ramblings

a child in science

by kapn
2016 March 222019 January 3

I am an oldest child and was a peaceful baby who slept when I wasn’t eating. This left my mother unprepared for my future self or for my brother who left her sleepless.

My first experiments were in physics. They began at the age of a year and a half, learning to build potential energy by climbing the refrigerator. At two, I slipped away from my nap to play with gravity and friction on the slide two blocks away. The neighbours were very surprised to see me.

Happy Solstice to all

by kapn
2015 December 212019 January 9

Almost every culture and religion celebrates the solstice in one way or another, whether on the day or very close to it. Even for those whose cultural ties are weak and religious ties may be non-existant, the turning of the year is an undeniable and astronomic event which offers all of us a chance to pause and reflect on the good things and the hard things in our lives. The Winter solstice marks a move from darkness to light and gives hope at the same time as we remember that we are entering into the coldest part of the year.

by kapn
2015 December 18

Waiting. It can be a chosen tool of acceptance. It can be a way of building excitement. It can be a strategic position. Or it may be a grim necessity.

Telling someone else to wait can be a tool of control—demonstrating your power over another. It may be just gentle teasing. Or it may simply be a plea for patience.

Preparing. There is some common ground with waiting, but it is a position of action, of agency. This is not resignation, or simple hope that we will receive what we most desire. Preparation is about engagement. It is about creating possibility. It is a process of both action and openness.Read More »Coming into being — An Athiest in Advent

Disrupting Empire

by kapn
2015 March 292019 January 3

This is a sermon I preached at my home congregation of Holy Trinity back in March. Although I tend to identify as an athiest these… Read More »Disrupting Empire

collective responsibility to the poor

by kapn
2014 December 62019 January 3

I was shocked to hear the premier promoting support of the food bank on CBC this morning. Our collective responsibility to each other should be… Read More »collective responsibility to the poor

Taggers are thieves, not artists

by kapn
2014 March 32023 January 3

Some people like to imagine that taggers are artists or are somehow simply protesting “The Man”. Horseshit. I’ve made my share of art and been part of more than a few protests. Ai Weiwei may have defaced historic Chinese vases with paint, but they were his. He didn’t go to another artist’s studio and steal or vandalize their work.

by kapn
2014 January 102023 January 3

I have been disabled for four weeks. I was hit hard by the flu and a series of opportunistic infections that followed it. This is likely a temporary situation, but one that has made me reflect on my life, and how I attach value to it.

My disability is minor compared to the challenges of some friends and acquaintances, but the reality of it has been sobering for me. I am not able to do any serious physical tasks. Sweeping and washing the kitchen floor wore me out for the day. I am bored in ways I am unused to. My house is a mess that I don’t like. Most of the things I do for fun or money, I can’t do. These things have defined my image of myself. I have had to rethink that. Age and a supportive family have made it easier to adjust, but it has not been fun.

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