We're making a play!

www.roomproject.org
This project is a huge part of my life for the first half of 2008. Four weeks from now, we will be performing our as-of-yet unnamed and yet-to-be fleshed out play that we have been playing with and creating since January. It's like a skeleton of a play right now. We had a fundraiser last Wednesday night which I performed at, and we raised over $2400 dollars! So exciting!

April snow?

What the heck? There's been snow and hail and sleet off and on for the past three days around here. 15 days ago it was 75 degrees and sunny. Granted, that one was kind of a fluke but it was still nice. Made me realize that I'd kind of forgotten what it's like walk around with my bare arms in contact with the sun and the breeze, to not have on a sweater and yet not be cold. Warm weather in Seattle is always a fleeting pleasure, the persistent dreary chilliness of the winter makes you really appreciate the sun when it does come out. The beautiful sweeping views of the mountains, thankfully, are not as elusive as the warm weather, and that really helps the doldrums from setting in. Another thing I've found is to make sure to get outside as much as possible regardless of what the weather's like. If you wait for a nice day to go for a walk, you'll be inside for months. And truthfully, the rain isn't even all that bad, it's just that it's gray, cool, and moist for many months of the year. Rain here is nothing like, say Midwest rain; we don't really have thunderstorms very often. Mostly it's a drizzle that makes you feel like you're covered in a wet blanket. But that blanket analogy makes me feel somewhat comforted during dreariest parts of the year, feeling like you're covered up in a protective blanket of clouds is a better way of looking at it than feeling like you're being oppressed by the dark sky.
Well, there is no sign of this coldness letting up anytime soon so send some sunny love my way!

Seeds of Compassion

This weekend, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is in Seattle for a 5-day event called "Seeds of Compassion". The event is described in the press release as follows: "Seeds of Compassion is an initiative to bring world attention to the importance of nurturing kindness and compassion beginning with children and extending to all who touch their lives. Seeds of Compassion came about through a collaboration of the Kirlin Charitable Foundation and Lama Tenzin Dhonden, the Personal Emissary of Peace for the Dalai Lama, to create and sustain a global compassion movement."
More than 150,000 people have obtained tickets for the events this weekend, and I am one of them. Children's Hospital obtained several hundred free tickets for their employees, so Ethan and I will be going to hear the Dalai Lama speak on Saturday and Sunday, Saturday being a major event at Qwest Field and Sunday is a private forum discussion with the Dalai Lama and moderators. The tickets for Sunday were obtained through close friend who thought of us as people who should be there. I feel honored to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share space with the Dalai Lama! I am very excited. Security is tight, we are not allowed to bring anything, even water bottles, and that included cameras, so no memorial pictures will be taken of this blessed event unfortunately. But I suppose that is probably for the better anyway, this seems to be something that should be held in our hearts.
Much more going on in my life, perhaps there will be more time for another update soon. Much love to you all!