Today is the big day – Taco Day Dos. It's a day where community, charity, and gift collide to form a yearly excuse to be eat tacos with friends and strangers. This year, donations are being accepted to benefit Save The Family – a great local org we both have relationship with and admire. Below are some pictures taken this morning in anticipation of the chaos. If you can't make it over today, stop by www.tacodayaz.com late tonight or tomorrow for pictures and video of the festivities. If you can make it and need directions, find more info here.
I probably won't be blogging much this month. May is shaping up to be a busy and exciting month in the East Valley. I figured I'd take a moment and plug some of the things coming up this month that I'm am excited about:
Sat. May 12th – Taco Day Dos (the annual eat-all-the-tacos-you-can-eat event at the Newsome house) more info at http://www.tacodayaz.com
Thurs. May 17th – Sound in the Ground @ Mesa Arts Center (Foundarts is playing a role in this regular MAC event showcasing some local visual and performing artists) more info at http://www.myspace.com/soundintheground
Fri.May 18th – WindUp Gallery Opening Reception (Windup is a new gallery opening in downtown Mesa that defies the traditional, conservative art scene currently found in the Mesa arts district – I am stoked about their presence in the city and to support them as much as possible.) find out more at http://www.windupgallery.com
Sat. May 26th – May Symbol Collective (a gathering of east valley locals living collectively in the ways of Jesus, of community, of compassion, and of creativity) more info at http://www.symbolcommunities.org
Wed. May 30th – Communitas Network Event (a relational & conversational network of dreamers, thinkers, and cultural creatives centered around the future of the church, faith, and of justice in the Phoenix area – the theme for this event is "the gospel and social justice") more info at http://www.communitas.us/network
I just got word a bit ago that we raised the full $8000 amount to send the water purifiers to Ethiopia. Thanks to everyone that helped in some way to help us pull this project off!
I, along with many symbol folks, are participating in lent this year for the first time. We have come to love the idea of lent being a seasonal rhythm preparing us for Easter. For those of us from protestant backgrounds, we've talked about how this is new and unfamiliar territory for us. But we're excited. At our "40" gathering last night we shared some of thoughts of what we're planning on doing/giving up this lenten season. There was a lot of talk of slowing down, creating space for rest, and to be more mindful of our busyness. Personally, I am doing a couple of things: 1.) giving up caffeine 2.) creating intentional space to "create" (write, draw, photography, design, etc.) each day of lent. I will let you know how it goes.
UPDATE (2/27): I have been wrecked the past week with nagging headaches that grow as the day wears on. Caffeine withdrawal no doubt. The good news is that the creativity part is coming more naturally than expected. Just about every day I find myself discovering space to create without even trying. Encouraging.
So, I know this is late notice (it's not that big of a patio anyway), but for you locals who don't already have plans on Saturday night around 6:30pm, you must come over and hang around the new firepit on the new front patio with us. Rob and Ang will be in town so for sure the 4 of us will be breaking the patio in right. You don't need to bring anything (unless you don't like red wine, Guinness, or dos equis), but you can bring the kids if you got 'em (we'll make some s'mores). Leave a comment if you can make it.
This is probably a great time to thank Shawn and Zach for helping with the early stages of the patio.
In an attempt to deepen relationships with our neighbors, last Christmas Kelli and I decided to turn a small area of gravel in front of our house into a patio. We figured that if we were out front more often, it would give us more opportunity to catch up, be in touch with what's happening in the neighborhood, and maybe even help us meet neighbors we have yet to meet. I started the project a year ago committing to have a finished product by the end of the month. Wishful thinking. A year and a month later – it's done and the monkey is of my back. So far the intent of the patio is working – our next door neighbor shared tools with us (and even helped himself one Saturday), the neighbors on the other side let us borrow a trailer to haul some of the excess dirt away, and various neighbors have come over to see the finished product (two even came over when I rented a tile saw this week wondering what the awful noise was!) Anyway, it's done and in the last few months we decided to ditch the fountain that needed work for a propane firepit – a great move I think. Check out the before and after pictures below:
BTW: there's talk of a "patio party" next Saturday – details to come!
The faith community (it's really more of a community of communities) that has begun to emerge here in the East Valley finally has an online presence @ www.symbolcommunities.org. To help discover our identity together, we are tackling some exciting projects (which I will post about soon) and have scheduled a worship gathering (or collective) for Ash Wednesday entitled "40: a symbolic journey". We are unsure of what the future holds for us, but we are sure that sharing a common identity forged around a shared way of life (living a symbolic life) is the road we're on.
While in Northern Ireland last week, I had a chance to talk further with others who are a part of an emerging global community deemed,"The Symbol Society". While this society is in it's infancy stages (we've been accused of having a name and a logo and so were trying to form something logo-worthy around those pieces of identity), what is emerging from this conversation is a sharing in a common way of life – a symbolic one. This symbolic life attempts to as Kester has said recently, "… to point to something beyond ourselves. It is to live in hope, realizing that everything we do will have some ill effect somewhere, but believing that to keep raising symbols will, in some small way, have some greater impact at some unknown time in the future." I like Kester's definition of this symbolic life.
There is something wildy attractive to me about intentionally living in a way that points to an alternative, counter-cultural existence found in the kingdom of God. As symbols we will fail to fully represent what/who it is our actions point to, but at some point all symbols fail. After all, a symbol is not the thing it represents – it just communicates something about it. It is my hope that my existence (along with all those on this symbolic journey) will communicate well the beauty, the hope, the generosity, and the love that is central to the kingdom and the king we point to.
It is along these symbolic lines that a local community is beginning to take shape here in Phoenix. It is appropriately called, "symbol", or more formally, "the symbol communities".
Community life has been stretching recently, but no matter how challenging it gets to intentionally “share life” with others, I can’t stop smiling about how truly meaningful and fun it is. These pictures from a recent trip to the mountains with our faith community captures the beauty of it well I think.
The Alternative Arts Venue I am a part of here in the Phoenix-area, Foundarts, has started to build a network of artists, art-lovers, activists, musicians, and cultural-creatives.
If you would describe yourself in any of these ways (and even if you wouldn't), hit up the venue's new MySpace page and become a friend.
I, along with many 
