My Mission Call! (finally!)

Yaya! I finally got my mission call! I am going to Manaus Brazil, on January 15th! I'll be gone for 2 years and am Super excited!!!!!
Manaus is smack on the Amazon River, so I'll get to travel by boat quite a bit :)
More details to come as the date get closer!

P.S. this was supposed to be posted on the first, dunno why it didn't :\

Anti Climax

A big packet arrived from BYU, that's one of the colleges that I applied to. I was reading The Voyage of The Dawn Treader when mom places the packet in front of me. You can imagine that my heart went from a normal bpm to a bazillion bpm in, like, 0.002 seconds! Super excited! then I opened it and realized that it was just one of those college advertisement packages :P
Talk about your anti-climax!

I Have a Dream

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech. I was reading it and this paragraph stood out to me.

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is 

bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient 

funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. 

So we've come to cash this check, a check that will give 

us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of 

justice.

People moan and groan about how this nation sucks and that our government is corrupt etc. etc. etc. Well... you're right, but are you just going to sit and stare at that letter declaring "insufficient funds" or are you going to get up and cash the "check" that we all have as Americans?

Think about it.

But don't stop there.

Driving

Well, I finally got my permit and have started driving, I know most of you are thinking "well, about time, Dexter!" trust me, I;m thinking the same thing :P Anywho, I went through hearing my friends talking about learning to drive and I was always like "come on, it can't be that hard" oops. Well, they were right. I was coming down a ramp and I saw a semi coming up the adjoining ramp, and, not seeing the median I freaked out, think that it was in my lane coming towards me. Luckily it wasn't or I wouldn't be here writing about it.
Anyway, It's pretty fun when I'm not about to have a panic attack and die, so I think I'll stick with it.

Driving

mile after mile
minute after minute
the wheels keep turning
over and over
mile after mile
eyes watch the white line
and the yellow 
hours of calm boredom
then seconds of panic and NDE's
then relief as you make it home again

Film Project

So, The youth of our Stake (that's the area around Columbus to you non-Mormons) have to make video based on stuff from Master Theater, each ward is competing against all the others, (ward is another word for congregation)
Anywho, I'm kinda in charge of our group's filming :) the judging points are best song (original one) best overall, funniest and best action scene :D If you know me at all then you'll know that I'm going to go for best overall and action scene :)
The plan is to base it (loosely) of the TV show Sherlock and I have this vague idea of having a fight scene in a fire performer troop place and using some of my fire props as weapons. I also want to be able to incorporate some of the throws and holds I;ve been learning.
So, good guy(s) start off by attacking bad dudes place, beat the goons, bad dude escapes mingles with crowd (maybe a concert?), good guy(s) search for him while singer sings original song. Good guy fights bad guy with flaming weapons movie ends with the bad guys getting away and something like "to be continued" at the end. ta-da! Throw in some dialogue and voila! Masterpiece theater!

Little Kids

For those who don't know, I work at the YMCA daycare center. I watch ages 6 weeks through about 11 years old and for the most part I love my job. There are "those" days every once in a while but I still love working there.
But I've noticed one thing, well, a couple of things actually. the first thing is, you know how kids will start having relationships when they're like 12? It's because people almost force the idea on them that they have to be in a relationship with questions like "do you like so-and-so?", "is he your boyfriend?", "why don't you have a girlfriend?" etc. most of the time it's said jokingly, but they don't know that.
Another thing is what little kids say, like swearwords or saying that you wouldn't expect them to even know! Moral of story: be careful of what you let little kids hear, 'cause they'll remember everything.
Then there's the other side, little kids see things clearer than most older people do, the world is less complicated to them.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but I digress.

Random Awesome Stuff :)

So, first on the list is the fact that I'm actually writing on this blog again, it's been awhile as you will see if you check out the date on my last post :P
Next is fire related :), I been doing fire poi for little while now and was able to preform for my grandpa and grandma on Dad's side, they loved it and want me to do it again sometime since (grandma, henceforth called Nana, and grandpa, henceforth called Papa, want to invite the neighbors). Been working on staff for a while now, and finally got around to making a fire staff.
As I was working at the YMCA yesterday, I saw a big gymnastics mat that has been chilling in a back hallway for a few weeks, and I finally asked Rick (the director) if they had any plans for it, and if not, if I could take it. After asking what I wanted it for he said I could take it. In case you're wondering why I wanted it; practicing flips, wrestling, throws and parkour stuff :)
Sunday, I'm going to have an interview for my mission and college at the same time O.o
And I'm about to hit $6,000 in saving for my mission, just $3,600 to go!
Yaya!

Post-Home School Conference.

I'm going to go through my mind sets at different points throughout the homeschool conference. Before we left I was like "calm down so you can get through a few more days of normal life!" Then right before we left "get in the car, get the in the car, get in the car!" on the way there: "bored, reading, carsick, zzzzzzzz" when we arrived: "Yay! let's hurry and check in so we can unload the car!" waiting for my turn to audition for the talent show "butterflies, nervous...hum dee dum, oh snap, it's my turn!" The audition went well, so we unpacked and went to bed. The next morning I got up for a run: "la de dahh....Gahhh! evil hills! curse the muggy air and hills!" after that we had 7am seminary which was pretty good, and then ran all the way back to the Lofts (the building where we were staying) which was at the the top of a big hill and a long set of a stairs, ( I could run the fastest up all the way to the top, bwahahahaha!) The classes were varied, I loved most of them and the speakers were all amazing! Then there were the the games and activities in between the seminars, which included anything from missionary tag, poison frog, red rover, and loads of Ninja!

I can't really tell a lot of specifics about what happened, as it's all just a blur of awesomeness; but there were amazing people, great times, cool classes and great jam out sessions in the loft. I remember the Talent show, I'm really glad that I was the second person to preform so that I didn't spend the entire time just chewing my fingernails nervously. A lot of people played piano and guitar (I really need to continue learning guitar!) and there was some great comedy performances. Then all to soon it was over and my mind was going: "sad face! quick, gather email addresses! lots of hugs and good-byes and party until late!" then we left and had a long car ride back "lot's of Z's"  

Why Is it so HOT?!?!

Really, it seems like just last week that it was comfortable hoodie weather, (my favorite temperature :) and now it's pushing upper 80's, :P for those of you who live south of me I'm sure that you'll be thinking "pfffft! that's hoodie weather!" Anyway, Just trying to get through the last few days of school :P tomorrow's the last day!!! YAYA!
Don't know what i'm going to do with my time....>.>... oh, yeah...Work! :P
Ceste la Vi...

Thinking...

So... I've been thinking ("uh-oh" Mattie would say) since I've been working a lot I have really not been able to do all the stuff that I want to, even to finish all m school work (though, I admit that it's slightly due to some laziness from me :P) and I've still got a little withdraw going on from Conserve (not sure that'll entirely go away) But lately I've been getting pretty excited for the Homeschool Conference in Virginia so things are looking up, I can't wait! I still need to find a bloody song to do poi to for the talent show because it has to be under three minutes and I'm having trouble finding a freaking song to do it to!!! gah... 1st world problems...
Anyway, quote time:

"We're all a little weird, and life's a little weird, and when we find someone who's weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with then and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love" -Doctor Seuss

Try To Imagine Life A Without Timekeeping

You probably can't. You know the month, the day, the week. There is a clock on your wall or on the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie.
Yet all around you timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check his watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays.
Man alone measures time.
Man alone chimes the hour.
And, because of this, Man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures.
A fear of time running out.

Time

shifting and flowing
sliding through your fingers
the sands of time are constantly falling
whether a grain at a time
or falling in torrent as it flies by
never stopping
and you're trapped in a big hour-glass
aware of every grain as it falls onto your head
afraid that if you don't dig fast enough
the top will be empty
and your time will run out

Sunshine

Good morning everyone! The sun is shining! The tank is clean, and we are getting out of here! Gasp! the tank is clean! The tank is cleeaaaaaane! Gotta love Finding Nemo!
Anyway, I was writing a letter to the darling Mei-Jing and just got her to send this back to me.

The Fence

A flimsy wall of old grey wood

broken, battered

shot will arrows, stabbed with knives

It'd fall over it could

but it does it's job of keeping us in

safe from the world but trapped within

covered with ivy and sagging in places

it holds a small bubble of stone and gravel

It hides many thing that would make a good tale

These who are older jump right on over

while on some days if you peek through a crack

you might see the face of a child looking back

God vs. Science

Make sure to read all the way through. If you are Atheist then please try to refute the logic of this, honestly. I'm not ripping on your beliefs, just opening a debate :)   

"Let me explain the problem science has with religion. "The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'

'Absolutely '

'Is God good?'

'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'

'Yes'

'Are you good or evil?'

'The Bible says I'm evil.'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible! He considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You ca n do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'

'Yes sir, I would.'

'So you're good...!'

'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent. 'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. 'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'

'Er..yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?'

The student doesn't hesitate on this one.. 'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?'

The student falters. 'From God'

'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'

'Yes'

'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Again, the student has no answer. 'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'

The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'

'So who created them ?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them?' There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'

'No sir. I've never seen Him.'

'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'

'No, sir, I have not.'

'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist... What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies.. 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat? '

' Yes.

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. 'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Co ld is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.' 'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.' 'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes wh ere the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. 'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.' The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter. 'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so... So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.' 'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I Guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?' Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it Everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in The multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'
To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happ ens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.' 

The professor sat down.

P.S. The Student was Albert Einstein.

Distance

So, I've been thinking about this habit I have of meeting amazing people who live really far away; it's a really  annoying habit actually... :( being far away I mean. I suppose that's the trade-off.
Anyway, while I was thinking about this predicament I wrote this:

Distance 

you spin in place on top of your mountain
looking over the horizons 
peering over mountain, marsh and fen
past plains forests and rivers

over gleaming cities and darkened slums
calm small towns and violent ghettos 
past busy, bustling towers the scrape the sky
and quiet, peaceful cabins, home to nearly none

under the blazing, glorious sun
gleaming moon and sparkling stars
through clouds that frame the heavens 
made of millions of water droplets

beyond all this and maybe more
you'll see other mountains
and on top of each one is someone you love
looking back at you

A $300 Dollar Week

Sounds great, huh? $300 in under 7 seven days isn't too shabby for a teenager, you can buy toys, like another set of poi, kevlar for fire poi/swords/staff, practice sai and throwing knives ( I've been told that I have a worrying wish list, mwahahaha!)

What you haven't considered is that maybe since most teens earn only minimum wage I've been working a lot of hours, plus school and helping people move and trying to get letters sent out (which didn't happen :(

I don;t really know what I'm trying to say here...we'll go with: don;t let your life become TOO busy, it just makes you stressed.

Reality...

Okay, I'm just going to say this once, so pay attention...reality sucks. Reality means no dreams ever come true, it means that imagination is that cute game we used to play when we were three, it means that the world is a cold hard place and that to have any kind of life we must be the same.
People always say "get your head out of the clouds", "that's the way it is", or -my favorite- "this is serious". Hahaha! I love it when people say that! If you know me you know that I'm probably laughing at something or other, or, if not, soon will be! While some people say that I'm insane I argue that the opposite is true, laughter helps us to keep our sanity.
Back to the point. Reality equals hopelessness, when you have that mindset of "this is the way things are" or "this is reality" then you have resigned yourself to your lot in life, you have decided that "the box" is too hard to break out of.

Reality

reality is used to much
misused too much
by reality TV
by magazines 
and by the darn society 

they say that I'm in denial
that I'm living in the clouds
they say I need to buckle down
they say I need to focus
or, my favorite:
to get serious 

Yeah, whatever
I say that the opposite is true
the world's in denial
they're living in a fog
trapped in a box
taking everything too seriously 

what is reality but what society makes it?
they say I live in fantasy 
fine
fantasy beats reality hollow
and I'd rather live in my fantasy 
than the world's reality 

Fantasy is our dreams
it is our imagination
ingenuity
genius 
and our hope 

while the world lives it's reality 
we'll live
laugh
and love 
together in our fantasy.

Letters letters everywhere... :)

And it has been a really long time since I've last posted, (face>palm) Anywho...
I've been (attempting) to clean my room and was kind of looking over my desk and saw the plethora of letters I've received from the wonderful people from conserve who now are scattered all over creation. I really need to find a box to put them all in, that'll be part of the (extensive) project of cleaning my room :P
I love letters; talking to people via email, or chat, or even google+ videoing (though there are merits to that, you get to see their wonderful faces as you talk to them, second best to seeing them in person... Your Face Is Delicious!!!!! I miss Russ :)
Seriously, I don't think that i'm the only person who does this... and what if I was? But I love being able to reread them whenever I have the need. I can just see their faces and hear them speaking when I read the words.
Also a special note: Congrats Mei-Jing for winning you robotics competition! Good luck in St. Louis!!!

Disjointed Rambling

So Mattie and Mei-Jing are together and are both going to go to the Yates home tonight. Yeah, two of the most amazing people I've ever met are together and having a blast talking, walking, staying up late and singing and probably loads of other stuff I haven't heard about. Am I a little jealous? No, of course not, why would I be?...okay, yeah :P But, hey Cest la vie (and, yes MJ, I spelled in right this time, and, yes, I do think it fits into the context :) Well, they're having a great time and I'm happy for them.
I watched Maeve's video chat thing that she posted and it kinda reminded me of myself; watching as others you love get together and have a great time. You love them, so you're happy for them, but at the same time you wish you were there. Well, I still get to video chat with them and chat every once in a while, and I'll see them in person again someday (crossed fingers!) Anywho, I'll stop moaning.
I think that I're figured out what has been bugging me; I'm bored. I need something to fill my time...Guitar!
Yeah this post is very late, I started it then had to pause and one thing led to another until...you get the idea. :P

Mormon Lingo

When I talked about my religion while at Conserve there was some Mormon lingo that I had to explain, which was okay and even fun. Kai and Garrett are great people to talk religion with, because even though we were talking about religion they still managed to make it one of those conversations that you're just laughing the whole time...I miss you guys!

I was thinking about that conversation while reading one of the older New Era magazines and this piece caught my eye.

WHAT WE SAY	WHAT OTHERS MAY HEAR	WHAT WE MIGHT SAY INSTEAD
My ward …	My area of the hospital …	My congregation …
The stake dance is at the stake center.	The dance involving cuts of meat is at a storage center for cuts of meat.	The regional youth dance is at the regional church building.
At Mutual, we …	At the common [word missing], we …	At our youth activity night, we …
In this last dispensation …	In this last [something-or-other] …	In our day …
Apostasy	A lake of noodles?	Falling away
Deacons, teachers, priests	Men who work for a church, people who teach in school, and religious men in robes	Young men 12–13 years old, 14–15 years old, and 16–17 years old
Beehives, Mia Maids, Laurels	Where bees live, [no idea], and some kind of plants	Young women 12–13 years old, 14–15 years old, and 16–17 years old
Celestial kingdom	A fairy-tale land, maybe?	Heaven, or where Heavenly Father lives
Premortal existence	A parallel universe, perhaps?	Our life as spirits before we came to earth
I’m going to seminary.	I’m studying to become a minister.	I’m going to religion classes for youth.
We’re going to do baptisms for the dead.	We’re going to do something morbid.	We’re going to the temple to do special ceremonies on behalf of our ancestors.
My older brother is in institute.	My older brother is in an asylum.	My older brother goes to religion classes for young adults.
The gospel has been restored.	The stories inMatthew, Mark, Luke, and Johnhave been renovated. or Christ’s message has been refurbished. or Christianity as a whole has been repaired.	The Church that Christ established was changed and fell away, and now it’s been brought back, along with His true teachings.
We have our agency.	We have our business with clients.	We are free to choose.
Word of Wisdom	Good advice	Health code

Valentines Dance

Okay, I know some people complain about how Valentine's Day is a waste of time, how we shouldn't use it as an excuse to tell someone you care, etc. and I agree...but I'm going to talk about it anyway!
So, Valentine's weekend was great for a number of reasons; my brother and I had a church basketball game against another ward (for those of you who are not Mormon that's another congregation.) and we won, well, dominated would be a better word, 52: 29 (Bwahahaha!) It was my sister's birthday, she turned 14, and was able to go to her first dance which was the other fun thing that happened. Madison (my sister) was so nervous, but really excited! After a few dances with her brothers she started to fish for other partners, and for some reason had absolutely no problem finding any... :) (look at the pic's below and see if you can tell me why :)

I made sure that my sister was doing well on her own and then started to rock the dance floor myself :)
We had some pretty good line dances; the well known's: Cotton Eye Joe, It's Electric, Cupid shuffle and a few others, and throughout the dance there were plenty of slow dances (it's Valentine's after all) which were great. I don't understand why guys don't like slow dances, I mean, most of the guys from my ward (again, congregation, for you non-Mormons:) just did wall sits and stands during the slow dances, maybe it's because they don't know how to talk to a girl while dancing? I don't know, personally I think that I talk too much. Fast dances are great fun, swing dancing and break dancing are great (not that I'm a fantastic break dancer) you really get your blood pumping and get to bust some moves, but come on guys, enjoy them both!

Free advice to guys in general; learn how to dance! And not just how to shuffle back and forth to a slow dance, get some spins and dips in there too, you get remembered longer than normal!
Swing dancing is my favorite! It's fast and energetic, and loads of fun! Though you do get a bit dizzy with all the spinning you and your partner end up doing :P

Well here are the first pictures ever posted on my blog, I plan the next ones to be of flaming swords!!!

Myself, Madison and Preston at Madi's first dance.

Preston and I with some friends holding up Madison, luckily we didn't drop her afterwards! It's been done!

Well, that's all I've got for tonight, Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Cheers!

I Love Dairy Queen!

Okay, for those of you who don't know me: I work at Dairy Queen. I like working there; free food and ice cream, a good manager and some truly hilarious coworkers! Yesterday I got called in at about three so that one of my coworkers could go home early. Anyway, as soon as I got there I walked into Andrea and Kelly (my manager) laughing their heads off about something (I never did find out what it was... oh well) as usual.
I worked with Katy and Steven until closing time, and that was probably one of the most fun times I've had at DQ. Katy and Steven constantly rag on each other, for example:

Katy: "pick up that piece of tape Steven!"

Steven; "you do it, I'm mopping"

Katy: "I'm cleaning the windows, come on, it'll take you three seconds!"

Steven "I don't want to....Dexter!"

I ended up taking about three seconds to pick up a tiny piece of tape about the size up my thumbnail that they had been arguing about :P Such is my life at DQ.
Then there are the truly original quotes from the drive through.

"The thing is mad at me!"

"Can I have a large Oreo Blizzard?"..."no" (the costumer was a friend, we would never do that
ordinarily !)

"I need a medium cookie dough and a Oreo brownie earthquake and...(we thought he said) some of that white stuff on side." ..."Marshmallow cream? Did you want marshmallow cream on the side?"...."what?! I said I was waiting for the wife to decide...what are you try to say?" (oops steven!)

 Other random quotes:

"Go team Dairy Queen!"

"I've never given CPR to anyone who needed it..."

Dairy Queen wouldn't be Dairy Queen without laughter. And life  without laughing wouldn't be worth living. :)
So get out there and LAUGH!!!!

No Pain, No Gain.

We've all heard it, and at the time we were probably sick of it too. But, unfortunately for your body...and mind, it's true. Sorry.
I had this experience today, I've been practicing poi quite a bit lately and I finally figured out the windmill/chasing the sun/whatever you call it, and am now trying to do the 3-beat weave behind my back. The good news is that it's possible, the bad news is that learning it a great example of "no pain, no gain." I consistently manage to hit myself in the back of the leg, and now I can barely walk :P
Same goes true with any activity, take parkour for instance (another of my pet hobbies :) doing the simple stuff is fine, but if you want to do truly practice the art then you need to be prepared for some pain; falling is a big one, running into things, failed flips (ouch!) etc. are always a possibility.
Hmm, knife throwing also, I kinda hesitate to mention this one because of the number of near serious injury incidents. The only thing I'll say about this is that the catching of sharp objects between your palms that you see in movies is something that actually works... more than once.
School undoubtedly makes the list, enough said.
And I think I will add friendship as well, you can be 'friends' without pain, but in my experience these aren't as meaningful and you definitely don't miss them as much. Sharing painful experiences together and confiding in each other are things that mark true friendship. You can't know the sweet if you've never had the bitter.
I'm pretty sure the the journey of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness would be meaningless without pain.
Not that I like pain, don't get me wrong, I go out of my way to avoid it myself and inflicting it on others (most of the time, sometimes I snap a little bit though (sheepish grin) But if you've never had pain in your life then you haven't truly lived.
Pain can also be an ache inside you when people you love are no longer with you (cough, Conserve people, cough) but when they are gone you realize that they are the kind of people you need to surround yourself with... throughout your life.

"no pain, no gain"
what a silly little saying
you've heard it once, you've heard it twice
you've heard it fifty one-million times
or was if fifty two?
it's true though, what they say
those parents and teachers
friends, scholars and preachers
your soccer coach and training sergeant
the one thing they say the same:
is that without pain
there is very little gain.
But oh, wouldn't it be nice
to have someone who
never wants to hurt you
but even so, they hurt you anyway
but you wouldn't care
you would hold them close and say
"it's okay"
"no pain, no gain"
"and my pain...IS my gain."

Flame swords!

So, yeah, I admit it, I was bored. I have this fascination with all things fire, I've done fire staff, torches, burned Chinese symbols into the ground, created flaming walls of fire, monster bonfires, and a filled bowls with camp fuel and set them on fire to name but a few. (this summer I plan on getting some fire poi, that'll be fun!) Sure, there have been accidents, one involving me stupidly pouring gasoline on a small forge fire that I was using to heat wire, but that's another story.
Back to flame swords, coolest things ever and super easy to make. I used metal golf shafts, rags for a wick and wire wrapped around the rags to hold them in place.
My brother and I spent about forty-five minutes working out a routine with non-flaming swords which was pretty impressive, not to toot my own horn or anything. But as soon as we let 'em up we realized that there was no way it was going to work! So we just had a short little sparring match until his sword burnt out, which was really fun and looked kind of cool. There are some cool fire sword videos out there for those who look for them, maybe you'll find the one that was my inspiration!
Next time we'll be more prepared, so stay tuned for awesomeness!
Oh yeah, I'm thinking fire whips would be fun sometime... at this rate something really bad is going to happen :P
Cheers!

Library Time.

The library is a nice place, it has lots of things I love in it: books, tables, quiet, books, people studying while I am studying, books, movies (some of them) and books. I love books.
I'm currently reading the books the books by R.A. Salvator, notably the Drizzt books. They are about a black skinned elf from underground who has left the Underdark and come to the surface to find a better life, he finds that as well as adventures aplenty. Drizzt is a master swordsman and a parkour practitioner. Both of which I enjoy :). The library is a great place for peace and quiet, studying, drawing, reading or writing this blog post! It's also a good place to people watch, you get to see the kind of people who come to library, some of whom I couldn't really see ever checking out a book. Then there are the creepy old men who sit on the other side of the room and stare at magazines with one eye and stare at you with the other.
Well, I had better hurry up, I need to go to work in few hours and since most of the snow has melted it looks like we'll be fairly busy tonight :P.
I think I'll find a thick book or two or three to take home. :)

Rows and rows of shelves
they line the rooms 
like a labyrinth
with 
rows and rows of books
that fill the shelves, 
with stories
trapped between the pages,
waiting for someone
waiting for you 
to set them free
waiting to paint
a picture 
with a thousand words.

Snow Again!

It's back! After about a week of bitter cold, meaning around ten degrees outside, it finally warmed up enough to snow. Sound weird? That's what I thought when I first heard it, but, yes, it can be too cold and dry to snow. There you go! If you didn't already know that then you have learned something today! Good job!
Anyway, as I've said before; I love snow, I looks beautiful coming down and when it blankets the earth in a layer of downy fluff, plus it makes dirty streets and sidewalks look clean for a while. Another nice feature is it's use in snow sculptures, if enough comes down,  I plan on making Slender Man 2.0 in my front yard. And yes Mei-Jing, I'll send you a picture of me kissing this one too.
But for all that my current favorite feature of snow is that it muffles everything. Less cars, less people and less noise! It's like the world is going to sleep under the soft embrace of a snow blanket.

drifting downwards, towards my face
snow flakes, sparkling as they drift through space
falling as quietly as a whisper
they cover the ground in gleaming white
shining in the moon's pale light
as I walk through the trees 
my breath fogs as I watch it freeze
the end of summer fall and spring
winter snow,
it blankets the ground under it's downy wings.
as I walk through the trees
through a blanket of white,
I'm happy to know
I'm not alone,
this silent, snowy, night.

Narnia!!!

I was watching Prince Caspian today, for those of you who haven't seen it I would advise that you do or you probably won't understand anything I'm about to say.
In the beginning of the movie there's the bit with Peter and Edmund fighting with these two random school boys back in real life some time after the first movie. Afterwards, he rants about how he's tired of being treated like a kid, and that it's been a year since they've been to Narnia where he used to be a king. Then Susan says that it's time to accept that they live where they do.
I think that I could fill the role of Peter very well :P, He left a place that he enjoyed very much and had wonderful experiences as well as ones that helped him to grow, then he left and came back to reality. Sound familiar anyone? Susan could be played by my parents; saying that Utopia is over and that it's time to get our heads out of the clouds and return to reality.
Of course right after that scene they do get back to Narnia...and omen maybe? My fingers are crossed!
Another weird parallel between the world of Narnia and my life is that in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader,  Peter and Susan (aka: me) stay in reality while Edmund and Lucy, their younger siblings (aka: my brother) go back to Narnia and have and epic adventure...
I'm sure that Peter wasn't in the least bit jealous, nope, not at all ;)

Swimming

I love the YMCA, I go there every Wednesday and take a half hour of semi-redundant swim lessons then my brother and I get to swim for a few hours until the rest of my siblings have finished their lessons. I love to swim, when I'm underwater I can fly for as long as I can hold my breath, feeling my body twisting and turning as little silver bubbles race past my eyes and vanish into the light at the surface. Yesterday we played ricochet tag, basically the only way you can move is by pushing off the walls, no swimming around. It gets really intense and the exhilaration is only augmented by the lack of oxygen getting to your brain. :P I think that swimming and flying are the closest that we as human being can be to complete freedom, (as long as the airplane is a good one!)
Another advantage of swimming is that you get buff, never a bad thing in my book since I'm about as skinny as they come. Ah well...

Let's Change The Tune!

So I've looked back on my short list of previous posts I realized that in general they are pretty depressing. So from now on I'm going to try to talk about the good stuff more :P To start with I had a really great Youth activity last night for the 16-17 year old youth of my church. We talked about preparing for a mission, had dinner and then had a great dance afterwards! The dance was my favorite part because I got to be with people who I enjoy being with and even though there were a lot less people there because the 14-15 year old's weren't there. It was nice to just have the 'experienced' people there because they actually dance! That's my pet peeve; people who don't dance, and guys who don't ask girls to dance especially if nobody's asked them yet! Sometimes I think that some guys are blind. I had my traditional competition to see who could pick up the most garbage and lost again... :)
Sometime in the future I'm going to buy throwing knives, a regular pocket knife doesn't work that well.
Well, cheers everybody!

Sleepless Nights...

Have you ever missed people so much that you lay awake at night thinking about them and can't go to sleep until three AM in the morning? It sucks. When you miss them so much that you can almost feel them next to you. Can almost hear them telling you to "shut up" with a slight upward twist of their lips that shows that they don't really mean it. When you can almost feel their hand in yours and the spaces between your fingers feel cold and empty. It's amazing how fast you can go from sitting three feet apart and talking about trivial things such as school and the weather, to laying next to each other as you stare up at the stars and talking about the meaning of life. Becoming so close that you can confide your faults and your feelings (even if some of them laugh :) So close that you can feel them next to you as you doze off. Going through tough times together and having Mei-Jing push us to do what we had to. I miss you guys so much...

There needs to be a way to just teleport around the world, because saving up for a plane ticket really stinks, not to mention that certain aircraft give me the very unsafe feeling of being stuck inside a pressurized soda pop can and being towed through the air by a set of flamethrowers while sitting on couple hundred gallons of jet fuel, (shudder). Driving is tedious and that pretty much leaves walking, so, yeah. We could always go around on dragon back...except that there are no dragons... darn! Yes, I'm a dragon geek, why aren't you?
I could really use a TARDIS right now. Well, I guess I have another sleepless night ahead of me....

those we've left behind
they're never really gone
you never see their face
but you can talk
on the phone, 
or email, skype, chat, tweet, facebook
or even snail mail.
but it's not the same as face to face
when the slightest twitch 
can load a word with meaning
and emotions can be shared.
but now we're far apart
and there's a hole inside me...
right here.
and I hope that, someday,
we'll see each other again.

what is wrong with the world?!?

Seriously, when I left for Conserve I didn't really have a direction, I was just doing what my parents said would be a good idea and then left home and learned some things about the world and met people who are amazing and being with them for a few short months has really screwed my head on straight. It just seems that my straight is different than other people's straight. It seems like there are only a few people left who I really click with, and they all live farther away than I would like. I miss my Conserve friends, and trying to figure out a way that we can all get together is like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
(continue rant.....yadda yadda.....)

Other than my usual frustrations life is pretty good; I've been visiting my friend in an Amish community -tangent, the Amish are awesome. Really; they're so easy to talk to, and they are SO nice. Plus, I love how the little 8-12 year olds drive a bulldozer to get wood from the wood pile. - the drive time is a little up there but it's so worth it. I've also been spending a lot of time with a kid who has autism, I really don't get why people think less off them, they're so nice and they love everyone. Every time I see him he's always so happy to see me and he just makes everything around him glow. People just don't understand what they have to offer, for me, he offers a chance to let down my walls and to just be myself. People like him don't judge.

Last night I could not go to sleep and for a while I could not figure out why, but after a while I realized that I not being with people form Conserve anymore has left a hole inside me that I'm not sure how I'll fill.
Argh!!! The world is messed up... sigh.