I’m moving this week, just so everyone knows (acutally I already moved). If you need a new address, you can use my dad’s. If you need that address, let me konw and I’ll send it to you (I don’t want to post it on here.)
Tag Archives: life
Old clippings
I’ve been cleaning out my room lately. There is now nothing left in it except for my bedding and clothing for the next few days in Edmonton. It is quite sad really. However the nice thing is that I’ve found a few cool things I hadn’t realized I still had. One of them is a newspaper clipping Mum and Dad sent me when I lived in Australia. I usually don’t keep newspaper clippings sent to me, but this one was way too funny. So now I’m going to share it with you. It is from the National Post from way back in 2002 – so keep that in mind when it is talking about Jean Chretien (article 2).
The PQ’s Three-Year Plan
Excerpts from the Parti Quebecois’ new 1000-Day Plan to Achieve Quebec’s Sovereignty.
Phase One: Building National Pride
Day 4: Boost Quebec economy and spirit of nationalism with multi-billion dollar maple syrup pipeline.
Day 32: Capitalize on Quebecer’s love of casting ballots with new slogan: “We promise twice as many referendums as all other parties combined!”
Day 172: Appease finicky moderates by establishing new Ministry of Love-Hate Relations with English Canada.
Day 229: Ensure good voter turnout by unveiling “Frequent Referendum Miles” program.
Phase Two: Infuriating English Canada
Day 344: Open Quebec “embassies: around the world and just pretend.
Day 411: Stamp out invasive English slang by finally revealing pithy French equivalent for phrase, “You go girl.” [Note: we did this in Madame Nieuwenhuis’ French 30]
Day 672: Provoke trade war with Ontario by introducing punishing export tariffs on poutine.
Phase Three: Final Steps to Victory
Day 952: Invite Jacques Parizeau to Premier’s residence for elegant dinner party; lock him in dank cellar with promise to return in “couple of months, give or take.”
Day 978: If polls look iffy, haul out heavy artillery: Drop disturbing hint that if anglos in Quebec don’t vote Yes, some of Celine Dion’s sisters might suddenly decide to take up singing.
Day 999: Last minute announcement: Everyone who votes Yes in referendum will be entered into draw to win despotic control over Cree territory!
Day 1000: Hold referendum; ensure results tabulated and audited by Arthur Andersen.
Jokes For Jean
(Found in the wastepaper basket after George W. Bush’s meeting with Jean Chretien)
Here are some off-the-cuff jokes the speechwriters have prepared that you may want to use with the media regarding your session with Prime Minister Jean Chretien (“zhawn cretty-en”) of Canada (“kah-nah-da”). Unfortunately, our regular joke writers are off with Condoleezza, so we used the guys from that Tom Arnold show you like. As per usual, we’ve posted the jokes on the arms of chairs and on the picture frames in the hotel suites, so don’t be aftraid to look for them. You will merely appear lost in thought.
- “Mr. Chretien is a real cowboy. Well, maybe ‘boy’ isn’t right, but then ‘cow’ isn’t either. So we’ve got that in common.”
- “We have an old expression down in Texas for guys like Mr. Chretien: ‘He’s not Mexican, he’s Canadian!’ That’s never been truer, right there.”
- “My daddy waned me about meeting this fellow. He said, ‘Better count your fingers when you shake hands with a Canadian. You might end up with 8.6 fingers per hand!'” (Note: This is about the exchange rate. Ask Bob to explain.)
- “I knew that when I met Mr. Chretien I could get away with giving him a five-gallon hat, since that’s 10 Canadian!” (Ask Bob again – but not in front of the media!)
- “I have to say, I was a little bit scared when I heard Mr. Chretien was bilingual, but then they told me he just SPEAKS French…” (a spontaneous laugh here would be good, but suggest not wiping an imaginary tear from eye as in London).
Go Habs Go!
Regulation has just ended… game tied at 1. Montreal up 2-0 in the series. Game is at the Bell Centre. Sudden death OT about to start…
Updates to follow, if I have any fingers left as I bite my nails off from nerves.
Stupid Plekanec… a penalty in the first 3 minutes of OT. What are you [not] thinking??
Damn. Carolina scored. Way to go crowd for the standing O boo to the refs for calling that penalty.
still up, still procrastinating… it’s what I do best.
monotony
Blech. I need a break. I’ve packed up so much stuff lately, and cleaned (we cleaned the kitchen this afternoon), that I really feel like I never want to move again. Well, this is time number 1 of 3 in the next 2 months… Maybe I should just sell everything and start over.
It was weird this evening – Sarah and I realized that this was the last day we’d both be home before I move out… crazy. It sort of finalizes the fact that I am actually done this degree of mine. Well, almost, 1 exam left, although I’ve sort of lost the motivation for studying right now. Oh well, maybe after a good sleep!
working woman
So I get to do a bit of work over the next bit! It likely isn’t going to be full time (which is just fine with me!) but I will get to pick up a few hours/days here and there at the optometrist I used to work at. So it is back to eye testing for me! It will give me something to do over the next little while and make some money at the same time.
Sechelt
Now I can say I have been to Sechelt! I flew (thats right, flew! It is an insane amount of time on the bus and ferry otherwise) over Tuesday morning and came back this afternoon.
Tuesday ended up being a great day. I got there in time for staff meeting at Nancy‘s church and then got to go out and run all sorts of errands for them. Then we went and got Nanc’s grad photos taken (collar has still not arrived, but she still looks great in that black cap and gown) and then some fantastic crabbing! The crabbing was a bit of an adventure.
First we had to drag the rowboat down to the edge of the water.
We managed that without too much loss of blood or body part. Then, the task was to row out to the crab trap. Problem number 1: We weren’t sure which white buoy was the one attached to the trap so we spent some time wandering around until we found the right one.
Problem number 2: The oar lock collars for both oars were broken and one oar was only 3/4 of a blade with a split down the middle of it. Needless to say, we spent a bit of time going in zig-zags until I mastered the art of rowing hard with one arm and hardly at all with the other.
Mmmm, three big, beautiful crabs were sitting in the crab trap and we got to munch on them for dinner.
Wednesday involved a little bit of sea kayaking. We took the kayaks out a ways along the coast line to a little cabin Nanc almost rented. There was a bit of a tide pulling us one way, but we managed to paddle out. 
The bottom was quite clear and Nancy made friends with a starfish early on. Later, we saw a gull trying very valiantly to fit an entire starfish in his mouth (somewhat unsuccessfully). When we got to the cabin we beached the kayaks and walked up some stairs a bit to see the view. Then we had to turn around becuase wind had come up and the sea got a bit choppy. 
This morning was some wandering around town and seeing more of the sites of Sechelt.
This week I also got to hang out with the various age groups of youth group – jr high on Tuesday, jr kids on Wednesday and the breakfast crowd bright and early this morning. Busy times!!
Of course, the highlight would have to be Nancy’s birthday (and Cam’s Ninja Turtle cake!) and getting to spend some quality time with Nanc. I met her hippie friends and got to try my hand at “shadow jam” – both the shadow and musical parts! “I’m going to get some water, with my daughter.”
The Secret Message of Jesus [Book Review]
I posted here awhile back that I got a [free] book in the mail from a publisher to review and post my review on here and a few other places. Well, the great unveiling has come (for those who I have a) not already excitedly told about it or b) not figured it out by the cover being conspicuously posted in the side index) and I am now writing my review. In typical Gillian fashion, it is being posted 2 days before it is due. Come to think of it, that is actually record earliness for me. Well done Gillian!
Anyway, enjoy! And then go read the book… there is a link below to the Amazon site for the book, but support your local Christian book store and get it from them instead (or be cheap and read my copy – it is the “Advance Reader’s Copy” after all, which makes it automatically cool!).
The first time I read one of Brian McLaren‘s books, it was like I was reading a more eloquent and better thought-out version of my own thoughts. McLaren has, since the first one of his books I read (3 or 4 of his books ago…), consistently challenged my thinking with his fresh insights into the Christian way of life. This book is no different. In The Secret Message of Jesus (subtitled “Uncovering the Truth that could Change Everything), McLaren deals with the person and, primarily the message of Jesus. Much like Phil Yancey did with the person and character of Jesus in his book The Jesus I Never Knew, McLaren steps back from the common images and perceptions we (both Christians and not Christians) have about Jesus and his message to take a long, hard look at the New Testament to see what the message really was.
The book is divided into three sections. The first deals with the context of the message. McLaren places Jesus and his teaching in a political and cultural context as well as looking at the impact the message would have had on contemporaries and how it turned their world upside down. He also spends time assessing the “hidden” aspect of Jesus’s message – how it seems so obscure and, well, hidden at times, questioning why Jesus would need to do such a thing. If Jesus’s message truly is as important as Christians seem to think it is, why did Jesus speak so obscurely at times, never giving a straight answer?
The second section deals with the meaning of the message: how Jesus presented the message impacted its effectiveness (for lack of a better word) and influenced how it was received then and how it is still received today. It impacts how we take that message and incorporate it into our lives, living it in daily life.
This leads to the third section which is, perhaps, the crux of the whole book. The section is entitled “Imagination: Exploring How Jesus’ Secret Message Could Change Everything” and proceeds to do just that. Chapter after chapter in this section looks at different situations and what it could/would/should be like if we lived according to Jesus’s “secret message.” What if the message weren’t a secret anymore? What if Christians started to actually live it? If McLaren’s ideas as written here were actually lived out in the world, what would the world be like? It is the kind of thing that gives both hope and despair simultaneously: hope that we could actually achieve this and despair that we have gone so far from this ideal, both Christians and not Christians.
As I said at the outset, I have enjoyed all of Brian McLaren’s books thus far. They have been both challenging, stimulating, and refreshing all in one. This one was no exception. It was really good to read and especially thought-provoking at times. It made me think about how I live my life in response to “the secret message” and what I should be doing in my life. I’d definitely recommend it, and I’m looking forward to re-reading it when I’m not in school so I can fully digest what McLaren has to say and spend more time in study with my Bible beside me.
Note: Brian includes three appendices in the book, one of which discusses “The Prayer of the Kingdom.” It is quite good but, apparently, has been left out of the final copy of the book that went to the publishers (I have a pre-publication version, so its in there). Anyway, if you want to read it, the chapter has been posted on McLaren’s website here.
If you end up reading the book, drop me a line and let me know what you thought. We can have a little debate, I’m always open to those, especially with classes almost over (3 days left baby!) and not too many finals on the horizon.
the end is near…
Prize to anyone who can tell me what these are, where they are from and why on earth I have them posted on my blog! (Contest closes tomorrow morning…)
In unrelated news, only a week of classes left. I have 1 paper left to write and then down to exams (2 next week and 3 spread out over the exam period). Currently, I am procrastinating in the writing of my paper, something I have become an expert at. The problem is, I don’t know where to start.
Anyway, for those of you in town, Ring Out tomorrow night is a lot of a lot of things, but perhaps the most important is we will be sharing about our upcoming trip to China. That means you can come and find out all you’ve ever wanted to know about our trip and more… even ask questions. And you would also get to see me, but that is besides the point!
Back Home…
Well, I’m back home again after house-sitting for the last five days or so. In between sorting out my iPod (for the 10000000th time…) and cleaning up my room (where everything has just been dumped and the floor, as well as every other semi-flat surface, is difficult to see, I’m sitting here and taking some time to post.
On reflection, I spent way too much time in the last 2 weeks watching the Olympics. And the crazy thing is, by the end of the games I was still tearing up every single time there was a Canadian athlete on the medal podium. Call it what you will, but I’m going with fierce patriotism.
The other activity which occupied way too much of my time over the last week was searching and researching (in both senses of the word) a psyc paper. Every phrase I entered into the online journal database available through UVic library yielded either 5000 hits or none at all. That got to be a little frusterating after awhile, consequently, the researching has come to a screeching halt. Fortunately, I still have a week and a bit until it is due… I guess I will continue to perfect night-before-it-is-due-paper-writing technique.
gillian's island 