to step outside a box and into the unpredictable streets of istanbul

so i'm back once again in the niverville action.

and it's awesome to say that this isn't a downer of a statement. my eastern european excursion was incredible and i would've loved to keep on treking (especially in turkey), and yet i was looking forward to being home, too. home hasn't dissappointed me either. i guess it's cool to see that though life is never perfect, there is hope to be content in ALL SITUATIONS.

like my trip, for instance. the enjoyable moments i had were all over the spectrum, and not reliant on my level of comfortability, or the amount of money that was being spent. not being able to eat was exciting (possibly due to lack of relevant currency, or food availability) just cuz it was so out of the norm. or eating cheap czech cornflakes, or eating fancy hungarian cuizine. i enjoyed a luxurious turkish bath, but equally enjoyed the experience of being stranded in some tiny greek-turkish border town while some non-english-speaking official with a gun had our passports and left for an hour to God-knows-where.

there is so much to enjoy in life if we're are willing to step outside our boxes of expectant comfortability. backpacking around the world has become so liberating for me once i was able to accept the possibility (or probability) of sleeping on the streets and the cheapest forms of transportation (like hitchhiking). i find the fear of not having a bed for the night plagues people's travels to an astonishing degree. or the fear of getting to a place and not knowing where to go.

a fond memory of my recent trip was arriving in istanbul at 3:30 am in a small bus-load of romanians and bulgarians (who couldn't speak english). despite the determined efforts of my travel companion, we were unable to secure a plan in advance for what to do upon arrival. so we were dropped off not knowing where we were in that large city...and without a map. i would've liked to tell you all that we slept on the streets of istanbul (i was leaning towards that), but we actually somehow found a bed on a rooftop for next to nothing. i'm not saying that i think everyone should sleep on streets in sketchy eastern european cities; but i am saying that i think we all need to step outside of boxes a little more, broaden our comfortabilies, so that was can experience more in our relationships, travels, past times, and faith.

so now back in niverville, and it's great. not perfect, but great. i love my friends and family (hopefully get to see more of them soon), and now i'm able to get back into playing music again. so...i hope you can all find contentment in whatever comes your way in life, though there will be pain to embrace and tears to shed, there's also laughter and love to be shared.

it's good to be home.

though sittin' in the sun in ancient greek ruins wasn't so bad either :)

i ám the dudapest

just chillin őút ín budápest, ít ís néat. évérything áround oúr hőstel is únder cőnstrúctíőn, wé wéré so búmméd, bút...just őútsíde őf thát ít gőt réálly béáútífúl. AND őúr hőstél is great..ít is cálléd thé gőát. í wőúld wríté mőre bút thís keyboárd is whack.

péácé

our goát hőstél

prague-ably the best place ever

Prague is so awesome. I've been to a good number of european cities, but none that have SO MUCH awesome old architecture. Anyway, I'm doing fine, and I hope you all are as well. Just ate some Chech goulash...good times. Also saw some rebellious monks get kicked out of an ancient cathedral. They were in the middle of some chant while being in some restricted zone (where I joined them), and security came to kick them out (I conveniently sneaked out) but they wouldn't leave in the middle of the chant. Things got ugly.
Peace out.

the life and times of a friesen

so....what's all happened since i posted last?

um...oh ya, i went to see steve and nikki in Hawaii!

came back to the ville to celebrate st. patty's and play some coffee house tunes!

then i left for a vancouver roadtrip with my bro scott to pick up steve and nikki, who arrived from hawaii.

came home and got ready to dance my ass off. we put together a community christian rave for the youth of niverville. booya!
and...now i'm leaving for eastern europe. me and my roommate matt are heading out in a few days!!! not sure exactly what's happening, but right now a friend of mine is cycling through poland to meet us in prague. we'll be in seach of the romanian dracula, turkish cave people, and the sort. so wish us luck and i'll update when i can (maybe when i get back?)

peace.

preparation's my middle name

so...me and my man josiah are playing a good ol' show tomorrow. it's for the kids. impoverished kids around the world. a benefit show for compassion canada...to be exact.

we practiced once or twice. we'll see how it goes. i also have a stupid cold. perfect timing. oh, and to make the timing even worse...i leave for hawaii in a few days. traveling with a cold..fun times. oh wait, did i say i'm going to hawaii? i guess that's pretty sweet. i just bought a ticket, to go see my bro and sis in law, and my man presley. but i've got NO plans as far as what i'm going to do once i get there.

good ol' mark preparation friesen.
wish me luck!

best picture ever

Nathan...when he was a young man in the 60's

about a certain lovely lady

so yesterday was a good and hard day; the celebration of the life of a certain lovely lady...my mother. it was her birthday, and she would have turned 56 if it had not been for that scallywag we call cancer. it's been six and a half years she's been gone. yikes.

so i'm just talking about her a bit cuz i like talking about her. i guess i'm pretty proud that she was my mom. what i would like to be doing with her right now is....dancing in the kitchen. this was her dancing hub, and i've come to realize that there's nothing like dancing in the kitchen. it's got a smooth floor, perfect for smooth movement, and one can accomplish many important and/or menial tasks whilst busting some sweet moves. one of her favorite musical groups to aid her in this endeavor was...SILVERWIND! i suggest you give 'em a listen if you don't know who they are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dUKOK_--8c

so yeah...i do miss her.
i wrote a song about her once, and made an attempt at recording (a feable attempt with feable recording equipment) so if anyone wants to brave a listen...be my guest! i posted it on our YFC myspace, cuz i don't know how to do it here :)

http://www.myspace.com/nivervilleyfc

the summer of chicken disguises

i helped with a kids camp last summer, and looking through the pictures i couldn't help but long for the summer days once again. even with all those crazy kids all day, i couldn't complain. i mean, they're friggen cute, too. and i'm not complaining right now with temperatures ABOVE ZERO!!! (the psychotic winds didn't even dampen my spirits). but i couldn't help but feel all warm inside from the thoughts of summer kids camp. i think one of these pictures made the carillon (if anyone noticed a chicken disguised man with a bunch of kids in the paper...that was me).

in the pic above, i'm beginning the week trying to figure out what i'm going to be doing with these kids

the girls seem content with a tea party

some of us dudes hit up the pool. rad times.

it was story time, and so we opted to do a crab walk to get to the story tent.

i think the story was robinhood, one of my all-time favorites.

yes...that's a chicken mask on my face.

chicken dancing.

you can still be manly and do art.

concrete games

some of the fine folk i worked with!

keep fit and have fun (how fun can it be if people keep having to tell you to have fun?)

i'm trying to get back into shape. uff. where was that body i had at 18...you know the one that ALL the girls talked about? now i'm old and my knees are buckling on me. and i have a weird patch of hair on my chest. but exercising is fun, i guess.

just thought i'd post that.

oh, and hip hop class is back in action...amazing. so stoked.

and sore.

let the music begin

so...as i've mentioned before, i stayed at kaeleb's horse ranch for the holidays. i was looking forward to this new experience and new method of celebrating christmas as if i were taking off on some cool trip. i guess a new way of celebrating christmas isn't that new to me anymore, this was my sixth one without my mom and none of them have had any similarity to the other. last year i was selling beer at a north end vendor. this year i shoveled horse poop on a secluded ranch.

anyway...what i was trying to say was that i was anticipating the solitude of the ranch, as it had been such a zany year leading up to the holiday. i was met with some expected uncomfortable social detox (my job is relationally intensive, not to mention a social hub of a home), but it was hardly a problem for me and the free time ahead of me was an exciting thing. sadly, and strangely this free time went by REALLY fast and got sucked up by other things more than i had anticipated. BUT... the time was very enjoyable nonetheless.

the hardest part of not having enough time was probably due to so much postponed relational time with God and His Word, and so much pent up musical creativity. i wrote a song quite quickly on my mandolin...about the beauty of being alone with God, the one who made the whole freakin universe. and how our western society can be so afraid of ourselves once we're alone...but that can be some of the most meaningful time with God! and music...oh music! what a wonderful creation...i love it. love it love it love it! i could spend eternity in a music room...playing, creating, singing, dancing and everything. so it was really cool that kaeleb so happened to have a music room. i wouldn't say it was the most all-encompassing music room, but one nonetheless.

i hope for more time to pour into this. the new year has seemed more promising for this availability, and THIS IS MY PASSION...so i better go ahead and do it. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...as the good book says.

let the music begin!

mandolining my song (it's called "tiktok")

kaeleb's sweet les paul guitar (i'd probably break it if i played it)

an organ that plays the same way you play an accordian (thankfully my pops plays accordian and i've been able to learn a few things)

guitarin' in the kitchin'

i am the dancing queen, young and sweet, only almost twenty-seven? yikes!

so me and my good buddy Josiah (a.k.a. Joshua, or Jiziah) just finished our first class of adult hip hop dance.
i'm not joking.
the fee for this class was redeemed in full before the first class even started, as we walked into the room and were met with immediate laughter, me and my short 70's basketball shorts and all. the first words uttered by our fellow participants were, "you're not serious?" a great big smile came on our faces.
"surprisingly" we were the only males.
"surprisingly" everyone else was a middle aged woman.
"surprisingly" this is where we are meant to be.
legitimately surprising was the level of physical exhertion required for hip hop. a couple times i screamed out in pain. i don't even want to know how sore i'll be tomorrow. but when life throws you lemons (minus 50 weather)...make lemonade (adult hip hop dance?).
amen.

a long time comin'

howdy.
i haven't posted for a long time, probably to no one's dismay...but i'll try and get back into the groove. fyi...i was away lots over the holidays, not far away, but in the country away from computers, emails and blogs. horses were my best friends. and horse-poo-eating dogs.