meredith broughton

I've thrown in my lot with them, and with that I'm still content.

2011-05-02T02:03:00.012-04:00

(I wrote this in February. It's not about politics or the election today. I've finally got around to updating it and posting it tonight.)

One of the things I'm the most grateful for in life is that I've experienced so much variety. So many types of cities and towns, so many types of housing, and so many different types and expressions of church. I've lived rural and small city and mid-sized city and large city and suburb. I've lived in mid-rises and high-rises and dorms and above storefronts and attics and basements and semis and detached. I've regularly attended church plants, old churches, young churches - even worked at Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian.

One of the churches that's still closest to my heart is FreeChurch Toronto. This church, in so many ways, just "gets" it in my mind. They embody it. They understand, but also live out: presence and love and creativity and truth and so much more.

I've spoken before how I made an intentional choice to finish my education and move towards ordination in PAOC because of their core beliefs and practices. I don't think anyone matches up perfectly with any denomination, but I think they've been a good choice and still reflect me well. As I told a friend, I've thrown in my lot with them, and with that I'm content.

Many of the people working in PAOC hold areas of strength that aren't necessarily a strength of the denomination as a whole, but I've seen that expressed well in a diverse range of churches, even if a lot of the large "backbone" churches often look fairly similar. There's a lot of interesting ideas being tried out. And yeah, there's a lot of similarities too.

I'm going to list a few. They're not all strengths of PAOC, but by and large they are. It may not be of much interest to those who aren't Christians, and even if you are it's a lot of reading... but as usual, it's always better to talk about these things than just to read them. For those who disagree, that's fine (and expected for many people) - just disagree with me in person instead of anonymous hater comments, if you would. (And that lets me clarify what my position actually is, especially if I haven't mentioned it here.)

Inerrancy of original texts, reading conservatively with an eye to "exegesis" and "hermeneutics"

In reading Scripture, I believe the original text is inerrant. Is every edit of it? Nope. Is every translation? Nope. Is there enough historical reliability, early copies, multiple manuscripts in early usage and extra-biblical sources to give assurance about the majority of the content? Definitely.

I'm glad to live at a time when we realize that everything we do is coloured by a particular perspective, that there isn't a way to stand outside and claim absolute knowledge of the right way. And specifically to understand Scripture, you need to understand what its original author meant to its original audience (exegesis) and what unchanging meaning applies to a different cultural context (hermeneutics). And there's ways to guard that - with what the church has consistently taught, with the Bible's internal consistency.

And I'm also very glad to live in a time and a country where it's possible to disagree about many peripheral things in the faith, but the core of Christianity is still the same, and cooperation between different churches is encouraged.

The giftings of the Holy Spirit, including baptism/tongues/charismatic gifts, being active today

Most who call themselves Christians would agree with that. I find I'm even more historical/conservative than some people in PAOC on this. I think there's something special about the baptism of the HS. it's not just one potential gift among many. I think it's open and available to all beginning in the book of Acts and still is today. I think there's still value and power in seeking that for each person. Not so that we add to a list of spiritual tricks or build ourselves up for our own sake, but that we get better equipped to serve and God gives us power for living and serving Him and doing good day to day. That's a pretty classical/conservative position but I hold it pretty strongly.

Creation, fall, redemption, restoration (vs. creation, fall, redemption, BURN NOTICE, model 2.0)

More recently, I've ran into more and more people that hold a versions of this that looks like "creation, fall, redemption, and then God says "whoops!" pulls the plug, and says "don't take any of this seriously, it wasn't the real thing, time for brand-new everything now that the awful material world is gone!" That's jarring... and pretty Gnostic-sounding (if you're up on your history of popular beliefs). It's also inconsistent. Creation can't groan for redemption if that means destruction. That whole Romans passage needs to be taken together, in context with itself and the whole of Scripture (exegesis, again). (Same for the 2nd Peter passage).

That misinterpretation leads to misfires in a couple other areas - two that always hit me are care for the planet, and understanding of gender roles. If God isn't much caring for the way things are now, and doesn't care about restoring the original design -- then we don't have much of a leg to stand on in thinking God wants to make things right in either of those things. We don't have much of a reason to talk about the church being an example of the way God intended things to be in equality or care instead of just ploughing ahead with the same patterns that characterize the fallen world operates. We don't have much hope of changing anything, except praying more souls will be saved before the end...

And I think that "burn notice" model is incomplete... and we've lost something there if that's all we have.

Cities, incarnation, presence.

The suburbs has traditionally (within the past fifty years) been the domain of the church. and there are people aplenty who find that the best space for them. I wouldn't presume that telling everyone to live in the city among the poor is what they need to do. Then again, I would say that living in comfortable suburbs most poor people can't get to because they're carless and just making an occasional donation or city mission trip is pretty suspect. And many, many people live suburban and do much more than this.

By contrast, the church in the urban areas of cities has often been 'relief work to those in poverty'. Alone, that's also incomplete. Whether we live suburban or urban or rural, we need to be building more permanent solutions to poverty. And many people do. That includes making sure elementary and secondary schools are equally funded, safe, and academic across boundaries (not just in the suburbs), advocating for transit that actually works, and building churches in cities and suburbs accessible to everyone (much harder to do in rural areas). What if the church got involved (again) in creating banking solutions again that were fair, and operating credit unions? What if we took more cues from the Mennonites in employment programs? What if skilled tradespeople in each suburban church committed to taking on an inner-city or small-town apprentice who wouldn't have the opportunity otherwise? What if suburban college students who drive the family car committed to picking up and carpooling every day with a rural student to school? There's so much that's possible here.... amazing opportunities! (I haven't yet read Tim Keller's Generous Justice, so don't take it as an automatic endorsement, but he's coming from a similar mindset).

But hey (whoa, awkward!) there's also the whole matter of all the people who live in cities that (err) aren't poor, and don't live in neighbourhoods populated by traditional churches. And it's often difficult to talk about that. Unless you're already rich, the desire to be around rich people can have all sorts of interesting motivations.

What does that look like? I'm not one to know much that's fleshed out, (BC PAOC has some ideas.) but it may involve a church renting office space in a condo building that the pastor lives in, and being able to use their meeting room for church. It may entail finding bi-vocational, second-career pastors who already are part of these neighbourhoods and cultures, and enabling them to keep living in them while starting up new ministry. It definitely entails finding new spaces in neighbourhoods built without churches, and advocating for religious space to be a part of it when we're doing city planning.

It may even entail a focus and call for professional dual-income families, where a single spouse remains at their decent-paying job while the second takes two years to church-plant. and then paying a pastor fairly, if you are going to at all.

One of the most interesting people I've met in the past couple years is a Toronto real estate agent who I met at a conference on urban religious communities. He sells condos, writes about the city, and discusses the need for the church in these new communities that are being built entirely without religious buildings of any type. That's exciting stuff... and it's gonna take new models.

And with the mobility of those in cities, adaptive churches that constantly reinvent their form without forgetting their historical roots or compromising their message is going to be a constant.

I was talking with an old friend on Facebook a few nights ago. I haven't seen him in a few years, and we were just catching up. We want to do a reunion of everyone who went to our small group in Toronto as part of our church. We are now scattered from Hamilton to Barrie to Owen Sound to Vancouver. But the connection we had within that city was unparalleled. Honest, life-giving, friendship, prayer, love, support. Listening. Food. Real, lasting, deep deep change in our lives. I would give a lot to have that again.

Equal genders, equal giftings. we're different, but not unequal or unable.
Churches often equate or conflate cultural expectations with what the Bible teaches.

Again, this is exegesis/hermeneutics stuff. What does it say from beginning to end? What's specifically cultural and should be understood as such? What are the general principles at hand? And what's the constant message, vs. what are the "outliers" that need extra study and consideration? In a pre-fall world, there was no inequality, though there was certainly difference. Post-fall, it all fell apart. And just as we seek to mitigate the post-fall results of difficult working conditions or painful labor in childbirth, seeking to overcome inequality (not sanction it or baptize it) is a part of being redemptive and Biblical. (Which is why me and Mark Driscoll's teaching or any of the Acts 29 "dudes" won't get along very well in that area).

You know... I have no problem sewing baby bunting or curtains, or making casseroles. It's relaxing, I'm good at it, yeah yeah. But I don't want to make a life of it. I have no desire to stay at home for months on end. The idea of having a home-based business would thrill some people. It sends shivers down my spine. Jarod and I are choosing our paths carefully to make sure we are able to both work and both stay home with kids and have childcare options too. (Though their usefulness is limited, I'm a classic ENTJ personality type and a Type-A leader.)

But so much more than that, there are issues from sex slavery to abortion that can't simply be legislated away. What does it look like to be truly just - and truly compassionate? Will a Mother's Day Baby Shower to raise money for the local crisis pregnancy center be a good start? A little one... but it juuuust scratches the surface. There is so much more related to justice and care and compassion that we can do. Again, exciting!!!

Possessions and space aren't mine. also... you've been given a brain that has a capacity for a lot of work, so apply yourself and work hard.
‎"'The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: life is a story about me." - Donald Miller.

It's not really about my individual story. It's not about my individual passion. I'm extremely privileged in some areas to know what my gifts are.. but on the other hand, when it comes to financing that, I'm also well aware that I can't just do something I'm passionate about or else I'll end up time-bankrupt and money-bankrupt.

I work hard now, and I think about money now, specifically because I want to think very little about it later.
(I know it's a traaaaap, Admiral Ackbar.)

But the way I think of it is:
- For someone without savings or a wealthy relative, loans were the only option for education. I'm okay with that.
- I owe a lot - a LOT - in student loans.
- As such, when Jarod and I are both back to work, one-third to one-half of our post-tax, post-tithe income will easily be dedicated to paying those loans off.
- Because of this, our consumption and standard of living won't be able to rise significantly aside from buying bigger housing. Even that, though, is because having a larger space means we can open up our house to a more communal model of living that we've wanted to do for a while.
- I struggle with the knowledge that two cars may be a necessity for us. I don't like driving much, to be honest. But I also see them as a huge money sink - what else does anyone sink thousands of dollars into a year, that's useful for a while but completely depreciates and wears out? The idea of a car as a status symbol is so beyond me. But if it means we cart dozens of people around every week and take teenagers amazing places and do good with it. That's something else.

But.. wait!!! Now it gets exciting and amazing and encouraging!!!

Now think about when those loans are paid off.. Do we start suddenly spending money on ourselves? Uh, I don't think so. Do we cut the amount of work we're doing in half? That doesn't seem tenable either for the two of us who (a) really like working and (b) hopefully will already have built smart schedules where we spend enough time with each other and our kids and (c) workable budgets.

So that leaves us with the pattern of earning sufficient money, fair wages. We are in the pattern of not using a serious chunk of that. And if we stay with that mindset and don't make "me-first" changes, we suddenly have a couple thousand dollars a month that are free for us to give away and finance things with. We could set up a charity to give two people affordable, interest-free mortgages on houses with that! We could sponsor multiple single mothers through college. We could enable missionaries in the Majority World. We could easily transition, with a minimum of effort, into being people who financially provide deep, long-term, empowering solutions to poverty and help spread the good news of Jesus with our money as well as our time.

Or.... we could buy a bigger house in a nicer neighbourhood and two fancy cars and a larger TV and go on more vacations and get some designer clothes and a spray tan and Botox it up, but I think you probably realize by now that's nowhere near as exciting!

(I am going to get that Rancilio Silvia espresso maker though. One day. One day.)

More centrality of communion and baptism in Christian practice than we usually see + respect and use of historical things in church, not just the newest and best.

Earlier this fall, I visited a church with Jarod. The first service had a guest speaker who made a bunch of sexist jokes and generalizations throughout his sermon, and we were like "whoa... this is terrible!"

I think we actually walked out and said "Well, at least we know we can cross that church off our list!... Bleeech." Then we figured "Okay, let's come back when the actual pastor is speaking and give them a a fair shot." So we did. And that was fine. And they were baptizing some folks that Sunday. As a part of the service.

I like churches that make it a regular thing. (Also, we talked later with the pastor about our first visit experience. He was well aware the guy that week was "off," in his words).

I've constantly been in awe about how every sermon at FreeChurch Toronto could tie back to communion, every week could end with it, and it was always about Jesus in the end (not in a shallow or surface way, but drawing deep parallells and tugging out true connections).

I think these have often become "one thing among many" we do, and they don't occupy the place they deserve - as two of the church-specific practices commanded by Jesus. I'm ok with being part of PAOC and knowing that it will probably never be a once-weekly thing in another PAOC church that I go to besides FreeChurch - but that once a month or however regularly often it happens is important. And not just to me.

Lasting practices and classics are that way for a reason... and many of them are still valuable today.

In 2005, I was sitting in a class in midtown Toronto, and the professor made a comment that really struck me. His comment was good, but I found it hard to understand the mentality he was addressing. He said (essentially) "Just because a book hasn't been written in the past ten years, don't immediately dismiss it. Some classics are classics for a reason."

My reaction was that I thought the exact opposite way. It's hard to find anything new that's much good! Maybe my appreciation of the classics is a leftover from reading Aristotle and Plato and Socrates and the Bible and Shakespeare and all that.

Seriously, though, where would I have been in 2003 working 60 hours a week at Tim Hortons and the Buck or Two without The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence? (And without having Whose Line is it Anyway? to watch for a half hour and relax enough to sleep at night.).

How would I understand community if not for Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together (written secretly in Nazi Germany)?

Without these giants behind me, how would I presume to read anything as recent as The Cross of Christ or Courageous Leadership or The Irresistible Revolution and have any context whatsoever?

We need to learn from those who went before us. There's a reason that many forms and words are tried, tested, and true. And while there's a lot out there that isn't helpful or is too far out culturally, I would be so much weaker without Chrysostom's Easter Sermon or the Apostles' Creed.

Even within the PAOC, I see a lot of people who grew up in wonderful, strong, and fairly traditional churches -- and I've been asked many times by them why I'd choose intentionally to identify with PAOC. Well... PAOC hits these marks. Do they emphasize some more and others less? Of course. But if I'm looking to affiliate - and be held accountable - by a denomination, this is a good one for me. I can still say, now, that I've thrown my lot in with PAOC and I'm still really, really content.

onwards

2011-04-20T01:58:00.006-04:00

I love this city, a lot. I've never lived in a place I liked so much, that suited me so much.
For reference, this post from last year.
I don't think I"ll be able to stay here long-term, though.

I'm interested in a lot and I enjoy doing a lot, but one thing's central.

Ever since I looked at a career evaluator test in 1998 and thought"Well, I'd want to be a youth pastor but I'd have to be a guy, right? I don't really want to be anything else."

It took me until 2004 to figure out that I could legit. be a youth pastor - and settle my mind that I wasn't doing any interpretive gymnastics with the Bible to think that was ok.

So that's it. What do I want from life?

To do what I'm called to.
To do what I"m becoming better at.
To do what I'm trained for and experienced in.

I've done a lot of things in life and I"ve done a lot of things in ministry. Everything from the most manual labor to high-end PR-related stuff in work, and everything from kids' camps to seniors' residences on the other side. But I know my focus. Even though I've considered it, I don't even really want to do church planting at this point, though if an appropriate place and time came up I might. I'm not leaning that way though. I want to do what I've always worked towards.

I want to be a hired youth pastor in PAOC.

I want to teach clearly and engagingly in age-appropriate ways that offer a choice to teenagers.
I want to build practices of prayer and Scripture reading and action and stillness and worship and more that will feed and sustain them through their lives.
I want to listen.
I want to do away with cliched responses and easy answers on tough topics, and help others to do the same in their own lives and to others.
I want to train teams who understand teenagers and will be one-on-one mentors and group leaders, discipling and teaching and challenging and praying and listening to teenagers.
I want to collaborate with other leaders, or myself lead Jr. High and young adult programs that integrate with the kids' and adult ministries.
I want to bring teens along on experiences God will use to change their lives.
I want to be involved in the schools nearby.
I want to carve out safe places and times for teenagers to seek the Holy Spirit... without coercion or manipulation.. but with intentionality and leadership.
I want to have conversations with parents and put resources in their hands and connect them to each other.
I want to help the church understand false perceptions about youth that are harmful, and realities that are helpful, and help form a paradigm that's useful.
I want to be part of a healthy church that I'm not embarrassed to bring people to - and that the teens I work with aren't either.
I want to be involved in a church that's concretely looking after people outside of it, taking risks, and encouraging initiative.
I want to have a healthy small group of adults around me and Jarod.
I want to finish off the time I've been working towards it and be ordained - and officiate some of the weddings for these young men and women as they grow up.
I want to help transition people into their out-of-town and local college and university and apprenticeships and work with intentionality and direction and spiritual awareness.
And I want to occasionally bring the sermon at the church Sunday mornings.

For all the "other" stuff

I want to work shifts in ultrasound as my almost-certainly-necessary second job. And be a solid part of the team there, doing my job well.
I want to have a few small kids and a large dog - and have a childcare arrangement with people we trust, that blesses them financially. (I've already got an amazingly supportive husband who's been consistently hard-working, intelligent, hilarious, strong, kind, and good to me. Our five-year anniversary's April 29... five years already! And still awesome.)
I want to live in a city where Jarod and I can both live reasonably close to everything and not do any insane commuting. And live in-town enough that our kids can use public transportation in when they're teenagers and we can walk a couple places. It would be awesome to live somewhere urban enough to only have one car - but to be realistic, we'll probably have to rock the suburbs because that's where most churches are. And rock them... we will!
And in the process, we'll finally own a house (big enough to share as others need) and pay off our debts. I look forward to the day the debts are paid off and we can give a bigger chunk to making projects happen and changing lives, too
And yes, I would really like a heavy, built-like-a-tank Rancilio Silvia espresso machine with a brass boiler and solid steel interior fittings... maybe in a decade or so.

It's been eight years of school for me so far in the making. Four years of a theology undergrad, one year completed of my master's at MacDiv. I'll finish it someday. Two years of a cardiac diploma and right now the final year in cardiac ultrasound. Jarod and I are volunteering at a great church right now, but we went there with the understanding that it's a temp arrangement - we're onto new things before too long. And I'm very excited to be volunteering at a smaller church in another city for 3 months this summer when I'm away on placement.

Three days of exams are left as far as academics go. And then a month off, and then 3 + 3 months of placement. And that's it for me. School's a little longer for Jarod, but we're both getting to the end, and he can work just about anywhere.

Either way.. it's just about time. It could happen as early as the second placement, or if it's farther it could take till 2012 or so... And if we move, it'll break my heart a bit... but it'll be so worth it.

2011-03-20T12:33:00.003-04:00

My display name is set to "Kendra" for an assignment right now. I've been assigned a fictitious patient who's my age (!) and female to write about their experience with a heart problem, so I did the (easy) thing and created a blog for it, complete with fake name, fake dates, and fake experiences.:

http://mitralvalvemondays.blogspot.com/

Yes, Kendra is my middle name - I'm very creative in finding names to use... lol.

Nope, I don't have mitral valve disease :) Even a tiny bit. Nor did I grow up anywhere near Manitoba, and my parents are both wonderful and responsible people who always took me to the doctor. The worst thing I had as a kid was frequent ear infections (and frequent antibiotic treatments for them). :)

2011-01-18T11:33:00.001-05:00

Cleaning out cat litter is not my favorite way to spend time, especially last night. Surprising, I know.

And I didn't mind cleaning up much from our first kitty, but cat number 2 produces a lot of number two... and it was even worse since the cats have been dewormed again, which basically functions feline Drano (or putting your cat on one of those herbal system cleanses, if that image sits better with you). I had a headache, and my shoulders were killing me, so the thought of hefting forty pounds of litter off the top a seven-foot bookshelf to refill the box wasn't that exciting either.

But the more I thought about it, the better it got.

- For one, I live in a country and apartment where I can have pets.
- I can afford multiple pets.
- I'm not pregnant, and so I can clean out the litter box without fear of catching anything horrid. I also can finish my school without having another creature depending on us just yet.
- In the cleanup vein, after living in places with just a shower or just a bathtub, this place actually has both.
- The worm medicine was way, way cheaper than I expected.
- The cats must feel better :)
- Garbage is actually picked up once a week where I live.
- Not only that, but the green bin and recycling are picked up too.
- The downstairs walk is always shoveled and salted, and I don't have to think about it
- Because I've got a headache, Jarod will carry it downstairs for me. and Jarod already does a lot of cleaning that I don't have to (and already took care of the recycling and other garbage).

So yeah, I'm okay with cleaning out the litter box.

Neighbours

2010-11-10T21:15:00.002-05:00

Dish soap made me think of this topic , but I'll get to that a bit later.

I think the amount you get to know your neighbours is inversely proportional to the size of your building. In big condominiums it's hard to get to know neighbours, or on country houses with huge lots. In smaller buildings or houses close together, you really get to know people, for good or bad.

When I think of neighbours, I remember a variety, including:

growing up as a child in a middle-aged to elderly suburb full of adult neighbours
living in the country later as a child, and the neighbours who would snowplow the street.
the cat-fighting duo across the hall from me in residence..
my first summer living out of residence with some roomates, we had some awful neighbours who caused a cockroach invasion next door, then moved out and left the critters to invade the apartment through the ductwork.
the friendly chain-smoker in my very sketchy Toronto lowrise building, who had lived there over twenty years and kept a good eye on things.
the not-so-friendly drug-dealing 'family business' at the apartment next door when we lived above a store in Uxbridge
The couple Jarod and I rented a basement apartment from when we were first married - two workers with the school board. They were both divorcees with 3 kids each, and later in life they met, married, and had another child. The little guy's costumes ("I'm wearing Spiderman to the pool!") were the best.

My next door neighbours have mostly been good ones. I like the idea of next-door neighbours, and I have several friends who have recently purchased properties and been glad to find mostly good next-door neighbours.

I haven't, often, though, had neighbours that I got to know well - especially in large buildings. Until I moved to Hamilton. When I moved to Hamilton, my next-door neighbour was Mats - a German Ph.D. student finishing up his doctorate (on particular ecological details of escarpments). He was quiet, worked hard, had the very occasional six-pack of beer or smoked a pipe outside with Jarod, and had a couple nice guitars.

Mats had to make a difficult choice between two jobs - one in New Zealand, or another in Ireland that would also hire his girlfriend, and was a bit closer to his family in Germany. He chose the latter.

Thankfully, my good friend Jacklyn had just become engaged, and was looking to move to a larger space in preparation for getting married - she moved in next door. And since Mats couldn't take his furniture with him, he left a lot of it for them, which worked out perfectly. And when Jacklyn's fiance Andrei needed to move out of his other place prematurely, we just so happened to have a spare bedroom available at our place.

So we've lucked out with our neighbours so far. Jacklyn moved in, Andrei lived in our spare bedroom until they got married, and then he had the long move next door.

And it's been great to have neighbours we're friends with too. Even with little details like parking spaces. We have a parking space for our car. Since we've sold it, we can share our parking space with our neighbours when either of us has a guest over that drives.

Have extra food? Made too much spaghetti sauce? Trying out a new coffee cake recipe? Your neighbour makes a readily available taste tester/leftovers recipient. And they like it. Everybody wins. (Dear Andrei. Thank you for perfecting your coffee cake recipe. We are happy to try any future refinements you make.)

If one of us goes out of town, the other can come by, feed the pets, get the mail, borrow a movie... Food is easy to share. Need a cup of sugar? The neighbour will probably have it? (Want to share some of the cinnamon rolls you just made? You have a neighbour next door who just lent you sugar...) The same for extension cords, Scotch tape, Scotch, screwdrivers, and a whole lot more. My neighbours are great.

Not to mention the upper deck isn't "this side" and "that side" when it comes to parties, it's easy to entertain twice as many.

And like everything else, you want to be considerate and thoughtful and set good boundaries, and if you're like me you're not always considerate, but thankfully I have forgiving neighbours who like food. It's worked out pretty well. And while sound's not much of an issue. Andrei told Jarod the other day that he heard him playing guitar, and applauded when he finished the song. (Jarod didn't hear him, unfortunately)

And a couple days ago when I was out of dish soap and the dish pile was getting higher and higher, and it was too late to go to the store.... they were away for the weekend, so I just borrowed theirs and bought them a replacement bottle when I was at the store next.

Good neighbours, good stuff all around.

michael pollan, mark bittman, and why i'm no "foodie"

2010-11-03T23:29:00.008-04:00

This past summer, I worked at the Juravinski Cancer Centre. On my final day of work, I decided to buy a lunch as a treat. I normally don't eat lunchmeat or white bread, but I really like a good sandwich - crusty Italian bread, ham or turkey, good cheese, tomato, so I thought I'd go for something like that, since the cafeteria normally had specials that looked pretty good.

When I was in line, I saw there was a special like that, but noticed the cheese on the "display" sandwich was melty orange goo squishing out the front.

Me: "Can I get real cheese on this sandwich instead of processed?"
Worker: "Uh, no, we only have processed cheese. actually we never have real cheese unless there's a special that has real cheese on the sandwich"
Me: Uhh..... ok. (completely and utterly dumbfounded..)

I ate the processed cheese, but that was a letdown. I could have bought ingredients for six awesome sandwiches for the same price -- and probably should have. Although once in a while, I will eat the processed cheese by choice. (And to be fair, the hospital had just done a review process that also was phasing in healthier options, so hopefully this isn't always the case).

I've heard of a couple people whose views on food I find interesting, though I don't know a ton about them.

There's a guy named Michael Pollan who wrote a book called "In Defense of Food." I haven't read it, but it's been summed up as: “Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The "real food" part, especially, I like hearing. Not processed cheese or "soyrizo" or Eggos... real food. Not too much. Mostly plants. (Though again, once in a while I'll do the processed thing).

There's another guy named Mark Bittman who's pretty good too - I've asked for "How to Cook Everything" for Christmas, and I like hearing about his eating choices - vegan for breakfast and dinner, and then anything (including meat and whatever else) for dinner.

That's actually pretty close to how I eat in a typical day - usually 'oatmeal' for breakfast (boiling water poured over minute oats, because I don't want to actually cook anything in the morning), some kind of vegetarian or vegan thing for lunch (usually with beans or cheese as the protein) and then something awesome for dinner.

I like those ideas about food.

They're simple. (Mark also says things like "Don't bother mincing, just chop").
They put a priority on real food without a lot of restrictions.
And they remind people that being able to feed yourself is a basic skill.

Convenience foods have become so much a way of life that a lot of people think they're a right - and don't know how to make food or budget for making their own food, even as they pursue higher education. (This whole "wah, I can't afford my latte, all I can afford is cucumber sandwiches on $7.50 a day" article epitomizes that. This guy offers a cogent response.)

That, to me, is so weird. Even if you don't know anything, you can always learn. And $7.50 a day is quite a bit of money for one or even two people, if you want to learn basic skills.

I started university with 2 years in residence with a microwave and a kettle - not a great place to learn about food prep. I remember the first summer I lived in an apartment, and had to figure out my own meals. I knew how to bake stuff from a recipe, and to make a few meals at home, but I wasn't used to figuring it out for myself.

I knew how to make a few things (how to brown meat and make spaghetti sauce, tuna sandwiches, baked potatoes, stir-fry) but I certainly didn't know how to do much. Between Google and a crazy work schedule of 60+ hours a week (full-time morning shifts at Tim Hortons and a night shift at the dollar store) though, I figured some stuff out. And I never, ever ate ramen noodles or Kraft Dinner, mostly because I don't like them.

Two sites taught me pretty much everything I know about recipes - allrecipes.com and food.com (formerly recipezaar.com). If you want to make a recipe, type it in the search box, sort it by ranking, and choose the one with 378 five-star reviews... that's been my method for years.

By year 3, I'd moved into an apartment, and the only things I really remember making were a lot of tzatziki and pitas, a lot of eggs, a lot of salad, a lot of whole-wheat toast and peanut butter, and buying huge packages of ground beef and chicken, separating them into individual portions, and freezing all the little portions. (I was also a pretty awful roommate... I even got a dog without asking my roomates, a few weeks before they moved in. Man. I don't know how they put up with me.)

I was at Jarod's a lot too that year, and everyone else living there was Chinese or Korean, so we learned a ton about how to cook rice, different sauces, and tried a lot of new stuff. We also cooked a lot of chicken or beef with rice on the side. And spaghetti. Always spaghetti, and we started buying only whole-wheat pasta then.

I find it weird when people are impressed that either of us cook, or that we can make our own meals. I don't think I'm a "foodie" at all, or that I particularly care for obscure or exotic ingredients. I tried quinoa a little while ago after we'd had it at a restaurant last year (with a $20 off coupon!) and found you can make some awesome things with it and it's pretty healthy. But I think a lot of gourmet food stuff is pretentious and expensive, and I don't care much for things like the exact flavours in a glass of wine or what's "trendy"

I guess if avocados or fajitas are strange to people, I can understand that -- but what's easier than half an avocado on toast or frying up some meat, peppers, and seasoning in six minutes and throwing it on some tortillas? I guess I just think about it as "quick and easy" (although with avocados I also think "expensive!")

But once a month or so, Jarod gets Kraft Dinner and I get a donut. You gotta have that stuff too, just not all the time.

We've got a jar of mild curry paste in the fridge I haven't cracked yet, and I just learned to make biscotti a few years ago. (I also tried making sushi - way more time-consuming than I'd like, for something I'd rather eat once in a while and have it made for me).
But baking's more recreation than necessity (I don't do bread or anything like that) and I don't like making anything for dinner that takes more than 15-20 minutes. I don't soak dried beans, and I don't do once-a-month-cooking. Even crock-pot stuff usually requires a lot more forethought than I like.

I also like meat in pretty much any dinner dish (though TVP and tofu do get used once in a while). My Mennonite roots tend towards the blander, starchy, robust foods, but man, they are good - though now I can make a stir-fry or fish tacos pretty easily too, and stroganoff's quick. Stuff like jambalaya or anything like that takes a lot of time and I'm just not interested in taking a lot of time. (These took a little while but I figure I only buy pumpkin once or twice a year - making them was a good decision.) Adding vegetables is what takes the effort and thought - and is usually a salad or some nuked frozen veggie, if it's not already in the meal.

That said, for Jarod and I, one of our favorite things to do is go out for dinner - once every month or two, when we can. We like trying new stuff or really well-prepared things we know. You can get 6 quail at the farmers' market for $9 - I've got to try making those some day soon - a friend of ours made us Cornish hens and wild rice a few years ago, and maybe I'll try something like that.

And no processed cheese.

Except earlier this week, when Jarod picked up his box of KD, and asked if I wanted it for lunch... and after I made a horrible face, he proposed that it would be mixed with cooked ground beef and spaghetti sauce. And yeah - I sure did. Nothing fancy, certainly not healthy, but once in a while that's OK with me.

real.

2010-11-01T09:16:00.001-04:00

‎"'The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: life is a story about me." - Donald Miller.

"...if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, 'How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?' The point is that each person's pride is in competition with everyone else's pride. It is because I wanted to be the big noise at the party that I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise." - C.S. Lewis (excerpts can be found here and here)

I've been kicking these particular thoughts around for a week, and they aren't very well-formatted yet... but may as well put them out there.

I don't think of myself (much) as being a person who cares much about celebrity. Politics is not my calling, and to be known for its own sake.... seems a bit useless.

Influence and leadership, though, is definitely my currency. I want to know that I'm making some kind of difference, and the ability to bring others towards a common goal is definitely something I'm built for. But it's also something that's incredibly easy to confuse with just general popularity and being liked and agreed with.

And in some ways, they correlate - trying to lead without having the underlying character and outer charisma is a bit of a wasted effort... on the other hand, there's a way it can degenerate into simple manipulation, image, strategy.... and I'm not good with that.

Even something simple though, can show how proud I am. I think I've got a pretty healthy self-esteem, and I've kicked up enough accomplishments in the past decade for me to feel pretty good about. But whenever I have to take a job or do something that's relatively powerless, or in a role that's traditionally associated with not-leading or a job without a lot of power, it really wears on me. I did administrative work again this summer... and I was so glad to get out of it. Even when I'm asked to do something administration-related for anything else I'm involved in, it gets me. I don't want to be helping fill out papers, I want to be calling some shots. Pretty rough, eh? For a while I've had a few boxes of oak baseboard scraps (originally received because I needed some scrap wood to help repair a bookcase). I've been turning them into semi-useful, (semi-profitable?) key racks.... but the act of cutting and painting these bring up these immediate "crafty scrapbooking stay-at-home-mom" associations that make me wince. Again... not a shining moment.

I shouldn't be threatened when I have to take on stuff like that. And I shouldn't fall into the trap of assuming that just because I don't want to be in roles like a scrapbooking mom or a secretary, that those are bad roles for someone else to take on.

Dave Slater spoke at Lift last night, and referenced Matthew 20 - when Jesus was asked if he'd put certain disciples in places of honor in his kingdom:

^"But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave."

And it's easy to skim over that and go "yeah, yeah, that's a nice sentiment about being a leader that's also helping others" -- but at the core it's a lot more radical than that. Because it doesn't negate leadership. It doesn't translate into weak leadership. But it does completely change how you think about leadership's foundation and patterns.

A bit more from Lewis:

"Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call “humble” nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed."

well.... another first step, another day.

Election day tomorrow in Hamilton

2010-10-24T22:12:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow night we're having a little party at my house. Just a few folks, starting at 8 or so. We're going to watch election results.

Tomorrow is Hamilton's municipal election. There's a lot of good candidates, especially in my ward. There's at least five candidates I could have confidently voted for in my ward, and it came down to a minor difference why I chose the one I did. Even for mayor, there were two of the three frontrunners I think I could have responsibly chosen.

For me personally, I voted in the advance polls. For mayor - Fred Eisenberger, and for Ward 2 councillor - Martinus Gelensye. (Paul Casey and Matt Jelly were close runners-up in my choice.)

I like municipal elections the most because things don't get polarized into "left" and "right" wing, especially because I hold priorities on both sides of the spectrum. I think Eisenberger's most closely aligned with mine for mayor, and while several folks had platforms I could get behind in Ward 2, Martinus brings some forms of experience to the table that the other folks don't.

And I look forward to seeing the results, because I firmly believe that everything rises and falls on leadership. Not just city leadership of course, but that's an important piece of the puzzle.

I've also had the privilege of being part of the following campaign - I don't care who you vote for (or even if you make an intentional decision not to vote) but I'm very conscious of the privilege I have to vote, and the big difference leadership makes.

These ads could have been even better, but I'm really glad we were able to get them in buses around the city as well as a lot of local papers - radio ads went out too. I'm glad that was able to happen this timea round.

Even if neither candidate I vote for gets in, I'm glad I've been a part of the process. And no matter who gets in, I hope the leadership of this city is solid, visionary, and forward-thinking for the next four years.

We'll see. And tomorrow will be a party, either way.

Two stories.

2010-10-24T10:32:00.005-04:00

This weekend, thousands of teenagers come to Hamilton - for one of the most polarizing events within the "youth ministry" community.

Acquire the Fire.

The thing most in its favour? It gets a large amount of teenagers together, from really varied church backgrounds. It's one of the only events in Ontario to do that, and the largest in Hamilton.

The thing least in its favour? It's a big American event, and its methods, metaphors and worldviews show it.

I've been as a teenager, and I've taken teens to it before as a youth leader.

Ever since living here, I haven't.

One, because I'm finding the cons are outweighing the pros about it..

Two, because if you're a teenager that goes to Sir John A. MacDonald high school across the street from Copps Coliseum, the thrill of an event there is considerably diminished!

Three, because TrueCity puts together a great local event that also gets together a ton of teenagers from widely varying church backgrounds twice a year - where teens from different churches spend a day volunteering at places around the city - at places that actually can use the help. And there's a lot of context and carefulness and humility that goes into it. I think it's a better fit.

And because I've just been around on those weekends - shopping at the market, going to the library, passing by on my way to somewhere, I've got a different perspective. I've met groups who stayed in the church building I worked at - let them know the location of the nearest Starbucks and Pizza Pizza, and that the BBQ restaurant on the corner was also really good! I try to give a little bit of context about the city and the opportunity to see something good in it - even if it's as minor as a familiar chain restaurant or pointing out something good about the city they can experience.

I understand how events like this work -- by taking someone out of their daily context, having an event in a different city, people are more receptive to hearing new things - challenging things. And good things, like researching and understanding your faith, being unashamed of it, communicating it to others. Even boldness - which is a good thing, if not abused. And when a conference is an event in a bigger city, it feels bigger. More powerful. Like it means more.

But because Hamilton's an unfamiliar place - and a poorer and less attractive one than people are used to, I'm also confronted with scenes like last year... the first story... when I'm in front of Jackson Square with several McMaster students and a group of young teenagers come stamping by singing worship songs at the top of their lungs... or teens screaming "Jesus loves you" at people.

Would they do it at their high school? I don't think so.

Because they know - in some part of their heads - that loving God isn't supposed to turn into a verbal offensive onslaught. These things are not meant to be shouted or screamed at people. They're part of a faith that leads to transformed lives... and when they're turned into this sort of frontal assault.. that assumes everyone around it isn't part of their faith... it makes me very squeamish.

And I know by the time they get back home and back to their school, and usually their youth leaders have talked to them about having a life that shows your faith - and that gentleness, humility, and respect are parts of that, and they realize that they have to see the people in their high school every day, they're more careful about what they do. And by the time most of them reach Grade 11 or 12, they're at a stage of more thoughtfulness and maturity, and more considerate of others.

And their witness becomes something more like what I heard last week at the McMaster cafeteria. the second story... - three guys talking together about what exactly Jesus' death meant, and assurance of salvation. Two guys who knew each other, a third guy who barely knew them.. but they were talking quietly and humbly. They were showing each other a lot of respect. They weren't disrupting those around them or getting into a heated argument. (I only heard them since I was sitting at the next table and had just removed my headphones).

It was gentle, it was intellectually honest, and it was life-giving. I've seen a lot of that on the Mac campus, and I've had the privilege to start being involved with another group, Lift Church, who gently and quietly enable students to do campus ministry there, from small groups to food giveaways, no strings attached.

And I know that most of the time, things will bear out that way in these kids' lives. They have leaders, they have churches, they have friends who will help them work through this stuff.

But... the weekend of ATF, when they walk by and yell stuff, I'm still standing with a bunch of people who've just heard bombastic catchphrases, and my heart's breaking.

And this may be funny coming from me, because I'm a loudmouth, I know that.

I'm not good with the gentle.

I'm not good with the quiet.

I'm an opinionated person who usually runs her mouth off, (or shuts down completely to avoid saying something stupid.)

But I try really hard not to confuse confrontational tactics for what I believe. Because I think the gospel's the only thing that makes real sense of life, and that the gospel - that God created the world good, that the world and humanity fell through human rebellion, sin; and Jesus Christ came to die, be buried, and rise again to defeat death and bear the punishment for sin - and that God will one day make everything right again--- is beautiful truth and not absurdity or foolishness.

I believe it not only makes sense, but is a truly comprehensive worldview that adds to instead of confounds knowledge and life. It's compatible with when I majored in philosophy. It's compatible with my theology degree and master's studies. And when I'm studying the human heart and understanding physics techniques used in sound imaging, that's a part of it too

And I understand to believe, support, and articulate that is tough - and always has been.

But I don't want my backup to be people who learn to scream the truth at others.

I want to hear more people gently, quietly, encouragingly speak the truth in love - like those guys in the cafeteria, or the students at Lift Church on the McMaster campus giving away food, no strings attached. more like the second story.

And I hope the kids this weekend have been learning that - just as I hope I'm learning it, and learning to be a little gentler, a little quieter, and a little bolder myself.

five months in

2010-10-20T01:05:00.000-04:00

It's been five months. I think I'll start writing again.

Not that I expect much of an audience after so long a hiatus, but I think I need to start recording things more carefully. And more consistently.

Later today, I think.

Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity (from TED 2009)

2010-05-04T13:24:00.002-04:00

I've seen this on a few blogs, and I really like how Jon Acuff frames it:

"Elizabeth Gilbert wrote a massive book called, “Eat, Pray, Love.” Now, she finds herself with the impossible task of trying to recreate that success with her next book. In this video, she details the relationship between people and the creative beauty of God. It’s not a “Christian video” but it’s the most perfect example I’ve seen of a person bumping into the beautiful mystery of God and being unable to deny it. Here’s one of her quotes:

“Allowing somebody, one mere person, to believe that he or she is the vessel, the font and the essence and the source of all divine, creative, unknowable eternal mystery is just a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile human psyche. It’s like asking someone to swallow the sun.”

I can’t encourage you enough to watch this"

living a meaningful story - this week.

2010-03-27T00:48:00.011-04:00

I like Don Miller, and this book intrigues me. It's on my summer reading list.
I read this post a month or so ago, and it's been bouncing around my brain since then.

It makes sense. I've lived in a lot of different settings - cities - houses - areas - with very different people. I've worked at a lot of different jobs. I still often go to new workplaces, parties, churches, hospitals, venues, cities, conferences, classrooms, seminars or meetings where I need to understand a whole room of people and a whole new context - and blend in.

A little while ago, Jarod and I were talking with some people we know well. It was about comments they'd made - we found them pretty hurtful, because they were generalizations about certain cultures... and we had to ask them "Do you realize you're talking about the culture of our friends and the people we work with and go to school with? Those things you're saying aren't true."

It was a weird conversation. But it led to a good outcome... they talked about how they realized by talking to us how limited their experience has been, and how their initial comments were based on a lack of understanding.

It makes me hopeful. Being people who have experiences - and tell our stories - helps other people understand how to get outside their own box. And at the same time, listening to others' stories is important.

Failing to hear stories and keeping a limited perspective keeps us back in so many areas. Sure, we may hear theory about career options or taking your vitamins or whether public transit works or safely using power tools... but if there's no context, talk about any of that stuff is just information.

But when you talk to the PR specialist or you're walking alongside someone with osteoporosis or taking the subway or seeing a severed finger reattached.... you've got an image. You've got an experience. You've got a story of your own now. That information becomes real.

So I want to keep having more experiences, doing new things, getting into scenarios and going places that give me more stories - whether that's the story of learning to use the table saw with the wooden hand or what kind of trucks they use in Florence - or just how I made spaghetti sauce in university. All of that is part and parcel of the stories I have so far. I want more. I want better. I want new. I likely have several more decades to gain and pass on more of them and I like Don Miller's words on creating memorable scenes and going to different settings.

Back in the game, I suppose - Input, steeping, output.

2010-03-07T22:40:00.018-05:00

I've always felt that it's better to write than not to write.
Not because I'm writing for a specific audience, as I might writing an article.
Not because I want to get a lot of readers.
But because if I write 100 pieces, one or two will come out well, and it will make me a better writer.

However, I find myself in the place now that I can't do it on the things I really care about or focus on the field I'm in.

A couple years ago, I used to read a lot. Books, blogs, the Bible, conferences on the things I'm passionate about - youth ministry and urban churches.

I've been informed before. I've been keeping up in my field before. I've been steeping myself in the mindsets and people and Scripture and prayer that I need to keep myself in the right space/place mentally... (Grounded and centered and current and relevant and thoughtful........... not regurgitant and derivative and restless). That's a good mental place.

I'm not there right now. I think I'm doing well at my job, and I'm happy about the words I say and the programming I do... but I haven't been growing as much as I'd like, as a leader. I'm not in the right mental place, and I need to be growing more. But I have been there before.

But when I'm there mentally, then I progress through three stages when I write

1. I can reiterate things well said by others on various issues, personalizing them somewhat
2. I can talk about "new" perspectives - still derived, but with one's own perspective
3. I can occasionally float a much more original and contextualized concept or idea.

The problem is, without 1 and 2, 3 is somewhat difficult. And I think I'm someone with the potential and giftings to make a substantive contribution with #3 in that list someday - or even several much smaller ones. In fact, I'd think that's an important part of what I do.

I actually have books on my shelf that I've ordered months ago and haven't read. For me, that's way, way, way out of the ordinary. I still love what I do. But it takes effort and time that I need to reshuffle.

With limited time, I find I've largely given up the conversation. I pretty much say "um, hi... urghle urghle duh" when I run into other pastors -- some of whom I formerly sought out to talk to because of what they knew and how they did what they did. I'm not in a real "learning" mode right now, and that sucks.

I don't want to stay in stasis... but neither do I want to treat it lightly. It's work. It requires effort, dignity, thought- they're weighty matters. And I love this stuff. It's just too important to relegate to the level of recreation, or to reduce to an academic "get all the information" exercise.

It takes work and time and thought to rejoin that conversation daily, weekly, monthly. And without joining the conversation, I can't hope to steep myself in enough of 1 and 2 to come up with anything meaningful for 3.

The problem then becomes -- the non-work-related things I do for recreation/relaxation/enjoyment (food, building things, buildings, design, art, cities, opining, community involvement) become the majority of what i output.

The nice part is, recreation is possible in 10, 15 minute chunks. And for the past two years, almost all of my days have had several short breaks in them, useless for work but great for recreation.

And while in those 15 minutes I may shoot out a good opinion or three, or repost many things of interest, or exclaim passionately about my likes and dislikes.... I don't think I have much substantive to offer that hasn't been said before there. I'm no great artist or developer or craftsman. I'm far too derivative and amateur for that. I do it for fun, not because I look to make a substantive and world-changing contribution with any of this stuff.

But because I'm using them for recreation, I can sometimes end up doing #1 and #2 with that list. But no work is being done here either.

Starting tomorrow, I won't have those 15-minute chunks anymore, which helps.

But more has to be done. What's the solution there?
Find more time? (not likely)
Give up recreation entirely? (not healthy or fun)
Leave the conversation for a later time? (not productive)

There's probably not too much I can do at this point, but I don't want to leave things.

Tomorrow, coincidentally, I start taking the GO again for two months. It will exhaust me. It will frustrate me. But I'll be doing nuclear cardiac testing for a month (exciting, at a place I hear is great!) and regular cardiac testing for another month (also exciting -- and a place I've worked before that I know is great).

The upshot is -- that gives me some of that time -- a train ride each way I can use. Two hours of reading time a day, which I really appreciated before. I think that's part of the solution. But I'm not going to be bringing a laptop along with everything else, so we'll have to see how the low-tech stuff goes.

And who knows, if they decide to keep me around, I could be taking it for a lot longer, so I want to get off on the right foot this time and use those 2 hours a day rightly.

But I'd like to start getting back to where I was before... because I feel like I've been out of the game for too long... and I don't want to lean on what I've learned and heard and done before. I want to keep growing as a person as a leader, and be thoughtful enough about the things that matter.

All 28 Reasons I Love Hamilton

2010-03-01T21:06:00.003-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. Location
3. Size (population)
4. Scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. Buildings
7. Nature
8. Film industry
9. Markets and restaurants
10. Trails, paths, and running routes
11. Gore Park
12. Climate
13. Safety
14. Landscapes and views
15. The ability to live modestly
16. Sports teams
17. Schools
18. Entertainment options
19. The churches and (other faith groups)
20. Festivals and events
21. History
22. Waterfront
23. Small businesses
24. Coffee
25. Being a real part of change
26. Anyone can be active and green.
27. The people
28. Opportunity

This sums up why I love this great city. It's big, it's interesting, and it has everything I want. It's a place with distinct features and unique advantages. It also has a lot of advantages common to other cities and present fully in this one. It's a place I prefer personally, and a place that I want to stay.

This is why I love Hamilton.

this turned out brilliantly

2010-02-28T06:16:00.004-05:00

i like TVP, but unless it has a while to soak in flavour it can still have a soy aftertaste and be fairly distinguishable from red meat.

this was a relatively quick way for it to pass 100% for ground beef - taste, texture, smell.

start some water boiling
wait till it boils
then add two thirds box of whole wheat penne,

while that water starts going
preheat the oven to 350 degrees

and also heat up a pan
add a glug of oil and
one-quarter cup diced yellow and orange peppers
one small diced onion
saute for a few minutes, add a bit of garlic powder
add a quarter cup of red wine or so
simmer for a few minutes, then add one-third jar or so of Catelli diced tomato and basil sauce (on sale right now at No Frills for a dollar)

as that is saute-ing and cooking away mix together (a one-cup measuring cup works great)
one-half cup TVP (texturized vegetable protein)
about three-quarters of a cup boiling water
stir in:
1 pinch italian seasoning
1 tsp or so of beef boullion
5 or 6 dashes of worchestershire sauce
a good glug of red wine (2 tbsp or so)

and shred
one cup cheddar cheese (or other cheeses)

About a minute before the pasta is finished and you start putting the dish together, mix together the TVP mixture and the sauce.

pasta finished cooking..? .. good!

drain the pasta, then layer in a medium casserole dish:

sauce
pasta, cheese, sauce
pasta, cheese, sauce

Bake (uncovered) for a little while - 20 minutes is good, but i got impatient and took it out after 10. it was still awesome.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 28

2010-02-28T05:36:00.004-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 27

2010-02-27T05:36:00.000-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 26

2010-02-26T04:02:00.000-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 25

2010-02-25T02:45:00.008-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. Location
3. Size (population)
4. Scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. Buildings
7. Nature
8. Film industry
9. Markets and restaurants
10. Trails, paths, and running routes
11. Gore Park
12. Climate
13. Safety
14. Landscapes and views
15. The ability to live modestly
16. Sports teams
17. Schools
18. Entertainment options
19. The churches and (other faith groups)
20. Festivals and events
21. History
22. Waterfront
23. Small businesses
24. Coffee

25. Being a real part of change.

A little more personal today.

It was a tough trip. And it shouldn't have been.

J-Rod and I walked to the market at Jackson.
Admired the crane that was installing new equipment on the way.
Picked up a few items from the library
Found some dandelion greens for Robulon
Bought face wash from PharmaPlus
Browsed through Coles for a particular book. Didn't find it. Oh well.
Took a minute to stop at the bank.
Headed home.

It took all of an hour and a half. The weather was great, the walk was pleasant, and we found everything we needed quickly. As we set out, we noticed Waxy's looked busy (wonderful) and the snowflakes were the tiniest ones we'd seen in ages.

Except... the entire way we had a headwind blowing cigarette smoke in our faces. We'd speed up to try and unobtrusively walk past one, and another would light up ahead of us. I did not want a migraine on my day off.

It was good Jackson was so busy even without the work-week traffic. And to be fair, a lot of it was pretty average traffic.

It just seemed like the worst elements were louder today than usual. Crowded, rude, loud, spitting... letting their toddler sit down on the floor of a store and play with the doormat. That plus the smoke on the way really got to us... and by the end, we just wanted to get out.

But I thought I'd stop in at one last store for one last thing - to find the song playing in the background was some moron going on about "all my baby mamas." I just said "screw this" and walked out.

(I've probably said before that I'm real big on the "nurture" vs. nature side of development.
Environment still matters, regardless of age.

Until Hamilton takes care of how it treats its poor or less socially or emotionally nurtured, it's going to keep spitting out the same type of result.

With all the advantages of Hamilton, if you're a hard worker and you have a trajectory going, you'll be fine. If you can seek out opportunity and examples you'll be fine.

But... there's been people I've told people not to move here. They're not motivated enough.
If you need an environment that will help push you to succeed and get off your couch and provide opportunity and examples for you to succeed on a relatable level - this is likely not the place for you.)

So... why was this morning encouraging?

On the way home, I didn't want us to stay mad. Indignant, maybe, but not upset.

My first response was to list the six or eight people that I'm glad we know here. We are not the only ones. We have several good friends, not just acquaintances, that are doing the same thing as us. They're self-supporting, working hard, doing what they need to do - and making it! The lie of this city is that it's not possible unless someone else is paying your way or otherwise helping you out - or that it's not possible at all. But it is.

There were one or two where we said "yeah, this city's getting to them in _______ regard. We gotta make a point of encouraging them."

My second response was.... if we were in another city again, we'd likely just be another version of the other people we know. Even though people called us "exceptional" there, which is flattering but irritating, we really weren't. It was the norm to put yourself through school (with or without parental help) and get an education, and then work to pay it off. And if the thing you are trained in wasn't hiring? Find another job or retrain - don't sit around and whine!

Here, we can still do the same thing -- and show just how unexceptional (read: normal and achievable) it can be. To be an example of how you can come from very little, and make something of yourself.

And we can encourage others who are trying to do the same thing - and those who are only starting to make those choices in life, or starting to make those choices for the first time.

Not that you ever do it completely alone - we have faith, we have friends, and we have a community around us that all shape the environment we find ourselves in. Change is possible. And it is possible here.

But if we went to live among a homogenous group again, what good would that do?

Change doesn't come through isolation.
It doesn't (largely) come through donation.

It comes through presence.
It comes through example.
It comes through being part of things.

So I'm content to do something unexceptional in most contexts, and so-called exceptional in this one.
I'm content to remain a grown-up.
I'm content to be someone who's worked hard and made it through life - the ups and down.
I'm content to keep being an example.
I'm content to keep giving people skills to succeed.
And I'm content to be part of the many groups that offer larger solutions.

Because at least here the opportunity exists to be a part of the solution. Our problems aren't shuffled off in giant highrises or peripheral developments. They're at the core. And you can either run away and compartmentalize, or deal with it. But it's a lot harder to compartmentalize here.

Perhaps your place - in your city - is to be a developer. Or a tutor. Landlord. Grandparent. Neighbour. Mentor. Business owner. Employee.

But whatever it is, do it well, and be part of the solution. Don't distance yourself.

Many of us will have the opportunity to own property. Where you buy your house changes things.

So one day, we'll make the choice most parents need to - to initially buy, or move to a neighbourhood that you're comfortable with your kids going to school in. Thankfully, there's several neighbourhoods with great schools that are also close enough - and varied enough - to make a difference in while retaining proximity.

There's no need to move to the periphery of town for that like there is in other cities. But if you do, you'll still find needs you can address there - if you take the time to be aware of their existence and choose to acknowledge them.

As a Christian, and as a pastor, my view looks far ahead. I've posted this meditation by Archbishop Oscar Romero above my desk for a long time. Whatever your own perspective, the realization that change is incremental, but significant, is important. And there's also value in trying to find larger, collaborative solutions that address problems on a larger scale.

I can be a real part of change. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 24

2010-02-24T01:40:00.007-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. Location
3. Size (population)
4. Scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. Buildings
7. Nature
8. Film industry
9. Markets and restaurants
10. Trails, paths, and running routes
11. Gore Park
12. Climate
13. Safety
14. Landscapes and views
15. The ability to live modestly
16. Sports teams
17. Schools
18. Entertainment options
19. The churches and (other faith groups)
20. Festivals and events
21. History
22. Waterfront
23. Small businesses

24. Coffee

Normally, I carry a travel mug. Usually it's filled with tea from home, although some mornings I'll grind and brew coffee. I like cream in my coffee, and it's a rare coffee I can drink black. But I don't drink enough coffee to buy cream, so I use milk.... or I just go out and buy a coffee if I want a really good one.

I read this book in high school that piqued my interest... then found out a lot more about coffee. I worked at Second Cup and a few other places. And no matter what I'm in the mood for, in Hamilton, I can get it.

Let me start with another story, though.

I never liked Kraft Dinner. I can eat it about three bites when it's really hot, right out of the pot. And then I look at the rest and my stomach turns. The store stuff is even worse.

About two years ago, I had real, homemade macaroni and cheese for the first time. And it was glorious. There were breadcrumbs and real cheese and the texture was completely different.

It intrigued me enough to look at recipes for fancy mac and cheese using exotic cheeses, with lobster and crab, or even truffles shaved in. Even if I'd never eat them, knowing those versions existed was neat... and I make much simpler versions of homemade mac and cheese once every few months now.

Coffee's much the same. Starting to understand there was more out there than perked "church coffee" made a whole new world open up to me... and I'm hooked.

And that's why I use my highly scientific "macaroni and cheese" comparison scale to talk about coffee quality. It's probably going to be useful in this post.

Of course, Tim Hortons started here. I've got a donut or two from that particular store. And although St. Catharines edges us out slightly for Tims-per-square-kilometre, we've still got enough Tim Hortons to keep the entire city running.

Because this is the Kraft Dinner of the coffee world. It's reliable, dependable, it's addictive, and it'll keep you truckin' through your day. However, once you've had the real thing, you'll never mistake Tim's for it again, and you do realize one day it will probably kill you. But you just keep going back - familiarity, availability, and cost keep it the cheapest drug we've got.

And boy, is there far worse coffee than Tim's. It could be "store brand" stuff that's only good for perking... or the chemical, foul equivalent to the mac and cheese you pick up in a dollar store. Luckily Hamilton is low on these. I did have the worst coffee of my life in a truck stop in Indiana last year. Fun times!

Thankfully, most Hamilton coffee is either KD-dependable - or edging towards the homemade mac and cheese level of quality. Even the fancy stuff at some places.

And there's a lot of great high-quality coffee at reasonable prices.

I'm willing to pay an extra quarter for that quality, especially when it's fair-trade as well. (If I can afford to buy a coffee that day, I can afford the extra quarter. I may not be rich, but relatively speaking, I'm a ridiculously wealthy North American consumer. I don't begrudge the quarter - or even two quarters.)

There's lots of independent shops - many of them run by passionate small business owners:
My Dog Joe's (with a James North location opening soon)
(and there's other coffeehouses on James North too)
Heart of the Hammer
Bread and Roses
Westdale Cafe (not only fair trade coffee and tea, but sustainable materials used for the finishes and floors)
Bad Dog Cafe
Grandad's Donuts (they may be a chain, but small enough to fit in here for me. Great donuts!)
FRWY (excellent cafe in spite of limited hours - volunteer-run, nonprofit)
Harbour Diner does more than coffee, but deserves a mention for their excellent $1 fair trade coffee with unlimited refills

There's chains too.
PAMs
Williams (the waterfront is the most well-known one, but also near Mac and Mount Hope)
Second Cup (They sell La Minita, so I forgive them the awful/raucous Westdale location.)
Starbucks (several locations, from Locke to Ancaster to Upper James. I got caught in the Upper James location once during an EPIC rainstorm. The power was out for hours. Locke's a location I can get a lot of work done in)

And there's coffee roasters too - buying your coffee from these guys is a great way to shop locally.
Red Hill Coffee Trade
Detour Coffee
Speakeasy (haven't heard anything from them lately, but the store's still functional and their Twitter's still updated)
Bread and Roses also roasts coffee now.

That said, we could use many more coffeehouses. Heart of the Hammer opening up was encouraging - great hours and great selection.

Gore Park desperately needs a coffeehouse that can work as a meeting/work space by day and by night, not just a pit stop for caffeine refueling - and a central location like that means some of the condo dwellers would be drawn into the park, students would have a destination to stay in Gore Park for besides switching buses, and business people would have a place to go. (And I wouldn't have to travel to Westdale or Locke to plug in a laptop and concentrate for a few hours - although now Heart of the Hammer is a closer option).

Sure, Mr. Gaggia and I will meet one day when I have disposable income and counter space. Until then, I'll enjoy a cup of joe from My Dog Joe or good old Tim Hortons.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 23

2010-02-23T11:46:00.005-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 22

2010-02-22T11:45:00.000-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 21

2010-02-21T11:22:00.007-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 20

2010-02-20T11:17:00.005-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 19

2010-02-19T23:53:00.004-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)
4. The scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. The buildings
7. The nature
8. The film industry
9. The markets and restaurants
10. The trails, paths, and running routes
11. Gore Park
12. The climate
13. The safety
14. The landscapes and views
15. The ability to live modestly
16. The sports teams
17. The schools
18. The entertainment options

19. The churches (and other faith groups)

I'm going to speak from my own experience here - with my church, and the church as a whole - other faith groups in this city are doing amazing things.

One of the most encouraging little things when I moved here was to see a pastor from another downtown church biking past me on his way to work. I just thought "dude, we have urban pastors here! Other pastors get it!" Literally, that's what was crossing my mind.

On Feb 14, the church I attend and work at hosted "A Piece of Common Ground" dinner with our Turkish Muslim friends. In lieu of the video I was hoping to get, Patti's post on this speaks volumes. The Beam Centre is quite something, and I really enjoyed the evening.

The media company near us filmed a commercial in our building near that time.
Community groups that have been using various parts of the church space.
Hundreds of free income tax returns for low-income residents will start up again soon.

And that's only a few of the minor things one church in one place in the city is doing.

One case study identified the five things churches in Hamilton can do to improve the city are:
1) grow community
2) promote community service
3) attract people to live downtown
4) draw private investment
5) add beauty to the physical appearances of community

A lot of churches do that well here.

There's some churches that highly value and beautifully represent great architecture.
There's churches here that encourage and attract people to live downtown.
There's churches that do incredible work in the community.
And to be fair, there's churches that sit there all the time and have very little connection with the week or the work of everyday folks.

There was also the moment not long after I moved here when my sister asked "oh... downtown? You didn't end up at _____________that's getting investigated and having charitable status revoked and whose staff are buying $700 purses with the funds?"

I'm glad that type of place is the rare exception. Churches in this city do incredible work! And I can only scratch the surface by speaking of L'Arche and Philpott and Salvation Army and FRWY and Hughson St. and Crossfire and Micah House and even Good Shepherd or our entire Catholic school system.. but that's a tiny start.

And it's so connected here.... the True City network that has churches of all types in it is also something I sorely missed in other cities... it's great to know the leaders of churches in this city have a heart for people - but not on just one or two "hot-button" issues. They want to see the entire city succeed.

Being able to meet with other youth pastors - of all types of churches - has been so encouraging. Even more encouraging is hearing how pro-city a lot of them are - from transit to living downtown to buying local.

Green initiatives are also common in a lot of places, though I freely admit many churches still find that tough. The imagination is great though... where else but in car-dependent Hamilton would you hear of "Worship without your car" initiatives? But again.. it's awesome!

This is personal for me. I love cities and I love Jesus. And maybe it's hard to tell, when the church has for years moved to cheap land around cities... but Christianity is historically quite comfortable in cities.

Many have noted... The Bible starts in a garden and ends in a city.

Even through exile, the Hebrews were exhorted to pray for the good of the city even as they were captives there. The city of Jerusalem stands central to much of the Old Testament. Some of my favorite books in the Bible are the letters to the New Testament churches... some are veyr minor places, many were larger centers such as Rome and Ephesus and Corinth.

I'm also very comfortable with the reality in the New Testament that groups of believers, "churches," had no power - certainly not in a political sense. They pointed to God as the source of individually transformed lives, and a calling to belong in community. From those transformed lives is where change came.

All differences in time period and political reality aside, that translates very well to today. Churches point to God as the source of individually transformed lives, and a calling to belong in community. And I thank God there are so many churches in this city who are pointing to God and offering community... and bringing change to those around them.

I see it every week. In my church and others. I hear - and see - that change and community.

Every week, financial and recovery groups meet.
I see those who aren't able to work - or fit into normal society - find a safe place and a listening ear.
Part of my job is teaching teens life skills about topics like sex and money (comprehensively, with lots of discussion and research - not simplistically).
People get counselling to work through issues, prepare for transitions, or improve relationships - by people who are trained in and know those areas.
I see people prepare food together
I see people who struggled in education get into college - and graduate, and find jobs.
I see people who are generations apart having a conversation.
I see those who aren't able to go to school find jobs and encouragement.
I see those deeply hurting start to heal... and grow into confident, alive people.
I see inner, quiet, deep change working itself outward.
I see people able to show emotion for the first time in decades.
I see families whose problems aren't fixed magically... but who are starting to heal.
I see relationships that were cut off for years being returned.

In short... I see individual lives transformed, and people finding community and being part of their city. And I love it.

I love the churches in Hamilton. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 18

2010-02-18T14:13:00.003-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 17

2010-02-17T23:48:00.004-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 16

2010-02-16T09:30:00.005-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 15

2010-02-15T23:00:00.006-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 14

2010-02-14T15:07:00.007-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 13

2010-02-13T14:48:00.005-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 12

2010-02-12T14:12:00.007-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 11

2010-02-11T18:59:00.016-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)
4. The scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. The buildings
7. The nature
8. The film industry
9. The markets and restaurants
10. The trails, paths, and running routes

11. Gore Park

There's a plethora of Hamilton parks. There's a small one almost in my backyard, three more within a 2-minute walk, and dozens more within a short trip.

This is about my favorite one.

In 1860, Edward, Prince of Wales came to Hamilton to open Gore Park.

In 2009, I was walking home through Gore Park on a Friday afternoon.
It was a gorgeous, sunny day: with a slight breeze, a jazz band playing in the middle of the park, and I was heading home. So I stopped for caffeine at the local restaurant's patio, and flipped through my notes for that Sunday while the band played on. And it was perfect.... (well, except for the buses screaming by through the middle of the park every five minutes.)

Ah, Gore Park. Already, I know... I can hear the cries of protest already. Maybe you've had experiences like this. Fun fun fun fun fun.

But that's not all there is. Gore Park itself is still pretty amazing.

And it's the centre - symbolic and geographic - of the entire city.

It's a great size and a great location, is across from the Right house and near a few amenities like banks, clothing shops and restaurants. The ones I can vouch for are definitely Mahal and al Centro, and the landmark Victoria Hall (Foster Hall) and Mackay Building. Not to mention the office towers surrounding it, the statues and history in the park itself and of the name "Gore" - remarkable.

And I hope we can make it a better space. The city can plan redo after redo, and I'm sure some of those changes will be great. But at the bottom line, you need to change the mix of people using the park to be more diverse and a better balance - not get rid of anyone, but give new people things to do, and give productive activity for some already present.

And to do that you need to make sure there's (a) quality destinations around the park and (b) multiple activities to do at those destinations as well as (c) improving the park itself

Because right now there's a big disconnection between those who work downtown and live downtown, and those who use Gore Park. (I know, because I take the bus with both types of "commuters" every day...)

And that disconnect is the killer, when it's only the users are those who default into Gore Park and don't have a positive reason to be there. There need to be more positive reasons to be around the area, and it needs to be a park that all types of people can feel comfortable in.

If I could see just one thing, we really need a decent coffeehouse in the Gore - for an extra two quarters, I'll pay for a better coffee and better atmosphere. Or two coffeehouses, but one decent chain to start, to draw in some of the cubicle dwellers who are a ready-made market. I know... they'll buy 2-3 cups a day, Monday to Friday... I've worked in chains near offices. People all over want an option besides Country Style and Tim's... Williams was rumoured to want a spot in the Foster Building... it's a shame that didn't work out. Second Cup beats any other chain for coffee quality, and the only one downtown is at the hospital. Yeah...

Not to mention I really want a space I can work in downtown, plug in a laptop, and not be interrupted by social Mac kids or an impromptu grassroots revolution (and you know I love ya both, Westdale Second Cup and Bread and Roses ;))

Events and attractions held there also help balance the equation (whether that's the Christmas attractions in the winter or Music in the City in the summer). Markets, festivals, theatre, public art... this has to happen too, an intentional filling of the space. Removing the buses means that the restaurant patios will become a better experience, and there's possibilities on that road for markets and other things.

In the meantime, I'm a firm believer in ordinary people enjoying what's there and being present... just there... and the incremental but real change that brings.

So I walk there.
Or read there.
Or head there on a cold night when few others are out... but the ice and the lights combine to make the entire park into a gigantic, brilliantly faceted diamond.... like last Tuesday. Amazing.

I'm thankful for the very fact this space exists. And I'm hopeful for what it may become.

I love Gore Park. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 10

2010-02-10T22:23:00.010-05:00

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 9

2010-02-09T23:35:00.005-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)
4. The scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. The buildings
7. The nature
8. The film industry

9. The markets and restaurants

I love food. I'm no chef, but I enjoy it. (And coffee/cafes will take up a whole future post).

In Hamilton, food is plentiful, affordable, delicious and diverse. And we're even lucky enough to grow some of it around here.

Regular grocery stores... they're all here. One a couple minutes away from me, a few others a little farther.

Specialty foods? No problem.
Just to start, we have Denningers, Duartes, a plethora of Asian grocers (I go to this one), Goodness Me!, Reardons, Locke Street Bagel, Zarky's (locations all over the city), cheese shops, Italian and Portuguese bakeries... need I go on?

A few weeks ago, I had canoli from Frank's Sicilia Bakery at Barton/Sherman. Unbelievably good.

Of course, there's also the markets - Hamilton Farmers Market, Ottawa Street, Westdale, the Mountain, Dundas, Skydragon... and different CSA/Foodshare boxes too (around the corner from me, you can get the Good Food Box ordered at the FRWY, fyi).
(not to mention the Makers Markets that also happen all year)

This is the first list of Hamilton Cuisine I saw, and I like Chowhound to find new grocery stores and new restaurants. Viewmag's "best of food" or Restaurantica are also starting points. I've barely scratched the surface.

Restaurants are my favorite... although I don't dine out that often. Here's my very short and very biased list of the ones I like the most.

Harbour Diner Pay the same as any other breakfast place, but nicer atmosphere and better food, plus creative options if you feel like it. (Beats the pants off the Egg and I, at least in the "pancake quality" and "level of background noise" divisions)
Rolly Rockets BBQ (real southern BBQ)
Go Tempura (for AYCE, I like it better than Sapporo, which is also pretty good. At Go Tempura, it's a bit fresher, a bit cheaper, and a bit more variety. You can get the $12 lunch menu at dinner. HUGE sushi portions a la carte for a great price too)
La Luna (locations in several places, Mediterranean, a little pricey but good.)
Rebel's Rock (Irish pub, good food, near to us. n)
Pho Dau Bo (Pho with good quality broth and other options)
Le Chinois (Chinese takeout at a good value without the grease of Forbidden City).
and of course Al Centro, the Italian place in Gore park.

I'm sure I've missed several that are fantastic.

There's many, many, many more like Affinity or Lulu's I still need to get to - and someday figure out how Wild Wing (which I do like) measures up to Right Wingers that I've heard about and I hear Bronzie's Place is good food and huge portions. Not to mention Mex-I-Can and Poco Loco

If Hamilton gets an AYCE Korean BBQ, another piece of the world will fall into place ;)

I'm always open to further recommendations. I like to eat, I like good food. I like making food and I like going out for it. Hamilton has food in abundance, it's really good, affordable, and there's all different kinds.

And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 8

2010-02-08T16:54:00.009-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)
4. The scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. The buildings
7. The nature

8. The film industry

You've probably seen this commercial:

You may not have realized it was shot completely in Hamilton. How about this one?

We moved here in October 2007... and for some reason, some main streets downtown were always closed for film shoots. I'm pretty sure that's because what is now the 2-million renovated London Tap House was the Hulk set.

I had no idea about that - or about any of the film industry here. I knew the railway station was used in X-Men and that was about it.

Since then, I've realized just how many movies I've seen were filmed here, walked by a lot more movie shoots, seen just how many are being made, and met a lot more people in the film industry. It employs people of various skill levels in a wide variety of jobs. And job creation in this city is one of our biggest needs.

In the film industry, we've got a good thing going.

I hope we can make it even better. A pretty comprehensive article was just published on Sunday about what's happening right now in Hamilton.

As they mention, we've already got momentum happening with tax credits, location, staff, people, and settings. We film more large projects, proportionately, and fewer small ones, which is both good and bad. Hamilton's a stand-in for other cities and also plays itself at times.

The last couple paragraphs mention the newly proposed Creative Catalyst project - (early proposal here and much more recent report here) which would include studio space.

Not that the "triple bottom line" means much anyhow, but I find it very encouraging that the early report did not recognize that it would make Hamilton a city of choice and make people want to be here... and as they've learned more, the city checked the "yes" box beside that item -- the city is recognizing that arts, culture, media bring economic benefits and attract people... even "high performance public servants."

They also mention the need for better hotel space. (I've said ever since I moved here we need a boutique hotel, and there's several locations to build one. Smaller, unique, individual, specialized. There's five locations and concepts I can think of within seconds.) I know studio projects have been tried before... but I think one can stick. Another that's not a potential part of this project would be a great use for a former brownfield.

I love being in a city that movies are made in. I love how it adds to the city. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 7

2010-02-07T23:55:00.005-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)
4. The scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. The buildings

7. The nature

Hamilton's got some great nature going for it.

This is Sean and Katie, and they are awesome people. Last July or so, they were visiting the province from Alabama (they'd flown to Buffalo, and were hitchiking up to Montreal). They were couchsurfing nearby and I met them in church on Sunday. They're pretty awesome, and we ended up hanging out a few times while they were there and on their way back.

When I first met them, it was a hot, brilliantly sunny day, and we headed down to the waterfront trail.

It's one of my favorite parts about Hamilton.

Not long after, another one of their hosts, Mandy, took them down to the beach and the waterfalls (no promotion required)

Two tourists. Two hosts. Three different destinations, all natural features we've taken advantage of. That's huge.

I like the Dundurn stairs, where you can head several different directions.... and seeing a few dozen snakes sunning themselves on the rocks, and little creatures moving amongst the undergrowth. (And yelling SNAKES ON A ROCK! har har...)

There's lots of great fishing here too, whether you're going off the waterfront trail or slightly out of town, there's many areas to go with lots of fish.

Among other odd jobs, I did a lot of landscaping last summer, and remember the variety of wildlife that would bolt back into the ravine as we came into Ancaster and Dundas backyards.

I even remember seeing herons in the water from my vantage point on the early morning GO train. (this is a picture of another one sighted in the Hamilton area, not the one I've seen)

There's also an enormous amount of conservation area here. I haven't ventured out to Cootes Paradise yet. And also, of course, the many farms and fantastic farmland that's so rare over much of the country is worth mentioning again.

(Although as far as nature goes, I could live without squirrels and pigeons, for obvious reasons)

So tonight I started to write a post about nature in Hamilton, and "The World Is Just Awesome" kept running through my head. So hey, I figured, let's run with it.

It never gets old huh?
Nope
It kinda make you wanna..break into song?
Yep

I love the oak trees
I love the clear blue skies
I love the Bruce Trail
I love when herons fly
I love Hamilton
And all the nature here

Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah

I love the waterfront
I love deer in backyards
I love Princess Point
I love the escarpment
I love the whole place and all its craziness

Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah

I love the nature folks
I love taking walks
I love my fishing hole
I love SNAKES ON ROCKS!
I love Hamilton
Its such a brilliant place!

Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah
Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah
Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah

Hamilton's full of amazing creatures and plants and life. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 6

2010-02-06T18:42:00.021-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)
4. The scale
5. Creativity and the arts

6. The buildings

A lot of the time, I just like walking around and looking at buildings. We have the some of the best building stock around.

Incredibly historic buildings. Some pre-Confederation. (this heritage list is 184 pages!)
Victorian houses (this is just my neighbourhood. there's many more.)
1930s-ish 2 1/2 stories (again, just one 'hood. these are EVERYWHERE).
The first indoor mall in Canada
The last metal-facade building in Canada
Our first skyscraper
Fantastic density
Even Modernist buildings
(this history is not without several mistakes thus far and demolition by neglect).

And so much of our housing is in truly fantastic neighbourhoods. Strathcona and Stinson are two that have a combination of high, middle and low-end housing. There's several decent neighbourhoods with good starter homes. There's several higher-end neighbourhoods that cater to more of the yuppie and yuppie family markets like Locke. There's gorgeous mansions in Durand and swaths of bungalows in the East end. There's stone townhomes and brick cottages and glass-fronted condominiums.

Even the bad - truly run-down- neighbourhoods are generally not that way because of the housing stock. Gibson, which is a ruin (at least parts of it) has a stock of those double brick 2 1/2 stories that makes me weep to look at it being squandered. Just large enough for a family of 4, still able to fit a family of 6, and a truly palatial space for 2. With a vertical, efficient use of land, this type of building is a favorite of mine among Hamilton's incredibly diverse building stock.

I love those buildings. The history. The density. The character. The potential.

I rent one. It's a Victorian house from around 1910. Jarod and I just have the top floor - which is a 2-bedroom at around 900 square feet. We've got floor-to-ceiling windows that open, hardwood floors, beautiful wood trim and the biggest kitchen we've ever had. (For dirt cheap).

I plan on owning one. Victorian possibly... but there's a ton of 2.5 story places from the 1930s or so with less period detail, but great double-brick bones, that I would LOVE to gut and redo.

I plan on developing some. I don't make much money right now, but one day I will. So I want to be a good landlord. I want to get a building that's been neglected - or several. And make them great again.

But I don't want to buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood and flip it. I want to lift up and make better whatever area I'm in, and invest not just to make money, but to make the city a better place. I'd also love to help people own homes who couldn't otherwise and give safe places to live for people who need it.

This building - four stories of brick, with banners covering the top three storeys, was on sale for about $250k a few months ago. $250k! That's it! If me or someone else could secure a half-million, imagine the possibilities with this one. Smack in the centre of downtown and part of a historical streetwall. Make it the best thing in the neighbourhood. Raise the bar.

People are already doing this. They own apartment buildings, homes, commercial, storefronts. I know people who are renovating all of these types of buildings, and making the city better. And I know of many more that aren't acquaintances or friends.

There's areas where this isn't happening, or is a lot slower. Sure, we face a lot of poverty, absentee slumlords, and rental issues where conditions are terrible. But how much worse could these issues be if every poor person in Hamilton was put into a decrepit tower like in other cities? Here the possibility exists of renting a house for a very good price, and even owning a house if you're making a single minimum wage income.

And most people in the city can AFFORD to buy. This is a city where a lot of people can take on the smaller projects (of the three townhouses adjoining (picture here) , two have very new renovations and the third is in great shape. Victoria from King to Barton has a couple dozen houses that were renovated in the past two years... very encouraging). Several slightly-larger projects are already underway

Right now, I just came back from the newly inaugurated monthly By-Law Crawl. Basically, if people have buildings with trash in front, broken windows, decaying exteriors or other kinds of neglect, the only way they get dealt with is by a by-law officer. Those officers only investigate if people complain. So 50+ of us walked around today, noted the worst offenders, and complained.

Even now, I take good care of the space I rent (These guys sell cork flooring coated in vinyl that can be used in washrooms - I've considered asking our landlord if we can buy and install them. It can't only be in big, expensive cities that tenants improve spaces while they live there).

I do my best to make this city better while I'm here - and it's not hard, because we have great stuff to work with.

I love the buildings. And I love this city.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 5

2010-02-05T19:32:00.004-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)
4. The scale

5. Creativity and the arts

I'm about as creative as a zebra mussel.

When it comes to thinking of truly new ideas, I'm not the person to talk to. My talents in the world of visual art lie somewhere beneath my writing, (but above my singing ;)) I find myself pretty clumsy and derivative. Most visuals I put together for work consist of hacking some sxc.hu photo and text together, and my paintings usually run on similar colours and themes.

So I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be in a place where people have the grace and originality I lack - and can change the environment in ways I cannot.

Hamilton's a great place for that.

Originality, vision, passion, creativity... It's here. In a fresh way. Without a lot of attitude or "hey-look-no-I'm-the-coolest-hipster" crud. People are good - really good! at what they do, but they're also unpretentious. And that's true especially on James North, but present all over the city.

At the same time, the arts in the area are established, with more traditional things (museums and opera, both things I enjoy once in a while) to entertainment venues and other types of art. but I'll talk about entertainment and music in a future post.

I must, at the top of everything, highlight Flar's photo tours of Hamilton. They really helped orient me to the city, both the brutal and the beautiful. He also took the photo at the top of this blog and let me use it. (My house is in this tour somewhere.)

Here's some of the places, people, things that stand out to me. Almost all stand out because I've been there and enjoyed them a great deal. (A few I haven't been to, but keep hearing great things about).

If you want to look further, the first link should connect you with a whole lot more.

The whole James Street North area - many, many galleries and events like the James North Art Crawl here. (Also, Supercrawl was epic).

The Imperial Cotton Centre & the Cossart Exchange
Think|Haus: a place for hackers, makers, artists, crafters, and DIYers
Mixed Media
Transit Gallery (Locke)
HIStory and HERitage
You Me Gallery
Hotel Hamilton
Classical Stained Glass
Flophouse Gallery
The Pearl Company
Gallery on the Bay
First Fridays (free) at the AGH
Heart of the Hammer and FRWY and Skydragon and My Dog Joe and other cafes/gallery spaces.

Hamilton's becoming an artistic city in a wildly unpretentious way, and I like it. I like that artists are generally very low-income people, but add tremendous value to a city. It's a very selfless thing, no matter how much you love your art.

It's been thought and said that we need more higher-end galleries and a few more things to give sustainability to the arts in Hamilton, but the current situation should provide a lot of affordable, artistic critical mass for a long time. It's also interesting how in a post-industrial economy there's a lot that the arts can do - and are doing! to catalyze change.

Where else in Canada are you going to get this?!?! That's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 4

2010-02-04T23:00:00.010-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)

4. The scale

Four years ago this April, Jarod and I went to Florence for our honeymoon.

And here's why. We knew it was the only real vacation we'd afford for years. And we didn't just want to lie on a beach all week. On the other hand, we didn't want to expend a lot of energy on walking tours, train rides, or running from site to site. We wanted a lot of things to see, a bit of history, and just a bit of movement. We'd saved enough money to go to B.C. or somewhere in Europe.

So we picked Florence. The old city is small, and we stayed at a hotel just south of the river (100 euros a night, 120 with a view of the river). Every day, we'd finish our breakfast and walk across the river to one or two of the local sights - maybe more if we felt like it. We had a 3 Euro pocket map that was more useful than anything else on that trip.

And it was perfect. It was relaxing, it was beautiful. History was everywhere - and close by. Any destination was just a few minutes away. Whether that was the Duomo or the Medici Chapel or even going to see Botticelli's Venus in the Uffizi, it was all within a compact area that we walked through at our leisure. (And found things like the grocery store and even an English-speaking pharmacy within a few minutes of seeking them out).

And when the tour groups hurried by, guide hoisting aloft a one neon yellow umbrella, we smiled. And when day-trip tourists went past clutching a water that cost 8 euros, we smiled and cracked open another 1.5 litre bottle of sparkling water from the grocery store that cost a tenth of that (insert our ridiculous, smug silly Canadian tourist grins here).

Okay, so Hamilton isn't Florence, and good luck buying sparkling water here for that price ;).

But I can relive one part of that trip all the time here. I don't have to expend a lot of energy getting around. Everything is compact. The scale of this city is great. Anything I need is within a fairly small footprint. And many of our streets are scaled well for pedestrians, as well as the overall layout.

For the things that are further out, I don't need to go far out of my way. If I have a meeting on the edge of the Mountain, it's an 11-minute bus ride from Gore Park. (I timed it). 11 minutes to get to the edge of town. If I need to get to Dundas or Stoney Creek, it's 20 minutes on a good day or 40 on a bad. Even the topography of the city, with the Escarpment, allows for neighbourhoods like Concession that are very friendly and well-scaled within different areas.

Were we to add truly decent transit (not a bus system) the potential is enormous. We have the scale.

And the 2.8 km walk from my house on the east edge of downtown to my work on the west edge of downtown takes about 25 minutes. Enough for exercise, enough to lower my stress levels... but not so much that it adds a lot of time to my day, especially when the bank and the market and most other errands I need to run can be done on the way there or back.

I know a large group of people find driving relaxing. It's their favorite time of the day. And I understand that - having your own space to control, perhaps the only time you get to be alone, can be enjoyable.

However, I am not part of that group! My depth perception sucks and my reflexes are terrible and well, I just generally hate paying that much attention to my surroundings. There's more to that story (and no, it doesn't involve accidents or tickets anything of that sort, lol) , but I personally don't miss driving at all.

Compared to St. Catharines, which didn't have much of a "core" i like the scale of Hamilton's centre. (And that our streets are parallel/perpendicular for the most part, if you've ever driven in St. Catharines, you know what I mean!)

Compared to Toronto, where a meeting "in town" could take me to places an hour apart by driving, I like the scale of the entire city of Hamilton..

And compared to Florence, well, they're apples and oranges, but I think I'll go back there someday too.

(picture 1: jarod broughton. picture 2. flar from Skyscraper forum, who has given graciously permission to use photos on my blog and a few other nonprofit projects. please contact them before using any of their photographs).

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 3

2010-02-03T00:44:00.005-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location

3. The size (population)

Half a million people is a good size. At least in my books.

"Toronto envy" is a phrase I've heard a lot since moving here. I don't know why. Mid-sized cities are great.

Hamilton's big enough for me.
There's enough people for critical mass in just about any initiative. There's enough people passionate about just about any issue. There's enough people that you can find just about anything already in existence, or common minds to start it up. Whether that's business, charity, recreation or anything else... there will be others who think alike.

Hamilton's also not too big for me.
It's easier to be heard.

It's easier to get to know people.

It's easier to comprehend what's going on in local matters.

It's easier to work together for change in any single area.

Mid-sized cities are more manageable. (The flipside, of course, is that mismanagement is much more obvious ;))

For me, Hamilton is just right in size.

And that's what I love. Compared to Toronto, where there was so much activity of every single kind - good, bad, crime, business, arts, food, media, culture, festivals that it couldn't possibly be understood, or even become a part of (for or against) in a meaningful way... Hamilton is a city where it's possible to stay informed about a lot... and act on it.

It's large enough that diversity of opinion can coexist peacefully and there's many options for anything. At the same time, though, I think that while both aspects need to exist, it forces us to be more of a melting pot than a mosaic. And that spreads out the good things.

So when I compare Hamilton - in the "what is" and "what could be" categories, I don't ask why we're not Toronto or Chicago or New York or Dubai or even Vancouver. I don't want to live in any of those places, great as they may be.

But how about mid-sized cities? Memphis, Boston, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, Miami, Cleveland... even Las Vegas or Nashville. What about Edinburgh or Manchester? There's many more cities more in line with what we are. Mid-sized cities one can look towards rather comfortably for examples of good (and bad) within... and better than looking towards great big cities and bemoaning that we can't be them.

In Tuesday's Spectator, I like this quote about those who used to leave for Toronto now staying in Hamilton and finding they have a place here:

"All the kids left here for the cool city," Geleynse said. "Now anybody can come here and be one of the cool kids.

"In Hamilton, there is a reason to get up every morning and contribute something."

Yes, there is. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 2

2010-02-02T02:03:00.008-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.

2. The Location

Hamilton's in a good spot, and it has connections.

Hamilton's in a good spot.
Halfway between Toronto and the border.
Proximity to Niagara and London and Kitchener and Waterloo and Guelph...
Surrounded by farmland that produces great stuff (if we don't build over all of it ;))
Near the lake, so our climate's great.
We've even got this handy escarpment thing running through the city.

Of course, there's connections to everything.

Freight Rail.
Water.
Air.
Bus.
Trails.
Highway.
Passenger Train.

And I like that in a city.

We can drive to Guitar Centre in Tonawanda without too much trouble.
I've commuted to Toronto on the train for a month (the sunrise over the harbour... incredible).
I often eat food grown on Hamilton farmland.
If I need to fly, I prefer to have an airport in my own city.
The GO goes to Niagara now.
The Bruce Trail even goes through the middle of our city via the escarpment.

And all of that works for me.

I love where Hamilton is located, and I love its connections.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 1

2010-02-01T22:14:00.014-05:00

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.

A proper city. Not a bedroom community. Not a village or hamlet. Not a suburb or subdivision. Not a municipality or township. And I like that.

I'm the first to admit my experience is very Ontario-centric. I've lived in St. Catharines. I've lived in Toronto. I've lived in Jordan Station. I've lived in Uxbridge. I've visited Italy and a few places in the States. And I always had a sneaking suspicion that I would end up in Hamilton one day.Toronto's a bit big for me, and well... after a summer with a contract job in Uxbridge, the "bed and breakfast" town for Toronto commuters, I realized I'm a city girl and set my sights on the Hammer.

It almost didn't happen. After almost landing a job in Milton and narrowly missing another very near Hamilton... I was relieved beyond words to be able to move to Hamilton, much sooner than expected.

I love cities.

Canada does not have many cities, dispersed as we are. Even more foreign is the concept of moving around different cities in a smaller geographical area. People think of moving to provinces... but more rarely to particular cities in that province.

And rarer still are "cities" in Ontario that are not bedroom communities... or that have a livable core with real amenities. Very few of the smaller 'cities' in Ontario are anything more than conglomerates of suburbs and new Smart Centers or similar (really.. everywhere.) with a tiny "core" of a few historical buildings. Witness the current Brantford debacle over bulldozing pre-Confederation buildings on Colborne Street. Witness the (very) slow revitalization of St. Thomas' downtown and the parts still suffering great neglect. Witness the past 10 years finally starting to bring some change in St. Catharines' downtown.

By contrast, our downtown, though suffering from demolition of many key buildings (the Century near me among them most recently), has a great deal left, and a great deal already going for it - if you dig beyond the one-ways. And things are localized and centralized.

Even the International Village around the corner has 62 of 72 storefronts filled. No matter what time I walk by, someone's always working at Bizclip. On this street I've got everything from great coffee to food to guitar strings. I've seen great art and cafe shows and danced to the big band at the Mustard Festival and got a great sandwich at Waxy's. Not to mention the Makers Market and P0WNZ and more - and that's just one stretch of one street in my neighbourhood.

And Hamilton, aside from simple population, has the things that make it a city. We're interconnected, dense, have a small footprint for our population. Cultural parts of a city, whether traditional like opera and museums, or less traditional, both abound. We're multicultural, as we should be. We've got a real central core to work with as a city, and the opportunity to extend transit and roads strategically around it.

At the same time, the surrounding suburbs are rightly recognized as part of the city, however much the odd cry of protest is still heard.

And everything is centralized here. Everything. Whether that's rock-climbing near my church or indoor swimming down my street or a decent Pho restaurant... it's here. (Well, everything except AYCE Korean BBQ.. yet. But that's gettin' specific :)

I love being in a city. Millions of pages have been written about the advantages of cities - the advantages of their density or their efficiency or a thousand other things. Cities concentrate things. Critical mass of anything can be reached first in a city, whether good or bad.

And that's the first reason I love Hamilton.

It's a city, and it's my city.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... the Why.

2010-02-01T11:53:00.009-05:00

This month, I'm writing every day about one reason I love Hamilton. And I hope it resonates with you. Of course, that won't prevent it from being entirely personal, biased, and incomplete... but it's a start.

Why make a list? I love the place. Also because... well, if you're not from here, there's 2 "first impressions" of the city:

From far away...
The industrial view and smell from the QEW, (relics of an industrial past dying a slow death.)

As you get closer...
One-way streets that you get lost on and lead through strangely empty "main streets" with strangely empty buildings (relics of decades-outdated urban planning dying a slower death).

Ever since moving here, I've discovered that Hamilton is SO much more than that. I want to share what I've discovered.

But even before I moved here, reason #1 was true. And I'll tell you what that is... today.

in February..

2010-01-26T12:36:00.012-05:00

in February i will start something new.

i'm going to post for 28 days on 28 things I LOVE about this city.

Today, though, this is the best thing I've seen so far. I love poems that capture a certain energy and urgency about life - whether they're ee cummings or this one from Longfellow:

A Psalm of Life

Tell me not in mournful numbers,

"Life is but an empty dream!"

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us further than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act -- act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labour and to wait.

edit: I'm adding in the video of it I liked the most:

unfortunately, the only labour i'm doing this afternoon is analyzing squiggles on a page that represent heart rhythms. and there's value in that, as there is in all work.

but i have some more meaningful things planned in the next couple days too

- next Monday a few of us have resume night- people from my church from fields as diverse as early childhood education, retail and nonprofit getting together to make resumes and pray for the job search
- Hamilton Civic League meetings are starting up again and i'm really, really excited about the possibilities and plans for this year.
- tonight is Alpha - which i have a love-hate relationship with, but i think it's working in this context.
- i should, this month, be found qualified to study images on a monitor instead of just squiggles on a page which would be very helpful :)

and that's it for now :)

Well said... well said

2010-01-22T00:43:00.002-05:00

The councillor for my area of the city said this today:

This week the Public Works committee formally received a report on the state of the city’s infrastructure warning that the spending shortfall for roads, pipes, facilities and other structures exceeds $150 million a year.

That led to the following exchange between downtown councillor Bob Bratina and the general manager of public works, Gerry Davis, transcribed by CATCH.

Bratina: Gerry, how much does it cost to maintain a lane kilometre [of roadway]?

Davis: Summer and winter included, it’s approximately $10,000 per lane kilometre.

Bratina: How many lane kilometres have we added in the last ten years, roughly?

Davis: We’ve added, I would say, probably upwards 500-700 lane kilometres.

Bratina: A year, on average?

Davis: On average about 50 or 70 a year, Rick? [asking one of his staff] So 60.

Bratina: So if we can’t afford to maintain these lane kilometres of road, why do we add them? It begs the other question. It’s a bit rhetorical but we’re providing – do the development charges that we apply to development recover the costs?

Davis: Through the growth component, when a developer – they’ll pay for the hard services, the capital cost, primarily. There may be a local component – roads, water, sewers. And then that road is handed over to the municipality to maintain. And other services are then required by the municipality – and that’s public works, policing, fire. But what happens in areas – we have assessment growth generated by the property taxes. That doesn’t come specifically to the police or fire or public works for waste collection, road maintenance, but there is a growth in revenues. I’m not saying it covers everything but that is, the capital cost is, primarily paid by the developer.

Bratina: Okay, so the evidence is that this so-called growth isn’t working because we’re $145 million a year short. So who should pay for that? And what I’m suggesting is that we’re building cheap houses for people who work in other communities. We hear this constantly shoved down our throat about how many people leave the city every day to go to work somewhere else. Well that’s because somebody who’s got a job in Peel can’t afford, at his wages a house there, so they get a nice taxpayer-subsidized house in Hamilton.

A good example is Maple Leaf [Meats facility in Burlington], because the average, the 900 or so on the production line, mostly live in Hamilton, because they can’t afford on the wages they get to live there.

So we have to consider as a council, and get the accurate information. It’s fine to say well we’re going to get all these new taxes from all these new houses. There’s your proof that we’re not getting the money back. And if you look at a growing community – like let’s say Alberta – Edmonton and the oil boom – they’re desperately short of houses. And there’s new jobs, there’s new people moving in. They’ve got to build houses. We don’t. We don’t have all these new jobs being created. All we’re doing is subsidizing residences for people who work elsewhere.

Nicely said. And that's my councillor. I don't always agree with him. But I think he's pretty good at what he does, and I very often do agree with what he says - including this.

l33t runnings.

2010-01-11T19:08:00.009-05:00

Of course, most people resolve to be healthier in the New Year. Me too.

My motivation isn't really weight or shape or any of that... but I know how I feel if I'm healthy.

I know if it I'm eating right, getting enough sleep, and working out - and if I have the energy that comes with all three of those.

This doesn't come naturally to me.
For example, I am definitely not a running pastor.
Despite my height, i'm not a basketball-playing pastor.
(I'm more the sit-on-the-couch-and-watch-hockey pastor... maybe flood-my-backyard-for-a-rink even, if I had one. ).

That's as far as it goes... for a few reasons.

My depth perception isn't good.
My peripheral vision ain't so hot.
My balance is... questionable.
My reaction time and reflexes are sloooow.
And while I don't have asthma or anything like that, I have the natural aerobic capacity of a particularly narcoleptic sloth.

This means, of course, that watching me play volleyball is an awful spectacle - and pencil-and-paper gaming is more up my alley.

But not entirely. There's been a progression here:

Elementary-age track and field competitions (Long jump was great, high jump was fine... unfortunately I could only make it halfway running around the 400m track before dropping down into a walk.)
Jr. High gymnastics (except for being 5'7" at the time, that could have worked out. No leotard stories... this time. If there are still pictures, I'll provide bribes ;))
Everyone's favorite.... Grade Nine gym class (and the no-name shoes that slid me into the walls on every suicide drill.... a ray of hope hit with buying my first pair of brand-name shoes - Nikes - and realizing that shoes with traction and cushioning might help things out a little...)
In Grade 12, finding a sport I could play... rugby. - I don't need depth perception or speed. I run and hit people, someone else deals with the catching and speed. And the running drills got me up there.. a little. And I bought some trusty New Balance trail runners that are most certainly are far too worn out for me to still be wearing.. but I do.
Discovering strength training. With the decidedly-not-for-my-age-category Strong Women Stay Young I also discovered dumbbells and rowing machines around this time
Dorm life with a gym downstairs - and learning to run - my first real routine. I moved to Toronto. The Couch-to-5k got me running - for the first time in my life - for 45 minutes to an hour at a time at a good pace... four days running a week, three days of weights - doubling up on Saturdays, with Sundays off. I even worked at the Nike store for a while.
Then I moved to Bathurst and Sheppard and did nothing exercise-related for a year.
The year of glory - I got married, we moved closer to downtown, and we bought Goodlife memberships - and spent a great year and a bit using them at several shiny Toronto locations. Lifted heavier and heavier weights. Even did some personal training. And it fit in seamlessly before/after work and school. Too bad it was not to last...
Then we moved WAY out to a lovely and very rural area... the equivalent of Winchestertonfieldville. It offered me the potential, should I choose, of an 11k bike ride to work over some very exciting hills... and that was about it. (I did it a few times though).
Moving back to civilization... where I've been for a few years now. And it's time to get back at it. There's a lot of good side streets and trails nearby - and I need to do this. I walk a lot, but the strength training's gone out the window, my back enjoys complaining a majority of the time now, and I'm now only able to huff and puff my way through a few minutes' running.

But that's ok. I've been "out of it" before and got back into it. I can do it again. (and living at the top of a 3 story walkup does help quite a bit - especially when one has to carry their groceries up it. my muscles are in good shape, just not my lungs so much)

So tonight I started fresh.

Back with the Couch-to-5k.

Back with the 60 seconds jogging/90 seconds walking.

Back out in the fresh-fallen snow and (surprisingly) beautiful night. (Though I'll go for mornings most days). One drawer's full of my workout clothes again, and my dumbbells lie in the closet, waiting to be moved to a more strategic spot later tonight.

And it was awesome.
It hurt. It was tough. I'm so out of shape it isn't funny. I shouldn't be out of breath after running a minute or two. But that's ok... I'm starting from scratch again.

And the time flew.
I went up every flight of stairs at home feeling lighter than air.
I stretched out every muscle feeling a good burn.
Endorphins are a nice bonus.

And even in a day or two when it gets stiff and sore, that'll pass - and my body will build up the muscles that have broken down, bigger and stronger - along with bones and lungs and the hundred(s) of other benefits (This isn't the specific list I use to motivate me, but it's close enough.)

And if I keep doing this, it will continue to be awesome.
And if I keep doing this until the spring, I will get new running shoes and let the old ones retire.

That's just about all the motivation I need.

Happy New Year --- 4 days later.

2010-01-04T00:49:00.011-05:00

Of all the Christmas gifts I've received this year - whether large or small, practical or frivolous, lovely or absurd, this watch mechanism necklace is my favorite. And appropriate too around this time.

It's 4 days into the New Year already. Wow.

Already in this new year I've seen friends get married and my brother move across the country. Another couple I know gets married this Friday!

It's a new year and new things all right.

And that's good. 2009 was good for me. It's been a settling-down, a calmer year on a more even keel than the first couple ones in this city.

I'm very thankful for all the good things in my life. I inhabit a great city. My home is amazing and located perfectly for me. I have a great marriage. This last year has seen the development of some solid friendships here. Going back to school has turned out to be a program of surprising quality. I've been able to find work last year in everything from painting to my dreadlocking to landscaping. I've been able to volunteer and give my time a few places. And I work at a church with visionary, solid, compassionate, and hardworking leadership that also keenly understands this particular city... and I could not ask for more than that.

However, there are a few things I hope 2010 brings. They're all big, and they'll all require help from other people - not me alone.

I want to read at least 2 books a month. I love reading and don't have time for it like I used to. I want to make more time and buy/borrow more books.
I want to write more. Last year was different, but most years I write a lot. I want to get back at it this year.
I want to be more effective and intentional in how I lead youth ministry. We've picked intentional topics to focus on - I want to take more time so they're creatively presented, discussed, retained and practically lived... with time to keep all my leaders on the same page and pray through every part of that.
I want to spend more time to preparing the message when I preach. The content/research is fine... but the creativity takes time for me. And same here... I want to make sure I can stop, relax... take time to listen in prayer as well as speak... go to a coffee shop and review.. let it simmer a bit.
I want to network with more people in my field. There's a few pastors around who I've had a conversation or two with -- but I want to hear more from them. And I have an inkling there's some conversations I could contribute to, but I'm just not around to say anything most of the time - whether online or in person - and I'd like to be.
I'd like to bring some livable money in. You can't do anything without money. So either an exceptional summer job, an increase in one of my current jobs, or a very good job right out of school this spring - something, no matter what, that's stable and steady - constant hours, constant pay, not wondering when I'm working that week.
I'd like to be paying a mortgage instead of rent down the drain. Even with all the additional costs, owning is so cheap here... if we find a really good broker, this just might happen - and it makes financial sense.
I'd like to take a vacation. Jarod and I haven't taken a vacation together since our honeymoon - four years ago this April. The best we've gotten since then is a day or two at home alone together, but it would be nice to get away even for a weekend.
I want to start some type of running/weights again. Since I left Toronto and my gym membership, my six-days-a-week routine is now just a half-hour walk most days - and that's not really hitting cardio or muscle/bone mass.
and finally.... I want to slow down and make more time for people. I have no problem working real hard... but I don't want to become a person in the process who finds it impossible to turn that off. And starting with a bulldozer temperament (sad but true) and a driven, task-oriented personality -- I've become good at listening if I'm in a conversation, but I need to slow down and allow space for more conversations to happen.

If there was one word to sum it up... I've settled here, but I want to become better established.

More solid friendships, doing better at my current work, owning a house. And finding better routines to manage my time and taking care of my own body.

I want to end this year more established in every aspect than when I started.

Jarod and I were talking a day or so ago, and reaffirming that we're here in Hamilton for the long-term. Neither of us plans on returning to our hometowns. We liked a great deal about Toronto, but never felt we were destined to stay forever there or anywhere else we've lived... until we got here.

And although we don't know what the future holds, we think we're carving out a niche for ourselves that we'll fit in for years to come - and that it's a good, good city to carve that niche in.

We love this city. And we both plan to stick around a while, God willing.

And for those reading. I hope your year coming up is great. If possible, I hope it surpasses the last in every way - personally, professionally, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and more.

And if you're reading this you probably have a connection in some way - whether it's a friend of mine, through work, church, online or just because we both live in this great city. So to all of you...

Happy New Year!

sometimes i miss Toronto

2009-10-21T02:12:00.000-04:00

but never for very long.

The horror of eating oatmeal... or why rich people in Illinois find it tough to eat on $25/week.

2009-09-28T10:07:00.007-04:00

edit: I put up this post a few days ago. Then I took it off because I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave it public.

And then, I saw this article in the Spectator today. And of course, I agree with most of the article. My heart goes out to people who can't afford to eat healthy foods. I absolutely support people being able to use more dignified means than food banks in order to get food on the table. But how in the world is it that "average Hamilton family of four needs $701.89 a month this year to buy basic foods that meet nutrition recommendations" ? Not diapers, not formula, not take-out food... just your basic groceries.

My original post is below.

Every so often I look at apartmenttherapy for ideas. They've usually got some creative and inexpensive ideas for decor, beautiful small spaces, great storage solutions, inexpensive DIY projects.

But unless food in the States is always way more expensive (and in my experience, it's cheaper), this sensationalist "could you eat on $25 per person per week" link is ridiculous.

Especially this part:
Illinois Food Bank Association is participating in Hunger Action Month as part of a nationwide effort to engage communities to take action to end hunger. From September 22-28, the eight executive directors of IFBA, community leaders and members of the media will be taking the $25 Challenge to highlight the struggle that families in Illinois face in accessing nutritious food. This blog documents the emotional and physical struggles of the $25 Challenge in their own words.

I'm all for people receiving more money for nutritious food. I do think many people don't have enough to eat well, especially when food allergies or disabilities prevent them from eating certain things or shopping by themselves.

What frustrated me was the prejudiced and ignorant generalizations of these "leaders":

This unbelievable blog has these wealthy community folks blathering on about how

they now HAVE to eat oatmeal and rice (their arteries, however, are screaming with joy!)
what terrible emotional ramifications come from having to think about the money they're spending on food (quellle horreur!)
all they can picture is a month full of carbohydrates and skipping meals (seriously?)
how disheartening and inconvenient it is not being able to buy lunch every day (amazing how that isn't in the Constitution...)
and my favorite tidbit from one person coming off the "challenge" -- "I can't wait until tomorrow so I can enjoy some greens, sweet potatoes with brown sugar, turkey and dressing, with gravy, corn muffins, peach cobbler and iced tea. I will pass up my usual Dr Pepper for some Georgia-style sweet tea." With the possible exception of the turkey, NONE of those items are very expensive to make. Greens are cheap, especially southern-style ones. Cornmeal is cheap. Sweet potatoes are cheap, cheap, cheap and nutritious! And joking about how much she's going to enjoy her alcohol instead of Dr. Pepper when this is over, when she's talking about feeding people on food stamps...Is this lady serious? (Unless she's not talking about the cocktail, but regular sweet tea, which I would point out is a little cheaper than that Dr. Pepper she's been downing).

Our grocery budget has been $25/person/week for about three years. We don't grow our own food (except some oregano and basil on my kitchen windowsill). We shop at the grocery store and the farmers' market. That includes entertaining people now and then and even the (occasional) bottle of wine.

And it's not because we can't afford to spend more. Except for a couple months (which I'll talk about later) this is pretty much what we've spent on food a month since we got married. That includes when we were both working full-time, when one of us was in school, and when we both went back to school. It never had much to do with our income - just what we needed to spend.

Neither of us slaves over a hot stove all day. Neither of us does really labor-intensive meals or eats strange food. It's usually spaghetti, pizza, fish, burritos, egg salad, soup, caesar salad, corn on the cob, chicken and rice, tacos, stew, steak and baked potatoes, lasagna. All pretty typical, quick stuff. I like baking quite a bit- ginger cookies, biscotti, muffins, biscuits - but don't usually have time to. I don't bake my own bread or anything like that (although the "artisan bread in 5 minutes a day" was fun to try). I get most of my recipes off Recipezaar or Allrecipes or the Better Homes and Gardens cookook. I think I'm pretty normal in what I do and don't eat. Yeah, the Brie and the ribs and the wine and the wings are occasional treats, but we do those once in a while too.

For the last month, we decided to try eating mostly vegetarian -- (just to stop basing our diet so much around red meat). We've found TVP (veggie protein) is cheaper, and soy burgers are more expensive, but it averages out about the same cost as meat. (I know some can't eat soy).

A few months ago, we looked at our budget and said:
"Hmm, we can now afford to spend more on food. Should we up our budget by another $50 or $100 a month or so? a little more brie and masi valpolicella, perhaps???"
And then we went "nah, there's no real reason to. this is actually a pretty good number for us. more would just lead to more indulgences/calories, which we get enough of."

I can see why people in official positions who were "taking this challenge" find it hard. If you buy lunch everyday, haven't looked up or learned basic cooking skills, or ever shopped according to a budget or a list, you may think this is difficult... I guess I'm just living in a completely different world.

Now...... half of that, $12.50 a week per person ($100/month total for two people) when we first moved here was tough. We had no choice. Sustaining that is pretty much impossible - even with the economy of scale that happens when you have multiple people in the same household. But even then you can afford whole wheat bread, peanut butter, eggs and romaine lettuce. You can afford ground beef (on sale) and pasta and sauce. But that's just stretching it too far.

But $25/week is doable. And I'm sure we'll end up spending more at some point. But it's rarely that I hear of anyone breaking the $500/month range for a family of four. Maybe that's just my Mennonite and Irish and German roots and the attitude that thrift is a good thing. Or maybe I just don't have enough conversations about this - grocery budgets don't really come up in everyday polite conversation!

However, I also suspect it's part of how we keep bumping up the culturally accepted minimum of what we "need" and we've forgotten that the fact we have oatmeal or rice or potatoes or chicken drumsticks to eat is far more than a lot of people in the world, or a lot of our ancestors, could ever dream of. And as every generation wants "just what we had, but a little better for my kids" we're going to keep unreasonably increasing the baseline... unless we each make a conscientious effort to look at what's reasonable, what's moderate, what's good for the planet and good for other people.

(One luxury I look do forward to when we have the space is getting a chest freezer... and then being able to buy a grass-fed, hormone-free, locally raised quarter-cow for $2.40 a pound, cut and wrapped. that's a win-win-win-win for me!)

All that said, I'm quite fine with food getting more expensive and more local. I'm fine with the price of food going up and having to spend more because of considerations like fuel and growing seasons and ethical treatment of land and animals and people.

But the "horror" of eating oatmeal seems pretty overrated and ignorant to me, no matter where you live or what generation you come from.

so long, good posture!

2009-09-15T12:43:00.007-04:00

in the list of things that i really enjoy doing.
that i don't have to do, but i'd do them for free anyways.

there's a certain type of job.
the kind of jobs that are jobs, that take work and sweat and time....but are also intuitive. Things come together, the pieces always fit, and you always figure it out. And when it's done, you feel really good. Productive and alive and accomplished, even if it's on a small scale.

making websites is also really high on that list.

i used to do websites way, way back before the dawn of time typing in html, and then in a few basic programs circa 1999. My skills have in no way kept up with the array of programming and programs possible for the past decade.

(extra points if you got the "array" pun).

and i get to redo a website today as part of my job, in a program they were already using but i haven't really worked with. but it's intuitive and it's coming together, and it's getting done. so it's a good day.

Meet Rob.

2009-08-06T00:28:00.010-04:00

Rob Wilco is the newest member of our family.

He's a mature, resourceful 5-year old bearded dragon with soulful eyes and an inquisitive personality.

He likes dandelion greens, baths, and long walks around the house.

He likes warm places and basking on his log.

He likes being scratched under the chin.

He does not like it when Bucky Katt gets jealous and shoots murderous looks across the room, nor when she tries to bask in the warmth of his light and gets too near his tank.

And Rob's very favorite thing, ever?
Being wrapped into a "beardie burrito" (inside a little blankie), and then falling asleep on your lap with a little of his head and his tail peeking out. Tonight he fell asleep so soundly he didn't wake up when I put him back inside his tank.

Welcome to the family, Rob.

(One day we'll get Satchel, too.)

these guys

2009-07-22T12:58:00.003-04:00

are coming back today.

(This picture's from the Hamilton waterfront)

They're a couple people from Alabama who we met hitchiking through Hamilton last month. (One of them even wrote a post about how great Hamilton people were).

Ther destination? Quebec City, possibly Montreal. They got there - and now they're on their way back.

And they're staying with us for the night!!! I'm looking forward to it.

Thanksgiving weekend it is, apparently.

2009-07-11T20:07:00.006-04:00

Just a sample of our more boring (read: family-friendly ;) ) bits of conversation:

Last night, at Rebel's Rock (great authentic Irish place tucked inside an unlikely-looking building on King)...

Meredith: "Wow, Jarod, I'm glad I ended up with someone I can guiltlessly eat a full plate of fries in front of... even when you're not eating anything. "

Today, after grocery shopping and buying kilos and kilos of meat in bulk...

Jarod: "Thanks for dividing up and putting all that meat away when I was cleaning. It's really nice to have that done right away."

We may be an odd couple, but I sure like it that way. Conversation more often that not involves food and we're still enjoying each others' company.

It's a good weekend.

I never thought THIS e-mail would be worth reading.

2009-07-11T15:35:00.004-04:00

I thought it had just slipped past the spam filter.

The title began with "Size Does Matter" and I slipped almost automatically into "check-delete-scrub eyes out with lye" mode, but as I was checking, I read the rest of the title.

"Size Does Matter. The Longest Novels"

Turns out it was just some site I'd ordered textbooks from sending me a list of weighty tomes to read.

And a good thing too, since I've just finished four (ridiculously good) thousand-page novels in the last month. I was considering re-reading this series that I own, but I've already read it twice.

Maybe I'll check out this one or this one out from the list at some point. And I have always wanted to read The Count of Monte Cristo and The Once and Future King too.

And maybe I'll get around to finally obtaining a library card so I can literally check them out ;)

But for now I'm going to read a much-shorter Terry Pratchett novel in a few hours and enjoy every minute of it! :)

you wouldn't like me when i'm angry.

2009-06-27T11:53:00.005-04:00

Although i haven't slept for 30+ hours at this point, i'm actually pretty happy.

Due to lots of carrying-stuff over the summer and working more physically demanding jobs than i have in years, Mer has Hulk Arms.

I didn't plan for said Hulk Arms, it just sort of happened.

I have more muscle than when I was going to the gym five/six days a week in Toronto and taking the subway everywhere.

My heart rate got up to 200+ yesterday as I got to the top of our stairs carrying 40 pounds worth of groceries from five minutes down the street.

I now walk about 40 minutes total most days.

And for the first time since 2001 or so, I have this thing called "triceps." Weird. I didn't even know they were still back there, and I didn't even try to get 'em. And my back doesn't hurt constantly anymore either.

Now I just need me some Hulk Hands and we're all set here... to see Lou Ferrigno, Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Campbell and more this August!

(Though I do walk by a display with these most days as well... these would be cool too...)

Who knows how long said arms will last, but for now, all the better to.... carry more stuff with, I guess?

other people's pocketses...

2009-06-26T14:30:00.008-04:00

for my birthday earlier this month, i got a little bit of money.

and a place near my house, which typically sells rather expensive leather jackets, was selling the last of some styles for $49.99 each. So I picked one up - a nice leather blazer in brown.

With some left over, I contemplated buying a second jacket - but I already have a black one, so it would have been a bit wasteful. Besides, I didn't have quite enough, and I didn't want to spend anything in addition to that birthday money.

Well, two days later, I was at work (painting) and the client was planning for a garage sale, so I picked up a black leather jacket for $3. All it needs is one of the buttons replaced. It seems a bit light for leather, and there's no tags telling me the material - but if it's a fake, it's a good one. And for $3 - how can you go wrong?

Since it's hot as blazes outside, I really have little use for it right now, though. But yesterday I thought I'd go through the pockets. I found

- the missing button (yay!)
- several perfume samples
- a receipt from a restaurant
- some plastic wrap, bunched up
- and two fancy tea bags wrapped in plastic wrap

This tells me a few things and lets me speculate on a few more - fun, if not too serious.

First, it was probably the sister from L.A. who owned the jacket, seeing the tea bags were pricey brands I haven't seen, even in Toronto, and the perfume samples high-end. Second, they're likely a bit frugal - taking your own tea bags with you instead of ordering at Starbucks, and having leftover plastic wrap from a snack or more tea. The receipt tells me they probably don't save their receipts, since it would be tucked in a purse or wallet. The missing button being saved was a good thing. And finally, them not checking the pockets before selling probably indicates the amount of things they have to sell and a tendency not to dig too deep into one's past.

This morning it began to rain, so I wore that jacket to work, but left it there since it was so hot. (I used the umbrella for shade on the way home, and saw a cute little lady doing the same). And not having carried a purse, my jean pockets had a wallet, a shopping list, some keys and a tissue in them.

What would your coat pockets have in them? What about your jeans?

And perhaps most importantly, what would that say about you?

a little church-work humour.

2009-06-22T16:41:00.012-04:00

and most probably won't laugh at this, but...

last week at work, i heard Wayne talking about how he held onto all his clericals from years long past, and my ears perked up:

And my request went something like this:

"Heyyy... Wayne, can I borrow a green/"ordinary time" stole? I'm doing a wedding for a nominally religious family and as a favour I said I'd do the robe thing... I already have the both-Catholic-and-Protestant-looking alb, but you know clericals don't normally go with the Pentecostal game plan... green's the right colour right? I looked up this Ordinary Time stuff a while ago" (and i gotta say, we probably lost something by dropping the church seasons and the meanings of the different colours in our tradition)

And of course I could borrow them.

But it's just hilarious that... only when one works at a PAOC church (i typically wear jeans and t-shirts/conducting weddings would generally call for a skirt suit in most settings) with people of all flavours of Christianity can one borrow a Presbyterian stole from her co-worker to go with her Protestant/Catholic alb for a wedding as a favour to the nominally religious but nothing strongly family who wants nothing more than for nobody to be particularly shocked or surprised by the lack or appearance of clericals.

okay, perhaps only i find that little story hilarious, but it was funny at the time.

(for those wondering why i would bother, or that it is somehow dishonest for the jeans-and-t-shirts set to wear clericals, i think it's fair to use and wear these items as a respectful nod to different traditions - also looking at the roots of PAOC and two thousand years of church history

(the alb is a neutral garment used through many centuries and most types of churches. Pairing it with the similarly neutral general stole that doesn't denote any priestly rank is also respectful, historically appropriate, and genuine to my credentials - licensed, not yet ordained - as well)

yesterday, we celebrated Father's Day

2009-06-21T22:59:00.009-04:00

so we went to the Harbour Diner on James North, and for the same price or better as most other places, had a phenomenal breakfast.

and then some friends I haven't seen in years (who have moved from South Africa to London to St. Catharines -- and now are moving to Hamilton) came over, which was excellent. They even got to meet another Londoner who just moved here as well. We did dessert at Williams and walked by the waterfront trail. Again, phenomenal.

Ah, but Father's Day wasn't till today. so today, our whole day was free! what to do, we asked ourselves?

First, lunch with some people at La Luna. Good stuff, as always.

And then... it was time to waterproof the tent (and stay outside while it dried!)! Yep, the giant 13-person tent someone kindly donated for our trip to Cornerstone Festival this year.

For those who haven't visited the Broughton castle, our tiny back yard is basically parking, so this is all in our front yard. And in general, it was a perfect, quiet afternoon. There was lots of food and reading involved, and squirrels and macro photographs. I'll let them speak.

Definitely a good afternoon :)

a little baby bat was sleeping on our wall sunday morning

2009-06-02T10:33:00.009-04:00

(the picture is clickable to make it much larger)

he must have been separated from the rest during the night and tucked in where he thought was a safe, quiet little corner.

i noticed him while i was coming in early that day
and pointed him out to a few folks

so, through the morning one person was guarding him (so he didn't get squooshed by well-intentioned defenders of their family)

then some parents showed him to their kids

some teenagers came up and looked at him

some seniors commented on how amazing this little guy was

(and most people walked by unawares.)

i've grown to have a deep respect for bats (a great deal of that thanks to Anna) - their amazing adaptations, the amount of insects they eat, the wonder of echolocation. they're incredible little creatures, and as st. francis would call him, "brother bat" does nothing but good for the environment and my surroundings, so i'm very content to let him be.

and just as this little guy was waking up (too busy with all the people going by, I suppose) , we snapped a couple pictures (thanks, Mary!) and left him alone. (someone who received the pictures forwarded me them today at my request, with the sweet message of "you're gross!" Thanks, semi-anonymous Office Manager ;) ).

And he was gone this morning - hopefully back with the Bat Pack.

While reading the ysmarko blog today, found these two pieces of fun

2009-06-02T09:49:00.009-04:00

Photo in need of a caption (hilarious!)

(my favorite captions tied between "Michael Stipe’s thinking place," "New Approaches in Grief Counselling," and "Apparently the yellow man group wasn’t as big a hit as the blue man group!." Though the short-but-sweet "Father...?" is the caption that won.

The surviving church as a single scorecard via Jon Acuff @ SCL (awful, but hiliarious. But.. too often terribly true, unfortunately.

e.g. +2 points if "Your church has a singles ministry but it's combined with the college ministry which creates opportunities for conversations like this:

Student: "My roommate bought a microwave for our dorm room. I love being a Freshman!"

Single: "My 401K is underperforming." = +2 points")

again, terrible, but oh-so-often too true.

happy tuesday! i had the FRWYs new muffin+coffee in the morning (because they were OPEN! on my way to work today) and it was excellent! nothin' like fair trade coffee and walnut streusel to launch you into your day!