Favourite Words

Fondue

Resplendent

Relish

Eloquence

Is it illegal for me to post this?

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Quote

"But nothing much comes in life unless you are willing to follow your heart and be vulnerable."

- Real Live Preacher, via Benediction Blogs On

Sunrays

Looking into the future, I want to see a home with cozy sheets and a comfy bed, plush bathroom mats, fun lamps, retro dishware, flip flops by the door, paintings and photography on the wall, and love overflowing my full cup.

I want to listen to the music that I love over and over. I want to come home and find messages for me on the answering machine, and I want to answer the next call and have it be for me, someone I love on the other end.

I want to look outside the window and see rain running down the pane and have sunrays wake me in the morning. I want to dine in the evening beside a setting sun that never ceases to amaze me.

I want to fall asleep by the flicker of candlelight, all the while anticipating the gloriousness of morning.

I want to wake in the morning to a sweet aroma that I never tire of. I want to be inspired by my surroundings.

I want to live a life loving and being loved in return. I want to build stronger friendships and relationships out of ones of old and ones of new.

I want to find joy in all the little things of my life, from the view from my front door to the smile of my local grocer.

Maybe I want too much. But, I don't want to do any of these things alone. There must be someone else who wants them too.

Help

I've been working a lot on my MRRP (thesis) lately. If anyone has any thoughts on weblogs as a ministry tool, or knows of any links, let me know. You can email me via dialog at briercrest dot com or the email address on my sidebar.

Random List

It's been awhile since I've done a random list:

1. I'm famous.

2. I married Denzel Washington in my dream last night.

3. Denzel gave me a gold engagement right with D*A*D (the "*"s were diamonds) that he already had. I told him it was very original and I liked it.

4. A quote for you all: "So, I have this problem. I had a dream that I made tuna out of kittens and it keeps disturbing me." -Jodi Chambers.

5. The email address I recently abandoned is at 58% capacity now, with 529 unread messages in the inbox. I figure another week and the spam will have it maxed out.

6. The weather is warming up. It's supposed to be +3 Celcius on Wednesday. Do you have any idea how exciting that is? I can wear just one pair of mitts instead of two doubled up!

Nomad

"Also, I would like to point out right now that your life is quite possibly the most random of any individual I know."

Just right now?

The longest I have ever lived in a single place was eight years, between the ages of ten and nineteen. It was on a farm near a little French town in southern Manitoba. Before that I had moved three times. However, since March 1997, I have lived in 8 different provinces and states.

When I was a kid, I loved moving. Moving meant a whole new chance to:

a) perhaps get your own room
b) get a whole new set of friends who could potentially be cooler than your last set of friends
and
c) maybe, just maybe, end up having that perfect life like Jessica and Elizabeth had in Sweet Valley Twins.

My family moved after I finished high school, and they've been in the same place ever since, almost for the past seven years now. Well, my parents have stayed in the same place. The children they bore have all since moved on and around and around again.

I've been to college in Ontario and Saskatchewan. I've had jobs in Maine, Illinois, the Yukon, and Ontario. I've travelled 101 hours by bus (straight), been to Manhattan Island, flown sixteen times, been up the CN Tower, been to the Art Institute of Chicago, been to Maine's Shakespearean Theater, stayed in Whitehorse, seen a Cardinals game in St. Louis, and have even been stung by a jellyfish in Corpus Christi, Texas.

I have been many awesome places, seen many interesting things, done a lot, and met many many great people.

But I'm still searching for a place to call home.

email

"when i first started to read your email, i new it was going to be a long one, which intimidated me to respond, because there is an unwritten rule that kind of requires you to send equally long and involved responses..."

3 x 5

Last night I was reading a wedding magazine with my roommates. Now, I promised myself very long ago that I would never actually buy a wedding magazine until I am engaged. That, however, does not mean that I have not gazed at many a wedding magazine. When you once lived in dorm with 64 other females for 3 and a half years, you can't possibly escape having never looked at a wedding magazine. And every girl spends gads of time thinking about/planning her wedding. And, living with someone who is planning on getting married in July means we have quite a few wedding magazines around. Even "Brides Noir," the wedding magazine "for the bride of colour."

Anyway, as I was reading this magazine, there were all these sample "real life" wedding budgets, and in them, I happened to notice that a huge chunk of these budgets go to wedding photographers. Like $3000 US. Doing quick math in my head, I realize that's $4500 Canadian! That's crazy cash! Sure the photographer has to print and develop all the photos, but still, they've gotta be making a pretty penny by the end of the day.

I take photographs all the time. I've taken wedding photos before. At my sister's wedding. They turned out fairly well. And I didn't get paid anything!

Why am I not taking wedding photographs for a living? How do you get started in such a business anyways? Seriously, I think it would be an awesome job. Fun too. Except for the super duper picky brides. And mother-in-laws. Hmm... most brides and mother-in-laws are picky, from what I've heard.

Maybe wedding photography isn't the best way to go. Maybe dog photography. Dogs aren't picky. They'll eat socks if you let them. Do you suppose they care what their photos look like? They're owners already think they're the most adorable things on earth anyways. Is there any money in professional dog photography?

Visited





I've been to all the states in red.

Create your own visited states map here.

My first trip to the grand ol' U.S. of A was at the tender age of three when my Mom, Gramma, older sister, and I went to visit my aunt in Minneapolis. We were living in Saskatchewan at the time, and went via Manitoba and North Dakota. I have very vivid memories of that trip... sleeping in a parking lot at the Big M Stampede in Morris, Manitoba, because all of the hotels were full… being woken up in the morning by a cowboy who asked if my Mom or Gramma was awake.

My second trip to the U.S. also involved North Dakota. My aunt was visiting us when I was about 10, we were actually living near the aforementioned town of Morris, and she decided to take us kids for a big trip to the U.S. to get ice cream. We went to the first town over the border. Only, they didn't have any ice cream. So we had Mountain Dew instead.

After that, my trips to the U.S. got a little more exciting, our family drove through North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington on our way to British Columbia a couple of times. Then after the eleventh grade I went to Oregon with my youth group, and saw the ocean for the first time.

Four years later, in 1999, I got a job working in Maine for the summer at a private girls' camp. I took the bus from Alberta to Maine, via Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. 99 hours. I met up with another girl in Calgary, she was going to be working at the same camp, but we had never met. I wouldn't recommend anyone else spend 99 hours busing anywhere.

Two years after that, in summer 2001, I got another job in the US, being a youth intern at a church in southern Illinois. While I was there, I participated in a mission trip to Mexico, and we drove there via Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas, and then returned via Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Missouri.

I figured out a couple of weeks ago that I've actually been on Manhattan Island, I found the Port Authority Bus Terminal on a map. I really didn't have any idea as to where I had been in New York, although I did know that I had seen Central Park. I really don't have much recollection of where I have been in terms of the little cities, but I do remember the bigger ones.

And, that's the story of where I've been.

Miles Away

You know, part of the cool part about going to a school where everyone is from some other province or state, and also part of the cool part of working in odd places all over the continent, is the fact that you end up with friends all over.

But also, the sucky part about going to such a school and working in such places is the fact that you end up with friends all over.

I used to be a voracious keeper-in-toucher, but I have found that as time goes on, and I come to know more and more people, I’m not quite so good at it. Sometimes I realize that although I'd like to, I'm never going to see some of these people ever again. So, my motivation for keeping in touch diminishes when there is no promise of future real life contact, or any contact for that matter (i.e. letters, email, telephone calls, msn chats of substance, and currently-uninvented-modes-of-communication).

Recently, I heard of someone lamenting, "How come none of my roommates never keep in touch with me?" I think that keeping in touch has to be very much reciprocal... or else keeping in touch dies. People aren't going to keep in touch with you if you make no effort to keep in touch with them. Duh.

I had some awesome chats and emails this weekend.

Anyways, what I think the point of this post was when I started it is that I seriously have some of the bestest friends ever and I wish that they all lived in the same place so I could see all of them all of the time. But would that be too much of a good thing?

While absence does sometimes make the heart grow fonder, communication is vital.

Official Announcement

I am abandoning the email address mikao@briercrest. com due to ever increasing amounts of spam, and the fact that I basically never get any real emails on it and it takes too much time to go and sort through all the poopy spam every day and the emotional turmoil of realizing that out of 111 emails none are really actually for me, rather they are for some poor sucker who really thinks that by somehow enlarging something his/her life will get better and everything will be okay.

Dreaming

I want to open my window and see green trees and green grass and feel the wind all while rain is falling.

Bonne Fete

I phoned home this morning to talk to the dog because yesterday was Jenny's tenth birthday. Unfortunately, she lives outside, and was unable to come to the phone. But I'm sure my Mom will tell her happy birthday from me.

She actually bought the dog special birthday jerky treats. My Mom never buys the dog treats. Sheesh, she barely even buys me treats, and she gets some for the dog?!?!?

My Favourite Element

When I was in high school, I was a bit of a geek, and I took all three science classes (i.e. Chemistry, Physics, and Biology).

I took Chemistry and Physics becaue Mr. Verbowski taught them and he was the coolest. We always called him "Ernie" when he wasn’t around. My friend Jessica, another teacher's daughter, once accidentally called him Ernie to his face and we all almost died...

I used to come into class every day and ask Mr. Verbowski if I could make a bomb, and he would laugh every time (because it really was the most ridiculous notion thinking of me making a bomb).

Unfortunately Mr. Verbowski didn’t teach Biology, Ms. Mackenzie did, but she always had donut and cake days and brought the whole class donuts or Sara Lee cakes, so that was enough of an incentive to sit through two years of Bio and dissect worms and frogs and sheep eyeballs (even though they all made me nauseous). Luckily, donut and cake days were never the same days as dissection days.

Something about Mr. Verbowski made Physics the funnest class in the world, and I loved it. I would have taken Physics in university if he had taught it. I would have been a physicist if he would have been my boss. But, in grade 12 we got a new Physics and Chemistry teacher.

Physics just wasn't as fun any more. It was horrific. Learning in that class sucked. I dropped the class early in February (it started in the third week of January). I didn't tell my parents for a week.

It was the most rebellious thing I ever did.


Ode to my favourite element, from The Most Beautiful Periodic Table of Elements in The World, link via Que Sera Sera.

Stench-o-Rama

michelle says:
the guy that just came in and sat at the computer beside me smells like onions
it's gross

Holly says:
that is gross

Holly says:
maybe he works in the cafeteria

michelle says:
i don't know, even this is worse than caf smell

Holly says:
wierd

Holly says:
how do you end up smelling that bad

michelle says:
cooking onions

Holly says:
still

michelle says:
yeah, it's nast

Holly says:
oh well, i should go and find somthing to eat for dinner or somthing

michelle says:
okay, don't have onions though

Holly says:
i won't onions are gross

michelle says:
so is hummus

Holly says:
no hummus is good

Holly says:
bye

michelle says:
byeeee

Midnight Discourse

Jodi: I really really like sleeping.

Michelle: More than cheese?

Jodi: Yes.

Michelle: More than pancakes?

Jodi: Yes.

Michelle: More than chicken burgers?

Jodi: Yes.

Michelle: More than puppets?

Jodi: No.

These are A Few of My Favourite Things

Coming back from my Gramma's house the other day on the bus, there was nothing I wanted more than to lie down on our couch and listen to John Mayer* and drink something tasty.

Something like peppermint tea or some milk chocolate Swiss Miss. Except we don't have Swiss Miss in Canada, and I only have one packet left in my cupboard. And I'm saving that for a very special day. Or a very crummy day. I'll know which when that day happens.

There are a few beautiful things in life. Actually many beautiful things. Walking at night and gazing up at a seemingly endless expanse of sky. Bike riding in the summer. Taking photographs. Laughing with your grandmother. Dreaming of future things. Talking for hours with someone, or being perfectly comfortable for the same amount of time with them sitting in silence. Graduation. Worship. Understanding something new. Having hope. Trusting. Letting go.

*except my roommates have something against John Mayer... this is an enigma to me.

Dive In

"Michelle, the price of a new bathing suit should be no object when the one you've got is purple plaid."
- Jodi

General Announcement

I'd just like to let you all know that it's -54 Celcius out, or for you Americans, -65.2 Fahrenheit.

I have never been this cold in my entire life. If you have, let me know, I'll send you a prize.

Email Exchange

From: Seminary Secretary Lady Kristin
To: Michelle Johnston
Subject: Graduation Information

Graduation is approaching and I have started planning for the event.
However, the following information is missing from your grad application and
I will need it in order to continue with the preparations.

* Your hat size or forehead circumference

I would like to request that you send me this information by January 23rd.
If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you!

Kristin

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

From: Michelle Johnston
To: Seminary Secretary Lady Kristin
Subject: Graduation Information

Hi Kristin,

I was not here last week so I did not get the email you sent in time to respond by January 23rd. However, since you said to let you know if I have any questions, I do have a question.

In regards to head sizes on grad applications, whenever you graduate from college they just have a huge boxful of hats at the graduation rehersal and you just grab one out of the box, yet you have to put your head circumference on your grad form every year. I do not know if seminary graduates get their hat from the same box o' hats, but if they do, then what is the point of us all measuring our heads?

This has plagued me for many years, as I graduated from college twice and had to go and see the College Secretary Lady Verna twice to get my head measured. I think it wastes a lot of time to measure everyone's heads.

Thanks,
Michelle

Extended Leave

So, I'm back. Did you notice I was gone? For a week. Without the internet. It is possible! ;)

Thank you for keeping the comments active. :)

No, I wasn't in New York trying out for American Idol. I was in Manitoba unexpectedly visiting my Gramma for a week. It was awesome.

And I'm back. I'll be around. See you then.

FLying

So every day I pass by this old grey 1947 (I think) Cadillac with a cool hood ornament. I seriously think it's one of the coolest things of all time.

Materially speaking, I mean. If I didn't have any moral values or convictions I would be tempted to get a screwdriver and lift it off of there. But I think you always get found out in the end.

I stole twice. Both times were in kindergarten. The first time was during Show and Tell day... Kara Seal's beaded doll made out of safety pins "accidentally" fell into my bag out of her bag on the bag shelf and then my Mom phoned her mom that night in case they were concerned that it had been lost. The second time was when I was in the morning kindergarten class and there was also an afternoon kindergarten class and Laureena Laliberte from the afternoon class had forgotten her purse and I told the teacher it was mine.

I made up an elaborate scheme and told my Mom that I found it by the fence by our house. At the time we were living on a farm with three other houses, and so it wouldn't take much to figure out whose purse it actually was if it indeed was left there under legitimate circumstances, but my 6-year-old mind didn't think of that. Thus, I was forced by my mother to go and ask all the other kids if it was their's. Of course it wasn't, and I got to keep the purse, but I think my mother was probably very perplexed.

A couple of years later in grade three my guilty conscience was getting to me and I traded the purse to Angeline St. Germain. Loreena Liberte found out.

50 (More) Things

I thought maybe it was time for a new one of these since my 100 Things is over a year old.

1. I am 5'5".
2. I would like to be one inch taller. That would be perfect.
3. In school, my shoe size was always the same as my grade. Until grade 9, I only made it up to a size 8 foot.
4. My favourite colour as a child was mint green.
5. I really don't like mint green any more. I had mint green overdose I think.
6. I grew up mostly on cattle farms.
7. I was born in Saskatchewan.
8. My mom's from Manitoba.
9. My dad is from British Columbia.
10. I've lived in four provinces, 1 territory, and two states (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario, the Yukon, Maine, and Illinois).
11. I won two major writing contests in grade 6. I haven't really entered any since.
12. I love biking. Something about being able to go anywhere you want to with the wind in your hair.
13. I still bite my nails. It's a hard habit to quit.
14. I went to art college. I was a painting and fiber arts (weaving) major.
15. I usually don't tell people about the weaving part.
16. I once met another girl who had exactly the same birthday as me, her name was Michelle. I know this guy who has exactly the same birthday as me. His name is Steve.
17. If my name wasn't Michelle, it would have been Penelope.
18. I have brown hair.
19. I was switched shortly after birth.
20. They figured it out though, because the other baby was a boy.
21. I've never gotten a mark lower than a B since starting my graduate studies.
22. My parents gave all their children two middle names. Mine mean "grace" and "peace." They didn't do that intentionally.
23. I sang the part of first soprano in the Christmas musical this year.
24. When I was in high school I had over 100 pen pals.
25. I think the first concert I ever went to was a band called Hokus Pick.
26. There is a lily named after me.
27. When I was younger my parents raised tropical birds.
28. I am now allergic to bird dust and feathers.
29. I am 25.
30. When other people tell me they're 25, I think they're old.
31. I got my first CD player in 1999. I still have it.
32. I got my first stereo in 1990 for my 12th birthday. I still have it. I plug my discman into it. Cool, huh? ;)
33. I like doing laundry.
34. I always know where everything is.
35. I don't really like chocolate chip cookies. I think I'm the only one.
36. I'm also the only person who doesn't like U2.
37. I love wheatfields and the night sky.
38. I pretty much always wear lavendar perfume.
39. People always tell me I'm funny. I tend to concur with this statement, but I think that's tacky.
40. I love mail. I love sending mail. I think the post is a generally all-round good thing.
41. April 24, 2004 will be my last graduation ever…maybe. I have an A.A. and a B.A. I'll be getting an M.A.
42. I currently have no plans for further formal education. Seven years is enough!
43. I was of the Class of '96.
44. My best friend in kindergarten was Rhea Yacyshyn. We still talk every once in awhile.
45. I had an elaborate plan to run away when I was about 10 years old. I was going to go to my Gramma's 800km away.
46. I really really really didn't like my full-time babysitter when I was 2. I was very glad when my mom got pregnant again and stayed home!
47. I like big city shopping but houses in the country.
48. I like snowflakes but not the cold that comes with them.
49. I like meat.
50. I love taking photographs.

In Memoriam

I sometimes think it's interesting what information we carry around in our brains and can retrieve years later should we be triggered to the memory somehow. Things like my first college roommate's sister's name.

Bonne Fete!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Carly,
Happy Birthday to you!

Twenty years old,
Twenty years old,
Our little birthday girl's twenty year's old
Growin' like a tall tree,
Eatin' lots of dirt,
Our little birthday girl's twenty years old!

2004 (so far)

Seabiscuit
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
How to Deal
Freaky Friday

I like watching movies. I notice all the little details and themes usually. I tend to think too much while I'm watching them. However, I don't think I'm very good at reviewing them.

Seabiscuit came highly recommended. I kept hearing about what a fabulous movie it was. I watched it at home with my parents and my little brother. My mom fell asleep after the first half hour. Overalll, we all thought it was a pretty boring movie. We kept thinking it was going to end. It didn't for a very very long time.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I had seen this one before, once last summer. I remember it being slightly funny. It's an okay-ish movie. My roomdawg Jodi bought it last week. We watched it this past weekend. My favourite character was when the girl's friend "Michelle" is the fake psychologist.

How to Deal. Jodi wanted to rent a "chick flick"/non-thinking/non-boy-type movie. This was out. I had seen it in the theatre last summer and thought it fit the bill. We invited a couple of other girls to come and watch it. Jodi hated it but thought it fit the bill. When I saw it in the theatre I was currently in the midst of emotional turmoil, and so it didn't really help my outlook on life. I did however, find the main character's way of dealing with life pretty interesting and reflective somewhat of the millenial mindset. The day after we rented and watched the movie I let my youth ministry mind get the best of me and watched the movie with the commentary (I was scrapbooking and had nothing better to do) which was interesting. I had never watched a whole movie with the commentary turned on. This one didn't have too many interesting tidbits, it was much more conversational (it was Mandy Moore, her best friend from the movie, and the director commenting), and the sound of the movie was turned off. Then after I watched all that I watched all the other features that were on the DVD. There was a little documentary thing on the history of young adult literature that was kind of interesting and brought back memories of my Sweet Valley Twins and Baby-Sitter's Club days, but it wasn't that well made.

Freaky Friday I watched last night as part of the campus "Chick Flick Night" hosted by the local women's ministry group. Women on campus volunteered in groups of two to show a "chick flick" in one of their homes to a group of college students. Some of my friends signed up and I ended up going with them. It actually turned out to be pretty fun. The two ladies who hosted it got creative and got us Chinese food snacks, which went with the movie, and I thought that was cool. Anyways, the movie for the most part was pretty funny. I would watch it again. It wasn't really deep, but did have some realistic things to say about parent/teen relationships. Somewhat.

I think this post makes me sound like a teenager.

6 Things I've Learned About Wedding Planning

6. Spend a lot of time picking out your bridesmaids' dresses. This is what the whole wedding should be planned around.

5. Give the caterers and other wedding people as little information as possible until you’re totally sure of what you want. They don’t really need to know stuff like how many people you’re planning on and all that until really really close to the wedding date.

4. Your dress, however, is the most important part of your wedding. The more fake pearls and sequins in your dress, the better. The bigger the dress the better. And having colours like black and red in your wedding dress with neither encourage nor make guests more prone to thinking ill of your past.

3. The amount of time between the wedding ceremony and the reception is inconsequential. If you have a morning wedding and a late evening reception, your out-of-town guests "can just find something to do" in between.

2. More time should be spent on planning the actual wedding day than thinking about the actual marriage.

1. It's all about the bride.

At 1:15 pm (a.k.a. Naptime)

Michelle: You know, Jodi, Bucky's not looking too good. I think he might be on his last legs. He's all hole-y and stuff.

Jodi: Uh oh.

Michelle: You know what that means.

Jodi: No, what?

Michelle: IT'S TIME TO GET MARRIED!!!!

Michelle: Because, marriage is, after all, the only legitimate reason to get rid of a baby blanket.

Jodi: No, I think you should seriouly still keep him even after you're married.

Ringmaster

I think it is unfortunate that there are not more teachers worthy to remember. Indeed, there are many teachers we do remember, but most often for reasons that we shouldn't.

I always thought Mrs. Peterson was a teacher worth remembering. When I started the sixth grade, she started teaching sixth grade Language Arts for the first time, and unfortunately, I think it may also have been the last time. Normally she was a grade 2 or 3 teacher.

Mrs. Peterson gave us room to roam. She gave us room to create. To write. To explore. To publish. She was the young writer's dream teacher.

She was also the reason why I wrote the following story at age 12, which won a provincial writing contest at the time.

The Wooden Circus Set

There it was, sitting in the corner of my room, the little red wooden cage full of wooden animals, people and poles, and a tent, finely decorated with paint and silver sparkles. Best of all, in bright, gay yellow lettering on the top of the cage were the words: SHRINE CIRCUS. My five-year-old imagination ran wild when that little cage was opened and the contents were put together.

Dreamily, my eyes closed, and I felt dizzy and small. As I opened my eyes, I saw the wooden tigers and elephants, the clowns and acrobats, ALIVE! I couldn't believe it! I was actually in my circus set, except that there was a crowd! But where was the ring-master? I felt a tingle up my spine, I wasn't wearing my simple plain dress, long stockings and black shoes. But what was I wearing? As I looked down I saw a ring-master outfit!

"Come on!" a clown yelled, "You're on!" As I ran into the ring, not knowing what to say, I remembered what the ring-master had said at the Circus I had gone to the year before. I began: "Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls..."

Copyright Michelle Johnston, 1991.

They Have a Word For It

"Finding a name for something," says Howard Rheingold, "is a way of conjuring its existence."

torschlüsspanik: the German word for "the frantic anxiety experienced by unmarried women as they race against the 'biological clock.'"

kyoikumama: The Japanese word for "mother who pushes her children into academic achievement."

bol: The Mayan word for "stupid in-laws."

treppenwitz: The German word that refers to the "clever remark that comes to mind when it is too late to utter it."

- from "They Have a Word for It: A Lighthearted Lexicon of Untranslatable Words & Phrases," by Howard Rheingold.

Fame

"On the Web everyone will be famous to 15 people."
- David Weinberger

Bark Bark

Do you ever just find it absolutely useless to fight the insatiable urge to bark at a tied up dog outside that you know can't chase you?

Because, sometimes I just can't help myself. ;)

Question

What is your favourite post? On any blog, I mean. On your blog. On my blog. On Bob's blog. On Mr. Joe Schneider's even.

Hmm... I think Mr. Joe Schneider's would be, like, the coolest blog name ever. I wish I had thought about mine more before I called it Mikao's World.

Anyways, I digress. Thank you for your answers in advance.

Yours truly,
Michelle

New 'Do

Me and my roomdawg Jodi went and got hair cuts tonight. We were a little concerned about whom we would have cutting our hair. Jodi ascertained that she would rather have someone young and hip with a few years of experience choppin' her locks. I concurred. Thus, we selected what we thought sounded like the hipper salon out of the two at the mall from out of the phone book and made two appointments.

We arrived. Two older ladies showed up from their break. Jodi got the older one. She got a big 'do. I am sure it will be okay once Jodi can style it herself.

I got the younger one. My hair isn't too bad. But you know when you go shopping and afterwards your hands feel all gritty? Especially, like, after you go thrift store shopping and you forgot to bring Purrell or WetNaps with you? That's what my hair feels like. I am sure it will be fine after I wash it.

Check Your Spam

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All porgramsAEM
It is not the insurrections of ignorance that are dangerous, but the revolts of the intelligence.

12:45pm, At The Kitchen Table

"We're talking about Michelle's toothbrush and we don't even need any clarification. This is just wrong."

- Mike

Brush Your Teeth

I currently have three toothbrushes and three tubes of toothpaste on the go.

It's not because I'm obsessed with personal hygiene. I mean, I think personal hygiene is important, but let's not be obsessed about it.

The reason I have three toothbrushes in a Mary Poppins' mug on my bathroom counter is because of the following factors: I have this really cool one that really should go... but it's hard to give it up. It's a good brusher. Then I bought a new blue one just before Christmas, and then I got a new lime green one for Christmas. The new one I just had to try, instead of save for when the blue one got old. So, thus, the three toothbrushes on the go.

The three toothpastes are due to the fact that I got one for Christmas and the other two I had because I like variety. Seriously, who wants to use the same toothpaste every day? Is this necessary and/or even logical? I don't think so. There are too many good flavours and/or mouthy freshnesses to choose just one.

Christmas 1983 I can remember getting this lovely mint green toothbrush with "Michelle" written on the handle in white capital letters. My American aunt gave me the toothbrush, so that automatically made it cool. But the fact that it had my name on it made it even cooler. I had that toothbrush for a long time. I kept it in one of the drawers under my bed when my Mom said I couldn't use it any more, just so I could take it out and look at it, it was that cool. (Mint green, by the way, was my favourite colour for about 15 years... I pretty much can't stand it anymore though after living with a barfo mint green desk for a year and a half of art school).

Back

So, I made it back at 6:15 this morning... I'm dead tired but it's nice to be here. :)

The following will describe my trip:

- very long
- mothball smell
- too many people
- 3 1/2 hours in Calgary
- freakin' COLD bus
- faux fur lady
- not enough sleep
- my luggage made it with me (Jodi's did not. She's been back from Brazil since Sunday. She thinks it's in Toronto. Maybe).

I should be writing papers, I have two due tomorrow. Thankfully my copy of this book arrived from amazon.ca, so I can attempt to finish the one paper that I started back in December.

Have a great day.

I like Christmas Holidays

If you do a search on Google, Mikao's World just happens to be the #1 result, and only result, for the query "I like Christmas holidays."

This is of course true, and the Google results are due to the fact that last December 27th I wrote a post where I used that phrase. I think it's neat to be reminded of where we were a year ago sometimes. i like Christmas holidays because they have no agenda... there is nothing specific that i need to accomplish.... nothing too exciting going on in my life these holiday days and that is just fine. : ) "

Today I find myself in pretty much the same spot as that. My Christmas holidays were spent with family doing nothing in particular, and I spent much of it knitting. :) My Mom got a scarf for Christmas, similar to the blue one I made last Christmas but a tad more complex.

I still wear that blue scarf. I'm still blogging on about Christmas holidays. I think I've done much in this past year between then and now. many things have changed, but some things remain very similar.

I'm thankful to be where I'm at. Today I spent the afternoon chatting with old friends. I'm looking forward to this new year and seeing what all it holds. Thank you to those who have chosen to be a part of it.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
- Ephesians 3:17b-21

chuckle chuckle

i miss my friend holly. she's cool. except she doesn't update her blog too often.

but she's still cool.

"you need to have normal everyday conversation before you can have any good you know kind of conversation."
- holly

January Look

So, I've decided to do a new layout. What do you think? Is it too hard to read or anything like that? I'm still not totally done with it, so let me know. :)

And, have a fantastic day.

life

michelle says: i always end up in places i never thought i'd be

carly is converting says: That has to be pretty nice.

carly is converting says: To be somewhere unexpected.

carly is converting says: That's cool...

michelle says: hmmm... i never thought about it

michelle says: but you're right.

just kidding

i didn't actually leave yesterday. the bus was an hour and a half late, plus totally full... so, yeah, i'll try again tomorrow. i'll be later getting to school than i wanted, but it'll be okay.

on the road

Well, I'm once again travelling, I'll be back in Saskatchewan by tomorrow night at 7pm. I would l ike to just point out that it's 26 hours by bus for me to get back to school (via Edmonton and Calgary).

My roommate Jodi leaves at roughly the same time I do, albeit from Brazil, and arrives at the same time.

What's up with that!?!?!?!? :)

"Back to school, back to school, to prove to Dad..."

carries on without a doubt

so i've listened to evan and jaron's "crazy for this girl", oh, about 25 times today. at least.

and i thought i'd come and entertain you. actually, i'll let someone else entertain you. it's the beginning of the month. jay over at the plug has the new issue up. i like the tiny bumper stickers. i think they're hilarious. i want some.

i think i should probably write another new year's-ish post, but i don't feel like it. just yet. i read some of my archives from last year earlier today. i chuckled. i laughed. i remembered. i loved last january.

2003 was a good year. here's to 2004.

she rolls the window down
and she talks over the sound of the cars that pass us by
and I don't know why, but she's changed my mind

would you look at her as she looks at me, she's got me thinkin about her constantly
but she don't know how I feel, and as she carries on without a doubt
I wonder if she's figured out I'm crazy for this girl

she was the one to hold me the night the sky fell down
and what was I thinkin when the world didn't end
why didn't I know what I know now

and right now, face to face all my fears, pushed aside and right now
I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with you
- "Crazy for This Girl," by Evan and Jaron

it's a beautiful day

so, like i said to my family about 2 minutes before world idol started tonigh, kurt nilsen of norway won.

and no, i didn't cheat and check on the internet.

i knew, because it's obviously a part of U2's plan to take over the world.

year in review

trip to edmonton. return to school. vermicelli noodles. maria. positional paper stress. exit interview. phone chats with joanne. counselling adolescents and their families. hypothetical surreal valentine's day. phone call. the ten commandments (silent and classic). trip to Gramma's. youth quake. switchfoot concert. film class. assignments. scrapbooking. spring smell. seattle? soul searching. root cellar roof. cleaning. graduation. goodbyes. month at home. return to camp. june. paperwork. biking. flower pictures. chapel decorating. swiss chalet. staff training. trip to holly's. daily crafts. prayer meetings. mcdonald's sundaes with carolyn in the parking lot. three weeks. weekend in muskoka. whistle. friday note. weekend at heather's. weekend at sarah's. much thought, much prayer. return. scavenger hunt. trip to barrie. much thought, much prayer. staff problems. last two weeks. tuck shop. oscar nights. blue dress. last day. good byes. hugs. exchanged words. msn. week in ajax. flight west. new home. jodi and rachel. grasshoppers. spiritual formation . retreat at echo lake. wheatfield pictures. t-shirt. dropped romans. philosophy of ministry and mission. jillian's visit. trips to moose jaw with jodi. junior high youth ministry (last class). chicken mcnuggets and cheeseburgers. papers. Christmas musical practices. four performances. mrrp proposal. assignments for philosophy. trip to taber. Christmas. rest.

(idea taken from neely)

goodbye yesterday

another year is drawing to a close, remember when 2003 held so much promise? although new year's eve carries celebration, it also brings introspection with it.

did i do everything i ought to have done? did i treat people how i should have? did i do all i could have? did i seize the day? did i celebrate and mourn at the right times? did i make a difference? did i have the right relationships? were there things i should have handled differently?

while i do think there is value in learning from the past, often i think that perhaps, instead of dwelling on the past and wondering how things should have been, we should look to the future.

what can i do that i ought to do? how should i treat people. seize the day. carpe diem. celebrate. mourn. laugh. cry. make a difference. be who i am meant to be. seek God's direction.

i started this post with something else... blogger ate it. i wrote about how i'm not sure where this next year is going. i'm trying desperately not to be anxious. His perfect plan will be revealed when it needs to be. when it's right.

thank you Father for your perfect love, your perfect timing.

end of the year

taking a que from andrew over at bloggedyblog, i am posting a year-end list. Here is my list of my top five...

Favourite CDs Purchased in 2003

5. Downhere's "So Much for Substitutes"
Favourite Songs: Starspin and In America

I was pretty excited for this CD to come out. In fact, I even conned all the programming staff at camp to wait until the day it came out in June to make our trip to the Christian bookstore to pick out our devotional material... and, you know, get this CD. Although there are three songs I really like on, "So Much For Substitutes" overall was a big disappointment. But, it still makes my list because Downhere's pretty cool and they're the closest I'll ever come to personally knowing rockstars (they went to my college even while I was there).

4. Starfield's "Tumbling After"
Favourite Songs: Can I Stay Here Forever and Cry In My Heart

I saw Starfield twice this year, in March and in September. I love Starfield. But sometimes, their album is even too sickly sweet pop-ish even for me. But overall, it's a very good album. It was hard to pick just two favourite songs. "Cry In My Heart" is a good worship tune.

3. Switchfoot's "The Beautiful Letdown"
Favourite Songs: On Fire and Twenty-Four.

I saw Switchfoot in concert the weekend before "A Beautiful Letdown" was released. It was an awesome concert. I went to get the new CD shortly after it came out, but it was already out of stock. I didn't end up hearing it until the summer, and borrowed it numerous times from my cool friend Mike, and I bought it sometime in the beginning of August when I finally decided that it was time to get my own copy. It was a very wise purchase.

2. Plumb's "Beautiful Lumps of Coal"
Favourite Songs: Boys Don't Cry and Go

Definitely the most expensive single CD I've ever purchased, I had to special order it for over $27 (Canadian) because the school bookstore didn't have it. However, being a big Plumb fan, it was well worth it. I'm never disappointed in Tiffany's music. I especially love the intro on "Real."

1. Jars of Clay's "Who We Are Instead"
Favourite Songs: Show You Love and Sing

Jars of Clay is, without a doubt, my favourite band. However, I never thought that they would ever create another album that would even come close to their first one on a scale of how much I liked it. But, "Who We Are Instead" has done just that. I love it. It's a very different Jars sound, but definitely a good one. I love the lyrics. Very sound album. I'd recommend it's purchase to anyone.

permalinks

okay, i think they should be working now, thanks to neely. she's the greatest!

advertising rates

i've been making further inquiries into this whole closed captioning thing (see post below).

this is the email i got back after visiting the official ctv advertising page:

This is an automatic reply:
Thank you for requesting information on CTV. If you are an advertiser looking for a password to our new sales site please let me know the company you are with and I will be happy to provide you with one. If there is already a company name provided in your initial e-mail please ignore this message as you will hear from us shortly with a password. If you are looking for additional sales information, please send me the details of your campaign and I will be happy to get you in touch with someone who can better assist you. Please also include the region (local, provincial or national) you wish to advertise in. However, if you are a student, I'm sorry but we are unable to release the sales site password or advertising rates to the general public.
Thank you and have a nice day.
CTV Marketing

my quest for information goes on. can i provide closed captioning? do i have to be advertising something?

i will let you know.

closed captioning provided by

i don't know if anyone else has noticed this... or maybe it's just me because i'm home and have been watching a lot of tv and we only have two channels... but i think it must be pretty cheap to pay to provide closed captioning on tv. because ryan malcolm's new cd "home" has been providing the closed captioning on pretty much every stinkin' show on ctv while i've been home.

i suppose it's part of their big world idol push.

but ryan's not going to win world idol. but that won't stop millions of canadians from buying his cd i suppose.

but, someone seriously should crown him "closed captioning king."

:)

so this is Boxing Day

so here i sit on this day we call "boxing day" in Canada, the day where you "box up your leftovers for the poor" (or something like that)... or go shopping or look over and play with all your gifts... thinking of how often we are never content with where we're at.

here i am, at home, surrounded by family, waiting for friends and people i love to get on msn messenger so i can talk to them, because they aren't here and i miss them.

Merry Christmas

hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas day with family and friends.

on my way

i'm leaving in a few minutes to go home for Christmas and will be home tomorrow afternoon sometime. not sure when i'll next be online... so may you and yours have a wonderful Christmas remembering the joy and wonder of the birth of Jesus, the One whom we can call Saviour.

maybe i should have

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maybe i should have just called them... you know, instead of spending 6 1/2 years in post secondary education earning rather than just buying the "benefits and admiration that comes with a diploma!"

and perhaps it would have saved me a few tens of thousands of dollars as well. ;)

top picks

little women
home alone 2
wild hearts can't be broken
the bourne identity
serendipity
brokedown palace

i think these are my favourite movies.

because of Christmas Day

this Christmas, i am going home. home to northern alberta, home to my parents' house. i've never actually lived there, because my parents moved after i finished high school and i've spent most of my summers in various parts of the world inbetween college years and seminary. so... i pretty much only know my family there.

this Christmas, my whole family will be home. my older sister, her husband, my younger sister, and my little brother. i guess technically he's not little anymore, now that he's 20 and is taller than me, but i think he'll always be "little" to me.

i don't know what i'm getting for Christmas this year, i would like a bigger lens for my camera, but i am kinda doubtful that that will happen. i think that i got people some pretty good gifts this year, i framed some pictures i especially like for my older sister and my mom in some really cool frames, and i made my dad this cool 3-D sheep picture thingy (he's a sheep farmer, he likes anything with sheep on it), and my brother-in-law some personalized golf stuff (apparently, or so i've been informed, he likes to golf), and then i got my younger siblings what they wanted. i made some scarves as well and sent them to various people. and i made cards and sent them to a bunch of people as well. i like making homemade stuff better than buying gifts usually. it's more fun to make stuff than buy stuff.

i don't come from a Christian family (well, they go to church, but that's about it), so Christmas isn't really a time of deep spiritual significance, we go to church Christmas Eve, and say grace Christmas day, but that's about it. sometimes i wonder what it would be like to celebrate Christmas with a whole family of believers. cherish it if you have it.

two thousand years ago in a town called Bethlehem, a young girl gave birth to a child in a stable. God came to earth as a tiny baby to bring salvation to mankind. 30 years later he died on a cross.

and today i live because of Him.

here i am

i am currently in a little town south-east of calgary, at my sister and brother-in-law's house. they left this morning for my parents' house. i am here until tomorrow when my younger sister and i are leaving for home too.

so, right now, i'm sitting on a dial-up computer enjoying the wonders of the internet, albeit very slow, but having a lovely time. :)

i tried to fix my permalinks... but i don't think they're working still. this frustrates me. i like my permalinks.

my roomdawg

my montanan roommdawg jodi is leaving tomorrow morning for her sister's wedding in brazil.

that means jodi gets a tropical summer Christmas wearing shorts and hawaiian tropic suntan lotion... meanwhile, i will be at home where it's -25C and light from about 9 or 10 am until 3 or 4pm-ish.

"hello, baby."
- jodi's future brother-in-law's first greeting to her

santa clause 2

the s.w.a.t. boys redeemed themselves.

:)

lyric

so, this afternoon me and my roommate jodi listened to bebo norman's cd "ten thousand days" for oh... about 4 hours straight.

A page is turned by the wind to a boy in curly grin
With a world to conquer at the age of ten
But as history unfolds and the storybook is told
He finds salvation but not at the hands of man

And the God of second chance
Picked him up and He let him dance
Through a world that is not kind
And all this time, preparing him, the one
To hold him up when he comes undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And now a man, here you stand
Your day has come

A page is turned in this world to reveal a little girl
With a heart that's bigger, as it is unfurled
By the language in her soul, that's teaching her to grow
With a careful cover of love that will not fail

And the God of second chance
Picked her up and He let her dance
Through a world that isn't kind
And all this time, preparing her the one
To hold her up when she comes undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And grown up tall, here you are
Your day has come

Beneath the air of autumn, she took him by his hand
And warm within the ardor, she took his heart instead
And high upon the mountain, he asked her for her hand
Just for her hand

A page is turned in this life, he's making her his wife
And there is no secret to the source of this much life
When the grace that falls like rain is washing them again
Just a chance to somehow rise above this land

Where the God of second chance
Will pick them up and he'll let them dance
Through a world that is not kind
And all this time, they're sharing with the one
That holds them up when they come undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And once again, here you stand
And once again, here you stand
Your day has come
- "A Page is Turned," by Bebo Norman

another road

have you ever thought of blogging using a pseudonym?

when i fist started blogging, i thought about it. i never used my last name. i wasn't sure i wanted people i knew finding me on the internet.

but, whatever, eventually i threw all caution to the wind and here i am. more and more people know about my blog. a professor told me the other day that they found it over the summer. my cool friend mike reads it sometimes (see, i mentioned you, i told you i would). and my roomdawg jodi. and my friend holly. someday, they'll all have blogs. chuckle chuckle.

sometimes it makes me nervous that this is just out there... on the net... for anyone i know to read (what if i wrote something self-incriminating?), and sometimes i think whatever. i blog, therefore, i am cool. ;)

but sometimes, i still think, maybe i should give this all up and go under a pseudonym. i thought of a cool one the other day.

get ready

i just got a spam email with the subject line "get ready... summer 2003".

i wish i could have been ready, only summer 2003 has already passed.

silly spammers.

chuckle chuckle

i took these photos of the "booming arts community."

that makes me laugh.

question

what is it that you'd really really really like for Christmas this year?

good day

so i just mailed about 2/3 of my Christmas cards. i haven't sent Christmas cards in, hmm... oh, about 4 years i think. but this year, i decided to make cards. it sounded like a good idea at the time, it just ended up taking forever. :)

i got my MRRP (thesis) proposal back today. my professor liked it. really liked it. not bad for typing it up in a couple of hours.

now i have three and a half months to pound out 40-60 pages.

i think i can do it.

i got an emailed entitled "new year's resolution" today. it was spam, but wasn't it a bit early? i don't make new year's resolutions anyways.

does anyone actually keep new year's resolutions anyways? sure they're cool in january, but by february, and certainly by march, who remembers them and who talks about them anymore?

saturday i'm taking the bus to southern alberta to visit my sisters for a couple of days, then on the 23rd i'm driving home with my younger sister home, we're staying overnight in edmonton and then getting home on the 24th. i'm not sure yet how long i'm staying home... we'll see. i don't have to be back for anything in particular, but i'll probably come back the first week of january.

anyways, i think i'm going to go home and do a little Christmas baking for little exam snacks for some of my college friends who are unfortunately stuck doing exams, and i need to finish a couple more Christmas cards.

have a great day.

goodnight

this says it all.

illegal break

i'm in the yearbook office... still. i was here all afternoon. i'm here all night. this is me.

well, until midnight at least.

and i'm taking a break. i shouldn't. but i am. or i'll go crazy. ;)

ptl i'll be done tonight sometime. it's unfortunate it's exam time for the college or i'd at least have someone to help me.

okay... i'm going. back to work.

late night

look at the time. it's late. i've been working on the yearbook since 5pm-ish.

and i'll be working on it all tomorrow.

i need to remind myself that it's fun and i like it.

because it gets tiring and boring.

but in the end... i think that i appreciate the work that i do. hopefully others do too. :)

only alive

i'm a fair-weather friend
i'm a colorless view
but i'm willin' to make a deal
if you think you can make some faith here inside
i'll drive off and marry you

i'm only alive with you
i can't get by and i won't get through
so put me in the river and let me say i do
i'm only alive with you

you're a sight for sore eyes
and a newborn cry
in a year where there are so few
if you throw me a line, i'll show you in time
i'm fallin' in love with you

though my heart has been torn
the loves i have worn
and i'm tempted by them ever still
i tremble inside when you walk in the room
you hold my affections and will
- "only alive," by jars of clay, off of their new album who we are instead

santa meter

"Michelle: Nicer than nice. A real champ! I was really proud of all the hard work that went towards changing those "naughty" habits of last year. Treated friends nicely and was exceptionally honest (which happens to be one of my favorite traits!) It's amazing what a good old fashioned "I'm sorry!" can do for a rating. Keep up the good work!"

from santa's nice-o-meter.

link via neely.

days and nights

last night my roommates and i had our little christmas gift exchange, which was fun. i gave scarves and a serving bowl and drinking glasses. i recieved a stocking, homemade raspberry jam ("gram jam"), the christmas issue of mary englebreit home companion magazine, a cool deep brown wood picture frame with three picture slots, and the coolest green mini-scrapbook ever. now i need to do something cool to do a little mini scrapbook of.

then last night i went with my roommate jodi and three guys to see a movie... we ended up killing over an hour at winners waiting for the movie to start. winners is one of those "brand name bargains at prices you love" kind of stores... that really sells a lot of crud. too bad none of us brought a camera, because we would have had some beautiful shots. jodi and i found some really lovely fur coats and all sorts of other bargains.

i wanted to see "seabiscuit," but i got outvoted by the two guys who wanted to see "s.w.a.t." (the other two abstained from voting!!!), so yeah, we saw s.w.a.t., and yeah... it was a shoot-em-up-action movie.

part way through the movie i was thinking to myself i need to know more of those quality guys who take girls to quality movies (not that the guys we were with weren't quality guys i'm sure, it's just they had poor choice in movies when females are present).

and when we exited the movie i watched the people from seabiscuit leaving as well, and lamented that i was not one of them.

but i had a fun evening, and today i slept through the afternoon... and now i'm here to work on yearbook.

yay yearbook.

i'm going to be here a long time.

jobs and dreams, etc.

so you may remember that i was supposed to have a job interview dec. 10th... but my younger sister was also supposed to have a job interview with the same company 8 days earlier. it was a phone interview. and they never called. and the number we had to get in touch with them is no longer in service. so they didn't call her, and they also didn't call me.

the company still exists, we just figure that they switched their telemarketing companies or phone-answering service companies, whatever they call them.

i take it as a sign that the job would have been cruddy and wouldn't have been a good idea for me.

but, i'm staying here at school for another while anyways, so a job wouldn't have worked out. how long this "while" is i'm not exactly sure. i still have to finish my MRRP (thesis) and do my oral comprehensive exam (which will occur sometime between the beginning of the last week of january and the end of the second week of february).

but, today i got offered work for the end of april or beginning of may. that is good.

grad is at the end of april. then i'll have my masters degree.

then i think i'll go on my vacation for a week or two.

i'm thinking i'll go to abbotsford, and seattle. i have a bunch of friends in abbotsford, and i've never been to vancouver, and i'd like to meet carly ryan (except travis won't be there, but he's in poland and that's cool).

but this is all hypothetical at this point.

but it would be cool. :)

and then i'll go and begin the rest of my life.

recently seen

the majestic

about a boy

conspiracy theory

hmmm

sorry for the lack of personal content lately. it's interesting how this "blogging thing" goes in phases.

sometimes i don't feel like i have anything to say.

spirituality test

i saw the spirituality test over at food for fish so i decided to do it and got...

You are a Sage, characterized by a thinking or head spirituality. You value responsibility, logic, and order. Maybe that's why you were voted "Most Dependable" by your high school classmates. Structure and organization are important to you. What would the world be like without you? Chaos, that's what! Your favorite words include should, ought, and be prepared. What makes you feel warm and fuzzy? Like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof it's tradition! tradition! tradition!

Because you love words, written or spoken, you enjoy a good lecture, serious discussions, and theological reflection. Prayer for you usually is verbal. You thrive on activity and gatherings of people, such as study groups. Sages on retreat likely would fill every day with planned activities, leaving little time for silence or solitude.

We need Sages for your clear thinking and orderly ways. You pay attention to details that others overlook. Sages make contributions to education, publishing, and theology. You often are the ones who feel a duty to serve, give, care, and share with the rest of us.

On the other hand, sometimes you seem unfeeling, too intellectual, or dry. Can you say "dogmatic"? You may need to experience the freedom of breaking a rule or two every now and then. God's grace covers Sages too, you know!

i'm often surprised at how accurate these quizzes sometimes are in some areas, but i'm not too sure they're that accurate in others. but interesting nonetheless.

go here

so, i've been on the hunt for interesting stuff to see/do/read on the internet for awhile now. because there's a lot of junk on the internet and i don't want to waste my time with that stuff.

so, hence, all the cool stuff on my sidebar... blogs, and also the stuff listed under "i like fun". i'm a fun person. well, i like to think i'm a fun person. people actually always tell me i'm funny, never fun i guess. so maybe i'm just a funny person.

but, i digress.

somehow tonight i got to dave simpson's site funnypancake. i like the categories. i spent a long time there.

too long. but i had fun.

a short quote

"It will be apparent from the contents page and the size of this book that it is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of the topics which are taken up."(p.5)

- Herbert H. Farmer, M.A., in "Experience of God: A Brief Enquiry into the Grounds of Christian Conviction," London, UK: Student Christian Movement, 1929, 218 pages. 231.042 F233

random thoughts on love and like and lust

a collection from random surfing on the web...

"Dear future wife,

Please hurry things up. I'm tired of waiting for you. I'm tired of waiting to hug your neck, and love you for the rest of your life.
your future husband,"

Josser

"You walk away kissless and unfrustrated because life is longer than a moment. You are content to wait. And want."
-jason killingsworth

"When you love, the whole world should know."
-carly

"Is there anything more magical then a kiss that makes your knees buckle?"
-ryan

" i am here by myself. and for most nights for the next year or more, i will end my day much the same. and that's more than okay with me, i guess. but i still wonder when it won't be quite like this....when i'll lie in bed and hear the cadence of another's breathing...when i'll have in-laws and babies and a mortgage....and i'll be called by another name....

and maybe by then, my heart will not remember so well these moments in the dark, me sinking under the covers, waiting for warmth to surround me....the loneliness and freedom intermingled in the center of my chest. breathe in. breathe out. it's just me. God...will it always be just me?....

thank you that it's just me.

please don't let it always be just me."
-sarah

" In the past I felt like I was the only one and at one point I thought I was crazy for even speaking of such things, because some of my friends just did not want to talk about it. I truly believe the more we talk about things in our lives, the more we ask questions, the closer and closer we can get to God."
-travis

"It's not a game. Romance is fun, three hour phone calls are lovely, midnight strolls and cuddling is great, but it's not enough to build a life on. There's a reason the divorce rate in this country is so high, and I think part of the problem can be traced back to people falling head over heels and not thinking clearly enough to evaluate their choice of a life partner soberly."
-sarah hatter

"i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)". -e.e. cummings
-matthew

"And I am once again, alone. Eleven months in line to ride the big roller coaster and when I get to the front of the line and they closed the ride."
-stacey george

what is love anyways?

"Love isn't the tingly sensation you feel when you hold someone's hand for the first time. Love isn't the breath-catching feeling you have when you think someone thinks only of you. True, lasting love comes after struggling together through the hard times, remembering the good times, and having faith that God will help you over one more hill together. Ture love is accepting yourself, with all your strengths and weaknesses, and accepting the other peson in the same way. Rembering that God can fashion anything out of a simple lump of clay, and He can fashion a strong lasting love out of two very different individuals."
- brenda s. hogan

you'd better not loose them

so i bought my brother-in-law personalized golf tees and golf balls (and they cost a fortune) because my mother was informed the other day that he likes anything to do with golf... and i got him extra large sweatpants for the last couple of years for Christmas and thought something new was in order.

i've know the guy for 5 years, and he's never golfed that i've ever heard of.

spring winter cleaning

I cleaned up my sidebar to more accurately reflect my reading habits.

And I added some new stuff. It’s cool. Check it out. :)

* youth min blogs *


i'm committing these to my archives.

randy bennett
michaela forbes
jay huff
caleb lapointe
juniorhighpastor
james @ whatisthis.com
re-imagining youth ministry

missing

So, I put this book on hold at the library (i.e. requested that when the current borrower returned said book, I would be notified it was returned and thus would be able to pick it up at the circulation desk and sign it out for three glorious weeks) about five weeks ago…

Except two weeks when I got the notice it had been returned, I immediately went to the library to pick it up… and they couldn't find it.

I went and looked at the point in the library shelves where 259.2 C271 should have been had it been accidentally shelved, and it was not there. It was also not anywhere on the hold shelf, or anywhere on the reserve shelf, or anywhere on the book carts.

Then two other librarians came to assist the first librarian looking on the shelves behind the circulation desk (of which there are not many), then Mean Librarian (all names have been changed to protect those presumed innocent) looked at my hold notice and declared it to have been printed two weeks previous to that days date and I should have known that holds expire after three days.

But, I informed Mean Librarian, I had only received the hold notice that day.

"That is entirely not possible, Michelle," Mean Librarian informed me.

But, it somehow was. Exactly where the hold notice had spent the last two weeks, I do not know, but I do know that in that time the book had disappeared.

In fact, it's still somewhere other than it’s proper place at 259.2 C271 on the library shelves. And I’ve looked around in the study carrels as well, it’s not there. But the library's computer system still says it's checked in. So it should be on it's shelf.

So, if you’re the person who is with holding 259.2 C271 from it’s rightful place on my desk whereupon I could use it for my current homework project, I ask you to return it. Please.

259.2 C271
eMinistry: Connecting with the Net Generation, by Andrew Careaga.

i need it.

maybe i should just break down and buy it.

question asked

joanne: but what if he meets someone?

michelle: joanne, i am that someone.

home

"I miss not having to figure out where "home" is, because it's clear that it's the place where you've always lived."
- cocqui

the plug

so i sent jay of the plug some fanmail...

but my question is, why did it arrive so mutilated?

is it part of canada post's conspiracy to take over the world via delivering mutilated mail and sending packages into oblivion (like holly's birthday package that jodi never recieved?).

or was a jealous u.s. postal service employee not able to let go of this postcard without a piece of it for him/her self?

or did a cruddy postal sorting machine get hungry and attempt to eat aforementioned fanmail?

because i would like to know.

BONUS: random link for if you've been wondering where you can get your very own outfit, just like theirs. :)

and, in case you were wondering, i also accept fanmail.

fun vrs. lame

i'm at the computer lab killing time. someone is supposed to come and find me in the computer lab and we're supposed to go and decorate a tree in the chapel foyer. but i've been waiting for a very long time.

this morning i slept in and then i called my mom, like i do every saturday morning, and she wasn't home. what's up with that? they were supposed to be going couch shopping today, but i don't think they would have left by then, and plus it's an hour earlier in alberta than it is in saskatchewan.

last night was the seminary christmas banquet. it was very "adult." not "adult" as in triple-x, but "adult" as in dry humour, dry jokes, and singing christmas carols out of the carol song insert from the moose jaw newspaper. as much as i am excited for this next stage of life, whenever it comes, you know, the "out-of-school i-have-a-job" stage where you hang out with other like people and young marrieds, i do not look forward to the lame parties. i will always throw fun parties. i can't wait to have a "real apartment" when i have a job, not a "fake apartment" like i have now at school... i will throw way cool dinner parties.

i have to go... my tree awaits.

update: 4:20pm. it looks stinkin' fabulous. :)

vacation

so, it's like one of my biggest dreams to go on a vacation. because i never have. i've only travelled for conferences and for work, and i went on a missions trip to mexico once. but i've been to quebec, ontario, manitoba, saskatchewan, alberta, british columbia, the yukon, washington state, oregon, idaho, montana, north dakota, minnesota, wisconsin, illinois, ohio, indiana, pennsylvania, new jersey, new york, massachusetts, maine, missouri, mississippi, arkansas, texas, louisiana, tennessee, and a few other states that i am at the moment forgetting.

but i've never been anywhere just for fun.

and today i was thinking i'm going to do that. in may. after i'm graduated and done school forever.

so, i'm taking suggestions on destinations.

joanne

"have you ever just had a day where it takes all your energy to not cry b/c your life sucks so much, so much that you can;t even imagine it getting better. i'm just saying."
- my friend joanne

confessions of a geek

tonight i finished a Christmas present for my dad, it's a framed 3-D picture I made him of two ewes and a lamb in a field. i think it looks pretty cool actually, and he pretty much likes anything with sheep on it and anything i have made, so i'm all set! ;) the frame wasn't really what i would have liked, but it is hard to find frames that will accomodate something that isn't quite so flat.

i bought a new scrapbook on tuesday. the two that i've made so far (one was from summer 2001 when i was a youth intern and my fourth year of college, and the other one was from my first year of seminary) i used a 10x10 book with white pages. my new book however is i think 9" tall by 12" wide maybe... i'm not sure, and with ecru coloured pages, and i am so excited. i can't wait to start it. but all my scrapbooking stuff is at home, so i have to wait until Christmas to pick it up. but, i'm planning already.

if you've never scrapbooked or you've only seen those creative memories scrapbooks that all the church ladies make, then you won't know why i'm so excited. but my scrapbook is cool and not geek-ish. i hope. well, people usually tell me that it's cool. and i love cutting stuff out and arranging it and making neat colour combinations and neat backgrounds and stuff.

anyways, i'll quit typing now. i'm a scrapbooking geek. i just love cutting paper.

"To Him who bleeding offered mercy
To Him who weeping offered praise
To Him chained yet offered freedom
To Him who branded offered grace

I go, when I am wounded
When I am chased
I go, where I’m surrounded
Where I’m embraced"
- "Bleeding Offered," by Matthew Christopher Davidson

gone

they demolished the root cellar yesterday.

it was one of my favourite buildings on campus, left over from when this town was a war base in the early 1940s. it was behind my old house, the perfect spot for impromptu photo shoots. it was basically just a big roof sticking out of the ground... but you could climb up on top of it (even though you weren't supposed to) and lie dow and look up at the stars... or stand on it and look around and see as far as the eye could see on the saskatchewan prairie.

i have some good memories on that roof. i'm going to miss it.

i think people are cool

today i'm doing research for my class "Junior High Youth Ministry" that i took early in november. i am doing a research project on internet use amongst junior high students and “becoming more knowledgeable in an area of current thought regarding junior high ministry, with conclusions related to how one approaches actual ministry with students.”

I’m not sure exactly how to become more knowledgeable in an area of current thought that doesn’t really exist… there isn’t much out there on junior high internet use, other than statistics. What do youth workers think about junior high internet use? Is anyone out there addressing it? Are there any specific ministry issues? This is what I need to know.

I found an internet message board posting from last January and emailed the author to find out whether or not she had found out any more information on her search for teen internet use information, and she emailed me back right away with all kinds of helpful stuff. That was nice.

That’s what I love about the internet.

passionate and energenic

every once in a while i do a quiz that i've found off of someone's blog, but i've never posted the results before. but i always find it interesting what they have to say about you.

you are gray #808080

Your dominant hue is red... you are passionate, energetic, and unafraid of life's changes. You're all about getting out and trying something new, even if it means taking risks that other people would be afraid of. Hey, if they're afraid and you're not, more power to you, right? Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working. Your outlook on life can be bright or dark, depending on the situation. You are flexible and see things objectively.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

link via andrew.

by popular request

it's snowing in mikao's world.

spicing it up

i decided to go for a new colour scheme. i had time. and it's sort of evergreeny-Christmas-ish.

and i attempted to clean up the html, so i hope it loads better for some of you. :)

searching

* 8.86% of people who come to this website through a search engine are looking for "scary websites."

* 2.81% are looking for photos of angela gossow

* 4.83% are looking for either jars of clay or starfield lyrics.

* .44% are looking for michaela forbes

* .44% are looking for sarah perkonig

* .35% are looking for jason killingsworth

* .35% are looking for michelle kao.

sorry to anyone i may have disappointed. i'm just me.

conversation

joanne: i hate life.

joanne: that's because i don't have one.

michelle: well, you could get one.

joanne: why? are they selling them somewhere?

joanne: can i charge it to my sears card?

it's over, it's on

i survived my stint as a choir member for the school christmas musical... three dress rehersals and four performances, plus uncountable practices have added up to general exhaustion. i think the correct word is actually "pooped," but i'm not sure if i should write that on my blog.

i phoned my mom yesterday and told her it was all over... and she was wondering exactly who was involved. so when i explained the 130 voice choir, plus all the cast and crew, etc., she asked "um... so, did more people come watch it than were involved in it even?", and so i explained to her that 12 000 came, she was a little surprised. i guess she just thought it was a little musical.

and now, after an afternoon of flurried paper-proposal writing (and not a very good proposal at that, which i blame on procrastination and general tiredness), i am going home to lounge on my bed and maybe knit and consider making a phone call or two tonight.

au revoir.