Here are some pictures from yesterday!

The Three Towers

The Statuesque Sophs

Orator at the Greek Theatre

Our Friendly USF Security

Commander in Chief getting his groove on, Latin style: Obama Salsa dancing

On Wednesday, November 11^th from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. the Thacher Gallery and the Donohue Rare Book Room will hold an opening reception for the exhibition “Eric Gill, Iconographer: Engravings from the Albert Sperisen Collection.” During the reception there will be an opportunity to print on the Rare Book Room’s 1854 Albion handpress, once owned by the firm of Hague & Gill. Students from the Art + Architecture course Printmaking I will assist guests who wish to print a broadside keepsake featuring an Eric Gill image and quote. There is nothing quite like pulling an impression on an antique handpress. To experience the art and craft of letterpress printing, please visit the Donohue Rare Book Room during the opening reception. For more information, please call (415) 422-2036.

John Hawk
Head Librarian, Donohue Rare Book Room

Sure you’ve heard by now, but Thanksgiving Celebration (“TC”) is coming up quick!  What’s TC?  It’s a time to celebrate together all God has been doing this past year, and also a chance to be silly, dance a little, sing a bit, and have some good clean fun!  We also will have a huge Thanksgiving Feast!

Once again, it involves DANCING and SINGING, which means getting together to practice.  (And we know many of you love to dance – so here’s the perfect chance!)  Please click HERE and let us know your availability to practice.  Practices will be held the next couple Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday after we meet for service.

For this Thanksgiving, we at USF Koinonia challenge all of you to a Thanksgiving Dare!  Check out thanksgivingdare.com.  It is a website that will compile different stories of how people experienced 21 days of Gratitude this Thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving Retreat was such a memorable time!  We first heard a message on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and then in the afternoon, we heard many different testimonies.  We got to hear so many amazing stories of what God is doing with all the different Koinonia groups around the globe.  Be sure to go to Gracepoint Video if you want to watch some of the year end videos.

We had a Thanksgiving Orchestra!

We had Dinner at the Tjhen's afterwards!

Gallo Pinto

Gallo Pinto is Nicaragua’s most popular dish, eaten at any time of the day.

* 2 tbsp vegetable oil
* 2 lrg onions – thinly sliced
* 2 cups cooked red beans
* ¼ cup water
* 1 cup cooked white rice

Beans: cook 1 cup of dry red beans with 6 crushed cloves of garlic and water in a pressure cooker for 15 to 20 minutes. Sauté the onion in a pot. Add in the cooked beans and water. Cook for 5 minutes at a low heat whilst stirring. The beans must remain whole. Now add the cooked rice and simmer for a further 10 minutes, still stirring.

Please save the date for our Thanksgiving Celebration (11/22). For those of you who have no idea what TC is, it’s a time when legends are made… what kind of legend is debatable. It’s a a good time of laughter and fellowship as we recount in creative ways how we have experienced God this past year. Please see for yourself what we mean, in the trailer below. And after the sensory overload from all the fun acts, we’ll be having a full on Thanksgiving feast together! You’ll definitely don’t want to miss it!

Since we will be providing rides, please sign up if you want to come!

Maduros

A tasty banana dessert.

* 4 maduros (sweet bananas) peeled
* 3 cups milk
* 2 cinnamon sticks
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla

Place maduros and milk in a bowl and boil until tender. Add the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, boiling for another 5 minutes. Place it in a dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350°F. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Sign-ups for the Warriors game have closed.

Contact Mike (510-299-1107) if you’re still interested and to see if there’s extra space.

***

Join us for an outing this Friday to the Warriors v. Clippers game! But, sign-up fast because we need to purchase tickets soon!

Don’t get burned – sign-up HERE by Wednesday and pay early to make sure your seat is reserved. It promises to be a fun time!

What: Koinonia outing to the Golden State Warriors v. Los Angeles Clippers basketball game!

When: this Friday, 6pm from the Guard Post

Where: Oakland Arena

Cost: around $20 (for a ticket that is regularly ~$40!)

CORRECT NUTRITION
The body is a complex machine and it needs proper nutrition to function. Sometimes no matter what you do, you will not get better without proper nutrition. Dr. Darrow is versed in muscle testing to best determine which nutritional supplements are best for you. Bring in your nutritional supplements/ vitamins and Dr. Darrow will muscle test you to see which ones work best for you. Remember the supplement market is largely an unregulated market and you may be ingesting substances that have heavy metals and toxins the one thing in your body you really don’t wish to be paying money to put into it. Or, you may be paying for supplements, which your body is unable to absorb. Darrow Chiropractic carries nutritional supplements and vitamins, which are regulated by the US Government and have been proven to absorb into the body thus promoting wellness.

To kick off USF’s celebration of International Education Week 2009, USF students, staff, and faculty are invited to enter the IEW photo contest.  Last year we had two fabulous entries from Gleeson Library staff! To enter, send a photo from your experiences abroad to usf.iew@gmail.com by Friday, October 30th. Include a brief (one or two sentences) caption explaining or describing the photo circumstances.

Co-sponsored by Gleeson Library along with International Student and Scholar Services, the ESL program, Residence Life, the Center for Global Education, and Bon Appetit, the IEW theme this year is “The World At Our Doorstep.”

Photo contest entries will be posted around campus and the campus community will vote on the photo that best depicts aspects of international educational or cultural exchange . You can see last year’s photos on the IEW@USF Facebook page. And here’s a taste of Culturescape, the signature event of International Education Week to be held on Friday, November 20 this year.

Let me share with you this testiomonial with you from Teodoro. These stories get me fired up and that is why I enjoy doing what I do!

Gifted Healer
When turning (my body) to the right all the way, I could not do it without feeling some pain near the vertebrae just below the nipple. That goes too, with my neck. Which I twist my neck or lean all the way to the right, I could not do it without feeling pains. I feel better doing all the above after coming into the clinic…I already feel the difference. Dr. Darrow is one of the best chiropractors I have visited. His adjustments are precise focusing on specific areas causing pain. He has gentle non force approach making one feel comfortable and relaxed. After my adjustment I have more energy and I feel calmer and clearer and more focused. Dr. darrow is a gifted healer. I would highly recommend Dr. Darrow
-Teodoro A., Palo Alto, CA

Your neck, also called the cervical spine, begins at the base of the skull and contains seven small vertebrae. Incredibly, the cervical spine supports the full weight of your head, which is on average about 12 pounds. While the cervical spine can move your head in nearly every direction, this flexibility makes the neck very susceptible to pain and injury.

The neck’s susceptibility to injury is due in part to biomechanics. Activities and events that affect cervical biomechanics include extended sitting, repetitive movement, accidents, falls and blows to the body or head, normal aging, and everyday wear and tear. Neck pain can be very bothersome, and it can have a variety of causes.

We are going to sierra lodge this weekend.  Are you ready??

Here is a video of our Prodigal Son Skits last Friday.

And here is a video of our gym night last Friday!  We had an exciting game of gym night where we played dodgeball, soccer, and wild turkey.  It was a great night!  Are any of you still sore?  Also, please read through the announcements since this week is a very special week.

Here are the announcements for the week!

Thursday: We are having our bible study on Thursday since we are going to Sierra Lodge on Friday!

When | 7:00pm
Where | K-hall 167
What | Bible Study.  It’s on Friday, because Friday we will be heading up to Sierra Lodge!  Check out below for pictures and the video and I hope you all are ready for Sierra Lodge! These pictures and the video will get you pumped up for Sierra Lodge!

done

Friday: We will be heading up to Sierra Lodge.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you can sign up here!

Sunday: Since we are not going to Sierra Lodge, we are going to have our Sunday Service at Sierra Lodge with our SFSU group! If you are in town and would like to attend a SWS, check out Gracepoint Berkeley!

Where | Sierra Lodge!

On Thursday evening, October 8, at 5:00 p.m.  the Gleeson Library Associates will  host a program in the Donohue Rare Book Room on The Seven Wonders of the World: Ancient and Modern. Dr. Andrew Jameson, historian, world-traveler and lecturer will present an illustrated slide talk. His presentation begins with consideration of the canonical number seven and what constitutes a “world wonder” followed by a description of the ancient and modern sites.

Gleeson Library Associates are free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served. For further information, please contact John Hawk in the Donohue Rare Book Room at (415) 422-2036.

John Hawk
Head Librarian, Donohue Rare Book Room

Americans Win Nobel Prize

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091005/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nobel_medicine

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/mystery-to-me/

One can now follow the Donohue Rare Book Room on Flickr! The Rare Book Room’s Flickr account documents recent exhibitions, receptions and other Library activities. As the site continues to develop, it will also feature images of collection materials thus representing a visual archive of the Donohue Rare Book Room and special collections at the University of San Francisco. To access the Flickr account, please visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42175177@N03/sets/

John Hawk
Head Librarian, Donohue Rare Book Room

Virgil, Works (Nuremberg: Anthon Koberger, 1492)

When Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood, he called it a non-fiction novel.   With No One You Know, Michelle Richmond has written what might be called the fictional true crime story.   Ellie Enderlin lives in San Francisco where she works as a coffee buyer, traveling to many countries to find the very best beans.   Her sister Lila, a math genius, was murdered 20 years earlier while studying at Stanford.   Things have come together in such a way for Ellie that she thinks its time to find out who killed Lila, and why.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this story and Michelle Richmond’s writing style is smooth and easy to follow.   Anyone who has lived in or loves San Francisco will connect with certain places and scenes in the book (the main character went to college at U.S.F.).   Richmond also has a sly sense of humor…   In one scene Ellie steps into a coffee house that features books having a certain theme.   This time the theme is fog, and one of the books featured is Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock’s San Francisco.   Then there’s, “a novel that I’d read recently, a sort of literary mystery about a kidnapping set in San Francisco.   The book had been interesting, if somewhat drawn out.”   In this way Richmond both references and makes fun of her earlier book, The Year of Fog.   Clever!

But there was a problem and it went to believability.   Early on, Richmond puts Ellie together with a former Stanford student who was thought to be a prime suspect in her sister’s death; what today would be called “a person of interest.”   But instead of permitting them to meet in the Bay Area, she transports both to the village of Diriomo, Nicaragua.   This seemed quite unnecessary – I still don’t see the rationale for it – and it made me wonder if I would find the remainder of the story to be credible.   Fortunately, Richmond’s telling makes a full recovery.   But…

The story also seemed about 31 pages too long.   The natural ending – the resolution of the basic story – comes at page 275, but it continues on until page 306.   (In Richmond’s own words, somewhat drawn out.)

Despite a couple of issues mentioned here, I look forward to reading Richmond’s next novel.   I may also read The Year of Fog, a book I decided earlier to by-pass due to its subject matter.   Richmond’s strengths lie in addressing the topics of morality, trust, human relationships, love and loss.   In No One You Know, she makes a superb case for the need to learn (and accept) the truth about those we love – because the truth defines them in human scale, in human terms.   And as Jackson Browne would remind us, sometimes we didn’t know what it was that we loved about another person.   The love was enough.

SAN RAFAEL, CA – Plastiras & Terrizzi, a San Rafael-based general civil law firm, has announced the expansion of its existing operations with the addition of two new attorneys with deep ties in the San Francisco Bay Area, Thane Schultz and John Corcoran.

“We’re thrilled with the addition of both Thane and John,” said managing partner Basil Plastiras.  “They are a great addition to the firm, and will allow us to expand into new practice areas, including family law and estate planning.”

A long-time resident of Marin County, Schultz has been practicing law since 2003, with a focus primarily on family law and general civil litigation. He also has experience working in construction defect, insurance defense, contract and real estate litigation, and medical malpractice.  Schultz also has extensive experience in business, having spent two years helping to run his family’s real estate development business in Australia.  Schultz is a graduate of the Santa Clara University School of Law and the University of San Francisco.

Corcoran joins Plastiras & Terrizzi after working for a law firm in Silicon Valley, where he focused on general civil litigation, small business representation, estate planning, employment law, and real estate law.  He previously worked as a public affairs consultant, working with various clients including as a consultant to the County of Marin on the successful effort to establish the Marin Energy Authority.

Earlier in his career, Corcoran served in the White House during the Clinton Administration as a Writer in the Office of Presidential Letters and Messages and as a Speechwriter and Press Aide in the Office of the Governor in Sacramento.  Corcoran is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law and UC Santa Barbara, and he currently serves as a Planning Commissioner for the Town of Tiburon.

Besides the Battle of the Bay discussed in my prior blog entry, there are a lot of opportunities to observe college and university level tennis locally. You can go to local colleges/universities such as University of San Francisco, University of California Berkeley (Cal), Stanford University, Santa Clara University, and St. Mary’s College websites to peruse their tennis schedules and attend in person. Also, Stanford and Cal stream some of their matches online.

PROFESSIONAL TOURNAMENTS
There are a number of professional tennis tournaments throughout the year.
The SAP Open is in February annually featuring top male professional players and matches are played at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The next tournament is scheduled Feb. 8-14, 2010.

The Bank of the West Classic features the top female professionals at Stanford University and is scheduled annually in July.

There are also some smaller professional tournaments featuring up and coming tennis professionals at low cost throughout the year. National junior tournaments and tennis benefits are played in the Bay Area – go see some world class tennis and support a worthy cause. Check out USTA/NORCAL’s site for a current schedule of all tournaments.

Battle of the Bay Classic

Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, 2009  The first annual Battle of the Bay Tennis Classic brings together the top singles and doubles male players from Stanford University, University of California Berkeley, University of Santa Clara, University of San Francisco and St. Mary’s College.  Here’s a quick overview PDF for your background.

Hosted by the historic California Club in San Francisco. Admission is free. The event will feature 16 of the best college players from around the Bay facing off in a tournament format to see who will hold the title as the best singles and doubles players in the Bay Area for the year.