I quite dislike sick days.
I'd much rather be at work.
I did some work today. I couldn't stand feeling unproductive so I did things I can do from home and a bit of college work. I made a lot of phone calls to my small group too.
But really it's all just a bit depressing.
I woke up this morning, felt the cramps in my stomach, and in that half dreaming, half awake state, thought it was the dream part of my stomach talking. But alas it wasn't. 3 times in 2 weeks?!? What's going on? Grr.
I got up and decided I would have to hide my sickness. I had a talk to do today at a private school in Dee Why and I wasn't going to be stopped. I didn't talk on Sunday but this time I decided my sickness wasn't going to stop the gospel. I got ready and tried to figure out how to go about doing minimal damage till it was time to talk. I had my quiet time, and had a sleep, and kept praying to get better.
I figured, while I had my shower, that I would probably get to this point on the way to the talk where I would feel so bad that I wouldn't be able to go on. But once I got there it would be fine. I was hoping that, perhaps, once I had done the talk I would feel completely better.
I had been planning to finish working on my talk (which was pretty bare bones when I went to bed last night) this morning but I wasn't able to concentrate. I thought I might be able to work on it in the car, but that didn't work either.
By the time I left I was feeling pretty terrible. I started having thoughts about going home again. I got to Willow Park and changed lanes to turn around and go back home, but I felt a strong call back towards Dee Why. So I got back in my lane and kept going. By the time I got to Turramurra I thought to myself, "God is bigger than me, He can get on without me." And I turned into a side street to call the school and tell them I wasn't coming, but the guy who organised me wasn't answering his phone, so I had to keep going. It was too late to turn back.
I arrived at the school dreaming of porcelain, the whole drive had been horrible, and I hadn't done any planning of the talk. "God give me strength and give me a talk." I went into the school's reception and told them who I was. I forgot how to spell Chapel in the guest book so I just wrote "Chaplin".
Soon the Chaplin came out to meet me and he took me to the school hall. It was very large and full of hundreds of plastic chairs all in perfect lines, in four house groups. We had a short chat till we were descended upon by about 500 hundred kids in blue blazers, all looking particularly private school.
When everyone was seated the Chaplin got up, prayed then introduced me. It was as quick as that.
I don't remember much of the talk except that it went well and I felt fine. I didn't feel sick in the slightest, I just talked. It was great. God provided. They laughed in the right places, and were quiet when I was serious. I talked about the fact that grace is free and we don't have to, in fact cannot, earn it. I told the Christians to stop trying to earn it, and I told the non-Christians to get it. It felt good. It is good to talk about Jesus, it's good to talk about grace.
After the talk I got down and everything finished up. I started to get hot and sweaty. I felt like I was going vomit. The Chaplin came up to talk to me and all I could manage to get out was "Mmmhmm", a few kids came over too and I could barely say anything in case I exploded on them. It was most difficult. I felt very rude. I hope they don't think I was rude.
Once the vomit subsided I felt pretty good though. I got a box of chocolates for my speaking efforts. They were wrapped in a plastic bag which, at that stage, was more appealing than the chocolates, a safety device in case the vomit came back as I drove home.
At home I slept then went to see the doctor. He wasn't all that informative except said that perhaps I could be allergic to something. That would be distressing. I like everything I eat. What if I'm allergic to dairy? Or worse, McDonald's?
Tonight I've downloaded a lot of music legally. It's great. I'm not sure what I'll do with it but it's fun.
I want to go to work tomorrow, but I'm not. I hate missing work.
There was a sex scene axed from Denzel's latest film, and everyone is talking about it:
A Fox rep confirmed to MSNBC's The Scoop that the scenes from Man on Fire were cut, but said: "I don't think there was any agenda. And if there was, I probably wouldn't tell you."
What a cool Fox rep.
From SMH
Sick again.
This is starting to get boring.
I have a bloggable story from today's escapades but right now I have to call the doctor then lie on the couch and stare at the television.
I feel I need to blog. Just to get this day down and done.
Really there isn't much today. I went to Yum Cha in Chinatown with Grandpa, Valentina, Mum, Dad, Jo and Mike. There were a lot of other people there but they didn't go to Yum Cha with me. They just ate or pushed around carts and said things like "Poork Dumpwings?" (that was my bad impression of a Chinese accent.)
My Uncle, Mike, told us stories of my cousins, mostly Will, the youngest boy. I like hearing the stories. I haven't seen my cousins in about four years but I thought they were great last time I saw them.
After Yum Cha it was off to the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry Office. We got there early so paid a visit to visit Gloria Jeans.
The registry office was quite an un-romantic place. It looked a little like an exhibit from the Government Pavilion at the Easter Show. We all stood around and I was amused by the signs which said "Quiet Please Marriage in Progress"
When it was time to go in we were shown into the Marriage Room or what ever it was called. It was a tiny, little, red walled room, with two rows of cushy pews and an isle in the middle, all behind frosted glass doors. There was a desk at the front and a thingy of flowers. The Celebrant came to visit us and he was a friendly man. I was official photographer and went snap happy for fear of missing anything. It was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it wedding. The whole thing took 9 minutes. From the time the Celebrant arrived to the shaking of the hands to say it was done, nine whole minutes.
It was probably one of those occasions which I will mark down as "You don't see that every day."
After the wedding Grandpa and his new bride went home for an afternoon nap and I continued on to work for leaders meeting and small group and the like. Leaders meeting was too full as usual and small group was kind of fun. I'm still trying to get my head around the whole "obey the government" thing. I would much rather declare the government to be useless, and my citizenship to lie elsewhere, but I cannot. It would be so fun to be an anarchist.
One the way home Rachel, David and I stopped in at church for an almost midnight snack. My chips tasted pretty foul (meat pie flavoured Smiths) but it was a fun little detour.
And that's my day.
Congratulations to Steve and Valentina. I hope there are many happy years together.
Today I am going to my Grandfather's wedding. I've never been to the wedding of one of my Grandparents before. I've been told it's going to take 12 minutes. We're going out for Yum Cha as well. Should be fun.
Having a Sickie
Lots of people made it quite clear to me that they would be extremely disapproving if I did anything today. I had 3 meetings and a Funday planned, but I could see the frowns on their faces in my mind, so I cancelled everything. Not that I live life for the approval of others. But I figure they did have a point. If I have today off, I might be able to avoid having another Sunday getting further aquianted with the toilet bowl.
So I have wandered around today wondering what to do with my day at home. I'm not really feeling sick. I have done a bit of reading, played computer games, I've done some research on the internet (The Just War theory and the AIDS crisis in Africa) and tried to buy a song off Bigpond Music. I've also had a sleep and watched some of the cast commentary on Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition. Now I might eat a pie.
Ryan is coming around soon to be my friend. Tonight may turn out to be more exciting. I wonder what can happen tonight?
Hotmail emails take a long time to turn up in my inbox. I'm constantly finding emails from Hotmail people which have turned up in my inbox a few days late and snuck in without letting me know they are there. They take about the same amount of time as snail mail. Maybe Hotmail people should send me letters in the post, that would be fun. I love getting letters.
Once a week fun
So it's Sunday and I'm sick again. If this becomes a weekly thing at least it will give me some routine in my life. I'm a stickler for routine. I won't go into detail about what's wrong with me, but let's just say that every major orifice in my body (except my earholes) has had a work out today. Most unpleasant.
I spent most of today in bed. I read a bit more of my ethics book, fun fun. I spent much time pleading with God to let me go to church tonight, in between uncomfortable sleeps. It's so depressing being at home on a Sunday night. And I was meant to be preaching tonight. Blah Blah Blah. I stayed up till 2:30 last night working on the sermon and now it's on hold till, um, not sure. Although the first thing I thought this morning when I woke up feeling sick was "Oh good, now I can sleep in."
Other than that there is little of interest to report. Tonight I might watch a DVD.
I re-read my sermon today when I was contemplating whether I was well enough to go preaching, and while it's not all that good, I got very excited when I got to the bit where I talk about Jesus dying for us. That's always exciting, and I love preaching about that. So much fun to tell people about Jesus. Hmm. Have to write a talk for Thursday. Not today though.
About an hour a go I walked out of my house to go on a drive to do some sermon writing and bounding down the bush came David. He came to give me Coke and chocolate as sustenance for my sermon writing. He's a beautiful man.
Jo (my sister) talking about her new car: "Yeah, it's a good car. I should be able to get another 150km out of it."
I went to a play tonight with Matt and Louise. It was Twelfth Night and it was quite modern. It had a lot of make up, and I understood little of it. I think it was a bit smart for me. But the people in it did well. We went to see a guy from the youth group. He did good. He's a good bloke.
After the performance I noticed a massive spider with a massive web out the front of the hall where the play was. I started getting worried that people would walk into it and get attacked by the angry arachnid. I moved to stand in front of the web so people wouldn't run into it. I think I deterred one or two people. One woman almost walked through it. But I panicked and desperatly shouted "Don't walk there!" and when she stopped I explained to her about the spider. I think she was grateful. Her husband came through a minute or two later on exactly the same path. I didn't manage to stop him with my cries to stop so I put my arm out and grabbed him, plucking him from danger. I'm not sure if he appreciated me grabbing his chest in a panic, but I'm sure he too appreciated it once he saw the size of the spider.
Matt and I continued on to Jo's party. Posh times. There was much goodness had with a big yellow road marker crossing thing. Funniness as people hopped in it. I'm hoping photos get posted.
I had a lovely time.
As we left Howie managed to squash Rachel's fingers in the car door. It was full on. I think the image of Rach's fingers poking out the other side, the wrong side, of the door will be forever burnt in my memory. Ouch. It was a little surreal. It seemed like it would hurt a lot. They say women have a pain threshold nine times higher than men. I wonder if that's true.
There was this good line in Kill Bill 2 last night which was something like: "You're the kind of girl a man is right to go crazy over."
It was a little better put than that, but I liked it, whatever it was.
And I'm at work again. Another day of meetings. They were productive, funny, and I didn't fall asleep at all. I had a pretty good day today for a day full of meeting. And dog poo picking up. I cleaned up the yard today because Mum has come home from Alice Springs.
I'm now killing time till the evening (a Friday evening no less) begins. I'm going to a play tonight, then Jo's party. I'm looking forward to both those things. I'm a little disappointed that I can't be at Jo's the whole time but I booked myself in to see this play a few week prior to finding out about the party. Oh well. Jo said she wouldn't be offended.
I'm listening to Coldplay as I blog. Nice.
Tis late. But I haven't blogging in a while. Perhaps I will make this quick.
The Pub on Wednesday was good fun. I didn't drive so I could drink, and I managed to consume a whole 1 and half alcoholic drinks. I'm so proud of me. I got to talk to people (the were a wonderfully large turnout), and play the doggies. Macca's afterwards for the usual sitting around and shenanagising.
Today was meeting with Helen. We met from 11am to 5:30 with a 1 hour lunch break at the food court. We're very productive people. It was good to get back into the swing of things. We had a lot to cover and I'm excited about what God is doing. Yay for prayer and Jesus' salvation and power coming to the youth.
We also got love-bombed, which was a very pleasant surprise. I'm really digging this whole "love bomb the youth ministers" thing. I'm hoping it continues. Thank you to the "mystery" bombers.
Tonight was a trip to Kill Bill: Vol 2, with a friendly bunch. Not as good as the first, I think. It inspired me to become a Kung Fu master though. Problem with that is, I'm not sure who I could Kung Fu once I was good at it. Damn me and my pacifist tendencies.
I am currently at Church in sermon preparation mode.
I went to Koorong today with Kaye and three youth group kids. I managed to spend lots of money on fat, scholarly books to make my shelves look good (they'll slot in well right between Harry Potter and I Kissed Dating Good-bye*). We then ate Maccas together, and had laughs. Ha de ha.
Since then I've been working on understanding my sermon on Sunday. I have a topic, and a passage, but I'm working hard to make sure I'm true to both without compromising the Word. It should do alright, but if it comes down to it, I'll go with the Word rather than the topic.
It has been a relatively fun exercise, I've used the white board and read out of my new Bible, comparing translations. I've read fat dictionaries and concordances and am about to go to the commentaries. I've had a few sleeps too. I feel quite smart. I'm sure that feeling will disappear as soon as I find myself in the company of others.
*I did, but it was most un-intentional
Only after I dropped my prototype ceramic dustpan
and it broke into a thousand pieces did I realize
that what I really had invented was portable irony.
(John Keadle)
www.ruminate.com
I had lunch with Anmol today at Collaroy. That was fun.
I went to Bible Study tonight. That was fun.
I noticed that Lauren has reappeared on the commenting scene.
And then I noticed that she has reappeard within the blogging world too:
http://happyaslaurie.blogspot.com/
Welcome back, Lauren.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
What a good movie. I sat there in one of the last scenes and thought to myself "This is an important film". Ryan turned to me afterwards and said that it was one of those films that should be a pre-requisite film for anyone thinking of getting into a relationship.
I loved the honesty of the film. It started off showing a really horrible relationship, then went to a good one, then went back to the bad, but had a bit of hope. It didn't pretend that relationships were all good or that they would solve all your problems. But it did make you gun for the couple. And the romance was that much more important because it was real. I really liked it.
Plus it was written by Charlie Kaufman. He's the bomb. He always inspires me to make good films, but I wouldn't be brave enough to write the way he does. I'm too conservative.
I love internet cafes. They make the internet so much more fun. Reading blogs in the middle of the city at some computer used by many other people, that's good fun. Ryan and I just had some Yum Cha and talked about how we can change the world. It's a little exciting. We had an idea of something useful we might be able to do. Something useful and manageable.
Everyone is talking about helping the poor, loving the least at the moment. Top quality. I'm still scared I'm just a talker. But we've had an idea. We may even get around to doing it.
Ryan is playing network games. We're waiting till it's time to go see our movie. It's starting (at least the ads are) in about 5 minutes. How good is an internet cafe under an cinema? Posh.
We went to Dirt Cheap cds just prior to this and I managed to spend $50 on 4 cds. I'm excited but I don't think I have time to listen to them all. How beautiful are cds?
I think it might be movie time now. Ryan's shooting people.
I watched some Foxtel and now I feel stupid. TV is stupid and it makes me stupid.
Films on the other hand. I watched some of Finding Nemo with Hannah tonight. That was nice. Except Hannah likes to stand in front of the TV.
I want to be at McDonald's right now. Oh well I couldn't eat the food anyway, at least that's a plus.
1,426 words of ketchup
Blogger’s dead and I’m sick.
I’m writing on Word at the moment. I woke up this morning at 8am with that horrible feeling that my stomach wasn’t going to behaving for me today. The pain of, well, many unpleasant visits to the WC. I think the thing I was most disappointed about was that it was 8am. I hadn’t got up before 8am at all in the previous 5 day and I was camping. Why then, when I finally get to sleep in, in my own damn bed, do I have to wake up at 8-“flippin’”-am? I went to bed at 4 in the morning knowing that I had plenty of sleep-in ahead of me. Oh well.
After a day of un-pleasantness I’m emerging on this side of it not feeling too bad. I at some pasta and watched my Best of U2 dvd, and it was good.
I got the feeling I was going to get sick on Tuesday night. I was standing in the main meeting, my throat was sore, and I was pretty sure I was going to loose my voice. And then I get that pain in my stomach. It’s been going around the house, and I was sure I was going to get it during Soul. And there it was. Tuesday night. “Oh no God, please not now.” I pleaded “Anytime but now.” And it seems He heard my desperate prayer and the pain went away and I forgot about it. Till 8am…
Well, that don’t matter. I’m glad God did hold it off. I don’t think I would have made it through Soul having to spend half my days in those wonderful toilets. At least with a cold all you need near by is a hanky or a box of tissues.
But to back track…
Friday
I got to interview Tim H on Friday night. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. I wasn’t sure if he was going to “play ball” so to speak. When he and Donny climbed into the ring, would it be a good fight? Would Tim punch well? Would Donny have it in him?
We played a game of the Orange-Under-the-Chin Game as our “Inappropriate Youth Group Game”. That was fun. There was a woman who posed for a photo with me and said her last name was "Jaffa". Earlier that night someone had asked me to sign their program. I even got a piece of fan mail. Ahh, fame.
The Tim interview went well. Tim played. He got a few good punches in. I ended up storming off stage when it was suggested that I was a bad singer. Pretty good laughs I think. I enjoyed calling him “The Justin Timberlake of Worship Music”. I’d been itching to do that for weeks, as many people well know, and people laughed so it was good.
The main meeting was good. David and I had a good chat afterwards. And I met two of Rach’s friends in Macchiato afterwards and debated theology. I love a good bit of theological talk.
I was on "Shut-Up" duty at night. After midnight we had to get the kids to be quiet and eventually go to sleep. I managed to get them quiet (mostly) but I was too much of a soft touch to get them to sleep. We ended up going to bed around 2:30am. But it was very nice to sit and talk till the wee hours with friendly young people I don’t get to chat much to.
Saturday
I woke up too early. I went to a seminar with Jo, Kaye, Helen and Rach on Women in Leadership. When we arrived I was the only guy in a shed full of women. One other guy turned up. I felt a little out numbered, a lot more than usual, and I seem to live a quite gender out numbered life. I think it’s a bit sad that only two guys turned up to a Women in Leadership seminar. Perhaps they thought it was only for women (I did). I probably wouldn’t have gone if I wasn’t encouraged. But it does give me the feeling that only women seem to care all that much about the women in leadership thing.
The seminar was mostly good. It confirmed a lot of what I thought. There were a few dodgy arguments, and the woman seemed to give the impression that people who believed that women shouldn’t be in leadership in the church hadn’t studied the Bible well enough, and had come at their studies with an agenda. I disagree with that. I think there are probably plenty of people who have come to their ideas that there is a biblical precedent for not allowing women into positions of leadership within the church with complete integrity.
At lunch I got asked for another Donny autograph. The girl said she wanted “something to rub in the noses of the people back at church”. I was very flattered but I’m not sure how many people back at her church would be impressed by the signature of some fictional character that they’d never heard of. But who am I to know?
After lunch Jo and I went to Hornsby, it was Jo’s Birthday (Happy Birthday Jo). I got some lunch from Little Modern, and burnt a DVD. Hannah and Dad had just arrived home so it was nice to see them. I drove back and picked up Howie and David along the way.
Back at Soul I went and found my interview subjects for the evening. It was a band. The band were pleasant enough to talk to. But they seemed a little like a "rock band". And I was worried they were taking the interview a little seriously. But I left them to it and hoped for the best.
I played a game of Frisbee on the oval with Howie and David and a collection of youth who turned up later in the piece. I had fun. I do love the youth. How good it is to be a youth minister so you can spend your days hanging out with young people.
Donny’s last night.
Donny sang “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” in response to Tim’s criticisms the night before. I think Tim’s criticisms were perhaps well founded, but I had fun running around with a microphone.
People laughed at many of the right places and I had some shockers. I tried to make funnies out of the survey that was being handed around, but that fell flat on its face.
The band failed to materialise for the interview. Only the singer made it at the start and some friend he had with him. He wasn’t really wanting to play ball. He was hard nut to crack. He was right into the blocking (as in theatre sports blocking) and not accepting my offers. It wasn’t the best. The drummer joined us halfway through the interview and he was a bit more fun.
In the end I wrapped up the show, thanked the necessary people (and probably forgot a few) and walked off stage not sure whether to feel relived that it was over, or down because the night’s show didn’t seem to have gone all that well. I didn’t make a decision and felt them both.
The Main meeting was a goodie. Mike spoke well about being generous and making sure that we were concerned for the poor. I went forward at the ministry call because I was sick of being concerned about the poor and doing nothing about it. I was frustrated at myself. I want to change. So I pleaded with God to show me how.
I talked to Matt afterwards about that fact that so often we make commitments to change, but we don’t. We commit to helping the poor and fighting injustice, but nothing changes. There’s a high chance that will happen to me, but I hope to God I change something.
In the evening I went and watched Blind play their set. They did good. I enjoyed their music. Good on them I say.
The evening ended up at Maccas till 2am with Helen, Rach, Kaye, Jo, David, Howie and I, sitting around doing the Maccas thing. Fun, fun.
Right now I should be in church, but as we know, I’m sick. I always miss church when I don’t go. At least it still runs when I’m not there.
Now I will go away and live my changed life. I wonder what’s on Foxel?
Soul's done. Now I sleep. Tomorrow I don't have to get up. Praise the Lord.
Tomorrow I can blog till my heart's content.
Fully Sick Bro
It's 11am (not by the time I post this) and the morning main meeting is about to start. I'm not there. I came home from Soul today because I'm feeling really dodge. Snotty, throaty, no voice. I'll go back this arvo. Apart from that I'm having a great time. I'm enjoying the Christian camping thing. Well the camping perhaps not, but the Christian stuff is good.
Donny Jaffa is going well. I interview Mike P on Wednesday night. That was lots of fun. It was very hard work, he's a very funny guy, very quick. He kept me on my toes. I felt like I was in a boxing match (my often used analogy) and we were both trying to out do each other. There were many times when he was kicking my butt. We talked about Neighbors, his book, his weight, marriage, and Australian slang, all in about 5 minutes. Often I felt myself getting stumped for words. A few times I almost lost it. I definitely laughed when I should have stayed in character. But I held it together. He was getting very good punches in though. I working hard just to stay in the fight.
But I won. I got knock out. He managed to inadvertently blurt out a completely inappropriate sexual innuendo, and when he realised what he's said, he descended into fits of laughter and left the stage. I didn't get to end the interview because he just walked off. He couldn't keep it together. KO! But really if that hadn't happened I would have come off looking much worse. He's a quicker, funnier man than I. Definitely fought better. I just happened to win because he made a mistake.
It was lots of fun.
Last night Jem came on as Tabitha. That was a more difficult show. As Jem said we didn't really flesh out the character enough. I think we were both searching for things to talk about. We played a game of Bum Charades at the beginning. I got representatives from the different mission orgainisations to spell out words with their bums. It was very funny. I liked doing advertising for people who help kids in the third world by getting people to wiggle their bums. How funny.
Bum. Giggle.
But the Tabitha interview was much harder. I wasn't feeling the best and Jem and I were both struggling. I don't feel like Jem let me down. I think I should have made sure we did a bit more work on the character before we went out there. In the end we made it through on old jokes, and a karaoke version of Yellow. I still got good feed back so we made it. I think Jem had the hardest job of anyone who will be on the Donny Jaffa Show, she didn't get to play herself everyone else does, and she still got laughs. Good on Jem I say.
The rest of last night was good. The Main Meeting was good. Matt spoke very well. The best I've heard from Matt in a long time. The singing was good too. I was planning not to sing to save my voice but I couldn't help it. I thought, "Bugger my voice, I want to praise God". And it felt good, I'm sure it didn't sound too good though. But God was listening to my heart, and that was sounding much better than my continual testy pops.
We did a show of TOOBSC last night. Our last one. For me it had a kind of festive feeling too it. Leaving it so long, and knowing it was the last time. I couldn't care less about how it went technically. I was just enjoying doing TOOBSC. It was good to see Matt as Zac one last time. He forgot his lines (not much and it sounded fine), and there was no guitar strap so he had to perch in front of the mike stand propping up his guitar with his leg looking like and Indian surveying the plains. Or something along those lines. We lost power half-way through the Stomp piece and the projector had to be turned back on.
If it had gone like that at Black Stump I would have felt terrible. But this time it was great. I enjoyed watching the new pieces. Both of them were cool. And Matt's the man. The Opposite of Being Self-Centred is now done. Everyone who helped is fantastic. Many thanks to them all. Yay for Helen for working sor hard. Yay for us all. I'm ready to move on.
I think I might make this dvd for tonight then have a sleep.
Well here I am at home, mid Soul Survivor. I had the first Donny Jaffa last night, it when good I think. I'm pretty pleased with it. People laughed at the jokes. I interviewed John C, he was good fun. I didn't get to talk to him about much, we made a few jokes about his hair, watched a video and then talked about the Holy Spirit being baptised. It was all very silly. I was a bit rude to him, but as was pointed out to me, he gave as good as he got.
The rest of it so far has been fun. The main meeting last night was good but I found it very hard to concentrate. I was busy de-briefing. But once I got away from that, I was fine.
Taking the youth group has meant that I have to be responsible. I have to tell people to be quiet at night. Oh dear. It's a little hard.
Claire came up to me today after a seminar and told me she read my blog. The audience is continually expanding.
I'm making dvd's at the moment and hoping it works. I might have a shower too and put on a wash.
Donny Jaffa day.
White suit, un-sure of my character. Perhaps I'm a pop star, maybe I'm nervous wreck (my character not me). Today I take another step towards eternal stardom or looking like a bloody idiot. I can cope if it's both.
Can't I just be a regular punter? People might look at me. Who said "Yes" to this gig? Who thought it would be fun?
Maybe I shouldn't have stayed up so late editing.
Something struck me in this article as just stating the bleeding obvious.
Basically the article says that casual sex is probably a bad idea, and if women act like "sluts" then men must too, it takes two to tango. Neither I found all that surprising to hear. I wonder if it was surprising for the author?
I'm about halfway through my editing. I had planned to have it all done by 10pm (originally 8pm actually), but I don't think that'll happen.
There have been plenty of interruptions today though. I have been making DVDs, airing tents, buying warm clothes (I now have a new jumper and a new jacket, my first jacket since I was five I think), driving Hannah to John Williams and Jo to her house, having a sleep at Jo's house so I didn't crash on the way home, and getting lost. Now I am editing. It's going quite swimmingly actually.
I've been a really bad blogger over the past few days. I've had too much on. No time for the guilty pleasures of blogging. Still no time I think, but I'm going for it anyway. Right now I'm encoding a DVD of TOOBSC. I called the file "Another Bloody TOOBSC DVD.m2v" I felt that expressed my sentiments quite accuratly. It usually takes about 45 minutes so I've got 45 minutes to kill. I just practiced wiggling my ears in time to the music. That managaed to fill about a minute. I'm trying to see if I can teach myself to wiggle both ears independantly of each other. I can do the right ear by itself and the left one is making good progress.
On Friday I went to see "Jesus the Really Passionate Man Who has His very own Musical" at CCC. I really liked the disciples. They were funny. They behaved like a bunch of guys which was good to see. I liked their laughing and their rumbling.
I sat next to Rach and made stupid (and probably un-funny) jokes half the time till I realised I was treating it like a Musical Society production and I really should give it some respect. Not that musical society productions don't deserve respect.
It wasn't too bad though. I enjoyed myself. Jesus went to Hell and I thought "I really should blog about that". At the time I thought blogging about my views on Jesus going to Hell might be interesting. Now I'm not so sure. But I may find myself with a few spare theological thoughts and shove them down on the bloggosphere.
I have no memory of the rest of Friday. Oh yes I went to church, fell asleep during the prayers and didn't feel all that spiritual. I may have done some filming too with Robert. (Oh no I didn't, I didn't have a camera, I wrote offensive scripts)
Saturday I definatly did film. Robert and I went to Wombat with Jen and Tim and filmed stuff. It was funny. Then I went over to Jem's to do some filming with her. She and Ryan were most concerned that the scripts I had written were too offensive. I said I wasn't worried and we kept going. We went to a park to film but the battery died.
Travelled back to the Castles to film there but got only one of the five scenes we needed done. We gave up and decided to continue on Sunday.
I plodded home and tried to make decisions about going to Lesley's. In the end I decided I should stay home and edit. Alas, that didn't work, various camera issues. So I went to bed at 7:30pm for a glorious eleven hours sleep.
That also didn't work. I got about an hour and half but was woken 5 times by yappy dogs and by that time the sleepy magic was gone. So I got up and went to Lesley's a few hours late.
It was good fun.
Today
I read Jen's blog post this morning and I got all excited about Jesus being risen. I went and had a dance in the living room with excitement. Kicks, flying arms and all. Then I put on Newsboys and continued my joy all the way to church.
I got told today that I need to film my next sermon so it can be given to a famous speaker person in case they like it. That's a little scary. Pressure. I hate sermon pressure. It feels wrong to try and have to pull out a good sermon for the cameras.
I went back to Asquith and filmed with Jem some more after church. We started at the Castle's but it was too noisy. We headed off to parks and got often disturbed. But we filmed in record time. Every scene we did in half an hour or less, fantastic. Jem did good. Good on Jem.
When we were done we had a celebratory lunch at Hungry Jacks.
I went back to Church. Did church, then did Maccas. I had a nice night. Now I'm here making the video world turn. I wonder if the DVD is cooked yet.
I can't be bothered blogging so I'll stick up an old picture instead.
This is from when we went to Woolies.
Put your hands in the sky,
Put your hands in the air,
If you're the praying kind,
Turn this song into a prayer.
Put your hands in the sky,
Put your hands in the air,
If you're the praying kind,
'Cause we're not going back there. - Bono
Help the poor
All good in theory, but I get so caught up in my own world that I never get around to doing anything about anyone else's.
Today I felt tired. Foodcourt was fun. I bought some Karaoke dvds and new pants (cords, haven't had them for a while). I found a costume for Donny Jaffa (all white suit very excited). I slept a bit and then went to a Passover dinner at Church. That was fun. I laughed a lot during one of the Psalms. I tried to hide my laughing and felt really naughty. Sometimes it's good to feel naughty when you spend your whole life having to look responsible.
Long Night's Journey into the Day
So we went to the Pub. It was good. Had a much better turn out than last week. Good conversation. Had a discussion about original sin and if it's true.
After the pub there was maccas and then a suggestion (from the remaining four) that we go on a road trip and see how far we can get to and back before 10am. That time changed to 8:45am after and encounter with my mother who told me she needed the car. She was very nice about it though. She doesn't tell me off for silliness.
I was very tired when I we had the discussion. I knew it would be silly to go, but I went anyway. I wanted to do something impulsive. I felt my "boring" levels were too high, so I thought "Time to do something silly".
Bright and Early: Leaving the Forest at 1:36am
I bought a cd (Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head) at a petrol station in Forestville (I have no idea it was Forestville, I still don't know what suburb is which over there).
I slept most of the trip down and Helen drove. That is one of my favourite memories of this early morning. I really liked falling asleep while the car kept going, and we kept getting further away. And then waking up and finding yourself hundreds of kilometres from home.
We stopped in Kiama and looked at the blowhole.
Howie and Helen in Kiama
David in Kiama
We ended up somewhere in the middle of not much, near Berry.
4:34am at our furthest point
I drove home. Helen and Howie felt sick. David and I talked of God's guidance.
There was no good sunrise. But it was great to see the morning. God's glory was somewhere behind the clouds.
We arrived back and Helen's house at 7am. All up we traveled about 390kms. I think it was very worth doing, but bloody stupid none the less. I do love a good adventure.
The End
I just spent the last hour sorting out money and reciepts while listening to U2. It has been a most pleasant experience.
Pub tonight. Perhaps people will come?
Oh I do hope so, ever so much. It could be so jolly.
Flirting
Is licking someone'e ear flirting? If someone licked my ear I would think they might have been trying to whisper in my ear but slipped. I certainly wouldn't think it was flirting.
Perhaps I should re-evaluate the secret she was trying to tell me.
I just returned from scripture assemblies at the primary school. I was tired. I thought my talk was mild. I threw it together in the car on the way here. My planning time yesterday got hi-jacked for reasons of which I absolve myself of all responsibility.
My roof is making loud cracking noises. I'm really hoping it doesn't cave in on me.
Howie and I went to Entech today. I think Howie described it pretty well. I felt a little out of place because I had no idea what was going on. I knew what a lot of the equipment was, but I had no idea why one thing was better than another. The most I could tell was that if a mixer was bigger and had more lights it was probably better. That's probably a common misconception about many things in life.
I came home and mooched.
I went to small groups for dinner tonight. I only stayed for dinner because I had a preaching course during the study time. I feel a little dodgy doing that, but I value the community. And the food.
When I make jokes at small group, most people don't seem to get them the way I intend them. When I got up to leave tonight, I said it was because Ray had said something offensive. People just looked at me. Louise made some disapproving noise. (She may have said "Tom!", she says that often.) And I thought "Oops". Then I had to explain that it was a joke, and actually I'd had a very nice time. Then I left feeling like an idiot. Hmm. Gotta learn my audience.
The preaching stuff was good, but I had difficulty paying attention. My mind was in many other places.
Why is it that when people find out that Howie and I wear both boxers and undies at the same time it gets a big reaction?
I know it may be a little strange, but it's comfy, it's supportive, it's fashionable, and it doesn't hurt anyone. But when people find out there are screams, laughs, shocked hands over mouths. My goodness, our underwear means a lot to people. That's pretty cool.
I'd just like to point out that Howie and I were both doing this before we knew each other well enough to discuss underwear. It was a separately occurring phenomenon.
Today I was trying to find something to do with myself today and Ryan offered to hang out with me so that's what we did.
He and I went to Macquarie. We ate lunch together and had discussions. We went shopping for pants for me, but found nothing. Alas, I'm going have to walk around in my underwear for winter.
We went and saw Girl with a Pearl Earring which was a beautiful looking film. It looked like a panting. Very nice use of lighting. Lots of good contrast. There were lots of shots of Scarlet looking shocked and with quivering lips. It was a pretty slow film but it was good. I'm glad I saw it.
I came home and watched my new dvd.
David came around too. As did Stella and Keith. We ate pizza. Mum told me off for being out on Thursday night. I have to make sure I finish that conversation with her. Now though I think I need to head bedwards.
Entech tomorrow.
U2 are tops. Yes tops, I said.
Bono can be my homeboy any day, Edge can be my Godfather, Larry my Uncle and Adam my next-door neighbour (a close one who I talk to often).
I got U2 Go Home on DVD today. Yeah Baby! It's posh, real posh.
I have not much more to say, but I wish I could.
World class. Ya Ya. Hooray. Fantastic. Lovely.
U2 rock my world. They play music.
When they come out to Australia, I'm going.
Wahoo! I get to do the survey too!
Everyone has been doing these so I don't recommend you bother reading mine.
01. First name: Thomas
02. Were you named after anyone? I don’t think so. I was named because Thomas means “second blessing” or something and I was my parent’s second child.
03. Do you wish on stars? I probably would if I thought it would do any good. Actually I wouldn’t if the Bible said now. I’m “Scripture whipped”
04. Which finger is your favorite? My left middle is looking pretty buff at the moment.
05. When did you last cry? In The Passion, but that wasn’t a proper cry, just tears in the eyes. Driving home from church one night after good God stuff, I did once. And the last time I sobbed was at my Grandmother’s funeral in 2002.
06. Do you like your handwriting? Only until other people see it.
07. What is your favorite lunch meat? Steak
08. Any bad habits? Absolutely. And they’re all really satisfying as well.
09. What's in your cd player right now? In my diskman is U2 Pop, beautiful cd that.
10. Do you believe in soul mates? I want to say yes because everyone else has said no. Jesus. Jesus is everyone’s soul mate, if only they’ll let him in.
11. Are you a daredevil? I like to think I am, but I lie to myself.
12. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? I hope not, but if I have I’m really sorry.
13. Do looks matter? Yep. As usual, I wish I didn’t. I had a crush on a girl that wasn’t good looking a few months ago for a little while. That was great, I was so worried that I was really shallow, but I just realised that I just appreciate good looks, but it’s not a pre-requisite. I think I may have to delete that bit when I proof read.
14. Have you ever misused a word and it sounded absolutely stupid? Yes
15. Do you think there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Is that biblical?
16. Do fish have feelings? Perhaps. People who look like fish do.
17. Are you trendy? Sometimes I think I am. I always thought my “Ten News” shirt was trendy in “grungy” kinda way, but I have been informed that it isn’t. So maybe no. My trendy shirts have short sleeves that show off my tan line, and that ain’t trendy. I have been well told of that!
18. Do you enjoy paying taxes? Yes, I love it. I love contributing to our fine nation. Seriously.
19. Where are your second homes? Probably the Church Centre, damn it.
20. Do you trust others easily? Yes. At least when people tell me things I trust them. I don’t trust people with my stuff as much.
21. What was your favorite toy as a child? Beach Patrol matchbox car. Or perhaps the Corn Flakes boxes I would make into Television cameras.
22. What class in school do you think is totally useless? What ever that one we had with Mrs Taggert in Year 7 was. Mrs Taggert was cool though.
23. Do you have a journal? I have this and a prayer pad.
24. Do you use sarcasm a lot? I reckon.
25. Have you ever been in a mosh pit? Yeah. First one I ever went in I lost my shoe.
26. What do you look for in a boy/girl? Someone who loves God more than me. Or at least that’s what I plan on looking for when I get to the stage where they might consider doing that. Someone who loves God is pretty damn sexy. Can you say that?
27. What are your nicknames? Tom, TJ, Thomas W, Thomas Wench, Wenchy Boy, Frenchy Boy, Peter, Tom Bom, Dom (Hannah says that).
28. Would you ever bungee jump? No.
29. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? No.
30. Do you think that you are strong? Only when I’m alone.
31. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Hokey Pokey, but I don’t think my practice aligns with my beliefs on that one.
32. What's your favorite color(s)? Yellow, Blue and Red
33. What is your least favorite food? Avocado sucks. Zucchini sucks more, but it has a cool name.
34. How many wisdom teeth do you have? I reckon, four, but I’ve never bothered to pay someone to count them
35. Are you in love with anyone? I’m working that one out.
36. How many people have a crush on you right now? I’d like to say something like “22” but that’s a bit of an obvious answer. I actually have no idea, but when I’m in an optimistic mood, I reckon lots. When I’m not, I reckon none. When I’m truthful, I’m still at none.
37. Who do you miss most right now? Hannah. She’s up stairs asleep.
38. Do you want everyone you send this to, to send it back? No one is sending this survey anywhere.
39. What are you wearing? My jeans and “Cold War Supervillian” T-Shirt
40. What are you listening to right now? Sons of Korah “Redemption Songs”
What has become of 41? I fell over, broke its legs.
42. What was the last thing you ate? McCain’s Roast Chicken TV dinner, top notch.
43. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue.
44. How is the weather right now? Dark. Is that weather? I guess if you can say sunny. It’s raining on and off too.
45. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone? David
46. First thing you notice about the opposite sex? Not quite sure. Probably if they look friendly, or scary, or posh, or something like that. What do you call that? Demure?
47. ...? No, ……
48. How are you today? Tired, disappointed, though pretty content. Maybe happy too.
49. Favorite drink? Water, then Coke, then water again.
50. Favorite alcoholic drink? Port. A result of communion.
51. Favorite sports? League. Not that I’m really into it. Frisbee has been fun.
52. Hair color? Blonde, maybe light brown. I’ve never bothered to re-classify my hair since I was in year 7 and it was really blonde.
53. Eye color? Blue
54. Do you wear contacts? No
and now my sweet 55.... Sad to see it go.
56. What is your favorite month? January
57. Favorite food? I’m often craving for something crunchy. Nacho Cheese Doritos.
58. Last movies you watched? The Haunted Mansion. Really bad.
59. Favorite day of the year? Mine
60. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Not without the help of my mobile. But one day I’ll change that.
61. Scary movies or happy endings? Sad Endings with Hope. Like all my stories.
62. Summer or winter? Summer
63. Hugs or kisses? Hugs. I only kiss Aunties.
64. Relationships or one-night stands? Depends where you’re standing, who you’re with, what the conversation is like, and how cold it is. Actually even if all those things were optimum, I’d still go for a relationship because then you can have a one night stand anytime you want, as often as you want. (I'm not talking about sex, for all those Brittish readers out there)
65. Do you want your friends to write back? I think a lot of them already have.
66. Who is most likely to respond? Anmol
67. Who is least likely to respond? My Dad
Someone stole 68, Bastard.
69. What books are you reading? The Bible, How to Read the Bible for all it’s Worth, U2 - The Best of Propaganda,
70. Favorite song? Where the Streets Have No Name – U2
71. Favorite board game? None. They’re all about alright.
72. What did you watch on tv last night? Nothing.
73. Favorite smells? Fresh sheets.
74. What is your most embarrassing cd on the shelf? Probably Cats I’m not saying it’s bad, but it is embarrassing.
75. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? No. Because I’d get annoyed that I was always talking and taking all the attention away from me.
76. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? “Huh?”
77. How valuable do you consider your time? Depends if it’s a work day or not.
What a crappy question to end on. I'll make a new one.
78. If there was one word left in the world what would it be? Grace
I've always wanted to be asked that question.
I just thought I'd fill things in.
Yesterday I went to Tinku's baptism. That was cool. I really enjoyed that. God is very good. He saves people. Yay for Him. And Tinku chose God, yay for him.
We had a Counting Crows mourning party which was good fun. Lots of laughs, lovely people, a little alcohol, too much pizza, some sing-a-long.
Today I went to work and Maccas. Went to a youth group down south to speak. I wasn't too impressed with me. I thought my talk was dull. I liked the people though.
Tonight was held a Blu Water Grill with a few. Funnies again. I had a Mars Bar Crepe. Beautiful.
Tomorrow I sleep in and hope to find someone to hang out with.
Dogging takes on a whole new meaning
Stephen Newton (I'm not sure who you are but "Hello") left a comment referring us all to a description of "Dogging". Whoa! Slow down. Dogging seems to be, in Britain at least (those crazy Brits), people having lots of sex with different people outdoors.
Now I may be an adventurous type, but when I said I got dogged on Thursday, there wasn't much sex involved. So when I go to Britain and say "I got Dogged"...well, I won't say "I got Dogged" or they may take my meaning a little differently.
I want to fill out the survey that everyone is filling out, but I shouldn't because I'm tired and I have work to do. Perhaps I'll find some free time somewhere tomorrow.
1. Name? Thomas John French
2. Worst thing that happened today? Watched a crappy movie, or handed in my first ever late assesment for college
3. What's the time right now?1:45am
4. Don't you think that's a bit late? Yes
5. Go to bed! Ok
Good now I've done a survey.
Driver's believe hotted up cars increase their sex appeal
Mal Davies, who is publicity officer for the Monaro Club of Victoria, said he had hoped his 1971 modified Monaro Coupe would boost his sex appeal.
But he said the car tended to attract attention from men rather than women.
"I doubt it really helps," he said.
"I'm still single."
This is a funny concept. I can't see what's appealing about a hotted up car (actually I can but I'm feigning ignorance to make my point). I think they are a waste of money myself. Who needs an exhaust pipe that makes a lot of noise? And why is that sexy? Is it a phat car sexy?
I was thinking that a chick with fully sick car would probably scare me. I saw one the other day. She pulled up behind me at the lights and I thought, "That's weird. I hope she doesn't bash me."
Woman grows extra breasts after enlargment surgery
Damn. Someone made a boob of that one.
As I caught the train over the Harbour Bridge tonight the sun was setting over the water, Luna Park was all lit up in fairy lights and the ferris wheel was turning. It was all very romantic. I wanted to take a photo, go out on a date with myself and wander around Luna Park holding my hand. Instead I went back to my book.
I went to the cinema in George St today and watched Paycheck. It wasn't great. Ben Affleck's face was way too buff and perfect. I decided that I didn't think he was good looking. Uma was not cool. Sad because she normally is the bomb. She wasn't looking buff faced. John Woo disappointed me again. Damn Hollywood.
John Woo loves his doves. He is also meant to be a Christian, but if this film is anything to go by, he's a very New Age-y Christian.
After the movie I came out of the cinema wearing my backpack and a big Security guard and a Hoyts person came up to me. The security guard said, "Are you the guy with the bag?"
I said "I have a bag"
"No no no, don't worry about it." He replied then walked off.
Tonight David, Howie, Jo and I went and saw 50 First Dates. It made me laugh and had cool walruses.
We took some fun photos after the film.
Today I dogged and got dogged.
Helen and I decided to April Fool Belinda in the church office. I sent her an email that said:
Hey Belinda,
I hope this isn’t too late, but I was wondering if you could put an ad in the Bulletin for us?
“ERNIE is going to the Movies
On Saturday, 22nd May Ernie is going to a special charity screening of Irreversible at Hoyts Cinemas Chatswood. First there was The Passion, now there is Irreversible. Irreversible is an exciting romp through the nightlife of Paris in a contemporary retelling of the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1-16). The money raised will go towards the Royal Society for Victims of Rare Skin Diseases. It would be great for you all to be praying for this wonderful opportunity for the gospel and encouraging all the youth to come along and invite their friends. Check out more at http://www.irreversiblethemovie.com/”
Aside: I don't recommend you visit the website it's a bit naughty.
Thanks Belinda. You might want to go to the website also and get a picture of two to put in the bulletin if it would fit.
Cheers,
Tom
I also carbon copied it and sent it to Steve. Steve ok'd it, he didn't check out the website, Belinda didn't either and spent ages trying to fit it into the bulletin. He he.
But Belinda called me during the day and told me I had to come into have a meeting with Steve at 3pm because something important had come up. I thought it might be a joke, but I wasn't quite sure. I tried to be as well behaved as possible in case it was real. I stressed a bit for a while, I was pretty sure it was a joke but I couldn't be sure and it was the unsureness that stressed me. Helen said she hadn't heard anything. Then at a little past 12 I got a message from Helen saying that she had to go to the meeting too. That stressed me because I thought "It must be true, if Helen has to go and it's after 12."
About half an hour later Helen called and told me she'd set me up, her and Howie had organised it last night. When I arrived at church for my "meeting" there was going to be a 2 litre bottle of Coke waiting for me. That would have been nice, but I didn't go.
I e-mailed Belinda she wrote back and e-mail which said "You bum". Then Helen and I called and debriefed with her. She was in a good mood. We all had fun. Staff bonding, sweet.
To dog and be dogged. Good stuff.
There's this weird thing on the train when you wake up and someone has sat down next to you while you were sleeping. You want to see who they are but you don't want to look because they aren't doing anything to attract attention to themselves. If you looked you'd be staring. Plus it'd be a very noticeable look. So you spend the rest of the trip looking anywhere other than where they are. Only when they get off you can have a look and see who your traveling companion was.
Only 4 minutes of April Fools left. Praise the Lord.
No longer will I have to live in fear.
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