12 of 12 / adventures / life / social media

12 of 12 | february ’15

February 12, 2015February 16, 2015 • by kerri

I used to do this thing called 12 of 12, where a bunch of people took 12 pictures throughout the day. Well, when Chad (the guy who thought it up) stopped hosting the link roundup, it kind of—to my knowledge, at least—disappeared. The last 12 of 12 I did was August 2013.

A year and a half later… here goes! (It helps that I actually had an interesting day today. Such is the spend-most-of-my-time-at-home life…)

12:03 am | kitchen.
We had our kitchen redone earlier this week. This has resulted in my inability to reach many cupboards.

2:47 pm | kitchen.
Yesterday I realized that my networking cards have my old Twitter handle on them. I went to a tweetup this evening, and tried to get the same-day type from Stapes, except I can’t find my Visa card so I missed the noon order deadline because the Visa Vanilla website wasn’t allowing me to set up my gift card, and RBC told me my Visa Debit card was too old to activate. So I did not get new networking cards in time.
[With that said, also, no cards were exchanged: it was all about the tweetup.]

5:02 pm | bus.
Moovit is the greatest app to ever happen to transit.

5:35 pm | CBC Manitoba.
Marcy kicks off the #CBCTweetUpMB event.

5:44 pm | CBC Manitoba.
I met up with Alyson before heading to CBC.
She did a pre-weather selfie with John Sauder from CBC, on the air.

5:56 pm | CBC Manitoba.
Cakeology + CBC Tweetup cupcakes and cake balls?
Yes, please.

6:33 pm | CBC Manitoba.
Touring CBC Manitoba. This is what the union of radio and TV looks like.

6:44 pm | CBC Manitoba.
And now for Kyra with the weather.

6:47 pm | CBC Manitoba.
Oh, no big deal, I’m just in the weather, guys.

6:56 pm | CBC Manitoba.
This is so all the animators and graphic designers and people can stay/get creative.
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR TO THE RESCUE!

6:57 pm | CBC Manitoba.
Somewhat amusingly, the last picture I took inside CBC today was the welcome sign.

7:59 pm | Sobeys.
And… the last picture for the day…
MOON CHEESE? Like… dehydrated cheese.
Thanks but no thanks, (not-)NASA.

I’ll be sharing more pictures from the CBC Tweetup soon […or so I say, this is what happens, okay?], but visit the #CBCTweetUpMB Storify, or check the hashtag on Twitter and Instagram for more!

(I’m not smart enough to figure out how to link to a hashtag on Instagram… I hope this is actually difficult…)

And… hopefully I’ll get another 12 on 03/12/15!

life / quantified self / quantify this / wellness

quantify this thursday: fitbit one vs. pebble + misfit

February 5, 2015February 6, 2015 • by kerri

I’ve been using the Fitbit for several years now, but when I got my Pebble, I threw the Misfit app on there to see how it fared (the Pebble can’t use more than one activity tracker at a time, or I can guarantee you I’d have tried something else on there to see if it trended similarly to Misfit!)

Now, yes, clearly I like that my step count for the month on Fitbit (5.19K) is 29% higher (if I did that math right, yes sometimes I struggle to use a calculator) than that on Misfit (3.67K)–152,000 steps is kind of a lot (some of which potentially accounted for within the five days that the Misfit/Pebble combo just apparently mostly gave up, and then slowly rose back to life? Note that I’ve definitely worn my Pebble every day since getting it, so it’ not like I left it laying on the bathroom counter to not count anything for a day while my Fitbit did stuff.

It’s important to note, though, that at some point I did realize there was a setting on the Misfit app to specify where you’re wearing the device. Not, however, that it became any closer to the Fitbit numbers. What’s more accurate? Well, nothing will say for sure, but a quick google lead me to Neil at Spoken Like a Geek, who noted:

I ran a small test where I recorded the step count on both devices before taking 130 steps and the recording the counts again. [… I]n this very unscientific test the Fitbit was spot on and the Pebble [was] out by a factor of 35%.

And, note that I had no idea that Neil had run this similar comparison–his trend line is a lot smoother/has a bit more predictable of a flow than mine has. EDIT: Note that Neil was using the Fitbit Flex, thus both trackers were wrist worn. I keep my Pebble on my left wrist, and my Fitbit One on my right hip (pocket), which could account for some variance. I’ll probably run this experiment again (when I don’t have a significant gap of data), and I’d also like to add a third set of data for the steps collected directly from the iPhone (…and be very intentional about keeping my phone on me for the duration of the experiment, because today for example, I had a phone call vibe-ing away on my Pebble and I could not remember where my phone was.)

Additionally, this proves I need to move a lot more. I did try the standing desk thing the other day for a bit, but given that I was using some folding stool from IKEA with my MacBook, it was not a super ergonomic setup [which is my general experience at these things given that I am 5’2″ and thus even when I eventually attempt to build a less makeshift standing desk, the instructions for people who are 6’+ are less than helpful and I am, as we discovered above, not good at math and 5’2″. At the very least, if I’m already standing I’m just more prone to wandering a bit more or breaking out into dance on occasion–the effect on my productivity will be questionable, however.

life / music

be still: end january.

February 2, 2015 • by kerri

the hardest thing is a rendering, a moment moving too fast too endure
would you abide and smile wide, because i want to remember this for sure.
[…] our pictures say with sight what we can’t say with words,
[…] a picture will survive, so smile and look alive,
a camera lens is opening, a wider angle’s yours.

look alive, incubus.

saturday [january 24].

free concert? in a library?
(William Prince, Cassidy Mann, Don Amero)

including this guy—Will—two days back from China?!

yes please!

sunday.

monday.

imagine my surprise when I looked down to what i thought was a raquetball court,
but instead has been morphed into the basketball hall of fame
including a ladder.

tuesday.

wednesday.

pebble was all explode-y when i did two twitter chats simultaneously.
[is the correct term tweet chats? if so, i hate that and refuse.]#BellLetsTalk

this sign has been here forever. it has been back to school season for a looooong time, my friends.

thursday.

check out my friend Darren’s bass videos yet?

sometimes Bryan and i then eat snacks on buses.

then go bake cinnamon swirl loaf with my grandma

bryan’s wrist is quite a right angle…

friday.

wesmen win!

saturday.

now on the pharmacare formulary—concerta.
thank god because, you know, that target thing.

sunday.

(begin february.)

cauliflower crust pizza. yes.
despite that my kitchen is a demolition zone.

faith / health + fitness / health advocacy / life / stories from the past / wellness

stories from the past: faith, mental health, hope and being alive | #BellLetsTalk

January 28, 2015 • by kerri

when i said good morning, i was lying
i was truly thinking of how i might quit waking up
He pointed out how selfish it would be to kill myself
so i keep waking up.
[…] You grip my wrists,
i let go.

—much like falling, flyleaf

This past week, a few things have happened.

1) Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day to bring stories of mental health to the forefront and decrease stigma around mental health issues until we end them. This post is being triggered by #BellLetsTalk, but it’s a story I would have told this week anyways.
2) I hung out with Richard, a conversation which brought forth a lot of reflections on my own faith story.
3) I read The Reason: How I Discovered a Life Worth Living by Lacey Sturm. It made me think, a lot, and reflect on a lot of my own testimony and beliefs.
4) The previous two points, and other conversations throughout the week, prompted me to start taking a look at the Bible again—something I have not done in over a year.

What do these things have in common? Everything.

The summer of ’05 was probably the worst time of my life. For a host of reasons, I was constantly in a state of emotional shakiness—and then, depression and numbness. I was fourteen. I spent a week at a Bible camp after declaring myself an atheist a few months earlier. I resented slowing down each day during cabin time/bible exploration. I sang during worship each night—sometimes—but mostly just enjoyed the music while blocking the words out. I didn’t need God, because God did not exist to me. I struggled the rest of the summer—I contemplated ending my life, but I wasn’t yet at the dangerous step of contemplating how.

A month later, I couldn’t run anymore. I still didn’t even really believe in God, yet I threw myself at Him saying “If You’re real, please show me what to do.”

Around 10:30 PM on September 7th, 2005, I changed. I changed in the fact that I no longer wanted to stop being here.

seven years.

Still doubting—He made me believe.

Yet He loves me despite it all. He loves me enough that He opened my heart that September day in 2005 by telling me that I didn’t have to end my story then and there. That He alone could get me through everything I was facing–lighten my darkness, take the depression, and heal my grandma of the cancer that invaded her for a few more years.

I’m living a life that six years ago I’d have never dreamed. I’ve had amazing ups, and I’ve had huge downs. I’ve learned, I’ve grown, I’ve danced, I’ve cried. I’ve reached my arms to the sky in worship and fallen to my knees in desperation.

I’ve created new chapters of the same story that God is writing.

I am ALIVE.

six years.

Did I have clinical depression? At that point, I don’t think so.

Would I have gotten to that point? I don’t doubt it.

Mental health issues need to be treated in partnership with someone who is adequately trained to address them. Medication is not the only solution: but not talking about what you are facing is never a solution. I dodged a bullet: just because I began to believe Jesus, believe in His healing, though, does not at all mean that I should have continued without a support system around me.

Even though I didn’t know it then, I have ADHD: 20 to 30% of people with ADHD will experience depression or anxiety alongside their attention problems. After starting ADHD medication, my psychiatrist noted that I seemed to be less anxious—I didn’t think I was anxious (I’ve experienced that alongside a very mild case of disordered eating when I was sixteen, and this was not at all like that), but she continued on to note that it was likely the ADHD symptoms creating the now less-present anxiety. I do not at all doubt, or disagree with, this.

For me, these things all go hand in hand. My life, my faith, my mental health—my story. The person I am today is different because of all of the above—yet, I would not want to be the person who I’d be without facing my past.

Rock version or acoustic, the words in the two versions of Red Sam below are pretty much the same—the message definitely is. My story is a lot like Lacey Sturm’s. I have a post coming up on worship (soon!) and these both exemplify so, so strongly the way I respond during worship

I’m still alive. The world needs YOU to continue your story, too.

Stay. Be here. There is HOPE in finding help. (usa)

here i stand
empty hands
wishing my wrists were bleeding
to stop the pain from the beatings
there You stood holding me
waiting for me to notice You

but who are You?

You are the Truth
outscreaming these lies.
You are the Truth
saving my life.

the warmth of Your embrace
warms my frostbitten spirit
You speak the Truth and i hear it
the words are
“i love You,
and i have to believe in You.”

my hands are open,
and You are filling them
hands in the air
in the air, in the air, in the air.
and i worship
and i worship
and i worship
(Jesus)

red sam, flyleaf.

faith / life / music

questions: part one – on stories.

January 24, 2015January 24, 2015 • by kerri

i won’t be satisfied with okay
and I can’t be okay with alright
so point me to the edge of life,
i’ll stand up on my toes
stretch my fingers out to there
and bring it back here.

because it’s too important,
for us to forget
we’ll unify our thoughts,
God will hear and save
God will hear and save us.

all together standing up on our toe[s],
we’re reaching for a freedom that they don’t know
so catch it as it pours out, we know what we need
don’t get tired when you’re running back to show them.

–okay, flyleaf

My friend Chris often posts pictures of “how might we” questions he has written down in a notebook—a practice I emulated last week, and used to prepare for my conversation with Richard on Thursday.

I didn’t reference the notes once—I didn’t need to. While we weren’t too sure of where we were going—and found ourselves in many different directions!—Richard, more concise than myself, was able to summarize our varied of conversation in a single tweet.

@kerriYWG It was indeed grand to discuss #worship, #power, #uccan & #socialmedia to name just a few highlights 🙂

— Winnipeg Presbytery (@wpgpres) January 22, 2015

how might we: encourage / move / allow story / gradually / better / encourage / become / embrace / bridge / explore / transcend. While writing this, I fired down a string of questions into a black Moleskine, attempting to pare down the 835+ words that have been strewn about thus far.

encourage.
move.
better.
become.
embrace.
bridge.
explore.

question.

The most dangerous phrase in the English language is, “We’ve always done it this way.”

—Grace Murray Hopper

I question everything. I kind of think that refusing to question everything means that we become, and remain, stuck—we do not grow, and thus, we do not change.

How might we encourage change? and at that, the type of change to build connection through story—to build community through connection. To encourage the asking of questions rather than the acceptance of the familiar.

i won’t be satisfied with okay / and i can’t be okay with alright.

During our conversation, Richard noted that many people don’t know what their story is.

How much do we know our ambition, our purpose, our goals, if we don’t know our own stories? The stories we are creating, writing, LIVING, every single day.

Knowing our stories though, like living them, doesn’t come passively, or with passivity—it comes with being fully alive in them, and in sharing them. How much are we living passively because we don’t have enough opportunities to share our stories with our communities? And if we do, what are the barriers to sharing? Do we, perhaps, as a society, feel as if we cannot open up enough to ask questions of our own beliefs, experiences, our stories, by intentionally communicating these things with others?

We talk with one another every day–do we really engage, or do we just talk? Are we really having a conversation, or are we sidestepping the brokenness right in front of us? Are we swerving around the questioning, the longing, the creating, the uncomfortable, the fucked up? (Are we using this agility to deke around that fucked up even exists?) That problems exist right in front of us, even if they are separate from the base of Maslow’s pyramid? That no problem, no experience, no struggle or triumph, is greater or lesser than another?

it was a beautiful letdown when You found me here,
yeah for once in a rare blue moon, i see everything here,

i’ll be a beautiful letdown, that’s what i’ll forever be
and though it may cost my soul, i’ll sing for free.[…] i don’t belong here, feels like i don’t belong here.
i will carry a cross and a song where i don’t belong […]
we a beautiful letdown, painfully uncool,
the church of the losers, the dropouts, the sinners, the failures, and the fools.
what a beautiful letdown—are we salt in the wound?
let us sing one true tune.

–the beautiful letdown, switchfoot.

the church of the losers, the dropouts, the sinners, the failures, and the fools is where i want to belong. Messing up means we tried.

In the context of faith: Do we worship in this same way? One-sidedly? Aiming for perfection that doesn’t exist—and doesn’t matter? In the church, or in any community, do we have—or how can we facilitate—a conversation around story?

Around sharing our experiences, our downfalls, with freedom from fear.

The stories that make us the people we are.

I got on the bus and put my earphones in—my iPhone shuffled to Okay, above. I repeated it five times.

‘cause it’s too important for us to forget
[…] so catch it as it pours out,
we know what we need,
don’t get tired when you’re running back to show them.

So, let’s start here in the comments, or e-mail me—

Kerri on the Prairies

Seeing life differently.

life

quantify this thursday: fitbit one vs. pebble + misfit

be still: end january.

stories from the past: faith, mental health, hope and being alive | #BellLetsTalk

questions: part one – on stories.

what’s your story?

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what’s your story?

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