3rd Floor Balcony

Raising the Village: unique propositions

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:52:00 +0000

This is a placeholder post to be edited, discussed, re-assessed:

Development Jargon:
Self-sustainability
Capacity building.

What makes RTV's approach unique is partnering with organizations and communities that are actively working against their impoverished situations.That really means identifying their own capacity to lead. These organizations have leadership, and it's demonstrated by what they can do even in the midst of hopelessness, even if it amounts to not much and is on the verge of collapse.*

RTV funds are always used with the goal of relieving poverty over the long term. Essentially, the goal is to provide enough of a lift to remind local community leaders of the hope they had when they started. It's to say, "hold up, catch your breath, let us prop you up for a bit. Again, breathe, think, and then get back to it." This aspect gives leaders the room to think past day-to-day, hand-to-mouth, and to think long-term. We reinforce the long-term thinking through the length of the project by sharing best practices in administration, construction, and consultation. We ask good questions. We give opportunity to reflect and plan. And when they come to sustainable solutions - it is their idea.

Our idea of success is when an organization is proud of what they accomplished, and we are nothing more than a fond memory of a great working relationship.

*Poverty is that kind of beast. RTV believes most of us are successful because of our opportunities. Poverty robs us of opportunities. By eliminating poverty, we can very directly build capacity.

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:35:00 +0000

As mentioned in my previous post, my guest spot over at Solarcrash.com has gone live: She Needs a Hero - Post #2 of the Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters series. Here's a clip, head over for the full post!
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I’ll admit my experience is limited – my daughter is barely three months old. But anyone with a blog has an opinion. And I know the co-ordinator here, I ain’t afraid to ask to be in on it. So here goes.
Chapter 2 establishes how to be a hero to our daughters. Show leadership and authority in protecting her. Persevering and staying on course when times, and wives, and daughters, are tough.
One of the key takeaways for me was when Meeker cautions, “remember that when she pushes hard against your rules, flailing, crying that you are mean or unfair, she is really asking you a question: Am I worth the fight, Dad?… Make sure she knows the answer is yes.” Am I worth the fight? It’s a question...
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Head over, share your thoughts. It's not limited to fathers of daughters, or even fathers! New posts will be published every couple of days until the start of December.

No success without perseverance.

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:15:00 +0000

Liz captured one of Clara's first rolls. I figure it's a testament to good parenting. It's a great illustration also, that there is no success without perserverance. Speaking of parenting, I'm guest blogging about a book next week called Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters over at SolarCrash. Check it out - the series starts Nov. 16 and my post should drop Nov. 18.

Prince Edward County!

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Heading to P.E.C. this weekend. My first experience with this place was in June, in our last getaway B.C. (before Clara). Not as built up or pretentious as Niagara county with only a little bit of an inferiority complex yet with enough amenities to make one feel vacation'd, this is our new favourite place to get away on a moment's notice.

This time around, we're bringing folks from the fellowship group. Should be a good time, got a big house for us to all crash, and the primary objective of the weekend will be to hunt for Saturday night's dinner. That's right, we're going to bust out the polluting vehicles and GPS, and check out farms, butchers, wineries and cideries on Saturday for one single, solitary purpose: Make a great feast on Saturday night. Then we'll give thanks and break bread.

In preparation, I found a whole host of links to organizations doing fun stuff in Prince Edward County. Thought I'd share them here:
Taste Trail / - self-guided tour route, links together artisanal food producers, restaurants, wineries all crafting products from local ingredients.

PEC County Wineries - the not quite Niagara scale list of wineries...

Slow Food The County - slow food. a push back to fast food. this is a list of awards given to four members of the slow food movement in PEC and on my hit list for this weekend!

Harvestin' the County - encourage and build resident and visitor loyalty towards buying locally grown in PEC.

Harvestin' Google Maps mash-up - Has a great google map mash-up of local producers and list of what's in season in PEC

Fun fun yum!

In tangential news, check out justblacksheep.com My farming friend Brenda, who left corporate Toronto and has been harvesting her own fancy produce and selling it back to... corporate Toronto. Right now, it's just a blog, last updated before harvest season hit, but will one day become something more, I'm sure!

RTV web survey

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:01:00 +0000

From one of our board members working on Raising the Village website 2.0: (and did you hear the one where RTV got charity status? shhh, we've yet to make the announcement official but it's true)

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As you may or may not know, we're in the middle of revamping the website of Raising the Village. Our current website has been good to us all, but as we're now entering this next chapter of our organizational growth (which will be indicated by a series of to-be-announced milestones), it's time to take it to the next level. There is a SEA of websites out there all vying for your attention, and we want to make sure we're the one that grabs and holds it. You have been selected as an important supporter of Raising the Village, and as such as we would like to give you the chance to influence the content of the future RaisingtheVillage.org website due to be launched this fall. The survey will not take more than 10 minutes to fill out, and I personally guarantee that all of your input will be incorporated into our redesign and subsequent management of content.

The link to the survey can be opened by anyone, so feel free to send it around to get feedback from anyone I might have missed in MY email list. The ONLY stipulation is that responses must be entered before September 6th at 12:00am.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=wwlK51LrRqDI7G8AAbHeig_3d_3d

Survey monkey won't let me add a "Thank you" page at the end of the survey, so I'll thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey. Your free gift is the chance to see YOUR ideas on the internet, and a pat on the back from yours truly ;)
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So help us out, fill in the survey some. Thanks!

A shot of... formula!

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Disclaimer: I do not condone the consumption of alcohol for babies.

...Neither does the nurse.

Oh well.

while i am unaware

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:23:00 +0000

You dance over me while I am unaware
You sing all around but I never hear the sound...
Lord I'm amazed by you, how you love me

As I think back on a whole bunch of years in youth ministry, and as I think about this graduating bunch of snot-nosed highschoolers, and as I see the attitudes of young, seemingly religious folk, I can't help but feel that most of us haven't a clue.

But I can't help but rejoice because there was a time when we were all blind and still, yet still, this place called us home. We were bitter, bitter kids. We thought we were smarter, better. We were so cynical. Some of us left of our own accord, some of us just complained a bit too loudly and never lifted a finger. And some of us even stayed and implemented our version of heaven. And as I look back now, I can still hear... greater love has no one than this, that one lays down their life for their friends.

This is it, isn't it? The ones who know, who believe, they can sing the truth of this song because they remember when this song was true, and now it's meaning has spirit. That it's a two-part episode, summaried to a few scant lines. That our story, every story, starts in a garden and a turning to selfishness. But only some stories find the truth. It is those few that amaze me.

And for the story of everyone else? Well, we continue to dance and sing, and wait.

You dance over me while I am unaware
You sing all around but I never hear the sound...
Lord I'm amazed by you, how you love me

What a long time.

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:53:00 +0000

Sitting here, at the office, blowing the dust off the 3rd floor. What happened?

Work at Options got really busy. The youth work at the church got really complicated. Raising the Village got charity status, and a new volunteer. And home prep for, well, the new home life, ensued.

I really only dropped in here because I'm playing with blogspot for a new Options blog. That one will certainly have to be a focus, as I'm getting paid for that one. But it should be more interesting, with more authors, and best of all, a certain credibility of having built a $50 million investment vehicle for building homes that compete in the fair market, yet are affordable for people to live.

The best thing is, I going to have to optimize the blogging process. That may result in new material going up here, while I commit to getting things up there!

Credit Cards are probably evil

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Political remarks of almost any kind are inflammatory. I've heard Bruxy over at the Meeting House say every ideologue thinks their view is balanced. I know I'm not balanced - Like Peter, the "rock", I'm like how the Leafs ought to be - passionate and with reckless abandon, sometimes to my detriment. But I wear my heart on my sleeve, and today I have a beef with credit cards.

There's a report today in the Star about the Federal budget changes to credit cards. Now I'm all for credit card clarity and increased education, but the numbers are kind of stupid. 23 companies offering 68 different low-cost credit cards? I guess the number of companies is low. Take the major banks, a majority of regional credit unions, and nearly every big box retailer, and I'd put the count at hire than 30 for sure. But the sample here has 68 low-cost credit cards? That's 3 low-cost cards per company! That's just wrong.

When I was in undergrad at WLU, introductory credit cards were a dime a dozen. I never did use those GM points, nevermind that had I thought about it I probably would have correctly deduced I'd never buy a GM car. But clearly, the card companies are there because credit cards are easy money. It's fail-proof, but certainly not dummy-proof. You can't cover your costs? Raise your rates. I can't read the fine print? My loss. I can read the fine print, but not understand it? Too bad.

I've heard stupid statistics outside too. Once I heard the average American has $12,000 in credit card debt. AVERAGE! $12,000! How many people are smart enough, like a good number of my friends, who have credit cards but never carry a balance? We bring the average way down. Who's bringing the average up!??! My money says credit cards are really a tax on the vulnerable with proceeds going to a distant corporation owned by lots of people who don't carry balances on their credit cards. I think James has something to say about that.

Says in the article, that Liberals want a 12% cap above prime. NDP want the cap at 5%. I would be happy with 10% or less. My point is this: Put limits on the profitability. You clean up the beach, and the pigeons won't s**t on the sand. If credit cards need to maintain profit at 5%+prime, you can bet the corporations will make sure there's a whole lot less defaults, and offer a whole lot less credit for people who can't carry it. It's simple regulation, but regulation in defence of those who need it most.

World Habitat Awards Finalist - Home Ownership Alternatives

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:19:00 +0000

One of the great things working for Options for Homes is getting to see up close how things work. Options for Homes is, of course, an organization I'd written up before landing this gig. Home Ownership Alternatives is, in my opinion, the oft-overlooked cousin. Where Options helps the purchasers build the building, it is Alternatives (or HOA) that provides the partial financing that allows potential homeowners to become actual homeowners.

And while they work hand in hand, they are separate and the mission for HOA is broader. They are not beholden to Options projects and can work with anyone with a plan or a vision for home ownership for the people.

And so, here's a congrats to Home Owernship Alternatives who just got short-listed for an international award from UN-HABITAT, the United Nations arm for Human Settlements, by way of the Building and Social Housing Foundation, who are the primary sponser of the World Habitat Awards. (Talk about partnerships - things get mighty complex the bigger you get!)

At any rate, I think HOA is great, so here's their press release as well as a few quick facts about them. Questions, comments, anyone? What do you think of their model? With spiraling costs for housing in Toronto (notwithstanding a global economic downturn) and the sub-prime situation in the US that precipitated the same downturn, anyone have any thoughts about an organization like Home Ownership Alternatives? Think you might ever have a need for them? How much home can you afford?
HOA 2008 World Habitat Award Finalist

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

HOA Quick Fact Dec 08

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

I'll give Harper a chance.

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:29:00 +0000

I am unabashed in my enthusiasm for the coalition of Dion, Layton with the support of Duceppe (to be technically correct).

But the Governer-General has spoken and while we don't know what she said, we can read into it by what he said. He, of course, being Mr. Stephen Harper, still Prime Minister of Canada.

And what I read leads me to give the guy a chance. There is a glimmer of hope here.

Quoting:

He grudgingly acknowledged he has to make peace with the opposition parties. "Obviously we have to do some trust-building here on both sides."

The Prime Minister said he will spend December and January hammering out the budget. "My work over the next few weeks will be focused almost exclusively on preparing the federal budget."

He added that he hoped the other parties would work with him. "Canadians expect us to get on with this."

Darn tootin'. I listened to the excerpt of the speech today outside Rideau Hall on the Globe's site and what I gather is this. Harper now realizes he has to do what he says, and he has to listen to a very persistant, annoyed and annoying opposition - he may not respect it, or like it, but he has to show he is capable of it.

That's reason for hope.

Governer-General Michaëlle Jean and his discussion must have gone roundabout from the ideas of public opinion to separatist treason until they progressed to trust building and working together in the best interests of Canada. And I think he understands.

Dion has said there must be monumental changes, and that's fair. Harper has to change. He must learn to corral the opposition, to include a palatable budget and an agreeable stimulus. No more ideological cows and no more bullying.

If he can do that, then I can live with that. And Dion can go back to the Liberal's as the outgoing leader. (Don't blow this, Dion, you don't need to cling to power that wasn't yours to begin with!)

But make no mistake, Harper is what brought us the coalition, through both inaction, and negative action. He's going to have to work hard to set this straight.

Dion: From party scapegoat to frontman for a democratic nation

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:23:00 +0000

This isn't a political blog, but I just can't help it. This is just so much fun.

Much has already been written and analysts are all over the recent news that the Coalition Is a Go. Thomas Walkom, a very bright columnist for the Toronto Star posited the best analysis for why the Tories went this way. And by this time, you should already have seen the resolve put forward by the NDP, Bloc and Liberal parties.

What I love about this whole thing is the Dion factor. Here's a guy who was a bit of a whiner throughout the whole campaign, and criticized for not being able to be wrong - and it says here the green shift was the surest plan for the environment and stimulating economic growth from it - losing both the hope of the voters and his own party. Here's a guy who also had a hard-nosed reputation of a smart academic, who fought hard for Canadian unity and always did the best he could, and had the admiration of his peers.

Here's the guy. Disgraced from the past election and yet ballsy enough to carry the leadership just a little bit further until the next convention. And now, because the situation is grim, the political climate is shaky (no matter how brave the leaders appear to be), the parties need to turn to someone they can either trust or blame. In either case, Dion is the one for the job.

His political career was to be over. He was to return to safer pastures. But for good fortune or bad luck, Dion will be the wizard to balance an angry elected minority, a diverse partnership with three very different personalities, and the one to offer a hope for a new kind of unity - one born out of diversity instead of conquest.

Oh, how good it is to be Canadian. And to see our leaders come together. Makes you want to hug someone. This move is sneakier and more impressive than May's entrance into the past election.

Here's hoping that Harper doesn't have one more trick up his sleeve. C'mon Jean, see this one through!

Oh-bama!

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:19:00 +0000

I guess I should throw my two-cents into the blogosphere. Like most of us outside the US, I was joyed to hear about Obama's leap into greatness. But I'm a bit timid about the whole thing. And time will tell if joy can become over.

I have a few scattered thoughts on all this.

And timidity doesn't come from fear of assassination or the coups of the republican setup of 2012, or the Clinton's possible maneuvering... Obama's great asset is his belief in his own rhetoric. That we ought not to fear, and we ought to try anyway. And while we admit to ourselves we are not that bold, certainly not me, I resolutely admire and stand behind Obama's passionate plea for a new politics.

The great timidity I feel is that the work still has to be done. It's amazing, Canadian federal politics had an announcement, present and debate, and election inside of six weeks. It took less time for us to hold the whole thing, than for just the skeletons in Palin's closet to found by the media. The whole nomination and election, spanning almost two years was so long, and so dramatic, that we all had chances to fall into and out of lust with the whole affair, several times.

So the thing is -- and thank God, I mean, Obama for pointing it out in his mountaintop proclamation (as Chiquita passionately sees it) -- Obama has done nothing yet but set us up for the expectation of something great. It's how excited I am to watch the new Star Trek movie, a chance to be blown away, or somewhat disappointed. In Obama, I trust in a chance, but I'm fine to wait until hindsight proves how great he is.

And hindsight is what I really love, isn't it? How did we get here? The heart of the stuff of legends. There certainly will be plenty of news in the days to come, even as the lustre fades from Obama's shining photographs and the grays start to overrun the rest of his hair. Catch me there, reading the history as the rest of the world moves on.

Newsweek has a special exclusive about the inner workings of the political parties. Rather than mere speculation, a team of reporters were given carte-blanche access to the internals of this election with the proviso to not publish until after the new president was elected. It's fantastic reading, and reads like narrative prose - setting up scenes with history, context, tension and anticipation. But it's long, a full seven chapters. (and only three published by this writing)

And so if it's about change, I'm ok with my timidity today because there's still stories to write, and still work to be done. This was simply not just an election.

Congratulations, Mr. Obama, but good luck also -- it's time for you to start.

Trek Habit

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:18:00 +0000

I can't help it. I'm so stoked about this movie. And after Kevin Smith hyped it up and Captain Kirk went off the rail about it, I am dying to watch Star Trek. Check out the new cast - the one in the black, Chris Pine, is the new Captain Kirk.

I love how they are all so young. I suppose the cast of the original were all so young back in the 60's, but when I started Star Trek I was used to the old guys in the movies, especially McCoy. And true to form, if the blue shirt is accurate looks to be about 30 amongst a bunch of 22 year olds.

There's even a ST:TNG tie-in comic series coming in January.

Pre-views are talking big, but truth be told, I can't wait no matter the outcome. I need some Trek.

Interactive Preaching?

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:21:00 +0000

One of my big problems with the 'power' of the pulpit, is the preaching not actually engaging the moment. And while some might argue the moment is a spiritual one, I think even the preaching one should be a shared experience.

The way to this has always been the Q&A, or discussion post-sermonic discharge. Or even the back and forth of a workshop talk.

But Google has a new app out there, for the web-savvy congregation. Google Moderator, based on a need found in Google Tech Talks to aggregate questions from distributed talks. Could it be used for the preaching moment? Maybe even to keep a fading audience from falling asleep? (as opposed to one CNET author's musing whether participants would be too distracted from listening!)

In order for this to work though, we'd have to open up the sanctuary to wireless and, eek, laptops. Or maybe all we need is access for Ipod's and other mobile devices. The kids all have them anyway.

I tried to test out the app... but my lack of having a cell and SMS service means I can't get in to GoogleApps. Lame. I should just go back to reading books.

Rest amid Chaos - a view on Sabbath.

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:01:00 +0000

Prolific blogger Lon, who recently made it into church.alltop.com asked a question recently while preparing for a collaborative Sunday sermon. Oh, how I envy him sometimes...

I commented my thoughts, and since I haven't blogged anything noteworthy since spending a week-long road trip with Liz to Cape Cod and the Adirondack's (oh, and Boston for a great fun wedding in Harvard), I figured it best to recycle.

Sabbath. According to Lon's online survey, the question at hand is "Finding rest and wholeness in a world of chaos and brokenness". I dig that. I imagine most of our lives are caught between running to work, running to home, running to family, and running to church. Well, I suppose some people cut out the last one. But for the churchies, it's a whole lot of running.

The standard idea, I gather, is that Sunday is the sabbath day of rest, the day the people rested in accordance with the day that God rested. And so we take the day off, go to church, and celebrate God. The problem - Sunday isn't all that restful when you have to lead worship, teach Sunday school, have church program meetings, etc. (It's compounded by the commuting culture that makes us so far from each other - check out the Jews this weekend in the Globe, a plug for Options for Homes no less - that we can't meet during the week, but that's another post altogether)

It's a big problem, actually. I think often, the Christians who form the backbone of Sunday worship services get really tired from it all. The best ones rationalize it - Sabbath isn't just about rest, it's about discipline and priority of worshipping God in our lives. All good stuff, but simply sidesteps the rest part. The smart ones leave the church and find God on different terms. All great for them, but nothing for the transformative institution of the church which gets less transformative each time it happens.

So, this is where my thoughts take me: There’s the aforementioned standard of God’s sabbath. I wonder if one moves to the dangerous realm of principle, what would you see?

I see that sabbath is the whole rest,reflection,seeing-your-place-in-God’s-big-picture-humbly bit.

The practical realization regarding rest is different strokes for different folks - not everyone sabbaths (in principle) on a weekly basis. And even those that do, if they are church servants, don’t do it on Sunday. Like pastors, many congregants work more on Sunday then on a Monday. So, while the farmer might be the last person who sabbaths a la biblical tradition (once a week for a day), today’s Christian cubicle monkeys do so differently. They sabbath is ways that honour God, respect reality and work for themselves.

One friend, who is a fantastic Christian Educator, sabbaths once a quarter by not going to church and enjoying the day, at home, stopping. I think that’s fair. Rest and wholeness is more about knowing who you are, who God is, the whole serenity prayer bit, without getting lazy, and changing the world, but putting that responsibility in God’s hands. It’s what I call theological tension. Pulses that pull in sometimes opposite, but ultimately balanced ways.

Me? I sabbath every day. :)

Canada's own explosive politics.

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Thanks to my friends over at electionproject.ca, I saw this article from Joe Clark. Now former prime ministers don't get the same adulation as former presidents, so we'll have to look at his social commentary and intellectual merits of his argument.

First, a little note about electionproject2. Back a couple of federal elections, Tammy got fed up with all the sniping and partisan bickering. Wanting to get to the actual platforms, she recruited a bunch of friends and contacts, myself included to prepare an election primer to clearly, and without bias, indicate what each party had to offer on that issue.

What came to pass was nothing short of brilliance, churches that had previously only politically told against homosexuality, were now passing around documents about poverty, nationalism, and cities. Closet political fans in high schools started sharing the project and talking. We did some fantastic work, and I gather the document in the two weeks before the election reached a dozen institutions and over a thousand people.

What can we do now with a full 5 weeks before the election? What can social networkings add to a conversation that's taking place across the country? Welcome to electionproject.ca! Tammy and her tech dude partner Clinton have brought their pen and paper project to the web. Sign up, and we'll talk Dion, Layton, Harper... and May.

Speaking of Elizabeth May, can you believe what the Green Party has done? Every election, they are told that to be considered a national party they ought to have candidates in every riding, and they were shut out of the debates (don't mention the Bloc here). Last election, they worked the ground hard and found enough national support to have such candidates in each riding and they are overruled, because they have no members of parliament. Now, independent MP Blair Wilson, ousted as a Liberal, has come to represent the Greens one day before parliament dissolved, May now has that last piece.

But still, no, she has been disallowed to attend the debates, and why? Because three of the four party leaders thinks it's not fair.

Not fair? The old farts should see it from another prospective: That the Greens have made it this far is a testament to hard work, and a willingness to step it up. And they did it without guns, violence or any of the other machinations that minority voices have to use in other countries.

Joe Clark's article: globeandmail.com: Let Elizabeth May speak

Go sign the Green Party petition, and get involved in this year's federal election at electionproject.ca!

Ambient Awareness

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:57:00 +0000

Certainly this is true for a particular demographic - the constant flow of information via Facebook updates or use of twitter (Tweeting, apparently), and even gTalk status provides insight into the rhythm of your life and of your friends.

But is it true for most of us? Is it important or part of your lifestyle? Check out this article: I’m So Totally, Digitally Close to You - Clive Thompson - NYTimes.com

It's called "ambient awareness." Quoting: "very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood
through the little things he does — body language, sighs, stray
comments — out of the corner of your eye."

Now, I feel just as the article says. I would never want to do this. TMI, right? But so too do many of the most prolific users. And those users, realize there is another kind of intimacy, and a good one, a digital intimacy that results. One person calls it a kind of E.S.P. (extra-sensory perception), and keeping good, but distant friends, closer.

Ignoring the big-brother privacy concerns for a moment - I think they're largely overstated, and certainly not yet abused - and considering a world of long drives to work, and not enough hours in a day, I think the open mind would have to at least think about this:

Ambient awareness is a way back into our small town beginnings in a brave, new, global world. A new way of knowing our meta-physical neighbours, and keeping up with local going-ons. A blessing in the keeping together of a community that has been destroyed by a global environment, unhealthy focus on the nuclear family, and isolationist values of North America.

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Now, if I could only figure out a way for that twitter thing to not take so much time...

Need to organize...

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:32:00 +0000

Organization is such an important part of being effective in a multi-faceted world.

But there's a caveat to that. I vacillate between being an organizer, and just being. When I was still using Outlook, I would keep up with all the contact changes and schedule completely through it. When I gave up desktop email for webmail (google) a few months ago, I never fully migrated my contacts over, and have already lost my new pen/paper day-planner. When I get down to life satisfaction, I really just like to come home and see what's going on - being scheduled for me is the sucky reality of life.

One could argue that being better organized would free me to be more laid back. But that takes forward thinking that I'm sometimes not capable of.

Let me quickly list the things I need to do so that my life can be better kept together.

-As mentioned, migrate my contacts from Outlook to gContacts and find my day-planner.

-Figure out how gCalendar can be effectively shared for both Liz and myself so we have our own records of each other's plans.

-Make a concerted effort to coordinate all photos through one piece of software (right now, we do some things through Picasa, some through Windows Live Gallery, and some through Explorer!)

-Identify where all our money is, and make decisions on mortgage renewal, credit card plan, and finally set a proper budget

-Find out how to simplify my computing experience from RTV stuff (1, 2, 3), email, RSS, blogging and all the other social and commercial interactions online.

-Organize what we own: product warrenties, licenses (my sister-in-law just lost her Office 2003 license, and now has to re-vert to my Office 2000), expired/new and (un)charged batteries, rebates

-Sort through our documents: file financials, taxes, extra-curricular stuff like youth group and RTV.

-Set some personal goals and remember them: book lists, movie lists, writing lists.

Or I should leave things as they are - the chaos that exists doesn't really hurt my life. I can always just continue getting by. Right?

The Solar Crash

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:02:00 +0000

If there was one thing I could change about last week's softball extravaganza, it would have been the date. The collision meant that we couldn't participate in the Solar Crash. Good friend Lon, who turned 30 that day, put together a smashing time at the El Mocambo. Liz and I were able to stop by towards the end of the night, all decked out in dusty softball gear, to appreciate the environment. By that, of course, I'm referring to the 20 various artistic acts and displays.

Of course, we're ecstatic that proceeds from the event are going to Living Water, which in turn is exploring potential to bring safe, clean water to our friends over in Kanga, the newest partner of Raising the Village. See the tribute over at RTV's test-SN site.

The best part is hearing what Lon has to say about engaging a population: The SolarCrash - Crafting beauty. And so contrary to the simplistic targetted marketing that we talk about that actually doesn't even work, he was able to use a variety of tools, to engage a variety of people, in a variety of ways. That's novel, but not really. That, I think, is what makes it beautiful. Then, and only then, can we let things fly...

Ready, Set, Scramble!

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:01:00 +0000

Starting Thursday at 11am, at the intersection at Yonge and Dundas (Eaton Center) begins Toronto's first scramble light.

I'm not sure I buy into the scramble theory, but it sounds good. I wonder if it will be difficult for motorists to realize what's going on or if it'll just incur more road rage.

For those who don't know, scramble intersections stop traffic in all four directions allowing pedestrians to walk in any direction to cross the intersection. The theory is that pedestrians won't walk when cars drive so cars don't have to wait to make their turns at the intersection.

I kind of can't wait to see a bird's eye view of the rats running wild. Ready, set, scramble!

Best Sunday Ever.

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:35:00 +0000

As I wandered into the church this morning, the music was blasting, unusual for our congregation, but expected out of the drum-happy kids playing the instruments. Then I saw a familiar logo draping over the drum kit - an H2O jersey.

I ran back to the car and got a Charis one. The drummer helped me hang it up right beside. Even made a great announcement about our teams in the other church league in Toronto, at the end of service.

Before service started, I accosted who I thought was the prayer leader to make note of this celebrated moment - two MCBC teams facing off in this evening in Toronto - but she feared the timing and focus on the graduating grade 12's. But our preacher for the day got it, as did our aforementioned drummer.

Service rocked, a smattering of Habitat Volunteer T-shirts in the crowd, a remnant of the 20 or so of us who spent the whole day painting 7 rooms, plus window and door trims and several ceilings. But something was missing...

Those highschoolers from the mission trip had complained that they worship music on Sunday mornings is too rigid. But the music was rocking - beautiful intros, riffs, and outros. A leader guiding us, and beautiful vocalists giving their all. These highschoolers had to at least have a chance to immerse, and so they came, right down to the second row. They might not have yet been freed to worship, but one day, you and I will see, what they are meant to be.

The preacher asked what is different about this Sunday from any other? Well, obviously, it's Charis playing H2O, first time evertwo teams from Mississauga have gone to the CCSA finals. He was talking about Christian Education Sunday, but that happens every few months.

When he wondered whether two teams facing off against each other was such a good thing, I piped in that it's like the Olympics. And we all understood. It's about the best of sport, at least for the weekend warriors who ply their trade against the request of their aching bodies. It's about a game that is respected and competed for, with no outcome fixed and no enemies but ourselves. It is the spirit of the game, and that even the team that lost, comes away with silver. And this year, MCBC comes away with both.

Quoting our captain and coach, Steve, it is simply the "best Sunday ever." Good luck, H2O! We're going to have a blast together!

MCBC H2O vs. MCBC Charis

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:17:00 +0000

Who would have thought - it's been 19 years since our church has fielded a team in the CCSA finals, and this year we have two.

There is something about sport that brings out the best and the worst in us, sometimes at the same time! There's heartache and disappointment, elation and joy.

There are the Phelps and Bolts who almost cruise their way to Olympic medals, and as fantastic a story as each of them are, it is simply phenomenal. Their combination of focus and relaxed composure, it is what we tell ourselves we need to have, and they simply have it.

Our lives are more like Van Koeverden. Leading up to these games, Canada's finest medal hope, fully confident of how good he can be. After a crushing defeat in the 1000m, he had no excuses, only offering a raw, humilitating disappointment. Less than 24 hours later, he comes through with an Olympic effort, overcoming self-doubt and human fallibility to take back a silver medal in the 500m.

It's that story the heart cries out for.

Our team certainly isn't full of Olympic talent, and it's only my first year with the team, having only heard and seen from the peanut gallery before. But today was an Olympic heart, of players who gave everything, overcoming mistakes, minimizing tension, amplifying composure and squeaking out a 12-11 victory with the heart of champions.

And now, the cherry, we got to do it all again tomorrow against our own brethern. Good luck H2O, we're all having the best game of our lives tomorrow.

Try new things, you never know...

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:15:00 +0000

Most of us live in this era of trying to figure out what you want to do, how you want to live, and what precisely are the steps we need to take to get there.

Electronic Arts probably isn't known for treating it's employees well, but this story is bizarre. Check it out: EA hires engineer who had brain rewired and became an artist.

And while the story here is fantastic, I think it's helpful for me to know that I can always try new things, that my story isn't written in stone. Then the world is a fantastic place, and who knows what fantastic things we might be capable of, if we follow our noses. Or dreams. Or frustrated angst - whatever!

Watch me

noreply@blogger.com (alan) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:53:00 +0000

Most profound comment during last week's Urban Service Mission trip with my church and youth group:

When people ask you what you did this past week, wouldn't it be something if you could say, "Watch me - you'll know what I did then, by what I do now." - Jake, CSM Toronto host

So. Watch me.