Incredible

I found a link to this video over on Jason Clark's blog, and all I can say is:



wow.



Being a full-time idealist, part-time cynic, amateur futurist, a fan of media, technology, Marshall McLuhan, as well as creativity in general, this video just appeals to me in so many different ways. If you're not into this sort of thing then you probably won't see what the big deal is, but I think it's simply amazing. Just go and watch it, my words will not do it justice....wow

My Old Friend Oscar...

I realized today that it was the first time in many years that I didn't watch the Academy Awards live. Seeing as how they didn't start until 1am over here, and I had to be at work at 7:30, it didn't seem very practical. To be honest, I didn't really care about them much this year though...however, my two congratulations do go out to Alexander Payne and Charlie Kaufman for awards which were well-deserved. Both men are superb writers, and both Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are excellent films which deserve a viewing if you have not already done so.

On an interesting side note, last year I was in Tampa during the Oscars, this year I'm in Oxford. I wonder where I'll be next year...........

Degenerating into incoherent metaphysical ramblings

oy! I worked for 10 1/2 hours today, and it's depressing to think that I have to be back there for my next shift in only 8 hours from now, but on the plus side I earned around $125 CDN today! After work, I went to the pub for a pint with Rich and Alberto, and just hung out for a while. Alberto was telling us about how he's planning to take a 2 week vacation soon in France and Belgium, and it totally got me stoked for traveling again. He said by booking a month in advance he got a bus ticket from London to Paris and back again for only £25! I still have trouble believing I'm not in North America any more...I mean, I guess being within driving distance of Paris or Brussels or Amsterdam is like being in driving distance of NYC or Chicago or Montreal back home, but over here the cultures are so radically different from one another...and the amount of history is unparalleled in North America.

Speaking of North America, I've been having lots of 'flashbacks' lately...it doesn't seem like an adequate description, but I'm not really sure what to call them. It's not Deja Vu, because they are specific memories....strong memories that have been coming back to me. But not in a sad, homesick kind of way....more in a positive, nostalgic kind of way...does that make any sense at all? Like a smell that reminds me of camping at the Pinery, or a cafe that reminds me of a road trip I took with Matt, or European-style walk up apartments that make me think of my summer in Montreal...there's been tons of these in the last few days, and I'm not really sure why. Like I said above, it's not that I 'miss' these things particularly, I've just been frequently reminding myself of my past...if that's possible. I guess it's all part of my recent identity issue(s) and trying to determine how my life experiences have contributed to who I presently am, and how I ended up where I am/did. But again, this isn't a hugely participatory quest on my part (only to a small degree)...it's kind of an unconscious effort that I seem be going along with. Does any of this make sense? This is likely all the incoherent metaphysical rambling of an overworked and overtired human being. I'll leave it at that and perhaps post more when I figure out what the heck I'm thinking/talking about. Or when I turn 23 years old on Friday and it suddenly all becomes clear to me ;)

Content

That's 'content' as in the mood, rather than 'content' as in the subject matter of a given thing.

I'm just really happy with life these days...my friend Jim has gone away on a skiing vacation in Vermont for the week, so he gave me the keys to his place! This means I'm getting a solid night's sleep, rather than being interrupted by drunken hooligans yelling at the XBOX in the room next to me. This is especially appreciated when I have to work early in the morning. Speaking of work, it's going well. Today was crazy though...it was my first Saturday shift. Now I know how they afford to pay us, it was non-stop business! My co-workers are really friendly though, and it's nice to be constantly busy rather than bored...and there are enough tasks (steaming milk, doing dishes, bussing tables) that one can do mindlessly if one so desires. They're also sending me home with boatloads of free food...kilos and kilos! It's great, I may never have to buy another meal again (unless I want some vegetables or something, but y'know...) Now there's only so much fulfillment one can get from serving coffee for a living, but for the moment, it's great...it keeps me busy, pays me, and dishes out free food...no complaints there!

Last night I went to see a British indie band called The Wedding Present at the Zodiac with Rich. They were amazing! I'll definitely be picking up some of their stuff...for folks back home, they're playing Lee's Palace in the T-Dot sometime in April, I can't remember when exactly...I highly, HIGHLY recommend making the trek to see them...so very, very excellent! Afterwards we headed to Po Na Na to celebrate Martin and Gareth's birthday. We met the birthday boys as well as Jon, Ollie and Jules among others...danced until 1 or so, and then headed home...a good time was had by all. Today it was the crazy nearly-9 hour shift, then right after work I went to Anita's place to watch Pleasantville with her, Justice, Alberto and Emily...it was chilled, but just what I needed after a long day of work. Now I'm at Jim's listening to a live version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and getting ready for another full day tomorrow.

So yeah...life is pretty good. I was telling the boys in my huddle on Thursday night that I finally feel like I'm planting some roots here...it's the first community I feel like I've really been involved in since the end of high school, and that's a great thing. The fact that I'm able to list all those names up there and refer to them as 'friends' really says something...something pretty awesome!

More to come shortly, I hope...

Deceitful representations

At the behest of Jon March, I have decided to go ahead and paste maps of where in the world I've been.

It's a little bit deceiving, since you can only choose by country (with the exception of the US) so in clicking on 'Canada' everything from Newfoundland to Nunavut is covered. I have never actually been to Newfoundland or Nunavut, so it's somewhat of a lie. It would be better if you could choose the provinces in the same way you can choose US states, but I guess the same could be said of every country. Likewise, I've selected 'Italy' when really all that entails is Rome, Florence and Venice. Ah well...check back in a year or two, and hopefully these maps shall be a little bit more red....




create your own visited countries map

Good things in life

A list of good things in my life:

• -awesome weekend retreat with hOME
• -snowed on my walk back from work today
• -worked for 8 hours today, which means I earned £40, which is enough for transportation to the airport and a return flight to Paris. After tomorrow's shift, i'd be able to afford a whole weekend in Paris! (alternatively, this money could also be spent on a used bicycle, food and/or go towards rent, but those are less inspiring thoughts)
• -heard some classic Bran Van 3000 in the beer store as I stopped in on my way home
• -saw Carl Winslow doing a cameo as a limo driver in NYC on Crocodile Dundee while I was eating supper

Well that's it for now. Still waiting for my darn computer...

Employed!

Just a quick update to say that I have found full time employment! I am officially a 'barista' at Coffee Republic in downtown Oxford! I did a search for 'coffee republic' but all i could find was this So enjoy those reports! Briefly, I have created a list of pros and cons about this job, as I see them:

Cons:

- part of a franchise
- only pays £5/hr
- may have to start some days at 6:45am
- about 1/2 hour walk from where i currently live
- need to buy some new black shoes

Pros:
- full time hours available
- a free meal with each shift
- 2 days consecutive days off each week
- latest shift ends at 7:30pm on weekdays, 8:30pm on Saturdays
- located in the city centre (right near the bus station)

so there ya have it! My computer has now officially been shipped in for repairs and I'm working full time, so expect to see fewer of these updates for the next little while...

No go!

Well, I couldn't find the Valentine's day party! The directions that were given to me were fine, and looking at a map now, I must have walked right past the road several times, but I just couldn't seem to find it! I walked around for like an hour...I forgot my mobile phone at home so I couldn't even ring...in the end I just came home and watched Wimbledon with my housemates, drinking beer and eating popcorn. But you know, to be honest, I'm not at all disappointed...after walking around for an hour I didn't really have energy left to meet people any how, and it wasn't like I knew anyone there, so they won't have missed me. And besides, now I have a bottle of Bailey's all to myself :D

So while I was walking around looking for this place, I was thinking about how easy it is to be bitter on Valentine's day if you're single, and yet, there are probably people who are a lot worse off...I thought about the people in a dysfunctional relationship who wanted nothing more than to get out of it, but couldn't do it because it's Valentine's day, and now they're kicking themselves for not leaving sooner and end up spending all kinds of money on gifts and a fancy restaurant which is ultimately empty of meaning and only making things worse by prolonging the charade....i thought about people who were recently widowed and how seeing all the romance marketing and the couples together must painfully remind them of their deceased loved one...and i thought about those who are in love with someone who is in love with someone else, and how much that would suck....

Ok, so technically those last two would be considered 'single' as well, but if you're not in any of the above categories, then you should consider yourself lucky....yeah, everyone wants someone to share their life with, but that person isn't going to be your saviour...and as nice as a good relationship is, it's not the answer to life, and if you're looking for fulfillment, then after a while, even in a good relationship, you'll continue to search for that 'something else...' Don't be bitter, enjoy your life, you only get one!

Don't buy eMachines!

A handwritten letter I will be sending in the post tomorrow:

To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Christopher Langston and I purchased an eMachines M6811 notebook in August 2004. It was defective out of the box, however the problem was only a minor irritant which I thought that I could live with. Lately, however, the notebook has stopped recognizing when the power adaptor is plugged in, thereby rendering it impossible to recharge the battery. I called technical support and easily received an RMA number for repairs. I was told, however, that under the terms of the warranty, shipping costs are only covered within North America. This poses a problem since I am currently a student in Oxford, England. I phoned again to customer service and asked if any concession could be made, but I was told flatly that "eMachines will not pay for shipping outside of North America." I understand this is eMachines standard policy, and that if they were to offer shipping around the world it would cost too much, however given the current circumstances - the fact that it was a manufacturer's defect and that I am a student who is dependent on his computer - I was hoping that eMachines would be willing to pay the bill. The customer service representative said you would not, and that anyone else I asked at eMachines would give me the same response. I have enclosed a copy of the shipping receipt with this letter to show you the exact cost of shipping this back to North America, with insurance. I could have sent it via surface and lessened the cost, however that would have taken several months and as I mentioned previously, I am rather dependent on my computer. I expect that it will cost equally as much to have my computer shipped back to me here in the UK.

I am writing this letter to inform you that I will never purchase another eMachines product ever again, and will inform my friends and family about my notebook being defective from the start, as well as the poor way that you handled this situation. I will also be posting a copy of this letter on my world wide web site. Once again, I recognize that it is not eMachines policy to pay for international shipping costs, however I learned long ago that the way to make any customer a loyal customer is to go out of your way for them when you make a mistake. You have sold me a faulty product, you have cost me my time while I live without a computer during its shipping and repairs, and on top of that, you have made me pay for the shipping to North America out of my own pocket. This is why I will never purchase another product made by eMachines and advise everyone I know to do the same. I await your response.

Sincerely,
Christopher Langston
[signature]
[England address]
[Canada address]
----

So there you have it! Don't buy eMachines! For the record, shipping will cost me somewhere between 65 and 90 POUNDS STERLING, which is around $200 Canadian. And that's just one way! I bought their product expecting that it would function as promised, it's not my fault that it doesn't, therefore I don't think I should have to spend another $300-400 in order to get it repaired. It would be nice to receive a cheque back from them covering the total shipping costs, but to be honest I'm not really expecting anything besides a form letter saying that they're 'sorry for the defect' and that 'international shipping isn't covered under the warranty terms.' Fine, I know...next time I'll spend the extra money on a Toshiba or IBM and get the customer service that goes along with it.

Valentine's Date?

I met a new guy named Mezza at the hOME sunday lunch today (who, contrary to the title, is not my Valentine's date!). Mezza is a British-Iranian who does video production stuff for a living in Oxford. He's a big film buff too, so we had some good discussions over lunch! Anyway, he mentioned that him and his friend were planning on going out tomorrow night along with 5 or 6 girls for Valentine's day, and he asked if I wanted to come along! My first thought was "I like those odds!" and without thinking any further I said yes...

Now those of you that know me well will realize that back in Canada, this is something that I would never, ever do! However, something happens when you're traveling by yourself whereby you just find some sort of inner courage that you never knew you had and end up having fun with (almost) complete strangers. After all, it's not like you have friends to go and hang out with, so if you don't have some fun with complete strangers, you won't end up having fun with anyone at all! So there you have it! From what he was telling me, it sounds like they're all young professionals with jobs in the field of 'media' in one way or another (acting/producing/what have you) so hopefully there will be some common ground for conversation. It also sounds like it's going to be quite the multicultural group, with an Iranian, an Indian, a Brit and a Canadian already on board. Interesting....we shall see....

Broken Computers and Bodies of Water

Well, I've been having power issues with my laptop ever since I bought it, however today it finally went off the deep end. My computer will no longer recognize that the power adapter is plugged in, so I'm currently running off what remains of my battery. I called tech support, and they said they'd fix it for free, but it means I have to ship it back to North America because that's where their tech centre is. Bah. It'll be nice to finally have a fully functional computer however I'm not liking the fact that I will be 'unplugged' for a few weeks, at the very least. Hopefully I'll get some temp work soon in order to alleviate the boredom that would otherwise ensue (and to earn some money, which I'm definitely in need of). I'll still be able to check my e-mail from computers provided by libraries and/or housemates, but I won't be around on Messenger and such. As well, posts like these will probably become more scarce...

And now for something completely different:
I was wandering around Oxford today and had lunch at the Head of the River pub. It was a bit pricey, but the view was beautiful. As I was eating, I realized that there's something about living near a large body of water that feeds my soul. This is something else I was missing in Hartfield, and although I couldn't pinpoint it at the time, I realize now that it was a factor. Whether it's Lake Ontario, Lake Clearwater, The St. Lawrence River, or the Thames, anywhere I've lived for more than a month has always been close to a large body of water (with the exception of Hartfield). Maybe it's that connection to God's creation, or maybe it's the fantasy of hopping on a boat and leaving your troubles behind while traveling to somewhere new & exciting...or maybe it's both of these things and more. Whatever it is, I love water, and the thought of being land-locked almost induces a form of claustrophobia in me....

Well that's it for now, and possibly for a while...I hope that you're all well, and I'll keep you updated with developments of my laptop repair. Au revoir.

Friday night in O-town

Well it looks like I'm going to see the Dears at the Zodiac tonight! (with Rich, who seems like a pretty good guy!)

For those that don't know, the Dears are a kick ass band from Montreal whom I had the pleasure of seeing a couple times when I was living Kingston, Ontario. Their CDs are really good, but like many other bands, their true talent lies in the live performance. All the members gel really well together and they can jam like nobody's business! It seems like I can't avoid Canada in these parts! Maybe I'll head up the road and get some more Moosehead to enjoy before the show :)

You can download an MP3 of the first track from their latest album "No Cities Left" by clicking here. (This song is superb!) You can also sample a bunch of their other stuff from that album & more using RealPlayer here - I was looking for a free download of their song "Heathrow or Deathrow" (how appropos) but all the links appear to be broken, so no luck for you folks....

Unionization of United Church Ministers

Some background info regarding the following post:

My mom sent an e-mail to the ministers at my home church (Wellington Square in Burlington, Ontario) about an article she saw in the local paper today about two ministers who were campaigning for United Church of Canada clergy to become members of and supported by the Canadian Auto Workers union. It should be noted that I have no idea what position any of the ministers at Wellington Square have on this issue. Below is my response to my mom's message and actually, my opinions on the whole thing, but first some informational links for those who may be less familiar with the issues at hand:

• An old CBC article on this
  
• The Official United Church of Canada response
• The Official United Church of Canada website
• Wellington Square United Church - my home church (looks like it's down at the moment)
• Canadian Auto Workers official site

My two cents (or two pence, as it happens to be at the moment...):

Y’see, at work my mom has to deal with a union that is pushy and unnecessary (plus she just finished collective bargaining agreements, so she’s probably a little extra frustrated with unions at the moment) when really, the organization could take much better care of the employees without the union around, especially with my mom at the helm of said organization! :)

However we need to keep in mind that unions themselves aren’t inherently evil…the reason that we don’t have sweatshop labour in north america / europe any more is largely due to the work of unions. And I know that many of the sweatshop workers overseas would LOVE to be able to organize a union to keep working conditions safe and payment fair, however they are often illegal and discouraged (with both verbal and physical abuse) because the leaders in the governments of the countries where such things take place know that if they impose rules about fair payments, corporations will just pick up and move to a country where no such laws exist and they can continue to exploit people (this is an over-simplification of all the issues involved, however this is basically why everything is Made in China these days…)

Now, I think it would be safe to presume that the reason these united church ministers want to unionize is because they too feel exploited, unsupported and treated with hostility. We would all do well to remember that many, many individual churches within the United Church of Canada are not _nearly_ as vibrant as Wellington Square, and many bitter congregation members still attend out of a sense of moral duty more than anything else. Having had a recent experience of this in a rural Anglican church, I can appreciate the position that these ministers are in all too well…

That being said, when the leaders of a Christian community (in this case, the ministers of individual United Churches of Canada) feel so distraught and disconnected that they can’t actually approach the denominational leadership and/or their congregation about these issues, and thereby feel the need to appeal to a 3rd party arbiter (in this case, the Canadian Auto Workers union) to fight out the legality of their employment, well then you might as well just scrap the whole thing and start again. Isn’t the whole POINT of a Christian community to be accountable to one another…to encourage each other, to forgive each other, to love one another?
It’s true that it may just be a few dissidents, but that in itself is enough to expose the inherent flaws in the system. It’s this exact kind of political and bureaucratic bullshit that has always unnerved me about institutionalized Christianity. I recognize that in the past it was necessary to be associated with some form of organized doctrine in order to distinguish ourselves from loony cults, and that was not a bad thing at the time, but it is now the 21st century, so can we please move past that? I think most of us have realized that actually, in fact, we don’t have all of God entirely figured out (like we thought we did), and as beautiful as our systematic theologies are, they are still man-made constructs…containers which God refuses to be stuck inside of…God is alive, and moving and working and breathing, all the time, every day! So as long as we are loving God and loving our neighbours, as Jesus commands in Mark 12:30-31 (the two greatest commandments) and acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God, as written in Micah 6:8, then what is the necessity for a monolithic institution pulling strings above us? As far as I’m concerned, Christian communities should be self-sufficient (so long as God is part of the equation), and if they’re not then maybe you need to take a step back and reconsider the whole thing.

So what do I recommend for Wellington Square? The same thing I’d recommend for any other Christian church or community…to care for one another and support one another, including the leadership. I would have a hard time believing that there were any serious problems between the ministry team and the congregation of Wellington Square, but I would hope that if there ever were, both sides would act like loving, mature Christians and approach the issue in an honest, open and most of all, humble way. If these other unionized ministers are feeling so unsupported, well then there are fundamental flaws in that system which need to be addressed. To put this all in perspective, I’m not against Christians organizing in large numbers and working together…not by a long shot! In fact, I think as the acting body of Christ, we need more inclusion and less division. My problem is when the politics become an obstacle to loving God and everyone else with all of our hearts…to be honest, I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to understanding how the United Church functions at a national level, however it is clear to me that if things like this are occurring, then the politics are getting in the way of our true (com)mission.

To finish up then, my final views on the unionization of United Church ministers is this: let them argue about who is going to have what on the ship that is inevitably sinking, because I’ve got more important things to worry about. I am going to continue to try my very best to ‘fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…’ (Heb. 12:2) and do so in conjunction with those around me who are seeking the same thing. And in the end, we’ll be the ones making the difference in the world because we will constantly be supporting each other in our quest to love God and everyone else, while the rest worry about matters which are ultimately insignificant.

Keep in mind these are the rantings of an idealistic 22 year old who is currently galavanting across Europe, but to summarize in one statement: I think the whole thing is an exercise in missing the point. My opinions are not firm however, and I welcome – encourage, even - any dialogue which may occur as a result!

The Frustrations of Existing as a Never-ending Work In Progress...

Ok, so I just wanted a lofty title...but I decided that I do want to post some of my recent thoughts, rather than just the mundane, daily or weekly "this is what I've been up to" junk...

So I've been excited about life a lot lately...it's continually refreshing to live in Oxford...to be able to turn down another sidestreet I haven't seen yet and come across a building which is new to my eyes but has stood there for hundreds of years beforehand. I also think that living in the Western world's education mecca has renewed my love for learning, though not necessarily in an institutional form (though I have not formed any aggressive opinions against institutional learning either). Not having a job, while stressful on the bank account and food palate, has provided me with ample time for watching films and reading books, and it has been wonderful. Lately, I've really been considering how being a Canadian citizen affects my identity in the world abroad. I've downloaded a lot of music by Leonard Cohen and Bruce Cockburn, and have been going into bookstores, buying a coffee, and reading some more Douglas Coupland and Marshall McLuhan (and then returning it to the shelf when I'm finished for the day because I can't actually afford to buy them). While I realize this is only a tiny cross-section of Canada's culture, these seem to be thinkers/artists who have a pretty good handle on the pulse of Canadian identity. Which is not to say that I've become a fervent proponent of Nationalism at any level, it's just that I'm trying to figure who I am in relationship to the world at large, and understanding the values of Canadians (versus other cultures/nationalities) therefore helps to explain who I am/what I think/why I think that. I absolutely despise the fact that I am the walking cliche who's "taking a couple years to go overseas and find himself," however that wasn't my intention when I left...it's just sorta came about once I got over here...I think it's inevitable to a certain degree. And the more I engage with it, the more I am convinced that one cannot truly have full knowledge of self until they are immersed in another culture for a considerable length of time as an adult, and then take into consideration the impact which this is bound to have. And far be it from me to toot my own horn...hell, I was watching Superbowl highlights given in American English on TV today...this isn't the African bush and I'm hardly the most daring individual, but nevertheless, living in Britain has affected me in a way that I never would have known to be possible before.

Which brings me to my next point, which is what the title is all about. It's loosely related to the paragraph above and I was going to try to weave some sort of link between the two paragraphs but I don't want to take the time to think of a good one so you got this explanation instead. So anyways, like I said I've been really excited about life, but I've become frustrated with my lack of...I don't even know how to put it into words....and actually, that's the whole problem. My lack of input? My lack of production? My lack of creative outlet? Again, I have nothing wrong with learning and learning and learning, and it's not like I'm the smartest person in the world with all kinds of new and original ideas to share, but I would like some sort of outlet to 'publish' my thoughts....that is, aside from my journal and this half-assed website. Ideally it would be through film, but in a practical sense, that is far too costly (both monetarily and chronologically) to do a good job of...so what then? A novel? Short stories? Poetry? Newspaper articles? A screenplay? A play play? I dunno...it could be writing or acting or acting out my writing or whatever...I dunno...just some sort of focus for the chaos that is my mind. And for the record, I'm not soliciting suggestions here...it's something I need to come to/determine for myself, I'm just explaining how...well...I want to explain myself more. I think that part of my hesitation is that I recognize the fact that I am still young and have so much more to learn, but then I get to thinking that it's always going to be like that, and that I will never truly feel like I have enough knowledge to speak authoritatively on anything at all (although maybe I'm wrong). My reason for wanting to get this stuff out is not to have my thoughts (and hence, self) validated by others (although if I'm really honest, that's part of it), but actually my motivation is much more selfish than that. I find that by sharing ideas and actively engaging other people with those ideas feeds me and teaches me so much more than one-way communication, and....blah....I could go on for hours more but this is all so etheral and theoretical and hypothetical and not much practical good at all, but that's another part of the problem...it is all floating around way "up here" and I can't seem to solidfy it very much.

On a final, and totally unrelated note, I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again last night and got to thinking how I'd love to marry a girl who was a combination of Kate Winslet's character in that film, Natalie Portman's character in Garden State, and Penelope Cruz's character in Vanilla Sky (erm, personality-wise at least, although it wouldn't hurt if she looked like any of those folks either). But then I got to thinking how those girls don't really exist...in two senses actually. First, they don't exist in the sense that girls who are actually like that in real life are already taken by the time I get to them because others also find them so attractive (again, personality AND appearance-wise) so I don't even get a shot (this is more of a general rule than an absolute...it's really just based on the experience(s) I've had so far), and secondly, they also don't exist in the sense that each of them are simply fictional characters, who are most likely just the personified exaggeration of the idealistic partner of each individual writer. This then led me to wonder how much of what I'm looking for in a potential mate is of my own creation and how much is really just a re-appropriation of what Hollywood has been feeding me with over the years? I mean, I've only ever had 2 girlfriends in my lifetime, and I wouldn't consider either of them 'proper' relationships, at least as I would currently define such a thing, so what do I really know about what I want? I thought I had a pretty good handle on it, and maybe I do, but lately I've really been questioning that. I suppose that I could find comfort in the advice that "God has someone made just for you, and you will find her when the time is right," but, for reasons I don't want to get into here, I'm pretty sure that's bullshit. So I guess there's no real way to find out how much I really am sure about what I want without dating other people, but that's not an activity which I take lightly...so really, these thoughts are just an exercise to pass the time until something actually happens. Which I suppose could be said about everything I've written above, but there you have it, a snapshot into my current mindset.

Nelly Mandelly

The BBC has a video of Nelly's speech up here - it was great!

Text is here.

I'm off to "church", I'll post more later...

A Social Life?!?

A social life?!? How'd I get one of those?? I'm still not sure...

I was walking home from Allders today (where I bought a bedside lamp and space heater) when I saw a sign for a local poetry slam tonight being put on by Hammer & Tongue. I remembered hearing that a bunch of people from my new church/community, hOME were involved in helping to organize and run the shows, so I thought I'd go check it out. As an added bonus, it is held at the Zodiac which is a club that is literally a 90 second walk from my house...also, this was the 'big one' apparently...it was a competition between 4 different teams: one from Ireland, one from the UK, one from the USA and finally one from Canada. So, after just happening to see the poster, I decided that I'd go check it out. Meanwhile, I continued walking home when I saw a girl with a Canadian flag on her purse. I scooted up beside her and asked what part of Canada she was from... she said Toronto, and we just got to talking from there. It turns out that she's a Christian who goes to the parent church of my little community (the church is St. Aldate's) and she invited me to go along with her and some friends to see Nelson Mandela speak in London this Thursday! (see details for that here) Awesome! but random.....or was it?

Anyways, I went to the poetry slam and had a blast! I found a bunch of people from hOME pretty quickly and I met a bunch more new people! All the poetry teams were really good, but I think I did like the Canadian team the best...and not just because they were Canadian! The Americans actually won the competition, and they were quite good, but I thought the Canadians were just a wee bit better. Anyhow, here are links for two of my favourite poems from the competition. The first is from an American named Taylor Mali. You can read the poem here, but half of a poetry slam is the performance, so you should really listen to it (it's called "What Teachers Make"). The other one was by the Canadian team...I bought their CD, ripped it from that, and uploaded it to my website...I hope they don't mind. You can hear the MP3 by clicking here. [edit] I had to take the MP3 down cuz it was taking up too much space, sorry! [/edit] Man, I friggin' love that poem! (and not just cause it mentions the Trans-Siberian!)

Ok kids, thus ends another entry. Still no word on the job front :( I gotta hit the temp agencies soon, but not before going to hang out with Nelson in London ;)