What a week!

I'm exhausted. I'm biking home from work and then laying low tonight with some beer, Arrested Development and Pete.

It's been a week of fascinating experiences.

I had the opportunity to visit a local organization called Compass Center, which serves homeless men and women in Seattle. I ate dinner and went to the evening worship service. We were at the location that provides services for men (women's services are at another location), and I enjoyed chatting with a few of the men while we had dinner. They had all been employed until recently and had basically slipped off the bottom of the employment ladder - and now there's no work to be had. It was a good dose of reality in terms of what the new face of homelessness looks like.

At the end of the evening a man talked to us about his life, and I thought his words were simple, but incredibly true and poignant:

"When you're faced with change, it can cause fear.

And the fear can paralyze you.

That's when you need help, from other people.

Now I'm not afraid.

I don't know what's next. But I'm not afraid."

And, I saw an amazing multimedia art show by Peter Becker Nelson called Former Best Friends at the Pioneer Square First Thursday. It was a cool blending of audio, visual and experiential art that examined his relationships with four former best friends from childhood. It made me reflect on how relationships evolve and how men and women differ in their experiences of "best friends."

We checked out a few other artists that evening and I love, love, love this work by Erin Kendig called Alphabet Pile (she's sitting on a pile of letters):

You can see it better on her Flickr page

Sigh. I wish I could afford art.