Back for the Attack

Alive & Well
Well, dear friends, I've returned safely from the land of funny toilets and canned Herring in tomato sauce. Yes, that's right ... Europa.
It was a thrilling 3 weeks, to say the least. Full of life, legumes, and yes, even love.
I travelled with Richard Murdoch's family (sans Richard, oddly enough) along with a significant amount of other Canadians.
I'll give you a basic rundown on some of the experiences, but I won't go TOO far into detail, because this would take FOREVER.

Rome
The trip began in Rome. Pastagelatovino goodness ensued. 'Nuff said.
Strangely enough, I ran into two Knights of the Holy Queen, Michael and Sunny (aka Reuben) when I was in St. Maria Magiore church. Now how fitting is that that 3 guys with devotions to Our Blessed Mother should meet up in her church in Rome? Pretty awesome.

Medjugorje / Bosnia-Hercegovina
After Italy we took a ferry across from Italy to Split, Croatia and bussed down to Medjugorje from there. There I was able to just soak in the peace of that place and talked with a priest about my vocation. This somewhat centered the entire trip for me and really brought its purpose to focus. I was in Europe to draw closer to the Lord and figure out which path (be it priesthood or marriage or something else) I am supposed to follow.
As mentioned before I met up with my two friends (more or less) from that area, and went to Maja's house in the city of Mostar. There I had one of the best meals of my trip. Maja's family lives in the city, but they still have an enormous garden on the hill behind their house, I mean, we're talking rows and rows of fruits and vegetables. So, everything we ate that night, from the potato and pork stew to the tomato and cucumber salad to the roasted peppers to the amazing "cibatta style" bread to the thick strips of bacon and sausage to the white wine was all from her garden / livestock. Oh man. To die for.

Köln
The next stop was the last one. The beautiful city of Köln, Germany. Here it was a whirlwind of crowds, bikes, and modern catholic cultrue manifest through youth. Weltjugendtag. At times it was absolute mania. The metro system was nuts. By the end of the week, Kenny (Richard's brother and I) had pretty much given up riding the metro and took to napping under trees instead.
Example:
GROUP MEMBER: "Hey the pope is going to drive thru downtown today, let's go."
DAN & KENNY: "Yeahhh ... I think we're just going to stay in this 1/2 KM radius."
Ah yes, but here in this city is where I, dear readers found love. I'm not ashamed to tell you, but I would prefer to tell the story to anyone personally rather then cheapen it by posting it on some online journal.
But you heard me right ... love.

So that is more or less the summation of the trip. I wrote many songs along the way (mostly co-written with the magnificent Hrvoje ... which sounds strangely like some Croatian magician) that hopefully some of you will hear. Also, Kenny and I decided to do a "multi-track" by mail album that will hopefully ... well ... happen ... and again, you will hopefully hear.
Tata, dear ones.

P.S. Sorry about the lack of linkage but my computer is acting up like a teething child.

Greetings

Hello friends, I am blogging from Bosnia-Hercegovina with only 8 minutes left on my prepaid internet thing. So this is just a quick "Hello and Stay Tuned." I can only imagine that "Fart Faced Turd Bird" is Eddie. Hahaha.
Any way, things are happening, friends ... good things. I am going right now to see my friend Maja from Mostar and my friend Aleksandra from Crnoj Gori. I already saw Jelena here in Međugorje (who I think some of you know). Good times.
Hvala Bogul je petak! Vidimose.

False Alarm

So, I guess my Uncle Harry wont be getting the transplant yet. I woke up this morning and saw this note from Clare.
Please continue to pray. Thanks!
Love,
Dan

Blahhhg

Inspiring Bathroom Reading
While I was on "the throne" at Aidan's house, I was reading some Rainer Maria Rilke that he had in the bathroom. It was great, so I decide to go pick some up at the library. Here's something from "Selected Poetry":

Imaginary Career
At first a childhood, limitless and free
of any goals. Ah, sweet unconsciousness.
Then sudden terror, schoolrooms, slavery,
the plunge into temptation and deep loss.

Defiance. The child bent becomes the bender,
inflicts on others what he once went through.
Loved, feared, rescuer, wrestler, victor,
he takes his vengeance, blow by blow.

And now in vast, cold, empty space, alone.
Yet hidden deep within the grown-up heart,
a longing for the first world, the ancient one...

Then, from His place of ambush, God leapt out.

Eh? Eh?

Holy Moses!
Tonight was a very strange night. First, I picked up a 6 of Great Lakes' White Ale called "Holy Moses". It is is an ever-so-tasty beer honoring Moses Cleaveland, the man who founded the city of Cleveland (and who just so happens to be an ancestor of mine!). I then fell asleep at 5:00pm, woke up at 7:00, ate dinner, fell back asleep at 8:30, was awakened at 9:45 by a phone call from the great Tim Hurley (who may soon join the blogging world!), then decided that now would be a good time to blog. I feel very ... discombobulated.

Postcard Plays Online
A couple of years ago, I did something with my friend Aurora called the Postcard Plays. It was a month long project where 6 writers wrote 1 play the size of a postcard, each day, for 30 days. Everyone would send them to Aurora and she would resend them to the other writers so everyone could read each other's work.
WELL! ...
My friend Ja called me today and proposed that we start them up again only this time it is an ongoing project open to anyone, and when we receive the postcards in the mail, we will then post them on to a "Postcard Play Blog" so that everyone can see they're (and everyone else's) plays. Great, huh? I'll keep y'all posted.

Today in the Life of Uncle Harry
I have potentially great news. The prayers have almost completely paid off. Today they found a liver for Uncle Harry. After months of waiting for this transplant, he finally will be able to go thru with the surgery. However, I ask you to continue to pray for him as it will be difficult for him to get thru the transplant in his current health conditions. Thank you, friends.