weekend marathon

thank you!
to all those lovely people that made my short marathon back in the good old west so truly enjoyable

Friday: darmstadt - meeting friends


Saturday, sunday: Hofheim - National convention, junior youth program


Monday: Cologne - Tanz in den Mai, "Klau den Baum" (the night before 1st of may, "steel the tree")



The quote of this weekend: "kommt zeit kommt rat, kommt frühling kommt salat" Dr. N.Peseschkian

-You made me happy-

MANY PHOTOS

weekend marathon

NISI is back and Papi's gone crazy!!!

Four months she was gone far far away to a place called Cambodia, in the city called Plong-Pleng or something like that...

NIS IS BACK

Now she is back and i got to see her for 3 or 4 days, since i was leaving again...but come on, life is journey and we enjoy traveling the hearts of people :)

Love you NISI
...and Papi's gone nuts...i was mad ever since before!!!

Making Sense '07

It's been a while, but i have a GOOD excuse!!!

THE JUNOIR YOUTH CONFERENCE 2007, 05.04-09.04

It is a warm spring day as i arrive in Chemnitz. This will be my first Junior Youth conference and i certainly don't know what is awaiting me.



I get to the old and beautiful Martha Root house, a place so peaceful and bright...you think???

35 lively and excited Junior-Youth got the party started...luckily their energy during the program was mostly focused on the talks, workshops, art-workshops and of course the devotionals. Our free time was filled with sport activities that were offered in the Hotel we stayed. tennis, ping-pong, fitness, squash, badminton, bowling, even jogging in the mornings didn't get our kids tired.



All together the program was a fabulous mix consisting of instructive talks on the topic of "the needs of our time", constructive group discussions, deep and inspiring stories of the Candles of our Faith (never saw sooo many tears), wonderful singing, dancing and a loads of fun. The juniors worked out their part in the world today and the great contribution they can offer to the people we live with.



The spirit, the courage, the wit and the awareness of those young members of our Faith left us in no doubt of a clearly visible development of the Baha'i community as in the Minor Plan.

A special bond between organizers and juniors was created during the time before lights out, when we got the chance to talk personally to youth in their rooms. Getting into deep conversations on any imaginable topic that our young friends face in their every day life. A natural and unauthoritative but friendly atmosphere allowed those fruitful conversations.

I would be lying if i said, that the juniors learned from us. In a summing up feedback, the organizers agreed that we had learned just as much from the youth.

What happiness, joy and faith this event creates i can not share in words, but only in my deeds in the form of service, as an act of gratefulness to Baha'u'llah.


Find a little insight in this Album:

making sense '07

For more pics, go HERE!

St. Sunshine

The range of my friends reaches from very young to old, but i consciously call all those special and dear individuals "friends", since i feel as closely related as to my friends that are my age. The reason i consider them as matching friends is because we can actually learn from each other, we can laugh or cry together, and we can even get in fights. I think it is so important to learn in a respectuful manner from older and loving friends and in a simple and jump-about manner from our younger ones, who tend to show us what is really important in life when we start getting too busy with ourselves and the problems in this world.

Joel is one of my closest friends, he teaches me happiness and radiance. Joel is very detached from material things and breaks everything that is dear to me. He is loyal to his best friend Sir Henry (a rabbit) and creates much more intense relationships, communicating by biting the nose, still being pure minded.
I could go on and on, but i believe i made my point...enjoy the quotes and pics...

It is not a bad thing that children should occasionally, and politely, put parents in their place. -Colette-

Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instruction. -Annie Sullivan-

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance. -Franklin P. Jones-

JOEL PICTURE ALBUM

joel joon

auctioned off for 950€

A Baha'i friend from Bavaria asked me to make a couple of pictures of the Calligraphy "His Holiness Abdu'l-Baha", in order to auction it to finance their Naw Ruz celebration. So i prepared 5 of these on a rather small papyrus (size, DIN A4).
Today i received an sms by my friend telling me that the 1st one of the pictures was just auctioned off for unbelievable 950€!!!

Stencils

What is it, why is it, and for what reason do I bother you with it?

Stencil comes from the French "Pochior", and of course it comes from France. Pochoir is a so called "street art" and was invented in the late 70s. As a kind of Graffiti it is popular among young people and hated by school principals :)

Stencils are often used for spreading political views. Anti-War, anti-consume, anti- "marionettes", etc.

That was the short version. Why do a Stencil? Ask yourself why you do your hair, the answer is almost the same. But it is much more than that. You can make others happy by making PERSONAL gifts (instead of an ordinary best seller), and you don't need to buy the cheap H&M designs (forget "dress for the moment", it's a consumer trick), with which 1/3 of the youth run around (communism is over). Be your own designer without pushing an ego tour. Start shaping the world and add your dash of colour to it. Once again, "unity in diversity".

I prepared a little tour through the world of Stencils, and how they are done (at least how i do them ;)
You can check out some of my rather simple stuff but there is better things on the net and good tutorials as well :)

stencils

Backstreet Boys in Acuto!!

Ladies and Gentleman,
unbelievable but true, the backstreet boys were taking part in the study activities in Acuto, Italy.

witness it for yourself...just moments before their performance

What is arts and why would we do it?

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

-Aristotle-

It is only after years of preparation that the young artist should touch color - not color used descriptively, that is, but as a means of personal expression.

-Henri Matisse-

The interpretation of Art remains a personal judgement, just as beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.
The scale of Art reaches far from canvas pictures over music pieces, to movies, architecture, gardening and so on... Pointless to draw a line around it, pointless to make a general judgement!

Al Capp said:

Abstract art is a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.

I see the temptation why Al Capp made a comment as such, where the humor was prior to its meaning. But it can not be accepted as a true statement, as for someone, Art is worship of beauty and so he draws a most beautiful oil canvas, in unity with the world;

When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art.

Paul Cezanne

...but for the other, arts might be the expression of a world without laws, which leads us to the abstract, and could be seen as an impulse to set the human free from their constant dependence, even if only for a moment. Wherefore, although i personally don't like abstract art too much, it can still not be simply excluded from the world of arts.

My attempt for a conclusion lies in the simplicity of three words,
Unity in Diversity, an essential Teaching of Bahá'u'lláh

Another nice thought of Art has just arrived by email from a very dear friend of mine and i would like to add it, belated to this post: "Art is the process of rendering into concrete form visions of possibilities"


His Holiness Abdu'l-Bahá

kung fu bam

Some times we take pleasure in the pain of others, that is wrong. In german we call the joy we feel when somebody else is in pain for example, or in any other situation of disadvantage "schadenfreude". OR in english malicious-joy, use for show off!!!

May i introduce myself as Ramon Lee...

Townshend tales...

It is about time that i introduce some friends to you. Very dear to me is Jan. I should really call him the wise man and about wise men has been said:

“Down in their hearts, wise men know this truth: the only way to help yourself is to help others” Elbert Hubbard

Jan likes to help others and guides them in every step. You want proof? Here we go, unfortunately wise men speak only german...




However, for wise men it really is not enough to just explain something to somebody every once in a while? No, they also have the gift to say the right thing at the right time. I witnessed a wise men...

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.” Plato

calligraphy - His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá

I would like to share some piece of arts. It is a Calligraphy meaning: His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá

You can find instructions along with the pictures in the Album:

calligraphy - His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá

Changing Times'06

I know, i am moving backwards in time. So what? Just wanted to share some lovely pictures with you. be honest, you're happy you can look at some pictures instead of reading my boring comments ;)

Album:

changing time'06

for anyone, who would like to see the full load of CT Pics get to the following link:
Chaning Times Album

a small glimpse...Acuto'07

World Order of Bahá'u'lláh course, 04-11 Feb, Acuto
when friends ask "how was it?", time and time again we realize our limited capability to frame our words, adequately reflecting those pictures, experiences, feelings left in memory. Reconstructing reality in words is not only impossible due to the fact that perception is limited, additionally we so often, "do not find the right words" . Who hasn't had such a thought before? The fairly simple answer to this is, that we can not describe a new experience that keeps a new emotional significance, in words which we connect with past experience to which we associate a different emotional meaning.
Some solid facts:
- Acuto is a precious little village in the mountains, approx. 1h from Rome
- we were blessed with the presence of the Nakjávánís
...to study the three books from Mr Nakjávání regarding the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, Administration, Successor-ship, Shoghi Effendi, Universal House of Justice, teaching plans...and to listen to unbelievable stories from time witness Mrs Nakjávání
- the goal: deepen our knowledge and gain the ability to speak up for the Faith at a high standard
- 90 youth from all over Europe

Let the pictures do some talking...

a small glimpse...Acuto'07