Funeral, and Family

Today I got up, went downstairs, grabbed my clean dress-clothes out of the dryer, and proceeded to get ready for a funeral. It was a funeral for a lady whom I met twice, Florence Strom. She was 97(!) when she passed on. Apparently (as I learned during the service) she was an amazing woman. Hearing about her life gave some meaning to me before reading some selections at her service.

I was asked to read Psalms 23 (at the funeral home), and the Baha’i obligatory prayer for the deceased (at the graveyard). If you don’t know (as I didn’t), psalms 23 is the “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” one. All I could think of last night was:

Which was hilarious, but also made me feel like I was being extremely inappropriate. On the bright side, I’ve decided to include a clause in my will that states that my siblings have to perform a rendition of gansta’s paradise after reading this psalm….and that Nadia has to be the main rapper (as she knows the lyrics by heart, and kills it live).

Also, I discovered that even though the Baha’i obligatory prayer for the departed is the only congregational prayer, there is still no repetition by the crowd! I was under the impression that congregational meant one person reads something, and the congregation responds, but apparently not. So I read this prayer, out in the bitter cold, and it’s LONG, but it was nice. I actually felt like it was really fitting for the occasion. (Funerals kinda force you to consider mortality, especially in relation to yourself. What do you think happens after you die? And if you believe in an afterlife, what do you think it’s like?)

Then we had a traditional Norwegian smorgasboard (mostly fish and potatoes), I socialized with some peoples (and received suggestions that I explore a career in radio), and then went and played chess.

The afternoon was focused on the visit of Ted’s nephew, Darren, who came with his wife and two kids from Kelowna. I got home, changed from ultra-dressy to jeans and a T, and cleaned-up and organized till them peoples arrived. They have a daughter named Emily as well, so there are 2(!) Emily Glabushes running around the Okanagan.

Here’s what the second one looks like:

Who's that? It's Emily Glabush le deux. Also note the de-carpeted floors underneath her feet. So nice.

The night was joyous, and once again, family is jes wicked.

Fullsome Prison

I’ve been whistling this tune for over a week. I don’t want to over-analyze the meaning, but my mom’s convinced that I’m feeling confined and need to bust out. who knows?

my, what big truck you have!

in other news, I saw a truck.

not the most exciting of news, I know, but the guys was from Alberta – which made its out-of-context-ridiculous-unnecessarynness comprehendable (note: I just invented two words).

My aunt and my grandma cook gigantic family dinners on alternating Fridays, collectively ensuring that no one in the extended family loses weight. Regardless (or because of this?),I really enjoy attending. It is nice to see the family for sure once a week, and catch-up on the goings-on. Sometimes they go overboard, such as this past friday, where we find Aunty Flo serving 3 desserts to already full guests:

Some kind of tiramasu-ish thing.

Pear pie with ice-cream

Baked Apple

I know, my life is full of difficult decisions. I give you one guess as to which of these I ended up eating.

A view from the top of the stairs, down into the gutted livingroom.

Today was good! I’ve realized that since I don’t have a job, or study at school, the days of the week mean nothing to me. So today I continued with the flooring project, ripping up carpet and foam in the living room, with the assistance of my mom and Em. It’s fun to rip old stuff out and replace it with the new…though we’ve yet to put all the new in. The room that we first did looks great ( pics in earlier posts), and I’m looking forward to the beautification, and de-allergizing of the house.

Speaking of the room we did (which is the one I sleep in). I walked in the room after a shower, only to find a great mystery on the floor. You’ll never guess. Ok, try then. See? It was a feather.

Mystery Feather!

My mind, as many minds do, immediately jumped to ridiculous conclusions. Sarious, the first thoughts I had were: “did a bird get in through the window?” (there are no birds with these feathers around here, and, the window is/was closed); “did a mouse leave a feather that it had found behind?” (because, as everyone knows, mice make nests or something using bird feathers), and, “did nutmeg kill/find a dead bird, and then leave behind a feather in my room?”

i mulled over these meager options as if there was no other explanation in the world except them. I changed, and left the room, feather in the center, still confused – only to notice one key piece of evidence on the way back in: the pillows. Yeah, unbelievable. how did I miss the most obvious explanation? Amazing, how such a light feather can weigh so heavily on a mind.

Today was exciting for more reasons! My cousin Munir ( a genius by trade), read older posts on the blog, and was really supportive of my making an interactive Whiteboard – going so far as to show me the available technology presented on a TED talk. I intend to make one soon.

Also, MIT has course materials available for free online! There must be plenty others – so \I think the plan now is to aggregate the freely-offered course ware from various places, organize it by class and field, and then see if we can start finding willing online tutors and request certification from the government! Will be great! University enters cloud computing for reals. Maybe our slogan can be “Wherever you’re going, keep your head in the cloud”. Or maybe I should just bite the bullet and enter the advertising world.

em displays the pooper-scoopers she found, along with her dedication to 'poop-hunting'.

We went out for lunch, and em found these twin scoopers in the store. She actually got so excited about getting scoopers made specifically for picking up poops. She was terribly disappointed that we didn’t outfit ourselves with new “poop-hunting” gear. I laughed on the inside, I laughed on the outside, I ate a soup and sandwich, and drank a cappuccino.

I finished my first free-lance writing project, and have moved on to finishing the course on critical and creative thought for UniED. I’m pretty new to the world of curriculum development, but designing games and activities, and really thinking about how to communicate ideas is make me excite!

So far, I only have a small database of activities, and some initial ideas for the course, but I plan to grow that into 24 hours of class time by the end of the month. Wish me luck! (or post suggestions, I am down for input).

Also, what does it mean when you’re attacked by a beast in your dreams? I’ve heard a few people now recount tales of recurring dreams of being attacked by many and varied ferocious fauna (lions, tigers, bears, etc.).

Justice

Justice is never understood

Justice is unappreciated

Justice is trodden underfoot

Justice is cast aside

Justice is disregarded

Justice is bought and sold

Justice is a plaything of the ignorant

Justice flees from corruption, and corruption is everywhere

Justice demands fairness

Justice demands equality

Justice is always on my mind

Justice is blind

Justice is in front of my eyes

Justice is dissected

Justice is desecrated

Justice is enslaved

Justice is starving

Justice should be celebrated

Justice is trapped

Justice is the vessel of grace

Justice is sidestepped

Justice is bypassed

Justice is looked-over

Justice is the basis of peace

Justice is an exponent of beauty

Justice is hiding everywhere

Justice is silent everywhere

Justice is powerful

Justice can move men

Justice is a woman.

Novembre le 17

I am excited by the continued streak of productivity!

today saw:

The demolition of the hallway flooring.

A visit to the medical lab to give some blood samples.

Dropping off a tool for Ted.

A visit to the bank.

Denny’s with some friends.

Acquisition of new socks! (thanks to a friend, who very graciously shopped for me).

The playing of chess and drinking of earl-grey.

 

Kian studies his options.

Not sure if you can see, but somehow my queen and bishop made their way behind enemy lines...right to the throne.

We played about 4 or 5 games, very evenly trading wins. Strangely, when I won, I really won well, and well when I lost, it was pathetic! (obviously the same is true for Kian)

The truck refilled with gas.

The shopping done.

The clothes washed and folded and put away.

The freelance project updated (only minor edits left!).

The Writings read; the prayers said.

So, not too bad for doing stuffs. However, the day didn’t see:

The exercise done (!!) (seeing as this is only a shameful day after a resolution, I’ve decided to ensure I get it done before sleeping tonight!…since I’m not counting the demo work – I barely broke a sweat.)

Any job application sent out.

Any master’s applications sent out.

Any curriculum written.

Any lyrics written.

 

I’m still ok with the day…we’ll see what tomorrow brings – hopefully I catch-up!

 

Return of the Mummy

Two cooks are better than one.

So my mom got back from Toronto yesterday, ending nearly 5 weeks of less-than-excellent dinners. Not to knock Ted’s cooking skills or anything, but the reality is that my mom’s got that business down. For example, under her instruction, I crafted a delectable dinner. And under her own instruction, and of her own volition, she crafted chocolate cupcakes and a chocolate cake (pictured below). Of course, it’s nice just to have the moms back, regardless of whether there is cooking involved or not – I swear!

In other news, I went to le Docteur for a full physical assessment, and received a clean bill of health.  I have to get some tests done (including a stool analysis!! – the double exclamation marks here represent the number of stool samples), but I feel alright, so they should be fine, right? A good chunk of my time with the doctor was spent discussing Cambodia, my feet, and how well I carry my weight. I am a big man. His nurse/assistant weighed and measured me before he saw me, and he was surprised that I weighed 220 pounds. I told him I was also surprised, since that number had been substantially lower in Cambodia. He told me, as many people do, that I was lucky  to have such a large frame, but that I needed to get into exercising a bit everyday (but that, in all honesty, I was all-right. Haha). Ted also went to the doc yesterday, and basically got the same recommendation. I related to a Ted a dream I once had where I went to a doctor (for so long I had not seen a doctor, that they came to give me advice in my dreams ), and the doctor said all I needed to do was work-out and all my little difficulties would disappear – Ted then derided me for ignoring the advice.

I have made efforts since that time to be healthy and do some working-outs, but really I find myself lacking motivation, since life is usually so sweet. How often we need desperate or extreme circumstances to be jolted into action! haha, I’m determined not to allow myself to drift into the  folly of the masses with big asses, and put regular exercise back into the daily schedule (it was there in Cambodge for a while, I swear!). I’ve recently managed to solidify a daily spiritual routine, so hopefully I’ll find the routin-ization of 200+bpm physical activity easier now. I find it easier when there’s a point besides being ’slightly healthier’. Indeed, sky and I had a cholesterol-filled heart-to-heart, wherein he indicated that he didn’t mind being fat, it was just the man-boobs that detracted from the whole experience. I vehemently agreed.

I went down to the Lumby health foods store today, ate some excellent Hungarian goulash, and played the part of proud dog-owner for around 2 hours. Everyone loves Nutmeg. For serious. Random strangers had to stop by and pet her and buy her treats, and compliment me on her friendly nature, and beauty (as if I had played a part in either). I’m sure this is a result of so many people treating dogs as their children, and society learning to respond in kind – not to insult Nutmeg’s disposition or looks.

Interesting times in the Okanagan. As promised, here are the pictures of chocolate.

Two cooks are better than one.

“mom chef” and her creation

cupcakes on cupcake plates

iced iced baby, duh-nuh-nuh nuhnuhnuhnuh

I sing, you sing, we all sing, for icing. perhaps I should be in advertising after all.

Ze cupacake maker

ze cupacake eater

Also, em has some new dance moves.

The end of the world

So I have a friend who works at the local theater, and he can get us into movies for free. So far, we’ve abused this privilege to watch “the men who stare at goats”, and “2012″. The first movie was hilarious, and a great juxtaposition of the hippie-era quest for peace against our current soul-deadening apathy. Today we watched 2012.

The movie is ok. I thought they would get into actually saying something about the fabled ancient Mayan prophecies, but they didn’t. The movie is essentially a shallow treatment of divorce, set to the background of a cataclysmic restructuring of the earth’s crust, oceans, and polarity. The most exciting part was that we got to see it for free! and, the lamp for the projector burnt out halfway, so they called an intermission, gave us free popcorn, and a free-movie pass each. My buddy Jace, realizing his immanent departure, and already close connections to the cineplex crew, decided to bestow his free pass upon me – bringing today’s total fee movie count to 3! I kid though, the movie has some cute bits, some funny bits, and some swet special effects. The desire of the writer/director to have the cast so closely escaping danger with everyone else dying right beside them soon became annoying, but it was kinda cool to see cities getting ripped to shreds.

I don’t think there’ll be such a rampage by nature, in fact, I’m not even sure if I think the “end of the world” has a physical referent at all.  Still, I wonder, what do YOU think the end of the world will look like, and why?

Also, I got to rip out the carpet on the stairs this evening, which was quite fun. There’s an interesting tool that Ted has called a “red-devil”. For the life of me I couldn’t understand why he always had to have it, but the more work I do, the more I realize this tiny, flat, crowbar-with-holes-in-it is second only to a hammer in it’s usefulness in indoor trades work.

What it be in lumby

I learned how to put in hardwood floors!

I have been enjoying bouts of productivity, alternately working on hardwood floors, writing a course for UniED, and completing a freelance writing contract!

Em is still crazy and hilarious, and has become so attached to being “little chef”, that she is insulted if she is not integrated into the cooking of meals. We’ve been clearing out the fridge, freezer, and pantry, creating meals out of nothing! I’ve been learning a lot of little simple cooking things – how to roast stuff so it doesn’t burn in the oven, how to make “just-right” porridge, how to make pumpkin soup out of a pumpkin, and on and on. Lumby seems to have more time available than in big cities, so I find that I have time to keep abreast of current events and the world news, as well as maintain my regular reading of interesting books and Holy Texts. I’ll admit that I’ve come very close, about three or four times now, to writing some social commentary blog posts – but I find my writing breaking down when I do! For example, after completing my degree, I felt I should write about my concerns of the lack of standard in Psychology – and how reliance on mean behaviors as a standard is compromising the field…but i soon realized this needs to be done over like 2 books or a giant PhD – and even Lumby doesn’t have enough time for that!

Emily explores architecture

Then there’s architecture. Em got this ingenious little game that’s like manual Tetris. It’s actually quite simple and entertaining. Essentially, you are given sets of pieces to work with, and have to try and make squares or rectangles out of them. It’s called Katamino, and has inspired us both to be architects. I once had a CRAZY dream, where my life played out before me: I got married, had kids, lived on an island, fought with my wife, and ultimately, became an architect. The coolest part is that I remember the designs for the biggest project. It was a ginormous building that was self-contained, and was a prototype for housing on the moon! haha. So maybe I’ll go into architecture and design moon housing…or maybe Em will, who knows?

Art lessons form the master

She may also end up, like Ted’s first son sky, being an artist. She draws and colors several pictures a day, and she really shows signs of steady improvement (without the aid of instructors!). Here I caught her getting a rare lesson in drawing skills from Ted, who is himself an accomplished artiste.

Besides these activities out of which daily life in Lumby is made, I’ve been living another life on the inside! It’s unreal how people can transport themselves to different times and places and situations in their own minds. Internally, I’ve been visiting and revisiting 19th century Persia. The Bab wrote incredible works, and I’ve been reading what I can find translated into English, as well as reading stories from the history of the Baha’i Faith. It’s really interesting, and refreshing for my soul! Between stories from the fierce early believers of the faith, and the current civilization-building perspective of some Baha’i writers, I’m drawing loads of inspiration to act for positive change up in this humpity bumpity. The positive motivating influence of religion is astounding – even when I just look at my own life! And what other people see as the destructive influences of religion, are, in my opinion, perversions of the spirit of religion; abuses of belief which religion evinces in the hearts of people.

The pharaoh beard progresses.

Though my mother despised my beard, I’ve decided to throw all caution to the wind, and just grow for it. aha..ha. Till next time,

PEACE!

Wouldn’t it be cool if…?

Recognizing that I live in a bubble, and am likely years behind the brilliant minds of our times, I still get excited about new ideas as I discover them. So here is a place where I’ll share some of that with whoever’s down.

 

First, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a site or program or something called iDea? I envision a site that collects any and all ideas that people have. It could have a text-restriction like twitter, and people sign-up as well, so that urbody knows who they are, and who submitted which idea. Then, we sell the ideas to companies. Right now, lots of companies are relying on people to do this for free, but we can take back the value of our thoughts and innovations! Of course, I envision it working somewhat like a company itself, with the profits redistributed to every member of the site. This could only serve to encourage more to join, bringing in more minds for more ideas.

thoughts?

 

Then there’s cloud education. I like what wikiversity has done so far, but it’s too convoluted, and hard to access. I like as well what moodle is doing, but somehow feel the deal needs to be broader. Probly the future of distance education will be a mixture of wikiversity and moodle – hard unchanging content, with live, active rooms which link educators to students. I’m sure there’s an easy way to compensate the teachers. I was thinking about this before, but when I saw a friend of mine post on the wall of another friend (who happens to be his professor) asking if he could submit his assignment on facebook, I realized how close we are to being able and willing to make something like this happen.

 

Then there’s whiteboards. I know. I like whiteboards for doing work – and I wanted one that was all digitalized. Apparently these exist, but I want one like you see in movies,where the people stand back and move their hand around, and that moves the text/object on the screen. Between current whiteboards/computers, and the Wii, I think it should be possible. I just find the idea incredibly attractive: waving my hands around as I always do, but being able to organize my thoughts externally while doing it – brilliant!

November Eighth

Eighth is such an awkward word, it must be a misspelling.

Following the general trend of the last few months, I have been increasing my productivity, and maintaining an attitude of learning. All of which I’m excited about. My fear with any self-induced, self-changing projects is that they are bound to fail in a few weeks (if not days), and then I come to a realization months later that I had not manged to maintain a change. However, I’m very excited about the prospect for the future, as I’m getting excited about learning any and everything, and still maintaining focus on the those things I’m keen to focus on. (Why the sustained changes? I’m not sure – but I’ll def be posting some ideas if they occur).

Example: today, I learned a great recipe for waffles; worked with Emily and Ted to clean up the backyard (including more “poop-hunting”); taught Em some fire safety stuff as we burnt some deadwood; did some dishes; did some laundry; learned how to rip out carpet (and tomorrow will learn how to install hardwood), and read a bit from the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The day isn’t even close to over, and I’m already pumped about just doing things! Haha. There’s something really pleasing about finishing tasks, even if they’re not on a list (though I find that adds to the sense of accomplishment).

On the down side, I’m in Lumby. lol. No, really, I’m kind of in limbo – still not having a job (besides occasional work with Ted), and unsure of when or where I am going. It’s a strange (mental) place to be in, but it’s still pretty cool. I feel a bit like an undifferentiated stem-cell. Of course, at any moment now I’ll take the leap and be something, but as of right now, who knows?!

Just thought I’d drop some random introspection before we roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire in the backyard.

Peace!

intention is nine-tenths of the law.

Yo!

I been had sick. I am muchos betteros, and enjoyed my flu-sickness downtime by meeting a bunch of Ted’s family visiting from out east, and playing Civ IV. While the latter was a monumental (epic?) waste of time, it was still a great nostalgic episode, and I never pass up a chance to be Ramses II, or  Ghandi.

(side note: I can never win this game by going to war, I always research new technology, create wealth, and spread cultue, until I am either elected head of the UN, win a cultural victory, or win the space race. In fact, I often gift my technology to my neighbors, so that we maintain good enough relations for them not to attack my always feebly defended civilization. I like to think I’m still testing the application of the revelation of Baha’u'llah on a social reality – even if it is a fake one! I know, ridiculous!).

On a more real (though still non-physical) note, I’ve been contemplating life, and would like to throw some ideas out here. You know ‘the secret’? Yeah, it’s not true, especially the way they market it. BUT, there is some truth to the concept that we ‘get what we want’, and ‘find what we seek’. I’ve come to believe that In a large way, it is very rare to find something of value that you are not looking for. I mean, I’ve seen people (unnamed friends and family) have opportunity and bounty shower down on them, and they fail, incredibly, to not only grab it, but even to see it! I’m sure I have as well, but, owing to my blindness, I couldn’t see those times now could I? I tend to have a pretty bright and optimistic outlook, and for this reason, I’ve never really considered life to be hard. In fact, I’m always having a (reasonably) good time. This is hard for many people to swallow. But it’s true! I even had an ex girlfriend who claimed that I could be homeless and penniless and still think that everything was fine! (ironically, I was both without a home, and terribly in debt at the time) However, the important point is that my perspective (God bless it and sustain through my life), has kept my optimism high, even while my expectations are low. I really wish I could share that with people. I find many people suffering (in my eyes) unnecessarily – torturing themselves with either crystalline expectations of an unknown future, or general pessimism (which is itself the Slayer of Joy).

So, in conclusion, to be happy – you should first want to be happy. Of course, I don’t know the invisible, and likely complex path that a mind must walk to re-frame its vision from pessimism to optimism. However, I think we can safely assume it involves airy-fairy things like “thinking happy thoughts”, and “enjoying the moment”. Ok, enough pseudo-psychological pop-philosophy for tonight. I swear my writing will improve in the future (since I am working towards it, thinking happy thoughts about it, and optimistic of my ability to develop better writing skills, while simultaneously not having high expectations for each piece, nor worrying incessantly about the possible negatives ).

Good night!