First Time Snow Boarding

Emily and I just came back from our first day of snow boarding. Every single muscle in my body is aching, but I got away with no bruises. Emily has the inverse situation - no muscle aches but got bruises on her knees and butt.

We booked ourselves in for snowboarding lessons at the start of the day. Without those lessons, we would have come back very unhappy and with many more injuries. It is ridiculously easy to stack it (Aussie slang, see below) when riding a snowboard, but the lessons ensure you get down the slopes safely.

Mind you, there were plenty of falls in the lessons and later on during the day. They were just significantly less painful than they could have been. :) During the lessons I discovered that, when falling on to your butt, you should immediately roll on to your back like you are a ball. This reduces butt-impact significantly, and is far better than sticking your hands out behind you. I managed to come away from the day with my wrists and knees intact - quite an achievement considering the horror stories I'd been hearing. :P

The weather on Grouse Mountain was absolutely beautiful and surreal. We've had permanent fog in the downtown area for 4 days, so it's been cold and sunless for a while. Grouse Mountain was sunny and 17c! Some people were skiing or boarding in just pants and shirt. I was rubbing snow on my face and hands to cool down. The odd weather is called a "temperature inversion", and the fog in downtown will remain until it goes away.

The views from the slope are something very special. Many times I'd be partway down the slope, stop my board and just sit down to look at it. Visibility was unlimited and I think we could see at least 2 states south into the USA. At the base of the mountain was "cloud city" - enormous stretches of fog with just a few highrises and hills poking out of it. At nighttime we were still on slopes and you could see large patches of lights from the city glowing through the fog. I wish I had a camera with me, but I doubt a photo could do it justice. It was like sitting on the edge of the earth and looking down into the stars and space. Absolutely incredible.

Getting to Grouse Mountain is pretty easy; 30 minutes on the local bus network, and 30 minutes to wait for the tram ride to the mountain top. We have season passes for the tram ride, and get discounts for bringing guests. We'll be looking to buy our own snowboards and get up to the slopes again soon. :)

P.S. To "stack" is Aussie slang for crashing and/or falling off something accidentally or falling down. Usually when operating a vehicle. You can even see the old stackhat helmets at the PowerHouse Museum website.

Vancouver is Dark City

I've just gotten out of bed, had a shower, its 7.30am, and it's dark. Really dark. It's like "there will be no dawn for men" dark.

In the winter, Vancouver is a combination of snow, rain, thick horizon-spanning clouds, late sunrise and early sunset. To make it worse, we just came back from DisneyWorld in Florida where it was 20+ and sunny every day. I'm half-tempted to print some vacation photos and post them over my windows... ;)

Moving Forwards Together

Right now, I'm sitting in my pyjamas and wearing my 'engagement ring'. If you want to be correct it's a 'wedding band', but I like it, I'm wearing it now, and I really like that I'm wearing it now. I'm in a loving relationship and I want to be able to show that off. :)

For those who are interested, Emily's latest blog entry has more details about the rings and the actual proposal. :) I'm eating the leftover fruits and chocolates for breakfast. I need to get her over to my apartment again to eat some more. :)

I did want to add something to Emily's blog. It's a cute little story from the night, and I think it describes how we are going to move forwards together...

On the night of the proposal we went to a very nice restaurant, had dinner and ordered a glass of white wine. Everything was ordered to share, including the single glass of wine. I think this confused our waiters, but that's just the way that we like to do things. :)

But you know what? After trying the wine, neither of us really wanted to drink the stuff. We would both shudder after taking a sip, and would quickly drink or eat something else to cover up. Emily summed it up as "we are only drinking wine because that's what big people do".

We would have preferred a hot chocolate with caramel drizzle, or an ice-cream float, or a fruity lemonade. And in future, that's what we'll be ordering. Even if we have to order from the kid's menu. :D It's the same as how our favourite store is Toys'R'Us, not The Bay or Sears. We know what we like, and it's often not the same as what "big people" like. :)

As of today, I am looking forward to a life of hot chocolates, fruity lemonades, DDR gaming, and playing Mario Kart DS between rounds at all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants. I am looking forward to having kids and sharing with them the kinds of things we enjoy. I can't imagine a better life than that. But most of all, I am looking forward to sharing it all with Emily.

=:)

P.S. In Australia, the closest approximation to The Bay would be David Jones, and to Sears would by Myers. And an ice-cream float is known as a "spider", as if we don't have enough already. What's the bet that there was a spider nearby when an Aussie first dropped ice-cream into soft drink?

On Deism

I was raised as a Christian (Anglican), but I now call myself a deist. I know of some people who are concerned by this, so I figured I would try to describe what it means to be a deist. First, what is deism?

'Deism' is a belief in God based on reason (natural revelation), and specifically not on recorded scripture or events (special revelation).
A 'deist' believes in God, and believes that reason on its own can provide sufficient access to religious truths.

Deism differs from other religions primarily by its rejection of scripture. For example, a 'deist church' would be a contradiction because it would have no scripture to espouse! With no organisation and no directives, deists will generally not evangelise their beliefs. Indeed, a newly-found deist may have never known other deists; they simply apply their own reasoning and reached the same core conclusions as those before them.

Despite the ad-hoc nature of deism, almost all deists would agree with the following statements:

• God instigated reality
• God does not interfere with reality
• We should give thanks to God
• We should not not ask anything of God

Of course, the ad-hoc nature of deism ensures that each deist will have beliefs different from their peers. For example, one belief of mine not supported by all other deists is:

I should assist others in the enjoyment of their lives, just as I try to enjoy my own.

The reasoning here is simple: Life has obviously been provided to all of us, and is rooted in the same cause (ie. God). If I am to treasure my own life and give thanks to God, then I should presumably also treasure the lives of others. Therefore I should do what I can to improve the lives of all, not just my own.

Like the majority (but not all!) deists, I also believe that questions about the afterlife are not important. I feel that many religions rely on the "afterlife" as a place of reward or punishment, and use this as a guide to moral behaviour. I choose to ignore the question of the afterlife, and trust that moral behaviour can be derived from reasoning about this life. In that way, my beliefs are more aligned with those of the deist writer Thomas Paine:

I trouble not myself about the manner of future existence. I content myself with believing, even to positive conviction, that the power that gave me existence is able to continue it, in any form and manner he pleases, either with or without this body; and it appears more probable to me that I shall continue to exist hereafter than that I should have had existence, as I now have, before that existence began.

Perhaps what I find most amusing about deism and Christianity is how similar the morality and behaviour they suggest. Both suggest we be thankful to God, and treat our fellows with care. However, deist beliefs seem to be less likely to raise conflict with others... I am aware that some people are concerned by my non-Christian beliefs, but as a deist I am not concerned by their Christian beliefs. It is not clear to me how to allay their concerns, but I hope that this post has helped.

Settling Down Again

It's been a few weeks since the last visitor left. I think. I haven't had time to look at the calendar in a while, and the weeks just blur past. :| The main thing is that life is settling down into some kind of routine.

Pressure at work has been increasing, but still within sane limits. Others at the office are feeling greater pressure than me, and that sucks. If you're reading this from the office, just know that I'm trying to be less of a pain-in-the-arse. ;)

If you read Emily's blog, you'll already know that she and I have been getting out a lot more. We've been to Video Games Live, a UBC student symphony, and to see Missy Higgins live. We've also got a Disneyworld trip planned for the end of the year.

Now that winter's hit, we're having to spend more time indoors. We just picked up a copy of Settlers of Catan, a rather cool board game similar in principle to Monopoly. You build 'settlements' and slowly gain 'resources' from them. Those resources can be used to build more settlements, or do a variety of other things. It's very fun, though Emily and I are forced to create our own 2-player variant for now.

Emily and I have been attending hot yoga, and there's been some effects already. The good side is that my headache is gone and I feel I have more 'core' strength. I've now got lots of aches in other joints, and pain in my left hip if I stretch it more than 20 degrees outwards. I think a lot of the 'negative' effects are just the revelation of underlying problems, so I'll keep up with the yoga for now.

I'll try to post more often in the future. I have a few things to write about yet. :)