May 29, 2003
Ooh... the useless things I have up my sleeve! More like up on the top links bar. ;o) So I added a music section, took off the chords section (which is now contained in the music section), and finally posted the quizzes that I had made back in first year (which only ended a month ago, but nonetheless). I have more junk that I'll be adding sometime this summer, so just be on the look out for it!

Tomorrow is OCAC's Coffeehouse rehearsal, and then the day after is the actual event! Please pray for it... it will be much appreciated. :o)

I'm listening to all this classical stuff right now (my housemates must think I'm a geek... oh well, I am!). Moonlight Sonata is making me laugh just because Ephram played it on Everwood and that's the only reason I downloaded it. But it's still nice, honest!

Well, I'm done blabbing here. Take care!

May 25, 2003
Had a really pleasant time with Marianne yesterday (as always). Watched Down With Love, which, when I think about it some more, was a pretty swell movie. ;o) I think I need to watch it again to like it more... maybe when it comes out on video in the fall. The dialogue's pretty witty, with the word play and all, and there's a particular scene that's pretty clever, and I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't of sexual content. Anyway, gotta dig Ewan's southern American accent. "No ma'aaam, ahh haaave naht." Go Zip!

Of course, there's the HMV sale that never seems to end (which is totally fine with me). Got a hold of Coldplay's "Parachutes" and Oasis' "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?", so that's two CD's off the wishlist. ;o) There were several DVD's that were enticing, but better save up for the ones I'll definitely watch again and again.

Church was nice today. The Sunday School lesson was on Job, and I thought it was quite well prepared. I actually learned more about it (like the fact that Job wasn't an Israelite), which is pretty cool. The prayer meeting afterwards was also good - finally remembered why back in the WAY, I pushed them so hard with the rest of the committee. It's nice to get back into the serving loop after sitting on my butt for so long.

Anyway, I guess that's all from me for now. Maybe get some dinner for myself now. I'll ttyl!

SONG OF THE MOMENT

Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Backbeat the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
I don't know how

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me ?
And after all
You're my wonderwall

Today was gonna be the day?
But they'll never throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do
About you now

And all the roads that lead to you were winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
I don't know how

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me ?
And after all
You're my wonderwall

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me ?
And after all
You're my wonderwall

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
You're gonna be the one that saves me
You're gonna be the one that saves me

"Wonderwall", Oasis (from (What's The Story) Morning Glory?)
This album came out when I was still in junior high school (or senior school, as I like to refer to it), and what a classic it has become - in my mind, anyway. This is definitely the Oasis sound that I prefer over to the stuff they're doing now - like someone said at worship practice once (or so I remember), there's a Beatle-esque feel to it. Nothing beats good ol' Brit rock!

May 24, 2003
Psst! Look above to see if you can spot anything new! *ahh-faith-hem* *ahh-wishlist-choo* Pardon me! ;o)

Anyway, went crazy mad downloading stuff off of MP3.com - yes, the free, legal stuff! Check out Further Seems Forever, Slow Coming Day, Pillar, Mae and the OC Supertones, all from Tooth and Nail Records. The d:boys also have some new tracks on site. Phil Joel has one song up, but it's a little too mellow for me. I also got a song from Badly Drawn Boy and a band called Blue Shade Witness (I was checking out the Brit Rock section, and they, an American band, were listed there (*scratches head*)... they aren't bad, although maybe a little bit cliché sounding). Oh yeah, also check out Shaded Red, which I had downloaded ages ago. As well, Sense Field, Semisonic and Thisway all have a few free songs for you to download right from their sites. Sweet! Hmm... too bad Thisway doesn't have "Crawl" available. Oh well, might get my hot little hands on their self titled album soon anyway!

Well, not much to say here but check out the new areas! Might seems a little sparse right now, but I promise updates... sometime before the rapture. :oP Take care, y'all!

May 22, 2003
So... got my first paycheque yesterday. Sweetness! Now I can actually pay rent on my own, among other fun things of life. :oP Or splurge on snacks and other goodies at Zellers, in my case. Hey, I *am* a student, after all! Can't afford to waste my money too much (if that's even possible or makes any sense). Another sweet thing was I found some records on someone no one else could find records on at work, so go me! The third sweetness was the Sens are still in the game. Bring Game 7 on! Yes, I'm a bandwagonner, so be it! Besides, the Leafs are no longer in the playoffs... :oP

Now onto today... marks came out (finally! what good are the engineers in Waterloo for if they can't make final marks come out like a day after you do your exams?!? yes, blame everything on engineers...). Stinky! Sucky! Boo! And somehow I still managed "Excellent Standing" with my yucky marks. Oh well, can't complain, I guess, although I am complaining. Not that I can do anything about getting lower marks in history and psych (my intended and actual majors, respectively) as compared to accounting! It's sort of, you know, over. I still have an overall average of 80.6 (thank and praise God!), so hopefully that scholarship is still there. Will have to wait until August to find out. Grr...

Well, gonna sign off here now. Half an hour to my bedtime (11:00pm... ain't it weird? well, at least all my housemates sleep around then too), so I'll ttyl!

SONG OF THE MOMENT

The sun was beating down inside the walls of stone and razor wire
As we made our way accross the prison yard
I felt my heart begin to race as we drew nearer to the place
Where they say that death is waiting in the dark
The slamming doors of iron echoed through the halls
Where despair holds life within it's cruel claws

But then I met a man who's face seemed so strangely out of place
A blinding light of hope was shining in his eyes
And with repentance in his voice he told me of his tragic choice
That led him to this place where he must pay the price
But then his voice grew strong as he began to tell
About the one he said had rescued him from hell, he said

I'm free, yeah, yeah, oh, I have been forgiven
God's love has taken off my chains and given me these wings
And I'm free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom i've been given
Is something that not evevn death can take away from me because I'm free
Jesus set me free

We said a prayer and said goodbye and tears began to fill my eyes
As I stepped back out into the blinding sun
And even as I drove away I found that I could not escape
The way he spoke of what the grace of God had done
I thought about how sin had sentenced us to die
And how God gave His only Son so you and I could say

I'm free, yeah, yeah, oh, I have been forgiven
God's love has taken off my chains and given me these wings
And I'm free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom i've been given
Is something that not evevn death can take away from me because I'm free

And if the Son has set you free,
Oh, if the Son has set you free,
Then you are free indeed,
If the Son has set you free,
Oh, if the Son has set you free,
Then you are free, realy, realy free

Oh, we're free, yeah, oh, we have been forgiven
God's grace has broken every chain and given us these wings
And we're free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom we've been given
Is something that not even death can take from you and me
Because we're free, yeah, the frreedom we've been given
Is something that not even death can take from you and me
Because we are free, oh we're free
We are free, we are free

The Son has set us free
If the Son has set you free
You are free indeed

"Free", Steven Curtis Chapman (from Signs of Life)
One of my first favourite Christian songs, and it fits well with the devotions I did for today. I've always known in my head that Jesus is our sole connection to God, and sometimes I take it for granted, like I'm privileged enough to get to God on my own. The realization is setting in, a little too slowly, that I am in desperate need for Jesus. Ah, the messed up spiritual state that I'm in!

May 17, 2003
First off... happy belated birthday to mom and Calvin! :o) Hope you both had an awesome day.

Anyway, so here's my first formal entry from Ottawa. I LOVE IT HERE! It's awesome... man, God really laid everything out perfectly for me. I'm pretty much settled in now, both at work and home. So, with Lifehouse blasting from the speakers, and candles burning on the bookshelf (many, many thanks to Marianne's mom for the cool floating candle and dish! love it!), I'll just do some reporting of my life here.

Let's see... let's start with home. My room is nice (and pink now... oh well, better than that dirty white that is was for a while!) and big, but I still have yet to stick up my posters because a) it still needs another coat of paint and b) I need to get sticky tack for them posters. My housemates are awesome people... that was definitely my biggest concern. We get along great, and they are just so friendly. I've never been one to always go out, so I should really hang out with them more often in the future. But then again, watching TV at home is also... fun! Who knew I'd meet a fellow Third Watch, ER and Everwood fan, right? We did go see Matrix Reloaded on Thursday (yuppers... opening night!!!), and that was a lot of fun (especially trying to figure out what's gonna happen in the third movie). So, home life is sweet (at least for the time being).

Work is also pretty fun. The other co-op students are really fun people as well. Well, I'm sure everyone would have fun when you work with three Lauras, and one Laurie (and a Matt whose name should now be changed to Lawrence or something, and I should become Lauren). It really would be cool if we could hang out sometime, even just for lunch, because we haven't yet. But as Laura (#2) said, we have the entire summer! The work itself is quite interesting, although the technicalities of it are very tedious. But hey, it's historical research, and I've always wanted to try it out, so for a first year student, I couldn't have asked for better. My senior researcher is a really nice guy too, so it makes life much easier. Let's see how doing the same stuff for four months will be like... maybe I'll go back! Besides, it's fun telling people that you work at Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada and watching their puzzled faces afterwards.

Just this past Thursday, we had our Aboriginal Cultural Sensitivity Seminar, with Jean Becker, a Native student counsellor from UW leading it. It was very, very edifying... I didn't know I would learn so much about the Native culture in the span of one work day. The six of us were saying how we were all quite sleepy, but the info itself was very interesting. It's horrifying to realize what the government and the Church inflicted upon the Native children of Canada, and are still inflicting now, though not at such a severe level. Imagine living in substandard housing in a country rated by UN as the best place to live in the world. It's sickening, but it's reality. The seminar gave me great respect for the Aboriginals of Canada, and around the world since the aboriginal experience around the world seems sadly the same. I just really hope that the Natives will experience healing in the next century so that the effects of abuse and oppression would become a thing of the past.

Moving on... I went to fellowship today for the second time. Man, the people at Elijah fellowship are just friendly (maybe it's the Ottawa air or something). It's relatively easy to fit in with everyone else, and there's already people I can turn to just to chat or get rides. ;o) But that's how a church should be, right? Actually, I feel a little more anonymous during Sunday services, and Sunday school can be admittedly dull and uninteresting. But it's all in the attitude. I got dragged into the Coffeehouse that's gonna be happening at the end of the month, and I found out I will be an act (the other possibility was being part of the worship team, but no). It's freaky to be doing stuff at a church you just joined, but it's not like I'm a new Christian. I've been on the walk for nearly 10 years now, and I'm realizing that you should serve wherever you are. So, to the one that dragged me in, thanks for the shove. ;o)

Now a short paragraph about "Messy Spirituality" by Michael Yaconelli. Read it! It's good (especially recommended for Agnes and Sharon)... I'm not quite done, but I think every Christian has thought that they weren't a very good Christian. This book is giving me lots of encouragement right now, so go for it!

This is getting long, but oh well... I'm watching TV again, because now I actually have easy TV access, with lotsa channels to choose from! But I only watch the few channels that I do anyway. So I'm into the whole American Idol loop now (Marnie's fault!). Don't really care if it's Ruben or Clay, but I know it's either or! I'll probably watch the final ep when it roles along... nothing better to do! Also watched the ER finale, and Dawson's Creek series finale. That was really well done, this coming from an ex-fan that stopped watching really early on. I understood what was going on, so kudos to the writers for leaving out all the newer characters, and for referring to the good old times. I jerked tears, so, in other words, it was good. Nicely resolved, and nice to see everyone grown up. There's of course Everwood, which I enjoyed today. It's sad, since Saturdays are planned around it. Oh well... one more ep left, and my Saturdays are more free. So... will Colin die? Will he live? Hmm...

Anyway, I'll leave it at this. Hope you all are enjoying your summers, and for those still in school, keep at it! All you in 'sauga or 'loo, miss you lots! Visit if possible! But for now, take care, and God bless.

May 14, 2003
WOOHOO!!! I'm finally connected at home, baby! Thanks bunches and bunches and bunches, Marnie!!! You rock!!! Anyway, I'm gonna keep this short because I sleep earlier now and it's approaching my bedtime and I still haven't had my shower yet because we were wiring the entire house up with cable internet. But four words I will leave for you: work and home awesome. Take care, y'all!

May 6, 2003
Quick entry here. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA!!! I wrote an update before moving up here to Ottawa, but my home computer refused to co-operate, so that'll be a lost entry. Work and my new housemates are pretty nice at the moment. That's all for now...

Might have to apologize for not being able to update as much as I want here, at least for the time being. My only internet access is at work, and I can only update during lunch or after work. Anyway, gotta go! I'm gonna go home early so I can nap...