I got the strap from my principal

I told my grade 11 math students I would write a blog post for them tonight.

Tonight they were awarded for their accomplishments in academia, athleticism, and encouragement. Many many well deserving kids. I congratulated many parents on their children's accomplishments. Though, the entire notion of recognition alongside others who are not awarded... tough call. I think of kids who are strong in areas of their life that aren't categories for awards. Yet there are some kids that do stand out - who are stepping out in their gifting - pretty cool to see these characters and what they can accomplish. Last Thursday, Nik showed the films the grade 9-12 students produced. I was thoroughly impressed at the level of skill and intuition that these students have. In some ways, their skills dwarf mine and then I get discouraged and set aside my own projects. Alas! Whatever. I'll continue film editing and producing till I die, even if my films don't receive recognition.

Tonight I got recognized for leaving - I got a brand new maple leaf guitar strap - which I need, I've been using my mandolin strap on my acoustic the past 7 years. Keith, my principal presented it to me. Great stuff. Ken, one of the fathers, prayed for me, that I would be blessed with clarity in hearing God in the coming years while we will be in Guatemala.

-- I promised to post their names as well (in alphabetical order to avoid the notion of favoritism): Aimee Angele, Andrew, Brittney, Danielle, Diana, Jennifer, Krista, and Shara-Rae.

(incidentally - the spell checker for blogger doesn't recognize the word "blog")

The Man & The Dude Dichotomy

Nik called me The Man on Saturday night. I'd rather be The Dude. Alan calls me dude. Not really anyone else. Nik rationalizes that I am The Man because I am a teacher, an authority figure. I'll be a father soon and that makes me The Man too. But I feel more like The Dude. I don't buy into The Educational System but... well, I have to do something and I love the exuberance of youth and I love learning and sharing the experience. Lebowski - he's The Dude, but I don't buy into everything he stands for either, well, maybe I do, have to watch the movie again.



Been reading J-J Rousseau's "Emile." Nice stuff. He figures babies should be bathed in warm water, but slowly weaned off of it and ultimately bathed in cold water to build their strength and tolerance. Lots of good stuff though. I'm stirred by his statements of father as the teacher of the child and as soon as we shirk that responsibility and attempt to pass it to someone else, we mislead the child and lead him down a path of darkness. No one else can teach the child. I'm honestly glad to have been taught by my father. He took a real interest in teaching me about society, history, geography, sports, music, politics, and spirituality. He's a good Man. I want to be a good Man too, with hints of Dude.

Love, White Balls, and Queen Elizabeth II

Ah! People in love.

We spent a good portion of Saturday with our newly engaged friends Sabrina and Trent. Sabrina's sister Myra was married in a tiny ceremony back in October and her reception was held on Sunday. The sisters were nice and emotional during the toast. I recall my sister's wedding - I had a good cry then (nothing against Dean, just lots of emotion). And then there's the baby coming of our little one. I can hardly go a few minutes without stifling squeals of anticipation. We asked our friends Sarah and Tim how they were able to tear their eyes away from their baby after it was born. They said it's still a struggle 8 months later.



Jason is a golfer. So the morning of his wedding reception, he amassed his family and friends to play 18 holes. The only golf I had ever played was miniature golf and one hole my senior year of high school in P.E. I was partnered up with Trent and Clive, both experienced, and both patient. Par for the course is 72. I managed 75 over par. I have a much deeper respect for golfers and currently I hold no aspirations to become one - though it was a lot of fun - I just don't think I have enough cash to shell out for broken windows and lost golf balls.



I saw Ralph
I saw the Premier
I saw the Queen in her royal rain gear.

Cold. Rainy. Cut short. She didn't say anything. The warm mini doughnuts were great. The presentations were cool. Almost passed out at the park-n-ride bus lot with all the diesel fumes.

Distant Thunder

7-10 band is coming together nicely. Our spring concert is May 26. Our primary cut is a piece called Distant Thunder of the Sacred Forest. Lots of rhythms, in fact I had to pull 2 wind musicians to play percussion. It sounded great today.

We had our summer tires put on today. It's been raining 2 days now. I think it's about 70% safe to proclaim that winter is over here.

The Great CD Sale of 2005

I was 15 when I bought my first CD. I was attending school in Halifax and on one of our Thursday night mall excursions I bought the "Crossroads" Soundtrack - a blues album by Ry Cooder.

I was 16 when I bought my first CD Player. By this time I had joined Columbia House for the first time and purchased about 20 CDs. I bought a 5 CD carousel CD player component with the high hopes of buying the amp and speakers and VCR in coming years and having my own entertainment system. I listened to my fledgeling collection with headphones in the dormroom lounge on that big machine as I wasn't permitted to listen to music in my restricted dorm room.

I was caught once. Having missed supper because of guitar lessons one Wednesday evening, I decided to boil some water on the iron in the common bathrom to make some noodles. Since it was taking so long, I thought I should use the time wisely and listent to music while waiting for bubbles to appear. I fetched my friends discman and with earbuds in place continued to warm the water. Suddenly, at about 50 degrees, Mike Philips, our dorm dad, burst into the bathroom looking for one of the guys. He was shocked - and very dismayed - that I was using the iron in such a dangeresque fashion that he didn't consciously notice that I was listening to music illegally. After yielding the pot of warm water and unplugging the iron. I slipped into Mark and Jeff's room, my heart racing. I shared my harrowing tale with the guys - all of them relieved that I hadn't blown the cover of underground music listening, especially the owner of the discman. Suddenly, again, Mike came into Mark and Jeff's room with a private question for me. Once he cooled down about the iron, the image of the earbuds in my ears flashed in his mind and he wanted to confirm that it was true. I apologized over some warmed up left-overs. The discman was confiscated.

I joined Columbia House 6 more times under variations of my own name or household members. And BMG Music Club 4 times. And CDHQ 2 times. Their catalogs ceased to be very appealing, so I resorted to music store bargain bins. Once money wasn't a real issue (after university), I was able to buy an album when I felt like it, irregardless of the price - unless it was full price of course. As of late, I have purchased a lot of my music online from Amazon or Chapters. The Giant Flea Market on 111th Ave is another of my music haunts.

Music defines eras.

Best of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen: first broken heart
Achtung Baby - U2: grade 11, awakening my own tastes in music
Automatic for the People - R.E.M.: doing math homework my senior year of highschool
Picture Perfect Morning - Edie Brickell: summer touring BC with Papa and Salomé
You Must Ask the Heart - Jonathan Richman: sitting in my little cabin on Carlos, MH
Jesus Freak - DC Talk: first summer working at Foothills Camp
Amplified Heart - Everything but the Girl: falling in love with Amber
Clandestino: Esperando La Ultima Ola... - Manu Chao: bop bop bopping at CUC and Edmonton
We Were Born in a Flame - Sam Roberts: driving in Montreal
Birds of My Neighborhood - Innocence Mission: reflecting in Spruce Grove

A favorite passtime on weekends or lazy cold winter evenings was ordering the CDs into different categorical sets in the CD shelving: by artist, by year, by sleeve color, by distributor, by genre, by country of origin, by date of acquisition... hours.

One early morning when I was praying in the Marshall Islands, away from all my possessions (except one mix tape I made for a friend before leaving and never sent), I asked God if there was anything I held closer to my heart than Him. My CD collection came immediately to mind. After stuggling with sadness and confusion, I gave my collection to God. He has blessed it greatly since that time.

I have digitized all of my albums and so, before leaving Canada with 773 hours of mp3's and AAC files backed up on DVD-R and hard drive, I am ready to part with these dear historical documents. These labours of love. These heart pacers. These questions and answers. My CDs, all of them, are up for sale. If sales go well, Amber and I will have another $3000 for our move to Guatemala in September of this year.

View the MENU of 490 albums and email me with your preferences.

keep groovin

Smoke, Country Music, and #506

Amber and I vacationed the last three days of spring break in the Rocky Mountains. We started our trek in Jasper, taking in the bitter winds and brown scenery along with the royal peaks. We checked out some of the sights and then continued south along highway 93 with poor driving conditions. There was snow. And there was ice. But best of all, there were mountains, mountains it felt like no one else had ever seen. Awe, they rocked. I got to take lots of photos with my NIKON camera.

We rounded out our vacation by visiting Lake Louise and Banff and then hiking out to Siffleur Falls. We spent both of our nights at The Crossing (full commendation) at Saskatchewan River Crossing. They had a great deal for the weekend and a draw for a 3-night stay at Lizard Creek Lodge in Fernie, BC - apparently a 4 1/2 diamond superduper place. So, Saturday night they have this draw, but they have other little draws before it - for T-shirts and the like - and they make these draws every 30 minutes. Amber refused to go to the Tavern because of the smoke and her responsibility as the carrier of the future's most brilliant and gorgeous child, so I get to hang around by myself. They announced the winner of the joke telling contest - a joke I will never repeat, I have a better one, too bad I didn't know about the contest, I would have won for sure - and then I wait. Well, there wasn't much to do. My room number was #506 and I just basically sat there wondering if my number was even on one of the BINGO balls they were drawing from. The atmosphere music sharply changed after 4 classic songs ("Mr. Jones" and the like) to heavy country music - to which I am not at all familiar, nor of which am I partial. It did not cease. Of course there was smoke too. And no hockey on the TV - it wasn't even on. I watched the bartender tend. I watched the drinkers drink. I watched the pool players shoot. I sat and watched. The second draw and the third and fourth were not #506. I was resigned to the fact that I would be there until midnight. But then a funny thing happened - the man doing the drawing announced that the final draw would take place in about 20 minutes. Well, it was only 10:20 pm, so my evening was already looking up.

The minutes ticked away, or rather they smeared away. The music dimmed to match the lighting and the draw guy stepped forward. I was sitting back in the corner by now, watching a man get beaten badly by a woman at pool. A guy at the bar from Grande Prairie did a drum roll on the counter and the ball was chosen - #506. I was perhaps visibly shaken, but probably not. I meandered to the front to the applause of strangers, clutching my keys and grinning euphorically. I presented my #506 room key and accepted the winning handshake.

Moments later, I burst into our room to see Amber comfortably watching an episode of Law and Order. I presented her with the news and events surrounding the news. Amber was pleased, and surprised. I was relieved and very anxious to use the bathroom.

As Years Roll By

Hey, I'm 29 now. I had a weird lumpy thing in my throat beginning the night of my party and it stuck in there for 2 more days. It's gone now. Amber got a bunch of friends over here for the party, in total about 20 guests. Lots of games and a terrific playlist of music and foodstuffs. I had a great time.



Amber is LARGE (26 weeks). The little one rearranges the furniture often and we often sit and feel it for lengthy periods instead of reading or TV or talking. It's already taking control of the home.



Amber and I got our income tax return and paid the balance on every form of debt we have, the primary one being my student loan. So, at the moment, we are completely debt free. I almost feel like going into debt again to celebrate!

Squirming About

Junior has been moving alot the past week. With my hand, I can feel it boxing and kicking tons. We watched it this afternoon. It was yawning and wiggling around a lot, so we saw lots of angles. Apparently it's a handsome devil, my teeth and Amber's hairline. The due date has been bumped up to June 30.

The Worst High School Play in the World

Way up high. I remember the feeling when "The Wiz" ended and family and friends surrounded us on stage and everyone was laughing and taking pictures. It was the same tonight. The kids did a bang up job. Kudos to Nic (director) and that sexy pregnant prop mistress. I played guitar during intermission posing as a metalhead troubador; Greensleeves intermingled with Iron Man and Stairway.

Capture.

It's beginning. I'm tackling the monstrosity of producing a documentary. The bike trip is too important not to edit well and share with others. My goal is to submit it to a film festival this fall. I have completed 5 of 9 interviews so far and I've captured all of the video footage from the trip itself. I'm logging the interviews now - Zaak, Saison and Landon are done so far. I still have to get interviews from Amber, Will, Jessica, and Eric.

Yet to tackle - title, music, theme, animation, EDITING, exporting, submissions

Biggest worry - the resolution of the footage is 740 X 460. My computer monitor is 1024 X 768. So, I'm not expecting this to look good, I do hope the film will be interesting enough to overcome the grossness of the look.

I'm 17 today

I was baptised 17 years ago today by Pastor Laverne Schlehuber at the College Heights Church at CUC, AB. Coincidentally, I discovered my baptismal certificate today. I didn't even know I had one. It was tucked into one of my mom's photo albums that I've borrowed to scan some old photos.

I find that I know less about Christianity now than I did when I was 11. The more I learn of the modern church and about the behaviour of Christians, I recognize the huge dichotomy between Jesus Christ and the people (in general) who call themselves disciples. Though, I look back on the last 17 years and I discover that my freedom has grown, my walk with Jesus has come to some startling intersections and that God has put some true Christians in my path to urge me on in faith.

We are going to have a baby.

Amber's pregnant! We found out in October and my family has been able to keep it a secret, whereas Amber's family... Regardless, it has been an exciting experience letting people know. We heard the heartbeat on December 21 at the shared-care clinic in Stony Plain.

I'm still green

Ah! Dean and Saison have just ordered it.

Amber and I have been discussing whether to get cable or not (our current television status is two fuzzy stations: Global and A-Channel). We just this minute have decided not to get it. We'll save the $500 we'd spend on it this year and put it towards something useful - an iMac G5.... hmmm, though I think Amber was thinking of something a bit more philanthropic.

Amber's 26

I got her some multicoloured orchids this morning and then we chilled at The Crêperie. I'm still enchanted.

alma mater

Amber and I visited CUC for the first time in 4 1/2 years. It hasn't really changed at all except for the dozens of ugly houses built on the campus and all the torn down ones. I did enjoy visiting with so many old friends (Ian, Mandy, Ravi, Kara, Bob, Chanda, Rhanda, Des, Debra, Daryll, Myla, Josh, Garrick, Merle, Garrett, Tiffany, Jerusha, and Jorel). Most of my friends no longer attend church - all for different reasons. God's taking everyone on a journey - I hope!

Amber and I were excited about eating where we had our first date - Kavaccinos - but it was closed, on a Saturday night!

Saison scored two goals in her game and Dean made the all-star team. We went out to eat at BPs after going to the arena.

We spent the night at Mom's. She took me shopping at employee shopping time at Costco Sunday morning.

Amber and I drove by all these geese on the lake where we first kissed.

3-2-1 Warriors

My junior boys team made it to the finals and rocked the other team to the point a parent and the coach of the other team were screaming at the ref (a high school student). If only I was there. So our boys got silver, much better than the shame the gold medalist team now carries for their behaviour.

It was my first experience coaching anything and it was quite a bit of fun. Lots of time, but rewarding to see the kids improve so much in very little time.

I'm the Green

It was a tense two hours. Sarah had South America and Africa early on. She nearly decimated me in Europe after I kept on preventing her from collecting for Africa. Amber step-by-step took Asia and Tim took North America at the last minute. Tim and I shared Australia.

I cashed in my cards for 35 armies, collected for Europe and set to work. I had in mind to slowly take each person on and wipe them out completely so as to take their cards, cash in again, then wipe out the next person and so on. I had unimaginable luck against Amber and the other two atritioned following my victory.

I RULE THE CARDBOARD, POORLY DRAWN AND LABELED WORLD!

10 000 Tunes

My iTunes library reached the 10 000 mark when I added Edie Brickell's "Picture Perfect Morning" (total now stands at 10 079). I now have 29 days 9 hours 6 minutes 20 seconds of original listening available. Sweet.

Visited mom last night and today. She let me borrow 16 video cassettes of home movies that I am planning on digitizing, editing and producing on DVD. Should be a great Christmas vacation!

Sibelius Symphony #1

Sibelius Monument (I've never been there)

Divine music.

The first time I heard this symphony, it was cassette of Leonard Bernstein conducting playing on my old stereo that was covered in Batman stickers. I was in my second story room, laying on my bed laying face up looking out my window as a mighty thunderstorm ensued. For me, this symphony cascades memory, purpose, fervency, and depth over my spirit.

Amber and I went to the Winspeare Centre and heard it - part of my life goals (listening to all of Sibelius's symphonies live - just 6 to go now).

I was worked up...

...but now, I figure, the USA will get what they deserve: an ignorant megalomaniac president. Onward MANIFEST DESTINY.

Seething

Alan sent me this:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Friends and adversaries of the United States voted overwhelmingly in the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday against the four-decade-old American economic, financial and commercial embargo against Cuba.

The vote, conducted for the 13th consecutive year, was a lopsided 179 to 4 with one abstention on the resolution opposing the embargo. The United States, Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands voted "no" and Micronesia abstained.

I'm so content

God blesses.
Wife satisfies.
Health remains.
Music uplifts.
Brothers challenge.
Sisters encourage.
Job rewards.
Students enthuse.
Dreams stir.

I could only ask for more time to enjoy life.

Ester Buck Violated

A/Some vandal(s) pryed open my car door and stole some iPod attachments and a tripod a week and a half ago. My immediate feelings were that of being violated. How aweful that someone would feel free to break my property and go into my space. Now I'm just inconvenienced because my car is no longer secure (not fixed yet), so I can never leave anything in Ester Buck (name originated by me and Tey removing some of the dealership letter stickers on the trunk: WesterN PONTIAC buIck).

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Amber spent 2 weeks in BC leaving me to my own devices. My devices often did not include sleep, food, or tidying up around the house. I managed to fit those items in just before she arrived so that I was in a romantic state of mind. It's so good to have her back.

---

Our friend Les spent yesterday evening with us. He's the director of Impact Ministries in Guatemala. We are eager to work with him long term in a year's time so it was really great to relax and indulge in a conversation after more than a year of emailing. He's coming by tomorrow morning for breakfast too and then he'll speak at my school.

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Amber y yo estamos tomando clases españolas a las noches de miércoles. Reímos toda la manera a casa mientras que hacemos sentencias ridículas.

---



We went with some friends to Emily Murphy Park on Saturday and shot a bunch of pictures. The light was really nice and the yellow leaves on the ground added some quality.

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.