Insomnia and General Ramblin'

It is just after 3am and I am awake again (or is that still). Today - technically yesterday - was a big day on a number of fronts.

First of all our church has decided to put in an offer for an acreage just south of Calgary - although now it is officially in Calgary. I am pretty sure that the city limit sign is attached to a cart on wheels. Every time I head out of town the city seems to have gathered up more vacant land. With all of this talk of a slow down it doesn't really feel that way. This potential purchase is a huge step for us. We are a small congregation and the price tag for property is pretty daunting. Yet there was a sense of faith and willingness to stand up to this challenge. I think Soren Keirkegaard or Steve Earle (I am forever mixing those guys up) once said "It isn't courage if you don't feel some fear first."

Secondly, I cobbled together the last of the funds required to get my student visa for doctoral studies in Philadelphia. Its too bad I couldn't have done this when Canadian money was at par. Although I should just be happy because I was beginning to think that this was going to be another PhD I would have to walk away from...and to be honest I wasn't too happy with that prospect. God is good and it worked out. I officialy start at Eastern University in September, although more and more emails are flying back and forth between the cohort members and faculty already. I am really excited about getting back academics.

Thirdly, and finally unless I wake up again, I have gotten my tablet PC back. More than a few times I have threatened to throw it across the room, out the window and even once I decided that I would throw it out the window across the room (I think that is why they call them a 'windows' computer). I managed to resist these temptations - but just barely. Although I don't want to sound like an obnoxious Mac-convert (but I am one), I don't know if I will ever go back to using a PC as my main computer. The exciting part of getting my portable Myocardial Infarction Catalyser (aka the Gateway M275) is that I like to do digital design and drawings on it and I have started to mess around with Photoshop and Illustrator to a greater extent. I am looking at illustrating a couple of children's books and may try my hand at a freelance writing/illustrating project in the near future (if time and opportunity allows it).

Well if this hasn't put you to sleep yet you have far worse insomnia than I do because I am now ready to attempt sleep again. This would make me happier if it wasn't for the fact that my alarm will be going off in three short hours.

Migwec,
Ehkosit

Singing the CELTA Blues

In August I will be back in a classroom - but for the first time in many years not as the teacher. As part of my accreditation with the national ESL organization (TESL Canada) I need to go back and do some introductory TESL training. At first I was pretty upset about this because:

 

(1) I am applying for Standard Three and the course is for Standard One

(2) I have taught ESL/TESOL for universities in Canada, Korea, Japan and China

(3) I have three times the hours needed for Standard Three and six times for Standard One

(4) I hold an MA in linguistics with professional development in teaching

(5) I have spent most of my career specializing in Adult Education

(6) I have taught the same courses I am now needing to take.

However, after taking a deep breath and counting to 'ten,' I am fine with going back to school to complete my CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults). I will walk away with the global standard for ESL - the course is recognized everywhere without explanation. Another perk is that it is issued by Cambridge University's extensions program (so I can now claim to be Cambridge ejimacated). It will also be a nice ramp up to the PhD classes that start in September.

All in all it isn't bad to feel flummoxed  once in a while cuz  - as Willie "Blind Dog" Brown says in Crossroads - "The Blues ain't nothing but a good man feelin' bad."

Migwec,

Ehkosit.

thinkin' and doodlin'

The more I have to think about, and the bigger the decisions, the more I find doodling is a great distraction. Currently our church is pursuing the purchase and renovation of an acreage. We have gone back and forth with the sellers a few times and are trying to confirm what we might expect from our support network of churches. It is a time of "two parts excite and one part anxious" as we move forward.

I don't know if I really saw these people at the Second Cup - but they just kinda jumped out of the pen as I doodled.

Migwec,

Ehkosit

SketchBucks Coffee

Tried to make use of some time sitting in Starbucks waiting for a meeting. Not having a physical building/office is both a good thing and a bad thing. I get to spend a lot of time drinking coffee better than I could ever make it, but sometimes I get stuck sitting and waiting. Luckily I never go anywhere without a book and/or a sketchbook (fairly addicted to Moleskines).

I have to admit I don't draw women very well - I think its because I don't want to be seen as the creepy dude in the corner oggling the wimmenfolks! Today, however, I decided to try to sketch whoever came in and it just happened to be a group of runners and the staff was all female as well. The other picture is a son and dad - I liked the quality of the dad's neckbeard and so had to capture it as I sipped lukewarm Pike's Peak.

Migwec,

Ehkosit

Quick Sketching & Colouring

Just fooling around with a different style of drawing people. I have been following Thom Glick's sketch-a-day project and really like his style.

Migwec,

Ehkosit

SouthGate re-structuring...

Scripture has a way of connecting with us in different ways and places throughout our lives. Indeed we want to make sure that our lives ‘line up’ with scripture. That is also true of how we organize our church. In the first years of our being together SouthGate has explored several different structures.

In the beginning we were a congregation of First Baptist Church – not organizationally different in our relationship with the traditional Sunday morning service than the evening service. Our difference was that we met a different location rather than a different time. In this beginning phase I (Jeff) was on staff as FBC’s Pastor of ESL & International Ministries and Juli was the Pastor of Family and Children’s Ministries. As the SouthGate congregation grew this changed and the church council recognized a need for us to develop a leadership team that was more focused on the needs and opportunities of the SouthGate congregation – this was more in line with relationship between the traditional service and the Spanish congregation.

The next big change was during last summer when we became an autonomous church plant. This was an exciting time – not unlike a young adult moving out from their parents’ home. We received recognition under the provincial government’s Societies Act last April and earlier this year we became a registered charity in the eyes of the federal government. This was not an easy task and we managed to get through it in a relatively short period of time when talking with other churches going through the same process.

As of May 1^st we have once again adjusted the look of our structure. And as with the earlier changes, we first want to make sure that this is not just change for change’s sake but rather that it is change to bring us more in line with our God-given mission and biblical mandate. We may consult organizational books or models, but the final say is found in analyzing our decisions through a screen of scripture.

The new model is best embodied in the scriptural example of Priscilla and Aquila. With that in mind I want to take time to look at these leaders in the early church. This married couple is mentioned by name in several places in the New Testament (Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Timothy) and their influence is felt throughout many other passages.

They were a Jewish couple that was among the people expelled from Rome by the Emperor Claudius. They set up a home and business in the city of Corinth – where they meet Paul (acts 18:2-3). Paul ends up living with them and works as a tentmaker alongside them as well. They eventually leave Corinth and minister with Paul as he heads to Syria.

Some of the things that jump out from this couple are that they regularly ‘stick their necks out’ in an effort to spread the Good News. They are known as powerful teachers and dedicated workers. They are also known as gentle coaches and mentors – the most well known example is how they take Apollos (a young but commanding teacher) aside and disciple him in a way that gives him a better understanding of the Gospel (Acts 18:24-28).

Following Emperor Claudius’ death they return to Rome but their commitment to the church takes them on to ministry in Asia. They eventually die as martyrs for the cause of Christ.

Priscilla is an interesting person, especially when seen in the context of Roman society. It is clear that she is a leader within the church – a fact underscored by the fact that her name is mentioned before her husband’s in five of the seven appearances (not the usual format of the time). In fact there are some scholars that suggest she may be the un-named author of the Book of Hebrews (others suggest Paul, Luke or even Apollos).

Aquila is not to be seen as hiding behind Priscilla, living in her shadow, or being a Walter Mitty character (Sorry if that is a missed analogy for some – but that is what Wikipedia and Google are for ;-). He was a leader in his own right. In fact church tradition holds that the reason they leave Rome for a second time is because Paul makes Aquila one the first bishops in Asia.

What does this have to do with SouthGate and the new staffing arrangement passed at our Annual General Meeting for me to go to 2/3 time and Juli to take on a 1/3 role? Well, in short, it is the inspiration for the new changes. We recognize that it is not the norm or even common for a married couple to be called into ministry in the way that Aquila and Priscilla were. However, Juli and I have always felt that we were one of those rare couples that see these early church leaders as a template for our own ministry (even down to the concept of Tent-making but that’s another blog entry).

Caffeinated and ready to Draw

Grabbed a coffee and some perspective. This spring I reduced my hours at the church to make room for Juli to come on staff (as it was in the beginning) but it isn't as easy going to a partial freelance position as I thought. There have been a couple of steady writing gigs, but every time I respond to an RFP it takes a fair bit of time - and getting 1 in 4 is considered doing well (even 1 in 10 is a decent rating). I can't go after everything because there just isn't time. As it is I've got so many projects on the back-burner that I'm running out of stove-top space. In the middle of all of this I keep pushing off pursuing some art-related projects that I would like to explore.
"Yet you have time to blog?" you query...yeah but only because I am doing it while my 11-month old is screaming in my ear at the same decibal levels as a Ted Nugent concert and pawing at my keyboard like a miniature Oscar Peterson.
I have a big writing contract that should be awarded on Tuesday - so pray for me because it would solidify a few things and allow me to make some decisions with the clarity that comes from not choking on the fumes of fiscal depletion.
Here are a couple of drawings - one doodled on a napkin and the other one drawn earlier this week but I finished up some of the colouring today. I was really hoping to do it on my tablet PC. I got it back a while ago (thanks Martin) but now I can't find all of the discs for my Adobe CS and so it isn't functioning yet. There's always next week.
This first drawing is in a "visualization vs. reality" style. Every Sunday I pick out clothes that I hope look good - but I suffer from a form of "dyslexic anorexia" in that I think I look better than I really do. [No offense meant to people who actually suffer from either dyslexia or anorexia its just the best way to describe why I wear some of the outfits I do.] Some people can get away with wearing anything and making it cool - I have the inverse affect - I guess that is how God keeps a cosmic fashion-balance in check. I wouldn't doubt it if one day I will throw together something very similar to the outfit from a couple of posts ago!!


This is a quick doodle I did while waiting for the kidlets. I was just sketching on this loose napkin when I remembered the way they sucked back some noodles for lunch the other day. It reminded me of the Cthulhu - a creature from a Lovecraft short story...
Here is a finished painting by somebody - I got it off of google images - so you can see a more detailed conception of the creature:

Anyhoo - Happy Drawing Day everybody.

Migwec,

Ehkosit

I'll scan something later...

Not feeling much like drawing today so forget it. Maybe after a cup of coffee I will scan something in - not feeling 'da luv' today - its snowing in June and that isn't even the worst part of the day...in fact the stupid weather doesn't even crack the "Top Ten Things That Stink About June 6, 2009" list. Oh well enjoy this fresh take on the old Russian nesting dolls - I saw it at Drawn.ca (a cool li'l blog for illustrators and graphic artists and wannabes like moi)...

Matryoshka Army Dolls from Albinal on Vimeo.

Drawing Day 2009

I am going to sleep now but I will post some stuff tomorrow...

Getting Ready for "Back to School"

There seems to be a bit of a theme to my pictures lately...my old-man head on a kid's body. Hopefuly this is the extent of my "Mid Life Crisis" because I'm not sure what kind of a sportscar I could buy with the $26.84 currently residing in my savings account!
Over the last few days I have been getting emails from the administrators and members of Eastern University's Cohort #3 in preparation for our first on-site / face-2-face meeting in September.

Up until now I have been plodding through the Statistics primer they sent out in May but there has been very little in the way of peer pressure. I usually work on it late at night once everything is done, all the meetings are over and the kids are entrenched in their beds. This means that personal appearance (and hygiene admittedly) have not been much of an issue. All of a sudden I realized that I was going to be more than a slightly nebulous screen name (I was assigned "phdstudent10").
As I thought of meeting other students I joined Mr. Peabody in the Way-back machine and was an elementary student of the 70s again. The Logan's wood-paneled Country Squire would make the thirty minute drive into the big city (read: Brandon) so we could shop for clothes and supplies at the fancy stores (read: K-Mart). It ushered back memories of going through the children's section of industrial strength denim jeans. I don't know if they any haute couture flair but I do remember the only pants that met my mother's requirements of (1) fit and (2) durability had names like "husky," "hefty" and "burly" ... which makes me think they rated low on the fashion scale.

On a side note my oldest son Mason is currently going through a 'coming of age ritual' that is a crucial rite amongst all of the Plains Indian tribes I have ever been associated with - Lakota, Cree, Saulteaux, etc. Today he is making his first box of Kraft Dinner. I grew up truly believing that this fell in the category of traditional food along with bannock / pahkweshikan, moose stew and fighting over who got the brains and eyes from the rabbit that was trapped in the noose we made out of an electric guitar string belonging to the (not much older than us - sometimes even younger) uncle of a friend . Each family had their own special twist on KD - ranging from cut up pieces of boiled hot dog to crushed tomatoes and enough seasonings to make an Italian grandmother suggest you go easy on the garlic. For some families the secret ingredients were held on to with a tenacity that would be worthy of Dan Brown's Priory of Sion!!! In traditional communities these recipes were paced down with the sacredness of a Copper in the WestCoast or the Mdewewin medicines in the east.

Oh well, I should go and see if the KD has boiled over yet and show Mason how to add the .... oh wouldn't you like to know the special ingredients of Logan-style KD! Sorry, dear reader, that is an ancient Chinese (Japanese/Norwegian/Irish) Secret!!! Besides I have to run out to Zellers and pick up a pair Lee pants in "Husky" that I special ordered earlier this week!! ...Hopefully I can find a plaid pencil case that will fit in a three-ring binder

Singin' 'bout stinkin'

Trying hard to just hang out with two of my kids. I don't find it easy to take time off - there always seems to be something that needs to be done. I have to get to a place where I take time off and not feel guilty. If you look at the 10 Commandments breaking the Sabbath is right up there with murder - God takes this rest thing pretty serious and so should we.

Anyhoo Matthew just fell asleep and Maggie and I are watching Barbie Island Princess and Backyardigans. To keep it interesting after the 438th viewing we are using chopsticks as microphones and making up our own lines to the songs - mostly about the rancid odours emanating from the other's personage and general lack of strong dance moves! Good times; Good times...if this doesn't get me the nod for Parent of the year I think the whole thing is rigged!!

Migwec,

Ehkosit

Fashion Theft that Must be Stopped

I don't know about you, but nothin' gets my girdle in a oysterman's-stopper-hitch (a real knot name BTW) like finally finding that knock out ensemble for the new season and then seeing someone else in it!!! That just happened to me. I had picked out a nice (not too garish but not too ho hum) outdoorsy outfit. It was going to be the signature piece for the Summer of Oh-Nine...but then I see a friend posting pictures on FaceBook...and there it is... AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Anyways I think it is time to let the people vote. If it is deemed that Kaleb pulls this outfit off better than it will immediately go to the back of my closet, GoodWill or wherever. This is democracy in action - not to mention a statement on the rampant age-ism that has long hobbled my efforts to capture the field of high-end children's fashion modeling.

Rock the Vote Peeps!!!