housewives...

oh my! lynnette, bree, susan, and gabrielle! It is great to be reunited!

:)

I must say, the drama on desparate housewives is so fabulou s-- not quite as out of control as your average soap opera, but still scandalous enough to be a guilty pleasure.

Fabulous-o.

again, unrelated pictures:

THIS IS my beautiful sister and her friend Taushif.


Jonathon. Beautiful man.


Bentalls. Best faces ever.


"Oh...I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair..."


I like to dance, and I like to sing! Do-do-do-do-do!

hollerrrrrrrrrr.

Sooooooo today in computer science there were a handful of people who DIDN'T SHUT UP for the entire 50 minute class. 50 minutes of lecture + dumbass classmates. GAH!!!!

Ew.

Top 3 reasons why I didn't like high school:
1. people talking in class.
2. I used to sweat a lot.
3. cafeterias.

In other news, I need 5 programs, 1 masterclass, and 6 songs to complete the studio component of my semester. AH!

Also, my hair looked pretty fabulous tonight. And also, I've been re-rocking the red Old Navy jacket I bought in fall 2002. It's pretty hot.

Here are some unrelated photos:


me in my garage fridge.



my fabulous friend ife.




this is anna. isn't she gorgeous?




my sister elizabeth. all grown up AND she plays violin.




my blue room in the land below sea.

sur le weekend...

Friday

I brought my camera to our opera concert (Girls' Night Out) and the batteries died. The only picture I got was this:



Dee and Tyson also left me this little love note (they had their own batteries):


(We Heart Melinda)


(MUMPS!! [U of L is in the midst of an outbreak]).



Saturday

Shannon, Lynnae, and I drove up to Calgary to see 'Across the Universe' and Verdi's 'Rigoletto'.









Sunday

I drove myself to church in Crystal's car.
Mary-ann and I had lunch at her house, then we headed to the mall where I bought some awesome new jeans.

thinking about the world...

Nobel prizewinner, Gabriella Mistral, put it this way:

“We are guilty of many errors and many faults but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer 'Tomorrow.' His name is 'Today.' It's time to respond to the millions of helpless children who are homeless, exploited, and abandoned.”

I made a website!

As a computer science 1000 student, I've been required to make a website with a program called dreamweaver.

It's pretty amazing.

Prepared to be changed.

new radiohead -- in rainbows.

AH!

I'm not sure how to express this...just that I'm so glad I stuck with Thom and the boys through Amnesiac and Kid A (both of which I enjoyed, btw), because now...OH THE GLORY OF 'IN RAINBOWS'!!!!



and downloaded for free!? = even better.

what is pumpkin honey?

I came home from BC with my red rain coat and my plaid lulu hoodie (thanks to Ben for surrendering it), and a new scarf -- ivory with black stars.

On Friday, me, my family, and zoe went to Tadia's Birthday Hootenanny -- dancing and eating good cookies ensued.



On Saturday, Ben and I ventured out to H & M in Coquitlam Center, then we headed to the Binghams' for some awesome times. Then, we captured Mikael and brought her home for dinner. Then, Mikael and I rented some movies, and Zoe came over, so all the kids watched "RIZE" (a movie about cool kids in LA who krump instead of doing drugs).

Phew.

On Sunday, I was late for church, then we all went out for dinner (hello, white spot). Then, the kids went downtown, where I spent $56 at Kiehl's, and bought Lizzy some lulu's with my gift card. Then, the Abby Appy clan joined us for turkey dinner.

Phew.

ON MONDAY, I had breakfast with Katrina B. @ Cafe Deux Soleil on Commercial. Awesome. I had the breakfast Sundae. Next time, I'll remember that they make it with plain yogourt, and get an awesome omlette instead. Then, I went home and me and the family and zoe went to a pumpkin farm. Well, it's more than that, but pumpkins dominate the pictures because it's fall. I bought 3 kinds of honey, and 2 organic artichokes.















Phew.

Then, I flew back to Calgary, where Mariah picked me up @ the airport. Then, we went and got dee from IKEA, and drove home to Lethbridge.

YOWZAAA!



Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll.

the profundity is unwitting...

"doing is not the same as releasing. you cannot make 'let go' happen."

-- laurell anderson, Alexander Technique instructor.



The things this woman said about the voice and the body and the whole kinesthetic system absolutely blew me away.

For me, it was using more energy and resistance to create, define and engage each phrase -- such a simple answer to a seemingly impossible question.

For another, it was letting go of active tension to find true opposition and balance -- the voice which flew, spun and danced its way to freedom was breathtaking.

These teachers, Alexander and Reid, must be geniuses. They've discovered methods that work for everyone -- methods of movement and song that call out a response to the body's natural rhthyms.

It's so much easier than we've made it out to be!

The resounding answer must be, "yes! I've found it! I'm home, at last!"

you'd think I was talking about Jesus or something...

let's think about this for a minute...

I was sitting in masterclass on monday afternoon, and I zoned out and started thinking about 'the voice'.
As an instrument, there isn't really a true model of how it works. Every other instrument involves some kind of mechanics, maneuvered by one's hands, or feet (via pedals), etc.
The voice is created by the movement of 2 delicate membranes in the larynx, moved by air...the body is the resonator.

It's a very natural action or movement, but as a musician, it's kind of tricky when you try and compare your learning the voice to a brass player's learning the trumpet or trombone...

Hmmm.

Singers unite...eeeeeeeeeee...

icy bikes and white tea.

friends.
deanna and i had planned to drive to school together today, but alas, we both awoke to shower at 8am, and she beat me to it. i had breakfast and made lunch while she steamed herself awake, and by the time i was squeaky clean and wrapped in a towel, she was ready to go.

so.

i rode my bike to school.

'but melinda', you ask, ' wasn't it minus something icky overnight?'

why yes it was. which is why i scraped the ice off my seat before i hopped on and pedalled my way to academic glory.

thinking ahead, i packed my travel mug and a bag of white tea in with my lunch. and so i sit, enjoying the warmth of slightly over-steeped white tea, as i laugh at my often ridiculous albertan existence.

here's to icy bike seats and white tea mornings.

love,
m.

adventures in canoes and trespassing skills.

first, tyson and i had to buy the food to feed the leaders on our canoe trip.

this is tyson, asking luc what we should buy -- he didn't know, and neither did dave (aka "boss man"), so we didn't buy any -- me and deanna went later.




oh, did i mention that this is about our canoe trip? well, now i did.
off we went on Saturday morning to canoe our little hearts out, down the Oldman Riv-- oh, down a creek....

canoes in the creek.



then, we portaged our canoes up a hill, over a gate, across the highway, down a hill, over a barbed wire fence, and FINALLY -- to the river.

portage part 1.

i am not happy about this 'adventure'.

trespass...moi?

over the gate (beside the big, blue, trespassing sign...)

portaging on the highway!

FINALLY! the river.


stay tuned for part 2!

1 deer, 2 deer, 3 deer...girls?

Tonight, I went for a walk with Super Skakes and Mariah. We walked to a park just a few blocks across University Drive, where there is a ... truly Southern Alberta style sign posted.

(The Sign reads: A Kiwanis Club Park. A place for handicapped kids to be healthy, and healthy kids to be happy. gah).

Anyway, we took a little star-gazing break, enjoying the early fall sky. We heard a couple walking through the park, the man of whom was saying, "Look, they're lying down -- there's 3 of them."
Sunddenly, we realized they were talking about us!
As they walked closer to us, the man again said, "Look, there they are, 1, 2 -- "
And I said, "3!"

He laughed, and said, "oh, it's 3 youth!" and the woman said, "oh, we thought you were deer!"

!!!!



They thought we were deer!?

Wow.

Best! walk! ever!

what up homeez. [as i type the 'save now' button gets bigger - - how strange is that!?]

friends!
I am in my chaplaincy office during my first office hours as a student chaplain for ECM. I've had 2 visitors so far, one of whom was my friend Natalie, and the other of whom was a music prof. Weird.

I'm not always a huge fan of these 'update on my life' posts, but I thought I'd do one just for fun. Also, I've got a few fun posts on the way, and if I tell you about them now, it's more likely that I'll actually post them.

...

I just had my 3rd and 4th visitors! A girl named Lisa needs me to bring some music to school for her, so she and a friend stopped in to remind me.

Phew.

What a crazy day it's been.

summer randoms.

this is kevin and evie's wedding. or rather, me at it.



i bought new shoes! so i decided to go for a walk and test them out.



me and andrew snyder. aren't we cute?



this is me and justin nichols. also cute.



wait'll you see the whole neon outfit!

2 stories.

1) the other day I was at work, and one of our guests (ie. customers) had taken off her black lulu zip-up to try on another, and she misplaced hers in the process. We looked for it, but couldn't find it, and so she left the store without her zip-up. TEN MINUTES LATER...superstar Steph found the zip-up, and I ran out the door, into the busy Robson street stream of shoppers, looking for our mystery shopper in order to return her zip-up. Acting on instinct (as she'd had 2 children with her) I ran into Gap Kids, found her children, and returned the zip-up to them.

My reward? Props from my floor manager, a chocolate almond bar, and a box of crackers.


2) Last night (Friday) I watched this documentary, about a militant student organization that was active in the 60's and 70's. It was intense, intelligent, intriguing, and sickening. The film looked at the history of the group, its activities, and the current lives of the former members.
There's a little scene of an orgy (maybe fast forward through that, or just listen to the voice over -- it describes the feeling of utter anonymity and disconnectedness that came from this 'sexual freedom'), so heed that warning before you watch it -- but if a sense of horror or helplessness overcomes you when you hear about the things western governments and corporations perpetrate across the third world, or if you desire to understand why extreme protests happen...watch this film.

love!
melinda

keats, keats, keats!!

keats camps ---

my first time on this island, my family was spending time with family friends who have a cabin on the island.

after that, i came up as a camper in 1997.
in 1998 i did level 1 of the camp's leadership training program, MTD.
in 1999 i completed the leadership program, and worked in the kitchen as a volunteer "deckhand".
in 2000 i was a first mate and a deckhand.
in 2001 i was a first mate and a skipper.
in 2002 i came home from ywam, and visited keats for a couple of weeks.
in 2003 i worked as half of the deckhand director team.
in 2004 i worked at an icecream shop and visited keats during staff camp.
in 2005 i worked in the kitchen as an assistant cook.
in 2006 i worked at stanley park and visited the camp for 4 days.
it's 2007 and i'm working at lululemon, and visiting the camp for 3 days.

that's 10 years folks! 10 years!!!! a small lifetime and so much of my heart and energy have been wrapped up in this place, that it's hard to ever walk away.

it's a beautiful place, with lots to do, and usually enough good friends around to make the experience feel full of love and nostalgia.

hmm..sort of a directionless post, but i wanted to let ya'll know what i've been up to.




dancing!!!

5!

5 great moments from the last 36 hours.

1) luke and ang haythorpe!
2) recollecting ywam with friends who were there.
3) 2am swim @ ambleside with jason, brend-er, katrina, luke in the water, & bj watching from the beach.
4) worship invasion @ locarno. oh, sweet tears of relief.
5) getting home @ 1.45am with a fullness in my soul that overflows to a voracious satisfaction.

uh...what?

aaron and megan, wonderful friends whom I love, invited me to their wedding on august 11, in Fernie BC.

It doesn't look like I'll be able to go.

other dear friends were married closer-to-home this past weekend, but I was not invited.

so...

that's lame.

I don't know what it is about weddings, but as a friend, you just want to be there! so not being able or invited to go are equally devastating situations.

*sighs*

that was all for now...

nyc and beyond pictures to come!!!

woodsong!

q: what could be better than a music festival in the woods?

a: playing at a music festival in the woods!

q: what could threaten to dampen said wood-bound music festival?

a: RAIN!

q: what failed to dampen the spirits of woodsong participants this weekend?

a: that same RAIN!!!

q: what did dampen them?

a: RAIN!!! and SWIMMING in the LAKES!!!



ok folks. woodsong was fantastic. if you can come next year, do!

umm...

i love the rain?

summer. finally!

tonight i came home and ran through the sprinkler.

yay.

i think i love this city...

central park resevoir.


the 80 year old, world-famous cyclone.


me post-cyclone.


andrea post-cyclone.


i love the met!


bethseda fountain in central park. and me.




times square...almost.










world trade centre site.