Drunkopoly

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The cherished drinking game for all ages.

The final update

Copied from a mass email I have been producing regularily.

Transition: Passage from one form, state, style, or place to another. My time in L'Arche is nearing an end, though I find that it hasn't really 'hit' me yet. Nor do the memories of arriving to Winnipeg on April 25 come readily, either. It's a strange feeling, knowing that I'm in denial. University begins on September 6. Orientation begins on September 4. I'm moving into residence on September 1. My last day in L'Arche is August 31. It's 11:30 PM on August 26 and I'm completely 'set up' for university. My student loans have come through. I'm admitted into residence and have a meal plan. All my courses have been selected. I have a book list.

All this is simply incredible since I didn't even know what the word ' faculty' meant in January. I'm thrilled to say that I've had excellent guidance along the way, and a huge thank you goes out to you-know-who and you and you and you, etcetera.

In the past four months I have accomplished all the things, the reasons, why I chose to leave Ontario 4 months before school began in the first place. I've met new people and made new friends, good friends that I adore and have had many good times with. I've traversed across the city and found places and things that I like, while also realizing that there's so much more of this city to explore. I've also visited the University of Manitoba campus many times and feel quite comfortable when it comes to orienteering myself towards buildings and student services available. I'm nearly 25 and couldn't imagine plopping myself into a sea of 18 year old first year students, and then attempting to figure all this out. It would be impossible. I'd have a nervous breakdown. Not seriously, but my arthritis would likely kill me.

And I feel blessed to find that there is lots more I've accomplished since I arrived 4 months ago. God, only 4 months? I've been on the 6 o'clock news. Learned how to plant a garden and harvest it. Learned how to cook delicious meals. Stood in awe under the prairie sky an watched a distant thunderstorm flash beyond my peripherals. Learned how to dance. I've even gotten another high paying part time job at the U of M BookStore as a sexy cashier (which I totally love).

I'm pretty sure that I'll be looking forward to what lies ahead once I can accept that there is something beyond this.

Feel free to visit my blog regularly, again, since I was limited in what I could post in my current job. This message should also mark the end of my mass updates, of which many people have told me were absurdly long. I thank you for your honesty and end this here.

Prosperity and favor upon you all!

Michael

P.S. Do you think you have what it takes to live in L'Arche? We need committed, imperfect people just like you! Visit http://larchewinnipeg.org/

Park Pontiac Walk With L'Arche 2007

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With school right around the corner and my time here in L'Arche nearing an end, I thought it was time to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding my summer occupation with this promotional video. It was my pleasure to make this video for the community that has been my home since April.

Do you think you're cut out to do what I did? L'Arche wants you!

Sardines Promo

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My friend Carolyn is a youth director in her church and is starting up a new youth program in September. When she approached me with an idea to make an advert for the program, called 'Sardines', I was excited to help! This video was made in a jiffy, around 12 hours of production and editing time to the finished product. The theme is "Man vs. Technology" and the video toutes Sardiens as a place where disconnected youth can meet up and live in the real world, every second Wednesday.

Food time!

Food time!
Originally uploaded by Michael Tyas

At long last, my garden is producing edible food! We've got enough cucumbers to feed an army. Snap peas, yellow beans and lettuce. The tomatoes are slowly fading from green to orange and soon will be atop our hamburgers and in our tossed salads.

Mini Party Island

That's the name of our phenomenal flotation device, made by Coleman, which allowed for an awesome adventure muddy Assiniboine River. Six friends embarked on a first: Lazily tubing on the medium current of filthy water, not knowing what we would encounter around every bend.

We made the 6 o'clock news.

And rightly so. I've searched for stories of people who have plied waterways of Winnipeg on raft or tube and come up empty handed every time, so when the news crew spotted us nearing our destination, they couldn't help but capture this momentous occasion! I was videoblogging while they were filming us, and in the video dubbed our voices over top of the news footage.

The water of the Assiniboine is truly a turn off, resembling refined sewage without the smell. Could we be the first people to float down the river in an inflateable Mini Party Island and survived to tell the tale? I'm willing to bet YES. History in the making, folks. Go forth and do likewise.