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Sunday, November 12th, 2006
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8:14 pm - Don't Talk to Me
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| Wednesday, July 5th, 2006
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10:50 pm - Zee Blues
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Zee Blues
Well, my music teacher found out that I like playing the blues, and that I like to improv. So now my assignment is the 12 bar blues.
It's fun...but oh so hard...I love the improv, but figuring out the chords and the progression is killing me...but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it (in other words...the noose descends...)
I'm surrounded by chord sheets, sheet music, and various other odds and ends, reading a bit, and then running over and trying it on the piano, and then reading some more...and wondering how I talked myself into this...
Oh, well...I think the effort will be worth it. I love jazz and the blues and all that jazz, so...
The Random Thoughts You Really Didn't Want to Know
If you're driving on a rough road and hit bottom hard enough, you can puncture the tranmission plate, which in turns frees the transmission fluid to escape into the big bad world, and leaves you twenty minutes later with a strangely unresponsive transmission and no go. (how would I know? Please don't ask... )
Relationships aren't always easy, and sometimes you get hurt, but in the end, they're worth it.
Is it possible to live without music? Possible, perhaps, but definitely less enjoyable.
The simplest things in life are often the most enjoyable...an easy chair to curl up in, a book, music, a walk with nature, a hammock in the shade, and a glass of unsweetened iced tea.
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| Monday, July 3rd, 2006
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10:49 pm - Life in the Underground
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Life in the Underground
Just got back Sunday from a three day caving trip. But this wasn't just the ordinary grab-your-lights-and-let's-go kind of caving trip.
Instead, we were lugging in sound, video, and lighting equipment for movie production.
Some friends of ours were wanting to produce a movie for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, and now our caving group is working on producing a movie.
On this trip, Tim and I were running sound. We're recording most of the sound in either in stereo, or with a shotgun mic for dialogue plus another mic for ambience.
I quickly found out that it can be challenging to hold a boom with the shotgun mic on the end of it close to the actors, without getting into the frame, especially in the confined spaces of the cave. Quite tiring, too, to hold a boom pole out over your head for the entire length of a scene.
But then, when we were watching some of the unedited footage, we noticed what appeared to be a formation at first, but on closer examination, turned out to be me.
So much for staying out of the frame...
Unrandomness of the Day
Playing blues on the piano is actually rather fun and addicting at the same time.
Hot cocoa is just as good in the summer as the winter.
Ice cream is just as good in the winter as the summer.
Chocolate tastes good all year long.
If you walk until you're worn out, even running feels good as a change.
Taking pictures is cool if you have a nice SLR (?) camera with auto-focus and auto-stabilization. Makes me wish I could afford one.
If you're going to just camp for one night, and then pack up early the next morning, it's sure as shooting that it's either going to rain or dew so you have to pack a wet tent.
It seems to be the strange nature of humans to be either hopelessly silly or absurdly serious, and the two always seem to be banging heads in tradional Chinese fashion. If you're feeling goofy, you can bet that somebody somewhere is going to be uptight and complain that you're never serious, while when you're serious, you've got a bunch of silly people telling you to loosen up and be real.
Interesting situations can arise if you refuse to call yourself conservative or liberal, no matter whether you're talking politics or beliefs or both.
It's interesting observing the reactions of people upon taking them into the depths of a cave and turning out all the lights. If that doesn't produce a satisfactory reaction, casually mentioning the tons of rock over their heads, and the possible effects of an earthquake might possibly suffice.
If all else fails, trying strategically placing someone at a distance prior to the lights-out time, and then with the exquisite timing of darkness, they can begin making some scary noises--perhaps proceeded by a casual observation about animal life in caves.
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| Monday, June 26th, 2006
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10:48 pm - Life in the computer world...
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Friends
Friday night, we went over to a friend's house for a get together. One of my friends just got married six months ago, and he and his wife came down from Ohio to get together with us Missouri folk. It was the first time I'd seen their family all together in six or seven years, so it was pretty cool.
Computer/Laptop
Hmm...as you probably don't know, my laptop broke a few weeks ago, and I finally figured out that it's the hard drive controller, after I bought another hard drive.
I was bidding on some laptops on eBay, but so far, no luck. I’m hoping to get a lot of laptops or something so I can keep one and sell the other two to hopefully recoup my costs. I was looking at some laptops that are missing hard drives and ac adapters, but I got outbid.
This is actually something I'm considering making a business out of. I'm a bit of a computer geek, and I have two old laptops that people gave up on, but I got running again...my little brothers love their high-technology world...
Another computer issue we had recently was our ICS network kept flickering on and off, and finally went down, so we only had one internet computer. (the story is that we have one computer hooked up to the satellite, and then we network the computers together to share the internet connection...known as ICS)
It's miserable sharing a computer...
But this morning, I got the network up and running smoothly, after installing a new network adapter on our server computer and hooking up a high-capacity router (currently we have three desktops and one laptop hooked up...and if my laptop thing pans out, we might have a few more laptops floating around the house.)
Music
Hmm...I've been playing about an hour or so on the piano every day, and finding that I actually like it more than I thought, and that I'm better at it than I thought, though not anywhere near as good as I hoped.
As far as singing goes...I need to pick a song to pick for my next lesson...I'm such a procrastinator...I think I might have a song now... "Be Glorified" by Tim Hughes...now I need to go practice it.
rAdomIty oF tHe DaY
If your brain is fried at 11pm, and you turn away hard questions from friends, saying you'll think about it in the morning, your brain will wake up at 2:30am and insist on solving the question, and you'll have to turn the light on and scribble the answer down on a piece of paper so you won't forget.
Then you turn out the light and close your eyes, but your brain won't shut up for the rest of the night.
If you leave a pot of water on the stove to boil and forget about it...the water WILL eventually boil off and leave some ghastly deposits...
If someone else is on your computer, and it crashes, it's their fault, but if you're on the computer, and it crashes, it's the computer's fault.
Being efficient and getting things done on the web is like the ever elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
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| Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
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10:46 pm - back from music lesson...
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I'm back from me first moosic lessons.
I didn't think I had learned anything at first (since it was just an evaluation lesson to find out what I was capable of), but upon further reflection, I think I did. My music teacher appears to have a pragmatic view of music...do what works...so I was saying how I have trouble reading music and so I learn the piece and then play it by ear, and he said, "So, what?"
My conclusion? Yeah, I'm going to have to learn to read music, but what's most important is being able to play well (the piano, that is...I don't play my voice...)...and actually, my teacher said that he'd want to help me get better at playing by ear...
As far as my voice, well...he said I had good basic technique, (whew! ), so pretty much it's going to be more coaching than lessons. (whoopie! )
The downside? He says he likes to enter his students into competitions...
Okay...so maybe that isn't a downside, but it will definitely be an...experience. Something I haven't done before. Hopefully it will be fun and stretching at the same time.
And after all, the point is to minister to other people, so if that's being accomplished, then my efforts will not be in vain.
And this guy has a goofy sense of humor...I fit right in...
As you can probably tell, I'm in a chipper mood right now, and kind of happy about the whole thing.
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10:44 pm - Music Lessons...
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Music Lessons:
Today, at long last, I begin taking voice/piano lessons. I've been singing in private for um...many years...first time I sang in public was when I was 12 or 13...haha...sang "Oh, My Darling Clementine" in a slightly wavering tenor that boomed through the whole room...
Hmm...I even wrote up a thing on it after the fact...maybe I'll paste it here, to give you a glimpse into me as as young teen:
“Oh my darlin’ oh my darlin’, oh my darlin’ Clementine! You were lost and gone forever, oh my darlin’ Clementine,” we sang together.
Our church was holding a retreat with a talent show in the evening (with no "winner"(unfortunately)). My siblings and I racked our minds for something to do. They said, “Sing ‘Oh my Darlin’ Clementine’!” I reluctantly agreed. I practiced with a quaking heart.
The day arrived. With trepidation in my heart, we set out for the retreat. I was asked the fatal question, “Are you gonna do it?” I replied, “I guess so.” They marked my name down on the list of performers. With clammy hands and pounding heart, I numbly joined the games.
Half-an-hour before the show was to begin, I went to practice. My sister hit the first note. I started out, falteringly at first, then growing more bold. "Louder, louder!” my brother said. I increased the volume. I finished the verse, and then paused. The band practicing just across the stage seemed to be having trouble hearing themselves.
“I think we’d better go outside to practice,” my sister said, leading the way. I sang the rest of the song, filling the green valley with my voice.
The starting bell rang. I shuffled inside, after getting a cup of water. My knees shook as I walked to my seat--in the front, naturally. I sat down and put my cup on a table in front of me. I wasn’t first, and boy, was I glad of that! I reached for my cup, and knocked it over in my nervousness. I quickly got paper towels and cleaned it up.
As I sat down again, my name was called. With clammy hands and knocking knees, I shuffled onto the stage. I looked over the hall filled with people, and my heart nearly gave out at the sight (it was about 150 people). My sister hit the first note. Taking a breath of desperation, I sang, “In a cavern, in a canyon…” I was shaking as I beat time with my foot. I finished the song, as it seemed, hours later. The hall rang with applause as I bowed, then walked off the stage.
When the show was finished and we were walking out, a friend joked, “You ought to sing opera!”
Now, I often sing solos at our church. Next? Maybe a CD.
As you can tell, I had a few aspirations growing up... (and I'm happy to say that both my writing skills and vocal abilities have increased since then...)
So I've sang off and on in church choirs, a worship team, and some solos and the occasional duet.
That's why I'm a bit excited to go take voice lessons and see how much better my voice will get. Will I be the next Josh Groban? Um...sorry to disappoint you, but no.
Random Thoughts:
Drinking orange juice while chatting with goofy friends can be a choking experience.
What's worse than a choking experience is when you spit it out instead of inhaling it.
orange juice + keyboard = ick.
The only thing worse than a broken back is a back outta whack.
The only problem with social events is all those people.
When the Postmaster changes your address because of all the new people moving into your area, you've got two problems. One: you have to figure out how many people you need to tell that you have a new address...and then tell them (why does the IRS need to know?)...and Two: you have to figure out how to get rid of the new people. I've given up on One. I'm workin' on Two.
Should Be Seen On T-shirts:
"Fish: Food for Thought"
"I Don't Believe in Atheists"
"Not Just Another Frog"
Can You Read This?
If not, ask me for our
free literacy brochure.
[underwritten by the
American Literacy Program]
Division:
"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against the mother in law."
Luke 12:51-53
That's a passage that stops me every time I read it. What does it mean? How does it apply? Is this a good thing or not?
And my answer? I don't know.
The grace, love, and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you forever.
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| Sunday, June 18th, 2006
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10:41 pm - Walking Up Hills...Running Down Communication
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Deteriorating State of Health
Methoughts me was over the chicken pox. Doth it still linger?
The other day, me and Alex (my youngest brother) walked out to see if the cows had calved yet. It’s a slight incline up to the cow pen, and as we walked up there, I started feeling tense in my throat and neck, and pressure behind my temple and ears. I suddenly felt fatigued and out of breath.
And yesterday, when I went out with the chainsaw to cut down some trees, I got the same feeling when I walked up there. But I felt fine while I was chainsawing…
Weird, isn’t it? That’s what I thought. Totally weird.
Thoughts on Readings on Communication
I just recently finished reading Mortimer Adler's excellent book, How to Speak, How to Listen. It's an interesting look at communication and our lack of not only communication, but knowledge of how to communicate.
In times past, learning to communicate was an important part of any learned person's education.
Writing, reading, speaking, and listening are all methods of communication. Obviously, writing and speaking are outgoing communications, and reading and listening are incoming communications.
In this day and age, of the four methods of communication, writing and reading are the most emphasized of the four methods of communication, and of writing and reading, writing receives the most instruction.
But tell me...who's impressed with the writing skills of the average person?
Not only do we see several methods of communication overlooked in the teaching process, even those that are taught are not taught well.
If we look at this as a whole, we can see that all we do is we teach people to read so that they can read the comics. And we just teach people to write so they can write love letters.
But we don't teach people to communicate! And even more important, we don't teach people how to communicate in one-on-one or in group situations, for although reading and writing are all very well, they different from speaking and listening in one vital way.
Reading and writing are “loner” activities. In other words, they’re typically done apart from human contact. You retreat to your study to write a letter. You retreat to the library to read a book.
Speaking and listening, on the other hand, are typically done in person. Granted, sometimes people record speeches or talks on cd or video, and sometimes people listen to these cds and videos, and both remain separate from human contact, but typically, when you have somebody talking, there's someone else in the room listening (hopefully!), and when somebody's listening, there's someone else in the room talking.
But how developed are our skills of listening and speaking? How many times have you ever been talking to somebody, only to realize that they weren't actually listening to you? How many times (admit it) have you been "listening" to somebody talking, but instead of actually listening, were actually thinking about something entirely different, or (God forbid), not thinking about anything at all?
And how many times have you struggled to communicate your deepest thoughts or feelings to a friend, but just couldn't put it in words? Or how many times have you put it into words, only to find out later that your friend misunderstood you?
Problems of miscommunication and lack of communication are rampant, and the future isn’t looking any better.
These days, we no longer teach people to communicate. Instead, we leave them on their own, to struggle along as best they might. And from what I've seen, the struggling is more akin to the desperate struggles of a drowning man than the mature response of someone who’s going through something difficult.
Do you wonder why relationships in this day and age suffer? Communication is the key to relationships, and if we don't know how to communicate, obviously our relationships will suffer the consequences.
These days, people are left ignorant and helpless, and then we wonder why things always go wrong and nothing ever works out.
The solution, methinks, although simple in concept, isn't the easiest to live out.
You have to practice communicating in order to learn to communicate well.
Let me say that again.
You have to practice communicating in order to learn to communicate well.
I'm tempted to say that again... :P
How do you practice? Well, what is communication? Two people (or more) ...uh... communicating! What I suggest is practicing with someone who knows you, and is willing to help you through the process. This is not only for speaking/listening, but for writing/reading, too. Maybe it will be more than one person. One person you communicate with through letters, and the other in person.
Perhaps it could be a partnership. You-help-me-communicate-and-I'll-help-you. Or maybe the solution is to have a group or a club whose purpose is to improve the communicating abilities of its members.
Whatever the solution, let me remind you that communication is indeed important. And it's so important that I'm attempting to communicate to you the importance of communication.
So if you didn't understand what I just said, the problem is one of two things...either I didn't write lucidly enough, or somebody needs to work on their reading skills... :P
Random Thoughts
Orange juice still tastes good, no matter how many glasses you’ve had.
Apple juice, if taken in large quantities at an early age (Who, me? :halo: ) can result in later adverse feelings towards said juice.
When your browser times-out on a blog post really stinks when you’re writing a long blog, lose the whole entry, and have to write it up again… (what do you think I’m doing right now? Using trusty Microsoft® Word 2003 this time, though…)
Music is food for the soul…and my soul’s always hungry.
Being able to type without looking at the keyboard is a definite advantage when you have an terrible habit of getting into situations involving late nights and only a monitor for light.
Sometimes, being knowledgeable on a subject can be unfortunate, especially if other people are aware of that knowledge and take every opportunity to make you exercise that knowledge to fix their problems.
Being a jack-of-all-trades is a mistake no matter how you try to look at the poor guy.
Thoughts on My Measly Life
The question of occupation still lieth heavily on my mind. It often sounds something like thus: “What am I going to do? Oh, for heaven’s sakes! What on earth am I going to do?” and it plagues me in much the same way that the frogs did the Egyptians. Every time I try to go anywhere, I either step on or stumble over it.
According to the one site, my personality has great potential. Unfortunately, that potential hasn’t been reached.
As an ESFP, my possible career paths are supposed to include the following:
Artist, performer, actor
Sales rep
Counselor/social work
Child care
Fashion designer
Interior Decorator
Consultant
Photographer
What’s interesting is that all of these have interested me in time past…well, except for fashion design…but then, on the other hand, I probably could design a startling and yet oh-so-fashionable pair of jeans… :P
But the question is, how do I determine which path is for me? I want to do what God wants me to do, but my talents aren’t so clear cut as to make it obvious.
The directions I’m leaning towards right now is writing, counseling, and missions. But I’m open to the Lord’s leading, so that might change.
Ah’m Gonna Praise duh Lord fer:
The Love of God (amen, brother…)
A great family
Excellent friends
Good health (well, most of the time, anyway… ;) )
An unimpaired mind (well, some would disagree… :roll: )
Computers and the internet (…made possible by…)
Great friends (did I ever tell you guys that you were great?)
Nature and its wonders
It’s That Time Again
By gum, we’ve come full circle. Did you know that goodbye actually means something along the lines of “Fare ye well”?
Awhile back, I was thinking about how Paul always started and ended his letters, and it reminded me of, “Can blessings and curses come from the same mouth?”
May the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
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10:39 pm - To Father for Father's Day
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Since today was Father's day, I was thinking about that a bit, and so I wrote the following poem (which my sister Mary gave a bit of helpful critiquing on...) for our Father's Day card:
Father
From the beginning, he was there,
Changing my dirty diapers
And shampooing my hair.
He loved me when I was good,
When I was obedient
And doing what I should.
He loved me when I was bad,
Disciplined and spanked me,
Even though it made him sad.
When I had a million questions
With more up my sleeve
He taught me a lesson.
Just with answers, be not content
Look for the truth
And until it’s found, do not relent.
When by problems almost conquered,
With no one to tell
Except for the one man who heard.
And now to a loving Heavenly Father I can relate,
Because of this man who showed me
An earthly father’s love, instead of hate.
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| Wednesday, June 7th, 2006
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10:39 pm - The Most Important Thing of All
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Today, I was reading through the book of Galatians, and I came away realizing why I have trouble with people who overcomplicate Christianity. There's so many traditions and doctrines and attitudes people expect you to have in order to be a Christian.
As you probably well know, Galatians is addressing the legalists who were drawing the Galatians back under the bondage of the law after they had been freed by the law by saving faith in God.
It comes down to a simple point...faith in God is our salvation, and the law before or after salvation is only a bondage...the law is not a means of salvation...it's only there to show us that we can't do this on our own...we need God.
And Paul addresses the key point in Galatians 5:14, as he's winding up his argument: "For the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
And then in Luke 10:25-28, Jesus Himself stated this.
"And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, 'Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said unto him, 'What is written in the law? How readest thou?' And he answering said, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and will all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.' And he said unto him, 'Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.'"
By the way, I recommend that sometime you take a few hours to slowly read through Galatians, and puzzle out the meaning for yourself. I read the entire book of Galatians this afternoon, and that helped a lot in seeing the overall purpose of the epistle.
So what's the most important thing? Loving God and your fellow man.
Why don't we stop worrying about the unimportant things in life, and focus on what's really important?
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| Saturday, May 27th, 2006
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10:38 pm - Inherent Evil...
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Busy, busy...seems like I've been posting a wee bit on here recently, but what I'm about to say has been impressed on my heart for some time now.
An example of what I'm addressing is clearly put in eBay's "fundamental values":
The eBay Community is guided by the following five fundamental values:
We believe people are basically good.
...[etc, etc...]
Interesting, huh?
Do you think people are basically good?
If you don't, then do you think people are basically evil?
While I don't mean to whittle out an entire argument here for one belief or the other, I will state emphatically that I believe people are inherently evil.
I believe that man, prior to the fall, was inherently good, but after the fall, was inherently evil, and all people would always be inherently evil were it not for the redeeming work of Christ on the cross, which makes it possible for those people who come to Him to leave their inherent evil at the cross and come away a changed person. Someone who no longer can at most be a "good" person, but can now be a righteous saint of the Most High.
Praise the Lord.
I hope, while you may or may not agree with what I've said, that it at least provokes thought and questions in your mind.
God bless.
::EDIT:: I'm not saying that man is Totally Depraved...man is created in the image of God and with the choice to either follow God or not. What I am saying is that the natural tendency of man is towards evil. And this tendency is inherent, thus inherent evil.
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10:37 pm - Praise the Lord anyways...
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This afternoon, I was praying for healing so I could go to the camps and minister to the people with disabilities who go to these camps. I even tried to sweeten the deal a bit, saying I'd stand up and give a testimony if God healed me.
But then God was convicting me that my attitude was wrong. I would only be happy if God did things my way. I was only ready to praise God in the good times.
So if God would bless me with healing, I would be willing to praise him, but not if he didn't.
And then of course, so often we promise a whole bunch of things to God if he'll just do something for us, and then if it happens, somehow we forget what we promised.
So really, when we promise God that we'll do this that or the other if he answers our prayers, we're not really saying that much, are we?...I am speaking for myself, and I imagine at least a few of you.
What God was impressing on my heart this afternoon is that we should be eager to see what God is trying to work through every circumstance, every trial, every sickness (including chickenpox...), and do our best to live our life as God would have us.
With that, all I have to say is,
Praise God!
and I'm looking forward to see what God is going to teach me through this.
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10:36 pm - Cough, cough, choke...::dies::
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After having a combined cold and a cough for several weeks, I thought I had it bad enough. But no, it seems that it wasn't enough.
This past week, I woke up one morning feeling half-dead. I could barely get out of bed. Somehow, I had a little trouble balancing myself as I walked, I had this wonderful headache, and I felt as weak as a baby, besides feeling like I hadn't got any sleep for a few days.
Well, fortunately, I didn't end up working that day anyway, so I ended up sleeping all day and all night.
But the problem was...the next morning, I woke up again, and I didn't feel much better. Does it sound like I had a problem?
Well, it was kinda obvious I wasn't up for work, so I didn't go. So I took it pretty easy again that day. I did have a fever of 101.6, though. That night, I noticed a few little bumps on my head and chest, but didn't think too much of it.
That next day was pretty uneventful. I was feeling a bit better, and I actually started eating again. Headaches were sporadic, and I occasionally felt dizzy and weak if I was standing up.
And then this morning I woke up, my chest and face covered with red bumps.
Well, all I have to say is that chickenpox isn't supposed to be the most pleasant thing at my age. I'm not looking forward to the next...um...who knows how long...hopefully, it'll be the typical 7-10 days, instead of the protracted versions they promise older subjects.
And even chickenpox wouldn't be all that bad, except the timing was kinda nasty.
I was supposed to have two weeks of camp starting Monday. Guess what? I'm not going.
But I shouldn't complain. God has a bigger plan for my life than I can possibly know, and I can know he has some purpose in allowing me to acquire the chicken pox at this time. What is that purpose? I don't know. Praise the Lord anyway.
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| Sunday, May 14th, 2006
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10:35 pm - ::Cough, Cough::
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Got a startlingly chilly cold yesterday.
Acquired a splendid cough this morning.
All in all, I think I'm doing quite well...
But, I did have a few down moments...like the dance thursday...that was a real bummer. Fortunately, I survived the dance...
...
boy, isn't is great when somebody's depressed? good thing I'm not, even thought I do have a cough.
The dance was great, actually...everybody had a great time...I was surprised at how easy it was to teach everybody. Y'all were a blast!
I've just been busy busy lately.
My future is kinda in the air right now. I'm trying to broaden my horizon, and figure out what exactly it is that God wants me to be doing with my life and talents. I would appreciate any prayers for me in this area especially.
I am also going through a spiritually stretching time. I love being stretched, because when I am being stretched I grow the most spiritually, but I don't always appreciate the stretch while the heat's still on.
Ah...bed calls me...sleep is at a premium...I should grab it while I can...catch y'all later.
All y'all have a great day, now.
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| Tuesday, April 18th, 2006
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6:17 pm - Voila!
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My first performance is a thing of the past. It went well, I think. Although we did make some mistakes, they were of the nature that the audience wouldn't realize that we actually left out a few paragraphs of a couple of conversations.
But, oh well...perfection is only accomplished by God, so I guess I can't expect too much.
I only have three performances left, though, so I won't have to endure the imperfectness much longer......okay, really, it isn't that bad. It's actually half-decent...
So do y'all know the surest way to get to heaven? Well, a good place to start is by not going to hell.
talk to y'all later...
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| Saturday, April 15th, 2006
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4:37 pm - Performance, straight ahead...
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First performance starts in 3 hours, 45 minutes...
Hope it goes well...my hair keeps trying to mess up...it's not supposed to look like I gelled it, but if I don't gel it, it goes curly...:frown:
anyway...
I just finished writing another story this morning...as usual, it's a comedy. Fortunately for me, I have friends who are nice enough to tell me that my stories are funny.
but, I am boring you...I will be back later, when I have time to make some sensible posts...
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| Friday, April 14th, 2006
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5:34 pm - shenandoah...
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I'm just about to get changed for our final rehearsal before our first performance of the play "Shenandoah". Am I nervous? Not particularly. I used to suffer from stage fright, but now it's not bad.
Well, more later when I have something more meaningful to say...
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| Monday, March 27th, 2006
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10:31 pm - Pride & Prejudice 2005...
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Here's my personal originally prejudiced opinion of the all new Pride and Prejudice.
My initial impression was that it was condensed and modernized.
I still think that in trying to make it short enough for "today's audience", they took out too much of the good stuff.
Also, the characters were a bit of a disappointment. Their accents were a little bit cheesy, and sometimes made them hard to understand.
In particular, Mr. Darcy was a disappointment, because his attitude wasn't made particularly clear.
Mr. Collins was also a disappointment, because his fawning attitude was for the most part very surpressed.
Mr. Bennett was also a disappointment, as much of his wry humor was cut out.
Also, some of the fancy effects with the cloth swishing through the light was overdone, and a bit hard on the eyes.
And then to the juicy part...
Oooh...the romance...it was AWFUL!! Okay, so maybe I'll appreciate it a bit more when I'm older (i.e., married), but still, the two romantic scenes near the end were positively sappy...
All in all, I think it turned from P&P (the book) from a social romantic comedy into a romance with a few funny parts.
That was my opinion of it, anyway...my final say is that I'll stick with the A&E version...
::EDIT:: I forgot to mention the dancing...that was also a disappointment, because most of the dancing was too hoppy...much more like square than English Country (EC is what they would have been doing).
::EDIT2:: Also, there seems to be some confusion about Mary. In this new movie, Mary's part is reduced to a minor role. In essence, all that happened was her scenes were for the most part cut out, not that she changed for the better.
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| Monday, March 13th, 2006
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10:29 pm - Phantom of the Opera
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WARNING: MOVIE SPOILER...if you plan on watching PotO, then you might not want to read the following, unless you want to take my word for it that the movie is not worth it...
I just watched Phantom of the Opera recently...as in, I finished watching it last night...
First off, the movie is very different from what I expected. My first impression was that the music was all right, the theme music was great, but the movie was a bunch of rot...
My second impression was that the girl was a wish-washy person who would comply to the powers that be at the moment. In other words, she had no character to stand up to anybody for anything.
My impression now is that the movie downplays women in general--which is a surprise, since I've seen a number of movies that downplay men, and can't really recall one that downplays women (in large part due to fear of appearing to be sexually discriminating).
The surprise, however, doesn't outweigh or allay my disappointment in the movie, or just the pent-up frustration I now feel towards the movie.
I think what got me most about the movie was how the girl would just fluctuate between the two men for no real apparent reason except that she was entirely ruled by the emotions of the moment.
And with the way the movie ended, there was no real point to the movie at all...
Her actions had no real consequence, except that she had a few scares.
And then with the bad guy having that weird change of heart at the end...it's not even funny...it's pathetic.
I came away from the movie feeling cheated, somehow. And I know why.
Real men and real women had no part in this movie...
The "heroine" was a flip-floppy heart-breaker, the "hero" was a push-over, and the "bad guy" was a sadistic weirdo.
So anyway...there's my little rant on the Phantom of the Opera...it probably doesn't make a lot of sense, especially if you haven't seen the movie, but at least I feel a little better...
Wow...that was a load...I can't believe how bad a movie could make me feel...
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| Friday, January 27th, 2006
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10:27 pm - A Recount of Some Stupid Injuries, Mishaps, and Mistakes
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Have fun (or have scared) reading about mistakes, mishaps, and close calls...
One time, I was opening the door to my sisters room and going out...I was in a hurry, miscalculated where the door was and ran into the edge of the door...doesn't make your nose feel particularly pleasant.
When I was little, I always used to hit the bottom corner of countertops...they really should round the bottom corners off, too, because it always hurt like the dickens.
And another thing that happened when I was a little tyke was that I was walking over this wooden bridge, and a board broke from underneath me, and I almost fell though. Very tramatic experience. Left me scared of heights. I am still somewhat wary of heights...not my favorite thing.
Once back in Georgia, when we had a two-story house, I was running down the stairs, and missed a step. I fell headlong and slid the rest of the way down. Besides bruises and a few carpet burns, I was fine...and then another time I was going up the stairs, and my trailing foot slid off a step, and I ended up doing a split on the stairs...very uncomfortable position, I gotta tell you...
One time, when I was about 7 or 8, I guess, I was in our “library” room, browsing around, looking for a book to read, when suddenly I had this shooting pain in my foot. I discovered that I had a toothpick embedded deep into my heel. After making a bit of racket, my dad figured out what had happened and he proceeded to pull the toothpick out. Okay...you've probably had a splinter, and you know how much that hurts...now imagine this huge splinter, and you kinda got the idea of how I felt.
We were once fixing the plumbing in one of our bathrooms, and I ran outside to fetch something in my bare feet, and I stepped on a piece of glass. It cut so deep I had to get stiches. I can still find the scar, even though I was around 4 or 5 years old when that happened.
Lots of bike stories...uh...one time, I was riding down a hill, and I was showing off by riding without hands. Then I realized I was going to have to make this turn at the bottom. I realized I wasn't going to make it. Then I realized I was heading for this rather large tree. I swerved to miss it, and then it was too late to avoid the parked car.
Another time, we were riding our bikes when the brakes went out on my bike, and I had to ride back home. The nasty part was that there was a hill that we had to go down on the way back. So they went first, and then I flew down the hill. A car happened to be coming around the turn at the bottom, but I managed to avoid it.
Hmm...horse stories...one time, we were walking along with the horses when one of the horses decided to kick me in the shins. Fortunately I was standing far enough away, so I only got a bruise.
Another time, I was riding the horse bareback when I got swiped off by a big mean nasty branch. I got a bunch of scratches on my face.
And then another time when I was riding the horse, it was bucking around, and I was hanging on for dear life, since I was riding bareback, and the horse was just settling down when it gave one final buck that threw me off.
We had this mean ol' ram. One day as I was feeding him, he came up next to me, and started rubbing on my leg. Then he suddenly swung his head, and butted a horn bud right into my thigh...nasty...I got this bruise...I wrestled him to the ground, then when I let him up, I rode him around for a while, then jumped off and hopped over the fence before he could butt me.
Another time, I was going to ride the ATV (all we've ever had is three-wheelers—probably a good thing...). So I pull started it, jumped on and shifted with the foot lever, and then my foot slid off, and I partially ran over myself. The tire ran over the back of my calf, and got caught on the back of my knee and thigh...I had to shift the ATV out of gear with my hand, and then push the ATV back off me...probably a good thing it was a three-wheeler...a four-wheeler might have broke my leg or something.
Another ATV story...my brother was driving a Big Red Honda three-wheeler...one of those ATVs with racks on the back. Well, he was on it, revving the engine, and I was hopping on behind him. I grabbed the top horizontal bar on the back rack as I was sitting down, and at that moment he shifted into first and goosed it. Well, I wasn't sitting down yet, but I was holding onto the rack, so I did a back-flip over the back and ended up with my face right behind the muffler. The only thing was that I was still holding onto the rack, and that he was still driving. After a few seconds I realized what was going on, and let go.
And one time I was driving the ATV too fast around a corner, and I could tell the ATV was about to flip, so I just stood up and let it fly out from beneath me as it flipped. Then I went over, picked the ATV back up, and kept going.
Then there was that time when the idle was too high on the ATV. So I started it up, jumped up and shifted, and the ATV pulled a REALLY high wheely. Actually, it was so high that I ended up landing on my tailbone.
Another time, my brother and I were both on ATVs, and we decided to race to the top of a hill. So we were both revving and everything, and then he said go, and we both pulled wheelies and took off up the hill. We were racing neck and neck, when suddenly I remembered that there was a road running though the middle of the hill, which made rather a bump in the hill...my brother swerved to one side where there wasn't so much of a bump. I hit the bump. That was probably the biggest unintended jump I've ever made with an ATV. What was funny was that while my hands were still on the handlebars, the rest of my body was floating in the air above the ATV. Then I got scared, because my body was drifting over the front of the ATV, and I realized that if I let go of the handlebars, I would fall in front of the ATV and get run over. I quickly pushed back on the handlebars just in time, because the ATV hit the ground just after I pushed my body back over the ATV. My body slammed into the ATV, the front wheel turned, and I skidded to a stop, and I fell off the ATV. Meanwhile, my brother had reached the top of the hill. I jumped back on the ATV and soon rejoined him, shrugging off his jokes about not being able to stay on the ATV...
I was riding an ATV, and was going fast around a curve, hit a bump and skidded right off the road, hit a fence, the ATV wrapped around and threw me into the fence...got a big gash in my arm (and I still have a big scar on my arm, plus other assorted scars on my arm and face...barbed wire is very effective...I ought to know...)
Another time, I was riding the ATV. It was running kinda of funny, so I reached down to mess with the carburetor. But the chain guard was off, and my glove got caught by the chain, and it went around through the cogs of the gear. I stopped the ATV and got off, trying to figure out what had happened. I pulled off my gloves, and figured out that the problem was that part of my hand went through the cogs, too. The tip of my left middle finger was, as the hospital report stated, “amputated.” Rather painful, actually. Also looked kind of disgusting, with all the blood and stuff. I managed to start the ATV back up and drove back to the house. After we got to the hospital, they gave me some shots, gave me a piece of cotton wadding to wrap my finger in, and then I had to wait while they figured out that they couldn't do the job there. So I had to wait while they figured out that they didn't have an ambulance free to transport me. My dad offered to drive me up to the other hospital, but then we found out that there was a bunch of stuff he would have to sign in order to drive me to this other hospital. Well, finally, we got it straightened out and we drove up to this other hospital about thirty minutes away. And then I had to wait around while more paperwork and stuff was done, and finally, about nine hours after the accident had happened about about eight hours after I had gone to the first hospital, they finally got around to operating on me. They had to surgically shorten the bone, though, in order fit the skin graft over the tip of my finger (they took a skin graft from farther down on the finger).
But I only had to stay one night in the hospital. And then the next morning, they asked me if I was having any pain, and I wasn't, so I said no. Well, they gave me two prescriptions, one for pain meds and the other for antibiotics, and let me go. My dad picked me up, and I sat around at his office while he finished up a few things before he picked up the meds and took me home. After a few minutes, my finger, which was enwrapped in this rather large bandage (encasing my middle and ring finger, with bands running around my thumb, my wrist, etc...essentially, my whole hand was wrapped up )...well, anyway, my finger started tingling. I wish it had stopped with that. In a few minutes, the pain become...um...rather bad. I couldn't concentrate on reading because it hurt so bad, and I didn't have any pain meds, so all I could do is sit, hold my hand, and groan until my dad finished up his work and we left to go pick up the meds...well, it was thirty minutes before we got the meds...the pain wasn't so bad when we were driving, because there was some sort of distraction, but it was still rather painful. Finally, we got the pain medication, and I noticed wryly that they had prescribed me for Moderate/Severe pain medication. I took the pain meds, and when it started working, I was so relieved. I could actually breathe and move and live life. And then two days later, I stopped taking the pain meds, but then discovered that my finger was still hurting like the dickens...I took the pills again. But four days after the operation, I was totally off the pain meds...still like, ¾ of the prescription left in the bottle. So anyway, for about three months I had to keep a splint on my finger while the skin graft fused with the rest of my finger. When they took the multitude of stiches out, I thought i was going to faint and throw up at the same time, because I started sweating, my heart started pounding, and my vision started getting blurry, and I felt really bad all over. It wasn't that it hurt that bad. I guess it just struck a nerve. But with all that, they accidently left a stich in, which I had to take out later. That was fun and painful and disgusting, all at the same time. And then when the remnants of my nail fell off...that wasn't funny...it was kinda painful, and definitely rather disgusting.So anyway, that's kinda the story behind that.
Hmm...stupid injuries...oh, yeah...when we moved to our current house, I got a loft-type bedroom, with one side, instead of having a wall, opened into our garage, with about a ten foot drop down into the garage. One night as I was crawling out of my bed to go to the bathroom in that half-awake/half-asleep mode, I went the wrong way and toppled over the edge into the garage. Fortunately, I landed on the edge of a table and an chair...knocked over the table a bunch of stuff...after a little bit, I got back up and wandered back to bed, still half-asleep...the whole thing was so dreamlike in nature, the next morning when I woke up I was sure it was just a dream, until I saw this nasty gash in my pinky, and then when I got up I was sore all over...and there was still a mess in the garage...
And then another time I was installing a light fixture. I grabbed the wires to start stripping them, and realized with shock that the wires had power.
We used to have solar electric fence chargers, and the shock was never too bad, so we'd play around with the fence all the time. The chargers would pulsate, so if you grabbed the wire at the right time, you could hold on and not get shocked. If you grabbed it at the wrong time, you'd get shocked. So we'd play a game of listening to the charger ticking, and then trying to grab the wire at the right time. So that's the game we would play...well, when the solar chargers wore out, we got another fence charger...this one got wired to house voltage and was supposed to have a bigger kick...well, I tried playing the game one day, and discovered this charger had a really nasty kick that would make you jump, and really, in general, just didn't give you a good feeling.
Well, one day, I was running across a field, and suddenly remembered rather too late that we had just put up electric fence...the shock was so bad that I got a welt across my belly button....another time, I was watering one of the animals, running my finger in the water, and accidently brushed the electric wire with my shoulder...water makes the shock worse...it made me jump so bad, and then I was shaking for a while, and I had this red line on my shoulder...another time, I was paddling around in the canoe, fixing some of the electric fence that was stretched across the creek, when I lost my balance and fell into the creek, grabbing the wire as I went down...okay...I was really stupid...I was fixing the wire without turning it off...I was sure I was dead for a couple of minutes...I was shaking for about five minutes from the shock.
One time, I was fixing fence in the same pasture with a bull...the bull decided I was threatening him, and so I grabbed the top wire and threw myself over the fence...unfortunately, the barbed wire didn't want to let go...I got a long gash in my arm and I ripped my pants, but I still had my tools and fencing supplies...I hadn't dropped them going over the fence...but I still have a pretty big scar on my left arm from going over the fence.
One day, I was lighting a brush pile with some gas. I threw the match on, and suddenly realized that the gas fumes had kinda spread out, and I was surrounded by this "poof" of flames.
Another time, I was burning garbage when something blew up, and the flames singed my eyebrows and some of my hair quite nicely.
Last year, we had some forest/brush fires on our place, and as we were fighting one of them, I was on the lawn tractor that had a grader/snow plow blade, and I was grading off some of the leaves to help contain it. I had safety goggles on to keep the smoke out of my eyes. Suddenly some flames flared up just in front of me, so I had to stop, shift into reverse, and back out. Suddenly my eyes felt really hot, and I suddenly realized that the safety goggles were starting to melt on my face. I ripped them off, and all I had were very minor burns around my eyes.
One day, I was splitting wood with a maul when I missed the log and the 12 pound head smashed into my shin. That kinda hurt. It was bleeding for a while, and it bruised up rather nicely.
Something that was not really stupid, just irritating, was that about two years ago, I was splitting a bunch of wood one week when my wrist started bothering me. I had been using one of those all-steel Monster mauls (everything is made out of steel except for a little rubber padding on the handle). Evidently, I strained my wrist. What I suspect now is that I pulled a tendon. Ever since then, my wrist has been weak, and if I do any strenuous stuff with my left wrist, it will start bothering me again. It has gotten so bad at times that I couldn't type or lift something unless I lifted it without bending my wrist, and in general, it just bugs me...
Once when I was a little kid, I was climbing a tree, and I was pretty high up when I slipped and fell, tumbling though all the branches. By the time I hit the ground, I just lay there for a while before getting up. I still have scars on my back and my stomach from the scratches I got while falling through the branches.
And then one time, I was climbing up a tree, and I slipped and fell. The problem was that my ankle caught in a fork of two branches, so I ended up swinging from my ankle in this tree. Not the ideal way to be caught in a tree, in my opinion.
I always like firecrackers. Except for the one that I lit, and didn't let go fast enough. The wick was one of those ones that burn really fast. The thing was, the wick was resting across my index finger. I managed to get rid of the thing before it blew up, but I got a bad burn on my index finger.
When I was about nine or ten, I was soldering something when a drop of melted lead dropped on my finger. It stuck for a second for I could shake it off. That second was one of the most aweful, because I was scared that I might not be able to get it off. The skin where it was burned turned white, and it hurt like the dickens no matter what I tried...ice water, aloe verra, etc..I had trouble going to sleep because it was still hurting.
Oh! One time, I was outside, and we needed a hammer from my sister's room, and she was in her room, so I knocked on the window and asked for the hammer. While she was getting the hammer, I started lifting the partly open window. It was one of those old, heavy storm windows. Let's just say my grip slipped and the window caught my right middle finger on its way down, and tore the nail loose. I yanked my finger out, and danced around yelling, "Owww! My finger! Owww! My finger! Owww!" I took a peek, and saw that my nail was sorta hanging loose. That only made me feel worse. I think that is the first time I ever felt like fainting. Now mind you, I've never fainted, but there have been a few times I've come close. This was one of those times.
And then one time I was inflating a bike tire, and it blew up in my hand. It stung like crazy, and ever since, I've always been a little wary of inflating tires.
We built a shop on our place, and behind our shop is one of those big gnarly oak trees with lots of big branches up high. Well, we put a swing on one of the branches. I used a nice big thick one-inch rope. The problem was, it was old rope. I had rigged up the swing pretty high up, and it would swing out over the edge of a little hill, so at its peak, you were about ten feet in the air. So I was swinging, sitting on my little 2x6 when the rope broke. I landed on my tailbone. It was so bad I could get up for a couple of minutes, because it hurt so bad every time I tried to move. And then for weeks, I could hardly sit down because it was so sore.
One time I was sledding down our nice steep hill, when I hit a bump and flew into the air. Unfortunately, there was a tree in my way. I hit the ground about the same time as I hit the tree.
Another time, we had brought up some blue 55-gallon plastic drums to the hill, and I got in one of them, and my brother put the lid on, and I started sliding down the hill...then the barrel hit a bump, and turned sideways and starting rolling downhill...fortunately or not so unfortunately, I hit a sapling at the bottom of the hill...it took a few minutes before I could get up because I was so dizzy and shocked.
Ooohh! Stupid injuries! Yes, I have the perfect story...this was so stupid...it's also kinda scary. Okay...i'm using the chainsaw...I cut this tree down, and start cutting it up. Suddenly, the chain catches, the bar jumps off the tree, and the chain rips across the top of my foot. I shut off the chainsaw, full expecting my foot to be half cut off, and discovered to my amazement that the chainsaw had cut almost all the way through my shoe. All that hadn't been cut was parts of the inner lining of my shoe...i think a few threads of my sock came off, too...but my foot excaped by a hair. So anyway, I started the saw, and gingerly finished cutting the tree up, being careful to keep my feet away from the chain. So then I was thinking...whoa...that was dangerous...gotta be more careful...so then I was in the shop, sharpened the chain, and the chainsaw slipped, and one of the teeth caught on my arm and gave me a nice little gash...and that was the ONLY time that I was even cut by the chainsaw...so stupid...
The back of my left hand is kinda scarred from chainsawing, though, but it's not from the chainsaw. You see, my left hand is closer to the chain and bar, and when the chain catches some sort of bramble or thorn, it flings it around, and often something will catch on the back of my left hand...the thing is I always forget to wear gloves, so sometimes when I finish a day of chainsawing, the back of my left hand will be almost entirely covered in scratches, thorn punctures and blood.
Okay...here's another chainsaw story. You've probably heard of widow-makers. Okay...one day, I was cutting down a bunch of trees for firewood. I was just cutting down one tree, and going straight to another, cutting it down, etc. Well, I got to this bigger tree, cut my first notch, and then stepped back to make sure that the tree was going to fall the way I was planning. Just after I stepped back, a big limb smashed into the ground where I had just been standing. The limb was about 6 or 8 inches in diameter, so the fact that I had just stepped back from a serious injury or possibly death was kinda unnerving. One of my brothers was there, too, and we were both sort of dumbstruck for a few moments. Then we passed it off with a half-nervous joke and I cut down the tree. I think God must have been protecting me. How could it have been that at the moment that I had stepped back was the moment the limb was going to hit the ground? If it had been a second earlier or two seconds later, I might not have been here to tell the story.
You know, after that story, any others I might think of seem rather small and insignificant, so I will leave off with that one.
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| Monday, January 23rd, 2006
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10:24 pm - Couple of Snappy Movie Reviews
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Here's some snappy movie reviews...I decided to just review the movies I thought worth or possibly worth watching.
Movies:
Matrix--interesting concepts, though not appropriate for young audiences, contains bad language and some disturbing images. Possibly recommend. If watched, watch with caution.
I, Robot--interesting movie, hazy partial nudity at begining of movie, otherwise clean except for perhaps a little mild language...recommended, but not for young audiences.
The Passion--wow...um...not recommended for kids. Actually, I didn't even realize until I started watching it that everything was in Aramic! Anyway...pretty good movie. Recommended.
Hitch--I really would have liked this movie a lot more if it had less suggestive references. Other than that, it was a pretty hilarious movie.
Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe--great movie...go see it.
Batman Begins--surprisingly good movie. I enjoyed it. Recommended if you like the the eternal fight between good and bad guys...
Men in Black--pretty cool...I liked it.
Bourne Identity--decent...I liked the high-speed feel of it...and the action sequences...
Bourne Supremacy--also pretty decent...also liked.
Phantom of the Opera--didn't really like it...more on this later...
Pride & Prejudice (A&E version)--one of my favorite movies now...
Sense & Sensibility--I was rather disappointed, as much of Austen's wit was lost in the transition to film.
Princess Diaries--um...hehe...silly, and she is totally nuts, but yeah, it was funny...
Princess Diaries 2--same as PD...
Animated Movies:
Madagascar--good movie. Funny.
Finding Nemo--good movie. Funny.
Lion King--good movie, very touching at parts.
Shrek--good movie, may not be appropriate for young kids
Shrek 2--same as Shrek.
Ice Age--good movie.
Incredibles--good movie, may not be appropriate for young kids.
Monsters, Inc.--hilarious...I liked it.
Shark Tale--another funny movie...
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