I have a job!
I mentioned in a previous post that my life consisted of interviews and paperwork. Well I've just got a job with Starbucks, which should keep me going while I figure out the questions of, "If not Cardiff, where? And how?"

Many of you will know my (prior) thoughts on Starbucks, so I'm interested to investigate questions of ethical standards and marketing techniques. So far I've been pleasantly surprised...

Today I crossed the River Severn in order to pick up my suit etc from Tom and Nic's house and to catch up with the fair people of Bristol Vineyard. BV are celebrating their 10th anniversary this week and the finale of the week is a Saturday Night Fever theme party - sounds like fun, although I'll be at a wedding that day. The trip was also a chance to meet this year's Form team, who hail from California, Denmark, Norway and Norwich.

At the moment my days consist of interviews and paperwork. It's a routine, if a strange one. As you might have heard, Mark and I are heading to Sweden in early October. It should be a lot of fun catching up with friends (eg., eg. and eg.) and visiting Copenhagen Vineyard.

This morning I went for another contact lens trial. The last time was 3 years ago when the optician didn't allow me to take the lenses away with me because I couldn't put them in or take them out by myself.

This time I managed to put on the lenses, but could not get the things out. I'm going back in a week to give it another go...

Some mornings I wake up and I feel like a child looking at a big, cold, scary world that I'm ill equipped to deal with. My mind is drawn to people and places I've left behind, people I've felt so incredibly close to, people I believed I could do this kingdom work with. Then I wipe the sleep from these childish eyes, clench my teeth, and take a look beyond my self, my fears, the dull aches of distant friends, into the eyes of the one who doesn't leave, the one who calls me 'beloved.'

Ofcom bans Make Poverty History advert for being "too political."

The advert received no complaints from the general public and was essentially banned because it challenged the way our government, and governments of other Western European countries, approach poverty. How crap is that? (Read More)

View the advert here.

I've been listening to two great Icelandic bands recently - Múm and Sigur Rós. Their music is probably best described as enchanting.

This week has been interesting. I've had interviews and I've done some cycle couriering. On Monday Rob and I went to a training day with Bristol Vineyard where we enjoyed spending some time with Eric Sandras as he taught on The Four Stages of Love by Bernard of Clairvaux.

I've been pushing lots of doors when it comes to work and living location. It's been one of those times where I know what I can't do, but am eager to find some doors that I should walk through!

Even Though
Even though I can't see the sun through these clouds
I know it still shines
Even though I can't feel Your love through this pain
I know You're alive

Even though I can't understand
Why this storm still blows, and
Even though I can't hear Your voice
I love Your rain

Even though I can't see the way up ahead
I know that You lead
Even though I can't feel Your presence now
I know I believe

Who can measure Your greatness
Who can count all Your faithfulness
Who can doubt that Your presence
Silences every lie

Yesterday I sampled the delights of Spin and Pilates. Spin is like mountain biking in a low ceiling'd room surrounded by men with hairy backs on exercise bikes. Unfortunately the likeness to mountainbiking is limited to the muscles you use - there is no adrenaline, there are no views, there is no fun.

Pilates, on the other hand, pretty fun and relaxing.

Has anyone seen my Iron Fist?
Somehow I've mislaid one of my t-shirts. It's navy, has a pink square and daubs of white paint on the front and an image of Bruce Lee on the back. It's nice, is made by Iron Fist and can be seen in this photo. If you've seen it lying around please let me know...

For years I've watched them swoop around Cardiff City centre with all the grace and precision of a dancer (and I'm not talking tap). I've admired them from afar and thought: "maybe - one day..." Tomorrow I'm off for an interview/chat at a cycle messenger company in Cardiff.

At the moment I'm enjoying...
Lost - billed as 'survivor with actors.' I anticipated a let down after all the media hype, but have been plesantly surprised. It's actually pretty intriguing. One of my favourite plots (despite being highly contrived) is Jack's growing awareness of his leadership "call" - my favourite quote so far (though paraphrased) comes from Mr Lock:
"You say you're not a leader, but they follow you."

I'm also enjoying Newsfan, the news aggregator that is saving me a lot of browse-time. For those of you who don't know what an aggregator does, you type in the RSS feeds of your friends' websites and within about 4 seconds Newsfan tells you who has posted something new.
Update: I've actually changed to Mozilla's Thunderbird because it turns out Newsfan was just a 15 day demo...

Finally, I'm enjoying learning some more Swedish.

My broadband connection has been down for the last 36ish hours, hence the lack of posting. My Grandad is very ill, so your prayers would be much appreciated. It's his birthday today and he's been rushed into hospital.

fruktstund
Zoë and I are pretty ill, so we've been munching on a lot of fruit in the hopes of speeding up our recovery. My favourites are fresh pinapple, mango, honeydew melon and grapes.

Anarchy vs. Liberalism
I was chatting with a friend from Sweden last week who was telling me about her 'freshers' fortnight' (weeks before uni starts properly where there are lots of parties.) Apparently at her university, during this time, there are rules that place limits on alcohol consumption and freshers are not allowed to kiss. It all stems from an incident 3 years ago where a student was raped.

Initially hearing this was a surprise - particularly with the reputation Sweden has for being ultra-liberal - but on further reflection it makes sense. Liberalism is not anarchy. It's not licence to do whatever you please. Rorty defines a liberal as, "someone who believes the worst thing you can do is harm another human being." Within this definition the rules enforced at this particular campus, while seemingly strict, are actually an outworking of a liberally-minded culture, a culture that puts caring for its members before licensing their untethered freedom.

In the UK such a big deal is never made out of single incidents of rape, but that is probably just a reflection on the draconian inequality of our society.

Check this bit of anti-Mac propaganda (via Ian). It made me chuckle, but not hate my mac.