Here’s an excerpt:

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Let’s spend a couple minutes thinking more about this…

What is Heaven going look like for us?

We have heard some crazy stuff…

Kum-by-ya…on repeat…

Harps…tambourines…given to all

Think about it…

How terrible would that sound?

Halos…wings…

Surely we all get a set

Clouds that have all the characteristics of a trampoline

I am not sure where those ideas originated…

But they did not originate in the consistent application of scripture…

Songs come and they go. An idea is just a flicker of something beyond you, and then it’s gone. The game is catching it - very similar to a child catching a lightning bug…it’s not impressive that you write something in an instant, that you produce a work in a very short amount of time; it’s necessary. The idea presents itself like a deer in your headlights, but instead of avoiding it, recoiling yourself, you pursue it, you throw yourself into it…you catch it, you have something. If you don’t, you don’t. The great composer Hector Berlioz articulated it so well – “Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down.” Writing songs, composing, it’s really just a kid catching lightning bugs, a kid digging in a sandbox. Then comes craft.        –John Coker

To be honest we don’t hear a lot in scripture…

But what we do hear…is absolutely amazing…

The picture pointed to…both here and elsewhere…

Is back to the original creation

And the original purpose of man…

Creation, including man…

Displays the glory of God.

I do not have a consistent set-in-stone method or procedure. Some days I just get overwhelmed from deep inside me to draw or paint.  Sometimes it’s just for a few minutes, an hour or two; in my younger years I’ve even been known to paint around the clock. I did so without true awareness of the time. I just had to get it out on the canvas or paper. It just was inside me and I had to try and express what I saw in my “mind’s eye” or felt deep in my soul, my memory.

Man was

Created for fellowship with God

Created to reign with God

Created to rule with God

Created to work…tend…care for…God’s creation

Created to create…

I would and still do see something that so moves the artistic bend in me that I have to do some sketches or a watercolor and catch what I see, what I feel. Sometimes I can only take a photo of it or sketch it out on any available paper even on receipts with a ballpoint pen. But the real process starts when I wander and look and see, really see the shapes, hues, value tones. I feel the energy of a wave coming onto shore, the wind rustling the aspen leaves, the alertness of the cow lifting her head with a watchful eye; I observe and soak in the view. I become part of that scene.  With pencil I will quickly sketch out the scene trying hard to catch the energy, the life, or in some cases the quietness.  I will do more than one sketch; some for value tones, some for composition, and some with detail of a certain object or area where I really like what’s going on. I will have more than one study of what I feel will make a good focal point of my future finished drawing or painting. I also jot notes about the hues, specific colors to use, the light direction, and any thoughts, inspirations that have popped into my mind at the time in a sketch. If I had planned this paint trip as a plein air I will have watercolors and pad and do quick watercolor.  If I have a camera I will take photos. But I mostly like to rely upon my sketches and visual memory.

In my studio I like to get my mind off everything else. I start by getting out the media I plan to use, whether it is drawing with pencils, pen and ink, watercolors or oils.  I make sure I have more than one canvas, stretched watercolor paper or type of surface to work on; usually it’s at least three. I put out brushes, easels, media I will use; if paint, I lay out the tubes where I can easily get to them. I set up my palettes like paper or canvas always more than one. Why? Just in case I suddenly get inspired to do something different or also if things aren’t going well I can move to another painting surface for later. Sometimes a later look changes my view of it. Next I try to get my mental and emotional state in a creative mood if it’s not already.  I lean toward Vivaldi, Grieg, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. It’s 90% of the time classical music. As I listen I pull out both pencil and watercolor sketches, also photos if I have then. I take a sheet of paper and will make a value tone composition of what I want to paint.

These inform us to the nature and purpose

Of the this final creation

And final purpose of man

Created for fellowship with God

Created to reign with God

Created to rule with God

Created to work…tend…care for…God’s creation

Created to create…

When painting, I decide on my focal point and where it is to be placed on the surface. I decide the mood and values I want. I lay in my undertones in large brush strokes. If watercolors, I decide what areas to do wet in wet, dry brush, etc. I always work on two watercolor paintings at a time so that I don’t, in my impetuousness, ruin the painting.  I lay in the areas of hues, using washes, then as areas dry on one surface I start the finishing process with details. I step back at least three feet from my easel during the painting process to get a better perspective of what I am doing. Many times I will even put the painting across the room or under different lighting to see if it’s progressing how I want it. I often turn it upside down to help me see if my composition and value balance is what I consider correct. I try to be a part of the work. When I come to the point where it’s finished or I know I need to quit as I might overwork it, I clean up brushes, palettes, etc. then sit down to study the picture. Once more I critique the ones I left partially finished and just consider what I did and what I could do different. I am usually exhausted but have that good peaceful feeling.          –Linda Krumel

Working as God intended…

Without the “futility” brought by sin

The curse will be reversed!

The first place we get stuck is identification with the body. The dancer is really “playing” the body as a musical instrument by manipulating energies to express ideas. For the most part, the body is usually a disappointing tool for the limitless realms that are going on in the dancer’s mind. When the vessel is empty, the Spirit enters. Most of us are double- or even triple- minded, looking in one direction with the mind and really meaning something else. When you witness someone who is single-minded, it is very powerful. The dancer has to be single-focused in action.

At the dance studio, there is a daily examination of what the purpose of being there is, the understanding of the body in its relation to the mind and the soul, the origins of form and their meaning, and what uniqueness we are bringing to art.         –Alonzo King

Adam and Eve were placed in the garden not only to enjoy it

They were to take care of it as their service to God.

This was an act of worship…

Would not our role in the new creation be similar?

Enjoying the gift of God…

To fly, that’s one of the greatest dreams of all…  I’ve always been a builder, even when I was young.  And I’ve always enjoyed airplanes.  I took ground school as a high school elective.  As a young man I remember sitting at a friend’s house saying to build an airplane – that would be the ultimate project.  A little later I learned that there were people who actually did that and they were part of what’s called experimental aviation, and that it’s legitimately advocated by the FAA.  I even helped make some parts for a friend who was building a Thorp T-18 before I knew what it was. But after some careful searching and comparison of all sorts of plans I decided that’s the one I’d choose if I’d ever build one.  My criteria: sporty, all metal, two-place, low wing, good performance, and no dependence on factory supplied parts.  From a safety standpoint it had to be a well proven design and have a helpful group of fellow builders.

And taking care of it…

A major difference being that

All of our lives will be oriented toward God

Not distracted with the orientation toward self…

John Thorp offered me time in his shop where guys would work and share tools and get advice.  By the time I came along that was all history, but that’s the start of my ‘project’.  I had a fuselage skin that came from the template used in the Thorp shop.  By this time I was totally hooked.  The typical recommendation is to try something small, like ailerons, and get a feel for how you like it.  But I didn’t have to; I worked around machine shop all my life.  Although I had no clue on the time commitment, I jumped in head-first and started with the biggest part.

Having the joy of using our talents and gifts eternally…

The T-18 set of plans is exceptional: well drawn, clear to read, very accurate.  Only a few errors exist and they’ve been documented.  Materials are clearly specified and drawings show both preceding and succeeding parts and assemblies.  Finishes, tolerances, and heat treatments are also specified where necessary.  Most important beyond that is the help provided by the ‘Mutual Aid Society’, a group of Thorp builders who support each other and contribute to a quarterly newsletter.  Every topic has been covered more than once.  There have been many how-to’s, suggestions, and lessons learned shared in the group.  To date, there have been over 144 newsletters, and an estimated 700 aircraft have been built over a period of many years.  John Thorp is a legendary figure in aircraft design.  The T-18 has a proven track record, with a permanent place in the history of the experimental aircraft movement.  I’m confident that this project, when complete, encompasses a very safe, well understood design.         –Les Krumel

I really like building stuff…and I am good at it…

What about you…now imagine that…

Without futility

Without pain

Without money and the concerns of it

Not worrying about job security

And having a perfect boss…God

In writing lyrics, occasionally I’m inspired by ideas I hear from conversation. Either ones I overhear or ones I’m actively engaged in. Sometimes there’s a certain phrasing of the idea that seems to stand out from the rest of the conversation. And if it’s a phrasing that really strikes my fancy, I’ll steal it outright. But more often than not it needs a little modification. That phrasing, that becomes a lyric, won’t fit in the rhythm unless its syllables fall on the right accent.      –Matthew Greco

In our labor…God will be worshipped!

What if heaven for most of us follows a similar pattern as earth.

We work for 6 days

We get together on the 7^th

For worship and rest and a huge party

Christmas and Easter all rolled up into one eternal joy.

In a sense, my method for writing is a constant relay between creativity and calculation. Creativity, for me, often has to begin at the climax—at the point where everything must move toward—and spread outward from that point. I frequently get the initial concept for this heart of the story via a spark of imagery. This grows into a concept, which then becomes a theme. That theme dictates the plot while simultaneously molding the essential characters. Then, once these concepts are gathered, creativity gives way to structure, the deliberation of intricate details. Once this framing is in place, creativity is free to take over again, to give the now three-dimensional story color and life, though calculation will undoubtedly come into play again and again throughout the project.   –Meagan Briggs

N.T. Wright puts it this way:

–Adam Mihm

compiled by Rebecca Krumel

I am so grateful for the experience dancing and choreographing at the university. I wish I had latched onto the opportunity to be involved in choreograph and be involved in the student showcase before my last two years in college so I could have experienced more. I’m really grateful for Thaddeus’ inspiration and input to push the program further. The two choreography classes I took made my whole college career worthwhile because they opened up doors I hadn’t considered possible before. I can choreograph? I distrusted myself with choreographing before, which is absurd, because it comes so naturally and I have wanted to create dances since I was 4 years old. In elementary school and middle school I used to choreograph my own pieces for talent shows (and choreographed on my little sister too, however unwillingly). That was before I began to study ballet seriously and was told to put creativity in the dance studio away. I have come a long way since then, but I had to rediscover that childlike creativity and embrace it.

Our conversations in the studio open my mind and challenge my way of thinking about dance, life, the creative process, or all of the above. I was given new food for thought or a project that I was I was excited about doing each time I came to class. I was inspired to go out and create, which is the best gift an instructor in the arts can give his student. When I came here four years ago I wanted to have a place to safely continue dancing ballet, to stay in shape, I thought, and that’s what I got – the first year. The second year I left to pursue different endeavors, but I rediscovered my passion for dancing instead. Back at USC I had the opportunity to experience more depth to what dance could mean for me. This is partly because I came back and sought out opportunities and grasped them, but also because new faculty made opportunities to expand our dance education and experience available to us.

The university offered me a place to explore in dance that I wouldn’t have considered seriously for myself before. Within the small circle of our class, we were encouraged to experiment with movement (and multimedia) and push the bounds of our creativity that I might not have otherwise. In the university setting, we have a safety net to try and fail, to fall and get up, to explore alternatives. We have the availability of places to perform in different venues on campus, to collaborate with artists from the other schools. I can, and want to continue to create outside of college, but it’s going to be a lot harder, and have to be even more intentional. I want to seize all the opportunities I can while I am here.

I hope the future classes of dance majors at USC are pushed to explore their creativity and limits from their inception into the program. I hope their creative minds are engaged. Mine was, but it had to be wrestled or drawn out of me. It has been there the entire time, but has been dormant. It was saying, do you remember me? Do you remember how I used to come out and dance around and you didn’t care what it looked like? Now that I have the technical basis I dance and have been exposed to other philosophies, academia, and life experiences that can inform my creativity, I believe I have potential to create interesting things that are meaningful and not haphazard.

Reflection for the Creative Process and My Project “XIV”:

It’s interesting to look back and see all the pieces I had that went into creation of this piece of choreography. As part of Thaddeus’ class, it became an entire project. I was prepared to choreograph and incorporate dancers and even a musician, but I had never worked with multimedia in a dance before. That added a whole new aspect to my learning experience. The parameters for our project were minimal: it had to be 10 minutes in length, use a prop that was essential to the movement, and incorporate our work in class.

The music was the easy part. I already had a song by the Sons of Korah that I wanted to use. It was entitled Psalm 14a because it was based off the beginning of the Psalm. It had kind of a world-music feel to it, and was dark and brooding, with a deep-throated voice that started near the middle of the piece which broke into an elevated chant at the end: “The fool says there is no God…” Only the first three verses of the Psalm were sung. Naturally, I read the Psalm, over and over. I was struck that there was much more going on in the Psalm than the morose message the Sons of Korah piece focused on. As I searched for music or sound that would complement it to make a 10 minute piece, I considered using the sounds of a thunderstorm or clapping rather than music. No other piece of music could be put alongside that. The only thing that I found that might complement the Sons of Korah piece were some instrumental metal pieces by Apocalyptica. I mentioned it to my friend Jay one day, and casually asked if he could play anything like Apocalyptica, to which he replied, “of course”. The conversation that initiated our collaboration began.

My friend John (Jay) Coker had been home for nearly a year due to medical complications from an injury to his optic nerve from intense stage lights (why he has to wear sunglasses everywhere) that kept him one semester away from finishing his Masters in Bass Performance at Peabody Conservatory in Maryland. He will return this spring, but this fall was an opportunity that I was grateful to grasp while he was in Columbia. I had written down words and concepts from reading Psalm 14 and from listening to the song that I thought would inspire my choreography, and I shared these with Jay. He was really excited about the themes of thunder and lightning, because, he said, the bass is the perfect instrument to create that. He composed a piece of music for me – using inspiration from the Psalm, basically overnight. We exchanged numerous emails and met to make changes way before I auditioned my dancers. Together we tweaked it to be 10 minutes in length, with three distinct sections for the dance I was to choreograph. I told him I needed to map out the composition so I had something to work from. I adapted his “themes” and “grooves” and he adapted to need for distinct cut offs and dynamics in the music. We continued to converse and change the composition after I began rehearsals. For the most part, I worked off a recording so I could listen to it over and over again.

I used the phrases Thaddeus had us create and videotape, then morphed them using the manipulations we learned in Choreography I such as retrograde, doing them the movement just to the right or left, putting the movement of the legs into my arms or arms for legs, doing only the right side or only the left, repeating it, putting the phrase on the floor. It was easy to come up with dance and transitions and patterns I could see in my head as I listened to the music. I decided to challenge myself by creating some movement phrases without music and then seeing where they would fit into the dance, if they worked with the music or contrasted it. A lot of the movement I created was not typical of my style and did not look like ballet, or contemporary dance.

The phrase I originally created with a roll of toilet paper evolved into a solo for one girl with a longer piece of fabric – resembling a rope, and a hanging. The toilet paper evolved into a long piece of fabric nearly as wide as the stage. I made a make-shift one by cutting up several old sheets into strips and stapling the ends together. Later I decided I wanted two, so I cut up two sheets of the same color into three pieces each and sewed them together. There was so much I could do with these props! I had to choose which to incorporate into the dance. With the availability of dancers and time, and the pressure to get something put together for the student showcase, I ended up using those ideas that were most easily transferable to my dancers. One of my dancers was especially willing to work with the sheet and experiment with the”hanging” with the sheet. That was the most interesting part of the dance for me, not only because it was the embryo of the piece, but because she was interested in making it work as much as I was.

Once I got the dancers into the room, I was limited by how much they could grasp my ideas, but also inspired to keep some of the things they did. I got 7 dancers out of 12 I asked, then added one more to make 8. They were all different styles of dancers, different levels of experience, ad different sizes, which was a challenge in itself, but it made the piece that much more interesting. I told them my background ideas for the piece, that it was based on the Psalm, and my concepts of thunder storms and lightning. I often would use them as “guinea pigs” to create a shape or pattern. Sometimes it worked how I wanted it to, sometimes not at all. Sometimes the dancers helped me to create something entirely new. I encouraged their input and frequently asked them how we could get into such and such a position or pattern, or how they could make this lift or transition easier. Sometime their input made things too easy, however. I wanted to see struggle, tension, and constraint at certain times to convey the message of the music or my theme.

With time constraints on mine and my dancers’ busy schedules, we could only meet once or twice a week for an hour to an hour and a half late at night. Often I would bring a phrase for them to learn, some ideas I had, and see what worked. I tried to come prepared to teach them the material because I knew they would appreciate that consideration of their time, but I would rather work actively with them, creating as we go. I was unable to finish the dance in time for the second adjudication for the student showcase, and it was not chosen to be performed. Also, I told the panel that I was more interested in the creative process than putting something on stage, probably another factor that led to it not being chosen to be performed. I felt bad for my dancers who committed so much time to it, so I vowed to make an opportunity for them to perform it this semester. At the student showcase I learned a lot about composition and projection from watching my peers’ pieces on stage, and I am somewhat relieved I didn’t have to rush through the process and could leave “XIV” somewhat unfinished, with potential to come back to it with fresh eyes in the future.

Other challenges I faced besides limited time and coordinating the dancers’ schedules were the dancers’ commitment to the movement or ideas I presented, and their adaptability. Although we are all students, I expected them to act on a professional level. About half of them did. I like to give those who have not performed with USC Dance company an opportunity to perform, but I will probably be more choosy about who I pick in the future because it is for my learning experience and final product too. I never second-guessed my musicality until a couple of the dancers asked me for specific counts. It was good for me to consider if I needed to count the music, how to count the music, and how to clearly communicate the musical cues to my dancers if I chose not to count the music. I consulted Jay again, who confirmed the counts were too complicated to count, and came to the next rehearsal prepared to explain how I had all the movement mapped out with the music. I asked Jay to come to our next rehearsal t play the different “grooves”, “themes” and “chants” for my dancers, and he played live for rehearsal from then on as often as possible. I was challenged to consider my musicality, if I was on the music, what being on the music or dancing with the music meant, and how to clearly articulate my musicality to the dancers.

I loved working with the multimedia project Thaddeus gave us, but I had not previously worked with imovie and do not own a Mac. After a couple classes working on his laptop and an unexpected project for my Fulbright application came up, I worked at the Mac lab in Gambrell hall. I learned through trial and error and asking the staff there for help. Now I love imovie and am looking forward to using it to document my next choreographic endeavors. I also created a projection with the help of my friend, Jason Steelman, with the idea of projecting a live feed simultaneously on top of it during the performance. My initial idea didn’t work out so well once we got into the space, and ended up being too complicated for the technology we had, so I projected them separately. In the end I was glad I did, because the live feed from the webcam ended up having a cool “glowing” effect from the lights we used and looked interesting by itself. I am looking forward to collaborating with multimedia artists in the future or learning more about it myself.

In the course of a day, we loaded in the floor and set up a performance space for our informal showcase. The space was already challenging for what I choreographed, and was even more challenging once we moved chairs into the performance space. I adapted the choreography somewhat to a smaller space, but at some point I had to let go of the piece in some respect and trust my dancers to use their spatial awareness and “stage smarts”. I was just pleased to see a somewhat finished product after a semester of work. It wasn’t the smoothest performance, but I was very pleased.

What I learned: I have to be adaptable, my dancers have to be adaptable, and collaboration is a wonderful, wonderful thing! I learned I must clearly express my musicality to the dancers, and that we have never listened to the music too much. Also, running through the piece full-out is essential to achieve the kind of physicality in the movement I want from less experienced dancers. Many of my dancers were wonderful, but in the future I would like to work with dancers who are very physically capable and eager to adapt my style of movement or try new things. Although I think it’s interesting to see my movement on different bodies and style of dancers, it was sometimes frustrating that they wouldn’t do what I wanted, and I often settled for less or changed the movement something less complex. I learned to be flexible and in-the-moment with my dancers. I also learned that I must clearly articulate what I want from them, whether it’s physically dancing the phrase over and over for them to emulate, or describing how the movement should feel or unfold, or giving them food for thought what to think about and express through their movement. I believe, with Alonzo King, that “the point [of choreography] after all, is communication”, and that it is pointless to create art void of meaning. But while I wanted to leave interpretation of my work to the audience, I discovered that first and foremost, I must clearly express some intent of what the piece is about or can be about to my dancers in order that they have something to communicate, and I must give my audience likewise, some food for thought. I do not need to spoon-feed them, however, the “mystical is contained in the literal” (King). Adding words, dialogue (however brief or vague), or supplemental multimedia incorporated into the dance are an effective way to do this. This last concept I need to develop more for “XIV” if I perform it again. All of the tools and steps that I experienced through this process were valuable and will stay with me for as long as I create dance.

Sample clip of my work for XIV: http://youtu.be/NIVZHTbWRIU

I came to my consciousness sitting on the ground, looking at the black pavement and my legs, which were bent so I could sit upright, but I didn’t know how I got there; last I saw was the hood of the car from the air. My right ankle throbbed and swelled as I watched it – it had been smashed between the car and the gears on my bicycle when we collided, but I couldn’t think about anything now except that I wouldn’t be performing in the fall production we’d just begun rehearsing for. There was a police woman or someone barking in my ear. She wasn’t really barking, but the throb in my head made it seem like that. I tried to gather my thoughts and make a coherent decision. She repeatedly asked me if I wanted to be taken to the hospital. I glanced around me to see where my bike was. It lay about a hundred yards to my left, where the impact had thrown it over to the grassy knoll on the other side of the four-way. I could see the front tire was bent in half. Then I glanced up past the bumper of the car to my right at the shattered windshield.  “Um, no, no, I don’t need to go,” I said. I imagined the massive hospital bills I would be receiving in a few months and that know I had no way to pay for it. I would already have to buy a new bike.  “I think we’re going to call the ambulance…” she said. She wasn’t listening to me. I didn’t want to go! But at the same time, I couldn’t exactly stand up either, let alone think straight. They transported me to the hospital in the ambulance, a ride I don’t remember much about, nor do I wish to recall. I hadn’t been wearing a helmet.

My accident happened in fall 2008, my first semester at USC. I had broken my other foot the year before, but that was dancing, and the dance company paid for it. As a bicycle commuter, I was on my own, and the law was against me, it seemed, because I got a ticket for getting hit by a car.  At that point I was unaware of the laws concerning bicyclists and rights of cyclists. I felt like I should have received some special empathy from since I was on a bike and was more vulnerable than the other guy who sat unharmed in his metal bubble. I learned that just because you’re outside, atop two wheels, and exposed to the elements doesn’t give you any special exception from the law when the policeman comes to the accident scene and finds you guilty.

The police man came to give me my ticket before I had even been seen by a doctor.  The witnesses testified I had run the stop sign. I thought it was a four-way stop, but apparently I was wrong.  I passed that street every day and this had been a Saturday, an away game, and no one was on the roads. I had spaced out thinking about other things, like many drivers do in their cars, and, like many drivers, I ruled the road, or so I thought. I also thought the car would stop for me, but we cyclists have the same rights as cars, it turns out, and that means they must stop at four stop signs too.  In fact, cyclists must practice defensive driving and be even more alert than when driving a car because of the increased risk we are exposed to.

That Saturday afternoon the ER was so slow. I was probably on the bottom of their priority list; I had only been hit by a car on a bicycle and had a messed-up ankle and possible head injury. No biggie. They took MRIs of my head to be sure there was no brain damage, “but some symptoms can show up later,” I was told. Wonderful. All that money was for nothing, I thought.  They decided I had experienced a concussion from the impact of my skull against the windshield and hood of the car because I had blacked out for a short period, and that I was very, very lucky I didn’t have worse damage. Years after the accidentI still like to use the excuse that I had some brain damage when I hit the car, and that’s why I sometimes have difficulty remembering things. I wish I could have gotten extra time on my logic exam last semester for it!

In twenty-nine states there are no laws requiring bicycle helmets; South Carolina is one of those states. Of the twenty-one states that do have bicycle helmet laws, most of these only require helmets for those under the age of 16 or 17, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Some states only require riders under the age of 15 to wear a helmet; West Virginia has made up its own age limit of 14, and Pennsylvania and Louisiana require a helmet for riders under 11 years of age.  Let me tell you that I wear a helmet now and am an advocate of always wearing a helmet, because, as they say, most accidents happen close to home. Just because you or your kids are only riding around the neighborhood doesn’t mean a car won’t unexpectedly round the corner and not see you in time.

I have worked part time at Cycle Center for a year, and the owner, John Green, is a stickler for safety. If he sees us riding to work without a helmet, he’ll chide us, and the same goes for customers. He willingly offers his employees and customers substantial discounts on safety merchandise. Before I let a customer leave with a newly purchased bicycle, I ask if they have a helmet, proper lights for night riding on the back of their bicycle, and if they are familiar the bicycle laws and cyclists’ rights in South Carolina.

The Palmetto Cycling Coalition has put together a handout of Bicycle Laws from Article 27 that is short and easy to digest. I often hand it to new cyclists. The university campus can be a great place to commute and can be very bicycle-friendly compared to other parts of the city,  but most commuters to the university live off campus and must battle traffic at some point in their commute. There are only a few stretches of street in downtown Columbia and on USC campus that have bicycle lanes. Bicycle lanes are not sidewalks. Sidewalks are for pedestrians.  I have had friends who have gotten ticketed for riding their bicycle on a sidewalk in downtown Columbia.

According to Section 53-5-3425, “a ‘bicycle lane’ means a portion of the roadway or paved lane separated from the roadway that has been designated by striping, pavement markings, and signage for the exclusive use of bicyclists.” Did you know that where there are bicycle lanes, cyclists are required to ride in them except when necessary for passing or avoiding an obstruction? Motorists by law must not block bicycle lanes and must yield to cyclists in the bicycle lane. Where there are no bicycle lanes, however, “bicyclists may ride on the roadway when there is only an adjacent recreational bicycle path available instead of a bicycle lane.” It would follow that, if there are no paths or bicycle lanes, whatsoever, a cyclist must ride in the roadway. So all those people who yell out their SUV windows at you or try to swipe you off the road when you’re cycling are breaking the law.

As a bicyclist, you do not rule the road. The same laws apply as if you were in a car. Article 56-5-3420 states that “a person riding a bicycle upon the roadway must be granted all of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle […] except to those provisions of this chapter which by their nature can have no application.” That is why I rightfully got ticketed for running a stop sign. All my pleas of “I didn’t know there was a stop sign there” did not help my case, as they would not have had I been driving a car. However, I did get out of both the ticket and the damage costs to the car at traffic court because the guy left and I was no longer legally obligated to pay his expenses. Note, riding like a car on the road does include riding in the same direction as traffic, and staying to the right if you are slow moving traffic. In case you missed that in driver’s ed, you can read about it in section 56-5-3430.

If you have ever been “hamburger-ed” (yes, it is an urban term now. just look it up in the Urban Dictionary online or on Youtube) by frat boys, as in my case, they are breaking the law. Section 56-5-3445 says that is unlawful to harass, taunt, or maliciously throw an object at or in the direction of a person riding a bicycle. This can result in a measly fine of $20. Cyclists also “shall not ride more than two abreast except in paths or parts of roadways set apart for the exclusive use of bicycles.” The fourth to last  section in Article 27 concerning bicyclists ensures nighttime safety for cyclists and motorists who need to see them: “A bicycle when in use at nighttime must be equipped with a lamp on the front which must emit a white light visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and with a red reflector on the rear that must be visible from all distances from 50 feet to 300 feet to the rear when directly in front of the lawful upper beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle.” After that, state law requires a working brake on a bicycle and use of arm signals.

With all these detailed laws on bicycle visibility and arms signals, I wonder why state government does not require wearing a helmet?  It seems as though the American mentality of “I can do whatever I want as long as I’m not hurting someone else” pervades our traffic laws as well. A Cyclist must have lights on his bicycle and use arms signals to warn drivers behind him, but he can decide if he wants to protect his own head or not. Can drivers choose to drive reckless if they wish to put themselves in harm’s way? When is it necessary for laws to limit people’s freedom to put themselves in danger? We are required to pay for the consequences of our actions; wouldn’t it be right to have laws to help avoid some of these consequences too?  I think a law requiring bicyclists to wear helmets to protect themselves from the dangers of the road is more beneficial to the individual than a law requiring cyclists to wear red flashing lights on their backend.

A week or so after the accident, a friend drove me to pick up my bicycle from the police impounds station. I also had to go to traffic court, where I got out of paying the man who hit me because he left before we were called, then Facebook stalked me and asked me to pay for his windshield, but that’s another story…

Bicyclists in South Carolina have rights on the road, and advocates like the Palmetto Cycling Coalition are trying to bring more awareness to bicycle safety.  Violations to these laws can result in fines of up to $1,000 for a motorist who puts a cyclist in danger. Be aware of your rights, and wear a helmet. Excuse me; wear lights on your bike at night – that’s the law. But helmets are always a good idea if you want to avoid brain injuries.

Below is the soup creation I adapted from allrecipes.com with what I had in my fridge. Feel free to modify as you so choose.

2 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable buillion

generous pinch of sea salt

1 can (15 oz) or half a large can (32oz) pumpkin puree

1 large gala apple

several generous shakes Caribbean seasoning (parsley, thyme, red chili pepper, cayenne pepper, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cumin)

1/3 chopped medium white onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic cloves

fresh thyme and parsley if you have it

grated fresh black pepper (or a few peppercorns if you, unlike me, can figure out how to untwist the shaker and get them out)

1/4 cup coconut milk creamer (soy creamer or plain whole milk yogurt will do too)

chop onions and apple and saute in bottom of medium saucepan with a little broth. (microwave apple first to soften it a little.) Add the rest of the ingredients except cream. bring to boil and simmer for 30 + minutes. Stir in cream. Blend in blender if you like it smooth! Really good with toasted hearty whole wheat bread or whole wheat sourdough dipped in olive oil with a little more sea salt and pepper. Makes 3-4 servings. Serve with fresh parsley if you have it.

Morning All Sentient Beings! plain and simple its just a BEAUTIFUL DAY! so SMILE!!! thought I’d start you off with something EXTREMELY SUPEREMLY DOPE for your mind to soak your body to move and your spirit to vibe with Here is some Jazz Juice for that parched soul Vibin Good Day! 

Are you really going to eat that? It’s not MY fault that you told everyone in the cafe your secrets!!! Feeling lonely…. …all I need is to talk to my boogie and my life will be complete! Love is all you need. It is very much time the tribe blasts a whole through any and everything. I’m blessed even in the toughest of times because I have authentic love happening in my life. Soooooooo DOPE! Spent 10 hours in the dance building today. Maybe showing up drunk/hungover to dance rehearsals will actually IMPROVE what I’m supposed to be doing these next few months. Thank you Twyla Tharp. Cheerssss. Can I just take a nap? I may be 22 but my mom is still my best friend. My Mom called this afternoon to remind me to take my medicine. My Mom thinks I’m cool. Swerving in and out of students with my bike on campus. And USC said.. Time for traffic. Going to the library to study. You’re a cockroach of happiness! Anyone going dancing tonight? Come and unleash your out of control creativity machine. Ready for a Flat Tire. There is no 470-proof alcohol – Johnny Depp. Taking my new little black dress and heels out tonight.You just gave dap to a little dude in zebra stripe tight pants with his undies showing…very gangster, very masculine!  I ♥ Bob Marely. If you don’t think this is amazing.. we probably shouldn’t be friends. Just go with the flow.

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Just a note: this work is a piece of non-fiction in progress, quoted exactly from friends’ Facebook status updates and juxtaposed with some of my own expectations. While it may not be considered “writing” to some, it is intended to challenge ideas of creative non-fiction writing. I do not intend to provoke anyone by using his/her quotes out-of-context; remember what you post on Facebook is public domain.

I can’t take credit for these, but I can vouch for them being good. Inspired from Jugalbandi. I had to make a second batch to take to my friends because I ate the first one. They really hit the spot! Everything in here is good for you (ok, almost everything). I made these because I was craving iron and chocolate. Molasses is a good source of iron.  Chocolate is good for everything, I’m convinced. These cookies are great with a glass of soy or almond milk. mmm..

VEGAN GINGER-CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(Makes about 15 medium cookies.)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together in one bowl

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or 1 cup each whole wheat flour and all purpose flour)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup raw cane sugar (I used powdered sugar b/c that’s all I had)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsps baking soda
1/4 tsp each ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
2.5 tsps ground ginger
2-3tsp cocoa (or carob) powder

Mix in another bowl:

Tip: Pour the oil in the measuring cup first. Then the molasses will not stick to it.

1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup+ tablespoon unsulphured molasses
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 .5-2 tsps fresh ginger grated very fine

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Stir and add it to the dry mixture. Mix it with your fingertips and slowly add water, one tablespoon at a time until you can roll the dough into ball with your hands, 2-6 Tbs, depending on type of flour you use.  Add chocolate chips now or, stick two or three dark chocolate chips in each before baking because the dough will be slightly crumbly.

Place balls spread apart on cookie sheet and press them down with the bottom of a glass or the back of a fork before baking, 15 min each for two baking sheets.

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P.S. I’m not a vegan, and I even strayed from my vegetarian lifestyle lately, but I’m convinced that the worse thing we can do for our bodies is fill them full of white processed flour and sugar. Believe me, I’ve done my share of that, and it makes me feel sluggish. It’s not worth it.

I made these after our meeting for Kyra’s yoga studio, Hot Yoga Masala tonight.  Free classes all this week before Labor Day! I was talking with another of the volunteers/new instructors about vegan recipes. Our conversation re-inspired me to be more mindful of preparing my meals ahead of time each week so I’m not left faced with food I really don’t want to eat but that’s just easy to pick up while I’m on campus and working. I made a bowl of miso-vegetable broth-sprout soup and some more sesame tofu tonight too. No excuses for grabbing Beezer’s subs! My pocket can’t afford that every night anyway. You can start with these cookies as an initiation into a mindful eating practice. Just don’t eat too many cookies before you come to yoga!

PERSPECTIVE in the WORKPLACE

This topic was brought up recently in a discussion between a friend and I about delegating tasks or being delegated to. I am more often the latter, and sometimes feel taken advantage of at my workplace. In Exodus 18 Moses was taking all the disputes of the people on himself to solve. Jethro’s advice to him was to delegate tasks to trustworthy men, and bring the disputes before the Lord.

 17Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.18You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. -Exodus 18:17-18

From that we began to discuss working for bosses and people who may delegate too much or take advantage of us. Even in those circumstances we can work and serve with joy. (Also wisdom to stand up for ourselves.) The point is, we have to look at the bigger picture and get perspective of the circumstances even if they seem overwhelming and stressful. As Christians, we should have a different perspective than our peers, he said. Also, the Lord delights to use us for His usefulness; Spurgeon says, “ It is not a pleasant experience, but I pray make it a profitable one to me.”  If God has laid us low, there are numerous things He is wanting to teach us there:

 “The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.” 1 Sam. 2:7

From personal experience, every time I remember that I have a different motivation for doing a job well than others, it makes a world of difference. It’s the same with “good works”. I have met and heard of so many charitable people who have accomplished great things to relieve suffering in third world countries or disaster areas, donate money, clean water, etc. Take the Peace Corps for example (I thought about joining after school), or the Rotary Club. It amazes me that people can do these “Christian” things for others when so many Christians would rather sit in their couch in their nice comfortable home, in their nice, boring lives. Not that everyone needs to become a missionary or that comfort and enjoying the fruits of our labors is wrong; but we are called to serve in our own communities. Some of the wealthiest people I know are the msot gracious and giving people I know. Perhaps some of us middle-class and students who are going to be privileged middle-class Americans one day need to check ourselves.

HOMELESSNESS and PERSPECTIVE

In my community I know I usually avoid homeless people like the plague. Columbia is a hot spot for them, and yes there is a lot of help for them, and many of them have drug problems that they don’t want to change, but for many they have been dealt a hard blow in life that pushed them that way. I have friends who serve in the homeless ministry in Columbia and know women from my church who like to take food to them on the street corners. Maybe it’s not safe. Maybe they are lying to me, maybe they never want to change – these things roll through my skeptical, judgmental heart when I see them. I usually won’t give them money, maybe food, and I usually will only stop to help women.

I’ve had experiences where I felt cheated before when I have reached out to help, and I hardened my heart again. A few months back here in Columbia I listened to one woman’s story and gave her food and tried to find places for her to stay, and she seemed very ungrateful. Then I saw her walking in the Rosewood neighborhoods when I was running one day and she was dressed like a normal person, and smiled a knowing, mischievous smile at me. I’m too judgmental but I hate con artists. After that I’ve been even more skeptical of homeless people, until last month when I was hanging out with my friend Ashley in downtown Albuquerque. A homeless woman with one leg approached Ashley and I asking for money to get back to Indiana. I almost wanted to tell her no, I didn’t have any cash, which was true, but Ashley insisted on giving her what spare change she had, and asking the woman if we could pray for her. She was really open to that. As Lisa (her name) told us her story and we held her hands and prayed for her, her whole countenance changed. She seemed like a different person to me. I saw how human she was, and how similar we really were, both sisters on this earth, only I was more fortunate. And we had so much to give – not just money, but Jesus. We bought her lunch and sat and listened to her. At first she wanted to get her food and go, but because we were willing to listen and treat her like a respectable person, she sat with us. By time she finished she was laughing and making jokes. She told us about her kids (who were our age). She had been in a bad marriage in Albuquerque which put her on the street, and was addicted to drugs too, although she told us she’d been in rehab and clean for 6 months, and was trying to get money to go back to Indiana to stay with one of her sons. She said she had “believed in God” before and that this was a sign from God that He still cared for her. It was moving, but I still held a splinter of skepticism that wondered if she made up the whole story up. Ashley said it didn’t matter. She did what God told her to and the rest was between the woman and God. I was really impressed by my friends’ boldness to share the gospel with everyone she comes in contact with. God is changing my heart to see that it doesn’t always matter if we feel like we might get taken advantage of, so long as we’re doing His work.

That was a long spiel, but one of the reasons why I chose to try to help this girl who called me randomly last night needing a place to stay. I don’t know her story and my friend who gave me her number doesn’t know her well either, but from what it sounds like she’s in a bad place right now and desperately needs a place to stay till Tuesday. I can’t help her all week because my roommate and I will be gone, but I can offer her a place tonight. I also remember what it was like to not have a car, and feel reliant on other people for rides anywhere outside of my biking range, so I offered to pick her up tonight. It’s such a small thing really, and so many people in Columbia have helped me selflessly; any number of those people would have done that for me. What really pales it in comparison is what Jesus did for us. Although this girl is just like you and me, maybe this is the beginning of opportunities I asked the Lord to give me to serve after that incident with Lisa. I asked him that, and I know he will do it! I think I have missed opportunities before, but now I am ready to trust that He will send me things to do to serve people that is within my means and safe. Part of maturity and learning to serve as a Christian is listening to the Lord for discernment and when He wants us to help someone.