our late night adventure...

Last night, myself, Jo, Megs, and Laura decided to embark on somesort of an adventure. It was late... maybe 11:30pm, so I was a little nervous about going out for a fun evening on the town. Im normally in bed by 11pm so this was huge for me. We threw around some ideas of what we could do, some good sounding, other ideas not so much. But we decided that whatever we would do needed to revolve around food of somesort.
So the idea was put forth that we should just hop on a bus and see where is takes us. This sounded like it bring about some intiresting adventures... so we did. As we walked closer and closer to the bus stop I said to the girls 'why dont we just go to Pizza Pizza or something'. They said to me 'where's the adventure in that?' I just didnt want to wait for the bus forever. I figured I didnt want to be a suck, so I went along with this crazy plan.
To my surprise, only about 5 minutes later the bus came. So we got on and the adventure had begun. It wasnt too long that we had rode down Young St. that we spotted our first destination. Open 24 hours, an All Day Breakfast Diner! I wasn't expecting that. So we got off and ran to the restaraunt. The food wasnt anything special... but it was good because it was breakfast at 12:30am.
So we had finsihed our breakie and thought 'what should we do next'? The only logical thing to do was to find a Korean Karaoke bar. I really dont know what we were thinking. So we walked down Young St. a bit more and came to a section of the street that had 3 Karaoke places right next to eachother. We had hit the jackpot!... so we thought. We went into the first place where we were greeted by an older Korean man who quickly brought us into a small room with 2 couches, and a TV. What was going on? I was nominated to learn how to use this Karaoke machine that had 20,000 songs in it. He showed us ABBA, Celine, and P.I.M.P. Weird. I didnt really know what was happening. It was nothing that we had expected or wanted, so after 10 minutes of learning how to use this thing we told the man we didnt want to do it. He seemed a little upset. Whatever. I wasnt paying $20 to sing in a little room by ourselves. I can do that for free in my own room.
The two other places we went to were the same set up. I cant believe this is actually a big thing. Very strange. Anyways, we figured Karaoke was out of the picutre now, so what to do next. We figured to finish the night off like good Canadians, we would go to Tim's. Not like we needed anymore food in us... it was about 1:30am by this time.
And that was our evening/morning adventure in Toronto. A night full of randomness, but lots of fun, good stories, and bonding with friends. Who would have thought there was so much to do on a Wednesday night after 11pm? Try it out sometime. It's lots of fun.

where the ducks are

I would like to invite you to a world that only some travel to. It is a place where many are afraid to go because it is deemed 'uncool'. But I would challenge you to join me on a journey to where few go, but to a place of joy, peace, relfection, and life. It is not always easy to find, but when it is found, it is absolutly wonderful. So go to a forest... wander to a stream within that forest... and open your eyes. Go to where the ducks are.
Okay.. so by this point you're probably thinking that this Nyssa girl is crazy. I accept that. But Im being honest here. Going to a place where ducks hang out is great fun.
I write about this today because I finally saw them today... for the first time this season at Tyndale. Ever since I got back to Tyndale in the fall, I've gone on walks to the woods hoping for a glance of some ducks. Dont ask me why I have such a facination with ducks... I just do. They make me happy. Simple as that. But every time I've gone, I've been disappointed because I havnt seen any ducks. But today was a different day. I went for a walk with my camera... it was a beautiful day. I didnt have my hopes up about seeing any ducks... but I thought that I would check just in case.
I went to my regular spot on the bridge because thats been the place in the past fews years where they have dwelt. But they werent there. So I continued on my way down a path that I dont normally take... but today was a different day. As I wandered down a leaf covered trail, I found a little dog. He was a cute little thing. He barked at me then ran away. I noticed that he ran to a place where the trees had fallen and it seemed as if it would be a place of prime photography conditions. So I followed the little guy. I was just looking around this area for photography opportunities when I looked up and to my surprise, there they were. Four ducks. Two male, two female. Just hanging out. It was like I solved a case, I found what I've been looking for. It was a sense of fulfillment.
It's such a simple thing... but it brought so much joy to my day. So what... Im a simple person. Thats okay. I think simplicity is a lost art form in this culture and needs to be found once again.
Now for those of you that actually made it through this blog... congrats. I probably wouldnt have read a blog about some crazy persons love for ducks. So thanks for reading. Be inspired. Go find some ducks!

a day out on the town

Okay... so I didn't take this picture myself, but I needed a reflective photo to intro my day out on the town.
Today I needed some down time. Some Nyssa time I like to call it. So I packed my bag and headed off to a day full of reflection, creativity, fun, and catching up with friends.
I was reminded today of how important it is to take time out for ourselves. Our lives can be so full of busyness. Whether it be work, school, friends, or just the busyness of our minds and hearts, we are busy people and we need some down time. So today was my time to take some down time.
Simply sitting on the subway listening to music and watching people interact was refreshing in itself. It was a time to relax and reflect. A time to be invisible, in a place where no one knows you, except you and God. It's an intiresting thought... to be in a place where there are so many people, but at the same time having the ability to be so alone. But alone in a good way... a refreshing way.
Another one of my highlights of the day was walking through Kensington Market with Caitlin. It's quite inspiring to see so many people with such creativity. But we're all creative in some sort of way whether we realize it or not. Because God is creative, and we're made in His image. That's another intiresting thought. What is true creativity? Anyways. Walking through Kensington was inspiring. It brought me back to the days of walking through the small African town of Bukoba. Everyone had their stands outside trying to sell their stuff. Having fruit stands on the side of the road. People filling the streets with no room for cars to go by. Everyone is just being. Having a good time, no regrets, and just loving life.
I think that this is a way of life that we need to learn how to live everyday even throughout the busyness of our lives. We need to learn how to just be. How to enjoy life and all the things that it throws at us. We need to understand how to not be so stuck up and serious all the time. Life is to be lived to the fullest. Not full of stress, anger and frustration, but full of love, joy, peace, and excitement. Life is a good thing... don't let it be a burden.
So those are my thoughts from the day. It was good day, and I would encourage you to get out there are do something that will refresh and energize your life too. It's well worth it.

the first day of snow

Update:
It's October 12th 2006 at 3:15pm in Toronto, Ontario and we have snow!
What's the world coming to? This is much too early.

music: the new pornography

It's a cold wet night. The rain is coming down, but it can't dampen our spirits. We're walking down Queens Quay last night umbrella in one hand, concert ticket in the other. In the rain, we waited patiently in line in front of the Kool Haus to see the New Pornographers. Jimmy Swaggart once said that music is the new pornography. Okay... so the guy was a little nuts. I accept that. But thanks to this statement made, The New Pornographers were named... Plus it makes for a great band shirt to wear around Tyndale for some good reactions. I feel like a rebel... sort of.
Anyways, we finally got inside to warmth and a fun night ahead of us. Three opening bands: the Bicycles, Immaculate Machine and Novillero. All quality bands. Sounds of fun, talent, and good times. Then onto the stage they came... the New Pornographers. Music that will make our foot tap, head bob, and your whole body want to dance.
It was no jam band show, but the indie rock/pop scene is nothing to look down on. It turned out to be a great night becuase of good friends and the experience of some quality live music.