fall madness!

i didn't want to post another update because that would move the photos of branwyn down the page and she's just too cute to do that... but i guess you can always check out the most recent photos of her on brier and shawn's blog so maybe it's time for me to post something.

i am currently procrastinating from writing two rather large research papers for my human rights class and my international relations class. they are both due thursday, and i am halfway through one of them. that leaves quite a bit of work to do yet, and likely a number of late nights, but it's only like this about once a semester for me so mostly i just have to suck it up. the photo at the top has been the scene of the kitchen table for the past three days now. i think i sat in the same chair yesterday for six hours. with mom and dad being in africa visiting brandon, the house has been pretty quiet and i've been able to sprawl everything out. and play guitar at midnight to give myself a break from writing. on that note, however, i managed to get a blister on my thumb from strumming last night, and it's not making typing all that comfortable, which is unfortunate since i still have so much typing left to do... needlesstosay, once this week is over, i'm almost entirely clear until exams! and then florida for christmas!! i can hardly wait... and i can hardly believe we're already thinking about christmas... it seems like just yesterday it was hallowe'en. speaking of..........

wayne and garth! er.... heather and robyn?

hallowe'en this year was a blast. it always is, but this year, clearly, heather and i had fantastic costumes. so fantastic, in fact, that we won "best female costume" at the annual halloween barn party. not sure of the numbers, but there had to have been nearly 200 people there throughout the night... the decorating was phenomenal (black light/neon-themed) and the band/dj/dancing was so fun. always a good party; this year was exceptional. and the costumes! check out the website (by clicking on halloween barn party above) and from there you can go to the photos section. goodtimes. and, for a cause! proceeds were sent, for the second year now, to brandon in africa, where he finds a worthwhile use for them.

this year at school i ran for one of two political science department student rep positions for my year. you get nominated, then the students of your year vote, and two people get selected to sit in on departmental meetings and be the voice of the students in their program/year. well, after the vote there was a three-way tie between me and two other nominees, so there was a revote, reminiscent of florida in 2000. in the end, after a false-alarm scandal, i lost by one vote to another guy. i'm over it, but it would have been fun to get the position. speaking of voting... really exciting stuff in the states on november 4th. pretty cool to have been there for it. and by there, i really mean watching the festivities on tv all night long. here's a fun link.

and let's not forget, today, the end of WWI 90 years ago, and all those who fought, then, and who are fighting now. my opinions on war are mixed, but that does not negate the sacrifices made, and being made even now. one thing i do know is that if we do not remember, we are in more danger of repeating history. lest we forget...

well, it's probably about time to get back to writing these papers. sigh.

my niece!!

for those of you who don't know my sister, or just haven't seen photos of my ridiculously cute niece, i have decided to aid you in this extremely important matter by posting some (stolen) pics of branwyn leigh minor so you can understand just how adorable she really is.

babies, classes, guitars.

i don't have adventures here in the niagara region quite as exciting as gorillas and volcanoes in the congo or having babies in saskatchewan, but i have to try and keep up with my ever-increasingly cool siblings somehow. my more and more infrequent posts here on blogspot will have to suffice for the time being.

school, year 2, has officially started. i was definitely ready to start after a summer of working two jobs and having the majority of my friends away working at camps and wherever else. (i should interject here and say that the summer wasn't all work and no friends. i had many good trips to toronto to hear newworldson with friends, discovered some fantastic restaurants here and abroad, and spent a week plus two weekends up north at various cottages. no complaints here!) the atmosphere in the early fall at university is so... enthralling. i don't know quite how to describe it. it's a feeling of almost endless opportunity. i always feel so optimistic and motivated at this time of year. this extended summer weather has put off the crunching leaves and smell of drying foliage, but it is no less wonderful to walk down warm pathways to classes that i look forward to, with people i actually know in them from last year, whom i can correctly refer to now as friends. the prospect of long papers and lots of french grammar homework have yet to tarnish this idealistic image, but i imagine that will change. especially as the weather does actually start to cool off (which i am definitely not looking foward to...) this is why i decided to spend the extra cash and get a zone 1 parking pass, limiting my cold walk to and from my car!
there isn't a whole lot yet to say about school, except that rick mercer and belinda stronach were here last week launching their "spread the net" campaign, (hence the photo. just proving my story. rick mercer actually IS quite short, tv doesn't lie) which sends insecticide-treated bednets to families in africa to combat malaria. a good cause, and some great advocates. i am also beginning the process of setting up a year of study abroad for next year, which i hope will take me over to france for the 09/10 school year. very exciting!

the most exciting news of today is that brier and shawn may become parents today, which also means that i may become an aunt today! as far as i know up to this moment, brier went in at 8am her time to start the process of inducement, and today could be the day it all goes down. over there in meadow lake, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. boy? girl? we shall soon know, which i am partly looking forward to for the reason of buying gender-specific baby clothes!! and for the more obvious reasons, obviously! but really, buying mini-clothes for a niece or nephew is way more fun than buying clothes for oneself!

OH i almost forgot, i bought a guitar! i've been taking lessons from joe orlando since may, and i'd been playing on borrowed guitars for the past two years, so i thought it was time i used my hard-earned money to buy one for myself. it's quite pretty. it's a simon and patrick acoustic, spruce and cherry wood, and has pickup. i'm quite taken by it (ha), and it sounds beautiful. i broke my first string the other day, inaugurating the guitar into my official possession, and have already been asked to lead worship at church. so, here goes!

not much else of interest at the moment. mostly i'm justing waiting for my cell phone to ring and find out that brier is in labour. and i have to get to class too. so, that's it for now folks. happy fall!

midsummer days

i sat down to update, but i don't know what to write. nor do i have any pictures to add value. i will do this later, perhaps. now i'm going to bake cookies.

breathing fresh air

aunt betty, amongst others, tells me that i don't update my blog often enough. this came about after we were telling brandon he's not very good at updating his blog (which, thankfully, he claims he will be better at this time around in burundi). the problem is that i don't really have much interesting going on, and really, who's to say that my life is worth writing about over anyone who doesn't have a blog's life? i mean, who cares? but apparently some people do care, and so, when i feel inspired, i will concede. it does feel nice to be cared about, after all! :)

brando, hanging out on the niagara escarpment

since school has finished i thought things would slow down a little. in fact, they haven't. but it has been a good busy, and a really good time for me. brandon arrived safe and sound, and although he and cassien were quite busy much of the time they were here, brandon and i did get to spend some time together and he got to spend time with friends and family and even relax a little, i think. it was so good to see him. i think i will be able to remember what he looks like and what his voice sounds like for the next year and a half, or however long it is until i get out to burundi (here's hoping for next summer!!). i've picked up more hours working at the credit union, and, as alluded to in a former post, i did get that serving job i mentioned, at "about thyme bistro," in vineland. i've only had two shifts, and i love it already. the food is fantastic, it's a great atmosphere, and i anticipate learning a lot of about food and wine while i'm there (and hopefully make some tips to subsidize my income). please come in for lunch or dinner, i promise it'll be worth it! (we're open wed. to sat. lunch and dinner, and sun. dinner).

on saturday i attended (and also emceed) my good friends eric and danie's wedding. it was a really great time. here is a photo or two:

wedding party (photo cred: rob nowell)

playing operation (photo cred: rob nowell)

explaining the kissing game (photo cred: rob nowell)

the happy couple!

lately, with a bit of time to breath and think about things other than my next paper due, i've been able to keep up with world events a little better. i know i'm a polisci major, but with only one year under my belt i claim no special understanding of global politics, although i do find everything political much more interesting and diverting than i used to. but the situation in east-asia--the cyclone in burma and the earthquake in china--is just heartbreaking. i sit here, appalled at the burmese junta's response, and at the sheer amount of fatalities for both catastrophes, and wonder what can be done. perhaps nothing on my or our part, except prayer. it's not likely that i will be able to jump on a plane and get out there to help rebuild or distribute supplies (and in burma i wouldn't be allowed to anyway), but really, my heart actually breaks when i read the articles. i wonder what good it does, then, to be aware? compassion is always a good thing, but in my situation it's not doing the victims any good. i was talking with a friend today who hadn't even heard about the earthquake, and it likely didn't make much of a difference to her when i told her about it. i don't have any answers, and i'm not even quite sure what i'm trying to say, except that i can hardly contain my desire to DO something about it. i know i can't control natural disasters, but surely something can be done about governments that can't or won't even help save and protect their own citizens?! do i have to wait until i've got my degree before i can even start thinking about getting "in there" and trying to change the world? am i hopelessly idealistic? perhaps...

well with all that being said (as i sit here drinking my over-priced, large-coffee-chain beverage, typing on my expensive laptop in the comfort that i know to be my privileged first-world life), i am off to continue enjoying my privileged life while pondering the complexities and disparities of the world. what to do, what to do....

la liberté!!

i am done. like, done-done. oh man, bring on summer.

optimism

well my first year of university has almost come to its conclusion. exams start in two days, end on the 23rd (annoying, i know), and then it is freedom for me!! i cannot believe how fast the year has gone by; somehow the speed of time always catches me off-guard. this summer i plan on doing a lot of reading in the hammock, which isn't really a new resolution. i'll be working at the credit union, and perhaps part-time waitressing somewhere, but i haven't heard back from the place i applied yet. the most exciting and recent news is that brandon is coming home!!!! i haven't seen him in almost two and a half years, so i am more than excited. it's only too bad i've got three exams in three days right when he arrives. mais, c'est la vie!

i have learned a lot this year, and not just academically, although very much has been learned in my classes (not the least of that being: i love political science, but do NOT want to be a politician...). the biggest thing i am still learning is that i cannot do this on my own strength, no matter how hard i try. somehow my human nature tries and tries to take control back from God and make my own path the way i think it should go. it is a lesson i perpetually relearn that this is a futile option, and the consequences can be heartbreaking. there is a lot to be said about remembrance, about remembering what God has done in the past and using that as an anchor when we forget--as we most certainly do. He does always provide, and He has never let me down before, even if His provision does not come in the way I had hoped or anticipated. indeed, one thing i can anticipate is that the ways of the Lord are mysterious....

and so, as a new day rises and this fantastic weather brings out the best in people, i look forward to another season, and of course respite from writing papers. hope you're all well and enjoying the sunshine. after a winter like we just had, weather like this makes me feel like anything is possible and everything's going to be alright. maybe that's not so far from the truth.

cheers

the dance

Anil moves in silence, the energy held back. Her body taut as an arm, the music brutal and loud in her head, while she waits for the rhythm to angle off so she can open her arms and leap. Which she does now, throwing her head back, her hair a black plume, back almost to the level of her waist. Throws her arms too, to hold the ground in her back flip, her loose skirt having no time to discover gravity and drop before she is on her feet again.
It is wondrous music to dance alongside—she has danced to it with others on occasions of joy and gregariousness, carousing through a party with, it seemed, all her energy on her skin, but this now is not a dance, does not contain even a remnant of the courtesy or sharing that is part of a dance. She is waking every muscle in herself, blindfolding every rule she lives by, giving every mental skill she has to the movement of her body. Only this will lift her backward into the air and pivot her hip to send her feet over her.
A scarf tied tight around her head holds the earphones to her. She needs music to push her into extremities and grace. She wants grace, and it happens here only on these mornings or after a late-afternoon downpour—when the air is light and cool, when there is also the danger of skidding on the wet leaves. It feels as if she could eject herself out of her body like an arrow.
Sarath sees her from the dining room window. He watches a person he has never seen. A girl insane, a druid in moonlight, a thief in oil. This is not the Anil he knows. Just as she, in this state, is invisible to herself, though it is the state she longs for. Not a moth in a man’s club. Not the carrier and weigher of bones—she needs that side of herself too, just as she likes herself as a lover. But now it is herself dancing to a furious love song that can drum out loss, “Coming In from the Cold,” dancing the rhetoric of a lover’s parting with all of herself. […] Her weeping comes easy. It is for her in this state no more than sweat, no more than a cut foot she earns during the dance, and she will not stop for any of these, just as she would not change herself for a lover’s howl or sweet grin, then or anymore.
She stops when she is exhausted and can hardly move. She will crouch and lean there, lie on the stone. A leaf will come down. Its click of applause. The music continues furious like blood moving for a few more minutes in a dead man. She lies under the sound and witnesses her brain coming back, lighting its candle in the dark. And breathes in and breathes out and breathes in and breathes out.

[Michael Ondaatje, Anil’s Ghost.]

another epic storm

i didn't feel like going outside, per se, to take photos, so these from the window will have to suffice. we got a lot of snow. oh my. but with this sunshine, the roads and the rest of life will be back to normal in no time. winter is such a curious thing.

rip domino

domino was a great cat. the greatest kind of cat. not only did she live for a long time and catch many, many mice, but she made countless other families happy with her offspring. i found her this morning laying motionless on the garage floor. i knew she was dead because it was freezing outside and she would never lie there in this kind of weather. it was sad. she really was a long-time companion of the thiessen family, and the rest of the inhabitants of cherry avenue, for that matter. i expect the mouse population to skyrocket this summer...

reading week and beyond

see here for a more detailed description.

the smaller stack of papers and books on the right side of this photo were all things i had hoped to get through, at least in part, over the reading week break. on the whole, this was not accomplished. (and yes, the majority of all the books in this photo have been purchased for school) somehow the week passed me by and all the things i intentioned to do just, didn't get done. which is why i locked myself inside yesterday and did homework all day. to be more truthful, i'm halfway through two of the books in the stack and i've read all of the printed articles there as well. so i'm not completely lost. but seriously. today marks the threshold of the time of craziness. my first essay of four is due tomorrow, and i won't even bore you with the other things i have to do. all in all the break was great and much needed. and i was able to celebrate my birthday before today since being in school until 9 tonight isn't all that conducive to a birthday.

in other news, brier's pregnant! woooo!!! which means, as i'm sure you know, that i am going to be an aunt! and that, my friends, is much more exciting than anything else i could possibly write about so i'm just going to leave this here and try to get some work done. cheers!!

snow storm two

snow storm number two; i survived again. phew. it was a close one, i must say. but this time the temperature was higher and the winds non-existent. that does a number of things, not the least of them being that cherry avenue was turned into a white and intoxicatingly beautiful wonderland for awhile. it's weather like that that helps me appreciate winter. (for a couple days, at least. then i go back to grumbling...) even shoveling wasn't so bad when it looks that cool. i walked up the street, it was about 10pm.... silence. no cars, no people, no dogs barking. crisp coldness, knee deep snow and this insulated muffled feeling aided by tree branches drooping low with the weight of the snow. but i digress. check out the photos, there are more on flickr. they're okay, i wasn't trying very hard and my camera battery was complaining with the cold.

school is in full swing again. i'm looking ahead to march with much foreboding...everything is due that month. but i still really love it. (a good sign, methinks) my new class, which is taking the place of my wines class from last semester (i was sad to see that one finish), is canada and the global community. it's very interesting, i really like it. despite the fact that two research papers due around the same time for my two polisci courses is a big deal of work, i'm looking forward to writing them. (weird!) in other news, i was in a small play recently. well, more like a scene. it was for a 4th year drama student's project called "justified scenes." my cousin kahlin is in the class and told me i should audition, i did, and one of the girls in the class cast me. for the project, they're given two separate sets of movements for two characters, and they have to write a script around the movements that makes them make sense. she decided to do this over-the-top dramatic soap-opera parody type comedy. it was actually hilarious and so much fun. the audience was roaring and i had a great time. it reminded me how much i love acting... not sure if that's for better or worse!

well it's about time to get to class. i think i've wasted enough time and money at the starbucks here at school for one day. until next time then.