Thoughts

eBay Item - AutoDesk Inventor 11 Professional

2009-05-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here are the contents of the AutoDesk Inventor 11 Professional Suite I am auctioning:

Three (3) AutoDesk Inventor Professional CDs
Two (2) AutoCAD MECHANICAL 2007 / AUTODESK MECHANICAL DESKTOP 2007 CDs
One (1) AUTODESK VAULT CLIENT / AUTODESK DATAMANAGEMENT SERVER CD

NROTC Spring Formal of '09

2009-03-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll.

Sorry it's been so long since I have put up a post. Here are a few photos from the NROTC Spring Formal on 13 March.

God bless,

Joe

ICKY WHITE STUFF!!!

2008-11-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been getting colder and colder here until finally.... THIS happened....

Fall Ball Photos

2008-11-23T11:08:00.001-08:00

Halloween at Villanova

2008-11-01T17:32:00.001-07:00

Mike the Lumberjack and Salvatore the Mobster.

Salvatore the Mobster and Pocahontas.

Salvatore the Mobster and Sarah Palin.

Salvatore the Mobster and the Cowgirl.

??

The Group.

The Guys.

Eight Weeks Later....

2008-10-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Well, we just passed our eight week mark a few days ago, and all appears to be going well. It's been a hectic ride so far, mainly on account of India Company. As I mentioned in my last post, the first six weeks of school were filled with fairly intense training for Navy ROTC, our initiation process if you will. By the end of it all, however, we were learning how to have fun with it. It still wasn't the most pleasant experience, but our superior officers began to lighten up over the final days, and we realized that they were having a heck of a lot of fun and that they were really very nice and fun people. My Platoon Commander is one of the sweetest girls ever, so it was really quite humorous seeing her "morph" back into her normal self. Even though they're technically my peers now, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for them, and it's been hard not calling them "sir" or "ma'am". I ran into one of the other platoons' sergeant instructors two days before Fall Review and as I walked past he said "'SUP SAL?". I responded with "how are you sir?" He said "woah, wait, noooo no no. Repeat after me: 'what's up?'. You're out of India now, relax man." I still have training three times a week (hopefully I'll get it down to twice a week soon), but now I'm training with a friendly, supportive group of fellow students.

Fall Review was a very encouraging experience. Several high ranking military figures were there (Rear Admiral Joseph P. Mulloy, Commander of the Pacific Fleet swore us in) and the formality really stressed the importance of the event. The most fun, however, was wearing our white uniforms together. We look pretty snazzy, I must say. Note the photos.

Everything else has been fairly standard procedure. The week after Fall Review brought us midterm exams (gee, thanks!). However, with midterms brings fall break! Now, I learned an important lesson here: don't stay on campus unless you have to! And plan your events carefully. I stayed on campus so that I could go to a concert Tuesday night (which was incredibly fun!), but that meant missing out on really anything else this break. I was okay with that, and I thought that it would just be a nice relaxing time to unwind and get some work done. Well... when there's nobody on campus... it is relaxing but it's also very boring. You really have to make an attempt to get out and go somewhere. So, lesson learned. I caught up on sleep, I caught up on some other things I needed help with, and I burned a couple hours watching Family Guy trying not to think about how there wasn't anybody to hang out with.

Regarding things you thought might have changed when I went to college: I'm still single, and I still plan to play rugby. I went to a practice and it was REALLY, REALLY FUN, but at the moment my schedule with the Navy conflicts with practice times. Next semester I should have time to practice with them, and it's supposed to be more relaxed in the spring anyways.

As always, please email or call. I'm not going anywhere!

God bless,

Joe

I'm alive!

2008-09-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I haven't put anything on here in so long, but I thought I'd write a blurb to say I'm okay and I got settled in alright. Well, my bags are unpacked, but I don't know that settled in is the right term. I hope to be putting up more photos soon, but here's my "new look" and my "new crib". I live in Moriarty Hall on the third story (that middle window on the creme colored plaster side of the building is mine). My dorm mates are all very nice people and tend to be settling down (third floor was a little rowdy on the second night here.... smaaaaaart). Lots of engineering majors in my dorm and I'm starting to notice people I know in my classes. Lucky me though, I was placed in a dorm with NO OTHER NROTC CANDIDATES. I think they hate me. Everyone else either has a roommate or two who are Candidates or they are in a dorm with other candidates. Apparently the Navy is racist and doesn't like Italians. Or prejudiced and doesn't like Anglicans. I'll keep you guys posted on that front.

First things first. I got in to Philadelphia at c. 1 AM and, thanks to time zones and strange sleeping and eating schedules, I was surprisingly awake and alert. Suffice to say, I made it out of the building alive and I was able to successfully maneuver the dark and dirty sidewalk of the Philadelphia International Airport and access Mr. Hoopes car. I stayed at his apartment that night, and then ran a few errands with him before he very kindly took me out to campus. I met with my two roommates, Ken and James, and had a pleasantly quiet evening with the other new students in my dorm.

Thursday through Sunday was jam packed with Orientation. They take orientation very seriously here.... all 1700 freshman are divided up into groups of about 20 students and assigned a group number (GROUP SIX-THREE!) and an orientation counselor (ROOOOOOBBBB!). Aside from an awkward luau and a slightly less awkward water ice social, orientation was a really nice, relaxing time where we got to spend a lot of time on campus and get to know all the buildings while at the same time we got to create a support group and get to know other people on campus. I know everyone in my group and even though I don't see some of them very often, it's nice to have that connection so that when I do see them I can go up and ask them how they're doing.

Orientation ended Sunday night, and Monday morning brought my first day of NROTC and my first set of classes. Well it would have, except my alarm clock didn't go off so I missed my first day of drill (NOT A GOOD DAY). Villanova NROTC prides itself in it's 6 week initiation program called India Company. We candidates have taken to calling it less pleasant things such as..... well.... okay.... we haven't thought of anything else yet... but if we do I'll let you know. For the first 6 weeks of school, we train/drill four mornings a week, and are basically on call for every school day (wearing "proper civilian attire", signing in twice a day at John Barry Hall and greeting officers according to their correct titles whenever we come across them). Lots of screaming. Lots of ego-breaking. Lots of work. It's mentally and emotionally draining, and the physical aspect has been tough (at least for me) as well. Suffice to say, I can't wait for Fall Review (when we all become midshipmen 4th class in early October).

As far as classes, I have Introduction to Engineering (learning how to work with CAD programs -quite fun), Chemistry (*deep breath*), Calculus (*deep breath*), Basic Theology, Augustinian Culture Seminar (a humanities-type class) and Naval Science. Plus I have three hour labs for Engineering, Chemistry and Naval Science.

I'm afraid I have to cut this short since the night is getting late here. But, as I have already said, I'm alive and I'll try to continue to keep you posted. Life is busy, but please call or email me if you ever get the chance and I'll try to get back to you ASAP if I don't catch you.

God bless,

Joe

The Mill Creek Trail

2008-07-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

I just thought I'd take a minute to share a few photos I took of the area I'm working in with the Forestry. Right now we're working on the Mill Creek Trail, 16 miles of mountainous terrain in the Ishi Wilderness following (as far as I've seen so far) Mill Creek. It's a rough hike mainly because it's so long and there's no real tree cover to speak of (dry as a bone at 2300 feet.... the lush greenness you see in the photo is really only down where the water is.... the trail is pretty constantly 100 feet or so above the water), but the scenery is awesome. I have seen so many gorgeous swimming holes... oh my goodness. Would that I were not there on government time! Most of our time has been spent hacking through the black berry bushes which take up entire hillsides. Awesome place to go for black berries, I'd say wait about 2 weeks and they should be about ripe. I've also seen wild grapes, wild olives, and LOTS AND LOTS OF POISON OAK.

For those of you who don't know what I'm doing this summer, I am working for the United States Forest Service on the Almanor Ranger District's trail crew. There are now five of us who go out and hike the various trails in our district and make sure that any loose rocks are out of the way and any fallen trees are out of the way. We basically make these trails safe for you outdoorsy civilian types.

The photo to the bottom left is of Black Rock, the big marker at the south end of this trail. Below that is a photo of three of my co-trail blazers.

Below is Troy, the newest member to our crew, just finishing up his first week with us. He is standing in front of a patch of black berry bushes, reeds, pacific ewes (spelling?) and several other trees. The photo below him is that area after we're finished working it.

Above is a view from a rock about 150-200 feet above the creek (by our reckoning). No one else wanted to crawl out there and take some photos so I did. For some of you, this might seem like a strange thing for me to do, but.... it did. :)

Sorry that the layout on this post is less than perfect. I'm still trying to get the hang of all this. I just wanted to give ya'll a taste of what I'm doing.

Peace and God bless!

-Joseph

Peace of Mind

2008-03-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

So, seeing as I have 10 weeks left of High School, I have been pretty pre-occupied with thoughts of the future. What's going to happen to me? Where am I going to be in a few months? What's college going to be like? Etc. etc. etc. I got to thinking "gosh, I can't wait till I graduate, then all this worry will be over'. I caught myself just in time to add in a "yeah.... right". I've realized that life will never be certain, and that this senior year is but a foretaste and a shadow of what will come. I can't assume to know the challenges of the future, but I know that life won't be simple any more.

Dang it.

Well... I hope it isn't blasphemous to philosophize on less important passages of scripture, because I'm going to. Ooo, well that last sentence was asking for trouble. Of course, no portion of scripture is UN-important, I just won't be formulating my own opinions on major doctrines.

A few minutes ago I was thinking about my crazy senior life and my lack of ability to see what the near future holds in store, and I realized that, if my life is not going to be simple, perhaps that is one of the things that makes heaven so great. Heaven is the ultimate place to gain peace of mind, the place where all things make sense, the place where language and thought and emotion and paperwork will not be barriers to understanding. I mean... I'm not gnostic. Language and thought and emotion have their place (I don't know about paperwork), but it seems like one of the great things that we are plagued with here on earth is not being able to understand each other. Lord knows we try, but when you think about it, failure to communicate is the ultimate reason for man-made atrocities.

Think about the Tower of Babel. Human-kind got together and decided to build a tower to heaven. Yay them. Of course, their intentions weren't good, but I can still appreciate their efforts. Big buildings get me excited. But, think about it! They were all working TOGETHER. They must have been able to talk to each other and understand each other pretty well. But when God looked down and saw what they were doing, He confused their languages and they were no longer able to speak to each other. Things fell apart and people went their separate ways, and to this day we still have a diverse set of languages in the world. I think that before God struck the people at the Tower of Babel with confusion, they not only spoke the same language, but they all spoke it with such excellence, that they were able to expound upon their own thoughts and understand others' thoughts to a degree that we cannot imagine. I think that our pride and arrogance ruined that, and that in having so many languages, it is utterly impossible to reach that level of intellectual harmony again. Yes... kind of a Utopian spiel for me, but it seems logical. Our ability to have simple lives was ruined at Babel. Forevermore, we can neither think nor communicate as efficiently as we could then, and that has ultimately destroyed any sense of closure we might have about our lives. Our lives are complicated because we cannot work in the social environments that we are made to live in and around the people we are made to live with.

I guess this blog post ended up not being so much about my busy life, but about life in general. I wonder if these colleges could make their decisions more quickly if Babel had never happened...

Freedom Vs. Dignity

2008-03-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

The only problem with getting up early and going to morning prayer with a group of gentlemen from my Church is that my brain actually gets working. Blast this early morning thinking. :) Que the sarcasm if it isn't already.

So, my family is now officially addicted to House. We've borrowed the DVD set of Season two, and when we watched an actual movie last night, my mom noted that while she loves watching movies, she really wanted to see what the next episode of House had in store. For those of you who don't know about House, I suggest you do some research and watch a few of the shows if it interests you. Suffice to say, it's a medical show with a humorous twist. Duh, it has Hugh Laurie in it.

To cut to the point, I got to thinking this morning about AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators). You know, the zappy thingys that bring someone back to life after his/her heart stops beating. Really quite mysterious. But, the thing is, on medical TV shows, you only see men getting zapped because the pads of the AED are applied to the chest. Of course, it's scandalous to show a woman's breasts on TV like that.

Why is it scandalous? Our Victorian sensibilities tell us that anything regarding the upper portion of a woman's body is unfit for public viewing. But, it's a doctor show. Women have heart attacks too? Why be sexist and only show men being saved?

In Victorian times, modesty (or downright prudishness) was emphasized so heavily so as to ward of sexual promiscuity. We can all recognize that, seeing as that strain of thought has become part of our culture as well. Quite honestly they didn't have to deal with medical shows in the Victorian Era. Doctors of course saw women's breasts. There was nothing dishonorable with that. They're doctors, that's what they do. Why have things changed then? The shows still deal with doctors helping people. The setting hasn't changed.

The TV has made slaves of us all. By blatant sexual overtones in advertising ("sexy talk" as Hugh Laurie said earlier in his career), we have lost all sense of dignity and respect for the female body. Even though the topics are the same, even though the show House deals with doctors helping people, it is utterly impossible for them to show a nude female torso and keep a sense of sobriety for the subject.

Now, having said that, I of course have to clarify myself. This is for TV shows. Movies, I think can be slightly different. Writing this, I thought almost immediately of the movie Wit, starring Emma Thompson. This is an incredibly powerful film, and while I endeavor not to recommend movies to people, I think that I can break that rule in this case. At the risk of giving away the plot, all I can tell you is that, towards the end of the movie, there is a scene where doctors attempt to use an AED on Emma Thompson's character. Now, they must remove Thompson's robe in order to move ahead with the procedure. I don't know if it's because it's Emma Thompson or because of the gravity of the movie itself, but I don't know of anyone feeling either scandalized by this or (going to the other extreme) at all tempted to fleshly lusts (monastically put). This is an exception. I don't think that anyone could have pulled this off on House or E.R. or any of the other medical shows out there. Films are able to grow a subject and mature in a way that TV shows are incapable.

Living in America, what are our freedoms? I've been told that there's nothing in the constitution about banning porno. True enough, there isn't, but does that mean that we ought to let it run rampant in society (as if it already isn't)? At what point do our rights dictate our judgments? I, for one, am glad that House isn't allowed to show female nudes on the show (though that could change, of course). I don't think that the general population, in it's present state, is able to handle it, myself included. We've lost all sense of dignity in this country, and our rights need to be called into question as a result. Yes, we have the right to buy porno at 18, but does that mean that we ought to? We think of ourselves as adults, but as far as moral compass is concerned, we're little better than children.

Day 378 on the Island

2008-02-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

Ahoy!

So, in this frightfully exhausting evening of absolute social-nothingness, I took it upon myself to post a message to you, my charming and dedicated readers. I fully recognize that my ability socio-political critique is lacking, and I also recognize that I have been very bad about posting over the past few months. I further recognize that there was a funny something in my keyboard that made typing that 'v' very difficult. I am even further recognizing that Pandora has a terrible way of making all my beloved stations go caddy-wompass. In a mere hour of negligence on my part, my beloved Gnarls Barkley station has fallen into utter chaos.

But, enough of that. Rest assured in knowing that I am quite well, and still partially sane. Senior year is quickly passing by and I am well in the pursuit of my next home. For this, I bring you.... A POLL!

What University Should Joe Attend?

Drexel University
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle University
Villanova University
University of San Diego
Stanford University

What the heck did other people say?

Please realize that your responses will have little or no effect upon my decision to go to whatever college I choose, but I thought that it would be fun nonetheless. To this date I have only been accepted to Seattle Pacific University and Drexel, but go ahead and vote for other schools if you so desire.

With sappy farewells resembling those of Mike TV's,

Joseph

Three Cheers to the NAU!

2007-08-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was forced to sell my soul to the local cell phone service provider. All right, so I forced myself, but nevertheless, I ended up in Chester at the local Edge office, signing away two years of my life so that I might more easily communicate with whomever I wish. Of course there was plenty of time for conversation while things were set up, so myself and my father (who was also signing away his freedom) found ourselves the captive audience of the very helpful and rather interesting salesman there. He began chattering away about Digital Angel and how we're loosing our privacy etc. I had just seen Enemy Of The State so I was semi-up to date (I knew what he was talking about generally). But then he started talking about the United States, Canada and Mexico merging. In a very loose sense of course, the three nations would still be seperate, but there would be no borders in between. Federated, as it were. Not only that, but there were plans to create a common currency among these three nations. Any guesses as to what it would be called? That's right.... just like the Euro in Europe, this would be called the "Amero". I chuckled to myself and thought "heh, this is incredible... and rather frightening". By then I had spent more than I intended to and we were set up for the most part, so we left, leaving our thanks and our laughs.

Sure, it's incredible. After talking to a few gentlemen from my church directly after leaving the shop, I began thinking how ridiculous it sounded. Why would the American Dollar and the Mexican Peso merge? How could they? We're closer to the Canadian Dollar, but still, the American Dollar Bill is a symbol that is known by dang near every human being on the face of the globe. How could it suddenly cease to exist?

Well... I suppose I stand corrected. Poke around the net a bit... it all looks legitimate. The plan is that by 2010 there will be no border between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico, only a border surrounding the three nations. The three countries will be refered to as the North American Union (like the European Union) and the Amero will be installed soon after (why can't we be original?).

Honestly, I can see how people would have problems with this, but I think it's kind of neat. The brotherhood of the nations, as it were. Maybe I'm a traitor, maybe I'm just un-patriotic, but I'm for the idea. If someone else starts dictating the actions of the U.S., I'd help to liberate ourselves.... again. We rebeled for our liberty once, I think that we will again if we need to. But... at the moment I'm just open-minded. I wouldn't mind just considering myself a Californian....

The Thursday Post: Week 13: Change of Course

2007-08-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

I was pondering the amount of new, exciting, and utterly intelligent matter being put forth from my lowly brain these days, and my conclusion was alarming. Aside from having to use my math skills in my newly acquired carpentry job and my somewhat regular research on the production of methanol, it seems as if I have been shunning the very idea of thinking these past two months entirely. So I said to myself: "self... to bloody heck with what I've been doing on this blog! I can't expect a good turn out when all I post are school essays brought back from the shadowy depths of my folders." No my dear reader(s)! I told myself that I must come up with something fresh, new and provoking, with a colorful flourish to it and great sense of verbal play.

In conclusion! I have decided to turn The Thursday Post into a social/economical/political/ethical commentary. Suffice to say I have no idea how this is really going to turn out. I'm on a bit of an intellectual high right now, with the desire to be excessively wordy and rather rebelliously dubious. Perhaps in a few weeks I will settle down into my old habit of posting regurgitated class work... we shall see.

First order of business: Bill Clinton

Having spent some time with my politically liberal employer (one out of the two I work for the most), I have been exposed to not quite Republican views, and, heaven forbid, socially-commentating-country-western-hick-bands from Alabama (or somewhere nearby). That's right, now I spend a good amount of my laboring days listening to groups such as Steve Earle, James McMurtry, and The Drive-by Truckers. I enjoy most of it, but the music adds a completely new element to my life. It's as if a group of radical hippie protesters with guitars poetically broke into my brain.

One song by The Drive-by Truckers sparked a bit of an interesting conversation betwixt myself and said employer. Pardon my French, and I know that this will sound very, very strange, but the song is entitled (divert your eyes right about now ladies) "The President's Penis is Missing". Basically, the Drive-by Truckers argue, and my employer and many others agree, that a President who is helping our economy ought not to be discarded based on his sex life. In a nutshell, that's what they are saying. The media had their eye on the President's social life more than on what he was doing for the country. The argument my boss made was that, if the C.E.O. of a major corporation could be as promiscuous as he likes without endangering the stock of the company, why isn't it the same for the President? Why should we care?

First of all, let me be quite frank in saying that I have no idea what Clinton did for our country. All that I hear about him is regarding the scandal. I haven't done my homework and I am in no ways ready to critique Bill Clinton as an economical ruler. HOWEVER, I can in theory respond to the statements set forth in the previous paragraph. Why SHOULD we care? Well, I'd like to think that a leader's private life will influence his public life. The Truckers would like to say that personal morality has nothing to do with how great of a public leader the President can be. They would like to say that the office of the President is strictly a public job, and thus his private life is irrelevant (note to the band and to anyone else to whom it may concern: correct me if I am mistaken). But are not the public and private lives of the President but two different views of the life of the same man?! How can one separate the two?! To do so would be to cut a man in half, which is ridiculous! How can we trust a man who cheats on his wife not to cheat on the nation which he serves? Is this too harsh? Too unreasonable?

The Thursday Post: Week 12: A Refutation of American Democracy

2007-07-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

The statement that “democratic manners in America are eating the heart out of American democracy” is as much of a true statement today as it was in 1958. According to the context surrounding this statement, one can say that in America, we do not honor the office of a man so much as the man himself. We have disregarded “wisdom, creative ability, and service” because these things do not show on a man. Either that or they can be easily ignored. Rather we regard material possession as being the stature of a man's conduct.
This idea is very possible, it is believable. Not only that, but it is true. It is seen all the time in our society. Wealth breeds influence which in turn gains power. The rich gain power and thus win, at least in political circles. It doesn't seem to matter what your morals are, if you have enough money. Morals are not totally totally gone, there are still those who hold them in high regard. But as a country we do not hold virtues as highly as we ought to.
Over half of the Presidents of the United States have been either in the Republican or the Democratic parties. Out of the dozens of parties to choose from, these are th two largest and richest parties. The candidates from these two parties are well funded and have the best ad campaigns. Because of their popularity, they are able to continually sustain themselves. Because they are well funded and do well, they thus fund themselves all the more for the next year's elections.
It is only natural that people should act this way. With the fall, we gave into material desires. Thus, we were cursed. Now we wallow in our sin. It follows that we would rather have material possessions which help our image rather than virtues which often do not matter.
Furthermore, what reason do we have to act any differently? We are bred to love material things over virtues. I do not think that this is right, just that it is the truth. We have no reason to seek virtue over material possession, so we must work all the more to discipline ourselves and produce within us a high moral character.

The Thursday Post: Week 11: A Political Theory

2007-07-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

There are three major aspects of mankind which a political theory ought to be concerned about: man as he comes, man as he is, and man as he could become. Or rather, it ought to deal with man at his birth, untouched by culture and civilization, man as he is after a life (or even simply a few years) of experience in this world, and man as he could be in an ideal world.
First, man at birth. Men are born with a sense of free will. However, this liberty does not give man the right or the ability to be God, because we are bound by conscience. We can do and think whatever we will, but since we have been given the knowledge of good and evil, we are also given the choice to obey the good, and shun the evil. We are not physically handcuffed, but mentally; ever haunted by a hovering sense of morality.
As part of this free will, we are given several rights at birth. For example we are given the freedom of belief, since no man can stop thoughts, save by stopping the physical brain. We are given the freedom to defend that which we are responsible for, be it our possessions, our friends or neighbors, or ourselves. There are many more “rights” given to us by human institutions, but even these cannot be used to justify evil. Like everything else that we as humans do, our rights are governed by conscience: they are only good if conscience makes them so.
Secondly, a political theory must also deal with how man is. The expectations for humanity are hardly lived up to. We are given consciences, but we rarely use them. It’s simply human nature: we are bred to disobey. Thus, we have laws. Laws govern and protect man by attacking the vices of society. Rights, on the other hand, protect man by defending virtues. A society ought to have a strong set of laws and a clear view of human rights, and a strong government to enforce those laws and rights, so as to protect the people. Yet, the government must also be understanding. A nation with a ruler who does not listen to his or her people, is little better than a nation without a ruler at all.
A political theory ought to also take these first two points, the nature of man at birth, and the nature of man during the course of his life, and use them to form a third point, dealing with what a man, or man in general, ought to be like. The problem with society is the rooted in the people who make it up. If man in general is corrupted, as he is by sin nature, then it naturally follows that that which he builds cannot, and will not, be perfect. In order to create a good society (simply a good society, since a perfect society is, I believe, unattainable), one must first reform the people living in that society. And, if it is true that we have been given the knowledge to discern between good and evil, and we have a problem making that discernment, then the problem must be based at the human conscience.
Now, many would simply call this stating the obvious, but I believe that “the obvious” needs to be stated. Whenever we attempt to make a cultural difference, it seems as if we spend more time changing the standards of society to fit the people, rather than changing the people to fit the standards of society. The problem lies within us, and following our hearts will only get us into trouble.
Now, most people, especially in this country, argue vehemently for the separation of Church and state. I am basing my argument upon a rather Christian world view, especially since I cite the problem of human nature, but I believe that many would be able to agree with what I am pointing out. The problem remains: what can change the conscience of a man, if the conscience is indeed what needs changing? Religion can. This will no doubt be unthinkable to many, but think of it: a good, moral framework comes most easily with religion. Religion gives man a standard to which he can compare his life. My apologies Mr. Lenin, religion is necessary to the survival of society. Religion allows man to recognize his conscience and obey it, and thus he can make better use of the laws which government sets in place to protect him. Religion is the key which has the potential to unlock the secret to a good, stable society.

The Thursday Post: Week 10: An Attack On The Literal Reading of Matthew 23

2007-07-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

Despite the reading of Matthew 23 by many Christians today, the use of the term “father”to address clergy is both acceptable and desirable.
Many of these “many Christians” take a very literalistic approach to the phrase “call no man father”. They stress the words “no” and “man”, emphasizing that no one, under any circumstances, ought to be called “father”, “teacher” or “master”. Others are not so aggressive, and declare that only clerics cannot be called “father” and that we may to refer to other men with such titles.
The argument of this first group, however, is simply absurd. They take one simple passage of scripture and eisegete it, taking it to presumptuous heights. The same Christians who say that the Bible ought to have no interpreter but itself, say that we ought to call no man “father”, when the apostles themselves use similar terms of familial, hierarchical, respect. For example, St. Paul, in 1st Timothy 1:2, refers to Timothy as “son”, thus insinuating that St. Paul is a spiritual father to Timothy. In Philippians 2:22, St. Paul again references Timothy and how he served him “as a son with his father”. Also, the word “father” is used half a dozen times by St. Paul in reference to Abraham in Romans 4. One cannot let the Bible contradict itself in saying that we ought to call no man father.
It is also absurd to say that one can refer to anyone but clerics as “father”. In that situation, it is as if the person saying it recognizes that there is a familial relationship within the church, with the priest or pastor as a paternal head, and yet that person refuses to recognize him as such with a title. He or she sees the position and the rank, and yet refuses to use the title fitting for that rank.
How often was Christ literal in his teachings? He was a master of satire. Just look at his parables. They blatantly pictured vices, often the vices of the pharisees. But was he ever really literal? He didn't often just state the problems. That is why he had parables in the first place. He used analogies and stories. When he said that he was the vine and we are the branches, he wasn't making some drugged-out vegetarian prophesy. He was using symbolism. He wasn't being literal.
If both these propositions prove to be absurd, what choice is there to make? One is left only with the option to refer to men of rank as “father”, “master” or “teacher” according to their position, and to suppose that Christ was not being literal in his statements.
But what evidence is there to support this? First and foremost, there is the Church, of which Christ is the head. Within Christ's Church, there are bishops (overseers) and priests (elders). They are fathers under the great father. There is a reason that we call a priest “father”. He is the visible image of Christ (or ought to be). We reference priests with respect because of who they represent. And thus we use the same term which we give to the one whom they represent. Within the great family of the Church, there are many smaller families, each with a head, a father.
Tied to that is an argument from tradition. If the Church has been reasoning thus for two thousand year, we do not have the right to change that way of thought. Not to mention that the basis for the New Testament Church is the Old Testament Church, which held almost exactly the same position for quite a few thousand years prior. To so lightly disregard what has been approved by so many great father's of the faith is a disrespect to our religion.
Again, interrelated is the issue of respect. Because of the way that the Church is set up, and because of the time for which it has been set up in this manner, it is simply respectful to address clergy by calling them “father” (or whichever related title according to rank). But not only clergy. Christ tells us to honor our civil authorities. It is simply improper to address a civil authority without a title recognizing his rank. And thus, if one does not, one once again contradicts the Bible with itself. We are called to respect our authorities, and we respect them by way of title. If we say that we may call no man master, we affirm Matthew 23, but we do not honor the civil authority, and thus disobey Christ's commandment from another passage in scripture.
How then ought we to read this passage? With a grain of salt (not literally). We must recognize the context with which Christ says this. In Matthew 23, Christ is rebuking the scribes and pharisees for their pride. They loved to be called “rabbi” and to be reminded of their rank by their title. But Christ sought to humble them by exhorting those around them to not encourage the proud pharisees by calling them “rabbi”. He was not telling everyone to call no one “father” or “teacher” or “master”. He was only pointing out that that was not the reason for those titles. The titles were coined to let others recognize a certain person's rank so that those others might go to that person for help. The titles were not coined to stroke the bearers' egos. In Matthew 23, context is key.

The Thursday Post: Week 9: On Promoting The View Of Citizenship As Shown By The Philippians

2007-07-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

In his epistle to the Philippians, St. Paul keenly pointed out, not simply the issue of citizenship, but also the connection between heavenly citizenship, and citizenship here on earth. We as Americans, however, do not live in the same context as the Philippians, and thus we do not have the idea of earthly citizenship that they had. Furthermore, because we do not have that concept of earthly citizenship, we lack much in how we think about heavenly citizenship.
The city of Philippi was a Roman colony. As a result, the Philippians were Roman citizens. The Philippians churchmen understood the concept of having a tyrannical king (not necessarily meaning a bad king, simply an absolute ruler) and swearing an oath of fealty to him. Thus, when the Church at Philippi began, the Christians there had no problem recognizing Christ as an absolute ruler.
In America, we don't have an absolute ruler. We have the president, but he is very little like the Roman emperor. We don't have the background that the Philippians had. The social and political worlds which they lived in to is much more like what we see in Arthurian books or films. The sort of books and films which portray everyone bowing the knee to the king. Yes, we have respect for our president, we recognize him as “Mr. President, Sir”, but it still seems so much more informal than any monarchical system. Is this the result of an enlightened era?
Christ speaks very highly of submission to civil authority. After all, he submitted to the Roman government to be beaten, humiliated and killed. But there is another very famous example found in Matthew 22:16-21. In this passage, the Pharisees sought to trick Jesus by asking him whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar. They expected the Messiah to be a warrior who would liberate Israel from the burdensome yoke of Roman oppression. If Christ said that they ought not to pay taxes to Caesar, they might be willing to follow him, or they could point out a contradicting passage from scripture to condemn him, whichever they wish. Such an answer would provide them with a very good grip on him. If he had, however, said that they ought to pay taxes to Caesar, they could have proclaimed that he was pro-Roman and ruin his political reputation. Jesus answers in neither fashion, saying that one ought to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's”. Thus, he simultaneously answered the question of paying taxes to Caesar while lashing back with a statement regarding religious and moral fidelity.
Christ taught that we ought to be loyal citizens to those that are in authority over us, even, apparently, those whom we do not like. St. Paul follows suit in Romans 13:1-7 by saying such things as “let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” (v 2) and “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” (v 7)
This is the concept that Paul did not have to spend much time teaching to the Philippians. He used the word πολιτευομαι meaning “to live as citizens” in chapter 1 verse 27. They already knew the concept of being a citizen. They were raised in a Roman context in which everyone swore loyalty to the emperor. The knew how to pay taxes to their earthly king, and thus it was not very hard for them to recognize that they also had to pay taxes to their heavenly king.
What about us? How do we deal with our civil rulers, especially in a country laden with immoral practices such as abortion and euthanasia? Do we simply refuse to give tribute to our authorities?
Mr. Tom Wells, the founder of the Family Values Party, would argue in support of that ideal. He states that he was awoken by a bright light and a voice which called out “Tell my people that they are to tell their public officials that they are prepared not to pay their taxes until abortion is no longer publicly funded” (par. 1). Mr. Wells is a Messianic Jew and now believes very strongly that we ought not to pay taxes while our government continues in such immoral practices.
What ought we to do? Ought we to follow Mr. Wells' example and boycott until our wishes are granted? Men and women who have stood up for the Christian religion before often are remembered as martyrs. It is not a sin to die or suffer hardship defending our faith. But, what about honoring our authorities?
I suggest a path closer to that which Paul exhorted the Philippians towards, and which Christ exhorted his followers towards earlier. “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities”. I would argue that Christ's exhortation, and beneath that, St. Paul's, overrides the personal conviction of Mr. Wells, however real his experience may have been. Yes, abortion is a terrible thing, as is euthanasia. But rebelling against authority in order to wipe out such practices is not a good method of handling the situation. To do so would be to give into the all-too-common mindset that “the ends justify the means”. To do so would be to follow the will of God by contradicting Christ. We must recognize our positions in life, and work to the best that we can to expel such evil practices, but we must do so whilst obeying our civil authorities, just as Christ commanded.
If we do not live lives in which we are faithful citizens to our leaders here on earth, how will we be faithful citizens to our Father in heaven? St. Paul did not have a hard time teaching the Philippians the relationship between heavenly and earthly citizenship, but I think he would have a difficult time teaching most of the American population. He gave them an excellent lesson, one that we ought to recognize the importance of.

Works Cited
Wells, Thomas. “Family Values Party.” 6 June 2000. 3 December 2006. .

The Thursday Post: Week 8: The Most Powerful Piece of Literature Known to Man

2007-06-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

The Holy Scriptures constitutes one of the most powerful pieces of literature known to man. As the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews notes in chapter four verse twelve of that epistle, “the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.
How is the word of God living and powerful? It is an inanimate object: a book. A book can't do much of anything on it's own. A book can't grow lips or call our names when we are sinning. A book can't physically stop us from stealing, or from hatefully pulling the trigger of a gun. The writer to the Hebrews was not crazy. If he's not crazy, what does he mean?
Within the covers of a Bible lies written accounts of the life of Christ. The Old Testament shows what lead up to the life of Christ, and what Christ had to fulfill. It enhances the story of the New Testament, the actual teachings and actions of Christ. They are necessary to each other. But neither can live, neither can do anything in a physical sense. While the Bible is important, it needs the Church. The Church, as the bride of Christ, is the life and action of the Bible. The Church is what makes the word of God living and powerful. We enact the Bible in a very physical way as members of the body of Christ.
The writer to the Hebrews continues by saying that the word of God is “sharper than any two edged sword”. Not just any sword, a two edged sword. The passage quoted here is taken from the New King James Version, but the English Standard Version, the American Standard Version, The New American Standard Bible, the Holman Christian Standard Bible, and the King James Version all contain the phrase “two-edged”. Perhaps it was just used for emphasis, for example, “not only a regular sword, but a TWO-EDGED sword”. But I like to think that the use of the phrase “two-edged” is more symbolic. The Bible can be used for two different purposes: to judge and to save. Two sides. Judgment and salvation are, in some sense, two different sides of the same coin, just as there as a two-edged sword has two sharp edges, but it is still only one sword. I argue that by using the phrase “two-edged”, the writer to the Hebrews is giving testimony to the dual purpose of the Holy Scriptures.
Again, keeping to the militaristic imagery, the writer of the Hebrews says that the word of God “[pierces] even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. How does one separate soul from spirit? Is not one's soul and spirit the same thing? “Joints and marrow” seem to be pointing to the same thing. I would argue that yes, just like “joints and marrow”, the writer of the Hebrews would say that soul and spirit are one and the same. But how can the word of God divide them? I don't think that the writer to the Hebrews meant this to be literal. If soul and spirit are one and the same, just as joints and marrow are, then there is no separating them. This analogy merely emphasizes the writers statement that the word of God is powerful. How powerful? Powerful enough to divide something from itself.
“A discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. Again, emphasizing how powerful the word of God is. It's convicting. It's only a book, and it can't get up and physically guide us, but it can convict us through words. As already mentioned, God uses the Church, the body of Christ, to make the word of God living and powerful. We as Christians help the Bible to convict. Not many lost souls will simply pick up a Bible and read it for fun, but we can use the Bible, like a two-edged sword, to pierce to the very inward parts of that lost soul and cut away all that is not wanted.

The Thursday Post: Week 7: Blood in the Two Covenant Systems

2007-06-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

When discussing the sacraments, blood is nearly always viewed as being symbolic of life. But there is another view to blood, one that is not often heard in sacramental theology, but which bears just as much importance as the first.
In the Old Covenant system, sacrifice was normal. That meant that blood was common. With that blood came the forgiveness of sins and the redemption of the body (promise of salvation in Abraham's bosom). But it was not a once and for all sacrifice. It had to be done often. Blood meant death. Death occurred often. The death of God's creation for the salvation of his people. The old covenant people were redeemed by death.
Now, in the New Covenant, we have Christ. He died for us, and thus we are still redeemed by death, but the death is different. It is only Christ who died, just one man. A man who was both 100% human and 100% divine, yes, but still one man. In the New Covenant, there's less death, and because of that, there's less blood. The blood that is shed is His blood, and so it is much more special and altogether worth more than the blood of goats and calves.
As the writer to the Hebrew's notes (as well as many others) in chapter nine verse twenty-two, “without shedding of blood there is no remission”. Death had to come upon something to save humanity, lest humanity itself fall prey to death. The Hebrews in the Old Covenant had calves and goats, but “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14) Because Christ is greater than the sacrifices before, he was and is able to completely redeem all who follow Him by His death, rather than by the death of millions, literally millions of His lower creation.

The Thursday Post: Week 6: Lord of Creation, Lord of Justice

2007-06-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

God, being the Author and Lord of all creation, has certain views on the characteristics which define His creation. One of these characteristics which ought to be seen in creation is justice. Because of the fall, however, creation cannot have this attribute. We are unable to be as completely just as God (or we) would like us to be.
Bringing the world to rights is part of God's great plan of creation. Ever since man disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, we have been in need of salvation. Salvation from death, and salvation from evil. Justice is set up in order to condemn evil. Therefore, the ultimate justice, the ultimate condemnation of evil, must come from God, since He is the author of good, the opposite of evil. Death was defeated by Christ when he rose from the grave, but evil still abounds, even though Satan has been overcome. Therefore, justice is still needed.
Why is God so concerned about setting the world to rights? God, first and foremost, is a God of order. He made His creation with a definite order and hierarchy. After all, He allowed Adam to name the animals, did He not? Our God is a methodical God. He made things in order, day by day.
Secondly, God is a king. He is ruler over all the earth. Thus, it is only logical to suppose that He wants us to have order and hierarchy in our societies as well; that is, government. Government everywhere, both in a political sense, and in an ecclesiastical sense. Without government on our part, we tend to wander away from truth, order, and most of all, justice.
Related to the issue of justice, is the issue of citizenship. Good citizens are those which obey their government and serve their country. But in his epistle to the Philippians, St. Paul states that our citizenship is not here on earth, but in heaven. Does that mean that we neglect being obedient here on earth? Of course not. Christ told us to “give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's”. Even though we are citizens of the heavenly kingdom, it does not follow that we cease to be citizens of earthly ones. That means that, as citizens, we must take part in the fight to bring justice to all the ends of the world.
But, if only God can ultimately bring justice to creation, doesn't that make our fight futile? Of course not! If we follow that line of reasoning, we might as well give up evangelism simply because God has the ability to save whoever He wants. It is not in God's nature to strike every last murderer with lightning upon the instant that he commits the crime. Murderers will be judged, just like the rest of us, but many murderers still live to tell their tales. God has left earthly governments in charge of carrying out justice. God could do it all Himself, but again, it's not in His nature. He has given authority to us, His creation, to bring the world to rights, one little bit at a time, until the day comes when He will complete and purify heaven and earth.
God will bring all His creation to rights, and it is our job as citizens to do our best to promote justice while we are on this earth. If we call ourselves Christians, then we must recognize that our God is a God who loves justice, it’s evident in the general revelation of His creation, and it is evident in the specific revelation of His word. And if we call ourselves Christians, citizens of the heavenly kingdom as well as citizens here on earth, then we must share that love of justice, and use justice to fight the battle that has been raging on for centuries: the battle between good and evil.

Girls

2007-06-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Conn Iggulden

"You may already have noticed that girls are quite different from you. By this, we do not mean the physical differences, more the fact that they remain unimpressed by your mastery of a game involving wizards, or your understanding of Mores code. Some will be impressed, of course, but as a general rule, girls do not get quite as excited by the use of urine as a secret ink as boys do.

We thought long and hard about what advice could possibly be suitable. It is an inescapable fact that boys spend a great deal of their lives thinking and dreaming about girls, so the subject should be mentioned here - as delicately as possible.

Advice About Girls

1. It is important to listen. Human beings are often very self-centered and like to talk about themselves. In addition, it's an easy subject if someone is nervous. It is good advice to listen closely - unless she has also been given this advice, in which case an uneasy silence could develop, like two owls sitting together.

2. Be careful with humor. It is very common for boys to try to impress girls with a string of jokes, each one more desperate than the last. One joke, perhaps, and then a long silence while she talks about herself...

3. When you are older, flowers really do work - women love them. When you are young, however, there is a ghastly sense of being awkward rather than romantic - and she will guess your mother bought them.

4. Valentine's Day cards. Do not put your name on them. The whole point is the excitement a girl feels, wondering who finds her attractive. If it says "From Brian" on it, the magic isn't really there. This is actually quite a nice thing to do to someone you don't think will get a card. If you do this, it is even more important that you never say, "I sent you one because I thought you wouldn't get any." Keep the cards simple. You do not want one with fancy stuff of any kind.

5. Avoid being vulgar. Excitable bouts of windbreaking will not endear you to a girl, just to pick one example.

6. Play a sport of some kind. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it replaces the corpse-like pallor of the computer programmer with a ruddy glow. Honestly, this is more important than you know.

7. If you see a girl in need of help - unable to lift something, for example - do not taunt her. Approach the object and greet her with a cheerful smile, while surreptitiously testing the weight of the object. If you find you can lift it, go ahead. IF you can't try sitting on it and engaging her in conversation.

8. Finally, make sure you are well-scrubbed, your nails are clean and your hair is washed. Remember that girls are as nervous around you as you are around them, if you can imagine such a thing. They think and act rather differently to you, but without them, life would be one long football locker room. Treat them with respect."

Hmmm..... good things to know.... plus I thought it was rather humorous.

The Thursday Post: Week 5: Eliminate Prostitution!

2007-06-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Prostitution. The word isn't a pleasant one, and yet prostitution is given a blind eye in every country of the world. In some countries, such as The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and New Zealand, prostitution is nearly a government job. They have unions. It's an organized business. Sitting here in California, I run across ads promoting prostitution are all over the Internet. Prostitution is far secretive. Why? Why do we let this happen? What happened to our dignity? When did our rights overrule our humanity?
As a teenage male, it seems socially awkward for me to talk about this, but if I don't talk about this who will? There are obviously not enough people taking the initiative to blot this defect from our midst.
Note that these counties which have such organized forms of prostitution are “Western Countries”. As Americans, it seems as if we ought to naturally be rivals with the countries of the Middle East. We have this idea in our heads that the Middle East is our enemy, that those countries are the ones who hate us and bombed us on 9/11. Yes, we have our differences, but I say that we have much to learn from them. The Islamic countries are the countries which hold the death penalty for prostitution. They are the ones which actually recognize prostitution for what it is: disgusting. Perhaps their methods of punishment are harsh, but they're leagues above where we are.
When will we recognize what we've done? When will we wake up and see what a mess we've made of ourselves. We spend so much time promoting human rights and catering to the freedom of our citizens that in doing so, we're hurting ourselves. We're stabbing ourselves in the back.

The Thursday Post: Week 4: A Chriea Of Edward Murrow

2007-05-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

Edward R. Murrow said of the television, “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire, but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box".

Mr. Edward Murrow, as many know, was a gripping orator who bravely defended his country through his ability to speak the truth. He strove hard for the continuation of freedom in our country and abroad and was greatly rewarded for his efforts.

He argued that the television is just as useful as you make it.

How is this the case? First, one must define one's terms. Today, the word “television” is simultaneously used to describe both the mechanical device and the programs which that device offers (cable, satellite TV, network TV etc.). In Edward Murrow's day, however, they were virtually the same. All one could do with one's television was watch the programs provided.

Television allows people to access an entire universe of material from the comfort of their living rooms. There are many instructional, educational and simply beneficial results of this access. For example, there is “The History Channel”, “The Learning Channel”, and similar channels that air informational programs, the facts gained from which are very interesting. Television has the potential to be “good”, if used correctly.

Now, there are many who condemn television (the surplus of programs watched through one's television) as being simply a waste of time. They say that no matter how it is used, television is bad. The medium is the message. Despite any possibly valuable information, the concept of staring at one's TV in an attempt to learn makes you dumb.

Watching TV is like lifting weights. If one lifts weights correctly, one can gain much by doing so. However, if one lifts them incorrectly, one can damage one's self and can be forever hindered from lifting correctly again.

To use Mr. Murrow as an example, his show entitled “See it now” helped tremendously to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy and to end the “Red Scare”. Murrow won partly because he knew how to use television, while Senator McCarthy did not.

Since television is still relatively a new idea, there is not much to be said in testimony of it. The concept was ground breaking and still now remains astounding. However, Arnold J. Toynbee said “As human beings, we are endowed with freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is up to us.”

And so, even though television is often now ridden with filth, it still has the potential that Mr. Murrow gave to it. It still can be advantageous to humanity, if humanity learns how to use it.

The Thursday Post: Week 3: Annie Dillard: Painter of Reality

2007-05-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

Annie Dillard. I don't know much about authors and the recognition they gain. I don't know what about an author's resume makes him or her impressive. But, despite my ignorance, Ms. Dillard impresses me. She has a style which is all her own. Her way with words, and the way in which she meanders about the page in a flowing and constant manner intrigues me and makes me think about my own writing skills. My tendency is to veer to extremes: either to be ostentatious to the point of gagging, or to be brief to the point of boredom. I am not like Annie Dillard. She is like a creek, like one of the creeks near my house, no doubt like the creeks near Puget Sound.
When I first began to read her, I thought her style was strange. Unique, yes, but I didn't think it was particularly clever, just strange. But she can paint literal pictures with such beauty. When you read her, you don't read about things, you sense things: you see the bird in Small's mouth, you see poor Julie Norwich, you hear the plane crash, you feel the ocean mist.
Her subjects she writes about are close to home. Puget Sound sounds like Greenville. Their airport reminds me of Quincy's, or Chester's. It's as if she was talking about something which happened here. She creates a dream about the land I live in. She brings a painting before me and then pushes invites me in. I become part of her story.

The Thursday Post: Week 2: Eyes of Bright Sadness

2007-05-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

Who is Shrabat Gula, and why is she looking at me so? That stare, that deep stare which has captured the eyes of so many others over the past twenty years, what makes it so enchanting? Not enchanting in a romantic sense, but puzzling, bewitching. The image of her is an image which one cannot erase from one's brain. It etches itself upon my consciousness, haunting my thoughts. The photograph shows only her face, but what is it in that face? It's the face of a twelve year old girl, it can't be that special. But it is. It is the face of humanity, the face of a fallen breed.

She's poor. She was part of the Pashtun tribe, one of the most warlike and barbaric in all of Afghanistan. She was orphaned at a young age and sent to live in a refugee camp. But you don't need a biography to know most of this. You can guess simply by looking at her face. There is dirt on her chin and forehead, testifying to the hardship of her life. Her skin is dark from a life in the desert, subject to torment by a cruel, hot sun. Her hair is ruffled and matted. Hair which is not used to luxury. Hair which has never known the feel of the shampoos our women use here. It is not American hair. It is wild, it is exotic.

The shawl wrapped around her head is tattered around the edges, again proclaiming her poverty. it too has been faded from the harsh sun. But is compliments her. The photograph would not be nearly as powerful as it is without the vibrant red of that shawl. It sets the stage, and tells the viewer that the subject of this photograph is not of our culture. She is not of our world. The photographer was lucky to catch her without her face covered, something that is completely foreign to the American mind. Our women take pride in their looks. I don't condemn that, but the Muslims would. If Sharbat had been photographed without a shawl at all, the image would be lost. It would be devoid of culture, simply another photograph of a girl.

But what makes this image so powerful? What is it about this piece that makes it so memorable? Her eyes. Those brilliant, green eyes. Eyes which pierce into your soul. Eyes which make you look at her, as she is looking at you. Her earthly face is beautiful in it's own right, but you can't turn away with those emeralds shining out from her weathered complexion. Like the jewels they are, they grab you attention and leave you spellbound, unable to look away. They are the eyes of hope. they pierce through the darkness, and the pain, and the harshness seen so obviously on this girl's face, and they let the world know that the human spirit is still very much alive. They are sad, because they have seen pain, but they are bright, because they have also seen salvation: refuge in a broken country, culture within the wilderness. These eyes know that the pain in life can help to highlight what pleasure we find. These eyes make us realize that, as we sit and stare at her face surrounded by comfort and technology, we are flattening the hills and valleys of our lives, making them as uninteresting as they are lazy. These eyes tell us the wisdom that most of us Americans will never be able to learn for ourselves.

Announcement

2007-05-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning The Thursday Post. Each Thursday, I'll put up an essay from school which I did well on, or one that I really enjoyed writing, or both. This way, I can get back into the blogosphere and post on a regular basis. Enjoy!

-Joe

The Thursday Post: Week 1: Rugby vs. Soccer

2007-05-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

Would that soccer was so great a sport as rugby. Soccer is a grand sport, but when compared rugby, it sadly falls short. Though agility, precision and all around strength necessary to play any sport, they are needed, and used, much more in rugby than in soccer.
Agility? Is not the ability to run, and to run well, dodging opponents and using one's feet gracefully at the very heart of soccer? Indeed, soccer does require agility, but (as already mentioned), mainly in the feet. The entire sport revolves around the players feet (unless, of course, you are the goalie, which is but one position out of nearly a dozen). In a non-physical way, soccer also requires agility of the mind, in order that the players might think concisely and cleverly, but that is true of all sports. While Rugby also requires agility of the feet and the mind, it requires agility of the hands and the entire upper body, for all players. One must be able to catch and pass with one's hands, in addition to kicking and running.
Precision is another ability required in all sports, but more so in rugby than in soccer. Again, this is due to the fact that much more of one's body is required in rugby than in soccer. In rugby, one must be precise with ones arms and hands in addition to his feet and legs. But, yes other than the addition of the upper body in rugby, the need for precision in both sports is virtually the same: the players must pass (though passing is different in either sport), run, kick, dodge and dive with accuracy and precision. This, it seems, is a commonality between the two.
Again, with the addition of the upper body in rugby, the need for strength is all the greater. Yes, soccer players are terrific athletes, I have a long way to go before I could be one of them. But, (ad infinitum) their main need for strength is in their legs. That is what carries them through the game. Ruggers, however, tend to be much more aggressive, and need all of the precious arm and torso strength that they can muster, in addition to their leg strength.
Over all, the two sports are very similar, perhaps because of the history that these two sports have shared. But, in my humble opinion, rugby is much more advanced. Rugby is soccer, evolved into a higher, more intense form of athleticism. The addition of the upper body in rugby forms the stark contrast between these two honorable games, and it is that contrast which throws a bright light upon the winning choice.

Sonnet #1

2007-05-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

I wish I knew why world moves so fast,

I can hardly seem to keep myself afloat.

(I) Know these bitter times, they cannot last,

(But) It seems as if I fell into a moat.

Do not dare think that I would sink to say

I would that I could shake this mortal coil

No, no, I'm not so sad at heart as they

who seem to think they could the devil foil.

What do I do to ease the pain of this,

this busy life, which rushes by with speed

as if it had great Hermes wings which kiss

the sky with grace, as it on wind does feed.

And though this frail frail life does pass me by,

I know that somewhere, up there in the sky,

God has his eye on me.

Stay tuned for "The Thursday Post", coming as soon as I'm able to make it happen.

-Joe

Screamo: Music of Humanity.

2007-01-27T22:42:00.000-08:00

When you read the title of this blog, objections will no doubt pop into your brains automatically. Suffer me to ask you to put those away for just a few minutes. You, the reader, are no doubt one of two (possibly three) types of people: those who love the genre of music entitled screamo, those who are disgusted by it, or (the third type) those who have never yet experienced it (though the word "screamo" will most likely push you into one of the former two camps). To those who love screamo: please, do not be offended. Do not let your passionate hearts suffocate your brains and strangle the writer of this humble piece with wounded words. To those who hate screamo: read on. Save your objections till after the show.

I write this, because I love screamo. On certain days, the sound of Norma Jean, Showbread, or UnderOath is actually rather comforting (odd though it may sound). It is in my nature to defend that which I love, even though the arguments against screamo (as we will discuss later) are great. I'd like to attempt to defend screamo on a personal level rather than on a cultural level. But, either way, it's pointless to try to defend something without knowing what the meaning of that thing is. Thus comes the definition.

"Screamo", as many of you might have guessed, evolved from the genre "emo" (emotional rock). The word "emo" constitutes a very hard concept because it is used to describe so many things. It is almost impossible now to use the term. The word "emo", however, was first used to describe a musical movement in the early 1990's centralized around Washington, D.C. It was started by disgruntled punk and "indie" rockers who didn't like 1980's metal. They wanted more melody in their music (see here for a fairly in-depth article), and thus they started something new. It didn't gain popularity till the mid-to-late 1990's and boomed in the early 2000's. It is now marked by bands like Fall Out Boy , Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional,and Taking Back Sunday (which I love). Many of those who know how emo started grow to dislike some of the newer bands who gain the title of being emo and tend to refer to them as "whiny cry-baby wussy boy[s] with... acoustic guitar[s] and too many feelings" (spelling edited; see here for a not so in-depth but humorous article).

"Screamo" is yet another touchy genre. For example. Showbread is considered to be screamo, but UnderOath and Norma Jean are not (Underoath is considered to be post-hardcore, and Norma Jean metalcore). However, for the purposes of this discussion, I here-by deem these petty differences stupid and irrelevant to this discussion. But, I will warn you that there are those that are very adamant about this, so be careful who you talk to. Whereas emo was the promotion of melody and the rejection of 80's metal (which I can understand), screamo stems from emo but is a throwback to metal. Generally, it uses screaming (as the name suggests) to show forth emotion rather than melodic guitars.

Hopefully that will give you a brief idea of what emo and screamo are (to solidify the idea, I would recommend using those links to listen to "Dance, Dance" by Fall Out Boy [pardon the sexual references within the song] for a good idea of a song commonly recognized by the masses as "emo", and "Mouth Like a Magazine" by Showbread for a good idea of a commonly recognized screamo song). Next: the objections.

The objections, the objections, oh the objections. Believe you me, I know the objections. The most common of which is "it's just ugly". That's a hard one to get past. Honestly, it is. I don't think that I can refute that. But the fact that I cannot refute that objection is exactly the fact which inspired me to write this. You can't fight a catchy tune! No matter what you do, some things always, or at least often, will be appealing. Lack of maturity? Perhaps. But that does not solve the situation. One might say "oh, just let your senses mature". Great. Now what? I still like screamo. I still sing along to "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste". I recognize that there is no competition between Chopin and Showbread, but there's got to be some reason why I like it (other than the adrenaline rush). Even if it is not beautiful, can there be truth and goodness in screamo?

But, alas, I am getting ahead of myself. I agreed to answer the objections before providing my own case, and so I shall. "It's just ugly". It often is ugly, true enough. But just because one man in a song is screaming at you, does it render the song worthless? One man screaming at you... what a loaded phrase. That sums up the ugly argument rather nicely doesn't it? Screamo is often seen as so abrasive, abusive even. Alert! Ear abuse! But does that one instrument, a man's voice, seemingly malfunctioning in a screamo song, disrupt and destroy the entire song? Is the musical, instrumental talent shown in one song negated by screaming? And this question can be put to metalcore, post-hardcore or any of the other bizillion genres piling up under the broad style of rock. But the word "screamo" is loaded too. The word makes you shudder. Screamo. Brrrh. What makes it so enticing?

I confess, I often listen to this when I'm filled with angst. That perhaps is one of the problems. Tonight, Dr. David John Seel, Jr., in his lecture at my school, St. Andrew's Academy, noted that our pop-culture's delight in angry metal and rap music makes us wallow in our angst rather than confront it. We need to attack our anger and drive it from our minds, rather than let it abide.

So, after all these objections, I ask again: is there any merit to screamo? It's hard to think of any, isn't it? At one end, one could say that it is a useful tool for portraying emotion, but that would seem to contradict Dr. Seel's remark. On the other end, we could disregard it completely and tell ourselves to just never listen to it, and perhaps we'd be better off. Please remember that I'm am writing about the problem of screamo on a personal, not cultural scale. Thus, avoiding it and yet living in our culture might be hard.

What about something slightly in between? What if we agreed that screamo does in fact portray emotion. Simple concession. I would argue to take it one step farther than that. I would argue that it is the music of the human mind. Ever since the fall, we have been cursed with naturally bad dispositions. We don't tend to act like happy little elves. We don't (or at least most of us don't) frolic down the streets with wide grins, singing merrily just because it's a Monday. Screamo probably more accurately portrays how we feel most of the time. It's human. Now, that's based on the fall. Now we have the joy of Christ. Can the joy of Christ be portrayed in angry screamo music? (I must note that it is incorrect of me to recognize all screamo as being really angry, "So Selfish It's Funny" by Showbread is, oddly enough, quite funny.) But, given an average angry screamo or metalcore song, I would say that no, it cannot portray the love of Christ. Why? I don't know, maybe because Christ didn't scream salvation at us? Yes, he screamed at the merchants in the temple, and yes, he probably screams at us when we don't listen to him, but do we want to eternally dwell in that relationship with Christ? I don't.

What is the final word? I'm terrible at final words. Remember the post on feminism? Yeah? Lack-of-final-word syndrome! But I shall try to be decisive on this shaky subject. Should we always listen to screamo? No. Listen to Tchaikovsky. It's much better for you. Should you ever listen to screamo again? Probably not. Going to a screamo concert in some big, open area that doesn't give you claustrophobia and where you can just kinda of sit back and hang out or go out and be crazy (which isn't my cup of tea) probably wouldn't hurt. The trick, as Dr. Seel would say, would to not let screamo control you. Don't dwell on screamo. Dwell on the joy of Christ, which can be portrayed elsewhere. Yes, screamo can remind us that we aren't happy-go-lucky anti-humans who no longer have to deal with emotions or trials or tribulations, but that's about it.

P.S.

2007-01-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about dating and teenage relationships (yes, I know, I think about the subjects often), and it occurred to me that marriage, in a sense, it about ownership. This is purely a selfish reason, of course, but think of it! Man wants woman. Woman wants man. They get married. Each are each others. Theres comfort in that fact, the fact that when you are married, your spouse is yours and only yours (hopefully). I'm only speculating, I really have no idea what marriage is really like, only guesses.

But we teenagers, we do not have the authority to give ourselves. We can't make the commitment. That is not to say, that we teenagers out to live lives of sexual havoc because we cannot commit ourselves to one person. Quite the contrary! We cannot commit ourselves to anyone in the sense that marriage is a commitment. We are under the guardianship of those who are in authority over us, and till our time has come, we are not the ones to make the decisions concerning who we give ourselves to and how.

This all seems rather stupid and simple when printed on the screen, but I think it's a fact that we teenagers overlook. We're wrapped up in our desire to be individuals and we are being told by the culture that our desire is reality. But it isn't! The truth of the matter is, we are students. Despite constant, burning feelings and desires, we are not at liberty to do anything outside of what our teachers see fit for us to do. We've grown so proud that we've clean forgot our God-ordained place in life! We haven't graduated, and many still haven't even after leaving high school, I'm sure. We need to quit being individuals, and start being students.

Issues with Dating

2006-04-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

While this is not a new topic for me to discuss, I felt the urge to "unleash [my] word hoard" and address the topic once more. Many of my dear friends, even though I have expressed my disillusion with dating, still ask me wether or not I date. This seems to be on account of time spent with certain parties, and it has led even myself to question the integrity of my reslove.

What is dating? Dating is derived from the concept of courtship, in which a man expresses his feelings for a young woman and gains permission to pursue her with the intent of perhaps marrying her. It was a serious thing, and set up as such. Courtship has, over the years, dissolved into the much less formal form of "dating", in which a young man asks a young woman (rather than her father) if he might spend time with that girl. From my perspective, the majority of the intentions for dating are based upon pure emotional spazms. People date because they have some sort of physical attraction to eachother. They date because they think that the either party is "hot" or "sexy".

Now I'm being rather blunt and scientific about things, but this is just the way things seem to be. Dating doesn't seem to be about commitment like courtship was. In courtship, there was a covenant formed between the two families. In dating, relationships can last as long as a few days, just as long as the two parties are enchanted with eachother. There's no sense of permanence.

Introduction aside, I'd like to address the main point. What makes dating any different from just spending time with a certain person? What if two people run in the same circles (to use a very Jane Austen-ish term) and end up spending most of their time together?

Dating is based upon the two parties consent to date eachother. For that matter, so does courtship (and anything else besides arranged marriage I suppose). Without consent, those two parties are not dating.

Being a teenager (though never in the public school system), I can say that the teen culture thrives upon dating. It is like it is a necessity for life. When I tell people that I don't date, I get either the response that "oh thats cool" or some exclamation of disbelief. There are a few of us, it seems that are fed up with the dating scene, but that is not so much the point of this duscussion.

How can one let people know that one is not dating such and such a person? Mere repition will get the point across to some degree, but that does not ultimatley solve the problem. People still look at the two people and think that even though they deny the idea that they are dating, they still are.

Oh the glorious position of being "just friends". Mere friendship rids one of any of the complications of courtship. If one is just friends with someone of the opposite sex, that does not mean that, someday, further relationship might result, but at the time being that is not the goal of the relationship. This is the relationship that has been forgotten in the teen world. The assumption is that, in order to have any feeling about a person of the opposite sex, you have to have some sort of relationship resulting in dating. I would challenge this assumption.

I don't want to date. It is, honestly, the last thing I need right now. I don't care for the drama wrapped up with dating either. I'd much rather just be friends with a girl than date her at this point.

Now a question that comes to mind which challenges my view is "what will I do once I have to court and marry?" The way I plan it, everyone will be more mature by the time I'm ready to marry. Courtship cuts out much of the drama which dating carries along with it. I will court when I am ready to marry, and I am certainly not ready to marry yet.

The fact is, I don't see why everyone has to assume that teenagers date. Perhaps thats just because of our culture which supports teen dating. I don't think there is anything beneficial about it. I am and will remain single till I am ready to marry, and I'm darn proud of it.

Thoughts on Tradition in the Church

2006-02-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

Now, I don't really have time for a post, but this issue is bugging me so I thought that I'd get it out.

So I was in Nevada City a few weekends ago, and my uncle and aunt mentioned that there was a "mandala" exhibit at the "St. Joseph's Cultural Center". Now, for those of you who don't know what a mandala is, if you type in mandala on Miriam Webster's website, you will get "Hindu or Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe; specifically : a circle enclosing a square with a deity on each side". This was a sand drawing. The monks would take turns, bending over this 3' by 3' table, adding to this immensly intricate 2' by 2' design. It was incredible to say the least. And I can say that because I would last probably 3 minutes doing that kind of a job. But these monks had been going at it for weeks. And what would they do when they were finished? They would take it and blow it into the Yuba River. Thats buddhist philosophy for you.

Now, the issue is not how amazing this was, the issue is where it took place. They had set up camp in one of three interrelated structures. There is St. Patricks Roman Catholic Church, there is St. Mary's Parish School (which I might add has been around for over 150 years, quite impressive) and there is St. Joseph's Cultural Center. St. Joseph's Cultural Center, if I'm not mistaken, is the old church which they turned into an open venue when St. Patricks went up just across the street. What I don't get is why this Church, and so many other Churches around the country allow a religion, which is so contrary to Christianity, to come under their roof and advertise their religion. I know that we ought to be charitable, but doesn't this seem wrong? Is this just America?

Chop Suey!: Lyrical questions.

2006-01-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought that I might do something different here. I am always interested to know the meaning of the songs which I listen to. Sometimes they are quite simple, I even listen to a few songs in which I am sure they are using nonsense words. But there are a few bands which actually have something to say. I end up liking those bands the best. One particular song that I have been confused about is "Chop Suey" by System of a Down. (By the way, a system of a down is a system which does not function properly anymore.) Here are the lyrics to that song (taken from their website).

Wake up,
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup),
Grab a brush and put a little,
Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)
Hide the scars to fade away the,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable

You wanted to,
Grab a brush and put a little makeup,
You wanted to,
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup,
You wanted to,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table,
You wanted to,

I don't think you trust,
In, my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die, Die,

Wake up,
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup),
Grab a brush and put a little,
Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)
Hide the scars to fade away the,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable

You wanted to,
Grab a brush and put a little makeup,
You wanted to,
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup,
You wanted to,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table,
You wanted to,

I don't think you trust,
In, my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die
In my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die

Father, Father, Father, Father,
Father/ Into your hands/I/commend my spirit,
Father, into your hands,

Why have you forsaken me,
In your eyes forsaken me,
In your thoughts forsaken me,
In your heart forsaken, me oh,

Trust in my self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die,
In my self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die.

It looks awkward as it is, but the song actually flows fairly smoothly. If you go to my myspace account at http://www.myspace.com/forlackofaname you should be able to listen to it.

What always had me curious (and I'm sure you too), was the fact that he quoted Christ during the last half of the song. System of a Down isn't a Christian band (or at least they don't seem to be... at all), and many accounts say that they aren't religious at all. The "Father, why have you forsaken me?" could simply be a desperate depressed outlook on life, but thats not exactly System of a Down's outlook. They put a lot of emphasis on coruption in government, but they don't seem to get explicitly desperate at all.

Another phrase which interested me was "self righteous suicide". Most people seem to have heard the word "suicide" and automatically think they're talking about killing themselves. But "self righteous suicide" isn't quite simple. If one is righteous, then he is "in accord with divine or moral law" and "free from guilt or sin" (Miriam-Webster). So if one is self righteous, one would know "in his heart" that he is guiltless and in the right. Correct? So a self righteous suicide would be if one knew he was right but threw it all away. Please inform me if I'm missing any logic, I really am having a hard time with this one. It does not, however, seem to be so bad a thing. It sounds almost like sacrifice.

Mr. Serj Talakian (the lead singer of System of a Down) says that he cries "when angels deserve to die". This seems like more of a religious question. One might automatically say (and many have) "what does he mean? angels can't die". It seems to be more of a symbolic phrase. An angel who deserves to die might be a person who you think is such a grand creature, but has commited an atrocity. It definatley has an emotional background.

Theres a great ammount of emotion in this song to begin with. A song can have emotion but it needs to have something more there so that it doesn't just fall apart. I'm not entirely sure what it means so I'm not entirely sure if the song holds together. The general idea of the song seems to denote betrayal. Such as a wife having an affair. The affair part justifies the "I cry when angels deserve to die" phrase. The "Father why have you forsaken me?" phrase denotes the pain that is inflicted in that kind of situation. Theres a theory, and it looks like it fits.

Magic, Harry Potter, and Christian living.

2005-12-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

So last night I went and saw Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. I haven't read all the books, and I don't wear Harry Potter gear or rave about it 24/7, but I like it and I keep up with it to a certain extent. One thing that I have always been curious about is magic, especially from a Christian's point of view. At first that was what always shot down the Harry Potter books: All Harry Potter is a thing which containst magic. No Christians should be affiliated with things which have to do with magic. Ergo no Christians should be affiliated with Harry Potter. (Modus Ponens correct?) While respecting the people that said that, I was always a little curious why we should quarantine ourselves from that evil Harry Potter madness.

What got me even more curious is when I read Lord of The Rings. There are very few Christians that I know of that would say that Tolkein is not a Christian. I take that back... I don't know any. And yet Tolkein created a major character who is a wizard. This befuddled me for a while. The Tolkein part I solved fairly early. But the Harry Potter part continued to bug. But here's my take.

The magic in Harry Potter does not seem to be tied in with religious activities what so ever, unlike orginizations such as Wicca. It seems to be more mischivous play early on, but later the magic is used in the protagonist vs. antagonist movement. The good guys use their powers to fight the bad guys and vice versa. Magic in Harry Potter looks more like a tool than a form of worship. There is an in the third film of crystal ball/omen/chance foresight stuff, but even though the omen comes true the actual practice is pretty heavily condemned. In the fourth film, Professor Dumbledore (if I am not mistaken) states that "there is no spell to bring back the dead".

There isn't much fading of the lines in the films. The good guys look good and the bad guys, especially in the fourth film, look bad. There are some characters that you are a little confused about, but you see where they lie pretty quickly.

Is there a difference between different kinds of magic? Because the magic that is being promoted in Harry Potter does not look like the magic that you see in the Bible, the stuff that usually gets condemned. In the fourth film, viewers are introduced to the "three unforgivable curses". They are, without the hard to remember names, the curse of torture, the curse of possesion, and the curse of death. As a wizard, you cannot place a curse upoon someone that causes torture, you cannot posses that person (as in take control over them and make them obey you), and you cannot kill that person.

The Didache, an early Church handbook for chatecumins, says that a Christian ought not to perform magic for it leads to idolatry. I think that is what Wicca does. It is much more a religious practice than anything that is in Harry Potter.I think that magic is very much real, but even though it seems as if it is possible to pursue it without falling into idolatry, its dangerous business.I think that the Didache serves as a warning, that even if you could perform magic without falling away from the Christian faith, it is very hard not to.

To get back on track, I'm not sure that I see anything really wrong with the magic in Harry Potter. I can see how kids might get all stoked up about the magic part (I think its pretty neat), and then join groups which follow magic, such as Wicca. I think it just needs explaining. If you're going to go to Harry Potter and are really get into it, you have to know about that kind of stuff.

Rock Concert

2005-09-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

As I sit here, schnarfeling my Top Ramen and praying that I would return to health in time for work and school, I got to thinking about this past weekend and all that it stood for. For those who are not aware, this past weekend was spent at JoshuaFest, a rapidly growing Christian rock concert located in nearby Quincy California. The weekend was over all very very fun, but one can't help but wonder if it all was ok. I mean, you have your rather emotional security guard leading everyone in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to come upon us, and then continue to rock out. For me its kind of a difficult situation. I like the really hardcore screamy stuff sometimes, if they play well, and its fun to listen to at concerts where you can go crazy. One of the bands there named Dizmas is a really fun band to watch and a neat bunch of guys to hang out with, but they mix the hard rock sound with the worship words on some tracks, and I'm not totally sure that that is ok.

I guess it all depends on what the concert aims at. If the concert is supposed to be a place where you worship God, then bands like Dizmas probably shouldn't apply. But if the concert is just about music, a clean setting, and a good time then Dizmas would be fine. I'm just a little bit confused. Is it morally right to praise God through hardcore rock?

An effort to do something on here

2005-07-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

So I'm back, I'm not quite sure for how long though. I honestly thought that I would be doing much more blogging during the summer. But, with the extensive playing of video games and the continual zoning in front of the tv (which is hard seeing as I wake up at noon on my early days), things have been pretty rough. Just kidding, I sold my ps2, I still don't have tv, and I've been working around the house so I want to get outside when it's cool: in the morning. However, I have had time to enjoy myself a bit. I went and saw Batman Begins last saturday night. Not a bad film if you ask me. Quite dark and a bit scarier than I expected it to be. Perhaps I didn't see the full trailer or something. But I liked it. It had a very good cast and the script didn't seem half bad. With all the action though, it'll take a few more viewings to get a final verdict out. But, I got to discuss a little on the drive to the theater and back (45 minutes there and 45 minutes back). We veered into several topics, but an interesting one was on violence.

In America, especially as portrayed by films, we seem to have two options for solving a conflict. Either by talking or by fighting. It seems as if in most films, the talking gets the characters/plot no where, and that the fighting actually does something. And I think that we, as Americans are becoming fairly numbed by violence. I personally thing that that is better than being shielded from violence and never seeing it, but it still is not the best thing for us. I don't think that having violence in films is bad. Personally, especially in war films, I think it lets us see what really went on. But letting ourselves look at it as purely entertainment, can get us into trouble.

But as far as dealing with situations like that, I think that we have to think of another way besides just giving into violence. I think that violence should be a last resort, and that other methods should be tried before giving into violence. What other methods, more succesful methods, I'm not sure. Something to think about I suppose.

"[after Paul thanks him for shooting footage of the genocide] I think if people see this footage, they'll say Oh, my God, that's horrible. And then they'll go on eating their dinners." Jack Daglish in 'Hotel Rwanda'

"Its been a while..."

2005-05-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

Why does that song always pop into my head when I'm on here? I don't know. Perhaps it is the fact that I take so long to post. Thus, singing "Its been a while" is rather fitting. It has been a while. On that happy note, I just want ya'll to know that I'll be a couple more weeks. Stuff is crazy now, so I don't really have the time to write a quality post. I do, however, want to reccommend a blog.

http://arsitw.blogspot.com

I get to see him everyday (since he is the teacher for a couple of my classes) and he's a real great guy. Enjoy
-guiseppe

Sorry about that

2005-04-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

Hey guys
yeah that one looks like a bomb. I'll try and clean it up before too many others get confused. Thanks

I'm not dead yet!!

2005-03-31T22:31:00.000-08:00

hi guys
yeah yeah I know, its been a while. Alright, straight to business.

ON FEMINISM

Now I'm not too terribly sure where to begin but I thought that this topic might give me more responses than my last one. No offense guys, but most of what I got were "wow you're smart"s. Lets kick it "down" a notch to degrade a perfectly good saying. I think that by stepping on a few toes I might be able to extract some thoughts from you guys. Please... if you get ticked off at me... tell me, don't shut up. I'd rather have angry people yelling at me than quiet people being angry at me.

Alright. After that brief intro, I'll get going. First off, I'm not a huge fan of feminism. Perhaps stating my blunt opinion first thing was not/is not the cleverest idea in the world, but this way you can see where I am comming from. I can't really attack this on anything but a religious background because, without a religious background, there is very little to fight feminism with. As a Christian, I have the Bible to look to when I need something to bat feminists over the head with. But, the catch is that if I am arguing with Amy Athiest (no offense to any Amys out there), she can hit me back over the head by saying that my rules don't apply to her because she doesn't believe in my religion. Or, she can turn around and point out that there were female rulers during the time of the judges.

So never mind. Religion is hard to deal with. So I got myself into female royalty. Never mind again thats not feminism. FEMINISM FIGHTS FOR THE EQUALITY OF SEXES. QUEENS AREN'T THE SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE. Case closed.

Basic biology: though there are many women who I am sure could punch my lights out, the female gender as a whole has been "weaker" than the male. The problem is that the males have gotten to be virtually females. That is why we have female clergy in the Church. The guys didn't step up and do their part so the women came and said that they could do the same thing virtually because THEY ACTUALLY COULD. Enough guy-bashing. Hard truth is: guys failed and the women took the opportunity.

Perhaps that is the reason for all of this. Our culture is segrigated into groups for guys: you have the skinny wimps, the skinny guys who can actually kick your behind, the buff mean guys, the buff guys who couldn't hurt a fly, the not-so-in-shape guys who think they're in shape... and the list goes on. The sad part is... I think I fall into that last category...hmm. Enough of that. The point is, men aren't trained like they used to be. Our culture has degraded the genders so that we really are equal. I don't think that feminist activists really had to do much. If things went the way they did without all the protests, we'd probably be in the same spot.

So all this to say, its not really the women that are power-seeking respect-snatching plane-welding bologne sandwich-eating... nice people, its the guys that have not been up to par. There really isn't any reason to hold back here, its not like opening the door for a lady. Guys don't need to worry about letting women go first when it comes to doing a job. We (I say we cause I'm a guy) still need to be polite and respectful to women, but at the same time we need to hold our ground. Guys need to be honorable, not the way our culture sees it, but according to a higher standard, and hold the heirarchy which God has ordained.

But there I go again... bringing religion in. Perhaps I should have addressed it to "Christian males" and bring religion in all the way. Alright: Christian guys!! Don't be wimpy!! Stand strong!! Don't vote for women clergy!! Be examples... to all your freinds at the pub on saturday night!!

Once,however,we say that girls should not work, we run into other situations like single parent families and economic stress and blah blah blah. I suppose I will have to save that for another time...

hmm

2005-03-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

alright kristensdatter... nice name and good question. I was of the opinion that guys can use vulgar language when they are in the company of other (and only other) guys. When they are in the company of girls they should not use language becaues doing so is disrespectful to the girl. Perhaps that is where the gentleman part comes in? Did Mr. Darcy (don't be scared if you don't know who he is) joke around and use language with his buddies? Now another thing you mentioned (I know this because I know you hahaha...) is "what does the Bible say about it?" Honestly... I think I might have to leave this one to the muses. I regret to say that the Joe has no answers on this one. I should be sticking up another post soon so... stay tuned.

On Language

2005-02-24T22:07:00.000-08:00

"It is a time of desolation, chaos and uncertainty... brothers killing brothers... babies having babies..." and overused language. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not here to say that all language is bad and that we shouldn't say it ever ever ever lest we be... darned, I just think its overused these days.

First of, we need to learn that what we say has consequences. Guys, if you say that your girlfriend should not buy said shirt because it makes her look fat, you're probably not going to get a very good reaction. Likewise if you ladies say that your boyfriend's favourite shirt makes him look like a girl, that might not end up with the prettiest conclusion either. But I digress, clothing and dating are and should be for another episode.

My point is is that words have power. What you say means something. Even those who teach that words mean nothing deep down know that they have meaning (otherwise why would they be teaching?). Now once again, I am pulling from a class discution which means that it is 1)a newly explained subject and b) it is the belief of my teachers and through them me. Lets not have an Achilles incident again shall we?

I (and my professors) believe that the words commonly coined as "bad language" can be grouped into three categories: vulgarity, obscenity and profanity.

Now heres an interesting factiod. Who has heard of the Vulgate Bible? The Vulgate was printed hundreds of years ago when latin was still the common language. The Vulgate was their NIV. The words vulgar and vulgate both come from the same latin root meaning common. Vulgar words just mean common. That means any words that were used by the common people can be considered vulgar and thus not used in polite society. This category includes sh**, dam*, he*l (for the really picky ones), and even lesser words such as pi*s and cr*p (for the really really picky ones). These words can all be used in regular scentences. When a farmer stepped on manure in his field he most likely did not say "oh... I stepped in manure..." he probably used some other terminology. Now heres the kicker. Back then people knew how to handle them selves. One knew not to use these terms in "polite company" i.e. in formal situations or "mixed company" i.e. in presence of a girl. Context is key. Perhaps a more well known rule is not to "curse" in a church. Thats just how it is.

Enter sexist Joe: its my opinion that girls shouldn't use "bad language". The art of being a lady has been lost (guys... you don't need to worry about this one). With the rise of feminism and whatnot, I think girls have taken on the idea that they can curse (Trinity in The Matrix isn't helping). But just to take a stab at the guys, we need to recognize their... femininity I suppose. Don't "cuss" in front of girls. Sure its ok to say stuff man-to-man and I'm sure there is tons of stuff that only goes around in "girl stuff" only areas, but I think we need to recognize the boundaries.

Hmm... this is going to be a long one. Alright- obscenity. Obscenity is basically going too far. Giving too much info. Thats where we get our word gross from, gross literally means too much. Obscenity mainly covers your sex-based words, your violence-based words, your body-based words and your scatological words (hint: up in the mountains you often run across bear...). The obscene section can also house your f-bomb. Basically this is "dirty talk" or "potty humor". Anything "cuss words" pertaining to what we might call sick (not the synonym for cool) can fall into this category.

And finally we have our profane words. To be profane is to take something that is holy or set aside for holy use and make it common (vulgar). This is mainly if not totally composed of taking the Lord's name in vain. If you take something as holy as the Lord's name (which as a Christian, you will recognize as the ultimate holy thing) and use it too often or not seriously, you are taking it in vain.

So there we got it, our definitions are down. Now for the bulk of the essay. Alright just kidding. None of these words should really be used to terribly often. Words from the first group you can use in normal english, but there should rarely be a time for obscenity and never for profanity. Today we have little kids flipping people off (yeah I experienced it). This should be a sign that people have gotten carried away. We now no longer know when to use the words we labled "bad language" so we either use them without care or we throw them into a box which is secured with a padlock which is then thrown into a safe and thrown into the ocean (only to be rediscovered when you stub your toe).

I'm open to any opinions, edit notes (its kinda late...), questions or snide remarks.

hmm

2005-02-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

ah munkybrat... how ever did you come up with that name? Seems to me that one doesn't usually like being called a brat (though with the debut of those disturbing dolls one can only wonder). Let me try to guess.

- you recently got a blog (no posts or profile) or you are simply a commentator
- you have a peculiar taste for teasing me (you know me)
- the yorkshire accent on your second comment seems to suggest something familiar to me... say... St. Andrews?

I am placing my bet on Rebekah Waterman. Mistakes, however, come with life so I might be wrong. That is where I stand.

ah

2005-02-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

aheh.. aheh... kudos for fruitcake. So miss Sarah... how do you like living in Jamaica? Please don't hurt miss Bekah too much... I figured it out myself... she just pushed the theory to a fact.

Alright, this is a big moment. I never thought that I would stick a song on my blog but its looking like I will. Here goes.

alright lets try to take this slow
we're not going anywhere (not going anywhere...)
I am hoping that you know
hoping that you know I care

can we please talk about you
or do I need to offer you my hand
cause you know I can't see through you
I don't even think you can
(see in you)

look you're goin through some hard times
what with your life and all (what with your life and all...)
I just want to talk to you and help
try and see if I can help

can we please talk about you
or do I need to offer you my hand
cause you know I can't see through you
I don't even think you can
(see in you)

look can we
please take this
one step at a time
I'm lost in trying to find you

so can we please take this slow
you really do need this..

so it needs a lot of polishing up... I'll see what I can do later. I don't know what kind of genre this will end up being, but so far my philosophy text was right... rock is just emotion put into words.

jamaica...

2005-02-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

alright... I know its not much but I couldn't find "fruitcake"s blog so I decided to stick something here.
Umm yes... St. Andrews Academy in Northern California does have choir and yes I sing in it and yes some of the stuff that we do is in latin. The andrew part refers to St. Andrew the apostle who (if I remember correctly) made it to scotland or something. Anyways the flag of Scotland (again if I'm not mistaken) is called the St. Andrews flag so its got somethin to do with scotland.
Over and out

fluf!

2005-01-29T10:01:00.000-08:00

alright! So my previous code of writing every day has failed... I am now depressed to once a week. No not depressed... disturbed... described... decomposed... diluted... disrespected.... aggh whatever. I'm not writing once a day. It turns out that its a bit less often than that. I'm breaking one of the essentials for a good blog, which... is writing alot. OK, I'm done with that.
Anyways, not much going on around here. I'm sick but thats besides the point. I've basically been sitting around doing nessicary school work and what not while trying to get better so I don't get a smackdown for not being at the concert. The choir is one of the main crowd getters of St. Andrews simply because there isn't any others around so bpeople don't get to see that kinda stuff often. Since I am one of the few tenors I kinda need to be there I think... because a. the tenors need all they can get and 2. cause Andrew would slug me if I wasn't there. Well... that took up a nice ammount of room... but now its time for me to exit.
g.i. over and out

another day in the life of.... G.I.

2005-01-20T16:48:00.000-08:00

well hello there
So ok that sounded like a Mr. Rogers pull. Maybe I should do that you know? Maybe I should start a kids show. What bugged me about Mr. Rogers was that I could never figure out where the train went when it wen't into the wall. I mean all you saw was its tail end riding into darkness. Just left me puzzled thats what.
Anyways on with the show. Yesterday at lunch I set the school adizzy with smoke clouds and fumes. See the trick was that we had chili left over so we were gonna have it for lunch. Mom heated up lenas in the Faculty Microwave... alls fine. Then she heated up Charris's (who was staying with us)... alls fine. Note that Charris had an identical container to mine... thats the wierd part. Because when I stuck my container in to bee heated up... it started smoking. Actually I wasn't there but Mr. Foos was like jumping over chairs to get to the microwave. So yeah he got there, threw open the door and took a step back while the smoke covered the floor. Yeah it stunk bad... for like the rest of the day. But yeah after Mr. Bartel cooled off the bottom of the container I got handed it... while everyone else stood and giggled. Well ok so it wasn't suspended gigling. Just comments. But yeah... not my favourite experience. Afterwards though I was wondering if I shoulda like broke down laughing. But its past and gone... living on only in my noggin. And in years to come, when I am old I'll tell through what teeth I have left about my adventures at St. Andrews.
G.i. out

You don't have to try that at home

2005-01-13T16:41:00.000-08:00

ok umm... bout that last post. You don't have to do anything. I'm tellin all ya'll guys to go call another guy beautiful. In fact for your own safety I would recomend that you don't. I mean just cause I believe that guys can be called beautiful doesn't mean that I'm gonna run up to some guy and call him beautiful. I mean.. a. If I picked the wrong guy I'd get knocked up the head and 2.... somethin else might happen. Ok 'nuff said.
Hope you guys all checeked out mr. gnomes blog. If you haven't definatley do so 'cause he a pretty cool lil man. I mean don't call him lil to his face... I think that might offend him. Gotta scoot
G.I.

Caution: class discussion involved (Beware all ye anti-literal floks.)

2005-01-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

hey
so we had an interesting discussion in Lit. class the other day. So we are going through the Iliad and we were talking about Achilles and how he was like the perfect model of the Greek hero. I mean, the Greek Hero is like the big, buff, courageous "dude" who cares so much about his immortality than anything else. Now when you hear immortality you kinda think of being a god. This is more like being remembered for all time. So yeah... for the greek hero you have to have love for yourself and love for your friends (sooo achilles is a little low on that one). So within this Greek Hero thing is handsomeness. Achilles was definatley the handsome guy. I mean if he lived today he would have to wear a mask or something. So we got talking about that and about male beauty. There is a point at which men too can be beautiful. See.. in our culture we tend to think of beauty as a feminine thing. For instance: if some guy calls another guy beautiful... the usual implication nowadays is that hes homosexual (i.e. gay). However, there is a point at which us guys just have to admit that another guy is drop dead beautiful. Guys might not like it much but it is the truth. Nice thing for guys: they seem to be aweful rare so we might not have to say it often. G.I. over and out

oooookaaaay

2004-12-30T21:45:00.000-08:00

dang I'm gettin sloppy. Once upon a time I said that I would write in here everyday. Yeah well, such is life. I guess when you think about it I'd be like saying "hi... today was good... bye all" everyday until something actually ineteresting came up. So yeah... 'nuff said. Christmas was good. I got to spend the night at a buddies and go to church with him the next morning. Man what a shift. I have been Anglicanized for sure. I totally forgot what the service was like. I've been goin to Christ The Redeemer for like 5 years I guess and that kinda did me in. Throughout that I kinda replaced my baptist background with something new and quite different.
What else is new...? Saw Green Card tonight. Fun lil Depardieu flick besides the fact that its a kissing story. I mean for bein a hulk with a large nose hes a fun actor.
Hey... everyone checked out the new skin? I think its pretty snazzy. Say thanks to the the html skilled jaak... the one who knows way too much more than the joe. I mean seriously floks... its scary how html illiterate I am.
Ok gotta get goin. Night all

Happy Christdaymasdersad...

2004-12-25T01:32:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! I'm up at 12:32! ooohhh nickers... sleep

Ok now...

2004-12-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

hello everybody... how are you? My name is G.i and I kick.. umm... rear too. I write alot of stuff and I rap like... pooh.
Fiiiine... all done with that. Ok. I said I would have something to write about today and GUESS WHAT! I totally forgot. I think it had something to do with why I'm here... but I can't figure out wether I was going to talk about why I'm here on earth or why I'm writing. I'm pretty sure its about me writing here.
Ok here goes. Why does one start a blog? What is one intended to do with a blog? Further, what does one write on a blog?
Ok... one starts a blog... I don't know. I mean I don't know for sure. I suppose one could decide to start up a blog to empty their head or let off some steam. I've seen some blogs opened up for classes but mainly it seems that its just individuals. I mean when you take into account the meaning of blog (web log isn't it?) it kinda makes sense. You just record what you want to on a daily basis like Cap'n Kirk and the rest of the Star Trek folks. I guess that follows into the whole section on what you're supposed to do with a blog. Well duh... write in it. But what do you write? I suppose you could write anything. I believe that blogs in their original idea of usage could be used for anything. Wether a college student started a blog and wanted to discuss the issues of the war in Iraq or whether a Orange County Blonde (no offense ladies) wanted to talk about her social life with her boyfriend. So technically I believe that though there is right and wrong to many things there is no right or wrong to the use of blogs. You can write anything you want though if you write college level entries on the symbolical figures in Beowulf you might drown some people. Then again, if you write continually about your life with your boyfriend (or girlfriend for you guys) you might gag some others.
Ok... what else. I guess thats about it. We talked about what you can put in blogs, why blogs were made and why G.i can't rap... yet. Hey I mean everybodys gotta start somewhere. I'm sure Eminem stunk before he got big too. Some day I'll be the next Mike Shinoda and... yeah ok. Hey you never know. Ok, shutting up. Night

what to say

2004-12-22T15:38:00.000-08:00

oh yeah... in addition to what I said about the tagboard thing add the fact that it limits what you say. I mean sheesh... yeah. So attention all, I'll be gettin one in a few days.
So I got to talkin to a guy bout blogs and he requested that I send him a link to my blog. While we were talkin bout that my mom mentioned that she wanted a link too. All I could think of was: oh my gosh... better hide some stuff quick. No just kidding I didn't say that... but Mr. Baender (the guy I was talkin to) told me to hide my plans for my nuclear weapons. I mean... I don't have plans for that but my Hackin 101 booklet is comming along quite nicely. YEAH OK.... just kidding about that too. I need to learn though.
Well thats about it. Actually I have more but I want to save that for tomorrow. I mean if I say everything today then I'll be outa stuff to say tomorrow. Gotta get goin on my campaign... later everyone.

woah...

2004-12-19T17:38:00.000-08:00

sorry bout this.... I've haven't done anything for like a week. Really sorry. Anyways.... I'm thouroughly perturbed at my campaigne. I guess I need to do it agian. So yeah.... mega kudos to whats his nose who commented last time. Umm yeah. Not much over here. Three cheers for Christmas break. I'm lovin it like more than mc donalds. Like.... way more. Anyways, once I get some time I'll totally comment on more peoples blogs. As for this tagboard thing, I'm not sure I like it. I mean... its kinda cool but I can't tell if I don't want the ads and am too lazy or I really don't like it. I dunno. Anywho, time to clear off. Over and out

alright

2004-12-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

hey all
no I wasn't naked.... I was just in my pjs. Anyways, I'm gonna start commenting on blogs soon. Figured I should straighten out complications on the last post before having all these new people show up and be scared.

I'm back

2004-12-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

Hi guys
So yes, as my two viewers most likely know, I was kicked off the computer for a week. Most unfortunate and I am sure I am scared for life. Ok that was a serious exageration, cause I feel no difference. So yeah, I tried uploading a pic onto my blog and I'm havin issues. I'm trying to get a pic from my computer and whenever I enter the C:\Documents and Settings\Figure Reborn blah blah blah it says I entered invalid characters. So I dunno. Jaak help me. But yeah I made my New Years resolution early and I decided... that its happening again. I will talk to way more than 5 people this time. This time I'm goin big. It starts tonight... or whenever I put my clothes on....

please work....

2004-12-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

hi guys
umm.... I was going to stick a post up yesterday, but my internet has this funny habit of not working whenever I need it. So... I typed this all up and my internet ate it and then spit it back out at me as a "could not find this page" blah blah blah. Anyways, not much happening on this end. Between now and that last post I met Joanna, a buddy of Jaaks. Seriously, she sounds like one cool chick er.... But she wants to come to St. Andrews! Its so cool! Not like she will but she wants to. But yeah. Umm.... finals next week. Not exactly lookin forward to them but I don't have the biggest problem with them. Dang, I gotta get to work. Today I wanna go hang out with the gang but I gotta go do some stuff to make that happen. Crudfully yours

ok...

2004-12-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

alright now... its been over a week and I still look to see if I got any comments on a new blog. Its like I expect my second self to put stuff up and other people to comment fully for my pleasure. But no... I must update my blog. What has happened recently... umm... finals are next week. That will be fun (dude.. sarcasim). Met miss Joanna of Minnesota. She seems like a cool chick. And guess what! She wants to come to the special school! It is so cool... now I'm just scared that I'm gonna say somethin and she'll loose all interest. Wel whats there to tell. I told her the number of students (15... she kinda was taken back by that), told her the hw sitiation, told her bout the uniforms, told her it was anglican... anything I'm missing? Anyways... I gotta go... its 11:00 am and I got up a half hour ago: NOT A GOOD START TO A PRODUCTIVE DAY! Anywho... must go eat. Bye bye
Joe

Man... Moments I've Had

2004-11-24T21:12:00.001-08:00

"Joe your zippers down"
Hearts thumped in front of the Stockton Costco as Joe threw his head down to look at the damage. Of all places... Costco. The megaplace. The place that is crowded on a monday at noon. Some people just don't have enough work to do you know. Anyways. Joes cool-o-meter dropped so fast that it wasn't even funny. He pondered the long term effects. The cute girl at the door.... the rest of the people surrounding him.... would this situation effect his job? Thoughts were swirling. Most would tell themselves to get a grip right about now. Not Joe... Joe felt the blood rush to his face. How could he handle this. He was in front of a door. There was no where to hide. Would he slink off on his stomach? That would cover the area but expose him to more looks. He could look like a gangsta... huch over alot. Neither of those would do and trying to point out the goodyear blimp in the urban skyline was highly improbable. And I say this because I saw it take off. Anyways... action was inevitable and stealth was nessecary. Joe slowly reached down and quickly zippered up again. Muttering thanks because it didn't catch, he slid over to a bench. Still thinking on what just happened... he tried to avoid contact from others. Man...

So yeah... theres a story. Sorry it took me so long to get it up. What with annoyed parents and all... I got kicked off alot. We had alot of emberrasing moments on this trip. What with my zipper... my falling into the door in an effort to be polite... and mando walking into the womens bathroom... I think the trip was successfull.

Enter the womens bathroom story. So we're at Sizzlers. Mando gets up to go to the bathroom and everything is running fine. He comes back and says: " Woah... I just totally went into the womens bathroom". Profound statement... anyway the story is that he missed to 'wo' in the womens sign. So I guess he went in there and was all "why is it so clean in here and where are the urinals?" Then it dawned on him that he was in the womens bathroom. See when this happens... usually (for guys) if you walk in the girls bathroom there are a bunch of girls. Well there was nobody there. Then he was faced with a problem. "Should I just go in here or go to the mens room?" "I'm gonna look like such a freakazoid if somebody walks in here and sees me like this." "I'm just standing here pondering what to do." I forget what eventuall happened... I think he went to the mens room. But it was pretty funny.

Ok... sorry this one has been pretty full of guy humor.... hope it doesn't get banned or nothing. I guess the worst thing that could happen would be like an email from bolgger sayin that this was banned due to crude humor blah blah blah. I dunno... maybe I'm overestimating. Alright... good night all

back now

2004-11-23T05:55:00.000-08:00

Hey
so yeah... I'm back. About 10 days ago we found out that my cousin was killed in a car accident. Last Thursday we left spontaneously to go down for the service. It was pretty cool... except for the sobering fact of why we were there. Got to hang out with my sister and brother-in-law in Long Beach and had a good time there. I tried to type this all up last night but the internet was slow and the page wouldn't load so I lost it. Oh well.... Its too early and I don't have enough time to write my story so that will have to wait till tonight. Gotta go get ready for school. Later

"Goldies last day..."

2004-11-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

Ok... anyone who has not heard that song needs to. Its "Goldies Last Day" by PFR. I mean... they were groundbreakers in Christian rock and plus their music isn't bad. I mean their like one of the few early 90's bands that I like.
Anyways... the reason I brought that up is because my dog died. Exactly a week ago she went missing and we couldn't find her (cause she was missing). Then yesterday I was goin down to our barns to feed our unlaying chickens (need to kill them...), and I head howling. I followed it and met a bear. A big grizzly bear. And I said to myself "self... what the heck is a grizzly bear doing in Northern CA?". Yeah ok... I made that up. I didn't meat a bear. So I found Nell... she was breathing hard and she couldn't move the back half of her body. She just looked at me. A wet mass of unmoving dog. So I ran down to the barns where my dad and Mr. Baender were and told them I found her. They found a board like thing that worked as a transport thingy and they put her in the back of the truck. They took her to the vet in Chester (which is a half hour away... the vet nearest us was temporarily unavailable for emergencies... figures huh?). So I cleaned up and went to a party that I was planning to go to... i.e. I didn't go to a party cause my dog got hurt. When I got back they said they had to put her down cause she got hit by a car or something. The vet said that they go to their favorite spots after they git hit by a car or anything so apparently Nell wen't to the deck where we found her. See a few years back we moved our mobil home to a new spot on our property where we put it on a new foundation. Since then we've done remodels and such so you can't tell that it was a mobil home. The point being that the back deck is still down at our old site. Nell liked to hang out down there to escape the heat or sun or whatever. The claws on one of her front paws were worn down so the vet thought that she got hit and then dragged (right word?) herself some hundred+ feet up to the deck. Then she just laid there waiting for us to come. What gets me is that she would''ve had to drag herself over the driveway where we drive over everyday. Its wierd... So yeah... now shes gone. Its not that bad since after abotu 3-4 days after she was missing we kinda thinking she got eaten by a mountain lion (no joke) or something. So we already figured she was dead but I guess my dad and Mr. Baender were hit pretty hard.
Umm thats about it. Nothing much goin on. Chico was good... except that I fell over in the parking lot at Costco. I laughed even though I twisted my ankle and I hurt my butt. It was really stoopid.... I mean you know... when you're done with your cart you stick it in the way of another car I mean... *doh*. No thats not what you do... that might be what I do but thats not what you're supposed to do. You stick it in the bushes right? Or in one of those gathering places or somewhere outa the way. So I accelerated my bad ass ('scuse me) cart and I jumped on the back. Then I popped a wheelie... kinda... so the front went up and I could get it over the burm. Only thing is when I put my foot down I twisted it or something so I fell over. Luckily it was like at 5 PM and there weren't many people in that area of the parking lot. So yeah... yesterday at this party thing my team won. If you talk to whitetanktops (a.k.a. mandy) she'll say that "the hippos" won. But me and Jakk say we won. Yeah ok... we lost. But we placed second. And we got snazzy bowties that somebody said were really tissues tied up. I don't believe 'em to tell the truth... yeah ok. They WERE tissues... but I think they look good as bowties. What else what else... I guess thats it. Later gang

I feel a musical moment comming on...

2004-11-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

"Its been a while... since I..." wrote in my blog. Good song. For all those who are lost, its "Its Been A While" by Staind. You might have to get it edited though. Whats-his-nose, the lead singer, can get pretty dirty. Anyways... bunch of nothing goin on. Midterms has come and gone. Report cards have come and gone. I got like a B average... try to bring that up. Minly cause I got a C+ in Physics and a C in Greek I think. And you ask... why the billy would someone learn Greek as a main language at school? Mainly cause... I'm not sure. I think it has to do with the whole "Truth, Beauty and Goodness" issue. Being a Christian school we got alot of our rules and stuff reflecting biblical values and whatnot. So it says in the New Testament that we should seek after the true, the good and the beautiful. So a main reason that we learn alot of the stuff that we do is because it is either forgotten and/or not taught in public schools or cause it reflects truth, beauty and goodness. Now don't think I'm bashing public schools. Most of my friends go there. Why the billy am I saying that? My public school friends are the ones reading this. My read-other-peoples-blogs thing has died out so its just gonna be my public school friends reading this. Yeah ok... the revolution was nice while it lasted. Maybe its time for me to start again. I was doing good. Need to get more guys next time. I got like 6 girls and 1 guy. Pathetic... I don't need girls... need to meet more guys. Too many girls known already. Ok... can you say bunny trail? So yeah... we just went from my life to my grades to my school to my girl problems. Wow. At least I filled up space... I mean thats what this is for right? What do you mean no? Ok... I gotta go to Chico tomorrow and I'm leavin at 7 so I need to hit the sack. Good night world.

yeah!

2004-11-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

Bush won! woo hoo! alright!... but um... ya'll ain't cheering... yeah ok. So I'm happy... hope you guys are too. Night

Church Conference..... huh...

2004-10-31T16:14:00.000-08:00

Hey
with all these comments I figured I should have something new on my blog. Not much to say, weekend went by too quick. I was gone all day yesterday at a conference in Sacramento with my high school class. Pretty lame really. I had to leave early cause my dad was coming from San Francisco to Chico and he wanted to pick me up then, so I missed the last session. But sheesh.... the guy that we left after was fairly offensive. He shut down alot of stuff I believe in as an Anglican and totally called Roman Catholics apostate. But it was cool seeing Joel Belz, founder and producer of World Magazine, and I ate at Togos. Probably shouldn't put those on the same level huh? Togos is a cool place though... anyways... I'm glad hw was fairly low this weekend. Otherwise I woulda been swamped today. G.i. over and out

ok fine!

2004-10-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

Somebody, that I do not know, comment on my stuff!

yeah

2004-10-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what to say. I'm bored and tired but I have this urge that I need to write. Fight that urge joe..... anywho. I did nothin but hw and talk to girls this afternoon.... and I'm tired? yes. Don't do geometric proofs, they waste your time. Actually they're good for ya but they are way too time consuming and they make me think (oh boo hoo). Alright.... bed time.

hey

2004-10-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

so.... what to say. Tomorrow is midterms and perhaps I'm not as stressed as I should be. Tomorrow is Bible and I studied... so I guess I shouldn't worry about nothin. Plus Mr. Foos has quized us so much on the stuff that I feel pretty confident. Anywho... must get goin. Later

hey

2004-10-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

today was kinda a waste... heres the scoop. So you know, I was workin on my hw like a good student, turns out I only got geometry done today. That would be because it took me 4+ hours to do it. It's not like it was an excessive ammount of hw, I just ended up over working. See I read one of the problems wrong, which happened to be the instructions for the next half dozen. So I ended up taking 45 minutes to do proofs, whereas I was only supposed to take 10 and do diagrams or somethin. Sot that took a chunk out. Add that to the other proofs that I had to do that ended up taking more than they should've... and it wiped my brain out. I sure hope I get 'em mostly right. Luckily that was all I had save some studyin. Anywho, other than that it wasn't too bad. I got to work with computer stuff which actually ended up being semi relaxing. I gotta hit the sack... night folks.

friday October 22nd

2004-10-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

hey all
so yeah... for those who don't know I go to a special school aka a prep school. I'm pretty sure anyone who will be reading this already knew that but hey, you never know. One of the good things about said school is that I only have a 4 day school week. So today I had no school. I sat around, did chores and worked on hw. Right now I'm talkin to eric. He seems like a pretty cool guy. Thanks to mandy for introducin me. Anywho I gotta get goin. Later crowd

update

2004-10-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

hey crowd
not much to talk about today. Just another school day. Same old stuff. I guess I'll go to bed... not yet. Its thursday. I don't have school tomorrow. Stay up... later.

Captains Log Stardate 102004

2004-10-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah ok... you all know I'm not captain Kirk.... he's pretty cool though. Anywho, I talked to Ashlee yesterday and found out that I can call her, but not too much, but she can't call me... I think. Anywho, I guess all that the parentals were trying to stop was a romantic relation from starting. My opinion is that if anyone had asked us they would have found out that there wasn't any planned. At least I wasn't thinkin that... maybe she was. Anyways, its all cool now and I don't need to think of what to do as dramatically now. I was actually freaked out. That sounds stoopid but hey.... first experience like that. Alright... quit talkin about girls. Sorry, "girl" singular. Talked to Jaak yesterday too. I have decided that never again will I say that public schoolers get no hw. I mean, thats what I was thinking. Where I go I get tons of hw... or at least it seems like it. So I just figured public schoolers didn't. My bad. I'm actually not supposed to be on here so I guess I'll get off. Night world
Gi!

hello all

2004-10-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

hey
today was pretty much just a normal day.... man what a boring way to start a paragraph. okokok. Anyways second day of blogging looks pretty good. Got a comment on yesterdays blog. Just a welcome from my good friend Jaak. Today it was way too cold in my opinion. The blazer didn't help much... I mean the thing is labled under jacket and it doesn't provide much warmth. Whatever. Umm... so I wrote a note to this Ashlee girl, and Charris wouldn't give it to her. Figures. I think shes ticked at her or something. Charris told me to give it to her myself. Like I see her alot... we'll just play this one by ear. G.I. over and out.

me again

2004-10-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

hello blog
today wasn't too bad. Seein as I don't know you very well blog, I don't want you to think that my life is bad. Quite the contrary. Just because I go to a prep school with 15 people doesn't make me a depressed teenage basket-case. In fact I have every cause for cheer. Except what happened today. So heres the scoop Blog. A feew weeks ago I was asked to Sadie Hawkins in a nearby town by a girl I meet earlier last summer. Anywho... shes adopted and she had only been up here a very short while before I met her. Funny thing... she knows my best friend. She used to go to school in another nearby town before she was adopted. Anyways, I said yes. But soon after I found out, since my parentals didn't know her, that I couldn't go with her. So I didn't tell her I couldn't go off the bat. I waited 2 weeks (she told me she was gonna be gone for a while) and basically I was scared. See she doesn't know too many people up here and I didn't want to leave her stranded. Anyways I was talkin to one of my class mates who happened to be this girls best buddy, and I told her about my issue. This other girl (Charris), told the girl who asked me (Ashlee) and I escaped. A few days later I got a note from Ashlee and she said she didn't hate me and blah blah blah. Basically she wasn't heart broken which was the last thing I wanted. I talked to her later on the phone. And then this 2 days ago I saw her when I had to do a school event. We talked and hung out etc. She called me again yesterday and we talked for a long while etc. Well she said that her foster parents (whom I had known before I met her) were overjoyed that she asked me and that I was so much better than the other guys from the highschool. So today there was a dance... just a social gathering including people from my church and friends and whatever... so she was there and I guess my parents talked with her parents... and her parents hadn't realized that I was only 14. So now... I have to write the note she asked me to write, call her cause she asked (I'll probably skip that step), and do something else. I'm not sure what yet. I'll write a note (duh). In this I'll talk about the predicament. Maybe that will work. Anyways, this got way too long. Night everyone.

woa...

2004-10-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hello all and welcome to my site.
I suppose this would be the part where I add my thoughts. And that I will. Basically this is just a hey-how-ya-doin-I'm-alive-here so you guys can make fun... I mean comment on my thoughts. As you might have guessed, I am G.I. Anyways, talk to me.