KuhnsFam.com - blog extraordinaire by Marcos Kuhns

Now what?

Marcos — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:26 +0000

Last night Beth & I watched Charlie Wilson’s War. It was an very well made movie about how a charismatic, well-connected congressman, Charlie Wilson, helped fund a covert war against the Soviet army in Afghanistan. Operation Cyclone was a deemed a huge success at the time, but in some ways set the stage for the current war in Afghanistan and the War on Terror in general. Watching movies like this one make me so conflicted about the war in Iraq. I would love nothing more than for the US to bring it’s troops home… at the same time I’m worried that if the US military leaves the country, aid to the area will dwindle quickly (because of security and short attention spans), leaving many Iraqis with more anti-American sentiment than ever. This is one of many reasons I don’t envy the next president of this country. I really hope there are some smart people out there that have a better plan in mind than any I can think up!

Downtown Lancaster

Marcos — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:41:51 +0000

This past weekend Beth & I made a quick trek to Akron, PA to visit Emily before she heads to Uganda to work for a year with SALT. Along with lots of good time just to chat and an amazing waffle breakfast, Emily took us to downtown Lancaster, PA. To be honest, neither Beth nor I knew quite what to expect, but it turns out Lancaster is quite the happening place. We spent hour wandering through the farmer’s market, museum, local galleries and miscellaneous boutiques. The most quirky, and definitely the most fun to explore, was a shop called Zap & Co that was floor to ceiling with vintage clothes, books, photos, jewelery & so much more. Stuff from the 30s, 40s and 50s mostly. My favorite find was a book titled The Good Citizen’s Handbook. It’s a collection of advice and instructions found in government, civic, and scouting handbooks from the 1920s - 60s that was compiled and re-published in 2001. The owner of the store seemed to think the book was intended to be completely ironic, but I’m not so sure. You should definitely follow the link & browse through the sample pages yourself. Unfortunately the preview cut out the page that reads “A good citizen eats meat…and lots of it.” lol! I was also expecting irony when I started reading and so was a bit surprised that most of the advice seems fairly good and reasonable. However, I’m definitely glad that we, as a society, have started moving beyond some of the stereotypes and miss-understandings also promoted in parts of the book (e.g. eating meat). Thanks again to Emily for such a great Saturday on the town!

Safe & sound

Marcos — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:44:16 +0000

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we arrived, safely in Philippi this past Saturday evening. Also, while I will continue to write here at kuhnsfam.com, you should also check out the new Philippi Service Adventure Blog that Beth started. She’ll be keeping that blog up to date with news and info about life at the Philippi unit house. Thanks again for your prayers & support, and if you’re passing through (or want to stop by) this area we’d love to have you visit. We’ll even have a guest room once we get settled.

Travel surrounds us!

Marcos — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:58:14 +0000

It’s an amazing thing how quickly a summer can get busy. It’s been a great one for Beth & I. Full of friends, family & lots of traveling. Since our trip to Chicago we’ve visited Philippi, WV, traveled to a wedding in KS, had reunions in OH & PA, and visited Beth’s family in California too. A whopping 6,000+ miles of travel! We’ve been in 9 states and will get things to a nice even 10 when we fly to Albuquerque for a week of Service Adventure orientation. If you’re interested in trying to keep track of where Beth & I happen to be you should check out my Dopplr page.

In case you haven’t heard for some reason, Beth & I will be the leaders of the Service Adventure unit in Philippi, WV for the next couple of years :-D We leave Goshen on the 19th of this month which is sad in plenty of ways. Goshen really has been a wonderful place for us to spend our first year of marriage.

When I wasn’t traveling, I was working hard to release the latest & greatest feature for haiku… Embed the Web™. Simply put, it lets teachers use tools from virtually anywhere (Google Maps, TeacherTube videos, del.icio.us bookmars, you name it) right in their classes. Not only that, but we provide step by step instructions for a growing number of websites to help them get started. It has been a lot of fun to work on & has once again made me marvel at how incredably huge the internet is.

To finish up this long overdue post I suggest you read an article on the 37signals blog: Early retirement is a false idol. I really appreciate the authors point of view. I can only hope that I continue to be lucky, getting to do work that I hardly consider work. I know well and good that it’s a luxury & I pray that I never forget that. Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers over the past few weeks & I’ll be keeping you updated with how things are going in WV once we get settled in.

Go-Go White Sox!

Marcos — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:38:11 +0000

Ok, ok, I’m not actually a White Sox fan, but I figured it was an appropriate intro to our recent trip to Chicago. Jason & Joel (a friend of Jason’s from KC) flew in to Chicago for the Memorial Day weekend so Beth & I joined them Saturady & Sunday for some catching up and to explore the city. We had a great time! Even though I’ve been to Chicago numerous times before, almost every stop this trip was new to me: Taste of Peru (thanks Joel & Naomi for finding that place!), Navy Pier, the Threadless store, the Field Museum & a White Sox game (Sox won with a home run in the bottom of the 9th).

In un-related news, keep Beth & I in your thoughts & prayers, as today should be the day we find out if we’ve been affirmed as Service Adventure leaders. I’ll let you know what we find out.

Happy Earth Day!

Marcos — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:58:41 +0000

Two special treats for Earth Day this year. A new blog post and new spring photos too! It’s been such beautiful weather this week. Yesterday we put a blanket outside & just sat around reading. What bliss! Hope all is well with you this Earth Day too.

…anyone else, but you

Marcos — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:13:36 +0000

Feeling slightly overwhelmed installing Git? …or by simply reading my last post? Here are a few tunes to help calm your nerves. The first is a McCutcheon piece titled Reel a Bouche. Yesterday Beth & I had the wonderful pleasure of listening to the GC Women’s World Choir. They ended the evening with an arrangement of this piece & it’s been running through my head ever since.

For some variety, try the Anyone Else But You by the Moldy Peaches (follow the link to listen). A wonderful track that I came to love via Juno (which you should probably watch if you haven’t yet!)

Git on Tiger!

Marcos — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:54:33 +0000

After a great deal of internet searching & nearly 6 hours of compiling I too can enjoy Git, the latest and greatest in version control. Now, for those of you who don’t share the joy I find in programing, bear with me, I’m writing this post as documentation of my struggle so that any other poor souls who are also trying to do what I’ve just done will hopefully have a better time at it. Step 1: have a Mac w/ OS X 10.4 Tiger installed. Step 2: don’t listen to me, follow the directions of people who really know what they’re talking about In this case, two sets of instructions by Wincent Colaiuta and Justin Reagor were invaluable to my eventual success. Thanks a ton guys! On a related note, Mac user & enjoy listening to music, check out Synergy (by Wincent), it makes using iTunes even more of a pleasure.

Got me figured out

Marcos — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:35:21 +0000

Marketing takes so many different forms, and yet it still manages to surprise me now and again. Facebook, for example, caught me off guard this weekend when it showed me an add for The Mennonite. They certainly do take advantage of the excessive amount of personal data so many of us enter, when they decide which adds to show. Do you think Facebook is smart enough to show this add to everyone who’s last name is Yoder or Miller, regardless of what they list as their preferred religion?

Another person who seems to have my taste figured out is John McCutcheon. His combination of engaging story telling, accurate observations, passion about social justice and awesome musical talents win me over every time. My favorite part of his concert at Waterford Mennonite Church, last night, was the song Forgive Us, which is on his latest album. Please, please listen to the first half of the song (track 7) to get a taste of it. You can read the rest of the lyrics on McCutcheon’s website. A close second was the poem Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca by José Martí which McCutchoen put to music:

Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca

Cultivo una rosa blanca
En julio como en enero,
Para el amigo sincero
Que me da su mano franca.

Y para el cruel que me arranca
El corazon con que vivo,
Cardo ni ortiga cultivo,
Cultivo una rosa blanca.

I Grow a White Rose

I grow a white rose
In July as in January
For the sincere friend
Who gives me his open hand.

And for the cruel one who tears out
The heart with which I live.
I grow neither thorn nor thistle;
I grow a white rose.

…and a happy new year.

Marcos — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:05:40 +0000

Well, what a wonderful holiday I’ve been having. My parents arrived safe & sound, if a little late, and now Beth has a few days off too which should be quite wonderful. If you’re wondering where I’ve been the past month, well, mostly working on the awesome new Assessment (e.g. Online Quiz) tools for haiku. This week, however, has been pleasantly full of playing with the new toys I got for Christmas. My family came through big time this year. The highlight gift came from my wife: a Holga 120NC! For those of you who have no clue what I’m talking about, it’s a cheap plastic camera that takes wonderfully fun pictures. So, as long as I can find a photo shop In town that’ll develop the film you should look forward to some fun photos coming up. I’m also loving my new Jose Gonzales CD & electric razor. Finally, this blog post wouldn’t be possible without my Christmas bonus from haiku… a brand spanking new iPod Touch!! My family will be around a few more days & then we get to start the countdown until Jeff & Debbie arrive for a visit. I pray that your holiday has been full of blessings. See you next year