I got a letter in the mail yesterday from the University of Manitoba, with a list of M.A. courses I can choose from for next year. And then I looked up my U of M online account, and found that my official status is now written as "Grad Student, M.A.", where it used to say "Special Student, Extended Education". So it looks like I'm still accepted.
Now I need to decide how many courses I'm going to take next year. I need to take a total of 18 credit hours complete a Master's, which means six courses. I had originally planned to take most of my coursework sooner rather than later, but since we're going to have a brand new baby in September, maybe it's better to do a lighter course load at first. But on the other hand, Jan will be home at first, so maybe it's better to do heavier coursework early, before she goes back to work at the liberry. Decisions, decisions.
In other news, I went off to a job interview today, for a place that installs and repairs swimming pools. They're looking for someone to work full time, but only for the summer, which seems just about perfect. The interview consisted basically of him telling me about the job, asking if I had any questions, and then asking if I could be in by 8am tomorrow morning. To which I said that I could. So I am officially employed, and expect 40+ hours a week. Woohoo!
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
More on Clowning
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Yesterday I performed at the third of four libraries I'm booked for this Spring Break.My library shows have included juggling and general buffoonary, as well as two stories: The Three Little Pigs, and Moby Dick.
Lots of fun, and I think it has gone better every time. Only one more to go.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Have Clown Shoes, Will Juggle
To supplement my income, I've been looking for some work as a clown.
This coming week I'm doing some shows for the Winnipeg Public Library, which I'm very excited about, and I've printed business cards to hand out both there and at a clowning supply shop here in Winnipeg. Finally, I've got a new website designed to drum up a little business.
Check it out!
This coming week I'm doing some shows for the Winnipeg Public Library, which I'm very excited about, and I've printed business cards to hand out both there and at a clowning supply shop here in Winnipeg. Finally, I've got a new website designed to drum up a little business.
Check it out!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Palm Sunday
My favourite time of the year is about to begin.
All of Lent is really a preparation for Easter. Starting with Ash Wednesday, we begin the slow walk toward the cross. This year Jan and I spent Ash Wednesday at Holy Trinity Church in Winnipeg, because we were flying in the evening, and St. Margaret's didn't have a morning service. So we spent most of the day with ashen crosses on our foreheads, reminding each other, and maybe other people who saw us of the eventual imminence of the cross--of God's death, and of our own eventual death: "remember, O man/woman that dust you are and to dust you will return".
Throughout Lent we prepare ourselves for Easter, by penitence and fasting, by confession and absolution. We give things up. Part of the effect of this is to increase the anticipation of the feast season of Easter. We count down the days until our fast is ended.
This Sunday was Palm Sunday, and the journey to Golgatha has begun in earnest. On Palm Sunday we celebrate Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He comes into the city with cheers and the waving of palm leaves. We commemorate this with palm leaves and palm crosses. The crosses are made from the palm leaves--Jesus' death is made by the instruments of his triumph. And the crowd chanting hosanna is the same crowd that will soon be chanting "crucify".
After Palm Sunday the palm leaves are burned and the ashes are saved to be used in next year's Ash Wednesday.
At the evening service, we had a service of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. The service revolved around Haydn's instrumental piece, which was played by a string quartet. The seven last words are:
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).
Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43).
Woman, behold your son: behold your mother (John 19:26-27).
Eli Eli lema sabachthani? ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?", Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34).
I thirst (John 19:28).
It is finished (John 19:30).
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46).
Each bible reading was followed by a movement from Haydn's piece, and three of them were then followed by a meditation from the pulpit.
David spoke about "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do". For most of our lives we do not know what we are doing. In our ignorance, we are active--as the mob was active in its ignorance crucifying Jesus; and Jesus, though knowing, was passive.
Bonnie spoke on "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Christ wails into the darkness--a literal darkness as an eclipse covers the earth, and an existential darkness like the original chaos. All hope of dawn is on a cross.
And finally David spoke on "It is finished." In creation God saw on the sixth day all that he had made, and saw that it was finished. It was finished, but it was not over. The work was finished, and God rested. So on Friday Jesus' work is finished, and on Saturday he rests. The first creation is finished on Friday. Whatever we were doing in our ignorance is finished on Friday. On Saturday all of creation rests, awaiting the new creation on Sunday morning.
Amen.
All of Lent is really a preparation for Easter. Starting with Ash Wednesday, we begin the slow walk toward the cross. This year Jan and I spent Ash Wednesday at Holy Trinity Church in Winnipeg, because we were flying in the evening, and St. Margaret's didn't have a morning service. So we spent most of the day with ashen crosses on our foreheads, reminding each other, and maybe other people who saw us of the eventual imminence of the cross--of God's death, and of our own eventual death: "remember, O man/woman that dust you are and to dust you will return".
Throughout Lent we prepare ourselves for Easter, by penitence and fasting, by confession and absolution. We give things up. Part of the effect of this is to increase the anticipation of the feast season of Easter. We count down the days until our fast is ended.
This Sunday was Palm Sunday, and the journey to Golgatha has begun in earnest. On Palm Sunday we celebrate Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He comes into the city with cheers and the waving of palm leaves. We commemorate this with palm leaves and palm crosses. The crosses are made from the palm leaves--Jesus' death is made by the instruments of his triumph. And the crowd chanting hosanna is the same crowd that will soon be chanting "crucify".
After Palm Sunday the palm leaves are burned and the ashes are saved to be used in next year's Ash Wednesday.
At the evening service, we had a service of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. The service revolved around Haydn's instrumental piece, which was played by a string quartet. The seven last words are:
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).
Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43).
Woman, behold your son: behold your mother (John 19:26-27).
Eli Eli lema sabachthani? ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?", Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34).
I thirst (John 19:28).
It is finished (John 19:30).
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46).
Each bible reading was followed by a movement from Haydn's piece, and three of them were then followed by a meditation from the pulpit.
David spoke about "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do". For most of our lives we do not know what we are doing. In our ignorance, we are active--as the mob was active in its ignorance crucifying Jesus; and Jesus, though knowing, was passive.
Bonnie spoke on "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Christ wails into the darkness--a literal darkness as an eclipse covers the earth, and an existential darkness like the original chaos. All hope of dawn is on a cross.
And finally David spoke on "It is finished." In creation God saw on the sixth day all that he had made, and saw that it was finished. It was finished, but it was not over. The work was finished, and God rested. So on Friday Jesus' work is finished, and on Saturday he rests. The first creation is finished on Friday. Whatever we were doing in our ignorance is finished on Friday. On Saturday all of creation rests, awaiting the new creation on Sunday morning.
Amen.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Dear Paul,
I am delighted to inform you that the Department of English has completed the review of University of Manitoba Graduate applicants for September 2008 entry and has forwarded your application to the Faculty of Graduate Studies recommending acceptance to the Masters program in English.
Blah blah blah. Other stuff.
Best wishes,
The Graduate Chair of U of M.
Blah blah blah. Other stuff.
Best wishes,
The Graduate Chair of U of M.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Victory!
I have tried before, but always failed. Sometimes it seemed like it was going to succeed, but in the end there was only disappointment. Sometimes it was obvious from the beginning that it was a failure. But this time, I had high hopes and they have been realized!
I made ginger ale. I made it myself, from water and yeast and sugar and ginger, and it tastes good and is fizzy. It is a complete and overwhelming success! Huzzah!
I made ginger ale. I made it myself, from water and yeast and sugar and ginger, and it tastes good and is fizzy. It is a complete and overwhelming success! Huzzah!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Disturbing
The newest Tickle-me-Elmo doll has secret moves. In order to advertise this doll without giving away the secret, Fisher-Price has decided to make probably the most disturbing, obscene commercial I have ever seen. Enjoy!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Barmizvah Brothers
The Barmitzvah Brothers, from Guelf Ontario, are neither Jewish nor are they related. But don't hold that against them. The trio's newest album, Let's Express our Motives, is "An Album of Under-appreciated Jobs", and features songs like "Bookbinder", "Library Page", "Thrift Store Owner" and my favourite of the moment, "Piano Tuner".
He's there on a bicycle
And there on his feet
You can see his wide bell out there on the street,
he claims its not a business but a dedication:
fifteen years and gratification.
Always a musician, he played the clarinet,
But working on the Steinways is the best that it gets
The Grand Spinnets the old uprights
it doesn't seem to attract young men, but eventually it might
You can keep a piano going two hundred years
if you use the right touch
he says he'll never retire, it's just not his style,
He just likes his job too much
Because it can't be taught, no it can't be taught,
Practice not training,
Just you go and ask him, he loves to tell you, and he'll start explaining:
There's fewer young men in tuning
you don't make your money right away.
Most are musicians having hard times
who need something to do with their day
The Grand Spinnets the old uprights
it doesn't seem to attract young men, but eventually it might
basic a440 then an octave down in relationship with that combination of tunes to make a good sound, up a fifth, down a fourth a circle of fifths and an octave, when you get it balanced in fourths and fifths you take thirds and sixths and you've got it, make sure it's balanced the rest of the octaves from up high down to down low, all you need is to count the beats and you can tune a piano
His mother told him he should consider
a job where he would use his ears.
His perfect pitch for working on the ivories
and he didn't think of it again for years,
but later he was able to see himself in the role his mother had once described
so he read as many books as he could gather and worked for free where he could try.
He's there on a bicycle
And there on his feet
You can see his wide bell out there on the street,
he claims its not a business but a dedication:
fifteen years and gratification.
Always a musician, he played the clarinet,
But working on the Steinways is the best that it gets
The Grand Spinnets the old uprights
it doesn't seem to attract young men, but eventually it might
You can keep a piano going two hundred years
if you use the right touch
he says he'll never retire, it's just not his style,
He just likes his job too much
Because it can't be taught, no it can't be taught,
Practice not training,
Just you go and ask him, he loves to tell you, and he'll start explaining:
There's fewer young men in tuning
you don't make your money right away.
Most are musicians having hard times
who need something to do with their day
The Grand Spinnets the old uprights
it doesn't seem to attract young men, but eventually it might
basic a440 then an octave down in relationship with that combination of tunes to make a good sound, up a fifth, down a fourth a circle of fifths and an octave, when you get it balanced in fourths and fifths you take thirds and sixths and you've got it, make sure it's balanced the rest of the octaves from up high down to down low, all you need is to count the beats and you can tune a piano
His mother told him he should consider
a job where he would use his ears.
His perfect pitch for working on the ivories
and he didn't think of it again for years,
but later he was able to see himself in the role his mother had once described
so he read as many books as he could gather and worked for free where he could try.
To do before Friday
Clean the house
Tidy living room
Clean bathroom
Clean kitchen
Clean bedroom
Pack
Patience
It is Advent, and has been for three weeks now.
I have a very strict policy about Advent and Christmas. I don't allow myself to start counting down for Christmas until Advent begins. We don't decorate our apartment until the First of Advent, and even though it is one of the greatest pleasures of my life, I don't buy any eggnog until then either.
But once the first of Advent comes around, the decorations come out, the Christmas music starts playing and the eggnog starts flowing.
Advent, like Lent, is a period of waiting, of preparation. It is a time of repentance and of penitence. We make ourselves ready for the feast, and patiently count down the days.
David Widdicombe, the Rector of St. Margaret's gave a few sermons on patience recently. He talked about our tendency to call for patience in others mostly when we have lost our own. He talked about patience not only as a virtue, but as one of God's defining characteristics.
In the creation, God made space and time for creatures unlike himself. And this is the meaning of patience--making space and time for others. And now, in advent is, we have a time to practice patience. Not only to practice in the sense of rehearse, but to practice in the sense of to act out.
And although I am tempted to ask when my patience will finally be rewarded, when I can stop being patient, that is of course an impatient attitude. So I strive once again for patience as I make my way to Christmas.
Happy Advent
I have a very strict policy about Advent and Christmas. I don't allow myself to start counting down for Christmas until Advent begins. We don't decorate our apartment until the First of Advent, and even though it is one of the greatest pleasures of my life, I don't buy any eggnog until then either.
But once the first of Advent comes around, the decorations come out, the Christmas music starts playing and the eggnog starts flowing.
Advent, like Lent, is a period of waiting, of preparation. It is a time of repentance and of penitence. We make ourselves ready for the feast, and patiently count down the days.
David Widdicombe, the Rector of St. Margaret's gave a few sermons on patience recently. He talked about our tendency to call for patience in others mostly when we have lost our own. He talked about patience not only as a virtue, but as one of God's defining characteristics.
In the creation, God made space and time for creatures unlike himself. And this is the meaning of patience--making space and time for others. And now, in advent is, we have a time to practice patience. Not only to practice in the sense of rehearse, but to practice in the sense of to act out.
And although I am tempted to ask when my patience will finally be rewarded, when I can stop being patient, that is of course an impatient attitude. So I strive once again for patience as I make my way to Christmas.
Happy Advent
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Is it just me...
... or has youtube changed their code to make the interface more obnoxious? Particularly with embedded videos, which can now no longer back up, and which seem to spaz out if I click anywhere before it has completely finished downloading.
Also:
Hi. I'm still alive. I've learned to knit (or am learning). Currently I'm making a toque big enough for a beach ball, because that's how big our circular needles are.
Also:
Hi. I'm still alive. I've learned to knit (or am learning). Currently I'm making a toque big enough for a beach ball, because that's how big our circular needles are.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Thanksgiving
I've been thinking lately about thankfulness and entitlement. It's not exactly a new insight, but you can't have both at the same time.
You can't feel entitled and simultaneously thankful. And that may have something to do with why rights language bothers me.
It's not that I don't think human rights are worth fighting for, and protecting. I do. I think that what gets called "human rights", really are inalienable and ought to be granted in full to all human beings. But I also think that it's a philosophically dangerous road, because a mentality of rights is incompatible with a mentality of gratefulness or thankfulness. Yet thankfulness is one of the prerequisites of happiness. I'm sure you have experienced as much as I have that you are happier when you are thankful than when you get something you deserved anyway. A life of thankfulness is a better life in most ways than a life of entitlement.
We hear so much, whether from a materialist-consumer-driven economy or from a rights-focussed-individualist politic, about what we deserve. But the questions that don't often get asked (or at least I don't often hear them asked) are: why? why do I deserve anything?
Have I done anything to earn even my existence? Then on what grounds do I deserve even that? And if I don't deserve life itself: if even my life is a gift, than what can I deserve within that life? What rights do I have, except what has been granted to me, through no desert of my own? And how can I possibly respond or react to this situation except to give thanks?
You can't feel entitled and simultaneously thankful. And that may have something to do with why rights language bothers me.
It's not that I don't think human rights are worth fighting for, and protecting. I do. I think that what gets called "human rights", really are inalienable and ought to be granted in full to all human beings. But I also think that it's a philosophically dangerous road, because a mentality of rights is incompatible with a mentality of gratefulness or thankfulness. Yet thankfulness is one of the prerequisites of happiness. I'm sure you have experienced as much as I have that you are happier when you are thankful than when you get something you deserved anyway. A life of thankfulness is a better life in most ways than a life of entitlement.
We hear so much, whether from a materialist-consumer-driven economy or from a rights-focussed-individualist politic, about what we deserve. But the questions that don't often get asked (or at least I don't often hear them asked) are: why? why do I deserve anything?
Have I done anything to earn even my existence? Then on what grounds do I deserve even that? And if I don't deserve life itself: if even my life is a gift, than what can I deserve within that life? What rights do I have, except what has been granted to me, through no desert of my own? And how can I possibly respond or react to this situation except to give thanks?
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Ouch
The Schmidt Sting Pain Index is a scale of the relative pain produced by stings from various hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants, etc). On a scale from 0 to 4 entomologist Justin O. Schmidt rated 78 species of hymenoptera. Below is a sample provided via everyone's favourite pedia, wikipedia.
* 1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
* 1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch.
* 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
* 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
* 2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
* 2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.
* 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
* 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
* 4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath (if you get stung by one you might as well lie down and scream).
* 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel.
In case you're curious, I'm fairly certain it was a hive of paper wasps that stung me many times as a child and triggered my ... er... let's call it aversion to hymenoptera.
* 1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
* 1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch.
* 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
* 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
* 2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
* 2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.
* 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
* 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
* 4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath (if you get stung by one you might as well lie down and scream).
* 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel.
In case you're curious, I'm fairly certain it was a hive of paper wasps that stung me many times as a child and triggered my ... er... let's call it aversion to hymenoptera.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Drive-By Posting
Recent highlights of my life include:
-Both of Jan's sisters have new sons, Lorinda and Chris' son Samuel was born March 3rd and Susan and Chris' son Damien was born on June 24th.
-Great camping trip with Kinsey and Amanda in Bird's Hill
-Great impromptu trip to Saskatoon to see the newest of the aforementioned nephews
-Great canoe trip with the youth from St. Margaret's in Lake of the Woods
-My sister Cathy is coming to Winnipeg on Thursday
I hope to post more, and in more detail soon, but I have resolved to feel no guilt if I don't.
-Both of Jan's sisters have new sons, Lorinda and Chris' son Samuel was born March 3rd and Susan and Chris' son Damien was born on June 24th.
-Great camping trip with Kinsey and Amanda in Bird's Hill
-Great impromptu trip to Saskatoon to see the newest of the aforementioned nephews
-Great canoe trip with the youth from St. Margaret's in Lake of the Woods
-My sister Cathy is coming to Winnipeg on Thursday
I hope to post more, and in more detail soon, but I have resolved to feel no guilt if I don't.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Conspiracy Theory Day
I think that the movement toward debit cards and away from cash is a deliberate attack on the poor. The poor, more than any other people, rely on cash, in the form of change (particularly SPARE change). As fewer and fewer people carry cash, casual charity decreases also. That applies for canvassers, who knock on people's doors in support of charity, and who once might have gotten a dollar from a house in which there is now no cash. It applies for buskers and panhandlers, who depend on the casual generosity of strangers for their subsistance.
Interac is clearly a plot against the poor.
Interac is clearly a plot against the poor.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Pathetic
My maternal grandfather wrote a four or five page letter to my mother every week from the time she moved out until the time his Parkinson's got too bad for him to do it anymore. For about thirty years he wrote her single every week.
I can't even write on my blog.
I can't even write on my blog.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
I love the internet
The White Stripes are coming to Winnipeg. Maybe that's why I've been humming this song for the past week:
Then I was walking home from work last night, and I started, for reasons I cannot explain, to sing "Get Back". So I got home, and watched this:
.
Then I found myself humming again, and so I just finished watching:
My every musical whim is instantly satisfied.
Then I was walking home from work last night, and I started, for reasons I cannot explain, to sing "Get Back". So I got home, and watched this:
.
Then I found myself humming again, and so I just finished watching:
My every musical whim is instantly satisfied.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Conspiracy Theory Day
You may have heard that the Beatles put pro-drug messages in their song lyrics. The truth is, they often snuck pro-classical music messages.
Get Bach
I want to hold your Handel
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Mozart's Club Band
Ludwig (von Beethoven) in the Sky with Diamonds
... to name just a few of the most obvious.
Get Bach
I want to hold your Handel
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Mozart's Club Band
Ludwig (von Beethoven) in the Sky with Diamonds
... to name just a few of the most obvious.
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