allegri

Template Showcase

2007-04-13T21:06:00.001-06:00

This template is currently up for a showcase of Sawyer Pangborn's web designs. If you came across this site looking for recent content for Allegri, please visit:
http://andkate.org
Please update your links to the new address, as the redirect will not be back up for some time. Thanks.

IMG_0189

2006-09-12T10:03:00.000-06:00

IMG_0189
Originally uploaded by allegri.

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Uganda rebels say their fight ends today

2006-08-30T19:01:00.000-06:00

KAMPALA, UGANDA - The leaders of a shadowy guerrilla movement that has terrorized Ugandans for nearly two decades went on local radio with a special announcement: As of today, the Lord's Resistance Army will stop fighting.

The guerrillas -- notorious for cutting off the tongues and lips of civilians, enslaving children and driving nearly 2 million people from their homes -- have agreed to end a brutal but little known conflict.
They signed a truce with the government Saturday that gives their gunmen three weeks to gather at two villages in largely uninhabited areas across the border in southern Sudan, where they will be protected and monitored. The truce is to take effect this morning.

Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, declared himself a prophet fighting to rule the country by the Ten Commandments.

U.N. officials estimate that Kony's guerrillas stole 20,000 children, turning the boys into soldiers and the girls into sex slaves. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Kony and four other rebel leaders, but the Ugandan government has promised not to turn them over in return for an end to the insurgency.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Another article on posted on BBC

Dear friends, for the sake of at least 20,000 young lives ruined or destroyed, pray this is true.

new beginnings

2006-08-23T15:13:00.000-06:00

The gleeful screams of young toddlers fill the cool air, as the winds from the east carry the delight from the security of their shrouded inhabitance. It seems like just yesterday when I was content in sitting on the swing for hours, or riding my bike around the block until I was dizzy. What happened to the time when life was easy? Where did all that time go? Time seems to pass like the sand in an hour glass, as the moments of our life that we cherish most pass us by in the blink of an eye. If we donÂt take the time to cherish every breathe it will escape us as the moment passes and leaves us in the dust with the memories that we wish we had held more dear.

A bell tolls, its noon. Students fill the courtyards as they wander, like ants in their hill, going to and fro, from one class to another. Another summer has come and gone and once again the toils of classes, tests, and papers has begun once again. This marks the beginning of my second year of University. This year has a new location, although I very much loved Bethel many circumstances made it difficult to return. I love it. Minus the parking issuesÂ. It is a bit weird not living on campus and living back at home, I was so used to coming and going whenever I felt like it. So, it has been a touch difficult to get used to having time constraints and family being a factor into my activities. But school is good. I am still loving my major and so far all of my classes seem like they are good fits into my four year plan.

pearls before swine

2006-06-17T14:52:00.000-06:00

Pearls Before Swine Comic. Sometimes I feel this is would have a greater effect.

words wasted

2006-06-17T14:44:00.000-06:00

So far it seems that my summer has been quite unproductive. I have moved home, reorganized my room about 5 times, made it about halfway through two books, allotted a good 20 hours of watching cspan2. This I don't start work until Monday and it has been quite an interesting and irritating journey on that to this point, being at an impasse were I have no control of what happens, and have no sight on what could possibly happen... Its been frustrating but realizing that I don't have control of my life; is something that has taken me the last 18 years (close to 19 now :D) to get into my thick skull that control is something I will never really have. Although I may long for it, and I may even believe I have it in my grasp at points I really don't.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
- Charles Swindoll

As much as I hate to admit it, this quote hits me hard... Because that really is how it goes, we are all in control of our own attitudes, the one thing in life that we can control, the one thing that we need to have a total and complete grasp on. Everything is a chain reaction one falling domino effects the rest in its path. If we allow our attitude to have an attitude of its own it causes the rest of those domino's to fall, yet we cannot this pious event to happen. We must be in control of what we can... yet, with it being the one thing we are responsible for, why is it the one thing none of us want to have to control?

Sometimes I get to this point of denial, that my life means nothing in the greater effect of the world, a point where I take on this apathetic nature, allowing this "I am not in control of my own life, what I do changes nothing, why even try, no one is listening." How do I let my mind fall into this trap? Like I am Pooh, trapped in the honey pot once again. Never really realizing that every step I take, every time I raise this little voice, it creates a chain reaction that could one day change the tides and make the mountains move. Maybe someday I will actually be able to see the difference I make in the world, maybe not, maybe the world wont hear my voice until long past my expiration date. But yet I need to continue this journey, this path that I don't know where it leads, each day giving up my desire to be in control of something that I can not actually ever have. Maybe one of the traps is this site, it is the honey pot, I see the lack of comments and views and believe that these words are merely words that are wasted because they reach nearly no one... that my ability to change the world lays merely in the extent of my ability to use the verdana font...

Blue Like Jazz

2006-06-16T16:35:00.000-06:00

All this flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside of my proper skin;
I talk of love - a scholar's parrot may talk Greek -
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

- C.S. Lewis

a few more than 3 strikes in this ballgame

2006-06-09T22:50:00.000-06:00

After a "favor" filled 22 years, last night, Republican and former House Majority Leader, Tom Delay said his final goodbye's to the US House of Congress.

In his usual fighting form, "The Hammer" gave another defiant speech, in which he defended conservatism and partisan politics. At one point even going as far as commenting on the recent confirmation of General Hayden as the new director of the CIA stating, "You show me a nation without partisanship, and I'll show you a tyranny."

In April DeLay announced his resignation from Congress after two of his former congressional aides pleaded guilty to the bribery charges in the Abramoff scandal. In which some of the reports in the scandal related to the DeLay led golfing trip to Scotland. DeLay contradicted himself in saying that he knew nothing of Abramoff's actions in any sort, yet DeLay describes him as "one of my closest and dearest friends", insisting that the charges were the result of a Democratic plot to remove him from office.

Despite being flagged multiple times by the House Ethics Committee, he was never red carded, although being scarred for the involvement in many scandals including:

Killing the investigation into labor abuse in the Marianna's Islands
Raising corporate cash for TRMPAC
Bribing Congressmen to vote for Medicare
Using taxpayer money for a partisan stunt
Blocking legislation for partisan vendetta
Left ethics behind on European vacation
Tried to change rules to protect power

Regardless of the many claims against him and the allegations that he was involved in risky business, he denies all counts of any involvement in these scandals and states that they were merely slander and defamation to remove him from office.

One of his opponents, representative Barney Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts; states how even though he loathes DeLay's politics, he respects his political skills. The Republicans almost never lost floor votes when he was around; if necessary, he would hold votes until he could bully and sweet-talk enough lawmakers into taking his side. "But I think like a lot of true believers who get convinced of the righteousness of their ends, he got in trouble with some of the means."

To the end of his career he never stopped fighting for what he wanted, for what he believed was right, whether it got him into the deep end or not, nor did he ever regret taking the actions that he took.

"I have scraped and clawed for every vote, every amendment, for every word of every bill that I believed in my heart would protect human freedom and defend human dignity, and given the chance to do it all again, there's only one thing I'd change, I'd fight even harder." - Tom DeLay

He went out with a bang in his usual defiant manner and continued his farewell speech. A speech that caused many Republicans to stand in ovation, as well as one that caused many Democrats to walk out. Many Democratic politicians after the speech spoke, that they pray that now - since DeLay's "stranglehold" on the House has dissipated, that the voices of nearly half the country that have been silenced for the past 22 years, will now have a say in the legislative processes of this nation.

journeying onward

2006-05-27T15:06:00.000-06:00

Thursday May 25 5:45 am

I love these morning walks around the lake, with no direct route and no distinguished time of return. Only following a rugged dirt path, hoping that it will bring you back to the same place it always has. Home. The lilacs as they glisten in the dawn, throw of the scent of some luxurious perfume that only the richest have money to purchase, and only the humble have a chance to experience naturally. Straying not from the path but to redirect thine journey away from the freshly sprouted towers, as the ants go about their daily routine of building a home for their queen; and misguided sprinklers throwing frigged water unto all it can reach. The lake more still than cooled glass, tainted with the elements of a students' most recent attempt to be rid him self of all things educational. The pigment still fresh and hardly bleed. Bubbles of oxygen rescue pieces of the document, as though the liquid has destined specific items to preserve. The branches entangled within one another, high above the ground making a wet canopy, luring in morning travelers with its eerie mist over the now dimly lit path. Two lone tire swings blow in the wind as if the children of the night have yet to finish playing on them. As their giggles and playful screams are dulled by that of the morning winds from the west. The red embers and smoldering glow casting the essence of a still burning flame of the fire that was extinguished not long ago. The white smoke still billowing lightly from its bay. The sticky grass applies its self as a motif to the travelers shoes as the blue jays come out to greet her good morning and adieu. Their chirps filling the air with an intoxicating tranquility begging her not to leave their secret place, that which they all have held so dear. And there, she has arrived at her secret corner, her unabashed seat under the oaks, as the morning quietly sneaks up on her, transforming the darkened sky into a light hew of gray. The sun hiding behind the gloomy sky as though it already knows the deeds of the day and refuses to shine. For today is the day that the land must bid its traveler adieu. That she must continue her journey, onward.

and then there was two

2006-05-22T14:19:00.000-06:00

I gaze across the room to the empty space that was once homely decorated, with everything neatly placed within its own specific categorical order. The empty space now gives a gloom and reminder that is actually the end. The end of one journey, and the beginning of three new paths as we continue our walks on with lives. Our once bubbly trio has dissipated now to a stressed out, sleep deprived duo praying that today was Friday, and that all finals had passed us by.

Last night was one of remembrance, one of reminiscing upon all of our mishaps, adventures, sleepless nights, and "I have had way too much caffeine" times. Surely ones that I will never forget.

I will always remember, I will always love:
my amazing roomies. late night walks to sem hill. becky paul! movie and pizza nights. studying in market. sarah frederickson. 4am perkins runs via the train tracks. bruggers bagel saturdays. 2am conversations with karis on the passion of life. alyssa king. the abandoned house. welcome week. shannon mccoy. painting the rock. the swings outside the cdc. stephanie johnson. borrowing furniture. dorm wars because of borrowed furniture. homecoming. sa. all of my amazing floormates. runs to northwestern college. the u of m. lovie! the three sexy men tempting me in my fridge. cambria breitkreutz. playing in the snow. stealing sheets. watching the entire season one of house in two days. amish people. getting mail. apples to apples at 6am. walks around the lake. horror movie marathon on the hill. bonfires. discovering true passion. standing up for a cause. being nicknamed "gadget" by the floor. the hilarious boys from b2. being pranked by the boys from b2. debates. minnesota institue of art. watching the entire lord of the rings trilogy before finals week with laura. random picture adventures. chai days. ramen rainy days.

finals

2006-05-19T11:50:00.000-06:00

You know its know it is coming up on finals week when:

You see the sun rise twice consecutively without seeing your bed in between....

2 more finals to go,
1 final research paper,
6 days until I am a sophomore!
10 days until I am home!! :D

I love my roommates!

2006-05-16T19:56:00.000-06:00

Me: [reading a quote book] "I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey." -Mark Twain

Karis: Is that why he created woman then, he was disappointed in man?

Friday, May 12 2006

2006-05-12T11:46:00.000-06:00

I am so close to just counting down the minutes until I am home... with 2 group projects, 2 more tests, 3 finals, 1 eight page research paper, 12 more class sessions, 3 songs placed on the back burner, and thousands of posts placed back in the freezer since the back burner is full...

17 days 11 hours 52 minutes...

sigh

2006-05-03T12:01:00.000-06:00

I am starting to get used to not seeing my bed until at least 4am on Tuesday nights, followed by an alarm that goes off at 8am.... :/ Depressing, and stressful the hours between 4pm on Tuesday and 4pm on Wednesday are now equivalent to that of a living Hades.....

23 days of school left.
26 days until I am home.

Nothing Left

2006-04-11T22:56:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, when I, Look into the mirror.
I cry, oh God, I wish you were here tonight
And I pray, I say, where are you now?
Oh, I wish I could find out.

In the midst of all this, earthly noise,
I cry out just to hear your, loving voice.
And all I can do, is just to worship you.
Bringing it, all to you, my king.

Everything, this is my offering, its yours.

And When I had nothing to left to lose,
No one else to chose,
Nothing I could do, nothing else,
Only to run straight to you.

You, You looked into my heart and you said,
My dear child, this is where
It has to start…

Longing just to get it right,
Seeking not, only your hand, tonight.
Wanting to, see your face,
To have the, feeling of your grace.

And all I can do, is just to worship you.
Bringing it, all to you, my king.

Everything, this is my offering, its yours.

And When I had nothing to left to lose,
No one else to chose,
Nothing I could do, nothing else,
Only to, keep running, straight to you.

And all I can do, is just to worship you.
Bringing it, all to you, my king.

Everything, this is my offering, is yours. Eternally yours

And when I opened up these tear stained eyes,
I turned to see you standing there,
Forever by my side.

And all I can do, is just to worship you.
Bringing it, all to you, my king.

Everything, this is my offering, is yours. Eternally yours

When I had nothing to left to lose,
No one else to chose,
Nothing I could do, nothing else,
But to run straight to you.

Only to run straight to you…
I’ll keep running straight to you…

time to breathe?

2006-04-08T17:46:00.000-06:00

You ever have those days where you have like a million things to do, and for some reason your hands and mind don't seem to ever be connected? Today was one of those days. At work, Caribou Coffee, I had two lattes, and a scalding green tea decide to go kamikaze and committed suicide all down the front of me. Now I have a pile of homework seriously a mile high, way too many things to do before Wednesday:

- Moral Analysis for Philosophy
- Project for Computer Science
- Test in Computer Science
- Test in French
- Annotated Bibliography for Creative Writing
- Pacifism Essay for Creative Writing

And all I can think of is just having "me" time... Relaxing down with a movie... Spend a few hours not thinking about homework, school... And it is the last thing I have time to do.

I just have way too many things on my mind right now... so I am going to press the mental defrag button and watch Pride and Prejudice....

Rage against the machine

2006-04-05T16:55:00.000-06:00

Man versus man.
Man versus nature.
Man versus himself.
Man versus machine.

These are the four victorian conflicts. In the last 20 hours I have gone through two of these. It seems as though it takes a conflict to get me to start writing thoughtful post on here. First off, Man versus machine. Last night the conflict was between me, a rough computer science assignment, and a DNS server that decided that it wanted to play games with my sanity.

With in this conflict, arises a subconflict, Man versus himself. This was s conflict that pressed me to the edge of whether to give up or to persevere through the night. A conflict that drove me to tears and muttering profanities under my breath at the mass confusion. Sitting on the phone at 2am trying to describe one of many compilation errors, without being able to show the actual code that was causing the issues. My body physically lagging and the worry actually making me sick to my stomach. Four o'clock rolls around and still no connection, cognitive capacity decreasing faster and faster and the presence of physical exhaustion is becoming visibly noticeable. Attempting to defeat ones physical desire and need for rest; finally my body crashed around 5:30, only to awaken to the sound of "5,025,600 minutes...", two hours later.

Again, the machine comes in to play, as I so eagerly meander out of bed, I begin to unlock my computer, soon to find that the internet is still down across campus. Knowing that there was nothing I could do until the internet is back up I wearily climb back into my bed; the sheets already cold from the absence of my body for only moments. Crawling back under the covers I utter many desperate prayers, stated plainly as "God, please let it work, please!" Closing my eyes I drift of, instantaneously, my dreary mind praying vigorously for r.e.m..

I, awake to the sound of MSN signing me in at 8:10. Finally the internet is back up and running. Thrusting myself out of bed I rush to my computer, unknowing if it was a steady stream of connection, or if the server would play hide-and-seek again. Working as fast as I can to knowledgeably, and correctly finish my assignment, yet proceeding with caution on the temperamental connection.

10:50. Assignment completed. All methods wrote, all variables declared, javadoc'd, jar'd, emailed, printed, done.

All thanks to the amazing intelligent insightful hero, who not only stayed up half of the night to attempt to get me to relax, and comprehend what needed to be done, and finally to go to bed. But also got up early as well, to make sure I understood what the program was supposed to look like. Wow. I am so lucky *grin*

It is now 3:50. After 3 classes, 2 large mugs of coffee, nearly 8 hours of running off of 2 hours of sleep.... now, now it is naptime..

tomorrow

2006-04-05T00:09:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time
and date will be 01:02:03 04 - 05 - 06.

That won't happen for another century.

You may now return to your (normal) life.

movie quote monday

2006-03-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more; that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds .... That's what you've given me and that's what I hope to give to you forever."

-The Notebook

i am...

2006-03-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Life in review

2006-02-21T00:48:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a hard week, I can already tell. After having my second harsh asthma attack in a 72 hour period I am left cold, breathless, and have a migraine from the access of abuterol floating in my lungs as I type. After a frightening ordeal on Sunday night, I was bed rested for part of today, attempting to catch up on the sleep that the adrenaline in the inhaler caused me to be deprived from. I am still unsure of what caused this event, possibly was the -34 temperatures throughout the weekend, with a mixture of the high pollen count. All I know is that, God has blessed me with so many people out there that are watching over me. Without them, this may have been a very different post.

Having an event like so can cause one to really think about how many things in life they daily take for granted. How many times I sit and think to my self that nobody would care or notice if I was gone; but then seeing how many people come to my aid - a blessing. Or how each breathe of Oxygen is so precious. Once you go without these you notice how much they mean to you. Seeing my life flash before my eyes, how afraid I was that I could have quite possibly never seen the man I love or my family again. Maybe a bit over stating the issue here, but imagine, what if. The though just scares me to think of a possible loss, how it would effect those I love - nearly sends me spiraling into another episode. Life is such a blessing never take it for granted. Never let one moment pass without living it to the fullest, always live every moment like it is your last, because someday, it will be. Go on with life full speed ahead; no regrets from here on out.

God be my guide, the lamp unto my feet. Let me never stray from this path you have laid before me, let no unkind word slip from my lips. Nor let me take one moment for granted. You are my everything. - Amen

I want to take a moment to thank all of those whom where up half of the night, either at my side or 1000+ miles away praying that God had this situation under control. You are a blessing to my life and I pray that someday I will be able to express my gratitude in more than just words to you all. Thank you to all of you who posted little love notes on my last post as well as over on Abandonedhero's site, thanks for all being such a blessing!

Movie Quote Monday

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be love loved in return.

- John Leguizamo as Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge

Passion

2006-01-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

I sit in the Minneapolis International Airport as I begin to write this post, a lovely grande caramel soy latte to my left, my ipod to my right, and a buzzing crowd all around me. Reminiscing of times past and envisioning the future, I remember a 2am conversation that my roommate and I had the other morning. The subject still ringing fresh in my mind. As though the topic had just arisen; "What drives you?". When I first heard this I didn't know exactly how to respond. It threw me back like a ton of bricks straight to the chest, "what does drive me?" echoed through my mind.

I sat pondering this for a few moments, when the first thought that came to my mind was, "To do what God placed me here to do." She sat, staring blankly for a few seconds before responding, "But what do you think that is? What do you think that he is calling you to devote to?" The question hit me, I never really opened up about my inner desires of my heart.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Harold Whitman

What am I passionate about, what makes me come alive? Back in my mind I knew, I have always known, but this would be the first time anyone had even heard. The first time I became vulnerable and spilt out what I feel is my calling in life. Without even giving my mind a chance to decide how I would approach this, I just let it all come out. My passion. My life. I remember a time when my RA talked about how being passionate, is not finding something that makes you happy. Because after a month you will be sick of it, passion is more what *pisses* you off about society. This rung so true. What did I see that I did not agree with? Poverty. AIDS. Trade injustices.

15 months ago I heard of an organization called "make poverty history" at that time I knew very little of how people outside our country lived, and how so many of them die each day because they do not have access to modern technological advances that could save their lives. How "Fair Trade" is nothing about being fair, but infringing on the small rural farmers and sending mass subsidies to underdeveloped nations putting humble farmers out of a job, unable to support their families. How a simple shot could save an HIV positive persons life. How if we are able to shoot down AIDS we can end poverty. How 1% of the US annual budget [25 billion] can educate, feed, vaccinate, and provide clean drinking water to over 1,020 million.

This makes me come alive, I sat with her for nearly two hours just explaining how much I want to play a bigger role in this after I graduate. How I feel that if we can end these social injustices, we can make this world into a better place for all generations and all people. Just because these people where born into a country that does not value personal freedoms, or one that does not have the capability to pull itself back up to its own feet. Citizens of the rest of the world need to dig into their own pockets and give, not loan; to these countries. If we drop the debt, the money that is given to these nations can actually be used to help its people instead of used to pay interest on past loans.

"Where you live should not determine whether you live or die." - Bono Vox

Whether I end up sitting in an office writing legislation to put these items into law, protesting and lobbying congressmen with those of the One & Make Poverty History organizations, or working with World Vision in Africa on the front lines. I know I will make a difference, I know that together our voices can be raised to change this world for the better. Why? Because, poverty really fires me up, I come alive when I see that there is something that can be changed. We are the worlds next leaders, what choices will you make? Stand up for what is right, or what is easy?

All is well, with my soul

2006-01-22T23:17:00.000-07:00

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer; here by Thy great help I've come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

-Robert Robinson, 1758

2 am artwork

2006-01-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

January 6th 2006

2006-01-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

After two days of snowboarding lessons, I have came out alive. With a few extra bumps and bruises that were not present previous to the class. But I have also gained the ability to make it down a run without falling. Amazing.

Summing up all that has happened in the last week, I am back at Bethel and classes have started up once again. Its werid being back, although it is nice to know that at the end of the year I will have 4 more credits than my friends who go back later this month. It has been surreal. Odd non the less. I knew I missed Utah since I came, but it really hit when I left it once again. Sitting on the plane watching my mountains, real mountains fade into the distance as the plane lifted away from the tarmac and towards the heavens. The break was amazing, way short as well. Catching up with friends from high school, sipping coffee and laughing as though a day never past since I left. I miss it. I miss it all. Friends. Mountains. Home. A thought that has plagued my mind since Thanksgiving is that of moving back for the fall semester, going back to the place I once couldn't wait to leave. It seems as soon as you flee, you realize how much it means to you....

A Green Christmas

2005-12-25T01:30:00.000-07:00

I sit, momentarily pausing to look out near by open window, quietly praying that it will begin to snow. Verging the hour of midnight on Christmas Eve, in Salt Lake City, and it is a cool 48 degrees. The still air surrounds my home as I glare across the empty silent valley, barren, snowless...

Only hours previous to this I sat at the SLC Evfree Church's annual Christmas Eve Candle Light Service, listening to the joyous noise of the children's Christmas Pageant. Listening in on a sermon about how in Job 3 the entire reason for why one needs Christmas, the whole problem of pain. Odd, how he continued a series on Job at Christmas, although fitting concerning that Christmas is the beginning to the end of pain.

Which brings me to a new point. Distortion. Have you ever sat back and just watched how the world has distorted what Christmas is? It pains me to see the commercialization of Christmas, taking the image of the baby Jesus and Angels singing on high - proclaiming the glory of God. And transferring that glory to an overweight man in a red suit, with little "elves" that do his work for him? What has this world come to? Has every religious and true icon in this world gone amuck? People would now rather lie to their children telling them of some glutton that comes down the chimney each Christmas, rather than tell them the real meaning for it? Christ is the only reason for the Christmas season. No, not the presents, the family reunions, the food, the travel, the time off school, and most defiantly not a fat guy "giving" you gifts. I never understood, why parents would expose their child something so asinine, so vulgar as santa, then years later break them by telling them the truth, that they lied. Santa does not exist. Why not, this season, just leave this whole santa trash behind and get back to the truth of the season... The birth of the man who would grow up, and then die for everything that you have ever done. Hmmm, try that one on for size...

Christmas Banquet

2005-12-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Student Activities sponsored Christmas Banquet, on Saturday night went off without a glitch. Although that this being a SA event, meant yours truly was up and running by 8am, to the depot to set up for the gala. The banquet sold out - 1,200 tickets, 120 tables, 1,100 almond stuffed chicken breasts, 100 vegetarian almond alternatives, 1,200 ginger salads, 400 feet garland, 700 feet tulle, 50 strands of Christmas lights, one mad DJ, and one gigantic Christmas tree. All composed together made for one crazy party.

But alas, finals week, days of pure crazy and mad studying for 4 tests that count for more of my grade then any test ever did in high school. Although it does have an upside, no 7:30am classes, late night DC, and the looming fact that in 6 days I will be home. Home. A sight that I have not seen since the middle of August. I can't wait to see the mountains, real mountains, not the mole hills out here. My family will be a sight for sore eyes, I have only heard their voices for the past 5 months.

hiatus

2005-12-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

Come to me all who are weary and burdened, for I will give you rest.

-God

Matthew 11:28

pixelized

2005-11-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

As of 6:45 this morning, and having the complete lack of any desire to sleep, in the dim light of the over cast morning I walked over and throughout the campus. This is all after being awake for 20 hours now, mind you. Carrying the bare essentials - camera, cell phone, room key - I headed out for nature trail around the lake. Upon reaching the outdoors, and seeing the dismal look from the clouds I was saddened to notice that I would be virtually incapable of seeing the sunrise without Cyclops glasses. Although I was in dismay of being unable to achieve my original goal, I set out to pixelize the campus. Walking along the path, attempting to adjust me focus onto strange items that seemed to be in the lake, I saw, about 40 loons, lounging in the near freezing water. I made my way up to sem hill, and took a few pictures along the way. I love this time of day, it is beautiful, although, I am rarely awake at it. Starting to lose feeling in my fingers, I headed back to Bodien, where the heat, is now a blessing.

Last night Bethel University's Student Activities Committees, planned and carried out the 2005 Cancer Walk. Raising money for the Minnesota Cancer Research Center. We had a small turn out but an outstanding amounts of funds raised for the number of participants - a near 5 grand. The event went from 9:30pm - 2am, man walking for 4 hours really takes alot out of you. Many Minneapolis companies donated raffle prizes as well as donating food items for the participants - including Quizno's, Krispy Kreme, Chancellor Pizza and Panera. YUMMY... Although, I probably induced more calories during the walk, than I did all day prior to the event. There were a bunch of activities for team members to do while resting, like - DDR, Coloring Books, and Board Games. It was an amazing event, the majority of those walking had been effected by a family member with cancer. It surprised me to see the prevalence of it in society, I never would have guessed that so many people had been effected by an acquaintance with the disease. I want to thank all of those that took part in making this event happen, it was great working with you all, and you all are a blessing to the Research center.

The wedding dress

2005-11-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

If you could love me as a wife
and for my wedding gift, your life
Should that be all I’d ever need
or is there more I’m looking for

and should I read between the lines
and look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what you want

I am a whore I do confess
But I put you on just like a wedding dress
and I run down the aisle
and I run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
but I put you on just like a ring of gold
and I run down the aisle to you

So could you love this bastard child
Though I don’t trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side

I am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

Because money cannot buy
a husband’s jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife

~Derek Webb

Adulterous lives

2005-11-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

James 3:13-4:10

Two Kinds of Wisdom

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. ¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

James 4

Submit Yourselves to God

¹What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? ²You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.⁴You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? ⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." ⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

How does one discern between worldly and Godly wisdom? When living in a world that suppresses all religious thought? Although the one thought that we never seem to be able to get into our minds is...

Worldly Wisdom - Selfish
Godly Wisdom - Selfless

How often do we sit, and pray and ask God to give us something out of our own desires?? He says it right here, in James 4:3, that we will not receive our desires if they are our own, but only if it is to fulfill the Kingdom of God. But yet it never stops us from asking, like a young child, knowing that he can not have a certain toy, but yet he will beg consistently for it... Just hoping that God will change his mind. This is not right. But why do we continue to live this way?

In Verse 4:4 - It states that friendship to the world is hatred to God. That we are adulterous people becoming immersed into a poison that we can not escape. How do we take that? Where do you go? How can one live in the world yet never befriend it? Does one simple live, and yet resist to allow the world to effect their lives? How can we become a witness to the world if we do not accept that the world is changing? Are we not to use the modernized industry as an outlet for ministry? Or is it just to not be conformed? It says that the Holy Spirit envies intensely. It longs for us to give it our time and energy, for the purpose of the Lord's work. In this case would there be a complete difference between being immersed in the world and being filled with it?

Adulterous, meaning one that leaves their spouse to have extramarital relations with one other than thou's spouse. Where does one go after hearing this? How are we to react? Leaving the bride of Christ to go and sin with whatever teases our fancy. Slandering all that is holy to have fun. We are an adulterous generation, no longer can one be satisfied by one love - God - they feel that they must pillage into all sorts of sin to find belonging. Like the old saying goes, "he who dies with the most toys wins", but yet he still dies!!! What use will these bring one in eternity, that can not leave this mortal earth. Yet, the Lord calls us to be humble, to take up our cross and follow him. Not to continue on this path of self-righteousness, but on the path of righteousness.

Are you prepared?

Uptown

2005-11-05T02:17:00.000-07:00

Due to hunting season starting, the campus is at a major lack of occupancy and a major lack of interesting occupants, and activities because of this lack. Due to this stagnation, 5 girls from the other 3rd guys side, and myself decided that off-campus could be much more fun. We got all dollied up and hit the town around 8:30 pm. We had heard rumors of a posh restaurant in uptown that has amazing food, and is tucked away in the city. We finally found the Chino Latino's, even though there was no sign present for it although it is on the main drag, we were confronted with a one and a half hour wait; just to get a booth. Once we got are name on the list, we strolled around the chilly city and resolved that Starbucks could make the cold leave our bones until we got a seat. We finally got in and were seated in a nice booth to people watch from.

We took a look at the menu and noticed that not only is it "Latino" foods, but it is equatorial foods, from across the globe. I noticed the whole pineapple sitting on a close table with a stray sticking out of it, and immediately started searching for it on the menu. MMM, Pina Colda... One of the girls in our group and I decided to share a Fried Ice Cream, another great choice, I was delightful....The food was great, a bit spendy but totally worth the wait and the expense.

Happy Halloween!

2005-11-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

Last night, at our weekly Student Activities meeting, we had a pumpkin carving contest, placing all of the committees against each other. All going for the most creative carving... ever. Many groups used their committee's slogans, while others used their specialties (Seasonal Events), however, my committee vetoed this plague, and came up with a new, better idea. We integrated three SA inside jokes into one amazing quote "Clearly, For The Lovie." It was fun, ours should have won, but mad props to Seasonal Events who took home the chocolate...

Although going to this meeting made me miss out on the majority of the Bodien Hall Halloween Bash, but I think that I will recover. I was amazed at some of the costumes that people had come up with:
A Minnesota Drivers License
IPOD
A Picnic Table and Basket
Batman (child size costume on a six foot guy)
A dinosaur
Charlie's Angels
A Werewolf
An Incredible

I was surprised how many of my dorm mates decided to go trick-or-treating as well, I wouldn't have thought that they would. I wouldn't its so juvenile. And we still had candy left from Sunday when the TCO (Twin Cities Outreach) kids came and trick-or-treated through our dorms... awww, they were so cute!! I miss hanging out with the little ones every week!!!

movie quote monday

2005-10-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

"The past isn't real. It's just a dream."

-Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho

requests

2005-10-27T11:02:00.000-06:00

I have two requests for you all this morning, prayer for the most amazing person ever an one for myself.

1. My dearest floormate: Gretchen has lyrangitis and she has the opening night of the musical Stepping Out, In which she is one of the leads, and has no understudy. Pray that her voice will come back and not be painful to perform.

2. Myself: My throat is killing me and I can when I take a deep breath, I can feel it all throughout my chest and start extensive coughing fits.

Roommate Roulette

2005-10-24T21:08:00.000-06:00

Every year, each floor from all of the residence halls, plan an event that can make or break your relationship with your roommates. It can only be described as Roommate Roulette. At an event of such velocity, one is in the environment of utter confusion and complete trust of their roommates. In the weeks leading up the event, ones roommate finds a certain someone, as a blind date for their roomie, or in my case; roomies. The best part is keeping it blind, not allowing your lovely roommates to know whom they are going with, a surprise.

It was so much fun, finding dates for my roommates and keeping their prying minds away from manipulating me into giving away the name. Although, I played the same game on them, fortunately none of us gave in. Finally the day came, and as us girls sat in our rooms eagerly awaiting our dates arrival, yet nervously hoping that our roomies did not double play us and get someone really annoying. A knock. Laura was first, anxiously she opened the door, her date waited seemingly as nervous as she. And then they were gone. It was just Karis and I now, one of us would be left to sit alone in the room for who knows how long, a knock. Nervously, I answered the door, unknowing if it would be for me of for her. Thankfully, it was for me. My date. I laughed, the hilarity of it was astounding. My date, was a boy from my dorm, whom practically became my brother since Welcome Week, and through SA.

After waiting what seemed forever to get all of the "couples" from the floor into the vans, we were on our way. Our first stop, one of our floormates for a delicious dinner of Tacos... yummy!!! After dinner, we jumped back in the vans and headed over to another house for some pie and hot chocolate. After we indulged in some wonderful pie (mmmmm, cheesecake!), we went out side for a bon fire, which was fun, and warm! We all found out some good information by that fire; 1. Shoes will melt if they get too close to the fire, move them went you start to feel a tingle in your toes... 2. Anything that you throw in the fire will burn, even if it is your friend... After the bonfire we headed back inside the house and played "4 on the couch" and eat more food. Around 11:30 we piled back into the vans and headed back towards the campus, were everyone went there own ways, many to bed others to movies showing around campus. A bunch of us watched Oceans 11, and devoured more food, and highly caffeinated beverages until about 4am. Then finally decided that the bed might be a good place to go....

The night was amazing, tons of fun, although I can feel a cold coming on....

Pictures on Flickr

Duluth, MN

2005-10-17T19:19:00.000-06:00

I sit, taking it all in. The cool afternoon breeze, refreshing. Dangling my feet into the chilly water, the temperature a reminder of the freezing conditions that are soon to arrive, eagerly awaiting their turn; like a young child waiting for the recess bell. Luscious Reds, Vibrant Oranges splash the trees with color, photosynthesis done. The crisp sounds of a gleeful child crushing the fallen leaves as he traverses off the path. Donning my eyes from the 1,000 Ft ship, to the Aerial Lift Bridge, I listen. Attempting to decipher the code of long and short horn blows, as preparations for entrance to the harbor are made. Slipping on my blades, I return to the path, memories of past trips down this trail flooding my mind.

Events of the weekend still fresh in my mind as I return to the campus, the reminiscent joy of looking back on past fears and excitement. On Saturday night; Eric, Molly and I went on the "William H. Irving Ship of Ghouls", (oh my heck!!) rationalization about these sorts of things is irrational, and borderline impossible. After boarding and deciding that this would probably be the biggest waste of money ever, I was practically red flagged. Not far into the vessel, I had lost all sense of rationale, fear had taken over. All senses alert and nerves feeling every change in temperature and air density. Lungs gasping for air as I abandoned this ship, fingers relaxing after they left the grip of Eric's arm, leaving a negative of where they had been. Forcing my mind back into reality, and getting my heartrate back into a normal range...

fall break

2005-10-13T11:20:00.000-06:00

Fall break is officially fall break, fortunately enough I had a test at 8:30-9:30 this morning that ended my week with no later classes! So, I'm off to Duluth for the weekend to hang out with my cousins and grandparents, and get to eat food that is not mass produced!!

permanent cripple....

2005-10-10T09:35:00.000-06:00

So, I have a hairline fracture in my left tibia, due to a tumble involving 160 people, complete psychoses (a.k.a. homecoming rally), and a set of bleachers. And due to a pair of crutches that I had to be on, I have a shin splints in my right leg... yay! The fact that everyday I have to ascend and descend three flights of stairs to get to my room is no help, nor that we have no elevator in the Freshman housing. And the fact that hyper-flexision is the one thing that sends a shooting pain up my shin. The one item that pains me the most is that I can not do any "strenuous" activity for 2 weeks which means that I must quit tennis. I feel like cripple whom will never heal from one injury before jumping into the next.

Lovely 100

2005-10-07T18:06:00.000-06:00

What all started on a lonely dismal day in October of 2004, has finally reached its one hundredth post. Wow, 100... werid to think of all the time that was spent in making all of those posts... the countless hours of procrastinating on homework by writing a post about how I was not doing homework to write it. Now I thought that dedicating this post to something would be a grand idea, but to what? What things other than posts do I have a 100 of? Pictures? That might be a bit difficult to post. Then it came to me, 100 random facts about the wonderful writer of all of these amazing posts that you have come to read. So here it is, where the rubber meets the road, you may be faced with extreme boredom, or engrossed by the sheer randomosity of many of these, but anyways... In Honor of my 100^th post I am going to give a little bit of insight and background on your lovely author and expose something's that you might never have guessed.

1. I was born in Florida.
2. I was an Air Force brat.
3. I have lived in 7 houses, in 9 cities, 4 states, and 2 countries.
4. I have had more concussions than I can remember. Maybe those two are related??
5. I knew how to shoot both a gun and a bow before I was 12.
6. I am nocturnal.
7. You can count the number of students in my graduating class with 2 hands.
8. My favorite actor is Johnny Deep.
9. I have winter allergies.
10. I love the color red.
11. I have an addiction to Mountain Dew.
12. I am deathly afraid of spiders.
13. And snakes too!
14. Frosting on cakes makes me sick.
15. I have had stitches in my head 3 times before I was 5.
16. Two were because of an (evil) birth mark.
17. My favorite snack is chocolate chip cookie dough.
18. I love to read.
19. When I was in my early teens I had 4 notebooks filled front to back with details on items that I had watched being recovered from the Titanic and all of the other stuff about it, most of this information was acquired through hours of the History and Discovery channels, I brought these notebooks with me to the exhibit and got a lot of strange looks about it.
20. I am Swedish and German, predestined to have blonde haired and blue eyed, I changed that.
21. I used to watch Pacific Blue everyday after school, along with Saved by the Bell, and Full House.
22. When I was in elementary school I played the piano but I quit to play the flute, although my lessons never came through and the flute is still unused.
23. I have danced and done gymnastics for at least 6 years of my life.
24. I am an organizational geek/clean freak but I am also lazy; the two do not get along very often.
25. I would rather climb a rock face than sit in a classroom.
26. My favorite food is anything Italian or Chinese.
27. I hate fish.
28. I have an addiction to History especially European, and early American Colonies.
29. I have traveled across 4 different continents.
30. My favorite place is Tallinn, Estonia (think 17th century).
31. I love dogs, and have an adorable one back home (Emma).
32. I love to cook, but hate to do dishes.
33. I have had my life threatened 2 times.
34. I have been in 2 Disney movies, Going to the mat, and Halloweentown 3.
35. I am addicted to text messaging.
36. I am very accident and injury prone.
37. My digital camera goes everywhere with me.
38. I have moderate views on the political spectrum, but usually lead toward republican.
39. My dreams often come true.
40. I got stuck in the 90's and still think that Backstreet Boys are cool.
41. My favorite author is Shakespeare I can't understand why people think that he is a hard read.
42. I like most women have already chosen the names of my future children, and have back up names in case any of my friends steal them.
43. I am deathly afraid of needles.
44. I have 46 pairs of shoes, and counting.
45. I have had two boyfriends and never kissed either.
46. It's a miracle if I get more than 5 hours of sleep a night; unless it's Saturday.
47. I love my nalgene!! I collect them, currently I have 13 of them...
48. I was raised in a born again Christian home and still follow that adamantly.
49. Back home I go to church on both Saturday night and Sunday mornings.
50. My favorite scent is Coconut.
51. American Eagle gains at least half of my income.
52. The rest goes to Caribou and Barnes and Noble.
53. I aspire to one day be an Ambassador or work for the government.
54. I have ~~never broken a bone~~ only partially broken 1 bone.
55. I am a total Internet junkie.
56. I am a Leo.
57. When I was 8 I made up my own dream profession; A Pediatric Paramedic Orthopedic Surgeon I think I might have watched a bit too much ER.
58. My favorite number is 7.
59. I have 131 people on my IM list, all of whom I talk to regularly.
60. 9 of whom live in a different country, and all of which I have met previous to them landing on my IM list.
61. I am lactose intolerant.
62. I have taken 1st place in speech twice.
63. Not to brag, but I am an excellent Archer.
64. I hate piggish eaters my biggest pet peeve.
65. I really want to learn how to play the drums.
66. I have a dream to backpack across part of Europe with my brother someday.
67. Who lives in Moscow, Russia.
68. I also have an older sister who is studying Biotechnology.
69. My first celebrity crush was on Tom Cruise.
70. I can quote the entire trilogy of Lord of the Rings.
71. I have met Andy Serkis (the voice of Gollum), and was in a movie with Debbie Reynolds.
72. I love cryptographs, the complexity amuses me.
73. My favorite candy bar is 3 Musketeers.
74. If I could chose a decade other than the 00's I would chose the 40's.
75. I do my homework, just usually on the morning it is due.
76. I compulsively check my email like 30 times a day.
77. I usually only eat 2 meals a day, but I snack terribly. Another bad habit that will catch up with me someday hopefully not soon.
78. I love running.
79. I have an addiction to tanning.
80. I will instantly fall head over heels for a guy who is chivalrous.
81. I kill at Monopoly.
82. I tend to use sarcasm as a defense.
83. I love wearing my sunglasses at all times during the day, inside and out.
84. Many people take me for a snob.
85. But really I'm just insecure, so I rarely let my guard down.
86. I have an addiction to spy and cop shows (Alias, CSI, and Without A Trace).
87. I have to have a piece of gum in my mouth during class, otherwise I will fall asleep.
88. At times I can be quite obsessive-compulsive.
89. I hate people who try to prove how "cool" they are by bringing others down it only proves how big of a jerk they are.
90. My favorite flower is Jasmine.
91. I support George W. Bush as President.
92. I hate is when people don't stand up for themselves, and then they turn around and complain about it.
93. My cousins are on the U.S. Olympic Ski Jumping team.
94. When I was 12 I was asked to come work at Colonial Williamsburg, but I had to decline, considering I lived in Minnesota at the time.
95. Did I mention that I am a total history geek?
96. My mom is glad that my hair is the most rebellious part of me, it has changed to many times to count, nearly every 3 weeks.
97. I plan to live in either Paris or London, someday.
98. I have known my two of best friends since third grade, Shout out to Rosa and Alyssa, I love you two!!!
99. If I can't drink soda I have to have Orbit Gum, another sad addiction.
100. It is still my aspiration to be an Archeologist.
Man that was fun....

Oxygen....finally

2005-10-03T19:34:00.000-06:00

Oxygen, I sit slowly taking it all in, breath by breath. Unknowing if the next breath will be easier or more difficult than the one before. With each, a painful reminder of the ones that had come before, the lingering mucus still occasionally clogging up my trachea. My mind relapsing on the pain, pressure and trials that it took to take in every ounce of oxygen over the last week. My lungs cry out as each drop of pure air reaches them, as each agonizing cough clears the passageway to allow more oxygen - they rejoice.

formula for thought

2005-09-27T22:32:00.000-06:00

Katie + Nyquil = Sleep
Sleep - Classes = Health?

Interesting what a dose of Nyquil, and a Tylenol PM will do....

Ok, so I only had two classes today, Creativity in the Fine Arts (CIFA) and Freshman Seminar (Intro. to College Life, a joke, I KNOW) and a massive cold that kicked in around 2pm yesterday afternoon. One massive illness that has taken down half of my floor and working on more at the moment. You know the whole, I can barely breathe, sore throat, runny nose, blah blah blah, not fun. Considering I work in the Dining Center I thought that it would be a good idea to stay in... Before I layed down for bed last night I decided to take a personal health day and just sleep away this decrepit thing, took a dose of Nyquil and a Tylenol PM (because Nyquil has a reverse effect on my system.... it makes me hyper ;)). I guess it worked wonders on my sleeping capabilities, I woke up today at 3pm, that's over 13 hours of straight sleep!!! God bless America, was it nice. Although this bugger of a cold decided that it didn't want to go away.

This evening I went to Target to get some of my own meds so I didn't have to "borrow" from other ill people on our floor, I nearly had to sign my life away to get Tylenol Cold & Sinus!! It's an OTC for goodness sake! Apparently I could be a druggie to them, I don't know but what is this world coming to??? Hmmm, that Meth can be made of anything so the FDA has to make OTC be behind the counter and you have to give the Pharmacy your Drivers license number, and sign a sheet that you will use the drugs for medical purposes only...

The End

2005-09-25T03:30:00.000-06:00

The end of Homecoming arrived at 3:30 today... With the end of the Football game. A game that I still have little knowledge of its intricate workings. With a game that ended at 27-Bethel to 0- Hamline, I figured as much to know that we had "taken home" the victory. Even with the (what seemed useless) attempts at teaching me all that there is to know about the sport, I stood in the stand completely baffled about what the world was going on. Other than that Bethel wanted to get the ball to our side of the field. "I think I need a tutor!?" Because otherwise I will again stand through another game in a near daze, only cheering when my friends that knew what was going on did. I felt like a martian out on the bleachers today because I was probably the only one out there that was new to the spectating of this sport.

Residency Battle

2005-09-24T01:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, so the intra-campus battle is over, and the competitions determining who goes home with the "Royal Cup" and who goes home empty handed are all done. Unfortunately Bodien was not the residence hall to carry the pride of the school home, but more the weight of the world on their shoulders. Beaten, distraught, and broken hearted, these men and women came home, after the results were announced. Only moments before these 165 teens sat giddily awaiting the results. Then they came, eagerness filled the room... East, Heritage, hearts sank instantaneously... Nelson, Bodien.... All words beyond this were mush and dull. Fourth place, it had seemed as though some one had just died, seeing the somber looks on their faces as they returned. All hopes of being the best were lost....

With only 13 hours until the big game against Hamline University, the rest of the campus is pumped, and finding every single can of blue paint, every Bethel t-shirt that they can find... Blue and Yellow, the theme of the day. Hamline must be beat. How? I have no clue, random movements on a field and a mass number of injuries to get a piece of leather to the other end of the grass... Anyone feel like explaining the point system???

Homecoming update

2005-09-22T01:10:00.000-06:00

Homecoming week is already half over! It flew by so fast... Incredible. With 3 days filled with Bethel Homecoming Pride, and events to scoot. Monday was by far the most hilarious, and anticipated day so far, with only the big game to overcome it, in excitement levels. On Monday night at exactly 10pm, the student body piled into the RC Gym, not for any physical education reason, but for an event that does some serious strain on the vocal chords.... The Cheer Off. In total nine dorms, one outrageous group of "off kampis" peoples and one heck of a party. With groups having cheers that ranged from awkward to side-splitting, for example; Nelson - The Chocolate factory, West - The Pirates, Heritage - The Elderly. The list goes on. So, there we sat, for one hour in riotous laughter at the opposing halls uniqueness and relative humorous quotes. All groups crying in desperation to the dearest judges, all res councils praying that there cheer would go through without a hitch. Then the time came, the crowd was silent, all hoping that they could win the competition, knowing that it would enable them to stay in the lead for the majority of the week. Results.... Hearts pounding and throats aching, we sat 11-6 and still no mention of our hall, 5,4, and then it came, like a bullet to the heart, third. Behind Heritage, our lovely seniors.... And East taking the lead, sophomores... Them and their trees. We had beaten all of the freshman dorms along with the juniors. Could we keep this up?

Next came the tug-o-war, 28 games, mano-a-mano, 15 of our best to 15 of there's. One problem, we really have no big strong guys... As long as we don't come in last, that's all we cared about, we will not allow ourselves to lose. Never. Loss. Loss. Loss. Last game, moment of truth.... Loss. 7th place, surprisingly it only switched us from 3rd to 4th, within an extremely close margin.

Finally, the beloved relay race, a competition that involved twenty different obstacles, including (but not limited too), the six-legged race, toilet paper unrolling, saltine chew, flour toss, etcetera, etcetera. Bodien had the best crowd of cheerleaders, encouraging them on towards their goal... the Royal Cup. These wonderful men and women, pressed onward with no regard to what was presented to them to do. They did outstanding, coming in second with only three seconds lag between us and our arch-rivals... East. This score placed us back into our original lineup with East, followed by Heritage, then Bodien, the underdog that will prevail.

With only a miniscule amount of points that separate us from first place, every move is critical, we still have 7 residence halls tailing us waiting for us to fail. The two most dangerous: Nelson (orange) and Lissner (pink). News flash, orange is not the new pink and neither will it be the new blue. With two critical events left, we can not afford to lose our pace nor our focus...

reasons why today sucks

2005-09-19T19:23:00.000-06:00

1. I couldn't hit a Tennis ball for the life of me.
2. I have 2 tests and 3 essays due in the next 3 days.
3. My computer as a mind of its own.
4. Flex is running utterly low.
5. My stomach hurts and I only had 1/3 of a glass of milk.
6. My eye allergies are getting worse.
7. It's outside 77 and 83 in my dorm.
8. I burnt my finger doing Barista last night.
9. I can already feel the freshman 15...
10. It's only Monday.

poke us....

2005-09-19T12:49:00.000-06:00

"Homecoming is a big thing, people know about it"

- Gretchen Hanson

Homecoming is officially in full swing, and with the big game only 5 days away. People all over campus are getting geared up and dressed up in their residence hall colors and their graduation year colors as well. This week will be hectic for me, guggling classes, dorm events, SA, homework, and sleep. So don't count on too many updates.

Camp Out

2005-09-18T00:43:00.000-06:00

Every year we partake in a ritual of years past, some years there are few rituals, some there are many... this was one of the many... One that will never be forgotten. One that can only be ventured to be named .... The Camp Out.

Every year at the end of the fourth week of school, the Student Activities Committee plans an event that is characterized only by its intense vagueness, and mass confusion upon it the reality of what actually happens at an event that is dared to be called "The Camp Out" (at a Conservative Christian school at that). This is especially taken into account when a lowly freshman sees a sign hanging in the D.C. that says "Camp Out, Friday Night, Seminary Hill", now how many kids were left calling home begging their parents to overnight there tents and sleeping bags out to them? Or how many where caught out at Target actually purchasing these items?

Now, in reality no one actually "camps out" on the hill, although it does have some of the characteristics of a camp out; like s'mores, blankets & pillows, and a story by the camp fire. Although the story by the camp fire was not told by an rigid senior, but more by a 40 foot screen and projector. The story tonight is "Madagascar", the story of a motley crew of zoo escapee's in search of their "missing" friend. These lovable, yet hilarious characters find there way on to a ship where they are en-route to Africa. Now these captivity raised creatures must learn what it takes to survive in the wild.

and joy comes with the morning...

2005-09-15T15:20:00.000-06:00

Apparently the girls are better today, when I arose I noticed that the theme had changed, from "why life sucks" to "why life is amazing". I am glad to see that the ice cream depression is gone and the joys of life are back in full swing, although it seems as they still have a bit too much flex left and have been consistant in spending it instantaneously in the market. When I read this the hymn "I'm trading my sorrow's" came to mind, and replayed throughout the day.

For the Sorrow may last for the night,
But Joy comes with the morning.

Seeing this really reminded me of how people sometimes think that just because we are Christian's that our lives will never have issues, that we will never get depressed, or look down on our own lives. Wrong. We will, and do, we get all of the ailments of the outside world, we have no protective bubble that keeps all of the "bad stuff" out of our lives. Nothing that prevents people from falling into addictions, abuse, ill to cancer... Nothing, were just like the rest of the world. Except, we have hope that when we do fall that there is someone to pick us back up and gets us running again.

As I ponder upon this verse of the song I remind myself of it's double meaning, not only does God take away our pains and comfort us with his eternal love, but he sent His son to die. DIE, for ME!! Why? I find myself asking it all the time, why me? Why would He chose me, to die for? How could someone Love me so much that he would die for me to live? But then it always forces me to think, if God loves me enough to die for me, why does he let bad things happen to me?

A number 1 bus drove into a column of young Royal Marine cadets in Chatham, and killed twenty-three of them. They were ten-year-old boys, marching and singing on their way to a boxing match. The road was unlit. The driver didn't see them. It was a terrible accident. Nobody was to blame. Except... (pointing upwards) Now, where was He? Why didn't He stop it? What possible point can there be to such a tragedy? Isn't God supposed to be good? Isn't God supposed to love us? - Shadowlands (William Nicholson)

With that in mind, why does God let anything bad happen to those that love Him? The Holocaust, Famine, September 11 2001? Hmmm? Thousands of innocent people died in these events and yet we say we have a God that loves us. If He loved us so much why did he let a plane crash into the north tower at 8:46am, and all of the attacks that followed? Where was He?

God creates us free, free to be selfish, but he adds a mechanism that will penetrate our selfishness and wake us up to the presence of others in the world, and that mechanism is called suffering. To put it in another way, pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Why must it be pain? Why can't He wake us up more gently, with violin or laughter? Because the dream that we must be awaken from is that all is well.

God loves us, so much He makes us the gift of suffering. Through suffering, we release the hold on the toys of this world, and know our true good lies in another world. - Shadowlands (William Nicholson)

So where was God on September 11th 2001? He was very busy, He was trying to discourage anyone from taking those flights. The four planes held over 1,000 passengers and there were only 266 aboard. He was on four commercial flights giving terrified passengers the ability to stay calm. On one of the flights He was giving wisdom & strength to passengers to try and overtake the high-jackers, so that others might be spared. He was busy trying to create obstacles for employees at the World Trade Center. After all, only around 20,000 were at the towers when the 1st jet hit. Since the buildings held over 50,000 workers this was a miracle in itself. He was holding up two 110 story buildings so that 2/3 of the workers could get out. It was so amazing that the top of the towers didn't topple as the jets impacted. And when they did fall they fell inward. God didn't allow them to topple over as many more lives would have been lost.

And He does the same still today, He tests us and tries us, to show us that we are weak and helpless without Him. That without Him these pains that break our back and bring a sweat to our brow, would make us crumple, that we would snap like a toothpick, at the sight of pain. But He gives us something more, He re-enforces us, He is always with us and He will never forsake us.

"I am just a toothpick, duct-taped to a steel pole"

productivity...

2005-09-13T00:46:00.000-06:00

Today was probably the most productive day that I have had since arriving on campus, maybe in my whole life, but that is a far stretch. Today I was not only awake by 9am, but I had showered, ate, went to class, and checked my P.O. And that was just before 9am! The rest of the day had the same type of flow, I was able to cram into my schedule; classes, (I actually ate) lunch as well, a six mile Jog, BSA (Bethel Student Association, Student Activities) meeting, a three hour nap, homework, playing in the rain, and alias, and it is only 11:45pm. Wow, its been a while since I have been progressively able to accomplish all of this items in one afternoon. Not only was I able to do these elaborate things but as well, I have found my own "secret" secluded place on campus to do my quiet time, a place that overlooks the lake and only 2 people passed during the hour that I sat with the Lord.

The weather was quite dismal all day, with a haze and high humidity made the 66°weather feel like it was 90°, it was "hot" and very sticky, but still was nice weather to run in, thankfully the downpour didn't start until 10:30. I don't think I have ever seen so many teenagers running out in the rain at one time, when I returned from my BSA meeting there was about 30 shirtless guys playing football in the thunder and rain, while the girls were dancing humming "singing in the rain."

Although I had a productive and gleeful day, it seems my "neighbors" were not on the same page of the novel, apparently they had one of thdepressingistst (as that even a word?), See image left. As they made a list of "Why Life Sucks", and declared today as the "national 304 craptastic day". Sad and depressing, yet hilarious to watch and read about. I think its the rain, they'll (hopefully) be better tomorrow.

Until next time au revior!

movie quote monday

2005-09-12T01:04:00.000-06:00

Why should Caesar get to stomp around like a giant, while the rest of us try not to get smushed under his big feet? What's so great about Caesar? Hm? Brutus is just as cute as Caesar. Brutus is just as smart as Caesar. People totally like Brutus just as much as they like Caesar. And when did it become okay for one person to be the boss of everybody, huh? Because that's not what Rome is about. We should totally JUST STAB CAESAR!

- Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls

9/11/2001

2005-09-11T10:11:00.000-06:00

We will never forget...

The next big thing

2005-09-11T00:11:00.000-06:00

Every year on the second week of school, the Student Activity's committee plans an event that can only be given the name ...

The Next Big Thing

last year it was a Salsa Dancing Mexican Fiesta, this could not be repeated, it had to be different, new, revised, a little bit of country...

it had to be... A Hodown?

Petting Zoo, Horse Driven Carriage, Line Dancing, Billy Ray...
Who couldn't resist? Line dancin' from 7 to 11? I'm all for it, along with a good 200 other Bethel University Students. Over the course of 4 hours the Kresege Courtyard housed a turnout of close to 250 students occupied with mano-e-llama stare downs, git'n thir giddy up un', and chowin' down on caramel apples and popcorn.

With a successful turnout for this event the S.A. (Student Activities) Staff is geared up and excited for our next big event, the "Camp Out." A night of movie watching out on seminary hill, starts at 12am on September 16th, Bring a sleeping bag and watch the flick Madagascar with us!

Ipod Nano

2005-09-08T16:55:00.000-06:00

Apple has just released another version of the everyday lovable Ipod, introducing the "Nano". The spec's on this baby are:

1.5 ounces
1.6 x 3.5 x 0.27 inches
Color display
Available in 2 & 4 GB
Black or White case
14 hour battery life
Click wheel

This precious new addition was a inbred of the Ipod photo and the mini that apparently got put into the "make it smaller machine". With the capability to place your photo's, audiobooks, podcasts and of course your tunes, on this gadget; will make this the fly off the shelf product of the year. Apple adds to its versatility with this one, having its infamous click wheel and 14 hour battery life enables it to be used for long periods of time, along with its astonishing 1.5 oz's makes it a wonder for taking on long runs. With a price tag of $199 for the 2gb and $249 for the 4gb makes it one to be on everyone's wish list this fall. Apple keeps out doing itself pretty soon all of the Ipods will be that same dimensional size and still retain their storage and battery life capabilities. Although I love this one, I am waiting and praying that soon they will revamp the Ipod photo 20gb to a more miniscule, shrunken version.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!

2005-09-06T10:23:00.000-06:00

I did it! I made BSA!!! Bethel Student Association, Student Activities Committee!

movie quote monday

2005-09-05T14:13:00.000-06:00

It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.
- Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins

One week later...

2005-09-04T22:24:00.000-06:00

It's been one week since the hustle and bustle of welcome week has died down and people are actually starting to sleep at night, and don't have the song "welcome week" running in their minds. Only a week ago it was a mass psychosis, of cars and extremely caffeinated college students run about helping new college students adjust to life at Bethel.

No longer can we sit in our dorm room, listening to their singing and chanting, as we survey the room that was almost instantaneously by this group moments ago after they hauled it from the car almost barbarously as they chanted our room numbers over and over again. No longer do we have to fear walking into the chapel and hearing "welcome week" in varying tones for 5 minutes. No longer do we have to run to Super Target 3 times in one day to find item after item that we forgot or overlooked. No more needing to sit for hours, wishing that we had taken Swedish so we could assemble our futons from Ikea.

As the week of festivities came to an end and the amount of caffeine that our bodies needed to function tripled we had one last celebration before we started the school year. We had all
already set up our rooms and set our schedules so that they fit with our sleeping schedules, but there was still one thing that we had not done yet, surrendered our lives, and our school year to the Lord. Before coming to Bethel we were required to sign "The covenant" but the Student Activities crew decided to switch it up a little and make it a public declaration of our commitment to our life at Bethel and as the Lord's children. Placing our handprint on this signified that we were dedicated to live our lives as God would have us to, to be Holy and pleasing to His standards, not our own. This mural is now on display in the hallway of the school signifying our surrender to His love and not the worlds views of a good life.

Classes started the next morning bright and early (unfortunately), thankfully the Lord blessed me with having a Tuesday and Thursday schedule that end at 11am so I can do finish my sleep after there end. Being a double major and not coming in with any credits, adds a bit of weight to my load that thankfully will not be added until next semester. This semester I am taking a total of 16 credits and am serving on Bodien Residence Council and possibly on Bethel Student activities.

On Friday Night the Student activities crew planned a 80's skate party at a local rink, for all of us who did not leave for the labor day break. It was awesome, and surprisingly a lot of people showed up and the outfits that many people were able to come up with, and establish as their own look. Many of the people that showed up looked as though they had been pulled out of their jazzercise class, while others looked as though they just came from the set of pretty in pink. The diversity of the evening was extraordinary and hilarious at that. The campus seems practically dead, in account for over 2/3 of the student population having gone home for the holiday. The upside to the decrease of the student body the decibel level at night and sleep is an actuality and not a miracle. The hilarious part is that people wake up about the same time that visiting hours start or later, the biggest parties going on this weekend are that people are hanging out in the 2.5 lounge and watching movies until 4am and later. Homework hasn't even made it's way into most students agendas and most likely wont until late tomorrow night.

The fun of the non-eventful weekend is winding down and my homework is slowly making its way to the top of my desk as is the deadlines of assignments for freshman seminar. With the shuttle system not being in effect over the weekend, and the weather has been stormy and cold, the "Bethel bubble" is the only thing that I have seen. I really hope that I can get a car for next year, I really want be able to have my own way of getting from point A to B without having to rely on someone else to get me there. With the "Bethel bubble" really taking an effect on me the only thing that I hear calling my name is my pillow telling me to hibernate until next summer.

I'm Alive

2005-08-28T18:22:00.000-06:00

Hey all, I'm alive and officially completely moved into my dorm (a.k.a. no more living out of suitcases and laundry baskets). The room is still a complete disaster zone so I will post a picture in a few days, after we've had the chance to clean it. My new contact info for the year is:

snail mail: Katie Kiehn
Bethel University
3900 Bethel Drive #1436
St. Paul, MN 55112

Phone: (651) 379 - 7421
(801) 879 - 7088

One Mission

2005-08-01T00:05:00.000-06:00

The ten of us just moments before pulling out of the Church parking lot in Salt Lake; on our way to Guaymas, Mexico. Those that journeyed along on our 20 hour drive are: Pastor and Mrs. Hammonds, Matt, Michael, Jimmy, Brian, Phill, Robbie, Amy, and Me.

Dia Uno:
Saturday - July 23rd 2005

After arriving at the Church at 6 am we began the [very, very long] travel from Salt Lake City toTucson, Arizona - 13 hours in a hot stuffy van. With the boys attempt to pull a Napoleon [Dynamite] by stringing gummy bears to twine and tossing them out the window... Then apparently, trying to eat them.

This activity kept them entertained for over 4 hours, all four of them being filled with contests to see who's gummy bears could last longer in the elements of humidity and rain. After arriving in Tucson, and devouring a delightful bar-b-que. We all attempted to sleep in preparation for the next day as we headed off to Mexico.

Dia Dos:
Sunday - July 24th 2005

After waking up early once again we packed up into the fifteen passenger van, along with one more passenger, Ryan (who would be an additional translator), and head for the border. Crossing the border into Mexico [4 hours after our departure from Tucson] took only 10 minutes, although it took nearly 45 minutes to get our driving permit for the vehiclele. Once into Mexico we traveled down to Hermsillo, where we met up with Joe and Cassie Mason, from Partners in Christ International, the 13 of us then headed down to Guaymas where we would be working with the "Templo Christiano Bautista Emmaneul". We arrived at the Church not long before their evening service was about to start, at this service Michael and I gave our testimonies, along with the help of our translators, it was so nerve raking because I had never given my testimony in front of such a large group. After the service we were

blessed with a delicious meal of Carne Asada, and ice cold soda following the delicious meal we headed off to our host homes and crashed almost instantaneously for the night. (Amy, Paula, Me and Ben; inside our host home in Guaymas.)

Dia Tres:
Monday - July 25th 2005

After enjoying a delightful breakfast at our host home we headed over to the church and began our service project. Igelsia Bautista was in dire need of a good scrapping off of all its old & chipping paint and a nice new coat of fresh paint. The work was strenuous and the humidity was excrusating, but we labored on from 9 am until 2 pm just scrapping paint of of the outside walls.
During which we took a break to open a Birthday gift for me from my parents back home. After breaking to take showers and eat we rested until Vacation Bible School (VBS) started. We had a much lower turnout than he had expected and ended up with only 53 children total. We thankfully didnt have to teach the lesson with the minscule spanish that we were actually able to speak; although we did a craft with them and helped with crowd control. The craft for tonight was making pinwheels out of paper and straws, it was really fun because most of the children didn't understand how to use them once they were made, so amy and I volunteered to demonstrate there use. After that we felt like passing out from our dizzyness.
My super sense of spydom failled me today because I was supersieded when a party had been planned for me without my own knowledge. I was soon to be confronted by a 4 foot tall Spongebob pinata filled with lots of Mexican candy including my favorite candy.... Chupettas. Followed by a delicious cake and 10 children singing "Feliz Compelionos."

Dia Cuatro:
Tuesday - July 26th 2005

Another day filled with scrapping the Church walls along with painting the inner courtyard. At VBS the kids would NOT be quiet, but they were so cute when they were doing there craft, they were very proud of their creations and were extermely excited to show of their visors, some of which were so full of the stikers that they were overlapping others.

Dia Cinco:
Wednesday - July 27th 2005

Another day filled with scrapping the Churches walls along with painting the upper level of the Church. VBS was great, although the language barrier seems as though it is getting worse, the kids keep trying to talk to me really fast in spanish and I had to just guess Si or No, it was a 50 - 50 chance of being right. During VBS we made Puppets with the kids and had puppet shows in random spanish sayings and themes from the lessons of the day.

Dia Seises:
Thursday - July 28th 2005

During our work day today we noticed that the Crystal Light packets had been appearing on the ground all over the area that we had been working, after scolding the boys for not cleaning up after themselves; we saw a few of the young mexican girls turned the corner with red hands and bright red tongues. Just a bit of Lost in Translation; would't you say? After working from 9 - 11 am we ended our last day of work projects and headed for the beach. We were able to get entrance to a gated community's beach access At the beach we climbed up a 12 foot rock/coral boulder and used it as a diving board, praying that no one would leave becoming Jonnie Erickson Todda. We had purchased enough coconuts that each of us were able to have our own, mmmm good! Man, I love coconuts! This was our last night of VBS and our last night in Mexico, I was a solemn night and everybody in the group had the same feeling..."We can't leave tomorrow, our work here has just begun." We were not the only ones with tears in our eyes as we left the church that night, we were surrounded by the kids from VBS begging us not to leave. Sleeping didn't come easily tonight, tears flowed faster than sleep had came.

Dia Siete:
Friday - July 29th 2005

Sitting at breakfast this morning it started to rain, no not rain downpour, our host told us that God was telling us that we were supposed to stay for another week. Only moments after it started to rain, the road that we walked across the night before was compeletly washed away. Once the rest of the group noticed that we were not at the church and that we had walked to the church everyday, they decided to come to our rescue. After the guys came and caried our bags down and through the river, it was our turn to walk through the two feet of water that smelt like it came straight from a sewer. Once we were all packed up into the van the 11 of us headed out towards Hermsillo where we would drop off some equipment at the Partners in Christ International Office. Then off to Magdalena to do some tourist shopping before we crossed the border back into America.

Getting back into America took forever, especially because we had a full tralier that we were towing, and each of us had a backpack as well. After getting past the the border we headed straight for Tuscon and eat the best food ever seen ... Pizza. Following dinner we went for a swim, man clean water that is at a ready access is such a blessing!

Dia Ocho:
Saturday - July 30th 2005

Another, and thankfully the last early morning, we were on the road by 8 am and would be on the road for another 13 hours. Most of us had extreme sleepiness over the course of the ride and were out cold for a majority of the trip. And I was included in this group of sleepy-eyed travelers, I fell asleep almost immeadiatly out of the Phoniex area, of which I fell asleep on Phill's right leg four almost 5 hours, nearly cutting off all circulation to his legs and feet. Although Phill was awake for the whole time that I was asleep he never once woke me up to make me move. Nice guy huh? Finally we ended up back at the Church in Salt Lake at 10:30 pm.

It all begins at . . . the end

2005-07-23T02:17:00.000-06:00

Batman Begins

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, and Cillian Murphy
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 141 minutes

Finally in the fifth Batman movie, we are told how Bruce becomes the bat-man. The movie exposes the history of how Bruce gets to the point in his life that he becomes the man behind the mask.

As a boy Bruce (Bale) suffers the traumatic event of seeing his parents be murdered right before his eyes, this event leads the young boy to be obsessed with getting revenge on the man that did this to him. At the parole trial for the man who did this dastardly dead, Bruce takes justice into his own hands and takes this mans life instead of allowing justice to roll its course.

After doing his own form of "justice", he goes into hiding in the East where he under goes a transformation into the life of a criminal living in the underworld of crime. After meeting up with the head of a dangerous cult of ninja warriors, who try to brainwash him to believe that the only true form of justice is to kill all those that fight against it. So pretty much, if you steal you die, if you murder you die... So just be good or you'll have them to deal with. Once Bruce realizes there lies and deception, he leaves to go back to the town he once called home, a town that is now over run with crime and corruption. In view of this he takes to action to defeat the drug lords that rule the streets.

With the help of a intuitive detective, Jim Gordon, and the resources of the billionare, business owner that he is, he becomes someone more than just a man, something unbreakable - a symbol. Batman. He uses his childhood fear to put fear into the lives of those that prey on the weak and poor. Using his new alias, he sets out to take down the lords that rule the streets and the mysterious group that they all work for, a party that knows Bruce better than he could possibly understand.

Over all this "(pre-) sequel" is one of my favorites of the Batman series. I would rate it a nine out of ten, and recommend seeing it to all that want to see a good movie. I have already seen it 3 times and it gets better each time!

My new toy

2005-07-16T15:09:00.000-06:00

This is a picture of my newest toy, HP Pavilion zv6000.

Not much else to report on, most of my time over the last month has been spent as a Bible Camp Counselor out at Pioneer Bible Camp in Eden, UT. I have my first week off counseling and will be heading out on a Mission Trip to Guaymas Mexico, next weekend. Which means that I will be Spending my 18th Birthday away from my family, and out of the country. After my return to the states, I have one more week of Camp left then I am on my way out to Minnesota where I will be moving into my dorm out at Bethel University in St. Paul.

My so hot (right now) list

2005-07-03T16:36:00.000-06:00

1. Batman Begins
2. Caffeinated Beverages (i.e. Mt Dew)
3. Real Showers
4. Live 8
5. Napoleon Dynamite
6. Nalgene Water Bottles
7. Nikon Cameras
8. Parmesan Flavored Cheez It's
9. Christian Bale
10. Sleep!

Utah Arts Festival

2005-06-25T00:25:00.000-06:00

The Utah Arts Festival combines a multitude of performing, visual, and literary arts, to present the best of artists in Utah and those Worldwide. Bringing together artists from all walks of life and all forms of canvas's use to portray their work, from those that used glass, oil, clay, iron, celluloid, and the side of a building as a stage.

From those that molded metal to conform into any of their desires, like a 4 tiered fountain and 6 foot high bistro sets, flowers and vases, and a 5 foot long wrench along with matching bolts and screws, or even as eccentric as a full skeleton weighing approximately 150 lbs.

Some went down a simpler path as to their art work, by choosing to engrave thoughts and famous sayings into clay. A much easier (and cheaper for my pocket book) way to produce their art. A few of the ones that I appreciated most were, "Every time I hear the dirty word Exercise I wash my mouth out with Chocolate", & "Before you criticize some one walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them. You'll be a mile away, and you'll have their shoes."

The "Fear No Film Festival" (FNFF), is a festival promoting various sorts of "short and sweet" films; featuring 57 short films and videos from local, national, and international artists. FNFF incorporates works of all genres including animation, narrative, experimental, documentary, music video, and dance films. FNFF's goals are first to enthuse, confuse, stir, and inspire its audiences through the exposure to underground and innovative short films that are rarely seen. FNFF aims to encourage the public to absorb new film experiences that dare to extend beyond the mainstream definition of cinematic entertainment. Second, FNFF wants to cultivate notable short film festival, with a flair for the inventive that functions as a resourceful filmmaker's forum and marketplace.

My Favorite film wouldefinitelyly have to be Non-Abductees Anonymous (Narrative) 4:15 (North Carolina, 2004, by: Philip Powell) The goings-on at a support group for people who have NEVER been abducted by aliens. Forlorn and rejected, they go to extremes trying to get the attention of those snobby extraterrestrials.

Project Bandaloop

Five of the Project Bandaloop dancers suspended from the glass wall of the downtown library in SLC, UT.While many groups chose to represent there art work by framing it or molding it out of iron rebar, Project Bandaloop makes a statement in a whole new spectrum. By suspending themselves from the sides of buildings and cliffs, and performing spectacular dance routines. This week the group chose to strap on there old jazz thongs (dance shoes) and harness themselves over the glass wall on the Salt Lake City Downtown Library, performing for nearly an hour these ladies strutted all their stuff along side the wall of the library. Combining climbing, rappelling, gymnastics, and dance into one exquisitely choreographed dance. Surrounded by on-lookers from both outside and in this group glided across the glass with ease with choreography that draws on aerial, vertical and horizontal movement to craft dances. This gravity defying group, defys all fears and works its way into the number one spot on my favorite things at the festival. They perform everynight at 6 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday at 10:30pm.

The festival runs until Sunday June 26th from 12pm to 12am, the cost of admission is $4 before 3pm and $7 after three. I would recommend going as early as possible not only as to knock down the price but to be able to see all of the booths, film, comedy clubs, and musical performances.

Bryce Canyon

2005-06-24T03:55:00.000-06:00

This Tuesday my brother (Tom a.k.a. Digenis) journeyed out on what was supposed to be a three hour drive to the beautiful Bryce canyon. After a 100 mile canyon detour due to construction, we finally arrived at the national park.

We started out the trip by taking a eight mile hike around the Fairyland Loop, a very strenuous trail that changes elevation about every 50 meters. The views throughout the loop were exquisite due to the constant elevatory variations totaling a whopping 704 meters (2309 feet). Being able to be at one minute above the hodoos then not even ten minutes later, walking a good 50 meters below the point that you were just at; staring up at the towering pillars. After taking numerous stops to climb some rock faces and a good 512mb memory stick full of pictures we finished our hike a good 4 hours later. We ate dinner in the car over looking Bryce Point and watched the sunset over the Canyon.

After returning to our campsite, and crashing into the sleeping bags almost immediately; we slept for a good 11 hours before returning to our next hike. We were still a bit worn out from the previous days hike, our dear muscles ached from lack of strenuous work previous to this point, so we decide that just doing one hike would be a good idea. We agreed on the Peek-A-Boo Loop; a 5.5 mile hike, also with the extreme elevation changes like the day before. Unfortunate for us, we were to late to notice that the loop was also used as a horseback trail, so we got to walk the 3 1/2 hour hike with the scent of horse feces filling our nostrils.

Bryce Canyon has a good 20 more trails that we did not have time to do unfortunately, due to Tom's flight back home was for Friday morning. Bryce Canyon National Park is one of my favorite National Parks, with Zion gliding ahead by a slim majority. I recommend Bryce to any National Park enthusiast and/or photographer, and tell you bring a very large memory stick.

National Park (Need to) Visit List:
Glacier National Park
Escalante National Park
dinosaur Nation Monument
Capitol Reef National Park

Yellowstone

2005-06-22T18:42:00.000-06:00

The Monday after graduation the whole thirteen of us, Kiehn's, Denney's, and Breen's, packed up and headed out for yellowstone national park. Securely belted in a van, a minivan, and a little Chevy prizm we headed out on our jolly good way, a ride that would take us six hours to complete.

Once we arrived in the Park, we decided the first place to visit would have to be the most popular site, Old faithful. Which, still after all of the years blows punctually, every 45 minutes. We traveled through most of the popular sites like the Minerva Terrace, The Dragon's cauldrons, Tower Falls, Mammoth Hot Springs, and many more.

The trip was sprinkled with exciting adventures; like falling of a log into a 50* lake, weather ranging from high 70's too low 30's and 40's with snow, and bison the decide that the road is their territory. Even with the freezing temperatures the trip was amazing and it was great to see the sites that I hadn't seen since I was 6.

There are pictures of the trip posted here.

movie quote monday

2005-06-20T15:20:00.000-06:00

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

- Matthew Brodrick as Ferris Buhler in Ferris Buhlers Day Off

movie quote monday

2005-06-12T22:45:00.000-06:00

I'm kinda psychic. I have a fifth sense. It's like I have ESPN or something.

- Amanda Seyfried as Karen in Mean Girls

movie quote monday

2005-06-12T22:21:00.000-06:00

Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.

- Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace

Class of '05

2005-06-12T18:57:00.000-06:00

This year has come to a bittersweet end, I sit gleefully looking back on the last 12 years of my life spent sitting in a conventional style of schooling, always here everyday from 8 am to 3 pm Monday through Friday. But now it all ends, I look back on the journey that I have made. How I have grown and the friends that I have made over the years, and this the part that brings me to tears to think about; leaving them. Leaving all these ties, spread out across the country this coming year. How do I say good bye to those that are more than just my friends, many have become like family to me. . . How do I say good bye to them? The Joy of completing the momentous journey that all people make through there adolescence comes to this wreched ending, a fork suck in the road. . . I must go one way they - the other, and it breaks my heart to say those to little words that separate people for a lifetime - good bye.

With half of the class staying in Utah (Annie, Celia, Luke, Taylor, & Sawyer), and the other half traveling over the the Midwestern states (Bigelow, Daniel, Michael,Peter, & myself). To my fellow graduates, my final words, remembrance of the years past.

Annie - You have such a heart towards servant, and you are an amazing girl with an incredible witness, I desire your heart and how you always are there when anyone needs your help. Good luck with your nursing degree at Westminster, I hope that you will continue to stay strong in your faith and beliefs while staying in such a cult centered state.

Bigelow - I hope that your luck does not run out while you are in Chicago, hopefully you will spend some time actually in class and not infront of a poker table. Us Midwestern people will have to keep in touch, and get together during a break.

Celia - You are such a strong willed & courageous person, I hope that you have amazing success in all of your educational efforts, I hope that staying in state will help you grow stronger in your faith as it is tested everyday. I hope as well that you stay strongly connected with your fellow believers and never let your faith die out for the popular belief.

Daniel - Oh my, I never could have thought that this day would come, when after 4 years of friendship and having someone there who would put down any and everything if I needed someone to talk to, that I would have to say good-bye to. You have such a beautiful heart, one that is focused so on God that you try so hard to not let the popular way take that image of purity away from you. Daniel, I hope that all of your aspirations of becoming the youth pastor that you always have dreamed of becoming will soon come true. Have an awesome time in Illinois, and remember that I am only a six hour drive away!

Luke - I hope that have an awesome time studying out at SLCC and that you don't break too many bones over the next few years (maybe you should consider stop jumping of cliffs and of rocks into one foot of sand covering solid rock). I hope that you become the best big brother, and role model possible to that little one.

Michael - You are such an amazing witness, I hope that all of your aspirations and all of the paths that you travel down that you will continue to shine brighter than you do today. Have an awesome time at Calvin, and that your studies in engineering.

Peter - I hope that you have an awesome time studying in Chicago and figure out that you actually do want to grow up and not just major in general studies.

Taylor - Have an fun time "studying" at the University of Utah, hopefully you figure out what you want to major in that you don't spend all of your time down in the parking lot with your car.

Sawyer - Wow, after just one year, you have made such a lasting impression on my life, you are such an amazing guy and an incredible witness. You have been such a good friend to me, you are one of the ones that I will miss most, I pray that you will continue to have the desire to always help others as you have done so many times for me. Have an awesome time at the University of Utah, I hope that you will keep in touch with all of the ICS people that will also be attending there, and staying in state. I hope that you go far in your aspirations to become a super IT dork (oh wait, your already one...) have a great time in college and keep in touch, your one asset that I don't want to lose touch with over the upcoming years.

*Look on the Photo page for pictures from graduation.

the best present ever. . .

2005-06-01T23:55:00.000-06:00

Today i received the best graduation present that anyone could ever give to me. . . ever. I was sitting in my formal dining room, putting the final touches on my scrapbook so it will be ready for my party on Saturday when from behind me came the distinct voice that I did not think that I would have heard for 6 months. I turned around to see the face of my brother, dear digenis, had mysteriously ended up in my house. . . direct from Russia. I never could have imagined it, I had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn't dreaming, and well I wasn't. This is one of the best days of my life, unable to hold back tears of excitement I jumped into his arms. This is most defiantly the best present EVER.

I am (un)officially done with high school

2005-06-01T11:03:00.000-06:00

As of 9:32 this morning I finished my final exit exam from high school, after long hours of praying and attempting at doing homework, my grades where well enough that I was exempt from taking my Bible, and Math exams. YAY! Not that its that big of a deal I would have done fine on them if I had taken them, its just, I simply don't want to take them if I don't have to. But now I must simply wait around for graduation to commence and change this lowly senior into being a full blown class of 2005 graduate. Thankfully with not having to take the remaining exit exams I don't even have to show up to school on Thursday until 1:00pm for graduation practice. But unfortunately I still need to attend class on Friday even though I have already completed the exam, boring eh? Oh well I just take a nap or read a book.

Now I just sit, going through class after class of boredom having pretty much nothing to do. . .

This year is coming to a bittersweet end, I sit gleeful looking back on the last 12 years of my life spent sitting in a conventional style of schooling, always here everyday from 8am to 3pm Monday through Friday. But now it all ends I look back on the journey I have made, how I have grown and the friends that I have made over the years, and this the part that brings me to tears to think about; leaving them. Leaving all these ties, spread out across the country this coming year. How do I say good bye to those that are more than just my friends, many have become like family to me. . . How do I say good bye to them? The Joy of completing the momentous journey that all people make through there adolescence comes to this wreched ending, a fork suck in the road. . . I must go one way they - the other, and it breaks my heart to say those to little words that separate people for a lifetime - good bye.
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind. Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time. Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial. For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life.
- Green Day (Good riddance)

56 hours and counting. . .

movie quote monday

2005-05-30T01:06:00.000-06:00

Doug Butabi: You can take our phones and you can take our keys, but you cannot take away our dreams.
Steve Butabi: Yeah, because we're, like, sleeping when we have them.
- Will Ferrell (as Steve) and Chris Kattan (as Doug) in A night at the Roxbury.

sleep is for the weak . . .

2005-05-25T02:28:00.000-06:00

It's 1:08 am and here I am, still awake, haven't even drank any caffeinated products in the last six hours, finished my homework, ok well not really, only the stuff that I felt like completing. With only 9 days until graduation, I have absolutely no desire to complete any homework. But here I am, in the wee hours of the morning, with the choice of either going to bed or just blogging my pathetic inability to sleep. The thought of sleeping fills my mind only to be drowned out upon by the thoughts of all the things that I must complete within the next weeks limits. So this is were it leads to, me sitting Indian style with a laptop connected to my wireless internet connection, resting in my lap over cuddled on top of my oversized perfectly worn in dance sweatshirt, looking like Anakin Skywalker with its large hood draped over mine eyes. Only blogging to take away from the mindless insanity of actually sleeping, wow am I really that brainwashed? To think that nocturnally is a healthy lifestyle, to believe that this is not doing major damage to my immune system as I type, with each character my lungs becoming more and more susceptible to illness. And yet, I still sit, I still type each word making my eyes prayerfully get more and more dreary, but alas it workest thou not. Thoughts drowning my mind, ever so slowly, yet quickly at the same time. My two cents of words of wisdom:

"The weirdest feeling is not knowing what to feel"

"Befriending your enemies may seem like a good path, but in reality it just puts your back closer to there knife"

"You never know love until you've lost it, you never know your best friend until they die for you, you never know that they both are the same person, until they walk away"

Oh yeah, that reminds me things that I need to post:

Movie Review of: Wimbeldon
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

Well, I'm going to go grab some warm milk and attempt to get an hour or two of sleep before school, hopefully that wasn't to boring, if you fell asleep don't feel bad, it was intended for that, the effects were just supposed to work on me as well.

movie quote monday

2005-05-23T20:06:00.000-06:00

LYNN: So, what is the last thing that you remember?
ALF: . . . I saw a bright light, and I thought that someone was taking a picture of me, so I smiled . . .

WILLIE: Alf, now did you hear what the nice police man said about not misusing appliances?
ALF: What did you say? Sorry, I was hiding in the drier.

- Max Wright as Willie, Andrea Elson as Lynn, and Paul Fusco as Alf in ALF

I caved. . .

2005-05-20T14:01:00.000-06:00

Ok, for so long I have sworn that I never ever will get a my space. . . well. . . I lied, I caved in. . . I got one. You can access it here allegri. I don't know how much I will be updating it but its nice cause you can network on it, and stream live music, unlike those with the free (sorry poor high schooler here) version of blogger. It's were all my links will be to those that aren't attributed on this site.

movie quote . . . thursday

2005-05-19T09:18:00.000-06:00

John Bridger: How are you?
Charlie Croker: [shrugging] I'm fine.
John Bridger: Fine? You know what "fine" stands for, don't you?
Charlie Croker: Unfortnately, yeah.
John Bridger: Freaked out...
Charlie Croker: Insecure...
John Bridger: Neurotic...
Charlie Croker: And Emotional.
John Bridger: You see those pillars over there?
Charlie Croker: [looks behind him and sees the pillars] What about them?
John Bridger: That's where they used to string up thieves who felt fine.

- Mark Wahlberg (as Charlie Croker) and Donald Sutherland (as John Bridger) in The Italian Job

Obnoxious things on ebay

2005-05-11T10:49:00.000-06:00

In my daily web surfing lingo I stumbled across a new post on one of my favorite sites, as of 11:17 last night Rob Cockerham (owner of cockeyed.com) placed 8 delicious pancakes for sale on Ebay. And as of 10:53 this morning it had already had 14 bids and was up to $5.00 charge not including shipping.

Now after seeing this it intrigued me and I began to search of other oddiditites sold (or attempted to sell) on Ebay, here are a few of the fingdings:

A Human Kidney
Twenty-four Children
A piece of Toast partially eaten by Justin Timberlake
A soul of a human being
The rights to name a child
A jar of air from Woodstock 99
Someone's life story

Now Rob mostly does these Ebay sellings not out of stupidity, but more out of a need for a income to support his pranks and "How much is inside Adventures", or just the sheer curiosity of seeing how many people will bid. My favorite "How much is inside Adventure" was most definitely the Sharpie escapade, in which he bought one sharpie and went crazy labeling CD's until the 7.5 gram marker ran out, 968 CD's later (Of which I am lucky enough to have outbid people for a batch of 5 of them).

These are just a few, there were a lot more and many that more freaked me out of even attempting to think of how they got the idea to sell certain items. Most of these where just pranks that people pulled to see how long they stayed on the Ebay registry but others were completely serious. I wonder how much those pancakes will sell for? Maybe I'll go bid on them, nah, I'll just go make my own, I can't wait a week of bidding then 3 days shipping time just to eat them.

movie quote monday

2005-05-10T10:06:00.000-06:00

Yeah I know, its not monday, but it just sounds good as movie quote monday...

"This is your life NOW. Life doesn't wait for you to get your stuff back in order"
- Tyrone Giordano as Graham Martin in A lot like love

Alot like love

2005-05-07T14:56:00.000-06:00

Somewhat like love, alot like lust.

Director: Nigel Cole
Starring: Amanda Peet, Ashton Kutcher, Molly Cheek
Rated: PG 13
Running Time: 107 Minutes

The movie begins with two strangers meeting at in a airport terminal waiting to board their plane to New York; Emily, a eccentric woman in her early twenties who has just broke up with her punk-rocker boyfriend, and Oliver, a geeky college graduate going home to visit his deaf brother. An unfortunate event of turbulence lands a cup of coffee all over Oliver. As he is in the onboard laboratory cleaning of the coffee, he is encountered by Emily and is soon to join the "mile high club". After landing in New York, the two's paths "incidentally" collide throughout the day. Still in the early hours of the day they are soon to end up in a bar together; where they make a bet that in six years Emily is to call Oliver's parents (because even if Oliver moves away, his parents will still be in the same place, hmm sounds like the way we all think of our parents, eh?) and see if he's become a rich, married business man successfully making his own way. From there, they part ways and go on to live their lives.

Although it is only three years before she makes that call after she is again bumped and on the rebound for a date for a New Years Eve party, happening that night. Giving his parents a call, she finds out that Oliver is now starting his own dot com business selling ..... diapers. But again, the next morning the two part ways and periodically continue their friendship this way during the six year running length of their bet, all the while falling slowly in love. With their continual on-again off-again relationship that is splattered with different bed partners, on both of their sides.

The film shows the worldly view of love as boldly as ever with stating that love is having someone in your bed whether they know you or not. A Lot Like Love is a gentle, lightly dramatic romantic comedy about two mismatched people who we in the audience know should be together, but events in the story keep them apart. The movie explores the subject of mistimed romance, as well as difficulties in commitment and the whole "you don't know what you had 'til you've lost it" thing.

I would give A lot Like love a 7 out of 10 stars, great cineamtography, great actors, and acting, just to much basing the storyline on sex and that who you have in your bed defines your worth.

The hitchhikers guide

2005-05-07T13:42:00.000-06:00

Director: Garth Jennings
Starring: Martin Freeman, Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def, Sam Rockwell
Rated: PG
Running Time: 110 minutes

After having a rough day attempting to save his (Martin Freeman) home from its inevitable destruction for build a bypass through the area. Soon to discover that not only has he lost his home but his planet as well. After the Earth has been destroyed by a bureaucratic race of aliens known as the Vogons, making room for a hyperspace expressway. Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is saved by his alien friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) who hitchhike their way onto a spaceship called The Heart of Gold. It's there that Dent meets two-headed galaxy president Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), earthling Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), and depressed robot Marvin (voiced by Alan Rickman). They are soon to find out that Zaphod was the one who signed the order to have the Earth destroyed.

Jim Henson's Creature Shop came up with the Vogons, an impossibly ugly race of monsters who use poetry to torment their victims. Although early on thanks to a musical number for dolphins who try to warn the human race that their planet is about to be destroyed. The warnings, of course, are misinterpreted, but not before the dolphins have delivered a fondly choreographed farewell to the planet, which they thank for "all the fish."

The movie was very interesting and confusing at parts, mostly because of the fact that I have never read the book before. There was some good humor although the story plot seemed as though the author was on crack when he scribed the screenplay. I would rate this movie as a 4 out of 10 stars, 6 out of 10 if you have 6 friends with out at a drive in at one in the morning.

eyeing issues

2005-05-05T09:16:00.000-06:00

For the last 24 hours my left eye has been plagued with a "floater", which pretty much looks like a chromosome-like image floating this inside your retina. The clear gel like material that fills in your eye is called the vitreous. About 80% of the eye's volume is vitreous, many people would equate it to a small spherical fish tank.

The vitreous in children is very firm and gelatinous, while in older folks the vitreous turns to water. That means there's a transition period during which the gel "melts." The medical term for this process is Syrnersis (sin-err-ree-siss).

During syneresis some of the gel is still partially formed in chunks. These free-floating chunks represent your floaters. Although they are clear, these chunks cast an optical shadow on the retina, giving them a dark appearance.

Most floaters go away over time. Either the gel completely dissolves, or the chunks settle down to the bottom of the eye, or (most likely) your brain learns to simply ignore them. There is no medical therapy available to eliminate floaters.

In short it feels like you should be on LSD because you are seeing something that one else can, a thing that is actually inside of your retina and keeps passing in front of your optic nerve. At this point I really want to pull an Oedipus and gouge out my own eyes just to make this nuisance stop.

movie quote monday

2005-05-02T01:23:00.000-06:00

At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place. But believe us when we say there is much more good in it than bad. And what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events, may in fact, be the first steps of a journey.
-Emily Browning as Violet Baudelaire in A Series of Unfortunate Events

keeping up appearances

2005-05-01T00:25:00.000-06:00

As a friend (Kines) pointed out this past week, that all places may have their superstars, but they also have their exiled. Not only is it with Paris, but indeed it is true with Utah as well. I'm sure that most people reading this have heard of the phrase "Utah - land of the greatest snow on Earth," it is indeed the most annoying and commonly uttered phrase about the state other than "the home of the Mormons."

Each winter thousands of people flock like geese to these Mountains to take part in a few runs over "the greatest snow on Earth" for a hundred dollars a day. This state is not all roses. But even though we quite possibly have the "best" snow, and the largest (and supposedly most beautiful) Mormon Tabernacle in the world. This state has a few downsides including (but not limited to), the highest bankruptcy filings in the nation, the state with the 3rd highest births per capita, and rates among the highest in the nation for people on anti-depressants and suicides.

Now I know, not all that glitters is gold, but all those that are a little less than perfect, should not get swept under the rug. Every place has its flaws but hiding them and pretending that they don't exist just worsens the problem. Naively people flock here in droves believing that this is the "real" Zion, that because of its acclamation from its two most prestigious items, that it is immune from having any flaws and imperfections.

Now Utah is not the only place that is like this, Oh no; never believe that for one minute. As one friend stated, that Paris is the same way, so many people lay to believe that Paris is the most beautiful place because of it acclamation due to Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Versailles castle, the Champs Elysees, it also has its own "Red District" and its streets are covered it feces of animals, because of irresponsible owners.

Every place has its flaws, yet no one seems to ever notice them until they live in that city. The thing that we all need to realize is that even the "prettiest" places in the world have the normality of every other places, and the slime and grundge as everywhere else.

back in town

2005-04-26T08:47:00.000-06:00

I am back in town as of 7:36 pm last night, the trip was amazing, it felt way short though. Pictures will be up in the next few days. My favorite part would be either Fort Jefferson or the Yellowcard concert, I can't decide whether my history geekiness should over-rule my wanna be a rock star side. Grad Nite was kind of pathetic because most of the rides were closed and it was the Magic Kingdom, so they didn't have many "big kid" rides anyway. The Hostel that we stayed at in the Everglades was the nicest Hostel that I have ever seen and it was really cool. Well that's it for now, I have a quarter of French to do before May 1st so I better get going on it, I'll check in later and elaborate more, au revoir!

movie quote monday

2005-04-18T02:55:00.000-06:00

Hank: [upon being asked to get out of the car] They're having a top 100 countdown and I want to hear number 1.
Lee: What number are they up to?
Hank: 86!
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Hank and Meryl Streep as Lee in Marvins Room

Class of 2005 Trip

2005-04-18T02:38:00.000-06:00

As of 12 pm MCT tonight I will be on a plane on my way to Florida, along with the 9 other students of the ICS Class of 2005. Our trip is composed of 5 cities all across the state. Starting in Boca Raton, we are doing a Beach Restoration project with the United Way, and watching the Marlins vs. Mets game on Wednesday night. From there we travel down to the Everglades for a fan boat tour of "The" swamp (Cyprus), and the ritual eating of gator (*tears*). Following the 'Glades we head down to Key West for a 10 hour catamaran snorkeling tour of the Dry Tortugas. On the night of the 23rd we are going to Disneyworld's Grad Night. A night devoted specifically for the Class of 2005, where we along with a couple thousand other Seniors from across the country can enjoy the experience of Disney without the annoyance of young children, and enjoy a few extras; like clubs (alcohol free, of course) filled with soap bubbles, and a concert by Yellowcard and Ryan Cabrerra. From there we head over to Cocoa Beach for a day of relaxation and a tour of the Kennedy Space Center, before our flight home on Monday night.

The trip is going to be awesome, just please be praying for the safety of all who are going. And that we all are able to be a bit more patient with each other than we are now. So this is the cause for the next week long silence of the blog, see ya in a week!

movie quote monday

2005-04-11T01:39:00.000-06:00

Donkey: You're supposed to say "You have the right to remain silent!". No one said I have the right to remain silent!
Shrek: Donkey, you HAVE the right to remain silent. What you lack, is the capacity.
- Mike Myers (Shrek) and Eddie Murphy (Donkey) in Shrek2

i know im minnesotan because. . .

2005-04-10T00:50:00.000-06:00

You call highways "freeways." (seriously, what is the difference?)

Snow tires came standard on your car.

You've never taken public transportation.

75% of your graduating high school class went to the University of Minnesota.

"Perkins" was the only hangout option in high school.

You assume when you say "The Cities" people know where you're talking about.

People from other states love to hear you say words with "o"s in them. (and "a"s too)

In a conversation you've heard someone say "yah sure, you betcha" and you didn't laugh. (sadly enough I have said it within the last 24 hours)

The only reason you go to Wisconsin is to get fireworks.

You're a loyal Target shopper.

You've frozen your tongue on a metal handrail before.

You wear shorts when it's 50 degrees outside in March, but you bundle up and complain in August when it goes below 60. (and a swim suit in the negatives!)

You have gone trick-or-treating in 3 feet of snow. (yeah what was it in, 1994?)

You've not only walked across a lake, you've driven across one.

Everyone you know has a cabin or, at least, access to one.

You keep the snow tires on your truck all year because it ain't worth taking them off for only two months.

Your local Dairy Queen is closed from December through February.

You know that everyone has a city preference -- Minneapolis or St. Paul. (St. Paul, all the way)

You can honestly claim Germanic / Scandinavian ancestors, and have been known to say "ya" instead of "yes" (guilty)

Upon seeing an ocean for the first time, you say, "Hey! That looks like Lake Superior!" (Lake Baikal, happens to look a lot like the North Shore...)

I know these can be severly annoying sometimes, but some moments; it is right on the spot. . . any other Minnesotans out there, that agree?

the writings on the wall

2005-04-08T23:54:00.000-06:00

Brick masons work through the cold and snow to erect the massive Wall of Silence, on the morning of Friday March 25th, which was built in front of the Marriott Library at the University of Utah. The wall represents what people face every time they are silenced by a derogatory word. These bricks tell a story of the struggles that we face everyday because of things like prejudices, bigotry, sexism, homophobia, ignorance, hatred and so much more. The students of the "U" found a way to come together to give the campus a visual image of what these things come to look like and how huge of a wall we face when we silence each other.

The wall was smashed down on April 1st, with an attempt to create a campus that despite all of our differences are able to work together for a common goal and purpose and destroy these things. Images of the wall

financial aid

2005-04-08T16:39:00.000-06:00

I came home from school today to find my most beloved most awaited piece of mail of the year (ok, the second), waiting in a big white folder for me to open. I open the heavy folder peaking inside, uncertain if I wanted to see the subject matter of its contents. Inside I find that they, because of my parents income are only able to aid me with $7825 per year. I have yet to hear back from the other grants that I have applied for, but hopefully their contributions will help pad the amount of money that I will be required to find in other places, a.k.a. loans.

Although I did kind of throw all of this on me when I chose to go to a private university that costs $26k per year. And of course with my luck my parents were quite belated, when they brought up the issue of "How in the world do you think that we're/you going to pay for this?". But it seems that the finances are beginning to fall in place, now if only I can manage to get my hands on a little more!

making poverty a thing of the past

2005-04-06T23:29:00.000-06:00

As of there 2004 are approximately 6.4 billion people inhabitating this small world. And over 1/5 of this population (1,280,000,000) are living in extreme poverty (under $1 a day). Today the gap between the worldss rich and poor has never been wider. Malnutrition, AIDS, conflict and illiteracy are a daily reality for millions. But it isnt chance or bad luck that keeps people trapped in bitter, unrelenting poverty. Its man-made factors like a glaringly unjust global trade system, a debt burden so great that it suffocates any chance of recovery and insufficient and ineffective aid.

Each year more than 12 million children under the age of 5 die in developing countries, most from a combination of preventable causes, including malnutrition, AIDS, and HIV. While millions others are left orphaned by the death of their parents to many different kinds of communicable (usually sexually transmitted) diseases.

According to Unicef:
640 million children do not have adequate shelter
500 million children have no access to sanitation
400 million children do not have access to safe water
300 million children lack access to information
270 million children have no access to health care services
140 million children have never been to school
90 million children are severely food-deprived

Makepovertyhistory says that there are 3 things that can make poverty a thing that is only seen in the history books: TRADE JUSTICE. DROP THE DEBT. MORE AND BETTER AID.

Trade Justice
We need trade justice not free trade (allows rich countries to pay their farmers and companies subsidies to export food.) This means the EU needs to single-handedly put an end to its damaging agricultural export subsidies now; it means ensuring poor countries can feed their people by protecting their own farmers and staple crops. This means ensuring governments can effectively regulate water companies by keeping water out of world trade rules; and it means ensuring trade rules do not undermine core labor standards.

Drop the Debt
Despite grand statements from world leaders, the debt crisis is far from over. Rich countries have not delivered on the promise they made more than six years ago to cancel unpayable poor country debts. As a result, many countries still have to spend more on debt repayments than on meeting the needs of their people.

Rich countries and the institutions they control must act now to cancel all the unpayable debts of the poorest countries. They should not do this by depriving poor countries of new aid, but by digging into their pockets and providing the money.

The task of calculating how much debt should be cancelled must no longer be left to creditors concerned mainly with minimizing their own costs. Instead, we need a fair and transparent international process to make sure that human needs take priority over debt repayments.

And to avoid another debt crisis hard on the heels of the first, poor countries need to be given more grants, rather than seeing their debt burden piled even higher with yet more loans.

More and Better Aid
Poverty will not be eradicated without an immediate and major increase in international aid. Rich countries have promised to provide the extra money needed to meet internationally agreed poverty reduction targets. This amounts to at least $50 billion per year, according to official estimates, and must be delivered now. Rich countries have also promised to provide 0.7% of their national income in aid and they must now make good on their commitment by setting a binding timetable to reach this target.

However, without far-reaching changes in how aid is delivered, it wont achieve maximum benefits. Two key areas of reform are needed.

First, aid needs to focus better on poor peoples needs. This means more aid being spent on areas such as basic healthcare and education. Aid should no longer be tied to goods and services from the donor, so ensuring that more money is spent in the poorest countries. And the World Bank and the IMF must become fully democratic in order for poor peoples concerns to be heard.

Second, aid should support poor countries and communities own plans and paths out of poverty. Aid should therefore no longer be conditional on recipients promising economic change like privatizing or deregulating their services, cutting health and education spending, or opening up their markets: these are unfair practices that have never been proven to reduce poverty. And aid needs to be made predictable, so that poor countries can plan effectively and take control of their own budgets in the fight against poverty.

The goals expressed here are the ones posted by makepovertyhistory.

Poverty is a thing that if we take enough time to acknowledge that not only does it exist, it single-handedly is killing off billions of people each year. According to Oxfam, one person dies every three seconds from poverty related issues; that means in the time that it took you to read this post over 60 people have died. Don't you think that now is the time to stop this? That now is the time to take action? Well guess what it is, and you don't have to be Bono Vox, Brad Pitt or Cameron Diaz or even P Diddy to make a difference. You can make a difference even by just making the miniature contribution of buying a white silicone band that says "makepovertyhistory" for just one euro (plus shipping and handling). Today is the day for you to be the difference in the world that you want to see.

dont you dare say that there are no more heros

2005-04-06T16:54:00.000-06:00

For those who believe that there are no more heros.

sin city

2005-04-05T16:47:00.000-06:00

Ok, it has been way to long for this post to be posted. On Friday morning I went and saw the midnight premier of Frank Millers Sin City.

Directors: Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Bruce Willis, Jessica Abla, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Jaime King
Rated: R
Running Time: 126 minutes

To the keep the film remaining true to its integrity, Frank Miller not only helped assert the script, he also directed the movie as well. The film is based on three of Frank Miller's comic book hits, "The Big Fat Kill", "Sin City", "That Yellow Bastard".

The film takes place in Basin City, a city where the police are as corrupt as the streets are deadly. The tale follows three peoples intertwining story lines the first follows a end of his career cop (Willis), who is dying to catch the one pedophile who has baffled the rest of the agency in locating his hideout. The second follows the paths of a harder-than-rocks street fighter (Rourke) that is out for revenge against the murder of his one true love; that of which he has been framed for her murder. The third follows a self proclaimed protector (Owen) of the streets and the highly armed dames of the 'Old Towne'.

The film did indeed deserve its R rating within the first five minutes, and did not stop until the end credits. The high amount of violence was greatly fictionalized (comic style), however sexual overtones (while only containing brief nudity) were adult in nature - with the prostitute outfits,, and continual beheadings, the movie had a definite reason for its R rating.

The film reached new heights in the CGI field whereas the majority of the movie was filmed on a green screen. It was like no movie that has came before, and created a new playing field for all movies that come after it. With the film being nearly all black and white except for splashes of color that accentuates, things like the occasional eyes, lips, dresses, cars, and even at times the occasional entire person. It added a whole new feeling to actually see a world that has before only existed on paper. The sporadic voice-overs added a dramatic edge to the leading characters tales of how they came to become whom they are, and how they got to the situation that they are in.

The film was good, had a great story line, adventure, great acting and excellent cinematography; but the amount of sexual taboo and nudity could have been reduced and the movie still would have retained its true integrity, and plot. The film had probably the best cinematopgraphy that I have seen in ages that puts it on the playing field with movies like, Star Wars, and most likely will indeed become a cult classic. The soundtrack is good, just another contribution that Rodriguez had put into the film (who is this guy? Superman? He directs, writes, composes, what can't he do?). If you can look past the Adult nature of the film without being offended by its actions, then I would recommend this movie, otherwise no, I would not... I give it a seven (out of ten) stars.

movie quote monday

2005-04-04T18:09:00.000-06:00

"Oh sugar, you just gone and done the dumbest thing in your whole life."
- Alexis Bledel as Becky in Frank Miller's Sin City

Pope John Paul

2005-04-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

As of 9:37pm (Vatican City Time) the Vatican announced the passing of Pope John Paul 2nd. It will be a trying next few weeks for all of those in the Catholic faith as they await the appointment if the next Pope and the burial of John Paul. John Paul was 84 and was the residing Pope of the Catholic faith for 26 years.

Rest in Peace: Pope John Paul 2nd (1920 - 2005)

sin city

2005-04-01T04:28:00.000-07:00

I went and saw sin city this morning, I'm really tired so I'm going to bed, I'll post later.

*Has anyone noticed that blogger is being very tempermental the last few days? The review of Sin City would have been posted at 3:00pm on Friday if blogger had not decided that it it did not want sign me out after I had pressed the Publish button. So it is coming, sorry for the wait. Blame blogger.

rest in peace

2005-03-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

Rest in peace dear Terri Schavio, may God be with you.

now where did I leave my competency?

2005-03-29T02:03:00.000-07:00

Man, even with 3 years of working with CSS and HTML these last few weeks have been making me feel quite incompetent with both. I am working on a new layout, that *hopefully* will be finished to be released on April 1st, but it seems that as soon as I get the formating right to make an item appear how I want it to, it screws up another piece of my page. . . it is driving me crazy, I really can't wait to get all of the glitches worked out, and get it posted cause it rocks!

saving terri?

2005-03-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

With the recent controversy over the Terri Schiavo suit, I thought that I would spread a little bit of my two cents on this case.

According to Pia, has Terri has been placed on morphine, not because she’s feeling pain-if she is its vestige–but I truly doubt that she’s feeling any. She’s on morphine to make her parents and siblings feel better, and I’m for anything that will help them get through this. Where she is also being given ice chips and her lips and mouth are constantly being moistened. If she can feel this will make her comfortable.

Terri's Condition

Doctors that Michael Schiavo hired have said she is in a persistent vegetative state. That does not mean she is brain dead. People in a persistent vegetative state cannot think, speak or respond to commands and are not aware of their surroundings. They may have noncognitive functions and breathing and circulation may remain relatively intact. Terry Schiavo breathes on her own and blinks.

In this case, Terri is already dead, she is only alive in the physical sense, whereas emotionally, and psychologically she died fifteen years ago. Honestly I don’t know what Terri Schiavo wanted, no one does. But fifteen years is too long to live in a state of suspended life–life with only a brain stem working is no life at all.

Personally, I don’t know exactly where I stand on this issue, for to much of the "evidence" that has been presented has been clouded and muddled so that the truth has been blurred to mean what people want it to mean. And I personally do not like to take a stand for a specific side on an issue that I do not have the proper amount of evidence to support each side’s ideas; but here I am at an impasse. I do not believe fully that either way was the correct path to take, I believe that there is a third choice that could have been made in this case but no one wanted to see it. (*I know I am being severely vague here*)

If I was in her condition I would not want to live, yet I would not want to die this way either, whether or not she can feel pain from the dehydration and starvation. Thankfully I have not had to go through any of the pain that her family is going through right now, but I really just want her to be at peace.

For those who base your belief off of medical standards;
If the 97% of doctors are correct and she is really just a vegetable that has absolutely no chance of any cognitive repair. Then Terri is merely existing for her family’s comfort. And for there belief in modern day miracles based on empty dreams.

But if the 3% of doctors are correct that say that she is capable of cognitive regeneration and that she actually can feel, and is aware of the world around her. But is just incapable of expressing it in any outward motor function. I would want to die; being trapped within a prison of my own body, is no way to live.

For those who base your belief off of religious standards;
First, if you believe that good Christians go to heaven upon death to join God and the angels, then why are you fighting Terri so hard against Terri's journey there? If it's such a great place, why are you fighting tooth and nail to keep Terri in her corporeal form down here on earth where she has slim to no chance of actually developing brain function? All I know is if there's a real choice between heaven and being imprisoned in an ethereal form over which one barely has control, I would choose heaven. And I would sure as heck resent anyone who grabbed my arm and held me back from running there as fast as I could.

Second, if you argue that keeping Terri alive is The Will of God, have you stopped to consider who caused the heart attack that put Terri in this position to begin with? Perhaps God was trying to take her back into His fold, and now our mortal feeding tube is what's actually thwarting God's plan. Since none of can ever actually speak to God to determine His intentions, we're all just guessing here. So how can you be so freaking sure that you aren't the one thwarting God's intentions? Who's the one "playing God" now?

And, I know that I just contradicted myself multiple times in here, but I seriously think that this is a purely conditional case, depending on whether she is at all cognizant or not, is what is the table turner for me. I just wish that there was another way that this could be done. And I really, truly wish that she passes soon, to help this all end, and let her truly be at peace. The sooner that she dies the sooner that this masquerade of protesters for both sides will diminish, and her family will be a little more at peace.
*UPDATE- Thank you to Kines for figuring out the problem with my meta tags, and making everything pretty again!

movie quote monday

2005-03-28T02:05:00.000-07:00

There's a time when you can share and you hold hands and be on the same path. But there's always a fork in the road... at some point. And sometimes you have to go on one part of the fork and they gotta go on the other part of the fork. Or just down the back part of the fork while you go forward. And they're like *sigh* Or they got a salad fork and you have one of the big dinner forks and you have longer to go but they're like done because that's it, they're stuck on a piece of food, that they *sigh*. A desert fork or like one of those, you know small little shrimp forks or crab forks and you're trying to get out a crab. They're like that and you're over here jumping to the huge serving fork or something like that, or a ladle, you know.
- Alan Tudyk as Gerhardt in 28 Days