Welcome to the Blocks

A lot of change is going down in the blocks. The most major being shift being our beloved roommate and friend John Asher Adams, aka Craigers, aka Haiti boy, is heading east tomorrow morning on a road trip that will plant him in North Carolina for the summer and then most likely Virgina will be his habitat in the fall to pursue higher education. We’ll miss this kid after journeying with him for five years. And I personally look forward to staying in contact with him via hand written letters which we have pledged to write each other once a month or so.

So taking Johns spot for a month is a friend named Tiffany who just moved to Portland from New York. She is the niece of a beloved family friend of mine I know from my hometown of Zig Zag. So she is family. Tiff is transitioning to settling in Portland for a season and looking for a job and all that happy stuff. We look forward to making her feel at home, having our home have some feminine energy and maybe even getting some blog posts from her. She loves Jesus, likes nuns and has a coffee cup tattooed near her wrist from which she sips occasionally. She’ll most likely be with us short term.

Luis is going on a road trip across the country for two weeks starting next Wednesday. We can look forward to some quality pictures and some poems that will be inspired from his journey with two beloved friends, Ian and Tom.

Josh is going be traveling and visiting friends all over the map including; Virgina, Canada, New Orleans, and finally Florida to perform a wedding and put his internet bought pastors license to use and marry some bible college friends of ours. A recent enjoyment of mine has been applying generous amounts of aloe vera gel and lotion to his sun burnt back.

I have a nice bruise on my thigh from a fakie 50-50 to slip out and nail leg on the metal coping and slide down to the concrete bowl maneuver. It feels nice. Also some significant change that I’m stoked on is a new job that I’m starting Aug. 4th. I’m going to be a school success advocate through Open Meadows Alternative school and I’ll be working at Roosevelt high school with a group of 10 kids. I’ll be providing academic support and intervention, developing social and school success schools and helping to aid family relationships in this kids lives. Basically I’ll be pouring out some major love to some high school kids who need it. Did I mention I’m stoked on this job. So in this new season I’m saying good bye to my current employment at New Seasons Market. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave, its a great job, the people are beautiful, the benefits are great. I was thinking of staying on part time, but after struggling prayer, I hear God inviting me to deeper levels of trust and to pursue the passions he’s put on my heart as far as rhythms of prayer, intentional community and hip hop music. So this is little update on life in the blocks. the gospel is glorious.

John's farwell bbq

Hey girl,

I heard the news today

that you gave yourself away

to a boy who knew just what to say.

Hey girl,

I’m standing here torn

because if he was before me now

I’d make him wish he were never born.

Yesterday I took a drive East to the Columbia River Gorge. My ultimate destination was the Angel’s Rest Trailhead, where I would hike two plus miles to the top so I could watch the sunset over the Columbia River. After taking a wrong turn (damn mapquest) I finally found it but had to run most of the way uphill (I’m not in that great of shape mind you, simply inspired to see this spectacle. I was listening to Sigur Ros (in particular “Svo Hljott”) while running, which just pushed me even more because of their inclination towards the dramatic. I felt as if I were swept up in some epic race against time where I would encounter something truly majestic at the precipice. Needless to say it was fun. I arrived at the zenith with about 10 minutes to spare, found myself a nice little cliff to rest upon and watched God paint. Here are some photos for you.

For the rest of them please feel free to visit my flickr site.

The Trailhead

A minor waterfall about a third of the way up.

Our Hands Seek Warmth

In The Fading Light

Fighting Focus

You Paint With Gold

You + me: Our Histories Carved in Wood

The View from the Bench

The Cliff

Damn Tree. Photoshop, here I come…

with the help of family and friends we had a fantastic celebration on my 9,855th day of existence. Good food was consumed, family came (from seattle aunt J, uncle J and Grandma Christine), friends came (from all streams of my life from childhood homies, to high school compadres, to bible college buddies, my beloved roomies, to new fellow pilgrims), a frisbee were thrown, laughter was frequent, handshakes and hugs were the norm, a trampoline was jumped on, socks were brought, and the highlight was definitely the free form sharing time which I want to comment on.

• Nanna the Banana, a famous clown and dear friend, who was present at my birth and clowned one of my first birthdays, got things rolling with some funny commentary and magic.

• My family preceded to overwhelm me with raps which they all wrote themselves for me, my bro, dad, sis and mom all flowed and I was proud  and a few tears slid down my face.
• Aunt Julie read a beautiful piece of writing on what to do with power.
• Uncle John played the guitar and sang ‘go Jesse, go go go…” and had us freestyle the rest
• Dave, a family friend wrote a poetic piece linking basketball and Jesus and my conversion process
• JJ, a faithful friend, read a piece that was like a prayer
• Stephanie, a friend whom I’ve hung out with twice, blessed us with a spoken word about the the true gift of life
• Garret, a dear brother, shared new ninja turtle poem, and a favorite of mine that is heavy from micah 6:8 ( to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God)
• Mick, a deep homie of mine, shared about iconography, his personal art and writing and revealed to us how Jesus has layers to explore.
• Justin, aka SQaware, freestyled like he wrote it, and captured the moment like he owned it.
• Audrey, a 10 year old relative prodigy blessed us with some serious violin skills.
• I read a silly imaginative piece I wrote that morning, and sQr and I did a little rappy.
• did I forget anyone?

Fun was had by all. I got to be with the beautiful people who have shaped me, and got to meet some new friends. We got a bunch of socks for home pdx. My friend and co-worker Brian came late and gave us (john, josh, mick and I) a ride home and after our gut busting joking session he shared some beautiful Appalachian spirituals. It was a great end to an amazing day. thanks everyone who helped put that all together and to everyone who showed up, I love and appreciate you all, lets seek on. And to everyone who couldn’t make it. Lets get together soon and celebrate because you exist.

Everyone is invited to celebrate existence, and my birthday is just an excuse to get together. Everyone please don’t bring any gifts just bring a pack of new socks to give to home pdx, a church for people who live outside. We’ll have some arts and crafts time to write letters to people. We’re going to have a free form sharing time, so please bring a song, a poem, a story, a rap, or anything to share and inspire. Not everyone has to share, but everyone who wants to is encouraged to. We are going to gather where my brother Zac and his wife Erica live in Gresham. The address is 8024 SE Short Road Gresham, OR 97080. call me (503-250-0835) or email me (emajyn@gmail.com) or leave a comment if you can come. Its on friday June 13th its going to be fun

So NBA league commissioner David Stern got his dream matchup - Boston Celtics vs. L.A. Lakers, a classic rivalry that summons the ghosts of some of the most storied NBA Finals series in league history. This will be the eleventh Finals meeting between the purple and green. Boston has won eight of the previous ten encounters.

Adding flavor to this series is the fact that neither one of these teams could have dreamed that they would be at this level just one short year ago. What a difference a couple of trades can make! For the Lakers, the difference-makers have been the re-signing of Derek Fisher after his short stint in Utah, and the virtual gifting to L.A. of center Pau Gasol by Memphis. The Lakers have gone from first-round fodder to Western Conference champions, and Kobe Bryant has gone from demanding a trade to league MVP.

Meanwhile, the Celtics turnaround was spurred by a deal with Seattle that brought in shooting guard Ray Allen. This, in turn, made Boston an attractive prospect for talented Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett, who had suffered for years as the best member of a mediocre team. In the regular season, the new-look Celtics revived Boston basketball, achieving the greatest one-year turnaround of any team, from a dismal 24-58 to this year’s league-best 66-16.

The Celtics are an easy team to root for - almost no Celtic on the current roster has ever made it this far. A championship would be the fitting end to what has been a storybook season, and watching Kevin Garnett burst a few capillaries after winning the title would be worth the price of admission by itself.

That being said, the Lakers roster still includes the league’s most valuable player. Furthermore, the Lakers fought their way to the top of the better conference, and have steamrolled their way through the first three rounds while Boston has already faced two elimination games. It’s always attractive to root for the underdog, but something tells me that this is going to be Kobe’s year.

Prediction: Lakers in six.

the educational pursuit of a masters degree at mars hill grad school was almost my path of choice for this fall, but after prayer and discernment these past few months it seems good to the holy spirit and to me to defer my acceptance until the ‘09 school year.  I will snuggle into portland soil for at least another year with hopes and dreams (w)rapped up in Jesus following. If I go to mhgs it needs to be an all out commitment to the path of intense study and posture to personal growth as well as dedicating to the loan repayment of grad school. I just wasn’t ready for that leap, and I need to see why I have this passion for the art of hip hop in me. I’m pluggin into the Bridge church, working four days a week at new seasons market,, attempting to develop a rhythm of prayer, study and writing rappy raps. Also Im looking for avenues to connect deeper with my community in NE portland. Anywho check out mars hill grad school’s new website; and a recent article  to get a feel of what this unique school which I might end up at in a year and some change. My birthday is June 13th and its gonna be a good excuse to have a celebrate existence day at my brothers and his lovely wife’s place in Gresham. We’ll be having art & crafts table, open free form sharing of all types of poetry, rap and music, they’ll be good food, and I’ll encourage everyone to bring a pack of socks, so we can give the ‘white gold’ away to people who live outside.  contact me if you want to come, more info will be coming soon. shalom.

This haiku was written a week and a half ago at the Bridge, a beautiful community of Jesus followers which I am very much enjoying getting to know. When is the last time anyone wrote a poem at a church gathering as a part of the service? I really like the unique flavor of the bridge christian church. Luis, aka Schmoofigans (his newest nickname), inspired me with his haiku, so I offer my 17 syllables.

Sharp teeth in darkness

eat layers until light breaks through

tension digested

A city aflame

a fellow without a name

Such was me, today.