Oh yeah.... pics from the Cirque

Here's some images from Cirque Du Soliel.

The first one is of Kyla and I last year at Corteo.

This year we went to Delirium and the best part was when the lady was raised to the roof and her skirt became a giant skirt and then the dancers danced under her skirt like a shadow show.

And then they put up poles and the skirt became a circus tent, and then everyone danced under her skirt and it was insane!!

And so fantastic

Downtown Rollerblader Dude

So, one of the things I like about living in big cities is when strangers become familiar.

It's a no brainer in a small town, but when you're in a big city - it's really fun.

Like in Beijing there was this one corner that we always drove by at quarter to 7:00 in the a.m. that always had the same guy squatting there.

And the fruit sellers in the market, and the phone card lady across the street from the school, and the pancake crepe sandwich couple in the market, and the dodgy restaurant server.

In a city of 14 million where sky scrapers are raised daily and others are torn down it's nice to have something in the landscape that isn't forever changing.

I've found my constant here in Edmonton.

I work downtown right off of Churchill Square at the Art Gallery of Alberta. I usually park at the edge of China town and have to walk through China Town to get to work. I do this to avoid steep parking fees.

China town is the dodgy area of town where all the homeless people live, and the Chinese. But I can't really figure that one out. You know... what is the sociological explanation for that?

But almost everytime I go to work there is this guy roller blading at top speed down the same street I'm walking down. He's either going the same direction as me, but he's usually coming towards me.

And he always looks really happy.

You see, the odd thing about this is that I really shouldn't have a constant when I go work downtown. I always go to work at different times in the day because I do tours and the tours always start at different times. So I don't know why I always see him. Maybe he is a little crazy and that's what he does - just constantly rollerblades around the block.

Maybe he's the crazy downtown rollerblader dude that just gives 'er all day long. Maybe he's on something and that's why he looks happy. Maybe it's just the endorphins (sp?).

Who knows. I really want to stop and ask him what he does but he's always going too fast!

I want to join the Circus!

I went to see Delirium this weekend on Saturday night. SPEECHLESS! ABSOLUT -STINKEN - LY SPEECHLESS!!!

I HEART CIRQUE DU SOLIEL!!!!

This is the second Cirque show I've seen and both times I just want to just pee myself I'm so in love with it and so overjoyed!!!

I seriously think heaven is going to be a lot like Cirque du Soliel.

I get seriously saddened and when I think that heaven might be all white and everyone will wear white shapeless gowns and strum on harps. Slghtly too gentrified for me!!

It's going to be this amazing visual artistic feast of dance, acrobatics, costumes, make up, and music.

God will allow the pure full extent of human creativity to create a worshipful envioronment for him.

And it's going to be this giant fantastic joyful Mardi Gras or Carnival and everyone is just going to be celebrating and dancing and swinging from the cieling and doing flips.

And the drums will be going crazy.

And we'll all be half naked but we won't even care because it won't be about stealing lustful glances and imagining what others can give us and what we can take from them sexually.

And all around us images of beautiful and deep colorful things will be swirling about.

(however the whole package will be purposefully worshipful and,unlike Mardi Gras or Carnival, it will not be about the lusts of the flesh - small but important detail)

But the creative and joyful elements will be there.

I was going to post pictures but will tomorrow because it isn't working right now.

Hmm..... Stuff

I finally obtained some of the photos from our weekend retreat that we had a few weeks ago. Here's one of myself rock climbing and two pics of two different kids repelling.

What else is new with me....

Hmmm.... still trying to get everything done for my job at church in fewer hours. I no longer have the luxury of working a theorhetical 27 hours but actually working 40 hours. The art gallery job is forcing me to cut back.

Last night I hosted again at the art gallery. There were a few dishy little art observers there last night. I guiltily admit - I did target them and as I facilitated discussion about the art work - I decided that this was my date night.

No one knows but me that it was a date night - not even my dates.

I'm sneaky that way.

Ouch

I had a good long prayer time today. You know how when you study or give Bible studies on prayer there is always that really huge emphasis that prayer is not a formula, but then they give you a formula.

Hey, I've taught this to others myself.

It's not a bad thing, I guess we just know our tendency to never be balanced. And it is important that prayer have the balance of praise and listening and petitioning, and confessing.

However, when it comes down to it, on some days there is no balance. Today as I prayed the world was so broken and I couldn't help but just spend the whole time begging God to heal and guide and comfort.

And as soon as I thought of one more person in my life who needed God's blanket of protection around them, I remembered two more - and so on and so forth.

Life hurts, and I know so many people right now that just have pain, death, illness, struggles with loneliness and inadequacies. So many people are struggling with faith questions. Big questions about truth and purpose. There are just so many hard questions with no easy answers. Sometimes truth and hope can't be found in words. They can only be found by God's spirit of truth or comfort just encompassing their heart. Knowledge and comfort can't be found in logical rhetoric.

Family Pictures

Yup - today we took family pictures. Good Times.

Akeelah and the Bee

So my parents are here for Thanksgiving. It's been fantastic. Saturday I didn't work at all and Monday (today) I am not working at all either.

Anyhow, for Thanksgiving lunch we went to The Olive Garden and I had Steak. It was so exciting. Then I couldn't move for the rest of the day. My stomach is very unused to processing red meat, so then I suffer. But I love red meat.

Last night we rented a movie. Always risky business when with family. It's most important it's a story line with little jumping back and forth for mom's sake. It must have enough human interest so mom doesn't fall asleep. It also has to be fairly clean or mom will be dramatically exclaiming with disgust " Sex and Violence!!!!!" through out the whole movie.

So we bought a 1/2 litre of Kit Kat icecream and we rented Akeelah and the Bee.

Oh man - it was so touching. I seriously was teary through the whole movie. The teacher in me couldn't think of anything much more touching than a kid from a disadvantaged school winning a spelling bee.

I think the last movie I cried like that was when I watched Whale Rider in Australia. That's only because a Maori kid riding a whale is almost as touching as a kid from a low socio economic back ground winning a spelling bee.

The good thing about being teary (ok - being in "full-out tears") through the whole movie was at least I was with my family. All of them were in the same state as I was.

We are a highly empathetic openly emotional family. Not in the scary way where you're scared to go to family gatherings because everyone is going to go wingy and postal on you. Just in the way where everything is just terribly touching like on Oprah and no matter what happens you'll get sympathy from someone.

Art Gallery of Alberta

Yesterday was Monday. I really wanted a day off, but now my days off are kinda filled with gallery work. Which won't take as much time as soon as I have my scripts and my art history for this show mastered. But for now it takes a bit of homework for at least an hour before I go to work. And then getting there and back also takes time because it's downtown. So even though I'm not getting paid for a lot of hours, I'm working full days to do small hours.

And for a new job it's not too stressful just because I already did gallery tours for a year in Saskatoon, plus I've taught high school for 4 years (ok - 3.5 years), so I'm pretty good at doing the song and dance for kids in art galleries and making it interesting and engaging.

But last week I was so harried with getting ready for this youth camp out/kick off that I took the kids on that I actually forgot to show up for a shift. Well, my boss called me 15 min before my tour was to start in an absolute rage. I showed up the exact moment the kids showed up and I did a fantastic tour and the teacher told my boss I was great.

But, seriously, I've never forgotten a shift in my life. If I was my boss I probably would have fired me. So, yeah, I'm in my boss' bad books. But I don't think he wants to fire me because I am really good at it. So right now that job is stressing me out because I know I screwed up.

Yesterday I had to return the mini van that I rented for the youth kick off weekend. I luckily found where it was down town with out getting lost. Then they drove me to the art gallery. Then after my day at the gallery I had to figure out how to take public transport home. So I took the subway and the bus and it only took 1/2 hour. So I'm pretty excited now that I know how to take the bus for the icy roads days that will be coming up soon.

My gallery work was interesting yesterday. I was the model (clothed/not naked) for the first two studios. They were learning figure drawing and drapery so I also got to wear a white sheet over my clothes. So that meant I posed for three hours for Jr. Highers. I had fun joking around with them and they were a really great group.

The best part was when the Jr. Highers left I was saying bye to them at the door because I was waiting for my studio group to arrive. Then some of the 9th grade boys told me I was an amazing model and looked like a goddess. Hilarious!!! And I'm sad to say that those are the only male compliments I get because I rarely get to hang out with guys over 15 yrs old, but I'll take any compliment I can get some days.

Then my studio group arrived. They are composed of 10 home school kids ages 5 - 12. They are fantastic. Every Monday we do an hour tour looking at paintings and then an hour studio making art.

Scalping For Jesus

The above picture is about the Corn Maze - a previous youth event that I wrote about below.

I'm always a bit behind with this blogging thing. Well, it's cuz my goal isn't to be daily and punctual, so who cares.

But last Sunday night was another episode in youth ministry. I had bought 30 tickets well ahead of time for this concert that was happening because they were 7 dollars cheaper than buying them at the door and I thought for sure the kids would love to go to this and I'd have no problem selling these tickets.

Well, I finally convinced 19 kids to sign up. Then last minute 10 of them backed out again and I was left with 21 tickets to sell or make the church eat up all of that loss.

I was a bit stressed.

So I went early to the Aliance church and I sold 19 of my tickets at the door!!! I was so proud of myself!!! And, it wasn't technically scalping because I didn't sell them for more than what the concert was selling them for at their doors. I was selling them for 15 and they were selling them for 20.

The concert was pretty good, but I was a bit bitter for being there. I was offered a free ticket to The Phantom for that evening from someone in our church, but I couldn't go because I had to go listen to Christian Screaming Bands with a bunch of teenagers.

But then I kept it in perspective - "Hey! I get paid to go to concerts with cool fantastic kids" And then I thought - "Yeah - that's cool"

And I tried really hard not to think about "The Phantom" all night long.