The president passed the Sudan divestment proposal! This meeting was probably one of the most important of my time at Macalester, but I slept through my alarm and showed up fifteen minutes late in my pajamas, soaked to the bone from the pouring rain. The president happens to be a pretty compassionate soul, though, and is prepared to defend it in front of the Trustees. I have my fingers crossed.

I got to talk about the community banking scheme at a conference at Columbia University a few weeks ago. The Responsible Endowments Coalition is such an inspiring group of people--there is nothing wrong with getting sucked into the firey vortex of non-profit entrepreneurship. Visiting New York was mildly unsettling, though, because I saw a number of old friends who are really not so happy.

Saturday I went to the St. Paul Art Crawl, where all of the artists who live in subsidized studio apartments in the warehouse district open up their places to display everything they've got. It always inspires me because you can see the artist within their own living space, and sort of gain some insight as to how their work fits into their personal lives. A lot of the work is really nothing spectacular--some of it is downright atrocious--but you can see that you don't have to be anything special to be an artist. Art only requires the courage to embrace one's imperfection and withstand the criticism of the public. We watched people spin fire in the street and then made it across town to see Bladerunner. After Josh showed me Star Trek, I am reluctantly acknowledging the virtues of science fiction. Am I turning to the dark side?

Here is a second-hand quote from the mouth of Cynthia, a mechanic who helps to fix up bikes for people at the Center of Victims of Torture. One CVT client who had spent seven years in in an Iraqi jail said this:

“When I ride my bike I can go North, South, East or West. I can go as far as I want and as long as I want. And when I’m tired I can lay in the grass and look up at the sky.”