Terry Fox Run

I ran with my iPod in my hand and the memory of Stephanie in my head. The course began at the Pioneer Centre in Spruce Grove. A woman shared at the departure ribbon about how her friend just passed away on Friday of Cancer and how her husband currently has it. It was touching to see the handful of people out on a chilly Sunday morning ready to fight the wind and test endurance.

My running mates were strangers - a middle aged woman and a young man. Our course was approximately 7 kms, though we were told it was 10 kms. I finished first of the runners with a time of 36:29. It was a rather surreal experience and I was choking back tears even as I was stretching before the run. The wind was bitter along Grove Drive and the last half of the route passed through a grove of spruce.

I also recalled stopping by the Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay last summer on my bike. His legacy is incredible. He ran an average of 42 kms (a marathon) each day from St. Johns, NF to Thunder Bay, ON at the age of 22 after losing a leg to cancer. He died of lung cancer 10 months after he left the trail.

You can pledge money for cancer research by clicking on the title of this entry.

Cards, Kydds, Cinema, Cardiovascular

Alan, Randy and Nic came out Saturday and we enjoyed homemade mint ice cream, sparkling French grape juice and my new game courtesy of 5040 Garnier. It took us a while to get into the groove of the game because it's so new to us. I've downloaded a computerized version of Tarot (not the tea leaves, turban and crystal ball tarot) and in playing it, I have discovered new winning strategies. None of us wanted to quit, so it was a late night - I slept in until 11:30 next day.

Amber and I are now raging cinephiles. Amber has volunteered for the Edmonton Film Festival. We don't watch TV anymore. With all of our DVDs, we feel compelled to watch them instead. Last night we watched the quaint La Grande Séduction from Québec. Tonight it was the 2000 documentary Spellbound. We recommend both.

My friends Kevin and Danny ran the 21 km half marathon yesterday and rocked it finishing in under 2 hours. Myra and Jocelyn just started their 6-week bootcamp for cancer (e-mail me if you want to make a pledge). I've started helping Natalie coach volleyball. The best part about that is the running, as I myself ought to be coached, which begins each practice. The kids are out of shape, but they're troopers.

America's Quest for Global Dominance

Sept 11. And the only thing I can think of is how it was used as an excuse for continued enforcement of 'righteous' global conquest.



I'm reading Chomsky's latest book and I'm just getting angry and frustrated the further I read - I haven't even read 70 pages yet. The arrogance the United States has demonstrated in the past century is abhorrent. From the Philippines to Guatemala to Columbia to Iraq to Chile to Kosovo to Panama to Cuba to Libya to Marshall Islands to Nicaragua to Afghanistan to Venezuela.......... Under the guise of democratic and humanitarian advancement, the USA has looted, displaced, poisoned, disenfranchised, deceived, imprisoned, terrorized, enslaved, polluted, widowed and orphaned. I think the worst detail is that the majority of Americans are either oblivious to these facts or they support these so called ideals.

The fact that the current administration is pressuring the media from showing caskets of dead American soldiers, now over 1,000 dead, and the more than 10,000 civilian Iraqi casualties is a disgrace. What is this carnage accomplishing? Fear. What does fear accomplish? Control. What does control accomplish? Cash.

I have to direct my rage to God and allow Him to transform it into love and passion to serve the oppressed.

Simon, who I never met

Jenny, our grade 1 teacher, lost her son Simon to depression on Sunday. His funeral was this evening, standing room only. After hearing people talk about him for an hour, I really wish he was one of my friends. His idealism and art would have uplifted me.

And it breaks my heart to see parents burying their children.

During the slideshow, Iron and Wine's Such Great Heights played. Such a beautiful anthem.

"And I have to speculate
That God himself did make us into
Corresponding shapes like puzzles pieces
From the clay"

I was telling Carl on Sunday that I'm feeling that right now I'm in a re-evaluation phase. Just a time to take inventory: strengths / weaknesses / friends / enemies / priorities / use of time / dreams and goals... Amber and I are quite well in our current situation.

And to Jasper we did not go

There's a strike in Jasper so FREE CAMPING.
Let's leave at 3 pm.
Chris can be ready at 4.
Josh and Stephen can come too.
Josh has practice until 5.
Will arrives in The Grove at 6 without Chris.
No one can get ahold of Josh.
Stephen is frustrated and opts out.
Will and I pack the car.
Will's boots are in St. Albert.
At 6:30 we decide not to drive 4 hours west to Jasper.
Stephen cooks us chicken and spaghetti and we watch Canada beat Russia 3-1.