Friends,
Please bear with us as we play with the look and feel of the blog. I’m trying to fix a layout problem, so I’ve changed templates. But I really like the new look. What do you think? Should we keep it? Change it back? Find another look? Weigh in and let us know!
– Andrew
I spent this morning working at a school in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. A crew of volunteers from the CGC Bear painted and cleaned two classrooms. It was hard, hot, difficult, dirty work. At one point I found myself sweeping feces from beneath a broken desk. Typical of many schools in the developing world, electricity and running water were conspicuously absent. One element, however, was not absent: evidence of the America’s corrupting cultural influence. On a wall, an Equatorial Guinean school child had written in bold letters a list of his/her favorite American rappers: Nelli, P Diddy, Ja Rule, Tu Pac, and the like. I wish children in far away lands would admire and seek to emulate the more noble parts of our culture. I wish they would say, “I want to be hard-working and industrious like Americans,” instead of, “I want to have bitches and ho’s, gold teeth, and a job selling crack like Americans!” I put four coats of paint over that spot. But the list of names kept showing through, despite my best efforts. I fear this situation is sadly symbolic of the nature of America’s culture influence overseas…
I have had the pleasure to take par in the Shinn Family Reunion this weekend. We have been in Chino Hills, CA enjoying the warmth of the Southern California sun and family relationships.
We are lounging by the pool this morning and enjoying a day off.
The reunion was held yesterday afternoon and evening at Dick & Lori King’s new home. They have such a beautiful home and it’s a great place for entertaining. It was my first time meeting many people in extended Shinn family.
It’s been a good weekend!
Lisa
Thanks, Tricia. That was a really fun soccer game. They actually brought us to the only stadium in Agadir and let us use the locker rooms and everything. We walked in wearing T-shirts and tennis shoes and saw our opponents wearing uniforms and cleats… we knew we were in trouble. I was glad they only beat us 3-0. Maybe they were going easy on us or something.
Cape Verde (pronounced Cap-u Verd) was pretty interesting, as well. The nation’s name means “Cape Green” in Portuguese. This is ironic, because this island nation is pretty brown, dry and dead. It was green once upon a time when it was discovered, but is so no longer. As a result, the nation can’t produce enough food to sustain its population without aid from the U.S. I had the chance to talk with an interesting gentleman who is working for US AID importing food and also promoting good farming practices like drip irrigation. Because of US AID’s work, Cape Verde has made significant progress toward re-Verde-ating the islands and creating a sustainable agricultural food-production system. It’s kind of neat to see these good things the U.S. is doing in other parts of the world. For all I hear about how we’re a bad global neighbor, it’s nice to see unheralded gallantry in such places as Cape Verde.
And no, anonymous, there’s not life after pictures, at least in the forseeable future. That’s what I love to do and who I am these days, and I’ll keep sharing it with those I love. For the rest of you, I’ve created a page at Shinnphoto.com with some recent work. It’s at www.shinnphoto.com/cg/cg.htm. (link no longer working) The images, when you click on them, are 1076×768 pixels, which means they’re perfect for a desktop background when your monitor is set to that resolution.
Enjoy,
Andrew
Jon,
I don’t know, either. Maybe we’re the only ones who check here? Oh, well, I’ve got a bunch of cool Africa pictures from today, but since no one else is watching, I’ll just send them directly to you.
Take care,
Andrew
Don’t forget to click on the photo to see it full-size before you leave your comment. Then just answer this question: “Do you see? Tell me the story!”
Jon, You’ve done it. You’ve commented enough to make up for everyone else. I love your captions! Tricia, it’s not a metal, but plastic wrap and a gradient map, along with some layer masks, a warming filter, and some other fun stuff. Grandma, do they look like really mean butterflies? My XO saw the picture on the my laptop and said it looks scary. Other people on the boat think the same. I never saw scary, but maybe that’s because it came out of my own head. I saw something completely different.
In other news, I liked doing that so much that I decided to try it again with another photo. I’ll post it above. Here’s your writing prompt for this excersise: “Do you see? This photo is a story for you to tell me.” This picture will look a little bit different depending on the contrast of the calibration on your monitor. Pay attention to details.
I hope y’all are having a great 4th of July!
Looking forward to hearing your responses,
Andrew
Family,
I’m waiting to post anything else because I still anticipate a few comments on the last post. Be sure to click on the picture to view it at full size. Here’s your writing prompt:”What does this image say to you?”
Looking forward to your answers,
Andrew
Be sure to click on the image to see the larger version.
What does it say to you?
Our PC (Plastic Car) became a California resident on July 1, 2005 at 11:45am. We are officially here!
California is the third state in which this car has been registered. The Massachusetts plates had to be surrendered today, but the gal at the DMV let me keep one for a keepsake. How fun! 🙂 ‘Just one more joy of being in the military.