Excerpts from the Peanut Gallery: December 2005

gearing up to go home to conserva-country

I KNOW. I've gone COMPLETELY off the deep end- vote for stephen.

Pool shark

Mark being a pool shark at "shady undisclosed location"- so much like the mafia we are!

Post-exam/MVH birthday festivities!

Romalie and I taking part in festivities in an undisclosed location post-exam style and in honour of mr. michael vanhemmen, conservative sherpa-extrodinaire, who had the good sense to be born on this day several years ago!

Romalie Murphy, ladies and gents!

Minutes before we set out on the momentous walk that would take Romalie and Mark to the final embassy in ottawa (they hit up every single country represented in our capital! ) and i was honoured to accompany them. Look at the excitement on this explorer's face.

Kevan and myself on a fridgid walk to see Michaelle Jean- she was not home.

Notice the winter gear we are sporting- i got home two nights later, mitts, parka, toque, all USELESS. I heart BC!

hug a tree for warmth...

From Tennyson's Ulysses:
...Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breath were life.
Life piled on life
Were all to little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought...

Free hearts, free foreheads- you and I are old;
Old age had yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

Ok, so i know this poem is supposed to be from a man nearing the end of his life, and i- to the best of my knowledge - am not nearing the end of mine, nor am i a man (of that i am sure). but for the last 24 hours i have been at a lost as to what to write on here- a first this week! Tonight is my last night in Ottawa and as i was wandering past Rideau Hall and through the great residences of Rockcliff, i thought of that line "all experience is an arch wherethro' gleams..." and it just gave me some thoughts on things coming to an end. But Ulysses pushes on to the very end and goes out not with a whimper- but a bang. So here's to an awesome set of months, here is to all i have learned and to my teachers, here's to a million memories which would only make sense to a few, and here is to those few, who've shared this house, the LLC - its a good place. I am so blessed, how did i get this way? Only by grace. I guess all this to say, i am so thankful for this time here, and while i am sad to leave, i know that this experience is only pointing all of us here forward; there is so much hope in going out from here.

When i run, i feel God's pleasure...

There is something about running that has taken a hold of me this semester. i mean i was a jogger before, but now its a bit different. maybe its the canal, maybe its the cold, maybe it is whatever is pent up inside me from being hunched over in front of a computer all day, every day.

So i was randomly going through people's blogs, people whom i dont even know and stumbled upon one from this girl who is somehow connected to trinity and she is in Costa Rica, living with a costa rican family. Instajealous. thats what i was.

you know when you havent thought about doing something that you love in a really long time? like snowboarding when the first snow starts to dust the mountains in october, but long before the mountains will be open?

i dont know how else to describe it, but that is the feeling i get, only magnified when i hear about someone else doing what i want to do in some place like Costa Rica. man, its been so long since i really thought about Guate and then all in one week, i get an email about some jobs there and a conversation with one of my buddies back in Antigua and i just wanna go- now.

Its been so long since i dreamed about being back in guate- i mean actually being there and thinking about what it looks like and how everyone smells and what they talk about over dinner and going to church with them and sitting on the chicken bus with them. i mean i have dreamed alot about this whole microfinance thing, but i havent put it in a real context, a place i know. and then it comes back to you and you realise the old friend you have been missing, the passion that has been kinda sputtering or quiet is still there, and more than anything- its such a relief- to know i have not lost it.

Its not that i am in any position to go anytime soon, but its just really good to know its still there, waiting for me. I dont want to miss out on anything, but i can't wait to get started. I also have this strange feeling like "job? no problem! they have to love me instantly, of course they will hire me and send me exactly where i want to go!" is this unrealistic? surely not!

so i run. i don't think for a few moments. and i can just dream, plan, scheme. its relief.

"When i run, I feel God's pleasure"
- eric liddel, chariots of fire.

Un pense

Ok, so just a quick thought, because i have been blogging-slash-procrastinating on xanga all morning...and by that i mean also talking to andrea... anyways, i have to note this down (becuase i am becoming a blogsnob where everything is blogworthy due SOLELY to my university courses here in ottawa); ahem, anyways. I was shocked and appalled yesterday when i was in starbucks and the man behind me SCOFFED when i ordered! he scoffed, i mean outright "hurrrumph!"ed when i said i would please like a grande half-sweet nonfat gingerbread misto!! Can you imagine the nerve of this fellow!! i mean just because i am assertive and know exactly what i want - and if i am gonna pay three bucks for a cup of coffee it better be EXACTLY what i want!
ok i just had to get that off my chest, i have been so irked by him all day... the nerve... honestly!

Baby its cold outside....

Ok, so this will be my THIRD time blogging today, after not blogging for a good three weeks... can you tell its exam time? LET THE STUDY EXTRAVAGANZA BEGIN! or should i say, let the procrastination begin!!
I even have a theme song: i hereby officially declare that December 1-12th shall be marked by the solemn occasion of the playing of the december 1-12th anthem: "Baby its cold outside" by Dean Martin. Because a) it is FRICKING cold out here, and b) I am all about the procrastinating- put it off! why do today what you could do tomorrow?

"...I really must go-But baby its cold outside- My mother will start to worry- oh darlin what's your hurry?"

also, i just went to starbucks (hence the reason i know the exact temperature, which is, ahem, -78degrees). I got a latte and in the two block walk home- it got cold, i had to reheat it!! Does ANYONE remember the days of carpooling when i got starbucks on the langley bypass and wouldnt drink it til ladner??!!! THATS HOW COLD IT IS OUTSIDE.

BRRRRRRRRRRR.

Also, i cannot believe that i have yet to blog about the MOST important event of the week- THE TOPPLING OF THE GOVERNMENT on monday night. Let's just say more than one peasant in me rejoiced, and by that i mean, i dance upon the grave of the 38th parliament, in other words, it just might have been the highlight of my semester. what i am trying to say is, i was ON parliament hill when History took place. And i cheered.

So i guess the cat's outta the bag, my time in ottawa hasn't exactly made me fall in love with the liberal party eh?

but nevertheless it was pretty exciting, and if you watched carefully on the global news coverage, you would have seen me standing in the parliamentary hall of honour behind Kevin Newman and Jack Layton. Yeah, they wanted to interview me, but my press secretary wasnt around, so i didnt bother to authorise it. i was too busy and important anyways (see picture below).

The thing is, i dont think anyone who is not in the house right now really understands -or cares to for that matter- how BIG this moment was in canadian history, no like you guys REALLY dont seem to care!! i am BAFFLED!

shocked

alarmed

dismayed...

ASTONISHED...

speechless, i am without speech.

Possible next prime minister?

In the spirit of the recently kicked-off campaign: i give you....(drum roll..) Jack Layton!!!

- note the silver mustache and special, festive NDP christmas sweater in orange and green- similar to red!

By the Canal

My normal jogging route- needless to say i was not out for a run today!

1st big snowfall!

Minutes before the infamous mound of snow "mysteriously" amassed boxing in Mark's truck. No sir, i dont have a CLUE how it all got there!

Jordan's first snowshovelling experience!

Ladies and gents, i give you a California who can shovel snow like a zamboni!

Parka time!

I love this coat for two reasons: a. i feel like i can finally say i am canadian and yes, i do live in an igloo and b. i feel like lara croft in it- you know the part where she has that bit white fur hood and coat- heck yes thats me!

Hello, i am terribly busy and important...

in my office on the very last day...
great angle romalie, thanks, its SO flattering.

Murder Mystery Night

Yes, we did all dress up for a murder mystery and YES, that IS our LLC hero, Prof. John Dyck as Jimi Hendrix. We can all die happily now...

Nov.11 continues...

My cool friends, Jordan, Winnie....and Kevan.

Nov. 11, 2005

Tuba

Rememberance day

November 11 wreaths

Don't you see! its Christmas!!!

I have never been so happy to hug a tree...

Consider me pinkslipped!

So yesterday afternoon i cleaned out my desk at work. I have completed my hours and my practicum has come to an end. I have never really cleaned out my desk at work, i mean to be honest, the whole experience of having a desk- having an office for that matter all to myself, while abismally lonely and secluded, was in a manner, new and exciting.
So the desk is now clean, i took home my favourite pencil and my gum and the advil i kept on hand. The tea and snack stash came home too, and well, i just can't help thinking how sad my little desk must be, sighing to itself in a darkened little office. I mean, i didnt really appreciate him, you see he was a bit low, so i often hit my knees on the pull-out keyboard tray. But when all is said and done, we had a good run, didn't we? i mean it is almost Christmas, and Christmas is a time for being thankful for the loved ones in your life, and well desky i just wanted to say, i am thankful for you.

AAAAAND thats the end of that!
i am pretty thankful for my internship though. Probably most for my boss, whom i think has been just about as cool as a boss could be short of being self-employed or working for the man himself- St Nick (well think about it, wouldnt it be cool to be an elf? and i mean you would probably get alot of left over gingerbread cookies, because the man cannot possibly eat them all himself). Anyways i was a bit skeptic when i started. i mean i already attend christian-mc-christian school, so working for a christian NGO seemed a bit excessive. But the internship has more than made up for it, and i am pretty proud of my office. And its been a real challange to figure out how i honestly think Christians, and NGOs of any type should really be involved in policy work. But i learned alot about just working with humility and integrity in the public policy sector.

So i hate to go and get all pensive on you, but here is the thought of the day (or rather two days ago, but who is countin'?) Annie and i were talking about this very subject and she told me what someone had once said to her. "christians need to find their place at the table," and its the same as everyone else. Its not that we have a right to be in public policy or we should be quiet because we are out of style. Its more that there is a conversation going on, and everyone is welcome. Right now, the Christian voice in public policy isnt so hot, but you work at it bit by bit to be reasoned, level-headed and listening to others too. No one in this job can expect to be given more than what they give to the person yelling the exact opposite.

So, these are just some reflections on my internship for posterity. There are a few really cool experiences that will stick out :the day mycanada, the youth advocacy group, breezed into our office and left a tornado's wake but were just about the coolest group of young adults and teens you could ever meet; going to the Make Poverty History steering committee meetings- ok those meetings were NOT exciting at all, they were boring as hell, but there was always a glimmer of hope that Bono would show up; the "planning meetings" Annie and i had at sbux; nattering at MPs in their very offices... the list goes on. I am thankful for the opportunity and the sheer variety of things i got to do and see.

welp, there you have it.

Excerpts from the Peanut Gallery

Tuesday, December 13, 2005