kittenwar!

i just wasted some time on Kitten War! -- so much cute! the thing that really made me laugh until i cried, though, was clicking on "losingest kittens" on upper left. in other news, i have been preparing for the Messiah 2005 conference (leaving this Friday evening) and for a youth camp in Belarus at the end of July. for the latter, i'm helping several westerners spend a couple of weeks in the middle of nowhere in northern Belarus with a bunch of Belarusian teens. should be a blast. especially since it's in the forest, by a lake, with spa facilities available for $2.50 a day! now, this is belarus, so it won't be luxury by american standards, but i will definitely be taking advantage of the extra facilities. i need to brush up on my russian though. oy. for the former, i'm working with the Young Messianic Jewish Alliance's program for their section of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America's Messiah 2005 conference. basically i'm helping coordinate some activities for the college and post-college segment of that (50 people? not sure how many) and i'm praying for time to, y'know, actually talk with people instead of just running around like a chicken with my head cut off. the last few days i've been making posters for various conference activities [pulling back the curtain! YMJA members: yes, the committee actually makes the posters! with their hands! and i know where the trip is this year! but i'm not telling! because i forget, actually!] ahem so i was making posters and enjoying myself quite a bit, which i thought odd for someone with no visual-arts capacity whatsoever. drawing a straight line and cutting out a circle that's, well, circular, are major accomplishments for me. but now i suspect one of the reasons for my enjoyment at the task was the jumbo sharpie markers i was using... in my apartment... which was tightly closed up due to heat and humidity... ooh, but i am proud of a couple of the posters. and i'm excited for the conference. once you've resigned yourself to not getting sleep and interacting with people for a week solid, it's quite exciting. by the way, should i go to australia this winter for a friend's wedding? i was considering it a pipe dream but just spotted a very interesting deal with qantas... listening to life in a northern town by dream academy. ah, nostalgia...