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I went on two short trips. I married a cousin to her beloved. I saw Bette Midler in “Hello, Dolly!” and Andy Karl in “Groundhog Day.” I shook Leontyne Price’s hand!!!!!!!

LEONTYNE PRICE!

I kept up with the news and cried a lot. My heart hurts all the time. My heart hurts so much I am going back into therapy with someone who has a clinical and theological orientation. I can’t be in therapy without talking about God, and I can’t do spiritual direction with someone who isn’t educated in the clinical manifestations of moral despair and pain.
So there’s that.

Our church has been hugely busy and I am very excited and grateful for all of it but somewhat creatively tapped out. After our big Pride weekend beach service and final decision on a new Music Director I can slow way down for a couple of weeks. I am taking August off, off, offety off!

I am gardening. Are you gardening? I am not a “gardener” but I like messing around with plants. I like cool tones so my front plot is all lavender and other blue, purple, hot pink, and … WHEN DID I PUT IN THOSE YELLOW DAISIES?
I love the surprise of perennials. “Holy cow, now where did that hibiscus come from?”
I put a lot of little magical things in my front garden because kids walk by a lot and it’s fun for them. I have front porch envy. Eventually I’ll have to put on a little tiny porch so I can sit out front and be officially nosy instead of covertly nosy.

Everything seems to be a bit snug so I guess I got fatter and I’ll have to get less fat this summer. No goals, just general awareness.

I will not be at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly because I cannot even. I am selfishly saving my passion and energy for my own local congregation. I have no desire to spend a week in New Orleans agitating. What I did do was write three companion blog pieces about our current maelstrom, although I did not mention all the senior staff resignations and subsequent dumbass decisions about sending those who resigned out with golden parachutes. How dare the UUA come to us for more money when they spend it in such an unaccountable fashion?

Here are my pieces:
http://www.peacebang.com/2017/06/17/being-willing-to-be-made-a-people/ On how UUs are really not a covenantal people even though we love to throw the word around.

http://www.peacebang.com/2017/06/19/inherent-worth-and-dignity-the-starting-point/ On how UUs misinterpret our first principle in egotistical and individualistic ways.

http://www.peacebang.com/2017/06/19/7405/ On selective intellectualism and the resistance to the perfectly easy to understand term, “white supremacy.”

The best thing about not going to General Assembly is not having to pack for late June in New Orleans. Good luck, y’all!

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Iran received the Oscar in 2012 for A Separation and in 2017 for The Salesman. Director Asghar Farhadi (who was also nominated for Original Screenplay for A Separation) reflects on what the statuette has meant for his country.

What was your reaction when you found out your film was nominated in 2012?

I was in Paris, working on the script of The Past, the film I shot after A Separation. I was pacing up and down my office, thinking about a scene, when my assistant told me that the Oscar nominees were about to be announced. She was expecting the list on her laptop. The announcement program started. It was very exciting to find out that A Separation was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. But hearing that it was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay was amazing. I was immediately inundated with messages and phone calls. We had a warm celebration that evening at our place in Paris with my family and friends.

Check Out the Full Interview Here — https://medium.com/art-science/the-man-who-won-oscars-for-iran-19972c51fc71