Dove&Snake: When we talked to you in April, you were at 16 books. Your most recent blog entry shows Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s Long Way Round as number 34. Mathematically, you picked up your pace a little over the summer. Did reading over the summer feel any different than the first four months of the year?

John Weatherford: The big thing in the summer is that there are far fewer distractions than the rest of the year. TV is not really worth watching, and it is so hot outside that I don’t feel conflicted about sitting around inside the air conditioning.

D&S: You’ve read a lot about food. Why is that a subject of interest for you?

JW: I didn’t exactly grow up with good healthy eating ideals instilled in me. Lately, I have been making some changes, so I have enjoyed reading some good, well thought-out defenses for eating the foods God put on the planet for us versus the foods we cooked up in a lab.

D&S: Your blog entry from August 23 is particularly interesting. I’ve got a few questions based on that one. First, you said reading Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire was “the first time this year, possibly in [your] entire life [you] read 2 consecutive books by the same author.” Is there any particular reason you wanted to read two books in a row by Pollan?

JW: Basically, I had two books left by Pollan. After I read the first one, I really wanted to go ahead and finish.

D&S: Also, you mentioned, as a sort of disclaimer for your thoughts on that book, that you “subscribe to several seed catalogs as well as bee keeping catalogs.” How did you find out about them? What made you so interested in them that you decided you wanted them delivered to your home on a regular basis?

JW: I grew up with seed catalogs and plant and gardening books as a fixture of my surroundings. I suppose I wouldn’t feel right without flipping through this year’s catalog each February. I don’t really have a way to put the information to use, but I figure that shouldn’t stop me. The bee keeping catalogs were just a passing fancy. I went through a phase a few years ago where I read a bunch of books about bees and bee keeping. From that came a desire to keep bees someday. It probably won’t happen, but I guess I’ll keep up on the current trends just in case.

D&S: The last question from that entry pertains to the heart of your quest. You identified August as your “late summer slump.” What do you think caused that slump? Have you come out of it yet?

JW: Yes, I am out of it. I think I just got tired of reading. It was bound to happen. When you do things out of obligation they will eventually become a chore, but even that will pass.

D&S: You read two issues of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern. In your response to McSweeney’s 14, you compared the short fiction in that volume to art you saw in museums when you were a kid in a very specific way: “I could have done it. But I didn’t.” What about the fiction in McSweeney’s left you with the feeling that you could write those same kind of stories?

JW: I really meant that as a complement more than a critique, but it might not have come off that way. I suppose that there was nothing in those stories that would have been outside of my ability to write, but I was trying to say was that even if I could have written them, I didn’t. I didn’t have the inspiration to think those thoughts, I didn’t have the dedication to see them through, I didn’t have the courage to put them down on paper, and I didn’t have the tenacity to see them through to publication. Anyone could paint a Rothko with a little practice, but would you? And would you fully commit to it even if you did paint it? Probably not.

D&S: Have you ever wanted to write a short story? What has kept you from doing so?

JW: I suppose I have, but it definitely doesn’t compel me. I’m pretty visual so maybe if it was a graphic novel or a children’s book with illustrations. I’d definitely consider writing non-fiction.

D&S: You didn’t respond in that same way to the other fiction you read over the summer (two by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and one by Chip Kidd). What was the difference between these novels and the McSweeney’s fiction?

JW: With the Kidd book, I think I felt differently because the author has such a different life experience that there is no way that I could see things from the same point of view as he has. With the Garcia Marquez, I feel like he is operating on a completely different plane that other writers so I sort of feel like nobody is going to touch that stuff. I suppose if anyone could paint a Rothko, then no one could ever have painted Guernica, except Picasso himself.

D&S: You read How to Be an Explorer of the World and indicated that some might not even think it should count in your quest for fifty because it’s a light read full of 59 challenges “designed to increase your imagination, problem solving, story telling abilities, and overall hipster appeal.” Did you act on any of those challenges? What was the result?

JW: No, but I have a few planned to conquer once the year of reading is finished.

D&S: You read a book about your own faith and a book about a different faith. What did you learn about your own worldview, spirituality, and theology as a result of digging in to not only your own beliefs, but those of others?

JW: I’d say I was confronted with the lack of dedication that is expected of me by my culture. If I were a Muslim in a nation governed by an Islamic majority there would be so many more cultural expectations placed upon me. I guess being a Christian in the United States is “easy.” I don’t really like easy. It makes me uncomfortable. The thing is that with all of my cultural freedom, I have to hold myself to a high standard, and I have to live my life to my standards whether I am being called on it or not.

D&S: What do you have next on your list?

JW: I have read two more books since then, and I am almost through a third book on adoption. I am planning on reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies soon, and possibly another McSweeney’s.

D&S: By that count, you only have fourteen left to go. Do you think you’ll be able to get to fifty books by December 31?

JW: I will do it. It probably won’t be easy with the holidays coming up, but I am going to make sure it gets done.

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Dove&Snake: Your story in Dove&Snake Issue No.2, “A Wife from the Mountains,” is from a book you wrote called Nowhere Else to Turn. What is the basic premise of that book?

Matthew Helmke: The book retells stories of interactions that various Moroccans, who I met firsthand, have had with the supernatural. I published it as fiction solely because I added some details to certain stories to make them longer and fuller, or because I changed some details to protect the identity of the source. All of the stories were experienced either by me with a Moroccan or were told to me directly by the person claiming to experience it.

D&S: “A Wife from the Mountains” mentions something called jinn. What are jinn?

MH: In Islam, jinn are spirit beings that can be either good or bad, may fear God or serve themselves. Like men and women, they are created beings. However, as men were made from earth, jinn were made from fire or smoke, depending on who tells you the story. They will also either go to Hell or Paradise, just like humans, depending on their actions and God’s mercy on the Day of Judgment. Belief in them is pervasive in Moroccan, Arab, and all Islamic societies. They are considered common knowledge, but not talked about terribly often out of fear of reprisal from the jinn who may not want to be exposed. They are different from angels or demons, which are explicitly good or evil.

D&S: How did you first hear about jinn? When you first encountered stories like this, what was your reaction?

MH: I believe the first time I heard of them was from the story of Aladdin, which in English uses the term “genie.” There was also the tv show called I Dream of Jeannie. In those contexts, I reacted as kids usually do to stories of supernatural beings (like fairies, elves, etc.) and simply thought they were a cool addition to the mythical creature lexicon. It wasn’t until much later that I realized that not only do people believe in jinn today, but that some do so quite deeply.

D&S: What was your first encounter with a jinn story in Morocco?

MH: I honestly don’t remember the first time I heard about jinn in Morocco. It was very likely within days of my arrival, as they are mentioned in conversation regularly (both seriously and in jest). We did have a lady that came to the house once a week to help clean, and she would not put hot water down any drain in the house because she was convinced it would anger the jinn that live in the drains.

D&S: How often did you hear stories like those in your book, the supernatural told as matter-of-fact?

MH: These kinds of stories are extremely difficult for a foreigner to hear. Moroccans are generally reluctant to talk about them, either out of fear of the jinn, which all other Moroccans know about anyway, or out of fear that the foreigner will lose respect for the informant and think they are either crazy or superstitious.

D&S: If it’s difficult to hear these stories as a foreigner, how did were you able to collect so many?

MH: The first step involved learning Moroccan Arabic well enough to convince people that they could talk with me and I would comprehend them. This also meant learning a lot of cultural subtext and the meaning of many idiomatic expressions. Second, I had to convince people that they were not going to be mocked, regardless of what they told me. To do this, I would try to build bridges by discussing stories, ideas, and other things I had heard about the supernatural and clearly state that I believe the events we were discussing could happen–not necessarily that they did, but that they could.

D&S: How do you view stories like this in the context of your own spirituality and theology?

MH: I think there are several possible answers to this. First, there are times when unexplained events may have natural causes that are simply undiscovered, so I would be careful not to take every supernatural story at face value. However, there are also things that happen that cannot be explained by any known natural occurrence. What then? I think it is probable that these could have supernatural cause. I mentioned building a bridge with my Muslim friends for these discussions–this is part of the bridge. I believe the supernatural realm exists, not so much in the woo woo, X-Files sense, but in the Biblical sense. I believe angels exist, demons too. Jinn aren’t mentioned in any Christian context, but could certainly fit in as a subcategory of demon. Admitting that I don’t have all the answers and that I believe there is a God, etc., forces me to confront the possibility that there is more to this world than what may be observed by and proven with the scientific method.

D&S: Is Morocco a highly spiritual place? Do most of the people believe in the supernatural?

MH: Morocco is an Islamic country where all but 0.8% of the people are Muslim. By definition, Muslims believe in the supernatural. Morocco is also a place where Islam has been mixed with pre-existing animistic folk religion and other non-standard Islamic practices and beliefs. A belief in the supernatural is pervasive in the society, but not universal. It would be reasonable to estimate that at least 80-85% of Moroccan people believe in the spirit world and that God, angels, demons, and jinn are active.

D&S: How does that belief in the activity of God, angels, demons, and jinn, play out in the everyday lives of Moroccans?

MH: It really depends on the person. The answer would be very different if we were to discuss an urban-dwelling, university educated Moroccan scientist versus a rural, uneducated farmer. I will say that, on the average, people in Morocco are far more open to the possibility of the existence of the supernatural realm than people in America or Europe. For many, they will make a verbal assent to the existence of jinn, etc., but not give them much thought. Many others will make a point of avoiding behaviors that the culture says will offend the jinn, just to make sure they are safe. This is what the entire book is about: exploring the differing perspectives on the supernatural that exist within diverse parts of the culture of Morocco through stories told from many different perspectives.

D&S: What made you decide to set these stories down in a book? Most people would have just kept them as interesting anecdotes to bring up in conversations.

MH: Primarily, there are almost no examples in print of these sorts of anecdotes in English (there may be in French, but I didn’t find any), and I had the permission of my sources to record their stories. Second, these sorts of stories and beliefs are difficult for foreigners to learn about because of the things I mentioned earlier, but they are vital to understand if one wishes to adequately understand, communicate with, and engage the culture. So much of Moroccan culture will make more sense to people experiencing it for the first time or living in it if they have read the book or heard these sorts of stories.

D&S: Where did you look for stories like these in French?

MH: Bookstores, libraries, and online. I’m afraid that most of what I found was rather belittling in tone, and that made it less useful for my purposes. The French literature I encountered primarily took the view of “Isn’t this quaint?” and were attempts to document the beliefs of the “backward, but noble savages.” Perhaps other materials exist in French, but I didn’t have the pleasure of finding it.

D&S: Why did you self-publish the book and not try to go the traditional publishing route?

MH: I self-published the book for two reasons. First, I wanted the book to be accessible to as many students of Moroccan culture as possible and decided to license the book in a special way (using Creative Commons license) to allow people to make copies of it and share them or to make derivate works (like study guides or recordings) without fear of lawsuits (see the book’s license section for more information). Also, I didn’t feel that a major publisher would be interested in publishing a book that wasn’t likely to be a best seller even though the information was of high quality and worth publishing. However, by publishing myself and using a print on demand company, I can list the book on Amazon and make it available and easy to find for people with an interest in the topic (and I’m selling approximately one copy every two days, which is better than I anticipated).

Dove&Snake: I know the basic idea for the TGP came from the Portland Grid Project. Where did the idea for adding in the emotions come from?

John Weatherford: Well basically, I just didn’t want the concept to get stale. In addition, I was trying to find a way for people to connect with the city more than just take a journalistic look at it. It is one thing for someone to wander the city in search of something that catches their eye and to take an “artistic” photo. It takes photography to an entirely different plane when you ask someone to look around them, to look for sorrow, and then be bold enough to photograph it. Couple that with the fact that there are almost no people participating that consider themselves photographers or artists, and we are really asking people to take a substantial risk.

D&S: Did you always plan to continue the project year to year? Did you always plan to evolve it?

JW: I guess I always assumed that it would catch on and that we would continue it. Then, after last year’s photographs and the bigger than expected turn out, it seemed like we had no choice but to keep it going. I think this is something that will be around for quite a while. We are already talking about next year and possible themes for following years. One thing we would like to see is more community involvement. I don’t want this to be a Second Mile thing. I want to see us own the event but I want to see the whole of Tucson walking the streets with cameras. I have already talked to a few parents about getting their children involved next year. I feel like there are a bunch of perspectives that are not yet being seen.

D&S: How are you planning to set up this year’s show?

JW: It will look very similar to last year. This year, however, instead of the photos being hung based on content of the actual image (i.e. graffiti, signs, traffic, landmarks) each emotion will occupy its own area of the room. So depending on the artist you may have 3 or 4 pictures that seem to be related or they may at first glance have nothing in common. This is why many people have included summaries of their photos. I am looking forward to seeing what the contributors thought of when they heard anguish or joy or passion.

D&S: Can you give us a sense of the photographers who are taking part in the show? Who are they?

JW: In a short description they are just normal people. Some are photographers, some are artists, some are mothers. We have students, teachers, bus drivers. People in their teens, twenties, thirties all the way through their sixties. We have representatives of downtown, campus, Vail, Marana, Oro Valley. It is a cross section of Tucson. We have some gaps but I feel very good about the diversity that is represented in the photographers. There are a few I haven’t even met yet. Part of the artistic ethos of Second Mile is a belief that we are all creative because we were created by the most creative being ever, and since we are created in His image we bear some of that creativity. I think you will see what I mean at the show.

D&S: You’ve been selecting photos for the show for the past week or so. What are your initial impressions of what we’ll see?

JW: I think from a quick glance the critic would say that this year’s pictures are “less artistic” than last year’s. I was careful to say critic because this experience is not about criticism–it isn’t even about art. It is about being in your city and loving your city. The thing I am loving about this year’s photos is the fact that they are incredibly well thought out, and they tell a story. What are we as a community if we cannot tell the story of our city? Last year the pictures were great, some were even incredible. This year, however, the participants were asked to do more than frame a beautiful or unique image of their surroundings. They were asked to process an emotion and convey it though a lens. That is not an easy thing to do. That being said, from what I have seen so far no one will be disappointed. There is an obvious intentionality to the photographs I have seen so far. The photographers took the emotions they were given and interpreted that through the city they live in. I would rather look at that than really well composed photographs of graffiti any day.

More Experience Tucson responses. Today is Amanda Davis-centric. We have Andy Coley’s interview with Ms. Davis, as well as her written words on how the weekend’s messages and activities built on each other in her head.

Going into Experience Tucson, I think a lot of the participants weren’t really sure what to expect. It was the first time the event had taken place and the first time any of us had been a part of something like this, and the first run-through of anything often has bugs to be worked out.

Taking it on faith, we went, we conquered (or served, in this case), and we Experienced. The retreat (I don’t really know what else to call it) went smoothly and we had a great time at the different activities. However, as pleasant as it was for the schedule to flow so well, and for us not to have to face any significant problems during the weekend, what struck me was how well the things I heard and learned, whether through specific teaching times or random conversations, fed into and built on each other to make the whole Experience meaningful.

Chad laid the foundation on Friday night. He presented us with some of the historical background of Tucson and general information about the city and then discussed how we could have a vision for and a major impact on it. With this in mind, we drove across town early the next morning to meet up with and spend most of the day with refugee kids, interacting with part of the large refugee population in Tucson that many of us had heard of through Second Mile but not actually encountered.

For the majority of our time with them we weren’t sure what the plan was—when we were picking up the kids, how we were to engage them, where we were stopping for lunch, what kind of organization there would be for transporting everyone, or when we were heading back. This forced us to depend on those in charge for direction and be open to what they told us because they had significantly more information and thus a larger picture and better plans than us. They knew what was supposed to happen and what the day would look like, and we were along for the ride. Our trust in them proved well-placed and the excursion succeeded.

It was an exciting time for us to both give of ourselves and receive from others, and I think it was rewarding for all of those affected. Those rewards have the capacity to pay dividends as we employ our new knowledge and continue to grow as individuals, as a college group, and as a church. Hopefully, we can actively engage and Experience Tucson regularly as a result of these few days, becoming more useful instruments as God continues his construction in the hearts of those around us.

After returning the kids to their respective homes and having dinner as a group, we heard from Angel. She talked about flexibility and being open to changes in our plans when God has something else in mind, which seemed very fitting considering the events in which we had all just taken part. We spent that whole day operating based on faith and trust that someone else knew better than us. It was an illustration of what Angel was saying, of what our lives might look like at some point in the future, and with such a fresh image to refer to, the message really made sense and took a better hold.

Also, seeing a different side of our city by personally encountering a foreign culture helped open our eyes and hearts to what else we might discover during the rest of the retreat, helping drive home Chad’s point from the previous night. Thus, both of the messages that we had heard so far had been emphasized and reaffirmed by the activity of the day; a few floors had been added to the construction God was working on in my heart.

On Sunday, we attended a bilingual church service in the morning—observing more of the diversity of Tucson—and Second Mile in the evening. Chad discussed investing in people and in relationships, which fit really well into one of the purposes of Experience Tucson. We were spending several days in a row with the same small group of people, so it presented a great opportunity to get to know the others around us, if we made the effort. We also had the privilege of staying with wonderful host families and experiencing the hospitality of small groups, all comprised of people we wouldn’t likely have interacted with otherwise. The sermon served as a reminder that spending time developing these relationships, both during and after the few days dedicated to this retreat, was important and helped encourage us to not allow the potential in these interactions to go to waste and the relationships themselves to fade away after the Experience ended.

The next morning’s prayer walking was the most impactful part of the Experience for me. After an explanation of prayer walking, we split up into groups of three and rode the bus to different parts of Tucson. My group went downtown. I had never ridden the bus in Tucson or been to that part of the city before, nor had I tried prayer walking prior to that time, so everything about the morning was new to me.

My group walked and prayed as we felt led for a while, but we were having some trouble with knowing exactly what we were supposed to be doing and with distractions from our busy surroundings. After a while, we decided to try just conversing, sharing previous experiences with God, times when we had seen Him working and moving.

Through this simple experience, God showed me so much. Being downtown let me see an entirely different side of Tucson, another aspect of what Chad had been relating to us on Friday. Not feeling like we knew exactly what we were doing forced us to be flexible like Angel had talked about, which was especially hard for me in that situation because I am often a rule-follower; I feel like I should follow directions explicitly, and the fact that we weren’t frustrated me a bit.

I had to make myself relax and be open to what God was doing in the other people in my group and also to what He was doing in me. Just spending time in deep discussion and sharing experiences was a great way for us to invest in each other and get to know each other better, like Chad had discussed on Sunday, and hearing the others’ stories really affected me and convicted me in some areas of my life and faith to which I might not otherwise have been open or receptive.

Besides driving the other points home, our prayer walking time helped me see how we can learn from each other, not only from direct, planned-out talks from pastors, but through our normal interactions with people, from the lessons they’ve learned and the wisdom they’ve gained on the paths where God has led them.

While this did not signal the end of the construction project for the trip, the largest part of the building had been completed. After prayer walking, we still got to serve at New Beginnings, hear great talks from Jonathan and Julie, and appreciate more time in community with each other, all of which continued to enlighten and instruct us and finish out God’s work in us for the time we were together.

Experience Tucson proved a great opportunity to get involved, go beyond the places we frequent in our daily activities, and branch out to see what more there is to this city we inhabit—our city. I’m very grateful that I got to be a part of it and greatly appreciate all those who were involved and contributed.

We hoped to sit down with Keegan before the show and conduct a proper, full-fledged interview about what he calls his “best project/art party yet,” but he had scheduled a road trip to “go to California and see big trees,” so we did a quick mini-interview over email this week.

DOVE&SNAKE: What’s up with the upcoming art show? That’s a big list of artists on the Facebook event page, and I saw something about spray paint. Is it a graffiti show?

KEEGAN RIDER: Yeah, it’s graffiti, street art and pop art. It’s my best project/art party yet.

D&S: What will you have in the show?

KR: I’m doing a reflexive piece on drug addiction that I have created a Jesus stencil for.

D&S: How did you choose the artists for the show?

KR: The theme of the show is street art, pop art and graffiti writing as fine art. The artists are mostly from Tucson and are between the ages of 20 to 30. Many are known for street art and graffiti writing around Arizona and the West Coast.

D&S: Is the street art scene growing in Tucson?

KR: I believe so. We hope to create street art that is more than “graffiti.” It should be art that opens minds and leads to thinking about the world we live in. Street art is created to be temporary, which means it is art in its true form. The message and process of creating the work becomes the purpose of the piece.