Confessions of a Coffee Fanaddict

...1

2007-05-03T23:45:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, so! In 9 hours, I'm going to be on a plane headed for North Africa. Mmmhmm...15 months and it's almost time...

So I'm not gonna have internet access while I'm in the country, but I'll give you all an update as soon as I get back.

I'll be coming back June 14th at 8:28 in the evening (come meet me at the airport!!!! Flight AC195 from Montreal!)

Anyway, try to have fun without me. But don't try too hard. And don't change too much while I'm gone!

Yours in the Victory,
Roisin

...2...

2007-04-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

- ~~File taxes~~
- ~~Send in donations to HQ~~
- ~~Send in auction money to HQ~~
- Buy various medicines
- Invest in some capris
- ~~Sort out funds for June/July rent~~
- Send out emails to supporters
- Go on personal retreat
- Meet high school friends for lunch
- Pack
- Write down important phone numbers
- Forget important phone numbers
- ~~Make to-do list~~

Only 47 hours and 17 minutes until it begins.....

...3...

2007-04-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

Doin' the bull dance....feelin' the flow....workin' it....workin' it....

4...

2007-04-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

Gettin' closer....

And so the countdown begins....

2007-04-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

In 5 days, I'm going to leave for North Africa.

5 days!

FIVE DAYS!!!

I've been waiting for this moment for 15 months, and it's almost here!

Of course I have a fairly long to-do list before then:

- File taxes
- Send in donations to HQ
- Send in auction money to HQ
- Buy various medicines
- Invest in some capris
- Sort out funds for June/July rent
- Send out emails to supporters
- Go on personal retreat
- Meet high school friends for lunch
- Pack
- Write down important phone numbers
- Forget important phone numbers
- Make to-do list

Yay, I can cross the last one off!

Wish you were here?

2007-04-21T00:03:00.000-07:00

So, my summer missions trip is 2 weeks away. Dude, it's 2 weeks away. TWO WEEKS AWAY! I am pumped like Richmond's elaborate underground dam system.

Man, just thinking about the sand dunes, camel rides, palm trees, hospitable Arab culture, and getting to share the love of Christ in a nation that hasn't even heard of His name in almost 13 centuries...well, it's enough to make an easily-impressed person like me almost collapse under all the excitement.

Almost makes the endless cycle of vaccinations I've had to endure seem worth it!
In the past few weeks I've had so many vaccinations I feel like there's no bacteria in the world strong enough to take me on. I recently received my inoculations for Hep. A, Typhoid, Polio, influenza...

... and "food borne-diseases". The last one was actually an oral vaccination. It was really gross. That's why I've decided that this post is dedicated to Dukoral: the eighth wonder of the modern world!

Now, I've always been mildly anxious about needles (and by "mildly anxious" I mean they have to take me to the special, dimly-lit room and lie me down on the Special Mattress and make me look at calming nature pictures as they're giving me vaccinations so that I don't start shaking and convulsing at the sight of pointy objects penetrating my skin - true story!), so I always thought that oral vaccinations would be a great idea: no needles, no dimly-lit rooms, no seizures, no temperature-of-102's, no lawsuits...no problem, right? WRONG!

I mean, you have to swallow a hundred trillion inactivated bacteria that have been suspended in 5 ounces of supposedly "raspberry" flavoured liquid (personally, I've never tasted salty raspberries; perhaps it's an Ontario thing, I don't know). Maybe it's not so bad if you don't actually know what you're ingesting, but after spending a year in a microbiology lab, the thought that I'm consuming some of those little (big) colonies I was warned by the lab technician NEVER TO INGEST leaves me feeling slightly uneasy. Plus I needed to take 2 doses....and it only lasts for 3 months...and it only has a 60% success rate. I guess that means that when I'm in North Africa, I'll still need to boil my fruit for 10 minutes before it's considered safe for consumption.

As I was sharing this story with a friend of mine, she informed me that she "really liked" the taste of Dukoral...I don't know what's up with that, but I guess it takes all kinds to make a world...well, two kinds of people apparently...those who like the taste of Recombinant cholera toxin B subunit, and those who don't.

The Easter Bunny Runs Free Again...

2007-04-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

It seems we've recovered rather quickly from a snowstorm that swept through the city last Monday. In fact, if it weren't for the occasional little clumps of gross, dirty snow that line the gutters closer to campus, no one would believe me if I told them it happened. I confess, I just don't understand it. Call me a naive Vancouverite, but I'm just so used to, well, you know, it being SPRING during spring? I guess I never fully knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to come to Queen's. I mean, I knew that this obscure, cold, white substance known by the Older Generation as "snow" falls a little more frequently in Ontario than in BC, but this is just ridiculous.

But secretly I enjoy it because it means I can make little snowmen in my backyard.

Anyway, that's not the point of this post. I was planning to draw to your attention the strange case of the bunnies on a hungarian highway:

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's busiest highway, connecting Budapest with the Austrian capital Vienna, was closed early on Monday after a truck carrying rabbits crashed, letting 5,000 of the animals loose on the road, police said.
The M1 motorway was closed around 40 km (25 miles) west of Budapest and could remain closed for hours while police try to capture the escaped animals, highway police spokeswoman Viktoria Galik said.
"There are thousands of them on the road but they're not using their newfound freedom well; they're just sitting around, eating grass and enjoying the sun," Galik told Reuters.

Apparently 100 escaped to freedom whilst another 4400 were recaptured and sent to Budapest. I don't know what I find more delightful: the idea of thousands of fluffy bunnies escaping along a European highway, or the sheer irony of the fact that this happened just a week after Easter, while the images of the elusive chocolate-giver are still present in childrens' minds.

Personally, I'd like to think that one of the freed bunnies is going to become the new Easter Bunny once the old one retires.

Rock on, my fluffy little friend, rock on.

Quizzical Infallibility

2007-04-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I'll definitely post more on how great my Easter was later this week, but I just came across something that amused me greatly.

Now, I certainly don't wanna become one of those people who uses their blog to post random online quiz results, but this was just too great to pass up.

First, I did a quiz that would demonstrate which theological viewpoint best described me:

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

82%

Reformed Evangelical

82%

Fundamentalist

82%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

61%

Emergent/Postmodern

61%

Neo orthodox

57%

Classical Liberal

39%

Roman Catholic

25%

Modern Liberal

11%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

It was actually a three-way tie between Weslayan, Reformed and Fundamentalist, which was interesting. I was a little confused as to why there's as much Emergent in me as there is Pentecostal...I've never considered myself much of a PoMo...quite the opposite in fact. But anyway, that aside.

Confused about these results, I asked myself the most important question a doctrinally-wayward young woman can ask: what kind of Christian am I?

I got the following answer from the same website:

You scored as Not Chistian. You're not Christain.

Not Chistian

100%

Protestant

75%

Orthadox

45%

Morman

30%

Catholic

10%

What Type of Christian are you??
created with QuizFarm.com

Hmmm....

Well folks, you heard it here first: this fundamentalist is 100% non-"Chistian". She's not even a "Christain" for that matter. I guess that settles it.

I must say though, I'm not entirely sure what to make of the fact that I'm apparently three-times more "Morman" than Catholic....

He is risen...

2007-04-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

...He is risen indeed.

Ahh, Easter: my favourite holiday of the year...bigger than Thanksgiving, bigger than Hallowe'en, bigger than my birthday...heck, even bigger than Christmas. Before I became a believer, I loved easter because it's the day my mother would finally let me have Kinder Surprise (I was banned from Kinder Surprises at age 4 because I got the foily-wrap all over the living room...it's still a sore spot: I mean, come on, Mum, I was 4 years old!). I also loved decorating eggs. I remember one Easter when I was younger, I really wanted to decorate some eggs, but my mother didn't want any of the good produce to go to waste...so she gave me some rotten eggs instead.

I don't know what was grosser: the fact that they floated when I tried to boil them...bobbing up out of the boiling water like buoys 50 yards from shore...or the mess they made when they somehow managed to break open and ruin my chocolate the following morning...

But anyway, now that I'm a Believer, my attitude toward Easter has changed. In between gobbling down previously-banned chocolates and decorating rotten eggs, I've started to finally understand what Easter is really all about. I mean come on, the Risen Lord? How fantastic is that to celebrate?

Church was fantastic today. That was partially because I got baptized. I hope to relate more of that story to you next week!

Anyway, I just noticed the time, and it's past 1 in the morning. I woke up at 7 today too...after going to bed at like 3. I'm hoping to wake up before noon tomorrow...err, today...so I'd love to stay and chat but alas, duty calls.

My most humble and sincere apologies for not writing more frequently. I'd love to tell you that I gave up blogging for lent...but that would be a lie. I've just been busy studying/pretending to study. Plus I feel like there's nothing exciting to write about...and if I don't feel like writing, I shouldn't force it, should I?

I hope the faithful 64 of you who are now reading my blog can find it in your hearts to forgive me. Hey, just for hanging in there, I offer this fantastic video:

Cuz your friends don't dance and if they don't dance then they're no friends of mine...

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-13T22:09:00.000-08:00

"I love you - those three words have my life in them."
- Alexandrea to Nicholas III

"I have loved to the point of madness;
That which is called madness,
That which to me,
Is the only sensible way to love. "
- F. Sagan

"When one loves, one never lacks words."
- Georgiana Piccolonimous, 1776.

"The tender warmth of your feeling, loving heart, has almost sweetly robbed me of reason."
- English Poet of the 1800s.

Throughout the ages, we have tried to use words to express our sentiments of love for one another.

None of these words are worthy enough to be spoken of You, my Eternal Love. Today I joyfully celebrate our Love Affair...for all time You shall be mine and I shall be Yours.

There is nothing sweeter to me in all of time, in all of thought, and in all of space.

New Year's Resolutions...

2007-01-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Apparently, as of today, 29% of people have given up on their New Year's resolutions. If you are a part of the elite 71% of us who are still holding to their resolutions, my commendations.

I am doing pretty well on the NYR front, if I do say so myself. So far, I'm still on track with all my resolutions. Especially my resolution to update my blog more frequently than once every 2 months. But then again, that hasn't been too hard! Technically, if I only updated every 6 weeks I'd still be on track.

One of my other resolutions was to be more mindful about my fat and sodium intake. I really like fried foods, and I just love salty things. I started to realize that if I want to live to see my 20th birthday though, I should probably find something new to enjoy instead.

I decided to do the proactive thing a little while ago (actually this was before New Year's, I started trying to eat healthier before this new year began). Now, when you think about fat and salt, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
Yup, pretty much. With 32% of my recommended daily fat intake, 28% of my daily recommended sodium intake, and virtually no vitamins, fibre, minerals, or even protein, 2 slices of pig belly is pretty much garbage. "Oh, but I love bacon so much, it's delicious!" I thought to myself. "I can't give it up, but I could try to eat some low-fat, reduced sodium bacon instead..."
So I went to the supermarket and bought some of the better bacon. Okay, fine, I went to the store and bought it because it was on sale - it was more of a coincidence than a resolution...but that's not the point.

The point is, I fried some up for myself, ate one bite, and was horrified. It tasted awful. Without the salt and with half the fat, bacon has the appeal (not to mention taste and texture) of a plate of leather belts.
Which is especially weird considering leather comes from cows, not pigs.
Hmmm....bacon without the salt...

...But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. -(Mt. 5:13)

Yeah, Jesus! Call it like it is! That package of bacon I bought certainly had a Biblically-sanctioned end:

Amen.

In other news, I'm feeling very set about not coming back to Queen's next year. I haven't technically made a final decision yet, but taking a year off seems very likely at this point. Thoughts?

Happy Sunday

2007-01-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

I certainly don't want to turn into one of those people whose blogs are nothing more than a collection of funny videos....not that there's anything particularly wrong with funny videos, but I for one prefer reading about my friend's live rather than seeing a music video of some obscure artist or a hilarious commercial from the Swedish Broadcasting Company. Maybe it's because I'm a girl and girls tend to be more interested in people's lives. Meh!

Either way, this is one I really like: It kinda reminds me of that OKGO video, in that it's just so silly. Watch this strange video with a bunch of singing puppets:

Sigh...does anyone remember when Zoe, Nate, Shelly and I started dancing to the OKGO video? Man, those were really good times.

Oh gosh, I'd better run away before the Project Withdrawal sets in again!...

Gaining Momentum...

2007-01-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

aI promise I won't make a big deal about EVERY comment I get, but right now I'm very pleased! I'd also like to offer a big round of applause to David for also leaving his mark and showing me that there are indeed people who read this!! I think that means my count has increased from 2 readers to 4 - that's a 100% increase since I started updating two weeks ago. That made me want to draw out a couple graphs to demonstrate my blog popularity over the course of the next year.

So this first one shows how trends will continue between now and 14 weeks from now. As you can see, between now and April, there will be 128 people faithfully following my various antics and rabblerousings as I post online.

There will be an exponential increase, and by the time I leave for North Africa, over 100 people will be anxiously awaiting my first words back.

This next one illustrates what'll happen by next Christmas:

As you can see, somewhere between week 49 and week 50, the number of people reading my blog will have increased to an amount larger than the population of Canada (if population growth rate is still 1.003 - Thankyou, Statscan). Isn't that great?!?! I'll be more popular than the Prime Minister!

I am very excited and optimistic about the future popularity of my blog. This year sure promises to be one filled with new friends, lots and lots of comments, and who knows, maybe even an Order Of Canada?...

New Counter!

2007-01-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

I decided to get a counter for my weblog so I could get a better idea of just how many people read this thing. Is it really as high as two? We shall see!

So far I'm at '1', and I'm fairly positive that was me.

----------
Edit:

I just noticed that I'm getting hits from some crazy person named "Drich"! Haha, just kidding, Daniel. A big round of applause for him, who was good and left comments, and read through my posts (or at least, read through enough so he could make insightful comments)! I expect everyone else to start leaving comments as well.

My Mid-Week Post

2007-01-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

You'll all be happy to know that my whole plan to kick the caffeine habit is well under-way. Yesterday, I only drank 4 cups of tea! I went to bed with a throbbing headache, but I think it was worth it if my cerebral arteries eventually learn how to constrict without needing a methylxanthene to do it for them. I'm gonna try a four-cup limit for a few weeks, and then go down to three, then two, then one. I think one cup is a pretty reasonable amount to end up at, because I keep thinking that part of the reason I gave up caffeine for a year and then fell back into it later was because I never allowed myself to drink any, which for a person from the UK and working in a coffee shop, is just a little unreasonable.

But at the same time, if I'm addicted, isn't allowing myself one-a-day just gonna feed into the habit? A bit like my sister who "gave up" cigarettes but decided she could be a social smoker. That lasted like a month and then she realized she was nowhere close to being nicotine-free. Hmmm. I'll figure that out a little later.

So, I was going to follow up on my entry about the DTES. I wasn't just writing because I wanted all two of my readers to think that I'm an angry and upset individual. Nope! I was actually going to talk about my career aspirations...but then the post was getting rather long so I didn't. So now I will. I think, for the sake of length, I'm going to split up this post over a few entries. Tell me what you think, dear readers, all two of you...and YOUR input may help me make a decision and ultimately dictate the course of my life!!!

The skinny: I'm now halfway through third year, knee-deep in a degree I really don't want to do. That's Life Science, a pre-med program offered at my university that I started a few years back thinking that I'd be a doctor. I think I was in the program for about 2 months before starting to think that...uhhh...maybe I don't want to be a doctor after all?!

For some reason it seemed like a great idea to me at the time to continue with this degree, in spite of the fact that it was leading me nowhere. I mean, gimme credit: I've never really seriously considered any other degree options, this is what I always wanted to do! There was a chance I could fall back to it...

Although there are certain things about my program that I do enjoy...mmm, I was going to list some things I like but I can't think of any right now - they're few and far between...either way, sometimes it feels like every morning I wake up and realize I have to go to another microbiology or anatomy or pathophysiology class, I can't help but think about how nice Heaven would be right about now.

My original plan that everyone knows about was to go into ministry after leaving university. If I were to join staff with CCCI, all I'd need would be an undergraduate degree, in virtually any subject, and I'd be set! So my plan was just to finish up my general degree and join staff. Everybody's happy!

And don't get me wrong...staff would be so awesome on so many levels! But since I've been back in Vancouver, I've been reminded of the need that exists here, and I feel like I really should be hanging out with those who keep getting overlooked.

So, if I no longer want to join staff (and I haven't fully written that off yet, it's still a possibility), then I should probably...you know, start working toward a degree in something else. I want to do something that encompasses missionary work, training, healing, counselling...something along those lines. Something like being a social worker for an urban-based Christian organization.

So, the way I see it, I have a few options:

#1. Stick to my original plan and complete my current degree
#2. Forget my degree, and pursue a diploma as a social services worker at a college in Kingston
#3. Like 2, but at a college in Vancouver
#4. Pursue a diploma in Christian counselling at a Bible college
#5. Take a year off, pay down my debt, save up for a future degree/diploma, and decide next year

For the sake of length, I'll start listing the pro's and cons of these 4 options tomorrow.

Happy New Year...

2007-01-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

...aaaand Happy Birthday to me! Now I have basically all the legal rights of an adult...including the right to drink and purchase cigarettes from the Safeway. I don't think I'll be taking advantage of either of those newfound liberties any time soon, but it's nice to know I have them!

For those of you who follow my blog closely (like, all 1 or 2 of you), you'll see that I've changed my layout. I predicted I would in my first entry, so I thought I really should follow through. I am particularly proud of the fact that I made it myself! I decided to go with a coffee theme, since I've noticed my entries tend to come about after a particularly intense caffeine binge. I think this year I should really work on my whole...drinking waaaaay too much caffeine thing. You know you've got a problem when you drink like 6 cups of tea a day. So I'm going to try to cut my caffeine consumption in half by the end of January, and hopefully by Reading Week, I'll no longer suffer from those awful headaches that I get if I don't consume caffeine once every 3 hours. We'll see.

I've also decided that I like Claire Danes. Remember her on My So-Called Life? She was a gem. I personally would like to see more of Claire Danes, so I'm doing my bit by putting her as the woman in my profile picture.

I recently got some photos from my Aunt's wedding. I'll put a few here for those of you who actually read this. We all look so pretty!

This is a picture of the wedding party on some bridge in the rain. the camerapeople thought it was "artistic". We just thought it ruined our hair.

I particularly like this photo because it looks like something the paparazzi would take. Hmm..."Royal Scandal! Who has Princess Roisin been walking down the aisle with, and why is he so much taller than her?"

Apparently they actually put the shortest woman with the shortest man and so-on, but as it turns out, my Aunt only has short friends and my Uncle only has tall friends. Hmm!

Well, that's all for today...I was going somewhere with my post from yesterday, but I'll continue it when my connexion's a little more reliable.

Grieving the Spirit

2006-12-31T16:26:00.000-08:00

It's been really difficult establishing a connexion with my router...that's why I haven't updated in a couple days. But I'm starting to think that, at least for now, no one reads this, so I can take refuge in the fact that nobody's wallowing away in anguish at my lack of faithfulness as a blog updater. If any of you actually are reading this, please!! Leave a comment! It's always comforting to have some idea of just how many people are blog-stalking you.

"So, what's been going on in the life of Roisin?" you may be asking. Well, dear stalkers, let me tell you: these past few weeks have really been a time for me to consider and reconsider and re-reconsider everything in my life from what colour blush I should wear to what I should do with my future. Maybe I'll comment one day on everything I've learned about makeup in the past few days, but today I want to focus on my choice of careers.

Ugh. I was so set on joining staff with CCCI...but a conversation with a friend of mine a few weeks ago reminded me of something I've been trying not to think about ever since I made that decision. Now, don't get me wrong, I love C4C: It's through this organization that I really learned what it meant to live in the Spirit; through them I've met a lot of awesome Christians my own age; it was through a missions trip with them that I got to live probably the best 3 months of my life thus far...and when I leave Kingston, this'll probably be the hardest thing to leave behind.

But do I really want to be involved with them for the rest of my working life? As much as I love sharing the Gospel on campus, is this really where I belong? Is it possible that the only real reason behind my decision to pursue this career is because that way I'd only need to complete one more year of school and then be done with it? Is it possible that I've been ignoring other possibilities and denying the fact that my heart's really into something else?!?!

Sigh....every time I come back to Vancouver I'm reminded of a life I left behind. I'm reminded that there's an awful lot of work that still needs to be done here.

In 2003, the CBC came out with a list of the top 10 cities in Canada to live in. Vancouver was voted #1. So that's interesting: in a metropolis of just a little over 2,000,000 residents, there are 2,000 people living on the streets. In fact, the homeless population was sitting at around 1,100 in 2002, and rose to 2,100 by 2005. The homeless population increased 235% between 2002 and 2006, and it is estimated that the number will be over 3,000 by the time the Olympics come to town.

Why is there a homeless problem? From what I can see, it's been a really long series of unfortunate circumstances that have conglomerated over the past 20 years: downtown Vancouver has become more urbanized, forcing homeless people there to migrate eastward, community centres have closed, landlords of low-income housing unexpectedly increased their rent, thus losing most of their tenants, mental hospitals were closed, and the interests of the private sector have continued to dominate political motivations in this area. Plus, a lot of homeless shelters (including some prominent Christian ones) have closed down due to lack of funding.

The mitigating factors leading to life in the DTES consist of: A lack of access to safe & affordable housing (92% can't afford market rental costs); difficulty accessing support services (as I said, a lot of shelters have recently been shut down); Health, mental health & substance use issues (though it's interesting to note that only between 20-30% of homeless people are drug addicts, whereas the image we tend to have is that the vast majority of them are); Family violence, racism & discrimination...to name a few.

Of those living on the street, 40% report being victims of physical violence, and 21% of women report being victims of rape.

And the native demographics show that although natives represent 2% of the general population of Vancouver, they represent 30% of the homeless in the DTES.

Hmmm....

These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. - Matthew 10:1-8

'Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.' - Luke 10:8-9

You ever notice that when Christ was with us here on earth, He went straight to the lost? Straight to the downtrodden, straight to the outcasts? You ever notice that when Christ and His Apostles shared the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven with the world, the Gospel was always preceeded by healing and miracles?

Well, gee. I mean, it's only the sick that need a doctor, right?

So...why is it that, though I want to be a missionary, I'm focused on hitting the "future leaders" of the country? Did Jesus go for the leaders, or did He go instead for the outcasts? Isn't that how His glory was magnified?

Don't get me wrong: if there's one thing I've learned from sharing my faith, it's that everyone is sick without Christ, and that's kinda the point of our ministry....

But there's also a lot of sickness, a lot of lost souls left in Vancouver. And forgive my ignorance, but between gentrification, safe injection sites, and 20 years of public and governmental apathy, we don't seem to be making much progress toward healing those suffering through the cycle of abuse, homelessness, crime, drug addiction and prostitution.

There's work to be done...and I keep getting the feeling that by ignoring the fact that I really have a heart for those struggling there, I'm ignoring God Himself.

Hmmm....Grievin' the Spirit, man...grievin' the Spirit.

Well, I think this post is getting pretty long already, so I'll cut it short for now.

More On Brussel Sprouts

2006-12-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

Did you know that brussel sprouts grow on a tall stalk?

I've been learning a lot about brussel sprouts these last few days following my entry on Christmas Day. The subject of brussel sprout cultivation and consumption has become a major point of interest to me.

They originally gained popularity in Belgium (hence Brussel sprout) in the 16th century, and eventually spread to all areas of Europe. They're grown in the wintertime, and can be grown in warm climates like California and Mexico.

Here's another interesting fact that I got from my dear friend Wikipedia:

According to a survey in 2002, Brussels sprouts are Britain's most hated vegetable; however, in 2005, a poll of 2,000 people named it as Britain's 5th favourite vegetable. Brussels sprout afficionados attribute the hatred of the sprouts to overcooking, which releases sulphur compounds in the vegetables that give it an unpleasant smell. It has become almost a cliché that children detest eating the vegetable, when in fact most children have never even tried it.

Source:
Wiki:Brussel Sprouts.

Happy Boxing Day.

2006-12-25T22:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas was exceptionally delightful this year. After traveling a full 4,561 kilometers from sunny Kingston to snowy Richmond, my mother and I backtracked 1,324 kilometers to Chinook-y Grande Prairie Alberta. When my mother and I hit the Tarmac at Grande Prairie Airport, the population of the city increased 25%.

Ahhh, I do love it here in Alberta though...the crisp cool weather, the 2 feet of snow, the great company...and of course, being back in Alberta reminds me of last summer, when I spent 3 months in the glorious city of Calgary. Or as I like to call it, "Promised Land North". Oh, memories.

And what could be better than spending time with my beloved family? This year, it was me, my mother, my grandmother, my aunt, and the man who as of this summer became my uncle: my aunt's recently betrothed husband. Usually I get really annoyed seeing couples get all lovey-dovey on each other is just so cute. Maybe it's because they are just oh-so good together that it's almost enough to make me believe in soulmates.

On Christmas day, I woke up to a brand new laptop. Another Compaq Presario...but at least it's a new Compaq Presario...so no purple line down the side of my screen! A working AC adapter and power jack! A battery that lasts longer than 5 minutes! I feel like I don't even deserve such luxury.

My mother and I decided that we were going to take a firm stance this year and refuse to eat any brussel sprouts. Then my aunt started raving about her new pots that apparently seal in the flavour of vegetables better than any other pots have in all of human history. My aunt, grandma and uncle were devouring these brussel sprouts like they were manna from heaven...they kept talking about how these were like the best brussel sprouts they'd ever tasted. So, okay, my mother and I were convinced, we decided to try one.

So we cut one in half and put them in our mouths...oh, gee. Those pots sure did a good job of sealing in flavour. They tasted more brussel sprout-y than any brussel sprouts we had ever had before. Sooo...that's not a good thing. that just means they taste about as succulent as a bowl of earwax. We washed it down with a glass of tropical fruit juice, and our instinctive guess that brussel sprouts are naturally horrible was for once and for all confirmed. We were also a little miffed that our relatives managed to get us to eat them.

Just look at them...smirking at me, looking so pleased with themselves...

Remember that Campbell's soup commercial where the kid equated brussel sprouts with "little green brains"?

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T21:34:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd post this picture I found on the CBC website. This is a scene from the evening mass service at the Church of the Nativity, located in Bethlehem. It's a Catholic church in the West Bank where Christian pilgrims gather every Christmas, believing that the church is built (I believe) in the same location where Jesus was born. Knowing the Catholic tradition, my guess is that it's been renovated since its manger days, but I wasn't posting this picture so I could rant about the extravagant purchases used for church decorations that could have instead been used for mission or charity purposes. Middle Eastern Catholic churches apparently aren't particularly intricate in comparison to other regional architecture anyway. No, there was something else I was going to talk about, something that's been on my mind a lot recently.

Back when I was in grade 11, I was notoriously pro-Palestinian. As the years progressed and I realized that most issues concerning international affairs were far more complicated than I originally thought, I gave up my stance...or rather, I stopped talking about it so much. I think over the years, I became latently pro-Israeli. I think I thought that if I was a Chrisitian, I would have to support the nationhood of Israel. Now that I've taken Middle Eastern History, I've taken what I believe to be a more informed position.

For me, the biggest factor rattling me out of my complacency came when I learned that 10% of Palestinians worldwide are Christians. It's strange: when I heard that Palestine has seen more refugees forced off their homeland than any other country in human history, it didn't phase me. When I found out that over 4,000 Palestinians have been killed, 3,000 have been injured, and another 4,000 have had their homes demolished since 2000, I didn't really mind. Even when I found out that one Israeli soldier commits suicide every 2 weeks, I never thought that the situation was worth considering. And when I found out that the US contributes $15,000,000 to the Israeli army every day, I never believed it was worth my time to look into what that money was going towards. But when I found out that I have 100,000 brothers and sisters living in this region as well, I started to change my mind. I wonder if there's anyone else out there who believes that because we're Christian, we have to support Israeli occupying forces. Something about restoring the homeland to its rightful owners, as if the Lord's Kingdom is something physical.

Sorry if this is "too controversial". I'm kinda new at the whole, standing up for what I believe in thing, and give me credit: I did try to only stick to commenting things I know are true, and also tried to relate things to myself rather than taking pot-shots at people who disagree with me.

But anyway, on a super-cliché note, here's to a new year: my resolution will be to become more informed about activities in Palestine that are claiming civilian lives daily. And although I'm not optimistic, I hope that I'll be alive to see the day when Christmas in Bethlehem is an event of celebration, unmarred by the fighting going on outside the sanctuary.

So...updating....

2006-12-25T13:28:00.000-08:00

My humblest apologies to all of you who have made a habit of reading my blog. I'm sure you check this page daily, sitting there on the edge of your seat, anxiously tapping your fingers and chattering your teeth, cold sweat pouring down your faces, waiting for that long-anticipated-yet-always-expected new entry from yours truly. Yeah, all...two of you. Hi Alison, hi Zoe.

I think my New Year's Resolution will be to update my blog frequently enough so that my 2 faithful readers will not have to wonder if like died or something. So...why don't I start now?

There was this book I had to read for class a month ago. It's called Baghdad Burning, and it's a collection of this girl's weblog entries during the first year of American occupation of Iraq. It's kinda like the Diary of Anne Frank, but it's weblog entries rather than journal entries. It's very cool.

Anyway, one thing that really struck me about her was that her entries were based on current events. I think I've had inspiration from her to make a weblog that's actually got a point to it. Well, at least for a couple weeks, until I inevitably start blogging about what I wore to class today or how much I enjoy cupcakes.

Okay, well I won't start today, because I think by societal standards this entry is already too long. But who knows? Maybe I'll actually start posting more frequently than once every 2 months!

I hope you all have a merry Christmas, and that today you'll be reminded of what it means for us that God Himself came to live among us, and die for us.

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isa. 9

Revival

2006-10-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

There was this girl I used to know in high school. Well, I didn't really know her, and she didn't really know me. But we knew OF each other; it's a small world in IB and even if you're not best friends with someone, you at least know a little bit about them through other people. There was one thing about this girl that if you knew her, you knew ABOUT her, and that was that she was a Christian. A really hardcore Christian who knew exactly what she believed and was not afraid to tell others when they were wrong. Our school (at least the IB students) had this online forum that everyone frequented, and one day someone started a thread entitled "which came first, the chicken or the egg"? Within about 3 posts it had turned into an evolution-versus-creation debate, that interestingly enough was still the hottest thread even until almost the end of the year.

This girl was a creationist. She absolutely tore into anyone and chewed them out if they believed in evolution. Now, maybe she was a little too...crazy about it, I don't know. You have to understand that back then, I wasn't a Christian so I just thought she was nuts. At this time she didn't have many arguments, and had a very childlike faith in that she knew what she believed and wasn't sure why except that she knew it was Truth. Which I guess was fair enough. Anyway, even though she didn't have the strongest arguments of any of the other creationists on that thread, she at least had a strong support network, and was asking other friends of hers for help and encouragements and rebuttals, etc. She clearly had a strong network of Christians around her to support her.

She wasn't one of those people you'd worry about when she started university.

People like that, though, are often the ones you have to worry about the most.

Yesterday I stumbled across her weblog while I was just randomly surfing around. I remembered that in high school she was usually pretty angry. Which is common of a lot of teenage girls (I was like that too at one point, after all). Anyway, in one of her recent entries she was talking about how much she had changed over the past year. As I read some of her older entries, I saw quite a transformation too. She wasn't constantly angry anymore. A lot of her entries were very positive. It seemed like she wasn't angry at the world anymore.

But then I read an entry that she wrote last August that made my heart drop. Now I'm not sure if this is plagiarism or not, but I'll put part of the entry up and link to it if you want to read the rest.

The Bible is too grey. I no longer believe in deciphering black and white from grey... but rather, taking grey as it is.

I don't know if I can call myself a Christian anymore. Rather, I'll call myself a believer.

I have combined my Christianity with Taoism.

I am neither a Christian, nor a Taoist. I have my own religion. I will not let anyone TELL me what to believe. I will not let anyone TELL me what is right and wrong. Who are you to translate the grey into black and white?

-Karen

It was even more upsetting when I read the comments on that entry and realized there were people who agreed with her too.

There's only so much about a person that you can learn from their weblogs. I looked at older entries to try and pinpoint the time when she started falling away from God, or to try and figure out what's been holding her back so that maybe I can talk to friends of mine who know her better than me to try and talk to her. But maybe it wasn't a simple turning point. Maybe it's something that's been building up for years.

How about this entry that another Christian friend of mine wrote a few months ago?
As time goes on, i find myself drinking more often after work and wanting to go drinking more often in general.....why?? i have no clue....maybe its the calming effect it seems to have on me, or maybe its the sense of elation that comes with a couple pints....its just so good.....
Or another friend of mine who wrote this a few years ago, and hasn't looked back since:

Shall I be a Christian then, or is this game too complex for one to join. The world is much different now, and perhaps... religion has faded or disintergrated throughout time... It is no longer an age of religion, but an age of practicality.

Will I be damned for the slightest doubt about God? - Of course I would be... - I will also end up in Hell... if Hell does in fact exists....

I think the thing that bothers me the most (well, second-most) is that I really looked up to these people when I was seeking. To me they were the bastions of the faith and I wanted to learn from them about who God was. Seeing them fall away makes me feel...almost like a spiritual orphan.
"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first."
- Revelation 2:4-5
Sigh. Sometimes I'm so focused on evangelizing to people who I've never met who have never even heard of Christ that I forget to witness to people who do know Him. Sometimes in our rush to preach the Gospel to all nations, we overlook the people here, who maybe aren't as strong in their faith as we think they are.
"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
- Acts 1:8, NKJV
Revival has to start here.

I've been thinking a lot about revival lately. In fact, sometimes it's all I can think about. Every week I find another couple people to pray revival for. And as I think about how God must feel, I'm reminded that how terrible I feel is nothing compared to how it is for Him. In an odd way, it fills me with exceeding joy to be preoccupied with the visions of friends of mine who are falling away. Not because they're falling away of course, but because it means I get a tiny glimpse of what it's like for God, and am reminded just how much work the Church has left to do in the hearts of people who have already placed their faith in Christ.

We all have a role to help those who are falling away from God, but the most important thing we can do is pray. I keep asking God for opportunities to talk to my friends, and He grants that a lot of the time. But when I get a chance to talk to them, I realize that there are some seriously thick walls built up around their hearts, and that I need to let God remove the rocks and till the soil if I ever hope to plant any seeds. He needs to speak to them if there's any hope that they'll come back to Him. And I do believe that all of the people I've talked about can come back to Him.
"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
- Luke 15:21-24

My First Post

2006-10-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems pretty much everyone has a weblog, and also that my old one over at the diary-x (which I haven't updated in over a year) has been deleted due to some hard drive failure. Pity, that: I had such a nice layout.

So finally, after like 6 months, I have decided to re-introduce My Weblog!!! I guess it probably has something to do with midterm season coming up: I feel like now is a fantastic time to start procrastinating. Has anyone else ever noticed that pattern where the closer we get to midterms, the more likely we are to write in our weblogs or update our facebooks?

Anywho, I imagine this blog will turn out pretty much the same as all my other ones: I'll write in it for a few weeks, make a fancy layout, then stop writing in it because I'll get a little weirded out at the idea that everyone can see me. Maybe I'll try a little harder this time than I have in the past. Or maybe not. I guess I'd be more likely to write if I knew people were reading it. Then again, that never encouraged me to write before!

Well, this is now officially my introductory post. I will now get back to...whatever it is I do.

Toodles!