wish I was there

I'm watching Radiohead performing a live acoustic performance on my computer right now. I love their music. They just played "I might be wrong" and I love how intense they can get, even though it's just acoustic. They're subdued, yet when the intensity comes, it seems that much greater because they can't blow it out of the water with drums and electric guitars and amps. So good. It's like they want to take off flying but they're held back. Makes the release that much better. You miss something, but you appreciate it that much more knowing where they could go with it, but they choose not to.

aaaah. I love lounging in bed with my laptop and watching great stuff like this.

marathon madness

One thing: I will never understand marathon runners. But good on them!

It was my first time at the marathon, and I was very happy to be there with a camera in hand at the finish line. Anywhere else, and I'd have to be crazy to participate.

But what a great way to unite all of Manitoba! (and what a crazy place for getting an overdose of different faces. too much to look at, especially when you're scanning everyone to find whoever you're looking for at the finish line!)

Taking the leafy plunge

"Organic Rooibos Manitoba". Loose tea leaves from Cornelia Bean on Academy Road. THE best tea ever. I sipped it on my deck in the blazing sun today, and though I wished the sun wasn't so sweltering hot, I couldn't have asked for a better cup of tea.

I started drinking tea when I was about 18 years old. When my friend found out that I never drank tea, she thought it was absolutely necessary that I come over for an introduction to this wonderful world of tea drinking. She sat me down at her kitchen table, took out her china tea set and made me a delicious cup of black tea. From that moment on, I was hooked. She made it into such a delicacy. I threw all my misconceptions about tea out the window. Not just grannies and the elite class of snobs drink this... and it doesn't just taste like flavoured burnt water either...

As my tea options continue to expand before my pallet, so does my appreciation for a good moment of tea-sippage. As for coffee? I can't say that I've ever had a cup of regular coffee. I do, on occasion, enjoy a strong cappuccino, but that took me going to Belgium and being sat down by my sister in a coffee bar and forced to order an espresso. Again, I had to throw my misconceptions out the window (and into the Brugge canal), and was pleasently surprised. It also made me feel more euro-sified.

I think in the end, it's not about *what* it is that you drink, but it's *how* you experience it.

where are we?

Do you ever wonder what's behind the universe? When I was younger, late at night, after we'd gone to bed, my sisters and I would talk about it, in deep wonder and awe. What's behind the stars, behind the galaxies, behind it all? Where is the universe? What's behind it? And I'm not talking in terms of spiritual realms -- I'm talking about physically - where is our universe? What's behind it all? If you start thinking too much about it, you get to this point where your mind goes *blip* and it's like your state of reason overworks and crashes. You reboot. And you come back to the present. You just can't think that far!

...thinking too much about work...

I've been working really closely with a lot of different personalities this week. Sometimes work is stressful, and having to problem solve on the spot is just as difficult as managing each other's personalities. I've been learning from others how to be diplomatic, how to word things properly, how not to stress out when it's not necessary, etc... I'm also measuring a lot of people's motives behind their behaviours, and also their reasons for reacting certain ways. Most importantly, I'm learning to put my pride aside, and try to find a common ground instead of defending myself and working hard to prove I was right. It's so hard when everyone else seems to be trying to prove themselves to each other too!

I'm seeing certain people's deep insecurities coming out in destructive ways, but I'm also realizing that I have just as much the need to prove that I'm doing my job correctly. Why are we all trying to prove that we're right and good enough? Why are we so afraid of being at fault and being blamed for it? Why is our worth housed entirely in our job?