so this is a monthly thing...

It's the first day of spring break and I'm still in Ontario. I would have liked to have been able to afford to go to Florida with Milly but we couldn't this time so...there's always next year! The week looks to be perfect weather for snowboarding and we are planning to head to Blue Mountain with a friend or two on Wednesday. I woke up this morning at 7:30am and seriously contemplated heading up pronto but decided to roll over for another two hours of much-needed sleep.
So, I'm getting a little annoyed at itunes Canada. The last couple of CDs I've tried to purchase have not existed on the Canada site. I go to the American site just for fun and of course they're available there!! Why is it that we only get just enough here when we live next door to the greatest (arguably) superpower in the world?! Have you ever noticed the quality of your strawberries at the store is just not on par to the ones you ate in California a couple of years ago? Or perhaps it was the lettuce that really made you wonder...
Having lived for a short time in France, I had the lovely priviledge of tasting all sorts of european groceries. When I went shopping for food in Paris, it was nothing short of a life-altering experience. You CANNOT touch the vegetables and fruit at a market. The grocers are so proud of their produce that they lovingly pick the best for you and individually wrap potatoes, bananas, oranges, etc. up and hand them to you as if they are presenting you with a medal for shopping at their store. And the cheese stores...
When it comes to fruit and veggies in Canada, we just don't get to sample what it's really like.
So, back to the music store - I'm currently listening to Sufjan Stevens' 'Greetings From Michigan' and a collection of songs sung by Emma Kirkby. Stevens makes me want to learn how to play the banjo. I am not a hick - his ability to wield a bango (and twenty other instruments) is incredible and the soft, mellow, full, shy, sounds that come from this instrument make me realise it's grownup. The complex sounds make a guitar, even a classical guitar, sound so toneless, lifeless. (I exaggerate because I love dad's classical guitar.) So that's one more discipline I must add to a very large list of things to master.
Last Friday, after kickin' it with some friends from church Thursday night, I decided to check out a website that's been the topic of conversation since I'd heard a certain member of our young adults group posted his profile and got a response. Yes, you may have guessed it: christiancafe.com. I wanted to see what the site was really about, how it was organized and if there was really a possibility of meeting a 'christian' friend. I found the aforementioned member's profile, read it and wondered if there was any women I'd ever met that fit the characteristics he listed as necessary for his mate. I then got dupped into posting my own profile (hey, it's free for 10 days and I got to fill in a rather helpful short answer section) and have checked my message box on the site at least once a day since. Honestly, it's not like I'm really desperate to find love or anything, in fact, as of late, I've been really happy, really peaceful as a single girl.


Most of my friends (see left for a sampling) are married or seriously dating and, particularly after visiting with them, I'm very thankful that God is allowing me to pursue education, adventures, and any number of paths that lead to new discoveries.
What I have discovered about christiancafe.com is it's ability to make you feel good about yourself. You may not find love but you definately get your ego massaged. This is how it's worked for me: every time I check my mailbox I find mail from guys who have read my profile, checked out my picture and decided to 'wink at me'. The site has created a little icon that rests above each person's profile and picture and rather than going to the trouble of writing someone a short message telling them you like what you see and read and you'd like to get to know them, you have the option to click on this eye icon to send the person an automated message saying the above. It's basically like putting a public checkmark beside anyone you feel is hot or worth conversing with. I can search and select a possible mate on christiancafe.com just like I would search and select a possible purse on ebay. No strings attached, no knowledge of feelings hurt when someone doesn't respond to your 'wink' and most of all, an almost complete absense of courage or care for anyone other than yourself. When my 10 days are up, I think I'll stick to traditional methods of dating and hopefully, in the mean time, save myself from an abnormally inappropriate ego.

how could a month passed unnoticed?

It seems like the month has truly disappeared without me being aware I was ever involved. Maybe I wasn't truly alive this past month. I just now feel as though I am finally able to concentrate on school. And so a month has passed and I know it because when I went to log into my blog to add this new post, I could not remember my user name or password.
I am amazed at the backlash against Bush. It seems to be everywhere. Most of the defamation is character-related and most accusations are unintelligent. I thing it's the longevity of the whole thing. Americans have forgotten the terror of 9/11. They have forgotten what it means to have their freedom jeopardized. They have forgotten the fear they felt as they watched the heavy smoke and debris devour helpless New Yorkers running for shelter. They have been desensitized by the images and the five year debate. I would like to ask Americans what they would have done instead. In the immediate wake of the plane crashes and the trade towers collapsing, what would they have wanted Bush to do? I know it's impossible to suppose what might have happened had things been done differently, but was there really another option for Bush? In fact, there was immense support for his declaration of war at the time.
I went to see a screening of a new docudrama about C.S. Lewis last week with a friend. 'Beyond Narnia' is interesting and fresh and it was great to hear a collection of Lewis' very memorable phrases incorporated into a movie. I hope that Windborne Productions finds a buyer for the movie. After the movie, the producer and guest Michael Coren discussed Lewis and the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed Coren and his comments and how he answered questions from the audience. He was genuine, articulate, patient and very knowledgeable. I really admire when people are balanced and perceptive, and Coren was. Very refreshing. That's what I really like about Don Carson. He is so pleasant to listen to because he is, on a large scale, very coherent.
I'm in my Globalization and the Post-Modern World class at the moment and it could be so amazing. But it's not. We are working our way through a two page list of terms that are supposed to relate to the aforementioned title of the course and they do but there is no context and nothing wise or intelligent to refer to when defining terms. My teacher has refused to use a text for the course and is relying on his knowledge of events and people and on the discussion created in class. I have to say it's hard to sit through. Which is why I am writing this post.
But I will sign out now. Happy reading and learning!!