So here’s a summary of a few things that have been happening since June/July that I thought I would share. Thanks to friends and family for ALL your support and I am very excited that things are moving along very well!

Logo/Branding
With the help of Saif Khan, we’ve been working on a new logo for the project.  He’s really help capture the soul of the project, and essentially WHY we’re doing this, and I can’t want to start integrating it in to our website and proposal materials.  Look for it soon!

Osage Nation Language Program
As I reported on twitter, this past week I spent about a 1/2-day with the staff of the Osage Language department, talking to them about their long-term goals for creating an online languge center / resource, as well as conceptualizing a community-based website for Osage Language students that would really serve as a way to communicate, interact, and immerse oneself in the Osage language.  One thing that I had not considered is that with endangered / rare languages, you can’t have an immersion environment as easily as you can with, let’s say Spanish or French.  So students have to really create their own immersion environments if they really want to continue to learn and practice.  Keep your eyes on the http://www.osagelanguage.org/ website!  We’ll be helping to build / brainstorm /collaborate, and look forward to this being a great relationship between us and the Osage Tribe.  You can read more about what’s going on w/ the language and cultural activities of the Osage, here.

Proposal & Budget for the Pilot Program
The biggest thing we’ve been working on of course, since June/July (that I’ve been frankly procrastinating on) is to create a budget for everything we want to accomplish.  Mentally & emotionally this has been a daunting task.  I hate asking for anything, much less money.  Also, I seem to be able to consult businesses and individuals on creating financial / income goals so that their overall strategic plan(s) are met sustainably, but of course just like the cobbler’s children always going barefoot, I can’t seem to be able to follow my own advice.  For me this has been a very long and difficult process of almost taking myself out of my own shoes and looking at this as not a project of or for myself, but coming at it from the perspective of: if this was someone else putting this together, what would they need.  Sounds odd, I know…trust me it’s been most odd to me.
but I’m getting there.
the meeting last week w/ the Osage put a lot of things in to perspective, and certainly the more people I meet, talk to, connect with, and the more I see where and how this is needed, the more encouragement it gives me.  I plan to have all my ducks in a row VERY SOON, and of course will share them here.