U2 and the Dirty Beard

On Wednesday Steven and I saw U2. It was fantastic. While the folks in front of us provided almost as much entertainment as the show at points, one cannot deny that Bono and the boys know how to get it done.

You'll notice I have a bit of a dirty beard in this pic. Well, after four days of camping followed by some inattentive days with the razor, I sculpted my scruff into a make-shift goatee. Epic. I've since shaved the beast (itchy neck, meetings in public) but enjoyed the experiment. We'll see if I do it again.

Back to U2. Sitting in the "nose bleeds of the nose bleeds" (as Steven called our seats) doesn't give you the upfront-concert experience - I think Bono was there ... - but it does allow for some semi-aerial shots which I present to you below. Note the screen that extended like an accordion and the giant spaceship (their description, not mine - I think it's more of an aquatic spider).

Tonight: The Weakerthans!

After missing the Weakerthans a few months ago thanks to an ill-fated trip to Vancouver and having to toss the tickets, tonight I win. Not only will I get sweet, sweet John K. Sampson loving, but will be walking to the venue from my house and will be one of probably only 100 people in the show.

Even though they consistently sell out larger venues, the Weakerthans always come to Hamilton and always play an intimate venue. It's pretty sweet.

I know I haven't blogged much, mostly because there's been a whole pile to blog about and I've been living in utter chaos. I'll try and give you a bit of an update when I can. Oh, and tomorrow? U2!!!

THAT IS ALL.

James and Ree are married!

Congrats to James and Ree on tying the knot this weekend. Wow, it was an amazing day. For the first time ever, I have a sister!

After a week of intensive time with the fam, wedding miscellanea and all of the usual fun that comes with an event of this scale, I'm happy to have a few days off to catch up around the house. On Thursday I'll be in Vancouver for a short visit and another wedding - this time my cousin, Jon.

There are so many things to update you on but they'll need to wait for now. Cheers.

Massasauga

After a bit of delay, here's a taste of the past weekend's canoe trip in Massasauga Park.

Nick and I met up with Jack, Jordie, and Hibby around 8pm (after my GPS took us into Parry Sound and cost us an hour). We bombed the goods out of the car and dropped two of the three cars in lots outside of the park.

Our first evening's paddle was tiny - only a couple of km - so Jack decided to swim rather than paddle. Given that we had five people and two boats, no one was "princess" on day one.

Jack and Jordie took care of the food, packing everything by day into small, waterproof containers. One of the perks of having doctors for parents is there is no shortage of pill containers.

Friday breakie - french toast. Cards and canteens were trip staples.

On the right is the faithful MEC Tarn 3 - the same tent my brother Josh and I shared on our trip through Europe.

Nick scoping things out. We had hoped to use this tree for a rope swing before the weather soured.

Whether it was throwing rope into trees to string up our food to keep the bears away or to get the rope swing set up, this was not at all an unfamiliar sight.

Despite a forecast of non-stop rain we managed to get a decent amount of sun and even a couple lovely sunsets.

Hibby getting it done.

Sausage - camp style. We ate really well the entire trip. So tasty.

Pirate Jack

Camp stove chili. After a swim in the lake this tasted incredible.

Post-rain dancing Brian.

Setting up the extra tarps when we were hit by the only real rain of the trip. But oye vey did it come down when it finally arrived.

To celebrate the downpour we broke out the hymnals and sang #269 - As Raindrops Wake the Sleeping Desert.

I'm still waiting on a few more pics which include more paddling shots, our bear sighting (with three cubs), and typical male camping antics. Stay tuned.

Quickly...

I'm leaving the office in 20 minutes to head off on a canoe trip (amidst the worst weather of the "summer") so I'll keep this short. Here we go with another edition of "quickly":

• The conference in Cleveland was far better than expected. The calibre of people being far beyond what one would normally expect to find, the event proved far less a conference than an intimate conversation between a group where I was the lone person not considered an elite.
• While in Cleveland, I hit up the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Highlight? Beatles memorabilia and seeing the giant heads from Pink Floyd.
• Side observation: Detroit's airport is far nicer than Cleveland's and makes announcements in English, Spanish and Japanese. Now that the auto sector's tanked, we'll see if the Japanese announcements survive the cut.
• Canoeing. I bought a head lamp and am otherwise ready (physically, maybe not emotionally) to survive the next few days. Hopefully my T-Rex esque cycler's arms can handle the madness.
• Peas are in season. About damn time.
• I've added two new stores to the list of places where I need a chaperon. Adding to Home Depot, The Dutch Store, and pretty much any bike shop are Costco and MEC. Mercy.
• My monitor at work failed and I picked up a new one. The problem? It has a pink hue. I'm not sure it's bad enough to make it worth returning.

That's all for now. One of these days I'll get around to posting all of these pics I promised.

They're not Detroit...

On Thursday I'll be heading off to the lovely home of the Drew Carey Show, Cleveland. While I hear the city has much to offer, including a river that's prone to catching on fire, the timing kind of sucks as I miss both an epic camping trip as well as my brother's Stag and Doe party (a bit of an Ontario creation for my west coast readers).

The reason for the trip is to attend a conference put on by the Liberty Fund on moral business. The readings in preparation have been fascinating. Although I have two business degrees I've never really spent the time walking through some of the foundational original sources. Through my readings I've now dabbled in Kant, Aristotle, Aquinas, Augustine, Carnegie, Adams, and a few others and have appreciated how it has already tweaked my thinking on business. Some of the more philosophical discussions around the role of currency and how it changed our views on acquisition make me wonder what the next advancement will be.

Even though Cleveland's not the most glorious city in the world, I'm finding myself looking more and more forward to attending. All expenses are covered, we're staying in a great hotel, and the list of attendees is far more skewed towards practitioners and less towards academics, meaning a much better fit for me. Plus, I'm sure there will be sweet housecoats for my lounging delights.

I'll take my camera along and will try to sneak off and snap a few pics. Stay tuned!

First fruits

This morning, as I watered, the first produce from my yard snuck out from behind leafy hide-away to say "friend: it is time to eat". You have no idea how exciting this is. Starting with the sweetest snow peas I've ever had, I then moved on to my raspberry bushes and plucked a few ripe berries. Giant zucchini flowers have appeared and my tomatoes have begun to take shape. In a few short weeks dinner will be almost entirely yard-based.

If it doesn't rain this afternoon, I'll do a little garden montage for all interested. Mmm.

Good news for beach bodies everywhere

Ladies and gentlemen:

As declared by the Globe and Mail, we have seen the dawn of the "belly renaissance".

With regards to our own visual appearance, men apparently focus more on function and overall health:

“With regards to the body, men often tend to be more focused on the function and the health of it,” she says. “So they think, ‘Yeah, I've got a beer belly, but you know what, I don't have diabetes or heart disease, and I'm a construction worker and I can lift stuff.'”

And even more compelling:

“If we all had to look like that lean muscular ideal, none of us would ever have partners. And that's clearly not the case,” Dr. Hildebrandt says to reassure me that women can't maintain those standards outside the lab. “There'd be like six guys who were dating half the planet. And they'd be too busy modelling and would be dehydrated all the time from all the diuretics.”

So it seems to me that men should continue to stand up – or rather, sit down – for their exceedingly wise valuation of attributes other than appearance. Exercise enough in order to not have a heart attack and then let your inner beauty, which is dying to emerge from beneath the pudge, draw in the ladies.

I write this, beer in hand, thinking of fixing the newly acquired flat (ugh) on my roadie while dinner smells dance up the stairs to let me know a meal is on its way. Life is good and is on course to improve.

The Beach BBQ - Summer Begins

You know that summer has arrived (or at least, is very, very near) when the evening beach BBQ hits the calendar. These pictures are from the first of the season. I didn't swim because I arrived too late and the water was cold. However, I did grill up a storm.

Wingfest 2009

Likely the trashiest event I've been to in a long time, this past weekend saw Rob, Jon, Steve, Paul, Joel, Kat and me on the Hamilton Waterfront to celebrate "Wingfest". Grouped in with Hamilton's indigenous mullet and beer belly population, we rocked out to bad 80s hair bands and dodged the locals posing with the girls from the Hooters booth. Stay classy, San Diego.

While the food was overpriced and the crowd under-dressed, we still had a good time. Unlike the original mental picture we had of quaint booths selling wings on the grassy hills of Bayfront Park, somehow the city managed to hold an event on the waterfront that completely eclipsed one of the great lakes. No, our glorious vista was of spray-painted signage declaring the home of 2009's best wings. Real nice.

In the end, the food was tasty (corn-on-the-cob and the mango chili wings topped things for me) and the company was good. The art tent on the edge of the Midway had some quality work and a few of the street performers were well worth watching. At the end of the day, I'd likely go again (next time sporting torn cut-offs, a monster truck rally t-shirt, and a week's worth of stale sweat).

Backyard Theology on Tap

This Sunday at 7pm Rob, Graham, Emma and I are pleased to present the first installment of "Backyard Theology on Tap". From the promo:

Looking for a place where thoughtful discussions, tasty bbq, and faith intersect? On Sunday, June 14 “Backyard Theology on Tap” kicks off its summer season, starting at 7pm. Featuring succinct interactions on a variety of things that matter to you, 20 and 30-somethings are invited to gather for fellowship and interaction at Brian's house. Food will be provided. Please care for your own drinks and lawn chairs.

This week’s topic: Urban gardening with special guest Jack Van Dorp, M.Pl. For more information contact Brian at 905.730.7201.

Do feel free to pop over.

New issue of Comment

Dan, Gideon, Alissa and the rest of the wonderful Comment team at Cardus have put out another stellar issue of the magazine, entitled Responding.

In addition to a recipe I submitted for a kickin' pepper cheese bread (p. 45), you'll find a great symposium on psychology and correspondence between the delightful David Naugle (who I'll get to meet in Dallas come September) and Calvin College philosopher James K.A. Smith.

Do subscribe if you haven't already. Students are only $10 a year.

Baaaaaa Mmmmmbaaaaaa Harskamp

After starting my Masters more than three years ago, my degree was finally conferred as of yesterday. Along with a single PhD, 148 other MBAs, and more BComm students than I'd care to count, we hopped up on the stage, shook hands with the Chancellor, and dropped off the opposing edge.

As I was a masters grad and not an undergrad, I did not have to be kneeling while hooded. However, as I was not a PhD, the Chancellor remained seated when he shook my hand. Good times, nonetheless.

It was, of course, a highly prestigious ticketed event.

Even better than graduating is being able to walk to your grad from your house. I love living downtown. The last time I was in the Great Hall at Hamilton Place was to see Feist.

It looks like I'm balding, but it's just the light. Really. I'm three in from the right with the lovely full head of lighter-brown hair.

My tremendous parents flew in from Vancouver and spent Sunday through Wednesday with James and me. Here I am in my Harry Potteresque finery. You can't see my cap in this picture, which was another privilege of being a masters grad. I did have a cap. Undergrads had to go without one. But I didn't.

And here's the hardware. While I doubt I'll throw my letters on my business card, I think this will go on the wall when I move into my new office space in September. The frame even matches my degree from Redeemer, which is nice.

Thus ends, for now, the formal chapter of my education. While years of practical experience still float ahead and the thought of doing a coursework doctorate has crossed my mind, I have no concrete ambitions to this end. From here on in it will be one-off courses and maybe the odd certificate. To the future!

For those wondering on the title of this post, it is a proud tradition among my group of peers that a person, rather than adding their letters to the end of their name as a sort of academic entourage, treats them as a phonetically-pronounced prefix followed by their last name. I hope you enjoy this practice as much as we do.

Disco Dingos

James, Ree and I among many others are members of the newest team in the Hamilton Ultimate Club Tuesday night league. It has been a very different experience from last year which, while not bad at all, was a team we were added to by friends. Last year's team made the playoffs, but just barely.

This time around, James and I decided to co-captain our own group and we've been thrilled with the results. First, the amazing folks at Compass Creative sponsored the team and produced our logo, which you see above. Fine work as always. Second, Personal Mortgage Group sponsored the team allowing us to scoop up some sweet jerseys, which we'll have in hand by next week. I'll post pictures once they come available.

Tuesday nights don't come quickly or often enough!

The Reno (Round 4)

Donning rubber gloves that were way too small and the last pairs in stock, Graham and I broke out the wood conditioner (which I had to drive to three different stores to find) and then spread out the "Tropical Cashew" finish. Nice stuff.

Graham pushing it with the wood conditioner. When he lost the gloves, his arm hair left with them.

Pre-finish, post-stain.

While we had great weather for most of the week and had most of the furniture on the driveway, we did end up having to move everything into the front entrance. I'm surprised it fit.

Steve couldn't wait until Rob would get home and find the front door totally blocked. Funny stuff.

And here she is: the final product. I still have to give the floor another coat of sealer this weekend and the trim needs to be painted white (goodbye, cream!). I'll let you know how this turns out.

All told, there were some parts that were quite a bit more fun that others. Having no living space and the entire house mired in dust has not been fun. When we tackle the kitchen in August, I hope it's a little bit easier to live in.

The Reno (Round 3)

Today's entry: sanding!

We rented two beefy sanders to get the job done. As Graham had sanded 6 or so floors prior to mine, he graciously volunteered to help and made the reservation. Half of the cost of the rental comes from the ridiculous amount of sandpaper you need to pick up.

After every sanding we'd give the whole mess a sweep. This is the first major sanding, using a 16 grit paper. Masks, ear plugs, and sheen of sawdust were ours to wear.

Here I am rocking the edge sander. We ended up having some trouble with the first one we rented after the first day of use and needed to pick up a second (and much nicer) unit. It had a light on the front.

It took multiple goes on rough grit to get the old wear and weird paint that we found only on the edges of the room off. Still, results came fairly quickly. Finish, however, took a lot longer.

We had to go over the room multiple times with each sander on increasingly higher grit.

You get a sense of the difference.

Plastic went up on the doors to keep us from breathing in the sawdusty goodness when in our rooms.

Meanwhile, the rest of the house lay in ruins.

But, we did get there!

Despite the rough shape of the house, flowers in the yard continued to bloom.

The Reno (Round 2)

Last time on "The Reno" Brian and friends began ripping up carpet and padding to exposure the hidden floor underneath. What will today's chapter have in store for our heroes? Stay tuned . . .

The carpet was lifted, cut into strips and kept in the kitchen, freeing us up to get cracking on this ugly linoleum tile. One friend semi-seriously suggested keeping it in. I'm told it may have been stylish at the time.

Thankfully, the tiles were glued to sheets of plywood which lifted out with some work. What was wonderful about this whole process is that we were able to tear things out sheet by sheet, saving a lot of grief. The first couple of boards tore when we pried them up, but after a bit we managed to go a large square at a time.

With the carpet, padding, tile and subfloor out, we were left with the exposed (and in some places painted) pine. And a lot of rubble. This is another one of the Brians lifting the carpet. He was a huge help throughout the demolition.

The only real casualty of prying out the floor was this board breaking off. It came apart as we pried the final sheet of plywood out of the living room. We were not enthused.

We repeated the same steps in the dining room, only to find that there were a couple more layers to deal with. Here you see a plastic wood laminate.

As we pried the subfloor off, hundreds of nails were left in the floor. I spent the better part of a couple of hours prying them up one at a time.

Underneath the wood laminate we had a surprise - old newspapers from 1937 to 1942!

James catching up with the latest fashion advice.

A sample of what was happening in the world at the time.

With the newspapers removed (and saved), the flooring all out and the nails removed, we had things ready for the next chapter: sanding.

World Club - June 13

For those of you in Vancouver who like listening to (or pretending that you listen to) solid indie music, be sure to check out the Music Waste festival.

If you can catch a single night's worth of shows, be sure and see my brother's band, World Club, play. They hit the state at the Biltmore Cabaret Saturday, June 13 and are sharing the bill with Japandriods and Hermetic. If you haven't heard of these guys, that's ok. One night of your time and you'll be the coolest kid on the farm.

The Reno (Round 1)

When I bought an old house I started hearing mutterings of people who had ripped up their floors to find gleaming, antique hardwood underneath. While there was no oak under my carpet, a little inspection did find us a beautiful old pine floor in remarkably good shape. 

The following is a tale of that renovation. I've taken plenty of pics and, as time allows, will share them a mouthful at a time in this space.

With two rooms to renovate and not a pile of furniture room, we were forced to dance my belongings from dining room to living room to allow us to work. What you see here is the dining room.

The living room, which is at the front of the house. Notice the (ugly) yellow walls.

Paint, with colour selected by my good friend Brett and brands and volume by Laura and Bun. I'm innocent as a newborn when it comes to this stuff.

First step: out comes the carpet. You'll notice that I splashed a little primer on the walls in behind, which shows as a pastel green. Not the final colour, friends. Fear not!

Under the carpet and padding was old-school linoleum tile. It's funny seeing what was stylish back in the day. The tile was set on plywood sheets which, once the first couple were pulled out, was surprisingly easy to remove.

Next: the floor underneath! 

Oh, we're a pushin' it

Friends, family and e-stalkers,

Much has been happening and as such, there is much to report. I'm short on time (and you'll see why) so I'll keep it brief for the moment.

Quickly:

• Three days in Ottawa for work last week were productive and highly enjoyable. Highlights included meeting and chatting with Paul Brandt, seeing Ravi Zacharias speak twice, staying in an historic house in the downtown of O-Town, and a wide range of successful meetings with interesting people.
• My zucchini are poking through the dirt and doing well. The countdown to tasty has begun.
• I am, thanks to the help of countless friends, the reno king. Gone is my ugly carpet, emerging is freshly sanded pine. More on this soon (I've taken a lot of pictures!)
• The Disco Dingos are fully sponsored and have new jerseys coming in soon. I'll post our logo in the next couple of days. I'm thrilled, as always, with the excellent work of Compass Creative on this project. Even better than pretty jerseys and a killer logo is the fact that we're playing really well as a team. Again, more on this later.
• The folks are coming out in a couple of days and I graduate in a week. I'm excited.

So much more to say, but alas my time is through.

Congrats

James graduated from Redeemer on Saturday, making him the third member of the family to claim an undergrad degree. So far the count sees a B.Comm., a B.Sc., and a B.A. Kind of neat. James' fiancée, Ree, completed her B.A. as well and will also be adding a B.Ed. to the listing. Woo.

More of that summer stuff

Over the weekend I managed to score myself a sweet sunburn, played some disc, bbqed a lot and gave the ole garden a real push. Things are coming together. 

While I had taken the time to make a short film of the yard for those far, far away (specifically to be viewed in this space), I regrettably can't publish it due to a couple of audible comments made during its filming. Editing may help the cause - I'll keep you posted.

Peas!

James doing a little planting. Yes, they were on sale.


My backyard workshop


That's right.

Shoot!

Warnings

City of Hamilton
10:52 AM EDT Monday 11 May 2009
Frost warning for
City of Hamilton continued 

Frost expected tonight.

This is a warning that at or near zero ground temperatures will cause frost in the parts of these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.

A cool Arctic air mass remains entrenched over southern Ontario. Frost developed overnight in a large part of southern Ontario and temperatures will drop below freezing again tonight.

Temperatures within the City of Toronto are expected to be milder, due in part to the urban heat island effect. However there is still a risk of frost.

Preparations should be made to protect tender plants.

Waffle-Mania

On Sunday a whole whack of really excellent people descended on an apartment in Centre Hamilton for "Waffle-Mania 2009". The goal? To make as many waffles with as many combinations as time and ingredients would allow. At the end of the day we had made 94 waffles in seven different flavours, including (among others):

• The Pina Colada (pineapple, coconut flour)
• The Mike H (after my father's own recipe)
• The Ham & Cheese on Rye (old cheddar, garlic, rosemary, rye flour, honey ham)
• The "Fruits of the Spirit" EXPLOSION (bananas, apples, Mandarin segments, blueberries, and a little coconut flour)
• The Presto Pesto (pesto, fresh tomatoes, Spanish onion, old cheddar)

Here are a few pics from the day. Needless to say, everyone went home happy, tired, and smelling of batter.

Mundanity

Quickly, here are things that are upcoming and exciting or past and memorable:

• Movies. Last Friday a few of us gents grabbed dirty chicken wings and then watched the new X-Men film. While some of the more discerning among us thought the film was B-grade, I appreciated the superpowers and massive explosions as always. Good times. 
• Movies. Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams. I'm excited. Rob's beyond excited. It's going to be magic.
• Spring. My drive to work is perfumed the entire way by new blossoms. My Schubert Choke Cherry in the front yard is white with tiny flowers. I saw a hot pink tree this morning. Like really hot.
• BBQ. Every meal, breakfast included, has been BBQed this week. (Slight hyperbole, perhaps). Last night we had the first nice steaks of the season and they were fantastic. I made my own steak spice including smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper. Very nice indeed.
• Music. Vampire Weekend and their Oxford Comma. Man it has me where I'm at. Thanks, Josh.
• Biking. Big trip planned for the end of the month. I best get used to sitting on my bike for more than half an hour.

That's all for now.

2009 Garden Fest

I planted round one of my garden this past weekend and it was deeply, deeply satisfying. Although I was a little slow on a couple of veggies, meaning they'll need to be bought as plugs rather than planted as seeds, overall things are nicely on track. 

On the perennial front, my raspberries are already going crazy and my strawberry patch continues to expand. Mint, oregano, thyme and chives have all come back and, as usual, my rosemary died a grisly death. This year I will be growing globe basil and rosemary in planters with the intent to take them indoors once fall hits.

I hope to do a little photo-documentary this year and give a bit of the "story of tasty" - from compost to compote. There's no excuse not to.

For the first time ever I am growing peas and, given the run-away success last year's "Brian's Bacon Carbonara", having fresh pods to pop a few steps away builds an anticipation store veggies can't match. As Rob and I have decided to not join in all of the fun a CSA box of veggies brings, I'm doing my best to have fresh greens as soon as possible with all manner of other fun as the season ripens. This year's expiriment: wildly spicy peppers. 

After a little more gardening this weekend I'll be sure to submit the intro to my visual expose. Stay tuned.

The long road in

I don't have a commute. Well, not one to speak of, really. For nearly a year I would hop into my '91 Escort and drive between 45 and 90 minutes each way to work, with the CBC and the occasional colleague for company. Things have changed.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I still drive to work. The difference here is that what was always more than an hour each way is now 15 minutes by foot. When things get busy I crave 30 extra minutes of relaxation, productivity and anything in between taking the car offers. Being at work at 8am is so much sweeter than 8:15, and although I could wake a touch earlier to make that happen by foot, the last few months of snow, sleet, and rain don't make the most compelling case for changing my habit. So I drive.

I love my drive in. I go by several parks, the faces of familiar commuters and, most importantly, at no point go on or near a highway. It takes me five minutes to reach the office. Three minutes to drive home from work. My commute home feels like an extended stretch at the end of a long day. As if, in a single reaching effort I take the day's events and put them neatly to a shelf to be unpacked the next day. When I come down from tipped toes and my hands return to my side, I am home. 

Today I had a real commute. With meetings in Toronto and a pick-up in Scarborough, I was in my car more than I was outside of it. I went through 5 incidents of road repair (each more horrific than the last), 3 car accidents, and 2 separate moments of severe congestion. GPS time to arrival underestimated travel by an hour and a half. Even more. How could it know about lane closures? An old joke: parking on driveways and driving on parkways. I moved on neither.

Tomorrow, I will commute once again. Five minutes in; ten if I stop for tea. There's nothing quite this good.

There and back again, or, The Hamiltonian

It is 27 degrees today and leaves are finally cracking through their sappy shells. When I breath deeply and pull in air perfumed with grass, charcoal bbq, and blossoms it's hard not to close my eyes and dream. 

Late last night I returned from 8 days in BC. Although a few weeks ahead of us on the spring front, it wasn't as hard coming back to Ontario as I thought. Sure, it's not as green, but it's green enough. For now. And with thoughts of Pinery camping, family weddings and wandering around in shorts while throwing the disc front of mind, I come to you via blogger.

It was good being "home". A couple thoughts (quickly):

• I feel my ownership of Vancouver slipping and it's a bizarre and confusing sensation to say the least. The only reason I actually noticed it happening was a period of time earlier this year where, for the first time since I was an undergrad, I considered making the very fine mountainous city home again.  Although this is back on the pensive shelf, it remains unsettling.
  
• I'm starting to get a better sense of the types of people I connect best with, both in terms of life experience, background and passion. I wonder if this means I'm starting to know myself a little.
• The picture of family, as defined in my childhood, is nearly over. This isn't bad at all - quite the contrary. But a nostalgic part of me wants to keep the old intact; a living photograph to revisit when I can. I'm excited for new additions to our family and for how relationships grow, but it's hard not to dig heels just a touch as adulthood takes the place of a familiar dynamic. 

There are many more thoughts - tied to purpose, vocation and identity that are bouncing around inside. Satisfaction. Things like that. I think these are life questions that you build on daily. Such is the slow, constant business of faithfulness.