Ryan J. Allen » love

You Always Want What You Don’t Have

Ryan J. Allen — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:17:10 +0000

I am going to be honest with you: I am feeling a heavy balance between being happy to be here in Germany, and being excited about returning to Canada. What I mean is, rather than living in today my mind is thinking about the future. Given the option of going back to Canada today, I just might go.

But it is, as I said, a balance; I am really excited about a lot of stuff I have planned in the next 3 months. While I’m sure I could fill the days in Ottawa as easily as I can fill the days here, there isn’t a lot that I feel like I’m missing. This leads me to believe that it isn’t necessarily that I want to be in Canada now, but rather I am excited about everything that will be going on after I return in October.

This week Adam and I are signing up for a fall semester class at uOttawa, and I am unimaginably excited about this. I am sure that anyone who has ever taken a year off of school knows how exhilarating it is to get back to it. I’m so excited that I am thinking about signing up for a second class, even though I will miss the first month of lectures.

The Yo-Yo Ma gig is pretty exciting, too. It’s even more exciting after having paid the VISA bill that resulted from the purchase of those tickets. I believe the plan is to go for a delicious meal beforehand which will, undoubtedly, renew the VISA bill uneasiness.

Returning to regular church service will be great. At Parkdale the Sunday School often focused on the Old Testament, because many worship services discussed the New Testament. I miss both, and the singing.

I think even shopping at the Superstore, getting my hair cut at W, and riding the bus around the city will be awesome. Of course, in four months time I’ll be missing things like this about Germany, but one never appreciates what one has until its gone.

Maybe I’ll also look forward to seeing some people? Yeah, probably.

(No title)

Ryan J. Allen — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:08:54 +0000

And the thing is, a million people could read it but only one person would understand it.

The Food Bank

Ryan J. Allen — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:45:05 +0000

Ladies and Gentlemen, please let me take a minute to write to you about the Food Bank.

The food bank helps people–families; children–get basic food supplies in the case of emergency and desperate need. In Ottawa thousands of people rely on the food bank every month, and in your local city I’m sure the food bank has an equally important impact. With the food bank your donation dollars are spread further than your donation amount through the power of purchasing and the generosity of the community.

This morning a co-worker of mine in Ottawa e-mailed to indicate that he is a member of the “Heroes Fighting Hunger” campaign. I think that is admirable, but I think it most importantly reminds us of an important cause. I donated to his campaign, but today I ask that you make a general donation or find your own Hero to donate to. You can find a list of heroes online, or make a general donation at the Ottawa Food Bank website.

I have been blessed to have never before needed the services of the food bank. If the same is true for you I would suggest that is even more reason for you to donate. If you have been helped by the food bank in the past and are now in a position to help: please think about the impact the food bank made on your life at the time and contribute to make that same impact on someone else’s life.

I know that I have readers from various cities, provinces, and countries. I welcome you to make a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank but encourage you to donate locally. Here are a few links:

Thank you for your generosity.

Update: A receipt will be provided instantly via e-mail for donations of $10 and more to the Ottawa food bank.

The Collection

Ryan J. Allen — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 07:34:01 +0000

Inexplicably, I am feeling very tired this morning.

Completely explicably, I have nothing for breakfast and I have to drive to work this morning (versus taking the tram). I have something like 6 Euros in my wallet and my tram pass has expired. Said pass is €44.50 monthly for the “zwei waben” pass that I buy.

Tomorrow I am travelling to München so I will delay buying said pass until Wednesday. It’s a there-and-back trip tomorrow, which should be exhausting and will mean for an early morning start.

It is exciting to me to think that perhaps by the time my next tram pass expires I may be able to comfortably bicycle to work. Certainly I will be approaching the time when I would get the motorcycle out were I in Canada.

I watched the Daytona 500 last night and it was awesome. Jeff Gordon’s car had a camber issue which prevented him from taking the win, but it didn’t stop him from trying. Kenseth won; good for him.

Each work day I look forward to my friends joining me online at approximately 3 p.m. local time as they start arriving to work. Today is Family Day in Ontario, which should affect that schedule, and their continued availability. I am sure I will get through the day just fine, though it is truly something for me to look forward to.

I am quite pleased still to have the debts from my Canadian visit taken care of, though I am slightly anxious about the costs that I have already incurred for the upcoming European tour with Katy. Even though the costs are extremely reasonable. For about $265 I have: a flight to London, high-speed train to Paris, high-speed train to Karlsruhe, and 2.5 nights in a hostel(!) paid for. In all, I think this is quite amazing but the slight anxiety I have about it is evidence as to why I don’t travel much.

I watched 3.5 movies this weekend and will likely finish the .5 (Choke) tonight. The three I completed included a funny-enough comedy that turned into a bit of a love-story that may or may not have had a very sweet ending.

I attended a Wii party this weekend where I sang along to some Rock Band songs. I scored 100% singing Blink 182’s “All the Small Things” because of my natural talents. Attendees included both a goth and a ginger amongst the rest of us normals.

I ate some “frikadellen” this weekend.

“Say it ain’t so, I will not go, turn the lights off, carry me home.”

A Hallmark E-Card From Ryan J. Allen

Ryan J. Allen — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:00:52 +0000