Today Liam told me that Gavin DeGraw is "White Girl Music". I resent that. It's probably true, but I'd rather not think that I listen to "White Girl Music".

Please no-one point out that I also listen to John Mayer and Norah Jones.

I have a crush

I have a crush on Norah Jones. Oh, so much.

I shouldn't have gone to see her last night, she was great, she's made my heart go all "pitter-patter". She's got a fantastic voice, she's a friendly person, and she's great. Every time someone in the audience shouted something at her like "You rock Norah!" or "I love you Norah!" she'd acknowledge it. And if she didn't understand what they said she'd ask them to repeat it. How cool is that? I smile and nod with an audience of one, she asks for clarification with an audience of 10,000.

And she made such good music, her and her handsome band. It was tops. Yay for Norah.

I think I was one of the few men there who wasn't dragged along by their wife or girlfriend and I think Jem and I were one of the few groups of people under the age of 35. But regardless of our oddness, Norah was cool.

CityRail has an amazing ability to make time stand still. I've been sitting here at Strathfield Station for the past 20 minutes and my train has been leaving in 13 minutes the whole time. It's fantastic!

I meant to get up at 8:30am this morning. I got up at 11:30. I'm not sure if I slept through my alarm or I didn't set it properly last night. Either way, the world hasn't really worked all that bad as a result. I just got more sleep and missed 2 hours of lectures that I wasn't planning on going to anyway. Tops.

Essay finished. I'm off to bed.

I'm home from church in record time (I've been home for about half an hour) because I'm here to write and essay. David has kindly lent me a monitor to use while I get "The Beast" fixed. Now I have a fat essay to write.

Because it might be fun

I know that it's becoming the latest craze. And people might not do my questions because I'm a blatant rip-off (like how no one is watching Starstruck after Idol) but I'll give it a go anyway.

Comment on these if you read my blog (I assume you won't be able to if you don't read my blog)...

Name:
Age:
Blog:
Location:
Why you read my blog:
How long you've been reading for:
Where you first met me (if you have):
First Television Character you had a crush on (apart from me):

I'm at college at the moment doing research for my essay. It's not exciting, I'm looking forward to going home. I don't know when I'll be finished though. I got distracted by a book of feminist essays about Genesis. It wasn't as interesting as I hoped it would be.

Between Now and April 3rd...

I have a little to do. I'm wondering how I maganged for this to happen, but I have somehow managed to find myself with lots to do. Between now and April 3rd I have to:

Write a talk for an ISCF group
Give a talk at an ISCF group
Write an Easter talk for a primary school
Give an Easter talk four times in 3 different primary schools
Write a 2,250 word essay and hand it in
Peform in a Puppet Play 3 times
Film a conert in Nowra
Run a small group
Run a messy night for the youth group
Write 3 scenes for the new Breakthru' Project
Find out about campsites to film at
Go to an Audition for Breakthru' Artz
Write a sermon on the Resurrection
Give a sermon on the Resurrection
Adapt a sermon on Community
Give a sermon on Community
Go to a wedding
Watch Norah Jones in Concert
Go to a Buck's Night
Go to a Wedding
Have 2 days off

I think that could be it. I'm not really all that worried about it, although I probably should be.

Bler

It's a little like that at the moment. Nothing terrible but just an overwhelming urge to spend most of my life lying on the floor. A carpeted floor though, because without carpet it's not very comfortable. But a floor is where I would like to spend a few hours, maybe a day or two.

I had a really good scripture lesson today. I only had 9 kids and we spent most of the time sitting in a circle and talking about why Jesus died and rose again. It was great. It was the kind of lesson I'd love to have every week. But alas, I'm not that talented.

I'm going to the Tavern tonight to eat steak and drink beer. This is the Young Adults Male Small Group. Yeah, that's what Bible Studies should be like every week. Of course we won't study much Bible, but steak is fun.

This story about the Guy in Atlanta who killed a few people in a court house, then held a woman hostage in her appartment for a few hours is really interesting. It may be the first time The Purpose Driven Life has been read in a hostage situation.

This story is so good I'm sure it'll get made into cheesy tele-movie for the Hallmark Channel (Hey, since when did a card manufacturer get the qualifications to make televison?)

Anyway, I liked the story. I wonder if this woman will become a Christian celebrity. She sounds pretty cool.

I arrived at college today to do my work in the library. As soon as I got there I pulled out my phone to message someone and say "I'm bored" when I realised that it was silly telling someone that I was bored before I had even done anything that was able to be deemed boring. With this revelation in mind I went to the computers and checked my emails.

I get to sleep in tomorrow.

That'll suit me just fine.

There's no one home yet. Everyone is still out. Maybe my family has moved back home without telling me.

Oh well. I'm watching a silly baseball movie. Then I'll go to bed.

I was thinking about my blog this morning as I brushed my teeth. I can't remember what. I do remember that it had something to do with the fact that I have people who read my blog from different parts of the world. US and Canada mainly. And then I thought I should say "Hi" to my non-Australian readers.

"Hello people who aren't Australian! What's your national dish?"

"Hello North Americans! How's the northern hemisphere?"

That was a "Hi" and a question. I love Americans (Canadians too, but I think they're a little more like Australians, so I'm not so interested). I'm interested in yellow school buses, presidents and thinking Abraham Lincon is wonderful (not that he isn't). I'm interested in Southern Baptists, news programs that make every news event an "Event!" and being in the centre of a cultural empire. I'm interested in high gun ownership, fat people (is everyone there actually fat?) and Hollywood. I think I want to live in America one day. I want to live in the centre of the world. And I reckon people'd dig my accent.

And then I thought, just to be culturally exclusive I could make a reference to something Australian that people from overseas wouldn't understand. I could feel elitist and that would be fun and give me a sense of identity.

Big Kev

That was a little of an anti-climax. Perhaps I should try again...

Tony Abbott and his magical son

That's a little better. Maybe one more try...

Bogans

Hmmm. I could be onto a winner with that one.

I think I've had enough now. And since I've wasted so much time pissing about on my blog, I think I've run out of time to go find a friend. I have to get up early in the morning I'm going white water rafting out at Penrith.

I might go hire a DVD.

Today's theological discussion questions for the office were:

1. Since we all deserve judgment, should a lack of suffering be viewed as an example of God's mercy rather than considering the suffering of innocent people an example of God's unjustified judgment?*

2. Is the whole of the Old Testament an outworking of Genesis 3:15?


Theology discussions in the Church Centre are getting better because people don't seem to agree with each other as readily these days. There's usually a consensus in the end though.

*It was something like that.

I've just arrived home and there's no one here. I'm trying to decide if I should go out and find a friend. My mother isn't here to tell me I don't have any friends so I might be ok.

In other news I've been thinking about vulnerability lately. I don't like it. It makes you feel like an idiot. It's probably useful though.

I've been listening to my new Gavin DeGraw cds (2 of them) today. Yeah, fun. I love the two play day.

Rob Thomas has gone Boy-Pop

I just listened to Rob Thomas' new single Lonely No More for the first time. His first solo once since Matchbox 20 and it's Boy-Pop. He's following in the footsteps of Justin, Ricky and all your favourite Nova and 2-Day boys.

I don't like the new music, I don't like the new haircut, I want the rock. The problem is, the music's in my head. I may have to buy the album. But I don't want to.

He is Rob Thomas though, so he deserves respect, even if he has gone soft.

"Henry was alone in the house one morning before work late in November. It was raining outside. Even though he had four rooms-virtually a wing of his own-he liked to have the entire house to himself. He could scream if he wanted to and no one would be appalled; he could shout, intrude, explore, laugh or cry and no one would know. Usually he just made himself a cup of coffee and wondered where the others were."

Sean Condon - Film

I'm waiting for the mail to come because I think there will be a CD or 2 inside a box inside the box. I'm quite excited.

I taught a really dodgy scripture lesson today. The kids are already misbehaving for me and I'm on week two. I need to grow an iron fist. Or a better puppy dog face to make them feel bad.

I had to teach them to sing a song today and they all laughed at me because I didn't know the words. Oh the embarrassment of being laughed at by a bunch of 11 year-olds.

Last night I watched Hitch. That was fun. I like romantic comedies. And I was pleased that this time it was the chick who stuffed up more. I may be wrong, but in romantic comedies I get the feeling that, when it comes time for one of them to do the wrong thing and supposedly end the relationship it's more often the guy. And then he has to say "No, I didn't mean that, I love you!" and they kiss. This time it was the girl who stuffed up. And then the guy. But the girl first. I'm all about equality and I reckon chicks should stuff up relationships just as much as guys.

In the film one of the women, when trying to find out about a man said she'd "Google him". If anyone tries to Google me, they'll get heaps of stuff. Mostly just me talking about me and a few stupid photos, but what more could you want, eh?

When I'm big and famous (as in fat and notorious) there'll be whole fan sites dedicated to me. Like "The Unofficial Tom French Page of Love" and stuff like that.

Right now I'm at work. I've finished my work for the day and I'm procrastinating doing my Greek so I'm blogging.

I've decided that if I want more friends at my college I should become a lecturer there. Or perhaps write a book. At the moment I'm kind of a nobody. I did find out when my assessment is due. That's both a relief and a stress. It was one of those cases where ignorance wasn't bliss, but neither is knowing.

Kinda like when you get a pain in your head and it turns out to be a cancer.

I wonder how much damage mobile phones are doing to our brains. Nobody talks about that anymore. Did they stop microwaving our minds or did we just get bored of hearing about it.

It's very difficult to find anything on the internet about "Islands where people change gender" I've discovered that today.

At my college there is an "Internet Cafe" that has two computers, hundreds of pigeon holes and some assignment drop boxes. I think that it could more aptly be called a "Pigeon Hole Cafe" because an Internet Cafe with only two computers is pretty lame.

Holy Grail

And I've followed orders
God knows where I've been
But I woke up alone
All my wounds were clean
I'm still here
I'm still a fool for the holy grail - Hunters and Collectors

Bono the Banker

Bono has been suggested as a potential candiate as the Head of the World Bank. That'd be cool.

I read it here.

I just arrived home to pick up some stuff before I go to Janet's for the next week or two. My whole downstairs is bare. There is nothing there for the renovations. I feel like we're moving house. My childhood is leaving me. How sad.

I'll be back soon though, with a new and improved house. And my bedroom is staying the same.

Crazy

Ryan once asked me if I would want to go out with a girl who wanted to go out with me. If you like a person that's good, but if they like you back, then there must be something wrong with them because you know what you're like. It's a really sad way of looking at things, but it's interesting. I've been thinking a little about it lately because I got the Icehouse song stuck in my head, and I realised it fitted with what Ryan was talking about. I don't think Ryan really believed what he was saying too much. Or I hope not, if I was a girl I'd go out with Ryan. Or at least, I'd certainly put him high on my list of good people to go out with.

I think I told Ryan that I'd go out with the girl and let her figure out for herself that I wasn't worth going out with.

"Well, you've gotta be crazy, baby
to want a guy like me
Yeah, you've gotta be out of your mind
Crazy" - Icehouse

Of course being the most beautiful man in the world this is all purely hypothetical...

It's a Saturday night and I've spent it at home. I told Mum I might go out tonight to see a movie or something. She kept saying "With who? I don't think you'll find many people." I think she thinks I don't have any friends. In the end I asked one person if they wanted to see a movie with me, they said "No" so I gave up and decided that my mum was probably right. I watched a dvd with Dad. At least if I have no friends I still have my Dad.

I tried to take my small group to mini-golf last night but it rained. I think that's the 3rd time we've tried going to mini-golf and it has rained. Grr. I'm never going to play putt putt again.

We ended up watching a dvd and getting pizza. Oh well. Not very interesting but what can you do at the last minute?

I came home tonight and found that my big, fat, expensive, 19 inch monitor has decided to go fuzzy. I'm wondering if it overheated (I left it on today, and the screensaver didn't kick in) or if it just decided to go to the dogs. I'm hoping it fixes itself because I don't really want to buy another monitor. But, well, it's only money.

I have been a really bad college attender this week. I have only been to 1 out of 3 classes this week. I wagged Greek to watch the Academy Awards and tonight I only turned up to hand my assignment in because I felt like I could better spend my time recovering from my cold for Scripture Seminars tomorrow. I might try and get to sleep reasonably early tonight. I hope I'll be able to sleep.

Today I went to Mitch's house and ate 4 burritos. I also made lots of phone calls and drove all over Sydney.

Photo Experiment

I have named the below photo nude woman.jpg to see if I get lots of hits from people looking for nude women. That'd be funny.

Then again, I might make people angry. They'll be like "Hey, where's my nude woman!?! Stupid Christians!"

If you have Net Nanny you won't be able to see this picture. Cool.

Previously Unreleased Photo of Howie and Tom

Profoundity

Some days I have this desire to blog something profound. Or blog some feelings, get stuff off my chest. But most of the time I don't. I think because I realise there are some things best left off blogs.

Right now I don't have any money. I think my Mum owes me $8.70. As well as $2,190. But I owe them $600 or something. So it all evens out. I should get paid sometime soon. That's always an exciting and depressing day. I wonder if I have a phone bill that I haven't paid yet.

I got a new toothbrush today. It has a tongue cleaner on it. Weird.

I might be preaching a three week series in church this year. I have been thinking about making a series of 3 short videos to go with it. That'd be fun.

I've also been thinking about The Donny Jaffa Show for this year. I really should get moving on that. Too much to do. But it's all fun.

I spent my weekend in a canoe.

Tomorrow night it's the Oscars. Tops.

I'll try and blog bigger later.

Driving home from Jo and Jem's house tonight I got completely lost. I think I always get lost going there, or driving home from there. I think that they must live in this alternate dimension where you can't escape unless you find the right portal, and it always just takes me a while to find the portal.

Anyway, tonight's lost experience was rather pleasant. I decided not to try too hard to find my way home and just meander and see what happened. I found a place called Battery Point which I thought would be some kind of lookout, but turned out to be some freaky white, apartment village. Every block of apartments looked the same, and were situated in a big circle facing onto an oval. It was weird. There was even a building that had been built to look like a 1950s American church which wasn't a real church at all. It was kinda like a film set. Truman Show perhaps.

Those veins on my arms in the banner picture are pretty gross. Maybe I should airbrush them or something.

Gavin Says:

Tonight, you arrested my mind
When you came to my defense
With a knife
In the shape of your mouth
In the form of your body
With the wrath of a god
Oh, you stood by me
And I'll stand by my
Belief - Gavin DeGraw

Today I had lunch with Mum and Dad at Pie in the Sky. It was tops.

Yay

I write "Yay for..." a lot. Like "Yay for Kaia and Mark" or "Yay for Gavin" to quote two recents. Except I never say "Yay" in real life. I write "Yay" but I never say it. I guess I'm not really someone who lives with much integrity.

Gavin DeGraw is cool.

I listened to him today when I was travelling to college. He plays good music. It's really rich with catchy melodies and each song has a sense of purpose about it. They're all worthwhile in themselves, they could all work in a film, but as an album it's not bad either.

Yay for Gavin.

In other news I spent about three hours in the Library today studying Greek, and I still suck. Grr. What a horrid subject. Why didn't they write the Bible in English?

Sunday

I had lunch with some people from church today. I liked that. I think almost everyone there was older than me (not including the toddlers and babies.) I don't normally hang out with these people but it was fun. I stood around with the "men" and wondered if this is how real men act. I figured it was probably well on its way.

Tonight I preached. I got really nervous. I was told I rushed a bit. I had a really dry throat. I felt ok though. I still like preaching. Tonight was another of the growing sermons, ones where I grow as a preacher. I got good feedback, so that's a positive.

I haven't eaten dinner. I should do that.

I downloaded Gavin DeGraw's album tonight. It's not too bad.

Kaia Weds Mark

Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever been to the wedding of an ex-girlfriend. Kaia once said to me that she didn’t want to ever be just an ex-girlfriend of mine and she’s not. Most of the time I think of her as Kaia, not as my ex. But when you go to a wedding love is kinda the name of the day, so it’s certainly in your head. Plus there was quite a few jokes directed my way during the night, given my status as an ex-boyfriend of the bride. I think I should have gotten a special seat or something.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get philosophical and reflective at the end. Now is too early. Now is like eating ice cream at the entrée.

The wedding looked good. Kaia looked good. St Peter’s is such a tops church to get married in and so close to my house too. If I was a chick I’d be stoked to get married in St Peter’s I’d be thinking “Look at me in my white dress on this red carpet, with the stained glass windows, and the brown bricks. I look like a dream. Aren’t you all jealous?” That’s what’d be going through my head.

If I was a bloke getting married (which is probably a little more likely at this stage) I’d be like “Look at me in my suit, here I am at the front. I’m getting married. Yep.” And then I’d probably repeat that to myself a few times. Being the groom isn’t nearly so fairytale, I guess. Unless of course it’s an Elvis wedding, and then well, that’s fairytale to the max.

But I digress. The wedding was nice. It was a wedding. They’re almost always nice. I’m a romantic. It was interesting because it was Kaia and Mark. I’ve never had someone that close to me get married. Mark is a top bloke. If I could have picked a man for Kaia I would have picked Mark I reckon. (I thought about writing there “If I was a chick, I would have married Mark myself.” But I think people might think I’m a little strange if I keep putting myself in hypothetical situations as a woman.)

After the wedding a lot of us packed out the Hannah Van and drove through the heavy rain, through the storm, down to Berowra Waters for the reception. There was no power at the reception venue because of the storm. For three hours we had no power and had to make do with candles and old fashioned entertainment like conversation. I met two people called Natalie and Jordan who were most friendly. I think it may have been a little sad for them that they got stuck on our crazy table, but we did alright out of it. I think we were happy to have them.

Michael was there. I like having Michael around, he’s good to hang with. Shame I never see the man. I think as I get older weddings from the Hornsby crew will become more and more of a youth group reunion. We had a photo of the old youth group taken, just for old-times sake.

Once the power came back on, it was goodness all round. I liked the food, and the electric light was fun. At the garter toss David got involved in a violent tussle on the floor with another guy. It was great, made my night. We did that huggy circle thing at the end, then Kaia and Mark left. And that was that. We caught the Hannah Van home and I drove along wondering how it had affected me.

I do think it was weird. It was weird because Kaia was such a marrying type, and then she got married, and it seemed kinda natural seeing Kaia in her dress getting married to a man in a tux. But then it also felt a little like a dream. And it was all weird watching it from the back of the church. Maybe more like I was an observer than a participant. That was the same feeling having my table at the back of the reception venue. Perhaps it felt like we, the St Pete’s crew, sent Kaia off and she got married. Once she graduated from our crazy group she was ready to get married. I don’t know if that makes sense but the connection between us and Kaia was a lot thinner than it used to be. But I knew we had played an important part in her life and I was proud to be there. Proud of her I think.

I do like Kaia. I like her a lot. She’s got one of those special places that ex-crushes get. She gets special privileges. I’ll always look forward to seeing her. I’m looking forward to visiting her and Mark in the house and feeling like a grown up with my married friends. I think they’re great.

So I say “Yay for Kaia and Mark” I’m looking forward to seeing God bless them and their marriage heaps. Good stuff you two.

I got my sermon for tomorrow finished last night at 2am. That's 24hrs ahead of usual. Tops.

Our toilet doesn't flush very well. In fact the flush is broken. We have to fill the cistern with a bucket then press flush.

This should be fixed after the renovations in March. Until then it's bucket times for us.

Yesterday was great. I had such a good time. I watched four movies at the cinema in a row. Can you think of a better way to spend a day?

I arrived at Westfield at 1pm for lunch and went and saw a movie at 2:25. It was all go from there.

1. Hide and Seek - 2:25pm

Not very good. Robert De Niro is always fun, even if the film isn't good. Dakota Fanning is one of the best child actors I've seen in years. But neither of them could save the film. It was pretty run of the mill, and it didn't have much happiness to it. There were no redeeming qualities, no glimpses of hope and so it just became a dark film that didn't really do much for you.

Amount I would have paid to see it: $5

2. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - 4:10pm

I went into this film thinking that it wouldn't be all that good. As much as I like Jude Law and Giovanni Ribisi, I didn't think they'd make this film good. It just looked like it was living off its production design. And in a sense it was, but it was damn good production design. It was a great looking film mainly because it had so many nice little touches. The story was pretty B-Grade Science Fiction, but I'm sure that's what they were going for. And there were good little jokes the whole way through about the advanced nature of the 1940s technology. It was a fun film, certainly better than I thought.

Amount I would have paid to see it: $11

I had a break here and had some dinner at Subway with David and Anmol.

3. Cellular - 7:15pm

Here was a trashy film. The story was silly, the characters were pretty cardboard, the action was paint by numbers, the acting was poor, Kim Basinger was out of a daytime soap, but it was all a lot of fun. This really was a bad film, but I really enjoyed it. It did nothing more than fill and hour and a half of my life but it was an enjoyable one. Sometimes films like this just have a little cheeky charm to them, the film was like that annoying kid at school who wins you over only because they can crack a joke and smile well. I did enjoy this one, but it probably would have been better off it was never made. If only it had Hide and Seek's cast, then things would have been a little better.

Amount I would have paid to see this film: $7

4. The Aviator - 9:10pm

This was a good film. Leonardo has fully made up of Jack Dawson now. And Cate's Kate Hepburn was just fab. The film was perhaps a little long, but mostly it was engaging. It entertained me, it was well acted, and it was a balanced portrayal of Hughes (DiCaprio). The film had a sense of excitement and I spent the whole time going for Leo. The scene in the Senate hearing was one of the best "kick the bad guy's butt" scenes in ages. It made you excited but it did it with finesse, tension and very little obvious manipulation. It was great. I liked this film a lot.

Amount I would have paid to see this film: $15

After that Howie and I walked home. I got home at 12:30am. I was a very happy boy.

It's $5 Movie Day today at Greater Union! Yeah Baby!

I'm two movies down, two to go. Over 8 hours of entertainment for $20, who can beat that? This has got to be one of the best days off ever.

Soon we may be able to record TV and copy music a little legally. "Fair Use" may be coming to Australia. Tops.

I read it here.

Valentine's Day

I have no problem with Valentine's Day.

Sure I've never got anything but I'm sure there are many couples out there who Valentine's Day has done wonders for. Who cares if it's commercialised? So is everything else. It just seems a little more crass because the church never managed to appropriate it and send us to church on Valentine's Day morning.

I reckon there has been many a relationship created, rekindled, and cemented on this day of love, so I say, more power to the popular people. Isn't it good that so many people get such a self-esteem boost out of today? No doubt it's probably temporary and superficial but Christmas is mostly that too.

I had a friend today ask me why couples don't just celebrate their love for each other everyday of the year. But if that was the case then all the sad single people would be even sadder the rest of the year.

In fact, I felt quite happy being single today because I didn't have to participate in Valentine's Day at all. There was no pressure what-so-ever. So single people do not loath this day because you are single. Instead let us rejoice that the very cause we have for our loathing is also the freedom we have not to participate in it.

At College I didn't seem to be registered on any of the computers, and I haven't got my student card yet, so I went to the office and asked them "Can you tell me if I exist?" People laughed. They said it was an odd question. Apparently having an existential crisis is not as common as I thought.

I then proceeded to ask them lots of questions about what a part-time student can and can't do. They told me some of my assumptions were wrong because I'd been reading the prospectus which is only for Full Time students. I asked them if there was a book of rules for the Part Timers. They told me "No".

I think that Part Time people must live under grace rather than law. Or perhaps we are meant to be working from the law that is written on our hearts. I'm finding that a little difficult at the moment, I can't find any of my assessment tasks or their due dates written anywhere near my cardio-regions. But, of course, if I don't exist no one will notice if I don't hand in any assessments.

I can't wait to figure out what's wrong with me,
So I can say this is the way that I used to be - John Mayer

The End is Nigh!

I caught the 11:53pm train home from Central last night. It was a crowded train. I sat down on an empty three seater, the only one left and a man with a lot of baggage came and sat next to me. I had seen him earlier at Town Hall preaching into a mobile PA system. I like a good street evangelist and here was one sitting next to me on the train, a real, live street preacher.

I sat there trying to work out if I could have a chat with him. I was interested in how a effective a street preaching ministry is, As I sat there on the train he put a tape on on his PA system (I think it was Benny Hinn worship) and started doing a Bible study.

Suddenly during the Bible Study he turned to me, looking me straight in the eye and said “There’s been two earthquakes you know, in Indonesia. God’s judging them! He sends a warning, then he judges”

“In Indonesia?” I asked

“Yeah, in Indonesia, and in Sydney. We had a $2 million hailstorm because Clover Moore wants to be a Mayoress, and she wants to have her poofter parade, and we’re going to rain on the their parade, me and Jesus. We try and give them unfavourable conditions but they still keep doing it. God’s going to send earthquakes to Australia, lots of them, because he’s warning us. You know there are cards in your mobile, they call them smart cards, and they’re linked to the German bank. The bank also controls all the credit cards. They want to control the whole world. The worst two things in the world are credit cards and mobiles. They’re all linked to satellites and soon their going to freeze everyone’s funds and then they’re going to take over the world. They wanted to earlier, but they can’t because there are too many Christians in the world. There are 1 billion of us. But soon the anti-Christ is going to rise up. The German bank wants to start World War Three…”

He went on for a while. I learnt that the man next to me had stopped the Bosnian War by flying with Jesus and binding the demons and ending the war. I learnt that he and Jesus had also got the Australian troops into East Timor. He had rung up John Howard to tell him that. I learnt the anti-Christ is going to be Hitler resurrected, the German bank is going to bring him back to life. I learnt that Bush and Blair are making all the Middle Eastern Muslim countries invade Israel. They’re all going to invade but God will send acid rain and all the enemy will be killed. Then Israel are going to use the tanks and weapons for firewood for seventy days because apparently they’re all made out of a top secret material developed by the Russians that isn’t metal, it’s wood. All the tanks in the Middle East are made out of wood.

I learnt lots of other things too. I’m all set for the apocalypse now. As much as I wanted to say something I didn’t get one word in till the man got off the train. The only thing I said to him was “In Indonesia?” He talked all the way from just past Redfearn to Strathfield. At Strathfield the man walked backwards down the isle, carrying his PA system and pointing his finger at me, warning me of the impending doom.

As soon as he got off the train the whole carriage burst out laughing. Everyone looked at me in awe for having to put up with the man, for maintaining such a polite look on my face the whole time. “That guy there had to sit next to him!” “He had to listen to the whole thing.” “We should pay him for that! Where’s my wallet”

I was an instant celebrity on my train. I felt a bit bad for the guy, everyone was laughing at him. I thought I should do something.

“At least he was passionate” I said

“Yeah, he can have his view” The man behind me agreed

“That’s true” someone else said

“Yeah, he’s alright.”

“You should be a psychologist with a view like that” the woman behind me told me.

I turned around to look at her “You know what,” I said “I’m actually a youth minister, I work for the church so I get on with people like him. I don’t agree with everything he said, or most of what he said, but that’s ok.”

“Yeah,” said the man behind him “He’s not hurting anyone.”

“It’s people like him that make me happy to be Australian.” I said. And then with a laugh we all went back to our train journey, most of the train had various discussions with each other about the John Farnham and Tom Jones concert they had just seen. I started reading my book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and I hoped no one read over my shoulder just in case they thought I was as crazy as the guy who had sat next to me.

I have found myself with a few free minutes here at work so I thought I might take this opportunity to blog. I have to go to small group soon but right now I thought I’d take a break from the strenuous work of youth ministry.

I lost my internet at home again yesterday, but that was due to the painting. We had to disconnect everything so the lounge room could be painted. It’s so sad how often recently I’ve lost my internet.

Yesterday I went to a lunch at Grandpa and Valentina’s house. Upon arrival I discovered the unit was populated by 5 of my relations from New Zealand. I’m not sure how I’m related to them, but it’s at least good to know they’re around just in case I run into monetary troubles in the future and have to call upon that blood bond.

It was a lovely lunch. There were three boys, who may or may not be 8th cousins of mine, who you could classify as “Youth”. They were fun, it was good having people around who dress similar to me. Valentina made me a cake that was tops. It was a birthday cake. It was my first birthday cake this year (apart from the one at staff meeting which I shared with Belinda, so I won’t count it because it sounds better if I don’t). I think it may have been my last too. This is in stark contrast to last year when I got, on average, a cake every fifteen minutes. I think people’s love for me must have substantially dropped since last year.

I watched Ray the other day. That was a good film. I saw it during the day on Tuesday. What a fun time to go to the movies. I was in a cinema full of old people. They talk all the way through the ads and the credits “Oh isn’t Robert de Nero looking old?” “Who’s that woman, looks a bit young for him?” “Ray Charles was black, oh my.” Things like that. They were a very different audience from the young adults who seem to populate my usual screenings. I guess cheapo Tuesday and film without guns brings the Senior Citizens out in droves.

When the film finished I had to go to the toilet, so I got up to leave during the credits. I looked around and realised I was the first one to leave. The rest of the cinema was glued to the screen. I felt like a bad, uncultured (nekulturny) person. It was a change from usual when I’m the last to leave because I may watch 20 seconds of the credits (I have been known to stay right to the end.)

The film itself was very good. Ray Charles makes good music. Jamie Foxx makes good Ray. Taylor Hackford and friends make good film. Yay for them.

I had my first preaching class last night. It didn’t inspire me hugely. There wasn’t much wrong with it. But it didn’t give me much passion about preaching, except a story about Polycarp, Eusebius and a monk who cut out his tongue. That was good. That stirred me.

Although I did get inspired the other night when I started creating my own lecture on preaching in my head. I’m sure it wasn’t really what all the good Sydney preachers of today would like. But I enjoyed it. It really appealed to me. Funny that.

Now it’s time to be off. Yay.

What I hate is when you send an sms, an sms that should get a reply, and then the person doesn't reply. And you wonder if they hate you, or if they've died, or something like that. You wait around for hours racking your brain for what might have gone wrong. Or if the person is laughing at you for sending such a silly message. And you go to bed that night wondering if this is the end of a wonderful friendship. And when you wake up in the morning you check your sent messages you realise the message was never sent. All that worry for nothing.

Well sometimes I don't reply to messages, so I guess it serves me right.

I spent today doing lots. But really ending up with not much to show for it. I spent most of the day writing a Bible Study, with various conversations, official and not, along the way.

I do like to drink water. Especially bottled water. And tap water. And Coke. That's mostly water.

I just cooked my dinner. I didn't really need dinner, but Dad had it all laid out for me to cook and the chicken would go off if I didn't so here I was cooking a stir fry at 11:30 in the evening. Lucky I can sleep in tomorrow.

The internet has returned to my home. Yeah Baby!

It is embarrassing reading my blog in internet cafes (I check it for comments) because people may look at me and wonder why I am looking at pictures of myself.

Still no internet. I'm in the Hornsby Internet Cafe, "A great place to Surf". I'm sitting at the computer directly across from the front desk. It's a little scary like having the teacher watch over you as you do your work in class.

Greek last night wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. There's a lot to learn but it's making a little more sense now. It's not as scary anymore. I can read some of the letters and I can write my name phonetically. I'm not sure what the real Greek for Thomas is, Diddymus?

On my way walking up to Hornsby today a woman walked into me (or I walked into her) and I dropped my water bottle on the ground. The water went everywhere. She kept walking and looked back at me with a look on her face as if to say "What do you think you were doing walking along with a water bottle in your hand?" I can still feel those disdainful eyes piercing into me.

I'm sitting at Strathfield Station right now and I'm paying dearly for forgetting my book today. I have only Robbie Williams and the rest of my cds to keep me company. I guess I could read my text book for college but that doesn't excite me. It's just depressing that I have so much learn. I'd rather live in ignorance. I think I may just fall asleep when I get on the train. That is a little risky. I could sleep all the way to Newcastle but at least that'd kill the boredom.

I'm so reliant on books.

My internet has been down at home. It's so sad. So hard.

You feel like you're getting millions of emails, and people are just blogging away, and you can't check. I didn't even bother turning on my computer this morning. It's like I'm depressed. I'm not though.

I'm in the city at the moment. I had a break between classes so I came here to use the net. I don't have access at home. I have Greek tonight which I'm not looking forward to. I don't feel smart enough for it. I'm struggling to feel smart enough for any of this college at the moment. The challenge is fun, but tiring.

I left my book at home today, it's rather depressing. I listened to sermons on the train on the way in, I'm not sure what I'll do on the way home.

I'm not doing very well at doing my job at the moment. I finished this weekend feeling like I'm doing a bad job. My talks have felt very average, and I feel like I'm not making things all that interesting. But it's been really cool to see all the young people again. I really like the youth. I know I say that often, but my thoughts haven't changed.

I went to a barbeque on Saturday night and spent almost the whole time talking to people I didn't know. It was amazing. I rarely felt awkward, and I was kinda social. Perhaps I grew a little on Saturday night.

I think I might go find some dinner (I know it's early but I'll eat again when I get home), then find my way back to college.

As I ate my breakfast this morning I read about modern embalming techniques. There were needles, paints, chemicals, injections, extractions, creams, pins, dislocations, holes, cotton wool, rubber wedges, fake limbs, flesh cuttings and more. The perfect breakfast time reading.

Happy Birthday Thomas

I got a phone call today, during staff meeting. I ignored it. When I called my voicemail I only heard "Hi Tom" before I accidently deleted the message, thinking I had already listened to it. Having no idea who it was, I decided to call the number that had come up on my phone. When I did that though Optus regretfully informed me that the number I had called had been disconnected. What's up with that? It had been connected an hour before hand, when they called me.

Julian told me it could be an outbound only number. That could be the case. Whatever it was, I may never find out who it was. I decided at the pub tonight that it was probably either Norah Jones or Natalie Portman. I'm sure they'll call back.

The storm today was the coolest.

I was driving home from College and it rained, it hailed, it flooded, trees fell down (although I only drove past them after the event), and traffic lights went out. I had so much fun. I would try and describe it well, but I couldn't do it justice. It was just fun. It felt dangerous, but it probably wasn't that bad.

Before the storm, when the world was dry, I saw a guy get hit on the head by one of the first bits of hail. It was big, and he rubbed his head, then looked at the sky with a kind of bemused look on his face. It made me laugh.

I finished reading Sean Astin's book about the making of the Lord of the Rings today. It was an interesting read, but I'm glad I'm done with it. I got a little sick of him. The book was pretty egocentric. Sean spent most of the time telling me what mood he was in each day of the film making process, and how fat (or skinny) he was in just about every period of his life till now. He also told me on every second page that Lord of the Rings was a $270 million production and that he wants to be a famous director. It got a bit tedious.

Since I finished that book I started Tell Me No Lies which is a collection of investigative journalistic pieces from 1945 on. John Pilger edited it and he introduces it with a biased attack on the mainstream media saying it is the puppet of the governments. Or perhaps that the governments are the puppets of the media moguls. Or something like that. He seemed a little like an intellectual Michael Moore who doesn't make jokes. I'm enjoying the stuff after the introduction though. I'm feeling like I'm getting educated.

Am I getting picky in the books I read? I used to think you couldn't get any better than Tom Clancy.

Because I like to know when I'm famous, I found one guy who linked to my blog who said: "One guy has a poofter-ish looking photo and finds it uncomfortable watching topless women dance (bit like me, really) but it turns out that he's just religious. Oh well. It's a fine line, sometimes!"

I know people don't really like the photos of me on my blog, they say they're a bit scary. But I can't see the homosexualness in them. Not that there would be any real problem if they did look gay. Who cares if I look a little camp? Not I.

Anyway, I read a bit of the guy's blog, it was interesting. I think he's a dancer. Maybe Helen has run into him at dancer dance things. They could become friends.

The whole upstairs of my house smells. I think we may have some hidden dog wee somewhere.

My Weekend (evolving into a rant about church unity)

I've sat here for a while composing the first few words of this post. The options I have floated to myself have been:

"I don't..."

"Do Do Do Do..."

"I wanna be Kate!"

But none of them seemed right.

A lot has happened lately. I was on a leader's weekend away this weekend. It was good to hang out with the youth leaders for this year, they're good fun.

I also went to the opening service for College (the old one). It was a good chance to get a bit of closure and see some of my old friends. In the service I had to pray up the front. It was a little worrying because I was praying in front of a few Sydney Anglican big wigs. Like the Bishop. I spent most of the service trying to compose the prayer so would have the theology right. Then I realised that it is silly composing your prayers too much because you aren't praying to Sydney Anglicans you're praying to God. And so I just prayed. Once I finished though, I started analysing the prayer again.

I said at the end something like "And I pray that God continues to use this College to show the world his gospel and his glory." And I had visions of people coming up to me later and saying "Tell me, what is the difference between God's glory and his gospel? Wouldn't you say that the gospel is God's glory?"

And then I would disintegrate under the stares of the some of the world's most influential conservative, Evangelical theologians.

Ok, so I might be talking them up a bit (Uncle Pete wasn't even there), but it does sound good. I have never been quizzed on my theology by a Bishop, College Dean (except for tuitional purposes) or anyone else before for that matter. Except perhaps that kid in Canberra who asked me what the one thing that made Christianity different from every other religion was. I quite like Sydney Anglicans. I am one. And while I acknowledge that we Sydney Anglicans have been known to be a bit arrogant, too conservative for our own good, or just a little forgetful of some important bits in the Bible, there is a great heart for the gospel in us. And I don't think it's all as bad as everyone makes out, we just have failings like the rest of the Christian world.

We discussed church unity in staff meeting last Monday, and I’d been thinking about it a bit lately. I’m a little sick of all the church bashing that goes on amongst Christians. We seem to ignore how important unity is, how much Jesus values it. It was the last thing he prayed for before he got arrested, but we don’t seem to remember that, we just rip into each other in the name of the right way of doing Christianity.

It’s just silly. It seems to me that we Christians spend so much time trying to get the speck out of each other’s eyes, that we don’t notice that we’re bashing Jesus around the head with the planks in our own eyes. Everyone has something to accuse someone else of. The Evangelicals accuse the Pentecostals of putting too much emphasis on their feelings and experiences, the Pentecostals say that the Evangelicals worship the Bible. The Liberal Theology people accuse the Conservatives of being bigots, the Conservatives accuse the Liberals of being soft. The Social Justice people accuse the Conservative Evangelicals of forgetting the poor, the Conservative Evangelicals accuse the Social Justice people of forgetting the gospel. The Anglicans accuse the Hillsong people of teaching prosperity doctrine, and I don’t know what the Hillsong people say about the Anglicans, I haven’t asked them.

I’m just sick of it all.

Sure there are problems. We all have problems. But why do we have to expend so much energy tearing each other down. We all love Jesus, we’re all doing our best. While I’m a Sydney Anglican I’ll do my best to keep urging us to be good teachers of the gospel, lovers of the poor and marginalised, and followers of Jesus (with all that that entails). When I join Hillsong, I’ll do the same, when I join the Uniting Church, I’ll do the same. But until then I want to do my best to encourage my brothers and sisters from other churches.

I haven’t quite figured out where we have a responsibility to encourage each other to a biblical faith. After all, we are not really defined by our denomination, but by our faith in Christ. So in some ways I do have an obligation when I see my brother or sister, of any church, doing something which I think is not in keeping with the Bible to encourage them adjust their behaviour. I do believe that we should all keep each other accountable.

I think perhaps the key is in who you talk to about problems. I shouldn’t spend my time telling all my other Anglican friends how much I don’t like the Baptists (actually I quite like the Baptists). Sometimes I should keep my mouth shut, or if I really have a problem, I should go talk to the Baptists about it. It’s hard to do that, it’s so easy to engage in the verbal bashing of other Christian groups. There’s no risk when you’re amongst friends and it makes you feel righteous. I’ve done it way too often.

If we really are to have unity, I think we need to get better on this one. I can’t think of an easy way to fix the problem, so I’ll just keep plugging away and asking others Christians to join me in doing the same.

Love Wisdom

"I say hurl. If you blow chunks and she comes back, she's yours. If you spew and she bolts, then it was never meant to be." - Wanye Campbell, Wayne's World

I watched the Tennis tonight. I've never really watched the Tennis before but the Australian Open has got me. I've become a fan I think. I was so tense watching Fedora and Safin. Too tense. It should have finished so much earlier, and I had to stand in my living room (I was too nervous to sit) and make funny noises ("yiiaayaah") I'm just like my dad. I wanted Safin to win though. I think because he wasn't meant to. Good stuff.

I’m not fully in the mood to be blogging but I do want to get rid of my photo off Blogfeed. I’m not particularly attractive in that photo.

Yesterday was a fun day.

I awoke early (8am) because Jo was having her birthday celebrations here. It promised to be the annual filling of my house with all the many people that my sister loves. Sometimes she decides to hold this event in the morning. In the days preceding this morning I am often struck by this horrible fear that people will arrive early and decide to hold the party in my bedroom. I know it’s an irrational fear, but on any day I don’t like meeting people in the morning before my shower, so it makes sense that I would be worried that Jo might decide to hold the party in my room so I wake up surrounded by pancake eating strangers.

Anyway, that whole paragraph is really just to establish why I got up so early. As it happened I got up early enough to avoid the hordes of early morning revellers seeing me in pre-shower “bler”.

At around nine people started arriving and they hung around till about one, eating yoghurt, croissants, muesli, and fruit salad. They talked and laughed and generally enjoyed each other’s company.

Once they’d all dispersed Howie and I headed off to the food court for a well earned meal of dodgy food.

After an afternoon nap, it was time for Third Day.

Chris, Howie and I journeyed out to Castle Hill to see Third Day play their music.

Upon arrival at Hillsong, we decided to have a competition to see how many people were there that we knew. (I think I won by the end of the night with 16) The line to get in was massive, but happily upon arrival I got a message from Erin who was let us join her closer to the door.

We got inside in good time and managed to find ourselves sitting with a bunch of people we knew. It was happy camaraderie.

Rookie (one of the support bands) were very fun. They made us laugh, worked the crowd. Musically they were a little too Pop/Punk (I think that’s what we call “Ponk”) for my tastes. But they were good performers.

Third Day were good. They played like seasoned performers. They worked hard to make the show about Jesus, not about them. They were fun. It wasn’t an awe inspiring show, and it was turned up too loud to be a good corporate worship session. Their music was solid, although they didn’t deviate much from what you hear on the albums. I knew most of the songs they played, which may say something about the popularity of their latest album (which I don’t own). But Third Day was good, I’d be quite happy to go see them again. They kept saying “Aussie”. Things like “Come on and sing it Aussie”. No-worries, they are American, we’ll forgive them. We’ll forgive Americans lots of things.

Hair

The first thing I did this morning after I got up, the very first thing, was take a photo of myself so I could preserve my hairy state.




Today I got a hair cut. I hate hair cuts. This afternoon I was sitting in the living room and Howie woke up and came out of his room. We looked at each other, I laughed and he said something like “Bastard”. We had both gotten hair cuts on the same day. It’s annoying when this happens, we look too similar and people laugh at us. Oh well.

Marriage

I decided tonight that if I would be so excited if I married me because I've got a really good cd collection. I like almost every cd in it.

I just talked to the Dean of my college and told him that I wouldn't be continuing with them this year. I didn't like doing that, I felt like I was breaking up. He said he understood and he thought I was making the right choice if I'm going to get to work on my degree. But it is very sad.

So may I say publicly that Youthworks College is fantastic. They teach good Bible, they give you good foundations for a life in ministry, they love their students and they love God. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Youthworks, not just because they made such as huge impact on my knowledge of the Bible, and how to teach it, but because it is a place that genuinely cares and wants the best for you. Go them!

I just shaved of my month old beard. I have now learnt that it takes a long time to kill a beard when all you have is a disposable razor. I went through one and a half of them. Now I look 16.

Happy Birthday to Jo my fabulous sister!

Hey Now, Hey Now, Don't Dream it's Over

My holidays are almost over. Tomorrow it's back to work.

The sad bit is that I don't get to sleep in anymore, I don't get to do whatever I want with my days and I don't get to go traveling all over the nation.

The happy bit is that I really like my work and I'm looking forward to this year and doing ministry, hanging out with people and being silly in the office. I'm am looking forward to going back. If only I could work and be on holidays at the same time.

Today was a quiet day. I woke up late than had a really late breakfast with Jo.

Tonight I went to church with Chris. It was a good experience. I like visiting other churches. They were a friendly bunch and the pastor seemed like a good guy. It seemed a little like Hillsong Lite. It was a like a big penty church without the bigness. I had fun.

I went home with Chris and Chris (the housemate) and hung at their house. It was good to see Chris. He's a good chap.

And that's all I have to say.

Inspiring Church Sign Quote of the Week

"Today is the tomorrow you looked forward to yesterday."
Found outside a Church in Katoomba

What can I say?...

Freedom

I just read Bush's inaugural speech.

It was a very good speech. He has good writers. It sounded like a sermon. There were lots of biblical illusions in there. I would have enjoyed giving that speech.

I found it hard to read though and not feel a sense of irony in what he was saying.

“We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.”

I wonder how those in Guantanamo Bay feel about their chains. I wonder how many Iraqis still feel that they are living at the mercy of a bully.

“Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling.”

Again Iraq seems to mock this statement as she continues in violence, and so many oppose (both violently and peaceful) its upcoming elections. Perhaps they want the right to vote, but do they want it now, and at this price?

I found the speech worrying because it seems to be proclaiming America’s God-given right to impose freedom on the rest of the world. How can you enforce freedom anyway? Isn’t that oxymoronic? I know Bush said people must chose it, but do they chose freedom before or after America invades their country?

Perhaps freedom, at least political freedom, shouldn’t be the primary goal of every society anyway. Perhaps a quality of life, and a higher standard of living should be first on the agenda. Perhaps education, clean water, the irradication of preventable deseases should be America’s highest aim in its foreign policy. Perhaps many of the people in the world would give up their rights to vote in a second if it meant they could keep their children alive and free from a life of fear.

Perhaps America could achieve more for freedom, true freedom, by feeding the hungry, housing the homeless and healing the sick, than by enforcing democracy through guns and bombs. When they do that, how much more leverage will they have to free the oppressed?

John Stott once wrote (while discussing nuclear war, although I think it is still relevant in this context): “In the end, then, we have to decide which blessing we value the more: social freedom, though at the cost of losing our moral integrity…or moral integrity as a nation, though at the cost of losing our social freedom…If this might one day be the option before us, I hope we should know which to choose. It would be better to suffer physical defeat than moral defeat; better to loose freedom of speech, of assembly, even of religion, than freedom of concience before God. For in his sight integrity is even yet more valuable than liberty.” (New Issues Facing Christians Today, 1999)

I think that America, and we her allies, no longer have the moral victory, we lost it long ago, and continue to loose it. It seems we are erroding our integrity daily.

Don’t hear me saying that I don’t value democracy. I do, and always will. I love the freedom I have in this country, I love that I can stand up for what I believe in. I love that I can vote for which ever person I want to. But I think that democracy is not the starting point of freedom, but an end point. And, as Stott said, ultimate freedom will never be found in a society, but in our hearts, before God.

I love catching express trains at night. I love being in a brightly lit carriage, as it races through stations. I love the way the lights flash past, and you see glimpses of suburbs, and then you're in the dark again. I like the way you can rush through so many people's lives, the places of their realities, and no body knows that you were there, just a loud noise, some rushing lights and you're gone again.

I spent most of the day on my own today.

I went to the city to wander around. There was nothing on at the right time at the cinemas so I meandered slowly towards the Botanical Gardens. I thought it might be nice to sit in the shade and read, it was such a stunning day.

I got distracted by the State Library. I’ve never properly explored the State Library. Or in fact figured out how it works, but it looks fun. I decided today wasn’t the day to try and understand it, to make sense of its marble floors and intimidating bookshelves, so I looked at the photographic exhibition upstairs. That was very interesting.

By the time I made it to the Botanical Gardens the sun had disappeared never to return. While I had planned to read my book, I found that I also learnt about why there are no roses in the Rose Garden and which are the best grasses for playing fields and to survive drought. If you want to keep Buffalo Grass healthy you must keep it at least 50mm in length.

I finally found a bench and read for an hour or so.

When the sky started to look threateningly grey and turgid, I decided to head for home. I caught a train from Town Hall back to Hornsby. In Hornsby I ate some dinner and read my book in the Library.

I only left to break my day of solitary hermitness to watch Alexander with David. Boring. Not David, the film. It was three hours of Colin Farrell staring longingly into the eyes of every waxed legged soldier in his army. Anthony Hopkin’s character just droned on and on and on. Even the fighting was dull. I didn’t care about any of the characters, just how much colder it was getting outside for my walk home with every extra, excruciating, minute of the film.

Now, thankfully, I am home, and I no longer have to watch Colin Farrell stare at anyone, or hear Anthony extol the greatness of Alexander’s golden, deity inherited locks or whatever it is he was nattering about.

Tomorrow I head for the hills, I’m going to Katoomba.

These days when I pray I usually start by saying one of two things. Either "Thank you God that you are good" or "Here I am Lord, I don't understand". I guess that's because those are two constants I can rely on.

These days have been pretty quiet.

Yesterday I decided to try and get my life in order and figure out what I will do with all the time that I’m not working this year. I rung a Bible college, looked up jobs and researched volunteer positions. I then went to the Library and read the paper.

I bumped into Jem after the Library and hung out with her for a bit. At night I went to Commy Dinner. A nice day, nothing spectacular, but very pleasant.

Today I went to visit the Bible College to talk to people and see if I can start my Bachelor or Theology this year. I figured that could fill in the idle hours. The problem is that if I do that I’ll probably have to leave my current college. That would be sad because I love my college, nice people, good teaching, friendly staff. Oh well, I guess I’ll have that figured out by the end of the week.

Tonight we had our first pub of 2005. Quiet, but a nice little bit of sitting around.

I should go to bed soon, but I’m not sure I want to. I wish there was something on TV. Foxtel costs too much. It just seems to be a black box that sits on top of my TV to give me the option to give away hours of my life watching noisy, colourful nothing. Then I just feel depressed when I turn it off.

DVDs are good though.

I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 the other night. It was interesting but not all that good. Michael Moore’s biased reporting made me switch off and not listen to any of what he was saying. I came out thinking no less of George W than I did before.

And all the George W shots that were taken out of context reminded me that, whatever I think of George’s policy, I think he’s a funny guy. Not someone to laugh at, but he can actually make a joke, and joke about himself. If nothing else, I admire that about him.

I watched The Village the night after. That was good. I heard that was a comment on America following September 11. If that is true, it was much better at making me think than Fahrenheit 9/11 was. It was interesting to consider a society that used fear as a legitimate tool to maintain its good ideals. I wish I got to listen to the directors commentary on that one.

I also watched the second series of The Office. That was as brilliant and dreadful as the first series. It really is one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in a long time, and it is probably the most painful show I have watched. The people are just so pathetic. And when you watch them and see your own foibles in there, it’s even worse. I don’t think there will be a third series but I wish there was, they really are top quality television.

The Office is on Foxtel I think, I’ll give Foxtel that.

I wonder what I’ll do tomorrow…

I spent almost all day on my couch, sleeping, reading, praying, watching and eating. It was marvelous.

Well I’m home now. I’ve come a long way baby. 4,826kms in the van to be precise. Today we drove about 400kms.

I’m not sure what to say. I wouldn’t mind going to bed at some stage, reading my book, perhaps watching a DVD. Who knows?

I could write about the past few days, I may write about the past few days. We’ll see how this post pans out.

I had a great time on our road trip. The Great Lower Quarter of Australia Road Trip was a stunning success. Being back in Sydney is a little strange, I’m not sure I want to be here. I don’t want to have to deal with Sydney life, I want to be away when all I have to worry about is what to do that day, or how far to the next driver change over and petrol refill. In Sydney I have to sort things out, sort my life out, organise my year, become a better person, on the road I can just stare out the window.

Melbourne was tops. I didn’t really do much. After breakfast in the City (and a dodgy night in the F1), I caught a tram to the city and sat by the Yarra reading. I am reading The Purpose Driven Life. I never really planned to read it, but it was on the shelf and I wanted some structure to my God contemplation. It’s not bad. I’m a few days behind. I wasn’t very good at having quiet times on this trip. It’s hard to find time alone when you’re always travelling with 6 or 7 other people. Oh well I’ll catch up. I’m only three days behind.

At night we went to Soul Survivor for the night. It was good. Hugh Evans spoke and spoke well. He was honest and passionate. It was good to see how much he loves God, and how much he is intent on searching God out.

It was fun to catch up with the church crew. They’re a lovely bunch. I went to say “Good bye” to a bunch of them and told them to drive home safely because if they died driving home I wasn’t going to their funeral because I’m on holidays. It was a joke but it sounded pretty dodgy. I meant nothing of the sort and drove home kicking myself, because it wasn’t a funny joke and just sounded, um, bad, Scrooge-ish?. Oh well. We all say stupid things some times. My stupid mouth…

Over the past two days we drove home from Melbourne. It was a much quieter journey, there were only 7 of us (Jo left us in Melbourne) and Liz was sick. I think we were tired too. Last night in Genoa (just near the Victoria/NSW border) we realised both cars were almost out of petrol. Genoa had nothing open that would give us anything resembling petrol, and we didn’t have enough to make it to Eden the next town up. We had sudden terrifying thoughts of getting stuck alone in our cars in the wilderness having to have Breakfast Club-type conversations where we all shared our deepest secrets while we waited for the NRMA. So, fuelled by our fear of intimacy, we headed off down some mostly ignored road hoping to make it to a remote costal town that we found hiding on the map in the hope of finding petrol. We arrived in this town and found had a surprisingly large amount of people in it. I wondered where they all came from, and if they ever left. It felt a little like we were explorers like Captain Cook in dire need of water and had discovered an island somewhere in the vast, empty ocean with a colony of natives no-one had ever heard of before, who were most probably cannibals.

As we drove into town it felt as if everyone was staring at us. We drove past a long abandoned petrol pump on the way in, and hoped that wasn’t the only one. There was an Ampol, but that was all locked up for the night. In fact every petrol station was closed.

We were saved from a night spent in our petrol free cars warding off the hungry locals, by the owner of the Shell, who was cutting lettuce in his yard adjoining the station. He kindly opened his pumps again so we could fill our cars up. He said he didn’t ever do this but he did it for us because we’re tourists. He told us to be quick otherwise the locals might notice and then they’d want a piece of the action. At the time I thought he was talking about after-hours petrol but on reflection it was more likely he was protecting us from their appetites.

We spent last night in Bega. The people who live there are very friendly. I’d recommend the Pizza shop on the main street to anyone. Mainly because they have the friendliest pizza shop owner I have ever met.

Today we drove and thought of Sydney. It really is a lovely place this. The whole trip was pretty un-eventful (although I did pick up my first ever hitch hiker, a lovely Czech girl called Mishalandavlvofvaoiviavfkvkvich). We ate lunch in Ulladulla, perhaps not the classiest little seaside town in Australia, but certainly not lacking any tacky charm. It had what we needed (a parking spot, toilet and food), except for my friend James who has gone AWOL. Shame. I’m sure he’ll turn up. At least, I’m sure he’ll turn on his mobile again.

We drove into Sydney at around 3:30pm, with a cheer and a smile. I started to feel like I was back home as I drove to the city at the speed limit and everyone else was driving faster than me. In the rest of Australia I’m a bit of a hoon. I’ve noticed that in most of the places we’ve been people stay about 10kms under the speed limit, in Sydney everyone stays about 10 over. I guess we all balance each other out.

So now I’ve seen more of Australia. I like this country, and I like these people, even the cannibals and the people from Dandenong. I think next time I’d like to drive to Perth. I wonder if the van would cope.

I have less than 2 minutes left on this computer. We're staying in a YHA in Melbourne. Last night we were in the Formule One in Dandenong and it was pretty dodge. More dodgy than usual. Doubt I'll be going back there.

Melbourne is good fun. Bigger than Adelaide, much. Harder to get around too because, well everything is further away.

We're in Lorne at the moment. Somewhere on the Great Ocean Road. We've been driving it since this morning. It's a wonderful road, lots of ocean and pieces of limestone sticking out of the sea. We'll be in Melbourne tonight. But first, in perhaps an hours time, we'll be at Bells Beach to watch the sunset. Famous Bells Beach, I've wanted to go there ever since I watched Point Break.

I'm sure I'll find myself an internet cafe tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to read my book by the beach.

I was just reading some blogs here at Adelaide Airport and I got told "Less reading more blogging" so that's what I'm doing.

At the moment there are bushfires in the Adelaide Hills, but not near us. No excitement with fires tonight. Shame.

I was just reading some blogs here at Adelaide Airport and I got told "Less reading more blogging" so that's what I'm doing.

At the moment there are bushfires in the Adelaide Hills, but not near us. No excitement with fires tonight. Shame.

Second last full day in Adelaide today. I'm having fun here. It is a good city. I haven't done much touristy stuff here. I'm a bad tourist. But I'm having fun. This city is so small. You can walk anywhere.

Today we dropped the van at the Nissan service place in the North. We put it in because the breaks were shuddering when we went down hills at high speeds so we thought it might be good to get it looked at so it doesn't kill us on the way to Melbourne. I'm hoping it doesn't cost me thousands of dollars.

Yesterday was Sunday which means church visits. We only made it to two. We went to Pilgrim Uniting in the city in the morning. It was very much like what I expect a Uniting Church to be like. The people were very nice but the service didn't really do it for me. Still I like to see people expressing their faith, and the tea and coffee room afterwards was lovely.

I came home to sleep for a few hours because I was buggered from the night before. We had managed to stay out late enjoying the night life of the local area of our YHA. I think I got about 6 hours sleep the night before( that's small for this holiday, a luxury the rest of my life) so a sleep did me good.

Once I had awoken from my slumber, we headed off to Paradise Community Church to see what Guy Sebastian's spiritual home was like. It was fun. The had lots of screens with Media Player visualizations projected on them, and a band that played well. It was exactly what you can expect from a big Penty Church.

The preacher was a visiting guy from the US. He sounded exactly like American preachers do, it was cool. He shouted and often seemed like he was going to cry. He was so over the top it was hard to not think he was putting it on (I don't think he was). I did have fun.

Whenever I go somewhere like that I usually try and figure out what I would do I if I were preaching there. I wrote half a sermon in my head while I watched last night. I doubt I'd be nearly as energetic as this guy was though.

After the service we visited the Guests Lounge where everyone who we met asked us the same questions. At least they were welcoming us. I liked the hospitality of the Uniting Church more though, they were less slick, but seemed a little more genuine.

I like being a Christian, there are so many other Christians out there doing their Christian thing, and we all know we're related to each other. It's tops.

I'm watching the tsunami telecast at the moment. It's a good idea but I'm a little sick of all the self promotion from the Australian celebrities. They could have twice as much singing and half as much talking and it'd all be much more enjoyable.

Sometimes internet cafes are great because you are away on holidays but you can connect with the world at home. Other times internet cafes remind you that there is a world at home and it just kinda intrudes on your happy, ignorant lifestyle.

Blogging so often makes me think that things should have changed since the last time I blogged but they haven't. At least not much.

Yesterday afternoon I only made it back to a park to read my book. That was great.

Last night we watched Breakfast at Tiffany's in the Botanical Park at the Moonlight Cinema. It was very cold. We hid under our rugs and leant on each other for warmth. I didn't really watch a lot of the movie, I spent most of the time listening to the sound and staring at the stars. I watched a satellite make its way quietly across the sky. I wonder if anyone else was paying attention to it.*

The movie though is a tops movie. Audrey really is something special.

Today we have come to the beach. Gelnelg is where we are. We caught a bus to the city from a little town/suburb down the road from where we live called Sterling. We caught a tram from the city to Glenelg. The tram was cool. Old fashioned with uncomfortable seats.

The beach here isn't very interesting. There is no surf, there's rocks instead of sand, and it's not like the beaches back home. I am an arrogant Sydney-sider and Glenelg is a poor excuse for a beach. But still it's a lovely place. I think it'd be a great place to eat an ice cream and read a book and I'm looking forward to doing both.

Today is Saturday which means I am almost half way through this Great Lower Quarter of Australia Road Trip. I really am having a tops time. I think mainly because I'm not in Sydney and I'm living with 8 other tops people. We laugh more than we should and sing more than we need to. There's much joy about.

Tonight I'm hoping to have a beer in a local pub. If you ask for a Schooner here you get a Midi. If you ask for a Pint you get a Schooner, tis amazing. "They come in pints? I'm getting one!"

*I thought if I was being melodramatic (or Picoult-ish) I could have written "I watched a satellite make its lonely way quietly across the dark night sky. I wondered if anyone else was paying attention to it as it weaved a straight line between the stars. Sometimes we all make our way through life, doing our thing, wondering if anyone's watching. We slowly go about our business, just a speck in a sky full of shining lights. We keep going around, and around, not because there is any choice in it, but we can do nothing else but stay in orbit." But I wasn't being melodramatic and so I didn't write that. But I did write it down here though because I thought it'd be fun.

Today is the "Do Adelaide by Yourself Day". This has led me to wander around the city by myself, as I tend to do when I'm alone in Sydney. It is one of my more exciting past times.

Last night we watched The Neverending Story. I hadn't seen it since I was about 7. It was very fun. When I was seven I didn't pick up the overt imperitives from the film makers to have good self esteem and fight depression. It was all pretty blatent which made it all the fun.

In the boys room last night we created a fortress out of our beds. Each bed (except David's) has its own light prevention system which uses blankets to enable each individual to put their bed in a cacoon of complete darkness. It's very effective, I woke up at around 9:30am this morning and it was so dark I thought it was somewhere around 3am.

My time in the city today has been tops. Time alone means lots of time for introspection. Often I enjoy doing it, but it never really changes. I'm always kinda similar to how I was last time.

I've read, prayed, and read again in the Botanical Gardens today. My book has very small writing and it isn't all that easy to read. But I'm enjoying it. It's not very pleasant. At the moment there is a man who is living in a really crappy marriage. Most of what he talks about is making money and how crappy his marriage is. It's a stream of consiousness. It's pretty depressing, but I think that's the point. I really don't want to have a crappy marriage, but this isn't giving me much hope. I hope the book gets better. We'll change characters soon.

Since the park I have eaten in Hungry Jacks and walked down a street. I discovered the William Street of Adelaide. I'm always facinated by the seedy parts of town. I'm not sure why. Probably because I spend all my time in un-seedy Christian land. Although as facinating as streets full of tatoo palours and clubs called "Pleasure Land" are, they are always kinda depressing too.

Now I'm in an internet cafe. I'm not sure if that defeats the purpose of having a day on my own, reading about everyone else and chatting in MSN, but I'm having fun.

I have to decide what to do next. I may go sit in a park again. Or see a movie. I can't decide. Or as I suggested to myself, perhaps I'll go visit the Scientologists.

Well Adelaide rolls on.

We went to Hahndorf today which is meant to be a quint little German town in the Adelaide Hills. I didn't like it very much. It was full of tourists and quite fake. It was prtending to be German, but really it was just making a buck. We went into one quaint little pub for a buffet which turned out not to be quaint or little but just a facade that led to a pokie filled, gaudy decored, RSL type club. But it still was that place I wanted to eat. I like gaudy.

Once that was done we escaped on the O-Bahn (which was cool) from the city to a Westfield. Felt like home but now I'm itching for a game of frsbee or something.

I'm really enjoying sleeping in. Our days haven't started before 12 yet. It's great.

Tomorrow we're having "alone day" this means you explore Adelaide on your own. I think I'll read, sleep, internet and perhaps visit the church of Scientology.

Should be good.

I once looked at my world it all made perfect sense. I knew why things were the way they were, why things had happened the way they had, and how things were going to be. When I looked again it was gone and I wondered if I had ever seen it in the first place.

I had a sleeping the park, met some drink guys, read my book and Bible. Fantastic. This is what holidays should be like.

Some Photos

This is us leaving from Campbelltown. I'm standing in front of Ryan.


Jugiong


The Mighty HannahVan on the Hay Plain (perhaps)

Trippin'

We're in Mildura at the moment. We entered Victoria about an hour ago. Tis good fun this place. So far we've probably driven around 1000km now. I could convey the wonder of this journey in many fantastic words, but sitting here in this internet cafe has sapped my brain of the desire to make my writing seem good.

We left very early yesterday morning. It was about 6:30 when we left but it seemed later because the sun was up and the air was warm. I think that may have something to do with summer.

We picked up Jo in Campbelltown and did breakfast and Church in Mittagong. We then drove for a long time.

We've been swapping around cars every two hours or so to make sure we all get to talk to different people. Sometimes there's sleeping, sometimes there's deep conversation, often silly jokes, mostly inappropriate.

We stayed last night at a pub in Hay, the Old Crown Hotel. It's about 760kms away from Sydney. It was a the best pub. Kinda country, kinda quaint. The boys got given a flat to stay in which had a lounge room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. It was luxury pub style.

We ate and drank in the beer garden, it was very fun having a restaurant and a bar so close to your bed. At 10 o'clock the manager came out to tell us they we would have to stop drinking as their license on Sundays only went till 10. We thought that was funny seeing as most of us had only had one drink and were only planning on having one. We aren't big drinkers. Too Christian I guess.

I'm not too sure why I wrote my last paragraph like that, probably to let you all know we didn't get drunk. I wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea.

Today we've driven through lots of flat outbackish land. Red dirt and all that. I'm feeling very much like an Australian.

I think it may be time to head off now. The girls aren't really using the internet much so I figure I should be off. We'll be in Adelaide tonight, that'll be fun.

Next time we go on a road trip, you should all come.

Farewell Sydney!

Yeah Baby!

I forgot to celebrate my Blog's second birthday. Shame.

New Years Eve 2004

2004 was a good year. I can't really bothered to reflect much. It was fun, people were good, God is best. 2005 should be tops. Here are tonight's happy snaps...





















Happy New Year to you all.