you may have heard about the four peace activists who were kidnapped in iraq this past week. they were working with christian peacemaker teams, a mennonite/brethren in christ organization that acts as witnesses and documentarians of human rights violations. i know several people who are very active with cpt, and have a lot of respect for their work. today i received an email confirming the four who were kidnapped. i thought you might be interested in learning a little more about them than the news provides... Tom Fox, age 54, is from Clearbrook, Virginia and is a dedicated father of two children. For the past two years, Mr. Fox has worked with CPT in partnership with Iraqi human rights organizations to promote peace. Mr. Fox has been faithful in the observance of Quaker practice for 22 years. While in Iraq, he sought a more complete understanding of Islamic cultural richness. He is committed to telling the truth to U.S. citizens about the horrors of war and its effects on ordinary Iraqi civilians and families as a result of U.S. policies and practices. Mr. Fox is an accomplished musician. He plays the bass clarinet and the recorder and he loves to cook. He has also worked as a professional grocer. Mr. Fox devotes much of his time to working with children. He has served as an adult leader of youth programs and worked at a Quaker camp for youth. He has facilitated young people's participation in opposing war and violence. Mr. Fox is a quiet and peaceful man, respectful of everyone, who believes that "there is that of God in every person" which is why work for peace is so important to him. Norman Kember, age 74, is from London, England. He and his wife of 45 years have two married daughters and a 3-year old grandson. He has been a pacifist all his life beginning with his work in a hospital instead of National Service at age 18. Before his retirement he was a professor teaching medical students at St Bartholemew's Hospital in London. He is well-known as a peace activist, and has been involved in several peace groups. For the past 10 years he has volunteered with a local program providing free food to the homeless. He likes walking, birdwatching, and writing humorous songs and sketches. In his younger days he enjoyed mountaineering. James Loney, 41, is a community worker from Toronto, Canada. He has been a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams since August 2000, and is currently the Program Coordinator for CPT Canada. On previous visits to Iraq, his work focused on taking testimonies from families of detainees for CPT's report on detainee abuse, and making recommendations for securing basic legal rights. James was leading the November 2005 delegation in Iraq when he went missing. James is a peace activist, writer, trained mediator, and works actively with two Toronto community conflict resolution services. He has spent many years working to provide housing and support for homeless people. In a personal statement from James to CPT, he writes: "I believe that our actions as a people of peace must be an expression of hope for everyone. My hope in practising non-violence is that I can be a conduit for the transformative power of God's love acting upon me as much as I hope it will act upon others around me." Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32 is a Canadian electrical engineer. He is studying for a masters degree in English literature in Auckland University in New Zealand to prepare for a teaching career. He enjoys art, is active in squash and worked part time as a local squash coach. His family describes him as peaceful and fun-loving and he is known to be passionate about the plight of the underprivileged around the globe. He works tirelessly in his spare time to educate and help others.

so, this isn't the highest-quality photo, but i think it does a pretty good job of capturing the weekend wedding in indy - great friends, lots of smiles, lots of dancing (resulting in our totally exhausted but happy looks). the bride here is elle, who i met on her birthday our freshman year at taylor. actually, i probably met alice the same night. combined, they probably did more for my musical education than anyone. and they dreamt with me. they are good for my soul. if we hadn't been in indianapolis, i'm pretty sure we would have gone to cincinnati for some more powerful soul stuff. my wonderful other mother says a lot of sweet things. my lovely husband makes a lot of sweet things. we should be getting to my parents' in about 24 hours. happy thanksgiving, dear ones!

courtesy of priscilla... If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don’t speak often, please post a comment with a memory of you and me. It can be anything you want, either good or bad. When you’re finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you.

i feel like there is so much to look forward to right now, and it's all swirling around in random, happy thoughts tonight... on friday, alice flies into town, and she, daniel and i get to road trip to indy for the big elle and josh party. i love weddings, especially when they bring together lots of beautiful people whom i've missed for too long. i love that we get a little extra time with alice, too. maybe if we get tired of playing and talking, we'll find time to see some johnny cash. or maybe we'll have too much fun talking, and just go see it next week. in just over a week, we're off to indiana for thanksgiving with my family. hurrah! matthew will be there, and it'll be our one time together as an immediate family all year. i love thanksgiving. i also love that mom and dad have moved back to goshen, and i get to show daniel where i grew up. i love that we have a four day weekend, and i love that the holidays are here! oh - we might even get to shoot clay pigeons on an amish farm. i hate guns on principle, but i think i can justify shooting something that's not alive and is biodgradable...i love my family. i had my first eggnog latte of the season on saturday night, thanks to bekah. hurrah for eggnog! have you noticed that i'm full of love tonight? i've been reading a really great book, which has reminded me why i love reading. thanks, molly, for the recommendation. i might be joining a book club soon. i've always wanted to do that. yesterday we heard a cuban preacher who has possibly the all-time best belly laugh i've ever heard from the pulpit - particularly coming from a man who was drafted into castro's army at the age of 15. i hope i can keep my joy like that. time to play with my pets and my husband. g'night!

quite possibly every other children's services agency in the u.s. has a three-day weekend for veteran's day. we, however, get to go to a madatory team-building day at the park. hmm. we're all wearing our matching agency t-shirts, and i'm about to go home to pick up a crock pot full of the black bean chipotle chili that my supervisor ordered me to make because she loves it. i'm also picking up dutch blitz because we're supposed to "bring your favorite game." ah, the glory of teambuilding...

backtracking a bit, we had a lovely weekend. on friday night, i took a little road trip to muncie to celebrate elle's upcoming marriage to josh. it was so good to see elle face-to-face after about two years of living across the country from each other. the thing i love about my friends is that bachelorette parties consist of food, music, pajamas, campfires and blueberry pancakes. it's so much more fun than the drunken stripper variety of parties! i'm excited about this wedding. elle and josh have had a long story in the making... ...another beautiful story in the making is that of palmer and amy, who celebrated their first wedding anniversary with a big party on saturday night. i've heard that the first year of marriage is the most difficult. i hope that's the case for them, because their first year, frankly, seems to have really stunk - to the point where they say they feel like they've been married for twenty years. i have to say that i have so much respect and love for them. if daniel or i ever get really, really sick, they would be my model of how to respond - with so much grace and love and hope. happy anniversary, mark and amy! further on the topic of marriage, when i got home from indiana, our first floor was transformed by daniel's all-night decorating and organizing frenzy. our house feels so much more like a functioning, welcoming home now. thanks, baby! he's leaving the second floor to me. i have a vision - just have to make it real.

this is why i'm in grad school.

i love haiku. i also love my husband for introducing me to sushi, and for taking me to the prettiest restaurant in columbus for my birthday. finally, tonight i really love my friends and family who left comments and called me today. extra kudos to kelli and my aunt melissa - the only two people left in the world who believe in sending real birthday cards through the postal service. not to be forgotten, a big happy birthday to twin (minus a few years). you rock, priscilla! it's been a good day, but work ended up being much longer than i had hoped it would be. it's so frustrating when someone else's procrastination takes away your own time...aargh. but when i finally got home, daniel had cleaned and rearranged the first floor - hurrah for having a living room that actually feels like a living room! i'm going to hang out with my family now. g'night.

in the aftermath of hurricanes and earthquakes and supreme court nominations, the bombings in delhi that killed over 500 people last weekend have resulted in surprisingly few new stories - or at least it was hard to find anything substantial when i did an internet search. but delhi has been on my mind. i passed through the city twice, just before christmas four years ago. amy rose had come to visit me in india for a month before i came home, we were taking a little journey north to the himalayan foothills. our time in delhi was short but lovely - we stayed with geeta and her family and rode on bicycle rickshaws. i remember thinking that delhi felt a little like d.c., with wide boulevards, lots of trees and solid government buildings. i wondered if all national capitals feel the same. amyrose and i went to some cute tourist marketplace (i still wear the scarf i bought there) and i have to wonder if it's still standing. nevertheless, i'll keep picturing the wide boulevards and bicycle rickshaws. in happier news, i'm going to be in a training the next two days, which means that i don't have to go into the office on my birthday. hooplah! and, on friday, i get to go to indiana for a bachelorette/slumber party of a dear friend who just moved back from seattle. double hooplah! i have good friends and family. thank you. you know who you are.