radar men from the moon

If you're looking for a little classic Sci-Fi to spice up your lunch hour try Radar Men from the Moon. Warning: It's only episode 1 so you won't get the whole story, but trust me it's worth it.
Hilarious.

waiting to be found

Sometimes the truth is just sitting there waiting to be found. About a week ago I was asked a very unexpected question. I was having dinner with some new friends and it came out of nowhere. It wasn't a life changing question (not that question) but I can't seem to get it out of my head. What surprises me the most is how unexpected I'm finding my own answer.

Most people who know me would say that I spend a lot of time inside my own head. How strange then that in something so basic, I don't know myself as well as I thought. Maybe I knew all along and just hadn't said it out loud. Maybe the truth was sitting there, waiting to be found.

I keep thinking that I've fully answered the question and something deeper reveals itself. Walking down the hallway, rounding the corner, there it is, unmistakable. You say you think this, but really what you think is over here. I don't think I've been deceiving myself or intentionally hiding but for whatever reason clarity has come to the surface this week. I have no idea what it means or where it is going. But I'm curious to keep walking this path and to see whatever is waiting.

This post feels like it should come with it's own soundtrack. I suggest Amos Lee to take the edge off. Or for anyone who watched Grey's Anatomy last night, Kendall Payne's "Scratch" would go nicely. (Although the lyrics when read alone come out a little sad.) My copy from Amazon isn't here yet but I'm told you can get it on iTunes. I've been trying to think of what this song reminds me of and it's one of the early productions of A Maze of Grace. That show haunted me from the first rehearsal to the final curtain. How interesting that it haunts me again now.

he dreams of Janie

I had to share the cuteness. Here's my niece at a week old. As you can see she's learning valuable lessons from her Dad already. I love the custom pillows in the background.

feelin' the love

My cat is stalking me. I've been working from home today and Gandalf is facinated by it. Every time I turn around she's there. Maybe it's the classic Miss Piggy logic "I could watch people work all day." Whatever it is, I am feelin' the love.

time to repaint the house

Here's how the seats in the House of Commons were divvied up as of yesterday. (Image source and also great source of information: The Wikipedia article on the House of Commons.)

I wonder what it will look like tomorrow.

Don't forget to vote!

i'm an aunt!

In the wee small hours of the morning I became an Aunt.

Corrina Jamie Joy Colvinson
January 18th, 2006
8lb 14 oz
Winnipeg, MB

The whole world changed today, even if much of the world didn't feel the difference. There is more beauty in it today than yesterday, more gentleness, more laughter, and a brand new reason to smile.

Welcome little one. You kept us waiting, but I have a feeling you were worth the wait.

Update: January 20th

I finally got a photo of little Corrina. I think she looks like Dave around the eyes and like Janie everywhere else. And of course she's beautiful. Here she is:

the liberals and westjet theory

I was really, really hoping that my next post would be announcing my niece or nephew's arrival into the world but that's currently a work in progress. So in the meantime . . . . Liberals and WestJet theory.

The election is getting pretty close. At some point before next Monday I plan to spend some time on CBC's Canada Votes to educate myself a little better on the issues at hand. In the meantime however I have a theory. The Liberal party is like WestJet.

Remember a few years back when WestJet had some mechanical trouble and the whole fleet got grounded? Not long afterward they were back in the sky and I mentioned to a pilot friend of mine that there was no way I'd trust a WestJet plane. He pointed out that it was actually the very best time to fly WestJet. He mentioned that because WestJet had just been slapped they had gone over every inch of every plane in the fleet. He argued that at that moment there wasn't a safer fleet in the sky than WestJet.

Which makes me think of the Liberals. They just got slapped pretty publicly and so my theory is that the Liberals are not such a bad bet. They've had to seriously clean-up their act. They've been scrutinized, audited and publicly flogged (quite rightly). They screwed up enormously but here's the thing -- do any of us really believe that all of the other parties aren't running some scheme of their own? At least I know what the Liberals are up to and for a few weeks at least we've put a stop to it. The others just haven't been caught recently.

Will I vote based on this theory? I haven't decided yet. I've still got a week. But I will vote. Democracy doesn't ask all that much of us. If you can't be bothered to vote, the exists are mostly to the south.

getting away with murder

A movie about a bunch of guys in wheelchairs shouldn'’t be this much fun. In the first few minutes of watching Murderball I felt like I shouldn't be staring at the guy in the chair. But less than an hour in I realized that I wasn'’t seeing his chair at all. Days later I'’m still thinking about it.

Murderball follows the stories of several members of the US National Quad Rugby team. It'’s one of the film's first mind-bends to conceive of quadriplegiclegics playing a contact sport, but as one of the guys in the movie says "What's the worst that can happen? We might break our necks?" It'’s this call-it-what-it-is-and-get-on-with-it style that reaches out and grabs you. Murderball'’s greatest strength is that finally you don't see an injury or even a piece of equipment. All you see is the man.

If you haven'’t seen Murderball I highly recommend it with this one caveat: this is a documentary that follows young male athletes. All of the language and graphic stories of the locker room are in this movie so if that's going to bother you, sit this one out.

As for me, I'’m still chewing on this one and I'’d say odds are good I'’ll be renting it again. Kudos to directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro for a job well done. Let team captian Mark Zupan and company take on all your assumptions about people in wheelchairs. Trust me, they can take it.

happy new year!

Happy New Year 2006! I still find the 2000's look strange on paper. I'll probably get used to it just in time for 2010.

Ceone and I both felt crummy on New Year's Eve and had to welch on our plans. We had a bottle of red wine and a few sparklers though so it wasn't a total loss.

So here we are at the beginning of a new year. The year I turn 30. The year I finally make it to Disneyland. The year I become an Aunt for real. So much to look forward to and it's only just begun. Here's to the year stretched out before us. May we have the courage to hope, the strength to love and the vision to dream in all the days ahead.

spending the day with ralph

One of the best things about being on vacation is simply not having to do anything. The luxury of time, truly sweet. Yesterday I took the entire day and did a puzzle with The Thornbirds playing in the background. The Thornbirds is an 8 or 9 hour miniseries so it lends itself well to a full day of puzzling (provided that you start with a decent sized puzzle). I can't remember the last time I simply sat for that long doing something enjoyable and unnecessary. And it's been ages since I watched that show. You can't go far wrong spending a day with Father Ralph. (And yes Mom if you're reading this, I know, I know, but deep down I still choose not to believe.) I probably should have done some laundry, or bought the new wiper blades I need for my car but vacations have nothing to do with should and besides, it's Christmas.

merry christmas

Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light.

We just got back from taking a tour of the lights. Even though there isn't any snow it is looking mighty Christmas-y around here. There is laughter and music, family and food. So many gifts, so much to celebrate. Christmas is here. Thank Heaven. May all the joys of the season find us.

playing with fire

Let me start this post by saying that no one got hurt and house is fine. Ok, now we've got that sorted out, I called 9-1-1 for the very first time this evening because my outdoor Christmas lights caught fire. It's been a couple of hours now and my heart beat has finally returned to normal.

I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and I kept thinking that I could smell something burning. I checked the pan in the oven and it was fine. I looked under the skillet on the stovetop and figured that it must be a little piece of something caught under the burner. I kept on cooking but the smell persisted.

After a few minutes I noticed that the light above the stove was flickering. I thought that maybe the fan in the exhaust hood was shaking it around. I turned around and the lights in the kitchen were flickering. I looked out the kitchen window and the tree in the front yard was engulfed in smoke. I could see a flame down by the ground where the lights were plugged into a buried cable. With great eloquence I walked into the livingroom and said to Kendra "I think the Christmas lights are on fire."

Remembering electric safety from years ago I grabbed some rubber soled flip-flops and a pair of oven mits and headed outside to try and unplug the cable from the end that wasn't on fire. It worked but there was so much smoke. The smoke dissipated pretty quickly but there was smoke coming out of the ground and I know that fire can travel underground so I decided to call 9-1-1.

I've never called 9-1-1 before. For some reason I flashed back to elementary school lectures on how important it was never to call 9-1-1 unless it was really, really important. I figured this counted. I talked to the dispatcher who asked a few questions and said the firemen were on their way. Sirens blazing they came.

By the time they got to the house I was pretty sure that everything was okay but I was still really glad to see them. They took a look at the plug, fried, and showed me where the plug had arched and melted the contacts. They checked around and pronounced it all good. Apparently the heavy rain is a pretty common cause of Christmas light fires. I am just thankful that the tree didn't catch fire (or the house for that matter.) Many thanks to the fine men of the White Rock Fire Dept.

Here's what I learned about Christmas light safety:

1. Heavy rain can cause outdoor lights to spark. The safest option is to unplug the lights if it rains a lot. (One of the firemen said that he'd noticed his own lights smoking yesterday.)
2. Using a longer extension cord than needed for the job can increase the risk of fire. Lots of cable = lots of resistance. Resistancce means heat and heat can cause fire.
   
3. If you are using a long cable make sure you stretch it out. A long cable lying wrapped generates even more heat. Apparently you can wrap an extension cord tightly around the leg of a wooden chair and there's enough heat that the leg will catch on fire.

In the end it was a very minor incident for which I am very thankful. The firemen are all lovely. I hope to never see them again.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Becky, Matt, Wendy, Howard, Kristal, Kendra, Debbie, Dan, Claire, Marieka & Bob
Originally uploaded by flickrloon.

I feel like Christmas sneaked up on me this year. It was still just November when I left for England and now suddenly Christmas is less than two weeks away. I think ExpressPost and I are going to be very good friends this season.

Our small group from church had a Christmas potluck last night. The food was AMAZING. We should definitely do this more often. What a great way to get into the season. In the photo ready to eat are:
Back row - Wendy, Howard, Kendra, Claire & Bob
Front row - Becky, Matt, Kristal, Debbie, Daniel & Marieke

home again, home again (jiggety-jig)

Countryside, Uffcolm
Originally uploaded by flickrloon.

I would say that I'm back state-side except that I'm in Canada. I think we need a cool term like that of our very own. Anyway you put it I'm home and it's good to be here.

I had an amazing time in England. I think I'm still in history overload, kindof like sugar shock for the brain. I'm still in the process of adjusting to Pacific time (must stop doing the time conversion in my head, must stop waking up at 2am) so this isn't going to be the "all the really good stories from my trip" post but it is the one with the photos.

My parents let me have my Christmas present early and although I used to swear that I would never turn my back on film, I have fully embraced the digital dark side and there is no going back. I took a LOT of photos, but here's the link to a select few (20 of them to be precise):

Claire's trip to England, short version

More stories to come once I catch up with myself.

new world, a little braver

I did something today that I've have never done before, something I did not picture myself doing any time soon. I accepted an invitation to present a workshop at the Oregon Christian Writer’s Conference. This is not the first time I have been invited to present at a conference but it is the first time I have even remotely considered it, let alone accepted.

I am not a public speaker. I tend to avoid presentations like the plague. I am not by nature a brave person. I am more likely to calculate a risk than to take one. But today my world was a little braver.

Several months ago I was having dinner with a friend who challenged me on my “no public speaking ever” policy. They suggested that I was squandering my skills, that I had the ability and simply refused to use it. I guess that’s stayed with me. When I received the invite the other day, those were the first words that ran through my head. I had to stop and think, “Am I really doing that? Just sitting here on something and refusing to do anything with it?” Scary thought.

Earlier today I read a quote that said simply “Don’t let what you can’t do stand in the way of what you can.” So I bit the bullet. I made the call. I put myself on the list of presenters for OCW Conference.

Brave new world indeed.

one for the books

I have discovered a new author to add to my list. I picked-up a Ken Follet novel at the grocery store last week-end because I was desperate. I got home Friday night only to realize that I had left the book I was reading on my desk at work and I can't be without a book. I get jittery. I wasn't expecting a whole lot from Whiteout but I was very pleasantly surprised. This past Saturday I grabbed a copy of Code to Zero and judging by the fact that it's now Tuesday and I'm finished, I'd say it was pretty good too.

I did a little research on Ken and it turns out he's quite a prolific writer. I found almost two shelves of his books at the used bookstore in town. I grabbed three novels hoping to have enough for my upcoming trip. If the other books are this good I may have to go back and restock.

It's a relief to find that there are so many books to choose from. I've read all of Michael Crichton. Maeve Binchy has retired. Tami Hoag's publishers seem determined not to release Kill the Messenger in paperback and I've read all the others. Pat Conroy's work is brilliant but he got married a few years back and the resultant happiness appears to have left him with nothing to write about. Ken Follet has written about twenty novels. Should keep me in pages for a while.

sempre fidelis

Never forget.

Every year on Remembrance Day I read two poems. "In Flanders Fields" is the obvious choice. The other one I read is a less well known poem by Wilfred Owen "Dolce et Decorum Est". Both speak of war in the voices of those who've been there.

I particularly like the ending of "Dolce et Decorum" which wisely points out that if we truly understood how horiffic war is we wouldn't be so quick to encourage young boys that "it is good and sweet to die for one's country." It is not good, or sweet. It is horrific and heroic and I dearly wish that it was never, ever necessary. But we do not live in a world of wishes. And although I cannot really comphrehend it, there have been those men and women who have stood up and said "I'll go." Sempre fidelis, always faithful. Never forget.

sushi haiku

While enjoying some delicious sushi at lunch I was inspired to participate in ancient Japanese poetry form of haiku. You'd think that sushi would lend itself well to haiku but it's really hard to get the 6 syllable "California roll" into haiku's strict 5-7-5 syllable form. Still I did come up with this:

Veggie rolls are good
but teriyaki maki
is more fun to say.

Silly I know, but it's a word game and therefore fun. Wanna try?

the future is friendly

Full points to Future Shop for providing excellent service. I went on a digital camera recon mission last night and was very pleasantly surprised by my experience. I quickly discovered that the feature I really wanted, a variable angle LCD display, was about $100 out of my price range but there was still plenty to choose from. I pointed out the Kodak Z740 that I came into the store to see and expressed a concern that it might be too much camera for a first foray into digital photography. The salesgirl agreed that it probably wasn't the best choice and proceeded to ask some really good questions about what I was looking for. I asked for a recommendation and she pointed out a camera of comparable price with a better range of features. Feeling well informed I asked her to write down the model number and headed off to store #2.

My second stop of the night was another big box store and WOW here was the cocky and remarkably unhelpful "help" I was expecting from a big electronics store. I went straight to the midrange cameras as before and picked up the Kodak hoping to attract some help. Over came the camera guy. He didn't know anything about the Kodak expect that it was "kinda big" and when I asked for a recommendation he choose a camera $100 more expensive than the one I had been looking at. He told me how easy it was to use and then couldn't turn it on. Seriously. For about 5 minutes. I asked a few questions about shutter delay and he had no idea. I asked him to write down the model # and he couldn't find a pen. It just didn't get any better after that.

So no points for guessing where I'll be shopping, and well done Future Shop. Looks like the future is friendly after all.

half a post

I've been thinking about community this week. On Tuesday one of the guys in my small group said "The only way you can have an influence in someone's life is if you care about them and they know it." It's been rattling around in my head ever since being chased by a line from an Amos Lee song that says:

Sometimes we forget who we've got,
Who they are, and who they are not.

Now here it is almost a week later and I still don't have the rest of this thought. The two quotes are still running around in my head and I still find myself thinking about the roles of the people in my life (and my role in theirs.) I haven't finished thinking about it yet. I don't have the rest of this thought or even the rest of this post. So I'm posting this half a post now as a placeholder for myself. When the thought finishes itself I hope to be able to post the other half.