distasteful and unethical

Distasteful: A 6"x8" full-colour and almost photo-like upper arm tattoo of 2 pieces of sushi, a mound of wasabi, a pile of ginger, and 2 crossed chopsticks. (Seen on a woman on the bus.)

Unethical: This sentence in a mail promotion for the RBC Platinum Visa Card: "Even though you may already carry one of more other credit cards, you should not hesitate to accept this card." The rest of the advertisement was geared towards people who are already in credit card debt. I hope the people who plot these schemes of ruination live to regret it.

comments of congratulations and awe are in order

First of all: Come on, people! I counted 11.6 MILLION daisies and I get no comments of congratulations or awe?!?! Seriously, you blog readers need to get your comment priorities straight. =)

This post will contain three lesser feats worthy of congratulations and awe. Yesterday I played my first Ultimate game of the season. We were two really well-matched teams, and although we were in the lead for much of the game, in the end we did not win. But it was fun. In this game, I did no less than three cool things. I like keeping track of these things because usually I only do about one cool thing per game, and doing cool things makes me feel really cool.

Cool feat the first: The other team was about to score the first point of the game when I came out of nowhere and knocked the disc down mere inches away from its intended catcher.

Cool feat the second: I had been very convincing in my role of "tired and slow girl" (convincing because it was utterly true), so the person who was supposed to be covering me got lazy and started trailing behind. I saw my opportunity, raised a hand to ask for a pass, and when Aaron threw it into the endzone I sprinted and caught the point! Their defense had no chance.

Cool feat the third: I successfully made one of those nifty foot-dragging catches where you can catch an out-of-bounds disc so long as one of your feet is still on the ground in-bounds. I'm not sure I've ever done that before!

fun in the sun

Last week I saw a dog that was so tiny and skinny that when it was walking towards me (with some sunshine glare behind it) it was practically invisible. As I passed the dog, I was surprised by how large it actually was, at least in terms of height and length. It was like that CBC kids' show Slim Pig.

Today Aaron and I went to the beach, and there was a very large grassy area near the beach, and it was COVERED in little daisies. I thought maybe there were 1 or 2 million daisies there. After some rough estimation (which included counting the daisies in a representative square metre, and pacing out the size of the field), we concluded that there were in fact more like 11.6 million of them. Isn't that amazing?

the curious incident of the woman in the subway

I'm back, the wedding was lovely, and a good time was had by all!

Here's a story from last week: Aaron and I were walking into a subway station when a woman started her song-and-dance.

"Do you have a loonie? I just need another loonie to get on the subway, the guy won't let me in if I don't have exact change."

I said no and kept walking, but Aaron decided to give her a subway token. There was a brief pause as we waited to see if she'd give him the change she already had in her hand, but she didn't, and Aaron shrugged and moved on. A few minutes later, we got on a train, and the woman got on the same car as us.

"Good," I said to Aaron, "at least she actually used the token to get on the train like she said."

After one stop, the woman got out of her seat and started walking along the subway car in our general direction. She asked the passengers on either side, "Do you want to buy a token?"

She actually made it all the way to the guy sitting next to us. When it seemed that he was going to buy it, I spoke up and said, "Excuse me. We gave you that token. I hope you put it to good use!"

She went back to her seat with her boyfriend and got off at the next stop without making eye contact. Aaron and I joked around a bit with the guy who almost bought our token.

So here's the thing: The woman was obviously ashamed of being caught in her tricks. I really do hope that she was ashamed of lying to well-intentioned people and taking advantage of them. That's why I said what I did. I think I was still feeling angry about an incident earlier in the month where I had been pressured into giving someone a bus ticket, and I felt I had no polite way out of the forced conversation but to give it to him.

But I hope this woman didn't think I meant her to feel shame for being poor and needing to beg. That was not my point. I just wish she would have asked for money if that's what she really wanted, instead of swindling people.

I have not vanished

I'm in Toronto, being consumed by pre-wedding madness. I'm a bridesmaid and the MC for my brother's wedding! I'll return to posting soon.

things I don't understand

After reading the most recent issue of The Mennonite, the church periodical I receive twice per month, I have discovered that I really don't understand two issues.

Firstly, I don't understand why young adults are leaving the church. Everyone seems to agree that we're losing people after they graduate from high school, but nobody seems to know why. Sometimes people ask me what I think about this issue. I don't really know what to say, because I didn't leave. I don't know why young adults leave the church. The only thing I can think of is that maybe they don't understand very much about church and/or the Christian faith, and expect it to be something that it isn't, and somehow find it irrelevant. But I haven't got the slightest idea why, or what could be done differently, because it all worked out just fine for me.

Secondly, I don't understand what the barriers are to women in ministry. I don't understand this because I have never experienced any such barriers. Ever since I was a young teenager, I have been encouraged by many, many people to take leadership roles in the church. Most recently I have been pestered by many, many members of my current church to apply for the newly-open youth pastor position. I have little doubt that I would be the number one candidate if I had decided to apply (I didn't). I am constantly being encouraged and invited to lead worship, preach sermons, serve on committees, and other such things. I have no doubt that I would be encouraged and welcomed in pretty much any ministry venture I could think to participate in.

So when I read articles about these two issues, I really don't know what to think, say or do, because I do not have the personal experience necessary to truly understand what's going on. I feel myself to be lacking in insight and understanding in these matters. I would very much welcome comments on this.

Finally, and almost unrelatedly, I do not understand this garage sale sign I read today: "Moving Sale! Everything for sale and more!" How does one sell more than everything?

update

So, I'm still working like a maniac, but let's not dwell upon that. It's fun, but very tiring.

I miss all my other blogging friends who are not posting so much anymore. I'd put a guilt trip on you all, but I've only posted once a week myself of late, so perhaps I shouldn't.

In a week, I get vacation! I will be going to Toronto to celebrate my brother's wedding. I get to be a bridesmaid AND an MC at the reception! This week I need to put the finishing touches on my dress. I am very, very much looking forward to the visit with family and friends, and of course the big day itself. As far as I know, everyone is quite pleased with the Tobin+Meghan matchup, and I am certainly happy to gain another lovely sister!

One of the girls from our church youth group has asked me to be her "conversation partner" as part of her baptism preparation class. I took her out for lunch today, and it was very fun. I feel so honoured that somebody has chosen me as a role model! Her mom came and talked to me in church today as well, and said that she was very happy with her daughter's choice as well. Affirmation feels good!