doberman pizza. a baha'i (bahai, bahá'í) blog.

In case you haven’t heard, I’m moving back to Ottawa much earlier than I thought — like, Thursday. This decision came about as a result of a lot of soul-searching and rigorous honesty with myself and with God — and lots of prodding I guess. So not only will I be in town for Canada Day, but I’ll also be in town for a while afterwards — anyway, an indefinite period, at least until I get things sorted out in my life. It’ll be a great pleasure for me to come back to Ottawa and be reunited with all my friends there, and also a great sorrow for me to be separated from all my friends in Drummondville, Sherbrooke, Victoriaville and surroundings. I guess an “inshallah” is in order.

I’ll be taking up residence with my sis (at least for the time being) in Sector 9, not far from St. Laurent shopping centre. Focus sector yo. Respect. Y’all are welcome to come drop by anytime, alone or in groups, to play cards, play Tock, play b-ball, have coffee, deepen on the Writings, pray, whatever. I’d love to see you people.

In case you’re not in the know already, there’s an uplifting weekend of camping scheduled for the weekend after Canada Day. As Baha’u'llah said, “The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies.” Come get some soul food out on Lac Philippe with a bunch of sincere and devoted seekers after knowledge, divine confirmations and goofy fun. Interested? Call Catherine (my sister)!

Oliya got married today! She got married to her boyfriend, Patrick, in Kingsey Falls - just down the road from Warwick (which is just down the road from Victoriaville). It was very simple and really beautiful. It was fun too, because all the family was there and I got the chance to meet a whole bunch of people I hadn’t seen in a while, and even some people I hadn’t met. C’était vraiment super de revoir tout le monde au mariage… je vous aime trop… Félicitations à vous Patrick et Oliya… et meilleurs souhaits!

Et pour ceux qui veulent, j’ai mis en ligne des photos!

hey, phat shout-outs to my peeps in Gainesville who’ve come to visit my website. heheh. now that I added NedStat I can see you ;)

Happy Saint-Jean-Baptiste day! It’s basically “Quebec Day”. Everyone gets the day off work and the Baha’is celebrate the Feast of Mercy in the afternoon… lol :) speaking of which, our feast starts at 11h (but continues into the afternoon, ha ha). So I better get going. Take care and remember, watch your backpack and watch your drinks. someone might spike them both.

hey homies

some of you have noticed that there are pictures of the Drummondville/Victoriaville Bahá’ís in this month’s Bahá’í Canada! for the sake of repetition, here are the original colour photos ;)

Ruhi 3 in Victoriaville.
L to R, back row: Marcelle Turgeon, Gaëtane Carignan-Guerra, Maurice Turgeon. front row: me, Geneviève Allison, Jessika Sévigny.
Some of you have met Jessika. She came to Ottawa with me last year.

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Drummondville.
L to R, back row: John Kendall, Patrick Boissinot, me, Jacky Teagaï, Marc Lachance. front row: Denis Laplante, Nicole Lachance, France Marie Sévigny, Natasha Teagaï.

The Ruhi 3 circle was fun. It was actually kind of wierd the way it happened — we started an intensive Ruhi 3 circle during the holidays, and then started another one in February when we noticed that more people wanted to go through the book. This photo is from the one we started in February. It finished at the beginning of May (actually, just before the 12th day of Ridván). We acted up quite a bit when practising the lessons — one person played the role of the teacher, and the others were the children. I acted as co-tutor for the study circle, along with Geneviève (holding the book). We were also the nastiest children. However, we got our due. In the spirit of fairness, we also played the role of teacher for one lesson each. We got housed.

The day we formed the Assembly in Drummondville the spirits were higher than a kite. It was the first time we’d had absolutely everyone in the Bahá’í community together in the same room — and with the arrival of several new pioneers (with three children!) and one youth from Montreal who’d moved back to the area after finishing her studies, the entire community dynamic had changed. It’s helped solidify the community a whole lot, and has been a pick-me-up for the pioneer families who had already been living in Drummondville for many years, waiting all along to form the long-awaited Assembly. And when I say long-awaited, I mean awaited by everybody in Québec for at least 20 to 30 years or more. Even I have no clue how fervently the Bahá’ís had prayed over the years to have an Assembly in Drummondville. Many thanks are due to Bahá’u'lláh and to the Concourse on High. Looks like they’ve had their hands full working for us…

In other news, tomorrow’s the Feast of Mercy. It’s also a civic holiday in Québec, the “Saint-Jean-Baptiste”. There’ll be fireworks tonight - I expect to go see them later tonight. First things first, though. I’ve got some work to do. talk to all you cool cats later. leave comments!

it’s far too late to be awake. I’m tired and I need sleep. I don’t feel ready yet, though. maybe I’m insane.

I’ve been working on a new design for my website lately. it’s been a while since I last updated, and I feel that the time has come to make the change. I’ve arrived at a preliminary design, and right now it’s in the user comments and criticism stage. I’m not quite ready to unveil it to the world at large, of course, but don’t worry, when it’s time for the launch, the sheer bigness of the hype will definitely kill you.

Here’s a googlewhack I just found: fictionalizing calendula. It’s for real - only one hit!

This weekend only - IN MONTREAL - Training session for pre-youth study circles! - Louis-Bourgeois Baha’i Centre - be there or be square - see you later!

my cold is slowly going away the more I drink water and juice and so on - yay. my sore throat isn’t sore anymore. that’s not really the virus I was talking about, though. the little Pentium 60 MHz that’s been lying around in the corner of my room had a virus in it - W32/Swen@mm, to be precise. I only just found out today, after leaving it out of commission for about, oh, six months? It’s fixed now. yay! I get to have a little machine to work with for my upcoming contract ;) Ok, granted, a 60-MHz Pentium I rates at about the same level as a toaster oven or a furby by today’s standards, and yes, I know I will have to switch to a newer computer, but hey, at least I have a little toy to play with for a bit and I don’t have to rush too much into buying a PC. BTW, if anyone’s selling a cheap computer (like, Pentium 2 350 MHz and upwards), let me know.

And lastly, here’s the phattest sign hack in the world:

[found on signs.buzznet.com]

Check out the photos from the recent Miscellaneous After-Feast Hangout at Vafa’s place.

BTW I’m back in Drummondville today. Tomorrow is a dentist’s appointment (yech) and the day after that, I work. Woohoo!

Blogger seems to have added comments to their functionality. I changed my blog to reflect this. you may now add comments directly to whatever post you want; just click on the link at the bottom of the post that says, for example, “0 comments”. yay!

To celebrate, I’m going to go fly a kite. Who’s with me?

so I’m spending the night with Martin who seems to have a gift for making things sexual. he’s lying here in his bed with a couple of young women in the dark. afshun is leaving for the airport soon. it’s 2 AM and he’s all hepped up on pepsi and chee-tos. his flight is at 6:30 AM. he’s calling his ex-roommate and ex-landlord. he woke them up in the middle of the night to tell them stories. who’s eating the lollipop? martin has glowing christmas lights running along the bottom of his wall. it’s like virginia wolff. I like cheese. it’s 2 AM.

hey - I’m back in ottawa until friday. give me a shout. say hi. do whatever you want. peace out. BUT DON’T DO NOTHING