It Is Done

7 messages in 5 days. I was rather fearful going into it all, but I felt that everything went well, probably because so many of you were praying. Thanks so much for your prayers and support, because if not for all of you, there probably would've been more flames from the crash and burn.

During these past few days, I was able to share the things that are near and dear to my heart, ome of which included my week in New Orleans with some FRWYers, my India trip, and the community and relationships I've been welcomed into at the FRWY. Thanks to all of you for pouring into my life in so many different ways. Because of it all, your stories and influence have found its way into the lives of many people this weekend.

Anyways, I'm currently running on some mad adrenaline from this weekend. Luckily I've got another week here in Austin to unwind and relax. But to my FRWY family, I've been missing you so much and can't wait to come home.

It Has Begun

I am at the church here in Austin and had to wade through a sea of kids to get into the office. As I surveyed the scene, a few thoughts came to mind. The first one was 'There's a lot of kids here!!' From what I've been told, there will be 125 kids at this retreat, most of which are middle schoolers. Hopefully these messages will connect. After that thought cycled through my head several times, I landed on the thought that these kids could potentially be the next leaders of the world. Good, bad or indifferent, this weekend could hold grand rammifications to their lives and to the world as we know it. Fortunately, this God we call Lord is bigger than the blunders and blabbering of one Chinaman, and if anything comes of this retreat, it will be because of what God has done.

As far as I know, there won't be internet at the retreat site, so I'll give a recap of how things went in a few days. Till then, thanks for your prayers and encouragement, and I'll see you all soon.

Rough

I've been on many a plane rides in my lifetime, but I must say that today was probably one of the worst. Let me start at the beginning.

My day started at 5am in Hamilton. During the course of the day, I drove to Detroit to catch a flight to Texas. At the airport, the flight gets delayed for about 45 minutes because the computers in the terminal were down and they had to check in baggage manually, which probably meant someone went through my stuff and stole my draws. While on the plane, I find myself surrounded by trouble. In front of me sat 2 kids who, while still in the airport terminal, started messing the the phones and spilled their pop all over the airport seats and didn't have the courtesy to wipe it up. What made it worse was I overheard the little boy saying something to the likes of 'I don't like Chinese people.' I'm not sure if I heard right, but for the sake of racial harmony, I'm gonna assume that he said 'I don't like Chinese food.' As I was doing some work on my computer and listening to some tunes, I all of a sudden notice some commotion from these two kids. Within moments, my left foot is covered in some mysterious liquid. If it was anybody else, I would've chocked it up to a mere accident. But seeing how these kids were acting in the airport terminal, I found myself really irritated. The old woman sitting next to me sees this happen and says 'Kids. Can't take 'em anywhere.' To which I respond with a look that was half smile, and half 'shut your pie hole.' After the flight attendant gives me some napkins to clean up the spill, I settle down and keep telling myself 'it's only water...it's only water.' Not 5 minutes later, the unthinkable happens. The same woman who said that you can't take kids anywhere goes and knocks over her diet pepsi and covers my upper thigh and track jacket in her filthy beverage. I just look at her, chuckle, and think to myself 'Elderly. You can't take them anywhere.' As the flight attendant walks by, I say to her 'Um. Can I get some more napkins?' She looks at me, and I honestly think she was fighting back the laughter. I mean, who gets stuff dumped on them twice by two different people? And to top it all off, there was a child sitting across the aisle with his mother who was literally screaming the entire ride. And the mother's parenting tactic? Screming back at the child. Seriously, this is the second time I've come to the south in as many weeks, and right now, the road trip with Melissa, Nathan, Pernell and Kristyn was a cruise compared to this flight.

Although today was long and exhausting, I don't think the rest of this week will get any easier. I'm here in Austin for a couple speaking engagements. First, I'm speaking at a retreat this weekend that has me giving 5 talks in 4 days. Then a few hours after the retreat ends, I'm speaking at my friend's church. So in total, I've got 6 messages in 4 days. Though this may sound like I'm whining, I'm actually really excited and honored to have been invited to serve in such a capacity. But with everything that's been happening these last couple weeks, I'm really drained. I'm determined to give this weekend my all, but I know that whatever happens, it cannot be my own burden to bear. If that were to happen, I feel that this weekend would be a waste of time and a disservice to the Kingdom. So with that said, I'd really love it if y'all could pray for me. I'm not sure who all reads this blog, but if you're the praying type, I would absolutely love it, and I'm sure the people who have to listen to my rants would appreciate it muchly. Thanks in advance, friends, and I'll let y'all know how things turn out.

Anyways, it is 1:30am here in Austin, 2:30am in Hamilton, and I'm spent. Hope to see you in my dreams.

Movie

In case y'all missed it, here's the video we showed this evening at the FRWY.



New Orleans Movie on Vimeo

Digital

Here are some pictures from our New Orleans trip. Much props to Nathan, Melissa and Pernell for their mad photo skills.

Also, here's a video of what I call 'The Liquid Glove'.



Liquid Glove on Vimeo

Back in the Hizzle

After a 21 hour drive that started at 3pm Friday afternoon, we finally got back into Hamilton at 12:30pm. I dunno about Pernell, Melissa, Kristyn and Nathan, but I'm absolutely wiped out. The sheer fact that I'm actually blogging goes to prove that I am motivated by an addiction to the internet. Lord, forgive me. Anyways, I'm sure someone will give some more details about the things that went down in New Orleans. If y'all are available, come join us at the FRWY tomorrow night at 6pm to hear stories from the crew.

Reality Check

I can't believe that we're leaving in 2 days!! Although the trip has been phenomenal, it's been pretty tough. Yesterday(Wednesday) was the hottest day here in New Orleans for us so far. Combining the sun, a clear day and mad humidity, working in a dark and damp house with low light was a challenge. Granted the conditions were rough today, yesterday was probably one of the tougher days emotionally. When we were clearing out the second house we went to, I found myself in what I could only guess was the master bedroom. As I started clearing out the closets, I came across a wedding dress. When I saw this, I finally realized the magnitude of what happened nearly one year ago in August. Lives were displaced, hope was lost, hearts were broken, and perhaps for many, God had left New Orleans. As I looked at this dress, I began to think of the people who used to live in this house we were tearing apart like a child rips through a lego set. Who were they? What was their story? Where are they now? I am quite certain that these questions will never be answered, but I truly hope and pray that what God is doing through the great men and women of Acorn will serve as a reminder that God is not dead, but loves like no other and gives up on nobody. Please continue to pray for New Orleans and the lives that were affected. It's so easy to forget such a tragic event once a more 'news worth' occurs.

One final thing. I have honestly been inspired by Melissa, Kristyn, Nathan and Pernell. Each passing moment I'm loving them more and more and being encouraged and challenged to give all I've got for a cause that's bigger than any one person. To my tripmates, thanks for the laughs, patience and love. And thanks for putting up with my quirks and yellow skin. This week will go down as one of the best I've ever had. I love you all.

Greetings from Nawlins!!

Hot snaps!! Free wireless internet's a bugger to find here, yo!! There's free wireless internet available in the French Quarter, but for some reason, we can only get it outside. Nathan and I are sitting in a McDonalds close to the windows and getting the tiniest bit of signal. Oh well, something's better than nothing!! Anyways, After a 21 hour trek, Melissa, Kristyn, Nathan, Pernell and myself arrived safely with a few minor hitches here and there, mostly due to the tardiness of yours truly. Apparently, my communication skills between others kinda sucks because I had to go home to pick up something that I didn't need because Pernell already had it. Such a dope I am. Anyways, the road trip was chock full of conversation, music and insults. A few highlights:
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
* Trying to get Melissa to swear and drop the F-bomb. The only thing I incite out of her is anger and a powerful punch to the arm. I guess that was a step in the right direction.

* Going inside and paying for gas while everyone hops into the car and drives off down the road to a burger joint. After walking down the street in absurdly hot weather, I was greeted with laughs and finger pointing. No worries, I shall return the love of Christ in the form of pooping in their dinner.

* Watching 3 episodes of Friends on my laptop with Melissa and Kristyn. For future reference, computer speakers just don't cut it over the music and the wind noise.

* Driving all through the night is actually a lot of fun.

* Road tripping with Pernell, Kristyn, Nathan and Melissa is the bomb.

Hopefully we'll get a chance to blog more about our experience here. If not, the 5 of us will be doing a panel discussion at this Sunday's FRWY gathering. Thanks in advance for all your prayers, support and encouragement.

Amazed

About a year ago, I got to see Lisa Loeb in concert. She played at a venue in Toronto and I thoroughly enjoyed it 100%. That night, it was just her on an acoustic guitar and another person accompanying her on the electric. It was then that I realized I absolutely love female vocalists who can play a mean guitar.

Now fast forward to this evening. I had heard from Reg that the person who was playing this evening at the cafe was in town because she was recording an album in Toronto. In Saskatchewan, a local radio station wanted to get more local musicians onto the scene so they chose 20 different musicians and gave them each $10,000 to record an album. When Reg said this, I figured that this person must be pretty good. And let me say, pretty good is pretty close to being an insult.

Not only was she a really solid guitar player, her voice was powerful and precise, yet elegant and soothing. I would liken her to a cross between Macy Gray (not quite as raspy, twangy and crazy) and Feist. During her entire performance, which I must say was WAY too short, I was groovin' with her tunes and loving her music more and with each passing song. Even though it was very hot inside the cafe, her music captivated me and made me forget about the environment. (**Quick digression: I felt REALLY bad for Reg. It was so hot for him that he began feeling sick and was about to pass out. In fact, he said that if he didn't leave soon, he would need to go to the hospital. I know that he was really looking forward to seeing her play, but he had to leave. Reg, bro, I'm SO, SO, SO Sorry!!**) I thought that seeing Lisa Loeb had set the standard for solo female artists, but after tonight, the bar has been reset. Have you heard of her?

After her performance, I don't know what happened to me, but I think all those personality tests I've taken manifested themselves and overtook my masculinity. I began acting like a 12 year old school girl who just saw the hot jock walk down the hall. I couldn't stop trying to talk to her. It was embarassing, to say the least.

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to hearing the album she just recorded in Toronto. If it's anything like her most recent album, look out world. Her name is Carrie Catherine, and she's simply amazing.

By the way, have I told you that I absolutely love female vocalists who can play a mean guitar?

Videos

Some videos that I think are absolutely hilarious.

Star Trek - Cribs


Parody of James Blunt's video 'You're Beautiful'

Infiltrated

I've been hanging out with my friends from Texas today, and I've suddenly realized that I'm slowly sounding more and more like a Canadian. Along with using words like 'eh' in nearly every other sentence, I'm noticing that I'm accenting my words differently. I don't know how to describe the difference, but comparing how I talk now to how my friends talk, I can tell that there's a slight difference. Should I be concerned? I don't know, but perhaps my upcoming trips to New Orleans, Austin and Detroit will right my wrongs.

Talking about New Orleans, in preparation for this trip, I need to go buy a pair of safety shoes. Like all my shoes, I naturally default to the internet, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to buy anything in time. So I'm gonna have to go into a store and buy a pair of shoes. May I say that this is going to be a really strange experience for me? It's been AGES since I've bought shoes from a store, so it's going to be really weird to try them on before I buy them, instead of the other way around. Regardless, I'm really looking forward to this New Orleans trip. Not only do I get to spend a week with Nathan, Melissa, Pernell and Kristyn, we get to experience and participate in building into the lives of others. Looking forward to a week of good times and and a healthy case of swamp ass.

What's Wrong With Me?!?!?!

First, I'm Catwoman. Now I'm Kim Bauer? Honestly, I'm at a loss for words. I think I need therapy. Or gender reassignment surgery.

Recommendation

A freak accident happened in my mouth this evening. Let me start from the beginning. I was hanging out with Miranda and Kristyn at Hess Village. Conversation moved to trying to guess Kristyn's ethnic background. She tried to give me some hints such as '(blank) berries' and some other clue which didn't help. (She's part Swedish, by the way). Anyways, we get to talking about different candies and they ask if I've ever had any of the 5 cent candies, and I say no. They're both shocked and appalled and vowed to cease being my friend. I cry and run away. Just kidding. They say that I need to try some of these candies, so after we pay the bill, we walk to a convenience store and pick up some of these candies they were all ranting and raving about. I eat some, and find them to be tasty. Fast forward 30 minutes. I'm chatting with Miranda about the candies and asks me if I kept 'em or threw 'em away. I kept 'em, and as proof, I take a picture of my eating one. It was one of those semi-hard ones and it stuck to all of my teeth. As I was picking it all out, I feel something kinda hard. I move my tongue around my teeth and find this oddly shaped hole. I pull out this hard thing and it was one of my fillings.


A FRIGGIN' GUMMY CANDY RIPPED OUT ONE OF MY FILLINGS!!!!!!!!!!


With all that said, I need some help. I don't have a dentist here in Canada and need to find one. Does anybody have any recommendations on a dentist I can go see? Preferrable someone who's good yet won't charge me an arm and a leg. If you've got anyone in mind, lemme know. Comment here or Email me at sickaction (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks, friends!!

Black Holes and Revelations

I got my hands on the new album by Muse entitled
'Black Holes and Revelations'. Let's just say it's so hot, that I can't feel my fingers anymore.

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!

NNNNOOOO!!!!

An Interesting Encounter

I was sitting on one of the couches with Kristyn and Jacklyn at the cafe during my shift this evening and in walks a guy with long hair and a fanny pack. He proceeds directly to the bathroom, but the entire way, stares straight at me.

I say 'Hey man, how you doin'?' But he responds with nothing but silence and the same stare. He goes into the bathroom, and a couple minutes, comes out. But instead of going to the door, he stops just outside the bathroom and continues to stare at me. I wasn't sure what he was doing, but I get up and walk towards him and say 'How you doin' man? Can I get you anything?'

Nothing.

I say to him again 'Can I get you anything, buddy?'

Still nothing.

I notice that the whole time I was talking to him, his breathing was getting heavier and heavier and his eyes got this 'look' in them as if he was plotting something. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I figured that I shouldn't stand too close to him because I might be irking him. So I say to him 'If you need anything, lemme know. I'm gonna be sitting over here.' I walk away and sit down.

He continues to stand there for a couple minutes, still breathing heavy and staring at me. Suddenly, he stops, and proceeds to walk out the door.

At first, I thought that he was perhaps 'on something', but as he was leaving, I thought I caught a glimpse of a devlish smile, which leads me to believe that he was just messing with me.

Either way, I was so glad that I had 2 girls with me to protect me just in case this patron decided to get a bit frisky.

My Brain Hurts

I've been trying to play catch-up on all my assignments, and so far, I've finished 4 in 2 days. Not bad you say? This is true, but I've got 21 more to go before the September 13th deadline. At this rate, I need to pump out 2 papers a week. Sounds doable, but we'll see. I think I screwed.