Thanks from the NAKM Newsroom

It's 10 p.m. on Day Five of the North American Kagyu Monlam, and the dining room at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra is almost silent - only the steady hum of the refrigeration units in the nearby kitchen underlies the quiet. But sitting at the dining room tables are the diligent denizens of what we're calling "The Kagyu Monlam Newsroom."

We're either diligent - or a little bit crazy. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

Writing for the Chinese-language Ocean of Merit blog are Monica Liu and Pi-Chun Chen. They collect their notes in a combination of Chinese and English, and file their stories from their laptops. Representing the English-language North American Kagyu Monlam blog are Bill Skinner, Lori Volpe and Lama Kathy Wesley. All are combining their love of their languages and writing with affection for the Kagyu Monlam. We hope you've been enjoying the result - after all, we're staying up late for you!

We'll be filing our Day Five story in about an hour, but watch for three or four more stories from the NAKM blog over the next few days. We'll be publishing an interview with Jetsunma Ngodup Palzom (His Holiness Karmapa's sister), as well as feature stories about a woman's journey to ordination during Monlam, and an amazing (albeit improbable) international friendship that formed during the five days of the event.

Gotta go now ... we don't want to stay up ALL night!!!