The Fillet Skillet

The Three Questions

2012-01-07T23:25:00.001Z

Hello Chickens, I told you I would be back. I told you.

Guests frequently (as in, every day) ask me these three questions:

Where are you from?
How long have you been on Iona?
What are you going to do when you leave?

The first question is straightforward, or at least you'd think so. You know I'm from Australia. It really should be obvious that I'm Australian. I'm pretty Australian after all. Guests do not realise this. The British ones think I am from America and the American ones think I am from England. You cannot win.

The second question is rather more complicated. You see, after I stayed with Liam in Edinburgh, I went to volunteer with the Iona Community on the Isle of Iona. I was a housekeeper (my mother finds this hilarious) for three months and I had a really good time. By the end I didn't want to leave, and I probably wouldn't have had I not been looking forward to VidCon, but as it happened I bundled all my stuff together and got on the ferry. I thought it would probably be years before I ever set foot on the wee pebble again.

Then VidCon happened and I went to visit my sister afterwards. I thought everything was going pretty swimmingly because I had applied for a job I was feeling confident about happening in Glasgow but then it fell through! What was I going to do? I didn't have anywhere to live!

That was when I saw on Facebook that my friend and old line manager Becki had an 'interesting knee'. Later on I found out that meant she had a nasty infection. I offered to go back to Iona and help out, so I was designated Mac Housekeeper Cover and ran the housekeeping side of things for three weeks until Becki recovered. I didn't know I had this lined up until I was actually in transit back to the UK. I don't recommend doing that.

During this time I applied for a resident post on the island, which meant if I got it I would live on the island for the duration of my stay in the UK. I had my interview while I was on Iona and then finally got the job.

And that's how I came to live on Iona. I don't tell that whole story to guests though. Usually I just pretend like I've been here the whole time. I'll be here until February of 2013.

The third question is sort of annoying because honestly I have no idea. Will I apply for my UK ancestry visa and move back here? Will I travel to South Korea, braving the prospect of nuclear war to teach English to children? Will I travel to live and work in Canada?

Or will I settle back in Australia? Where? On the Gold Coast again? Or Brisbane? Or somewhere else like Melbourne? Will I study? Will I find a job?

So many questions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012-01-02T16:01:00.001Z

This post would have been more impressive if it had been written on the 1st of January, but no matter. I spent the 1st of January doing what any self-respecting 23 year old would do: I was asleep.

I was asleep and then I watched two-thirds of the first season of Sherlock.

You see I am not usually one for making many new years resolutions, but this year I had, like, a lot. The list, which reads like a set of instructions from an overbearing mother, reads thusly:

Stop dropping your clothes on your bedroom floor, especially if they are clean.
Start doing your push-ups and sit-ups again; you're getting skinny.
Read that daily devotional that's sitting, looking forlorn on your bedside table.
Make it to morning service more than half the time okay?
START BLOGGING AGAIN. I MEAN, FOR REAL.

There've been a number of reasons I just couldn't bring myself to blog for most of 2011, but the biggest one was that I had no freakin' idea what I was doing. All year. This isn't a negative thing, it's just a thing.

(I had a really good 2011, just so you know. It was much better than my 2010, definitely.)

Anyway, 2012 is looking to be a year where I know almost exactly what I am doing all the time. I feel like maybe this is a good environment for blogging, kind of like it was in high school and university. I knew what I was doing, I knew I could do the blogging. This is my hope for 2012.

I sort of hoped that I could start AFRESH with a brand-new blog on a brand-new platform, but alas that was not to be. Wordpress is amazing apparently, but I find it difficult to get used to. Right now I need as few barriers to doing the actual blogging as possible. Also I couldn't think of a good name for a new blog. Such a shame, really. Also, designing new websites is super, super annoying. Do not want.

So here are my aspirations for a NEW Fillet Skillet:

Topical posts

I'm not going to do away with conversational posts like this one altogether, but I want to write on point more often than not.

Updates twice a week

I mean, this isn't unreasonable is it? I used to update my blog every day, but that was before Tumblr came along.

This is a 12 month thing

This is going to be a blog about my experiences and thoughts about living on Iona. It is going to frame much of my other creative output (YouTube especially) for the duration of 2012.

Three things. This is achievable. It's achievable. This really is achievable.

Okay. This is pretty well it for now. My next post will be about what I've been doing since I last updated this blog. I'll see you then.

Derry and Durham

2011-04-22T22:48:00.001+01:00

I am currently sitting on a train coming back from a two-day jaunt to Durham. Funny story, the train I bought a ticket on didn't come and I got on the next train without realising more than one company operated on this line. I got on the next train thinking it was the late one I had a ticket for, but it was run by a different company. The ticket inspector was not impressed and suggested I buy another ticket but relented in the end. I suppose it was because I am quite literally the only person in this carriage. Silly.

Anyway, I've been TRYING to blog from my iPhone but this app has made things rather difficult. More than once I have written 3/4 of a blog only to have it crash on me, losing the whole post. Even now it is acting jittery because of the patchy mobile coverage on this train line, so I'm saving regularly. Maybe I'll shell out actual money for an app in future. Then it might be better.

Um, I'm supposed to be writing about travel. I've left Northern Ireland now, obviously, and I'm staying in Edinburgh with Liam. Just like I'd been told, Edinburgh is the coolest city ever. I can't wait to explore it properly over the next week or so. Belfast was lovely and leaving the friends I've made there was hard, but that's the nature of this thing I'm doing.

While still in Northern Ireland we went for a day trip to Derry/Londonderry, whose name has become a shibboleth for what side of the Nationalist/Unionist divide the speaker stands on. It was certainly the most obviously divided place I'd been in Northern Ireland; the tensions there are still quite high. I tried to broaden my accent as much as reasonable so nobody would mistake my Australian accent for an English one and spit in my food or anything. Everything was fine though and we had a good day.

My two days in Durham were lovely as well. I had a good look around the town with my friend Joy and we went to the Good Friday service in the Durham Cathedral today. It was a "high church" service so it was a new experience for me, but really good. It was really beautiful.

I've just read back everything I just typed and realised it sounds really inane. I think I'll stop here, but I'll return soon when I'm feeling a bit more describe-y. Or something.

Okay bye.

Blogging from the iPhone

2011-04-12T00:11:00.001+01:00

Woaaaaah I have just discovered how to blog from my iPhone. I am legitimately excited about this even though I've already written out this post once and lost it because I accidentally hit "cancel" instead of "post". Still, this is a revolution in blogging; a golden age for The Fillet Skillet is dawning upon a flurry of phone-typed travel blogs each funnier and more informative than the last. I got a UK SIM card the other day with the MOST GLORIOUS prepaid data plan this Australian has ever seen. I've stopped using my computer for Twitter and email. I've started tweeting pictures on the go. How did I ever consider myself a communications geek without this beautiful fount of data buzzing away in my pocket all day?

My trip so far has been just lovely. Chilling here in Belfast with Paige (hopeonatenspeed) and some of her friends from uni. I also see Adam (whataboutadam) from time to time because he lives in a nearby town. Catching up with these two has been so good. They're some of the best friends I've made through this while YouTube malarkey.

On Saturday Paige, her friend Hannah and I went to Dublin where we caught up with Stephen (3sixty5days). We went to the Leprechaun Museum where we were told many a-story from Irish folklore (SPOILER: Everybody dies. Always.) and the Guinness Factory where we partook of (supposedly) the freshest pint of Guinness in the world. It was an epic day with more walking than I've done in a long time. I've only just recovered.

Finally, today I bought a pair of Doc Martens. I've since taken to clomping around saying things like YOU WILL BE DELETED. They make me feel 20 feet tall and I have to be careful I do not accidentally tread upon and kill any children or small animals. I promise to use my newfound power responsibly; only evil children will be slaughtered.

And that is pretty much it for now. Supposedly you can upload pictures to posts using this app but that is what got me in trouble the last time so that is just going to have to wait until there is less at stake. Until then, see you next time!

Nuanced Reading

2011-02-16T14:05:00.000Z

A few weeks ago at my aunty Linda's birthday she told me, "Rohan I love to read your blog! I'm very interested in your postmodern position." In light of this high praise, there are a few things that are now obvious to me:

I am from a family of academics
Aunty Linda reads my blog, something of which I had previously been blissfuly unaware (Hi Linda!)
I am now somewhat justified in posting my philosophical hot air

So! I wrote a thing that might be of interest to you, and maybe food for discussion and thought. On Tumblr I follow a lot of atheists. I didn't mean for it to work that way, it just kind of happened. As such, I see a lot of stuff like this:

Usually I don't respond to stuff like that. Not because I am "trying to be the better person" or anything, but usually I just don't have anything interesting to say. In response to that image, however, I waded in:

This is a deliberate paradox in Genesis. The writer of this part of that book is trying to distinguish capital-G God, the El Shaddai — God Almighty — from the other creator-gods prominent at the time such as El and Ra, who were associated with the sun. This writer is saying that God is the master of even these god-kings, and that all light and life spring first from God and nobody else. Nuanced reading, man. It rules.

After I posted that I received a question in my ask box: "I'm confused. Are you christian?" to which I responded:

Yep. Although I should say, in the previous post to this one I was dealing with the idea of God according to Judaism, which is very similar to that of God in the Christian sense, but not exactly the same. Like, I know that the creator of that image is trying to piss off Creationists, but I’m trying to say that a nuanced reading of the Biblical texts is necessary for both the religious and non-religious (and the religious that do not happen to follow an Abrahamic faith). Like, nuanced reading is why I don’t actually hold to the six-day creation idea. While Genesis contains a creation story (actually, it contains two) the authors of those stories are not just trying to tell the reader about how things came to be, they are trying to paint a much broader picture of who God is and his relationship to people. These authors are doing so long after the world came to be, so they’re really writing about their present experience, and not necessarily about the past.

I should point out that these ideas are not entirely my own. I am re-reading Rob Bell's (in)famous book Velvet Elvis on my lunch breaks at work. My co-workers ask, "What are you reading, Rohan?" and I say, "Oh, it is basically an argument for the application of postmodern philosophies in modern Christian theology." Then they back away slowly and I get to read in peace! I'm so good with people.

Anyway, if you haven't read Velvet Elvis yet you should because some of the ideas in there are just beautiful, and it's really easy to read. And it's only AU$16.24 from Bookdepository.com! Don't anyone tell my boss I'm sending people there on my blog, or I'll be in trouble.

Oh who am I kidding? I'm handing in my resignation on Friday! Blabber away!

Working holiday, Shirts

2011-02-15T15:06:00.000Z

I have not been updating this blog, which is a shame because I've been meaning to update it. Anyway, I'm here now. Let's not focus on my grim absent past and instead focus on the glorious updatey future that awaits this blog! Maybe!

My last post where I was pissed about being pushed back to part-time work? I'm still annoyed, but I've decided to make the most of it, so tomorrow I will make a real Poultry Press video. You read correctly there, friend/internet stalker/curious relative, we're talking about a made-for-the-internet, not-foolin' proper YouTube video. How glorious.

A few things have been happening while I was busy slacking from this blog:

I was accepted to volunteer at the Iona Community
I received my working visa to the UK
My RoboFillet and Kingdom Assignment shirts are going ahead
I booked my hotel room for VidCon

I'm so keen to get working at Iona. I just want to be there; have that rhythm of life going. I reckon it's going to be really hard for the most part, but I expect it'll also be rewarding. Also, I'll have VidCon to look forward to really soon afterward as well. I just booked my hotel room for that. So far I know I'm going to be staying with my dear friend Steve; hopefully we can find two others to stay with us as well to split costs.

As for the RoboFillet shirts, I want to write a little bit about the RoboFillet shirts. Specifically, I feel like A LOT OF A DOUCHE for having RoboFillet shirts. Like, who am I to think that I'm awesome enough to have a shirt that represents myself and then have the audacity to actually charge other people money for the privilege of wearing said shirts? I'm no Pizza John, for example:

Yes, that is me wearing a Pizza John while holding a pizza.

But the thing is when I floated the idea to make the shirts I had some people say they want one. Specifically, these people are the people who read this blog, @reply me on Twitter all the time, comment on my videos, reblog me on Tumblr... these are the people I make content for. I like to make these people happy and there is very little I wouldn't do for them. If they like the idea of shirts, then I'm going to make some shirts, and they are going to be GOOD SHIRTS. Even if these are the only people who would even consider getting a RoboFillet shirt, I'm going to be pretty stoked they would show that much interest in the stuff that I make, so I'm going to make sure the shirts are worth their while. You know? You know.

I would give you a sneak peak at the shirts, but they are nearly done and I don't want to spoil them. I'll show you next time once it's all finished. Despite still feeling a bit pretentious for actually having shirts — shirts! — I am pretty excited about them because the designs have turned out really nicely.

So anyway, I should probably get to bed because I have a dentist's appointment at 2:45 in the afternoon. Totally. A day that full can really wear out a guy, so think of me while I lie there having my teeth scrich-scratched with pointy tools.

Just kidding, I really need to make a start on clearing out my room. What am I going to do with all my stuff? I don't even know, and I don't even have that much stuff in the first place. Anyway, I'll see you here soon.

Labour

2011-01-24T14:13:00.001Z

According to my profile on Goodreads.com, I am currently reading Stephen Fry's The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography. I'm on page 280, which the website helpfully tells me is 62% of the way through. It's pretty good; Fry's command of the English language remains as elegantly authoritative (and verbose) as ever. But I've got to say, the ease with which he entered and entrenched himself in the British media landscape makes me bitterly green. He was actively scouted by his agent and handed a job at the BBC after a successful tour of his Cambridge Footlights sketch show in Australia.

My only experience with trying to get a job in Australian public television was a highly uncomfortable interview with Andrew Denton about his show Hungry Beast. I was lucky to even get the interview and it was incredible that I even made the shortlist. Still, I left unsure if I was really suited to TV or whether it was just that particular show/producer/concept that was the problem. I don't know, I love writing and performing my own material for the camera, but as soon as I approach anything resembling "showbusiness" I can't help but feel I'm in over my head. Is there a place for a person like that in the job market?

Ugh, why am I even blogging about this? Work has been awful this past week. I was unceremoniously shafted from the children's section last week, being told that once my contract for working there is over I'm going back to regular floor service. I wasn't expecting this at all and I was (and still am) pretty angry about it but there's nothing I can do, so even the thought of going to find another job after this one finishes just fills me with dread. A whole other employer to frustrate me? Whoopee! Still, only nine weeks of Purgatorial labour to go, then I get flung out into the wild unknown of the UK. Will I sink or swim? I don't know! I'm very excited and more than a little anxious.

This has been yet another blog about work. Ha. I'm sure I'll be more exciting soon.

What of Work?

2011-01-03T14:20:00.000Z

Tonight I went up to Brisbane to see my friends Jeshua and Corinne. I lived with Jeshua and his family during 2007 when I moved up to Darwin to find work. Corinne was Jeshua's girlfriend at the time (and is now his wife) and back then she lived around the corner from us. While Jeshua and I grew up together as childhood "best friends", I got to know Corinne and her family really well over the course of '07 too. They came down to Brisbane from Darwin as the first leg of a holiday, and are staying with Jeshua's aunt. Even though I almost never see them anymore, I still count Jesh and Corrie as two of my most precious friendships.

Considering Jesh and I grew up together and did practically everything together, it was really weird seeing the massive difference in our lives. Now he is a successful Northern Territory police officer and Corrie got a job as a primary school teacher - they're building a life together. Meanwhile, in 2010 I struggled to find a job that uses my degree, so I am planning to move to the United Kingdom for a few years just to see what's in store for me there. Part of me wants to "settle down" too, but mostly I just want to go out and adventure for a few years. Or a lot of years. I'm wondering if there's a compromise that must be made between getting a job you love and doing other things you love. Like, if I were to be where I wanted to be professionally, would that mean I couldn't go travelling as much as I do? Probably. Maybe.

The other day a friend of mine set up a meeting between me and one of the local commercial radio stations here on the Coast. They wanted tips on how to be successful in online video, &c, and my friend thought I was the perfect one to advise them - and that I might get paid to do it. I went along but they didn't really 'get it'. I don't think it'll turn into paid work. While I was there I was talking to my friend's boss about some volunteer work I did at one of the community stations here. He asked why I left and I explained it was because I'd planned on going to South America, but that it fell though and I never went back to the station. The rest of the conversation went like this:

Friend: "Rohan tell them why you were going to Peru!"
Me: "Well, I was going so I could help out with-"
Boss: "Wait! Don't tell me it's ANOTHER mission."
Me: "What?"
Friend: "Yep! He was going to help out at a non-profit!"
Boss: "No no no! Don't tell me any more about it! Everyone you introduce me to has gone off to help other people somehow."
Friend: "Yes, that's because I have the best friends ever!"
Boss: "No! No more! I already feel guilty enough about what we're doing here and you're only making it worse!"

The comment was probably not meant to come out like that, but I couldn't help but think to myself, If you're feeling guilty then WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? You could get a job at any non-profit you liked, but instead you choose to work in commercial radio and feel GUILTY ABOUT IT?

A few days prior to this I'd made my Project for Awesome video promoting World Vision Australia. Now, World Vision Australia is an example of an organisation I would fall over myself to work for, especially in the field of communications. World Vision's "social media diva" Richenda happened across my video and sent me these tweets:

As most of you probably know, I'm a real words person, and I'll treasure these tweets for a long, long time. That experience of dealing with the people at the commercial station, who were all very professional but ultimately nonplussed by my enthusiasm and what I had to say, really contrasted with Richenda's strong affirmation for the work that I'm putting into my online content. I thought, "Long term, do I want to be working commercially and feeling guilty and paralysed by my job like the guy in the radio station?" Of course the answer is no. Instead I want to be in Richenda's position where I can have the enthusiasm in what I do to encourage other people like she encouraged me. I'm not saying that automatically comes from working at an NGO or non-profit, but it made it pretty clear to me that, long term, that's actually where I want to be.

Emergent Christianity

2011-01-01T14:50:00.000Z

Happy new year everyone! As I am writing this I am quite sick and have a headache, but not because of partying too hard - no. I've been sick since Christmas and still haven't managed to shake it off. SUCH a shame.

Anyway, today I've just been resting by sitting around reading this book* I borrowed from work. It's a fascinating book about Emergent Christianity in the United States. I'd never heard of this group before so I was interested to learn what they stood for and I've got to say, some of it sounds very familiar to things we've covered at 12:two (my church) or eerily similar to conclusions I have come to personally after participating in (almost aggressively pluralistic) online communities.

The book contains 20 "dispatches" scattered throughout the book. These more-or-less summarise the movement. I'm going to type them out so I can see them all together:

Emergents find little importance in the discrete differences between the various flavours of Christianity. Instead, they practice a generous orthodoxy that appreciates the contributions of all Christian movements.
Emergents reject the politics and theologies of left versus right. Seeing both sides as a remnant of modernity, they ook forward to a more complex reality.
The gospel is like lava: no matter how much crust has formed over it, it will always find a weak point and burst through.
The emergent phenomenon began in the late 1990s when a group of Christian leaders began a conversation about how postmodernism was affecting the faith.
The emergent movement is not exclusively North American; it is growing around the globe
Emergents see God's activity in all aspects of culture and reject the sacred-secular divide.
Emergents believe that an envelope of friendship and reconciliation must surround all debates about doctrine and dogma.
Emergents find the biblical call to community more compelling than the democratic call to individual rights. The challenge lies in being faithful to both sides.
The emergent movement is robustly theological; the conviction is that theology and practice are inextricably related, and each invariably informs the other.
Emergents believe that theology is local, conversational, and temporary. To be faithful to the theological giants of the past, emergents endeavour to continue their theological dialogue.
Emergents believe that awareness of our relative position - to God, to one another, and to history - breeds Biblical humility, not relativistic apathy.
Emergents embrace the whole Bible, the glory and the pathos.
Emergents believe that truth, like God, cannot be definitively articulated by finite human beings.
Emergents embrace paradox, especially those that are core components of the Christian story.
Emergents hold to a hope-filled eschatology: it was good news when Jesus came the first time, and it will be good news when he returns.
Emergents believe that church should function more like an open-source network and less like a hierarchy or a bureaucracy.
Emergents start new churches to save their own faith, not necessarily as an outreach strategy.
Emergents firmly hold that God's Spirit - not their own efforts - is responsible for good in the world. The human task is to cooperate with God in what God is already doing.
Emergents downplay - or outright reject - the difference between clergy and laity.
Emergents believe that church should be just as beautiful and messy as life.

Um, that was rather a lot longer than I thought it would be, but there you go. It's given me a lot to think over. In high school I did a unit of philosophy as part of my history studies. The unit mostly concerned postmodernism and my teacher had a very dim view of it. Without ultimate, immovable, capital-T Truth, she implied, Christianity was impossible. But ever since then I've found that applying Christian theology to postmodern philosophy has only deepened my insight, not lessened it. It was pretty cool to see that articulated so clearly here.

I had more I was going to write, but that giant list is intimidating me and I fear you'll never read anything I ever write ever again if I continue. I'll leave the rest of this post for another night.

*The New Christians by Tony Jones

I'm back. With lists. We need to go deeper.

2010-12-09T14:17:00.001Z

So, it appears I have not posted on here for three months or something. That's, like, basically my entire autumn spent not posting on this blog. I didn't think anyone was really noticing (except for, of course, my Superchickens and other blog-friends) but then my IRL friends started getting all

So... it's been a whole 3 months + 1 week. I think you should blog soon :)

so that's fair enough, right? I should probably start blogging again or something.

Here's a quick catchup as to what I've been doing for the past whole three months plus one week:

I downloaded and watched three month's worth of Good Game

It was worth it

I made a video every weekday of October

It was not easy
I started to descend into a pit of writhing and self-pity

But I made like $20 from the Adsense that month so I'll probably do it again

I got fed up with the ridiculous going-nowhereness of my job and booked a one-way ticket to the United Kingdom

Then I got promoted to Children's Co-ordinator (full-time) the next day
I'm still going, damnit

This is like the third time I've tried to quit from there

I started playing Pokémon again (Platinum version)

My Pokémon can beat your Pokémon I am pretty sure

I decided to finish off The West Wing

I'm up to the final season
The Presidential father-figure makes me feel like everything is under control in this crazy world

Here are the things I did not do in the last whole three months plus one week:

I did not win NaNoWriMo
I did not actually do my Kingdom Assignment

At first it was because I was waiting on this one printer, but that didn't work out. Now I'm thinking I'll do it though an online store like Districtlines. I don't want to just submit that one design to them because it's not actually merch, so I need to actually design my own stuff too. That way I can submit them all together and it'll make sense. I've had my awesome idea for months now. I really need to do this thing.

(Hurumph grumblegrumble etc)

In other news, my NaNoWriMo was going SO WELL during the first week - I was actually on track the whole time. Then it kind of struggled for three days and died. Well, it didn't die per se - it lives on in my heart and continues to stew in my brian. I WILL DEFEAT YOU, STORY. I WILL WRITE YOU OUT UNTIL YOU ARE DONE.

Right at this very moment I'm listening to High Violet by The National because Mitto said it was better than Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens. I'm on my fourth listen through of High Violet now and I am still unconvinced. If the so-called "album of the year" lacks shrill, gayer-than-Christmas flutes then it just isn't the album of the year. COME AT ME, BRO.

And there you have it. I should be sleeping right now, so I won't go back and check and recheck this post for spelling errors and unintentional run-on sentences. I'm sure I've forgotten a lot of important things as well, (like how my stupid car needs stupid repairs stupid stupid STUPID) but I'll cover those in the days to come, I'm sure.

So, how've you been?

Final BEDA. Work. T-shirts.

2010-08-31T15:31:00.001+01:00

I'm doing my final post for BEDA in August uncharacteristically early in the evening - if 11:00PM can be considered early - because I have a full day of training for work tomorrow. Training is no doubt going to be a day packed full of role-playing and self-applauding, so I guess I need to have as much sleep as possible so I don't:

Laugh at how clichéd it will be
Get annoyed with my coworkers for being bad actors

I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound unenthused. It's just, if I wanted to be in stilted little sketches about disgruntled customers I would join the community theatre.

And in "I love my job" news, I found out today that Borders is getting uniforms (I'm 'meh' about that bit but wait I haven't finished) and the uniforms are going to be FAIR TRADE ORGANIC COTTON. As someone who has looked into fair trade organic t-shirts quite a lot lately, I know for a fact that would have cost the company a junkload. Good job, Borders. You did not forget to be awesome today.

Speaking of which, I'm still trying to find a good supplier for blank t-shirts. Mega-thanks go to Andrew, who basically did all the work for me. I'm thinking I might go with a local shirt producer so it's guaranteed sweatshop-free, but I won't go organic. Organic adds at least $5 to the base cost of the shirt, and I just can't pass on that expense and still expect people to buy them. Sorry environment. I even had the idea to buy shirts made from bamboo so I could claim SUPER-ULTRA-SUSTAINABILITY-ENVIRONMENTALISM! Those shirts were, like, $35 each though. Bamboo is cheap to grow! What is their problem?

And speaking of Borders and not forgetting to be awesome, my boss wants me to found a Nerdfighter book club at my store. This sounds like a great plan to me - indeed, I've been wanting to do that for a while now - but I need to rustle up some Gold Coast Nerdfighters. I know they are out there! I just don't have ANY of their contact information. Maybe I can just be like, "Hey it's on" and then put posters everywhere and then hope that they see them when they come into the store.

Anyway, enough about work and t-shirts. Let me talk about how I'm going to miss BEDA but I definitely won't be blogging every day NEXT month. BEDA always brings me a lot of good things. I always feel more connected to you guys because you KNOW there's going to be an update, so you visit every day and it's all nice and dandy. My friends IRL often read it too, which leads to me having some great conversations when I see them face-to-face. It also means they see me use phrases like "nice and dandy", though, which is a little emasculating, and totally all my fault. Finally, it makes me feel accomplished and helps set a routine for my evenings (mostly).

What it also does, though, is takes away from my sleeping and other online socialising. Sometimes I forget to blog until I'm just about ready to sleep and then I'm like NOOOOOOOO! So I'm going to take a little break. I'm doing quite a few other something-every-day-for-a-month things though, including Roboctober and NaNoWriMo. For September I am going to READ EVERY DAY. This is going to be a good month. I'm going to read, like, FIVE BOOKS. I haven't read that many books in one month in a quite a little while but I want you all to hold me to it. Okay? Okay.

I'm going to go and mentally prepare myself for the onslaught of powerpoint presentations and "Okay now you be your boss and your boss can be you." Apparently there's going to be free food at this thing, so it'll probably be worth it. Maybe. Oh, I get paid, so yes, definitely.

Your song today isssss... I've run out of inspiration. Your song today is...!

Yeah, you go ahead and enjoy that. I'm going to bed now.

See you SOON I PROMISE, but not tomorrow.

Ta-ta!

New week's resolutions. Kingdom Assignment. T-shirts.

2010-08-30T15:38:00.000+01:00

Oh look look look! This is actually happening! But the image of me uploading a video isn't uploading because I'm uploading a video! Anyway, I'm uploading the first of my 'Week in 60' videos. This week I've made a number of resolutions. I'll outline them here:

Upload all my 'Week in 60' videos
Start the push-ups and sit-ups again after taking a week off
Finish Knightly Academy. It's been too long and I feel bad that I haven't read it yet!
Get the ball rolling on the Kingdom Assignment

This is going to be actually kind of difficult. I'm working 30 hours this week and a lot of them are afternoon shifts, which means I don't have the afternoons free to get things done. I've actually got to email my friend and co-worker Ellie tonight after my video finishes uploading so she can get started designing the RoboFillet shirts. She said she'd do them for free because she did not forget to be awesome today.

Yes, I've decided to go ahead and make them. The response I got from you guys was great and encouraged me to get going. I'm glad, you guys, because I'd like to see this idea I have become real. In my next video (that isn't a 'Week in 60' video) I have to announce/ask a couple of things - one of them being for people to email in with shirt orders. I won't start printing until I get all the orders sorted - that way I won't have left-over shirts.

Um, if you want to jump the queue you can do so by ordering through blackduckfails -at- gmail DOT com. Keep in mind that I'm not sure how much I'm actually going to sell them for, because I'm not sure what the cost of production is going to be, but I'm looking at a pricepoint of about AUD$15-20 plus postage. I might go as high as $25 if I can find a cheap way to get fair trade or locally produced tees, but right now that's looking like it's going to be prohibitively expensive. It's a shame because I'd have liked the production as well as the consumption of these shirts to benefit people. If you know of not-particularly-expensive fair trade Ts please let me know!

Okay, I'm going to choof off and read and do push ups for half an hour or so. Sporty nerd is sporty and nerdy. Here's Embrace by PNAU ft. Ladyhawke. This is probably my favourite song from PNAU.

Plants vs Zombies. Kingdom Assignment.

2010-08-29T17:25:00.003+01:00

I think I've grown a little obsessed with Plants vs Zombies. I like devising new strategies for defence. I play it when I should be reading. I can see it behind my eyelids when I close my eyes.

I try and distract myself by watching YouTube (which I'm behind on - aaaah so many videos to watch!) but only find myself looking up videos of people cheating at PvZ.

It's just so addictive. Best $10 I've ever spent. I would totally play this on an iPad, if I had one.

Anyway, enough about that game. I should probably ban myself for a while so I'm free to do other things. I like to play it while video footage renders, though. AAAAH MUST NOT PLAY ANY MORE. READ INSTEAD.

READ INSTEAD.

Enough about that game, for real this time. My church is doing a wonderful thing and I haven't talked about it yet. About a month ago Ralph was delivering a sermon and called for "about 45 volunteers" to do something to expand the Kingdom of Heaven. Forty-two people and I got up and said yes, whatever it is we'll pitch in and make this idea work. Then Ralph handed each of us a $100 note and told us to use it however we felt would best benefit the Kingdom. He called this the Kingdom Assignment.

People have come up with all sorts of ideas. Some people are using the money to help launch a Gold Coast youth culture magazine that doesn't focus on getting drunk on the weekends. Some people are using it to set up microfinancing loans. Some people are using it so they can buy coffee and catch up with people who are having trouble connecting with others. Some people are using it to hand out free bottles of water to nightclub patrons on Friday and Saturday nights.

Other people are investing the money in order to multiply it so it can be donated back to the church. My idea falls into this category. I'm thinking of creating Kingdom Assignment t-shirts which I can then sell. I'm also considering creating a RoboFillet t-shirt for people who want one. Those proceeds would also go towards the Assignment. I've been thinking about how I can use my online presence for the glory of God and not the glory of myself; this seems like one way I could try.

The design I was thinking of for the KA shirt was a parody of the KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON design from the British WWII propaganda office. I'm not sure about it now, though. My idea was to replace the KEEP CALM slogan with:

POOR

MOURNING

HUNGRY

MERCIFUL

or some other combination of some of the beatitudes. I thought there may or may not be "BLESSED ARE THE" in small caps above the word "POOR". The idea is that these are the people the shirt is designed to help. The crown at the top implies the Kingdom part of the Kingdom Assignment, and the reference to the original poster represents everybody pitching in and doing their part. I'd probably print them on chocolate brown shirts to represent 12:two (brown is our colour) and to contrast with the original series of posters, which were printed on red, blue and green. I'm not entirely sure it's a good idea though. Would anybody wear it? Would anybody even want it in the first place?

The RoboFillet t-shirts would be designed by a real design-person (Karen Kavett?) but would probably be white and would definitely feature my signature chicken.

You're all so lovely and had plenty of useful things to say about my posts about New Monasticism. I think I'd like your feedback on my idea. Would you buy a t-shirt if I sold them? What do you think of the design idea for the KA shirt? How much would you pay for a shirt?

And, just out of curiosity, what would you do if you were given $100 to make the world a better place?

EDIT: Oh! I totally forgot to include a song today! Here's Hillsong United's Tear Down The Walls. We sang it in church tonight.

Mockingjay (spoiler-free, I think)

2010-08-28T17:02:00.000+01:00

I just finished Mockingjay. I stayed up even though I think I'm supposed to go to church early tomorrow morning. I've been away for this entire term though - what with going on holidays and sleeping in that one time - so it seems like going for the last two weeks is a total waste. Also I haven't heard from Mat about it (my own fault - ugh) so I'm completely not prepared. Why did I volunteer if I'm not going?

Anyway, I really liked it, but not as much as the first two. What I loved about the series was how Katniss was able to take situations that were out of her control and then flip them so she ended out on top. This one is more like THE WHOLE WORLD'S OUT TO GET YOU AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. It's still a compelling read, but had less of a V For Vendetta feel than the other two. Even so, I can tell I'm going to be ruminating on it for days. I'll go back to this series and love it as much as I did when I first read it; I can tell.

Okay I really need to sleep. Here's Cosmic Love by Florence & the Machine. It plays at work and I like it.

Hectic day. No Apple for me. New, new Sufjan.

2010-08-27T15:35:00.000+01:00

I've had a HECTIC day. I can't really go into detail about it though because I was supposed to be asleep an hour ago. I'm working from 8:30AM to 6:00PM tomorrow. It's that soul-destroying, lose-faith-in-humanity shift I did on that day everyone filmed their days for YouTube. Um, I can't remember what it's called.

Anyway, today was my friend Hannah's 21st birthday celebration. We went out and did things allllllll day. Hannah et al are probably still out even as I type this. We checked out some really cool spots on the Gold Coast that I didn't even know existed. I had teppanyaki for dinner. It was awesome (and expensive). Also, I wore a suit coat over a t-shirt.

I also had my second Apple interview today. I have no idea why they asked me to go back and talk to them again because upon arriving home just now I found an email informing me that I did not get the job. I must have confirmed some fears they had in the first interview or something. Anyway, I'm definitely not upset about this - I feel like I've had a decision made for me. I'm sort of relieved. I can stick with Borders quite happily for now.

Remember how not very long ago I was excited because Sufjan Stevens released a new EP? Well now he's apparently releasing an album in October. Here's a track from it. I'm not sure about the echo on the vocal, but I think it might be growing on me.

Ciao, Knives.

Twitter conversations. Plants vs Zombies. "Professional" videos.

2010-08-26T17:35:00.001+01:00

Colleen just sent me this tweet:

I responded with:

I'm thinking I should probably blog like she obviously wants me to. If I don't she will fail the commenting every day on my blogs in August and then I would feel AWFUL. Plants vs Zombies is a LOT OF FUN though.

Today I found out that the videos I made for work were seen by the area manager and the Big Boss. Both of them loved them. My boss even hinted that the company might might MIGHT ask me to make videos for them more regularly which is something I never even dreamed would happen. Tomorrow I'm not actually working (although I do have that interview with Apple to go to, which is sort of embarrassing now) but I'm going to drop by Borders and give them the files of videos which feature me.

Come to think of it, I can actually upload them myself right now. I have the username and password for the Borders private training account. I think I'll do that after I blog. Unfortunately for you, readers, you'll never see these videos because they are all on private. They're not especially entertaining though - they're mostly about books people like, or different ways we display the stock on the shelves. So don't feel like you're missing out on too much.

Anyway, my point is I hope the company DOES ask me to make more videos for them and that can be a bigger part of my job. That would be the ideal situation, I think. But even if that doesn't happen, I'm pretty sure I've got it worked out now that I can finish with Centrelink and still have enough money to live and save for going overseas. You have no idea how much of a relief it is to say that. Centrelink's paperwork and interviews and job search requirements are practically a part-time job in and of themselves.

On an unrelated note, YouTube started sending new subscriber emails again today. I like seeing each person's name as they subscribe. I also like seeing people's names who I know. Ha.

Okay, I am getting slightly delirious. I'm going to sleep now.

Here's Mouthwash by Kate Nash. It was playing at work today and I was like "Oh yeah I forgot how much I like this song!"

I use mouthwash and sometimes I floss. I've got a family and I drink cups of tea.

Ok, goodnight!

Senses.

2010-08-25T16:57:00.000+01:00

Tonight is yet another night I really do not want to be blogging at all. Not for any PARTICULAR reason - my day was fine. But I don't actually have anything to say.

So I guess I'll do Hayley's senses thing:

Today, I saw: some videos I'm happy with come together at work. I even got paid to make them. Good times. I even asked if I could get paid to make videos for the Borders Facebook page in the future. I got a tentative yes. Makes Apple look doubtful.
Today, I touched: my copy of Mockingjay.
Today, I smelled: a teabag at my friend Luke's place. I like the smell of tea.
Today, I heard: this music, made by Ze Frank's cousin. You can download it for free, too. I also heard my friend Mitto try (and fail) to play Final Fantasy music on the piano. I didn't try at all, though, so I guess he wins.
Today, I tasted: butterscotch pudding, baked by Luke.

Your music recommendation was up in the senses thing. Here's the cover art to make the post look pretty:

See you tomorrow, when I'll (hopefully?!) be more enthusiastic about this blogging caper.

Jobs. Interviews. Decisions. Travel.

2010-08-24T17:29:00.002+01:00

Mystery breeds intrigue, I suppose. I still can't say what a lot of the uninternettable things are, but I can guarantee none of them are nearly as exciting as what you think. Sorry for getting your hopes up! I think quite possibly the cat is out of the bag on the other thing though, so I'll tell you about it.

I had an interview with the Apple Store today. It was awkward. They were like, "So why Apple?" and my answer was, no joke, "I love Borders." Laaaaame!

(Okay so that wasn't my whole answer. It's just funnier if you imagine that's all I said.)

Anyway, I didn't feel it went amazingly well; other awkward moments included the question "How long do you plan to work for us?" and the invitation to "...make this interview whatever you want. Just talk to me for a bit." I did somehow manage to get a second interview though which is scheduled for Friday. I haven't actually told my big boss that I took a job interview yet, but one of my supervisors knows.

Truth is, I'd love to work for Apple but if Borders can come back to me with more hours I'd rather stay at a place I've been at for a while and feel comfortable in than make a sudden change. It's just one of those things. I love books and I love computers and video editing. I'd happily work in either of those fields, so long as I'm given enough hours and enough money.

I did a lot of work for Borders today. I filmed enough content for three or four videos and got one completely finished. I also filmed one myself but I only had four and a half hours sleep last night (my own fault) so I am... not at my best. I think I'll quickly re-film that one tomorrow after the store closes. I really like getting to the end of a work day and going "This is what I have to show for my efforts today". Sales targets are just numbers that I don't feel like I have any control over. I always do my best to help customers and make sales whether we've got $500 to go or $5000, so at the end of a usual retail work day I can sometimes feel like I've spent my time running in a hamster wheel. This is something different though. It makes me feel accomplished. I wonder if it will last.

Do sentences beginning with "I wonder" need question marks? I don't know.

Anyway, the fact remains - I'm going overseas next year. Nothing's booked, I haven't decided exactly where and I don't know quite with whom, if anyone, I am going with - but I'm going. If that costs me a job at Apple then so be it. I think honesty is pretty obviously the best policy.

Which actually brings me to a frustration I've shared with a few people over the past few days. It feels like whenever I make a solid decision something comes along and completely upsets all the reasons I used to make that decision well. Having the carpet pulled from under you once is one thing, but recently I've been feeling like it happens to me as a matter of course.

Indecision is a really unattractive quality. There's nothing more frustrating than watching someone dither around and flip-flop on all their plans. That's me, though. See how I can't decide where I want to work anymore? See how I'm leaving all the details as hazy as possible for next year? As soon as I got a job interview for a new job things at my old job took a turn for the awesome. I'd like a guarantee that if I nail something down it won't then slither away. I suppose it doesn't work that way, though. You've just got to be firm and then live with the consequences.

I'd say I wish I was 14 again, except that I really don't. I'm probably imagining this.

So! I'm up way later than I intended to be! What a surprise!

I'm sleeping in tomorrow. I'll only work in the afternoon.

Here's Relient K covering Sloop John B by the Beach Boys.

Cya!

Uninternettable stuff again. Work videos. Quality time. Tomorrow. Little Sister.

2010-08-23T17:05:00.002+01:00

Remember how yesterday I said I had a wonderful day but that I couldn't put any of it on my blog? Today was exactly like that except it made things about four times more complicated. It's a good kind of complicated but it's still complicated ifyaknowaddimean. I also obtained A CERTAIN SOMETHING that I will not disclose, mostly for legal reasons.

GOOD HEAVENS I FEAR I HAVE SAID TOO MUCH.

*Flees*

Also, work wants me to make videos for them. Ten videos by Friday. This means a lot of extra hours for me (yay!) but also, like, how on Earth am I going to make ten videos by Friday? This has something to do with the uninternetable wonderousness of the past two days. You'll get the full story in time but for now you'll have to make do with only that half of the story. It's time to dust off my vlog-coaching skills I formed on my holiday to Auckland. YOU WILL NOT BE AFRAID OF THE CAMERA. LOOK, IT IS VERY SMALL. STOP LOOKING AT YOURSELF IN THE VIEWFINDER. OKAY, I'M TURNING THE CAMERA AROUND NOW. SPEAK UP. LOOK AT THE CAMERA BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH.

JUST DO WHAT I SAY, OKAY?

I don't actually coach like that, I just imagine that I do. I'm feeling strange.

I also had a catchup with Ralph tonight. We saw Salt and it was a pretty good film! You should see it if you like pretty good films about secret agents. (For the record, I like pretty good films about secret agents.)

After that we had a good talk. I'm a quality time/words of affirmation sort of person, so tonight was like a drink of cool water for me.

Tomorrow I'm going to film four, hopefully five videos at work - early. Then I'm going to sit in the tea room and edit like CRAAAAZY until 2PM. Then I will <redacted>. Then I will probably go home and edit some more without getting paid on account of how badly I need to get these videos done. Then I'll script my next Week in 60 video which I feel has to tiptoe into the precarious world of Australian politics. I promise I won't take sides. Then I'll script a bunch of other videos?! Some of them are going to be fun to make. Having fun on company time for the good of the company? WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT?

Then I will read pretty much nonstop for a good six or seven hours. Sorry to everyone I'm neglecting on Skype. I love you but I was just impressing upon my pastor the importance of reading stories and how it makes us better, more empathetic people. I need some more of that in my life.

Tonight I also blogged the following words on Tumblr:

I’ve always liked songs about little sisters. I’m the youngest in my family by a span of nine years. I think I’ve always wanted a little sister. “Little Sister” is such an affectionate name, too. I’d love to be able to call someone that.

And here's the song to go with that little snippet: Djohariah by Sufjan Stevens. It's 17 minutes long but totally worth it.

Go on, Little Sister! Go on! For you're beautiful! Beautiful! All the fullness of the world is yours.

See you tomorrow! (Wow BEDA is almost over! I can return to normalish sleeping patterns soon!")

Uninternettable

2010-08-22T16:57:00.000+01:00

I don't want to blog! A whole lot of things happened today (despite the fact that I slept in and did not go to morning church) but I'm not willing to put any of them on the internet. Rejoice, blog readers, for I had a marvellous day. Marvellous for reasons that are uninternettable. And those are probably the best reasons of all time.

Politicswise the country is still in a bit of an uproar. Tony Abbott is claiming that Australia wants a change of government; Julia Gillard is claiming it wants Labor to stay. Australia is wishing they would just go away because they're being more annoying than ever. Also, commenter Jen, basically this campaign just past was a nonstop "they suck we don't but we won't tell you why", which is why we're in this predicament I think.

I'm going to try and sleep now if that's okay. I'm listening to All Delighted People EP and it's making my brain explode with colours and beautiful things. I'd love to keep listening but I also need to work tomorrow and I can already tell its going to be a struggle to get out of bed.

Here's a song for you. It is the Passion Pit remix of Marina and the Diamonds' song I Am Not A Robot. I quite like it. It's a pretty good remix.

Election summary. Uncertain future. Lovely Comments. Birthdays.

2010-08-21T17:28:00.001+01:00

If you would like some context as to what happened in the leadup to this election that I'm about to talk about, please watch this Taiwanese (?) news summary animation. It's more entertaining and informative than any other report I've seen on the situation here I've seen or read. Make sure you've got subtitles turned on:

Today was election day and what a day it turned out to be! Australia made known its overwhelming lack of enthusiasm for this election by refusing to elect anybody at all to govern - leaving us with a hung parliament. Now each major party is claiming a mandate to govern, even though it's clear no such mandate exists. It's going to be at least a week until we know who's going to try and take us through until 2013. They've got one Greens Party member and three or four independent members to try and form a coalition with. If it doesn't work we'll be going back to the polls early. I don't want that, but I'm not sure I want either Labor or the Liberal/National coalition to govern outright either.

As I predicted, the only real winner in this election was the Greens, who managed to snap up an extra five-or-so senate seats in addition to the five they won back in 2007. This result leaves them with a healthy block of ten, as well as the balance of power in the Senate. Also, Family First leader Steve Fielding was shafted from the upper house and replaced by a Democratic Labor Party senator. The DLP are another socially-conservative Christian party, but according to their policies they have a commitment to "economic and social justice" which is more than I could ever say about Family First. It's likely they will vote against offshore processing of asylum seekers (although I'm yet to find anything concrete to confirm this). It's a result I'm happy with for now, although along with a hung parliament it could prove to be a volatile mix. We'll have to wait and see.

The comments on the last post were very lovely, as always. I'm glad to hear Colleen doesn't read my blog for my body. Also Colleen just in case you didn't see, Joy left a comment for you in the comments. Andrew, I'm also tempted to say All Delighted People is the best song Sufjan has ever recorded except that all his many other masterpieces spring to my mind and make me all unsure. It's definitely beautiful though. It gets five stars in my iTunes for sure.

Today I went to work and also went to a 21st birthday party. I had to dress up as a song title, so I covered one eye in black face-paint-crayon with the idea that I was going as Black Eye by Derek Webb. Unfortunately I had all sorts of people asking me if I was the Black-Eyed Peas. That was something I couldn't stand for, so I did my best to wash it all off (more difficult than I anticipated) and I drew tears on and wrote SOO SAD on my left cheek. Yes, I went as I am so Sad, so Very, Very Sad by Crash and the Boys. I then sung it for anybody who asked me what song I was. Later, I won a $15 iTunes voucher for being the only one at the party willing to perform my song in front of everybody without backing music. FTW.

Here's some old Ting Tings for you, because I think this song (Great DJ)is much better than their current single, Hands. It won't let me embed it (SUPER LAME! WHEN WILL RECORD LABELS LEARN?!) so you'll have to use the link above. Thanks!

See you tomorrow!

Comments. All Delighted People EP.

2010-08-20T17:12:00.000+01:00

Last night's post about New Monasticism provoked some pretty lovely comments. I'll respond to each of them because I don't have anything else to talk about that I'm willing to have sit on the Internet forever. Also because the comments are interesting in and of themselves, so - everybody wins!

Colleen, the idea behind the communities I was talking about is to actually live a Christ-like life together in areas that are on the fringes of society with people that would not normally associate with the Church. A lot of the writing about New Monasticism and Christian Anarchism emphasises the need for both inward-facing relationships in the community and outward-facing ones. I totally agree this is necessary for a healthy life and a healthy worldview. Also shush, I won't be the perfect man until I achieve that marble-carved midsection (ha!), something that looks unlikely tonight because I am not no I will not I refuse to do my pushups on account of how I'm exhausted.

Tara, "The House of the Gentle Bunyip" has got to be the most golden name I've ever heard for a community of any sort. I'm glad it was a positive experience for your mother. I'm imagining the Gentle Bunyips to be an awesome group of people indeed.

Andrew, I've never heard of Thomas Merton until now but he definitely sounds as badass as you describe. I'm going to look into him a bit more when I'm not feeling all weird and sleep-deprived! We should probably make time for coffee again soon.

Oh! Just as I was writing this I got a most-very-lovely comment from Joy! You should all read her comment at the end of the post; it could be an interesting blog post all on its own. What you're saying is actually exactly what I was talking about and you've said it much better and clearer than I ever could. When I read Irresistible Revolution I actually cried all the way through the first half. I was on holidays in Sydney and I read it on public transport. I was the weirdest guy on that train. It just resonated so clearly with me; everything matched up. That book ruins lives in the very best of ways.

And that's all the comments for now. I just learned that Sufjan Stevens (also featured in yesterday's post) has JUST (as in, today, just now) released a new EP on Bandcamp. You can stream the whole thing or buy it for $5. You should do that. It's the only music you're getting from me today, so you'd better hop to it. You have no other choice.

Do ittttttt.

Tomorrow!

Quotes. Empathy. New Monasticism. Travel.

2010-08-19T16:13:00.000+01:00

Hank, I know it doesn't feel this way all the time but we get to choose what to think about and what to spend our resources on. We choose what, or ideally whom, to lust after. We choose what to watch, what to like, what to build, how to spend the breaths we've been allotted, and the fact that many of our choices are unconscious - get that handbag, get that Starbucks, look at that Snookie - does not in any way make us less responsible for those choices. I'm happiest when I feel like I'm part of a community that helps me choose more intelligently and with greater empathy. — John Green

That quote can be found at the end of John's latest Vlogbrothers video. It dovetails nicely with the things I've been musing on these past couple of days and weeks. Even though John is talking about Nerdfighters (and I totally agree that Nerdfighters is doing what John says) but I also feel that this should be true for the Church. I'm lucky to have a community of people at my church who help me choose intelligently and with more empathy in many different ways. We are, as a community, trying to figure out what it looks like to live like Christ on the Gold Coast - a unique city in Australia.

I think we're getting there. Slowly but surely marvellous things are starting to happen. But I'm not sticking around. Next year I plan on moving overseas; most probably to the United Kingdom. I have a lot of worries about it but I feel like it's the right time because I've been wanting to do it since I was in Year 10 or so. I'm not sure I want to just do the Australian-in-the-UK thing though. I'm interested in exploring what it means to live in a Christian community that is even more explicit in thinking about how we consume, think and empathise.

New Monastic communities such as The Simple Way in Philadelphia are fascinating to me. Unfortunately, the United States is super-restrictive when it comes to long-term visas so I can't check out these American communities for myself. I did find a similar community in Scotland, though, called Iona. I'd love to live there for a bit and just see what it's like living in such a close community centered on social justice. Basically, I've become disillusioned with popular church culture but my love and trust in Christ has remained. I think Sufjan Stevens put it pretty well in the following quote:

I think what people react against is the institution of Christianity, which is what I call Christendom, but Christianity itself or what Christ embodies is so foreign to how we see Christianity manifested in institutions, in politics, in the current US administration, you know, the church as an institution is pretty disturbing because an institution yields power, you know, is possessed by power and possessed by greed and controlling things and controlling society and the principles of Christianity do not mix with that. It’s like oil and water. So I think what we have now is like.. what you perceive as Christianity in American culture, especially, is actually a bastardized version of it and feels very distant and very ugly to me and I consider myself to have very, very orthodox Christian beliefs but I have very deep emotional and political and spiritual convictions against so much of that. — Sufjan Stevens, 2004

The question is, "How does Christ want me to choose?" or (somewhat humorously?), "What does Christ want me to 'lust after'?" I want to explore these questions with the breaths I've been allotted for next year. I don't think I'd spend my whole trip living at Iona or whatever New Monastic community I find. I'd also want to see my friends, travel around mainland Europe and go to VidCon 2011. Nor do I think that living in a Simply Way-style community is actually something I should do for the rest of my life. How would my video-making fit in with the communities' call to simple living?

But it's something I want to try. I'd love to go there and learn how the community works and bring that back to my church here on the Gold Coast. I'd love to learn how to be part of a community that works so closely together to encourage each other to choose with greater intelligence and empathy. I'd love to spread that amongst the greater Church and change that culture to become less about power or image and more about loving God and loving your neighbour.

That post I've been talking about for the past few days? This is it, and I don't quite feel I've done it justice. Those are my first-draft thoughts on the issue, though, and I've got work in the morning so I have really, really got to sleep.

Here's a song from the aforementioned Sufjan Stevens - For the Widows in Paradise:

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!

Election fever. Week in 60. Election fever again.

2010-08-18T16:56:00.001+01:00

Election fever is taking me over. I know, it's embarrassing and really tragic but I can no longer stop my political tirades from hitting my Facebook wall. Tonight I learned that the Greens are poised to take out a seat in the lower house, which is an unprecedented step for the party. It would be nice to see the House of Representatives actually contain more voices than Labor's and the Coalition's, but I'm not sure what this means if we end up with a hung parliament.

In other voting news, I'm thinking I might vote for the Australian Democrats in the senate and give the Greens my second preference. Not that it REALLY matters anyway; the Aus Dems will never get back in. I think it's symbolic though, because I really do agree with the Australian Democrats more than I do with the Greens. It's a shame they lost all their support.

What are the political tirades on my Facebook wall I was talking about? Well, besides an exclamation of surprise at the potential Greens representative for the seat of Melbourne, I posted this - a video by lobby group GetUp! about the facts of our "boat people problem":

Didn't watch it? Well that's ok because spoiler: there is no problem. At least, not at the scale the major parties would have Australians believe. I refuse to vote based on fear, so I'm not having anything of it.

The election is on Saturday - I'm working in the afternoon so I'll have to vote early. I'm going to a birthday party in the evening which means I won't be able to follow the polling as the ballots come in. Most likely I'll hear the result from somebody with an iPhone and access to Twitter. That's how it goes!

Remember that epic blog post I was talking about yesterday? This isn't it. Just thought you should know.

Today I filmed a new Week in 60 video, which reminds me - I need to upload last week's to YouTube. *Sigh* I really don't want to deal with uploading things again. We need a National Broadband Network! Waaaaah!

See? Everything in my head right now is getting linked back to this truly uninspiring election. Even though it's got to be the worst, most boring campaign in ages I can't stop caring. It's driving me and all of my friends crazy. And you, blog reader - obviously.

The weird upshot of all my political awareness/obsessiveness is more than a handful of my friends have encouraged me to enter politics. Honestly I can't imagine anything worse; I'd make a much better activist than a politician. But one of the women from work told me she was writing my name on the ballot paper and giving her first preference to me. I told her not to invalidate her vote like that; if you have to vote you may as well make it count. She told me no, they are all bastards. I found I couldn't argue with that.

Here is New Jack, a song by Justice. It never fails at getting me moving in some manner or other:

Bye!

Quick Post.

2010-08-17T17:48:00.000+01:00

Um, I'm halfway through writing a fairly involved blog post that I'm just not ready to publish right now. It's 2:40 in the morning and I'm just not going to be able to do what I want to do tomorrow if I push it any further.

So, sorry. I had a good day today. I went to work. I saw Scott Pilgrim for the third time (I'm determined to save it from its seemingly inevitable box-office demise, it seems). I thought about the future.

I'll try and finish the blog post I've spent all this time on tomorrow - or, today as it may be.

I'm not even making sense! Aaaaaaah!

Here is YouTube Boys Get Me Hot by my friend Paige. I feature in this song. Sometimes I sing my own line to myself... awkwardly.

Tomorrow! I promise!