Tonight we went for a walk.

(Nice update, huh?)

But on our walk we ended up at Swan Lake, a really cute little subdivision just down the street. A handful of houses surround a small pond called “Swan Lake.” And there are two swans in the lake (along with some geese & ducks.) They had a contest recently to name the swans & some local school children named them Penelope & Cobbler.

Did you know that a female swan is called a “pen” & a male swan is called a “cob?”  Get the names now?
Think about it for a minute.  Now do you get it?

Isn’t that cute!

*there may be some sarcasm in the above comments.

The other day I used a 3M Headlight Restoration Kit to polish the headlights on my car. It worked amazingly well:

So, if your headlights seem dim and the lenses are all foggy spend the $25 and 30 minutes it takes to restore them. It makes a big difference.

I was thinking this might be a business opportunity. What if you restored peoples headlights while they were at work? The system is completely portable, so you could go to the parking lot. It would only take a few hundred in start up cost, and some savvey marketing. You could probably charge $30, and I think it would take around 20 minutes to do the whole process once you got good at it. You would have to factor in some travel time as well…and of course all the normal business expenses like insurance, replacing worn out gear, etc.

I’m not sure the status of micro finance in the United States, but it seems like the amount of money it takes to impact an individuals ability to generate wealth is much higher here then, say, on the African continent (this is pure speculation). A business like this could be funded through some sort of micro finance or peer to peer set up, and might be a viable option for somebody looking to start a low cost business.

I didn’t really believe him at first. I thought he was just being silly. But he wasn’t! He was being serious.

So I got dressed up, and we started walking. We eventually ended up at the Performing Arts Center downtown. And saw these guys.

What a fun surprise! (That he came up with about two hours before…just because he knows how much I love going to shows like this.)

Done? Good.

So, I have been challenged. What is the single story I have in my mind about the poor? The Rich? Muslims? Artist, Hipsters, the young, the old, that guy who cut me off in traffic?

What single stories do you believe?

Yesterday I spent about 4 hours making conversation with people I don’t know. Now, if you know me at all…im not big on just having conversations with people. It is exhausting to me. I had a headache the rest of the day.

But it was good. Basically I spent the day hanging out with a lady who lives under a bridge, a lady who lives at a shelter and a guy who lives with a pastor we know. I was privileged to be allowed into their community for a few hours. There were a lot of things that we talked about, but here are two that i thought i would share:

Community is everywhere: This is nothing new, but yesterday I saw a great example of this.  If our only idea of community is centered  around small groups at church then our view is way to narrow. Everybody needs people to live life together with, and even a fiercely independent woman who lives on the streets recognizes that in her life.

Programs don’t work: I have a limited perspective on this right now, but for these three the programs, rules and systems that have been built around the homeless in Tulsa don’t work. All of them are taking active steps in their lives to change their situation (working jobs, doing the paperwork to have a nursing licenses restored, taking GED classes, etc), its not that any of them are looking for a system to save them. However, in the eyes of these three, the system in place has not helped them move from where they are now to where they dream to be. I don’t want to paint to broadly here, I know there are some people who the systems in place have helped, and I am only seeing a very narrow view right now.  Greg has something to say about this.

Any way, that’s enough for now…

Cafe Mosaic from Ben West on Vimeo.

so….what did you think???

1. cleaned the kitchen

2. made blueberry muffins just like my momma makes ‘em. (reduce the liquid & use the juice from the blueberries…more blueberry flavor & they come out purple!)

3. answered a few emails & worked on my newest endeavor through the Green Country Event Center-a wedding show!  Check out www.beforeidoweddingshow.com to see some of what I’ve been working on lately. (And let me know if you’re interested in reserving some booth space!)

Up next…

1. more working from home. (I really, really love working from home.)

2. learning how to use a hair straightener

3. a visit to NLR to see our peeps out there

4. Cass‘ concert tonight

5. our annual Valentine’s fondue celebration (a bit more low-key this year than in year’s past-but the tradition continues!)

Food Pantry and Clothing Closet from Ben West on Vimeo.