Short update

Ok so, the video was a couple hours late in coming, but that's not my fault! Someone tripped over an elk (which translates to "technology hates me"). Seriously though, I must have done something to anger the world's computers when i was young. It took forever to match the video to the audio because, somehow, the video recorded slower that it was supposed to (which means I have a time-traveling camera!!) Anyway, this is the video, right here. Click this link. This one here. Do it. In all honesty though, this is one of my favorite songs. There's a chord in there that literally sent chills down my spin as I listened to it a few minutes ago. But enough of that, I'll just let you hear it.


I recently held a "Facebook election" to decide whether to go watch a soccer game on Friday or to go to Milton to hear bro Kenny Baldwin. I was completely torn, because I love soccer, but it's also been a while since I've heard Kenny Baldwin. Well, in case any of you were wondering, the election has been decided (partially because of a mandate from mom 2.0; partially because in the end, when my fellow short friend and I pooled our votes together, Kenny Baldwin really did get more votes than soccer), and Friday will be fun! I'm excited! If that paragraph didn't make a lot of sense, get over it. It's late, and I'm going to bed. *Looks around at pretend audience* Goodnight, person. Goodnight, that other guy. Goodnight, cute girl. Goodnight, rest of world. Goodnight, Jeltso Falkroff, the alien from Saturn who has it out for me and keeps praying to the overseeing powers of technology to rain down their curses on innocent me. Even though you are mean, I will return kindness to you. May your children grow three extra heads in plenty of time for the convention, and may your aerobatic cattle bestow wonderful gifts upon your family for 3.2 generations.

Woah...Time is Weird

So I can't believe it's been only a week (and a day) since my last post. Feels like it was almost a month. What with people leaving for school, gettin married, and everything else. I won't elaborate on any of the time-stretching details that come to mind, because they're all long stories. Anyway, I guess another video is due soon, hopefully within the next few days. If I give myself a deadline, maybe I'll actually do it lol. Let's say before Wednesday at 10:07pm. Sound good? Ok, good. But let's make that Pacific time, so I get a few extra hours to procrastinate. I like my deadlining style!

So last night was fun. Went with some friends to the mall and hung out in the arcade until they kicked us out. I was pretty sure we were going to get locked in the mall, but it was all good. We took off to the bowling alley and played pool for a while. Enough for me to remember why I don't play pool too often. After that, went to the bowling alley on base so we could do laser bowling. I love laser bowling. I also bowled my best game ever last night (but I won't say what I got, because I don't think I'm supposed to be as happy about the score as I was lol). Anyway, stayed there till the kicked us out again, then headed back to el casa and watched Green Zone. That movie definitely wasn't worth watching till 3am. A slow-moving plot and an embarrassingly short attention span don't mix very well. But it was definitely a lot of fun just hangin out with friends all night.

This morning, I got to go out on the bus visitation and invite some folks to church. There weren't many people home (or just not many people answering their doors), but we handed out a few tracts, and it went pretty good.

Well, I really don't have much else to say. If you promise not to trip over an elk on the way out of your front door, then I promise to try to stick to my deadline. Gyuunyuu! (That means milk in Japanese. I randomly wanted some. I think I might get some, which involves me getting off the computer and going to the fridge. Goodbye!)

Smile big!

Smile often.

Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile.

Each little sincere grin I receive carries a much bigger impact than the person who gave it ever realizes. When someone else is happy, it brightens my day. I think we all need to strive to have this effect on others. I have noticed at times that I'm not completely happy unless I'm helping someone else. You never know what a person might be going through when you meet them, and for all you know, a smile could make a world of difference. I can think of instances where I couldn't t imagine my day getting worse, but once i get a peek at the joy someone else has, it can bring my day into a new light.

Simplifying everything down to its purest form, it's easy to recognize that joy stems from love. Most importantly, the love of God. Accepting God's love for me (shown in the giving of His Son so that I might fellowship with Him forever) has given me the truest joy I've ever known. If I turn away from Him, or question His love, the joy is gone, and I have no song.

Recognizing and accepting God's love for us then leaves us with a choice -- to return that love or not. If we choose not to love Him back, we sink back into that state where true joy is gone, and you often feel like something is missing. This is because God made us so that He could have someone who chose to love Him back. Without a love for Him, there's something not right, like sometimes when you make Jello, and that weird crust forms on the top. It looks like normal Jello on the outside, but dig a little deeper, and something's just not quite right. He loves us regardless of anything we say, do, think, or feel. Rich or poor, regal or pauper, righteous or profligate, God's love stretches no less to you than it does to me than it does to the most unlikely person you can imagine, and He gave His Son for each individual. The least we can do is love Him back. When we choose to love God to the best of our finite human ability, we've completed Part 1.

Some people make the choice to not return His love because they can't accept God's love in the first place. Some see their lives full of trouble, and don't believe God loves them because they don't believe He would allow their circumstances. God still loves these people just the same, and He would never give a person a trial they could not bear. Sometimes He allows things to happen to us so that we have a chance to grow stronger, sometimes it's to teach us something. If God had the power and wisdom to breathe the world into existence, who am I to question His plans? An uncut diamond doesn't look so hot in a piece of jewelry, and gold can't serve its purpose until it goes through the fire and is purified.The only way through trials is to keep our eyes on Him and know that He, as the Master Gem-cutter, is beautifying us. He will give us the peace to come through.

If someone we know goes through difficult times, then we as Christians should be an encouragement, and lovingly point them to God. It is important to realize that the Lord never forsook Job when he lost his family, his possessions, and his health? No, God was there the whole time, strengthening Job, molding him into a priceless work of art. Job focused His eyes on God, Who brought him through and gave Job twice the life he had before. It's often difficult for us to see God's in control when we are in the middle of the situation. We need to be there to encourage them through love and prayer, and to be a friendly reminder that God always has been and always will be in control. Job's miserable comforters did him no service, and neither will we if we point someone in a direction other than God's. Sometimes people need help a hand to hold through a difficult life crisis, and sometimes they just need something much less significant in our eyes, such as an extra hand to help them carry a bag of groceries. Regardless, the least we can do for God is to be his servant and point others to Him. The best way to do this is by loving others. This is Part 2


There you have it, two key elements for joy in the Christian life: love God, and love others. All that's left is to observe the effects of joy. It is my goal to spread some joy and the love of God in whatever I may do, and wherever I may go. I have no idea whom I could serve and in what way with just a simple smile.

Woohoo!

So I finally finished that Who Am I cover. It took for-E-VER (scenes from the Sandlot flash through my mind). My computer forced me to use Windows Live Movie Maker simply because I was running Windows 7, and Microsoft is irritating. I finally managed to get a copy of the old XP Movie Maker, thought I still kept having to switch between the two. But it was still a lot harder than it needed to be. I had considered switching to Apple when I got rich. I have no problem with the accompanying actions of only eating at Panera Bread and going to Starbucks twice a day…but I’m still not ready to drive a Prius, so I can’t get a Mac. Anyway, after lots of slaving over a hot CPU, here is the finished product:

The little Lego guy (Captain Rafael…he is the captain of his soccer team, as shown by that captain’s headband) gave me a  bit of trouble. He was very fidgety, which is not an admirable quality for a stop-motion film actor. But by the end of shooting, he had learned his place. He may even show up again sometime. Just as long as he doesn’t raise his rates. He certainly drove a hard bargain. Luckily I have a sister who will work for free. If she reads this and demands payment, I’m quite prepared to offer her 10% of my profits that Youtube pays me (lol).

Still waiting on some good movies, too. We got Lovely Bones from Netflix last weekend. After we watched it, we sent it back. Then there was some weird mixup, and Netflix sent the movie back, saying that it hadn’t been opened, so they didn’t think we had received it in the first place. Then it just got left on the counter for the next two days, instead of being mailed back to them again. Guess we just can’t get rid of that movie. It was a good movie and all, but I want to see The Book of Eli. In the meantime, I’ll just spend my free time working on music (shocker, I know) and reading books. Right now, I’m reading White, the third installment in Ted Dekker’s Circle Trilogy. Ted Dekker is a fascinating writer. Rarely does a story that exists in another reality/fantasy world and still feel so incredibly realistic. I would definitely recommend the Circle Trilogy (or anything by Ted Dekker, honestly) to anyone. It has quite a strong allegorical value, as well, with each event in the book’s other “dimension” lining up with Scriptural teachings. All of that going on while the entire world is scheduled to meet a very abrupt and catastrophic end.

My sister (not the one in the video) insists I’ll be working in the dish room when I get back to school. I hope she’s wrong lol. But if she’s right, I can’t complain too much, cuz I need the job either way. My car needs some repairs done. I’m actually getting excited about school. It’s been a while since I’ve had any music classes/lessons. I’ve got a music theory class, a hymnplaying class, a voice class, and a piano lesson. Then two engineering classes and a Bible class. I’m actually hoping that I can get lucky and they’ll movie some of the classes around so that I can keep those classes and add another engineering class, so that catching up won’t be so tough my senior and super-senior years.

And with all that being said, I bid you all good day, I’m going to go listene to the auto-tuned Bed Intruders song again. It’s by far my favorite Youtube video now

32 posts, 32 days left

So I go back to that little bubble that we like to call PCC a month from tomorrow. I'll be working on campus this semester, So I'm headed back a few days before the semester actually starts. I'm not sure where I'll be working yet...I'm supposed to find that out the day I go back. It's funny every time I think about it, how that place is just its own little world. The mall looks like a completely separate country in comparison. The PCC people are always so easy to pick out, because 50% of the other people are wearing baggy shorts (so big you could use them for shelter on a rainy night if need be) or mini skirts, have their hair bedazzled with each of the three primary colors, and look like that just came straight out of a hip hop video (you know, the ones that are trying to express their individuality that just so happens to match the individuality of everyone else they hang around with). Then 20% are dressed like typical human beings, and 30% are walking around in groups wearing khakis and a collared shirt (or skirts if they're girls...obviously). Then you get back to this Bubble that's running completely independent of the outside world (apart from US Mail and water) go to dinner with friends, and laugh at things that, really, no one in that mall you just came from would have found funny...for the simple fact that they've never experienced this other world you live in.

I mean, sure there are times when I'd rather be anywhere other than there...but when it comes down to it, I don't think I'd trade it (besides, we all feel like that about most places from time to time). I like being at a small school where everyone knows each other, and you've got so many people you can depend on. I just love the whole atmosphere and idea of smaller communities.

That being said...here are some things I ponder when boredom sets in:

  • When cleaning products say stuff like "It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its directions," how much room does that give me? Can I land myself in prison for cleaning the grout in the tile with a product that says it's for counters? Or do I have to feed the Lysol to someone's cat before I'm charged with a crime?
  • Do whales snore? Can they? If not, do they "talk" in their sleep?
  • Who was the daredevil that decided eating eggs would be nice to try?
  • How many attempts at bungee jumping did it take before they managed to convince people to pay to do it?
  • Could it be that the chicken really DID just want to get to the other side, and has now become a laughing stock, just because of this one simple desire?
  • Why do so many people think it plausible that an alien race would travel many thousands of light years to come specifically to our planet and do tests on us, when we haven't even made our presence in the universe obvious until little more than 100 years ago?
  • Why am I still writing when I so desperately crave a snack right now? Goodbye