the sound booth

Nineveh

2011-04-25T21:09:00.001-07:00

It is amazing to me how these incredibly wicked people accepted and believed in God so quickly. Perhaps we need to be a bit more forward in our message of salvation at times? People just need to hear the truth....the Holy Spirit clearly can take care of the rest.

Jonah 3:5-10 NASB

Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation and it said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. "But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. "Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish."
When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

How powerful is our God!

2011-04-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

To witness the events that took place on that day would, in my mind, create such an unshakeable, solid, absolute faith in a almighty God, whom Elijah served, that one would never be tempted to worship the gods of the lands again.

1 Kings 18:34-39 NASB

And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. "Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God."

They weren't so different back then

2011-04-12T21:16:00.001-07:00

Tonight's reading was interesting. Take a gender below at the bit I want to bring to your attention.

2 Samuel 11:4-6 NASB

David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant."
Then David sent to Joab, saying, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David.

David did not concern himself with the matter until Bathsheba told him she was pregnant. It was probably 2 months past by then! David must not have had a very strong conscience....I can't imagine living with that guilt for that long.

First successful blog post in a long time! Woohoo!

Android app check

2011-04-04T20:56:00.001-07:00

I'm hoping this app will encourage me to blog more. Test.

2010-09-12T12:10:00.001-07:00

2010-09-12T11:23:00.001-07:00

2010-07-27T20:40:00.001-07:00

pond

So....you think you have it bad at work?

2010-07-27T16:08:00.001-07:00

Today was brutal. Last week and the week before had days even worse. heat index's one day were 117 degrees.

Now some people might say "oh ya well the middle east gets up to 120-something everyday!" Well they DO NOT HAVE a heat index there (usually). Dew points are usually low enough they are negligible. Here our dew points have been 70+ degrees, even touching 80 degrees one day.

Then others still "well I worked inside a house without A/C". Or the somewhat common "my car doesn't have a/c" blah blah blah

Check these pictures out. Today only topped out at 94 degrees IIRC which has been faily common as of late. However that is just the official temperature reading taken at the airport. Temperatures at other places in the city will vary.

I took some thermal measurements with a infrared laser thermometer accurate to within +/- 2 degrees.

Here You can see this piece of cardboard laying on the patio of the construction site we are at. Its sitting in the sun and the temperature is 140.3 degrees F.

Here is a quick shot of the stone patio itself. Temperature readings were anywhere between 125-140 degrees depending on where you took it. This is what were walking around on all day by the way.

Want to grab that hammer-drill? Better think twice about it as the handle is 137.7 degrees F.

Here's the hottub we helped install early this morning. Shaded all day. That's right...111.9 degrees in the shade on this patio.

Want to use that circular saw? Be prepared to wear a glove or endure some pain. 135.3 degrees F.

So at 111.9 degrees in the shade (where the heat index is measured) with a dew point of 70 (which was our dew point at the time these pictures were taken) gives a heat index value of about 122 degrees. Since the heat index is calculated in the shade, add at least another 10-15 degrees for how it feels when your in direct sunlight. Another thing to think about is that this patio we've been working on has wind breaks on all four sides. Meaning we don't get that nice cool (or hot) breeze.

At this heat level, you sweat so much that you really have to constantly be drinking. I can easily go through a gallon worth of water/gatorade/etc in the afternoon.

This guy

2010-03-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

"The police often question him just because they find him interesting. His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man's entire body. His blood smells like cologne."

"He's been known to cure narcolepsy just by walking into a room. His organ donation card also lists his beard. He's a lover, not a fighter, but he's also a fighter, so don't get any ideas."

"His charm is so contagious, vaccines have been created for it. Years ago, he built a city out of blocks. Today, over six hundred thousand people live and work there. He is the only man to ever ace a Rorschach test. Every time he goes for a swim, dolphins appear. Alien abductors have asked him to probe them. If he were to give you directions, you'd never get lost, and you'd arrive at least 5 minutes early. His legend precedes him, the way lightning precedes thunder."

"His personality is so magnetic, he is unable to carry credit cards. Even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number. He never says something tastes like chicken. Not even chicken."

"People hang on his every word, even the prepositions. He could disarm you with his looks... or his hands. Either way. He can speak French... in Russian."

He is....the most interesting man in the world.

And yet

2010-02-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

I wanted 2ft of snow so I could be in harsh weather and be one of the few able to get around,
And yet the landscape is covered in a beautiful blanket of white and everyone can still get around.

I heard something at noodles last night that made me do the "facepalm-fail" thing,
And yet it reminds me that my Grandparents are move loving and caring than I.

I have a long way to grow in, well......essentially all of the fruits of the spirit. How does one go about growing in such a way? How do you become more gentle, more faithful, more peaceful, more loving, more joyful, more kind, more goodness (grammer?), better self control? Its interesting that as I look at the fruits of the spirit, It's Immediately apparent that I will need them all equally.

To become more kind and loving, I will need more patience and self control. To become more joyful and peaceful I will need more faith. So on this Saturday, I am starting my day by praying that my faith will grow, and that I have more self control over my attitude and how I treat my interpersonal relationships.

Then, just maybe, I'll find the rest of that fruit.

All of my non-blogs

2010-02-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

I would say I actually publish about a third of the blogs I write. The other two-thirds get pushed into the following categories:

(my thoughts upon completing it)
-Well....this blog is cool, but its not that cool
-Hmm I think if i post this people will get offended
-If i post this, people will want to argue the subject and I just don't feel like devoting more time to researching my point, and backing up my claims, even though I know I'm right.
-Only a handful of people read this, so this research and topic matter is pointless to post here. It provides information on subjects that those who read this have no interest in. Perhaps better to post elsewhere

What % of blogs do other people not publish?

Why Taleah is so awesome.....

2010-01-20T20:00:00.001-08:00

Let me just say I have the most awesome girlfriend.

-She understands when I'm so hungry that I can't even hold a conversation. (it happens a lot lol).

-She understands when I'm super stressed because of school/work/whatever.

-Logical reasoning skills are found in abundance in her. (something I failed to encounter in most girls I've dated)

-She cares about what I care about. I tell her things about cars often and she pays attention and likes learning! (ok sometimes i can ramble a bit and I'm sure that gets boring.....but most of the time she likes to learn about car stuff)

-We share very similar views on a lot of things. Which is pretty great!

-She at least samples the cookies I make, even if I burnt them and they would make good charcoal briquettes.

Just a few of many, but its the little things that count. (even though some of these are big things).

Goodnight :)

about the warnings...

2010-01-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

Wind chill advisory
Wind chill warning
Heat advisory
Heat warning
Union College's notice to students that they will get frostbite in 10 minutes

What do all these things have in common?

Let me ask anyone that reads this a question:

-If it were hot outside, and you stepped outside, would you not know that you felt hot, and should be careful about how hard you exerted yourself? Or would you need the government/other institutions to warn you about it first?

-If it were cold (like now) would you not realize this upon stepping outside? At the 10 minute mark would you look down and suddenly say to yourself.."aw crap I'm getting frostbite". Or after 30 seconds of SUBFREEZING EXPOSURE would you not think "gee it sure is cold outside, I should really get inside where its warm".

Thank you American government/institutions/colleges, because the average American was just not loosing common sense at a fast enough rate before.

The best Christmas ever

2009-12-27T19:31:00.001-08:00

This Christmas was the best one ever. Let me tell you why.

I love severe weather. Usually its because I love driving and playing in it, which, consequently means most other people don't so i can have the roads to myself. This Christmas, over a 48 hour period, we got over 12 inches of snow with blizzard condition winds. For a good part of a day visibility was below a 1/4 of a mile.

It was so bad in fact, that I actually was blocked on our street by all the snow. I had to call my dad so he could clear a lane with the bobcat so that i could get home. The snow drifts were over 2ft deep!

The storm continued to blast us, and it snowed our road shut. We had to dig a path with the bobcat to get out temporarily, and it would drift shut only a few hours later. Nothing, other than our snowmobile was getting down our streets.

So I was stranded at home. The best place to be stranded! We had food, a warm fireplace, a snowmobile, a bobcat, and each other. I got to spend some quality family time, and enjoy a little R&R. Snowmobiling was one of the most fun activities, followed by hot tubing.

Saturday we ventured out into the City. I'm not going to lie it was awesome! None of the idiot drivers were out. No one with a little car (non AWD type) was out. All the bad drivers were either wisely staying home, or already stuck in a ditch/side street/etc. We got to enjoy driving around looking at all the beautiful drifts and snowy fields without the "man I can't believe I'm stuck behind this clown" or "what a dumb@$$" thoughts.

Today, sadly, I have to report the idiot drivers have returned to Lincoln's streets. People with their FWD/RWD cars that, when the light turns green, and their tires start to spin, only press the gas peddle harder........right. That will sure help you go! People that pull out into traffic, only to realize that they cannot accelerate fast enough to stay ahead of everyone and force everyone else to panic stop. People that do 20 mph in a 40 mph zone when the street is completely plowed and clear, once again, causing a traffic clog.

Overall this was definitely the best Christmas ever! I can't wait until the next storm! I hope it drops even more snow!

on the bandwagon!

2009-11-30T17:34:00.000-08:00

So I know I've been to at least 13 of these places. I honestly cant remember whether or not I went to Versailles or not, so i left that out.

Now....PLEASE OH PLEASE LET ME GO TO MORE OF THESE PLACES!

For the ones I've been to:
Most beautiful: Florence
Most boring: Metropolitan museum of art...hands down. Easy decision :D
Most lethal: Amazon rainforest haha

my phone

2009-11-12T22:32:00.000-08:00

my phone is trying to sabotage my life True story.

Here's a list of why:
-Sometimes it won't receive calls or texts for hours on end, even when its on. Why? No idea. Honestly. Just now (12:30 AM) I had two texts show up that were sent hours before. Apparently its a long journey for it to get to my phone.

-It won't let me send texts to Taleah's email account sometimes. IM NOT JOKING. Seriously....today i showed her because it sounds so ridiculous that i wanted to prove it. I can send to my email just fine (or other people's email for that matter), but sometimes the phone says "cannont send to email" when i try to send it to her. If anyone out there doesn't believe this, or thinks "that's ridiculous, he must be doing it wrong" I do not blame you in your feelings. That's exactly what i would think if someone else were to have said this. You'll have to believe me.

-My phone cuts out a lot during calls. Doesnt drop them, just goes silent for very breif moments

-Sometimes when I'm typing a text (not with T9 because T9 sucks) instead of hitting a button 3 times to get one letter, I'll hit it three times real quick and wind up with 3 random letters from that key. Its weird. I can't explain it.

-Sometimes it restarts itself. This one I'm guessing is possibly due to dirty battery connections. I need to clean it. Although my last phone did this all the time, and i know that one wasnt the battery....hmmmm

off the grid

2009-11-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

Its warm outside. A hot sunny summer day.

"where will you go?" I say.

"I don't know. Somewhere they can't find me." He says.

"Where would that be? They can probably find you anywhere...." I reply.

"No I'm pretty sure they won't look that hard" He says.

(I wonder if he ever will leave, or is just all talk)

Now its a mostly cloudy day. Windy. Late fall.

The company vehicle is returned. Keys, credit card, and radio all accounted for on the passenger seat. Everything is in order.

The house is sold. (when did that happen?) The new owner says "I have no idea where he went. I closed on this house a couple weeks ago".

Phones are dead. No forwarding number. No two weeks notice. All items purchased, were done so with cash.

Just, simply, gone.

"He finally did it. He did what he always wanted to do. He's finally off the grid." I say to myself.

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
The sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand

People....

2009-10-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

I don't know where to start. Why do so many people I know (acquaintances, not friend....i can't really be friends with people like this) blindly believe whatever they hear about new products on the market? Do they enjoy throwing their money away on useless products? Do they not care they are essentially being scammed?

If it in anyway resembles a pyramid scheme you can be about 99.99% sure that your getting ripped off. Why? Pyramid schemes are NON-sustainable business models. That means the guy at the top realizes he's gonna eventually have to pack up and disappear. Why pack up and disappear when your selling an honest product that has a good customer base?

People are SO STUPID! sorry I have to rant. Why oh why do snake oil salesman continue to thrive? All these car products, nutrition products, anti-aging products, special water, exercise gimmicks....they are BOGUS!

-Octane boosters: More or less useless for this purpose. You'd be better off buying two gallons of 100 octane unleaded and mixing it with your regular gas, for the price of that fancy "octane booster".

-Gas mileage increaesers: Completely a joke. 100% no doubt. Don't buy anything related to this.

-Special high antioxidant drinks with flashy names and vitamins: Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits and veggies and this will do nothing for you. Its sure not worth its price, and your body can only make use of so many antioxidants at once. its like taking emergen-C. 1000mg of vitamin C? Your peeing out 3/4 of that at least. Good job on more money wasted.

-magic magnets making you live longer, not get airsick, ect: Again 100% fake.

-"Magic" water that is absorbed better because of its ionic properties or whatever other claim: If you took general chemistry in college you already know this is ridiculous.

-Get ripped in 10 mins a day for 6 weeks: If you expect to look like the guys/girls in these pictures, then you = fail. Maybe you could get ripped in 6 weeks if you were on powerful steroids and growth hormones (like the people you see in those pictures). Otherwise, getting cut and bulked at the same time? Good luck...

It's come to the point where I won't even argue a point with hardcore fan boys (and girls) of these products. In fact I usually say "good for you. We'll see how this works for you then". Then whaddya know, 3 months later they are not using said product anymore, but don't really feel like admitting its because they know they've been duped.

The point here is this: THINK FOR YOURSELF AND DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOUR SPOON FED. Also taking a basic course in biology, chemistry, physics, and marketing, will help you recognize bogus things.

*This rant made possibile by an acquaintance on facebook claiming how he's venturing into the buisness aspect of essentially being a snake oil salesman. Of course your product is legit.....sad thing is there is plenty of dumb people out there who will believe you*

88

2009-10-12T12:47:00.001-07:00

Just got my Mechanics test back, 88%. Class average was a 60%!!! Yikes! High score was a 90%. The one question everyone missed is ridiculous. Its very arbitrary and vague on what it asks. Hopefully we'll get a scale....which *crosses fingers* would put me above a 100! (since he'll likely scale it to a 75 if he does scale...)

Topic change. I saw God today. In the youtube comments of dawg*** (name partially concealed). I think I was ADD for a reason. I think Kutless's "I lift my eyes up" came on pandora for a reason. And I think I need to take my own advice :) Point taken J.C.

peace!

good luck

2009-10-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

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the rough-ness factor

2009-10-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

I want a chance to get out my epic fail last night. Not as i, myself, were failing, but i was encountering much fail emanating from others....and inanimate objects it seems.

Last night i was attempting to help with music for the girls dorm worship. This sounds simple no? Well there was already a guitarist, ukelele and 3 good voices, so i thought "I really need to find another instrument to play....I'm rusty and my fingers are gonna die". So with that thought i head out to find a djembe.

Now i don't have many unionites phone #'s, so i called around and finally got the # of a guy who has a djembe. (all names will be left out).
-Well i called that #, but instead, it was the # of a different guy. Darn. Ok.
-I call someone else to get thte #, but no answer.
-I call someone else who has the djembe guy's #. I call him and he's already using it.
-I call someone else who knows of djembe guy #2. So i get his number and call it.
-Its a non-djembe having girl......"sorry wrong number" I say
-I call someone else to get the right #, no answer.
-I call someone else and get a different #.
-I call that #, and its non-djembe having incorrect guy #2. *this is getting old i think.....*
-I call that person back and get a different #. A room phone this time, not cell #.
-I call that # and no answer.

So i gave up on getting a djembe. (this whole process took about 40 mins) I drive to apartment to get my capo (10 more mins...), since the songs were in keys that required one, or deal with a million bar chords with tons of buzzing and pain.

I finally get back with capo and now theres new hope. Emily found me a Djembe. Sweet. I just have to go get it. So Taleah and I go to get it.....we walk to coopers but don't know which apt this guy lives in. Darn. We ask random people but no luck. Finally he answers his phone, but he's not home. He's doing gynmastics. We walk to the gym, get keys, and get back to the apt. No luck. None of the keys will work in the lock. Not ONE!!!! I consider myself a decently strong person, with some mechanical inclination and i could not figure out what was going on. We go return the keys, and walk back to Rees Hall......without a djembe. (goodbye another 40 mins)

So now its almost time to play music, so we rush through maybe 75% of the songs so i can learn the chords. Whew....it goes ok i guess. My fingers almost fell off though. This makes me feel sad that i don't have enough time to keep my love for guitars alive. I havent played before this in two weeks, and i Havent REALLY played for any length of time in a month and a half.

Top off the evening by enjoying my comforting headache i had since 4 or 5pm in the afternoon...contemplating the epicness of the evening's fail.

END THURSDAY

Today my teachers had no mercy. We had a quiz which i'm sure at least 90% of the class failed (enviornmental engineering). Then we were assigned a hw due friday (next week) and another due the wed of the week after that.

In fluid mechanics we got an assignment due friday.

I have a mechanics of elastic bodies assignment due wednesday.

I have a statistics assignment due fri

I two formal lab reports due on tuesday and thursday, respectively. Neither are close to completion.

I will be doing an hour of homework this afternoon (very rare) and an hour of homework on Saturday night (never happens). This week will contain 20+ hours of homework for me...not counting the lab group meetings i have on sunday afternoon, monday night, and most likely wednesday night.

Fall break come soon.....

fall is here

2009-09-29T12:06:00.001-07:00

I love fall.

Hot enough for shorts and a T-shirt during the day, then cold enough for jeans and a long sleeve shirt at night. The raspberries are still going strong and yesterday i munched about 100 of them. Today i watered them so that friday i can munch some more!!! Also the grapes are still making grapes...which is cool.

Fall makes me happy inside.

Reasons why fall is so great:
Making apple cider
Harvesting honey
eating raspberries
The trees turning colors
high squirrel activity (lol)
Low humidity
Everyone is back at Union
Swing dancing season (ya it goes all year....but for some reason fall just feels better)
You can sit in the sun without getting too hot
Everything smells better in the fall

I'm happy about fall. But there's a little tiny piece of me thats sad because winter follows fall. I dread the short days and long nights of winter. To wake up in the dark, go to school only to see the light through a window, then return again in the dark.....that just sucks. I need sunshine. I crave it! I can't live here for the rest of my life. Colorado (mountain sunshine) or California are my top two future living destinations.

I love fall

its all about the thumbs...

2009-07-21T10:42:00.001-07:00

So i haven't blogged in a while, but i figured I would today, as i'm taking a lunch break at our office and have time for it. So here goes my ever growing thumbs up/down list:

Thumbs down to:
-People who can't park right and take up a spot and a half
-Horribly obvious fake enthusaism (although it is sometimes amusing to observe...only half a thumb down)
-The news still covering micheal jackson things
-Anyone who panics more over swine flu, than normal flu
-Mr. turbo diesel truck guy that drives by our job everyday around 10:30 or so and tries to show off
-Having to watch people slowly destroy themselves with various issues
-Texting more than i ever have before. 7xx texts this month. I have a 1000, but i'm not a texter, and much prefer voice communication when holding a conversation. Texting a conversation seems like a digression in communication. (although occasionally very useful)
-Anyone who is convinced that they should buy into all these new "magical" antioxidant drinks/health drinks. Its a pyramid scam for a reason...no one would buy it otherwise.(think about that one...) If you do buy into for the buisness side....your a jerk for convincing other people it will cure anything that ails you. If you buy into it for health reasons your an idiot that knows nothing of proper nutrition. I can get all the antioxidants i need in a day by eating a handful of blueberries, or plenty of other berries or vegetables.

Thumbs up to:
-cherries (yum)
-E85 fuel
-Working out
-Polar Rose because they gave me a free shirt and stickers
-My hair stylist for giving me a sweet haircut and showing me how to style it
-Kohls and their excellent selection of mens casual and formal buisness attire
-fun dreams
-Making anklets

More to come, but that's all for now! Thumbs up/down is great.

suck it meteorology peeps!

2009-05-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

The following is a rant on my fellow classmates in my meteorology class i just finished. This is in no way bragging about how good of a student I am. It's just saying how rude and stupid they are.

[RANT]

I got an A on the final. In your face! Maybe you should've called me when you got together to study....instead of "forget" like you always seem to do. I hope your study party was fun. You ever wish you could get better grades, like mine? Maybe it would've paid off to study with someone who knew their stuff. Too bad. Enjoy your mediocre grades. Oh and the fact that i only attended class about 50% of the time.....thats a little embarrasing for you isnt it?

[/RANT]

On a different subject, I finally have a local source for 100 octane unleaded. I've added like 3* more timing from about 2K RPM, to redline, and leaned out my AFR's a FULL POINT! While keeping peak boost of 18psi in third. The added power has been really nice. I believe i could finally take a mustang GT now! The downside is race fuel is expensive :( After this tank, I more than likely will never fill up on it again.

making change....

2009-04-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Today in my meteorology class, i discovered i was missing a worksheet on lightening. Darn I thought, there's gonna be a test question on it too! Well about 20 minutes into class, a random student came in late and sat by me. I asked them if they had the worksheet, and they said "oh ya, you wanna go to the Library and make a copy of it?".

So after class its off to the Library. As i walk in the door I think to myself...."it costs 10 cents here to make a copy and the only money I have are larger bills. Where am i going to get change?"
We walk into the copier room and a few seconds after walking in the door the second copier further from us makes a weird noise and spits out a quarter, a dime, and a nickel.

I took one of the dimes and tried to put it back in the second copier, but it wouldn't take the money. The macheine was apparantly out of order. So I go to the first copier and deposit the dime. Sure enough it works. I then get this little voice inside my head essentially saying "yo holmes....I got your back!"-God.

1. There was no one else leaving, or in, the room when we arrived there.
2. The second copy machine spit out money only seconds after us enetering the room.
3. The second copy machine refused to take the money it spit out, so i don't see how anyone else could've used it and put money in it.
4. God knew i had no change with me.
5. The first copy machine DID take the money, which means the coins werent deformed or something.
6. I got my copy :)
7. God reminds me He is really in control of EVERYTHING.

The end.

how to make the world a better place

2009-04-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

step 1. Everyone needs a naked juice of their preferred flavor, each day. Maybe even 2 of them.

step 2. Everyone now drinks said Naked Juice.

Results: Happiness and cheer for everyone. Not only does it somewhat quench your thirst, but it also provides wonderful nutritious calories. Wars end, world hunger ends, the muslims and jews get along, South Korea and North korea have a tea party (really a Naked Juice party), Hugo Chavez proclaims a new personal doctrine of peace, global warming stops (...oh it'll happen), religious extremists go live on a small pacific island to get away from all the happiness, car companies magically have enough money to survive again, bailout companies can now provide details of how they used OUR money, drivers tests in the USA will become like the drivers tests in some of the foreign countries (really difficult to pass), thereby only letting people who can actually drive, drive.

Law: Stealing another persons Naked Juice is punishable by a one-week prohibition of Naked Juice, and a Righteous slap in the face. (its gotta be a really hard slap).

The end.

Those UNL jokes just make more and more sense...

2009-03-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

[Rant]

We have these things called cross walks at UNL. Now normally cars occupy the streets, but when pedestrians need to cross and there is too much traffic, what do they do? Press the walk button right?

Well UNL students (9/10 at least) don't. They will bunch up in groups on the edges of the road waiting for the walk symbol to magically appear on its own. Then after two lights or so, they get frustrated and just cross in front of traffic.

Usually I press the walk button, but lately I've waited to see when someone else will and it usually takes a while. Seriously. HOW HARD IS PRESSING A BUTTON?

[/Rant]

on cardboard boats and late night math

2009-03-07T23:43:00.000-08:00

Today I designed a cardboard...well....box i suppose. It was to be used for crossing the Larson Lifestyle center pool. Turns out they didn't have enough cardboard, tape, or time to complete my design. After doing some quick math i think that's probably ok because i over-engineered it.

After completion the boat would have displaced about two gallons of water by itself, and with the girls in it, it would have displaced about 34 gallons. The carrying capacity of the boat before reaching a safety margin of 2 inches above waterline (not counting buoyancy from pontoons) was 1,440 lbs. The boat itself was strong enough that the weight wouldn't have been the issue. I used triangular tubes that were stacked on each other to provide a skeleton for the floor and corners. This would have effectively distributed any vertical load laterally We hypothetically could have put more weight in as long as the pontoons in the bottom layer of the boat remained sealed. (I'm guessing it would sink around 1600 lbs)

The best thing about this boat, had it been built, is it would glide nicely across the water. With only the two girls inside it would have rested very high in the water, allowing for a quicker crossing (less drag) of the pool. It also would have been quite water resistant.

That is all my tired brain can process. Goodnight all.

So tired, why?

2009-02-23T22:04:00.000-08:00

I'm waiting for my mind to wind down. You know on those days when maybe you've physically exerted yourself too close to bedtime, and its time for sleep, but the mind is like "huh-uh". Ya.

No fears though. I have wisely spent my time creating new gmail accounts for fun haha. More file storage FTW.

Oh and would someone please bump the record player that is playing the soundtrack to my life? It's skipping again. Except don't make it go to the next song, I'd really like to hear the rest of this one. Thanks.

"she's always sick and dying" - Kenny. I just want you to know Kenny that I literally could not stop laughing at this one. Maybe only like 1% true...and it really didn't fit into what we were talking about. Still hilarious though!

Goodnight all.

dreams

2009-02-16T08:19:00.001-08:00

Do they always mean something or is your brain simply knocking a few circuits loose during the night in its attempt to rewire things? I generally hold the opinion that our dreams usually don't mean anything.

I truly had the most bizzare dream last night though. So incredibly vivid and real that i still can remember details, which is strange because normally i forget my dreams soon after waking. I suppose in this case it doesn't matter if it means something or not, because either way its a good thing. This was from WAY back in the memory banks though, so im wondering what triggered it.

you have my attention!

2009-02-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

Wow today was strange. Certain people in my class were acting really weird. That's all I'm gonna say.

Also....wow. (and thank you!) God has continued His trend of amusing Himself by making the impossible in my life, possible. Thereby thoroughly confusing/astounding me. God I promise I am in no way offended :) This must be a sign that I still need to work towards better communication with You. I didn't even ask You about this recently! You simply are an amazing God, with a great sense of humor i might add. I think not enough people give You credit for that (sense of humor). Too many see You as an angry, vengeful God, or just non-emotional. We were made in Your image so humor has to be part of You!

So to all who might read this; God really does want to be involved in everything in your life, and sometimes, I believe, likes to make something amazing happen so that you're left thinking "Wow...He is all powerful. He really can do ANYTHING!". Just trust Him. Literally give your worries to Him.

H words

2009-02-09T08:56:00.000-08:00

Humidity. Who knew such a relatively un-talked about thing could make such a difference? (ok well i know it makes a big difference but you don't hear people talk about it much) It smells like spring.....I feel happier....more people are smiling today.

Sometimes I feel like coming out of winter is like coming out of a dark, depressing, battle. You've fought for months, and on the horizon the first gleams of sunlight break and splash onto your face. You stand up and feel something stir in your soul. Hope. New life is about ready to burst forth. You breath in deeply and can't help but feel that no matter what happens, everything will be ok. Even your body feels like it has more energy.

It kind of brings to mind (for me) the whole Lord of the Rings vibe. How evil was oppressing everyone around and when evil was finally conquered there was more light, more green, more happiness, more hope.

Here's to you spring. *raises sobe bottle and clinks glasses with mother nature*

The drama queens...

2009-01-30T08:36:00.000-08:00

So every mon/weds/fri I have a schedule that leaves me with an hour between classes in the morning. My favorite thing to do, has been to go to the student lounge in Old Father Hall and listen to music.

Well just about everytime now these two girls show up (probably freshman from how they talk) and they talk about the "drama" in their lives. They talk ridiculously loud, so its not like im snooping on the their conversations.....if anything im turning my music up a little louder to drown them out. Well anyway the darker haired one is usually the big talker, and she likes to talk about how all of these guys are always all over her and how she can't just be friends with anyone. I think there might be a slight ego inflation there.

I got wise to this after a few days and decided to reside in the farther east section of the student lounge. Guess where they came and sat today? Yep. Thats right. Not only in the east section, but at the table right next to me. Thankfully it appears as though they have homework thats distracting them for now.

I really feel like im sitting next to a highschool girls table in the lunchroom.
Its moments like this when i wish i wouldnt have showered and then eaten a bunch of garlic or something.

a bit on a lot

2009-01-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

8 days. That's how long I've been doing 100 situps/day, and 30 pushups/day. On top of starting back up in the lifting of weights thrice weekly. Honestly i can't say as ive gained a lot of strength but i have been noticing my abs are not nearly as shy as they were. There is defenite fat loss occuring :)

On another note i quite possibly had the most fun possible in a group project the other day. We went and played basketball and just hung out at the rec center at UNL for a while, then ate at buffalo wild wings. Yes. You heard me correctly. I got points for doing that. The only requirement was that our "hangout time" was documented via pictures. Which i will upload when i get copies of them, but they are pretty funny.

I must also make a note to mother nature. Would you please bring all your snow at once in the future instead of spreading it out over like 5 days? It would get us all snowdays and allow us to enjoy your beautiful snow! Perhaps by operating a not-so-enviournmentally-friendly snowmobile. Just think about it. We'll talk more later. I have some questions about storm chasing this coming summer.

Also props to our good Lord. He continued His trend to prove to me that He does care about the little things, and, well, maybe the not so little things too.

Goodnight.

All time favorite quote

2009-01-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”- Theodore Roosevelt quotes (American 26th US President (1901-09), 1858-1919)

seriously? Really? Come on...

2009-01-14T10:37:00.001-08:00

to the random UNL student (she was on her phone) that i passed walking today.....what is wrong with you!?!?!? I mean every college has its drug problems don't get me wrong, but since when do people PUBLICLY talk about the next drug deal that they're going to do. How absurd! Did you not realize that everyone around you could hear you? (it was a fair number of people)

Yes that's right folks, ms. jane doe has informed the world of how much pot she will be selling somebody this weekend. Even where she wants to meet! It's people like this that must make our nations average IQ level so low.

hosanna

2009-01-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

This song came on Pandora today. I really like the chorus. I play the verse a little differently though because I don't like the chords they use. For all of you that know what im talking about i automatically start playing the bass guitar everytime i hear this song come on :)

I see the king of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

[Chorus]
Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest [x2]

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees

[Chorus]

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

[Chorus x2]

Hosanna in the highest

mis-information correction station

2009-01-10T23:58:00.000-08:00

This is something I've been meaning to rant about for a while.

situation #1.
Many people claim they know someone who knows a guy who has a friend whose brother's coworker developed some chip or some magical device for cars that doubles/triples/whatever their gas mileage.

situation #2
Oil companies are in bed with car companies and car companies are making cars less fuel efficient so we have to buy more gas.

As a frustrated hearer of these things its time to speak out. yes. BOTH SITUATIONS ARE NOT TRUE. Let me explain it very plainly. The primary ingredients to gas mileage are Air/fuel ratio, RPM, VE (volumetric efficiency), ignition timing, drivetrain loss (there are more but these are some big ones)

I'm only going to write in depth on one of these, the air/fuel ratio. To achieve optimum combustion you want all the gasoline to be burned with all the oxygen in the air. There should only be reactants from this, if there is leftover gas or oxygen than the combustion was less than ideal. It takes 14.7 parts of air PER PART of gas to create an ideal combustion in a gasoline motor. 14.7 is what cars are programmed for under light throttle cruising applications. If it gets leaner, it can cause detonation, to rich and you are just wasting gas. THERE IS NO MAGICAL CHIP THAT CAN OVERCOME CHEMISTRY. Your uncle's brothers friend's coworker (or whatever) is a phony.

Now as far as the other things, sure they can be improved. But to what cost? Creating a drive train with substantially improved efficiency would be a very expensive venture leading to the cost of purchase being much higher.

Other things such as ignition timing are usually programmed for optimum efficiency(as optimum as possible) from the factory, while allowing for variables to make sure all the idiots out there don't wreck their cars.

In this economy making a car that gets truly amazing gas mileage would be a HUGE selling point. There is no financial gain for a car company to purposely hurt its fleet's mpg.

There I am done.

last year in review

2009-01-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

(So im sort of stealing Emily's idea. Shhh dont tell)

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Took a Literature class...that wasn't required.

Was in a wedding. Two actually....

Jumped a snowmobile

there's plenty more....

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Didn't make any last year. Hoping to keep the one i made this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

4. Did anyone close to you die?

5. What countries did you visit?

None :(

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Less stress.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Starting from the beginning; valentines day, August 3rd(i think..?), cant remember any others. Valentines day becuase I went swing dancing and had a blast.
August 3rd because Luke and Amy's wedding was really fun.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting to know who I was. Saying no to drama. Putting to rest very old memories that were long overdue in getting dealt with. Exploring my musical talents.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I failed myself towards the beginning. I let myself be drawn into a life I didn't want. I also lost much money and time to girls that didn't deserve it.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Started out the year with Mono. Since then i've had maybe one cold? I also got tendonitis in my forearms and shoulder, ripped my finger apart with a sawzall, and got my top two wisdom teeth out. (thats kinda like an injury right?)

11. What was the best thing you bought?

An exhaust system and programmer for my car.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Some of my close friends. They set me straight again when i started to fall into a bad life.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

A long time friend. A former love interest. And a classmate that really surprised me. (3's not bad right?)

14. Where did most of your money go?

probably divided equally between my car, and getting nickle and dimed by question #9. The car was clearly the better investment. I now have a faster, more reliable, more fuel efficient, better sounding vehicle.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Going snowboarding in March 2008. Playing for Acrofest.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

lol a song by fergie. I don't remember which one. Long story.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? Much much much happier.

ii. thinner or fatter? About the same probably weight wise. Maybe a little leaner.

iii. richer or poorer? About the same.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Spending time with God. Getting to know more people at Union. Playing music. Working.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Chasing fruitless relationships. <----(time waster)

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Well....for 2008 i spent it at home. Recovering from getting my wisdom teeth out :-)

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Yes. Unfortunatly. I learned much though. I'm not afraid to love again, but I will be much more cautios about it.

23. How many one-night stands?

Zero.

24. What was your favourite TV programme?

Probably Mythbusters. Actually no...Planet Earth. I absolutely love that show. I would like to go with them if they ever go to film another series of it.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Don't hate anyone. I have absouletly no interest in being friends with a few people though.

26. What was the best book you read?

The Namesake.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

My friends of BERT. Andrew Peterson maybe?

28. What did you want and get?

no drama. The last fourth of 2008 I got my wish :)

30. What was your favourite film of this year?

Not sure.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Went bowling. Then had a party at Ben Yancer's house. Nancy made awesome peach cobbler (or something like that). It was a good Birthday party.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Its hard to say. It got more satisfying the longer the year wore on.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Not much different than now.

34. What kept you sane?

My good friends.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Hmmm.....if your talking celebrity crush type "fancy" then I'd have to go with either Jennifer Garner, or Selma Heyek.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

I hate politics. I didn't really get involved with, or discuss much of it.

37. Who did you miss?

A few people.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

I've met a couple great new people. Its been a good year for that. God has really blessed me.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

It's ok to say no. Straight up, simple, plain, NO. This will prove invaluable in 2009...I have no doubt.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

I'll have to get back to you on that one.

This is a really Nerdy post.

2008-12-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

Did you know that you can mathematically prove why some sounds sound good to our ear, and others sound like they are clashing? That's just awesome. I never really looked into it before. I knew it was possible but i never understood much about the way it worked.

I saw a wave graph of two notes. C and E. The waves intersect at predictable, repeatable intervals. I guess this makes sense thinking about how it sounds. Then another graph of C and D was displayed. The dissonance was clearly visible. The two waves looked terrible together.

This makes me think people can sometimes be compared to sound. Sometimes my "sound wave" looks like this when combined with someone else's:

Then other people make it look like this:

So much nicer.

Can I explain this? No. Can I describe the exact differences? Usually no. But its obvious. Kind of like how you couldn't verbalize all the mental calculations needed to throw a ball through a hoop, but actually doing it is easy.

The last third of 2008 has really been great for good graphs in my world. Props to awesome friends. Here's to the impending 2009 and hoping none of you out there have any interactions of the first graph kind.

10:11pm and no one around...

2008-12-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

Right now....10:11 pm, I'm trying to work on my Anthropology paper. How well is that going you ask? Well, I'm writing this....so it must not be going that well. In an attempt to study better, Im going to perform a mental memory flush......

I have like ten billion little things running around in my head so here goes. (in no order)
1. Why do teachers like to leave 50% of the coursework for the last 20% of the semester?
2. Why is it so hard to make time for reading Jesus books and devotions, but so easy to spend time researching car parts or playing my guitar?
3. Why doesn't winzip just give their product away for free. Practically everyone i know pirates it anyway...
4. Why can't I seem to concentrate on anything for more than 20 mins?
5. Why can't computers just work right all the time, instead of forcing me to draw out my computer skills sword and force them into submission?
6. Just how dangerous is x-ray radiation?
7. What does anesthesia feel like? (I'm gonna get to find this one out over Christmas break)
8. Who really controls how much oil costs?
9. Why can I look at a girl and think she is cute/attractive/awesome and that she has qualities I want, and yet whatever it is that has previously motivated me to get a girlfriend in the past, is now gone. Now I'm deathly afraid of drama and am scared that ANY girl I date will be as drama queen-ish as my previous GF's. (with one exception) It's like my subconscious is telling me "STAY AWAY FROM THEM! They'll just use you. They'll eat your time and money and make you feel like poo!" and then I tell it "NO! you shush! They are pretty and smell nice and I like them!". Then my subconscious and i get in this big argument...so far it keeps winning. I guess thats the skeleton in my closet :s
10. aoleiusrlasjdlfenflsdnflewjflsjdfljlawekjflsdkfffalse;sjfljsfl!!!!!!!!....?
11. Why is it so hard to say no? Plain, simple, no. "Hey Ryan do you want to (insert common group activity)?" I should just be able to say "no thanks, I don't want to." I just know people will then ask "why don't you want to do (whatever)?" and then get all upset. Prepare yourselves, Ryan is learning how to say no.
12. When are we gonna get snow for real? Im talking like two or three feet of it.
13. Why do some teachers really just not have a CLUE about their students, when they've been teaching for longer than I've been alive?
14. Why can't more time exist for friendships?

Anyway thats a little bit of what my mind is running through. Ugh....I don't know if that helped. I apologize to the zero people that read this for that boring post. Free speech sucka!

#00046

2008-12-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

That's the ticket number I held tonight at the concert in Elkhorn, NE. Andrew Peterson and friends shared their musical talents with us, and I am completely speechless. I wish I had half of their talent and knowledge. It was simply amazing. Thanks go to Ben and Emily who have been introducing me to this music. Wow. I didn't take pictures, but the sounds of guitars, cello, banjo, slide guitar, piano, drums, cymbals, mandolin, bass, and voices still fill my ears.

In other news I am trying to figure out where all my free time is going. I mean lately life has seemed pretty busy and that is WITHOUT having/chasing a significant other. How the heck did I have time for a girlfriend before lol? Priorities I guess eh? Anyway its all good because Ive been really feeling content with that, so much so that I almost feel wierd about feeling so happy being single. What irony!

I guess if I think about it, I know where a lot of my free time is going, and, for the most part, Im perfectly content with that too :)

Culture

2008-12-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

I'm reading the book "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri for my Lit class, and it's really reminding me of my love for culture.

The story that starts off with a newly married Bengali couple, headed to the United States so that Ashoke, the man, can start his teaching career. Ashima, his wife, spends a lot of time reflecting on memories of home, and inwardly struggles with homesickness. The story is set in the 1960's and the only communication with her home halfway around the world is through letters. A few phone calls happen as well, but those are primarily the source of bad news.

This book makes me wish I had the chance to grow up in such a culture. It makes me understand better how people from other culture's react to ours. Ironically, I think I better understand one of my exs now. It makes me as an american want to drink in that culture; to soak up as much as possible and learn every custom and tradition. In a unique way that is so different from American life. Perhaps, somewhere out there a Bengali child wishes the same thing, but reversed.

Every page elicit's a new "wow", and a new understanding for everything american. Its shocking, the comparitave general lack of respect for family and others that american's have, when viewed from a very culturally different background.

I hope this does not fall on deaf ears when I say this, but in a world thats rapidly becoming more and more modernized (westernized) when you see a glimpse of culture, cherish it and respect it. Try and understand it and learn from it. Be patient with it, becuase it might disapear faster than you think.

math and tiny things

2008-11-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

From 11:30am, until 8:15 pm, I was doing Differential Equations. Yuck. The test was difficult i must say, but I am a little proud when I think of how much work I put into it. I know without all that studying that I would have surely failed it.

Well I'm almost done with classes until break. Tomorrow. Today actually. I am worried I will be bored. I am the kind of person that needs social interaction to survive. Don't get me wrong I need my alone time once in a while like everyone else, but friends rejuvenate me. I once had a an ex that said "Friendships drain me....". It's pretty obvious why that one didn't work out :)

My brain is frazzled. If I were to type more, I would either wind up, A.) writing too much and boring people, B.) writing too much, and saying things I would regret, or that would hurt others, or C.) attempt to make an analogy of my life that has WAY too many references to math, physics, and science.

I know option B might seem strange, but I have to edit almost everything I write initially. Apparently the filter between my mind and the keyboard lets things slip sometimes, or wants to anyway, and then the conscious part of my brain has to say "whoa there partner". I guess my subconscious can be pretty rude and straightforward. I honestly kind of like it sometimes :)

Am I just too distractable?

2008-11-17T18:13:00.000-08:00

I can no longer listen to the radio when I read a book. I just wind up tapping my foot to the beat, and thinking of harmonies in my head, or that some other instrument would go good with it. All the while forgetting that I'm supposed to be reading. How annoying...why can't I read to music?

In other news props to Amazon.com for sending me a copy of "He Still Moves Stones" by Max Lucado for 6$. That's right. Hardcover edition, shipped to my door, for a grand total of 6$. Plus I didn't have to drive anywhere to get it, so no money in gas was spent. Anyone else read this book? I ordered it becuase there are small snippets from that book in my devotianal book "Grace" by Max Lucado, and I really liked those small segments.

We'll tommorow I have a 3 page paper due that currently has not been started. Peace!

honey nut cheerios

2008-11-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

So last night was the main event for AcroFest. I was honestly going with the idea that it would be fun to hang out with the people I was going with, but that the actual show would not be that impressive. Boy was I wrong! I really enjoyed it, plus it was free for me (and others). A coach of another team was very kind and allowed us in the back door. It was a very random thing for him to do. Thank you sir!

Except for the way-too-loud-microphone, it was really cool. It makes me miss gymnastics very much. So much so that i decided to reincorporate some gymnastic exercises into my workout routine today. The exercise i think, is referred to as a "skull crusher". Not sure on the real title. Bascially its doing a handstand and lowering yourself until your head almost touches the ground and then pressing back up. I also added the seated handstand press and I expect to be sore tomorrow. :)

I like honey nut cherrios. There ya go....that ties in the title. haha.

they make all the difference...your friends.

2008-11-10T14:04:00.000-08:00

A year ago i felt lost. I mean.....I didn't really have a circle of friends per say. I was not meeting new people, old friends were leaving. I was confused to be sure.

Well that was a year ago. Its amazing what time can do. What a year, or even a month or two can do for a person; Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Two months ago I had no idea that this is where i would stand today, and 6 months ago I would have even had a harder time believing it! It is truly a blessing from God. I have met so many new people, and forged new solid relationships with some of them. People whom, I had even met before, just never really got a chance to know. Now making new friends is great, but unfortunately I have this irrational fear that I will lose those friends eventually, which lets me make many good friends, but very few BEST friends. Opening up that much of myself is scary. But its happening. God is good.

This last Saturday night we, BERT (Ben, Emily, Ryan, and Taleah), were hanging out at Ben's house and a situation arose such that Emily said to me "See! Its the people that make all the difference!" She is right! I had a chance to do the exact same activity we were doing somewhere else, and I declined. The people were the ONLY thing that would have been different. How awesome it is, to feel like you can be 100% yourself, and not have a fear that you are being judged!

Sunday morning as I was helping my dad rake up leaves and pine needles, I realized one amazing thing. I do not feel lost anymore.

im a lucky man

2008-10-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

I have some great friends. I am a lucky man.

Today we all made cider and played a game called....well.....i dont really know what its called, but basically someone says a word and everyone else makes a face. A picture is then immediately taken of the first face that comes to mind. Let me tell you, words can inspire some very interesting faces! :)

This is my first post in over 4 years. Its strange to go back and read the old writings.

Expect more + pictures soon.

until tomorrow dawns :)

ok more on Europe!

2004-07-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

Alright, well, Europe was actaully a school sponsored trip that was led by our English teacher. She is really smart and knows her stuff about history. Anyway, ya, we went to London Paris and Rome. London did not recieve my favorite vote becuase it was so expenisive there. 2 dollars to 1 pound. And normal things cost a whole lot more it seemed like. Rome didnt either becuase it just didnt catch my eye the way florence did. (btw heres a list of all the towns we went to as far as i can remember: Rome, Assisi, Florence, Paris, calais, Canterbury and London) Anyway, ya it was cool becuase i have never been over to europe before. The only other time i have been out of the country was to the Dominican Republic on a maranatha project to build churches. Another thing that sucked was i lost my camera. Actaully it was stolen but i didnt let it ruin my trip at all. One thing that i must say for florence that made it so fun, is that we went to an open air live concert one night after going up to this awesome over look for the city, and then after that we were walking back to our hotel and just as we happened to pass the river we saw fireworks going off, so we turned around and walked back to the bridge and watched a 15-20 min proffesional fireworks display, the likes of which i have never seen. Then we got back to the hotel and rubbed it in everyone elses faces becuase there were only a few of us that got to do all the cool stuff.

Anyway, IM ALMOST 18!!! .........(thats wierd the 1 is smaller than the 8.....) Anyway, wow 2 or 3 more weeks and im there!

Well, i guess im sort of lucky, i get to go on antoerh vacation with some of my freinds here in 2 days. were going camping to Colorado. It should be super fun, but then again it might suck, becuse im trying to get over this girl and then im gonna have to be around her for like 4 days, and its gonna be hard. Ive made a promise to myself that i wont spend as much time around her as i used to.

Alas.....i must find a picture of myself that is worthy of posting......im am so bad at getting that kind of stuff done.... o well.
thats it for now, im gonna go chill and play my guitar some (something i have dearly missed)

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

just got back from Europe

2004-07-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

yo, just got back!
Europe was sweet! I had so much fun, i would go back anyday. My favorite place was Florence, Italy. It was sooooooooo beautiful and aged. It had a lot of character. Anyway, it was fun macking on the ladies while over there. And i hung out with some really cool guys and we tons of fun. Ya, im pretty lazy so no more of those everday updates. Mabye i would write more often if people would make comments, i dont even care what they say, im just interested in seeing a comment. Meh, o ya, i went to a concert while i was over there too, it wasnt like rock or punk or anything, more classical, but it was still cool. Anyway, i got nothing left to say,

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

well.....after not posting for a few days...

2004-07-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

ah yes, it appears i have gotten lazy. That is just too bad. Anyway, i went to the dentist today and was told to floss more often. :( flossing sucks, it takes too much time, and im lazy. O well.

WEll.... we lost our B-ball game last night. The first one that weve lost all season. We played horrible though, and towards the end we came back within 4 points. We should not have lost, we were a better team than them....but o well.

Anyway, i have another game tonight and i want to just chill and play the guitar for a while, so im not gonna write to much.

NOTE TO ALL: LISTEN TO "GLORY DEFINED" BY BUILDING 429, IT IS A GOOD SONG

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

i know that i'll be running home to You....

crazy....

2004-06-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

life is insane for me right now, i have 50 billion things that i need to do, and think about, and its getting really hectic. Anyway, got stuff to do, later.

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

so tired.....

2004-06-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

man i am super tired. ive been sleeping good and i am still tired. o well, just have to sleep more. Anyway, i bashed our school pretty good with that post that i accidentally deleted, so sorry bout that, it was funny, becuase our school admin is gay and dumber than dirt.....wat who said that?.....actually some of them are, not all of them. well.....only 8 hours of work left (less if i can talk my dad into letting me off early) before i get a break for the weekend. that will be nice. weekends are the most fun part of my week. Ok, wat else do i have to say......o ya, im gonna pull a real good prank on the old people where i work someday. Its gonna be a blast. Me and one of my best freinds (havent told him yet) are gonna go running around in army fatigues scaring the old people. I promise i will take video and email it to any of you that want it. just curious.....anyone actaully reading this?(just leave a short comment if possible) i dont really care, but interested as to how many people visit this page. someday mabye i will get off my butt and put a counter on it. (i am actually competent with HTML and JAVAscript, but due to my extreme lazyness, i never have actually posted any webpages, or even modified this one. I helped on our schools website (sucks majorly, nothing is ever updated.....at least not since i quit)
well.....i think i will go play my guitar. hey listen to 3 doors down "away from the sun" its a good song.

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

crapola...

2004-06-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

i had a huge update all typed out, but i accidentally deleted it, and im tired so i wont write it again, mabye i will talke more tommorow....

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

never give in, never give up....

2004-06-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

well....the volleyball teams lost again tonight... :( They gotta pull themselves out of this losing streak. Its like, they do good when the points dont matter, but when the games on the line the pressure gets to em or something. O well, i guess they shouldnt worry too much about it, and just play for fun. Anyway, that sucked, so did work, nothing interesting.

well, i have to admit, watchin volleyball is frusturating, becuase they make (sorry eagles team members) really stupid mistakes a lot. I mean, how can you go up for a ball, and have it fall right in front of you on your side of the net. i see this kind of tihng all the time. Now, im not being sexist or anything, but i think guys would kick womens butt at volleyball. There so, i dunno, uncordinated.....boy if any of the team members read this im gonna get an earful :) o well, they try.

im gonna go eat some food cause i am hungry. (hows that for a simple thought)

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

yo tengo hambre....

2004-06-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

the volleyball team lost tonight. :( it was close though, they won their first match, then lost the second, and time ran out on the third while they were down by two so they lost. They played super good the first game, i dont know what happened to them the second match. Anyway, im really hungry and want to go play the guitar. bye

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

tired.......

2004-06-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

its ironic isnt it? that i am sleeping better on the weekdays than on the weekends. I usually get 8-9 a night on the weekdays, and on the weekends its only like 7 hours. o well. It also might be from all the excitment of weekend, mabye thats the prob, you know when your thinking about 14 million things, and your body is tired but your mind isnt yet. ya then it takes a whlie to fall asleep. Anyway, back to constructoin tommorow.

its cool, we live out in the country, right outside the city limits, and our neighbors are shooting off fire crackers. bottle rockets etc. That is one of my passions. I am a true pyro at heart. But only with really cool big explosions, those little stupid fire crackers are boring.

i found something really neat today, you take a compressor, hook up a hose to it with a spray nozzle on the end, and stick the nozzle in a blow gun loaded with a dart and fire it. it will shoot farther than you will every hope to shoot it will lung power alone. the only problem is the darts stick in really far on what ever your shooting and sometimes its hard to get them out. Also you can take a 2 liter bottle of pop, shake it up, and shoot it with a stun dart and it will explode. Its super fun if your bored, like me.

hm....im tired, im gonna catch some Z's
until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

distortion.....

2004-06-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

hey fellow homosapiens.
Today was cool, i got to play my guitar for prasie band (we didnt do that good today, not bad, but not good either. I was the only one who really knew this song by 3rd day we did, and the singers were all off...o well) And then i ate lunch with my grandparents :( real boring. Random thought: i want o learn how to play the piano.
Then this afternoon it was cool cause i got to hang out with the coolest girl in the world. if that term was in a dictionary, her picture would be there.

....the one thing i will say about nebraska is that it has good sunsets. Its the one redeeming thing about nebraska.
There is just something about watching the sunset, especially if its really beautiful and there are just a few clouds to reflect the color. It makes me think that our world couldnt have been made just merely by evolution, it had to be created by a loving God. I mean, how could something that incredible be an....accident?

i'll leave you with that thought,
until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

The weekend is finally here!!!!

2004-06-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

i love weekends, they are my favorite part of the week. Especially Saturdays. I get a day to rest and also to see my freinds. THis week has been too long.

Anyway, lets see, today was boring, o but hey it was cool, i got to see Vice president Dick Cheney this moring in person. He and his whole motorcade drove right down the street where me and the rest of the constructoin crew were taking break. It was awsome to see all the secret service guys in thier cars scoping out all the buildings and rooftops. They even had an ambulence following the motorcade. That was prob the most interesting thing that happened all day. I had praise practice this evening. That was cool. i love hangning out with the praise team. Were learning that song by relient K...."for the moments i feel faint" its pretty cool but we couldnt remember the second verse to it.

Lets see, o ya, i ate at outback today, it was super good, it was one of my freinds pre-birthday party things.

Anyway, im gonna go chill and play my guitar,
until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

dont wanna think about you or think about me....

2004-06-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

hey all,
We won both our basketball games. The first was the hardest, but we still won. It was tons of fun, i got a break away and was going to go for the dunk, but due to my incredibly horrible awful dribbling skills i blotched it up pretty bad and had to settle for a layup.....o well....besides that i played good.

Lets see, another interesting day in construcion for me today......ya not really.

i saw the music Vid for "Ocean Avenue" today. It was kinda cool, but a little confusing at first. I like the song.

Well, about that title, i was just listening to simple plan's "i dont wanna think about you" so i figured i would just take my title from that.

o ya, i was gonna talk about German spotlight. Ok...German spotlight is sort of a hide and go seek game. You pick two people to be "it". THen everyone else goes and hides. (this has to be at night or else it doesnt work) Then the two people who are it, go and look for the people who are hiding with flashlights, and when you shine your light on them you have to say their name and then they are caught. Ive had some pretty close calls before, its a lot of fun, gets the adrenaline going.

.....writing songs is super hard......im trying to write one right now, but the words just dont wanna flow. The music is cool and all, but im a pretty bad poet most of the time, so its hard for me to think of words. i have a ton of cool music from all my past songs, just no words to go with it.

well thats it for now, i cant really think of anything.
until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

The day after yesterday...

2004-06-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

well....another uneventful day in my life. Lets see, where did i leave off yesterday....well i dont remember. Construction work sucks, but it has its benefits too. think of it as sort of being paid to work out and tan. I cant really think of anyhting right now to put down...i might get to go camping next weekend. Thats one of my favorite things to do. Out in nature, and just chilling with a few of your freinds.......hiking, making bonfires, playing German spotlight (more on that later), eating food cooked over a fire, playing the acoustic guitar outside at night under the stars with one of the coolest girls i know...., getting "lost" in the woods (to all who know what im talking about....lol that was funny), whiddling on wood (how do you spell whidling?) riding bikes, playing with fire. Sounds fun right? if it doesnt there is something wrong with you. Anyway, i have basketball games tommrow. That should be cool. We won our first two pretty easily. Who knows how these next two should be. We are playing back to back again. That really really sucks becuase you dont get a break inbetween games for very long and it ravages you.

Another interesting note, earthlink tech support is stupid. Ok heres the situation.....i needed to know how long it had been since i signed up for cable, as i had forgotten, so i went to the live chat on earthilnk's website and asked them this. But o no, this was too sensitive info and they had to ask me for some stupid little code thing that verifys your account for them. I couldnt remember it, but all i frikin wanted to know was when my account was started. Thats it, goodness, its not like you can rob someone with that info. So i never did find out from them, becuase i didnt know the last four digits of the credit card used to sign up the account, which is thier other way of verifying it. (my mom had the credit card and she wasnt around at the time) O well enough of my complaining, i should have remembered.

....well...i think thats about it.....

until tommorow dawns...
Ryan

Favorite song: Relient K "for the moments i feel faint"
Favorite band: Switchfoot

today....i made a blog

2004-06-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

my first blogging expierience!
this is kind of interesting, i may or may not decide to keep writing on this, prob the latter, as i am lazy but hey o well right? well....ok i am 17 and male. really narrows it down eh? Lets see, 6 foot 165 lbs.....7th day Adventist
brown hair with a slight red to it.
I go to CVA (college view academy)
its an ok school, i have some pretty good freinds that go there as well.
I like to play guitar, thats my favorite thing to do, ive been playing for about 2 years now, and im the leader of our church's praise band, i love rocking out and playing the latest punk songs, and also love learing the more mellow songs for the acoustic guitar.
I like to play hockey, basketball, and baseball.
Hm....when i think of more i will add it.

until tommorow dawns....
Ryan