Here's my room some six hours later. Notice the sign on the door. I put it there to increase the overall safety factor of the house.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
The Week of the Lucky Shorts
First off, I shall start with a one-word summary of the last few days: nothing. I have done absolutely nothing. True, I read Harry Potter, and cleaned out my closet and my dresser (which I am very proud of, to be sure), but, let's face it, compared to a social life...nothing.
I do, however, have an interesting and lucrative argument as to why you should always wear the same pair of pants (or, in this case, shorts). After wearing that same green pair for somewhere around a month, I noticed some strange growth. No, really, I put on a different pair when I was clearing out my dresser, and lo and behold, a $20 note. Sweet! I later put on another pair, and found $13 in that one. It was a hard day's work. Thus, this week has been dubbed "the Week of the Lucky Shorts." Now, look above for a visual timeline of my room-cleaning operation.
I do, however, have an interesting and lucrative argument as to why you should always wear the same pair of pants (or, in this case, shorts). After wearing that same green pair for somewhere around a month, I noticed some strange growth. No, really, I put on a different pair when I was clearing out my dresser, and lo and behold, a $20 note. Sweet! I later put on another pair, and found $13 in that one. It was a hard day's work. Thus, this week has been dubbed "the Week of the Lucky Shorts." Now, look above for a visual timeline of my room-cleaning operation.
Enlightenment?
(I've been needing to write this post for the last 4 days or so, but never got around to it)
Recently, I've been thinking about ends. Not 'ends' as in 'bookends,' but 'ends' as in the end of a cause, the end of life, of the world, of things good and things bad. Deep ends. Several stories have prompted this thinking:
The Speed of Darkness, aStarcraft book that I read, in which Ardo Melnikov, a Marine, dies defending the surrounding cities from the Zerg Swarm;
Cry, the Beloved Country, that infamous novel, in which Stephen Kumalo realizes the death of his son and the end--but also the beginning--of a way of life;
Some movie that we watched in Oregon, in which an asteroid smashes into the Earth (and a young Elijah Wood who marries his girlfriend to save her, but that really isn't important) and most of the Earth's population is destroyed and civilization knows it will have to start over;
The songs "Anesthesia," "Suffer," "You Don't Belong," "You," "Generator," "Live Again (The Fall of Man)," and others, by an un-named band ( Bad Religion);
And countless others that my memory has forsaken. I thought and thought and finally grasped that
1) Everything must end
2) It's foolish to be afraid of the end, because it is a natural, healthy, and beautiful part of...well...everything.
And that's my piece for tonight. Or most of it, anyway.
Recently, I've been thinking about ends. Not 'ends' as in 'bookends,' but 'ends' as in the end of a cause, the end of life, of the world, of things good and things bad. Deep ends. Several stories have prompted this thinking:
The Speed of Darkness, a
Cry, the Beloved Country, that infamous novel, in which Stephen Kumalo realizes the death of his son and the end--but also the beginning--of a way of life;
Some movie that we watched in Oregon, in which an asteroid smashes into the Earth (and a young Elijah Wood who marries his girlfriend to save her, but that really isn't important) and most of the Earth's population is destroyed and civilization knows it will have to start over;
The songs "Anesthesia," "Suffer," "You Don't Belong," "You," "Generator," "Live Again (The Fall of Man)," and others, by an un-named band
1) Everything must end
2) It's foolish to be afraid of the end, because it is a natural, healthy, and beautiful part of...well...everything.
And that's my piece for tonight. Or most of it, anyway.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Evil Takes Residence
Well, I just returned from the MS 150 (kind of). A quick overview of the preceding days:
Monday-Wednesday 1-3: A faint blur, like the snow shown when Salazar hacks Leon's radio thing.
Thursday 4: Zach came over. We played some SSBM, and then journeyed to Fred Meyer for a noble quest, which will be discussed more in-depth at the end of this post. I scrambled to get ready that night.
Friday 5: I got it all together (literally) and headed over to the Burt's house to depart for the MS 150! ('priceless relic' music). We drove down there, and I tried to read Cry, the Beloved Country, but to no avail. I did, however, succeed in leaving most of my things at my house, so I had to borrow some stuff from the Bangs, our Oregonian friends. It turned out all right. Orion and I tried to beat the high scores on all of his Wario Ware minigames to unlock the final games. Needless to say, we didn't have enough time. So we finally got the campground and set up the most expensive and confusing tents I have ever laid eyes on. They were campground tents, sturdy, big, heavy, tents, the kind that I haven't even thought about for the last 5 years, because all I do now is backpack. We finally got those up, then went to a delicious Chinese dinner (ha! ha ha!).
Saturday 6: The first day! It was a lot of bike ridingee, obviously. There were rest stops every 15 or so miles. It was hot and hard at some points, and I lagged behind the other two, but ti was sweet. I got back 20 minutes after them and followed their sack-hitting example. The stupid place ran out of dinner (maybe I shouldn't have helped myself) so we went to a pizza/pasta place for dinner.
Sunday 7: Second day! It was considerably more hilly than the first. We had old guys ahead of us, then we'd pass them on the climb, then they'd scream past on the downhill. Madness.
Nick and Orion waited for me before finishing; they're such sweethearts. So we finished, us 3, and took showers. Then I went home with my parents ('home' being the Bangs' house, of course). I slept in their hammock and we later saw a movie about the destruction of the world (more on that later).
Monday 8: We ate breakfast and stuff and talked and all that and then and and and we finally left to go to what must have been a city planner's cruel joke. Yes, strip malls or plazas or whatever you fancy they be called. Sheer Hell. I must have spent close to 3 hours in the car, waiting for the end. We didn't get home until about 4, at which point I refused to remove my hands from my Gamecube controller. I kind of started Harry Potter, reading only up to page 167.
Tuesday 9: I woke up, ate, and began reading Harry Potter. Yes, yes. My bliss was interrupted by Charlie's gleeful proclamation that I had chores to do. After their completion, back to the book. I finished sometime around 4:30 in the afternoon (the reader may notice that the author has skipped practice yesterday...but come on).
Wednesday 10 (Today): Woke up. Ate. Thought about haveing someone over. Realized that everyone was gone. Played Resident Evil for a while. Warmed to stretch, got distracted by the piano, and now here I am blogging. Perhaps an update later tonight. Yes, that is in order.
But, for now, I must explain how Evil came to take residence in my downstairs. Zach and I went to Fred Meyer to unlawfully purchase Resident Evil 4. After it was rung up, however, I realized I had only 43 dollars of the required $43.51. For lack of a better word, ^#*#$%@!!! I found 4 cents in myt bike bag; we were now only 47 cents short. We could have looked for change, asked for change, or gone home. We did none of these. We went to Jack's house. After some long, heated dialogue, and then some friendly chatting, we procured the necessary monies. Oh 7es 1ndeed. And that's it. We played it until he went home, and then I played it some more, and more on Friday before I went to Orion's house. It's good. What's even better is that it only took 3 hours of shotgun blasts and screams to realize that the TV should not be turned up very loud at all.
Monday-Wednesday 1-3: A faint blur, like the snow shown when Salazar hacks Leon's radio thing.
Thursday 4: Zach came over. We played some SSBM, and then journeyed to Fred Meyer for a noble quest, which will be discussed more in-depth at the end of this post. I scrambled to get ready that night.
Friday 5: I got it all together (literally) and headed over to the Burt's house to depart for the MS 150! ('priceless relic' music). We drove down there, and I tried to read Cry, the Beloved Country, but to no avail. I did, however, succeed in leaving most of my things at my house, so I had to borrow some stuff from the Bangs, our Oregonian friends. It turned out all right. Orion and I tried to beat the high scores on all of his Wario Ware minigames to unlock the final games. Needless to say, we didn't have enough time. So we finally got the campground and set up the most expensive and confusing tents I have ever laid eyes on. They were campground tents, sturdy, big, heavy, tents, the kind that I haven't even thought about for the last 5 years, because all I do now is backpack. We finally got those up, then went to a delicious Chinese dinner (ha! ha ha!).
Saturday 6: The first day! It was a lot of bike ridingee, obviously. There were rest stops every 15 or so miles. It was hot and hard at some points, and I lagged behind the other two, but ti was sweet. I got back 20 minutes after them and followed their sack-hitting example. The stupid place ran out of dinner (maybe I shouldn't have helped myself) so we went to a pizza/pasta place for dinner.
Sunday 7: Second day! It was considerably more hilly than the first. We had old guys ahead of us, then we'd pass them on the climb, then they'd scream past on the downhill. Madness.
Nick and Orion waited for me before finishing; they're such sweethearts. So we finished, us 3, and took showers. Then I went home with my parents ('home' being the Bangs' house, of course). I slept in their hammock and we later saw a movie about the destruction of the world (more on that later).
Monday 8: We ate breakfast and stuff and talked and all that and then and and and we finally left to go to what must have been a city planner's cruel joke. Yes, strip malls or plazas or whatever you fancy they be called. Sheer Hell. I must have spent close to 3 hours in the car, waiting for the end. We didn't get home until about 4, at which point I refused to remove my hands from my Gamecube controller. I kind of started Harry Potter, reading only up to page 167.
Tuesday 9: I woke up, ate, and began reading Harry Potter. Yes, yes. My bliss was interrupted by Charlie's gleeful proclamation that I had chores to do. After their completion, back to the book. I finished sometime around 4:30 in the afternoon (the reader may notice that the author has skipped practice yesterday...but come on).
Wednesday 10 (Today): Woke up. Ate. Thought about haveing someone over. Realized that everyone was gone. Played Resident Evil for a while. Warmed to stretch, got distracted by the piano, and now here I am blogging. Perhaps an update later tonight. Yes, that is in order.
But, for now, I must explain how Evil came to take residence in my downstairs. Zach and I went to Fred Meyer to unlawfully purchase Resident Evil 4. After it was rung up, however, I realized I had only 43 dollars of the required $43.51. For lack of a better word, ^#*#$%@!!! I found 4 cents in myt bike bag; we were now only 47 cents short. We could have looked for change, asked for change, or gone home. We did none of these. We went to Jack's house. After some long, heated dialogue, and then some friendly chatting, we procured the necessary monies. Oh 7es 1ndeed. And that's it. We played it until he went home, and then I played it some more, and more on Friday before I went to Orion's house. It's good. What's even better is that it only took 3 hours of shotgun blasts and screams to realize that the TV should not be turned up very loud at all.
Friday, July 29, 2005
PHILMONT!!!
The following is the revised notes from our expedition at Philmont, the largest restaurant in the Kimi's Teriyaki chain. We had to sell it, naturally. My personal notes will be in italics, because I certainly didn't write the troop's log or anything. Anyway. Here goes:
Philmont Day 0 (1)
7/12/05
Attendees: David Cook, Reid Mortimer, Daniel Strong, Maxwell Vincent, Davis Hill, Jack Scudder, Jacob Power; Red Robinson, Peter Strong, Charlie Hill (advisors).
We traveled to Philmont in two groups: Reid, Maxwell, David, and Daniel flew and camped in the Garden of the Gods; Davis, Jacob, and Jack drove with Charlie and his wife Janice. The boys met around 10:30 at Philmont. We all checked in and met our ‘Ranger’ guide, Will Ennis, from Longwood, Florida. We got assigned tents and did lots of unmemorable and boring things—We had a medical recheck and a map thing before that. After many trips to the car, we finally had all our things. We headed off to an opening campfire, where music such as Relient K and Linkin Park was being played. There was a skit to tell of the history of Philmont (and the Wild West). Then we finally hit the sack. There was a terrible lightning storm during the night, and it was really cool. Jacob’s joke: What’s the difference between an American flag and Davis? A flag is patriotic!
Philmont Day 2
7/13/05
We woke up around 6. Most of the boys took showers, which consisted of hot water. After breakfast, we headed over to the Villa Philmonte, the summer house of Waite Phillips and his family (Waite Phillips was the man who donated the Philmont land to the Scouts). It was a beautiful pueblo building, with many intricate carvings and pictures. Davis played the ancient but fine piano (worth $200,000)! After the tour, we scrambled to ready our packs. They were packed and waiting for us when we finished lunch. We then sat around and played cards for and hour of two, until the bus came. Unfortunately, our gas bottled needed a topping-off—and the gas place bottomed out (technically, Jacob forgot to get gas)! Luckily, we got all filled up, and headed out to the Kit Carson Museum, where we saw the building that was home to Kit Carson for many years. We learned about the history of the Santa Fe Trail, and watched Nora, our tour guide, fire a black powder rifle. We also threw tomahawks (Davis was the best, of course). We finally hit the trail and camped at Olympia, an unstaffed camp (We also had to forge streams without removing our shoes). Olympia was a piece of crap. Seriously. A big field with a fire pit. Whoopee. While coming back from getting water, Charlie almost stepped on a rattlesnake and jumped into the air with a “whoa!” We finally went to sleep—Charlie and Davis had to turn their tent around! Man, our tent was the wrong way on a hill. Sucky.
Philmont Day 3
7/14/05
We woke up and headed out for Zastrow. There was some tense confusion about separating the food, but it turned out all right. It was a short hike to Zastrow. We saw a buck and a doe on the way. It was a short hike to Zastrow, but it was hot. When we got there, we did the fabled orienteering course. It was fun, but Davis and Maxwell stayed at one clue to solve a huge math problem. After that, we got showers and cleaned our clothes. There was a very nice Red Roof Inn, the finest fecal establishment in Philmont. We went over to Zastrow for some delicious dutch oven cooking. WE later came back to play Zastroball (Zorkball) and saw some deer. We owned the staff at Zastroball, 3 games to 2. After that, we climbed up on a ridge and participated in a rededication ceremony. Once we were sufficiently rededicated, we headed back to camp and looked at the stars for a while before going to sleep.
Philmont Day 4
7/15/05
We woke up at 7 and started packing up. However, we were delayed by a vicious discussion on the merits of different food distribution methods. After breakfast, Will, our Ranger, left us (we hope to catch him in base camp). It was, once again, a short, hot hike to Abreu, our midday stop. First we hit the cantina for root beers, and Davis spilled one on the counter, sacrificing his own handkerchief (because the lady was already quite cranky). Next, we headed on over to make some adobe bricks (We all got different Spanish names). Before the bricks, we toured the homestead, which had the nicest stove in all of Philmont. By that time, the trail needed a hitting, so we set off for Carson Meadows. It has a beautiful cabin for the staff, completed with a spacious porch, where we hung out before setting up camp. After setting up, we went to go do Search and Rescue (we saw hummingbirds fighting over a feeder on the porch). Orange Team consisted of Davis, Maxwell, and David; Blue Team, Jacob, Jack, and Daniel; Reid was base camp. Orange Team found Red in 20 minutes (it must be some sort of record), We sat on the porch and watched as storm come in before realizing that dinner needed making. Alas, we were too late. As the pot began to boil, hail started pouring down. The hail soon became a vicious torrent, and we were caught in the center of a swirling maelstrom for a cold, wet hour and a half. Our packs were under the dining fly, but a stream surged down to take them out. The crew frantically rerouted the water in the nick of time. Davis braved the storm to make dinner, but to no avail. WE finally ate lukewarm beef stroganoff; it was quite delicious. When the storm subsided, a bunch of guys went down to the porch for food. After a verbal beating from Charlie, however, they hustled guiltily back to camp to salvage and repair. We finally got all ready and got to bed, which is where this is being written.
Philmont Day 5
7/16/05
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
It's in your head
It's in your head
It's in your head
Zombie, zombie-ie -e -e
"Everybody's gotta die sometime."
Well, I woke up last night with the sound of some woman crooning above lyrics in my head. It was 1, and I was just SCARED. Of...stuff. I just finished this really weird book; that may have had something to do with it. I dunno.
So today I got up and mowed a lawn with The Jackob. So then I just did nothing, until Zach called to tell me that he and Preston were going to see Star Wars at 3:15. Sweet. I got down there at 2:30, and we hung out. The Huge Fairy has visited Preston, and now he looks like a normal person (acts like one too). Ha ha! Just kidding, old buddy (wasn't kidding). So yeah. We went down there, and what can I say? It was Star Wars. We rode the bus back, and then finally stopped at an AMPM for some crappy, as it turned out, hot dogs. We did get those pink cookies though. MMMmmm... Yeah. Today has been a light training day, as I battle my unavoidable lack of sleep. Grr. Which reminds me, why in Heaven and Hell am I still awake?
It's in your head
Zombie, zombie-ie -e -e
"Everybody's gotta die sometime."
Well, I woke up last night with the sound of some woman crooning above lyrics in my head. It was 1, and I was just SCARED. Of...stuff. I just finished this really weird book; that may have had something to do with it. I dunno.
So today I got up and mowed a lawn with The Jackob. So then I just did nothing, until Zach called to tell me that he and Preston were going to see Star Wars at 3:15. Sweet. I got down there at 2:30, and we hung out. The Huge Fairy has visited Preston, and now he looks like a normal person (acts like one too). Ha ha! Just kidding, old buddy (wasn't kidding). So yeah. We went down there, and what can I say? It was Star Wars. We rode the bus back, and then finally stopped at an AMPM for some crappy, as it turned out, hot dogs. We did get those pink cookies though. MMMmmm... Yeah. Today has been a light training day, as I battle my unavoidable lack of sleep. Grr. Which reminds me, why in Heaven and Hell am I still awake?
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