This Beautiful City...

Despite everything that has been going on this semester - sickness, doctor visits, lack of energy, etc. the beauty of this city is once again wooing me. We had a beautifully clear day today. The sun was shining and it was warm. After church, I was walking down Granville to the bus station, and just kept going down to Granville Island. I didn't mean to, it just happened.

So I wandered around for a bit, looking at overly-expensive pieces of handcrafted jewelry and strange sculpture art. I then found out that the Granville Island Brewery has just come out with their famous Winter Ale, but since that doesn't mix with antibiotics too well, I held off and made a vow to come back.

Then, since it was about noonish, I went looking for a fish and chips shop I'd heard about. All I knew was that it was "a shack, somewhere near Granville Island, and they sell fish caught by local fisherman, and even close on Mondays to go fish themselves". I was also informed "get there early, because they only sell what the locals caught that morning, and when they run out, the close.

I walked everywhere on the island looking for the place, and then saw that on the entirely other side of the wharf and marina there was a crowd of people in isolation. I walked over, and there it was! Not only do they serve fresh, locally supported fish, they also use dim sum bamboo containers as plates. I loved it.

Being alone, and with the crowd, I was soon asked by some nice folks if they could sit down with me. I was happy to have the company, and when we started talking it turned out they were from Edmonton, and the man is actually one of my dad's patients! Such a small world!

It is so pretty here, and fall lasts forever. I went down to the beach last night after dark, armed with my binoculars, and spent about an hour looking at the stars. You can see infinitely more stars with even the least magnification. And down on the beach, it is nice and dark, but busy enough not to be scary at night.

I can't believe where I am living. The last thing I'd like to do is get a membership to the local UBC sailing club. I've never sailed before, but as I now live only 3-4 blocks from the boat sheds, it seems silly not to. Well, except for the money and the time. It won't do to waste many thousands of dollars on tuition because I'm spending hundreds on sailing. Concentrate Beth, concentrate!

Last, but not least, I took a left brain/right brain test the other day (I'm 66% left brained). It had several great lines in the review, but these were my favorites:

"Preferentially you learn by listening and maintaining significant internal dialogues with yourself. " Yup, I talk to myself. Thanks. Just what I needed to know. I already walk down the street and talk to myself without noticing it. Thanks for the justification.

"For the most part, you will be considered objective without being cold and goal-oriented while retaining the capacity to listen to others." Well, that's nice. At least I won't be considered cold. Does that just mean I can act well?

"To the extent that you are even implicitly aware of your hemispheric dominance and sensory style, you will feel most comfortable in those arenas which emphasize verbal skills and logic. Teaching, law, and science are those that stand out among the professions, along with technical sales and management." This definitely justifies my lack of productivity in the real world. I make nothing but words. It's been bugging me lately, because I am surrounded by all these people who are talented at everything. Oh well, blame it on the brain!

The difference between Canada and America...

Ok, so I didn't want to post on politics, but I just couldn't help it.
I've just watched McCain defending Obama at his own rally, saying he was a good, family man who is not to be feared. He goes on to defend Obama's past, and says he'd make a decent president.

This is at his own rally.

Then we have Canadian politics. I recently watched the leaders debate, where it was a 4-on-1 for two hours. My favorite line was when Jack Layton was talking about the economy and Stephen Harper's non-action, and said "Either you don't care, or you are incompetent. Which is it?" Ouch! Hard hitting Canadian action! What happened to the "nice" Canadians? I'm still waiting for one of them to take off their skates and go for Harper's neck.

In other news, we had Walter Brueggemann in at Regent for the annual Laing lectures. He was absolutely fabulous. Edgy, hard hitting, imaginative. His first lecture was amazing. Written 4-5 weeks ago, it was about Pharoah's politics of debt slavery, and how to move from the fear that underscores that system into the neighbourliness and abundance of God's economy. It could not have been more appropriate, and sounded like it had been written Thursday afternoon, instead of before the crash. Really amazing. My favorite line "can I say this here?... Why bust your ass for the empire?"

Sweet.