Order's Outcome's Order

Do yourself a favor and listen to some WNYC Radiolab Podcasts.
This one is particularly good. (http://www.wnyc.org/stream/ram?file=/radiolab/radiolab021805.mp3)

I'm really feelin' what ants are up to. Ants and Bees, pretty much all colonial invertebrates. I think the necessity for community that colonies possess and the absolute dependance on each other to create a whole is metaphorical to how a healthy faith system should be set up.

"Look to the ant, consider her ways and be wise" Proverbs 6:6

Ma'n Me

Momsy took me out for breakfast this morning. The best way to start a day.

I've decided I want to become TESOL certified, so I registered for the class that runs August 6-10. I've asked Him about it, and this is what He's told me to do. I'd expressed interest in going out there as a student, but have come to the conclusion that there's no need for such an alias, whether or not I like it China is a classroom. I have learned/will learn so much just by existing there, I just won't have any credits to show for it, AND teaching English out there will earn me some Yuan. A good remedy to my ever dwindling bank account. Woo.

Bicycles Pt.3

A recent phenomenon has occured as a result of Winnipeg's lusterless attempt at adapting to a legitimately growing alternative transportation avenue. Spraypainted stencils of bicycles can now be seen and ignored on roads all over Winnipeg. I'm not sure what to think of this yet. Local drivers will forcably become more tolerant of cyclists just by virtue of the ever expanding retirees of keys. I'm not convinced stencils are needed. In typical form, we happen to be eons behind any other major city in this area of transport. I'm hoping these cute little doodles on the road will at least take the edge off the general surliness cyclists recieve from motorists, but I also wish that money could be spent on fixing our roads so we don't have to dodge in and out of lanes to avoid being swallowed by pot holes, a likely contribution to the malcontents.

Ride a bike, it's more fun, it's more healthy, it's more.

Graham's Bike Report: To be finished tomorrow! Hopefully. Got the last of the parts today, chopped the bars, chopped the seat post, clip brake. Only assembly is needed (I'm seriously hoping anyway).

Bicycles Pt.2

I got up early today to work on Graham's bicycle, and figured out that the fork I've spent hours sanding is wonky. !@#$!!. One of the prongs is very subtley bent, the wheels and brakes do not align. I am exceedingly frustrated because the headset post on this particular frame is very large, making finding a fitting fork quite difficult. I've already spent much more money than I had anticipated on this bicycle (all due to similar difficulties) and the prospect of purchasing a new fork is not an appealing one.

Live and learn right?

Bicycles

Bicycles require much patience, for me anyway. Since I started considering bicycles some two years ago, I've gone through various frames, wheels, bars, forks, many many frustrations, and the like. The point is, right now, my bike is finally exactly how I want it.

As is what seems mandatory when with dealing with bicycles, I've had many testing moments working on my brother's bike.
- After tediously sorting through boxes of parts, I finally found a 52t front chain ring that I was able to remove the 42t lower chain ring from. Turns out, all the newer sealed bottom brackets (something I would not easily buy used) do not accommodate the size of the 52t front chain ring.

- Got one wrong headset cup

- There is not a seat-post in the entire bike dump that fits the frame

- The handlebars I flopped and chopped cannot accommodate brakes?? Chopped at a point of too much curvature, and the raised center's taper extends beyond what a regular clamp brake can fit (a very rare type of handlebar).

...Especially when dealing with old bikes/parts, something WILL not fit, you will have the wrong tools, ordered the wrong part, messed up the sizing, blah blah blah. Murphy's Law is in full effect with bicycles. I'm still very much bicycle incompetent, so most of my mistakes can be chalked up to that. A project I thought would take a week or two has ended up taking much more, sorry Graham.

It's fun to tinker and learn and whatnot, it's definitely all worth it when you have a solid, simple machine to ride. There are few things that are so much fun; physically, mentally, and environmentally friendly. Bikes are like really complicated skateboards.

Notes; lists

- Good friend Brady Barf hooked up a brotha with a cameroon. Hopefully I'll be posting some pictures sooner than later. Thanks Barf!
- As I've become better versed in Mandarin, my blog address is becoming more embarassing. 'ds-ching-cher' is the welfare pinyin form of bicycle. Because there are so many technicalities with translating a non-alphabetical language into English, there are various ways of doing it. The way I adopted for my address is wicked wrong. It should read 'zi-xing-che', but even that is incomplete because there are no tones present. So I guess it should be 'zi-xing-che-4-2-1'. I guess I'll just view it as a nice reminder of learning. Does anyone even care?
- I've been having to practice patience a lot these last two weeks: Backpack, bicycle parts, University offices, long weekends, short business hours. These have all been causes for frustration, and waiting. I'm banking on character building though....
- Yann Tiersen, Andrew Bird, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky all inspire me.

Harvest

'For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life' Gal.6:8 (NASB)

For the past few months this passage has been heavy on my brain, there are many reasons why I love it. It is contextually independant, and represents what I believe to be some biblical fundamentals. To 'sow from the flesh' perfectly encompasses all things that are self-driven, self-pleasing. The teachings of the book, the bare rudiments, revolve primarily around love, and selflessness. The two of which are merely seperable by the latter's adjective quality. There's something else I believe to be intrinsic biblical doctrine, and that is community. From a secular vantage point the former part of the aforementioned passage undoubtedly holds water, but it's words like 'spirit' and 'eternal life' that are cause for timidity. The western hemisphere is stuck in this mindset that they can accomplish things on their own. The growth of independance is becoming the death of community. I moved out on my own at eighteen years of age because I live in a society that permitted me to do so. I can work, cook, exist, support my primitive needs, but I very strongly believe community outweighs all of these things. I really think communal mindsets are inherently positive, and an individualistic driven society is imminent doom. The shift towards individulism, by it's very meaning diminishes your amount of dependants, and dependance. The less we rely on others, the more we rely on ourselves. Our environment becomes one that is very easy to manipulate directly. Our own environment is eventually dictated by our own decisions, rather than a decision with collective input. When we dictate our own life with only ourselves in mind, we start to act selfishly, according the desires of the flesh. Seeds sown of the flesh reap corruption. Seeds sown of the spirit reap eternal life.

Air, food, water, shelter. These are the most stripped-down, primitive life sources. Of these sources, food and shelter are humanly pliable. Water's from the ocean, air's from the atmosphere, but food and shelter require human intervention (food is debatable, but to supply the world's needs....). I revere farming and carpentry as the most honorable of trades. Cultivating the land, sowing, reaping, constructing. Harvest. The nobility of farming and carpentry are endlessly spoken of in the book, metaphorically and literally. Being only the second generation of both a farmer and a carpenter, I hold an extruciatingly heavy self-guilt for having little to no interest in pursuing either. The humility, the essential notion of these trades and their parallel to the book form the very grassroots of my faith. Observing my family's calloused hands coincide with obedient hearts is amazing. Yet I wish not to farm, or build?? How is this so?? I view myself as the embodiment of the aforementioned individualist thinking for my generation/family. I've battled with the contradiction of influences between trade and faith. One has shaped the other, yet they are autonomous. That being said, I'm glad I chose the latter to hang on to....

Out with the Booze, In with the Drew

Andrew (Budyk) moved out this week. A good friend of mine, always down. I'm sad to see him leave, but he's only a stone's throw away, along with Strangler. So that is awesome. Andrex (Serduletz) is moving in, which is also awesome.

LONG LIVE MANSHUNNN BOYYYZZZZE!@##!@#!@#@!@#!@$%%?????
stupid.

July 3, 2008

I'm marking this day as a heavy success. After having an hour long massage yesterday and a full day's hiatus from planche, this morning's sun felt brighter, and it's air pollutant free. I started running some errands as I often do in the morning. After a guaco-breakfast I set sail to the University where my overseas studying inquiries for the fourth day in a row fell on closed doors, absent higher-ups. The only deterrent, and a small one at that. Because post 'da-xue wo dao' The Forks to skate/work. I felt comfortable on my board for the first time in months. The feeling confidence and stability on a skateboard is narry matched by another. My back is still in a considerable amount of discomfort, but for that first hour's time being, heavenly. On my bicycle ride home I was intercepted by the always jovial Andy Larkin. Himself, Markself, and Bradyself listened to records while I put the finishing touches on the bicycle I'm building. I feel really accomplished actually, I've never built up a bicycle without constantly nagging Bram for help. I don't have a camera right now, but I'll try to post pictures of it later. I proceeded to ride my fresh cycle avec Megan to the LoPub where some local bands (I forget their names) played beautiful music. They both sounded like if the Strokes and Interpol had a pre-mature baby. And that is by every means a compliment, because Norah was a preemy, and she's lovely. Between Interpol and the Strokes (as I've decided to call them in lieu of their actual names) Leigh DJ'd. I was able to release a couple months worth of pent up dance.

SUCCESS! wicked wicked wicked rad. It's good to be home. It's good to see familiar faces. Winnipeg really does house a lot of beautiful people.