Survivor.

i will be on this show someday. just you wait and see.

awkward friend time!

okay, we've all been there, being that one new person in the group of good friends. not really knowing how much to contribute to the conversation: say to much, you come off as overbearing and trying too hard or say to little and be potentially be perceived as shy and weird.

the peak of these situations would be being stuck in a car with no radio on, leaving you only to chuckle at the jokes of the present company.

due to moving around a lot, starting at new schools, and working at an assortment of places, i have been at the short end of the stick in this situation many a time, so i definitely have a sensitivity when i know someone is feeling a bit weird. BUT when on the other (and preferred) end of the stick, i often find it to be no easier. you acknowledge, you inquire, you set a comfortable atmosphere... and people be awkward anyway.

sometimes this just seems like a lose-lose situation.

i think, what it really comes down to, is a personality issue. some people just have problems with adjusting to new situations and adapting to a different environment. we just need to little patience and kindness, followed with the right amount of persistence.

but really, nothing beats a good time hanging out with friends you love.

-Kel

hot, sweaty wreck

back when i lived in downtown winnipeg, i used to go the Y almost everyday.

now, i think that regularly frequenting a gym is just a wise life choice, no matter what type of physique you have. of course, you'd have your Cristiano Ronaldo and Venus William type people who are there, but then you'd have your John Candy and Rosanne Barr type people who are up in the gym, doing there things. what i love about all this was, you'd have every type of person giving it there all, trying to attain the same goal. it was actually very inspiring for me to see Ronaldo and Barr givin 'er on the treadmill, not caring what the other was thinking.

so, for me, you can definitely expect me to the hottest, sweatiest guy getting off the treadmill.

i don't go to the gym to look good, i go to the gym with aspirations for a better body and better health. so should you!

say what i mean, mean what i say

"People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison."

James

when it comes down to it, i think one of the most important, and arguably one of the hardest, characteristics to acquire is the one of 'honesty'. now, i know this idea is always played up as some kind of virtue and people look to it when they need a certain answer from someone, but i really think this concept should spill into other facets of daily life.

here's a story a friend recently shared:

gretel "what do you think of this shirt and skirt?"

hansel "...it's ...nice" :D

gretel "is that what you really think? you were just going to let me walk out in this ugly combination?"

hansel "i'm sorry! i didn't know what to say!"

okay, maybe not the best example, but "gretel" [not real name] was testing to see if "hansel" [also not real name] would comment on the ugly clothing selection. yes, maybe it was a form of entrapment, but at some point we all want to see if the friends we have will be honest with us, even in a controlled situation.

silly clothing situations aside, i want to be someone who is honest with his friends, and be surrounded with people who value honesty. being told when i'm doing or saying something stupid is huge for self-betterment, and not knowing when i'm in the wrong is just detrimental to living in general. if your goal is to be artificial and/or attractive, it probably should be high on your list of attributes not to pick up.

don't be the yes-friend that says only what people want to hear, say what needs to be said.

K

silver lining?

my philosophy course, which is 50% assignments and 50% exams, might be dropping the two exams... which will take a significant amount of pressure off of the course and potentially increase my final mark. the course will then be made up of 12 assignments.

homework for this week:

summarize Deuteronomy

read a sociology book and write a paper on it

lead a class discussion on cosmology

precis an article on the Pentateuch

critical thinking exam [maybe]

hell month is almost over...

homework&hyperventilation

seven classes and two committees have indeed caught up to me.

let feb '10 forever be known as hell month for kel sherman. between all my readings assignments, quizzes, and presentations, i've also had to help bring 'missio dei 2010' together [last week] and run the floor for 'the diary of anne frank' [which will take hours and hours of this week away].

you know, if i didn't switch majors, i coulda been in five classes. but no, i had to decide a TESOL degree wouldn't be worth it, and that Social Science would be. definitely will be in the long run, but if i want to be done by the end of this year, seven classes it is...

anyway, i just finished summarizing Leviticus and Numbers, now I have to go mull over Romans, precis an article, and prepare my discussion for monday... but not before watching Anne Frank sit in an annex seven times this week, and rearranging chairs to accommodate as many people as possible for watching it with me.

hope you're having fun with whatever you're doing. whoever you are.

kel

from bangladesh, with love

i really meant to write about this sooner, but it's been a fairly busy month so far.

last week was this two day event here called Missio Dei, and it was actually quite life changing for me.

i sat in on some lectures on labour in third world countries and how giants like American Eagle and Wal-Mart exploit workers, children in particular, to maximize their companies profits. now, i've heard of sweat shops before, but i haven't really given it a lot of thought. like okay, i knew some kid in vietnam might have sewn my shoes together or something, but it was really quite surprising what sort of conditions they are forced to work in. 12+ hour work days without washroom breaks, for example.

so i get back to my dorm room and look over my clothes and i see that tshirt made in the dominican republic, jogging pants made in vietnam, underwear made in macau, a sweater made in pakistan, and another tshirt made in Mexico with a US component [whatever that means], everything else is seems to be made in china. NOTHING assembled in Canada.

the only company i can think of that produces clothes in canada is ROOTS. and i don't like any of their clothes. [edit: not true, thank you Lynele]

so, the point of all this is, i'm going to look into buying clothes from retailers that don't promote cheap labour. and no, that doesn't mean i'm burning all the clothes i have already bought. no, that doesn't mean i'm going to be raiding thrift stores from here on out [buying second hand clothes made in the same countries doesn't change the principle behind it]. and no, i won't hate people who continue to buy at these places [but i will inform them].

sidenote: i believe the chinese do have better working conditions than other countries, but that's not factual. yet. i'll get back to you with my findings.

anyway, hope i gave you some things to think about.

so just a final thought: think about where you buy your clothes.

K