Thwippin' Awesome!

I have never wanted to see a broadway show more in my life than I want to see this. This is real, it is not a joke or cruel, cruel hoax designed to make me weep. I'm almost speechless.

Crunch crunch aargh

Sometimes I cannot stand the sound of people chewing. It sets me absolutely on edge. Most of the time I'm okay, and if there are other noises going on around me then I can usually tune out the sound. There are days, however, when I have trouble being around people while they are eating. I remember times living at home when it would be all I could do to stay at the supper table while people ate. In my younger years I would try to discretely cover my ears to block the sound, though I'm not sure how easy it is to eat while covering both ears and be subtle about it. No one ever commented, though, so I wonder if I was more successful than I thought. Today my roommate came home and started eating carrots, and I'm now in a bit of a bad mood and feeling very anxious.
That's what I mean when I say it sets me on edge. I get completely tense and anxious, which only amplifies the sound. It becomes all I can hear until it seems like the only sound in the world is other people chewing. And then I hear myself chewing and it only makes matters worse.
The icing on the cake is chewing on the phone. If I am talking on the phone to someone while they are eating something, it is all I can do to not hang up on them, which was particularly bad when it was my boss who was doing it (ALL the time - every time I talked to him he seemed to be eating)(and it's not you Darrell)(I know another guy named Darrell, in case anyone wonders why I was just talking to myself)(not that that's out of character for me).
I don't know why I hate the sound so much, and I wish I could let it go, but during those times when I'm noticing it, it really is all I can think about at that moment. Even just sitting here writing about it has raised my angst level by at least two. TWO!
Most of the time, luckily, I'm okay. I don't usually notice the sound of people chewing, and if there is noise around me, i.e. people talking or music/tv playing, I can ignore it even when I notice it, which is good because I'm not sure how I'd eat if it were otherwise.
I just realised that I have a bowl of ice cream with bananas on top sitting beside me. I am now nervous about eating it.
While I debate on whether to try eating my ice cream, why don't you check out the next the next chapter at www.graspthenettle.blogspot.com. You won't be sorry, I promise.

Where did it go?

I thought I had lost my passport. I was convinced that it had not made it to my current apartment, and I was sorely vexed. I decided that I needed to clean up my room more thoroughly than I had ever cleaned up before, just to find it. I searched my suitcases - no passport. I did find a network cable that had gone missing at some point (possibly when I packed to go to Germany), and my old toothbrush, which had disappeared on my way home. I searched my dresser drawers - no passport. I searched my file box, where I had previously kept it - no passport. I searched the drawer of my bedside table - and found it. I don't remember putting it there, but apparently I had. The funny this was, I had looked there before, poking around the overly fully drawer, curious if it was there. I guess I hadn't been too concerned before because it was right there.
And then I was sitting on my bed, looking at my somewhat haphazard room, wondering what to do. I had suddenly lost my motivation for cleaning up. After consideration, I decided to clean up anyway, but I lost steam halfway through. It's better than it was, but still needs some work.
Now read this.

The Candians were the ones who killed Michael Wittmann*. That's right, the Canadians. Boo ya!

*Michael Wittmann was known as the Black Baron, the most feared German tanker in World War II. Yeah, I'd never heard of him before either, but I was bored and the History Channel hooked me with pictures of explosions and tanks, so I figured I'd watch it. The British had claimed that they killed him, but based on where Wittmann's tank was blown up and position of the Canadian and British tanks, it was evident that only the Canadians could have killed him. Wittmann was a very brave fighter, but he was very high up and important in the Nazis, so don't feel bad for him. Now go eat your vegetables.

How To Scare People Into Buying Your Product

Simply mention chemicals and strangers. I just saw an ad for some sort of device that drives off rats and roaches and stuff through supersonic waves sent through the electrical systems. I don't really understand how it works, but that's what they claim. Throughout the ad they mention chemicals and strangers four or five times, emphasising those words especially. It's like they are trying to scare people into believing that the chemicals (e.g. rat poison) that are used are going to kill your children, and the 'strangers' are evil, bad men out to steal your stuff. The product wasn't mentioned as much as it could have been. They also mentioned kids as well, because all strangers and chemicals kill your children. Toothpaste has chemicals. So does children's aspirin. The doctor is a stranger until you have met him. So is your grocer. Stop shopping, eating, or doing anything! Except buying the anti-pest prodcut, of course.
The ad was totally attempting to scare people into buying their product. It made me laugh.

Clean Teeth are Important for a Good Breakfast

I was reading a Dear Abby column recently written by a mother who was having trouble convincing her grade nine son that he needed to shower after wrestling practice. Abby's advice was to put rules in place and enforce them (i.e. - no supper is served until you shower), which makes sense to me. What I didn't get was the suggestion that he not be given breakfast until he had brushed his teeth in the morning. Why would you brush your teeth right before you eat?
And this isn't the only place I have encountered this. On TV and movies and in old health class videos and in many different mediums the idea of brushing teeth before breakfast is presented as the norm, and I have never understood that.
Is it just me, or does it not make sense to brush your teeth right before you eat? Whenever I brush my teeth, things taste awful for the next little while, even water. Why would you want to do that right before you eat? Plus, does it makes sense to clean your teeth, and then dirty them again immediately? I just don't get it.

Grasp the Nettle

Perception

I think that part of the reason people have a negative view of 'the church' is because of how it is portrayed in popular media. For the most part, it is negative - either church is presented as a scam, or it is full of whackos and nut jobs. I don't really have a huge problem with that in that most of the time it is that way for a specific reason for the plot, so it is easy to say that it is just that specific church that is a problem.
What gets me, though, is that I have never been to a church that even remotely resembles the ones I see on TV. I'm not talking the building - those are so varied that anything shown is fine. What I mean is that according to TV and movies, the people who work at churches have to wear robes or suits, unless they are a hippie church, in which case they are really out there, with holes in their jeans and playing acoustic guitar. There are usually rigid rituals, or, if it is pentecostal type church, then everyone is jumping up and down and clapping and waving their hands and clapping and being all charismatic.
My churches have not been that charismatic, and I have never attended anywhere that has required the pastors to wear robes, except perhaps when performing a baptism, and even then, only sometimes. My churches have mostly had people who are devoted but not crazy, mixed with people who are mean and petty, mixed with people who are middle-of-the-road, much like any group of people, at church or not.
That is not to say that media is always way off base with their portrayal of church. I think Seventh Heaven, a TV show, had its moments. The reverend, I think of a Lutheran church, and family was shown pretty positively, and real in the sense that they weren't perfect, but they weren't terrible people either. It tended to be a bit light spiritually sometimes, but much better than most.
And sometimes movies or shows will feature a pastor who at some point has to give a sermon, and whoever wrote the screenplay takes a chance and writes something that takes a bit of a further step - it is not so 'christian' as to offend people, but there is a great deal of truth in it. Take the movie "Keeping Mum" for example. Rowan Atkinson plays a bit of a clueless reverend in a small town British church (vicar for a small town British parish?) who is somewhat oblivious to his family - he thinks things are great, his family is having issues. Near the end of the movie, he delivers a sermon that I would not feel is out of place in an actual church, except it was a bit short...or they may have not shown all of it. It's been a while since I've seen it.
But examples like that are the exception, not the rule. The church is portrayed in such a way that if a person only experiences it through the lens of popular media, then it is no wonder that people are put off by what they see. Add to that a bad experience or two with the real world church, or real world christians and people would see no point to even give God a chance. And it is impossible to avoid bad experiences with the church, largely because it is made up of people, and people will make mistakes. No one is perfect, even in the church.
And to compound the problem, it is extremely rare, ever more rare than seeing a 'normal' church service or good sermon on TV and in movies, to hear anything but the King James Version of the Bible recited. If that was the only version of the Bible that I heard, I would be extremely put off as well. The language is archaic and hard to understand and very stuffy and almost snooty. People do not talk like that anymore, and they find it hard to understand. It is old and irrelevant to most people. Part of the problem with the church back in the day (pre-reformation) was that no one understood the Bible unless they could speak Latin or Greek, which most people didn't except for the priests. Part of the reformation was getting the word of God into the hands of everyone - publish the thing in languages that everyone knew and teach them to read so they could see for themselves. If we cling to the KJV, then we return to a day when no one really understands what is being said and the priests who study are the only ones who can read the Bible. Luckily that is not what is happening in real life, just on TV.
Somewhat of a side note - in one of my theology classes in college, the professor read a verse from the KJV that had the word 'prevent' in it. If you read the word with a modern vocabulary, the verse said that the Holy Spirit would be prevented, that is to say stopped, from doing something that it should not have been stopped from doing. Frankly, the verse did not make much sense and was somewhat sacreligious. But he then explained that the KJV meaning of prevent was 'to go before' (pre - before, vent - to go), and with that interpretation the verse made much more sense. I'm just saying.
Grasp the Nettle

How are you today anyway?

It is interesting to me how little people listen to each other when they first greet each other. Usually the listening only begins one or two sentences in (or, for some people, never). My job at the paint store is technically a retail job, so I am greeting people constantly, and I am amazed at how often I have the following exchange:

ME: Hi there.
THEM: Fine, and you?
ME: How did you answer a question I didn't even ask?

It happened to me at Safeway today - I said hi to the clerk and she replied 'fine, and how are you?' Greeting someone by asking them how they are has become such a trite and mindless thing that people respond to any greeting as though it were said inquiry. And usually the answer (fine) is as meaningless as the question.
I don't know if that is good or bad, but it is interesting.
Also, I just bit my cheek so hard that I punched the fridge. I'm sure it was the fridge's fault somehow.

Avery, Sean

For the uninitiated, Sean Avery was an NHL player who is best described as troubled. His hockey skills are fairly significant - he wasn't the top player in the league or even among the elite, but he possessed enough skill to belong and to be a major contributor to a team. Part of his game was being a bit of a pest. He would hit and antagonise and fight and generally get under people's skin. That is not necessarily a bad thing, and combined with a scoring touch (which he had), he could be a very valuable player. His problem was that he had very little discipline or self-control. He would push the line, then cross it without seeming regard for the consequences. He would take dumb penalties at inappropriate times. He would push lines that, though not illegal per se, were unsportsmanlike (such as ignoring the play and standing in front of the goalie, waving his stick around - not illegal, but not accepted either).
He would also shoot off his mouth off the ice as well. Being a firebrand like that off the ice is a tough part to play, but not necessarily a bad one. He wanted to be seen as 'the villain', as a player that could be marketed as a bit of a bad boy, one that could be booed, all in good fun. In some ways, it was as though he wanted to be a wrestler. But if it had been done carefully and properly, it might have been good for the game, spread the word a bit more, get a few more people watching. However, he was not quite able to pull it off, and instead he ended up making comments that were almost unanimously seen as being in extremely bad taste and he was suspended by the league and is now playing in the AHL (the minor leagues) and may never return to the NHL. I think that the comments (google it, you'll find them) weren't necessarily bad enough to warrant that sort of punishment on their own, but they were piled upon his previous comments and actions and the whole mess came crashing down around him.
What I find interesting is the reaction and coverage he has received in the media since then. After being suspended, he was enrolled in the NHL's "Behavioural Modification Program" (that's what they actually call it). He has shown remorse for his actions and comments and a desire to change. Now that he is done the BMP and he is back playing hockey, it remains to be seen whether or not he will be able to change.
Here's what I find most interesting and irritating about the whole situation, though. In every story I hear about Avery (and if you pay any attention to sports in this country, then you will continue to hear plenty of stories about him - love him or hate him, he is a story that people seem to want to know about)(or that the media wants to cover, anyway), in every story the person will say that Avery deserves a second chance because everyone deserves a second chance. They will say that, and then proceed to talk about how Avery is never going to change, that he is a lost cause, that there is no way he deserves to play in the NHL again, that he is not worth any time or effort anymore, that they wish he would just go away. No one in the media is giving this guy a chance to prove himself. Now I agree that he is basically on his last chance, at least as far as hockey is concerned. Whatever is causing his problems is not going to just magically disappear, so if he is not willing to fully grapple with said problems then it would be best for him and for the league if he just stepped away from the game. But I think we need to see if he can change, if he can start to make smart decisions. But all you hear in the media is different ways of dragging him down. There is no support there, no optimism or hope. They have given up on him and don't mind telling everyone that he is a lost cause. It might not bug me so much if they didn't always say that he deserves a second chance before proceeding to state why they don't think he deserves said chance, or why he is definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, going to blow said second chance.
I hope, for Avery's sake, that he has found people he can trust, that he can lean on when he feels the urge to fall back on old habits and ways of thinking. I hope he has someone, or a few someones, who are telling him to ignore the media. I hope he shows everyone how wrong they were to dismiss him so callously. And I hope the media either leaves him alone, or stops being so hypocritical. If you hate the guy, fine. Tell us you don't like him. Tell us you don't think he deserves a second chance and that you want him to fail. But don't tell us that you think he deserves another chance and then, without pausing for breath, tell us that he doesn't. If he deserves a chance, then give him that chance. Give him the benefit of the doubt. Watch and scrutinise if you must, but don't be so two faced about it.

All of that to say, I updated Grasp the Nettle again.

Valentines Day Rant?

Another valentines day is coming and I, once again, am single. I should be depressed. I should be bitter. I should be hateful of all of the couples that I know who are all lovey-dovey with each other, making me ill at the very sight.
But I'm not. And do you know why? Because I find it hard to hate any holiday (or special day, as Valentines is not an official holiday) that ends with every store in the city selling discount chocolate.
Yeah, I'm gonna die fat and happy.

Shorty

I'm off to work. Here's something to read while I'm gone.

What a week

Tomorrow I go to work for the fifth straight day at the same job, and then after that I get two days off in a row. Next week I will do it again.
I'm so happy.

Nettle

Vacation Pics

I know that I am not good with a camera, or more specifically, I'm not good with remembering to bring my camera. This irritates people who think that when I go on a trip, or attend a wedding or do important stuff like that (live in Germany for a year, perhaps?) I should bring back pictures. Well never fear. On my recent journey east, I managed to get a few pictures that I will now share with you.I managed to snag a fancy aerial shot of my journey from the Google satellites. The dotted lines were added for effect.

This is my plane arriving at the Toronto airport. I'm not sure why Air Canada insists on painting their planes that light blue colour. Unless it is an attempt to blend in with the sky. Something suspicious is going on. I'M ON TO YOU AIR CANADA!



Once in Toronto, I was picked up by Niki and we explored the city for a while. We didn't get lost once.


We also went and visited Niagra falls. It was winter, so the wonderful, cooling mist had turned into slick ice covering everything. The lamp posts looked really cool because they had a coating of ice up and down one side that was something like six inches thick. The sidewalks were less cool, being covered in enough ice to make walking entertainment on its own. And, of course, we were soaked by the end of the night. All in all, a great time.
These were some of the people I met in Ontario. Except for Matt and Niki, whom I met in Saskatchewan many years ago. I stayed at Matt's house while I was there.


This one looks like...a penguin... I think that one was snapped accidentally when my camera was in my bag. That's why most of it is so dark.


While I was in Ontario, Peter's Durango was hit while it was parked in front of his house. But don't worry - my car escaped unharmed.

And finally, this is me back in Regina, roughhousing with my nephews. Apparently they have way more energy than I do for some reason. Go figure.

Now I am back in Calgary, and am mostly glad to be back. It's always a little sad to end a great vacation like that. Thanks to everyone who put me up for an evening or four on my trip. I had a blast everywhere I went. I wish I was everywhere I was again. Which would be difficult. There would need to be at least three of me, and if I'm going to do that, I'd make sure there were four, just to have one for spare parts. Jeesh, I'd hate to be that me.

It's me

I am now back from vacation and thus have recommenced telling the intriguing tale of our heroes Caz and Spin in Fools of us All over on the Grasp the Nettle. I am sure you have all been looking forward to finding out what happens next. I know I have.
And so without further ado: go