Starbuck's Journals 02.19.07 Episode 2: "Red Tea Latte"

Back for some tea this time around - another 24 hours and I'll be heading home. It's been a full week and last night I was completely exhausted. I could have easily fallen asleep by ten but ended up till 1am. So here I sit in Osborne Village watching traffic, people, and snow melting. This locale is actually quite roomy, seems relaxed, but interestingly most of the patrons at least at this time of day are middle-agers. I guess all the young adult types have jobs or are at university or college.

The apt maxim on my recycled cup states that, "A very bad (and all too common) way to misread a newspaper: to see whatever supports your point of view as fact, and anything that contradicts your point of view as bias." History is a curious thing isn't it? When I took Canadian History back in the 80s, Louis Riel was a traitor and mad man - now he's the founder of Manitoba and represents Metis people like he was their king. What changed? Did we reinterpret history to meet our societal beliefs or was my history book wrong? Or was my text book actually propaganda?

Our postmodern society questions everything, and I as an academic ask questions for a living. I deconstruct everything in my field of study and consistently explore new ways of learning, new ways of understanding faith, new ways of being community, etc. Sometimes we need to clear the table and start fresh! Some view that as dangerous but I see no other way to make ones' faith legitimate.

The Hip wail in my ears, "Don't tell me what the poets are doing..." and song grooves on as I tap my foot in sync with the snare. Who are the poets? Are they musical prophets - reflecting a unique perspective on their corner of life? Some are apt, some are stoned, some nail the truth to the wall for all too see! Chaos doesn't always breed chaos but stormy weather brings us to our knees in search of Shalom.

"Maybe....you gonna be the one that saves me....and after all - you're my wonderwall"- we all need a lifeboat at times in our storms eh? The storm rages on...and we search for hope, for land, for safe passage. The joy of a setting sun on a lake of glass reflecting the colors of light. I take a deep sip of latte as Dylan speaks brilliance into my ears, "today's the day, gonna grab my tumbled blues...thunder on the mountain."

A guy cracks a smile and laughs out loud as he grabs his laptop & refocuses on a document on his iBook. The barista swoops in and organizes some newspapers near the fireplace. Back home, my wife Wendy & our daughters are probably enjoying a lazy morning of breakfast, cartoons, or playing some games. I pass the time writing my musings of randoms as my iPod shuffles on. Time for some 80's U2...

Weird how timeless their music is for me...doesn't feel dated at all but still brings me back to another place. Even their weak songs are better than what anything the radio plays these days. You know when Bono croons about love he means it fully. Time ticks on in the lonely coffee shop...

Month of Adventure

Check out this site from the UK which has determined May to be the month of adventure for their particular county with all sorts of adventure sport festivals & races. How cool would it be if your community decided to do a month of adventure? I can imagine Body Driven Sports sponsoring all sorts of events - eh Pat?

Woman of Adventure

Jer posted this link to Adventure Divas (which I took the liberty of borrowing) - a site dedicated to women involved in adventure travel in response to a PBS series which I have yet to see. My first thought was - they should interview my wife - a full-on living adventure diva mom!
My wife Wendy started out as a volleyball jock and a dang good one at that - three-time MVP and I think she got Athlete of the Year once as well in her days of college.

A shot of Wen rappelling down a waterfall in Costa Rica last June!

She met me (at camp) and clearly realized that I am an adventure junkie and I exposed her to a whole new realm of sports. Ironically, she quickly surpassed me in climbing and has enjoyed many of the same adventure sports that I do.
We spent ten months going through a leadership development program at Medeba where we further developed our love of adventure sports and had many opportunities to teach all ages these same sports through outdoor education.
So yeah this little post is a tribute to my wife - full of life & adventure!

Antarctican Psychedelic Octopus

How's that for a cool new emo rock band name? (Actually the pic above would be a cool album cover!) I've always been partial to the Tragically Hip Waders (the only country band I've ever played in - for flood relief in Morris) or maybe even the stylings of the Dancing Mennonites (polka-rock anyone?) but you get the picture right? What cool band name have you imagined up in your existence?

I used to be in a band called Mission back in high school after the previous bassist left town - classic 80's hard rock/metal stuff (covering stuff like White Lion, Stryper, Warrant, etc. - I'll have to dig out some pictures), then in college played in a reggae/rock/pop band called Mwanzo (means Roots in Swahili if my memory serves me correctly), an alternative rock band with a hint of folk called Big Ugly Tree (BUT for short) which later morphed into the Ditch Flowers (trippy folk version of the Smashing Pumpkins with a female lead vocal) - our claim to fame other than playing gigs in a variety of clubs in Winnipeg (and making a recording) was an interview with MuchMusic as a so-called "up-and-coming" band. Ironically, we broke up about 3 months later because half the band got married off that summer! I played in some other bands along the way and since but most were for specific events and didn't end up going anywhere.

I'd love to do the band thing again but it is tough with all the things I have on the go and hobbies I have. I've chosen cycling & skiing as my things right now, I still play bass in a music team in our church and have done some recording on the side but music unfortunately is taking a back seat right now. I still play bass & acoustic regularly, along with the mandolin & mandotar but quite honestly am not in the musical form I once was.

Hmm - amazing how a random musing like that can be spawned from new discoveries of sea creatures in the oceans surrounding the most southern continent on this planet. Check out the article as it is a cool & interesting read.

More Snow But Warm Temps!

Wow - we got a dump of snow this weekend of about a half foot which made for a winter wonderland in the Whiteshell Park. It was great to back in the great outdoors for some skiing and family time. March is looking way too busy and I suppose this past weekend was my breath before the plunge.

On Saturday, I managed to take Chelsea on a short ski on the lake along with my Dad. I later took an extended ski on the actual West Hawk ski trail system for about an hour and a half. I did a little off-piste skiing across along a river/marshland area but literally got a full on leg workout pushing through the powder. The groomed stuff was much better but definitely sluggish as well.

We were only at the cottage from Friday to Saturday unfortunately and had to drive home through a bit of a storm just after supper. Lots of slow traffic and unplowed roads made it somewhat of a challenge. Blaine & Andrea & kids ended up staying at our house for a temporary refuge overnight before heading home on Sunday. All in all a great weekend and ironically a calm before the storm of March...lots to do in so little time!

Starbuck's Journals 2.15.07 Episode One

Okay - as promised here are some excerpts from the so-called "Coffee Journals." In part an experiment in writing, in observation, in reflection, and something to do while sipping some dark roast nectar from a legal but clearly addictive bean.

I've been to Starbuck's twice this week for my dark roast fix but didn't get the chance until now to take in the environment and observe Starbuck's attempt at creating community & selling coffee at the same time. Right now as I glance around it clearly is busy and some patrons are chatting away over their chosen drinks but interestingly, over half of the people here are solo like me. At least three Apple notebooks are opened up with their operator's brows furrowed and eyes focused on their LCD screens. Admittedly, I am blending in somewhat with the Apple-coolness as i have my iPod earbuds strategically placed like a hip cultural chameleon.

As I gaze over towards the walls, I see stare at some amazing images of people & scenery of the South American country of Peru. Sure enough, a few shots of the famed Machu Picchu - a stark contrast to the fireplace, well-dressed patrons, and coffee house atmosphere. I continue to scan and temporarily lock eyes with a somewhat concerned mid-thirties woman with long dark hair. Multi-tasking appears her game as she types one-handed on her iBook while checking messages on her cel phone. Clearly alone but still doing her part in attempting contact with someone out there.

Seated on the next table is a well-dressed Italian-looking man in his late 30s or maybe early 40s, legs crossed awkwardly, and reading a newspaper with an air of intelligence about him. His jet black hair is accented by some retro 50s glasses with thick black-armed frames.

I'm usually not one for details unless I'm taking photos, so I was surprised to glimpse a pair of crutches next to the concerned woman, and looking down, noticed her right leg was bound in a walking cast of sorts. Now I partially understand that look of concern may have something due to her obvious discomfort and lack of mobility. Her glances to the counter, may have been whether or not to attempt the obstacle of making her way there for another coffee. Dylan's playing Thunder on the Mountain in my ears.

So here I sit curiously watching the human condition in a coffee shop. I've chosen a rather quaint but cozy arm chair next to a blonde-haired woman who is furiously typing away on her PC notebook - clearly a 20-something student working on some type of essay for her professor. Little does she know that beside her a professor sits avoiding a stack of essays to be marked back in the office.

Then with a rather forceful swing of the front door, a curly-haired somewhat stocky man with a metal briefcase nervously enters. He looks Greek in origin with an olive complexion and eyes of a dark gold-ish brown color. He quickly orders a cup of coffee and makes a lap around the room looking for the appropriate place to sit. Interestingly, he does yet another lap and gazes over to the blond lady beside me...classic look up and down - good luck buddy!

The dark-haired woman gazes once again to the counter helplessly, maybe contemplating again whether or not it is worth the awkward shuffle for another drink. She looks so unsure and unsettled in her decision. I take in a good sip of caramel-soaked froth from the top of my Machiatto.

Over by the the pictures of Peru, beside the classic goofy-looking llama, a mid-40s goatee-wearing construction contractor type guy scans his newspaper but clearly is not really reading. On cue, he stretches and mouths a yawn while glancing at his watch. Probably awaiting a client for his next potential project.

Winnipeg is beginning to thaw and awaken from its three weeks of extreme cold to a balmy -10. At least that is what the weather forecasters say...they seem to be as accurate as tea leave readers at times though. Meteorology is more a game of chance than of proven science it seems. The girl next to me suddenly breaks out into a smirk and chuckles out loud. I begin to wonder if she can read my mind - was she reacting to my attempt at humour?

A young 18-19 year old girl raises her eyebrows as she awaits her caffeine fix. She seems genuinely excited as she awaits her coffee, almost like a golden retriever awaiting a good juicy bone. She is dressed rather plainly for this shop in a long, drab grey coat but she is carrying an over-sized black leather purse which is clearly mismatched with the rest of her apparel. Sort of like wearing those classic black "Sunday" shoes with blue jeans but what do I know about fashion.

The smooth Italian-looking guy buttons up his jacket, winding his scarf around his neck, and prepares to leave. The nervous curly-haired guy looks over and zeros in on the new potential resting spot nearer to the blond girl. As the other guy leaves, he trots over with a mild grin and opens up his mysterious metal case revealing not a bomb or some secret documents, but yet another laptop. In his other hand he holds a Blackberry-type of device and fingers away some message into wifi-dom. His laptop also is all about communications with both Outlook & MSN running. I thought he was stalking the girl next to me when in reality he was looking for a better spot to steal Internet access. He seems giddy with his newfound location and gets up and down a few times to adjust his power cord, and grabs a damp cloth to wipe his screen.

Meanwhile, the dark-haired lady rests her chin on her hands and elevates her restrained leg on the chair across from her. A mink-coated menopausal woman with a little too much hair color grabs a latte, escapes outside and gets into her luxury silver BMW or Audi. She speeds off the yard spitting up slush from her tires. A middle-aged mother and impatient teenaged daughter also dart out the door, in a rush somewhere like volleyball practice or maybe gymnastics.

It seems that for most customers, Starbuck's is only a temporary stop for them. A place to sit, nervously bite fingernails, sip some black nectar, and be still but only for a moment - then its time to rush off to the next thing. Being still is such a foreign concept for North America - there just is too much to do in so little time. Being still is a rarity in our busy-oriented, drive-thru world.

The curly-haired guy reminds me of an out-of-shape Magnum PI and clearly he still is nervous as he gnaws on yet another fingernail. The woman across from him stretches her torso, obviously still somewhat in pain as she winces while getting refocused on whatever she has been working on. She has one of those "glamor moles" on her cheek that remind us all of Marilyn Monroe. Weird how a birthmark or mole can be a trademark of sexiness on our planet of image.

A pixie-like purple-dyed teenaged barista tidies up after some customer's left behind newspapers & empty cups. The goatee'd guy takes another sip, yawns & stares back into his paper. Johnny Cash growls in my ears about an "empire of dirt." A mid 50s business man, all suited-up, complete with a receding hairline & hawkish eyes goes up to the counter to receive his order. An Cash drones on about how "everyone goes away in the end...you can have it all...my empire of dirt." The ironies of poets & their music & the reflections of real life in front of me.

We are a broken people it seems, longing for something to fill the void: maybe its community, self worth, friends, or significance? The goatee'd man greets a way-too friendly woman that seems more like a call girl than a potential customer. She turns her back to me, so I'm not sure if she is as interested as he seems. His grin turns up the sides of his mouth and his eyes soften with interest. His past boredom has turned into a slightly-amused interest in this lady. She breaks off her greeting and goes off to the barista to order a coffee.

The dark-haired woman is suddenly greeted by a mysteriously bearded 20 something guy who reaches out and clasps her hands briefly. She still has a phone by her ear and awkwardly is trying to end the call to return the greeting. He reaches out and brushes down her arm and continues to stand tall next to her sitting at the table. He glances at the screen of her iBook and then begins to shuffle his feet side to side impatiently - he clearly wants to leave. He then gazes at the headlines of a folded newspaper on the chair beside her. Finally, she puts down her phone but quickly checks one last thing on her computer before shutting it down and placing it in her backpack.

Her mysterious friend doesn't offer any help in cleaning things up and remains somewhat impatient in his posture. She dons a scarf and hobbles over to her crutches and firmly places them under her arms. She quickly grabs her gloves and the man finally steps up to the plate and slings her backpack over his shoulder and holds open the door as they step outside.

Then on cue, the purple-haired barrista floats by to magically clean up the table. She stares over to the do-it-yourself "sugar, cream, stir sticks, & lids" table and does a mental inventory. Coldplay's bassist plugs away at a grooving bass line as Martin croons out a falsetto-tinged line about the "speed of sound...if you could see it you would understand..." and drummer replies with his rhythm.

Almost my time to leave it seems. The curly-haired guy keeps nibbling his nubs and sending emails. A new patron sits down on the next table and the cycle of customers continues like bees visiting flowers for pollen. And I muse on...

Escaping the Doldrums

It's been awhile since I've last reflected on the actual focus of this online journal - exploring play. Play can be a distraction from life and clearly we all need to just getaway sometimes but I believe that play can actually help us focus on what life is all about. The lives we live should be full and absolutely play-full. It is through play that we discover what we lose in our busyness - joy for being creative, for being alive!

When we exercise our bodies, our minds, etc. through play we awaken what was lost in the doldrums or in the fast-lane of traffic. How often do the threat of looming deadlines kill our spirit or murky the waters where clarity once existed? Nobody likes to be the Eeyore, the prophet of impending failure - right?

Exploring play is all about changing pace - maybe slowing down or turning a corner or even just resting & contemplating ones' existence. Play can be about asking questions like why do we do what we do? Play can be philosophy just as much as it can be about escaping. Play can bring us back to the importance of relationship - of genuine presence in the lives of others. Are we strangers in the night? When is the last time you laughed? When is the last time you were good and kissed? When is the last time you enjoyed exploring play?

Happy V-Day & Starbucks Journals

Hey - I'll be away from the ol' blog for the next week but will post my random musings & Starbuck's coffee journals when I return. Tough to be away from family & friends but I'll be taking 53 first year students on a missions exposure trip to the inner city of Winnipeg.

Happy Valentine's to my lovely wife & daughters!

Family time?

An interesting article on time spent with family in Canada. The Globe & Mail report suggest that average Canadian workers spend 45 minutes less with their family on a typical work day than they did 20 years ago.

Add that up for a 260-day work year, and Canadians are missing out on the equivalent of five 40-hour work weeks with their family, or 195 hours less than 20 years ago, according to the Statistics Canada study "Time with the family," published in Tuesday's Canadian Social Trends. - Globe & Mail

I think the statistic is especially relevant to us parents who I believe are honestly trying to buck this overall trend. I do see spending time with family as very important but with certain jobs - family time changes with the seasons. As a teacher - my summers are focused considerably more on family than the rest of the year. However, I've found it critical that I actually have to book time for family weekly or else it just gets filled in with other stuff. The temptations of spending time surfing on the net or watching TV also negatively affects time spent with the kids as well. Numerous challenges to this family thing in the 00's.

Jer notes on his Lifestylism blog that the longer work day may be what causing the most significant cut into family time in response to this CBC article.

I think we sometimes mistakenly classify taking kids to swimming lessons or gymnastics or other sports as family time. In those cases, it may appear that we are spending time with family but in reality we are more like "taxicab" drivers and I don't think we can include that as family time. Any other thoughts out there regarding family time within our lifestyle?

Escape to Grand Forks

There's a classic movie from the 80's called Red Dawn - about some teens (Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, etc.) who get caught in the midst of an invasion of Russkies (& Cubans - not sure how they would survive the -30 weather) who have taken over a significant portion of the US. For some reason, North Dakota & Minnesota remind me of that imagined WW III movie - maybe its the small little towns (every one has a Dairy Queen) and lonely highways that could land a 747 safely - gotta love U.S. taxes at work just in case of a communist invasion!

So back to the big escape - Friday afternoon we headed for U.S. of A. with our friends Pat & Dar - destination Grand Forks! It's not Miami, not even Minneapolis but it has its own significance in a "biscuits & gravy" kind of way. We met up with other friends (K & D, T & C, and G & N) from Steinbach & Rosenort and moved into the Holiday Inn for a weekend of hanging out, shopping, some swimming, great food at some of the local restaurants: Coldstone icecream, Grizzly's ribs, Paradiso mexican food... etc.

It was good to be without the kids for a bit (although it was great scooping them up late Sunday) and just enjoy the company of adults for a change. Closest we'll get to a vacation for the next little while!

Explore Comics?

Here's something you may not have known about me - I have a small collection of illustrated books & comics. I know it sounds a little geeky for the true outdoorsy adventure guy I am but hey what can I say I like reading about adventures as well as living them. I'm guessing watching Spiderman on Saturday mornings or after school helped kick start my interest in heroic stories.
Because I grew up outside the big city, we didn't have access to a great library other than the books shared by my grandmother or books that we purchased as a family. But the Winnipeg Public Library offered a service for a nominal fee - in lending books via mail in a big ol' green canvas bag that we would exchange the books with.
I remember the Batman comics were some of my favorites - it was an amazing treasure for me as a 12 year old to read all these adventures about the Dark Night.
It was also through the library that I discovered Tin Tin (see above) and Asterix (below) - and to date - I have complete collections of both and even some hardcover versions.
As far as comic mags I have collected - I tried to focus on the Silver Surfer. Admittedly, I have enjoyed the X-Men movie series, Smallville TV series, the latest Batman movie was amazing, and occasionally open up a comic book on a magazine rack but my hobby of collecting comics has stalled for the past few years. My favorite comic book heroes include: Batman, Silver Surfer, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and hey Spidey still is pretty cool. I should also note that The Fantastic Four movie franchise will be including the Silver Surfer in their new release this summer.
Anyways while doing a search online - I came across a comic from the UK that intrigued me as the hero happened to carry my name.

Name: Garth
Identity/Class: Human / extra-terrestrial hybrid
Occupation: Adventurer
Base of Operations: Active throughout time and across the world
Powers/Abilities: Extremely strong. He was also a military genius.
Background/History: As a small child the man who would become Garth was washed ashore in the Shetlands in a tiny coracle. Pulled out of the sea by an elderly couple who then adopted him, Garth grew up to be incredibly strong. He became a Naval Captain, but his boat was torpedoed. The shipwrecked Garth washed up from the sea on a wooden raft, amnesiac from his experiences, coming to land on a small island. He is discovered by Gala, a native girl, who introduces him to her people, and whom he later saves from a despotic tyrant. Later his friend Professor Lumiere psycho-analysed him, restoring his memories. Garth had many adventures, travelling through time to a variety of eras and encountering a wide range of opponents.

I did a little more research online and discovered Aquaman had a sidekick named Aqualad who later morphed into Tempest - whose real name was Garth as well. So anyways - there's my little divergent explore of comics. I didn't even touch on my Far Side collection or my wife's love of Calvin & Hobbes. I gotta get out of my batcave - I can only stay indoors by a computer for so long...

Favre is back with the Packers for 2007

Okay... I realize this is not necessarily big news for non-NFL fans but it is huge for me! Let me enjoy this moment as I celebrate the return of my all-time favorite quarterback! Click here for more info!