Apres Ski

Happy Friday everyone!

My family and I just returned home last night after a few days of skiing in Banff, and I must say that it’s so nice to be back. A few of my friends are constantly traveling to Europe and Asia in the summer or doing a semester in another country, and they love trying to convince me to take up a similar nomadic lifestyle, but I quite enjoy my little niche in Edmonton. I know that this city is certainly not one of the best places to live in the world, let alone Canada, but I’ve grown up with it and I was really made to live in Edmonton, at least for a few more years.

When I went to Europe for five weeks after grade 12, the architecture of the cities there were a strong contrast to the uninspiring buildings here and the distinctive countries have had time to mature into culturally rich and beautiful cultures. While I enjoy the beauty and adventure of traveling, I’m really most contented at home. I’ve got my area of the city with campus, the river valley, and Whyte Ave. all in close proximity, and Edmonton’s got a decent theatre scene and pretty good shops. There’s a few new exhibitions coming to the art gallery this winter that I’m super excited about, and the renovations that are about to take place will no doubt be a huge improvement.

As soon as I leave the university area though, there’s a plethora of hideous big box stores and plastic-siding houses that look identical to each other. Especially now with the bizarre lack of snow the unsightliness of the dead grass and muddy roads is exacerbated. Even in Banff there was very little snow, although Sunshine had loads, which made for excellent skiing. We’ve gone to Marmot and Lake Louise for the past few years, so it was fun to try some different hills for a change, although it was freezing cold going down the runs. There was even some good snow on the cross-country trail at Moraine Lake, although I was pretty tuckered out with all of the undulating hills.

I just got back from the dentist, and I’m waiting to eat, but I’m supposed to wait half an hour before having anything solid, so I’m starving right now! I could probably make some soup, but I really feel like a tuna sandwich, so I’ll just be patient. I had some really great meals in the mountains at this little café in Canmore and this Cajun joint close to our hotel in Banff. We even checked out the Second Cup there, and it was über cute! It’s so weird to see the same cups and furniture and drinks as my café in the mountains. I suppose it’s the upside of working for a sometimes-greedy franchise. At least Second Cup is Canadian!

My sister’s going to get some new glasses today, and I’m ecstatic. I think I’ve mostly convinced her to get some bold frames, although my mom highly disapproves of my attempts to influence Jess’ fashion sense. Paul Frank has these wicked “Transatlanticism” frames that are pretty much identical to Ben Gibbard’s, but Jess is a bit too conservative for those. I’ve always wanted glasses, but I’ve got 20/40 (or is it 40/20?) vision, and won’t need them until I’m 50. I could get frames with plain lenses, but I think that would signal my entrance into a new level of vanity. Alas, I’m left trying on my friends’ glasses once in a while for fun and taking part in the fun of wearing them vicariously.

The Conservatives have taken a ginormous leap in the polls as of late, and I think the stats they reported last night on The National put them six points ahead of the Liberals. Obviously this concerns me a little bit. Harper has made his opposition to national day care more than evident, and his concentration on increased sentences for gun-related crimes shows a complete lack of knowledge or thought on the subject. Although Martin’s proposed hand-gun ban is unlikely to make a difference, more severe sentences for criminals have been shown by study after study to have no impact on the crime rate. Our laws require us to give a second chance to citizens, whether we like it or not, and the focus on punishment rather than rehabilitation is so narrow minded. Programs in other countries that strive to work with violent criminals are far more effective in making communities safer than employing a solely punitive philosophy.

While punishment does discourage people from engaging in certain behaviours, operant conditioning really only works when all offences are caught and punished, and when punishment occurs almost immediately after the behaviour. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Most people do not consider what the consequences will be before they commit a crime; the sentences are not a significant deterrent. And, contrary to what many Conservatives might argue, guns do kill people. In fact, the mere presence of a gun in a room will cause a subject in a psych experiment to deliver more shocks to a confederate, and places where guns regulations are less restrictive have greatly higher crime rates.

Perhaps change after twelve years is inevitable, and it will shake Ottawa up a bit. It will certainly delight all of my right-wing Christian buddies, and make for some interesting politics. Presumably, Layton would cooperate with Harper on mainly politically neutral legislation, while the optics of a Conservative government working with the Bloc would be pretty bad. Mark Kelley was in Alberta a few weeks ago doing a story on our alienation and came to my café a couple of times, and said the overall sentiment that he had experienced was that Albertan votes didn’t matter at all. Perhaps if the Conservatives are elected, that feeling will be diminished. After all, it’s unlikely that the new government will last long anyways. I’ll just be a little bit less proud to be Canadian when Harper becomes our PM.

















A deliveryman just brought me my sweater from Delias, and it’s supersweet! It’s this black number with a frilly neck; it’s kind of Victorian, and really fuzzy. Yay! I think I’m gonna check out American Apparel and Decadence tonight too, so I’ll be well stocked up for school (in only three days). I’m so excited for this upcoming term, although I think I’ll have to study pretty hard for Anatomy 200. Well, it’s almost been half an hour, so I should go cook myself some perogies in early acknowledgment of Ukrainian Christmas tomorrow.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year!

Glad yule everybody!

As Dan Wilson states in the title of one of his songs, “what a year for a new year.” As of late, there’s been a quasi-backlash against the concept of this arbitrary day that signals the beginning of another year as being significant as a time for a fresh start. It’s been proven that resolutions are rarely ever achieved, and there’s no real difference between 11:59:59 on December 31 and 12:00:00 of January 1, but I just adore the sense of today being a clean slate. Yes, I’ve made a couple of New Year’s resolutions, and especially since I turned 20 (gasp) two weeks ago, I certainly feel like I’m turning over a new page.

So, for accountability purposes of course, I’ll share my soon-to-be-broken aspirations for the next twelve months. Although I’ve always been pretty obsessed with going to plays, movies, concerts and the like, my chief resolution for 2006 is to be culturally enriched. I’ve even made out a to-do list for the year (go to a gallery every two months, two concerts a month, do some photography at least once a week, etc.). I’m also striving to be more physically active; while I walk absolutely everywhere, and feel relatively fit, some parts of my body are noticeably lacking exercise. Specifically, my arms are still as gangly as ever despite my being done growing.

I was carrying the heavy coffee grind bag out to the garbage with Colleen today and it was quite the struggle (for those who don’t know, the grind garbage at work is heavier than my eMac that I’m typing this on, but I still should be able to lift it). However, I refuse to lift weights, so I’m trying to speed along my Dad and sister’s plans to take up racquetball, since solo-racquetball would not be the best workout. I’m also going to do some more cross-country this year, starting with a trip to Banff for a few days on Tuesday, and am thinking about getting a stationary bike, although I’m not sure how I’d fit it in my little bedroom.

Of course, the most important resolutions that I should have would involve striving to be more Christ-like, but I feel like making that a goal for 2006 would kind of belittle that aspect of my life. The Christian journey is definitely a marathon, and I'm hopefully always moving forward towards my eventual destination. My devotions have been focusing on the importance of scripture in the past couple of days, and the substitutes that so many of us use for God's Word are especially apparent at this time of year. Peoples' (including mine) resolutions attempt to bring them happiness from ungodly sources, whether through improved appearance and an ideal weight, financial success, or finding that special someone. All the art, theatre, and music I consume will ultimately mean very little to God unless I use them to glorify Him.

While He created us to enjoy life and make the most of our time here, we alone will never be able to achieve the peace that Jesus provides us with. Because of the Fall we really can't experience true joy on our own, and I don't think I'll experience pure, complete joy until I reach heaven. I also know that God has a far greater purpose for my life than my own happiness, but it's so easy for me to get wrapped up in my hedonism and selfishness. What often feels like a natural impulse to serve my desires is a lie that Satan perpetuates in my life. Although I feel fortunate to live in this time of unprecendented freedom and prosperity, it can be difficult to remain focused on the things that matter when capitalism relies on the fallacy that it is right to always pursue one's self-interests. There's certainly a fine balance between enjoying the gift of life from God and not abusing it.

My dad broke the headphone jack on his iPod just before break, and just got a new black iPod video for himself, and it’s seriously awesome. I’m totally considering getting one since mine’s almost two years old now and I can’t fit my over 20 days of music on its 15 gigs anymore. I just checked, and I’ve got 27.78 GB in my iTunes, so the video iPod could accommodate two of my iTunes libraries (yay)! When one considers that I’m getting my $400 cheque from Ralph pretty soon, this just might be a possibility. Over Christmas, I listened to tons of my classic Christmas albums (Charlie Brown with Vince Guaraldi, Maybe this Christmas and its sequels, Low’s Christmas Songs, Bright Eyes’ A Christmas Album, Chrismukkah, Devendra Banhart), but balanced them out with some non-holiday records.

In the last week, I’ve been concentrating on Cat Power, Art Brut, The Clientele, The Like, The Mendoza Line, Red House Painters, Rogue Wave, and Pete Yorn. It was incredibly exciting when all of my favourite music sites came out with their “best of the year” lists (all my faves fared well, fortunately), but now the writers are on break and I’ve had no musical criticism to digest recently except from The Guardian. Hopefully Pitchfork will start up again pretty soon, and I should buy the latest NME when I’m at Chapters tomorrow. Speaking of which, I think I’ll write a list of my current top web sites (mainly for posterity’s sake). They're now linked in the sidebar!

Alright, so getting back to Christmas, I hope everyone had a blast (and still are). I scored this year with my turntable, records to accompany the turntable, a multitude of books, a few albums, and iTunes gift certificates. It’s now the post-Christmas time of year when I’m thrilled and nervous to be entering a new term, and savouring time off while looking forward to meeting new people and learning new things in school, church, with friends, and at work. I’ve been working a bit extra during Christmas because lots of girls went home over the holidays, and I’ve had my fill of 5:30 opens at the café. It’ll definitely be nice to have class at 10:00 MWF and 9:30 TR during winter term, and it means I’ll be at the café at 5:30 just on Saturdays, which is ideal.

I would love to talk politics right now, but I’ve been engaging in deep political conversations all break, and the latest reaction to the allegations regarding Goodale’s office and the leadership of the three party’s has been quite disconcerting to me. As I become increasingly frustrated with capitalism, it seems as though I become increasingly aggravated with politicians who share my views on economics and philanthropy. While most of the academics in poli sci at school are staunch supporters of left-wing politics, the politicians on that side of the spectrum are not always so intellectual. Terry Milewski did a report on Layton a couple of weeks ago, and Layton’s response to the issues of Quèbec sovereignty and national unity were shockingly wishy-washy. I’m still not decided on who I’ll vote for. I’m not sure if I can see the very compassionate Jack as a strong PM, and I am becoming more and more disillusioned with Liberal policy. And I shouldn't get started on Steven Harper, his eerie eyes, and his Conservatives.

I’m falling asleep as I write this, and need to get up bright and early tomorrow morning, so I’d better wrap this up. I’ll leave you with some (perhaps confusing) questions I’ve been mulling over in the past couple of days and maybe come back to them in an entry later this week. Hopefully you’ll understand what I’m saying; it’s always tricky to communicate what exactly is on one’s mind. First of all, is God’s morality about cost-benefit analysis or absolute principles? What about my personal morality? If one person had a gun and was about to shoot two others, would I decide to murder the shooter because it would mean less death? In instances of war, how much suffering (maybe not even death, maybe just torture/persecution/oppression) justifies invading a nation and killing people? Can such suffering be quanitified so that engagement in war could be evaluated as appropriate or not? Would Jesus have fought in a war or pulled a gun on Saul (pre-Paul) if he saw him murdering other Christians? It's sometimes difficult to imagine exactly WWJD.

I've also been pondering why music would evolve in humans? How does God speak to Christians who I disagree with so strongly on issues of politics, such as George Bush, when I feel convicted that they are wrong? What does being a Christian feminist mean? When will I run out of room for my books (I just bought a new bookshelf, and I already filled it up last night)? How does the Holy Spirit affect our thoughts when our brains are so chemically based (does He affect our neurons, or is thought much deeper than science finds it to be)? I think these ponderings are pretty incoherent, but it’s what I’ve been contemplating while listening to The Stars and falling asleep. As an aside, The Stars are coming on February 5 to Dinwoodie and Jess and I can’t wait! Pictured here are my new drainpipe jeans from Builty by Wendy that I got with my Christmas dress and sailor belt. Our basement couch has a cover that's too short (as you can see in the picture), and it drives me bonkers! My sister will gladly tell you how obsessed I am with fiddling with the couch cover. The jeans have a big embroidered dreamcatcher on the back, and are super comfortable! Sorry about the insane length of this entry. I resolve to be more concise later on (though we all know what they say about resolutions).

Hugs and smooches! XOXO