Life is...

blog moving?

2010-10-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

so I've had this blog for a while (for those reading this as a facebook note, I am posting this on blogger which sends a copy to facebook), This blog has served me well thus far at 200+ posts, but I am considering moving. This blog has no shape or form, its random and just kinda all over the place, that being said I'm thinking of moving my blog over to Tumblr and reinventing it there. The move is mainly just a motivator to get me blogging again, but I want to structure it more this time and have it be about my theological ponderings, That being said I havn't decided if I am moving it yet, if I do so I am leaving the umbrella of google to which I feel some loyalty, what do you think?

Metaphor of the day

2010-09-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Race is to ethnicity, what sex is to gender

A Dream

2010-05-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

The happiest moment in my life so far was in a dream... I will not disclose what the dream consisted of but everything seemed to come together, sometimes waking up can feel so cruel

Th beauty of human emotions

2010-05-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Human emotions transcend all barriers. Superficial factors like the language someone speaks or their ethnicity do little to hide the beauty of emotion. Sure different cultures may express emotions in different ways but in the end one can always relate/ understand to emotions of another. This though struck me as I sit in a terminal in a city unknown to me across from a family of unknown nationality. As the daughter left for her flight I saw the older man suppress a tear. It just reminded me of how connected we all really are to one another.

random... maybe i should start blogging again?

2010-04-19T01:46:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since i wrote a post on this blog... but I think I should start again

as it is late I don't feel like writing cohesively so here is a list of random stuff:

-I just remembered how good rouladen is and now really really want some
-this is funny because I'm not supposed to be eating beef
-my homemade medic alert bracelet got wet today and the permamnent marker blad all over the suede, hopefully its still readable
-Earlier today i read that in the middle ages monks would eat a certain plant to lower their libido, which i just found interesting
-for some reason i really like MCR's song teenagers

angels

2009-06-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

a while back i think i wrote an entry about angels in the oddest places, i talked abiut an old lady giving me cough drops in the grocery store and a random snow plow guiding my way through a storm

this is also about an 'angel' (i use a loose definition)

so i ave been working maintenance at a camp for the last while and the other day was not a happy day, it was hot, the mower kept dying on me, i hurt my shoulder trying to get the stupid thing to work, and people kept making absurd requests of me to do their personal yard work... i was not in a good mood, the mower then decided to to die yet again and i ahd had it, but then someone tapped my shoulder and before i could even turn around i felt something ice cold in my hand, and then i saw a man in front of me who thanked me for my hard work.... now i don't normally drink much pop but that pepsi the man gave me, it was just the thing i needed,

small gestures, they make a big difference

jordan does not like essays

2009-04-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

jordan does not like essays, nor does he like take home exams, these things are tiring they require him to be overly academic and to say things in an inefficient way. why spend 2000 words saying what can be said in 500? it all seems useless and unecessary and yet jordan has to do this for several more years

my last day of classes at UW

2009-04-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day of classes at UW, in a way its sad as i will miss my many classes with prof.Frick (who is possible the best prof ever), but at the same time i am happy as I am more than ready to start my schooling at Summit Pacific. so whats next in my life well, 2 exams and 2 papers... it will be a busy 2 weeks but soon i will go back to Braeside for work in the summer. There is something i really enjoy about actually working, to do something productive with my days versus sit at in a desk in a class room, while I enjoy learning I would be perfectly content to work a simple job such as my job in the cafeteria (which is extra fun as feeding people is one of my greatest joys in life), but that is not what i am called to and so i must continue to strive to meet my eventual goal.

i miss people

2009-03-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

life is crazy, i've lived in too many places in too short a time, and i am on my way to uproooting again, i miss people... i really wish i could spend more time with people or that my friends and i were not all spread over such a vast geographical space, i think with instant communications like cell phones and internet we stay in contact better than we would have in the past, but it is strange having close intimate friendships with people you never actually see; its a weird combination. it means that when you do see them you feel like you need to catch up, but you know their entire life,... so what do you do then, what do you talk about? i dunno, life is interesting, i love my friends but i am in a missing people mood, you know who you are, peace and here is a hug for all of you

(ps the complete lack of attention to grammar these days is that i am tired of school and just don't care anymore)

my last week and a bit

2009-02-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

Over reading week i visited my friend Chris in TO. I helped him host a missions team from a YWAM base in Australia. It was a lot of fun. Anyways, I'm back in school now but just want to be finished; or at least finished this year so i can go to BC. I got back late Sunday night and caught up on my sleep. I then spent all day Monday assuring myself that school is where i need to be, wrote 2 assignments Tuesday, handed them in on wed, and now i have nothing big due for a bit... its great ... but i still wish i could spend my summer in TO hosting teams, but school is where i need to be and that means i have to work in the warm weather where i can make enough money. so thats basically my last bit over a week in a nutshell

peace

Barbie

2009-01-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

i stole this idea from Nadia... our points overlap alot

is barbie a good role model

pros
-well educated (how else could be both a doctor and an astronaut)
-she's can support herself (she works some pretty sweet careers)
-she has held a stable relationship with ken for years
-she has a good relationship with her sister (thanks nadia)
-she has racially diverse friends (thanks nadia)

cons
-unhealthy body image
-due to here many careers i think she has trouble holding steady employment
-she only socializes with people of here own socio-economic class (all her friends are
also doctors, astronaunts, vets, etc)
-she continues to date ken though he still hasn't proposed after 40 years
at this point i think its her turn to do the asking
-she supports genetic eperimentation (how else did she get a pink peguses)
-she doesn't wear a bra

random people in times of need

2009-01-12T23:51:00.000-08:00

lately i've really been noticing just the small everday occurances with strangers taht are so cool, it seems there is always some random stranger to meet your need... or at least mine lately

i first started realizing this on new years when right when the snow picked up to the point i could barely see a snow plow appeared out of nowhere and basically lead me almost the whole way to my destination

another cool one happened in the grocery store.. as anyone that has spent any prolonged amount of time with me knows i cough... alot but when i get an actual cough well then it sounds like my lungs are going to come out, well the other day i was having a coughing episode in the grocery store, i had set down my basket and was taking a break to from looking at the cheeses to clear my throat which at this point was begging for a cough... well this old lady turns around as soon as i had finish the coughing fit and hands me a pack of halls saying that they had been in her pocket for forever and she wasn't using them so i might as well have them... they hit the spot and soothed my sore throat back to health.

these little bits of life are amazing and i am thankful for the randoms i meet as while my friends are amazing and cool, the randoms that help out deserve some special recognition. these small little events in ones daily life are often overlooked, which is a shame. Anyways be nice to the snow plowers and the elderly because they are cool... oh and if the lady that gave me the halls happens to stumble across this, thanks again

heroes

2008-12-14T17:16:00.000-08:00

so i was having a conversation with my sister jasmine a few month ago about who my heroes are, people who i know and admire for what they have done with their lives

and so i have thought about it and come up with my top 3 heroes (in no particular order)

my grandma, most excellent friend chris and clambo

my grandma because of her courage and absolute dedication to her calling, i mean sure my grandpa was brave going to africa as a missionary, but my grandma really amazes me. This was back when africa was still kinda the dark continent, they went into the bush, lived in a tent, she had 2 children there (after several failed attempts), had to eal with issues like rats chewing the tops off of the baby bottles and giant snakes in the well house, plush she was a woman in a male dominated society, and so i give props to my grandma

chris because i think what hes doing with his life is amazing. despite the very unstructured nature of what he has been doing at times i think it is amazing that he has lived as a full time volunteer giving to others, that takes guts. also just from other conversations we have had i just really respect him seeing where he has been and where he is going

and clambo well ehs just awesome and there isn't really anyway for me to describe all the reasons i admire him within a blog entry so i'm just not going to try (and yes i left out all the capitals and typos just for you)

Gleaning vs welfare

2008-11-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

Lev 23:22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "

So for one I am actually going to praise Levitical law (The law of the ancient hebrews if your lost) h as still relevant in our society. Well actually I'm just going o look at the pros of this system in comparison to our own welfare system and rant on a bit and hopefully make some decent points (especially because no research was done for this entry... i have enough readings with exams).
So basically what Levitical law did here is it provided for those who were in need by having those who had a lot (or those who owned land) not be stingy. Since the landowners would have been used to this system they wouldn't have missed that little bit that they would have had to go back for, similar to how since we are used to having income tax taken off our paychecks we don't really miss that extra bit. So in terms of where they get their resources to care for the poor its pretty much the same. The more you make or comparatively how much land you own the more you are expected/ required to give.
The difference between gleaning and welfare becomes present in how those in need receive their aid. With welfare those in need are identified and given aid. The cheque comes in the mail, they are given just enough so that if they budget well they will just make it through the month until the next months cheque. With Gleaning those in need still have to work for their aid. They still have to leave the house and go out into the field to gather up what they can to live off of. I assume life would still be tough and they would have to budget the same as with welfare, but I find that they have to take a more active role in the receiving of the aid.
I believe this to be a strength of this system. I have seen our walfare system abused, where people work full tiem jobs under the table and still get welfare as they are trying to cheat the system, i have also seen unemployment insurance and welfare be abused so that people can just be lazy. I don't think this would have been so, or at least less likely in the gleaning system.
of course the gleaning system would also have had its problems with some of those in need being greedy and taking more than their fare share of what was left for the alien and needy.
Both ways there are problems and strengths. I don't know what system is better but I think that its still valuabel to look at both systems as we figure out how to provide for those in need around us and also in how we provide aid for foreign nations....

and ya thats it.... really just a random train of thought i had earlier while in greek
peace

Teeth

2008-11-21T23:02:00.000-08:00

So right now i am particularly enjoying those few minutes each day one spends brushing their teeth. why? because i was given both my toothbrush and toothpaste. Each day when i brush my teeth I get reminded of Chris (who gave me the brush) and Clambo (who left a tube of toothpaste at my place a while back), its a nice way to start each day.

I hate smart adds

2008-11-19T22:46:00.000-08:00

so alot of sites use smart side bar advertisments... there is probably a proper name for this, i just call them smart adds, for example since i am christian and single and this info is on facebook i get piles of christian datings adds, i also seems to get tons of 'how to get a flat stomach in 2 weeks' type adds... my sister gets adds about various diets and i have no idea what kind of adds my mom gets... point is that while these adds are probably more effective than just random adds that would be there I miss mocking side bar adds for being irrelevant, i always got a chuckle over the site that was trying to sell me herbal breast enlargment in the side bar... anyways if they are going to harass me with adds I should be able to justifiable ignore them from time to time out of irrevelance and so taht is why i hate smart ads.... clearly i spent too long studying greek, my brian is a little loopy .... i'm going to bed now

I just remembered why christians annoy me

2008-10-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

ok christians annoy me at times but i still love them, heck i am one.

so i'm applying to transfer to a bible school next year, and in my application i came across some really irrelevant questions, which were not only unethical but also in some cases i believe illegal. They asked for a medical history including surgeries (which i can kinda stretch to be viable as its also a residence) but then they asked what my ethnic origin is, now i don't care BUT WHY DO THEY NEED TO KNOW? i see no reason why such information would be needed, i mean aren't we kinda beyond this as a society? You can't ask that when hiring employees at a job so why can they ask that in the admissions process for Bible college. Its clear that they havn't had their admissions forms cleared by a ethics and legal committee at least any good one in several years.
In this is one of my major beefs with christian institutions, they aren't up with the time, its not relevant, and it just doesn't fit with main stream society, bah..... i'll erase this ending and put a well thought out one here later (unless i forget or am too lazy)

Freaking Greek

2008-09-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

I'm taking Biblical Greek this semester. I have a test tomorrow and i don't know my stuff. I've been focusing on learning the grammar rather than vocab. I've been cramming vocab for 2 days... and now i forget the grammar. I can translate fine with text in hand and i think i can even survive the Greek to English portion by memory, but 2 questions will be English to Greek, I'm having trouble enough remembering the meanings of the Greek words when I see them, yet alone remembering how to spell them or apply accents. Vraaaaaaw! I'm going to stop for now and later let Greek ravish my mind and hopefully get it in there for good.

That being said, Greek is my favorite course right now and by far the most useful. I love it.

(I promise I will write another fully thought out blog entry soon)

worn out

2008-08-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

today i had a nap... i hate sleeping with a burning passion and so doing so in the day goes against my instinct, this is a bad idea, weird dreams and a totally messed up sleep schedual followed... oh well tats is life, and those 11hour days will be appreciated in september when i have to buy food... today was a little brutal though my 9-2 shift became 7:30-5:30 which is fine but we were under staffed, meaning that we had to work extra hard,

on the positive side i'm not sick

i need to get a job one day where i work people other than girls in highschool, that is my new goal in life, get a job where i work with either an equal number of girls and guys or with people my age, i hate drama....

celtic music is nice (itunes is going)

i wish i ahdn't napped, it was only 2h but now i am wired

...

peace

living in a shack with ecoli, and a brief time as a squatter... my summer so far

2008-08-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

So the camp I work at gives me accomidations every summer. This summer the cabin for the male staff has been rightfully nicknamed, the shack. Why? well its a bit sketchy. first of all when you walk i you notice taht there is no drywall, and then no insulation, the slat walls you see on the interior is the back of the boards you saw from outside. also these boards are not sealed, or rather thye are but only by the flaking white paint they are covered in. I wake up everymorning to the light coming in between the boards and occasionally a few bugs with it. Next you will noice the most extremely slanted floor i have ever seen. It slopes in 2 direction and the slope is big enough that if you sleep in the bedroom with your head at the wrong end of the bed you will wake up in the middle of the night with no circulation to your feet. I however sleep in the living room on a futon, which has been slowly falling apart all summer. As of last night 2 rivets have now snapped off leaving the futon sloped at one end and permenantly stuck halfway between bed and couch mode.

now as for the ecoli line in my title, i never actually had ecoli, although they thought i did at one point. rather i had a nasty stomach infection which they suspect i got through drinking or eating something bad at some point. anyways i got sick and in a period of 6 hours dehydrated myself to the point where i had to be hospitalized for 2 nights while they pumped me full of anti-biotics and IV. I'm good now though

and my brief time as a squatter. so i was at waterloo the other weekend and after staying too late the first night and getting stranded in downtown kitchener and having to rely on the help of these wonderful stoners i met to get back to my sisters i decided just to stay in renison the second night.... well another one of my friends was up that weekend without a place to stay as the person she had planned to stay with had left to go home that weekend... anyways in the end we broke into the room of the girl that had gone home and since there were two beds there we stayed the night there, so technically i think that classifies us as squatters.... oh and btw just to add another twist to the story, the room i stayed in was on the all girls floor, lol it was a fun adventure

random word order

2008-07-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

so whenever i see anything i first read it in a random order and then unscramble it, but sometimes funny combinations of words are made, especially in list form, today i was surfing facebook and i went to someones profile it read

Persons Name
sex:male
interested in: women

but i read it

persons name, intersted in, sex, (random gibberish)... it was amusing

Getting Older

2008-05-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

So I went on facebook today and saw that 2 people had added photos of weddings (one was older people so that didn't make me feel old... but one was of people I remeber as being teenagers), this weekend bpoth My sister and My parents are attending weddings, again people I remmeber being younger... people are getting married, kinda makes one feel old,... its going to be weird when those people getting amrried change to being my friends instead of the friends of my siblings/ friends older siblings... i guess I don't have to worry too much though, no offense to anyone but the majority of my friends entered the dating thing late so I prob still ahve a while... but it is weird growing up, meh, that is live, born, baby, kid, teen, adult, adult with grey hair, senile old person, dead, lol ok not that simple but its all life,...
peace?

old band shirt

2008-04-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

I've been bored lately and so i was doing watercolor... and then i ran outta illustration board and my pens ran outta ink.. and then i was cleaning my closet and came across 5 tux shirts from when i was in band... i havn't worn them since so i decided to use the iron on transfers in my closet (convenient huh) to make one cooler so i'll actually wear it... check out the links below (the gamers will appreciate it)

http://jordanpedde.deviantart.com/art/oldband-shirt-part-2-84349549

http://jordanpedde.deviantart.com/art/old-band-shirt-84349389

Apology for what we've become

2008-04-02T23:01:00.000-07:00

this is not a carefully researched or carefully written entry just what is in my mind and on my heart, take it for what it is

If there is one thing that drives me up the wall its Christians who don't live up to their name. We are to be like Jesus, we are essentially 'little-Christs'. We tend to suck at being this. I mean historically we've made a huge mess of things. Ther was that whole business with the crusades and all sorts of other terrible things done in the name of Christ. Even now we don't act like Christ. When we become more focused on making sure everyone is living right than on loving each other we are making a terrible mistake. Jesus would speak with everyone even before they changed. When we refuse to interact with a sub-culture because we believe their actions are wrong we are doing a terrible injustice. One can disapprove of ones actions and still love them. we tend to forget this. and what about grace? we make accusations against one another, some justly others falsely, and then we tear each others' throats over them.... WE SUCK! in case you haven't noticed I have issues with the Church. who doesn't these days, people do all these terrible things to each other, don't love, don't forgive... but you know what, thats why Christianity exists. If people weren't notorious for screwing things up we would have never needed forgiveness. People are screwed up and we will continue to screw up, however this doesn't excuse our actions we need to continue to strive to love each other, to be Christ like. As a Christian I realize that I fall short often. If I have forgotten to treat you with love, I ask for forgiveness... If the church or anyone else in the church has hurt you i ask you're forgiveness. We aren't supposed to act like that. We are human, we screw up and so I apologize for our actions.

Why I refer to God as a he

2008-03-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

I don't think God has gender. The Bible makes reference to God as both a father and a mother, I don't think this means that God is neccessarily just a combination of both genders but rather that all of our attributes as humans made in the image of God, come from the complexity of God that we will never fully understand. I believe that God transcends gender. So why do I refer to God as a him? I think its because I am a guy. It just seems natural for me to relate to God as a guy as it helps me to feel a common link between me and God, its a way of speaking about God that doesn't seem so vague and obscure. Also I think in the english language it is common to refer to androgynous things as male... but i could be terribly wrong about that, I really don't know anything about linguistics. Point is that although I refer to God as a male I don't think that God can be limited by gender.

Free will

2008-03-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

So if God knows everything, does he knows what choices we'll make before we make them? because if he does do we really have free will? I think God sees all the possible realities that can be made by every possible choice we make, and so he is never surprised by what decisions we make, because he has accepted the fact that we may do that, whether or not he knows which plane of reality we will choose I don't know. Honestly, I don't think this is an issue of great importance to my faith right now, it may be an issue I look at in the future but right now there are many more important issues I feel I should look at first. I think it is important to ration how many questions we take on at a time and sort out what we believe on the issues we currently are thinking about before moving on to taking on more questions. If we try to question everything at once we won't ever find the answers to everything. At the same time I think its important to always be willing to question anything so that we don't become too set on our own opinions that we are ignorant of other ideas.

EVIL

2008-03-23T17:18:00.001-07:00

One issue that I am continuously forced to question my beliefs on is evil. Its not so much issues of divine providence or theodicy but rather what I believe evil is. What one defines evil as influences all of ones beliefs as to what is good, how God is good, and what sin is. So many issues are influenced by evil that I believe it is an essential first step to theology to determine what you believe evil is. A relativist point of view would define evil as different for everyone or could say evil doesn't exist. Others believe that evil is caused by the influence of fallen angels, spirits, or demons. I firmly believe that evil does exist. I also firmly believe that there is no such 'thing' as evil. I believe evil to be a negative state of existence. It is like the cold or darkness, neither of these actually exist. The cold is merely a lack of heat (or lack of movement of particles if you want to get picky), the dark is just a place that is without light. So if God is all good is evil a thing that occurs when God is not present? well, seeing as God is omnipresent thats kinda hard to believe as God is everywhere. I believe that evil is created when the will of God is not present. So then, if God created everything did God create evil? yes, and no. God is all good and can not create evil, but i believe God can create the possibility for evil. By giving man freewill God created the possibility for his will to be ignored, and when God's perfect will is not followed evil is created. So basically that summarizes where I am at my beliefs about evil at the moment, they'll most likely change, this is not the same view i held a few years ago, but then any thoughts to do with God, theology and spirituality are always likely to change, we can never fully grasp all of their content and as we gain fuller understanding our thoughts and views change accordingly. I think everyones definition of evil is slightly different and I think we can grow by listening to and considering the views of others, and so to those reading this on my blog (and Prof. Frick if you want you can leave a comment in the margins while marking this) I would like to hear what your own personal definition of evil is.

Christianity and Education

2008-03-23T17:17:00.001-07:00

In the middle ages monasteries were the center of learning. They studied the bible but also secular topics. Over time education has been largely secularized. This has lead to a rise of two separate institutions for education: the secular university and the Christian seminary. Theology has remained as a possible field of study in some universities but with the rise of multi-culturalism this field has been replaced in many universities (including the university of waterloo) by 'religious studies'. Religious studies looks at a variety of religions giving one a good base knowledge to understand how religion affects the world around them (such as how it affects society and how it affects international relations) but one must ask: 'if one is studying every religion can they adequately fully understand any specific one?' ... this may explain the popularity of Christian seminaries as an alternative to the university. At a Christian seminary one can study Christianity in depth as their education is focused on the understanding of this one religion. I believe that there are many positive aspects of both of these methods of education. Those, like myself, who are persuing an education in Christianity can benefit from the approaches held by both places of education. I believe that it important for clergy and those in ministry to understand the values and beliefs held by other religious traditions so that we can communicate and be respectful of each others' beliefs and practices. It is for this reason that I am studying at a university rather than a Bible college. Also I believe that by looking at the texts of other religions we can better understand some aspects of christianity. For example in Christianity we will say God is omnipresent, this term is very exact and correct but can difficult to fully comprehend. On the other hand Hindus when speaking of the Brahman being in all creation describe it as salt dissolved in water. Even though the Brahman doesn't fit into Christianity the descriptions used to describe some of its aspects can help us better understand the Judeo-Christian God. The downside to taking religious studies is that one is not as free to delve into the study of the one religion they are focusing on. The generality of religious studies has led me to start considering transferring to a Christian seminary in the later years of my study. By studying religious studies at a secular institution first and Biblical studies at a Christian seminary later I believe I would be able to gain both an adequate knowledge of Christianity but also have some knowledge about other religions that would allow for better inter-faith relations than if I studied solely in a Christian seminary. In the end I don't believe that neither the secular university or the seminary is superior. Both have specific strengths and weaknesses and serve to give different sets of knowledge in terms of religion. Where one chooses to study may best be decided based on what they plan to do after their education and what knowledge set would be most beneficial to what they plan to do.

The Church: An Unfortunate Community Masquerade.. at least at times

2008-03-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

Is a church merely a building with a steeple, a place for christians to congregate once a week for their service rituals? No, the church is a community that encompasses all those in the body of christ despite nit-picky disagreements that cause us to separate into denominations. This community is to try to live like Christ, to live in the kingdom of heaven on earth. This means that the church needs to be concerned with social justice. Now, it is true that in todays society the government takes care of a lot of people who would have previously been taken care of by the church (such as government pension to seniors and the disables who can no longer work). However, there are still many social issues in which the church should be involved, we would live quite differently if we really considered 'What Would Jesus Do?' before every action. For example: would Jesus really toss a tin can on the ground? or would he recycle it so that it could be reused instead of harming the earth his Father created? The church often loses sight of this. We become more concerned of keeping those who may not necessarily live a 'christian lifestyle' outside of our neighborhoods than with loving them. We need to remember that Jesus hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors who stole. The original church, that is those who first started following Christ, were open about their downfalls, their lifestyle changed when they started following Christ and everybody knew it because they knew who they had been and who they were after following Christ.
Today I believe that we see this change and often believe that we must show no remnants of our old lives. This often leads to a false from being put on by Christians that make us appear like we have our entire life together and do not struggle with sin. The early church used to have a time at their meetings for public confessions of sins in front of the entire congregation. Now i recognize that with our current society and legal issues that go along with some sins not all sins can be told to the entire church meeting, but i believe that it is extremely important to talk about our struggles and shortcomings with each other within the church body. When we fail to share our struggles and get encouragement from one another we become hypocritical preaching against that which we hide and let grow in the dark corners of our lives (which leads to situations like the one that involves Ted Haggard). I believe that the Church exists largely to fulfill the function of James 5:6:
" Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. "
As a Church we exist to help and support each other and the world around us, not judge.

More on Sin

2008-03-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

ya this isn't anything really deep on my part, more just me rambling while considerung another idea presented to me... so, in other words its just filler for this journal I have to hand in

After posting my previous entry on my blog I recieved a response from a friend named Jordan Dyck who is a third year biblical studies student. He stated his view on sin:
"I would view "original sin" as the fact that we are born into a community which will at some point give us choices between two things, neither of which are God's best. The best we can do is try to live a life which is as close to Godly as we can get on earth. This is why we needed an external redeemer, to perfectly live human life. "
Although not a creditable theologian I believe that as followers of Christ, we are all able to make statements that cause each other to think theologically. This quotation raises a very important factor in understanding our state of sin. We live in a society created by those with sin and therefore our society is imperfect and causes further imperfection. This statement suggests that the Blank slate view held by the Pelagians could hold true without compromising the need for salvation in Christ. This view holds that we are predestined to fall into a state of sin by tarnishing our blank slate by sinning in a situation beyond our control (such as a child being forced to either lie or disrespect their parents). It could be argued that this predestined fall into a state of sin supports Augustine's view of original sin, which although delayed in its creation is very present in this view. Overall I believe this to be a very well thought out theological view that I should consider and possibly see how it fits within the views expressed in my previous entry as it seems I am looking for a balance between the views of Augustine and of the Pelagians on this issue. The situation of society forcing one into a situation where one must sin could quite possibly be linked to the realization of right and wrong which I previously mentioned. In the end I believe this is an issue which has too many facets to be understood entirely by man but hopefully as we mull over the concept he can continue to understand it on deeper levels.

Original Sin vs Blank slate

2008-03-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm really not sure if i agree with all i wrote here but its the current thought going through my mind...hope its coherant

The Pelagians believed that we are born as a blank slate free from sin and that we sin because we are given bad examples as all that have gone before us have also sinned. Augustine believed that we are born into a state of sin. I find both of these ideas very tempting and yet can't agree with either of them. If we all start without sin and only sin by imitation we should all just shelter our children so they never are exposed to sin and therefore keep their innocence as they never will be able to imitate sin. On the other hand if we are born into a state of sin than even a child who dies minutes after being born would be guilty of sin and therefore would be separated from God. I believe when Jesus says "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." in Matthew 19:14, he is acknowledging that children have a grasp on the kingdom of heaven (which i believe to be as much of a state of living on earth as a state after death)... I think that this implies that there is a further separation that occurs as we grow older. So in a sense I do believe in original sin, as without an inherited sin we would be able to achieve salvation without Christ, but I also believe that our state of sin is acquired. Original sin began with mankind gaining the knowledge of good and evil, therefore I think that original sin is linked to that concept. If a child is too young to understand the difference from good and evil I believe that they have not yet entered into our state of sin. Once a child is able to grasp this concept of good and evil I believe that a change takes place. The child now is able to recognize the sins that they have committed and therefore enter a state of sin (note the connection between sins and sin, this is very close to the pelagian view) ... therefore I think that both the Pelagians and Augustine had a grasp on the concept of sin, but in the end i believe that sin is an issue much bigger for the human mind to understand completely. Now just because we don't understand every aspect of the problem of sin doesn't mean we can't know the answer. God is much bigger than the mind can comprehend and therfore I believe very much that God can solve any problem, even ones we can't understand completely.

Nakedness

2008-02-26T19:59:00.000-08:00

ok so for theology i have ot keep a bit of a journal of my theological thoughts so i decided to post them here to keep track of them, heres the first one:

Theological anthropology

In class the idea was presented that one can not know themselves fully with out another. I both fully agree and fully despise that statement. In terms of people I am the first to say that people need people, at times in my life I have had some hermit like characteristics and I know that individual isolation does no good for the individual. My problem with that statement comes with the type of relationship it was referring to. The lecture was on the importance of nudity; about how nudity is an absolute openness, and that men and women were made for each other; that together we are one and therefore one is incomplete on their own. I think one can know themselves fully without a lover. Theres a hole in the logic of believing that a man must be with a woman in order to know himself fully. According to this logic we must diregard the writings of every monk who has ever sworn celibacy, the apostle Paul and even Jesus… I mean all of them were single and therefore didn’t fully know themselves, and how can one that doesn’t fully understand what it means to be human write anything of value in regards to the meaning of being human?
So I don’t believe that one needs a spouse to know themselves but I think we do need people. So much of what we know about ourselves comes from being in contact with other people. The Bible is full of communities and in the new testament the idea of being united in a body of Christ is presented. I think we can create close relationships that aren’t of a romantic nature that will help us better understand ourselves. Being part of a community helps complete us.
Physical nakedness may be symbolically powerful as to our openness to one another but I believe one can be just as exposed emotionally. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to each other. I believe that by sharing our shortcomings with one another we essentially are exposing one of the deepest parts of our existence to each other. I think the view point that there needs to be a physical nakedness to accompany an emotional openness is very egocentric of those who do have that act of physical symbolism available to them and that this view point could be potentially harmful to older single people in a church community.

Ottawa

2008-02-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

So I'm in Ottawa for the week visiting my sister. I went to this cool carnival called winterlude (spelling?). Anyways it was just over the ontario Quebec line so I figured I had to buy a poutine (I mean it was the French Canadians who first thought to combine cheese and gravy on french fries). It was good, made with actual cheese curds but a tad overpriced ($5 for a pretty small regular), buy hey what ya gunna do, it was a carnival, and everything else was free. There were some cool snow sculptures and these giant snow slides (which soaked right through my snow pants), and then there were some really amazing ice scuptures, but we only saw them from a distance as we got there too late, But yes Ottawa is great, me and my sister Jasmine just chilled today and ya, I'm going to enjoy my week. peace

Ethnocentrism is blah!

2008-02-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

So i'm sitting in philosophy and basically the philosopher we're studying, who the teacher seems to agree with, suggests that western art is better then eastern. His idea's are much more complex then that but I am sick and tired of the massive amounts of ethnocentrism in our society. Its lame, go look at some foreign stuff its beautiful... mind you I'm at risk of becoming a Xenocentrist (like all cultures but my own) so I am a bit biased, but still people need to open their eyes and change their perceptions

Almost like the Borg

2008-02-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

One thing that frustrates me about university is the similarities between everyone. Here I am living in one of the most diverse places I've ever lived where everyone is seeking new knowledge questioning what they know looking at new ideas, and yet.... its all the same. We all write exams at the same time. we all get stressed at the same time. We are all aspiring to bigger and better things. We all value education. I mean we all have very different ideas and are studying very very different subjects but we are essentially all the same; we are all students. No one here is just wanting to work a simple job that will just get them what they need. So even though Everyone is very different here we are all very much the same, we have been assimilated... at least until we get our degrees

Midterms and stuff

2008-02-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

so its been a while since i posted last... i need to get regular again, anyways its midterms now, i'm taking a study break, this week 3 midterms and an essay, going to a sushi buffet later today so thats good, hmmm what else is ther to say, well i've started gaming again, i decided that i miss being a geek and i think i can game healthily again, i'm also making an effort to start making art again, i mean i spent 8 months in a fine arts program no sense putting those skills to waste. and thats alll for now, peace

frig

2007-12-12T23:01:00.000-08:00

so i read the exam schedual wrong, the exam i thought was next monday is tommorrow, that gave me 12h to study and sleep, crap, i g2g read

broken glass

2007-12-10T16:47:00.000-08:00

people in glass houses should not throw stones, but they do.... perhaps this is due to a denile of their own glass existence, people talk about opeople too much and cause way too many problems, people need to think more about the effects of their words on others, everyone has flaws and issues they have to deal with, there are appropriate times when people may need to be made aware of issues, but if they are aware of the issue and are trying to improve it then pointing it out will only make it worse, peopel need to smarten up, me included, we don't need rto speculate on who has a thing for who and who has problems with what, we need to pull out the duct tape and strategically shut the mouths of our minds so that we don't continue this stupid trend... and that is my rant for today

well i havn't posted in a long time

2007-09-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

heres a summary of my life, i'm gunna start blogging again but i'm not really gunna try to fill in everything from the past few months other than this list
-i dropped outta art school
-moved to portcredit
-did my dts
-fed people cuz thats what i do
-went to india
-came back
-moved to waterloo
-studying anthroplogy

INDIA!

2007-05-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Wow I havn't posted since I came to YWAM, i guess thats what happens when i don't have internet in my room and gain a social life.... leaving for india June 10th for 2 months... thats a week and a half! sooo excited

Busier than the Season Finale of a Sitcom

2007-03-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

thats my life right now, sooooo busy, crazy stuff going on, heres a sample:

This past weekend my sister was in a car accident while driving my bros truck, rolled it, lucky to be alive, then 10 pple staying in my house all weekend, did a performance painting at church, then 2 days at beal to finish up everything, dropped out yesterday, got 4 days to pack, gotta put together a slide show and prepare a interview for this sunday at church, then pack the car while my mom is at drama practice, then go to TO and unpack.....

oh and somewhere in there b4 sunday i gotta finsih 5 or 6 art pieces, so yes I'm generally moving quicker than a squirrel on expresso been busy putting software on my sisters labtop she lent me as well, and ya busy busy, (sorry lucanites but there is no way i can swing attending that fundraiser tomorrow night), well a bit more sensless relaxing internet surfing more me then bed and then back to business, peace

Lasts

2007-03-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

today was very much a last day, heres all the things I finished today:

-being officially a highschool student
-riding the short bus
-riding yellow school buses everyday
-going to art school
-milking cows

i'll have alot more "lasts" in the next fewe days and then a whole load of starts... its gunna be great, but at the same time kinda sad to be finishing almost everything in the meantime

just for fun.... yer on jury duty

2007-03-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

ok, so while milking cows today I was thinking (surprise surprise)... btu what else do you do while doing such routine manual labour? .. anyways as my mind surfed through a multitude of thoughts I came up with a random game for you all to play. your on jury duty. The laws in this court are slightly different though, everyone gets tried as an adult and your verdict doesn't have to reflect any of our laws, you just have to give a guilty or not guilty (however if you want to explain your answer or give an idea for punishment go ahead)... just post your verdict as a comment to this entry. You have 3 cases.

case 1

Fred Smith is insane, he has created a man named Bob O'neil in his mind, Now Bob does not exist but to Fred he does.... one day Fred got mad at Bob and beat him to death with a baseball bat, As far as Fred knows He murdered a real person.... so is Fred guilty of murder?

case 2

Mr. Anderson had a dream last night. This was one of those dreams where you get to make decisions and at the time of the dream it is so real you think it is real. In the dream he choses to kill a man. He later wakes up to realize its a dream, but is he a murderer for choosing to kill the man?

Case 3

Charlie is a 10 year old boy with a vivid imagination. As most children do he creates world in his head for entertainment. He often becomes so absorbed in these worlds that they feel more real than the real world, however he is always aware deep down that they are not the real world even though he invests as much time in these alternate realities as the real world. He feels a closer connection to the characters in his fake world then to people in teh real world. One day in his imaginary kingdom he creates a new person and imediatley jumps on their shoulders and bites a few wholes in their juggular vein, killing them..... is he a murderer?

ok lets hear your opinions.

Slides

2007-03-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

tues march 13 2007

I just spent my evening looking through old slides with my amazingly cool grandparents, there was alot of slides of "brother with brother at such and such a church" which were interesting and cool, but the my favorite slides are always the ones from their years doing missions in tanganyka/tanzania, and there are always some really cool stories that go along with these, I love my grandparents, they are the greatest

regarding bathrooms

2007-03-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

ok, so they say confession is good for the soul, well what about silly confessions? anyways heres a nice rant on my feelings on bathrooms that you prob don't know

so for starters, I hate using bathrooms at other people's houses, they're always so white, pastel and sterile... it makes me uncomfortable, being alone in that kinda environment in a persons house.. i dunno its just awkward, and the worst part: the shower. now not all showers bother me, just the ones with totally opaque doors/ curtains, it just bothers me when i'm using a persons bathroom and theres this big area thats right there that something could be in.... maybe i'm afraid frankenstein is gunna jump out or something, its weird, I just find it awkwardly threatning.... and then ther are shower doors that are mirrors, that way you can sit on the loo and see yourself, I mean whats up with that?! pple are strange... now most pple would rather use any bathroom over a puiblic bathroom, me on the otherhand, i find public washrooms much less awkward than that in other peoples houses, but they are still retarded, first of all I refuse to use urinals, mainly because you have no privacy with them, in many cases you have to stand with your shoulders touching the guy next to you to use them.... and that is just awkward, so i use the stalls, whoever designed the toilets in my schools washrooms should be shot, they are super shallow which means that whenever you take a dump water splashes up and hits you, such a bad design, oh and then another part of that design problem is that if the lid of the toilet is closed b4 you flush it water splashes up and hits the lid and pours onto the seat, and then when the next person comes in they don't know if its because of the toilet or if the person b4 them had bad aim, speaking of bad aim how is it possible that in nearly every public washroom you use some guy manages to miss the toilet by atleast 4 feet? i mean is it really that hard? if it is, please just sit down,... or even worse they get crap on the wall on the opposite side of the stall, sick ppel these days..... so basically to conclude I just hate washrooms in general

regardling the cutness and grossness of the events surrounding baby cows

2007-03-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

tues march 13 2007

Man, there was this newborn baby jersey cow at work today ( i didn't see the birth, i think it was already a few hours old), but it was soooo cute, still wet from the mom licking it clean, nice dark redish brown with amazing eyes, underlined in black, it was sooo cute, i got right up close to it, like within inches of its face, then the mom say me superclose bend down next to the gate and started making angry grunting noises so i backed off, but i coulda touched it had i wanted too.... I think God made baby animals so cute just to protect them from us, there is no way anyone could butcher an animal that cute (but when they get old and fat and oh so scrumptious looking, well thats another story).... either that or the cutness is to counteract the after birth, that stuff is disgusting, so gross, just a big pile of gunk in sitting there in the stall, birthing is not a very pretty thing, especially when it goes wrong, like there is this other cow at work that gave birth a while back and when it delivered the baby it also delivered it whole uterus, the vet stuffed it back in, but now its got a stitch holding everything in..... its pretty gross looking, the kinda thing alot of artists would photograph just to shock people... anyways i'll leave you with that as a mental image

coffee house

2007-03-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

to raise money for my missions trip, april 29, at catherine street hall in dorchester at 6:30... still needing more performeres so any musician friends of mine who are willing to donate some of yer talent contact me... more info to follow (p.s. I will be cutting off my braid at this event so you all better come ;) )

maple

2007-03-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

sun march 11 2007

been collecting sap for 2 days now, start boiling it tomorrow, resulting in sugary goodness, now i'm actually not a fan of maple syrop but i like making it, makes me feel like a real canadian and a real country kid, also i like maple sugar and taffy, and maple tea made from the sap, mmmmmmm, can't wait to start boiling

The Evil White

2007-03-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

mon march 5 2007

Oh white cloud of fury, quit this maddness of littering my world with your frozen waste, your unholy war with all that is green has gone on far too long

thats right, yet another snow day, i need the studio time, This is my last week! grrr, this time the bus came, picked me up, then turned around and dropped me back at home.... i hate winter... its too cold too

vroom vroom

2007-03-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

thurs march 1 2007

So after 2 failed attempts to get my G2 I can now finally drive legally.... i guess third time is the charm... that or its cuz the London rout was sooooo much easier than tilsonburg.... anyways thats the main news of the day

I also ordered in 2 dozen t-shirts to silk screen..... and I intend to attempt to get them all practically done in 3 days..... i gotta get moving.... mon tues wed next week i'll be a silk screening machine..... also, it is now march so I move to missasauga in less than a month... sooooo excited, life is getting busy, having to cram everything between now and then but its ok, i'm not stressed at all yet...

so I went to school today after my drivers test to discover that my bus had been cancelled... so i was at school on a day i didn't have to, but thats good cuz I need all the studio time i can get right now... hope my bus runs tomorrow... its really icey... anyways that was my day, peace

Thrift stores rock

2007-02-25T21:45:00.000-08:00

today while I was browsing through the toys at Talize I found a small loom made of plastic.... and it was only $3, I bought it... gunna weave me some fabric... it'll be sweet

New blog address

2007-02-22T22:05:00.000-08:00

yes this is me, Jordan... i hope everyone made the jump to the new address ok... good, so this is the new address... but still the good old blog... hmmm ya i have nothing to say... i'm a little bored... peace

bad sites, good beads and super excited!

2007-02-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

tues feb 21 2007

University websites stink, I spent forever filling out a form... just for the site to loose it... i mean seriously you think with what tuition costs are the universities could hire top of the line programers... anyways they stink

but that doesn't matter cuz I am happy

I realized something today: I love beads, sewing beads onto my textiles project was so fun... i think i may sew beads onto a bunch of my clothing, its really relaxing and looks cool

and I am still sooo excited for YWAM, there only like 1 month left till i leave for training in missasauga!, wahoo! I'm a bit wired

.... then again the sudden burst of energy right now may have to do with it being quarter to one....but i am way to hyper to sleep,... anyways i have nothing more to write

Thrift store finds of today

2007-02-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

well, it was Tallize, so its liquidation and thrift store finds

-2 metal cd cases
- a vest that is solid embroidery
-a cd called "world flutes"
- a few shirts
-VHS of "alien"
-VHS of old x-men cartoon
- super wide green and red suspenders

it was a good day

Finally settled, now time to leave

2007-02-15T21:37:00.000-08:00

thurs feb 16 2007

When I moved home from braeside (camp) in september I didn't feel like I would ever be able to settle living at home and going to beal, well i'm finally at a point where I feel home at my parents house and have roots in my school... and its tiem to leave, a month and a bit till i move out... but its all ok... I've been wanting to go to this program since the end of summer, and I am sooo excited... just thought it was funny that It took me till now to feel totally settled and that i'm leaving so short after.... anyways don't really have anything to say... peace

Return of the Accordion

2007-02-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

tues feb 13 2007

So i've started playing my accordion again... starting to break away from my internet life and start doing stuff in the real world again, its fun I love my accordion.... if any one ever sees a "I heart Accodion" T-shirt buy me one..... now i just need to practice and get good

"The last king of scotland"

2007-02-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

sun feb 11 2007

I went and saw the movie "the last king of scotland" today, well made, very graphic.. its the story of the dictator of uganda in the 70s... almost liek a documentary... very well acted, lots of blood but thats kinda a given based on him being psychotic paranoid killer... and ya it was interesting and educational... but not a movie to watch when you want light entertainment

Felt

2007-02-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

wed, Feb 7 , 2007

So today I made felt in textiles, gunna make a pounch, basically we cleaned wool, layed out a picture in colored wool on the white mat me got from cranking our wool through this spinning comb thing we cranked, then we sewed the wood between scraps of cotton... then poured boiling water on it and beat it like crazy for an hour (including running and jumping on it) and them we took off the cotton scraps and behold! we have felt.... kinda a fun process kinda tiring... but it was cool regardless

BOLLY WOOD

2007-02-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

wed feb 7, 2007

So I guess I should post that I think I know where my YWAM DTS is going (nothing is confirmed or official yet).... but I'm probly going to Bollwood, India... India! thats amazing, heard this a few days ago, got me really excited, oh man I am so excited for the whole YWAM thing to start! now i just gotta start fundraising... oh and i gotta figure university junk, ahhhhh, life is busy, oh well

I HATE WINTER!

2007-02-05T06:51:00.000-08:00

mon. Feb 05 2007

ITS STINKING TOO COLD!!!!!!

Internet reality!

2007-02-04T21:11:00.000-08:00

Sun. Feb.04 2007

woah, havn't posted in a bit, anyways I went up to Simco to meet some of my online buddies in real life and to see some of my braeside pals at the same time, it rocked, definetly all cool guys, though I have to admit there was a bit of an awkward pause when I arrived at the house I was staying at the first night and drew a blank for the names of my internet buddies when their dad answered the door (I could only remember screen names)... but ya that was soooooo fun. We all had a nighter, I was the sock wrestling champ (I actually won an event requiring physical ability!), mighty fun

Last Exam!

2007-01-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

tues January 30 2007

I WROTE MY LAST EXAM!!!... for highschool anyways, there'll be more in my future schooling, but ya, since i'm dropping out of Beal before the end of the year today was my last highschool exam, which is kinda cool

I SET A RECORD!

2007-01-29T19:09:00.000-08:00

Monday Jan 29 2007

I set a record in something other than a video game!.... this is a rare thing as I have no athletic ability and am not very motivated for alot of things.....I get sidetracked with other projects.... anyways the record I set isn't really anything special, I've spent the most money on material for a foundations sculpture class.... $62, wow thats alot... but then i did use every matierial we had except sheets of steel that require welding, that $62 got me to use: Clear resin casting, graphite resin casting, alabaster carving, masonite for relief sculptures, copper sheets, brasing wire, plexi-glass, korean silver and sterling sliver.... wow i was a busy kid these past 8 weeks

A New Favorite Movie!

2007-01-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

fri Jan 26 2007

"End of the Spear" has gotta be one of the best movies ever! such a great story, and so well made, I love it, Go watch it! plus its a true story which makes it even cooler, ah man, so good

YWAM!

2007-01-26T20:32:00.000-08:00

Jan 26 2007

so my appliction finally got processed, Going to be attending their Justice arts media Discipleship training school in TO in march, and then who knows where... I am so excited

Rubber Cement

2007-01-22T20:05:00.000-08:00

mon Jan 22 2007

I hate rubber cement, it doesn't like me, it always destroys my projects, dun know why i'm incapable of getting good results.... plus it stinks and gives me headaches..... gotta be careful not to get high on the fumes.... anyways, its back to gluesticks for me, even if they do cause paper to buckle

I love VIM

2007-01-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

January 21 2007

Lesson of the day:
When using india ink and msn at the same time be VERY careful

I have spilled india ink several times this weekend, the latest being on the floor by the computer, just missed the keyboard.... i'm a bit clumbsy, anyways idia ink is much fun and Vim does wonders to get it off.... my hands are white again! lol, they've been various shades of skin color and black all weekend

Monks are cool

2007-01-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

January 21 2007

Man I love medieval monks. I did a cross hatched picture of one for drawing class and decided to write a scripture above it in gothic caligraphy... all this with a fountain pen of course. Doing the text was so tedious, I have SO much more respect for the medieval monks that wrote out the entire Bible like this, like wow that is alot of work and alot of dedication. There should be like a monk appreciation day or something.

Fancy Dinner and Cheese

2007-01-19T19:33:00.000-08:00

Fri Jan 19 2007

So for my brothers birthday we went out for a fancy dinner. Usually we don't go to the really expensive facy places but this place had a special celbration thing, everything was their original prices form the 70s so we went (I think we booked reservations a year in advance)... anyways it was interesting seeing how us kids reacted.... my brother especially, I think he used every utensil he was given for every course, anyways it was quite funny

Another story from today:

So I was making this giant fake piece of cheese for a drama at church this sunday, it was almost done, carved out of foam and looked all pretty, and then me being my regular forgetful self left it at school, so I just had to whip one up with good old paper mache, hadn't used the stuff in a few years... kinda fun, makes me feel like I'm 6 again... anyways i gotta milk early tommorrow sp I'm quitting here

sore eyes, new tooth, cheap books and crunch time

2007-01-18T20:47:00.000-08:00

Jan 18 2007

Ouch my eyes hurt. Today I had sculpture class and while I was working in the ventilation booth, there were several people melding behind me. With no room to set up a screen I figured I was ok since my back was turned.... apparently something was reflective in my booth though cuz now my eyes hurt

On a more positive note, I got a temporary cap put on my broken tooth, so now I don't look like simple simon anymore. Also I got some cool books for cheap, a whole stack of christian lit for 15 bucks, dated but still good, found a whole section in the back of a used books store downtown, I'm excited, I've been needing more books.

One week and one day till exams and then my studios switch... and we all know what that means.... crunch time... I'm saying crunch vs cram because in an art program you don't really ever cram information, you just actually work in the time alotted vs procrastinating.... finally finishing some projects.... I'm actually gunna have homework this weekend.... maybe i was too ambitious with my projects.... oh well its all good, textiles and ceramics start after exams, sorta excited there, means when I travel I will be able to tell the diff between tourist quality stuff and the good stuff.... anyways it is midnight and I should go to bed, peace

2007-01-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

ICE

Freezing rain, it lots of fun, got me a day off school, so now i get to just chill all day.... slept for 10.5 hours, such a waste of half a day but makes up for me only getting 3 hours the night b4, oh well, man i love having a tv set up in the computer room, watching the league of extraordinary gentle men right now, great movie, some of the greatest books combined... though really not a fan of the graphic novel (don't read it)... anyways nothing more to say, peace

2007-01-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

GREEK!

So as of today I am learning Greek. Been wanting to for a while but wanted to learn Swahili first. Unfortunatly my software that teaches Swahili is missing... so I finally gave in and skipped to Greek. My eventual goal is to be able to read from the Greek Bible if I wish, I'm a far cry from there though.... just getting the alphabet down now

2007-01-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

resin

smell bad, polymer resin does, like toxic chemical hurting your brain....... man i hate filing

2007-01-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

Why am I retarded?

I take forevere to finally make decisions on things and then as soon as I start to take action I want to back out, grrrrrrr... oh well, I got the ball moving enough that I can't back out now which is good cuz i don't want to, even though my stupid self is trying to back out

2007-01-11T20:49:00.000-08:00

Bothersome stuff

Its kinda crazy how stuff can bother you, Liek something will bother you for a long time, and then when you get so you can live with it, it bothers you that it has the potential to bother you.... grrr.... contrary feelings stink as well

2007-01-11T20:46:00.000-08:00

Fur Be Gone

I shaved off my side burns.... kinda weird now, Used to looking in the mirror and looking different... its strange, and I definetly look a bit younger and geekier now (a good thing with the geekiness), but I may grow them back... depends on how lazy I am

2007-01-09T20:02:00.000-08:00

"Trip of crazy coolness"- (I'm going to start posting my titles down here so that the date of each post is more visible)

So I went down to Essex and Leamington to visit some freidns. A five day trip, and I've gotta say, It was great.I love everyone, Its so nice to have such cool friends I had a blast, ... only problem is that now my sleeping schedual is messed up so i'm gunna have trouble waking in the morning, oh well, what will be will be. peace

2007-01-04T07:01:00.001-08:00

Lazyness, Forgetfulness and Procrastination are all terrible things

The Deeper Side of Wasted Talent

2007-01-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

So I give God my all, but is my all the best I have to give? If I give all my talents to him but don't ever develop them I'm not giving him my best. Although I may not be the most awesome person out there, I want to give God the best I can, That means effort on my part, I can't just drift through life anymore

I Waste Talent

2007-01-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

I've been realizing as of late that I am wasting talent. I have been given the gift of being able to create, yet instead of developing these skills and creating the best I can, I tend to use my talents as a crutch, slapping work together in short periods of time. Its not that the art I've made hasn't been good, its just that I have rarely used the full extent of my talents in my art. So this can be a belated new years resolution I guess- Make better art that requires more effort- (how this will relate to actual school assignments I don't know, i may stay less dedicated to them then i could be, this is mainly just for my personal art that I make because I want to)

New Years

2007-01-01T16:17:00.000-08:00

spent new years eve in Lucan, visiting friends, did an all nighter with their church's youth group, much fun..... i love all nighters, and it was cool to hang out with a youth group again, spent the whole night hanging out in the church.... and of course with me accident prone i got injured (surprise, surprise) ... first I gored up my leg a bit while playing hide and seek in the dark... got it stuck under the metal railing around the stairs... stabbed it in a few places, some blood and bruising but not too bad.... then later playing dodge ball with frisbies i took one to the mouth and broke the cap off one of my front teeth (yes, again) so now i'm gunna have to get that re-capped, anyways it was a really good night, went to bed at 8am, got 4h of sleep, and i am wired! I love life, so nice to see pple again

Remember back when you first got internet?

2006-12-31T13:19:00.000-08:00

Remember back when you first got internet? The paranoia? "Don't ever put your real name online" and "be careful who you talk to" and also things like "never eat of drink by the computer"... well as I sit eatiing soup above my keyboard I got thinking, things have really changed, I now practically live online, there are all sorta of people i know online but not in the real world, my email has my full name in it, .... so why this change?,.... well I'm older for one, don't have to worry so much about crazy people stalking me I can better take care of myself as an adult, internet isn't such a new scarey thing, we're used to it, and of course technology is cheaper now so we can afford to buy a new keyboard if we spill soup on the keys

visiting people!

2006-12-29T20:20:00.000-08:00

I'm excited, visiting pple i havn't seen in months for new years, and then the next weekend visiting some other friends... I'm excited, I love friends I should visit more people mor often... or maybe just actually hang out with my friends here more...hmmm that could work, lol.... peace

2006-12-29T20:17:00.000-08:00

I love making stuff, anything, it feels so great, you start with nothing and end up with cool stuff... spent the morning making stuff (can't say what cuz they're gifts) and then did some writting later on... i'm not really a writer but it just happened and some cool poetic stuff resulted, anyways this is just random rambling so i'll leave you be

New Look

2006-12-28T21:46:00.000-08:00

ok, so I'm trying to be a bit more my age as of late, still be the crazy hyper random me, and never actually grow up (I'm sorta like Petere Pan I guess) , actually all this means is that I am trying to make stuff look a bit less tacky (but not my clothing), but my blog has a nice new look, my email address is now just my name and is not longer at hotmail,... you know move away from all the remenants of pre-teen me... my words are being butchered, o well, its not like people expect me to be coherant all the time- if you do you don't rteally know me, lol.... anyways enjoy the new skin on the blog (note: if it looks like I copied the skin off your blog *cough*clambo*cough* I did, this template is nice)

I really should post about how christmas went, but I'm not

2006-12-28T21:33:00.000-08:00

I really should post about how christmas went seeing as I went on and on about how graet it is..... but I'm not, it was great as always and I think pple are tired of christmas stuff by now and I wanna write on other stuff- Life is amazing, seriously look around you how amazing everything is designed, how water flows, and how air feels when it moves, its amazing, God created a cool world, I Love everything, I am happy

Santa wears a black suit and has a big grey beard today

2006-12-23T12:57:00.000-08:00

Solomon, an older Amish neighbour of mine came by today bearing gifts. He's a cool guy, one of the nicest men you'll ever meet, anyways he brought two boxes full of baking! different things were labelled from different Amish families. (they're baking is sooooooo good), we get goodies from them every year, but this is alot more than usual. I love the Amish, they're all so nice and really great neighbours.

A "LIFE IS AMAZING!" and "I LOVE CHRISTMAS!" entry

2006-12-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

(sorry Katy, but I'm too much of an optimist to not write about how much life rocks)

so today another cow was born in the barn, i didn't see this birth but i saw the baby right after the mom had licked it clean, Man, God is amazing, how he designed new life to grow in and eventually squeeze out of old life, and then when you see the baby it looks so frail, taking its first steps and falling flat on its face, and then the mother standing over it, a huge gigantic beast watching over it soo intently, and knowing that the baby will one day be as strong and powerful as the mother, its just so cool.

now an "I love christmas" post:

was listening to the radio (i only do this at christmas cuz usually i can't find much i like,.... plus i get headaches from radios)... anyways there was a song about how during the first world war they stoppeed fighting on christmas and played soccer between the two trenches, the song was going on about how christmas brings out the good in people and how it should continue to happen today.... well it does, we have all those sweet charities helping people out and more pple seem to give to them at thios time of year, I wish pple would act the same way they do at christmas all year... everyone is so nice at this time of year, and pple seem to care about the rest of humanity, i love it

its begginning to look alot like christmas

2006-12-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

pics of christmas decorations, my favorites: (sorry bout the quality... forgot excellerator on

-stocking I painted when i was 3 (ok my mom dipped my figers in paint and drew the sceme with my little hands)

-our crazy nice nativity set

-the tree, i love real christmas trees

- mary, joseph and jesus flight to egypt figures, some cheesy european looking figures that used to be my Oma's, i like them cuz christmas decoratiojns normally quit at the stable, this one goes further

O Tannenbaum

2006-12-16T11:39:00.000-08:00

we got our tree today, I love those cut yer own places.... its a blue spruce (so my mom is happy) and is an overall good tree.... I tried to talk my mom into buying more lights and covering the tree completely so that no green could be seen... we compromised on just using all the mini-lights we have... I'll take a pic of it when i'm done decorating it and post it.... merry almost christmas everyone

2006-12-15T18:07:00.000-08:00

monster returns, stop why not I? It dies in a flood.

cape

2006-12-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

i guess i should post a pic of the cape i sewed to be one of my winter coats... it took forever and the fabric costed me a bundle.... but it was worth it... sorry the pic is so washed out.... did the lightening really quick, ... oh, the mural behind me is one my mom and I did a few yaers back.... peace

End of Geekdom!

2006-12-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

as i am cutting things down and out of my life i am realizing i ma losing touch with geek culture..... could an end of my geekyness be near?.... NEVER! but i'm on a bit of a vacation.... not gunna be so hardcore must knowing everything about every area of geekdom ... for that is really tough on the brain... no wonder so many geeks become socially inept.... anyways thats just a random thought for today

work

2006-12-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

just to clarify about my job:

I milk cows, monday to firday in the evenings and saturday early in the morn

each shift is 2.5 hours, in that time I milk approx 75 cows... no i do not do it by hand... that would take forever, I use machines, that way i can milk 5 at once.... ya farming uses tecnology.... you'de be surprised at how many people think i do it all by hand into a bucket, lol.... anyways thought i'd clarify that all up

p.s. milking is one of the easiest jobs ever once you get the hang of it, requiress no brain activity... though you smell funky afterwards

still up

2006-12-10T22:37:00.000-08:00

its 20 to 2 in the morn... mom don't kill me when you read this... my brain clicked into random information collection mode... did you know that pope john paul II is an honorary harlem globe trotter? and that girraffs can go longer without water than camels... oh man... i should go to bed.... but my brain is too active.... ahhhhhh

GREEK

2006-12-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

so i should be in bed right now.... but i'm not

i was on msn, chatting as usual, and then a friend came on.... cramming for a greek exam tommorrow... well he started typing out what he was studying as a way to put it in his memory... i couldn't leave... this stuff is far too interesting, though i dun remember any of the greek words the kazzillion diff forms for everything is interesting.... oh great, now i wanna take a greek course (thanx alot clambo).... I'm tired, dunno why is only 12:15, and i shouldn't complain, my friend who is studying is 5 hours ahead so its its much later there... or earlier since its technically morning..... note to self- if you ever take a second language (which you most likely will) don't wait till the night b4 the exam to learn it

B-live done

2006-12-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

so bethlehem live is done yet again.... this should be my last year playing joseph, yet if I come home from wherever i move to next year i will most likely get conned into it again, I don't really mind .... had a fun snowball fight with some of the other teens/ young adults and kids afterwards... much fun... but i did cut open a kids lip with a chunk of ice in one.... oops.... luckily his parents are cool with it (i wouldn't have had a snow ball fight with him if they weren't cool)... but ya i have "josephs song" stuck in my head now... twas my big dramatic scene in the play... really good song though, makes you think about josephs take on the nativity.... but its sooo slow and its driving me crazy! AHHHHHH!, lol not that crazy... anyways peace

6 weird things

2006-12-10T08:49:00.000-08:00

I got tagged by my sister. So now I am supposed to post 6 weird things about myself..... Who am I gunna tag? anyone that reads this.... fwahahaha! now you have to post 6 weird things about yerself on yer blog!

Here are my six:

1. I have a huge fear of footballs... but not the actual ball... only its pattern of movement

2. I know more fake languages than real ones

3. my ear lobes are different shapes (on account of one being ripped off)

4. have you seen my hair?

5. I have had both scarlet fevor and whooping cough... yet I've never been to the tropics

6. there are too many to count, so i'm not gunna bother to list anymore... u all know them

2006-12-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

I am becoming my mother, lol... last night before bethlehem live (the play i'm in) i was running around checking that everyone was ready and doing all this extra last minute stuff not expected of me.... then i realized, this is exactly what my mom always does.... not a bad thing, but it was funny that i just realized it

Schools closed

2006-12-08T04:01:00.000-08:00

all schools in 4 counties are closed due to snow! police are telling pple not to use the streets unless its an emergency... this is crazy