desert and coffee

Several weeks ago I was looking into a venue for a church event and I was surprised to see that after every meal (i.e. every meal was listed this way, it wasn't an isolated event) they provided a "region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all" (dictionary.com).

I found myself experiencing a dilemma, should I assume they really do provide deserts to each person after each meal or should I try to tell them in a polite way that the usually sweet dish served at the end of a meal actually has two Ss in its name. The problem is that whenever I try to be polite and point something like that out I usually come across like a snobby know-it-all. It's not that I know it all, but I do know the difference between a desert and dessert. As it turns out I let it slide but I sort of think I should let them know they've probably made a spelling mistake in case they have some disappointed customers who were hoping for something a little different after their meal.

TRIVIA QUIZ

Do you know what two-letter English word has the most meanings? The one I'm thinking of has 81 meanings according to dictionary.com and 321 entries at the Mirriam-Webster page. Any guesses?

hello!

Check out this hottie.


________________________

Sarcasm Gauge

Obviously what I wrote was already sarcastic but would it have been totally inappropriate for me to have added something like: "That video raises a good point - most girls could look so much better with a little effort."?

should i love them or hate them

I'm referring to the Conservatives not my in-laws.

They have this much going for them - they haven't been in power for the past 10+ years wrecking our country.

But they also have a few things going against them.

I googled "Clean Air Act" a few days ago to try to get several different viewpoints. Reading the official page really doesn't mean much to me. Politicians can spin anything. I.e. cutting and pasting from their website "don't impress me much" (for the Shania fans).

Here are the first six results of that google search:

Halifax Herald - these people no likey
maisonneuve - a cynical view of the Conservative's "strategy"
The Calgary Sun - this is more about the fact that the oil industry likes the plan (shouldn't that send up red flags?)
The Gazette - this one is the least critical of the plan
grist - this one uses the word "zing".
globe and mail .com - unfortunately this was possibly the best one and now I can't read it. Maybe you can access it only once? In this article the Liberals receive their fair share of blame but the Conservatives stay on the hook.

Don't get me wrong, I realize six articles from a google search don't necessarily represent the full spectrum of opinions. If anyone has any links to anyone saying something good about it I'd love to see them.

Some memorable quotes:
“This bill is an illusion wrapped in a mirage” - CTV News correspondent Craig Oliver

"It's smog and mirrors" - Stephen Hazell, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada

"There is an awful lot of homework to do" - Pierre Alvarez, President of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
He has a good point, I just heard about this "greenhouse gas" thing yesterday. I thought it was hoax until I noticed how hot it's been lately.

"Canada's New Democratic Party called the act a "made-in-Washington green plan." Zing!" - grist

too sexy for church?

So the other week I'm leaving for church and I see Lynn giving me a funny look. Not a "what's that deadly smell" look, but more like "you're too sexy for church" look. My hair was messed up just right and there wasn't a hint of Achilles' fur on my uniform but I didn't think it was possible to be too sexy for church. It turns out I was wrong.

Jessica Alba proved that you can be Too sexy for church

The headline was too funny for me to not read the article: 'Sin City' actress Jessica Alba has revealed she quit the Christian church after being told she was too sexy.

Surprisingly that's a big problem at our church. Our attendance should really be at least 15% higher.

When you read the article though it's really not that funny. The fact that men still say that kind of stuff (yeah, I guess I'm taking Alba's side here, no pun intended) is enough to make me not believe in evolution.

___________________________

Note: the following comments should be considered sarcastic:
1. Lynn looking at me as if I was sexy in my uniform
2. Me thinking my hair was messed up "just right"
3. Me thinking I could be wrong (just kidding - that's sarcasm)
4. Women leaving our church b/c they're just too darn sexy
5. Me not believing in evolution

they're heeeere

Lynn's parents surprised us by getting from ON to AB in 3 days instead of 4 and arrived at our house last night just after supper. Maybe if I share every embarrassing detail about our next few months together I can become as popular as Dooce?

special request

Would someone mind reading God's Politics and giving me a synopsis? I'm sure I'll get around to it sometime, like say, this upcoming summer, but in the meantime I'm interested in knowing what it says.

There's also a workbook that I would like to use for our small group, but alas, they've made it clear that I can't give out homework (like reading something) :-(

Watch Jim Wallis on Jon Stewart to get an idea of what the book's about. I would love to see him on the Report. Colbert would get to the bottom of things.

affordable housing - what problem?

Personally, I don't really think Calgary has an affordable housing problem. I mean, it's not like there are houses lying around empty because noone can afford to live in them.

Nevertheless, Nicole, Sandra and maybe a couple of people from the Conversation Club and I are going to the CHAI general meeting tomorrow night to see what all the fuss is about and maybe come up with a solution for them. Not that I have any vested interests in finding affordable housing in Calgary.

On a totally unrelated note, Lynn's parents are leaving ON today and should be arriving at our house on Thursday. We all get along so other than being pretty cramped I'm sure it will be fine.

Fair Trade Month

Apparently October is Fair Trade Month. The Canadian site doesn't mention it but I got an email from The Hunger Site making the announcement.

If you haven't heard of Fair Trade you can read about it here.

To be honest I don't really buy Fair Trade products simply because I don't see them around. I haven't noticed FT produce at Superstore but I'll be sure to look harder the next time I'm there. Whenever I'm at Sunterra I always get their FT coffee.

I know it's weird to be posting about Fair Trade products when I don't really buy them myself but I figured as I try to be more conscious of them in the future I might as well invite others to do the same. That way we can encourage each other to keep at it.

If you know of any other places to buy FT let me know.

(I'm also interested in knowing how you guys post pictures to your blogs. I notice they always have a 1bloggerphotos - or something like that - url.)

You can shop at The Hunger Site's Store for FT products. So far the only thing I've purchased from there is one of their t-shirts.

Ten Thousand Villages is another good store for FT products.

Here are a list of stores in Calgary that sell FT products taken from the transfair.ca website. Unfortunately they're listed alphabetically instead of by location so you have to search through all 100+ listings to find ones in Calgary. I may have missed some.

Fratello Coffee Co.
4021-9th Street SE
Phone: 800-465-7227
Fair Trade Certified Products: Coffee

Joffees Coffees
7954 51st Street SE
Phone: 403-720-2282
Fair Trade Certified Products: Coffee

Vastu Chai Inc.
PO Box 34184
Phone: (403)863-8677
Fair Trade Certified Products: Black & Green Teas

a new twist on thanksgiving

Lynn & I spent another Thanksgiving with our unofficial adopted-for-the-holidays family the TMCs. Before dinner Dr. M asked us to take a moment to reflect on not what we are thankful for, because that was obvious, but rather on how we could use (that's not the right word, but it's all I can think of) what we are thankful for to make the world a better place. Being a fan of mixing it up and not recycling cliches I thought that was a nice idea.

When Dr. M suggested this I immediately knew what I was thankful for but couldn't think of a way to use it to make the world a better place.

"Lord, I know you've given me a gift but how do I use it?"

Tonight I got the answer as I was browsing this site:

Clicky Click Click Click

When Eve, I mean Lynn, heard that she said something like, "oh great, all you need is more encouragement."

I'll have to leave GT at the end of this year to start my tour but in the mean time I'll keep practicing in my office (I don't have to worry about bothering Michael anymore since his office is upstairs).

Also, in the spirit of Thanksgiving I've finally taken the time to give props in my sidebar to the blogs I frequent. Now you're one step closer to google fame. What do I mean by that? Apparently if more people link to you then you're more likely to show up in a google search. Check it out, google "marriage humps" :-)

PS - it was great hanging out with J/K again too.

for the record

I really do honour teachers and school.

In fact, I would love to be a teacher someday (just not of anyone under 18), in a school. Oddly enough, the three girls I have dated all had a parent that was a teacher (there must be something to that). I appreciate the fact that teachers are responsible for educating and shaping our youth, especially because I know I could never do what they do. I know they don't lock themselves in a building with kids all day because of the money so they must really care.

I even like institutional education. During the nine years since I graduated highschool there have only been two years when I haven't been enrolled in at least one university class. In the past two years I have only missed one semester, this past summer.

If I ever have a child I plan on doing whatever I can to keep him/her away from hard knocks, unless we become really missional-minded and go all "urban". Not the trendy urban, the dirty urban.

Teachers and schools are two of my favourite things.

In a previous post I was really just poking fun at the arguements I've heard about church so many times:
I was made to go as a child
They only focus on the negative
I like the idea just not the institution

When those arguments are applied to anything else they sound completely silly to me.

I guess I've been watching too much of the Report.

[insert Nathan's shirt here]

Having said that, I wasn't kidding about Us. Today I saw a poster that said:
H
U
M
O
R
and it really did bother me. This is Canada people. I know that's weird and could be considered petty but Canada has its own identity and that includes using unneccesary Us. Now I know how French Canadians feel.

day or night

An old rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun.

“Could it be,” asked one student, “When you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog?”

“No,” answered the rabbi.

Another asked, “Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it’s a fig tree or a peach tree?”

“No,” answered the rabbi.

“Then when is it?” the pupils demanded.

“It is when you can look on the face of any woman or man and see that it is your sister or brother. Because if you cannot see this, it is still night.”

sorry parents

and grandparents and babysitters.

This Sunday I was responsible for shedding some light on the issue of human sexual trafficking during our 10:45 church service. I was slated for the very beginning of the service, right after the first song. Once I started my presentation it dawned on me that the place was still full of children and I'm up there going on about sexual this and sexual that. It felt like every other word was "sexual." I don't have a problem with people talking about sex in church (well, as long as it isn't soap-boxy) but this wasn't just sex. This was all about men buying girls and women for sexual exploitation. Once I realized that parents probably didn't want me introducing their children to the world of sexual perversion I tried to edit out as much explicit language as possible with the hope that the adults would get the message but the children wouldn't have too many questions for their parents on their way down to Sunday school. Oddly enough, I felt like the nursery balcony was silent the whole time I was up there. I know I definitely saw kids reading the slides. That definitley ranks up there as one of my most awkward platform moments. I can just imagine some child at Swiss Chalet asking his or her parents what the sex trade is. It's probably the one time someone under 10 will remember something other than the band selection. Sorry parents, if your children have any questions just send them my way and I'll try to clear things up for them.