portraits of rambling thought

I really love to support independent, locally owned businesses. (There are some exceptions to this – I’m looking at you, Common Grounds.) One of my least favorite things about Waco is the abundance of chains that I am forced to shop at. However, on vacation in Lousiville this week, I was able to head to a locally owned bookstore called Carmichael’s, which was attached to a local coffee shop – Heine Bros.

It made me happy and I bought a few things. (For the record, I bought Food, Inc. and The Book Thief and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and a pouch of organic coffee) I bought things to say “Thank you so much for not being large and impersonal. Thank you for playing NPR as I shopped. Thank you for having an excellent children’s book section that Bethany and I could look through. Thanks for having local recommendations and a really rad sustainable living section. Thanks for keeping it classy in Louisville. Well done.”

I didn’t really understand the differences between local vs. national business until I was in college as I listened to people from small towns talk about WalMart and how it was killing their local businesses. As much of a fan I am of convienience at times, I wish it wasn’t always at the expense of something. I’m not saying that national chains are always horrible for the community (WaWa, Target and some others are known for their local participation) – but the sociological landscape of the current world is littered with corporations who are not kind to their surroundings. I wish we- as a people – were better at this balance.

I wish that we were better at acknowledging that no one exists in a vacuum. That the ways that I behave and the products that I buy and the ideas that I support affect persons in countries that I can’t find easily upon a map. I wish that togetherness and global community were not just topics for cheesetastic songs from Disney Channel movies, but were acutally driving concepts of society.

*sigh*

All of that to say – I like local businesses. I wish that someone would open an independent bookshop in Waco and I especially wish that that person would call it “Shop Around the Corner”.

Top 18 dances were pretty diverse. I didn’t love the hip-hop routines as much as I normally do and – as much as I love Phillip – that tango was a hot mess. Also, I still think that it should have been Ashuka and Vitolio who were booted this week because I am dramatically over them. But there are some real gems this week that I had a great time watching.

Brandon and Janette – “Love is Really My Game” – Disco

Jonathan and Carla – “Falling Slowly” – Contemporary

Evan and Randi – “Shake Your Tailfeather” – Jive

So, I didn’t fall completely in love with any of the Top 20 dances. I liked a few of the contemporaries, and the first hip-hop routine. But of all the performances this week, my favorite was the group dance for the results show. It doesn’t hurt that “Boom Boom Pow” is my favorite summer song so far. I’ve watched this routine a few times and it never fails to impress me.

Last night, bookending our night of Jazz and Desert at Diamondback’s, a few of us gathered in the Toczyski’s apartment to play RISK. For the record, all of us are graduates or current students in the missions concentration at Truett. We’ve spent time studying colonialism and it’s ramifications and how damaging it has been on the peoples of the world.

So it was fairly entertaining to watch all of us turn into fictional King Leopold’s and attempt to dominate entire continents.

However, as I lay in bed last night, attempting to fall asleep, I was thinking about the various ways that world leaders have carved up the world. It seems to me that it has rarely been in the best interest of the people of the nations in question and often at the best interest of the carvers. And, honestly, the way that Africa was haphazardly sectioned off into countries, it would not have shocked me if they viewed it as a glorified game of RISK.

Sometimes, I wish I didn’t fall asleep stressing out about the world. It would make things easier.

For the 3 of you who care – here’s what I’m up to between now and the start of classes in the Fall.

Now – June 21: In Waco. Plans include sitting by the pool, reading books and having meals with friends

June 22- July 2: Tour through Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio to see Asburians and have some sweet rest for my soul

July 2- July 9: In Waco. Plans include “Peace is Patriotic” party and more poolside reading

July 9- July 31: In Ethiopia and Malawi with UrbanPromise

August 1- August 23: In Yardley. Plans include Nanny’s 90th Birthday, Sarah and Mike at the Shore and escaping the Texas heat.