I am the coach

Mormons

2007-01-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

If I can ever get my stuff together I might tell you all an interesting story about an experience that I just had with a few Mormon missionaries this afternoon. It was a fun time and I got them angry at me.

no title

2006-09-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

So it seems as if I have a fan or two or perhaps three if you like to push things. I probably have a considerable amount of stuff to write about but it takes a cerain amount of persitence to keep a blog up. I haven't had any blogging persistence in quite some time and I think that that is evident. I had a very busy summer and some very eventfull things started happening in my life in the summer and they have been continuing right until now (and hopefully beyond). I will try to sit down and force myself to write a detailed update soon. For now all the information my fans need to know is that I have an offical girlfriend and I am quite happy about that. Talk to you later.

Hmmmm.......

2006-07-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Some interesting things are happening in my life. If you all promise to be good I might tell you the story some day but for now it remains my little secret. Ha ha. I bet that you are wondering what it might be. Get over it you will never know unless I tell you. Hee hee.

New Post

2006-06-08T18:36:00.000-07:00

A new post is coming soon....I think. I have a lot of time to think while I am work and some stuff is coing together, in my mind at least, that would make a good blog entry. Hopefully it will come together in a blog as well and you can read what is going on in my mind.

Another good song

2006-05-28T07:42:00.001-07:00

I am posting lyrics from a a song that I really like. It is called "The More", from the album "Wide-Eyed and Mystified" by the group "Downhere". Great song, great album, great band.

You can listen to a sample of the song at

The More

I met You like a little child
Wide-eyed and mystified
That You could love even me
So I'm here to testify
That it's been an amazing ride with You
And I have never walked alone
Wanna give You every moment, every minute
It's takes a lifetime to know You, to know You

And the more You show me, the more You grow me
The more Your glory becomes all there is
And the more I know You, the more I need You
The more I love You, the more You become to me

Fast-forward to the golden years
A smaller pride and a bigger fear
But still, no way are we done yet
I pray that You would keep me mystified,
In every way that I will still abide in You
Till You come to take me home
Wanna give You every moment, every minute
And take a lifetime to know You, to know You

Wanna give You every moment, every minute
I'll take a lifetime to know You
Hold me Lord, keep me
Draw me closer every moment of my life

Another good song

2006-05-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

I am posting lyrics from a a song that I really like. It is called "The More", from the album "Wide-Eyed and Mystified" by the group "Downhere". Great song, great album, great band.

The More

I met You like a little child
Wide-eyed and mystified
That You could love even me
So I'm here to testify
That it's been an amazing ride with You
And I have never walked alone
Wanna give You every moment, every minute
It's takes a lifetime to know You, to know You

And the more You show me, the more You grow me
The more Your glory becomes all there is
And the more I know You, the more I need You
The more I love You, the more You become to me

Fast-forward to the golden years
A smaller pride and a bigger fear
But still, no way are we done yet
I pray that You would keep me mystified,
In every way that I will still abide in You
Till You come to take me home
Wanna give You every moment, every minute
And take a lifetime to know You, to know You

Wanna give You every moment, every minute
I'll take a lifetime to know You
Hold me Lord, keep me
Draw me closer every moment of my life

A Trip To Walmart

2006-03-29T20:02:00.000-08:00

So I have been having a bit of an irritable day today. I really don't know what sparked it but some things that normally don't bother me were really annoying me today, especially this afternoon and evening. Perhaps it was the fact that my American history prof was out of town for a family funeral and had a different prof (Dr. Naylor) sit in to give us a quiz that turned out to be less of a quiz and more of an in class, closed book essay. I gave him all I had in my head but it wasn't quite enough, it seemed. Perhaps I should have read all of the assigned reading!

After I got home I decided that today was a good day to bake a cake and was considering going to the grocery store to buy a cake-mix and take it home to bake it up. After thinking of it a while I decided that I wanted to buy the new Jack Johnson CD at Wal-Mart and then I would drive all the way to the other end of town to get a cake-mix. On the way to Wal-Mart the thought occurred to me that these new Wal-Mart stores have more than the usual Wal-Mart junk. They now have groceries and would likely have the cake-mix that I was looking for.

Now, before I go any further I must say that the only reason why I go to Wal-Mart to buy anything is because it seems that they have the best price in town. Other than that I despise the place from the depth of my heart and soul.

Today, Wal-Mart gave me no good reason to change my mind. As I entered the store I was greeted by an aura that said, "Here I am. I have a lot of everything and nothing of anything". I began to search for the electronics/music department of the store to look for my coveted Jack Johnson recording. I started at one end of the store and began walking around the perimeter searching for electronics. The irritation was growing by the second. Wherever I looked there were shelves full of the usual low quality Wal-Mart crap. Does one place really need to sell all of this stuff? As usual, what I was looking for was in the last place I looked. It happened to be right in the middle of the store, right where I remembered the electronics sections to be in all the other modern Wal-Mart’s I had visited.

After searching for a little while I eventually found the Jack Johnson CD I wanted. It wasn't in a place where I would have logically thought it might be. Stupid Wal-Mart. Stupid electronics section. Stupid store that wants to be everything to everyone.

After finding the CD I decided that instead of buying the CD and then going to get my cake-mix I would instead go get the cake-mix and ice cream and pay for that and the cake mix at the same time. Off to the edible section of Wally's World. What a joke. If I thought that finding the electronics section was irritating this was worse by far. After walking around the grocery section for what I thought was an eternity I finally found the cake-mix section. Guess what? The regular price for cake-mix here was cheaper than the sales price at Sobey's.

Now it was decision time. What flavour of cake was I going to buy? Initially, what I wanted to buy was a plain old vanilla cake-mix. Could I find it? Not a stinking chance. There was chocolate, mint, dark chocolate, nearly a dozen different varieties in total (ok, I might be making some of this up). The closest thing that I found to plain old vanilla was something called "French Vanilla". If I wanted French Vanilla cake I would move to France. What is so difficult about stocking Vanilla cake-mix? Surely, if you are trying to be all things to all you people you would stock the basics first and then get extravagant once you have achieved the basics.
I settled on the French Vanilla.

After finding the cake-mix I was pondering whether I would have whipped cream or ice cream with it. I searched for quite some time and I could not find anything that resembled nutri-whip. I made some sort of a caustic comment to a fellow shopper that kind of went like this, "This place sells everything but what you are looking for." She seemed to think that I was making a joke of it because she laughed. Oh well, even if I am deeply irritated I still have the ability to make middle-aged women laugh. That has to count for something.

So whipped cream was obviously out of the picture. The decision was made. I would be eating ice cream with my French Vanilla cake. Off to the frozen food section to seek out ice cream. Happily for me they did have plain vanilla ice cream in stock. I would not need to settle for "French Vanilla" ice cream. (By the way, what do the French know about vanilla anyway? I would much sooner trust the Swiss.) I reached into the freezer to get my pail of ice cream and to my annoyance I found that the Wal-Mart ice cream doesn't have handles on the pails. What good is an ice cream pail with out the handle? Oh well, I reached into the freezer and picked out my pail of ice cream and walking back to the electronics cradled the ice cream and cake-mix under my arm. I picked out my much anticipated Jack Johnson CD (actually the soundtrack for the movie, Curious George) paid for it and my grocery purchase at electronics and went home.

I was fully disgusted with Wal-Mart and I think I will be shopping at different stores in the future. I will buy my bread where they specialize in baking bread, like maybe the Prairie Grain Bakery. I will buy my ammunition at a place where they know guns and hunting (Brett at the Homebuilding Centre knows his stuff). I will go to Sobey's when I need groceries.

To add insult to injury, when I finally got home and baked the cake I was thoroughly disgusted by the taste of the ice cream. It seems to have an extremely salty taste to it. Yuck!!

Thus ends my rant at Wal-Mart. I realize that I have just typed up an extremely long entry and have said nothing, really. It has helped, to an extent, to rant about my frustrations of the day. I am now ready to sign off on the day and go to bed. Good night.

Word of the Day

2006-03-29T15:26:00.000-08:00

...despise...

Book Sale!!!

2006-03-22T11:47:00.000-08:00

So the used book sale came to the University today...what joy! Used book sales are the ultimate way of building a library and that is something I am striving to do. I did some rumaging through the stacks of books and found quite a few that were of interest to me. All totalled I bought 16 books for $12. That is impressive if you ask me. For those of you who might be curious about what a guy like me might buy, here is a list of what I bought today.

Colin Thatcher, Backrooms: A Story of Politics

Phillip Knightley, The First Casualty: From the Crimea to Vietnam: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker

Peter C Newman, The Canadian Revolution: 1985 – 1995 From Deference to Defiance

Donald Creighton, Canada’s First Century

Victor Hoar and Mac Reynolds, The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion

Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Rommel’s Desert War: The Life and Death of the Afrika Korps

J. S. Woodsworth, Strangers Within Our Gates: The Problem of the Immigrant – 1909

Allan Fotheringham, Look Ma…No Hands: An Affectionate Look at Our Wonderful Tories

Charles A. Reich, The Greening of America

Farley Mowat, People of the Deer (one of my favorite Canadian authors)

Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us and The Edge of the Sea

Dick North, The Trapper of Rat River (an account of Albert Johnson, the Mad Trapper)

Leon Uris, Mitla Pass (also the author of the book, Exodus)

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Communist Manifesto (I feel the need to know the enemy)

Charles M. Sheldon. In His Steps (the beginning of the phrase, “What would Jesus do?”)

I have been tagged

2006-03-20T15:06:00.000-08:00

Tagged
Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things/habits about yourself. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird habits/things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog. This is where things get different for me though.....you see, all of the people on my list have been taken and I am not brave enough to tag people that I don't know. I will humour Terrin and Becca by responding to their tags and revealling all of my weirdness.

6 weird habits/things about me :

1) Bad experiences in my life trigger odd reactions...for example, I had a bad experience with corduroy pants back in 1983 and I have NEVER worn corduroy since. I have also vowed to never eat a banana again after feeling ill after eating one in about grade six. I don't like to go to the dentist for similar reasons.

2) I hate raisins and do not eat them. Once my friend's girlfriend shoved a bunch of raisins down into my toothpaste. When they started to come out I thought that they were rabbit turds....ewww.

3) I have an uncanny ability to remember things that most people cannot remember. I remember when things happened ten years after they happened. It is a blessing as well as a curse.

4) I feel that people who brag about being able to shower in two minutes need to be taught a thing or two about hygiene.....like how are you able to wash your entire body in only two minutes? It takes that much time to do a good job on the hands alone never mind the whole body.

5) Clueless, naive, selfish, manipulative, controlling, or lying people and those who are all around dumpfkoppen (German for: dumbhead) annoy me to no end....grrrr...but I don't know if that is really all that weird.....maybe I'll just have to add a bonus item...

6) I have blueflammed

*Bonus) When I was a kid I got a big kick out of laying out in the middle of the pasture and when about 30 or 40 cows would be gathered around me looking at me, trying to eat my clothes, licking my face etc. I would jump up and scream and yell and the cows would scare themselves real bad and go running about the pasture and I would sit there and laugh at their stupidity. Ha ha. Stupid cows...I'll eat you one day!

*Bonus #2)Aparrently, according to Becca, I have bad taste in sweaters. This was brought to light the other day when I was wearing a sweater that I purchased in December of 1997, at Walmart's Portage la Prairie Mall location. I think that it is a nice sweater. It fits well, it is warm, and I don't think that it really looks that bad. It is organic green in colour with some white mixed in. I feel that it really isn't that weird that I wear this remarkable peice of clothing. It has served me well over the years...it is very functional. I don't realy care what people think of it. But for Becca I will post about about my green wool sweater as something that is weird about me.

Leavin'

2006-03-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

Great song. This is what I will be doing in April. Maybe I'll get to see Paul Brandt when I am in Calgary!

Leavin’

Paul Brandt

C'mon hurry, ain't no time for worrying
Gotta go-Move on
Just leave the lights on
Grab some clothes set those sights on that
4 lane road, I'm gone
In a truck, in a train, in a car, in a bus
Change my luck, can't stay, going far, in a rush
Got that getaway feeling
I'm Leavin'

Trust me, something better's gotta be right around this next turn
Gonna be just fine, toss the map, don't look behind, push that pedal down-burn

In a truck, in a train, in a car, in a bus
Change my luck, can't stay, going far, in a rush
Got that getaway feeling
I'm Leavin' Hey!
Here I go
Leavin' Ohhh
In a truck, in a train, in a car, in a bus
Change my luck, can't stay, going far, in a rush
White lines, exit signs, can't fly fast enough
Black top, rail way, spinning wheels
Don't stop
Got that getaway feeling
Got that getaway feeling
I'm Leavin'
I'm Leavin'
I'm Leavin'
Wheels don't stop
I'm Leavin' Hey!

Reliving Good Music From the Past

2006-03-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here listening to some really good music from the past and I am willing to say that regardless of their fame I don't think that Third Day sings it like they used to. I will post the lyrics from a few of their songs from their album, Conspiracy Theory, to prove my point.

Alien

I'm what your looking for / No need to search any more / I'm in need of your saving / You can give me hope / Rescue my wretched soul / You are the one I am praying

I am just like the alien / the fatherless and the widow

Keep your watch over me / Sustain the life in me / Frustrate the ways of every wicked man / Let me inside your home / Father defend my cause / Plead for my case and my innocence / Just like the alien, / I'm a stranger in a strange land / Just like the fatherless I am in need / of someone to take my hand / Just like the widow, / I need you right now to understand and
save me.

Won't you save me?

I Deserve

I tasted fruit that was forbidden / I murdered trust that you had given / And now I'm living in a place that's not my home

The pain in your heart made you regret / The moment we spoke, did you forget? / Will my transgressions bring us all to our sweet end?

Maybe I'm just being too hard on myself. I don't know / Or is it that your mercy is much more than I deserve?

Betrayed by more than just a kiss / I did much more I must admit / Instead of letting it all end you bring new hope

The Ultimate Protest Song

2006-03-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Here are the words to the geatest protest song ever....I mean EVER. I think the words to the German version are better yet but I can barely make out their meaning and for the sake of my English only readers I will stick to the English version. It tells an interesting story of a paranoid overreaction by Government in the Cold War.

99 Red Balloons
Nena

You and I in a little toy shop
buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, "Something's out there"
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by.

99 red balloons floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
As 99 red balloons go by.

99 Decision Street, 99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call out the troops now in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by.

99 Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht
Mann, wer haette das gedacht
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons

99 knights of the air
Ride super high tech jet fighters
Everyone's a super hero
Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify
To clarify, and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

99 dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In the dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenier
Just to prove the world was here...
And here it is, a red balloon
I think of you and let it go.

On second thought, I think that I might as well go ahead and post the words to the German version as well. German has an interesting ring to it.

Hast du etwas Zeit fur mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fur dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst du vielleicht g' rad an mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fur dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt

99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hilet man fur Ufos aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'Ne Fliegerstafell hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn' s si war
Dabei war' n da am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons

99 Dusenjager
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
Hielten zich fur Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fuhlten sucg gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf 99 Luftballons

99 Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich fur schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Kring und wollten Macht
mann, wer hatte das gedacht
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons

99 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keine Platz fur Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt' s nicht mehr
Und auch keine Dusenflieger
Heute zieh ich meine Runden
Seh' die Welt in Trummern liegen
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen

Why?

2006-03-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

So the events of the last month and a half have had me asking God "why" a lot lately. I asked Him in a pleading way, I begged, I yelled at Him, I asked nicely with a heartfelt please, I listened, I looked for signs in the sky, I wondered if my dreams meant anything, I wasn't getting anything. This past weekend I spent some time in a truck doing some driving. I started paying attention to what God was telling me. I had some quiet time. Every time I got bored and tried to listen the radio I could find nothing to satisfy my desire for entertainment. I had no peace listening to the radio. It mattered not what I listened to. Country, classic rock, Christian, pop.....no peace. So eventually I just killed the radio and tried to pay attention to what God was trying to say. It was much like the still small voice after the whirlwind, earthquake and whatnot else.

Did God really start to speak to me in an audible voice? Not really. Did He communicate with me? I believe so. What did He say? What I heard was myself asking "why?"....His reply? "I might tell you "why" someday....I might never tell you but that is not the point. The point is, do you trust me? Do you trust Me with your life? Do you trust Me with your future? Do you trust Me enough to spend time with Me aside from your regular request sessions? I am jealous of the time you spend thinking of other people and yourself. I am your God and I want to spend time with you."

So I listened. I spent time with Him and listened some more, I did some talking, I prayed, I worshipped. God and I had some time together and to some it might not seem like a whole lot but to me it was great! The bond I felt with my God those hours on the road between Bemidji and MacGregor reminded me that He is in charge and that He has a plan for me and that that Godly plan is a good one. It is up to me to trust Him and hang on for the ride! It's going to be one heck of a ride!

Matt Damon

2006-03-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Over my semester break I went to a friend's place and we watched two movies, "Bourne Supremacy" and "Bourne Identity". While we were watching the movies, Carl's wife Leanne mentioned a few times that I bear a resemblance to Matt Damon, the lead actor in each of the movies. I was quite flattered to think that I resemble Matt Damon/Jason Bourne but I forgot about the comment until yesterday. I happened to mention the similarity to some people at the bench and they just did not see it. I was mocked (almost as bad as when I mentioned that I was going to watch the East Coast Music Awards). People seemed to think that looking like Matt was not a good thing. I haven't watched many Matt Damon movies but who wouldn't like to be compared to the "Wild at Heart" fierceness of Jason Bourne? I realize that not all of Matt's roles may be manly, who am I to judge that? If anyone seems to think that Jason Bourne is a pussy they really need to read Eldrege's "Wild at Heart". So anyway, decided to do a Google Image search to prove that I indeed do look like Matt Damon/Jason Bourne. I found a picture that should explain that indeed I do look like Matt/Jason and it is not really that bad to look like him. Now if I can figure out how to post the image I will prove it to all of you naysayers.

I have arrived

2006-02-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

Just when I was ready to delete all of my blog posts and give up on the hobby, I have recieved new hope. I have recently noticed that several people have added links to my blob on their blogs. Thank You Brett and Terrin! I also received a very flattering comment on one of my entries. Thank You Terrin! I feel that comments on my entries and then links to my blog on other sites must be a sure sign that I have "arrived"! As soon as I am able to figure this whole blogging thing out I may post a few links of my own on here.

Other than that I really don't know if I have anything of value to write now. I should say however, that after reading my "Friends" entry, it seems as if I have set a high standard for who I consider to be friends. It would seem as if, by my definition of friendship, I feel that there are people out there who don't have any friends. I didn't mean to make people think that they have no friends by what I wrote, but at the same time I really do feel that there are people out there who have absolutely no idea what friendship is all about. That is why I am reluctant to call everyone "friends". While I dislike very few people and I tend to get along with most everyone, I have a tendancy to view many people who I am familiar with as aquaintances rather than friends. That is just a personal thing I do and I hope that no one takes offence to what I said.

Reaching

2006-02-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

I haven't listened to Carolyn Arends for a long time and this morning I pulled out some of her stuff that I have found comfort in the past. She does a song called "Reaching" and the words are pretty good....or that is how I feel about them. Here they are.

There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
But both were out of reach
And later on in my high school
It seemed to me a little cruel
How the right words to say
Always seemed to stay
Just out of reach
I should not have thought it strange
That growing causes growing pains
Cause the more we learn the more we know
We don’t know anything
But still it seems a tragic fate
Living with this quite ache
The constant strain for what remains
Just out of reach

We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for

There are times I can’t forget
Dressed up in my Sunday best
Trying not to squirm and to maybe learn
A bit of what the preacher preached
And later lying in the dark
I felt a stirring in my heart
And though I longed to see what could not be seen
I still believed
I guess I shouldn’t think it odd
Until we see the face of God
The yearning deep within us
Tells us there’s more to come
So when we taste of the Divine
It leaves us hungry every time
For one more taste of what awaits
When heaven’s gates are reached

We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for

Friends

2006-02-07T22:11:00.000-08:00

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother”
Proverbs 18:24

So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about friends and friendship. What is a friend? Who are my friends? Someone commented to me recently that they could really tell who their friends were in the past while. Their friends were the people who didn’t question what they were doing but rather stayed by their side through what was going on at the time. Is that really the mark of true friendship, I ask myself. Is that really what a true friend does?
To answer this question for myself I have to ask myself who I consider to be my friends and what the characteristics of our relationships are.

When I think of friendship I think of something that has taken years to build and mature. Friendship is something that has stood the test of years and trials. When I think of a friend I think of someone who has seen me in the best of times and the worst of times. When I think of friendship I think of those people who really know what makes me tick. To my friends my identity does not depend on what I do with my facial hair. If I cut my sideburns off they might notice but then again they might not. They know me far deeper than what I grow on my face. When I think of friendship I think of those who I consider to be my closest friends. I think of guys like John and Jeff.

Jeff is someone who I cannot remember not knowing. He has always been there. Jeff’s parents moved into the neighbourhood when we were both tiny little babies. I have some very early recollections of going over to Jeff’s place and visiting when I was about 3 or so. For ease of figuring I tell people that Jeff and I have been close friends ever since we were 5 years old in kindergarten. When I was 8 my parents moved to a farm ½ a mile away from Jeff’s and we were now only about a 5 minute bike ride apart. The two of us spent countless hours together those summers growing up and a friendship developed that stands strong to this day.

The summer Jeff turned 18 I was living at my brother’s place helping him out on the farm for the summer. I can still remember my sister in law coming out of the house to inform us that Jeff, along with another friend Bevan, had been in an accident. Not much was known except for the fact that Bevan had died. Nothing was known of Jeff’s condition and whether or not he was even alive. I realized that night how close our relationship was. I spent the rest of the evening praying and worrying about Jeff. It wasn’t until about 11 PM that I received a phone call from our Pastor informing me that while Bevan had died Jeff was still alive and that he was in the hospital being treated fro non-life threatening injuries. Amazingly enough, Jeff escaped the wreck with a few scratches and a broken collar bone and maybe a cracked rib. The relief that I felt, knowing that my best friend was still alive is indescribable.

The next summer, the summer of ’96, Jeff and I spent an incredible amount of time together. While he was dating a beautiful girl, he still as able to make time to hang around with me, his single friend. We did a lot of crazy things that summer. That was the summer that Jeff persuaded me to ramp a BMX into a duck weed covered dugout. That was the summer that Jeff was able to scrounge some last minute tickets to go see Garth Brooks in Winnipeg. We had nosebleed seats. That was the summer we drove our mountain bikes, laden with supplies the nine miles to the Cybula Sandhills. We spent the night out there in a tent. It was a thing of friendship, sharing our time, sharing our feelings, telling each other who we liked and what our dreams were. That was also the summer when Jeff looked at me and said, “James, someday when I get married you are going to be my best man”. I returned his look and told him that he too would be my best man in the eventuality that I got married. Jeff made good on his promise in November of 1998. I still have yet to get to first base, so to speak, but be assured, I have not forgotten. When that day comes and I have to make a decision as to who will sign the papers at my wedding I won’t have to ponder the choice very long. As a matter of fact, that choice was made on an August day in 1996.

Jeff moved on and found a new best friend, namely his wife Sharon and it became more difficult to spend as much time with him as I had before. I now started to spend a lot of time with another friend named John.

I first got to know John when his parents started to send him to the same school I was attending. I was about twelve or so when he made his entrance into my life. We had a bit of a rocky relationship at times but after we both graduated from high school we started spending more and more time together. It got to the point where I was just as comfortable at his parent’s house as at mine. I would almost make a habit of dropping in at his parents when there was a family gathering going on just so that I could hang out with the family. John and I spent so much time together that we could finish each other’s sentences. Each understood the other’s sense of humour.

John is also married now and I had the privilege of standing along side him at his wedding this past August.

These are only two examples of friends that I have. They are not friends from the past. They are friends in the present. They were there in the past and they are here now. I don’t talk to them as often as I would like but it doesn’t take much to get back into things when we do talk. When I look at the characteristics of these friendships I see guys who did stand by me when I was having good times as well as bad. I also see guys who looked at me and called me on the things that I was doing, especially Jeff. I considered him to be my best friend and yet sometimes he would make me very upset with the way he would question the things I was doing. If I have ever met a realist Jeff is the one. He says things the way he sees them and sometimes has taken the risk of offending me by doing this. At the time I usually don’t want to hear what he has to say but after some thought, reflection and prayer I realize that what he has said is true, I just didn’t want to hear it. I have had some of the same experiences with John.

The moral of this story? When times of crisis come, yes, your friends are going to be the ones who stick beside you through it all, but they may also be the ones who look at you and yell, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” Your true friends may very well be the ones who make you angry. They may very well be the ones who don’t seem to understand (or so it seems to you). Your true friends will most likely be the ones who challenge you on the decisions you are making. They will also be the ones who support you in the decisions you make. Your true friends care about you enough to not care what you think of them when they call you on things you are messing up. They care about you enough to warn you that you are doing stupid things. In the end, your true friends will be there waiting for you. I know this because I have friends, and that is what they do.

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother”
Proverbs 18:24

Dating......

2006-02-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

So the events of these past few weeks have returned me to my previous mood of bitterness and cynicism concerning relationships with members of the opposite gender. At times I wish that our society was one that practiced arranged marriages. That would be much easier than this rodeo we call dating and relationship.

I found some humourous insights into the whole world of relationships on a guy's blog. His name is Daniel and I have never met him or even talked to him but I find what he has to say to be a little relieving at times. Here is the link to his blog. Check out his writings....they are titled....."Dating: A Guide For Cynical Men" Parts One to Four

http://http://rmfo-blogs.com/daniel/2005/03/16/dating-a-guide-for-cynical-men/

http://http://rmfo-blogs.com/daniel/2005/03/17/dating-a-guide-for-cynical-men-part-two/

http://http://rmfo-blogs.com/daniel/2005/03/24/a-cynics-guide-to-dating-round-three/

http://http://rmfo-blogs.com/daniel/2006/01/12/a-cynics-guide-to-dating-part-the-fourth/

A Few One Liners I Found

2006-02-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

Guests who kill their talk show hosts. On the last Donahue.
9 out of 10 doctors say the 10th doctor should mellow out.
“Alex, I’ll take ‘Things Only I Know’ for $200″
All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.
An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys.
Corduroy pillows - they’re making headlines!
Death called while you were out, so I gave him your pager number.
Help Wanted: Telepath. You know where to apply.
Sheep don’t fly so much as plummet.
“My greatest fear is that no one will remember me after I’m dead.” - some dead guy

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

2006-01-31T11:12:00.000-08:00

Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Sleepless In Brandon

2006-01-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

So it's about twenty after one in the morning and I am having a hard time sleeping. I mean, I can't fall asleep at all. This really sucks.

Here are the words to a song by Caedmon's Call. I feel like posting them because they have spoken to me in times past when I was in similar situations to what I am in right now.

Table For Two
Derek Webb

Danny and I spent another late night over pancakes
We talked about soccer and how every man’s just the same
We made speculation on the who’s and the when’s of our futures
And how everyone’s lonely but still we just couldn’t complain

And how we just hate being alone
Could I have missed my only chance?
And now I’m just wasting my time
Looking around

But you know I know better, I’m not gonna worry ‘bout nothing
‘Cause if the birds and the flowers survive then I’ll make it OK
And given a chance and a rock see which one breaks a window
And see which one keeps me up all night and into the day

Because I’m so scared of being alone
That I forget which house I live in
And it’s not my job to wait by the phone
For her to call

This day’s been crazy but everything’s happened on schedule
From the rain and the cold to the drink that I spilled on my shirt
‘Cause You know how You’d save me before I fell dead in the garden
And You knew this day long before You made me outta dirt

And You know the plans that You have for me
And You can’t plan the ends and not plan the means
And so I suppose I just need some peace just to get me to sleep

"My Heart Strings Come Undone"

2006-01-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

Here are the lyrics to a song by the band, Demon Hunter. It's called "My Heart Strings Come Undone". It's a pretty good song.

It's buried deep within the past , I hope it doesn't last
It's something I already chased, I already chased
I try to give it all away, but it's never gonna fade
It's something I don't wanna face, I don't wanna face
I know you feel it's all the same, but I promise that I'll change
It's something I already chased, I already chased
You know I'm trying to believe that you're never gonna leave
It's something I don't wanna face, I don't wanna face
There's nothing left! The fear is gone
Oh, my heartstrings come undone
I will wait for you, pray for you
Before I make my final run
I will stay with you, decay with you
I know I'm not the perfect one, the pain has just begun
It's something I already chased, I already chased
You bring me to a better path, it's everything I asked
It's something I don't wanna face, I don't wanna face
There's nothing left! The fear is gone
There's nothing left! The fear is gone
Oh, my heartstrings come undone
I will wait for you, pray for you
Before I make my final run
I will stay with you, decay with you

2006-01-22T19:07:00.000-08:00

"It's not you, it's me"....nuff said.

My blog: revisited

2006-01-18T20:19:00.000-08:00

So I realize that I haven't posted anything on this blasted blog for a long time now and even those posts aren't worth mentioning. I have been reading other people's blogs and I must admit that I am jealous. Brett has an absolutely hilarious blog, Becca's, is very....deep. How can I write anything that is half as good as these other's blogs? I am just not that good. So anyway, I was talking to Becca this afternoon in SUDS and was lamenting the fact that I have nothing to write about. Someone mentioned that I should write a story. I have no idea why, but the first thing that entered my mind was to tell stories about my experiences with effluent, you know, the animal kind. Having grown up on a farm I thought that I would have a lot of stories to tell about it. Well, needless to say that idea was shot down by all who were within earshot. It seems as if stories about crap, and a farm boy's experiences with it just don't make interesting reading for most people. I thought that I could have some real fun with it but after some thought I do agree that most people don't want to hear my barnyard stories. That led to (*editor's note - it was actually Laurel N who suggested the Freudian slip theme, my apologies to Laurel for not giving her the credit*) Becca sugesting that I should create a list of all of my Freudian slips. I do have quite a number of them but I can't remember very many of them and those that I can remember are sort of inside jokes and only those present at the time of the slip would be able to catch the humor in them. I mean, how many people would catch the humor in me asking someone if they wanted my girdle cakes? I meant to ask if they wanted my "griddle" cakes but I simply mispronounced the key word in it all. I could go on and list some more of these gross errors but who wants to read about that? Simply put, I really don't have anything to write in a blog. Hopefully if I try hard enough something will come to me and I will be able o say something earth shattering in my blog and will be able to see the world changed through what I say. Ya right!

2005-06-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

So here I am again. I've been having some difficulties in posting. I have been trying since after the first post and wasn't able to find a way to post until I realized that somehow I have two blogger accounts and that I was signing into the wrong one!! Stupid me!! Be assured that I will be posting sometime soon.

My first blog...ever!!

2005-06-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is the first time that I have ever ventured out into the world of blogging. This post will probably be a half hearted attmept at writting something, so don't be expecting great things here.

See, I told you so!!!!!