new phase

new phase

how come i didn't know? why didn't they tell me? i'm actually quite angry. the fresh city near my house has closed. i had no idea...

i should have a clever metaphor for telling you how i feel about this. unfortunately, i don't. but i do have a story. or at least a story about a story.

as i may have mentioned before: i have a new typewriter. this thing is fantastic. i'm currently in the process of writing a sassy piece of text on it. my goal: to explain santa claus.

more updates soon.

wow

wow

so recording is all done and people for the most part are out of my house... it's an odd feeling having it to myself again. anywhos, i'm headed over to adrienne's new house in a couple of minutes to pick her up and go to dinner at panera. i'll come back here afterward to clean up a bit and set up my stuff for living here for the next few weeks before leaving again.

speaking of leaving and hartford stuff... my hartford blog got marked as a spam blog today, and i had to request review in order for it to be opened back up again. lame. i guess it's a good thing i haven't sent out that email yet, letting people know about my adventures and whatnot. will do that in a couple of days when it's back online...

anyways, off to adrienne's.

to the turnaround

to the turnaround

a few posts back, i commented on how i feel like i'm at a flux. or maybe i didn't post it, but i definitely did write about it on my livejournal. i'm obviously kidding, only about the livejournal though. :).

the summer has now actually begun. i've been at my house with chris bannon for the past week and it's been awesome. we've been recording saint soren's new ep. yes, that's right. it's hot and cookin'. my parents have been away for about a week in france now, they come back on saturday... but until then, it's jam city folks. jam city. anyways, we've got five tracks laid and they're sounding pretty smooth. i dig em.

in other news, i finally finished all my fund-raising setup (albeit a tad late) for my missionary work this summer in hartford, connecticut with hartford city missions. i'm excited to say the least. i started a new blog about it here, it's also in my links section if you'd like to check it out later.

a constant reminder

a constant reminder

and yet again, i am reminded of the reason that i play music.

tonight i went to a death cab show with a very large group of friends. it was... incredible. they're such unbelievably gifted musicians.

how great is the God that made us in His image? i can't know, but it's okay.

huh, who would have thought?

huh, who would have thought?

now who would have thought from the start of this blog that there would be posts about men's fashion. i certainly didn't. but today, i'd like to talk about men's overalls. according to wikipedia, "an overall is a type of garment which is usually used as protective clothing when working. overalls have sometimes been items of fashion, especially in the 1990s." personally, i can't figure out why they ever went out of style. they're sexy. i mean, a clothing item commonly worn by toddlers is bound to catch some lady's eye... right?

could this be problem?

could this be problem?

i'm very tempted to think that there is a typo with this advertisement. with the way it is written there, it sounds as if it's typed the same way borat might say it.

and i said to myself...

and i said to myself...

..."why haven't they always made chips this way?" they'd be especially good for dipping with the rounded edge; it just makes more sense.

it is the morning and i am glad

it is the morning and i am glad

today is a new day, where outside my window there is sun bright sun. and this makes me happy. i learned something new recently about the weather as well.

it turns out that if we want our mood to be improved by good weather, we have to be outside in it for at least 30 minutes. i know, crazy. anyways, classes are done, this is our first reading day and life is good.

and are the content does it continue to get more good?

and are the content does it continue to get more good?

i wonder if i'll be laughing at my macbook pro 50 years from now...

you'll never guess what i did afterwards

you'll never guess what i did afterwards

it's almost friday. this class ends and it's practically here. i'm on call tonite and tomorrow nite, but i'm not gonna let that get in the way of my weekend fun! it's almost here! yay!

so, in a week, i've got this huge assignment due for poetry: i have to pick a poem from a list of poems that are about poetry. then i have to pick 15 poems from all the poems we have read this semester that i believe to meet this criteria and write a ten papge paper on it. with title page. with full works cited. basically, this means i'm going to turn in my rough draft as a final copy.

we did our presentation today. "they feed they lion" by philip levine was a huge topic. really, the only poem i read and really wanted to know more about. i enjoyed it.

and the story continues with a twist

and the story continues with a twist

i find it easy to ignore quiet people. i'm sitting in poetry and people are doing presentations. but hearing them is difficult, and now i'm tuning them out. maybe this is why i prefer more abrasive and loud teachers. or maybe i... just... like whatever... who knows?

there's a lonely guitar strap that sits in the corner by the fridge

there's a lonely guitar strap that sits in the corner by the fridge

i don't read enough, but i always do. there are so many books i want to read, i feel like i don't have the time to do so. i think that when i'm older and retired, and i have the time before i die, i would like to have read all i have wanted to before i do. i like to think this is possible for everything... but here, in our current condition, the fact that we are human... well, you know.

i am aware that i will never really finish everything. this is good. i am okay with that.

issues with writing i have found are not that it is

issues with writing i have found are not that it is

in any way having to do with spiritedness of prose or the moment of triumph, but also not of the breadth of the language i use. nothing has to do with everything, and everything is nothing. grammar matters everywhere and it doesn't matter all the time.

so when i write, i just do as i speak. if i stutter, i do. if i pause long i do. if i forget where i go. i do.

and it matters for everything and in everything nothing.

the pilot g-2 05 is an impressive pen to say the least

the pilot g-2 05 is an impressive pen to say the least

this week started off and continues onward as a strange week. i feel like this week is either a wave or a pendulum. it feels awkward, like it is building. but it's not. it's no more busy than last week. it's no more busy than next week. the week before finals seems like it should be different. but i sit here hanging in time.

it's an odd transitional phase as well. i'm moving from one place to another in so many ways. from school to home, but not yet. from my job as an ra, but not yet. from student to non-student, but not yet. from living on campus to living off campus... but.... not...... yet.

it's a time where i'm asking myself, am i happy where i'm at and with the choice i've made along the way, in order to move forward. it's a time where i'm wondering if i should be looking forward for things to come, or whether i should stay so content with the way things are and what is happening now that my eye for the future is blind.

it's an awkard week. but i've been enjoying it. and the weather is nice.

there are things i tolerate with great consternation

there are things i tolerate with great consternation

i don't tend to hate things. i don't hate cats. i tolerate them. i don't hate curly hair, i tolerate it. i go out of my way at times to gauge ways of how i can rid myself of the things i tolerate.

but i'll admit it:
i don't tolerate jean shorts.
i can't tolerate what i can't stand.

there are varying degrees of jean shorts. all terrible, one level is not sorse than another, but they all differ in one way or another.

we have to start off, the idea of jeans that have been worn out to the point of no longer being jeans. if they are no longer allowable as jeans, they should be replaced. they should not be modified into shorts. some people even use other people's jeans, or patch multiple pairs of jeans together to make a single pair of shorts. this should not be allowed.

next is the fact that jean shorts come... oh yes... pre-manufactured. people make them for the sole purpose of being jean shorts. we have an even further degradation of this concept: some jean shorts are made to look worn out on they day they're purchased. people either want to fake that these were once jeans, or make it seem like they LOVE them, and wear them ALL the time.

i find myself confused. i'll leave you with that.

wow

wow

it's been over a week since i last posted. for some reason i've been less motivated to post on this thing in the recent months. but i will post more. maybe. i can't promise anything.

i'm going to start this post of with a belief i have. guitar is fun. i've been sitting here playing for probably over 3 hours now, and i've just realized that.

today was beautiful. i got to spend a good majority of the day out on the quad with friends. i slept until past 1 pm today. tomorrow i have class early in the morning.

next week i'm leading worship again at origins. there's a certain amount of stress in it, but a lot of good comes from it. i'm extremely blessed to do it, and i think the more i do it, and the more confident i am in the abilities that God has blessed me with, the better i'll be at it. it's hard to play guitar standing up... in front of a lot of people. i close my eyes a lot. which causes me to forget the words, or how the song is supposed to be played. i close my eyes with i play drums too. but at least i know where those are, and i can listen to the person leading.

this summer has a lot going on. i'm working in hartford with an organization called hartford city missions. it'll be an eye opening experience i think. we're learning to live simply. i'm living with a team of... i think 5 people. the packing list is quite sparse. it mainly contains clothes that i'll need for various activities, a bible, and a journal. i'm going to bring my guitar... (since i'm there 9 weeks, it would be poor stewardship to let all my practice go to waste) i don't think i'll be able to bring drums tho'.... sadly. but we'll see what God does with this summer. needless to say, i won't be blogging much... but i plan on keeping a journal/notebook on the ways i see God moving over the summer, and the things that we're doing.

posts from that journal will probably end up here. to a certain degree.

i'm still trying to figure out the fine line between blogging all my personals to blogging things that mean something to me that i want to share. in a way, i feel like i should blog everything, but in a way i feel like i shouldn't be blogging at all. i'm thankful for the blogs that my friends have. they become a blessing for me to read day to day, especially since i don't get to talk to them all the time. but blogging shouldn't be a substitute for genuine communication. these are just thoughts.

i've been working on a new blog. which has been distracting me from this one a bit. jeff.o had the idea for a not-so-hip hipster blog. i'm running with it now. i have to come up with a design and a format for it. i plan on getting co-writers in on the madness. it will be called, "yep. i'm hip." more info soon to come.

a lot of my friends' lives have been hit with tragedy recently. if you're a praying person, please pray for them. and pray for God to give me the right words to say to them in these difficult situations.

lisa taught tonight at origins about prayer. we watched a nooma video to kick it off. number 19 . i think. it was good. she talked to us about answered prayer, and not answered in the way we think it should be prayer, and prayer yet to be answered. she talked about a guy who prays all the time, and logs it in a journal. when prayers get answered he writes how they are answered. it's a beautiful concept. we learned about how when we pray, not only are we more connected with God, but the more we pray, the more we are connected with other people that we are praying for. it's interesting.

the whole reason i gave up facebook, and started a new account was so that i could have a list of friends to pray for every day. i kept up with it for awhile, but i slacked off about a month or two ago. praying for people is hard. especially when i don't see tangible results.... or haven't seen the person all semester and haven't been able to catch up on what God is doing.

i receive an email every now and again with prayer requests for a bible study i used to be in. since i started my own on the same night, i haven't been able to attend, although i miss the people involved dearly, and i can't wait until the death cab show to see them all again. it'll be great. anywho, there was a new person that started going about the same time i stopped, and he needed a job. so i prayed for God to provide him with work to do. i met the guy at sanctuary a few weeks ago. and when i recognized his name when someone said it, a bit too loud, i rushed across the room to say, "hey, you don't know me... but my name is steve, and i've been praying for you. did God provide you with a job?"

"yes."

anywho, we're continuing progress on our current bible study. i'm really enjoying it. and the relationships i'm forming with people through it. we'll see what God has for me next semester, but i'm pretty sure i'll lead one again. yay! co-ed is definitely the way to go... at least for me. i feel like we can talk about a lot of stuff in the study, and it's especially helpful outside of the study, because i can pair off with the guys and go grab lunch or something, and the person leading alongside me can do the same with the girls. it's been great to have a mentoring, and brothering relationship with these guys. i'm excited. very excited.

anywho, i'm not so sure what else to write, but i felt like at least writing a post would be good. :) hope ya'll are doing well.

tidbits of life

tidbits of life

my friend liz was studying for what i think was a nutrition exam, a section on infants if i'm not mistaken. she was telling me how when an infant is born it's head is three times as large as it should be, in proportion to its body. this shocked me. what shocked me even more was the fact that our heads aren't actually proportionate to the size of our body until we're around twenty-five years old. WOW. that's incredible.

what's even more shocking about this is the fact that people who consistently consume excess amounts of alcohol (binge drinking... (actually, less drinks than you'd think)) can lead to growth problems. they can range from developmental issues, all the way to stunted physical growth.

i never thought about it. i always thought saying someone had a big head had to do with them being full of themselves... now when people tell me not to let my head get too big, i can honestly say, "oh, don't you worry... i'll be proportional someday." and i can mean it when i say it. in more ways than one.

comments

comments

so... i welcome comments on my posts. but i realized today that i like to know where they're coming from, or rather, WHO they're coming from. so i disabled anonymous comments. from now on, you'll have to say who you are. i hope that it doesn't stop certain people from dropping a line every now and again... if it does, i'll never know, cuz i didn't know who was saying things in the first place.

yay!

today was a good day.

lots of things happened.

woke up. office hour. played guitar.
office hours > met jeff at starbucks. saw kevin and jake and bumped into chris p. hung out with jeff for a bit, went to visit chris at his new place... it's sweet. went back to school, ordered a calzone (eggplant parm) was on call. did rounds. played super smash bros. went to bed. zzzzzz

1984

1984

i've never been a huge fan of books with futuristic totalitarian societies. maybe it's just me, but i've never been a huge fan of establishments and structures. but anywho, there's this book by h.g. wells called 1984. it's a fantastic book. if you haven't read it, you absolutely should. but onto the actual topic on hand.

in the book, there's people called the thought police. they're basically government officials that make sure people are thinking what they're supposed to, and aren't thinking anything that's particularly antigovernment, or anti... anything. conformity is their sole desire.

if you haven't checked out the blog on evolution of security, i urge you to do so. it's a rather informative blog about our nation's transportation security, in public areas. but one paragraph on their website stood out to me as being rather like 1984:

"This is also a good example of using specially trained Behavior Detection Officers to look for people with hostile intent as well as the items they intend to use. It's a further testament that the behavior detection program works."

on the whole, i feel a little more safe concerning this... but i also feel disconcerted. maybe "big brother" is watching out for us, but maybe he has other plans. anyways, what are your thoughts?

red

red

so i got an email today saying that a package was in my mailbox. i was really excited, i bought shoes last week on converse.com and they're finally here. so i went and got them. i opened up the box. and i'm greeted with a familiar smell.

a smell from my childhood.


a smell that i remember, but i can't quite place.

what is that smell?

it's not new shoe smell.

they're new... but that's not the smell commonly associated with new shoes.

i finally figured it out.


BRUSSEL SPROUTS.


yep.

those tiny little delicious cabbages we all have come to know and love like the plague. i don't know about you, but i actually enjoy them. the only problem i have with them is their smell. anywho. that's what these shoes smell like. it's not terrible though. they're pretty awesome.

if you wanna check them out... look up "hundred layer chucks" on converse's website, under all the product red shoes. i'd give you a link, but the whole site is created in flash, so they're unable to direct link.

or you can arrange a viewing. i'm free on mondays wednesdays and fridays... along with most saturdays and sundays. also, tuesday and thursday between the hours of 11 and 2... and after 3:30.

but seriously. this is exciting news people.