If you don’t live in any of the 4 countries Pokemon Go had first been released in, you’d probably have been wondering about all that hype. Well, if not for the businesses pulling the rest of us disinterested parties forever the other way away from that happy inertia, and the inevitable bias I have towards the lesser chosen paths (…or activities in this case), I would never have known. This is how it works, Google Maps. Wherever there’s people, there would be a higher chance of pokemon (these somewhat, cuter, stunted creatures – or as translated from its original japanese linguistic roots, monsters. Okay, fellow Christians, hold your horses, context please… in darkness there is …light!) So yea, you’re the ‘hero’, you go ghost/mon-busting and then you go a-fighting/training in these ‘gyms’. Basically businesses tap in on the basic algorithmic patterns of the game, so their businesses continue to attract happy s*ckers (as us) to go, and exponentially continue to do so. So, if not for the honesty of Nintendo Games reminding the public they don’t own Pokemon, their shares wouldn’t have dropped 17%… For that, i may consider picking up a Super Mario Nintendo for old times’ sake, and y’know, good on ya for being honest.
If you’d tried it, you could understand the hype, but at the same time, completely aware of how it really is a massive collusion (mindfully or innocently) with battery-pack companies, data companies and anything commercial you can think of (since they can now buy a beacon to ‘lure’ pokemons – to lure the players – to lure you to whatever causes you to pay), you may not wanna declare yourself a s*cker and wait around to be s*cked dry. So yes please don’t be one. Exercise some discernment. I do enjoy it when I have extra data to be wasted, and my husband happens to be in a ‘catchy’ mood.
For the record, i love my teas. It’s no secret. In fact, while i type, i’m enjoying one at such a business offering an ‘upsize’ if you play Pokemon Go. I only downloaded it in the beginning to enjoy the benefits of it, and to be honest, i could hardly be contributing to the math behind the game (as according to the formulae built into the game), since i don’t even use my mobile data when I’m in the cafe. It’s my ‘quiet’ time, for me to write, to friends, and an occasional update as this when things are less crazy. And with that the local internet which bans the Pokemon Go game (sensibly) is what enables me to separate the two.
I love how God is everywhere. The Creator exercising His creativity, while others only copy. And we watch, standing boldly, unafraid, and He shows up whenever, to shed Light on things that have no answer except that which is in between. His love cannot be contained. I am not a Universalist, I am a follower of Jesus. But I know He wants me to do one thing, love all. Even when i can’t, I can, through Him. I don’t believe in hippie flowers, happy days everyday, the lah-lah land. But I believe the good in things because He lives in me, and when I call so, in His name according to His Kingdom’s riches, I know He provides. On my instagram profile, i had deliberately put it this way…. ” ‘the world through my eyes is violent; like leaves trembling in the wind – and I pray, moved into an old new song’ “ I can see why people will think of my heart as literally being violent, and it is, but only violently for His people, for Him. The frailty of one leaf blowing in the wind is violent and bold to me, but to the world, forgotten, shuffles in a romantic move. But with all vulnerability it sits on a branch, and allows the wind, to lead it into a dance of various rhythms. Isn’t it beautiful, isn’t it courageous? Isn’t it honest? Isn’t it freedom? What new songs do I write, except those I wrote with Him? And then, inspired by many, wasn’t it old, and isn’t it then, new?
But not many see what i mean. People think I’m cryptic. I think i’m walking poetry. That’s how i think. That’s how i’m made.
Winter’s tail end is here my dears. The birds persistently wake us up at 6am these days. Some days with squawks. Some days with the clarity of a blue sky that I already saw in my mind’s eye before the blinds were drawn. This early morning, a little too early before the cafe opens, i picked up the local paper ‘The Gazette’. The people of Lathlain, a neighbouring suburb are protesting the taking down of 98 trees for the proposed building of 2 ovals for the local games. A huge picture of a smiling colourful group of neighbours below the article. Another page on the Avon Descent Family Day, a festival by the river with family games, and community stalls. Yet another reminding us that Homelessness Week (organised by Shelter WA) is the first week of August, and that we can donate Sox ‘n Jox to the homeless. An article on how a Curtin film student featured a homeless man who lost his job 4 years ago because he needed 3 months off to recover from a heart surgery. The company fired him when they found out. He has been on the streets ever since. It’s so easy for us to turn away from someone, but the winters here get bitter and wet. Enough of the long talks and the doing-nothings, enough of the justifications and begin the prayers, healing and blessings. These are wonderful daily reminders for myself. Blessed to be a blessing. That is why I gave it all to be here. The opportunities to be such a blessing come when you are IN the Marketplace.
Peachy Music Lab will be up soon. We will also be offering vocal sessions, ukulele and bass guitar sessions for the locals here.
We feel so blessed to be in this wonderful suburb. Oh another piece of good news! We will be taking up a plot of community garden to grow our own food! More updates soon.
xx
J
