Thanksgiving

I am thankful for the ability to give thanks.
I am thankful for my new living arrangments.
I am thankful for my mental health.
I am thankful for my physical well-being.
I am thankful all of my friends and the relationships I have shared over this past year.
I am thankful that I need nothing.
I am thankful for my family and the support they give no matter how far apart we are.
I am thankful that I am alive and productive.
I am thankful that I have recourses that I can share with others.

I believe it is important to take a moment and reflect on what we have. Society tells us that we never have enough, that we need to work harder for that next thing. I am thankful that I know better.

Heliotropium - Counting our Injustices as Blessings

I'm reading Heliotropium - Conformity Of The Human Will To The Divine by Father Jeremias Drexelius. I would highly suggest it to any Christian or anyone interested in Christian phylosophy. It's a very heavy read. I just read a chapter discussing how we should view others injustice towards us as blessings. In all things we should look to God for nothing happens but through him. If someone does some great evil to us, it is permitted by God himself only because He knows a greater good will come of it. What reason do we have to complain about an event that Our Lord Permitted? Interesting...

Reality Checks

The past few weeks have been a time for numerous reality checks. On the down side, it's stressful, depressing, and down right difficult to face myself and realize that I was wrong, about many things. On the upside I'm stronger, healthier, and richer now than I was only two weeks ago, and I take comfort in the fact that I am not too far from the path I'm supposed to be on. It's going to take some buckeling down on a lot of the facets of my life that I really don't enjoy working on, but that's life. So as you float through life, make sure that your sails are out so that you can catch any of life's many breezes. Life's about opportunity, don't let one pass you by because you weren't ready for it.

CO

Hurray for vacations! I'm off to Colorado today. Going to be doing some mountain climbing, white water rafting, hanging out with my family whom I haven't seen in over seven months. It's going to be a great time. I'll be back in a week with pictures.

Muse

The new Muse is freaking sweet! Buy it! I am totally excited for the 28th (they're coming to the State Theatre and I'm going :D)

Bummer

I had to retire my Level 3 Monk/Wererat. What a bummer :(

Patience Is A Virtue

Truly God does reward those who wait. Three years I waited, and now it's official. ;)

My Pot of Gold

I saw a huge rainbow today. So instead of saying oh cool, I followed to the end. Surprisingly enough it led me to the track of my elementary school. Anyways there was no pot of gold literally, but I found the most amazing contentment I've ever felt before. It was truly a gift from God. Then I watched Thank You For Smoking... Amazing. I had a shitty ass day but an amazing night. Good night all.

Trunk

Finally got my trunk fixed. It took 30 seconds. I feel like an idiot.

Patio

I built a patio today. It was hard work, but damn was it fun. Here's it at the half way point:

Brick

Just saw Brick. One of those movies that you have to see more than once. All I can say is "wow."

Clubbing

Yeah, that's right, I went clubbing tonight, and it was amazing. I'm finally being able to get out of my shell. Made some friends, it was nice, I'll be doing it again. Love all.

Today

Worked a short open shift, it was fun. Enjoyed the beautiful sun, deposited more money. Always a good time. Walked around Birmingham and made fun of rich people. It is too easy. Saw Silent Hill. Very well done, but if you have not played the game, I would not suggest it. Also:

Need I say more?

Sun Burn

I got a sunburn from the day I went to the zoo. I am actually quite excited about it. Last year, I got a sunburn, but it was not until October when I went to Florida. Another indication that I'm living life a little closer to the way we are ment to. Tomorrow I should have the pictures from the zoo as well but I might not be able to upload them, I have a busy day planned.

Have fun in MN James.

Dirty Cars

Mmm... I'm dirty! I worked on my car today for about six hours and I smell like an autoparts store. I've earned a shower. woot. Time to make the world better one cup of joe at a time.

Easter

Had an awesome Easter. Got up early, went to service. Had a really nice worship. Then hung out with my buddy James and made egg salad sandwiches. Talked with the folks for a few minutes. Good times.

I've started back into photography again. I've already gone through two rolls of film. Makes me realize how bad I really want a good camera.

Zoo

Yay! I am going to the Zoo today. I have not been to the zoo in maybe ten or so years. I'll try to get some pictures up for. :)

Great day

Today was a good day. Temperatures in the 80s, sun shining, it was just a great day. Work was slow, got some good gaming in. Did my laundry. Yeah, it was just a great day.

Yup

Yesterday was another interesting day. I got out of my comfort zone, woke up at the ass crack of dawn to help answer phones at the WDET pledge drive. We hit all the goals, which was nice. After that we drove around for a half an hour to find a restaurant that was only a five minute walk away just to find out that it wasn't open yet. Then we went to the Fly Trap and I had the heaviest macorini and cheese I've ever had in my life. Never again. Andrea's a goof, she listens to her iPod and reads while in the car that has four other people in it. I thought I was bad with people.

My small bible study group got into a pretty huge debate over war. It's was incredibly exciting and I wish it had gone on longer but I was tired and hungry. The two sides of the debate: Jesus calls us to be obediant to the laws of man. He also says, if you are a slave, obey your master. So, if we were slaves to our government and we were made to go to war, then we should. The other side: there is nothing in Jesus that would lead us to believe that war is a necessary solution to any conflict, therefore, even if we were slaves and had no choice, we should NOT go to war. It makes you think.

Today I made hummus. It's very tasty. I'm also importing some more of my music and updating my webpage to correspond. Check it out :) I'm getting better with Link in Super Smash Brothers Melee. I can beat a level five CPU pretty easily and I'm pretty evenly matched with Chris, though I still beat him every time ;)

Yesterday

Yesterday I went to CCS with Andrea to see Bill Plympton. For those of you unfamiliar with him, you're missing out, check him out. He talked about his history and about some of his works. We got to see the as yet unrealeased Guide Dog, the sequal to his almost Oscar winning Gaurd Dog. He also talked about about the business aspect of animated shorts. It put me in such a great mood. I am now determined to broaden my horizons in every way possible. I hope to go to a museum at least once a month. That is my starting goal.

In other news I've started budgeting. For those of you who have not, I suggest it. It gives a sense of accomplishment to see your bank account finally starting hitting four digits. For anyone who doesn't know where to begin, I would suggest picking up some material by Dave Ramsey.

I've finished Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. The single most challenging and imformative book I have ever read. I would suggest for anyone, regardless of religion. I'm now working on How To Talk To Anyone by Rosalie Maggio. So far mostly common sense but it's nice to have technique in a written format. Hopefully in about two months I will be a noticably better conversationalist.

Church was brilliant as usual. A nice kick in the pants. We covered Sloth, the seventh Deadly Sin. An amazing quote from Dorothy L. Sayers on this topic:

“In the world sloth calls itself tolerance; but in hell it is called despair. It is the accomplice of every other sin and their worst punishment. It is the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing and remains alive only because there is nothing it would die for. We have known it far to well for many years. The only thing perhaps that we have not known about it is that is a mortal sin.”

Breakfast

Breakfast is on the way. Making Oatmeal. After this I need to make a quick trip to the store and pick up some eggs and milk. Then I work from 1300 to 1800. After that I'll be going to my Bible Study group. Last night I came up with a better outlook on "digital entertainment." At first, I thought of it as a part of my life, it's something I did. Now I realize, that such entertainment should be reserved and considered a break from life.

Oblivion

Holy shit. So I bought Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion today. Needless to say, you probably won't hear from me in quite a while.

Google Page Creator

After a long grueling wait of a few weeks, I've finally got my official invite to Google Page Creator. Within seconds, I have created the best website on the internet. Well, sorta. Ok, so not really, I could make much better with notepad, but it's fun to play with, and the hosting is free. Check it out and stay updated, it will: linkie

Car Troubles

I noticed one of my headlights was burnt out a few days ago. I finally got a chance to switch out the bulb yesterday, but the light wouldn't turn off and my battery died. I got it jumped today and disconnected the bulb. I'm led to believe that there is a short somewhere. I'll be fixing it tomorrow hopefully. Jenni's Dad was a big help, he knows a lot about cars. I foresee myself getting to know him better via my car.

On a side note, I worked for eight hours by myself yesterday. That was a trip. I'm trying out an herbal cream for my warts, I've pretty much given up on everything else by now. We'll see what happens.

Emotional Taxation

Well, today was probably one of the most emotionally taxing days of my life. Shit went down at work. Rather not go into it. Then some other stuff went down that I don't want to publisize until I get full details. So, for now, I'm just going to settle down with a Guinness that I never drank yesterday.

Electronic Detox

So a few days ago a transformer blewup. That left me without any electricity. Well, that's fine, I thought. I got together some candles and played some D&D with my roommate. This is going to be fun, I can handle this. Day 2. Ok, so I woke up and lit the candle now in the bathroom and started the shower. Five minutes later I realize that the hot water heater is electrical. Shit. Ok, breathe deep, I'll be fine, I can handle this. Breakfast time, shit, the fridge doesn't work, ok, it's fucking cold outside, so move all the perishables outside. Now it's breakfast time. Ok, so the stove is electric too. What the fuck, what a really bad setup. By now I'm starting to get pissed. Ok, breathe deep, relax, warm up, ah hah, Ram's Horn. Had a grosse omelette with grosse orange juice, better than nothing. Let's stay out of the house went to Chris's parent's house picked up a propane camping stove and lantern. Get back home, holy shit it's freezing and we're afraid some of his reptiles won't make it. Oh well. Step one, get the stove working. Grabbed the propane tank from the grill, hook it up to the stove, start some water boiling and heat up some rice for lunch. I'm reading a book, it helps a bit. Get some warm lunch and hot tea in me, feels better, but I'm starting to get a weird headache. Chris goes to work. I'm alone, I'm cold, I have a wretched headache, and I'm in no mood to deal with much of anything. I should call James, he offered me a shower, I must remember, relying on others is good. I force myself to call James, he's not home, I can't use his shower, but he does suggest going to a coffee house to read. You're a life saver James. I go to Caribou, it's dead. Whatever, chat with Alex a bit, read for several hours. Jenni's coming home soon, guess I better wrap up and head home. Stop by Subway incase the electrical is still off. As I drive home a pray it's on because I don't know how much more I can take. But I also pray that it stays off for a week, because this is definitly a good experience for me. It's on. That's good, I take a shower. But I also take this time to reflect. I shall now be turning off my computer when I'm not home, I will only use one IM client, I'm going to stop finding stuff to do online and start finding stuff to do offline. This will be good. I hope...

Work advancement

Looks like I'm finally going to be having more progress at work. They're going to have me learn how to make the schedule this coming Wednesday. That's exciting :)

First Post

I used to use Myspace, but I like how Google does business, so to show my support I switched over to here for blogging. I don't really blog much, to be honest I use blogs the way they used to be, more of a personal journal than anything else. That's it.