Gardening...

That's what I'll be doing more of next year: Gardening.

Kate and I ducked out to our home-to-be this afternoon (our college-house for next year, that is). It got me really looking forward to next year for a bunch of reasons:

• Herbs. Isn't it about time we stopped buying our herbs? A teensy, sunny backyard should be all we need to see Jamie's dream realised.
• Vege Garden. Now, I didn't actually see it; but there's supposed to be a vege garden that we can get horticulturally-busy in.
• Light. They have it inside their house. Miraculous.
• Quiet. Ahhhhhh.
  

There are plenty of other things to keep us on our toes at the moment. Such as...

• More exams are on the way. (Both Hebrew and Greek went well, by the way). I'm in a fantastic study group - we call ourselves 'The Brains Trust' - which is making exams much less intimidating.
  
• At home, we're in the middle of a white-goods war. This time it's the washing machine that's kaput. (Last week it was the fridge).
• I bought Calvin's Institutes today. The first 400-ish pages are prescribed Summer reading for college.
  

But some things have come to an end:

• Jason and Amy stayed with us on the Sydney (and coffee) leg of their travels.
• The Pleasures of God (by John Piper) is back on the book shelf. That is a fantastic book. It was some of the most spiritually-nurturing stuff I've read this year.
• My prayer-triplet finished in the last week of term. Throughout the year I met with Clive and Dave once a week to pray. It's been one of the highlights of each week. (College organises a bunch of cool stuff like that: prayer triplets, chaplaincy groups, etc.)

Approaching the Pointy End

Now that Joe and Alaine are married, and housing for next year is sorted out (more on those below) in my field of view, at the moment, is little other than Hebrew. The exam is at the end of the week.

I enjoy Hebrew, but it's definitely tough. There's almost nothing from English to help you, as there is in Greek. And some letters sound basically identical... like coughing up something unpleasant. My memory-hook for the word 'to take' is that the word sounds like someone 'taking' some unpleasant medicine - that gagging, throat-clearing sound. Delightful.

On Joe and Alaine's Wedding. Heaps of you know Joe, of course; others might remember him as my school-mate, who became a Christian years ago and was at Crossroads (Hobart) for a while. The wedding was a great time. All the Tassies were accommodated on a cool 'Farmstay' property just near the reception venue. That was fantastic. The whole thing was really fun, well organised, riddled with great personal touches (like oysters), just excellent. And, of course, they're now married - which is just wonderful. (I preached at the ceremony; it went pretty well, I think).

(No photos yet, I'm afraid. Kate stayed home with Noah and the camera.)

On our home next year. Praise the Lord, we have been offered (and have now accepted) college housing for next year. We had been hoping for something in Newtown, but in the end we were offered a place in one of the other centres: Croydon. Three cool things about the Croydon college-housing-metropolis:

1. It's really family friendly. Heaps of space on the lawns. A bunch of other families live there.
2. Some of my mates live there already (guys from Queensland and Germany, for instance).
3. It may be pioneering a new path for the Taswegians up here, but it's in a cool area and we're looking forward to it heaps.

Oh yeah - and it means we won't have to compete with (quite literally) 50+ people per over-priced Newtown dive. That alone is an enormous point for thanksgiving.

Yum Cha

Thankfully, I've only been sick a couple of times so far this year. Unfortunately, today is one of those times: I'm in the clutches of some mild flu right now.

I was afraid I'd be too crook to make it to Yum Cha with the Hansard's (Unca, Auntie, Luke, Jan, and the boys). It all worked out. I guess the battered chicken feet gave me the strength to pull through :)

It was really fun (even though I felt like death): heaps of waiters bearing all manner of little dumplings in their trolleys, bottomless jamine tea, the place was really humming at 11am - that's Yum Cha! I think the craziest thing was sugar-cake. It can't have been more than sugar and gelatine - wild.

In other news bites:

• The new Radiohead album, In Rainbows, is really good. It's no The Bends or Ok, but there's lots to like about it. Worth however much you choose to pay for it.
  
• Language exams are bearing down on me. This Friday is Greek. Then two weeks later is Hebrew - that's the frightening one.
• Our good mates, Pete and Pamela, have just welcomed their firstborn, Simon, into the world. (For the interested, most of the people in the most recent post on Simon's site are my classmates - spot the Tasmanians!)
  

The New (Old) Look

New Years Eve with a few friends...
So, Kate says, "My resolution would be to get rid of those [dreadlocks]".

To which I, naturally, say, "Well then, my resolution is to keep them for the year!"

(Or was it the other way around: with Kate provoked by me? Hmmm...)

Tuesday evening (just gone) was the night of the grand chop. All 31 of the little blighters were given the chop and this shows the very last one. A great way to lose 90gms in an evening. Not much, you might say - ah, but that's when they're dry.

People keep asking why, why, why? Fair enough question, I suppose, but not one with a very succinct answer. Ask me about it sometime, if you're got a while to kill ;)

So, folks, here's your final chance. Say your farewells to this guy for the last time:

My New Year's Resolution in Tatters

A handful of you might remember my and Katie's New Year's resolutions for this year. They're not the sort of things we usually go in for; in fact, even this time, I think they were in answer to a question like, 'If you had to come up with a resolution, what would it be?'

Well, I broke mine.

And, Kate kept hers.

Any guesses for what they were? (Next post when there's a correct answer in the comments!)

Goodbye OT Essay, Hello Holidays

This arvo I finished-off my Old Testament essay. Holidays at last :) The end result is less-than-perfect, but you've got to draw the line somewhere I guess.

I read a whole bunch of stuff for my essay. One thing that stood out was a chapter from Hays' From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race. I'm a continually impressed by that series: it's fresh, it's rigorous, it's tight, it's biblical theology. (Köstenberger & O'Brien's Salvation to the Ends of the Earth is also proving very good).

On a very cool note, our friends Pete and Pamela recently upgraded their espresso machine and donated their old baby to us! Gosh the College community is generous. As much as we might talk about our difficulties in settling in, there is no question that you'd be hard-pressed to find a more caring bunch than we have around us here. Praise God for 'em.

In other news, our little family is planning on escaping the hum for a few days next week. We'll let you know how that goes.

Coffee & Ethics

No, this isn't a post on Rainforest Alliance v. exploitative trade regimes.

Lovell Roasters - are some boys from college who roast their own coffee (single origin and blends). Kate and I have been enjoying their wares over the last month or so. College is something of a congregating point for rather brilliant people with buckets of initiative, so it's no surprise to me to find people creating their own coffee roasting machines and such. They also offer a cut price deal for the college community. Hats-off to them.

Oliver O'Donovan - For three evenings last week I went to the New College Lectures 2007. It was entirely voluntary (they're a UNSW thing). I won't pretend to summarise what O'Donovan had to say; I'm sure I'd fail dismally! The mp3s / transcripts will be available for download from their site very soon - so check them out if you're interested.

But to give you some idea, he spoke about stuff like ideals and compromise; he explored the (biblical) metaphor of 'wakefulness' for moral reasoning; he spoke about admiring the good in this world and the significance of gratitude. I guess you could say the lectures were foundational, in the sense that they outlined the under-girding of a moral framework, but they were by-no-means simple. I'm glad I went; but I'm glad that this week I'll have the evenings at home :)

In other news: Term 3 is finished. I'm writing an essay on Israel and the other nations in the book of Deuteronomy (very interesting; should touch on stuff like genocide). And, if you haven't already seen it, you must check out the walking-video on Noah's blog.