101

Ah
this is my 101st posts!!
[huge applause, amid cheering and clapping]

So convenient to reach this momentous occasion at such a remarkable time of year. It adds so much to the Christmas Holidays.

With the festivities approaching at high speeds we have been

-baking (who doesn't bake at Christmas time?)
we have these very cool Norwegian recipe's that we use every year for Christmas cookies, and they all have these complicated names like prostenisheiver and berlinerkranser...(you sound pretty knowlegdeable after rattling those names off...)

-cleaning (see above)
this shouldn't need explaining

-drawing names
we draw names for stockings...which can get interesting...

-opening advent calendars
not sure what it is but our family has an ongoing fascination with advent calendars...maybe it's just us...

-debating about getting a Christmas tree
this year will be interesting, ever since we got our new piano, we've been a little pressed for space in our living room. We thought we could sell our old piano but that hasn't happened yet. We could put a Christmas tree in the living room, there just wouldn't be any room for us. Which could cause problems...

-keeping secrets
oh yes, our family has lots of secrets...especially at Christmas time

-blowing secrets
yup, at least one gets destroyed sometime...

-admiring the weather
60 degrees in December? I'm not complaining...

-waiting...
5 days away

Almost seems too fast.
A semester already over.
Another one about to begin.
My last one.

What is Pain?

well, I now know the answer...

or, part of it. It's not something I've ever felt before, but I've felt it now. 45 minutes of it, and it's called rehab, the day after surgery. but that's over now...

the drugs do make things interesting though...a little codeine to screw things up, I've already made a fool of myself with the stuff. You feel disastrously unconcerned about most things and uncommonly ignorant about everything else, which makes for some interesting lines...

The surgery was good, no severe complications which is always a nice thing to know...the best thing is that I've made incredible progress in rehab and that I'm already walking! well, I kinda needed to. I was in our choir, end of the semester, concert (which was amazingly cool and we put on a glorious performance!!) and I had to be standing and walking...sooo...it was necessary. but hey, at least I'm not in a wheelchair...

I also took the SAT yesterday...and that wasn't the brightest thing to do, but I might have elevated my essay score, (essays...whoever came up with that lame idea...ugh) but seriously, the college board created the test and so now colleges have to look at the essays and teachers have to grade them and the students have to do it...not because everybody wants to but because everybody has to. so impractical...and get this, you don't even have to have factual evidence to back up what you say in the essay, you can just make stuff up and as long as it supports your case...I mean seriously...

well, I'll leave you all with this amazing fact of life that I found

"Mules kill more people annually then plane crashes"

The sudden and tragic end to my high school basketball career

Tis a tragic story really...most of you probably know about my knee, and how often it has failed me...but here's basically what happened...

2 years ago during basketball practice at the beginning of the season, I ran into one of our big guys and landed wrong on my knee. It twisted and I was down, and gettting carried off the court. Nothing serious happened really, but the injury took me out for half of the season. Even though i was out for most of the season the knee healed perfectly fine. Then a year ago while playing soccer, I jumped to head a ball and landed wrong again, on the same knee. This time it twisted, popped, and I was down, flat on my back, with everybody staring at me in shock, and the pain distorting my view of the clouds. I was sent to a doctor, the doctor told me to wait and see. So, I waited...all through last season. Became real good friends with bench...it didn't take long to realized I was going to be out the whole season, so I decided to have a positive attitude and protect my knee for my senior season. And before long my knee was in good condition and I started playing a little basketball in the summer. But I noticed that this time it didn't seem to heal very well. Sometimes I would get out of a chair and as I was standing up, my knee would slip out. It would even happen when I was just walking, or turning around. But I figured it was just the consequences for having been injured. So, my senior season came at full blast. I was going to practices, everything was fine, my knee was feeling good. And then...Thursday night, the first game of my senior basketball season, the season I had been waiting for, and protecting my knee for; I felt my knee slip again in the middle of the game. But this time it didn't resolve, it didn't just go back together, it continued to hurt, and I had to sit out the rest of the game. When I got home, my knee swelled up and I was back on crutches. But this time...I was going to no doctor, I was going to see a orthopedic specialist and get and MRI. I wanted to know what was going on. So, I went to an orthopedic specialist...and got an MRI. And only then, did I get the full story. 2 years ago, nothing horribly bad happened, but I had loosened up my knee just enough to fail the next year during soccer. And that is when I tore the ACL in my left knee. And then last Thursday I tore some cartilage also in the same knee. So I had waited and played basketball for a year on a torn acl. I waited all in vain. And now...I basically have just realized that...my senior season is over...my high school basketball career is gone.

So...
Next Tuesday, 7:30
I get my surgery, it's two hours, I'll be under full anesthesia and I'll be in the hospital for about 6 hours (including the rest). Prayers, would be awesome...
And hopefully...I can get through one more season...on the bench...

Insanity

wow...
I guess it's been a while since I posted...hmm. It's been a ridiculously insane couple of weeks! It all started last weekend. I mean, the weekend before last...I decided to take a small vacation to Pittsburgh. Ok, so maybe it wasn't exactly a vacation, but if felt like it! The main reason for going was to be apart of the Allegheny presbytery's youth conference. There were some tfy people going, so I naturally couldn't resist...Anyway, the only problem with going to this conference was that it was in Pittsburgh which happens to be 7 hours away by car. This poses some problems because I don't know how to drive to Pittsburgh and I really didn't feel like trying...And there also is the issue of gas and expenses and so on. So I decided that since I was going to be in Pittsburgh this would be a great time to visit Geneva and so then my parents would have to drive out! Which took care of the travel to Pittsburgh. However my parents couldn't stay over for the conference so I still needed a ride back to Lafayette. So I used every method I could dream up to find out if by chance I could get a ride back to Lafayette. But it was to no avail...so I had to use my last resort. I submitted a petition to my mom to see if I could ride the greyhound bus back...and amazingly my parents agreed to send me home on the greyhound bus, mainly because Luke Dinkledine found out that he could come too, and we could take the greyhound back together. Only thing was that the bus left at 12:10 am on Monday morning, and arrived in Indy at 8:00 am! So not the most convenient schedule...but sometimes you just have to take it as it comes. So anyway, we left at 3 in the morning for Pittsburgh (ok, so for you geography whizzes, I really went to Beaver falls, which is about 45 minutes north of Pittsburgh which is where Geneva is, but the conference was in Pittsburgh...) I had a lot of fun at Geneva seeing friends and crashing peoples classes, and checking out their music school. I roomed that night in the dorms with Peter Work (an amazing tfy guy) and then finished my Geneva visit on friday (which now has moved up in my college rankings), said a farewell to my parents, and then hung out with friends until the conference started. I can't even begin to describe the conference. I had a blast! The kids were great, and seeing some really good friends made it extra special. And even the greyhound bus trip back was full of just contemplating my glorious weekend...and of course, I suffered from tons of those sad/happy/depressed moods when i got back. All in all it was an amazing weekend!

So then I entered back into the mess of life here, with music, basketball, school all in full power. Also this weekend I took a trip to Kokomo on Sunday to meet with a student who goes to Ball State to get some inside info on the school of music. That didn't raise our opinions of Ball State much, something about strange professors and weird teachers...anyway, I think I need another trip to the college to see what's going on. And now, I am pretty much getting drained...I have a piano competition this Saturday, a basketball game tonight, and I run the sound system for our new church this Sunday for the first time. Which means, I'm practicing 6 hours a day on the piano, I'm working on my free throws, and I'm trying to remember how to run a sound system, along with keeping up with school, leaf blowing someone's yard, and the other half a million things I'm doing...it can get a little tiring after the third night staying up to 2 in the morning or so. But I'm working on that, and I'm getting more sleep...sort of...

With that, I leave you all to attend on my ever escalating pile of time destroying school subjects...

P.S. and after the competition, maybe I can strive to post with more consistency...maybe...

Time to Party!!

Last weekend I went to Kokomo and...partied of course!! All the kids who went on TFY from Indiana were there and we explored the Dinkledines jungle, chopped up some wood, pulled an old speedometer out of an old banged up thunderbird, roasted polish sausage, looked at millions of pictures, listened to me play the song I wrote for TFY, and a bunch of other stuff. It was a ton of Fun! We even got some professional photos of us in a tree! Yeah, actually it was a pretty cool tree, really, you could've climbed it until u could see all of Indiana...well, almost. Oh hey, I almost beat Luke at ping pong!! I mean, I was on top of my game that night! Or what was left of my game...lol On Sunday we went to the Kokomo rp church for worship and I got to see even more friends and eat a fabulous dinner, which, I unfortunately wasn't very hungry for. I don't know what was going on, I just wasn't hungry...it's really aggravating especially when you WANT to be hungry and you aren't. Oh well, it was a great time, and we're already planning our next party!

btw, I got accepted at Purdue in computer integrated manufacturing technology! So, if I decide to ditch music school, or if I decide to throw away music...well, I'll at least be able to do computer integrated manufacturing technology!! heh, whatever that is...next it's to see if I get into the music schools, which require auditions and stuff, where you have to go and show off to everybody and they decide if you get in by how well you show off...lol. But if I don't get in to any of those I guess I'll just go to Purdue and be a party animal...and room with graham.........hahahaha!!

Driving...and green hair...

I GOT MY LICENSE!!!!!!
man...it's about time! it took FOREVER to get it! I mean...once the government decides to set up rules, no matter how stupid, you can't do anything about it. My permit expired in July last year, and even though it had been only a couple days I still couldn't get my license then. I had to wait a whole nother 90 days with another permit just to get my license! *sigh* oh, well, should've known I guess...
Anyway, yesterday I got green hair! It's very cool, seriously green hair is goin to come into fashion here sometime. The reason behind it, is cuz our co-op has these dress up days, and yesterday was twin day, so Darrin and I temporarily dyed our hair green. It was a lot fun...sorry though..heh, no pictures. Maybe there is a reason for that...well, i might be able to put one up...maybe...

I'll leave u guys with this awesome quote

"You burn more calories sleeping then you do watching television" ~anonymous

It won't get any easier...

Yeah, so I went to Butler and thought it was a really cool college and that I should prolly go there. But no, now I got to Ball State this past Friday, and I find out that they have a totally awesome music technology degree. So now what, we got Purdue with the cheapest and a bunch of my friends, we got butler the most expensive and close to even more friends, and now we got Ball state, with an outstanding music technology program and also rides to either Kokomo or Indy. Also I'm going to go visit Geneva and look at their music business program. So as time passes the decision is just going to get harder. If I had decided I really wanted to go to music school a little bit sooner it would definitely have been easier...But, sometimes you just got take it as it comes.
On top of that, I went to the fall ministry project that our church denomination youth collaboration, or CYPU as they call it, puts on. The speaker was pastor Rich Holdeman who spoke on making decisions. He said that we should look at options and remove the ones that are outside God's boundaries. But then he said, that of those choices which are in God's boundaries, you should just choose!! I mean, don't sit around and hope you make the right choice, just choose!! So, I say to myself, "yeah, that makes sense, just choose." And then I look at my college choices and I say, "and what was so easy about just choosing?" It's a lot harder to just choose than it seems like. Anyway, I'll have to choose here pretty soon, but I got a little more time to juggle em around a bit. Along with that the Fall ministry project was really good. I met some really cool people, and got to be with good friends as well. Our team, which went to southside congregation consisted of me, Nick Rao, Colin McClintock, Brandon Sprau, Victoria Hosford, Addy Fisher, Flo Faris, Kaitlyn Marcisz and Anne Cerbus. For those who know these people, count yourselves as fortunate, for those of you who don't know them, you guys are missing something cuz they were a lot of fun to hang out with. Overall, it was a good time...and being the last Fall ministry I can go to, it was a good was to close out the year. Now all I have to do is make a decision...right...

The fate of all seniors...

Ah, yes, I went to Indy to attempt to start settling my fate...lol, I toured butler university's campus and got some more information and stuff. For those of you not so knowledgeable about my college searches...for a long time I've thought that Purdue was the way to go. In fact most of this year I've been pretty certain I'd be going to Purdue. Besides, my dad works there so I get half off the tuition plus I don't need room and board cuz I practically live on campus, so that made sense. Now, I LOVE music, but since I'm not sure how well I'd do in music I figured I'd just get a technology degree with a 99% job placement rate and do music on the side. Buuuut, the more I thought about it the more I started find out that you really can't do music on the side...heh, I mean, there really is no way to do that. Especially with a technology major! Anyway, even though I was still thinking heavily about Purdue I thought I'd visit Butler (in Indianapolis) and Ball state (in Muncie). Both good music schools and smaller then Purdue...And..Unfortunately a lot more expensive! So today I went to butler. And I'd have to say, with the classes and music, and professors and students, I really like the atmosphere of the college of music! It's so cool, and the classes were nothing unfamiliar and the students were really cool too! I was really impressed with Butler and I'm starting to see that since music is my passion, a music school will excite me a lot more then technology labs...lol! I spoke with some music faculty and got some good advise. And overall, I might end up going to Butler or ball state over Purdue! Imagine that...Instead of Purdue actually going to a music school! The idea thrills me! But then again I won't see all the people I know at Purdue and I know a lot of incoming freshman this year...but then again, call of music is very strong! Well, it still all hangs on a couple threads, but I know this...I'd prolly be more happy at a music school then Purdue...I think...anyway, still more to think about...but I can say that Purdue is not a definite anymore...it could be anything!

Colds + Debate = voice shutdown....

Imagine having a really bad cold, you know, the stuffed up nose, the clogged up throat, the talking as if you are holding your nose...all that stuff. Now, imagine you are going to a 2 day debate conference where you , and argue and speak in front of lots of people. If you were ever crazy enough to do it...you would feel like me right now...I mean after enough your voice just decides to shut down...
Actually it was a really good time. The Debate conference was 2 days in Indy and we had a combination of lectures and debating and overall was a really fun time. But having to take care of junk disposing every 5 minutes in the bathroom didn't make things very pleasant, but that's life.
There's a lot I could say but one really interesting or stressing thing occurred. It happened on Friday. At this conference there were 2 different kinds of debaters. Beginners and intermediate. However there were only 12 intermediate debaters and a TON of beginners. So only a couple of us brought an actual case. Therefore when some of us were asked to debate in the auditorium that night, there was a high chance of me getting picked. And of course...I was. I wasn't terrified...It's early in the season and the other kids didn't know any more than I did about the resolution. The only thing was that I didn't know until about 10 minutes before the debate that it was going to be in front of everybody AND we were going to be "critiqued"...for the beginners. we just looked at ourselves like, what does that mean?! But we soon found out. The first speaker got up and got ripped apart about everything by the "critiquer". Keeping hands out of your pockets and speaking this way and keeping yourself organized and he was stopped about every 30 seconds!! So now, imagine being next! yeah, it was a little nerve racking...so I get up and before I even get through my intro I get stopped! I'm like "what now, I haven't even started!" But I got through it and after it was over I think it was one of the best critiquing sessions ever for all of us and I think we will all remember what we were told!! Though it was kinda like a "trial by fire" almost! We all took it well, and I decided to make a joke out of half of it and get the audience laughing to loose the tension. I mean imagine being the audience thinking, "I am sooo glad I'm not that person!!" Anyway, besides that, and having a really bad cold while being ripped apart, it was fun doing mock debates, yelling during parliamentary debate, cracking codes, and just hanging out. I think it was worth it...

Swimming!!

You better believe it...Andrew doerr is getting up at 5:30 in the morning on Monday's, Tuesday's and Wednesday's to go swimming for an hour! Yup, for as long as I got the money I'm doing it. It's simple, out of the way, and gets you exercise and stuff without the sweat and mess of jogging. I'm am a big disbeliever in running...I hate running to get in shape...once I'm in shape running is fine! Anyway, if you ever want to get in shape, just swim, because it's sooo much easier!
Also I started some classes yesterday at an academy type thing our church is doing...I'm taking Hebrew...

aleph
bet
ghimel
daleth
he
waw
zayin
het
tet
yod...ok enough of that..

I'm also taking a literature class, and finally...the best class of all...maybe because my dad's teaching it or something...
ECONOMICS!!!!
well, it's not my favorite thing to do, but my dad knows what he's doing and besides, when I'm jamming for the tests on Monday night, I'm the ONLY one who can go ask the teacher at 3 in the morning why inflation is bad...
But all in all, I think the classes will be real good...And the homework isn't like reading 3 books in two days, or translating the Hebrew bible into English or something, so I think 'll survive.

New Piano!!!!

We got our new piano!! It's so cool, in the top picture is the piano I have been playing and practicing on for the last 10 years...and the bottom picture is our new one! It's so cool to have a nice piano to practice on everyday...one that is closer to the piano's that I'll perform on. Even though it's not a grand, it does what I need it too. For you people who put detail at a high importance level...our old piano was a 1937 baldwin acrosonic...and our new one is a 1996 kawaii. Anyway regardless of what it's called I love our new piano!!

The art of bein learned

yes, the art of bein learned has begun again! in other words...school started this week, and so has everything else that comes with it. Actually this year isn't half as bad as last year. I don't have so many subjects and stuff, I just have, choir, music, composition, literature, Hebrew, basketball, speech, debate, drama, math, economics...ok, so maybe I'm in the same boat...well, it still seems like I don't have quite as much weighing my passage through highschool down...lol. And I'm a senior so whatever that means...if anything...It's kinda strange, becuase for the longest time I'd look up to highschool seniors and how I thought they were so mature and grown up and stuff...well...now I'm a senior and I'm starting to wonder what in the world I was thinking...

well, duty calls...

whatever it is...

trust me...it's there...

pictures!

Hey guys,
here's some pics from our trip, more coming later...

more fun with bridges and sunsets

us and a lakefront sunset

Open Water

us kids

And more of the great mackinac bridge

a cool lighthouse

The great Mackinaw Bridge

The beach

The beautiful creek my brother threw the frisbee in...

crazy brothers + merry-go-round + frisbee = ...

Maritime academy

(where ship captains come from...)

cram packed van...

craziness...

Hmm, I haven't really been home much lately, and I apparently haven't posted much either...looking at the dates on my previous posts...

But now that most of my romping around the US is over I think I can finally start getting back into the rhythm of...of...well...living at home...lol! This past vacation was great though. We spent a lot of time on the beaches because of it was so hot! I mean, we went camping up in Michigan...it's supposed to be nice a cool up there right? So, we thought instead of burning up down here, we'll just go up by the lakes and camp there. Well, it just so happened to be that a national heat wave decides to appear out of nowhere and strike the whole country on the exact week we went camping. So Instead of burning up down here, we just burned up in Michigan!! So we went swimming in the lakes a lot! Ah, the lakes felt soo good in 90 degree weather! It cooled off later in the week though which was nice. We were camping in Mackinaw city, which is right on the straights of Mackinac. So we swam in Lake Michigan and Lake Heron. We also went to Mackinac Island, saw some lighthouses, saw the great Mackinac Bridge, and relaxed. Overall it was a peaceful vacation...well...except for the downpour which got everything wet and put us in the Laundromat for a day, and besides the heat...lol! Anyway it’s nice to be home for once and actually sit down and think for a couple seconds without rushing out the door!! We took a bunch of pics, so when my dad gets them uploaded I’ll post some of them…

Going away...again...

Wow, this week has been absolutely packed!! With work, volunteer jobs, getting ready for company, trying to say goodbye to friends who are moving to texas, trying to say hello to friends visiting from Yemen, and getting ready for vacation!! It's crazy! So now i am leaving for Northern Michegan for a week in about 2 hours...hopefully i can post more when i get back, but for now, you'll just have to entertain yourself without my great posts!! lol, take care...

I'm Back!!!

Wow, I can't describe how absolutely amazing this trip was! The 3 weeks went something like this.
The first week we had lectures on church history, evangelism, theology etc. The second week we went out to different churches in groups of 6 or so, and actually put to practice what we learned and then the last week was a wrap up of different lectures and discussion of the second week. Also thrown in we toured a little bit of Pittsburgh, saw a Pirates game, saw fireworks and got to make some amazing friendships with people from all over the states. The missions we did on the second week were incredible. We did a VBS, we ran a prayer booth thing, did some street evangelism type stuff, and other things like that. The church I stayed at was in inner city Wilkensburg, which is on the far east end of Pittsburgh. The neighborhood is pretty scary, with some violence happening only blocks away from the church, but besides that we enjoyed staying at the church and getting to know the kids at the VBS. All in all, everything added up to a phenomenal 3 weeks. Definitely the most amazing, challenging, and encouraging 3 weeks of my life.

Well, now I am back and already working at a concession stand for our county fair. Making lemon shake-ups and elephant ears, which is a radical change from listening to lectures and goofing off with friends in Pittsburgh...oh and another thing, I am attempting to get contacts. The story goes like this...In Pittsburgh while we were at a drive in theatre watching pirates 2, I got assaulted by someone with a water balloon. he hit me in the back of the head and broke my glasses...now, you try to explain to me how you can break someone's glasses by throwing a water balloon at the back the head! However it happened, it made for an interesting 3rd week at TFY...

Well, the first half of my summer has past and now, part 2 is coming on. There's a lot of stuff coming up like, vacation, planning out school, working, etc. We'll see how well I survive the rest of the summer...

TFY

It's finally here!!! A 3 week youth conference trip/missions trip in Pittsburgh. It'll be great!! We'll get to see Pittsburgh fireworks (which are supposed to be really cool!) and I'll also be there during my birthday so, it'll be fun! I don't have much time to post but, there's plenty of time for comments...lol. Maybe if there's internet connection up there I can post more. I am leaving tomorrow morning at 6 so, I need to get back to packing...take care...

cats...

Yup...we got a cat. Nope, we didn't buy it. Uh, we didn't adopt it. And we didn't get if free from friends, and we didn't grab a stray and adopt it either. We actually weren't intending to get a cat. In fact we didn't even want a cat. But, well, what do you know? We have a cat. Hmm, ok it started last Saturday, my dad was going off to work and saw a cat walking on the side walk. He thought nothing of it and continued on to work. Well for some reason the cat hung around our place for while and then eventually disappeared. We thought that there wouldn't be any more of that cat. But we were dead wrong; it came back that night meowing persistently as if it was hungry or something. We didn't really want a cat so we didn't want to feed it so it would go away but we gave it water and some attention to quiet it. But this routine lasted for 4 days...and we finally decided ok, the cat has been around here for 4 days coming back only for water?!? So she must have adopted us, not the other way around. Now we live in a neighborhood so there are plenty of choices, and plenty of people, but for some reason the cat chose...us! So we finally decided that an outside cat wouldn't be such a bad idea and fed the cat. It is now permanently our cat…I mean after we fed it, we knew it wasn’t going anywhere!! In fact this cat is very well trained and is comfortable around people. I mean, it's not just any normal stray this cat, this cat was definitely owned at some point in time and already very well trained. If we went and adopted or bought a cat like this, it wouldn't be cheap!! Anyway that’s, how the Doerr’s ended up with a cat...of all animals! Maybe I’ll put up a picture of it later...

A little flying...

Well, I guess I'll start recounting my adventures, well, they are adventures...sort of...but anyway, 2 weeks ago on Wednesday i left for an aerospace camp at Purdue for 3 days. We got into all of Purdue's fancy aeronautics stuff, and got to do things only students at Purdue can do! I got to take a flight in the 727 simulator, and also got to fly one of the little Cessna airplane that they have. If you have ever been in a jet liner, well, I can tell you right now, flying in a 4 seater is nothing like it. I mean, you actually feel like your flying! It's much more exciting! Our pilot did a couple of air maneuvers too. He would put it into a certain type of dive and we would all be waitless for about 10 seconds!! Now I've been sorta waitless in roller coasters and stuff but this is really different. Like my hat was floating around along with some papers and a cell phone and eventually we wouldn't even be touching our seats!! I'm telling you, this is nothing to roller coasters, it actually feels like your waitless! So that was definitely the highlight of the camp there. We got to stay in Purdue's dorms and check out there dining halls. Actually the dining hall we were in, was pretty good. Surprising enough, it actually tasted good! lol! Well, overall the camp was really good, and if you've never been flying before, you don't know what your missing!!

Where was Andrew?

Ha, yes, I am back! yeah, you say, from what? Well, it's quite simple. I went to a 3 day aerospace workshop and then immediately went to a week long camp. So now I have a week to post...and yes I WILL post because I'll actually be home...so this blog is now running again, and i will be sure to notify people if i leave suddenly. So there you have it, the reason why I haven't done any computer work at all. Well, I just got back from this camp and it's kinda late...if ya didn't notice...lol, so I'll explain some more tomorrow...I mean later today!

Cars!

Yes, I saw cars!! Before I saw the movie I heard some stuff about cars not being what it was predicted to be, or how it wasn't up to pixar's normal standard, or that the story wasn't that great. Well, I can finally be a critic myself since I am now an eye witness...it is definitely up to Pixars normal standards and the story is perfectly fine. The best thing about it though is the animation. It's spectacular! Everything is crystal clear and brilliant. Pixar keeps upping themselves and passing their own levels everytime they come out with a new movie. It is just amazing how far they have come since a bug's life. Cars was definitely worth my 8.50$. It had everybody cracking up by the end of it. So, I would definitely recommend it, but really, who needs my recommendation. Pixar seems to have proven themselves quite well. They are (of course) smashing the box office yet again! I have yet to see a bad Pixar movie...and hopefully...never will...

A race to destroy...

Have any of you been to a demolition derby? I mean, actually there, not on TV! I just started working for a concession stand again. I worked there last year, and began again this Saturday at Lafayette's annual demolition derby. It's kind of exciting for the first heat or so, but soon it gets very tiring. You'll be making lemon shake-ups to the constant drone of engines in reverse, and the crunching of metal and the horn of the refs and the yelling of the spectators. And this isn't just any droning, the power of the engines and the thud of crashes rumble through your feet from 7:00 to 10:00. I slept that night dreaming of semi trucks in my bedroom! As far as the driving went, this year we actually had a guy flip, engine on fire, windows melting. The driver was fine and the crowd went wild. There were some other fire spurts, and some major smashes into the wall. The ambulance wasn't needed though...which is always a good thing...By the time the thing is over, you relish the quiet and the lack of shock waves through you feet! My ears won't be the same either...all in all, the excitement boils down to a bunch of junky beat of cars, driven by hicks with half their teeth, busting each other up. After seeing a couple of them, they get pretty old! However, I wouldn't mind driving in one...once...maybe...

Dinner's on!

When someone starts to have a running dialogue by himself in my comments, I think it means it's time to update...

Wow, I have been so busy, with graduations, open houses, birthdays, cooking. Speaking of cooking, I actually cooked my sisters birthday dinner! Imagine that, she specificity wanted ME to do it! I tell you, this was a full meal. A friend came over Monday night to test some cooking and then we cooked all day Tuesday and ate Tuesday night!! We made a small first appetizer of cheese sticks. These cheeses sticks have a crunchy outer shell with a deliciously soft cheesy center. Then for our second appetizer we had stuffed tomatoes. We cored the tomatoes, and put an egg, with spices in it and baked it. And for the main meal, (which was definitely the hardest!!) we made homemade ravioli! We started from scratch and made the dough and rolled it out and everything! I tell you, making pasta is hard! I mean, you roll out the dough and it shrinks back and you roll it, and it shrinks back and so on. It took FOREVER for us to get it all rolled out. And then we had to place filling on the rolled out pasta in little lumps and then place the other sheet of dough over it, seal it, cut it, crimp it. I mean, it was crazy. We started making our ravioli at 1:30 and didn't finish till 5! Then of course we had a classic special Italian meat sauce. And for dessert, we made brownie baked Alaska's! In case you don't know, baked Alaska is a cake with ice-cream on it, covered in meringue and baked in the oven. Amazingly the meringue keeps the ice-cream from melting!! Instead of making the whole cake, we just made little ones withe brownies. Ah! Those were so good! Hungry yet?

What a Party!!!

Wow...a party of a grand nature as I have not seen in a long time!! There is a theatre, a one screen movie theatre, in downtown Lafayette. It's quite old and so about 10 years ago the city started a renovation project. Goodness knows the old place needed it. Well, yesterday the old theatre had a grand reopening! It has been transformed into a theatre, not for movies, but for plays, big receptions, parties, performances etc. And last night, there was a rather large and fancy party. There was music, dancing, food (of course...), refreshments, live entertainment. How every the best of the whole occasion appeared at at the dessert table (as always!). Imagine with me for a moment a small water fountain, about foot high, with circular steps to the top, with water flowing out in all directions over it. Now, instead of water, imagine pure chocolate flowing down the fountain. It was so stunningly magnificent you could just stand there and look at it! Until, of course, you got over the "staring/wanting" mode and quickly switched to the "getting" mode! They had strawberries, pretzel sticks, marshmallow, cookies, cherries, and you could hold any of these items under the fountain and coat it in fresh mouth-watering chocolate! Ah, once you went through the line once, you found yourself back in the line for more, and pretty soon, you realize that all you have been doing for the past few minutes was going back into the same line for more! And for good cause too! Wow, absolutely entrancing I tell you!

Also that night I got to enjoy the Lafayette ballet company and it's end of the year presentation. Quite fascinating and intriguing. The more I watch ballet performances the more I realize how clumsy I am...but, then again, they have been practicing on how to be graceful as much as I am slouching in my chair doing school work, so there isn't any wonder at all in that fact...If you have never been to a ballet performance...well, your missing out...even though it does seem to make you look like a bumbling rhinoceros...lol!

Oh, one more thing....I GOT A GUITAR!! yes, imagine that, an orange starburst, fender, acoustic guitar with a case! I can't wait to start fiddling around with it. I have wanted one for a while, but now, with all the money I saved up over the summer, I finally have one!

well, sorry for the lack of postage, it has been a really busy week...I know I know, a lame excuse...but I don't have any more...lol!

Dentists and Wisdom teeth

I don't know what it is, but dentists seem to have a knack for pulling wisdom teeth. I mean, how many people do YOU know who hasn't had there wisdom teeth pulled. I would rather keep my wisdom teeth. But, as they say, "it's all for your own good because you mouth isn't big enough to keep those teeth". Well, maybe it's a good thing my mouth isn't that big, I mean, it's big enough...well...
So, tomorrow morning I will be having my wisdom teeth pulled t 9:00. So while you are all doing schoolwork, or working or what have you, I will be fast asleep on drugs...exciting huh?...and will be probably sleeping all through tomorrow. It should be quite an uneventful day...really...

Besides all that, if you could pray that the operation works like it's supposed to and that they pull ONLY the wisdom teeth I would appreciate it. It's not exactly a nice knowing that some random person is going to be digging around my mouth while I'm on drugs pulling teeth out...but...that's the life of a 21st century teenager...

Whew!

Wow,
blogging contests are now over!! well, for me at least. I can now blog like a normal human being...they were fun while they lasted though. I think I need to take a break from blogging everyday, I need to do something productive!! Haha, well, I hoped you all enjoyed the many posts, because it's not easy to post that much!!

The closing finale of the school year...

So, the debate class and the drama class both had their end of the year finale's last night...in some ways, that was a good thing. I got both classes done and out of the way. However for, other reasons, it was slightly interesting...such as having a beard for the mock debate because I needed it for the play...But besides that, it was a great night!







the powers of persuasion...during the mock debate...







taking notes like a good debate student...;-)






And the then there was the play...I played the grand part of Jack...the pirate who doesn't do anything...






the 3 pirates who don't do anything...











"check that out"



well, since my mom decided to grab a brand new sweet looking digital, I had to post of couple of the pictures. Enjoy the technology...

Jack Sparrow?

Hey, what do you think of Jack Sparrow? I mean is he the hope of America or does he constitute what is evil about America, I want to know your thoughts. If Jack Sparrow were president how do you think he would run the country? Random observation...

I just so happened to be in a mock debate about...you guessed it...PIRATES! The resolution...that the united states should enact a national monument to pirates. So Jack Sparrow, of course, just so happened to enter the argument...so tell me what you think of him. A hero, and good man...or a glamorized, hollwoodized, drunk pirate...

When you make the judges cry...

!!!!!!!!! Wow, today was amazing!! Tonight we had the next competition for share the fun. Basically round 2. Daniel Carr won again! and I won with my composition! So it was a great night! One of the judges said that my piece almost made her cry, and that when I had my own concerts she wanted tickets! lol! I had a lot of fun. I should post some pics....my mom just bought a sweet new digital camera so she has been shooting pictures every ten seconds!! Well, I have another big day tomorrow...have a great night!

I need to start posting...

This is a crazy week!! I got, a play and a couple performances coming up, so posting is getting harder and harder...oh well, hopefully some of you can sympathize with me...all of you who find it difficult to post every day, well, leave a comment...we'll see how many I come up with...lol

Ah!

I need more days like these...


The last time I saw a really cool sunrise, I mean, a spectacular one, was when we were driving on the highway on our way to Wyoming few years back, and the sunrise was so amazing it just took my breath away and after sputtering to get my breath back, the sight was gone. Almost instantly as the clouds moved around and it disappeared. I haven't seen anything like it since. What’s the best sunrise or sunset you've seen?

A Clandestine Plan for Survival...

Ah, the party was great! I did a lot of talking this time...not as much sports. Considering I haven't played any basketball very much at all, I didn't really feel like wearing myself out and getting all sweaty. But through all the fun, I realized I really needed an escape plan. Provided I didn't get any sleep I would be tired the next morning. I had drama practice to get through from like 11 in the mooring to 5 in the afternoon. I needed a plan to get me through the next day; so I came up with this...

First the necessities...

1. I really needed to get some caffeine at some point in time.
2. Can't have donuts in the morning, that doesn't help the rest of the day.
3. Milk works well
4. I need at least an hour of sleep
5. I need more then just caffeine, but some sugar later
6. I can't stop moving!
6. Caffeine takes while to take effect on me.
7. ...I knew there were more but I can't think of them yet...

Ok, so with that info I formed the strategy. I was given a Red Bull that night by a great person...(without him, it wouldn't have been possible) so the caffeine was taken care of. In the morning they would certainly have cereal so there is my milk, however I had to make sure not to have anything TOO sugary because that would defeat the whole purpose of not eating donuts...

So after the eating the cereal, I would lay kinda low so I would get tired. I needed every ounce of sleep on the way back from Indy to stay awake so I needed to make myself real tired. I also have a really hard time sleeping in the car, so I needed to make myself as sleepy as possible. Then right as soon as we were about to leave I would drink the red bull. Now this was the risky part. Caffeine, like I said, doesn't effect me very fast, so if I drank it before we left for Indy I could still get sleep in the van. Then I would be able to sleep all the way to Indy without a problem and even maybe sleep on the way to my house. Now once, I was at my house I would keep moving until drama practice. I was going to be there a long time, and I needed a way to keep the adrenaline stimulation. So I thought well, if I am going to be there over lunch time, someone is going out to Lunch. And lunch is ALWAYS a fast food restaurant, so I can easily get a frosty, or mcflurry or whatever. Then by the time the red bull caffeine effect wears out, I'll still have some sugar to carry me the rest of the way. And then when I get home and eat, I will then stop moving and fall right to sleep at 8 and sleep till 8 the next morning.

I tell you it was the most perfect plan ever!! And get this, IT WORKED!! I had cereal, laid low, drank the red bull, slept all the way to Lafayette real soundly too, I stayed active at home, went to drama, my suspicion was correct and we went to McDonald, had a mcflurry, stayed active till we got home (after eating at wendy's in the evening) and then got home, and went to sleep promptly at 8! I slept then all the way without disturbance till 8 this morning! It was right on! I need to do more of those...

Anger Management...

How do you vent your anger?

1. Yelling
2. Throwing things
3. Shutting yourself in your room
4. Making faces
5. Pushing people
6. Kicking

Whenever I get angry I immediately start to throw things. Be it, a math book, paper, pencil, eraser, light bulb...I am still, however, waiting for the day when I will chuck a fork in the wall...

Party Time!!

Yes, down in Indy, I am partying tonight! A bunch of teens from our church denomination are getting together in some oversized school building to go crazy for a night and coming back tomorrow morning. It'll be interesting to note my mental situation tomorrow at drama practice...Oh well, it'll be worth it! Some food, games, hanging out, group hysterics, you name it, it's gonna happen! Well, I hope the rest of you have a great friday night! I will...

Pacers!

Outta nowhere! Pacers weren't expected to do anything, but what do you know...Their leading the series with the nets 2 to 1! And they have officially stolen the home court advantage from the nets. O'Neal and AJ were on fire tonight!! Double double, both of 'em. The pacers are well on their way to a little fun in this tourney. Even with their dull start they are starting to pick things up a notch. This tourney is getting interesting...

For those of you who look at the above paragraph as if it was a different language...well, hang on, I'll post something else tomorrow...

A little driving fun at Purdue...

If you have ever driven at a large campus, you will know exactly what I am talking about! It's the type of place where random people decide that the cool thing of the moment is walking in front of your car which happens to be traveling at 30 mph. Or the place where on gameday Saturday morning, guys with big fuzzy hats and yellow and black faces think that biking in the middle of the road in traffic after a good plastering at the "where else bar" is so tight. You get the idea. In fact, on the way to bible study, I was driving (ha, yes, ME driving...) in the middle of campus and got stopped at a light. In front of me was a large beat up van. All of a sudden out of nowhere a guy with a skateboard comes running out in the middle of the road and chucks a skateboard in the passenger side window and hangs on the side of the van talking with the driver. When the light turned green, the van starts pulling out in the intersection with the guy hanging on the side. As the van gained speed the guy dives in the van through the window with his legs flying around in the air. It was so randomly hysterical I forgot to get moving myself! You get to see some priceless stuff at Purdue. I tell you, there are some pretty interesting privileges to living right on the edge of campus...or consequences...succeeds in making life interesting...

Yo

This is totally random, but you should watch my Big Fat Greek Wedding.
So long, from your ever watchful,
~Merlin~

Ok, if you start seeing posts like this on your blog, you know that either...

1. Your siblings have figured out your username and password
2. A computer geek has taken over blogger
3. MOAB has succeeded at ruining blogger
4. You've been around Josh Bright too much...
5. Your team members are going crazy...
6. Your computer has a strange virus
7. Or your in a blogging tournament and you really needed another post and you couldn't find out anything else to say

Actually my brother wrote the above statements, so the 1st choice is my case here...sort of. But considering a blogging tournament is in the works, expect anything...i actually enjoyed my big fat greek wedding. Anyone else? well talk to you all later...

More tournaments...

Ha! You think you had enough of the last tournament, well you’re wrong! I am right in the middle of another one. The first one just gave us seeds and numbers, so this tournament is by elimination, much like the road to the final four. Just, with a slightly smaller number of bloggers...not quite 64...I enjoy the tournaments though. They get you posting, and you have to find a way to post everyday to stay alive. It's not easy to find something really interesting to post about everyday. Apparently I just advanced to the elite 8! So we'll see how long that lasts...

This last weekend held quite the excitement for me. It started of course with the "day to remember" on Thursday. Then I found myself at a high ropes course on Friday at a campground west of Indy (twin lakes) that lasted from morning to late afternoon. Then I crashed CC's pizza with our youth group that night and went bowling to finish it all off. On Saturday I dragged myself to the church workday and thoroughly enjoyed myself, especially when I ended up at a friend’s house directly afterwards to have dinner. I had a cram packed full weekend with a lot of fun, however downsides to cram packed full weekends is that they tend to make Monday mornings a little more...tedious...oh well, so what was your weekend like?

A night to remember...(that just sounds way too overused...)

Ok, anyway, besides the overused title, tonight was a night to remember! We had our annual "share the fun" contest for 4-H. Our club sort of ruled the contest, with 12 acts. Only two were from another club. I participated in two events. I played my newest composition on the piano and I participated in a group skit about pirates. Both the skit and my piano piece won first so I am advancing to the regional competition. But some one else shocked everyone. I don't how many of you know Daniel Carr, but if you do, you would know that he is an amazing pianist, but also has a speech impairment. But tonight he proved something to everyone. He got up on stage, and gave a humorous interpretation speech. I know he has worked hard to conquer his speech problem and last tonight he did it...He won first place in the non musical act, and is advancing to the regionals! I have never seen anyone with the guts that he's got. I know how hard he was worked to speak well, and to carry on conversations with people. Now, he has finally won a competition giving a speech!! I know what this guy has gone through and I think it's the coolest thing that he finally proved to people that he can get up on stage and give a speech without stuttering!! Anyway, it was a glorious night having audience appreciation of my music and winning in a skit, but best of all, finally being able to see Daniel succeed in speech!

Purdue

I am getting a tour of Purdue tomorrow...(even though I know too much about it already!) but it kinda reminds me that my high school years are coming to a close, and the college roller coaster is about to begin. Even though I have another year to sort things out, I still feel that high school is ending too fast. In some ways I should because "technically" I am graduating a year early, but besides that, it does seem a bit too fast. Looking back, these four years of high school have been great. I have met a TON of new people, joined a bunch of groups, made a lot of new friends, played some sports, and much more. These past four years have been a wonderful time. Now, college looms in front of me...haha, well not really, it'll be much more enjoyable once I figure out what to do!

Enough of that...on Thursday I have a performance competition thing for 4-H. I am performing one of my new compositions, so that should be exciting! And I am in some crazy skit where I'll be playing music from the Pirates of the Caribbean. I really need to get that sound track! Well, I guess I better get practicing...Have great day!

Guys in the kitchen...

"Guys can't cook!" "Guys don't even need to know how to cook!"
I don't know who said those lines but I haven't heard anything more false about cooking! Really, guys need to know how to cook and guys CAN cook. I rather enjoy kicking the women out of the kitchen and making something up...and when your sister asks you to make her birthday dinner, you know at least the stuff you dream up is edible! What started me off with cooking is an old recipe for pancakes. My grandma first taught me how to make Norwegian pancakes. Norwegian pancakes are some of the best pancakes out there! Now these pancakes aren't your normal 6" across things, these are very flat, and cover the whole frying pan, so it takes some considerable practice to flip them without breaking! So, with much patience, endurance, mistakes, and victories...I succeeded in forming my first pancake, (this was when I was around like 9). Ever since that introduction to cooking, it's been downhill from there. I started to make different things such as dessert's, steaks and meat dishes, casseroles etc. My favorite kind of food is Italian, so I just got a really fancy Italian cookbook for Christmas (yeah, it came to that, getting cookbooks for Christmas!!). A friend of mine enjoys cooking as well, so recently we have started cooking more or less fancy Italian meals once in a while for our families. One time we made, Chunky Gourmet Lasagna, a side of mozzarella sticks and a Mint chocolate dessert. Wow, that was a good dinner! Now I don't even need a cookbook to make things or spice things up anymore. I feel comfortable in the kitchen...
Another thing which keeps me going are my experiences with restaurants. Whenever I go to restaurants I most always get slightly disappointed with the quality of the food, like it's always slightly artificial. Except for pizza of course! But everything else, it seems artificial somehow. But when I cook, it's all from scratch and homemade, so there's no artificial taste at all, and that's what really fueled my desire to make my own food. So guys really need to know how to cook. Talk about essential skills...So...who else cooks?

Real Chocolate!

Imagine a chocolate candy that melts in your mouth and tastes so good, you are living in another world when you eat it. It drags you away from reality and all you could see, smell, feel, is the chocolate...
Alright, so with that image in your head you can know get the idea of what I experienced when I bit into one of the chocolates my brother brought back from Germany. Adam waited till today to show them to us, and I can tell you right now, I haven't eaten real chocolate until today! That stuff was so good, it destroyed any other idea of what chocolate was like! I had a hazelnut chocolate egg, and I haven't tasted any dessert that was better!
However...there is a downside to authentic German chocolate, and that happens to be, that, everything is in German! So, it takes more then a quick glance to figure out what the flavors are, and what's in it. Some are more obvious then others such as, "Haselnuss-nougat" which is definitely Hazelnut. But others are little more...well, vague. Such as "Marc De Champagne". Well, since I am a little more adventurous in nature, I decided to try it. I figured it may be flavored with some sort of champagne type of spice or something but nothing really major or anything. So I ate the "Marc De Champagne egg". At first it tasted fine and I thought it was really good, but then all of a sudden a taste hit me and almost knocked me over. It was the most powerfully, shockingly strong taste ever! I nearly fell over, and it was the strangest taste I have ever tasted, chocolate and this...other stuff! After I had finished it I as talking to my dad about it and he noted that my breath smelled like alcohol...I though he was joking and so my mom comes in says, "Andrew! your breath smells like alcohol!!" So that seemed to explain the powerful strange taste. So I figured if I got drunk, well, it was off of chocolate! But really, imagine chocolate and alcohol! kinda weird...lol! So I have officially been introduced to Alcohol! With chocolate of all things! Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight...who knows?

If this isn't a busy day I don't know what is...

Wow, yesterday was so busy! It started with my sister dragging me out of bed at 6 in the morning to play monopoly ( I think the monopoly tournament did something to her...) and then right after that we took off to the home school co-op and I had classes for 3 hours or so. And then I had to practice some music with some people. Right after practicing, I went home to eat lunch and do some research on certain music for a graduation I am playing for. I barely squeezed in that before we left for my piano lessons. We rushed home directly only to find that some friends were waiting on our front door, and then I remembered that I was supposed to practice a skit that we were forming for a 4-H talent night thing. So I started practicing with them and more people started coming for this skit thing, until about 6 cars were parked by our house. It seriously looked like I was having a party!! And we almost were...so when they left I had to rush and get my stuff together for a session in 22' rifle at the range. So as soon as I got all that ready and grabbed some food off the counter my dad showed up and drove me to the range. I was kinda getting tired then...But I had a good shoot. I had the spinners going crazy, so it was a good night for me. When I finally got back home, it was 10 o'clock in the evening. Talk about a non-stop day!! I only have those like, once or twice a week...and that's plenty!

Juggling!!

Hey, does anyone here know how to juggle? I remember getting a juggling set with 3 balls and I worked on it for a long time when I was a little kid. And I kept reading all these books that said, "it's not as hard as it looks" and "if you keep practicing then you'll be able to impress your friends in no time!" and stuff like that. Well, after a LONG time of practicing, (I don't know, like 6 months or so) all I could do was juggle 2 balls, and that was it! Nothing real interesting...and I was really frustrated. I was like, "3 balls is IMPOSSIBLE!! and so I kinda put off the project of learning how to juggle for a couple years...ok how about 8 or so! A couple years ago I pulled out the juggling balls, and found out that it wasn't quite as hard to juggle 3 balls. I could keep them in the air for almost 5 seconds now!! I was thrilled. I thought I would be horrible, but absence from the sport kinda helped me I guess...anyway, I put them away and now...I can actually juggle!! After about 10 years or so, I can juggle!! I grabbed my juggling balls and found that I could juggle. Yes, it's as simple as that, wait 10 years and you'll be able to juggle! No really, I just pulled them out and after a couple tries I kept the balls up there for 30 seconds or so. I can do some tricks with them too. So, if you want to learn how to juggle...um, well, I don't really now how to help you, because, I don't know how I learned either!! maybe if you wait 10 years you'll be able to juggle, or maybe that's just me...

The finish line for the contest draws near...

The contest ends tonight at midnight, so if you were ever to comment, now is the time!! It has been an enjoyable journey. Never thought I could post so many days, you just run out of things to talk about after a while! Really, sometimes I would sit, staring at the computer screen for at least 30 minutes before I came up with anything really interesting to talk about. In fact I didn't even expect to make it to the top 10 let alone the top 2! And I couldn't have done it without all you commenters out there! Thanks a lot, it means more to me, not just because you have helped me to challenge some...leaders...but it gives me some contact with people I don't normally see, and it is much appreciated! I hope to match it with comments of my own. A big thanks to Nathan, he put a lot of work into it, and I think if it weren't for Nathan, there wouldn't be much of a blog contest! I really enjoyed it, and if you know Nathan, check out the contest sometime, it's well worth the effort! So how about a little feedback, if you were in the contest, what did you think? What about the comment system? I liked the idea of having points for comments, however, having posting points in there was vital. I even like the idea of having interesting post points. But that's for a future contest, but all in all, I enjoyed the contest a lot, and I hope all you other competitors had as much fun as I did...well, have a great night...

Some music...

Did anyone else really like the music from the Pirates of the Caribbean? I did, and actually, I am playing some of the music for a 4-H competition thing. I'm on the piano and a friend on a fife, it sounds really good, especially with some random people swordfighting in the background...but I really like the music from that movie, it's quite addicting...

I am still wrestling with the idea of music. I really want to do something with it, but I am not sure if pursuing it in college is smart. I love music, but whether I should make it my life or not...It's a tough question. If you love math...well, that's easy, some engineering major. Like to teach? Well, you go learn how to teach people. Like science? You go experimenting with any of the vast sciences at your door. But when your torn between music, the arts, and science and math...well, it gets crazy!! But I know one thing, music will be a big part of my life no matter what I do...

A little roofing...

A friend of mine got a roofing job a couple weeks ago, and he hired me to help him out. I really needed some breaks from school anyway, and a little roofing never hurt anybody, so I decided to take up the challenge and do a little roofing. It's quite interesting...once you have found out that, even though the boards creak like a hundred year old rocking chair, you aren't falling through! Sometimes you wonder though...but all in all, it's a good way to get your mind off of something. Besides I enjoy some manual labor. Who wouldn't after spending you time since Christmas sitting behind a desk and flipping pages and twirling your fingers! Anyway, back to buisiness; roofing is divided into a couple steps,

1. Tearing off the old shingles
2. Laying tar paper
3. Attaching the drip edge
4. Laying shingles.

It's that easy...seriously, you can now go re-roof your house! Well, I suppose you might need a little experience...but you can get the hang of it easy enough. Anybody done any roofing? It's pretty fun, you get to have some excuses to making loud noises in the middle of the day, which is always fun. And, it's some practical knowledge...you could save some hoards of money! Well, the next best thing is sleep, (where have I heard that?) so maybe I should consider that more carefully...

Champion!!!

Florida is your national champion!! wow, I didn't expect that one...I was hoping for a big ten team! Well, that shattered pretty fast! Then it was the Zags! Well, that didn't last. Then George Mason! But...well, they didn't quite make it. Finally, it came to UCLA. But...they didn't pull it out either. In fact, they almost got blown out! Actually, to be completely honest, the DID get blown out!! Who would've thought, Florida and UCLA. But then again, that's the beauty of the NCAA collegiate showdown. Anything goes. So did ANYONE have a team in the final four? I know I didn't. All my predictions floated away at the sweet 16. I want to know if anyone actually predicted a couple teams. As I said earlier, if there was a year for upsets, this would be the year. And what do you know, a totally unpredictable final four and even more championship. With a Cinderella team of a rank almost unheard of!! What a way to end a basketball season! A very enjoyable men's basketball tournament and an NBA tournament getting ready to start turning heads. But, that...is for a different post...

Thunderstorms!!

Ahh, I LOVE thunderstorms!!! Hearing the thunder and everything, and the wind and rain, you sense a feeling of power, and you realize that it's all God's doing...but anyway, my dad and my sister were coming home yesterday from Indy and a storm with unmatched fury descended on the highway. You know, where the windshield wipers are on super fast and you still can't see a thing, and your going like 2 miles an hour...just like that!! That's when it gets most interesting. Living in Indiana has been good, because with weather like this, if you predict thunderstorms, you get them, and if you don't predict them...well...you get them anyway!! We lost half of our tree once in a thunderstorm...not just any tree but an ash tree that you can't get your arms around...it almost landed on our neighbors car...which...would have complicated things...but thankfully it wasn't long enough! The rest of the tree is leaning real awkward right now...if it were to come down, it would go through my window and take out my bed...which is a most comforting thought when it's windy and I am trying to go to sleep!! But it hasn't split......yet....
Anyone had any battles with thunderstorms? Did you win? I normally lose...but well, maybe that's just me...

MONOPOLY!!!

Wow, a whole morning of monopoly!! We had 7 tables with 6 contestants each! A LOT of serious monopoly games for a grand prize of 100$ at Dick's Sporting goods! 100 dollars! That's as much as the radio stations advertise for their game shows!! And our tournament is a 100 times easier to win!! I didn't advance to the final round, but, I did good enough to get a new monopoly board! A woppin 3230 dollars! The final rounds were brutal though. The guy who got the most money in the first round (12,000$) got massacred in the final round. There was no mercy! And since all the big powerhouses (well sort of) got one table, the winner was quite unexpected. But all in all, it was a lot of fun. Monopoly tournaments aren't as bad as you would think...

George Mason and Florida!!! Florida is winning right now, but look out, George Mason, isn't going out of this one without a battle...I am rooting with George Mason along with 90% of all Americans watching this one. I mean, unless your a die hard Florida fan, you're rooting for George Mason!! This is what the NCAA is all about! Rooting for the Cinderella team when your team fails! Well, I am going back to the game...enjoy the tourney...(well, for those who follow it!!)

A little Bit of nothing...

I have no time to post, so this is not going very long, in fact I'll probably update this post tomorrow!! what a brilliant idea! well, I'll tell you about all my great adventures and other fantastic events of today tomorrow! (that was confusing!) But until then I will leave you all in such suspense you have never felt before in your life! ok, enough that...well, I think I will get on to other business. Have you seen the borne identity, what did you think of it??
I just saw and and here is what I thought of Borne Identity...
The plot had a more or less confusing development, revealing the beginning of Borne's life at the end of the movie. The storyline doesn't quite follow a solid line, so if you find yourself wondering why something is happened, you probably missed the jump...if that's too confusing then i'll just say you have to keep you eyes and ears open...however, if you concentrate on the facts you can follow it. But it takes some brain powever...so if you want to relax and watch a movie, this isn't the one, unless you enjoy being confused! But once i got the plot figured out the movie was enjoyable. The action, and violence doesn't overpower the story and neither does the special effects. And of course the sequel follows the same idea, however the plot is considerable easier to follow....almost...But, those are just my opinions...anyone else?

Daylight "Savings" Time...

Well, get used to it...Saturday night...we change our clocks...(change our clocks...just absurd if you ask me...) So with the daylight savings time dynasty on the way, some people are saying, "It's ABOUT TIME!!! I have waited for forever for Indiana to get there clocks in action!!" and some people are saying, "This is ridiculous!! I moved to Indiana just to get out of changing my clock!! Why can't we just leave the clocks alone!!" So whats your opinion?

I think we should just leave the clocks alone. I know everyone else does it, but really, I think America needs to get out of the idea that we got to change our clocks around, just leave them be!! Besides, if you move the clocks forward, you save light in the evening but not in the morning!! Oh well, some things you just gotta live with...But really, do we need to be messing with our clocks. Does turning your clocks an hour ahead really give you an advantage. Think about it, your going to have to wait a whole nother hour just to shoot off fireworks. It'll be an hour later each morning too. So yeah, well, it'll be interesting how people react. I heard that some people were going to form a group and not change their clocks...how stupid! they're just going to be late to everything!! BUT...if EVERYBODY didn't change their clocks, well, then all the government officials would be late!!

Well, I am going down to Indy tomorrow, so that's means sleep is a necessity, as if it never is...so see ya all later...

The fun side of church planting...

Today we had our core group study, for our new church plant, at a church building that we are checking out. The church is kinda secluded in a way, it's quite a ways in the country but it is really interesting. I mean, interesting in a good way. The church is in fact a historical antique building which makes it all the more fascinating!! The building itself is really cool. The sanctuary is a lot like the Kokomo rp, just a little smaller and there are several good sized rooms for a pastors office and classrooms. However, the basement is the most interesting. There's a nice big kitchen with and an extra set of restrooms. There is a large room next to the kitchen and double doors in the back of the room into another large room which could be perfect for anything from fellowship lunches to a rollerblading rink. Seriously this place has a TON of possibilities!! Another thing, there is a roof thing sticking up out of the ground behind the church as if an outhouse had sunk into the ground so all you could see is the roof. Nobody knows what it is and nobody knows how to get into it. Isn't that exciting! Well, really, in a way, there's just so much cool stuff in that church building. The only thing is that the basement needs a LOT of work. It looks as if the kitchen hasn't been used in like, 50 years and the restrooms look like the spiders have already declared it there's...but really, the place looks promising. Not every day you get to have a service in an antique church! Well, anyway, I think it's really neat church. It'll be interesting if we end up in there. But, well, that's up to God's eternal plan...

By the way, I appreciate all the interesting discussion on my last posts. Keep commenting!!
Well I am turning in, take care ya'll...

The Road Ends Here...

This weekend is going to be a MESS in Indy!! 80,000 people are expected to be running around in Indy!! There was a reason why our home school conference was last week!! What's your guys' picks...that is if you have one! I think George mason will make it to the championship and get beat by LSU. But still, you never know. What are your ideas? George Mason may go all the way and shock everybody, but I am sticking with LSU. Actually I got invited to go down to Indy on Friday to watch the teams practice and do some other stuff. I might make another prediction afterwards. It should be interesting, however the traffic is certainly going to be far from pleasant!!

My last post had some interesting comments. I think that discussion is a good thing so keep commenting on your thoughts. One important issue was brought up. We all have the same facts, however it's our interpretation of those same facts are what's different. Your interpretation of the facts is based on your worldview. So even though you see a canyon and think "a lot of water, a little time" some one else might say "a little water a lot of time". It's all based off of your worldview.

Well, there's some thoughts that should hold you till' tomorrow, have a great night!

6 days...

Ok, I couldn't post yesterday because of some tech issues, so this post is a really good post to comment on!!

Well, I joined the RP forum. There are a lot of interesting threads there. One of the most intersting ones is about the age of the earth. I believe in a young earth. I think that along with the bible, observational science over and over again proves a young earth. To me, deciding whether the earth is young or old is not major decision. It seems pretty obvious to me. One of the biggest arguments is about the 6 days of creation. I think it's definitely 6, 24 hour days and then of course the same for the last one. If you think about it, nobody really started to question the time of creation until evolution rolled around with there millions of years story. So some compromising Christians decided that because "science" proves that it took millions of years then we can sort of try to put millions of years into the bible. If you think about it, the only place you can really put a millions years in the bible is before man was created, because then the genealogies would be all messed up. So they came up with the day-age theory and the gap theory and all these ideas, questioning a belief that for a long time has not ever been disputed. And now, it is leading a lot of people to question the 7 days in genesis. What are your guys' thoughts on this issue? There is a lot of interesting debate about it. It's fun to see other ideas and view points as well, so comment with your point of view.

I have a long day ahead of me, so I am going to start working, have a great day...

Boredom...

One of the speakers at the convention brought up an interesting point about boredom. He said that boredom isn't just having nothing to do. Boredom is actually self-centered thinking, expecting everybody to do stuff for you to make your life interesting and not using any creativity to do stuff yourself. In fact Boredom isn't a harmless feeling, if you bored, you certainly aren't using your gifts to glorify God, your just stuck thinking about how you have nothing to do. And not doing anything, is just as bad as doing the wrong thing. When I heard that it totally changed my thinking of boredom. I used to think boredom wasn't really, wrong, it's just a harmless feeling. But really, if you think about it, boredom is very self-centered thinking and not at all productive. What do you think?? Anyway, just a few thoughts from the conference.

Well, it's the start of another glorious week. There was supposed to be a debate tournament this weekend, but it was cancelled for a lack of contestants. It's kinda bittersweet, because, I really don't want to do another tournament, but I do need some more practice. Instead of a speech and debate tourney, there is a...ready for this.........a monopoly tournament!! With...a grand prized of a 75$ gift card to Dick's sporting goods...how cool is that!? I better start practicing I guess. I actually won a new monopoly board last year. This year, well, 75 bucks is pretty decent winnings for playing a game...really...

UCONN IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!! and Texas...sorry Nathan, i think your final four choosings have been manipulated a bit. No #1 seeds are left!! I was pretty sure this was going to be a year of upsets, and guess what, there were a lot of upsets. Any of you getting in on the action in Indy?? That would be such an experience, wow, that could pass as a field trip, seriously, well...almost...
I think I need to start shutting down...have a great night,

Exhaustion...

Wow, what a weekend, I am barely able to type let alone think...but it was well worth traveling all the way down to Indy. The sessions were extremely helpful, and very inspiring. Two excellent key speakers with Ken Ham, and John Stonestreet. And, of course, I got to hang out with some very cool people. It's so neat though, since everybody there is homeschooled. It's so encouraging.

So what did everybody else do to keep there life adventurous and intriguing? Any trips, camps, explosions?? I have had a lot of interesting weekends so I am ready for one that I can actually relax. Does anyone else feel like they have no weekends or is it just me? I am always busy on weekends!! Well, exhaustion is now starting to take over my ability to concentrate so I better leave you all , have a great rest of the weekend...

A little piece of the conference...

wow, I am so tired. Today was a really inspiring day at the convention. I know some of you have heard of Ken Ham. He is a native Australian, and he founded answers in Genesis. He is the key speaker at the conference and some of his lectures have been very helpful. He spoke on the 3 basic topics...

1 The real meaning of the "6" days of creation
2 Can God be confirmed through science?
3 The impact of Evolution and Creation worldviews on students

These are the basics of what he spoke on. Any discussion on these topics? Ken Ham brought out the point that as soon as we start adding man's fallible ideas to the bible then we start to open the door to other worldviews. Such as adding millions of years to creation. It just doesn't work. I think he's right on. Any other thoughts?

Well, I really need to go, because we have another long day tomorrow...
take care ya'll...

Well, the NCAA has started up today, with LSU and Duke, along with Bradley and Memphis. Bradley and Memphis is the game I have my eyes on. Anybody know how long it's been a 13 seed has made it to the sweet 16? It'll be interesting to see how far they make it...

The Homeschool conference is tomorrow, so we have been getting ready all day. Rummaging through all our old school books so my mom knows what to buy. It should be an enjoyable weekend though. Well, I still have more stuff to get ready so I'll leave you with some more quotes...

Half this game is ninety percent mental." --Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark

"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people." --Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC instructor.

"Traditionally, most of Australia 's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery

"Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." --Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina

"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur." --Al Gore, VP

Computerization...(is that even a word?)

Anybody familiar with WORLD magazine, I'm sure at least somebody gets it or knows about it. But in the last issue it was celebrating 20 years of publishing. Besided that they brought up some interesting thoughts. Everything is going computerized, news, sports, weather, stocks, shopping, you name it, it can be done online. So newspapers, magazines and the like are kinda dying out in a way. Newspaper subscriptions are going down each year as well as magazines, and periodicals. So what do YOU think is going to happen in the next, 20 years? Do you think everything is going to be "computerized", or maybe with online subscriptions to "e-papers" or something. It's an interesting topic, for a long time newspapers were the only way to get news...but the radio came and now the internet, so I am assuming the newspapers will die out with the rest of old technology. Who knows, maybe even the TV will die out and all movies will be on computers and things with expandable screens. I think sometime, there might be an all in one, like a TV/Game system(x-box probably)/computer all in one. Microsoft can do it if anyone else can. Random thought for today...

Well, a good solid day for me today. I got a TON of math done, like 3 lessons in precalculus...but...let's not go there...My brother is down stairs watching "God's and Generals" for his history class I think. Really, I want a class where u have to evaluate movies!! Well, with the sounds of exploding gun shells and musket fire, I think I'll leave you all for a some much needed rest, ttyl later

Weather...such a fascinating subject...

Well, I guess Indy got a little more snow then we did. They got like, 4 to 5 in. and we got a dusting, literally, all we got was a bunch of really cold air and that's it. Enough to make it miserable...but it's Indiana, so what if it's the first day of spring, anything can happen here. If I become a weather man (which is almost impossible) I would probably move so I wouldn't have to do weather reports for Indiana, it's crazy here, and unpredictable, the weather guys are always wrong!! Well, maybe not always, but it does seem that way sometimes. Anybody else think Indiana weather is unpredictable, or is it just me?

Speaking of weather, does anybody know about the myth that if you are unusually thirsty then it will rain or some precipitation will come? Well, my grandpa was, a living example of that myth if I ever saw one. One time, he was here for a visit, and he got real thirsty, he downed like, 4 large cokes in a couple of minutes! Anyway, sure enough it downpoured that day. Another time, it was freezing cold outside and in March (no surprise!) and he was real thirsty again, so we were thinking rain, but we were like, it's 25 degrees outside, rain is impossible! Well, sure enough it started snowing in about an hour...maybe there is some truth to that...I was real thirsty today...well, you never know...anyway, there's a random thought for the week...

Tomorrow, is a free day of nothing except bible study, so maybe I can actually get some work done! And if any work is going to happen I think I need some sleep so, I'll talk to you all later,

It's the start of another interesting week. This weekend is the home school conference and if you aren't home schooled, or you don't live in Indiana, well, you'll have no idea what I am talking about. But if you do, well, it should be a good time of teaching. I really enjoy the times I go...it's Friday and Saturday at the Indianapolis Convention Center. There are a lot of good speakers who come and lecture and talk about a bunch of different subjects. But that is pretty much all for this week on my schedule...well, for now at least. Things pop up in the middle of the week ALL the time...

SNOW!!! ok, I saw the weather report and I thought "now?" I am ready for spring...not snow!! but apparently it is on the way to Lafayette and Indy. we might end up with 6 in. Tomorrow morning! I am so glad I don't have a paper route now!

Well, I am going to wind down here pretty soon, have a great night...

The big ten is out!!

There are no more big ten teams left!! That was such a disappointment. 6 teams in the tourney, and none make it to the sweet 16, but like, Wichita? and Bradley? Conferences I've haven't heard of are in this thing, and the big ten doesn't have one team, not even one team to show for themselves...Oh well, it is the NCAA, anything can happen...I'm putting my hopes in the zags now. Gonzaga is in the same state my parents grew up...Washington!! So we'll see what they can do. They are looking real strong right now. Any other thoughts? Anyway, for those of you who see the letters "NCAA" and "brackets" and say "who cares?" I think I'll stop there...;)

I had a great fun filled weekend. The basketball banquet was great and Adam is back, rattling off all of his adventures on the other side of the world...well almost...about the beer, well, in his own words..."it wasn't that bad!!" What did you all do for the weekend?

Well, I have decided to make another CD. It should have more songs on it, like maybe 10 or 11. And hopefully I'll have it done by summer or something. It's going to be so hard to record though. All the pro's just play the piece once and bleep out all the errors. I like play it through and then, "nah, that wasn't good" so I'll do it again, "nope, there was an error in measure 25 or something" so I'll do it again, and again until something actually decent comes out. It takes FOREVER!!!! And it is very exhausting, sitting around trying to play the piano perfectly for 5 hours or so. 6 songs is hard enough!! Well, I think I'll get to bed early tonight, I really need the sleep, after the paper route all week, it will be nice to sleep in to 6:30...heh, yeah, sleep in to 6:30...

g'night all,

Some quotes...

Ahh, we had a glorious banquet!! It was so fun, we had a reception thing first and I played some of my brand new compositions, and then the food was excellent and so were all the comments for the coaches and players and stuff. And the hanging out and socializing, can't miss that stuff! All in all, it came out perfectly...well, almost that is...we had some stalls and some, "uh, what do we do now?" moments but that was about it. I am so tired though so I'll leave you with some quotes...

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever,"
--Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life,"
--Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,"
--Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC .

That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it,"
--A congressional candidate in Texas .

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
--Al Gore, Vice President

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"
--Lee Iacocca

"The word 'genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
--Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback &sports analyst.

P.S. You gotta wonder sometimes, I guess some people just don't think before they speak...and...sometimes it's not a "oh I didn't say that" especially when half of America gets their hands on it...

You know u live in 2006 when...

[1.] You accidentally enter your password on a microwave.



[2.] You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.



[3.] The real reason for not staying in touch with your friends is that they don't have a screen name.



[4.] You'd rather look all over the house for the remote instead of just pushing to button on the .T.V.



[6.] Your boss doesn't even have the ability to do your job.


[7.] You read this list, and keep nodding and smiling.


[8.] As you read this list, you think about telling
this to all your friends.



[9.] And... you were too busy to notice number 5.


[10.] You actually scrolled back up to check that there was no 5.


[ 11.] And now you're laughing at your stupidity.

I just had to post this...heh

Of Banquets and technology...

Well, one of the biggest things coming up for me is a banquet which my mom is pretty much in charge of...and we are serving like, 120 people so, it's big, and there's a lot of stuff to do!! It's for our home school basketball program. I am in charge of doing the power point presentation, so I spent like 4 hours today trying to get it at least half way done. I have to get all the pics of all the teams together, alphabetize them, size them, and stick them on some template that looks half way decent. Then once I have all the names and pics together, then I add in the animation. And the animation is confusing because there are a bunch of ways to do it. You can animate the whole slide or just the words or letters or pics and stuff. And there are a hundred different animations too. It's just a LOT of work to do one power point!! It may seem easy enough but it is actually very time consuming...if you want it done well that is.

I thought I might delve into the world of technology just a bit. Purdue has a brand knew nanotechnology building and believe me, some of the stuff they are researching is unimaginable!!
1. They have found out how to create seamless screens. Basically, imagine taking your computer screen out of it's frame and crumpling it into a small ball and stuffing it into a film canister. Then the next day pulling it out and putting it back in your computer. With the new screens they would still be seamless, with absolutely no creases. The possibilities are endless. They can make DVD players the size of an ipod and just have an expandable screen. They can make portable 16 and 20 and 30 inch TV's. It's quite amazing.
2. Purdue has also found out away to liquefy a TV screen so that you can literally "paint" it on a wall. You can make it as big as the whole wall or just your normal size. The molecules in the paint align themselves when you brush it on. I am assuming it uses wireless electrical current to run, but still, to be able to "paint your TV screen" on a wall? Pretty crazy. Think of our grandkid's toys!!!
Anybody else know of some sweet technology out there? It's everywhere, the unthinkable is happening. It's mindboggling!

Because of our disagreement in sports opinions, I figured I would end this post with this quote...

"Opinions are like armpits...everyone has one, and they all stink" ~Mr. Johns

Compositions, and basketball

Ah!! My composition is done!! I spent like 4 hours today putting it into my teachers computer and it is all complete, mailed in and everything...now just the waiting, competitions are full of waiting...

NCAA action officially begins tomorrow. This is going to be an interesting year, with a couple unlikely #1 seeds, like Villinova and Memphis, and bunch of hopefuls in the lineup. I think out of all the tournaments, the NCAA is my favorite, because absolutely anything can happen. No name teams can weasel there way into the final four, and very unlikely matchups clash in a normally thrilling climax. There's just nothing like the NCAA when it comes to tournaments. In football, the same old teams end up in the bowl championship series and who gets into the bowl games are easy to predict too, like, it is tons more difficult for no name teams to do anything, but in basketball, I mean, like, Air Force is in the tourney, and when do you ever see them do anything in football. I know it's impossible to face off 64 teams in football, but that's the beauty of the NCAA. Well, that's my thoughts on march madness. Any other thoughts?? Well I'll wrap up this post with that...have a great night!!