The Dining Room Blog

Subversive Christmas Cards

2007-10-13T16:28:00.000-04:00

At the big cathedral in the city where I live, I found a set of illustrations by a German illustrater named Beate Heinen.
They all deal with Christmas in some way, but instead of cheesy malarkey about tis being the season, or whatever, they're images which depict the enormity of God's incarnation, and --the thing we don't wanna hear at Christmas-- God's desire to camp out with the outcasts. The titles of the two images above are Allen Menschen Wird Zuteil Gottes Heil ( All people will partake in God's salvation) and Noch Leuchtet der Stern ( The star still shines).

Ah, the God who would be born into a garbage truck. That God scares me a little bit.

Jen's Blog

2007-07-16T10:47:00.001-04:00

What happened to it?

Happy Birthday Trent!

2007-06-27T11:22:00.000-04:00

Last night at the Dining Room we had a fabulous BBQ and celebrated Trent's birthday. We also welcomed back Karl and /dr. from their trip to India.

Good Times.

the dinner scene.

2007-04-18T00:02:00.000-04:00

A reading from this morning

2007-03-21T10:14:00.000-04:00

"I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant."

I found the following reading to bring some understanding on last night's discussion about how some of us feel like our relationship with Jesus is a little lifeless at the moment. I definitely feel like I don't know where He is or where He is going or what I have to do with it. I've been dealing with these feelings by just trying to obey what I know, love when I can and pray when I don't understand. I hope to hear from Him soon.

THE DISCIPLINE OF DISMAY*

"As they followed they were afraid" (Mark 10:32)

At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to forsake everything else and throw ourselves before Him in a fearless statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar - "Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed" (10:32).

There is an aspect of Jesus that chills even a disciple's heart to its depth and makes his entire spiritual life gasp for air. This unusual Person with His face set "like a flint" (Isaiah 50:7) is walking with great determination ahead of me, and He strikes terror right through me. He no longer seems to be my Counselor and Friend and has a point of view about which I know nothing. All I can do is stand and stare at Him in amazement. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.

Jesus Christ had to understand fully every sin and sorrow that human beings could experience, and that is what makes Him seem unfamiliar. When we see this aspect of Him, we realize we really don't know Him. We don't recognize even one characteristic of His life, and we don't know how to begin to follow Him. He is far ahead of us, a Leader who seems totally unfamiliar, and we have no friendship with Him.

The discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see Isaiah 1:10-11). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy.

*Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for his Highest

I am the Moon

2007-03-04T23:24:00.000-05:00

So as you all know, my life took a turn for the completely insane recently when I decided to take a job in the Netherlands and thus switched my "defend thesis, go to India, bum around, look for job" plan to "defend thesis, go to India, revise thesis, move to another country and start work on a completely different project." Stressful? Why, yes. It also coincided with me figuring out that there's no effing way in heck my thesis is going to get done in time for the India trip.

I prayed about it... a lot. I prayed for a replacement as India trip leader. And God was like, Go to India, pray over your thesis, and I will take care of the rest. Uff! I can't do this thing. I seriously do not have it in me. But I keep thinking that God is this mighty fire, and if I'm in his presence, shit will work out and everything will be alive and fruitful and good. I don't think I've ever more clearly felt a need for God.

I'm usually not much one for "contemporary Christian," but I found my theme song. It's You Are the Sun by Sara Groves, from a CD that was pushed on me by my dear friend Liz, who is no stranger to doing the radical thing.

You are the sun shining down on everyone
Light of the world giving light to everything I see
Beauty so brilliant I can hardly take it in
And everywhere you are is warmth and light

And I am the moon with no light of my own
Still you have made me to shine
And as I glow in this cold dark night
I know I can’t be a light unless I turn my face to you

Shine on me with your light
Without you I’m a cold dark stone
Shine on me,
I have no light of my own
You are the sun, you are the sun, you are the sun

And I am the moon
you have made me to shine
And as I glow in this cold dark night
I know I can’t be a light unless I turn my face to you
No I will never be a light unless I turn my face to you
No I will never be a light unless I turn my face to you
No I will never be a light unless I turn my face to you

I like Angie

2007-02-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

"What the worst people in the world fear most is justice"

That line really struck me in this artice.

_______________________________________________

Humanitarian, actress and mother Angelina Jolie skipped the Oscars to pay a visit to refugees in Chad. She just wrote this article for the Washington Post about her experience.

Justice for Darfur

By Angelina Jolie

Wednesday, February 28, 2007; A19

BAHAI, Chad -- Here, at this refugee camp on the border of Sudan, nothing separates us from Darfur but a small stretch of desert and a line on a map. All the same, it's a line I can't cross. As a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, I have traveled into Darfur before, and I had hoped to return. But the UNHCR has told me that this camp, Oure Cassoni, is as close as I can get.

Sticking to this side of the Sudanese border is supposed to keep me safe. By every measure -- killings, rapes, the burning and looting of villages -- the violence in Darfur has increased since my last visit, in 2004. The death toll has passed 200,000; in four years of fighting, Janjaweed militia members have driven 2.5 million people from their homes, including the 26,000 refugees crowded into Oure Cassoni.

Attacks on aid workers are rising, another reason I was told to stay out of Darfur. By drawing attention to their heroic work -- their efforts to keep refugees alive, to keep camps like this one from being consumed by chaos and fear -- I would put them at greater risk.

I've seen how aid workers and nongovernmental organizations make a difference to people struggling for survival. I can see on workers' faces the toll their efforts have taken. Sitting among them, I'm amazed by their bravery and resilience. But humanitarian relief alone will never be enough.

Until the killers and their sponsors are prosecuted and punished, violence will continue on a massive scale. Ending it may well require military action. But accountability can also come from international tribunals, measuring the perpetrators against international standards of justice.

Accountability is a powerful force. It has the potential to change behavior -- to check aggression by those who are used to acting with impunity. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), has said that genocide is not a crime of passion; it is a calculated offense. He's right. When crimes against humanity are punished consistently and severely, the killers' calculus will change.

On Monday I asked a group of refugees about their needs. Better tents, said one; better access to medical facilities, said another. Then a teenage boy raised his hand and said, with powerful simplicity, "Nous voulons une Ã©preuve." We want a trial. He is why I am encouraged by the ICC's announcement yesterday that it will prosecute a former Sudanese minister of state and a Janjaweed leader on charges of crimes against humanity.

Some critics of the ICC have said indictments could make the situation worse. The threat of prosecution gives the accused a reason to keep fighting, they argue. Sudanese officials have echoed this argument, saying that the ICC's involvement, and the implication of their own eventual prosecution, is why they have refused to allow U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur.

It is not clear, though, why we should take Khartoum at its word. And the notion that the threat of ICC indictments has somehow exacerbated the problem doesn't make sense, given the history of the conflict. Khartoum's claims aside, would we in America ever accept the logic that we shouldn't prosecute murderers because the threat of prosecution might provoke them to continue killing?

When I was in Chad in June 2004, refugees told me about systematic attacks on their villages. It was estimated then that more than 1,000 people were dying each week.

In October 2004 I visited West Darfur, where I heard horrific stories, including accounts of gang-rapes of mothers and their children. By that time, the UNHCR estimated, 1.6 million people had been displaced in the three provinces of Darfur and 200,000 others had fled to Chad.
It wasn't until June 2005 that the ICC began to investigate. By then the campaign of violence was well underway.

As the prosecutions unfold, I hope the international community will intervene, right away, to protect the people of Darfur and prevent further violence. The refugees don't need more resolutions or statements of concern. They need follow-through on past promises of action.
There has been a groundswell of public support for action. People may disagree on how to intervene -- airstrikes, sending troops, sanctions, divestment -- but we all should agree that the slaughter must be stopped and the perpetrators brought to justice.

In my five years with UNHCR, I have visited more than 20 refugee camps in Sierra Leone, Congo, Kosovo and elsewhere. I have met families uprooted by conflict and lobbied governments to help them. Years later, I have found myself at the same camps, hearing the same stories and seeing the same lack of clean water, medicine, security and hope.

It has become clear to me that there will be no enduring peace without justice. History shows that there will be another Darfur, another exodus, in a vicious cycle of bloodshed and retribution. But an international court finally exists. It will be as strong as the support we give it.

This might be the moment we stop the cycle of violence and end our tolerance for crimes against humanity.

What the worst people in the world fear most is justice. That's what we should deliver.

Cleaning House

2007-02-14T03:56:00.000-05:00

Wow, sorry, everyone, for the flood of skeevy spam comments!

I finally enabled comment moderation and word verification, so hopefully we'll get no more dirrrty porn comments on in the Dining Room. Also, I had to mercy kill Leah's last post because Blogger wouldn't let me retroactively moderate those comments. Here's what Leah's post said:

Welcome Karl and Robert!

In other news, I'm in Stockholm right now.

The Master Cleanse and the Five Stages of Grief

2007-01-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

When January comes around, I feel the need to purge. I go through boxes, cupboards, closets and dressers trying to get rid of all the stuff we have no room for - especially after bringing home all the new Christmas presents. The holidays also make you eat a lot more and it’s not necessarily the healthiest food either. So this January I decided it was time to clean the inside as well, meaning my colon - yes that’s right my colon.

Some of my friends have done Stanley Burrough’s "The Master Cleanser" and have had great things to say about it. For one, it’s much easier than a water fast and two, the combination of lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne do wonders for cleaning your liver, kidneys, intestines and colon all the while giving you calories and nutrients to keep you going. It is recommended that you do a minimum of 10 days, but one lady with severe MS went for 121 days and stood up from her wheel chair! The average is anything between 10-21 days. If you’re interested in trying this or just curious about what it’s like, here’s a little breakdown of how it all went down.

The Master Cleanse and the Five Stages of Grief

Night Before
DENIAL (this is going to be a piece of cake)
The day before you are supposed to stay off meat, dairy, breads, caffeine and sugar. So for dinner I enjoyed a big salad with lettuce, red peppers, grape tomatoes and chick peas. Then the required cup of laxative tea before bed. I’m excited about this.

Day 1
7:15am
Feeling a bit crampy in the morning, must be the tea doing it’s thing. Went to the kitchen to make the salt water flush, drank as much as I could (about half). It tasted awful. Started to feel very nauseous and with each drink I wanted to throw up. So I went for a hot shower. Later, I realized that I only needed to add 2 teaspoons of salt NOT 2 tablespoons – big difference!

By 8:20 my body was beginning to flush. The salt water really, really works.
No hunger pangs at all, nauseous feelings are all gone and the lemony drink is very tasty.
11:37am
Feeling more energized and alert than normal. Still not hungry.
1:14pm
Made it through the lunch hour – food would be nice, but not freaking out yet.

2:23
Slight headache, but nothing compared to what I feel like on the average week. Must be the computer screen irritating me.
4:06pm
The drink really helps with the hunger pangs, as soon as I feel hungry I drink and it subsides.
Evening
Still plenty of energy, actually made dinner for my sister who was over and I managed to survive that temptation.
Drank the laxative tea before bed.

Day 2
ANGER (I broke up with food and I want to get back together)
Woke up with good energy, drank the salt water (well, 2/3 of it) – still gross. Not feeling nauseous like yesterday.
My face feels softer.
Sense of smell is getting sharper.
Tummy feels really empty.
The drink is really keeping me going. I have a cup every hour.
1:00pm
Just got back from “lunch” not that I ate, but my lunch partner did. The foodcourt was making me crazy, overwhelmed with smells of all kinds of spices and goodness. It was getting to me a little. But I just got back to work and had “the drink” and I feel fine again. Although I feel fine, I’m finding that I’m a little spaced out in crowded areas. Maybe because my senses are overwhelmed the outside world is a little aggressive.
2:00pm
Someone is eating Swiss Chalet at their desk and it smells really good.
Evening
I am transforming into a predator. All senses are heightened, I am now a warewolf. I can smell restaurants from blocks away. I think about food as much as an 18 year old boy probably thinks about sex. I miss food. I’m cranky.

Day 3
BARGAINING (Do I really need to go through with this? Is it safe? It’s not like I’m an unhealthy person, what was I thinking???)
Slept for 12 hours woke up and drank my salt water. It’s actually getting easier! Now that my body has realized it’s not getting any food, the system has shut down and it’s starting to detox. I’ll spare you the gory details…but just say that I feel really foggy in the head.

Day 4
DEPRESSION (I miss cooking, I miss savory foods, I feel so empty. I guess I’ll just sulk and drink my juice since there is nothing else to do)
I’m sad. The psychological effects of not being able to eat are driving me crazy. Everywhere I look people are enjoying food. The restaurants are always crowded, there are pictures of food everywhere and people are carrying groceries home. I’m screaming inside. It’s funny how much of a monster we can become when a bit of our freedom is taken away. It’s not like I’m hungry anymore, or malnourished thanks to the drink, but my desire to gorge is so strong that it’s turning me into an animal. I like looking at cookbooks and fantasizing about all the things I’m going to eat next week. My stomach seems to be my god. The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Day 5
ACCEPTANCE (Who needs food, I feel great!)
I made it through the wilderness, somehow I made it through.
I finally feel clear headed and in good spirits. Energy is good, my thoughts about food are less frequent and what my favourite meals taste like is becoming a distant memory. I feel more balanced since there is no caffeine in my system anymore. I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but I did drink 4-5 cups of tea a day.
If this feeling keeps up I think I can go on for weeks.

Day 6
DEPRESSION
8:00am
Today I feel utterly horrible. My period came and I can’t take anything for it. It’s very painful. Skipped the salt water flush this morning and took the laxative tea instead. The subway was packed this morning and the people smelt foul.
10:00am
Cramps are disappearing! How can this be?
1:00pm
I really, really, really want food now. I think my cravings are a little more aggressive today because of my female problem.
Evening
Better, a lot more toxins coming out today.

Day 7
ACCEPTANCE/BARGAINING (this is great and all, but I think it’s gone on long enough, don’t you)
Great morning, feeling perky and alert. Drank my salt water like a champ. Less toxins coming out now, must be feeling better because my system is much cleaner. Since I feel this good maybe I’m done…maybe I can end this early…maybe just maybe I can have a sandwich?

Day 8
ACCEPTANCE
Well I’m still going strong – and still detoxing something…
My complexion has been fantastic, my skin overall has become softer, must be the liquid diet.

Day 9
ACCEPTANCE
Feeling GREAT but incredibly bored of this. Not much to report other then the fact that I miss chewing – and no, gum is not allowed.

Day 10
ACCEPTANCE
Horray! It’s the last day.

Day 11
Orange juice only today to wake up the digestive system. This is difficult because now that my stomach is awake it wants food – badly.

Day 12
Light headed and weak in the morning. Must be because I only had 300 calories yesterday.

Not so bad in the afternoon. I can’t wait till supper which will be vegetable soup. The next 5-7 days will be fruits and veggies only – mostly raw, as the body will continue to detox.

The Aftermath
This is definitely a battle of the mind more than anything else. The desire to consume had to be fought everyday even though the body’s needs were met. So much of our lives revolve around eating. Preparing dinner, going to lunch with a friend, midnight snacks and grocery shopping are all things I really enjoy. Not being able to do these things was tormenting at times.

Because this was more of a cleanse in my mind than a fast, I did not approach this as a spiritual journey. However, by being in a state of depravity, temptation, weakness, anger and depression it definitely helped me draw closer to God as my strength.

The result of going through such an extended fast helps you to discipline desire, which will help to assist the body, mind and Spirit from being controlled by the subtle to strong addictions of sugars, fats, processed foods and caffeine. I now have a sense of emotional balance, quietness of mind and more physical and mental energy.

One good lesson about fasting is that if you can deny yourself food, you can deny yourself anything.

Finally, I read articles like this and think that the Master Cleanse is the answer for people who obviously have too much crap in them to feel healthy. Unfortunately, their doctor will never tell them that.

Tips
Do not leave the house for at least an hour and half after taking the salt water in the morning. You will need to be near a toilet. But then you are fine for the rest of the day.

Try to make day 3 & 4 on a Saturday and Sunday (or whatever your weekend is) because you will feel groggy and baked. Otherwise, it’s business as usual.

Take about a week before you begin the cleanse to withdraw from dairy, sugar and caffeine and also to mentally prepare for the desert.

2007-01-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

Somebody say something!!!!

Two Highs and a Low for 2006

2007-01-02T12:01:00.000-05:00

High:
Going to Loyola House back in January changed my life.

High:
Going back to school for something I actually like and getting A's too!

Low:
Work has been really hard the past year because of the way this company is managed. I'm not used to being this underutilized and it's been a struggle trying to stay positive.

What I would like to see for 2007:
My family redeemed.

Christmas Carols for the Psychologically challenged

2006-12-21T02:01:00.000-05:00

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Queens Disoriented Are

3. Amnesia --- I Don't Know if I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and
Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire
Hydrants and ...

6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

8 . Full Personality Disorder-- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm
Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell You Why~

9. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ---Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle
Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells .

10. Agoraphobia --- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day But Wouldn't Leave
My House

11. Senile Dementia --- Walking in a Winter Wonderland Miles From My House
in My Slippers and Robe

12. Oppositional Defiant Disorder --- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus So I
Burned Down the House

13. Social Anxiety Disorder --- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
>While I Sit Here and Hyperventilate

Yellowknife

2006-12-20T16:42:00.000-05:00

This one's for /dr.

Check out this NASA satellite pic of YK.

http://earthasart.gsfc.nasa.gov/yellowknife.html

Santa Sufjan

2006-12-13T17:14:00.000-05:00

Somebody has to say something.

2006-12-06T16:02:00.000-05:00

Random.

Tomorrow I am getting laser eye surgery! I WILL TELL THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!

I will wake up in the morning, blind, as usual.
(It's cool. I've been doing it since I was 5). I will then go about my day doing stuff, wearing my gigantic Buddy Holly glasses. At 2:15 I will saunter into the Herzig Eye Institute. I will be sweating. I will give them all our money. I will have people look in my eyes. These people will pry my eye lids open, slice off the tops of my eye balls, shoot me in both eyes with a laser, give me a pair of terminator glasses, and send me on my way.

I will feel like I am wearing a pair of "dirty contact lenses".

Awesome.

I will go home and command Trent to entertain me, and not in a visual way. Could be interesting, he's a pretty quiet guy.

I will sleep.

I will wake up. I will still feel as though I am wearing old contacts. I will be able to see, but it will be blurry.

How long 'till 20/15?

Weeks?

Days?

I, LEAH HUNTER. Will have better than perfect vision. Part of my identity since I was 5 years old has been that without glasses or contacts, I cannot be trusted to safely walk around. I cannot see you.

Or you.

Or anything.

Yes.

2006-11-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

The oppression of the rich, powerful, comfortable, and drugged is that it is a separation from Christ. It all oppresses by layering blanket upon blanket of materialism and worldliness until we are pinned down under a mountain of cushy fabric that separates us from the Light, and suffocates us from the cool biting air of His Breath.

On the other hand, oppression as traditionally defined (poverty, slavery, violence, cultural ostracism) generally affects us in a different way. It cuts and tears and rips away from an individual---leaving them exposed and vulnerable. I grant that the response to this oppression is not often positive. Many times when people experience these forms of suffering they seek to flee it through drugs, bitterness, and a perpetuation of violence. It is up to the individual how to respond to suffering. But it is suffering that helps us to deeply feel our NEED for Christ and to more deeply identify with Him and the cross He bore.

It is also true the rich powerful oppressor often suffers as much or even more than those he oppresses. But it is a suffering of numbness; alienation from Christ the suffering servant; a spiritual deadness born out of a fleeing from suffering--and therefore this form of oppression actually serves to perpetuate our problem. That is why I feel we need to identify with those who do not have the layers of blankets; but are rather out in the biting cold, naked and torn.

*This is on Psalters website, as part of their manifesto. It speaks the truth.

we believe in:

2006-11-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

this is the poem that was at the end of the lecture last night during LR. check it. it's rad:

Creed
by Steve Turner

This is the creed I have written on behalf of all us.
We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.
We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy is OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.
We believe that everything is getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.
We believe there's something in
horoscopes, UFO's and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man
just like Buddha, Mohammed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher
although we think His good morals were bad.
We believe that all religions are basically the same--
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.
We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it's compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Khan.
We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.
We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the Russians would be sure to follow.
We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.
We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.
We believe in the rejection of creeds,
and the flowering of individual thought.

"Chance" a post-script
If chance be the Father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky,
and when you hear
State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!
It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

Together We Can Can Hunger

2006-11-17T09:55:00.000-05:00

2006-11-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

Elton John: 'I would ban religion completely'
Me: 'I would ban Elton John completely'

2006-11-08T14:51:00.000-05:00

adopt your own virtual pet!

Breaking News on the LR Front!!

2006-11-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

Check your emails, ya'll. You're now in Kate and Dylan's lr!

324 Oakwood Ave...

2006-10-30T08:44:00.000-05:00

...will be open for business in 2 more days.

taking our act on the road

2006-10-25T16:03:00.000-04:00

Well, we shot the line
We went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
And eleven long haired
Friends of Jesus
In a Chartreuse microbus
Cause we gotta mighty convoy, rockin' through the night
Yeah we gotta mighty convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on an' join our convoy, ain't nothin' gonna git in our way
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy, cross the USA

- WC McCall, "Convoy"

Here at the Dining Room we've all been more or less itching for a joint mission. We already know that our combined power far exceeds the sum of its parts, and last night at a special Tuesday edition of the DR, we came up with a way to use it for good:

Rent a van and ride around North America for two months, visiting everyone we know, meeting new people, seeing America, living with nothing but our backpacks and each other, and most of all, spreading community.

Between the 11 of us, we know someone in pretty much every U.S. state, so places to sleep are all but covered. Now all we need is a van, a plan, and ...well, really we should pray about it lots, starting now.

Who's in!?

Fun times praying

2006-10-19T14:19:00.000-04:00

Last night at the Dining Room, Guido the cat walked right into the middle of our prayer circle and barfed right as I finished saying my thing. It was pretty awesome.

I sorta think maybe that was God telling us to laugh more and freak out less. I feel like changes are amiss for all of us this upcoming year, and I keep switching between feeling lost and alone to feeling excited and brave. While I was cycling home I thought about how cool it is that we can pray over this stuff together, and i think that we should do it more, and more intentionally. And get together as often as possible, especially since the DR is a bit fragmented at the mo'.

Also, as Dylan pointed out, we are a hilarious sitcom.

Food for thought

2006-10-03T15:27:00.000-04:00

(Also posted on my blog)

I was reading PostSecret on Sunday, and I saved this post card onto my computer:

I check back throughout the week, and someone had sent this email:

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2006 8:59 PM
Subject: Torah

There's a reason we're called "yisrael" as a people.

It means "struggle with God."

-------------------------------

And, it made me stop for a moment.

Um

2006-10-02T17:28:00.000-04:00

...

remember you can't post on xanga though.

Lyric sheets

2006-09-25T16:49:00.000-04:00

Hey gang - here are the words to a song that I found kinda neat... I haven't heard the album, but it is from Pigeon John... I just heard a snippet on an NPR interview, so I looked it up (those guys just keep interviewing Christians by mistake...)

I'm looking forward to the end, drinking coffee in the sun.

As We Know It

It’s the end of the world as we know it (2x)
It’s the end

What up Jesus what up my negro my man
Can I ask you couple questions 'bout the whole dang plan?
Why the Holocaust why the slavery?
Why the Crusades in the name of bravery?
Why you let little girls get molested dog?
I mean God I mean you know what I mean is all
And the fall of Adam and Eve is all it took
To leave the whole human race lost and shook?
That don't make sense it don't feel right
But I can see your whole face up in the moonlight
Dang you look crazy you make a negro wanna cry
You hold the whole ocean in your eyes
Are you crying too?

It’s the end of the world as we know it (4x)
We know it so well

What Jesus what up my mellow my man
Can I ask you couple questions 'bout the whole dang plan?
Why the wars? Why the death?
Why the burning crucifix and the rest?
So much drama so many stars
Did you really hang out at the bars?
I thought you did you look crazy
You ever have a bar fight Patrick Swayze?
No disrespect dude why am I sobbing?
I can't stop stopping you look like Ab Rude
And Bill Cosby mixed together
I can't explain it I'm freaking mad at you
Why you let it happen like this? I'm asking you
Why aren't you talking? Answer me
Every step you take is a freaking tragedy
Every step you take is a freaking ....

It’s the end of the world as we know it (4x)

What up Jesus (yes?) what up my nickel my man
Can I ask you couple questions about the whole dang plan?
Without an answer you stretch out your hand
With a look in your eyes that you understand
All the pain all the loss all the confusion
All the up and the downs are now amusing
And I spent all of my life rushing and hustling
When I could've just been your friend

And it's the end of the world as we know it (2x)
We're drinking coffee in sun
All my friends the old and young
And its ok now
We're drinking coffee in the sun
All my friends the old and young
And it's ok now
Its ok now
Its ok now

The Tongue

2006-09-21T10:19:00.000-04:00

A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! (James 3 - The Message)

Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

I've been convicted all morning about how powerful our words are. They have the ability to bless, praise and comfort, but they can also curse and tear down.

And just a few moments ago on CBC, someone was talking to a homeless man about what would help make his life better. He said it's definately not the loonies or toonies he gets - that means nothing. He said what means most to him are words of hope and encouragement - something he rarely gets.

It reminded me of how we can curse a man with our words. I wonder how different his life would have been if someone told him they were proud of him, or that he was special and loved. Instead, he probably only heard that he was good for nothing and a bum. Those words cursed him and why "the tongue of the wise brings healing".

I wonder how different my life would have been, or my family's life too if we were surrounded with life giving words.

I'd like to become more deliberate about the choice of my words. Not just holding my tongue when I know that I should, but taking the next step and building others up with my words. God help me.

Old time amusement

2006-09-20T10:16:00.000-04:00

Characteristic of my time at tyndale

End of the World
Badger Badger Badger
Can I have some Lunchables?

Hope you enjoyed the walk down my memory lane.

Mabel Returns

2006-09-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hey guys

Mabel came home yesterday - she is happy and well, and the bill was only like $1300 or so (before the discount that the vet gave us, it was closer to $3000 - yikes)

Petrie is happier too!

Montreal

2006-09-14T10:30:00.000-04:00

I must say, I've been reading in the papers about what happened at Dawson College yesterday, and I'm really disturbed.

Hanta

2006-09-13T15:43:00.000-04:00

I am so bored at work, I've started doing pushups.

Eleven

2006-09-12T09:56:00.000-04:00

Hey folks

Things are pretty quiet around here.

As you probably know, Leah, Jen, Mae and I are still looking for studio 'roommates'. If you know anyone who wants space to make art, and wants it enough to pay rent, and isn't a jerk, please let us know.

Seriously, it should be fun.

Sincerely,

Trent

A good read...

2006-09-05T18:45:00.000-04:00

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Last summer this book was read to the staff at Glen Mhor for a staff bible study/devo. And so I picked it up to read it at home, because everyone had to miss some of it at one point or another (scheduling conflicts). I lent it out, and just recently got it back. And I'm going to post some quotes.

"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."

"Every life has one true-love snapshot."

"No story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like stones beneath a river."

"Where.. is my worry? Where is my pain?"

"Your voice will come. We all go through the same thing. You cannot talk when you first arrive" He smiled. "It helps you listen."

"There are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more seperate one life from another than you can seperate a breeze from the wind."

The Blue Man helod out his hand. "Fairness," he said, "does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young."

"Strangers," the Blue man said, "are just family you have yet to come to know."

"Young men go to war. Sometimes because they have to, sometimes because they want to. Always, they feel they are supposed to."

"You didn't get it. Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to. Little sacrifices, big sacrifices."

"All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair."

"Eddie slumped in the rushing water. The stones of his stories were all around him now, beneath the surface, one touching another. He could feel his form melting, dissolving, and he sensed that he did not have long, that whatever came after the five people you meet in heaven, it was upon him now."

"The world is full of stories, but the stories are all one."

no title. must find out.

2006-08-31T16:49:00.000-04:00

matt (the priest) sent this to me. it's a great follow up to trent's last post. i'm not even going to describe it.

http://www.whiteboydj.com/babygotbook.html

check it.

/dr.

Mabel

2006-08-31T11:37:00.000-04:00

Mabel
You are unable
To stable-
Ize
I kitten of your size
Can't survive
With a hole in her underside
We cannot enable
You to understand
Your language is not that of man
A human/pet Babel
Keeps us from telling you
To not chew
And undo
Your stitches
Your constant twitches
And action,
you can't get no satisfaction
You need a distraction
We cannot keep you in traction
Or suspended animation
Inflammation
And infection
A self-inflicted vivisection
Antibiotic injection
Incarceration
At the vet
Until you get
At least a little better

Congratulations...

2006-08-28T09:46:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Kate, who is pretty much a full-fledged master (pending a few final formalities, like getting a giant transforming battle-kitty)

Zanta is in Wikipedia.

2006-08-25T21:43:00.000-04:00

I think before the year is out, Zanta is going to come to the Living Room. In the meantime, check this.

So Cute

2006-08-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

Click Here

WHOOOOOO

2006-08-22T14:58:00.000-04:00

I'm in!

plug

2006-08-22T12:07:00.000-04:00

If you're interested in deepening your study of God's Word, Derek Prince's teaching letters are awesome. They keep me charged during dry spells.

Um

2006-08-17T17:28:00.000-04:00

this movie is weird. I saw it Monday night with my guy friends. Maybe I need to watch it again.

In other news, I suck at posting on this blog. I've been pampering my own blogspot cause its like ten times better than xanga.

Mrs. Hunter

2006-08-16T09:26:00.000-04:00

As of today at 2pm, Trent and I have been married for 3 years. Who would have thought that the church building we got married in would be for sale. A lot has changed...

April is on vacation this week and so I am bored at work.

Yes yes yes.

visual poetry for monday

2006-08-14T18:12:00.000-04:00

Someone on the magical internet pointed out to me that this Sigur Ros video is an illustration of the gospel. At first I thought it was dumb, but in the end, I liked it. Enjoy.

2006-08-14T12:42:00.000-04:00

As I type, there is a very nice man in our bathroom prepping the walls for the Orange Copper paint we managed to procure on Saturday. I like renovations, especially when I don't have to a) pay for them, and b) actually do them. Although sometimes I enjoy b.

Having a bike rules (sorry Dylan, that sucks about your bike). I just had some stuff I needed to take care of, so I jumped on the brown beast and got it done. Fast. Yeah!

2006-08-11T15:55:00.000-04:00

I need to buy a fall jacket. I want a leather one. This is strange for me, as I am quite content wearing the same second hand out-dated crap forever, and the thought of spending money on clothes freaks me out. Usually I only buy second hand clothes, or sweatshop free clothes, when I can afford it. But now I want to bring on the leather.

Trent and I might go see The Godfather part II tonight at the Bloor. Starts at 9. I'm sure it'll be cheap. It will also probably end around midnight. You can come if you want to.

Urban Legends Debunked.

2006-08-09T15:33:00.000-04:00

You know all those crazy e-mails you get with pictures that seem to bizarre to be true? Some are totally obvious, but I think you'll be surprised at what's real.

Take the Real or Fake quiz!

I got 67%

Nidus

2006-08-08T09:37:00.000-04:00

The Christian festival called Nidus happened this weekend and Freedomize was there! I don't really feel like going into descriptive accounts of the weekend, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

the middle east, and scissor stabbings

2006-08-04T09:43:00.000-04:00

#1. Can you even handle what's going on over there right now?

#2. Last night around 12am as Trent was sleeping/snoring peacefully and I was trying not to have a nervous breakdown about Nidus, there was a loud noise outside our apartment. Actually, there was more than one loud noise, there were several. They were all coming out of this girl, and they seemed to be directed at another women and mostly were centred around accusations that the supposed offender was a fat hoe, and had boobs shaped like triangles (????????). Anyway, it sounded pretty jacked up, so we peaked outside to survey the scene. There were, like, 5 cops trying to put it all together, and all of our neighbours and triangle boobs telling the cops that this girl was trying to stab them with a pair of scissors. It brought back good ol' memories of McInnis family weddings and get togethers. Except the Irish know that scissors will never do when trying to kill or seriously mame someone, so my family's scene was more of an axe scene. I kid you not. (Also, no Irish woman would ever be accused of having triangle boobs, whatever the heck they are).

pool party

2006-08-03T12:21:00.000-04:00

So last night for Dining Room, we merged with Anton's Living Room and had a pool party/barbeque out at the Bland Compound. The food was awesome and the weather was perfect, despite repeated tornado warnings.

Here are some action shots:

Trent - rippin' it into the pool

Leah - "I'll catch you, Trentie!"

Anton - Playin' ball

Leah - doing some synchronized swimming

Other people's words

2006-08-01T19:17:00.000-04:00

"Please forgive me
For what I represent
For I am an innocent
Who must repent
For those centuries old."
Lila Rose

Money

2006-07-31T15:59:00.000-04:00

I have a problem, I think.

I'm not comfortable having money in my bank account so I spend it anxiously till it's gone. Now, that can be a problem since I need to save for a few things, but I get a little obsessive compulsive when it's just laying around. I find that I'm more content when I'm broke and relying on God to surprise me with lunch for the day.

Does anyone else get that?

for your enjoyment.

2006-07-31T12:45:00.000-04:00

look who's on myspace

yes yes yes!

/dr.

Your soundtrack...

2006-07-31T11:16:00.000-04:00

Hey guys...

I was listening to this sermon by Jack Taylor, in which he talks about embracing pain and struggles. Pretty butt-kicking (he talks about his wife dying, and mentions being abused as a kid and other stuff... and how we need to stop whining and suck it up, 'cause God is sovereign! Yeah, butt-kicking.) Anyway, in one part he talks about how life has no soundtrack, so you don't know when crazy crisis type things are about to happen... Anyway, it reminded me of Jamie's Buffy quote a few posts down, and I thought it was kinda neat, so I thought I'd post a piece of it here, for what it's worth:

How're you gonna know life's moments when they come? They come walking up like any other, and you never know, and you let them go. And it's too late when you do know.
Unless you've got a song. Unless you've got a song.
Look at me. Get a song.
I don't understand what you mean.
Get a song. Get a song based on the time you were dying and God came through, not late, on time. Get a song. Get a song when everything was black and dark, and God came through. Get a song. The world isn't gonna provide it. Get a song, and get that song tonight.
Songs are all over this book, all over this book...

and here's a bit more, for kicks...

Everything you experience as a pleasure begins and continues on the basis of a crisis. Learn to love your needs, they are the steps to sufficiency. Live with your needs, embrace your needs. You have needs of God, you have needs of air to breathe, and lungs to breathe them.
Praise God that you can't make it by yourself. Can you imagine, God blesses you and blesses you to the extent that you can do without Him. He ain't gonna do that!

OK, one more...

When the day is over, you're gonna know it's worth it all. You didn't get a bad deal. They weren't your enemies; it was God who lead you through. When the day is over, you're gonna thank Him, with some regret that you waited until you understood it, in retrospect, to give Him thanks.
So the best thing I can tell you to do tonight, is to start praising Him. Not 'Anyway', 'Well praise the Lord anyway.' You know what that is, that's just a Christian way of keeping from cussing.
Give it up. Praise Him every way. Praise Him all the way. Praise Him by every means. Why? Because He is God, and He's seeing this thing through, and He's seeing you through if you're his. Praise Him all the way.

MIA

2006-07-30T15:01:00.000-04:00

Hubbles and Kate where you cats be at?

Food for thought.

2006-07-29T11:35:00.000-04:00

"The bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asked for their life to change, not really, but it does. So what are we helpless? Puppets? No, the big moments are going to come you can't help that, its what you do afterwards that counts, thats when you find out who you are."
- Whistler, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Becoming Part 1"

blog what?!

2006-07-27T17:03:00.002-04:00

so i caved and got my own blog. link me up friends. www.sixpointbleed.blogspot.com

cheers,
/dr.

three o'clock high

2006-07-25T15:46:00.000-04:00

Acts 3:1
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.

Acts 10:3
One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"

Acts 10:30
Cornelius answered: "Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me...

Dear Dining Room (and faithful readers),
Would you guys like to take a couple minutes every day at 3:00pm to pray for one another? Whether you're at your desk or at home or out and about it would be cool to know that we would be united in prayer.

A suggestion

2006-07-25T12:19:00.000-04:00

check it out

Currently listening to: Save Your Scissors

God really is good

2006-07-24T11:23:00.000-04:00

Hey guys,

Leah and I had a really fun weekend. We will tell you all about it sometime, I am sure.

I just wanted to say how blessed we were, with so many things turning out perfectly... despite being pretty disorganized, we ended up with kitten-sitters, managed to get there with virtually no maps or directions, ended up arriving (after about 9 hours) right as my brother's band was soundchecking... got hooked up with a free bike for Leah... had a really fun time hanging out with some really cool christian kids...

Anyway - it just seemed like God blessed us with so many hookups.

Also, after an exhaustingly long drive back, I somehow managed to get in an accident last night in TO, before we got home. It was entirely stupid and entirely my fault, could have been entirely really bad, and miraculously ended up in ridiculously small amounts of damage. Despite being pretty humiliating, and mostly stressful (having to go to the collision center etc...), I have to thank God for it ending up being really minor.

So yeah - God was all over our weekend, through the good and not-so-good (there are other words you can substitute there if you like) stuff.

Just thought I would share.

Hi-Lo!

God of the Soldiers

2006-07-24T01:26:00.000-04:00

On the weekend my dad and I finished watching Band of Brothers. Man, now that I've read the book and watched the movie, I feel like I know these guys personally. What a powerful story -- probably not on the regular Toronto hipster reading list, but I recommend it. It's very strange to read this war story in tandem with the Old Testament.

My favorite episode is #6, where they are starving and outnumbered in the dead of winter in Belgium. Of all the characters, I'm in love with the medic. There's an amazing scene where he is scrambling around trying to get to everyone at once, with practically no supplies and not even gloves or a coat, and he stops in his foxhole to pray part of the prayer of St. Francis.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

This prayer is difficult, so it's not surprising that it never came up once in my Christian upbringing. That scene from the movie is kind of resonating right now because I'm spending some of my exile time with the Old Testament prophets. First up is Amos, shepherd and agitator in a time of (eerily familiar...?) high prosperty and religiosity.

You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts. The prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.

I love the prophets, but the whole thing gets a lot more difficult if you actually take what you read seriously for five minutes. I'm having a hard time facing the God of the poor, the oppressed, and the starving soldiers... the God of the suffering is kinda different from the Personal Jesus I've crafted for myself.

Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.

Shadows of another life...

Strange Cat Habits

2006-07-22T18:49:00.000-04:00

Guido (who may or may not become my cat, opposed to Tom's cat that I have for the summer) is an interesting kitty. She'll come up to the couch, hop up.. head butt me, lick me twice then just sit there and stare at me. Until I pet her, then she'll do it again.

Weird.

(oh and she licks EVERYTHING).

Wow, what a wet blanket I was yesterday.

2006-07-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

Writing a post about such sad things probably making everyone else sad who reads it too.

Sorry.

When I'm not walking with Jesus, my default is to beat myself up about what a lousy Christian I am. Fortunately, my morning devotional book set my head straight and I just wanted to share it with you guys.

Here goes:

THE DOORWAY TO THE KINGDOM

"Blessed are the poor in spirit..."

Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be - to be "pure in heart", to do more than my duty, or to be completely devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as my Savior before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of a lofty ideal which only leads to dispair. But when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces a sense of despair in the natural man - exactly what Jesus means for it to do. As long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord's teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and to receive from Him. "Blessed are the poor in spirit...". This is the first principal in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ's kingdom is poverty, not possessions; not making decisions for Jesus, but having such a sense of absolute futility what we finally admit, "Lord, I cannot even begin to do it". Then Jesus says, "Blessed are you...". This is the doorway to the kingdom, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are actually poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the prober place where Jesus Christ accomplishes His work.

I thought that was pretty cool.

The Unknown Stories

2006-07-20T16:06:00.000-04:00

Reading Jen's blog made me think of one time, a while ago, when me and Lisa were enjoying "good" food at the Red Room when a friend of mine walked in. I think maybe Lisa made a compliment to her style after she had left, and I briefly explained how I knew her, which included some of her backstory (that being, she used to be a hardcore druggie). Lisa said something along the lines as "wow, I would have never have guessed".

Not long ago, I was on the bus waiting at the lights at Bayview and Sheppard and there was a teenaged boy standing there holding a sign that said "Going to ... anywhere but here", and I felt for him, and what he must be fleeing from.

We will never always know the under-the-surface stories of the people we meet, where they have walked, what they dream about.

I'm a fairly open person, and whenever I am involved in a conversation about openness I think of Kurt Cobain.

"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I'm not".

The Unwanted

2006-07-20T13:48:00.000-04:00

As an animal lover, I frequently peruse the Toronto Humane Society website. It's been almost a year and Coca is still waiting to be adopted. For the last few years and especially since the pitbull ban, the shelter is full of unwanted dogs just like her. The staff describe Coca as vocal, destructive, sensitive to the sun and deaf. How many people would be willing to take on such a challenging dog? Is she just going to live there forever?

And this doesn't just happen with animals, it happens to people too.

And here I am, concerned for a dog I have no desire to adopt and grieved for the homeless that I do nothing to help.

On my mind

2006-07-19T23:49:00.000-04:00

Rather than waiting around for God's special plan for your life, you should just go find where God is at work and join in.

- Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution

So.. Um.. What do I do now?

2006-07-18T18:45:00.000-04:00

I've introduced myself.. but now I don't know what to write. But hey, I wrote a post on my new blogger account, go read it there.

Also, did you know only 1 person in 2 billion will live to be 116?

i guess i should do an intro after all.

2006-07-18T15:40:00.000-04:00

my name is dylan. i grew up in small towns in northern ontario. i have 2 brothers. one's older. one's my twin. no we can't read eachother's minds. no i can't feel his physical pain (just in case those were your next questions). i was raised by my parents and early 90's punk bands. i went to bible college for a year. and design school for 3. i have 2 more years of design school left. i've worked at a gold mine in alaska for a summer. i love sentance fragments and i hate mixing upper and lowercase letters. right now i'm living in yellowknife.

i love jesus. adrienne. red wine. creativity. girl jeans. dark dark chocolate. pretty tattoos. road trips. urban exploration. sushi. admiring where lines start and end on cars. reading and writing poetry. analyzing art. photographs. loosing myself in music. the feeling of finishing a good book. a pint with friends. driving while the sun sets. light reflecting off wet asphalt. the way leaves stain concrete. the harbour late at night. the scent of burning cloves. adjusting the space between letters. being in church. the lower-case hourglass "g". hot coffee and a fresh scone on a cold winter morning. drinking coffee with my mom. opening a new cd. being in the middle of a lake on a calm night. sitting on a patio during the summer. white caped mountains. sleeping in the sun. red lipstick. strange thought-provoking films. watching a couple sharing an umbrellas in the rain. stained glass windows. the scent of fresh linen. my dining room and other finer things in life.

/dr.

Another Introduction...

2006-07-18T14:21:00.000-04:00

I am Leah. I am a musician. I play the flute and the guitar, for my job. That's pretty much all I've ever wanted to do. I also have another job for three days a week, at the University of Toronto. I am a research assistant for three different Professors...I read a lot of stuff I don't fully understand all day long.
My husband is Trent. We have two cat-beasts named Petrie and Mabel.
I have one brother, Matthew, and three brother-in-laws, Zellyn, Delvyn, and Reeve. They live in: Halifax Nova Scotia, Atlanta Georgia, Los Angeles California, and Chattanooga Tennesse, respectively. I also have one sister-in-law, Bevin. She is married to Zellyn, and therefore also lives in Atlanta. Yes.
I like bowl-cuts, embarrassing 80s clothing, high school band, and one million different kinds of music.
I do not like blogging or computers or technology of any high-tech kind, but this is kind of fun, and I love my dining room, so count me in.

more introductions

2006-07-18T12:12:00.000-04:00

I am Lisa. I'm an aspiring physicist and a lazy bum. I'm obsessed with blogging about being a knitter (though I'm not much a knitter since i never finish anything) and frunning. I'm also obsessed with my blue assbike and I'm the owner of a magical cat.

I like to pit my love of adventure against my instrinsic wimpiness, which means I spend a lot of time obsessing and being indecisive. It's really all a delicate balance of coffee and wine.

Next...

2006-07-17T17:09:00.000-04:00

So, introductions, I guess...

Trent, the 'intern' architect. I was thinking that we could keep adding rooms, until we have a whole virtual building made out of blogs... I'm glad to see that the living and dining rooms are linked - very sensible.

Anyway - I am a nine-to-fiver (well 8 to 5.30) at a big architecture firm. I am often plagued by the differences between how interesting and engaging architecture can be, and how much the opposite it usually is. I enjoy designing and making things, but I suffer from a pretty severe form of creative A.D.D, which means I will always be an amateur and never an expert.
Unless you can be an expert at being an amateur at a whole bunch of creative type things, which is more or less what an architect is anyway...

Anyway... more later...
Trent (from the drawing room)

2006-07-17T13:35:00.000-04:00

I'm going to skip the intro and go straight into blogging. Yellowknife has a festival every year called, "Folk on the Rocks", which is a music festival. Don't be deceived, there's folk music, but also some punk, some hip hop, some jazz, some throat singers along with all sorts of other great entertainment. I'll list some of the highlights from this year.

Indio. He's a young folk-rocker who grew up in YK. He sounded a lot like a young, hip, bob dylan. Word on the street is that he is friends with Jeff Buckley. I think some of you guys might like this guy. Trent and Leah I'm looking in your direction. Then again you guys don't really like VOL...so maybe not. He did a solo act which rocked the folks and he also did a set with...

Fred Eaglesmith. Who is an older country-folk-rocker from Texas...I think. I'm not a huge country-folk fan, but he was pretty good. He played songs about killing his neighbor’s dog and finding broken tractors. OH and he is also very crude on stage...but usually funny. His set was half music and half stand up comedy. My older brother go a pin that says, "I think Fred is OK" ...and he was. Next up:

War Party. Now, these guys were introduced as Canada's most well known aboriginal hip-hop group. My first reaction, "well no crap, they're probably Canada's only aboriginal hip-hop group." I'm not a huge hip-hopper. But these guys (well guy and girl) were actually pretty talented. Their music was much like underground black hip-hop about oppression and social struggles (minus that frequently used "n" word). They rapped about the struggles of the native people, life on the reservation and how we (or shall I say you...cause I am native after all) stole their land from them (...or us). It was really interesting. Oh. and Chuck D. from Public Enemy is on their next record. And this group leads me to the next highlight...

Godson. This yellowknife hip-hop artist did a guest appearance. Everyone went nuts. At first I thought to myself, "who the hell is this guy?! and why is everyone screaming as if he's fiddy cent!?"...it turns out he's the guy who wrote theme song for Canadian Idol. Ya you know the song. So he performed 2 songs. Got everyone's fist pumping...including this 50 year woman in front of me. And then everyone went mellow again.

That was my weekend. What about yours?

/dr.

2006-07-17T09:20:00.000-04:00

I'm the pastor's wife who nobody can quite figure out. I like abstract art, British invasions and conspiracy theories.

I work 9-5 on Bay St. but spend most of my day thinking up ways to escape the rat race. Like joining other art minded people and chillen' in our studio Warhol style.

You must know that our dining room rocks the casbah.

Jen

2006-07-16T19:00:00.000-04:00

You're asking who I am?

Why I'm a Jamie, a young female with a head full of dreams, but eyes set on reality. I'll be 21 soon (oh goodness), have two older siblings (Michael 30, and Linda 29). A "pet" named Guido, and some pretty amazing friends.

Um, I like to watch CSI, Dead Like Me, Buffy, Angel and Seinfeld.

Currently reading: Prozac Nation

Current band I like: Tegan and Sara (particularily My Number).

Current job: Real Estate Receptionist

Current aspiration: to understand men!

Um.. thats all..

Peace.

What the heck?

2006-07-16T15:41:00.000-04:00

So you're asking yourself, what is a dining room? A dining room --the dining room -- is like a living room, except that we eat here. And by living room, I mean a church small group. We're crazy like that.

There are 11 of us, and we meet once a week to share ideas, complain about how the man is keeping us down, mull over urban oddities and conspiracy theories, trade DVDs and CDs and books, and ...pray.