Aortal Impulse [entries|friends|calendar] Aortal Impulse - from my heart to you... [ website | The Poetry Archives ] [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ calendar | livejournal calendar ]

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes [19 Feb 2009|10:41pm] [ music | "Changes" by Dame David Bowie ] It is indeed a change for me to post anything. At the same time, I am posting this mainly to note a change. For Lenten purposes, I will likely be blogging frequently again, but I have decided to move to Blogger. Reasons for this (provided because JG's recent defense of his remaining on LJ requires my reasons for leaving): 1) I was only ever on LJ because my friends used it, and only JG still uses it. 2) I already use 95% Google products to interact with the Internet, why not one more? 3) This blog is corny and, as corny as it was meant to be when it was created, I feel like making something that will be more relevant to my current cognitive-affective state. 4) I found a programme that will (purportedly) transfer all of my old LJ posts to my new Blogger account (which was my main concern anyways). So my new blog will be starting at http://quid-retribuam.blogspot.com I will soon be posting recent poetry and certain Lenten meditations. "Turn and face the strange..." -L 1 comment|post comment

A Long-Awaited Update! (For Joe and my parents) [05 Nov 2006|03:09pm] [ mood | Contemplative ] [ music | Movement I: C-Sharp Minor - by MJSauter ] This update is for those who wish I would update more. You Are 24% Democrat You're a bit Democrat, and probably more liberal than you realize. If you're still voting Republican, maybe it's time that you stop. How Democrat Are You? You Are 44% Republican You aren't a full fledged Republican yet, but it's probably the party that fits you best. You probably consider yourself an independent Republican. You usually support the party, but you also think for yourself! How Republican Are You? I didn't vote this year. I totally forgot to register for an absentee ballot. Oh well. I am currently listening to Michael Sauter's pretty-much completed first movement of his first symphony. It is pretty fantastic, let me tell you. It's 13 megs, or I would email it to each and every one of you. It is very interesting to read through all of the old household documents and realize where we have come/fallen/risen from. I am/have been working on a revision of our Lord's Day. I need to just start writing. :) Hesychia, -L 5 comments|post comment

Holy Diver, you've been down too long in the midnight sea... [19 Sep 2006|10:59pm] [ mood | Not wigging out, honest! ] [ music | Holy Diver - covered by Killswitch Engage ] Just got back from the Tuesday Night "P&W". My first time going this semester, but I decided I should give it a chance this semester as well. It really is different each semester. Anyways, I was still kind of in a Force One or Two Wig-Out on the Harburg Scale, which is down from my high of 4 today and certainly down from a solid 9 yesterday, so I wasn't really feeling like going. But I decided to anyways and God surprised me. It was actually pretty darn solid worship. Not quite to the level of Man Praise (which, I realized I haven't written about yet, but it was frickadiculous) but really... /nothing/ can beat over 30 men praising together. That's why I love the Christ the King Men's Retreat in February. Maybe some of the other guys from Ann Arbor will go back with me this year... So anyways... I guess the news is that God loves me. Um... nothing /new/ exactly, but just as earth-shattering as the first day I heard Him say it. Yeah... "Oh what's becoming of me..." -L 3 comments|post comment

Sitting here watching you sitting here watching me sitting here watching you... [17 Sep 2006|11:26pm] [ mood | Tired but Peaceful ] [ music | The Last Song I'll Ever Want to Sing - by Moneen ] So, it's been a while. I'm not even going to try to sum up all of the things that have been going on. School has been fairly easy and even pretty interesting so far. This weekend has been a little tiering seeing as I have two three-page papers due at 1PM on Monday. But I already have the first one done and most of the quotations for the second one so... hopefully I can dash it off in the couple of hours I have tomorrow morning. Last Monday, Odin led Meditation on St. Francis' Meditation on the Our Father. That was pretty profound. It was kind of one of those "God Coincidences" because I have definitely been meditating a lot on the Our Father ever since late summer. Everyone generally has a member of the Trinity that they're most comfortable relating to God as, and conversely many people have a person of the Trinity that they are less comfortable thinking of God as or praying to. My "less comfortable relating to" person is definitely the Father so I have been meditating on that a lot in an attempt to improve in that area. It has been super-fruitful so far. Maybe I'll write more about that later, maybe you can just ask me if you see me. Anyways, the main thing that has struck me over the past couple months is how Christ taught the disciples the Our Father not in response to the question "Lord, teach us a prayer" but rather "Lord, teach us how to pray". Therefore, the Our Father is not so much "a prayer" as it is a guide to the prayerful heart. It should form the background to every prayer that we say, forming our attitudes for approaching our Ever-loving Father. In keeping with my "theme" (I guess you could call it that?) of total surrender to God's will, the lines that struck me the most were, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" and just how essential it is that those lines be behind every prayer that I say. Because, honestly, if the Lord answers that one then we're alright. No matter what. I wrote another poem on Friday morning in adoration. I'm not sure it's anything too profound, but it's an issue that I think about every now and then. Just sort of the issue of loving things/people other than God (as much as anything that He created can be /other/ than Him). Yeah, I pretty much always end up on the side of "Well, you can't go wrong with love, so long as it's actual love!" I couldn't think of a good title for the longest time, so I just titled it after the Bible verse that inspired it. Just an FYI for those following along at home, it refers to the verses as they appear in the Douay-Rheims. I think some Bibles have it a verse off. Go here for that reference, in any case. ( Ecclesiastes 5:17-19 ) I should have been asleep 30 minutes ago, but I'm just leaving to take a shower right now. Oh well... after tomorrow's over I can sleep easier. "I'm waiting for something that is too real..." -L 4 comments|post comment

Can we try for right now, free of doubt. If you give the chance I could try and figure out... [03 Sep 2006|02:24am] [ mood | Tired, but peaceful... ] [ music | "Runaway" - by Mae ] So, today was a pretty big day! It was the Household Olympics! Although they are held every year, this was actually my first time participating. Freshman year, I didn't really care enough about households to go "compete" in their name. Then last year, I was working all day Saturday. So I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. There was a costume contest associated with the Olympics that we didn't participate in because we basically didn't have any feasible ideas. So we skipped that part. We had an awesome team though. There were probably about five brothers on it, and seven freshmen. They were all pretty-much from Thomas' smallgroup, which was awesome. They are a great group of kids, and it is really encouraging to see them take an interest in household. For the rest of the day though (well... for three hours at least) we ran around competing in various events. The highlights of the Olympics were: -creaming the Living Stones in a tug-of-war. I mean, seriously. We had them down in two pulls. -doing pretty awesome at the stocking-head battle. It really can't be explained any better than that, except perhaps to clarify that the stockings were actually pantyhose. -beating the record at the egg-toss. We only beat it by one foot in the recorded match, but we hit the highest marker they had set up (four more feet out) several times while we were practicing. -losing a fearsome tug-of-war match to Foot of the Cross. We were at a standstill for seriously, like, five minutes before some of our unshod members started slipping and we lost. But it was still awesome. So, yeah. After the Olympics we went straight into Lord's Day and pretty much all the kids who were on our team came. Most of them, it was their second Lord's Day with us, because they went with Thomas during Orientation Week. They are a pretty solid group of guys, and I am really glad to see that they love the campus and love the idea of households. It seems like each successive year is getting more and more excited about households, though I could be wrong. It is really encouraging though. Yeah. So there was a FOP tonight, but I didn't go. After my pretty awesome talk with Anthony Muse on the way to the coordinator's retreat (he is the FOP Music Team co-leader this year, and has pretty much the same vision for FOPs as I do. i.e., less introspective/healing oriented stuff and more focus on God and praising Him) I really do intend to go to at /least/ one FOP this semester, if not many. But tonight I was pretty tired and just wanted to sit around. So after brushing off the usual "You don't want to go to the FOP? Are you feeling alright?", I read about 5 pages of Erasmus and played a good deal of Call of Duty 2 with the fellas. All-in-all a pretty fun evening, but there is actually still more. See, lured by the promise of "free pizza", I threw on my Hawaiian shirt and went to the "Caribbean Party" in the JCWC after the FOP. So it turned out that the pizza cost $1/slice, so I bought two anyways. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with first Thomas, Ken and JP because I came with them, then hanging out with Claire and Tina because Tina is down here visiting for the weekend, and it had been a while since I'd talked to her, then hanging out with Liz and Phil because well... the former is always a good time, and I haven't talked to Phil in quite some time either. So all in all a very successful social evening. :) But indeed, I am not done yet! On my way back to the dorm, I met Nate, who informed me that SOL was inducting three girls tonight. So we gathered together all our art skills/strange, sad little minds and pumped out some construction-paper signs. There were actually some pretty darn good ones in there. So yeah: Maria Bagel, Littledorf and Annagall are all in SOL now. That's kind of fun. We all went over and hung out with them after we put the signs up on the Bagel/dorf door. That was fun as well. It had been a while since I had hung out with the sisters, but they are always a bundle of fun. Christa was there (well, I mean, of course... why wouldn't she be?) and, although we never exchanged a single word the entire time, somehow it wasn't really awkward for one of the first times since last February. At least, it didn't feel awkward to me. And... I dunno. That's kind of big. It made me happy... Anyways. God moves in really incredible ways. I went to confession to Fr. Conrad yesterday, and my spirits have been lifted ever since. God works His plan of salvation so beautifully in my life, and all that I have to do is wait for His signal to act. There are so many things that I don't know, but I find my only certainty in this: that the loving Father is watching over me. "I'm kind of scared because I don't know how. But I'm watching the close calls and catching my breath now." -L post comment

Well you are worth more than the man I am, sad and in love... [02 Sep 2006|01:08am] [ mood | Genuine and unprepared... ] [ music | Brooklyn (If You See Something, Say Something) - by TBS ] I wrote something tonight. I think the idea came to me yesterday. It is based off of one of Aesop's Fables, though I admit to having entirely recontextualized it. I haven't put it on the website yet, partially because Geocities is blocked by the Internet here, and partially because I am still somewhat uncertain as to whether I should put it in a relatively well-established section, or use it to start a new one altogether. But I guess that's really what the poem's about in the first place... Anyways, a sonnet. Strange semi-Spenserian, semi-Shakespearian rhyme-scheme. The title is the ephemeral "fifteenth line" that I really wish I could have included, but alas: my desire to write sonnets precludes that desire. ( ... The Answer That You Give, I Will Attend ) "Marking miles of martyrs Of better men, of better men than me And I wanted to tell you, I just didn't know how" -L post comment

So this is my goodbye, surprised cuz I thought I could walk you home tonight... [28 Aug 2006|01:17am] [ mood | Uncertain f I am uncertain... ] [ music | "Goodbye, Goodnight" - by Mae ] So I don't figure that anyone else is really going to be updating their LiveJournals much now that we're back at school. However, as I told Claire, I do have a somewhat small audience at home, so I guess I still have a reason to write. The past week and a half (or whatever) has been heck of hectic. I haven't gotten more than 8 hours of sleep in any one night, and a couple times quite a bit less. It has generally been a period with relatively little free-time and always something that you have to do. On the other hand, it has been pretty awesome. For some reason, every Orientation Week that I do seems to be showered with grace, and this past "week" was no different. The coordinators' retreat was really great. It was one of the best weekends that I've had in a while, and blossomed into quite a cool week. It was great to meet all of the coordinators from the various households and to discover what God was doing in and through them. It is so easy sometimes to get tunnel-vision in that regard and forget that God moves outside of your own little life. So it was great to meet new people, and to hang out with Liz and Susanna. The talks were, for the most part, quite good and inspirational. The "OT" training week itself was a little bit boring. Hanging out with people was definitely the highlight seeing as the talks were /very/ plentiful and often got a little repetitious. Still some good stuff though, and definitely some fun lunchtimes/dinners/late-night Walmart runs. The new freshmen on wing are really solid. I was somewhat disappointed not to get a small-group this year, but have been hanging out with Thomas' small-group enough to make up for not having one. I was afraid that they might be the kind of kids who just stay inside their rooms and make you come tell them "Look, hang out with us! Come eat with us!" but they really aren't. Of course, it helps that we are often pretty loud and in the hallway, but hey: that is our charism. So yeah, these kids have a lot of potential. Friday night, Claire and I stayed up until 3:30AM smorking a cigar and having a much-needed "so, what have you been up to in the past year" conversation. It is always good to hear how God is working in someone else's life, and to get their take on your own current experiences. I dunno. It was really enjoyable, and I think that's all I'll say about that. Today was no less action-packed than the rest of the week. A very enjoyable brunch was eaten, after which Reez and I hung out in Trinity for a bit. She wanted to play a board-game so we rounded up 6 people for a game of Clue (which is an awesome game). It turned out to be the shortest Clue game ever, clocking it at probably 15-20 minutes, but it was very fun. After that, I went to the "Dinner for 12 Strangers" with Thomasino's small-group. There were three small-groups (a little over 30 people) there, so it was kind of packed, but it was fun. Justice Gibson and Katie Patton were both there from the Marian group, so I was not the only kid to tag along. Plus: I got to show off my double-jointed shoulders in the "get to know you" part of it. After that, Thomas and I were going to watch 28 Days Later with Cory (a kid from his small-group), who had never seen it, but I guess he disappeared off to the Ice Cream Social. So we raided DVDan's movie collection and found one that Thomas assured me I should see: Dog Soldiers. It is a thriller about this small group of soldiers being hunted by a pack of werewolves. It was pretty darn good, and not just "for a horror B-movie". Some pretty creative problems and solutions, which is pretty much the core of any horror/thriller movie. After that we dashed off to the last showing of the Orientation Week play (called "Supressed Desires"). It was a very funny comedy about Freudian psychoanalysis. Quite good. Now, I am tired, and totally ready for bed. This has been a very interesting past couple weeks, internally. I don't know. God seems to be leading me in some interesting directions, and I have great hopes for this new semester. The strangest part about it being that I am more at peace now than I have been in a long time, certainly in comparable situations. Or at least, I am most of the time. The past half-week or so has reminded me of how much our past still affects us, even when we think we've left it behind. This semester has almost more potential than any other to be /really/ tough, but I pray that my irrational fears prove insignificant in God's plan and that any struggles that He sees fit to give me may be opportunities for great grace. I can barely keep my eyes open. "But you're leaving me here on the defense... [to give up now doesn't make much sense]" -L 5 comments|post comment

He was skilled at capturing a feeling that most of us just miss... [18 Aug 2006|02:55am] [ mood | Snake-tastic ] [ music | "Japanese Gum" - by Her Space Holiday ] So, I can't believe that I forgot to mention this in the previous entry, but there has been a slight tragedy. I will no longer have a car next year at school. It had been making a scraping noise about 1/3rd of the time when you turn slightly left, so we took it into the shop. The guy said it's the brakes, and we need to replace them for $1,200. Which there is no way we're doing for a $3,500 car. So, yeah. No car next year. It's a bit of a relief knowing I won't have to pay for a parking permit or gas though. And hey, I survived two years without a car anyways. I can still just mooch rides. **shrugs** What can I say... snakes on a plane, I guess. Anyways, speaking of which: SNAKES ON A PLANE. It was really funny. It was pretty darn funny. If you go into it expecting something other than an over the top movie where the premise is funnier than any of the actual lines, you'll be mislead. It is not funny in that they are quipping one-liners back and forth. In fact, the situation is taken quite seriously by most of the characters. It's the rediculousness of this situation, however, that is funny. It also went way further into the whole triller/horror aspect than I thought it would. I guess I figured it would downplay that side of the movie based on the number of people going to see it purely for the cheese factor. But there are some pretty jumpy/freaky scenes, and some pretty graphic snakebites. For that matter, there is also one rediculously graphic sex-scene which ends, of course, with the amorous couple being bitten by a snake. This movie, as a sort of self-consciously cheesy 80's horror flick, almost requires that sort of scene. This is, however, the start of a five-minute period in which, almost /systematically/, every single erogenous zone is bitten by a snake. You can just imagine the director checking them off on a clipboard or something. So, that whole part was a bit out of control. Ed said that it was "the Wrath of God being revealed unto the fornicators!", which Aaron loved. On the whole: I loved the movie. At least half of it was probably the late night with a bunch of guy friends on opening day, but I would be willing to see it again. Anyways, after that we headed back to the condo and just chilled for a bit. Kind of my "last night in town". I still have not /actually/ started packing. I cleaned my room/put away all my clothes today, which will make it easier to pack tomorrow. It just doesn't seem real. Not so much the "going back to school" thing, but definitely the "packing all of my belongings" thing. I dunno. We'll see what this next year brings... here's hoping for grace and blessings. "The simple pain of living with goodbyes on our lips..." -L 2 comments|post comment

"It's not you... It's just the fact that lives come together, They fade apart..." [16 Aug 2006|11:17pm] [ mood | Pretty-much free! ] [ music | "Ariadne's Thread" - by Saetia ] A short update tonight before I get to bed. Though I've noticed that even when I intend a short post, it sometimes ends up on the longish side... "c.f." the last post. This week has kind of worn me out, no matter how short it was. And there is plenty to do before it's over. Like, packing. Which, actually, never takes as long as I think it will. So: we have confirmed Snakes on a Plane tickets for tomorrow at 10PM! I'll let y'all know how it is. I am trying to think of some way that I can dress up for the movie... I don't have any snake-costumes. I'm thinking of face-painting snake-eyes on my eyelids. I just feel like doing something fun for my last Ann Arbor fling... Guess what? I found the first CD I ever bought today! I know! It was probably from like, 6th grade. I didn't buy another CD until late 8th grade. But this one was quite a fun find! It's "The Best of James Bond: 30th Anniversary Collection"! Essentially, every Bond theme-song from Dr. No through Diamonds are Forever. Not only does it have a couple tracks on there that are heck of solid ("All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong), but it out-nostalgias even most of my "nostalgia" CDs! So yeah. I am pretty geeked to have found that, and I've been listening to it tonight (well, I've moved on now, but I listened to the whole thing once through already... and ripped it to my computer). Also: a poem that I wrote a couple of nights ago. I was considering expanding it, but I'm not sure if I will, so I guess I'll just post it up. It just seems kind of short is all. It is written in a core of dactylic trimeter again. Realize that it is a rough draft, I guess, but feel free to give input/output. Heck, I'm not sure what to title it! So, for now, I present: ( Untitled - 8/13/06 ) "And [leave] pure remnants of an unsure bond. Perhaps we trust too much in this invisible thread to move on..." -L 4 comments|post comment

Tonight, tonight I'm feelin real good, feelin just about right! [15 Aug 2006|10:19pm] [ mood | Joyful ] [ music | Tulane - by Commander Venus ] So, I have a good deal of "last week" things that I could write about. However, I'm pretty tired (I say that /every/ entry) and need to get to bed. So I will probably do a "last week" bullet-point update at some point. For now, dear readers, content yourselves with a brief synopsis of today's mentionable points. Claire Gilligan had been crossing my mind for some reason the past few days. As usual, being pretty horrible at "getting in touch" with people, I did nothing but think: "Oh, it might be nice to see her in a few days...". However, this afternoon she took a quick break from her frantic packing and we talked for what must have been a few hours. That was probably the highlight of my day. I was glad. Also, with Ms. Gilligan in mind as I went to fill up my car with gas (it was on empty), I paused to reflect on the fact that she isn't allowed to pump her own gas. This "bringing to mind" of the Gilligan, the actualizing of the superactual reality of knowing Claire, if you will, was further accentuated by the fact that, as I drove up to the station, someone drove off with the hose still in their tank, resulting in it being pulled off of the pump. It detached quite neatly, so I think there was a safety mechanism. That scene from Garden State just sprung to mind though, and seeing as New Jersey is the Garden State, and also seeing as we watched Garden State at Claire's house, Spring Break of this year was brought to mind. Good times. Spring Break had already been mulled over the past day or so due to me having to reface several revelations/convictions that I had over that break. Don't you love it when you're like, "Ah yeah... I was going to work on that, wasn't I?" Lest this illustrious medium become "The Gilligan Trackers' Digest" (not that that wouldn't be a worthy topic for a very creepy journal), I will mention a few non-Claire related events/thoughts of the day. Directly after I filled up the car, my dad and I went to Dairy Queen and got some ice-cream. I got a small chocolate cone dipped in cherry. I hadn't had that since at /least/ 8th grade, maybe 4th grade. But it was the unvarying standard of my youth. So it was good to relive those childhood days. It still tasted pretty excellent. Also: I went to 7:30PM Mass today. Happy Feast of the Assumption. I sat next to Aaron, Ed and Bobby, which provided for some hilarious times during the course of the liturgy (e.g. Aaron's voice totally giving out as he stretched for a high note during a song, the very amusing Sign of Peace between Aaron and I). After Mass, Fr. Ed was mass-inducting people into the Brown Scapular. My dad and I had never done it, so (on a semi-whim) we both did. It was something that had been put off for some time. I dunno. We'll see how that whole thing goes. Feels pretty good so far. Last thing: Aaron, Ed and Bobby and I are probably going to go see "Snakes on a Plane" this Thursday at the midnight showing (this Friday, actually) when it opens. I'm not sure if Ed got the tickets yet, but he was supposed to buy them today. I am quite looking forward to it. I think that my expectations for the movie are accurate (which always makes movies more enjoyable) and it is quite an appropriate cultural event to attend before descending once more to the cultural void of Steubenville. "Today, today anything goes with me..." -L 7 comments|post comment

Someday I'll show you a place: a monster-free Tokyo! [12 Aug 2006|12:00am] [ mood | Droopy, but cheerful ] [ music | Destroy All Monsters - by I Hate Myself ] I feel like maybe I should share with you some of the treasures that I have been discovering recently. Some of them are similar, but all of them are excellent. 1) http://www.wefeelfine.org/ This site is an interactive Flash programme that looks for the phrase "I feel" in blogs worldwide and grabs the sentence it's in, so that you can see how people all across the Internet are feeling. Put it on "Murmurs" in the lower left to simply have a scrolling list of the sentences rather than the trippy-yet-cool floating-dot interface. And, even better, when the sentence scrolls by, clicking on it opens up the post that it's from! This is definitely for those of you who cherish moments of connexion with complete strangers. 2) http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com PostSecret is probably one of the best things I've ever heard of. It is a fascinating mix between community art, sociological research and psychological research/therapy. The idea is: you take a postcard. You write a secret on it that you have never told anyone else and decorate it however you want. You mail it in to that address and they will post certain ones (he can't post /all/ of them) on the blog every Sunday. The most unfortunate part about this whole thing is that he doesn't keep an archive! That makes me sad, but fortunately everyone on the Internet saves their favorites to disc so doing a Google Image Search on "Postsecret" yields thousands of results. They also have at least one book out. You can get it on Amazon (I don't think I will, but still...) As with above, this is awesome for people who love communal art, psychology and feeling moments of connexion with complete strangers. It is always a jolt when you read your own secret that you've never told someone, in another person's handwriting, on a postcard you've never seen before. 3) Graffiti Art One of the websites I found starts with this line: "If you want an audience--Start a fight." That's kind of what graffiti is all about. I have a thing for public art. We just don't have any anymore! All of our art is in museums, and the only art that still speaks are the old pieces that (due to their universality) still have relevence to "the human condition". Most modern art exists only in museums and says /nothing/. It is seen only by art critics, who then either create meaning for it, or glory in its lack of meaning. Anyways, enough ranting on that. My point is that I love it when graffiti transcends the simple "Kilroy wuz here" taggers and moves in to fill up that slot of poignant, meaningful, colorful art that is lacking in our everyday life. I think that this piece says it best, and is in fact currently my desktop. So, yeah. I have been searching the Internet for cool graffiti art, with success. I should learn how to use spray-paint. I dunno... I'm not advocating vandalism... Just, yeah. So anyways, that's what I've been doing with my time recently, instead of posting on LiveJournal. My last day of work is Wednesday, which is going to be a half-day anyways because I need to get a chip in my tooth filled. So, the end approaches. It somehow seems too soon. I am pretty blitzed, so I think I'll go to bed. Soon... "And our footsteps will be light, the future will be bright!" -L 1 comment|post comment

And I said that you must do what is right. And I know you must do what's best for you. [09 Aug 2006|09:36pm] [ mood | Tired but pleased ] [ music | With this Song I Will Destroy Myself - by Moneen ] So here is my nutshell summary of my trip to Canada. I put it off (once again) too late at night, so I am kind of tired, but if I don't write it now, I doubt I ever will. So I drove up there Friday evening, leaving at about 5:45PM. The drive was just under 3 hours and went without incident. The customs guy at the border rapid-fired some questions at me, just to make sure my story didn't fall apart under questioning, but he seemed to be satisfied with the "visiting a friend from college" excuse. So pretty much as soon as I got there, Pinne, his girlfriend Julie and his friend Ian and I all went to see Talledega Nights (Ian was quite geeked for it, and sprung for the tickets). It was pretty standard Will Ferrell comedy, so far as I'm concerned, by which I mean: hit and miss. Some parts were pretty funny, other parts just fell completely dead. Some stuff is clever, some stuff is straight up medio-core (or: mXc). On the one hand, it was cleaner than Anchorman; on the other hand, it was less funny. So, **shrugs** See it if you want. I'd wait until it's at the dollar-theatre, myself. After that, we cruised the town, having some fun in what is apparently the norm there. This involved shouting random things such as "Hey!" or "Smokers are jokers!" out the window at people who were just standing there. We also pranked fast food drive-thrus. This involved Pinne or Ian attempting to order items that were not on the menu (such as the "Hot Turkey Jam Packet") in a quick, mumbled voice and driving off once they asked us to come to the front window. I took a spectator role and merely absorbed the culture. After that, we went home and went to bed at about 4:30AM. Saturday morning started at 11AM with a breakfast of cereal, and just chillin/showering until early afternoon. At that point, we headed to Pinne's church, which was about 30 minutes away, stopping to pick up Julie on the way. Fr. Graham had booked us to do music for two weddings in a row. Both weddings were "in-and-out" affairs. One couple had requested that their ferret be ringbearer, and were denied. The other couple had their 3-year-old daughter present, and gave her a ring too at that part of the ceremony. The weddings were decently attended, but we three (kings of orient) were the only ones who gave the responses. So perhaps the family that was pressuring them to get married in the Church weren't that Catholic themselves? Who knows... I just figure, hey: God works with what faith we've got. I'm sure He'll bless them as much as they let Him, and marriage is certainly a step. So after that we went to Julie's house and hung out there for a while until we were invited for dinner. We went out into their corn-field and picked some corn to replenish their road-side stand, then took the day-old corn for eatings. We grilled chicken on their crazy grill and ate it. After that, we hung around her house a bit more, then went Cosmic Mini-Golfing, which was a new experience to me. Apparently it exists up in Canada though. It is essentially minigolf inside, in the dark, lit only by ultraviolet lights. The walls were painted with a bunch of ultraviolet animals, so that looked pretty coo. Julie's little sister and I were on a team, and we ended up winning, which was fun. After that, we did 5-Pin Bowling (another Canadian specialty) in the same building! It involves only 5 pins, and a much smaller ball that one chucks down the aisle rather than sticking your fingers in it. I followed my traditional bowling pattern: starting off strong, faltering near the middle and falling headlong on my face three inches from the finish line. But it was fun! After that we took a snack break at the DQ, then went drive-thru pranking again before we dropped the girls off at their house. This time, I took three of the drive-thrus, and had a lot of fun asking them if the turkey-bacon sandwiches were kosher, if the Burger Specials were free-range beef, and which way they stirred the coffee. Then Pinne and I went out drinking. You have the summary of alcohol consumed by me (see two posts down). Be assured, if you are the sort of person who worries about that kind of thing, that neither Pinne nor I was anywhere near "hammered". We were quite lucid and had no trouble speaking or thinking. The only irregularity you might have noticed was our sudden obsession with heel-toe walking every straight line we encountered. We did this flawlessly. Anyways, those fears out of the way, I will proceed to a short synopsis of the evening. We started at about 12/12:30AM by walking (so we didn't have to worry about driving at the end of the night) 10 minutes to a comfortable drinking establishment named Crabby Joe's. There we sat in a booth, ate peanuts, and drank most of our drinks. We were alone in the bar, and had quite a good time. At one point, this woman came up to Pinne, sat next to him and said, "Hi, I work here, and I've been having a really crappy night. I was just down at Koolz (the hippest new club in town) for a party, and it was all full and happenin, then I come back here and it's empty except for you guys. I'm pretty hammered now, but anyways. I just need to know: do you guys like it here? Was the service good? Will you come again?" we assured her that we loved it, etc. and she said, "Good, that's all I wanted to know" and left. On our way home, Pinne proposed that we check out Koolz, so we did. We bought the last drink on the list and stood around watching the dance floor. It was pretty much too loud to talk. It was interesting, because it was not really that young of a crowd. Not exactly your "party scene". We had a good reflection on "the culture" based on this experience, though, and left. Upon arriving home at about 1:30, we talked to Mrs. Pinne for a while, then when she went to bed, we channel-surfed and web-browsed. We happened upon Goldeneye (excellent movie) on TV and watched it for a bit until I started dropping off and declared that we should go to bed. That was around 3:30AM. Sunday morning also started at about 11AM. Pinne's grandma made us a large breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon. It was da-fishes! I was stuffed! After that, we hung around the house a bit and showed each other various hilarious YouTube videos. Then we left at about 4PM for LifeTeen music practice. Pinne is a regular there, but I was kind of sprung upon them. Pinne brought his djembe and I rocked that out for the duration of Mass. It was my first public djembe performance, and first ever Mass-played, but regardless I had a pretty good time. I have been meaning to buy a djembe for a while so I can play at Steubenville... maybe I will someday. After Mass I said my goodbyes and left for home at about 7:30PM. I expected to arrive back at about 10/10:30PM, but I got stuck at the bridge for TWO HOURS. The line up to the bridge was an hour, then it took an hour to actually cross the bridge. Rediculous. So I finally got home at about 12:30AM and went to bed. So yeah. The trip was an absolute blast, and Monday was a spaced-out day at work... In more current news: Randy and I, according to Randy's information, have both made the newest cut of Survivor: TRW Factory. That makes about the 3rd cut I've survived, and the 5th that he has. We are the champions, my friends! We'll keep on packing 'til the end! (which is one week from today! Horray!) So yeah. Maybe I will tell you about some of the people who /didn't/ make the cut. You kids already heard about Shanna, but there is at least one other kid who bears mentioning. Sorry this entry is so long and late. Yeah. It should have been more effusive, but it was my bedtime 30 minutes ago. If you live in Ann Arbor, I want to see you one more time before I leave. If you go to Steubenville, I am excited to see you soon. If you live in Canada... well. I love you bro, and I'll see you again pretty soon. "In our hearts, we must carry on." -L 1 comment|post comment

"When I'm at [work] it's like I'm dead..." [08 Aug 2006|09:42pm] [ mood | Tired ] [ music | Refused by the Light - by Commander Venus ] Sorry, you all will have to wait a little while longer for a synopsis of my Canada trip. Last night I was too tired to write it, and wasn't feeling too well. Tonight, I am too tired, and it is too late. So, hopefully tomorrow. Have you ever had the experience where second-guessing God does absolutely /nothing/ other than make you anxious and impatient? Stop trying to ruin His surprises, dogg. Just stop it. But then again, you're pretty afraid that maybe there is no happy surprise for you, eh? That if you don't make it happen, it never will. Trust in the Lord always. I went to Fr. Victor for confession today and that is exactly the advice that he gave me. Trust in the Lord. Sometimes it is so easy. Work is starting to chafe a bit, in my final week. Partially the fact that the work is repetetive and boring, and the boss is being more strict now, mainly just the fact that I have to get up and spend 8 hours of my day in the same place and then have to go to bed by 10PM. Anyways, I am managing. I am coping. I am mainly torn between wanting work to be over, and wanting to hang out with my friends here before I leave. So, yeah. There's my conundrum. But I will make it through, one day at a time. I will survive... I will survive. As long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive. Also: I had a sweet idea for a rock-opera at work today, and started composing parts of it in my head. Unfortunately, I am musically void, so I would have to get Steve or someone to do the entire music part. Oh well, day-dreams at $9/hour. "Then the weekend comes and I resurrect..." -L 3 comments|post comment

Last night, I swallowed liquor and a lighter, and this morning I threw up fire [06 Aug 2006|02:07am] [ mood | Relaxed ] [ music | Sudden Death in Carolina - by Brand New ] 1 pint of Guinness 1 tequila shot 1 shot of amaretto 1 Smirnoff Twisted Green Apple I am feeling very good, and have been having a wonderful weekend. A full report follows when I return. Also: Pinne and I are watching TV, flipping channels. Goldeneye is on TV! AWESOME! "But it's nothing new, I've been piecing it together, it's got something to do with [you]" -L 2 comments|post comment

It's not something I'd recommend, but it is one way to live... [03 Aug 2006|09:44pm] [ mood | Amused ] [ music | Lua - by Bright Eyes ] Tomorrow is the last day of the week! I've almost made it! At about 5PM tomorrow, I will be on the road to the Frozen North, and by this time tomorrow I will have arrived at Pinne's house several hours ago. I am really looking forward to it, if you couldn't tell. So there's this girl (the only girl, actually) at work. Um, I realize what that sentence sounds like the beginning of (there is only one sort of conversation that begins with the words "so there's this girl...") but... no, not at all. Anyways, she's 23 and has two kids, one 2-year-old and one 8-year-old (one of the hi-low drivers' comments: "That is /way/ too young to have an 8-year-old!" to which she said, "I know!"). So that puts the birth of her first child when she was 15 years old. The child's conception likely when she was 14. Wow. A life like that kind of blows my mind. What does it do to someone to be a parent that early? Not that she's /exceptionally/ mature because of it. The children live with their father, who she dated for 11 years (they are broken up now) but never married. He, referred to as "My baby (sic) daddy", is 30 years old now. This places him at the age of 21 at the conception of the first child. That is just... I'm not even going to touch that one. The coupe de grace: the reason for their breakup after 11 years of dating and two children was cited as "That nigga /crazy/!" -- Golly... y'think?! Inci-dentally (hahaha... that pun will make sense in a second, I promise) this girl (who is fairly cheerful and considerate, actually) spent a couple minutes enthusing about my teeth and how perfect they are, and how much girls like good teeth on a guy. She was also quite impressed to hear that I've never had a cavity. So I guess... yeah. I've never put much thought into my "grill", but hey. A bit of an ego-booster, I guess. Of course this is the girl who spends every break obsessively filing her huge, shiny fingernails in an attempt to remove the dirt from them. So maybe she just has a thing for... heck, I don't even know what similarity to draw between teeth and fingernails! Vestigal self-defense tools, perhaps? Anyways, it is kind of fun to get to know people who I probably wouldn't hang out with in any other situation. I love seeing where different people come from. Anyways, that's what college jobs are for: to convince you to stay in school! "But what is simple in the moonlight, by the morning never is..." -L 1 comment|post comment

"So I scratch and scrape to find a reason to live in a God or a girl..." [01 Aug 2006|09:09pm] [ mood | Killing time... ] [ music | The Raining Vacation (Pt. II) - by Commander Venus ] I have not posted recently. This has been due to my rereading of Harry Potter frenzy. I am done now. In that vein: Happy Birthday to him. Yesterday was totally the little dude's birthday. Anyways. That said, I enjoyed them a lot more this time around. I dunno. I'm not a "fanboy" or anything... but I like them. Yeah, but this entry is kind of a random, catch-up-with-Luke thing. Also: anyone have any good books I can read now? Preferably books that grip you, rather than books that you enjoy having read once they're over. And: no Clive Cussler. I have a semi-irrational dislike for him. So, it has been /really/ hot here recently. Just this week. It makes it extremely hard to work in, especially considering the fact that it has also been exceptionally humid. Breathing is like trying to breathe in water or something. 90-degree water. I went through about 70oz of water today and only had to pee a little bit, once. That's how much I sweat. Sweated? Tomorrow night it is supposed to cool off though so... here's hoping. I have started to get kind of sick of my job by now. It is a bit boring, and no longer as lenient as it once was. So what's getting me through this week is the fact that I'm going to visit Pinne in Canada this weekend. That will be my blast of the summer. After that, the fact that my last day of work is August 17th will keep me going. Just a few more weeks, literally! I have not really been thinking any deep thoughts or living any deep experiences recently. Just... making money, y'know? It is kind of sad, but that is life often enough. Lord... I'm just waiting for You. Whenever you want to surprise me, y'know... On the one hand, I can't wait for school to start because my social life will sky-rocket (not that I won't really miss the fun times here at the condo...), on the other hand: do I want to write a paper? In other news -- Teddy Grahams: The Best Thing Ever? "Oh I tried, I tried to abandon guilt and other things that don't exist..." -L 4 comments|post comment

She's like a hot cloth on a fevered head, and like a needle she leads me (well I follow like thread) [27 Jul 2006|04:45pm] [ mood | Cheeful ] [ music | "Tie Me Up! Untie Me!" - by mewithoutYou ] So. I've been home sick the past day and a half with some sort of 12-hour flu. It was nothing /nearly/ as severe as Arconti's Revenge. I only threw up twice, and the rest of the time has been quite relaxing! I have spent my time: 1) Reading like a fiend. It is sad that I only read when I am sick these days, but generally my Honors reading tires me out and I don't feel like touching any books the whole school year. But yeah, I am generally much happier when I'm reading a lot of stuff that I like. I decided, in my illness, to re-read the Harry Potter books. I have gotten through the first three since 6PM last night (about 350-430 pages each). I plan to start the fourth one as soon as my Mom brings it home from the Library, and may finish it tonight. Reez and I saw the latest two movies this summer (which were actually quite enthralling! I had only seen the first), and I had been wanting to reread the books so I could read the latest one. Generally my interest in Harry Potter has not gone beyond getting Potterheads all worked up by suggesting that Harry and Hermione should totally be going out, but they really are quite amusing books. I stand with my statement that they are not "Great Books", but reading them in sequence has given me more respect for JK Rowling. I think that she may have actually planned the books out in advance, because I keep finding little things mentioned that don't come to fruition until several books later. Anyways. 2) Watching movies. I saw Henry VIII, which was /excellent/. Very long, but well written and superbly acted. I am not sure how historically accurate it is, but it certainly seemed like a very nuanced take on the subject. I also watched Howl's Moving Castle. Now, I am not the Miazaki fanatic that Mr. Hottburg is, but I did quite enjoy Princess Mononoke. Nausicca was a little "meh", but yeah. Anyways, Howl's Moving Castle was at /least/ as good as Princess Mononoke! I think the main part that I liked was that it was hilarious. I usually find the Japanese sense of humor to be very... foreign? But yeah. It has some hilarious characters, and was a light-hearted yet meaningful story. 3) Drinking stuff that makes my teeth feel gross. I have little areas of OCD paranoia, and my grill is definitely one of them. I don't generally like to drink pop or really sweet stuff, but alas... what can you do? So. Back to work again tomorrow, then it will be the weekend! I think Aaron will unfortunately be gone (I missed a movie night due to illness, alas) but perhaps I will chill at the condo with Bobby and Ed anyways. :) I need some society. "And I need more grace than I thought..." -L 3 comments|post comment

"Jonah, where's that boat going - Your ship set with eager sails?" [25 Jul 2006|08:39pm] [ mood | Faith, Hope and Love ] [ music | "My Exit, Unfair" - by mewithoutYou ] Dear undeserving beloved: nothing that we have is our own. None of our virtue or righteousness is ours by nature, but rather by mercy and gift. How merciful is our Father, who has forgiven us far more numerous than 70x7 times! How great a salvation, that comes not once but every moment! How humble should we be, His children, meek in our borrowed strength as only gratefulness can make us? My dear undeservingly blessed: every blessing in our life: faith, hope and foremost LOVE comes from God, and not our own strength. How great must the Spring of All Blessings be, to birth such powerful tributaries in our hearts? How great was the gulf between God and man that He bridged with His body? How great is His love and mercy that He fills our hearts with Love Incarnate, His very self? Dear undeservingly holy children: we are untouchable. The Adversary may surround our lives with evil, but he can never place a single speck of blame on our souls unless we reject our Father in favor of sin. Our hearts, longing for God, may nearly break when they see perversion and wickedness around us, but rejoice! Your loving Father has made our sufferings fertile with grace gained, and has redeemed even the grave! Dear undeserving saved: allow yourselves a moment to feel the full weight of your debt to your Savior, so that it may blossom into gratitude, humility and love. Then entrust your day, your future, your whole life, death and final joy to the loving, capable hands that have already been pierced to save your soul from destruction. This is something that I do not do nearly often enough. "No use, fishermen, in rowing from a consecrated whale!" -L post comment

Revolution is just a word, loses more each time it's heard [24 Jul 2006|07:45pm] [ mood | "Passion hoping to find..." ] [ music | "This Love" - by Stavesacre ] So yeah. I got a cell-phone this past weekend. The phone (which is really nice) was free as part of my mom & sister's upgrade deal, and it was only $10 to add someone new onto the family plan so... we went for it! This means I am one of four people on a 700minute/month plan, so it is mainly for calling other Verizon phones or after 9PM or on weekends. That said, I would love to hear from anyone who cares to give it a ring. The number is on my Facebook account, if you want it. I am assuming that pretty much everyone who reads this (it occured to me the other day that I have /no/ idea who actually reads this anymore) is a Facebook friend of mine, so you can get it there. So yeah, give me a call so I can add your number or talk to you or something. Yeah. So we buried my grandpa this past weekend. All of the aunts and my cousin Cate (as well as the little cousins Joel and Jake, who are pretty coo) came into town for the last half of the week (they usually come into town for the Art Fair, which was this weekend, anyways). It was a noisy blast having them around, as always. I have (pretty awesome/funny) pictures up on Facebook. The sad part is: I missed the Art Fair completely. The whole family went on Friday, and we buried Grandpa on Saturday so... yeah. I missed it. I'm sure I'll get over it eventually, but the Art Fair is always a blast to go to, so it's a shame it slipped by it. But anyways: the ceremony that we did for the burial (the funeral Mass had already been said a few months ago) was really good. It began with a quotation from a guy named Fr. Bede Jarrett (at first I was excited because I thought it was Venerable Bede, but I guess not) that was probably the most profound thing that I've ever heard about death: Death is only an Horizon We give them back to you, O Lord, who first gave them to us; and as you did not lose them in the giving, so we do not lose them in the return. Not as the world gives do you give, O Lover of souls. For what is yours is ours also, if we belong to you. Life is unending because love is undying, and the boundaries of this life are but an horizon, and an horizon is but the limit of our vision. That pretty much wowed me. I really liked that. So anyways, yeah. I'm not sure I have anything else to say, really. I'm sure I'm forgetting /something/. Oh well. "Won't mean a thing until it hurts! (Is anyone out there?)" -L 3 comments|post comment

Urban Hipster, the new gangster, frontin' by the club... [22 Jul 2006|12:32am] [ mood | Dead Tired ] [ music | "Where is the Line" - by Billy Talent ] So yeah. Something that I realized is that, when I write (and even when I talk, often) I have difficulty saying what I'm feeling if I have somehow classified my feelings as "invalid" in that situation. I dunno, like if a friend unknowingly does something that hurts me, and they ask how I am, I am likely to say that I'm fine, because I really "have no right to be hurt" in that situation. And it's not like I keep that feeling inside and let it turn into bitterness or anything, I just refuse to acknowledge it and move on. It's a little weird. On the plus side, that often keeps me far more positive and optimistic than I might otherwise be. See, the things that I /know/ in life are all mostly hopeful: that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me, that I am a sinner saved by love, etc. whereas sometimes I can /feel/ like a situation is hopeless or that I'm alone or something. Because I /know/ that feeling isn't an accurate representation of reality, I simply don't express it and instead generally speak only what I know to be true. I don't know, it was something I just noticed recently. Especially because this poem, while it is a pretty trusting, positive poem, embodies about a week of difficulty with those very things. So, rather than expressing those doubts and insecurities, I instead just choose to express the love that I know God has for me. I don't know. Anyways, it's another Spenserian sonnet. I'll get it on the website whenever I next update. I want a better title for it anyways. ( This One Truth (Removes All Doubt) ) Anyways, thanks to all who left an encouraging note. I am really doing much better. I had another phone conversation last night that helped a whole lot. It wasn't even so much what we said, though some of that took a weight off of my heart, but... I dunno. She laughed. It's been almost six months since I heard that, and I wasn't sure I ever would hear it again. Yeah. "New wave mannequins packin' haircuts, instead of packin' guns..." -L 1 comment|post comment

navigation [ viewing | most recent entries ] [ go | earlier ]