Geslosse

That's the German word for closed. Everything up here is closed. Turns out it's between seasons. This is one of the (if not the) biggest snow-skiing areas in the Swiss Alps, but ski season ended a week ago. Summer doesn't begin until June here. So most everything is geslosse.

So what do you do in the Alps when everything is closed? Hiking and eating. Mmm.

So, we'll post some amazing photos from the trip thus far in a moment.....

Confederation of Helvetia

We are in Switzerland. Wow. Just paid way too much for a fondue dinner, but it's snowing in the Alps.

We rode a lift up 1500 ft in 4 minutes from Lauterbrunnen to Gimmelwald. I cried I was so scared. God!

Can you believe that we have wifi at 7000 ft. in the Swiss Alps? In a rustic barn setting? What is going on here?

Ah...

For those attempting to follow us (like my mom), so sorry that I haven't been able to keep you up better. Internet really has been hard to come by or we have simply been out of time.

Okay. An update.

Just left the Cinque Terre this morning. God, what an amazing place. Really. Probably our favorite place yet. Stayed 2 nights in the town of Riomaggiore. When we go back with our little one, we'll stay in Corniglia...it's the birthplace of pesto. Mmm. So yummy. I had 4 meals of fresh pesto and fresh pasta in the last 4-5 days. So good.

We are passing through Florence, hoping to connect with a friend from the States [Craig and Lora read: Savannah] and then head off to Switzerland. First Montreux, then the panoramic train to Interlaken, up a lift to the town of Gimmelwald.

I just talked with the proprietor there and he says the weather is bad. No worries, I've always wanted to see the Alps, so we're there.

I'm hoping I'll get to ski either in the Swiss Alps or the Austrian Alps. We'll see.

The rest of our trip is not really planned out. We'll probably sketch a finer detailed map once we have a few days up in Switzerland. Perhaps we'll stay there an extended time or jet out quickly. Don't know.

Strangely we ran into some of Holly's work friends as we were leaving the Cinque Terre this morning. So strange. So strange.

Oh The Places We Will Go

So we left Paris a couple nights ago on a TRENHOTEL, headed to Barcelona. What a wonderful place...Barcelona. Paris was wonderful as well. The people were very warm. Much warmer than we had been warned. Now we're in Figueres, north of Barcelona, Dalí's hometown.

Tomorrow to Nice on the French Riviera, then the Cinque Terre.

Sorry these are so short, but internet is 1 Euro for each 15 minutes! Still looking for that Shangri-La of free wifi...

We made it...

So, we're in Brugge, Belguim. We made it into Amsterdam with almost no sleep from our time in the sky. Too much excitement perhaps? Or because we were just too tired to sleep?

Either way, we made it. And we are having a wonderful time thus far. Tomorrow we'll take off from Brugge and head into Paris and then on into Spain days later.

Okay. That's enough for now. More later...

Remember to keep up with us by checking out our itinerary.

Ciao!

Reflections on This Week

This has been a heavy week. I have had multiple (albeit small) emotional breakdowns.

It has been in part due to the preparation for leaving to Europe (tomorrow at the crack of dawn) and in part due to the amount of work we have been attempting to complete before leaving... but it has also been in part due to my ever increasing desire to understand how goodness is brought into our world, both in small (micro) and large (macro) ways... and how I cannot seem to draft up a single, simple answer for such a complex dilemma.

And alas, this has been my framework for most of my life. That for whatever kind of puzzle you got, you just stick the right formula in... a solution for everyone as the Indigo Girls sing. It's a hard thing to recover from.

My spiritual tracks, my neural paths, my very natural tendencies have been in a very long process of being dismantled and taken apart (whilst trying to hold them all in focus in a single glance)... and they just want to plant back down into a simple, consistent, cohesive understanding that allows for my own limitations, but explains how goodness is brought forth into the world.

And Bono says I'd join the movement if there was one that I could believe in... and I'd say the same.

This week has been all over the place for me emotionally, but it has birthed something new in me. I'm not quite sure of what it is... some blessing and burden, one and the same.

My friend Emma sent me this book entitled Deglobalization: Ideas for a New World Economy and wow, it's rocking all my ignorance I had regarding globalized capitalism and it's many implications.

And I just saw V is for Vendetta and I am still working through it's implications.

Are there no poets, writers, screenwriters, songwriters who can teach of this revolution that comes by way of peace and love and self-sacrifice and not violence overcoming violence?

I am thankful for the Wachowski brothers imaginative efforts... social prophets in our own time. But is this only means of revolution... of healing humanity... of truly allowing goodness to be cultivated in this world... through a violent overthrow?

And all this during a week I almost forgot about... the week of my Master's final days. And what does the cross have to say about this? Everything. That there is a narrative that we can choose to be a part of that denounces violence as a means of bringing shalom into our world. That it comes through our death (self-critique/sacrifice), not through our taking of lives that inhumane governments will be dismantled... And it comes from our own self-awareness in this whole story.

Pick up your cross and follow me... the price of social non-conformity, the symbol of non-violent revolution... that this peasant first-century Jew did not lose in his death on the cross. Rather, he started (or fulfilled or started-again) a movement that I hope will come to fuller fruition in my life.

So what does the cross mean to me this Easter weekend? That we are called to help midwife the Kingdom of God into our midst... and that we are called to this in the most self-sacrificial of ways (even unto our own death). That this message that was at the core of Jesus of Nazareth's teaching (ie. Re-imagine your life/world! The Kingdom of God is at hand) is only realized when humanity realizes that we might have more to do with this than we thought...

Shameful

I am a web developer and I just deleted my previous template. Shame, shame, shame..............

Smug-Alert!

If you haven't seen the South Park episode on Smug Hybrid drivers leaving their small town to move to San Francisco where everyone is like them, then you must download it from iTunes now and comment here about how our life is a joke and I should stop smelling my own farts. Just download the episode.

Here's an interesting article that references the episode.

Or Am I Just Passing Through?

The unexamined life is not worth living... - Socrates

The unexamined world is not worth living in... - Me, probably inadvertently quoting someone else

...or am I the next Socrates? Hmm?

Anniversaries and Such

Today is the 6-month anniversary of us leaving Southern California. It's also the first day of the 13th week of pregnancy (or so we're told). And tomorrow is our 5-year anniversary.

Hoorah! Congrats! Yippee!

So Ryan, do you feel much more resolved or mature or enlightened? Um. Maybe. Sort of. No, everything's much more complicated now. Not that it was simpler then. Perhaps I knew less then and it made things seem simpler.

Well, do you miss those days or love these days? I'd never return to ignorance or apathy...or at least I don't want to. I love these days, but I am looking forward to having my own bed back (or at least have the bed that Craig and Lora offer us...are you still offering it, our true family :) ?) and I am looking to unwind from all these conversations. I feel a bit talked out...not that I haven't loved it...but that which is life-giving can turn out to be life-taking at some point.

Do you feel like you've arrived at a better place? Personally? Um, I don't know. I realized just how fine a line of idealist and asshole I walk daily. I often err on the side of the latter, valuing ideas over people, ideals over possibilities...but I'm trying to use that self-realization to propel forward. I feel like we've been on input mode for 6 months...and I hope that doesn't change...but I hope I can spend the next 6 months implementing and reflecting. I've realized that life is more cyclical than linear...so hopefully we'll never stop 'pilgrimaging'.

What do you regret? Wow. Uh, I think like what I said above...that I sometimes value ideas over people. And me doing that is as dangerous as people valuing 'western democracy' over iraqi/afghani people, you know? So, I've again turned out to be the world's biggest hypocrite.

What's ahead? Europe. A kid. San Francisco.

San Francisco? Yah. San Francisco. We've decided that we'd like to move there in July or August. Have the baby there and spend the next year or so in the City. We've several friends in the SF-Oakland Bay Area and I think we'll be able to get some traction behind some of these ideas we've been talking about.

Anything else? Well, I guess I am just so thankful for the people who have made our trip possible...those who have valued our music, our stories, our life. Those who have shared, those who have asked us to share, those who have offered wisdom, guidance... and those who have simply been our friends along the way. This has been an incredible trip...really.

So you sound like the trip's over? Well, no. Just this leg is ending this week. Back to CA and then Europe. Then we come back in May and do one last big loop across the US to see friends and family and be a part of some cool get-togethers like the Emergent dealio in MN and the PAPA Festival in Eastern Tennessee. Those should be cool. And then San Francisco. But the pilgrimage is never over...

Living off the Kindness of Acquaintances

The last week or so has been spent throughout the beautiful NorthWest. Oregon and Washington have always been states that Holly and I've had love affairs with. Whilst we seem to be faithful to California, if ever we were to cheat, it would be with the NorthWest we-thinks.

Last week, we (along with my sister who has documented the trip) were put up by the Burnett family in Woodinville, on the northeast side of Lake Washington. Then we moved over a little ways west to stay with the Lewis family. What kind people...hardly knowing us and opening their homes and cupboards to us. And now their essentially family.

We have decided that we resonate with Portland a bit more than Seattle. Seattle sure seems like it's grown up a bit, while Portland still has a raw-ness that we really vibed with. Perhaps not now, but someday we'll live here...almost for certain.

Again...

The Cobalt Season is again doing a live radio show and you can stream it live here. It's at 4pm PST if you're around. I know it's on the iTunes radio list. KAOS is the name of the station. It's based out of Olympia, WA.

Perhaps you could call in or email a song request? (360-867-KAOS) That would give the impression that there are people out there who actually like and vibe with our music... :)

Okay. Information has been disseminated.

Mmm.

So the way we have kept healthy along our last 6 months on the road has been with this book...

Wow. It has made our trip amazing as it has pointed us to several mom-and-pop healthy food options along the way.

You know, there was a time when I could not imagine being on the road and eating healthy. Now I know there are several cool options...and it has put us in touch with some of the 'cool' cultural centers of each city we're in.

Ashdown's New Album

Jasen Ashdown has a new album on its way out. I should know... I produced it. And it's good. Thoughtful contemplative songs for the Lenten season. All adaptations from ancient prayers/poems.

You can go to his Myspace page to check out pre-mastered 'demos' of the new songs.

It was a fun project to work on...definitely his best work yet as a songwriter. Check out his stuff and tell him he should write more songs.

The Cobalt Season Interview on the Radio!

Hey. So wanted to let you know that if you click here, it will (or at least should) launch iTunes for a streaming of KMUN, an Astoria-based radio station that Holly and I will be on this evening.

The show starts at 9pm PST and lasts an hour. We'll be playing some tunes and trying to get her to spin some of our friend's discs as well.

Check it out. It streams live...

The War Project: 9 Acts of Determination

Went and saw this play last night. Wow. Unbelievable. If you are in the Portland area, please come down and see this play. It will rock your concrete thoughts on war and death.

From their website...

Sojourn Theatre's The War Project: 9 Acts of Determination is a partially interview-based, poetic investigation of democracy and the most significant choice we make as a citizenry.

Watch seven performers fight for the soul of democracy as debate collides with ethical hand-to-hand combat in a winner-take-all spectacle of truly intimate proportions. Join us as Sojourn Theatre concludes a year of research, road trips, and theatrical investigations with an exploration of the question: How, as a nation, do we decide what to kill and die for?

And a note from the director...

This is not a show with no point of view.

It has a point of view –

killing and dying are less desirable than desirable,

and

war is not simply a magic event conjured upon the masses by outside forces beyond our control.

It is a part of the world we inhabit...part of the world we make.

How do we engage our ethical muscle in moments of societal choice?

Precisely my question as well...

Oh The Places We Will Go

We are in Portland, Oregon right now. What a wonderful city. Wow. We're in Oregon for another 4-5 days and then we're up into Washington. We have a few shows lined up for both states over the next couple weeks. So if you're around, come check us out or let's hook up for drinks or something. Like the show Monday night at Red and Black Café with Jeff Wetherell. Should be great.

We're getting pretty excited about our upcoming Europe trip. It's something we have wanted to do for some time. Pretty cool that on our 5th anniversary we can do something like this.

I have created a web page that charts where we'll be and what we'll be doing. If you are interested in such a thing, check it out here. I am constantly updating it as we plan and gather resources. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Life Emerging From the Road

Holly and I found out a little while ago that we are pregnant. 11 weeks pregnant today. Pretty exciting.

Just went in for our first midwife appointment a couple weeks ago. Got our first picture.

Meet the newest member of the Sharp family.



So, due date is October 12th. A fitting time for us as fall has always been our time of transition. We're very excited...very excited.

This is life that was birthed out of our pilgrimage...that's the coolest thing. All the ideas/dreams/visions for a different way of living that were planted in us along the way have produced life. Wow.

More on the Family Metaphor Regarding Politics and Society

Props to my buddy Jay for pointing this article out to me. The writer goes on to make the point that we understand complex systems (like say politics and society) via metaphor. And the metaphor given to politics and society is a familial one...

From the Rockridge Institute website... In American culture there are two opposed and idealized models of the family, the Nurturant Parent model and the Strict Father model. The metaphor of the Nation as a Family maps the values and relationships from those family models onto our politics, creating 'liberal' and 'conservative' political positions that we understand through our models of family structure.

It's a fascinating short read.

Loyalty to Authority

Rick didn't write this, but he found it, so I'm giving him props. Interesting stuff man.

The key element that binds Christianism with Bush Republicanism is fealty to patriarchal leadership. That's the institutional structure of the churches that are now the Republican base; and it's only natural that the fundamentalist psyche, which is rooted in obedience and reverence for the inerrant pastor, should be transferred to the presidency. That's why I think Bush's ratings won't go much below 25 percent; because 25 percent is about the proportion of the electorate that is fundamentalist andsupports Bush for religious rather than political reasons. They are immune to empirical argument, because their thought-structure is not empirical; it is dogmatic. If the facts overwhelm them, they will simply argue that the 'liberal media' is lying. Bruce poignantly thinks the GOP is still the secular, empirical, skeptical party it once was. It's not: it's a fundamentalist church with some huge bribes for business interests on the side, leveraged by massive debts. So all criticism is disloyalty; and disloyalty is heresy. The facts don't matter. Obey the pastor. Or be damned.