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markrussum

About Me


I have returned from Oregon. I have come back to realize that there is opportunity to live, and opportunity to be dead although still breathing. Wondering from one form of entertainment to another, tied down by cell phones and schedules we can let our days pass by so easily without meaning. I have learned to be present and aware of each moment and how much more fullfilling it is to be stimulated by contemplation, silence, solitude, reading and writing. mark russum jr.

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My Interests

music, writing, reading, nature, Native Americans, sunshine, guitar, sitting waiting, cell group, my bike, riding my bike, exploring, hiding, people, friends, mountains, cabins, fire, gardens, compost, old books, children, loud guitar, drums too, laughing, rocking chairs, decks, trees, pine cones, black cherries, fair trade coffee, cool foggy mornings, cool peaceful nights, colorado, california, oregon, wondering how and why, st. francis, tea, honey, little kid ran lemonade stands, coffee mugs, old people, new people, elizabeth rachel pratt.

I'd like to meet:

"Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does." -Allen GinsbergView All Friends | View Blog

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Music:

John Mallinen, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Pedro the Lion, mewithoutYou, The Psalters, Birdie Busch, Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, The American Analog Set, Crystal Skulls, Saxon Shore, Rage Against the Machine, The Shins, Project 86, Brother Danielson, Unwed Sailor, Caspian, Iron and Wine, Jose Gonzalez, John Francis, Vetiver.

Movies:

Bowling for Columbine, Born into Brothels, Jarhead, Eternal Sunshine, Anchorman, Instinct, Gattica, To End All Wars, Tommy Boy, Hotel Rwanda, Speak, Yesterday, A River Runs Through it :"Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."

Books:

Thomas Merton-New Seeds of Contemplation, The Irresistible Revolution-Shane Claiborne, Brave New World, Mere Christianity, Richard Hays, Yoder, Brian McLaren, Thomas Hardy, Ishmael, The Spirit of Disciplines, Henry Nouwen, mere discipleship, the Gospels, The Short Stories of Dostoevsky, The Catcher in the Rye-J.D. Salinger, Traveling Mercies-Anne Lamott, Siddhartha-Hermann Hesse, The Brothers K-David James Duncan, Walden-Henry David Thoureau, Blue Like Jazz-Donald Miller, My Story As Told By Water-David James Duncan, An Ordinary Man- Paul Rusebagina, Violence- James Gilligan (all about shame baby), The Brothers Karamazov- Dostoevesky, Beloved- Toni Morrison, Raising Abel- James Alison (READ IT!), The Rivery Why- DJD (hilarious!), Unbearalbe Weight- Susan Bordo, Becoming Human- Jean Vanier, God Laughs and Plays-David James Duncan.
"I walked on the banks of the tincan banana dock and sat down under the huge shade of a Southern Pacific locomotive to look at the sunset over the box house hills and cry. Jack Kerouac sat beside me on a busted rusty iron pole, companion, we thought the same thoughts of the soul, bleak and blue and sad-eyed, sur- rounded by the gnarled steel roots of trees of machinery. The oily water on the river mirrored the red sky, sun sank on top of final Frisco peaks, no fish in that stream, no hermit in those mounts, just our- selves rheumy-eyed and hungover like old bums on the riverbank, tired and wily..." ~Allen Ginsberg "Sunflower Sutra"

Heroes:

Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, Dragging Canoe, Martin Luther King Jr, Ghandi, St. Francis, Doug Frank, Nancy and John Linton, Sam Alvord, there are many that are not heroes but people that I look up to, my older and wiser friends.

www.xanga.com/markrussum

My Blog

Some thoughts on Racism

I've had an unique opportunity to work with two different groups of young people within the last six months. One being a group of upper class suburban White kids, the other a group of lower/middle cla...
Posted by mark on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:57:00 PST

...

I have been trying to truly humble myself for a while now. Returning from Oregon more cynical  then when I left is nothing to blame the OE for. I have been moving towards this mindset that I know...
Posted by mark on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:34:00 PST

mourning

the sound of a door closing loudly on the floor of my dorm building, makes me jump slightly now. What goes through the mind of a person who decides that they are going to open fire on people? I can't ...
Posted by mark on Mon, 16 Apr 2007 02:30:00 PST

Curry, Garlic, Basil and Sage

I plan to read books in a room dimly lit. My lamp hanging over head, a nice reading chair facing towards the window. Soothed and slightly numbed from red wine, I will sit and savor all the senses. My...
Posted by mark on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 11:02:00 PST

Stolen Identity...really

It's a crazy thing to know that someone has stolen all of your supposed, "valuable" information. I fell for a spoof ebay email and am now sure that I submitted all of my sensitive information to someo...
Posted by mark on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:25:00 PST

Present Moment

Thich Nhat Hanh explains perfectly what I have taken from Oregon:"'Dwelling in the present moment.' We recite  this line as we breath in again, and we don't think of anything else. We know exactl...
Posted by mark on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 08:53:00 PST

dreams

the yellow lines run past the brown and green buildings that held our thoughts, letters and laughter. It feels as if I was in one of the cars that passed everyday, turning my head, to see only briefly...
Posted by mark on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:32:00 PST

nostalgia

The fear and nervousness has faded. O God of Grace. I can do without religion. I can only do with Christ. When I look at Jesus I see something worth believing in. Goodbye to Nancy and John Linton, y...
Posted by mark on Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:02:00 PST

On Being a Covenant Member

As many of you know I made a covenant tonight with Circle of Hope. In the days leading up to this event, I reflected upon why I would want to be part of the community. I realized fairly quickly that I...
Posted by mark on Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:38:00 PST

the mainstream has made my brain mush.

the mainstream has made my brain mush. nature, solitude, contemplation, simplicity are the means to a healthy mind. a healthy mind is the means to a meaningful life. don't look forward with lofty anti...
Posted by mark on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:28:00 PST