- Writing this blog is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will, five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain, and one hundred percent reason to remember the name. This is true in many ways, except that last one. scary though. (People over like 25 probably won't get this)
- Due to the 15% concentrated power of will (I'm lacking in it) and fifty percent pain (not really that much, but it takes work/time to churn out AD musings with pathetic attempts at humor/allusions), I haven't written in like 2.5 weeks. This might get long (halfhearted allusion).
- The time/sheer volume of writing may push this posting into the sugary/fatty "read sparingly" portion of the reading pyramid for proper reading health and prevention of tedium. Thus, this has been broken up into serving sizes conveniently for you. And it won't be in something obscure like ounces, because honestly, who weighs their sweets before they eat them.
- Altered Wii health warning:
- Avoid excessive reading. Parents should monitor their children for appropriate play.
- Take a break every 10 minutes, even if you don't think you need it. This crap sneaks up on you and wastes gratuitous amounts of time.
- If your hands, wrists, arms or eyes become tired or sore while playing, or if you feel symptoms such as tingling, numbness, burning or stiffness, stop and rest for several hours before playing again. You think these can't happen from reading, but yes, they can. These off-brand second rate blogs can mess you up. Give you cancer in the state of California.
- If you continue to have any of the above symptoms or other discomfort during or after play, stop playing and see a doctor. Yeah. it's that bad.
Preview:
-Things that happened to me, including: BYX full retreat, Halloween, this past week
-Observations: pet peeves, night showers, useful but bad inventions
-New segment: random acts of kindness
-Videos
-Songs
-Prayer Requests
Things that happened to me:
- Three weekends ago was BYX Full Retreat, in which all member of BYX go on a retreat. This involved many traditions and fun things, some of which I can't tell you, most of which I can. First of all, the speaker (a BYX alumni (I never learned the proper uses of alum/alumni/alumnus, so this is probably used wrong) named like Tupair) was good. He talked about ways we hide the Gospel which I remember being very true, but alas, I had no pen and paper and am miserable at remembering things with one go around that were only spoken.
- We had krusteaz just add water pancakes (which are the best just add water pancakes around). There was a big line for chocolate chip pancakes and no line for normal pancakes. I was an innovator and got normal pancakes and grabbed a handful of chocolate chips and made a chocolate chip taco. We also had oatmeal that breakfast; there were several things wrong with this oatmeal: it was made in a giant, uncleaned pot that had been used for something about three months ago, it smelled awful, it tasted awful, i foolishly had some anyways (that's something wrong with me), no amount of brown sugar or chocolate chips could right any of the aforementioned wrongs.
- The first night there is an edification circle, in which graduating members sit in the middle of the circle and briefly talk about members that greatly impacted them, while the actives can talk about the guys in the middle who greatly influenced them, "edifying" one another. This lasted 3 hours for 5 graduating guys. I enjoyed it. I may not enjoy it next semester. Last spring semester, albeit poorly ran, it lasted 11 hours.
- There was much frisbee play and the semiannual pledge/active football game. Despite a neck and neck first half, we lost.
- Lastly for this weekend...¡¡¡SMASHBALL!!! I don't know why it took 18 years of my life to discover this awesome game. There is an equilateral octagon about, about 12 feet from opposite sides whose walls are wooden and in between three and four feet high. The ball used is a slightly deflated volleyball. Rules: 1) you are trying to hit (but it's really a slap) the ball with your hands with the objective of it hitting another player below his/her knees. if he/she is hit there with the ball, he/she is out. 2) after a player has hit the ball, the said player may not touch the ball again unless if the ball bounces off one of the walls or another player hits it. if a player hits it twice consecutively without it hitting the wall or another player, he/she is out. 3) You may defend yourself with your hands to keep from getting out. 4) Player is out if he/she: is hit below knees by ball (suicides count), hits ball up into air and another player catches it, is the last player to touch ball before it goes out of octagon. Two people can get out on one play. 5) last (wo)man standing wins.
- In short, this game is addictive and has great qualities: it is fun for everyone, low base level of skill/athleticism/coordination needed, mild competitiion. Honestly, need I say more? Basically, I think this game could be for a youth group what horse pool was to ours, but better, because it has more of a draw to more sporty kids. Basically: TELL PAM (or your youth minister) ABOUT THIS AND HAVE AN ASPIRING EAGLE BUILD IT. HECK, I'LL DO IT (maybe, probably not without a team of friends). YOU WON'T REGRET IT. (¿¿¿can't you see this is good enough to warrant upside down exclamation marks???
Here ends serving size one. Rest your eyes and your wits. Enjoy something.
- For cell group two weeks ago, we met at the 360 Overlook. It is a beautiful place where you can see Austin's skyline. That place was not extraordinary (it is, but i'd already been there). What was extraordinary was Tanner's driving. Tanner is my big bro. He is many things: awesome, funny, eccentric, awkward, endearing, cute, frequent user of the phrase "hey little guy," all around good guy, etc. Skilled in driving and with directions/location, He is by no means. Not at all. We almost died 5 times going there (this is hyperbole (not by much)) To the point where we were all dying laughing by the end, but not on the inside because knew we could've died. Sam Rhea (another all around cool guy, pledge brother, and Austin local) was giving directions, which Tanner seemed to disregard (along with occasional traffic signs) until the last minute. This caused mass yelling at Tanner, hilarity, and a thrill to be a passenger. Four most thrilling drivers I've rode with (not in any order): Brian Bedford, Brian Mountjoy, Tanner Hodgeson, That lady who drove my dad and I in the jeep from the parking lot to the golf course for the golf tournament in Reno (my brother can better elaborate on this should you have questions).
- I was excited for Halloween for the first time in years for the following reasons: I thought I had a good costume, BYX mixer with Phi Lamb, and BYX Halloween party in the gracious Jordan Ramirez's apartment. Mixer was good. Party was fun. Costume, ehh. Here's why.
- I thought I had a genius idea to be Waldo, from Where's Waldo fame, for halloween because i strongly resemble him and thought it was awesome. Unfortunately, many other UT students had the same idea. Despite failing to be inconspicuous, I assert I was the best Waldo I saw for look-a-like reasons. Sidenote 1: nothing sucks more than seeing someone unintentionally dressed up exactly like you for a costume event. Sidenote 2: there are worse things;it can happen more than once, say at least 6 times walking around Austin/UT. Sidenote 3: there are many things far worse than these benign predicaments. Sidenote 4: did you see how I planned all these sidenotes (I started numbering at 1, not 2). Sidenote 5: if you ever seek attention from strangers, dress up as waldo on Halloween night in a big city and walk around for a few hours. You could get well over $100 in a few hours if the "If I had a dollar for every time..." aphorism rang true.
- The party was great for many reasons, one of which was my discovery of the functional purpose of hip hop/rap besides illustrating the beauty in hooking up with some easy chick (normally your bitch/shawty) you met at the club: forming a circle with friends and flailing limbs your limbs vaguely to the beat in ways that accentuate, to be racist, my inner caucasian (this is not true, because there are many caucasians who are brilliant dancers like this, namely Scott Eshbaugh). I am not very good at this, but enjoy it much (witnesses may attest to this). My "friend circle hip-hop/rap dancing" is more like what i described, while that of my more experienced peers was that, but with a more coherent, smooth motion, with motions that often loosely correspond to words in the song.
- Other lessons learned from the party. I already knew that strobe lights = awesome. I found out that Strobe lights + glow sticks > awesome. Keep it up with balloon = boring. Keep it up with a balloon and strobe light > awesome. Keep it up with balloon, strobe light, and glow sticks = indescribable. Basically strobe lights make everything but my abrupt dance moves cool. Also, even at non-alcoholic parties, drunk people will find them: One shady guy came in with a backpack full of keystone, and tried to hand them out to kids; One scantily clad, inebriated girl came in (keep in mind this is a Christian, dry party (but rockin' nonetheless)) came in and may or may not have been the culprit of a red punch stain now ingrained in Jordan's carpet.
- Austin is also, like many big cities, a great place for halloween, mainly due to 50K+ college kids, the majority of whom are looking to go crazy, a majority party of these kids walking the street inebriated. Combine this with the ability to observe these drunkards from a distance and you get people watching gold. If you are a pervy old guy who enjoys seeing scantily clad college girls, there's another plus (cringe).
- Austin is also famously home to 6th street, the street with all the popular clubs/bars. Basically, if you like personal bubble is greater than 6 inches, don't go here. Do if you enjoy seeing crazy costumes and things in general. I didn't go this year, but learned that there is always someone dressed as a giant penis. Other more creative, elaborate costumes abound.
"Do either of you participate in any illegal activities?"
-After glancing at each other with a hidden smile, a calm "No" in unison.
"All right. Well pretend you didn't see us then." (obviously a yes would've yielded a conversation about drugs)
They do a three point turn and drive off. Hannah and I burst out laughing once they are out of sight. This was not as funny in retelling it, but reasons why it was funny/disheartening:
- Funny: situational humor, that's never happened to me before
- Funny: Hannah and I are two incredibly innocent, goody-two shoes looking white college kids, we are the last people you would want to help you get the goods
- Disheartening: This was right outside of a school
Observations
- One of my pet peeves is people who stand in the middle of the escalator, or go two wide in an escalator. Etiquette says the right is for standing and the left is for walking/climbing. Go to any big city subway station and you'll see this. Kids at UT are painfully unaware of this factoid. It irritates me without fail, especially when I am running late for class. In reality, the difference in time between climbing the escalator instead of taking the ride probably won't make or break me being late, but it irks me regardless
- In speaking with folks back up in Plano, this is happening there too. If you aren't from these parts, basically, it has been raining at least once every ten days (no joke, that's being generous) since mid September. At first it was great: Austin was in a huge drought, and I always liked the rain. However, this rain was different: it's always been simply rain showers, not thunderstorms. If you're from texas, you know this isn't kosher here. Texas is about extremes, and when it rains here, Gaia (captain planet anyone?) normally goes all out: huge drops, epic thunder and lightning, leaving you in awestruck wonder as long as you are inside. This was petty california rain. In short: 1) it sucked, 2) the Mayans might be right about the world ending soon; since when does Texas have simple rainshowers? 3) that statement was a joke, i don't think any civilization thinks the world or themselves is going to last 3000+ years. I think they were like, "well we're pretty much done." 4) My assessment of the rains suckage may have been influenced by my lack of an umbrella.
- I thought this was funny; it might be considered racist, but, think about this one: The Native Americans were the only ancient civilization that never invented the wheel. Curious...
- I think that the snooze button is a great invention in theory, but has caused more harm than help. How many times have people kept snoozing right on through an important meeting/appointment/class. Too many times. I see the necessity for it, but it seems like it would be better if alarms just went off across the room and didn't stop until you solved a sudoku or something (they make those). What other inventions (besides controversial things like abortions, weapons, time consuming/impersonal technology) would the world be better without? You snooze you lose.
- I don't take night showers for a reason: my hair. It does not dry by the time I go to bed. It dries while I am asleep. Bad things happens. My hair becomes mischievous and starts flying high, defying gravity, and you'll never bring it down. Here's an example
Youtube Videos you May or may not have seen (depends largely on your age)
- You thought the snuggie was ridiculous. They outdid themselves with the dog snuggie. this is real. I'll leave the punchline to you.
- A ridiculous move in pulled off by a nine year old kid during halftime of a bruins game. notice the dumbfounded nine year old goalie. Surely thousands of hockey players, amateur and pro started trying to do this the days after this happened. this one isn't the best version, but it works
- More Sports: Female soccer + crazy female hormones = this
- Kittens Inspired by Kittens: my friends will hopefully already have seen this. If you haven't, combine a cute, peppy little girl with pictures of cute kittens. If you love cute kids, see david after dentist, star wars according to a 3 year old, and when a three year old is asked about monsters. Basically, if my kid gets to be 10 and doesn't have a youtube hit, I will be mildly disappointed.
- A man's musical inclination combined with creative vegetable vision
- "Daylight" and "yea yeah" by Matt & Kim
- Empire State of Mind by Jay-z (featuring Alicia Keys)
- "All I ever wanted" and "DotA" by Basshunter
- Everything by Michael Bublé
- "7 things" by Miley cyrus (will be added to my playlist called "ditzy heyyyyyyyy," which consists of surface deep, ditzy songs sung by usually young female artists) LOLLLOL (Plus, catch the last video of miley before Disney starts to blatantly try to capitalize on Miley's increasingly mature sexuality! (you must see the party in the usa video to understand))
- Basically anything by taylor swift. I have a music crush on her right now. it's cool that she writes her own songs, it is hardly done by mainstream people. Although her songs are all consequently surface deep and about love. they're....so....catchy
- Fireflies by Owl City. This a lie. I actually hate it. The song makes no sense until you find out their songs are written because the lead singer has insomnia and stays up mashing whatever words together that rhyme. But...it's catchy...save...me....
- most colbie Calliat, right now "Fallin' for you" love it love it love it.
- A song that i don't know the words and only pieces of the melody, but don't know what it's called (IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY). It is an acoustic-y happy, mellow love song with predominately a guitar and a high male voice that makes me think vaguely of the song "Tu Amor" by RBD
Spiritual Stuff
- This past week I was reminded that I too am a child of God, which means God made me, and God looked at all he had made and deemed it good, which means I am good in God's eyes. this humbled me/happied me.
- I lesser than three the Stone and BYX
- Pray for Ft. Hood victims, the 100 missionaries the stone is sending out (especially the one who was robbed at knife point in India, did nothing to retaliate, and received a .25" deep gash from his mouth to ear), Zachery Vanderford missions, two friends I have back home who are going through tough times
Toodles
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