Yeeee-aaaah I can't leeeeaaaaave you now...

Ugh, all my blogs lately have been kind of lame. I will try to post something interesting soon. Chapter 5 should be finished...Wednesday morning, if I were to make a guess. Other than that, I don't know. It's going to be a long four days till next Friday but I will try to enjoy them as much as I can...I'd like to write about something other than writing if I get the time.

But yeah, offer still stands until Wednesday, comment on this post to get your name in my book. I can't guarantee what sort of character will wind up getting it though...

I need to watch 28 episodes of Psych by August 7th in order to be ready for the new season. Is it even possible to watch that much TV in two weeks??

Holy cow, I am beat.

I played Ultimate, Football, Kickball, and Soccer at a church picnic today. This year made me feel old. I ran out of energy a little sooner than usual. But I think I just need to get in better shape. My feet are definitely feeling it. Four back to back games barefoot will do that...

Overall, this whole weekend has been pretty sweet. Friday I went skateboarding for the first time, and spent the whole of the evening with friends. I started to write a blog the other day just for Friday, but it was too long. I have the whole day off so I usually get around to doing A LOT. Suffice it to say it twere a good day. Slipping under bridges, dodging fish, fountains, miniature golf with tiny clubs, and saran wrapping of a truck were involved.

I was so tired by the end of the day, I was like zoning out. I walked past a box of tissues with a fancy cover at King Soopers and I just stopped to touch it for no reason. And then I went and played video games at a friends house and spent the night, staying up EVEN LATER.

Saturday!! I got locked out of a house for the first time ever. I went outside once to get my computer and my bible out of my car right?? But I forgot the power cord, so I had to go back out. I left the door ajar the first time, but I forgot to the second time, so I wound up chilling on my friends' front porch in my pjs for like twenty minutes till someone came and let me in. I guess embarrassment would be the normal response?? I was planning on running to Starbucks for coffee(hoping they wouldn't notice my bare feet I guess) when I was let back in.

And I found out I have a stye, which is the reason my eye has been itchy.

The end.

Sorry if this blog is kind of boring. I am fairly pooped.

A ring don't mean nothing if you can't haul the weight...

I'm listening to some new Thrice music as we speak. Unfortunately, their new album leaked onto the internet recently. I dug it up and downloaded, but I'm only listening to two tracks, All the World is Mad and the Weight. They've already been playing them live, so I figure that's only fair.

So now the CD is coming out in digital form August 11th. This is good news because August 11th is a lot closer than October 13th, and they are one of my favorite bands. This is bad news because I will certainly want a physical copy, so I may be forced to buy it twice. Few bands are worth this, but Thrice is one of them.

And of course, both new tracks are awesome. I especially love The Weight. I like it so much, I'm posting the lyrics.

THE WEIGHT

There’s many who’ll tell you they’ll give you their love,
But when they say “give” they mean “take.”
They’ll hang ‘round just like vultures till push comes to shove.
They’ll take flight when the earth starts to shake.

Someone may say that they’ll always be true,
Then slip out the door ‘fore the dawn.
But I won’t leave you hanging on.
Another may stay till they find someone new,
Then before you know they’ll be gone.
But I won’t leave you hanging on;
No, I won’t be that someone.

And come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind
Because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.
And come what may, I will be standing right here by your side;
I won’t run away, though the storm’s getting worse and there’s no end in sight.

Some talk of destiny, others of fate,
But soon they’ll be saying goodbye.
But I won’t leave you high and dry.
Because a ring don’t mean nothing
If you can’t haul the weight,
And some of them won’t even try,
But I won’t leave you high and dry;
I won’t leave you wondering why.

And storms will surely come,
But true love is a choice you must make
And you’re the one that I have set my heart to choose.
As long as I live, I swear I’ll see this through.

My eyes hurt.

I don't know why. They burn and itch, especially the left one. I can think of a lot of creative scenarios as far as what this means, but none of them seem particularly pleasant. Well, most.

Chapter five seems to be coming along nicely. I like it so far at least...

I...am not having the best evening. I think now is a wonderful time to go to bed. I did have a good day though. I will talk about it later. Bye.

As a special thanks for taking the time to read this blog, I thought I would make y'all a little offer. I don't think anyone has read any of the chapters I've posted yet, but even so, reply to this post with the name of your choice and I'll put it in my book somewhere.

Not that it's likely to mean much, but you never know! If it works out and I get it published, you could be famous...well, ok not really. But...you could have your name in a book!

So I wrote a long blog pouring my heart out about a lot of things in my life I've been examining lately, as far as what I've been doing right, and what I could change. But. It went a little long, and I have a tendency to think with my fingers, sometimes realizing things only as I write them down, so the flow was a little odd.

I also attempted to summarize it all, but that also went kind of long and was a lot less interesting. So, basically I just decided I want to be more giving, motivated, and joyful, as well as overall just being more focused on Jesus and advancing the Kingdom. Keeping the focus where it needs to be. I also want to work on being less selfish, lazy (as in procrastinating) and dull (as in one opposite of happy).

And that's that.

There's other conclusions I came to as well, but I will save them for another time!

Green tea with lemongrass is very tasty, I have learned. I am pretty much exhausted! I put away truck like none other today at work...and now it is time for sleep...so much rambling today...I will try to be more cohesive with my thoughts in the future. Later llamas!

Hullo. An update on the fire academy... I found out I have to attend an information session on August third. So I've been waiting patiently. Problem? I recently found out this is also the LAST DAY TO REGISTER. So all in one day I'm going to have to attend this session, get my application all filled out, schedule an interview, and then register.

You know what? I just realized that's completely impossible.

I better try to get my application and interview in BEFORE I attend the information session...if they'll let me. I definitely do NOT want to have to wait until Spring to take the class...just think how upset my fiance will be. ;)

Guess I know what I'm doing tonight...

In other news...I'm going for a run! Got to get in shape if I'm going to do fire academy. My job is all manual labor now(think lifting heavy boxes), so I'm not too worried about that side of things(although i am getting my push ups in every night tyvm), it's just the cardio, I gotta get more running and biking in. It's kind of amusing, I'm one of the smallest guys in our warehouse crew at work, but I probably do more heavy lifting than anybody, possibly more than a few of them put together.

Gosh look at Chatty Cathy here... I was planning on typing like one paragraph...better go! I got to be at work by ten and I plan on getting my exercise in and then working on CHAPTER FIVE for awhile...!!

Hi.

Well.

I am so sleepy. You would not even believe how sleepy.

I went to Beka and Josiah's wedding today. It was grand. Made me look forward to June 12 next year all the more (I am getting married next year, June 12 for those not in the know).

I also...danced a teeny bit, sat around quite a lot, splattered hot sauce on one of my favorite button up shirts and went to see... the Proposal.

Must say, not a fan. It was moderately funny...but it had some really vulgar scenes I could have lived without. And it just...lacked depth. It didn't connect with me. Plus, it seemed to treat marriage as nothing terribly important, just a ritual that hardly even matters.

Seriously. Sleepy. And I have to get up early tomorrow...got to be at church at the crack of...7:45 AM.

Whuzzah.

Hi.

So I've got some overhauling to do now. I'm obviously a bit of a ways into chapter five, but I'm not particularly happy with chapter two...it's a little bland. It has no weight to it. So I'm going to look at revising it a bit, and also chapter three needs to have a few new details worked in...

So anyways, before I go any further, I'm going to work on what I've got a little bit. Um! Once i'm finished, I'll post links to all five chapters, along with their new titles. Yes! I am going to name my chapters...actually they already have names...

Isn't that exciting?!

I'm going to a wedding today! Also exciting!

Chapter Five (part one)

I didn't particularly want to die.

I didn't want to smash into the ground at high velocity and get pulvarized to bits. Seriously, the idea did not appeal to me. It's not that I wanted to fall, it was was that I couldn't figure out how the heck I was supposed to fly.

The office buildings were rushing by in a blur, all the windows running together into straight, continuous lines. I was slightly tempted to flap my arms like wings, but I didn't see that accomplishing much. But I knew there had to be a way, had to be.

I refused to entertain the other notion, that the man from the diner was crazy, and I couldn't fly at all. If that was the case, I would die in mere seconds. As the world grew larger and began to take on sharper definition, I gave up trying to concentrate, to force it.

I closed my eyes and pictured a bird, a giant bird of prey like an eagle or a condor. I imagined it gliding through the sky effortlessly. Clouds surround me as I float, thoughtlessly airborn. Neither flapping of wings nor mental exertion take place.

Just flight.

The loud blare of a semi-truck's air horn woke me from my day dream.

I was flying!

I'd stopped eight feet off the ground, only to narrowly miss getting hit by a truck. I managed to swerve in midair, but with my focus completely lost, I tumbled out of the air and right into an unoccupied table sitting outside a restaurant. The metal bent, and the top came disconnected from the legs. I could hear the patrons gasping but I saw nothing as the umbrella that had been firmly affixed inside the table had folded in on me.

Stumbling to my feet, I brushed the tattered remains of my clothes to little effect. They were still tattered remains. I glanced around, running a hand through my hair. Restaurant goers had dropped their conversations to stare. A waitress in the middle of pouring water from a pitcher was overflowing a glass.

I raised a hand and waved it towards them, as if brushing away their potential concern. "No worries...I'm fine. It's all good. I do stuff like that all the time. Parcour, you know?" And then I limped away, slipping past the wrought iron gate without a second glance back, trying my best to look as if falling out of the sky and hurtling into tables really was a normal, everyday thing for me...

Chapter four is finished. I already published it by accident, so it's up...but somewhere further down. I'll bump it to the top once I give it a once over.

Later llamas.

So it turns out they make you jump through hoops to get into the fire academy...not as easy as applying to regular classes. Darn. Well, if was easy as that, everyone would do it, right?? More than half their class winds up dropping out anyways.

New Project 86 and John Reuben music released today. It's all quite good.

Sorry, ch. 4 is still incomplete... but I finished Inkdeath! Very odd book. It seemed a little hastily written to me. It was a really good story but it almost felt like the author was in a hurry to be finished.

So.

Interesting day.

-I met with three dudes in my caregroup to discuss Kevin DeYoung's "Just Do Something" message/book. Very convicting stuff...just do something! Very sound advice.

-Went to Dave and Buster's for the first time with coworkers. I lost a lot of games, including air hockey which used to be MY TURF. I used to be UNSTOPPABLE. But alas, no longer.

-But! A small triumph. I put a new high score on their Galaga machine. I really want to go back someday and have it still be there.

-Went to a restaurant called Johnny Carino's, got the worst service anywhere, ever. My coffee was COLD, among other problems...

-Psych is the best show ever. Ok, second or third best.

Bye! I will work on chapter four soon, I promise! I applied to the fire academy! I will also post something when I find out if I'm in or not...

I will truuuuust you, cause I know what a promise can do...

Quite an exciting day yesterday. Or very full at least. It consisted of:

-Meeting Jeremy and Chad in the morning. For once I did not spill my coffee.

-Working a good 8 hour shift, eating some tasty Heidi's for lunch.

-Cleaning someone's gutters, which was quite the adventure. I fell off the roof! Eee!! I risked life and limb for...sixty bucks! Not bad. Well, my share was 30...

-Caregroup, which wound up mostly consisting of throwing fireworks in the rain. Woot.

-Chilling with Chad, playing Littlebigplanet, which is one of my new favorite video games till I was about to fall asleep with exhaustion...

Whoa

I'll admit it. I haven't been writing much lately...I've been absorbed by Inkdeath! It's a very interesting read.

I bought two cds today, FM Static and Thrice. Love 'em.

I also...can't think of much of anything interesting to report. We got a call from someone who wants his gutters cleaned last night, and when Derrick and I talked about it, we realized neither of us actually knew how to clean a gutter...

I found paper lanterns at the dollar store in lemon guaca colors, but I'm not sure if they're going to work out. One broke. I'm going to try to exchange it, so we shall see...I've always loved paper lanterns, so I hope they work out! Paper lanterns and wind chimes...two things I will admit I love.

Chapter 4 ends with a bang! I am excited to finish it soon, hopefully tomorrow morning...the plot speeds up a little bit soon too, which sounds lovely to me...

Later llamas.

In-Dependence Day?

My hands smelled like funyuns last night. Just thought you'd like to know.

Right now?? They smell like sleep. You can tell I have woken up within the last few hours...

It is Independence Day, but sadly, I have very little independence to speak of. I have to go to work! ALL DAY. 11-7. Not a particularly fun shift. Happy Fourth of July to you all the same. I am all out of time, so I must make ready to get to work.

Recent musical interests:

Muse, FM Static, Project 86, Mute Math

Recent movies watched:

Black Hawk Down, Public Enemies

Recent books I've been reading:

Inkdeath, Just Do Something(!)

Recent video games played:

Double Agent, The Conduit, Assassin's Creed, Littlebigplanet

Recent bible verses memorized:

None. I think I need to work on my time management and prioritizing, no??

I have made a little bit of progress on Chapter Four though. My main goals right now:

-Getting ready for fire academy

-Finding a roommate and an apartment

-Getting chapters written

-Spending more time with God

-Working on my evangelism skillz.

Oh! And I supposedly have a business, so I should probably be getting my side work done too!

Chapter Four is underwaaaay!! This will be the last chapter I post for awhile, probably. I will still be at work but it will be silent work, like when you see a duck floating serenely along the water, and its legs are paddling furiously.

Now, if you don't like this, and would like to read further chapters, feel free to protest...but. I don't see this happening. And you know, I am a resolute man, all the time. I never change my mind or flake out.

Ever.

So actually I probably won't change my mind even if you beg and plead. So there.