dang I love this comic...

http://xkcd.com/144/

Quelqu'un m'a dit

"On me dit que nos vies ne valent pas grand chose,
Elles passent en un instant comme fânent les roses.
On me dit que le temps qui glisse est un salaud que de nos chagrins
Il s'en fait des manteaux pourtant quelqu'un m'a dit...

Que tu m'aimais encore,
C'est quelqu'un qui m'a dit que tu m'aimais encore.
Serais ce possible alors ?

On me dit que le destin se moque bien de nous
Qu'il ne nous donne rien et qu'il nous promet tout
Paraît qu'le bonheur est à portée de main,
Alors on tend la main et on se retrouve fou
Pourtant quelqu'un m'a dit...

Mais qui est ce qui m'a dit que toujours tu m'aimais?
Je ne me souviens plus c'était tard dans la nuit,
J'entend encore la voix, mais je ne vois plus les traits
"Il vous aime, c'est secret, lui dites pas que j'vous l'ai dit"
Tu vois quelqu'un m'a dit...

Que tu m'aimais encore, me l'a t'on vraiment dit
Que tu m'aimais encore, serait-ce possible alors ?

On me dit que nos vies ne valent pas grand chose,
Elles passent en un instant comme fânent les roses
On me dit que le temps qui glisse est un salaud
Que de nos tristesses il s'en fait des manteaux,
Pourtant quelqu'un m'a dit que..."

-Carla Bruni

I picked up some CDs when I was in France, and this was one of them. Despite the unforgivable nostalgia of it, it tickles my fancy. And I think it also echoes some of what I've been thinking about lately, with running home to see my grandmother before she passed away. Life is brief, and it is debatable how valuable the work we do will be in the long term, but relationships with the people we care about give meaning to life.

That may all sound obvious to you, but I think sometimes there are voices that say, "No, there are higher causes that are more important than individual, miniscule human lives." I'm just not so sure about that at this point.

And I love how she catches her breath in the last refrain. Mmm...shivery!

an interesting perspective

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7458926.stm

beaches and bodies

I just got back from a holiday that involved a fair amount of lying on the beach. This was wonderful for a number of reason, not least because it involved much doing nothing and much sunshine. But one of the biggest reasons it was wonderful was because of all the other human bodies around me.

The only beaches I've been to in the last few years are in India and Egypt. Plus, one of the things that I've come up against a lot in interfaith dialogue (not just Christian/Muslim) is an emphasis on modesty in terms of covering the body, particularly the female body. Generally it's associated with the aim of reducing lust in men. When you put this kind of regular input in the context of UK weather, where I often want to bundle up even in the middle of summer, it means I'd gotten a little confused about what exactly I thought about the human body and how we view one another's.

I found it so freeing to be at a Beach in the south of France because everything is hanging out. And it isn't airbrushed and posed and waxed like advertising in London (which is the predominate place one sees the bare human body here.) And it made me realize that this beach culture, as opposed to mass media, actually allows bodies to be bodies, instead of being solely about sex. It desexualizes human skin.

I just thought that was really cool.

MARR: NAOMI RUTH R.N.

"Peacefully on Monday June 16, 2008, with her family around her at Parkview Meadows, Townsend, Naomi (Heise) Marr went to be with her Lord. She was in her 87th year. Formerly of Springvale, Ontario, Naomi was the beloved wife of Merlin Marr and loving mother of Lucille Marr of Montreal, Connie and Tom Harper of Dunnville, Phyllis (deceased) and Lloyd Harrison of Orillia, and Ron and Aggie Marr of Hagersville. She was also the dear grandmother of Andre, Dora-Marie, Amy and Aaron, Adrienne, Alicia, Alison and Chris, Joel, Myles, Byron, Bethany, Will, and Eric and great-grandmother of Alyssa, Jacob, Dylan, Brayden, and the late Orie. Also the sister of the late Clarence Jr. and Ardys Heise, she was survived by several nieces and nephews. The family will honour her life with visitation at the Hyde & Mott Chapel of R.H.B. Anderson Funeral Homes Ltd. 60 Main St. S. Hagersville on Wednesday 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral Service will be held at the Dwelling Place Springvale Brethren In Christ Church on Thursday June 19, 2008 at 11 a.m. Interment Maple Lawn Cemetery, Wainfleet. As an expression of sympathy donations may be made to the Springvale Brethren In Christ Church, Gideons International or the Cancer Society.

"... an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." II Peter 1:11"

I am just so thankful that I got to see her last week. Thank God for airplanes.

Canadian Content

Oh the memories!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDi9DzihrE