Random Fact

Majel Barrett Roddenberry - aka the computer voice from Star Trek (TNG and onward) - aka Deanna Troi's Mom, was in two episodes of Bonanza as well as one episode of The Lucy Show.

update - she was also in one episode of Leave It To Beaver. and i swear i read that she was in General Hospital too. wow.

Remembering

I was just (seasonally appropriately) thinking about remembering; about remembering the dead. And more specifically about how remembering keeps the dead alive. You're going to be disappointed if you are looking for conclusions and not just wisps of thought streams. I guess one the things I was just sort of connecting in my head was the difference or the similarities in remembering the fallen from conflict and remembering loved ones that have passed away (or in some cases these are the same).

I've buried a few friends in my time. One of them was in high school. I've written about him before. His name was Aaron Van Vark. He died when we were in grade 11. I haven't forgotten him, he influenced my life. And I feel that in a small way that because I remember him, that I am helping to keep him alive (but not in an unhealthy way). A year ago this past weekend my friend Crystal Williams was killed. We grew up together, I remember her. I feel like she should still be alive.

This was veterans week and climaxed with Remembrance Day. I was honoured to sing O Canada and God Save the Queen at the WRF - Leadership Lessons From Vimy Ridge on Friday night. To hear a bit about war and conflict past and present always hits me. And sometimes I feel that every time it chokes me up a bit, or that I remember that I can parade around the world with a Canadian Flag sewn on me and be welcomed, well that I am remembering all of these people that I have never met and never will meet, and the gifts they have given to me.

I struggle with knowing if the gifts of my beloved friends are different, worth more, worth less, worth the same, comparable at all, etc with the gifts of these soldiers and military personnel. Regardless, these gifts cherished, valued and treasured.

In Serious Need

I just really feel that I have a serious need for a Sugar Daddy, or really a hard core committed Sugar Momma. Though Daddy just seems more natural. And I think I have brought this subject up more than once.

I was just thinking about how I'm singing in front of a bunch of people tonight and would love to look nice. But due to weight fluctuations and budgetary matters, well I have a hole in my wardrobe called Fall/Winter dress clothes. If only I could attract the sugar like my brother does. He attracted generous Sugar that liked Banana Republic. Yeah... that's good Sugar.

Whatever, I'm Western and gr/n-eedy. (But for reals, if there's going to hors d'oeuvres and a keynote, I should look nice.)

You Should Probably Come To This...

(side note, you may here this a lot over the next 6 weeks - actually check the links - there is good stuff coming up)

So yeah, you should come to this. I'll be there.

Leader Bean

Sometimes I feel that every time I have to lead something I take a year off my life.

My Three Jobs

Well, you may have noticed the lack of garden or outdoor talk in my posts recently. Or maybe its the mentions of cleaning Aug Hall. But after the first week of October I got three jobs here at the school. I am the helper monkey for the Theatre and Music departments and do a little bit of work for Janitorial. Anything to make the bills get paid.

For the Music dept I have been and am doing a lot of work in and with the choral library. I'm currently done about a quarter of databasing the whole thing. And then generally just doing things that Dr. T asks me to, like procure things from the registrars office or call people/places for tour.

For the Theatre dept I am production managing the mainstage for the semester as well as doinag lots of other little departmental things like updating display cabinets, organizing a trip to the Shaw or putting together some stuff for one of the profs.

Janitorial is pretty cut and dry. Jon Stumm and I clean the hallways and entranceways (and such) of Augustine Hall twice a week.

That is how I pay (or try) to pay the bills. It would likely be more possible if I didn't have schoolwork or ministry stuff - oh the tension - ministry doesn't pay the bills, so i have to give attention to things that do.

Now you know.

Peace

I've been doing a little thinking this week about peace and its relation to me.

You'll recall on Monday I was singing for the NYFC dessert reception. When I got there for my sound check I got a nice hug from my friend Sarah and then went on with what I was doing. Later in the evening Sarah and I were talking and she said when I got there she thought "Oh good, Laura's here, everything will be fine." She went on to explain that the fineness of the evening was not hinging on my arrival for sound check or even my presence, but the feeling of my being there put her at ease.

This is not the first time she has mentioned something like this. My friend Hope has the same reaction and says that there is often almost an aura of peace around me - she has seen it when I am with children.

Sometimes I really wrestle with this. I am more than aware of my sway with the dynamic of a group of people and my ability to take all decorum and toss it out the window with one action. Sometimes I forget exactly how much weight I have to swing around in that capacity, but I am aware that its there. But I usually view this weight and this decorum smashing ability to be the antithesis of peace - I rile people up. And I know that in times of stress where there is pressure and responsibility on me, I spin. I spin hard. My friends from NYFC will attest to that. So will my CITB friends, etc, etc. So if I'm spinning so hard how can I bring peace?

Personally I feel even just in my life there is a general lack of ...tranquility - I dare not say peace for fear of that being read as being outright in disobedience to the will of God. There is usually drama, stress, attacks, etc. Most times I don't feel like I'm radiating peace.

Now, this is not to say that I am trying to destroy an observation from some people I love. So I have tried to think about the peace that passes through me and I guess I could sort of see that. Maybe more like I am a very cracked vessel for peace. Because I know with children I would much rather just sit with them or help them fall asleep then play with them. And yeah, I don't have a problem (in fact I enjoy) simply sitting with an anxious friend and playing with their hair and praying over them while they fall asleep or just get some respite. I like to eat with people and have some real chat - does peace emanate from that? I don't know.

The comment section is (almost) always open. Wrestle with me.

Love

Typical Stew

Yesterday after the OCSTA conference was over, Katrina popped by the Choral Library to see me. We were talking for a little while and she asked what my weekend was like. As I was going over what Sunday and Monday looked like I realized a conflict and then began to verbally work it out. Kurt then looked at me, looked at the time and then simply reached out and hugged me and said, "I don't think your life will ever not be busy." We laughed and then she had to go.

Give yourself a pat on the back right now if you've had a similar conversation with me.

Give yourself a little hug if you're still friends with me after multiple conversations like this.

Give yourself breakfast in bed and a foot massage if you love me in spite of it.

Stuck For Halloween?

Are you stuck for a costume idea for Halloween? Try this and you're sure to be the light of the party.

What Are You Doing Monday, Monday Night?

If you live East of the GTA and you like dessert, music and helping people then you might want to come to the Northumberland Youth For Christ dessert reception and coffeehouse. The coffeehouse is featuring the likes of Shamus Hannah, Jim and Sharon Connor, Christine Moss and well, me. Its the first gig I've done in a good while. I'll be doing a mix of covers, my own stuff and a hint of worship tunes.

This all goes down Monday, October 29th. From 7:30-9:30pm at the Best Western in Cobourg. The cost in 20$ per person.

My parents will be there, I will be there, Marie and Justin are thinking about making an appearance - so maybe you could too.

And Once Again Legalism Has Spoiled A Good Thing

For the past 4 years the Concert Choir has sung at the Warplane Heritage Museum Remembrance Day service. Its always powerful. Its always touching. We are the first choir to have been asked to sing in consecutive years. It is a great honour to be asked to sing at it. And it is a small thing we can do to honour veterans and current service personnel.

This year November 11th falls on a Sunday. That's right, up/op/ob Sondag. And because of the 'uncomfortableness' of some people both in and out of the choir with the choir (or more, certain individuals) singing in the morning, on a Sunday, we are not singing in the service this year.

That paragraph may have just opened a conservative reformed can of worms that is about to indignantly crawl all over me - but let me say this first - it is not about a willingness to keep the Sabbath holy, it is not about a lack of willingness to be away from home churches. For me it is about a lack of flexibility for this particular day.

I'm just gonna throw this out there - our military veterans did not have comfortable options about how they were going to spend their Sunday. So I just wonder if we can't step out of the norm and honour them with something that makes us a little uncomfortable.

Let the very well worded lambasting of me begin...

I'll Probably Go Down The Aisle To This - Heads Up Dad!

Good Try Though

Redeemer is the land of self improvement. And this extends to the building itself. There are constantly little things being made better - dorm windows, paving things, etc. Currently there are some renovations being done in the center foyer/A stairs/stairs area. The area known as 'the couches' was recarpeted and the carpet at the bottom of the stairs has been turned to tile to match the tile on the floor. There are also new couches and chairs (though I'm still not sure what was wrong with the old ones as they were only a couple years old, but the new stuff does look very nice and is veeeerry cushy and comfy... anyway).

Nearing the completion of this renovation everyone was sent an email from campus services outlining what had been changed. Apparently this also included the name of the area. This area is supposed to be called "The Commons" now and even in the email it said The Commons (formerly known as the Center Foyer). I'm not gonna lie, this got me a little riled up. Why does campus services get to rename part of the school? And why The Commons. While sitting at The Couches this week, I discussed this and people said they'd be willing to start calling it The Commons if things (aka food) were actually sold in The Commons area (Mac's food court has Commons in its name). Perhaps it was also decided that The Commons sounds like a kissing disease - "Oh man I've got The Commons!" "You were kissing Klaas again weren't you?" "Yeah, its true. Just don't tell my parents I got The Commons". There would also be a willingness to call it The Commons if there were some end tables to set things on in The Couch area (currently there is just the arms of the leather furniture - ok, if thats where you want us to rest our drinks). Possibly also the idea of having a mini-tramp built into the floor at one point and the accompanying St. John's ambulance booth.

I also decided I would be willing to start calling it The Commons, if I was able to rename other parts of the building. Example - Rename the main office, Fred. "Well, if you go down to Fred and talk to Jane she should be able to help you." Or, "Cheques can be dropped off to Zach Pillings in Fred."

Likely though, this attempt at a name change will fall to the dust like the well intentioned naming of the 3 parking lots - Luther, Calvin and Cranmer Courts will forever be known as First, Second and Third Parking Lots.

Vomit

"You see the power in that face? And those eyes, its like you're squinting, but its an open squint."
- Tyra Banks

An open squint?

Handy Tip

If you live in Aug Hall and you take the stairs on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon, and you notice there is a sweaty woman vacuuming those stairs, you should make lots of noise while you are coming up behind her. Otherwise you may frighten her, which could cause her to poop in her pants or fall backwards down a flight of stairs. Both are not good.

That is your tip for the day.

Saving Money For New Pants

Some of you long time readers may remember that I am broken. And by that I don't mean in the spiritual sense (though there is always that too :| ), but that my back sucks. If you are a current in-the-flesh friend, especially one with strong hands then you likely hear me bitch about my back, legs, butt and solicit your strength to alleviate the worst of the pain. Its been like this for a few years and you'd think that my Mom's multiple surgeries, the injections she gets in her spine for pain management or the fact that most of her conditions are genetic might push me into action to build up core muscles, drop extra weight and just make things better for my body. You might think that. But you'd be wrong if you did.

I started a rehab program today (for my back, you jerks - you're just gonna have to live with all that other stuff). Its a build up my core, drop that extra weight that sits in my 'here' and save myself from surgery or explosion (when I try to have kids) program.

What prompted this you might ask? Women's fastpitch. I want to return to women's fastpitch. I'm not asking for PWSA Tier I or anything. I realize that I have to ease back into that windmill with a hop. I know I've been away from competitive ball for a long time so I'm gonna be rusty. But man, watching Chelsea play last month may have moved me to tears because I miss that game so much. May have. So I want to play competitive ball next summer and I can't be a chubby, broken women to play it (well).

I enlisted the help of one of the Phys Ed profs at Redeemer to help me set some realistic goals, and to help with the know-how. 'Cause I really didn't know what I needed to do to build things up, pare things down, and tone things around. I got the help, the routine has been worked out. I'm getting a how to use scary machines review later this week and well, I'm doing it.

I figured if I blogged about it, it might bring up some accountability. So you have permission to ask me about it. Ask me how its going, where my struggles are, where the victories have come, etc. Oh, and even though I'm working out and such, you can still take me out for Big Macs, pizza, cheesy bread, and buffalo chicken fingers. Its ok. I promise.

An Important Message From the DFO

nataliedee.com

So There!

Washley (in response to something said on America's Next Top Model): So let that be a lesson you to you!

Andrew Marting (to me): Yeah Laura. I want to see you take those lessons and bring them to the ball diamond next summer.

Me: (dumb look)

Christmas Gift

"This essential field guide for all things Reformed offers a blend of tongue-in-cheek humor and easy-to-read insight—and ensures that we don't take ourselves too seriously! Organized into "Church Stuff," "Everyday Stuff," and "Bible Stuff," this new handbook encapsulates essential principles of the Christian life and uses humor to make the complexities of our religious tradition accessible to all."

I for serious want this as a Christmas gift. I'm not sure if there is a more appropriate gift for someone in my position.

In Honour Of The Day

(be sure to listen to the song sung in the background during the campaign. it may be the best part)

The Current Storm

There is a thunderstorm happening right now. I'm quite sure it is doing little for wedding preps.

But from the 7th floor view, this thing is magnificent. The last two thunder/lightening strikes set off car alarms. Everything really echoes up here because we are a big wall for sound to bounce off of, but also because there is another apartment building near by.

Wow.

Its A Musical Day

Some interesting (at least in my mind - which I do not in any way declare as a normative one) things about music in my day today...

I spent 4ish hours in the choral library today. You can now move in there, but you cannot pick up one of about 150 of Marianne Vogel's business cards.

After work the lovely Mrs. Chelsea Laarman and I attended Janet Obermeyer's contribution to the Great Romantics Festival. This was um, consummate. As a vocal student I find myself in awe of the space that Janet is able to create within her mouth - the whole hard and soft palette thing. Anyway, it was delicious. When Janet was done Chelsea and I were exiting the concert area and who did we spy in the back, but Valerie Tryon. Maybe we (and by we, I really mean me - though I'm sure you already knew that) fussed a bit over her. I said something to the effect of being from Redeemer and needing to get her to sign the program along with the other Redeemer peeps performing (Valerie and Janet teach lessons at RUC - plus Dr T was a performer in this festival too - ps, does anyone else have a problem typing festical instead of festival?). Chelsea and I left with our hearts aflutter and our brains full of vocal technique wonderment.

Now tonight I learned how to sing in Russian (I'm pretty sure its not Ukrainian, but I could be wrong). Dan and Mira's wedding is tomorrow afternoon. And in true fashion to pretty much any wedding I have been a part of, the music has had to come together at the last minute. So about a dozen of us learned a Russian song tonight. Its a nice anthem. Very pretty. While we were rehearsing I was reminded of rehearsing for Brian and Jenn's wedding which was around this time last year. For their wedding a very similar group of us was singing in Dutch. Russian, Dutch, what is it with my friends? I decided that I'm getting a choir together to sing some UEL hymn for my wedding.

And that was my musical day. Don't let it slip away.

The Downfalls/Benefits Of Having An Art Major As Your Best Friend

Bondage and Freedom

I heard a great sermon on Labour Day weekend about rest. I won't summarize it for you, but if you're really interested you can find it here.

The result of having heard this sermon is a lot of thought on true sabbath rest and what I can do to set up for it.

The result of that is this: I am now laptop free on Sundays.

I had to bend it a little for the first CITB service day, but otherwise it has been quite successful. Yesterday was the 3rd week into this experiment/project/life change.

So if you want to get a hold of me on a Sunday don't look for me online. Call my home, call my cell or drop by.

I'll keep you updated on how this goes and how it changes things for me.