Youth Councils Time Lapse

We captured this footage a few years ago at youth councils . . . 2005 maybe. Either way, it's been sitting on my hard drive collecting virtual dust ever since - me not really having any time to do anything with it.

Until now.

I put this together as a little promo for youth councils at work. It lives at http://hisspace2008.blogspot.com. But I figured I'd share it here too.

It's neat to see it again. I'll try to remember to do it again this year too.

Let me know what you think.

Grace,

Des

welcome to chai-na town

a couple posts ago I revealed the one-way first-name basis that I have with some of the employees at my friendly neighborhood starbucks.

Today it got one step better.

It's been a few days since I last patronized starbucks . . . i was due for my drink of choice.

I pulled off and drove up to the drive through intercom . . . the conversation went a little something like this:

(des pulls up to intercom and rolls down the window accustomed to the typical, "Hi, How are you today?" question.)

starbucks: Hey - can we get a grandé non-fat chai latté started for you?

des: (shocked) . . . . why . . . yes . . . .that's it. Thanks.

starbucks: We'll see you at the window.

WHAT??

I mean, I guess it only makes sense that if they know my name then they would remember what drink I have ordered LITERALLY every time that I have been there. It just sort of takes this chai addiction to the next level, don't you think????

It was extra good today by the way.

I like being a regular. I'm starting to feel like I belong.

Des

Andy Wells - I Will Miss You

I've not lived in St. John's since 2002.

However, even then I learned to love Mayor Andy Wells.

Now that he's leaving office to take up a provincial government job it's a sad day. I'm sure that he'll still be in the news because of great comments like this.

St. John's Mayor Andy Wells tendered his resignation Monday evening with anything but tender words for some of his colleagues.

"Look, there's five, I can guarantee you, that I will miss like the bubonic plague," Wells, who said he will leave on March 3, told the council meeting.

You can read the whole story at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/02/19/wells-bubonic.html.

Des

chai lattés

so, not so far off the beaten path to my office (probably even close enough to be considered "on the way") is a friendly neighborhood Starbucks. I like it. I've warmed up to this crown-jewel of corporate america.

I have two things to say:

1) Grandé Non-Fat Chai Lattés are the best
2) The barista today greeted me at the window by saying "Hey Desmond"

What does THAT tell you?

Grace,

Des

tree of life

As often is found true, Kristy and I were watching National Geographic tonight and they had a great special on about the amazing-ness of Yosemite and the wonders therein. One of the things that struck us both was about the giant sequoias that grow there.

Firstly, they can be 3000 years old and 300 feet high. That in itself is incredible.

But then they were discussing the way that water travels up inside the tree for nourishment. Three hundred feet is a long way for water to travel . . . especially considering things like gravity and pressure and logic. However, what mr. narrator said was the the sequoia has the most efficient hydraulic system on earth . . . more efficient than anything man has been able to recreate.

So that's amazing.

But there's more.

Every day the average sequoia moves 1 ton of water through it's system . . . 1 ton. That's about 907 litres ( which is 907 liters spelled in American English . . . or 240 gallons).

One tree, one day, one ton.

There was also a piece of granite that fell from one of the mountain faces that was bigger than two football fields (approximately 1.89 Canadian Football League fields - they're 110 yards each) that caused a shockwave when it landed that snapped trees for about a half-a-mile. The air that rushed out from underneath on the leading edge of this shockwave was travelling at 300 mph.

There are a lot more stats in this post than I thought there would be . . . but it's all good.

Grace,

Des

Vance Chiropractic Center

I've recently finished a new site for a client . . . you can read about it at http://blog.webandflowdesign.com/?p=60 or see it live at http://www.vancechirocenter.com.

eyes

I live in a world where pornography is ok - where objectifying people (not just women) is ok if it sells products, makes money, serves some "greater good." I'm not gonna lie - I know that it can reek havoc on your brain, your heart, and your mind.

Too many guys know how powerful it is and how hard it is to leave behind.

So, I've been thinking about these things. Seems like every couple of years or so God really challenges me on some big issues . . . a few years ago it was homosexuality . . . if you look back through the annals of this blog, I'm sure you'll find more than one post on it.

Recently, it's been porn. What it does to your brain, your relationships with others, with God...

I've been forced to think about what it means to look at someone through God's eyes.

I'm convinced it's looking at people through the eyes of children. Not being a parent, of course, I have to get my information from other people - from parents that have kids with eyes.

That happened this week at watershed. We've been in the middle of a series called Stogies and Stilettos for a few weeks and this week was about "inside the feminine mind." It was good stuff. On somewhat of a tangent, Taryn (who was sharing at the time) spoke of how her son had bought her a gaudy $1 hair band from the dollar store. To spare you the details however ugly she thought it looked, Colson (her son) thought it was beautiful. She went on to say that he thought she was tall (she's not tall), she's young (she is . . . but not as young as her son) and all these things that she thought she was not.

I took a mental tangent of my own after that. I want to look at people, no matter who they are, through the eyes of a child - to see that there is value and beauty and greatness in everyone - in fact, that the opposite of those things don't even exist.

I went on to think that there are no sexual complications through the eyes of a child. There is no lust. There is no objectifying. How do we get there? What do we have to do to be restored?

They're pretty powerful thoughts . . . another measure of wisdom from the mind of a child.

God, help me, a guy in objectified society see people as valuable, free, wise, caring humanity. Restore my eyes, my heart, my mind to that of a child.

O, to be a child again.

Grace,

Des

Mac vs. PC

So, the writers at the NYT must really understand the way I think.

Check out this story:

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/04/nyt-obama-is-mac-clinton-is-pc/

Except for the fact that they endorsed the PC . . .

Change (to a mac) 2008.

Yes we can.

Des