The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

We’ve (we…, who am I kidding, it’s just me!) added some new features to the site. You may notice the chat feature located now in the sidebar between the Quotes and the rest of my links. It’s provided courtesy of Meebo. Since you were looking night and day for more ways to stay plugged into Manrilla, you can chat with me any time you see I’m online. It’s just one-to-one so it’s all confidential (unless I post a screen shot - no, I wouldn’t do that). It also allows you to customize your nick name (just click on the edit nick to let me know who you are). So take a gander at the Get At Me section.

The Manrilla Blog is all grown up now. We’ve even gone and gotten ourselves a podcast and now we’re listed on iTunes. Yep. Mom would be proud (if she knew what a podcast was). Now you’ve no reason to anywhere else on the .Net than here. We’re looking forward to your continued obsession.

Earlier this year I was asked to participate in a project by a group of grad students from Hunter College in NYC. It was a spiritual biography of sorts. It traced lines along religion and race. The final project has yet to be published but an excerpt is now available for listening. So take a few moments to download the first in a series of podcasts forthcoming from the Manrilla Blog. It’s approximately 14 minutes in length [25MB]. Enjoy.

His hands were like chasms that had been filled in with a life-time of dirt and grit.

Speaking in a babble of tongues, he uttered the names of the Saints.

He was not crazy; I could see lights behind his eyes.

He had seen things no man should ever have to see; lived like everyman presumptuously wished.

He knew St. Luke’s but he prefers to live outside.

Crumpled pages, all scraps of paper - a trail of missed hopes and unfulfilled dreams. Reverently, he tucked them in his pocket.

Rendered motionless by his gaze; I could only watch him turn and walk away.