Don't make me use my handbag!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
The ethics of law; the aesthetics of War (of the Worlds)
Mmmmm, pretentious titles. Gotta love ‘em. So here I am, guys, as promised – blogging. While studying for a legal ethics test tomorrow morning (well, it’s called ‘Professional Responsibility’, but it’s close enough) – which is ironic, or perhaps fitting, considering what I’m gonna talk about.
Thanks to all who commented, I really appreciate your input. Let me preface this by reiterating the fact that I wasn’t seeking the lay opinion of lawyers because I was worried about my own image, or anything like that. But I’ve been facing a lot of ethical questions during this Profs course (most of them were not actually part of the course, just things I wondered over), and I realised that most of the public wouldn’t have the experience, knowledge, inclination or time to consider how such problems should be resolved (in accordance with law, ethics, morality, business efficacy etc.). I wondered if this enhanced public bias against legal practitioners.
A lot of you were reluctant to disclose any prejudice against the legal profession, which is not to say that you don’t have that prejudice (my Psyc degree bets that you do!), but that you logically concluded that your gut-feelings weren’t based on any substantive experience or anything other than media portrayals. Which is fair enough – I wouldn’t have expected any strong feelings unless you have had much experience with lawyers. It would have been nice to have heard the popular opinion that, based primarily on the media representations, lawyers are more often than not (with significant exceptions) people who put their morals aside and twist the truth to their own advantage. But we can take that opinion as a given. Oh, stop press, it seems that Reuben said that very thing.
So here’s a summary of the comments:
Firstly, one of the e-mails I received has a couple of very good points. The writer had experienced an ambulance-chasing lawyer who manipulated the system. There was also mention that the people in that law firm falsely believed that they were doing good, when they weren’t. This was an interesting point. In fact (and I honestly didn’t think of this before I asked the question), the last season of Angel featured the characters joining/running an evil law firm, with the main challenge being ‘keeping it real’ – avoiding starting to see everything in grey, making the end justify the means… etc.
Now, a lot of you expressed your opinion that I’d be a good, honest influence that could withstand the temptations of all that jazz – which I appreciate, thank you. I’m not entirely sure I agree, however. Maybe I’m not giving myself enough credit, but it does scare me to think that I could become very misguided and distorted in my outlook (like Anakin, to make another reference). The threat wouldn’t be from my intentions, but from an inability to discern the appropriate route. I’ve been challenged on a lot of my beliefs recently, and have ended up very confused about what the correct path is. Like Reuben said, it’s the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law – the problem is one of discernment. Well, I’m not going to concern myself with that too much, but it will be something I’ll have to face, continually.
The other good point the writer made was again based on personal experience, and highlighted the often underemphasized importance of positive client-lawyer relationships. I’d very much agree with this, and I’m more confidence than I was on the above point that I’d be able to handle this issue well. I recognise the importance of relating to the client and making them understand what’s going on…
A lot of the legal ethics paper I took last year discussed the role of the lawyer, and it suggested various possibilities – the lawyer as the friend, as the godfather, as the hired gun, as the guru (funnily enough, in researching this, I found a paper with the following quote: “As Sam Benson, a Colorado lawyer who quit practicing, commented: "I was tired of the deceit. I was tired of the chicanery. But most of all, I was tired of the misery my job caused other people."”). There are so many different theories and ways to approach it all, it’s quite mind-boggling and intimidating.
Bing and my parents agree that lawyers have a lot of power, and this makes them both intimidating and under a lot of temptation. With great power comes great responsibility, right? I hate responsibility. :-)
Come to think of it, a lot of you thought, as Scott said: “what lawyers do is a societal necessity and… there are good and bad lawyers” I wasn’t very gratified by this point of view, because it’s a cop-out from the question, but it does contain an important truth – whatever people think of lawyers, it is likely that they (especially in this age) will individually classify each one they deal with as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Which makes the prospect of dealing with clients a little brighter, because it means that most of them will trust you if you make a positive impression, rather than being constantly suspicious.
Two final points on the comments – Esther, Aunt Donnave is Abbey’s aunt from the U.S., and she’s a very nice lady (I’m a sycophant, so sue me!) who likes to comment on all of Abbey’s friends’ blogs, and their friends’ blogs… :-) She’s been reading my blog for quite a while, and I always appreciate her input and friendship. Reuben, I’d love to see Hotel Rwanda – it’s on at evil times, though. I thought you were back in Welly, otherwise I would have got in touch with ya! But yeah, I’m keen for it!
So, my thoughts. I think, as would be expected, that the lay views of lawyers are simplified and stereotypical, but nevertheless are sometimes true. As a whole, I believe lawyers are more honest and concerned about ethics than people give them credit for. No-one mentioned the questions of being advocate for the guilty, which is an interesting one. I’m quite fond of our legal system as a whole (I don’t know much about other jurisdictions), although it’s not perfect.
I think that’s enough law for today. I’m sure I’ll talk more about it in later blogs. But now I want to talk about War of the Worlds. Briefly, and without spoilers. Far and away the best part of it was the awesome King Kong trailer beforehand – that’s going to rock! Coming at a close second were the new Hoyts seats which are really nice – and give you so much more leg-room! I couldn’t touch the seats in front of me! But seriously, the movie was pretty good – classic Spielberg. There were the odd questionable elements (I didn’t like Tim Robbins’ character, and I seriously wanted to kill Dakota Fanning’s character [or at least remove her voice-box]), but Tom Cruise was excellent, and the pacing and effect were very good.
That’ll do for now.
As a side point, have any of you noticed any changes in tone of this blog…?
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Scientists have created... zombie dogs.
No, really. See here: "SCIENTISTS have created eerie zombie dogs, reanimating the canines after several hours of clinical death in attempts to develop suspended animation for humans."
Sensationalist? Moi? Okay, this is a 'filler' post, but rest assured, when I get a free moment (well, a free moment in which I am motivated to blog) - hopefully tomorrow - I will respond to the comments (and e-mail!) from the previous blog.
In the meantime, ladies and gentlemen, I'm off to the midnight screening of WAR OF THE WORLDS!
Friday, June 24, 2005
It's survey time... : EXTENDED edition!
Okay, this is a quicky, but I want as many of you as possible to answer this one. I am curious as to how the general public (or at least, those who read my blog) actually view lawyers. Especially barristers/attorneys (i.e. lawyers who represent people in Court, rather than just those in office). I'm just curious, and this is quite important to me (because if you know how the public view you, you know how to relate to them better). Basically, do you see them (in general) as liars, manipulaters of the truth and of people, ambulance-chasers or as honest paragons of virtue, upholding truth, justice and the American way? Or something in between... :-) Please be specific (feel free to throw in an example), even if you've had no experience with them.
EDIT: We were just trying to work out who might know Jess' home address just now when it suddenly struck me just how many of my friends are overseas at the moment... Lyds and Em are in Rome, Abbey's in America going to Italy, Kristy's in HK (yipes, I *think* that's where she is!), Claire's in Chile, Jeremy's in New York, New York, Becs is in Sydney, Bing's in Wellington (well, it's over an expanse of water, okay! :-) All right, I won't count that.), Steph's in... heck, I don't even know any more. But that's like, eight of my friends who are overseas. Is that a record or is it just depressing? Heh. I must be jealous.
Jealous of their place!
That was stupid, sorry. But wow, what an international bunch of people we know.
Hey, it's hailing.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Sam 1; Crime 0
Actually, it's more like Sam 1; Crime 3. But who's counting. I won my case on Tuesday, which was nice. It's not a big deal at all, really, it doesn't mean jack. But I guess that because I was nought-for-3 going in, the fact that I didn't loser this one is a big relief. I'm kinda warming to this prosecution thing - in theory, anyway.
Hmm... that's interesting... if I wanna be a criminal prosecutor (which I'm not sure about, but it seems to be the preferable option) then I'd have to work with the Crown Solicitor. And there's only one of those in Wellington, with (checks...) 'Luke Cunningham & Clere ' (never heard of 'em). So if I want to go to Wellington (my preferred option - especially if Jeremy and David decide to go there too [which is possible] and we can all flat together with Bing again [but no Gus or Dave Hawkes - awww]), then I should see if I can get a job there.
That's still a lot of ifs. But hey, it's better than a big ol' question mark.
It's Thursday today (ooh, might see Hotel Rwanda tonight... maybe. I need to see Mean Creek too, and I wanna see War of the Worlds next... Wednesday, apparently), I don't have class until Tuesday - because that's the day of my big assessed trial. And then I've got ANOTHER test on Thursday next. So this isn't going to be a holiday. :-)
Hey Bing, I got your package, thanks! It's very... er... interesting. You have a quirky sense of humour. Thanks for thinking of me. :-)
For those who are interested, there's a poster (from the latest EW magazine, which I need to buy!) of the RENT cast on the blog, as well as another behind-the-scenes video.
LOST was pretty good last night, pretty darn good. I think there's three episodes left - it's gonna be weird having it over. Might have to start watching the Gilmore Girls (I'm kidding - but incidentally, it turns out that some of the Angel/Buffy writers write GG, so you who watch it, you now know how we felt about Angel and Buffy and the characters on it. And I know how you feel about GG and its characters).
Finally, I saw Real Groovy had the two 'best' episodes ('thou shalt not kill' and 'thou shalt not commit adultery') of Kieslowski's Decalogue on DVD(it's pretty much my favourite 'movie' ever - of course, it's a 10 hour-long Polish masterpiece, so I have to say that), but no plans of getting a box set of all 10 (I presume it's available. I should check Amazon or something - ooh, it does... US$64). Shame. On the other hand, I need to stop buying cheap DVDs and CDs and start buying clothes. I need new clothes.
True story.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Darn it.
Here I was, with a great blog post forming in my mind, taking shape, and I was about to write it out when BLAM!!! Or rather, not: BLAM!!! More like: ... no ...
Y'ever get that? Maybe it's that still, small voice we're supposed to listen to, maybe it's just a change of mood, maybe it's a subconscious warning that you might regret what you're about to write... Mayhap it is, mayhap it ain't. Fact is, I was lying in bed "writing" this post in my head (I couldn't sleep, okay!!!), but I'm not going to post it.
Not now, anyways.
Which I know is a real tease of a thing to do, and normally I wouldn't even hint at such a thing happening, but I found it interesting that I'm no longer writing that specific post. Which is odd, because it was hardly... controversial. Oh well. Maybe it'll make sense one day.
Last night, when most of the city was watching the Lions beat our representatives, a small group of us (David P., Scott, Esther, Neelam and Lizzie Sara) went to hang out at Yasmin's flat for a pot luck dinner at 6:30pm. A few people (Nic, Justin, Andrea and Yasmin's flatmate Rae) had been with us earlier, but either went to watch the rugby or went to bed. Thus ensued a fun night. I wouldn't bother mentioning something so commonplace as this (just hanging out) nowadays if not for three reasons: firstly, it was really fun. We went for a walk, sung songs (especially' Akon's horrific "lonely... I am so lonely... I have nobody... to call my own... oooh!") ate a cake (well, two), played games (the name-game and moo-leader - the latter being outside in a park at 11pm), chatted, watched the Tigger Movie, and laughed at Neelam until after 2am. Secondly, it's unlikely any of those people will read this post, with the possible exception of Scott (Esther and Dave are distant contenders). Thirdly, and partly because of reason number 2, it's rare that I'd hang out with those people in that way. This is the way we used to just hang out in my first year in Cutting Edge. Random, unprogrammed, impromptu fun! It was like the Flying Ribenas all over again (maybe because it was a life-group sized group, that I wasn't leading, with girls. That could explain it).
Anyway, that really didn't deserve such a long paragraph, but I needed something to cover the fact that my last-minute blog censorship created a huge hole in my creative zone. And discussions at that fun evening was also the source of some of the things I was going to write about. And perhaps it reveals something... that I've been missing that sort of 'fun'. It's gold, to me.
I've been typing hard-core all weekend, and writing hard-core on Thursday, and my fingers (especially on my right hand) are really aching. It made chopsticks hard to use at lunch today. Which was made so much worse by the fact that I was sitting next to Jane and her Mum. Oh, and Dan, on the other side, but he's not really Asian, so it doesn't count (apparently). I'm not too concerned about the soreness, but I'm gonna keep an eye on it.
Tomorrow - Week 6. 8 weeks to go. Week 7, being smack bang in the middle, is the big assessment week, apparently...
I'm sort of looking forward to Tuesday (Wednesday? Not sure - I'll find out tomorrow), I'm doing a mock trial all by myself (well, I'm prosecution by myself, there's still a defence counsel). I'm intrigued to see how I'll do, because it's possibly the area I'm the most interested in.
And that, my friends is the end of the line. My imagination has crashed, which must mean it's bed-time.
Okay, I did NOT mean for that to rhyme.
Or THAT!
Friday, June 17, 2005
Batman Beguines...
Heh, that's the best Batman pun I've ever seen, if I do say so myself. And it's somewhat fitting, too. Ah, Batman (or, as Andy Dick called him in the MTV movie awards opening: "Tank Man." Of course, in that one, Batman was played by Napoleon Dynamite, so it's probably not canon. Anyone else see it?), the man-bat. It was a pretty good movie, and a darn good superhero movie, and an awesome origins movie. The only gripe I can come up with at the moment - I won't really spoilt it, but some people might not want to read this, so I'll put it a few lines down...
My only gripe is that in terms of actual plot, it flowed pretty badly. That is to say, it didn't follow the regular formula by focusing on the big baddy. But then, I will forgive it this, because it *was* an origin story, and so it needed to focus on Bruce Wayne.
Pseudo-spoiler over. Actually, I lie, here's another one: Bruce Wayne is Batman. I KNOW!!! I'm as shocked as you are. Anyway, see this movie if you can, it's possibly the best Batman movie you'll ever see (actually, I'm not sure if I prefer it to Burton's original, with the Joker - Batman Begins certainly lacked that gothic look that Burton brought).
I think it needs to be stated for the record that my harmonica playing will indeed be leading to the sacred area of Southern Blues, but I daren't set foot there until I can make the Saints Go Marching In like the best of them.
As for my manhood - I don't actually feel I need to prove it to anyone at the moment. Except perhaps myself, but that's the ongoing voyage of discovery we all face. And I think Aunt Donnave is correct, that being a good husband and father is the most valid test of manhood, but I've never been one to hurry into tests. No, I'm not going to make a rugby joke here, Gus. Speaking of Gus and manhood (wait, don't run away!), he just handed me a letter from the mail addressed to "Sam the Man". Well timed there.
"I find men who can play musical instrument sexy.." - Nam, 06.17.05 - 3:09 pm. Bless her heart, she just walks into these things, doesn't she.
So, I should really be working on my case against Robert Gowan, a car thief, but I'm blogging instead. Then again, there'll always be something else I could be doing when I'm blogging, so I don't feel guilty about that. I do feel a little guilty about sleeping until 11am for the last four days (except for yesterday when I got up at my usual 6:45am), but hey, whatcha gonna do? Not sleep very well tonight, that's what I'm gonna do. :-) Heck, I've even been playing computer games this past week, something I hardly ever do (on principle, too)! Again, I feel they're justifiable. No, not justifiable, but... reasonable. Justifiable means that there could be validity to my guilt; reasonable means that if circumstances were different, there could be validity to my guilt, but it's cool for now.
News, news, any news...? Nope. 8 weeks until D-Day. Our class is going out for dinner next Friday night - which unfortunately means I miss a Carrington Hall reunion. Not that I would necessariliy have gone anyways, but it's nice to keep these things open.
I'm sure I could dig deep and find something a little more personal to say, but how about I give y'all a breather there, hmm? Hehe. Well, I'm gonna get back to work
Monday, June 13, 2005
Time flies when you're...
NO!!! WRONG!!! The answer is that time flies when you're doing Profs!!! Ha! Or perhaps time flies when you're trying to teach your pet frog where to aim his tongue based on the projected velocity and direction of said insects. Um... yes. I was trying to allude to the fact that it seems like, well, less than yesterday that I blogged last, and a week since the post before. Funnier how the busier I am, the less I have to say... you'd think... but no.
So what do I have to say? Jack all, really. T-3 to Batman Begins, which is nice. I could almost talk about Profs more, but I'm still thinking. I did reasonably poorly in a mock trial today, which prompted some serious thinking - what if I'm not cut out for Law? What if I'm not as smart as I presumed I was? What would I do? But I"m not jumping to any conclusions, yet. Besides, I know we're still learning.
Did I mention that Mr. and Mrs. Smith was better than I thought it would be? Granted, it wasn't memorable, and won't win any Oscars, but it wasn't a bad movie. It was fun - just what I needed. And I did end up going alone. Saturday night was interesting too - Gus and I went around to hang with Neelim (Yasmin's sister) at Sister Flat Two (Electric Boogaloo - sorry, it's a meme). Scott was there, and two of Neelim's 'friends' (mmm-hmm!) Ang and Dave H were there for a bit. We played Risk (and got bored, so I won by virture of paper, scissors rock. Ah, diplomacy) and then watched Dr. Strangelove, which was cool.
Dave Pom arrived yesterday, after 8 weeks. It's quite weird, to be honest. I mean, it's cool, I'm glad he's back. I guess I was used to him being gone - in the sense that I'll have to get used to everyone being gone shortly, as in, for 'good'.
In other news, Carmi refuses to believe playing the harmonica is a true test of one's manhood. She fails to realise the fact that most guys who play it have huge manly beards. She'll come around, so will all of you. I've almost got Frere Jacques down pat, then she'll understand the virility exemplified in my harmonica skills.
So who saw Lost last week? Good episode, and the next'n... exciting. Out of curiosity - did ANYONE from here other than Jeremy and I check out the Rent trailer?
Friday, June 10, 2005
Sam - 0; God - 67,889,439,126
So, yeah. I'm 'feeling better' since my last blog. And when I say 'feeling better' I mean I got down on my face and repented and chose God's way again. Well, actually, I wasn't really on my face, because I was in the shower at the time, and that would have been both uncomfortable and, well, grotty. But basically, I had gone back to the whole 'living for Sam' attitude rather than the 'crucify your flesh' attitude. It took me a while to work that one out. And when I say 'work that one out' I actually mean repent and seek God's guidance and especially His grace.
So that's that sorted out.
For now.
And I really don't have that much more to say, on that point or on any other. I said (half-seriously) that I was planning on doing a bit of a frame-by-frame analysis of the Rent trailer - and I was planning to - but I don't think that's the best idea. Apart from my own geeky interest in it, the only people who would possibly be enthusiastic about my thoughts would be Reuben and Jeremy. I haven't heard Reuben's voice on my blog for a very long time, and Jeremy... well, surprisingly, even a Rent movie isn't enough to get him enthusiastic. Tough crowd. So I'll keep that to myself, mostly. But this isn't the last you've heard about Rent on my blog, I will still bring it up when big news arrives!
Speaking of movies, I'm quite possibly going to see Mr and Mrs Smith tonight. And I'm quite possibly going to see it alone. Which is doubly ("Dobly" - Spinal Tap) sad. I just feel like seeing a mindless movie, and that's really the only thing that sparks my interest. And possibly 'The Amityville Horror' remake, but that's only for nostalgic reasons - I'm definitely a lot more picky about which Horror movies (if any) I see.
I got a letter from the Wanganui law firm - 'thanks, but no thanks', basically. Which is what I was realistically expecting. But now that my first one is out of the way, it'll be a whole lot easier to send some more off... I only have 9 weeks left. I need to work some stuff out, then! Dave's back in two days, that'll be... different. And good, yeah, natch, but it'll be weird having him back after 8 weeks.
So there's really not much more to say. Not much of excitement going on, at the moment I'm just... not 'coasting', but... I dunno. Stable. Uneventful. With the God stuff sorted out (which seems weird, but really all my God issues - bar one, perhaps - come down to a lack of childlike TRUST in Him), things seem quite quiet in my little world. It's just going to get quieter with the holidays coming up for most people, too. Profs is... well, it was more enjoyable this week, with mock trials and stuff. Keeping me quite busy.
But I will say that I'm excited about Batman Begins next week. That'll be FUNKy.
So... yeah. Mellow. Happy. Serene. Duosyllabic. I just ruined that, didn't I.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Okay, so, this Christian gets admitted to the bar, right...
TOP-POST EDIT (there must be a special reason for one of these - and there is!): THE RENT TEASER TRAILER IS HERE and it looks so goood! I'm restraining myself from commenting on it now, but you can probably expect a shot-by-shot as soon as I possibly can. This is where film and theatre geekdoms collide, and are both at their bestest. See it now! You will be tested on it... That really brightens my day. Back to today's top stories...
That's the joke.
Tongue somewhat-in-cheek there (ooh, ooh, WHO remember where that saying comes from? I do!), but it's something weighing on my mind. There's a whole lot of questions I'm coming across about Christianity and being a lawyer, ranging from the petty ("Should a Christian swear on the Bible? Doesn't Jesus say not to swear by anything, but let your yes be your yes? Or is that just talking about honesty in general?") to more substantial but less worrisome ("If I'm representing my client, and I have to say or imply things that I know aren't exactly true, but aren't illegal or unethical... is that wrong? How does that differ from an actor's job?") to the biggies ("How can I try to acquit someone I believe is guilty, or to convict someone I believe is innocent? And which is worse?").
Most of the time, I shove these questions aside to a latter date, knowing I'm too busy to think about them in detail (will I ever get around to doing that, though? It ain't on my fool-proof 'to do' list...). I know I'm definitely not the first person to face these questions (Christian or nay, there's plenty of material on these issues. I've even read some of it). The ninth commandment (yeah, I had to look it up - "thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neigbour") has never meant so much to me. Then again, I'm not doing too well with respect to the commandments as a whole, at the moment (to quote Red Dwarf, with respect to another culture's 'ten commandments': "I've broken all but one of your ten commandments! I would have broken them all if there were a sheep and a priest on board!")
On that note (the 'not doing too well...' part, not the 'sheep and a priest' part), I'm quite rocky at the moment. My fire is running very low in terms of spiritual zeal. That's partly my own fault, not persevering in prayer and all, and falling into sin. Yeah, I suck at times. With class and stuff, my focus has strayed from God quite a bit. And I don't see much hope or have much motivation for trying to get back into it all. It worries me at how far I feel, especially when I wonder about being out of this supposedly nurturing environment in three months' time.
Which I need to work on. Getting out of here, that is. I mean, getting a job and stuff. This isn't going to be one of those 'submit one CV, oh, well, I tired" moments. But even then... look. I used to value friendships and fellowship and ministry so much higher than work, but... what's happened? It should be the most important thing to me. But when my outlets for ministry diminish (I have a small, irregular life-group, and that's it), and my friendships do too (when was the last time someone called me to do something with me, or even just to talk, rather than asking me for a favour? Sure, I'm busy - who isn't, right now? - but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to be asked!)
So I turn to working hard, working well (although even today I questioned my own ability seriously - even my own intelligence, which I had previously taken for granted). The very thing I thought I'd never do. And I wonder why I'm feeling so unfulfilled at the end of the day. All these insecurities, make me feel so... well, yeah, insecure. Especially about leaving before I sort them (some of them) out.
Okay, okay. It's not as bad as all that, as everything I just wrote. I just really needed to vent, which often means blowing things out of proportion and saying unfair things. It's a good indication of where I'm at though, in the sense that I wouldn't have mentioned most of this stuff. I hate being so passive-agressive.
Seems that a lot of people are going through hard times right now. Exams are stressful, I guess. Although I don't have exams, I also don't have my mates Pom and Sunshine here either, which makes things a little harder. Yeah, I guess I'm a tad lonely, too.
Executive Summary for the skimmers: I'm slightly below average at the moment. Actually, no, average for me is like, a 6.5. On that scale, I'm about a 4 right now. But if 5 were my average, I might be a 3. Which is just 'below average'. But it could be worse. Much worse.
This was going to be a small update before studying. But the time is gone; the song is over. Thought I had less to say...
Friday, June 03, 2005
You can't always be torn in two, Sam.
So says Frodo at the end of Return of the King. And yet, that describes me and my life so well... I'm not going into how, or why, but that duality, that indecision, that bipolarisation. Flesh and soul, old and new. But it's more than that, it's deeper. One day, one day I hope to write a detailed analysis of the personality I formed for myself, and where it is today. But not this day. "Man in two" will have to wait until another day. In fact, I can hardly remember what made me think about that.
Twenty-three now. And the new age was ushered in with a lot of love (and quite a few presents). It's interesting to consider that my friends are almost all younger than me, and yet, my classmates are almost all older than me. Which is to be expected, I suppose, as a signpost of moving from one stage of life to another.
Speaking of moving from one stage to another, I have no idea why David thought I'm moving to Hamilton. Wanganui, perhaps. Oh, it must be the quote "moving on up to the East Side." There's a church called Eastside in Hamilton. Actually, it's really weird to think of myself living (i.e. working) anywhere other than Wellington at the end of this year. Maybe that's a comfort zone thing.
So, for Abbey, the CEO team is: Jared Brown, Mike Reeves, David Lim, and Jane Lee. And probably another girl, but I don't know if I can say whom, yet. But there you go. I have heaps of confidence in these guys!
As a confession, ever since the revelation of the weekend, combined with the end of the 21 day pray challenge, and combined with general stress and busy-ness... my prayer efforts have sucked this week. I'm quite disappointed in myself... well, actually, no, I'm not really. I feel less guilty than I think I should, because it's easy to 'justify'. Actually, the only reasons I feel I should pray more at the moment are firstly because I can physically feel the lack of prayer (more stress, less motivation and joy, less... life) and secondly because of a sense of duty (I ought to pray, I know that). So that's my confession, and I'm not proud of it. Any prayer on that would be appreciated.
It snowed today. But not enough to close class. And hopefully not enough to block the road to and from Dave Hawkes' 21st in Ashburton tomorrow... poor guy's already had enough trouble organising it, I think!
My desk is piling up with things I need to do. It hurts to think of them. I have heaps of birthday thank-yous to say/send. My 'DVDs I own but haven't seen' pile is increasing - I got 'Phantom of the Opera' from my sister, 'The Italian Job' from Jeremy and '!Hero' from... well, I bought it myself, but I used a DVD from Chris Aldridge (cheers, man!). Ohhh... and I actually want to get my School of Leaders/Pastors assignments done... I really want to! But at this rate... *sigh*.
Additionally, my rubbish bin is piling up with chocolate wrappers. Which isn't such a bad thing, unless you're weight-concious. Which I am, but not enough to do anything about it. :)
This is a slightly negative post. I think I need to pray (well, duh!). But on the plus side, I played electric guitar yesterday, and I sounded pretty darn cool. And I played harmonica today, and... er... well, I tried. :-P
That'll do for now, I reckon. This has been an... interesting post. P.S. Esther has started a blog - check it out, and encourage her by commenting!