay St. Louis, about 30 miles or so west of here. They are laying hardwood flooring and tile. Douglas and I are back at camp, on the Kitchen 'n Cleanup Crew. Other groups are here this week from Mount Aloyisus College in Central Pennsylavani and also Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Our total number of Volunteers this week is smaller than when we came in June, but enough people, mostly college students, to have a crew at each of 3 houses, so three households are being helped.

Those going to Bay St. Louis drove there along US Rte 90 (NOT I-90), which runs beside the beach from here to New Orleans. They will see a lot of devastated areas that have not yet begun to re-build. The estimate that we heard today is that a minimum 20% of Long Beach residents before the storm will never come back here to live. Developers are buying up the waterfront lots and building Very Expensive houses and condos that former residents can not afford to purchase.

In the neighborhood of CCC, not a lot of visible change since June, though a condo development a block or so north of the Camp which was under construction last summer now has the For Sale signs out. We drove along Rte. 10 east on the way to supper last night, but it was too dark to see much except the Casino and the Chiquita Banana port terminal.

More later from Long Beach MS.
Deacon Pam

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

This quarter I've been taking Comp. Studies 725 from Professor Hugh Urban, and if any of you are interested in the field of Religious Studies from a comparative perspective you should take this class or his undergraduate class. One Hugh is a great teacher. Two the material is fascinating. We have studied most of the primary religious theorists as well as topics such as feminism, sexuality, practice, environmentalism, fundamentalism, and terrorism as they exist in a religious context.

I have a paper due tomorrow, but when it is done I plan to post some excerpts from it here. I'm writing about the Medieval mystics and their practices. Hope you all find the material interesting.

Peace.. Joe