roses, prayerwalk

mission accomplished.


god is good.

plus, i sat on top of a van.

don't look.

this is a photograph.

things i learn

in vancouver, there are many interesting things, and many interesting people.

and many interesting facts!

here are some of them, i have learned these:

Greenpeace was started here.

Vancouver is divided into a bunch of neighborhoods -- East Vancouver (East Van), North Van, etc. etc.

Instead of 4-way stops, they have a lot of roundabouts.  Much like I imagine in Britain.

Vancouver wasn't built at all to be a motorized-vehicle-filled city.  The streets were built for bicycles, so at rush hour, traffic is crazy.  Especially because there are almost no advanced greens, for those left-turners.

Vancouver is totally overpopulated.  Yeah, so a lot of houses have like, 3 or 4 families living in each unit.  Which is different than Toronto!

The vegetation here, is wild.  There are so many trees and all of the streets, and crazy plants.  And rose trees.  Those are really pretty.

There's huge amounts of affluence and huge amounts of poverty.  2 blocks away from each other.

There's this park, called Grandview Park on Commercial Drive, that does this thing called 'Chili Wagon,' every Tuesday and it gives chili to the poor people there.  There are a lot of them.  

The weather is amazing because it doesn't get too hot or too cold.  It has hardly rained since I've been here.

There are also wicked second-hand stores!

The laws regarding prostitution are all very grey and there are people who feel very strongly, from all points of view, regarding this.

There are protestors against the Olympics!  

oh!

good bye, Quebec.

I think flying is fun. I even got exit rows both flights. And window seats!



Hello, Car Free Commercial Drive day in Vancouver. I'm nearly falling in love with the place, already.



In completely unrelated news, Animal Collective has a new video for one of my fav songs on their new album. It's kind of an unnecessary video. To me, at least.

2:45pm.

That is when I arrive in Vancouver, BC, tomorrow afternoon. June 13th, 2009.

Holy cow, I'm so excited!!

This is where I'll be until August 23rd! And now you know some stuff about me, this summer.


Agrandir le plan

a piece of mind

this is a piece of David Hayward's mind. This is very interesting to me.

We do not change our minds. We adjust them. We only modify our thinking. Survival of the organism is priority over all others. The safety, protection and security of the brain is the primary operating principle. We like to think we are changing because this comforts our sensibilities that we ought to be. Whenever we receive any new piece of information, no matter how wonderful, we find ways to select the parts we want and reject the parts we don’t. Our brains, completely resistant to transformation, only absorbs that which can be integrated without upsetting the system already securely embedded in our thinking. We think that we change incrementally, so we continue our endless search for new information that will only entrench us further in our own precious presuppositions.

I’m not talking about knowledge. I’m not talking about facts. I’m not talking about, say, 1+3=4. Knowledge is incremental. We have to learn what one is, then what three is, then what four is, before we can understand the mathematical problem. Same with geography, science, etc. I am talking about transformation. I am talking about change. Transformation is not incremental, but traumatic. It means death, then resurrection. In other words, I need to die in order to live. My mind needs to die in order to be transformed. Truth, if it is real, will overthrow my existent thought-patterns. I might think that I have transformed incrementally. But this is only because I have experienced a series of crises, or deaths and resurrections, that resemble incremental growth. But it is not the same.

This is why, when I speak on a Sunday morning, I assume that everyone listening is going to nod their head in agreement or shake them in disagreement. I assume, because I believe I have an understanding about the way the brain works, that everyone listening is going to integrate what they agree with and reject what they don’t agree with. Even questions, guised under a desire to learn, are almost always dogmatic statements of the questioner seeking affirmation for what they already believe. No change is going to occur unless someone experiences a crisis in their thinking. But this is rare.

june 7

Je voulais des morceaux de nature,


parce que j'aime faire des choses avec mes mains.

et puis, je les ai trouvés.

never mind me.

Only 6 sleeps left here. I can't wait to get to know people in English. But with nights like this, how can I complain?

Pretty good talent show. Mark rocks the glock, et moi, je chante.

wear my heart on my

Alright. I'll give it a shot again. This is for someone.

You Belong to Me - a pop music ballad from the 50s.

in the summer.

There is a thrift store here that is right behind the church called 'Le Puit.'

Pretty much everything costs a dollar.

I bought these neat grandma shoes there, today. What a life I lead.

green means go

Oh, hey! I took some pics, 'cause we went to Quebec City this weekend. You can look at them if you want.

It rains a lot in Quebec. It kind of makes me love rain, though.

Sometimes things are so beautiful they kind of take my breath away.



Here is that really cliché tourist-pic of old Quebec. Yeah, it was pretty alright, I guess.


We went to this crazy bar the first night and I was quite happy being a grand-ma. Oh, and Rachel, too!


Yo, these guys were so cool! They were good buskers. And the guy on the left, he had this violin-trumpet thing. Neat!

So, I totally saw David Martel live. He was pretty dang good.

Me and Alex found this bookstore on rue St. Jean. There was this whole shelf full of books like this. I guess the series is titled 'What Do I know?'

I think I'd like to read some of these.

This clown looks sad.

There was this really cool art festival was going on this past weekend. Rue St. Joseph was barred off and there was art in the windows of stores.

YO! Holy smokes! I bought a glockenspiel!