billboards

Walking home from the subway station last night on the Danforth, I noticed a (huge) billboard on top of a building that I've never seen before. I've probably walked that route a hundred times by now, and I never noticed that billboard. For some reason, I find that incredibly odd. Either I'm very unobservant (possible) or I noticed before but never "registered" it, or it's new. But I don't think it's new.

Yes, this is why I blog. To share my perplexities about human vision and billboards.

Yikes.

I love God and God loves me. So he makes me rich.

"Philosophically, their main way of helping the poor is encouraging people not to be one of them."

"The tragedy is that Christianity has become a yes-man for the culture."

"Jesus did not die and get up off the Cross so we could live lives full of despair and disappointment."

Click here for more on this amazing new discovery!!!

Tequila at family reunions

Today I ate dinner with my aunt Mary and uncle Earl, their daughter Myra, and my cousin Lawren, who's visiting from New York. It's tradition for me to eat dinner with them (minus Lawren of course) on Tuesday nights. I like it. I like them. It's a good tradition.

It's also tradition that I come up (I live in their basement apartment) a little early for dinner and Mary and I share an apertif-- a little drink to whet our appetites. Usually Mary serves wine. One time we had sherry--almond flavour (delicious). But today I came up for dinner and Lawren and Mary were drinking tequila. Just tequila. On the rocks. I laughed out loud. And poured myself an ounce or two. Mary explained that they were out of wine, and that they had picked up the tequila at the duty free on the way back from Joya's wedding.

Earl came to the table for supper and added his shock over the unusual apertif to the conversation.

Earl: (trying to hide his surprise) "Mary, isn't tequila a little strong for a before-dinner drink??"

Mary: "We didn't have anything else, and I couldn't very well not offer our guests anything, could I?"

Earl: "I could have brought up some beer from the cellar or something!"

Sara: (matter-of-factly) "I have a a very large bottle of rum downstairs."

Mary: (laughing) "Well, we'll just have to have tequila and beer and rum!"

I love my family.

new look....or not

I got my hair cut today. Took 3 or 4 inches off. I like it!!

Lorraine and I went this afternoon to the Aveda Hairstyling School, because we thought it would be cheap. Online it said $14. We were each charged $31. Huh?? But it was a good cut, and they massage your neck and head first and give you tea and you change into a robe. So there were some perks.

Then we went right to our evening class. Now, I always thought that the stereotype about men not noticing anything was just that-an unfair and untrue stereotype. But NONE of the guys at class mentioned that I looked different. We were all sitting around eating supper (as we tend to all come early and eat before the 5.30 class) for at least 15 minutes before someone asked Lorriane if she got her hair cut. Lorraine has quite short hair. And she cut maybe an inch off. Seriously guys, you notice ONE INCH before FOUR INCHES?? That's a lot of hair gone! Well, they said that they noticed it and just didn't say anything. Fine. For future reference, all you men out there, say something. Just say something.

I'm a horribly self-centered person. I'm sorry. I just love getting drastic hair cuts, and feeling so different and NEW, and it seems like everyone else would notice how NEW I look. Can anyone relate?

Totally unrelated: my sister gave me her old stereo. When I went to use the cd player, I discovered that she left a cd in it called "The Big Bad Voodoo Daddys". Has anyone ever heard of them? I'm listening to it right now, and it's kind of like fast swing music. I have no idea why I just blogged about that.

End.

sunshine!!!

The sun had not revealed itself at all since I returned from Joya and Dave's wedding more than a week ago. Boo boo boo. Perhaps that was part of the reason for my "blah-ness" and down moods.

But then, today, a miracle--the SUN!

For about an hour.

But still. It gave me a bit of hope.

And then on the way home tonight, around 9:30pm, it's gusty and freezing and I need my umbrella to protect me from the freezing rain, but my cheap-o umbrella nearly flips backwards due to the vicious wind!

Crazy how fast the weather can change.

Kinda like my moods lately, I suppose! Crazy.

EDIT: This morning (Thursday) I woke up and turned on my faithful CBC radio. The first thing the commentator said was, "Well, good morning. Today we are expecting a literal monsoon! The forecast from Environment Canada predicts that the amount of rain we normally get in a month will fall today!"

pictures on cd are wonderful when one can't afford a digital camera

This summer I camped near London with Jon, Laura, Kara, Beth, Paul, and our surprise visitors, Laurel and Ethan. I had to leave early in the morning for another camping trip, but I just couldn't resist taking a picture of all my friends sleeping peacefully in the same (huge!) tent. (Sorry everyone, I took this picture without your knowledge...)
Most reading this probably don't recognize the people in the picture with me. It's Craig and his sister Allison. They're cousins of the Lensinks, who I hung out with a lot this summer. They're great people, and I had lots of fun with them this summer!
thanks to Black's Photo, i now have a roll of pictures on cd, mostly taken during the fabulous surprise dordt trip ann and i made! (sorry, ann, i realize this isn't the most flattering picture of you :) )


More to come...

lost in unreality

That's right. I'm addicted to a tv show. Has anyone been watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? It's by the creators of West Wing and stars Matthew Perry, among others. I think I'm addicted because of the dialogue. It's quick and witty and incredibly insightful at times. The show deals with current issues in the media, comedy, and politics. If you haven't yet, check it out. I'm a big fan.

You may be wondering how I actually get to see this gem of a drama each Sunday night at 10pm, since there is a tv in neither my apartment nor my landlords' house. I go to my friend Lorraine's house. Last week I was gone, so she taped the episode and we watched it tonight before the new one. I love friends. I love having something to look forward to. I love getting lost in the storyline.

I fear I may be getting lost in fiction. I've decided that whenever I ride the subway, I get to read something for fun--something not school related. Lorraine gave me the book Reading Lolita in Tehran, and I'm already engrossed--40 pages in. I even read it while riding the escalator up to reality!

I hate coming back to reality.

I'm in a down mood, so I'm going to stop now.

memories of summer

So this is the bride and groom. Well, the picture was taken this summer, so they weren't the bride and groom yet. But it's my sister and her (now) husband, and I love them.

They're in Mexico right now. Happy honeymoon!








Ann and Sara: a self-portrait of a summertime visit






I'm procrastinating. For someone who considers herself an academic (in good and bad ways), I sure procrastinate a lot. Right now I should be doing research and writing for a grant application. ICS students have a higher than 50% chance of getting $15,000 for one year of Master's study with this particular grant. It's due November 30th. I have to write a few pages of detailed info about what I want to write my Master's thesis on. Huh?? I just started, how do I know what I want to write my thesis on???

A very smart friend told me yesterday night that Aristotle said philosophy starts with wonder. She advised me to find something I wonder about and to write papers and a thesis on that topic. That was helpful, and a good attitude adjustment for me. She also offered to help me come up with ideas. Thank God for good friends!

I decided I've been moaning and groaning too much lately, especially on this blog. No more self-pity! I'll never be excited about doing a master's if I keep looking up against it. I'm turning over a new leaf!

back in town

So I'm finally back in town. For longer than twenty-four hours. Sweet.

Most of my days will now consist of reading. Or deciding that catching up is overrated. I'm having one of those days when I feel like ICS is too tough for me--that I'm definately not smart enough, at least in term of philosophical understanding, to hack it here. I hope these feelings of inadequacy will pass. If not, I can always quit. Lots of people never complete a degree at ICS! Lots.

My sister's wedding was beautiful. Not only was she beautiful, but the love expressed by her and her husband for each other and the Lord was beautiful. And encouraging. A highlight of the weekend was the flower girl and ring-bearer--my adorable niece and nephew. SO cute! I love how things like weddings become family reunions. Our family also gets along really well with Dave's family, and we had a number of great dinners with them. That's more of a blessing than I realize, after hearing others' stories about inlaws that don't get along!

I hope to post some pictures soon. Stay tuned.