the tat

I delayed this post out of respect for the much more important events going on in Brent's life--being ordained into the sacred order of deacons in the one holy catholic and apostolic church is really a very big deal.

But now that that's done and properly celebrated...

me at Hand of Glory tattoo parlour in Brooklyn. That's right, just like Harry Potter.

done! and saran-wrapped for freshness.

(now all I need is a pedicure.)

Perhaps at some point I will comment about why a tattoo at this point in my life when I'm obviously way too old for such things, and what this particular tattoo means. But I am kind of worn out from having this conversation over and over with Brent, who really really really dislikes tattoos and was pretty darn unhappy with my decision to get one. (But, as he said after I came home, deed done, "it's permanent so I guess I better start getting over it.")

But for now I just want to say thanks to Casey, who apparently esteems me enough that she was not dismayed that I wanted to share her tattoo--same pic, same place and everything. And so over and above anything the dove symbol means on its own, it is also about communal shared meaning rather than private idiosyncratic self-decoration. And that is beautiful.

Hi everyone,

Clare and I didn't make it to the MS walk a few weeks back, and I don't think many of you made it over to the donation page for CCfB's team either. Shame on all of us, really.

So here's a chance to redeem ourselves. Clare and I have signed up as part of CCfB's team for the AIDS Walk, which is this coming Sunday, May 20. Now, I'll be straight with you all: we probably won't be doing any actual walking [update: actually, we are planning on doing this and skipping church later]. First off, Clare--despite amazingly rapid progress over the last 3 days--is still a novice at the upright mobility thing. Plus, she has no shoes, which is fine at home and on grass but probably not so great on NYC sidewalks. But more of an obstacle is the fact that we really have no way of getting to NYC in time to join in the walking. But Casey assures me that we should sign up anyway, so we have. Check it out. And don't miss Clare's page.

So, look. I don't have a fundraising goal for myself. But Clare's goal is a modest $25. Don't break her teensy little innocent heart.

She consulted me on this, what her fundraising goal should be, and I figured, well, it shouldn't be more than we'd be willing to give ourselves. So we have. Just in case you were wondering. And believe me, that $25 was like the widow's two mites around here, so dig into those deep pockets, wealthy employed readers, and make Clare's day by helping her help people. Even though she can't walk.