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.

big apple moments.

hiking the hill up to fort tryon park's cloisters with m&d and andrea, for some take-out chinese and sunset.

riding the A train downtown and seeing a young black male fixing his hair for the night out -- a precious moment of needing quiet reassurance from his reflection in the window that everything was lookin' good.

mom and 4 kids on the train, each pulling out a book to read once they sat down. big shiny apple tranquility.

strawberry fields.

central park!!! bathesda fountain. beauty and artistry in otherwise simple architecture.

water.

elizabeth's beautiful apartment, and our full-of-life dominican neighbours.

more to come friends. more to come.

"oqoqo" -- i dare you to say it 10 times fast!

I worked @ oqoqo today -- lululemon's sister.store & "culture" line. Phew. We made in the day what lulu makes in an hour or 2 -- it was crazy. Beautiful clothing, all organic, but it just doesn't have that huge commerical "NEED THIS" push yet -- not like magic lulu.

there's a book in our store library called "tipping point" by...malcolm gladwell? I think I'll check it out -- it's about what creates a trend...what is the tipping point.

yeah yeah.

so I went to a pilates class this week, where there were 2 students -- wow, it was almost a personal one-on-one class...fantastic! best pilates class ever. I loved it.

the next morning I went to a 7am "stret & release" class -- intense deep tissue massage style stretching. gah. I could hardly move for 2 days.

THEN I bought a digital camera -- $100 @ XS Cargo in Richmond. And 3 1GB memory cards for $50 @ bestbuy -- hollaaa.

I have no money left for nyc, but I have a camera to take pictures?

hello!

hmm...i have trouble getting up in the morning if i don't absolutely HAVE to get up.
so...going to the gym, doing errands, cleaning my room -- none of these things move me to get outta bed!

*sighs*.

that happened today.

home again, home again.

soo....i sprained my wrist at keats. no joke. tara, this one wasn't your fault at all.
but anyway...i'm back now for 6 days of closing shifts at lulu-- gah.

i'm not into all this shift work/commuting downtown -- the city life is not as romantic as i thought...

but maybe if i sleep more and eat veggies i'll be happier.

love
melinda

yo.

i'm at keats, rockin' the kitchen with jessica delnea.

it's pretty rad...because i have no responsibilities.

umm..

yep.

disputation?

i was 'given' a speeding ticket (so-called) on may 12, 2007.
i was not asked to sign said ticket upon receipt thereof.

question: is said ticket thus considered null and void?

let's hope so.

:)

from a book i'm reading. mmhmm.

Music is the art of time, pure temporality abstracted from word or concept.
Time as experienced by God and only guessed at by man - rhythm and cadence, variable and pliant as air.
Music is what you hear whenever you really listen.
It can be as rapid as an infant's heartbeart or as slow as the earth's crst wearing away. And music is the art that stops time.
Playing music, you are too far inside time to measure it; caught in the vortices of sound, you cannot fathom whether one hour has passed or two.
You are only playing towards, not from - towards the unattainable, the ideal performance.
And after that performance what else can there be but silence?
Music is the art that seeks its own extinction.

portable tunes.

25!
mp3 playaaaah!

check it out:


(mine's red to match my cell phone and mini-flashlight).


today was really fun. and i hate to say that facebook is the best, but 50+ wallposts to say happy birthday, love, good wishes etc (legit, even though you are reminded upon sign in) led to some feelin' the love today.

:)

this year:
lots of new songs.
sustainable sleeping patterns.
super fit and healthy.
travelling the globe.
hanging out with my zen.
less procrastinating.
more lulu.
love.

and other things to follow.

night!

yoyoyo!!

it's friday.

i trained at lululemon this week.

good times.

stretchy black pants? i am your expert.

yikes!

i'm packing up my life to take it home.

to my other home, that is.



ooh boy.