kiva.org

for christmas, my parents gave me a 100$ gift certificate for kiva.org.
it is a pretty cool organization where you can use the money in your account to lend to entrepeneurs in developing countries as they attempt to get their business off the ground. the money will be repaid once they make it back, and then you can find a new business to fund, or withdraw your money...so its a neat idea, gives people a chance to make some money on their own but also to get something off the ground that might not otherwise happen. check it out. every little bit helps as usual, and you can always get your money back and take it out at the end. so thats all i got. much better than some more things under the tree that i dont need.

new look. new year.

so its time for a new look. my time in yellowknife is done, and so are my travels to the far east. with things wrapping up in 2006, its time to change things up around here.
so i did. really, all that changed was the color, and the location i am blogging from, but its at least somewhat fresh. as 2006 wraps up, here is my top 10 list for the year...

10-getting a half decent job to start my post undergraduate career

9-winning the yellowknife open tennis tournament singles, and doubles with nic

8-life at the ashbys for a few months

7-supper at tim and taras once a week

6-learning to fish and wakeboard on the n.w.t. lakes

5-cabin trips with joel et. al.

4-coming to regina to visit a few times throughout the year

3-camping trip with cody and arlen

2-road trip to china with jonny sly

1-the tennis masters cup in shanghai. hands down.

there are likely more, but a year is a stinkin long time to remember. so thats all i got for now.

back in the q.c.

it is good to be home! regina feels empty. lacking buildings, and people and vehicles. but i kind of like that.
sorry to kamara for talking so much during the soccer game. i havent spoken to a native english speaker for over a week, so i think i was a little deprived.
anyway, here i am. ready to sleep in my own bed. watch for new pictures on the flickr account in the next day or two.
and maybe some more thoughts when my brain becomes less cloudy.

one last time from china

so its been a cold, but good week in beijing. saw a lot of really old stuff. pretty cool. ate some food i havent had before, and likely wont have again (like dog, sorry to all my pet loving friends. but its true. i ate some dog) and got to hangout with anson. what a good guy. so tomorrow i leave. i get home monday dec 18 at like 8pm. so if you are in the mood for looking at some 1500 or so pictures...ill be glad to share them with you. it will be sad to go, but im super excited to get back home. and into a routine in january.
for those of you i havent told, i am starting grad school in saskatoon january 3rd. the final official word came the other day, so its all set.
so if you are ever passing through the "city of bridges" look me up. serious. it will be nice to have some company. thanks china, its been grand.

"something from the pig's insides"

yep. thats what i ate for lunch. we had chinese dim sum and that was one of the dishes. it wasnt anything like bacon or ham. more like inards. anyway. i tried it, but tried to avoid it after that.
today has been a long day already, but a pretty sweet one. we visited the Ming Tombs. tombs from an emperor that lived and died sometime in the 1500s. and is now buried in the hillside outside of beijing. pretty neat to see.
then lunch, and then off to the great wall. man. pretty cool thing to see. i have seen pictures and heard people describe it but its something else. really. so if you are reading this, or looking at my pictures when i get home...you will probably blow it off like i did. so come see it yourself. my legs were shaking when we got back down. lots of stairs and i am sure that no two on the whole way up are identical in height, length, pitch or size. no jokes.
anson and his family have been very good to me. although i cant understand either of his parents, his dad makes me laugh. he pretty much talked the whole 2 hr drive back home. maybe to the vehicles beside us, maybe to me, or maybe to himself. anyway. things are great in beijing. it is colder than hong kong though. a few more days of seeing the sights and kicking it with anson. and then back to canada for me. see you guys in a couple.

just like that

with the close of harms front door, jon is gone. headed back to regina. just like that. after sharing close quarters with the guy for a month, its gonna be hard not having him around for the last week im in china. this guy is the ultimate traveller. no lies. there isnt a map that this guy cant read. after all, he was trained by a first class institution in how to read maps.
anyway. it was great. we laughed. we sat there in silence, we sat there in awe of the greatest tennis player(s) in the world, we shook our heads in disbelief, we ate some unbelievable food, and laughed at some of the things they offered us on the menu, and we generally just had a really good time. im thankful for friends like that who will drop what he is doing and come to the far east with me. so, jon this is a tribute to you. thanks man. and nice work on joining the european swimsuit club.

the beauty of a straight blade

today was shave day in hong kong.
jon brought his razor, but decided not to use it, and i left mine at home on purpose.
however, yesterday we were walking to the bus and passed a barber shop. i noticed the guy was busting out a shave on a client and was sure it looked like a straight blade razor. now, this is something i have always wanted to do. so i looked into. $40HKD later and we walked out looking like new men.
now if you havent had a straight blade shave...you are missing out. not only is it great that someone else is doing the work for you, its great that its with a blade that, in a single motion, could pretty much end your life. its a trust exercise. trusting someone who doesnt speak your language. so not only is it a great feeling, its also character building. so next time you are near a barber that offers this service...pay him what he asks and get it done. seriously.
check out flickr for the results (looks like something got lost in translation). the photos above are of the guy who did this for me and the tool he used.

tea at the po lin monastery

more pictures are up.
hong kong is still great. it was hot and muggy today. almost too hot. but i shouldn't complain.
it started off with some more tennis and then to an east indian buffet with probably the best food we have had on this trip so far. the buffet included lamb curry, madras chicken, and likely 10 other dishes. so good. we ate and then had a hard time moving after that.
i found a place that will do straight blade shaves. so that is on the menu for tomorrow. they dont do them in canada anymore, so i have to take advantage of it. wish me luck.

starry starry nite

well. that may be a bit of an exaggeration. we were able to see one star tonite. thats all. one star was bright enough to shine through the smog and the light pollution and let its light hit our retinas. so, those of you in darker cities than hong kong, go look at the stars and appreciate them. cause even though they are above this city too, the 8 million people here don't get to see them often. and i think id have to say they are missing out.
today was wednesday in hong kong. jon and i went to the zoological and botanical gardens to hang out with some monkeys, a jaguar, some lemurs, a giant python and some crazy birds. pretty cool to see some of the diversity in the animal kingdom.
lots of walking today, finally led us to meet up with harm after she got off work and go to an egyptian restaurant. another good meal.
somehow we got on the topic of alberta and how none of us really liked it. and jon started talking about ft. mcmurray and how the city wasn't his favorite. we went on with this discussion for probably a good half hour. after we were done, jon got up to go to the washroom, and the guy sitting beside us says "sorry to be nosy, but i lived in fort mcmurray until about 25 years ago.." and proceeded to tell us that he was an alberta boy, now living in china.
pretty weird to be in hong kong, in an egyptian restaurant and have some white guy sit down beside us and listen in on our almost alberta bashing conversation. anyway. it was a good day. we are tired. im gonna go to bed.
jon and i have a date with the tennis court tomorrow morning...

a taste of hong kong

its true. well, not the part about my mom being a belly dancer. that was on the back of a bus that was in front of us here in hong kong. but it is true that i put some new pictures up. some of what we have seen so far, and some of what we have been doing. so go check them out by clicking on the flickr link to the right. more to come.

december 3rd.

we woke up to go to church. i wore shorts to church probably for the first time in december in my life. hopefully not the last. but with the way they are talking about global warming, maybe ill get to do that even in regina someday.
anyway. church was in a ballroom. giant chandeliers, gold everywhere, white satin looking chairs. it was ritzy. but ok.
the day went on. we ate at the "white spot" a supposed 'canadian legend since 1928'. a canadian legend that i have never heard of.
then we went to stanley market. i needed to do some shopping for my good friend hub. a request he sent me asked for an england rugby jersey. so i did it. so hub if you are reading this. your jersey is on its way home.
after shopping we made our way home. got off the subway in the most densely populated area on the planet. thats not a lie. unless harm is full of something. but , there were literally thousands of people crossing the one street at one time. likely the entire population of yellowknife. at one street corner. lining up to run at each other when the walk sign turned to a green walking man. wow.
we made it home and then changed into the closest things we brought to tennis clothes. after 8 days of watching the top 8, and even more of dreaming about it since, we finally got our chance to step out on the court. on december 3rd. in shorts. needless to say our dreaming paid off. man were we good. after i got over the pain from the gash on my hand everytime i hit the ball we even had some decent rallies. it was fun. no. it was the sweetest hour we have had in a long time. and that is saying a lot.
now its december 4th. at least in hong kong it is. time to hit the concrete jungle and see how lost we can get.

the walk of shame

the walk of shame. not to pick on harm. but its something you will have to ask her about again.
today was the day at the beach. and what a day. it all started with a "christmas breakfast" at bob & marilyns. friends of harms. it was fun. even though jon and i were in a room full of 8 or so teachers, who all talked about teacher things. later, i asked jon if this had deterred him from the possibility of becoming a teacher. he said it hadnt.
a short taxi ride, a medium length bus ride and a hike later, the south china sea (or maybe it was the pacific ocean) was in view. anyway, after some swimming and riding the waves into shore we packed up our gear and headed up a stream to a deep pool with some shear cliffs on the one side.
now for those of you havent read my blog during my summer in yellowknife, jumping off things into water is one of my favorite things to do. so i was pretty excited. we jumped, well, jon and i jumped. neither of us needed the walk of shame. ok, fine ill tell you about the walk of shame. harm ventured up the cliff intending to jump. she got there, looked down, and sat down. which is fine. the problem came when she sat down and didnt move for 30+ minutes. (that is not an exaggeration). jon and i continued to jump, took some pictures, swam, and gently persauded harm to jump. no dice. harm had to take the walk of shame.
after the swim and some jumping, we headed back to town for some fresh seafood. jon and i each ate a fish eyeball. a delicacy i am told. my aunt daphne will be proud of me. the eyeball was ok. hard. like chewing on a popcorn kernel, id say. try one someday. (especially you tim).
sunday will bring church, and then some shopping for my good friend hub in stanley market. thanks for reading this barb! im glad someone shares a bit of the same humor as me. sorry harms television appearance was dissapointing. thats all for tonite.

day one in hong kong

quite a good day.
after jon and i slept in, we met some of harms colleagues at a vietnamese restaurant. 2 of them were albertans, and one from saskatoon. weird to eat with people from home in a city like this.
did some walking around, partied with some bridesmaids and then headed to the peak. an amazing view.
we ate supper up there. i ate ostrich. jon had canard. i think that is a french duck.
a good nite for sure. lots of laughs with old friends. jon and harm are great.
next time you see jon, get him to explain his passion for roger federer. its great listening to him.
ok. tomorrow is the beach, some fresh seafood and cliff jumping.
bedtime for now.
email harm and ask her about her experience with a t.v. camera tonite.

king kong

yep. we are in hong kong. this city is ridiculous already. people, buildings and vehicles everywhere. the weather is nice. it is plus 20. at least. sounds like saturday we are going to the beach. life is good on this side of the world. any reports from canada?
miss you guys.

yangshuo snaps

i added a few more shanghai pictures, but also some pictures of yangshuo. we leave yangshuo tomorrow for hong kong. so that catches you up with the pictures, and least gives you some idea the crazy stuff we have been seeing. thanks for checking them out.
if you are interested, i will show you the rest when i get back home

shanghai via the D70s

i added a few raw images to flickr from our 10 days in shanghai. you can check them out by clicking on the flickr badge to the right, or go to www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyolson.
ill try to add more in hong kong.

my run in with a motorcycle.

so let me set the stage. jon and i rented pedal bikes today. and rode out into the country. we saw some real neat rural life, and rode through lots of mud puddles. it seemed like all our riding was up hill, and we were tired, and not sure where we were. we still dont really know. when we were pretty much at the top of the mountain and it didnt look like we were headed in the right direction, we decided to turn back and started to make our way down. and down. it was a long way down. we were going pretty quick. we stopped in a flat spot for a drink and some oreos and then kept on going. i pretty much felt like i was a downhill mountain biker. we pretty much were. and then around a sharp curve, a motorcycle came out of nowhere, so i hammered on the brakes. the thing is, the brakes on the bikes in china are reversed. that is, the front brakes are on the right side where the back brakes should be. so when my body reacted, it squeezed the right side good and i went up and over the handle bars, and into a superman slide on the rocky gravel road.
my camera made it though. thanks to my nifty lowepro bag. my body wasnt so lucky. just joking, mom. its fine. but i got some sweet scrapes. and lost a few layers of skin on my right palm.
we made it back to the hotel and annie kindly helped me out (and acted as my translator, and price bargainer). she took me to a side of the road retired doctor that cleaned me up and bandaged me up. all for 20RMB. so like 3 bucks. im a little sore, but have some scrapes and some neat stories to tell.

yangshuo me the money

so we made it. stop 2 on our journey. we are in yangshuo. we flew into guilin yesterday afternoon. by the time we got in the car and on the road to yangshuo it was getting dark. so we didnt get to see much. annie showed us to our room and we got settled and went out for supper.
so this morning i was pretty excited to see the view from our balcony. it is pretty outstanding. me and jon were talking, and it is too hard to describe this place, you just have to come here. maybe ask jason, his mastery of the english language may put it into words better than i could.
so this morning we woke up, ate some breakfast and headed out for a 2 hour cruise on the yulong river on a bamboo raft. got to see lots of country and had a peaceful trip. we got on bikes from there and headed up to moon hill. a hill with a whole in the middle of it. quite a climb up and down. two ladies followed us the whole way trying to sell us water or beer or mango juice. jon finally got suckered in at the bottom.
then we hit the bikes. we rented these from our hotel earlier in the morning. we rode and rode. my butt is telling me that we may have rode for too long. anyway, we got lost, in the country. this was kind of our first real run-in with the language barrier. a man on a motorcycle stopped to help us, but we couldnt understand him and he couldnt understand us.
we figured out that we missed our turn and headed back to where we came from. anyway. i took my 500th picture today, so there will be lots to see when i get back. this is long, i know. but my mom always complained that i wasnt descriptive enough. and i could write more...so, mom, this ones for you. tomorrow we might go rock climbing, or explore a cave, or white water raft, or hot air balloon ride. who knows. this place is full of crazy things to do. thanks jay and shannon and harm for the hot tip. thats all for today.

i would walk 500 miles...

me and jon have been walking machines the last few days. no lies. lots of miles of shanghai have passed under our feet and we have seen everything from dead rats, to roasted ducks to an 88 story building from the top and bottom. we have been to a massage parlor that employs blind people and have been asked to buy "watch, bags, dvd" likely over 1000 times. we haven't been shanghai'd yet. thats probably a good thing. doug explained what it was to me, but i forget. so maybe we have been and i just dont know it. but our days in shanghai are over. off to the country. guilin and yangshuo will be home for the next week. it will be a nice break from metropolitan living before we head back to more of it in hong kong. if you want something from china, send me an email. i can likely find it for pretty cheap, and if it fits in my bag, its yours. so, signing off from shanghai. thanks for all the notes and comments. it is good to hear from home when you are surrounded by millions of people that probably dont even know what a wheat field or big sky horizon look like.

boxing, ballet and chess

thats what its like watching roger on court. powerful, yet graceful, intelligent, and can deliver the knock out punch when he has the opportunity.
the 8 days of tennis are over. and to tell you the truth, it brought a tear to my eye to see it end, and to hear roger and james offer their final words. james blake has been through an amazing amount of tragedy and near tragedy. look him up on google and read about it. its pretty insane what he has gone through.
anyway. its over. and it was magical. definitely the best 300 dollars i have spent in a long time. hands down.
we even got to bust out the canadian flag and cheer for daniel nestor as he was in the doubles final. unfortunately they lost, but he did acknowledge jon and i. so we are pretty much best friends now. serious.
a few more days in shanghai, a city i am growing to love more and more, and then off to yangshuo and guilin. then off to whip harms butt at squash, or badminton, or whatever she feels like losing at. hope all is well at home.

13.4 million...

people live in shanghai. plus me and jon. that makes 13,400,002 or something like that.
this place is great. federer is even more of a genius than i first thought. and james blake is one stand up, classy man.
the tennis is seriously unbelievable. i cant even describe it. seriously.
as for china. im actually really liking it a lot. its fun. friendly. busy, loud, and funny at times.
hard to describe for sure. especially after coming from yellowknife and regina. where with all the tall buildings stacked on top of each other, it still probably won't equal the height of the building across the street from me.

anyway. about 4 more weeks in china. ill try and write again a few more times. until then, keep watching tennis highlights for two pale white guys who havent shaved for a while. it might just be us.

twenty-four...

hours till jon and i hop on the plane and head to shanghai. roger awaits us. it is highly likely that i wont be on here often while in china. but will do my best to keep the few of you who check this out updated. if not, ill do it when i get home. when you watch tsn highlights watch for two white guys with a canadian flag at the tennis masters cup. it will be me and jon. see you all in december!

mother russia

so ive been home for about 24 hours. and ive seen a lot of old friends and had some good breakfast already. kris met me at the airport and brought me out to white city. it was good to see him, melissa and nic. they are surviving with out mom and dad so far. had a sweet visit with jon and then went to the soccer centre to watch some of the guys play. definitely miss that. got to see arlo and brianne, kamara, blair, vince, bryn, lucas, eder, and a whole lot more. all that to say its sweet to be home. breakfast with blair this morning was grade A. i think we have found a new 3.99 breakfast spot. pretty sweet. today i ran around and picked up some bills with emperor mao on them. some travellers cheques and some immodium. lots of immodium. tonite looks like a young adults hang out before it all starts again tomorrow with breakfast with brianne. good to be home. good to be going to china in 3 days. if you in regina and reading this...phone me before friday. lets do lunch.

the final countdown..

today was my last day of work. i am going to miss that place more than i thought i might. not actually the building. but the people. i worked with a really good crew who were more than good to me. so, part one of farewells began today. the next few days will be full of more. im thankful for my time in yellowknife. the experience i got at my job, the friends i made there and the friends who took care of me during my life away from the lab. i am going to miss my yellowknife family. if you guys are ever in saskatoon, look me up. we will do breakfast. or lunch. or dinner. its your call.

i found..

twelve hundred dollars today. no lies.

don't mess with my cousin...

Good Clean Fun

a good old school hardcore band from washington, dc i think. i saw these guys with nic in late 1999. found this bit of lyric today. check it out. its actually really good.


Don't settle for second best, don't follow all the rest
You say you want the same things well let's put it to the test
Because talk is so cheap when you are screaming at a wall
And it is really hard to hear when you're the loudest of them all
If you want to change the world, quit all your yapping
If we don't start it here, well then it's never going to happen
There is evil in this world but it begins right at home
So let's clean house, then let's cast the first stone

from a newspaper printed in toronto...

kurtis got home today. he brought the new edition of 'The Hockey News' with him. the cover story says "40 Years, 0 Cups". can you guess who they are talking about? yep. you are right. the leafs. a toronto paper wrote an article about the toronto maple leafs and their (lack of) success. here is some of what they said...

"9 GMs, 18 coaches, 497 players, 27 million ticket sales, A kazillion dollars in revenue, ZERO STANLEY CUPS"

"No team in the history of sports has done so little to earn so much unconditional love from its legion of fans"

so..my question for the day is...how can people love the maple leafs? it is nonsensical. ridiculous. and any of them, that would call themselves fans are delusional. just ask francis or tori a question about the leafs lack of success. you will see what im talking about.


it is almost as fun to watch the leafs lose as it is to watch the montreal canadiens win. (did i mention this article also said that the canadiens have won ten (yes, 10), stanley cups in this same 40 years??

india 2002

when tim asked those of us who have been to india to reflect on our time there, i was pretty excited. reflecting means that i get to relive some of the crazy experiences i had, the amazing people i met and the amazing people i travelled with.
as a team we spent almost a whole year preparing ourselves to go. as we left, i felt pretty comfortable seeing pictures, watching videos and hearing stories of those who had been there before, but i still remember arriving in Mumbai and stepping out of the airport to a wall of air that was thicker than stink. that was the first thing that was going to take
some getting used too. the sights and smells would also require some adjusting and reorganizing of my comfort zones, but was well worth it.
a lot of things have stuck with me from that trip, and i would love to go back to visit again...but here a few things that i still think of often...
it was amazing to see Ray in his element. out for a visit with somefriends or people who needed a visit and back before 7 a.m. to make sure the rest of us were up. and out again for tea and visits after the rest of our head had hit the pillow. truly at home in that place, and i learned more about service and humility from him those 6 weeks than i likely ever will again.
the generosity of the people in that country was amazing. to feed 8 canadians is a big task for most families in canada, nevermind a struggling family from rural india. but the houses we went to, and the people we shared food with were amazing. giving us more food than likely even 16 of us could eat, while only eating rice and maybe dahl themselves. how can i be greedy with all that i have, while they are extraordinarily generous with so little? wow!
the friendships i made with some of the people there were life changing as well. many of us who have been have had the chance to meet and hang out with Joshua Salam. i could go back to india and be satisfied if all i got to see was this guy. he made me feel more at home in his country and his home than anyone else i met. took me on tours of the city, tried
to teach us the rules to cricket, laughed with us, laughed at us and became a friend that i will remember forever and miss until i get to see him again.
ok. this is long enough. i could write more. thats just how awesome that country is. seriously. if you get the chance, you need to go. you will be blown away. and if you do go, make sure to tell me when you get back, i want to see pictures and hear stories. thanks tim, for the
chance to reflect...

jon-rae fletcher

honestly, i havent heard of this guy either. he is a musician born in saskatoon, raised in alberta and has lived mostly in vancouver, i believe. but i found a neat article about him, his upbringing and his take on faith, in the globeandmail. you can check it out here or just read this quick quote:
"If I did experience anything spiritual in the church -- and I believe that I did -- it was not in the discourse of the church, but in the community of it. . . . That's been a part of my experience in the church that has stayed with me and that I've tried to bring to the spirit of my music."

something that i can identify with. maybe excluding the part about 'my music'.

kris rockin the blog

kris is now blogging. check it out for blunt updates on things happening in the south end of the queen city...

winter is coming...

ice on frame lake
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

and the lakes are freezing. not super thick yet. so im still up for one more swim if anyone else will come. serious. but its neat how the landscapes change as the sun begins to shine less and less on this part of the world, north of 60.

my name is slim shady..

ok. its not. i lied.
but seriously now, there is this show. it is hilarious. even better than that "arrested development", that so many of you find humorous. this is leaps and bounds ahead. check it out. My Name Is Earl. thursdays on NBC or global. i think.

more on forgivenes

wow. check out this article on forgiveness. pretty crazy stuff.

old school nintendo

i was checking out cbc radio 3 and found a link to a sweet website with 300 or so old school nintendo games. so if you are bored at work, or need to procrastinate for a bit...
THIS. is the place to do it.

thank this

yep. i have a lot to be thankful for too. kamara said it all really well on her blog. go read it. nic also said it well on his blog, however, i would have enjoyed his post more if he had not censored it. just say what you want, you chump.
anyway, lately ive been thinking about how im thankful for the last 8 months of life. the ashbys have made yellowknife a home away from home, and tim and tara have made their place feel like a home away from my home away from home. so i am quite thankful for both of those families, and will be sad to leave them in 4 weeks.
im thankful for my family, mom and dad, kris, melissa and nic have made me laugh (and curse) so much over the years, and i wouldnt trade it for anything. and then my grandparents. dang. i owe them bigtime. for so much. so im thankful that i could know them for my whole life so far. not everyone gets that chance.
and im thankful for the chance to go see roger federer play tennis in 6 weeks (i have to put that into all my blogs from now on, just to make nic jealous)
and im thankful for my friends. so many. too many people to list. and that isnt because i think im so cool and have so many friends, but because so many people have thought that it would be a good idea to be nice to me, in spite of me.
i could write more. but ill stop here. you are probably bored, and other people who write much more eloquently than i, have better things to say. happy thanksgiving.
mom, im sorry ill miss your butter chicken. next time.

Roger Federer

in about a month and 9 days, jon, nicole and myself will be watching this guy play tennis. thats right, THE Roger Federer. live. for now, you can check out his blog for this week on that ATP website here. hes currently playing at a tournament in japan. in about a month and 9 days, you can check out my blog to hear what i have to say about watching one of the greatest tennis players ever.

gridblog number 3. living forgiven.

i have no idea what to write about to be honest. i forgot that there was a gridblog topic for today until i got home and checked everyone elses blogs. so i have read everyone else's thoughts before i sat down to write my own. i hope they all forgive me for plagiarism.
but seriously.
not only have i experienced forgiveness from the creator of the universe, i have experienced it from so many people too. and dont get me wrong...God's forgiveness is huge. so huge. but i think it is sometimes harder for people to forgive each other. so i am in awe of the way God shows himself to me through the forgiveness that my parents have shown me for my highschool years, as well as my stubornness since. without their loving, caring, forgiving attitude i wouldnt even be close to where i am at in the journey right now. (which honestly isnt even that good of a place). so many people have not only put up with my pride, arrogance, and selfishness (among a whole lot more) but have forgot about them. forgiven me. wow. i am so thankful that God has put these people in my life to model His forgiveness to me. if you are reading this, you are likely one of those people. so thank you. no seriously. i mean it. thanks!

here we go.

Beautiful Guilin
Originally uploaded by shengangxi.

on november 10th jon slywka and i are heading to china, and will meet up with nicole laliberte there. a week in shanghai to watch the TENNIS MASTERS CUP! which will showcase the top 8 mens tennis players in the world! wow. and if that isnt enough, we are heading to Guilin, in Guangxi province to take in some sights like the one posted here, thanks to recommendations from jay, shannon and harmony. speaking of harmony, we will also be stopping in hong kong, for about 10 days to visit her and check out her new place. thats it, thats all.

this is for dave mostly

one of the funniest guys i know has a photoblog that i just found out about. he lives in oklahoma city, his name is adam avery cole, and you can check out his pictures adam

one more reason to not live in vancouver...

if, for some reason, you thought vancouver might be a cool place to live, read this article. not only do they break in and steal your stuff, they leave a great surprise in your porch. its funny, so go read it here

farming

on sunday nite we played the farming game at tim and tara's house. always a great time because it is such a great game. if you are ever at tim's house, make sure you ask him to play with you. especially since he isn't any good at it. cody won this time. but next time, its all me. i think you can buy it here

inspiration

breakfast inspires me...seriously. not so much the food, however, the food can be pretty stinkin good depending on where you go. but usually at breakfast a good group of people, or just a few get to hang out, talk, listen, share, and learn with each other. ive had a lot of good breakfasts over the years and they have been the times when i have felt closest and most at peace with things in life. ive shared countless tables and coffees with kris, blair, dave, tim, dad, ed, jonny, john close, pete, grandparents, harm, colby, joel, nic, vince...and a whole other list of people that i am forgetting. there is just something special about that time and a sweet cheap breakfast.

"shot to the nuts"

nic, my smarter, funnier, better looking, younger brother is blogging. check it out. nic

back in the knife

a trip to regina/dauphin in back in less than a week. that means 60+ hrs of driving. on the way down i didnt think it was going to be worth it. but here are some highlights....
-visits with jay and matt
-visit with grandpa in regina, so good to see him smile, hear his laugh, and hear some of his stories. definitely the number one highlight
-seeing the family
-quick visits with kris, and other regina people.
-hanging out with people in dauphin for the wedding.
-jumping off bridges at the lake of the prairies and wascana lake

lots more. check out the pictures for a better idea of what went on.
its funny how pretty much all the highlights involve people. in fact, they all do. kind of what jay and i talked a little bit about.
how important it is to be in relationship, sharing, encouraging, building with each other. so even though i spent a lot of time in a vehicle, the time i got to spend with people was well worth the trip.

the bible: inspired or expired? (good one, john)

well, that is a hard question, and something that i have been wrestling with since i have taken a few religious studies courses at university (all three were from pastors of a church, so they weren't atheists trying to change my mind, just presenting the facts, so here is what i've been thinking about for the last few years, a lot of it will be things that i learned in those courses, or read elsewhere)

the bible is a collection of stories, letters and other forms of prose that were obviously written thousands of years ago, so how do we make it fit into our lives in the present?
- in my opinion, maybe it should be treated as a love story (not a self help book). a love story about God loving us so intensely that he often goes to ridiculous lengths to show that to us. (i.e. Jesus death)
- i dont think it is a biography of Jesus life, or direct, exact recorded history as we have come to know in our textbooks in
the 21st century, it is more like a collecion of stories from communities that had been passed on through the generations.

in my church background i was taught (whether intentionally or not) that the Bible was infallible, and i still find peers that i kind of clash with on this opinion, but no matter how hard i try, i cannot convince myself that this book is without errors. countless times in my university courses, i was pointed to places that would have required us to bend over backwards to prove the infallibility of this book. men wrote it. of course it is full of mistakes. "well", you say, "God inspired it, so thats why it is infallible". and yes, i do believe that God was likely with these people as they wrote, but i dont think he controlled their hands, or their minds as they wrote. it was likely these guys writing down things that they had been told or they observed while with Jesus, or people that were with him. it was oral tradition finally being recorded some 30+ years after Jesus left.

how much of the bible should we take literally? (all of it, if you go by what i learned in sunday school)
-this is probably the question that i have struggled with the most. maybe the Job story is just that, a story, not literal historical facts; a metaphor if you will. but does that take any of the meaning or power away from it? i, personally, dont think so.
- or even the words Jesus was "quoted" as saying. if nothing was written down directly from his mouth, im sure a lot of the things he said were somewhat different when the authors of the gospels (whoever they were) finally penned them.

i could write more, but this is long enough...and
to some this may all sound like im totally rejecting my faith, like i have given up, maybe even heretical. i assure you that is not the case. i still believe the Bible is alive. that it holds stories of God's intense love for us that i have missed. i do believe it is an important book, but i wouldn't say that it alone can change my life. sure, God could use it as avenue to work in my heart, but i dont think the Bible alone is capable of that, without God still flowing through it.
please go check out some of the other, more intelligent, people that have written on the same thing, there is a list of them at
tim's blog. and please join in the discussion.

the end of an era

well, in about 56 minutes, one of tennis' greatest stars ever will begin his last fortnight at the U.S. Open. Andre Agassi has been one of my favorite players since i picked up a racket for the first time. so it will be a sad few days, likely bringing tears to my eyes, as he trys to pull out one more grand slam. such a classy guy who plays beautiful tennis, and carries himself in a way that just commands respect. a true champion. he has definitely inspired me and made the last 20 years of watching tennis memorable. we will miss you Andre!

.confused.

so here is the deal, i am confused. well, maybe more just wondering. tim, and francis have posted some great ideas about blogging and putting this discussion into action. and i know i have talked with other friends before about how great sitting around discussing world issues, faith and spirituality can be, but if it just stops at the table, was it really all that good?
so here is where the confused/wondering part comes in. hopefully i can put this into logical, straight forward questions to ponder, and hopefully get some help with.

is discussion wasted if it is just heard and not acted upon? what if that discussion is part of something that, possibly subconciously, enters our minds and changes us from the inside out?
or is that even possible; does this "movement" have to be a conscious decision?
and
how do we challenge those that we are discussing with to put that discussion into action (as well as move ourselves)?

new in yellowknife

dayna, my cousin from weyburn just moved to yellowknife on the weekend. its already been fun having her around, getting the chance to get to know her better and making fun of her for her gypsy outings with melissa as they did the old orpah and morpah. (long story, but dayna and melissa are gypsies). anyway. i was reading her goodbye saskatchewan blog at daynamarie3.blogspot.com and it made me miss home. mostly my grandparents. my grandpa fleming recently had a stroke and is now recovering and working on the motor skills he lost. this guy is so tough. i miss him. definitely a role model in my life, in a quiet, unassuming, joking around, teaching me more than i thought he has, fun, loving way.
its crazy how people like that can love me. i guess it is just one more way that God shows us how much he loves us. and tonite, i am thankful for that. miss you grandpa, hope you are doing well!

jumping off things

yellowknife is great for jumping off things into the water.
there is water everywhere and usually some kind of cliff, bridge or wall to jump off. so ive taken a real liking for diving off things. it is probably one of my favorite things to do...and cody or nic or dad has often been there to snap some of those...so here are a few...if you ever come to yellowknife i know some sweet spots...so lets go. you can find more on my flickr site over there ---->

just move

almost a month ago already(...wow...)harm left yellowknife. before she left we had a good visit. kind of talking about where each other was at on our journey, shared with each other how apathy and laziness were such an easy rut to fall into. one that i have been in for far too long. harm is now in China (check her out at www.harmonymc.blogspot.com) but sent me an email before i left for the weekend that had me thinking any time i got a few minutes of quiet.
i spent the weekend out at a camp and then at a cabin. lots of time in the water, jumping off cliffs, swimming, boating, fishing, etc. beautiful scenery and great friends.
for about 5 minutes this morning i had time sitting outside, sun shinning, blue sky, fire crackling, coffee in my hand, bacon waiting to be cooked. what more could a guy ask for. anyway. i took that time to talk to God. harm had encouraged me to just move. to take even that first step. so in those moments of conversation with Him, i told Him i was ready to move. to climb out of the rut that had too quickly been becoming more than a rut. so here i am, nothing spectacular happened, however i feel like im in more of a place that i want to be. headed in the right direction. not trying things my own way, i have help. neat. help that has been waiting for a long time to be asked. help that has all the answers, the right answers and an amazing love for me that i cant understand. it wasnt a big step, but im moving...

tennis weekend

this weekend was the YK Open tennis tournament up here. so it was super fun. there were 24 entered in the mens singles draw. for some reason they decided to give me the second seed. weird. anyway, i ended up winning the tournament in singles after a 3 setter and nic and i won the doubles about an hour later.
so it was a sweet weekend. i walked away with 150$. cant complain.
the next few days will be for resting sore and tired muscles.
thanks to everyone who came and watch and yelled with me.
see pictures here...http://yktennis.sharepointsite.com/default.aspx

i quit reading daves blog

to be honest, i dont like ready daves blog. not even a little bit. not because it is poor writing--it is actually quite good. and not because i am jealous that he is better than me at soccer--i have come to realize there is nothing i can do about this...
to be honest, i have stopped (not entirely, i only read it when i get enough courage) because he challenges me too much. makes me look at the way im living and makes me realize that im far from where i need to be. thanks dave for your honesty, encouragement, wisdom and 'genuineness'...(is that a word?) i appreciate you and wish i could go out for breakfast with you...
if you are not dave, check out his blog at http://dgainest.blogspot.com/

10 days later

10 days since my parents left. not much is new here. amy tells me i need to update my blog, but the last few weeks im finding i have very little to say. one of those seasons i life i guess.
i am reading a pretty sweet book. it is called "napoleon's buttons: 17 molecules that changed history". its interesting. so far ive learned about pepper, cellulose, nitro compounds, and glucose...read it if you get the chance. i would...
and
for those of you who dont know, my grandpa fleming is in the hospital. he had a stroke on friday and has been in the hospital since then. sounds like he is doing better today so that is good news. keept it steady grandpa. we are praying for you.

back to regina...

not me. my parents.
but it sure was good to have them here. hang out, eat some meals, see the sights, play some tennis. good times.
even though im taken care of extremely well up here in yellowknife, i miss them quite a bit. and melissa and kris too. so thanks mom and dad for coming and hanging out and checking out my new home...
will be home again soon.

1 out of 3 ain't bad..?

well, italy beat france. not good. (italian soccer is boring)
mauresmo beat henin-hardenne, not good. (henin plays more attractive tennis)
but federer beat nadal. that is sweet.
a magician on grass. even compared to barishnakov by some. elegant and graceful on the tennis court. 4 wimbledon championships in a row. and he beat his arch rival, his nemesis on a day when so many thought he might fall again.
heather thinks nadal is cute. gross hey? at least he lost. sorry heather.

cliff jumping at the falls

3
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

i love jumping off of things. so when i saw this cliff at cameron falls i was pretty stoked. it made the trip out there even better. check out my flickr page for the sequence...dad took these for me. if anyone is up for a trip to cameron falls and a cliff jump...look me up.

italia

well, to say that i was cheering for Italy at the start of the tournament would be an understatement. but i also was not cheering for Germany at all either. so todays semifinal was kind of like the leafs playing the canucks. i hate both the teams, but i will never cheer for the leafs...ever...and so with the analogy, i will also never cheer for Germany. after watching their match against Ireland last world cup, i concluded that i would never cheer for the Germans again.
anyway...italy won. a sweet game. and im hoping they meet france in the finals.
in other news, im back in yellowknife. regina was great. amazing even. thanks to those of you who woke up early to eat breakfast, or watch soccer, or hang out. it was the highlight of the summer so far.
2 more matches in the world cup. it is bittersweet really.

the homeland

back in regina for a few days. 24 hours in a van later and im back in the queen city. so far ive seen lots of good friends, the family and had some good laughs.
i gotta say i miss this place. not so much the city, but the people. grade A goodness.
not that yellowknife isnt full of the same, but there is something about home that feels good.
so far the week will be full of breakfasts, lunches, tennis, soccer, swimming, and watching some sweet bands play.
i heard a vicious rumour though...tim, simply delicious has closed.
now, dont get too upset yet, i havent confirmed it myself. but i will let you know the final word when i see it for myself.
it could be a sad day in the QC.
well, the hotdogs are ready. time to eat, and then off to the tennis courts.

some wisdom i stole from gene..

tonite at church, gene talked about fathers, mostly our Father. one thing he said stuck with me, mostly because it met me where i am at these days. he said something along the lines of "we need to come to God just as we are, not how we are supposed to be".
kind of neat.
kind of made me think about how i need to quit making excuses about how i am not good enough, or how i have been apathetic, lazy, etc. and just come. it doesnt matter where i have been, where i am at now, i need to quit making excuses.
so thats what i will be thinking about for a few days here.
5 more work days till regina.
looking forward to seeing the regina folk.

world cup prediction: you heard it hear...second

so, the world cup is into its second day, im currently watching england vs. paraguay and cheering for paraguay (sorry jon and evan). but anyway, the greatest sporting event in the world is underway. four years ago, jon slywka and i watched this tournament from many different venues (including 6 different countries), including an electronic store in Shillong, India. we sat on the floor behind some refrigerators so as not to be seen by the owner. eventually, the owner came by, saw us watching, asked us where we were from, and after he found out we were canadians, gave us some stools to sit on, turned on the rest of the tv's on the wall of televisions and cranked the volume. not much is as unifying globally as soccer. not only is it a beautiful game, but its a chance for everyone to put down their guns, grab some boots and a ball and play a bit of football.
anyway, jon, one of the greatest soccer aficionado's i know has predicted the czech republic to win it all. so you heard it hear second. this man could look like a genius if his prediction comes true. (i pick holland or argentina)
here is a picture of my soccer team. probably the closest i will ever come. but we were pretty good. i miss these guys.

first fish ever

first fish ever
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

so i went to the cabin this weekend with joel, arlen, cory, dwight, brendan, darla, amanda and brianne. it was a good time. it was my first fishing experience ever. i enjoyed it i must say. 6 hours of casting and reeling, i finally caught this fish. i know its not very big, but after 6 hours of nothing, this was about as good as it got. holding it was disgusting though. anyway, it was a great weekend full of fishing, laughing, swimming in the freezing cold lake and enjoying some amazing parts of nature. i posted lots of new pictures from the weekend, so check them out. good times had by all...except arlen, cause he didnt catch any fish.

mass

i went to mass tonite. i was in the area and thought i would stop in and observe. pretty neat experience. so much history within catholicism that sort of intrigues me. also kind of interesting to me is the mystery and otherness they attribute to God. pete and i talked about that a little bit while we were both still in regina. something i think the churches i have grown up in have forgotten about, focusing more on the personal relationship and intimacy aspect. both are good. i think we need more balance. i need more balance anyway. i need to remember that the God who loves me unconditionally and not because of anything i have done also created the world around us- the beauty of nature, the intricacy of life and life systems...and given humans the capacity to come up with crazy things like fax machines, internet and other technologies that blow my mind. so here i am...trying to find that balance. the balance that lets me be in relationship with my Creator, but also lets me worship the majesty and mystery that is God....

sunday, may 21

sunday, may 21
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

Great Grandma Start passed away around 1:30 in the afternoon on Sunday, so I visited the cemetery to spend some time thinking about the little bit of time i got to spend with her. she was an exceptional lady, even getting around fairly well on her own right up till her stroke. 94 years. so much history, and a life full of stories. her faith has been passed on through the generations, and her influence has reached me in more ways than i probably even know. i always remember getting books as gifts and crisp 2$ bills for my birthday when i was younger and smiles and nice visits the last few years. so, here is to a great lady, one that i look forward to meeting again...

saturday night fights

last nite in yellowknife 12 boxing matches took place at the multiplex. the main event was for the "champion of the world" title in the WBC superfeather weight division. it was a pretty neat thing to be able to watch first hand, and to even get up ring side for one of the rounds. some of those guys and girls could throw a mean left hook. and i got to go for free. tickets were 75$ but since i helped sell the beers, i got fairly good seats to watch all 12 bouts.
definitely a good time. some good KO's and some sweet uppercuts. i didnt take my camera cause i thought i would be too busy, but ill see if i can round up a picture or two from someone...my first live boxing event was pretty sweet...if you ever get a chance, go check it out.

i was in high school once

i was in high school once
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

in a few weeks my brother is graduating from high school. it makes me feel old. so here is some reminiscing from my days in high school. joel found this picture in one of his old shoe boxes. those were the days....

saturday nite part 2

this is dale
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

so the food was great. definitely worth the wait.
dale came with me. i work with dale. hilarious guy, good musician. all round class act. anyway, this is him near his house, more like shack. pretty neat way to live. no running water, no heater. just a fireplace and imported water from the lab.
anyway, i figured out how to make kris's photo page work in the links now. so go see them if you want.
i added more again today as well.

saturday nite...

saturday nite this weekend is pretty exciting. a girl at work is marrying an east indian guy, and his family, mostly his mom, run a catering business.
so tomorrow nite, there is a "dinner and dance" at one of the pubs up here. the sweet thing is, it is east indian food, and this girl from work got me a ticket.
i havent ate any of that since i left regina. something i miss. moms butter chicken is so good.
so tomorrow nite will be a taste of india, but also a taste of home.
also,
kris got a new camera too. i posted his photo site in my links. it doesnt work yet, but it will. check it out, his pictures will likely be cooler than mine.
mine have been updated almost daily so far, and ill try to keep that up. so keep checking them out.
there might be a good one or two in there somewhere.

bjorn borg

bjorn borg
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

i drove past the tennis courts with my camera tonite to find that bjorn borg has moved to yellowknife to play tennis. check this out...

check these out

so im trying this flickr thing. you can see it over to the right of this page...
it will have pictures that i have taken, or maybe tim took some of them.
anyway...they will kind of give you an idea of where i live and the crazy hooligans i hang out with.
check them out if you get a chance.

it is may already

i bought a new toy this weekend. this toy is probably one of the most complicated that i have ever had to learn how to use. but its going to be fun. i will start putting my pictures onto a website for people to look at once i get some that are worth looking at. until then, i have a 300 page manual to read and lots of buttons to test out...

april 29th, 2006

today i got out to play some tennis. it was pretty windy out there. kind of ironic that i was playing with tim, the guy who assured me upon moving up here that it didnt get windy.
anyway. it was great. what a great game. its like a moving, full body chess match. tim and i didnt quite make it that far today since my shoulder was pretty sore...because,
on wednesday i borrowed darlas longboard to ride for a few minutes. it didnt like me and i crashed.
it was cold out while i was riding, so my hands were in my pockets. i tried the trusty shoulder roll, but landed right on the lateral end of my clavicle. so, its still pretty sore and had a tough time returning tims rockets on the court.
nonetheless, it was sweet to be out hitting the ball.
moral of the story is...dont ride a skateboard with your hands in your pockets...and dont ride darlas at all. it is hard.

i was too young...

but these images are pretty intense. 20 years ago today the chernobyl disaster began, and consequences are still being seen first hand even today.
pretty scary stuff.
if you have an extra 2 minutes check these pictures out...

http://www.pixelpress.org/chernobyl/index.html

(you will have to cut and paste this address...sorry, i havent figured out how to create a direct link. just do it. its not that hard)

off to a good start

it is playoff time in the NHL. and it doesnt get much better than this year.
the leafs missed the playoffs, which is almost as good as a montreal stanley cup.
and tonite, the canadiens took their first step to number 25 with a 6-1 win over carolina.
vancouver also missed the playoffs. what a beauty year for hockey.
no more saturday nites spent watching the stinkin leafs.
time for some real hockey and some real hockey players.
go montreal.

madball-the kings of new york hardcore

from one of new york city's finest bands...these lyrics are where i find myself at sometimes...

God help me
Guide me towards righteousness Lord, once again
Please give me back the innocence of my youth
That was taken from me so long ago
Out of my control
I do not lay the blame on anyone
Only you can save my soul,

I'm calling
I'm calling out, I'm calling, is anyone listening?
I'm calling
I'm calling out, I'm calling, are you listening?
Cause I'm trying to fight it with all my heart and soul,
Strength and hope, is it all my fault?
I can't deny it, sometimes I lose control
I lose all hope

God save me now
From my past and present sins once again
Please give me the peacefulness of my youth
That I've never had
I keep it all inside, for the sake of pride
I will not disrespect my family
Only you know what I hide

I'm calling
I'm calling out, I'm calling, are you listening?
Cause I'm trying to fight it with all my heart and soul,
Strength and hope, is it all my fault?
I can't deny it, sometimes I lose control
I lose all hope

Until then, it feels like
I'm caught between
Heaven and Hell

Please take away the sins of me and my father
Give me the strength to prevail
If you forgive me, then I'll forgive myself


if you feel like watching the music video for this song...its at http://www.ferretstyle.com/madball/

ed

a good friend from regina started up a blog too. ed has been a huge encouragement and example to me..so im looking forward to seeing what he has to say. if you dont know this guy, move to regina, and go hang out with him at his house. he will make you laugh, make you think and tell you some good stories. miss you lots eddie!
check it out here....


http://eslywka.blogspot.com/

please excuse the profanity...

ive been reading a book by Anne Lamott that i bought this week called "Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith". i am about half way through and must say that this lady is hilarioius. not only is she hilarious, but she inserts phrases or paragraphs that have stopped me in my tracks. made me think. made me examine.
the one ill share this time has a little bit of profanity in it...and yes, i grew up being taught that this is bad...but lets try and look past it together this time to see what she is trying to say. she is talking about light and darkness, and how in life we run in to patches of each...so here goes.

"Without all the shade and shadows, you'd miss the beauty of the veil. The shadow is always there, and if you don't remember it, when it falls on you and your life again, you're plunged into darkness. Shadows make the light show. Without shadows, we'd only see what a friend of mine refers to as 'all that goddamn light'"


ive never thought of that before. the purpose of shadows. ive always thought they were kind of neat, but never knew their purpose. i guess they do have a purpose. i guess even shadows can teach us something about life, about our relationships, about our God.

at 2:00 am...

they decided that they needed to push all the clocks forward an hour. so this morning came pretty quick. i miss good old saskatchewan where they dont mess with the clocks or your sleep...
but anyway. im starting to get that itch to get out and play some tennis. unfortunately, im afraid that it might be a little bit later in the year than what im used to. but maybe it will be even that much sweeter when the white leaves for the more glorious green and red of the tennis court.
if you are up for a game, give me a call.

new music

i found some pretty good music on good old iTunes today. check it out at www.lisaloeb.com
i would

feeling good about myself...

lately ive been struggling with pride. when i say lately, in this case, i mean for the last 24 years of my life. pride has led me to treat people poorly, take people for granted, make bad decisions, ruin friendships and most recently i have come to realize how it has impacted my relationship with God. i am too proud to rely on him, to see the wonder and otherness that God is, and to put aside my wants and needs for those of others.
its hard for me to admit when im wrong, and even harder to break a poor personal trait, such as this, that has become something of an awful habit.
i have reduced my relationship with God to mathematical formulas and answers to all the questions. my pride has prevented me from being lost in wonder and truly fearing the God of the universe.
its something im working on...

changing it up

playing around on my mac i found a new blog thing that im trying out. as of now it probably will not be a long term thing. but its kind of fun to play around on. see what it can do here http://web.mac.com/jeremyalanolson/iWeb

first post from a real computer

so yesterday i got home from work to see a box from fedex sitting on the table waiting for me. turns out it was a MacBook Pro.
after about 30 minutes on the phone with paul taylor, im hooked up to the wireless internet and running. thanks paul!
anyway, everyone should have one of these. fast, slick and easier to use than an iPod.
in real news...things in yellowknife are going well. lots of cool people and quite a bit of fun stuff to do.
last weekend i skied 12.5 kms at the ski club here. im still sore from it. but it was fun.
thats all for today. stay tuned...

more funny stuff from rick...

well, if you need a good laugh. rick mercer is one of the best ways to get it. go check out this link here and play the "Hand In My Pocket Spoof Ad"
i thought the original ads were funny...but this is even better.

what?

i thought these were funny anyway

"Faithful Companion" by Mark Veldhoven



























by Big Jule ------------------------------->


found both of these on Rick Mercers blog.
check it out. its funny too.

from a wise man in china...

one of the wisest people i know sent me this in response to my post about the apathy and laziness ive been feeling. i believe he found it reading some Madame Guyon...

check it out, its been making me think since i read it yesterday.

"Dear reader, you must realize that God has only one desire. Certainly you can never understand a dry spell unless you understand what His desire is. His desire is to give Himself to the soul that really loves Him and to that soul which earnestly seeks Him. And yet it is true that this God who desires to give Himself to you will often conceal Himself from you—from you, the very one who seeks Him! Now why would God do that? Dear saint of God, you must learn the ways of your Lord. Yours is a God who often hides Himself. He hides Himself for a purpose. Why? His purpose is to rouse you from spiritual laziness. His purpose in removing Himself from you is to cause you to pursue Him.”

one reason to hate march...

in march they already start talking about and showing baseball. i mean, give me a break...they already show all 200 regular season games throughout the year, so do we really need to watch an extra 40 games of out of shape athletes play bad baseball?
even the highlights are boring.
other than that march is a pretty sweet month.

not thinking much lately

other than focusing on the new job, i havent been thinking about much lately.
ive kind of slipped into a state of apathy or laziness or something when other things are called into question. dave's thoughts really challenged me today about apathy and letting sin creep in.
its pretty easy to let that happen. you dont even have to want it to be there, it can find its way through cracks and crevices. small things like the apathy and the laziness i have been feeling when it comes to faith have found their way in like water pouring into a cup full of marbles.
what i really want in those spaces between the marbles is that relationship with jesus that ive been missing for far too long. i need to find the drain, exhaust the water and let the real thing pour in...

day one...

well, a lot of people were interested in how the first day of work went...it was a pretty slow day. i really didnt do a whole lot.
i started at 0830h and we had a meeting at about 0900 so i could meet everyone. at 1000, 7 of us went to tim hortons for an hour.
then the rest of the day i read up on how to run the autoanalyzer to test levels of nitrogen in potable water samples.
thats what ill do tomorrow.
so far so good. good people, fancy machines.

starting monday...

i will no longer be unemployed!
i have accepted the position of Laboratory Technician with the Taiga Environmental Laboratory up here in yellowknife.
so, my three month weekend wraps up a little prematurely, but in a welcome way.
thanks for all the prayers and help from everyone!

quinn and bertuzzi

yeah, so canada lost out in the olympic hockey tournament.
these are the two guys i blame.
what a terrible penalty by bertuzzi that let russia go up 1-0.
and what was pat quinn thinking on the powerplays?
pretty disappointing.
better luck in vancouver boys.

made it

well. after a short flight to edmonton, tim met me at the airport and we started the journey northward.
slept in stony plain and left at 730 wednesday morning.
pulled into the ashbys place at about 1100pm wednesday nite.
some good driving, good music(poison, motley crue, G'n R, trooper...) and some very good conversation.
all that to say im here and ill keep you up to date with what happens next.

next stop...yellowknife

its true. im moving north. the last few days have been filled with more sweet breakfast/supper dates, some good price is right watching and some sad goodbyes.
this city is filled with so many good people and i am going to miss that for sure. to be honest...i wont miss the actual city, or the church building i go to every week, or the soccer facility...but the amazing people that are part of my life. whether it is my soccer team, my church community, my family or my breakfast dates.
so many good people to leave!
kind of shows you what is really important in life...the relationships.
shows me that there is something more to church and soccer and breakfasts than just showing up...
its not the places, its the relationships that are formed there.
so if you are reading this, you are likely one of those people that i am going to miss a lot.
send me an email.

why can't i trust?

serious. its so hard for me to trust. to trust that God is watching out for me.
its weird because i have seen him provide for me so often, and i know that the relationship i have with him can only be strengthened if i trust...
but still, im scared. scared for the future, for next week, for next month.
i dont know whats around these corners ahead, and i am having a tough time
dealing with that.
God, i want to lay my life at your feet, give you total control. but something is holding me back. help me.

check out means

means is featured on the purevolume front page. go listen to their songs.
or see them here .

Proceed with great caution...

From C.S. Lewis' "The Weight of Glory":

I mean this sort of thing. I say my prayers, I read a book of devotion, I prepare for or recieve the Sacrament. But while I do these things, there is, so to speak, a voice inside of me that urges caution. It tells me to be careful, to keep my head, not to go too far, not to burn my boats. I come into the presence of God with a great fear lest anything should happen to me within that presence which will prove too intolerably inconvenient when I have come out again into my "ordinary life". I don't want to be carried away into any resolution which I shall afterwards regret. For I know I shall be feeling quite different after breakfast; I don't want anything to happen to me at the altar which will ring up to big a bill to pay then. It would be very disagreeable, for instance, to take the duty of charity (while I am at the altar) so seriously that after breakfast I had to tear up the really stunning reply I had written to an impudent correspondent yesterday and meant to post today. It would be very tiresome to commit myself to a programme of temperance

which would cut off my after breakfast cigarette...

.

i am kind of in this place these days. scared to give everything to God because im scared of the change i know he wants to see in my life.

update on the job hunt

well, this update won't take very long.
mostly because i still dont have anything to report.
ive applied for a lot of positions, and a few of them have deadlines coming up.
so maybe ill hear from those guys in the next week or two here.
but im still plugging away.
somedays its frustrating, other times i enjoy not having anything to do because
ive had some pretty sweet breakfasts at good old simply delicious.
so if you are reading this, and want to go for breakfast one of these days,
i know a really sweet place, and have nothing to do, so
look me up.
(and if you are sick of reading my blog, go check out rick mercer's cause he is one funny guy...ive definitely had a few laughs thanks to him during the last 2 months of pre and post-election coverage)

too much running

this weekend our soccer team played in a tournament. 5 games is a lot.
my body hurts and im tired. maybe a little grouchy too.
but now im sitting here and i have to help out with our
sunday nite 'worship service'...so its kind of neat
that we are focusing on meditation tonite.
quiet time...
i definitely didnt get much of that in with such a busy weekend, but
i think its important to take time just to listen.
to hear what God is trying to make visible to us, to get the other side of the conversation.
the important side.
i focus on my side so often that its such a onesided dialogue that it often becomes a monologue.

saying goodbye to some good people

ive been up since 2 a.m.
i woke up to watch a brilliant man and his tennis racquet put on
a dance-like performance in melbourne.
roger federer is a genius.
after that i helped pete and chelsey load up the moving truck as they start their journey westward.
saying goodbye is hard.
im gonna miss those guys, their servant hearts, their genuine passion for sharing jesus with people.
so good.
at times like these you realize how important those relationships are.
i have been so blessed with countless amazing people to share this journey with.
these two are on my mind especially today.

a new take on abraham

after reading leonard sweet's chapters on abraham and isaac, things do look a little different in my mind. these are some of the questions and thoughts in that chapter that i came away with...
what do you think?
why didnt abraham ask God to change his mind when he told him to sacrifice isaac? (he debated with God to save lives in sodom and gomorrah...)
in other words, why didnt abraham engage in a conversation about this with God. it had to seem like a ridiculous request in his mind.

sweet says the point of the story is this:
" What God wants from us, even more than our obedience is our relationship. If obedience were all that mattered, God would have not created us in God's own image"
"God created us for two-way conversations--for full-blown no-holds-barred conversations. God wants us to be fully engaged in the exchage"

interesting, no? God wants me to argue, debate, laugh, cry, joke, and share with Him just as i would in a 'normal' human relationship? so, its okay to be angry with God if we are willing to talk things out? God wants my input? he doesnt want a blind obedience?
scandalous.
made me think anyways...im still thinking on this one.

badminton and reading

i played badminton again yesterday. unfortunately my competition whithered under
the pressure of trying to beat me for the first time.
but it is still quite a fun game. its like a moving chess match. similar to tennis. i think thats why i like it. anyway,
i have also started to read (for the 2nd time) Leonard Sweet's "Out of the Question...Into the Mystery". after the intro and chapter one, it has already been worth the $5.22 i spent on it. (thanks blair and dave)
challenging ideas about relationship and faith. from that book, chew on this one...
"how did we arrive at the place where Christians are providing some of the best arguments against knowing Christ?" ouch!

and while your at it...check out blairs blog here. be careful it might make you think in ways you havent...im stoked to read some of that guys thoughts...

stephen harper, prime minister

wow, if theres something out there that makes me cringe,
seeing harpers name followed by those two words just might be it.
to remedy this situation, i think i will begin to look for
employment in a country that is not run by north american
tyranists.
ok, ok i dont think it will be that bad. (but it could be)
the slim majority will hopefully require all of the parties
to work together.
but how about the good old NDP?
jack layton led them to 10 more seats this time around.
nice work jack.
lets see if we can make this government last more than a year and a half.

coffee with my green party friend...

last nite i sat in denny's until 1:30 a.m. with a buddy who will vote green party today.
we talked a little bit about the election
a lot about other stuff.
its great to be able to continue the conversation that
started a week or two ago amongst a small group of friends.
i have been reminded these last weeks that i am so far from
having a clue about who God is.
last nite i got to the point of just shaking my head
as we tried to come up with ideas in the 'God and Time/Future'
debate.
my mind boggles at the thought of the inner workings of a fax machine let alone
the inner workings of the creator of the universe.
anyway, go vote today.

three month weekend

yes it's true.
well, its not quite a three month weekend yet. but im getting closer.
im done school and have found myself with extra time to read and
write as i do the job search thing.
so, here i am. joining the blogging nation.
will be interesting to see where this all goes.
thanks for tuning in.