Ignite

2005-11-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me, you know I don't get tickd off really often. It just doesn't happen. But today is a different story. Today I just see people being stupid in the hallways and in their lives and towards other people and I just want to kick them and inflict pain and random stuff on them. I've also seen people sucking up to other people and those people getting inflated on themselves. I just want to pop their little bubbles and yell at them some. I almost did once, but I held my tongue. It's like I'm on fire, just burning to do whatever I want to do and crush anyone who gets in my way. If this is how you're supposed to feel to be successful I hope I'm always a bum living homeless on the streets.

And looking back over the last couple of years my blog has existed, through Xanga and then here on Blogger I've seen that I've failed. It used to be that I'd write about whatever the heck I wanted whenever I wanted. But then I got an audience and people started reading my blog and commenting and that just made me feel all peachy keen inside so I started writing for those people instead of just writing what I felt. I've become a hoax. I'm sorry. I've failed everyone who reads this as well. I've become one of the masses who just wants to be popular and succeed and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. But it can't be done. If I'm gonna depend on myself I'll fail miserably every time. I need to live totally for God and pull out all the stops and say that He is in control. Giving up control is probably the most important thing I can ever do.

That said, this blog is going bye-bye. It's still going to be sitting here in all it's technicolor flamey wonderment, but the poster will not be here. I'm moving on. To another blog. Time to say goodbye.

Goodbye.

Don't agree. Disagree.

2005-11-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

You know what I really hate? I really hate it when I give a crappy video to someone to preview and they're like "oh, that's very good Brian" and shout at their backs (for they are walking away) "No it isn't! How can I make it better!" But they just turn and wave like they didn't hear me and shout from the distance "It's awesome Brian!" and I want to punch someone in the head. So the moral of the story? Don't be afraid to offend me. Also, don't be afraid to offend me. Oh, and don't forget: I don't get offended easily. Don't worry about offending me.

EDIT: And I deleted that dang personality test result. Why can't I just be myself?

Beer.

2005-11-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

Naryamion: 'cause we all know beer is a moral
RunQuoteRun: beer is not a moral!
Naryamion: yes it is!
Naryamion: You don't know that!

Petra is also very very awesome. My sister found the CD that we had lost a long time ago :-D

WOWIFLI #whatever

2005-11-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

Naryamion: good question! if anyone here were stranded on a desert island with only Brad Pitt and a coconut tree, what would you do?
AlmightyMetaphor: not sure if i trust mr tharp with questions, after those journals...
XxLonelyfaerieXx: hit brad pit over the head
imonlymindy: eat brad pitt
rosellathewimp: cut down the coconut tree and make a sword to kill brad pitt
XenophonicFolly: Put him in the tree and fire it like a catapult
RunQuoteRun: hit brad pitt with the coconuts and slide his unconciuous form into the ocean.
rosellathewimp: and survive off his remains
AlmightyMetaphor: hang brad pitt from the coconut tree

Hot Tea

2005-11-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I'm recovered enough to tell this story. You know, emotionally recovered.... and physically but that's beside the point. :-P

On Fridays in French II we can have tea, 'cause that's just a cool thing we do. Well last Firday there was this cup of hot tea sitting on the desk right next to me and this one girl comes up next to me and wants to walk through between the desks but she couldn't just turn sideways and walk through like the rest of us. No, she had to shove the desk aside, spilling a cup of hot tea right into my lap! Of course I was really alarmed by this.... I jumped up and started pulling at my pants and I go "GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF ME!" And then "WHOAH! MY PANTS ARE REALLY HOT!" So the teacher and the whole class looks at me dancing around pulling at the legs of my pants and yelling at them and the girl who pushed the desk over just stood there for a minute and then got a tissue and went back to her seat. I stood there for a while and then looked up and said (to the whole class) "Heh, uh.... mint tea. hot. heh." And kind of looked around and then they kept going with their lives and I turned red. I hope that never happens again.

Okay....

2005-11-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

Sure thing. Just to let you know: rabbits are weird. Happy Rachel?

And guess what? I biked to church today! It was really fun but I'm tired now. Whee.

Go to bed Brian!

2005-11-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

Do you know what happens when I'm really tired and rabid and kind of crazy looking? Well, I usually stay up, but tonight I'm going to bed. Whoo. This oughta be interesting. Maybe I won't actually be drooling on my desk during 1st period tomorrow, wouldn't that be nice? As if it's going to happen....

And in the news

2005-11-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

This is today's post. Thank you. I just wasted a minute of your life. HAH!

Homeowner's Association Beware

2005-11-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

Homeowner's association beware.... for I am.... SUPER GATE HOUSE MAN!

Tee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee

True Happiness

2005-10-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

What is it that makes life truly worth living? Is it money? No, it can't be money. Just look at all the people around the world who are very happy without money and the people right here in America who have so much money and are so unhappy. So then how about fame? Or power? Or knowledge? None of these. Some more likely things could be family and friends, but even if you have the greatest family ever in the whole entire history of the world you can still feel like you're missing something. No, none of the above are the secret to true happiness. God is the only thing that makes life worth living. I would've given up long ago if it weren't for God. He created everything, He is in control of everything, and He knows everything.

Good Music

2005-10-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

My music is what you would think of as crazy. But then, I'm someone who most people would think of as crazy too, so it fits. This may be true for all people, but some music that I listen to makes me wish that I could just bypass my ears and listen to music straight with my brain. That's probably why a lot of people turn their music up so loud. Music can make me inspired, angry, but most of the best stuff makes me just feel alive.

It really is part of a lifestyle, what kind of music you listen to. If you're a skateboarder type person you listen to rap and punk and emo. If you're an angsty teenager you listen to hard rock. If you're a truck driver you listen to yodeling country. I wouldn't say that music defines who you are, but it's at least a part of it.

So often, I feel like there's more to say here, but I just can't put it down. Maybe I need more music.

I broke the Internet

2005-10-31T17:48:00.000-07:00

I broke the internet. And I did it my way. My way is not with chainsaws or death rayguns, but with uninstalled fax machines. We will forever hate you, broken network antenna. Forever.

2005-10-26T16:10:00.000-06:00

Mwe he he. New blog look makes me think this

Well this sucks

2005-10-24T21:40:00.000-06:00

Being sick + people being dumb + homework = mad Brian. Beware.

On the other hand, the fall colors are very nice today.

Chocolate Covered Raisins

2005-10-23T18:38:00.000-06:00

I have these Chocolate Covered Raisins on my desk from the Girl Scouts and I don't know why they're there. They taste nice though. Maybe it's all part of the insidious plot on the part of the undead to hunt me down and eat my computer. ::protects his computer with a spatula:: BACK!

No Awards, No Regrets

2005-10-20T21:36:00.000-06:00

Isn't that just awesome?

Visual Aid

2005-10-20T19:09:00.000-06:00

ZekeofColorado: Have you done your visual aid?
MuppetsRock5: sorry, not dana.
MuppetsRock5: he'll be back soon.
ZekeofColorado: oh. Well have you done your visual aid?
MuppetsRock5: .
MuppetsRock5: good bye.

Forgiven

2005-10-20T17:40:00.000-06:00

Once sorting the files of life,

wandering through the years.

I thought way back to times long past,

to all my hopes and fears

I looked around for things done wrong

Times I had transgressed

And in shame I hung my head

Those times left me depressed

But to my shock and disbelief

imagine my delight!

Where sin had left it's staining mark

Those areas where white!

I asked my maker “Where are these?”

“These sins have gone away!”

He looked me in the eye and said

“What? Times you've gone astray?”

He's forgotten all my sins

Those dangers of the past

Under his great love for me

Those sins can never last

And now when I look through my files,

for times when I have flubbed

I see the white and then I turn

and thank my God above.

God is great

2005-10-19T20:27:00.000-06:00

Today I'm feeling pretty good, and it's all thanks to God. Today He's taken me from wanting to just sleep all day and not face the world at all to almost bursting with joy. He's shown me the simple things like dew on leaves and the big huge complex things like well, atoms. It's just been so great of a day. Yay for God!

Cat barf

2005-10-19T17:49:00.000-06:00

So I flopped down on my parent's bed backwards from sitting in their computer chair like I've done so often, but this time there was one major difference. This time there was cat barf on the bed. So I washed my head and I feel better now, but you know. Ewwww....

Fall Colors

2005-10-18T19:53:00.000-06:00

Have you ever gone outside in the morning and put your back up to a tree and watched the sun rise out in the east? If you look really closely you acn almost see the shadow moving across the city and then eventually high up into the sky. But as the sun is coming up, if you look around yourself you'll see a multitude of greens and browns and during the fall, it's almost like the mountains are on fire. Out of those, I could never choose a favorite, but seeing all those colors is almost like God turning on the lights in the morning and saying "well here's another day, what are you going to do with it?"

Mr. Tharp says....

2005-10-18T18:55:00.000-06:00

Hey all, This is Mr. Tharp, infiltrating your innermost core with my
message of love. I know for some of you, love is a blinding force and hurts the
very depths of your souls...if I am talking to you, I am laughing at you as
well! I was invited to the boards, so if you don't want me here you can fight my
well trained ninja body guard James and my Jedi assasin Jason. Be careful, long
hair and diabeties are a lethal combination. Anyways, thank you so much for all
of your love, support and prayer. If you stay half as awesome as you are now
when you graduate, I expect the world will be a better place to live in thanks
to you. You not only hit the ball out of the park, but shattered a drug dealers
car mirrior a mile away. THANK YOU!

I gotta say, thanks Mr. Tharp! He posted on the Fuego boards and told us all that. We've been praying a lot for Mr. Tharp the past couple of weeks because his wife died (the memorial service was last Tuesday) and he's a great friend to all of us.

Please Pardon Our Mess. Again.

2005-10-15T19:27:00.000-06:00

Going to make this into a real website at the same time changing the layout. Pardon our dust.

Relient K

2005-10-15T15:36:00.000-06:00

And speaking of cool things, I like Relient K 'cause they're cool! They're coming out with a new CD! There's proof right up there! And at their website!

Wow, that post stunk.

Cell Phone

2005-10-15T13:39:00.000-06:00

Just to let you know, the order for talking on a cell phone is this:

1. Dial Number
2. Hit talk
3. Talk to person

Not my order. My order gets a bit messed up sometimes. Like Thursday. Thursday I was at the library and we had just finished with YAC and I walked out the door and put the phone up to my face. Of course, I didn't dial a number first, but everyone was watching me and I didn't want to put the phone down so I just started talking. To nobody. Eep!

I'm Fai!

2005-10-13T15:20:00.000-06:00

What Tsubasa Character Are You?

Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.

And about that.... thing down there. Sorta.

2005-10-11T18:27:00.000-06:00

Well, am I trying to address the elephant in the room or what? This is all very complicated and perhaps not meant for a general viewing audience but I'm gonna spill everything right here and maybe I'll feel better about it tomorrow and delete it or something. So, here we go....

Once upon a thursday evening at PSST at Penrose, I met a gal named Rachel. We talked for a while and it was really fun to get to know her in that short span of time.

When I got home Pat said she wanted my Yahoo messenger address and so we started talking online as well as at PSST meetings. After a while I got some free tickets to the Matthew West concert that came to the Springs. I got four of them but both my parents were going to be out of town that night so I got to invite two friends (and my sister.) So I invited Rachel and a guy from my school. That day at work I was so excited to see Rachel again! I had only talked to her in person twice, both at PSST meetings. So we went to the concert and it was great and all that stuff. She made me a duct tape wallet out of some duct tape I had in my car and I used it until it got sticky junk all over my cards and stuff but I still have it and a cool thing to have around to remind me of that time (which was really cool.)

So you may be asking at this point "So why are you writing about this girl? Did you like her?" And the answer is yes I did like her immensely. I thought about her quite a lot and I was just getting up the nerve to ask her out, but then eventually we had a good long talk about dating relationships and it was definitely a "Let's just be friends" sort of thing, but we're good friends. So that was fun, it clarified everthing up for me (for a while at least.)

I started going to her youth group after one event in the summer, but the talk and the youth grouping sort of happened at the same time so I'm not sure which was first and which was second. Like I said, at the same time. But then we were talking and the discussion ended up with me not going to Ground Zero any more (that's the name of the youth group.) Then she came to MOC5 (my youth group) a couple weeks ago and that was nice.

Sorry if it gets incoherent at this point, I'm very foggy about this right now. That's probably why I'm writing it out. Go ahead, psychoanalyze me I dare you.

On a tangent, at homecoming I was pretty much the only guy without a date out of the whole school (and only one of three that even went to homecoming) so that got me all depressed. Not only about that but about the whole relationship dance that you're expected to do in high school. All around me are couples hooking up and going out and all that and I feel really left out. I talked to Aaron about it (the youth pastor at FBC) and then I felt much better but there's still some stuff going on that makes me feel kind of "ick" if you know what I mean.

Then just yesterday Rachel posted on her blog stuff which described about the same feelings that I'm having now. Amazing, eh? Then near the end she said

"I MISS BRIAN! Even though we aren't dating (at least I don't think so. He'll have to let me know), I miss having him around. and IMing him."

That of course is making me feel even more uncertain of myself. What now? I ask. Maybe this is a good thing. She said I'm not "her kind of guy" but what's that supposed to mean?

On another tangent from that first conversation about dating she said that I should just follow God and that everthing else would take care of itself. I believe that, and it's the best advice anyone's ever given to me, honestly. It's not as easy as it sounds though.

Yeah, it's complicated, and messy. But like I said in my poem, I think it's worth the trouble to try and figure out. I just hope no one really thinks to hard about it for me, their head might explode ^_^

Relationship Junk

2005-10-11T18:09:00.000-06:00

Whoah now, hey now, what's up with this here thing?
Why can't I just say what's in my brain right now?
Whoah now, hey now, what's this strange thing I'm feeling?
Could we call it quits for once and then just go home now?

But you're worth more than that
Much more than the sentimental
Much of it may be mental but
Let's try to work this thing out one more time!

Is it love or influenza?
It's hard to make sense of the
Way you feel when your friends are
trying to strangle you with words

How 'bout movies or dinner date?
Maybe now it's going to be fate
And all of this I can't handle today (or ever)
What's up with all this relationship junk?

Homecoming versus MOC5

2005-10-04T21:00:00.000-06:00

Homecoming was very "interesting" this year. I wouldn't say I liked it but it was pretty good. Except that I was the only guy without a date so I was the 3rd wheel (well the ninth wheel. They were pretty big tables.) So in short, I didn't like homecoming.

MOC5 Sunday evening was awesome! I would say I really liked it and it was pretty good. Rachel came to it so I was a little self-concious but that's something I can deal with. I really like to be around her. So in short, it liked MOC5!

The ironic thing about this is that even though homecoming is supposed to be like the most special thing in the world I really quite honestly just grinned and bore it. But MOC5 was awesome! I guess it's all about who you spend the time with!

Pepsi

2005-09-30T14:17:00.000-06:00

Would you agree that Pepsi is not not the most awesome substance in the world? I think personally that it is, other than Monkey, which is not really a substance so it doesn't count. So then Pepsi really is the most awesome substance in the world. Jason says it can't compete with Diet Pepsi, which is around the 500 gazillionth most awesome substance in the world, just below radio waves. On the other hand, I killed Jason this morning as he was eating his breakfast (which is always cracker jacks. Blueberry cracker jacks.)

I taught football all the time. And you know what? I didn't like it. But back to PEPSI is in all caps. If they ever thought up a new law on the senate floor that was called the "BPC" law, I would be DWI all the time because BPC would stand for "Blood Pepsi Content." By the way, I didn't kill Jason. But I had 10 FLOZ of Pepsi today and I'm all rabid now. I will make a poem for pepsi.

An ode to Pepsi:

Well, once there was a little man. And he drank a lots of Pepsi. And he got big and strong like popeye the sailor man. And he lived in a garbage can. And didn't really eat spinach because you know, he didn't need no steenking spinach. And he ate waffle.

So the moral of the story is don't drink too much Pepsi or you'll have to find more to feed your face.

Tsubasa 6

2005-09-25T17:28:00.000-06:00

So an e-mail came in today and I opened it and lo and behold it was the library telling me they have Tsubasa 6 in! Hooray! So I went to their website and reserved it and in that short space of time between then and now five other people put it on hold. So I'm sixth. Wonderful, eh?

A black guy

2005-09-19T15:50:00.000-06:00

So on Thursday I was driving down 31st street and I stopped at the stoplight at Colorado Avenue. I was singing along with the radio and this black guy walked across the street and then he stopped as I was watching him and singing and he just pointed at me and laughed and then kept walking. It was really weird.... I actually think I know him from somewhere....

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

2005-09-17T22:18:00.000-06:00

You really don't.

Toothbrush (plural)

2005-09-12T19:34:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I was looking at my toothbrush while I was brushing my teeth the other day and it made me ask some questions: why are toothbrushes so complex? could I brush without toothpaste? What is the plural of toothbrush?

To answer the first question, I turned to one of humanity's greatest resources of knowledge and asinine webgames: the internet! Awknowledging almost instantaneous defeat, I nevertheless pressed on in my quest. The first site I turned to was everyone's favorite search engine Google. I "googled" the word "toothbrush" and after much dodging of sketchy credit card offers and teeth-cleaning webgames, I stumbled across the Yahoo! internet directory for toothbrushes and toothpaste. "Yes!" I yelled "Perhaps here I can find some answers that are actually useful!" But after looking through the directory I was overwhelmed by the massive amount of toothbrush and toothpaste companies. Sighing, I moved on to the website listed on my tube of toothpaste. Crest's website actually had text on it that said "Tyler teams up with Spider-Man to fight plaque!" which of course got me thinking. Doesn't Spider-Man use webs to fight crime/plaque? If so, wouldn't Spider-Man's webbing actually cause more plaque on poor unfortunate Tyler's poor unfortunate teeth? I decided to move on, saying a quick prayer for Tyler's teeth. Oral-B's website just scared me and further enhanced my question with listings of "manual toothbrushes." There's another phrase that sparks my brain. What is normally the opposite of "manual" (think transmission here.) It's "automatic" right? So we have now "automatic" and "manual" toothbrushes. Futher validating my point is that on the same website there was a link that said (and I quote): "Compare Manual Toothbrushes" like it was cars or something. Next thing you know Acura will be pushing it's new 2005 toothbrush. "It's got a hemi." I hope we never have a used toothbrush market. Or remanufactured toothbrushes. Or toothbrushes with 50,000 mile warranties. Or Jiffy-Lube for toothbrushes. Creepy. I had to leave the question unanswered and move on to our next agenta item: Can you brush without toothpaste? My own logic answered, "of course you can't, silly!" The CEA got me good that time. Now the third question was a bit more difficult than either question before it. I had a sneaking feeling that the plural of toothbrush was "toothbrushes" but you never know. It might be something weird like "toothbrushiae" or "teethbrush." There seems to be quite a controversy over the subject online, because when I googled "plural of toothbrush" I came up with some startlingly different articles. One sources cites the plural of toothbrush as "toothbrushes." Another source teaching people to read and speak english (surprisingly written in English) agreed with that, but I felt I must press on to find the real plural of toothbrush. Then a confusing poem said the plural was "teethbrush" so I'm very confused and I suppose this is yet another question that I'm going to have to ask my English teacher tomorrow.

Good 'ol America

2005-09-12T17:54:00.000-06:00

Congratulations America. We've made it through four years of fear and uncertainty and we're looking at doing well in the future. Congratulations for rebuilding and not staying in grief forever (though we'll always remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks.) And congratulations on standing together against terrorism and capturing several leaders of terrorist organizations.

Everyone seems to be posting some or the other on when they first heard of the attacks. Well what happened for me was I was sitting upstairs one morning eating some cereal when my dad came upstairs and said "Guys, a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. They don't know if it's an accident or not but we need to pray for them." So we prayed for all the people and my dad went back downstairs. Then he came back up and told us that the second plane had crashed and we prayed some more and then left for school. I was actually proud to have some news to tell my classmates but when I got to school my bubble popped because not only did everyone know it but we also found out that a plane had crashed into the pentagon and another one in the middle of the country. We left school early that day. I went home and, like an little kid I played roller coaster tycoon all day after that. I now realize how absolutely terrible what happened was and I wish that I had done something to help. Anything.

But now in the face of this newest disaster (Katrina) I'm actually going to do something. I'm opening an online shop to sell t-shirts and stuff to benefit the red cross and my church (who are both sending out things to the south.) I haven't got it all set up yet but the URL is going to be http://www.cafepress.com/badapathy. I hope you'll come by and buy something. All the profits (usually 2-5 dollars on every item) are going to the red cross and my church. That's right, all the profits. %100. I'm not keeping anything. Or you could just go to your coinstar and donate some money. In fact, go do that. They're all over the place, just put your pocket change in and make a donation to the red cross. It's really easy. Think about it.

Hurricane Relief

2005-09-09T22:55:00.000-06:00

You know, the bottom line in the hurricane is that no matter who's doing what or who's fault all the consequences are we need to get out and help people to get back on their feet. As high school students we can't really do that by going down and vulunteering but we can at least raise awareness or go down to the hospitality building and do some volunteer or give a few bucks to the red cross. Donating is really easy, just skip getting a coffee for a week and you'll not only kick that caffiene addiction but you'll also save up enough money to give to the red cross (www.redcross.org). Let's assume you're getting a starbucks once a day, maybe twice a day. Four dollars times seven is $28. That could probably feed a family of four! Or you could go to your school and take donations (or there's probably someone already doing it, see if you can help out.) There's a lot of ways you can help out, but I think the absolute worst thing we can do at this time is to sit around and point fingers at each other and say "It's your fault" and then not do anything for the people. Yes, there are people down in New Orleans who wont' evacuate but there are thousands more who have evacutated and are coming into all the major cities of the U.S. If you didn't hear Q102 a couple mornings back there is a huge family from New Orleans who evactuated here and they're depending on people to help them until they can get back on their feet! Here's another easy-to-do way of getting stuff out there for people. You know those coinstar machines in safeway and walgreens and other grocery stores? Well if you take your spare change in you can make a donation to the Red Cross with it! There's more stuff you can do at places like www.dosomething.org but like I said, the worst thing we can do right now is to do nothing.

Apathy is bad.

BOOMkark

2005-09-09T20:38:00.000-06:00

BOOMkark

Cool Stories

2005-09-09T19:05:00.000-06:00

I've had several cool things happen to me today that I'd like to share. First happeneda happened at the pep assembly this morning. It was pretty cool, we played in Pep Band for the cheerleaders who are oh-so bright and smiley. I play the bassoon in pep band which is kind of weird, but that's another story. So after we played I set down my instrument and the principal came out and started talking to us about fall sports and having the sports teams come down. All this is well and good and honestly kind of boring watching from the side of the bleachers until Mr. Friesen (for that is his name) called the Tennis team down. This normally wouldn't be a big problem but today the varsity team was at a tournament all day so that just left me and the four other JV players. Of course though, I forgot this and jogged halfway out onto the gym floor in front of the bleachers containing the entire school before I remembered that fact. The principal held the mike up to my face then and made me talk about the tennis team. To the best of my knowledge I said "Uh yeah, Hi. I'm not at the tournament because I'm on JV." at that point one of the freshmen came down and stood next to me and I tapped him and said "And this is Jake. He's JV too." and the principal asked about the team and I said "They're at a tournament today but we're doing really good and we've had three games and they've gone good but today they're at a tournament and I'm on JV so I'm not there." You have to understand I was kind of distracted by close to seven hundred people staring at me from the bleachers. Understandably I was kind of embaressed by what I said. So there I was, standing there surrounded by air molecules each of which I could feel banging against my skin and causing pain so I sort of stammered out a "And we're doing really good" again and jogged back to the band sort of shivering. I thought I did really horribly but from what I've heard from my friends it was pretty cool. So not a total write off, I suppose.

Then after school I went to a movie with Rachel. That was fun even though we saw the new Herbie Movie which I thought was almost as good as some of the old ones. I say "almost" because it starred Lindsay Lohan who not only is an actor but a pop star. Don't ask me why but those kind of people usually kind of annoy me, but she was pretty good in this movie. But after the movie we were waiting for Rachel's mom to get back in and she's like "Let's go back in and play the arcade games. They've got police trainer here!" and so we did and I cashed a dollar and played a space shoot-em-up. Then we went over to the vending machines and they had those little inspirational plastic bracelets there. And I cashed a dollar and got one. But it was pink so I got another and it was also pink. I went to get more quarters and all I had was a five so I cashed it. Now I have this very strange thing that happens to my mind sometimes. I focus in on one thing and do all other things on "automatic pilot" so to speak. So I got involved in the conversation with Rachel which was pretty funny and I got into that focus thing. Meanwhile my hand is still putting quarters into the machine and taking out inspirational bracelets. So by the time I realized what I was doing all my quarters were gone and I had twelve inspirational rubber bracelets. And I was like "AUGH! What have I been doing?" and Rachel says something like "You've been buying bracelets...." and I say "AUGH!" again and put them in my pocket. I'm wearing four of them at least, so it's a good thing. And I gave a pink one to Rachel. And they're um.... inspirational? I think they should make "randomness" bracelets with things like "Le Poisson" and "Rocket Ship" on them. I would definitely buy some. Then my friends would be like "What is that one supporting?" and I'd say "Well, nothing really, but it says 'The Fish' on it!"

Support our Troops

2005-09-03T23:02:00.000-06:00

Let me say that I don't know much about politics, so if I've got stuff wrong feel free to correct me. Sorry, but I'm just not that into the political side of things. Now about the war, everyone's got 20/20 hindsight. Maybe going to war was the right thing to do, maybe it was a mistake. No one can change that although if there was wrongdoing in doing that it needs to be changed, perhaps even up to the presidential level, I won't deny that. The way I see what we're doing now is that if we pull out of Iraq that would be the same as saying to the terrorists "Okay, you win, you can have the taliban and torture camps and all that." and at that point we're just encouraging them to do what they do. If we stay, we squander hundreds of thousands of dollars a day like Allie said. So it's a lose-lose situation. I think what the administration is trying to do now (hand the government back over and sneak out essentially) is the right plan of action if they can do it quickly enough. But then there's the politicians in Washington saying that we should get out and go in at the same time and it's all very crazy. What we as a church should remember is that if we're either republican or democrat we're still the body of Christ and so should behave like it. In fact there was this bumper sticker on the back of a car the other day that got me thinking about it. It said in big red letters "God is not a Republican" and below it "or a Democrat" It sort of gave me a start because I've been thinking in terms of "us" and "them" and "well, maybe Democrats can be Christians, but we're still better than them" but that's just wrong. Back to the point though, I bet a lot more would be accomplished now if in the same way we would all support what the President's doing in the middle east, not matter what we think about it. People have those ribbons that say "support our troops" and what better way to support the troops than by supporting their leader?

Bathroom Supplies

2005-09-02T18:47:00.000-06:00

I was taking a quick shower just now and I noticed something that perhaps I should have before. See, my sister and I share a bathroom so we both keep all our hygeine supplies in the same place. So I noticed that I have one bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap. She has two bottles of shampoo, two bottles of conditioner, seven bottles of miscellaneous stuff, a razor and a washcloth. And backups for everything. I don't needd backups because if I run out of shampoo I can just use soap because my hair is short like that. I guess I'll just mark this one down as another of the huge differences between men and women.

Death Cold

2005-08-31T19:42:00.000-06:00

Click the image to make it larger. You'll chuckle. You know how I use comic strips to illustrate my life? Well this is one of them. Yesterday I fell in tennis practice and sprained my wrist. Today I came down with a killer death cold (Bucky.) So no school for me tomorrow probably. Sorry about the short post, my wrist is killing me....

An observation

2005-08-28T21:57:00.000-06:00

Have you ever noticed that to be a guy and be famous in writing you have to be named "Richard" or something similar with seven or eight letters starting with the last half of the alphabet excluding q, x, and z?

Random stuff coming out of my brain

2005-08-28T21:26:00.000-06:00

What if there was an inventor who was paralyzed suddenly in a random boating accident and so invented for himself a super-wheelchair so he could get around and so became famous and eventually the fame got to his head and he thought he could do anything and so invented a drug to cure him of his paralysis but through it's use became fused and inseperably linked to his super-wheelchair and then went on a path of destruction until his reform and return to favor in the public eye?

That would be weird, eh?

Crash

2005-08-27T20:11:00.000-06:00

"When we're coming up to the end of the road
So what do we do then
With tragedy around the bend?" - from We Live by Superchic[k]

That ironically was the song that was playing on the radio when I came around the bend of US24 to see a gigantic traffic accident on the highway. We had just driven out of Santa's Workshop on the way home and were going out of Cascade when I saw this guy in an Explorer flashing his lights at everyone sitting in the place where the highway narrows after the median ends and then there was this cop coming in the other lane with his lights on and siren going so I stopped and he drove across the highway in front of me and I followed him because he was going the same way I was. After a while we were all stopped because the people in front of us pulled off for the cop and then two rescue vehicles drove by and then a fire truck and finally we come around the bend and the cops are merging all the traffic into one lane and there's this big truck laying on it's side in the middle of the road. It was pretty scary, and then I saw an ambulance driving up the other side of the road after we passed it.

So what's the point here? The point of the song I quoted is that we should make every day count and not let our time slip away as we just drift.

Now it's time for an excercise. You are the person in that truck that overturned. Maybe that morning you had left the house to go to work and saw something that needed doing and said "well, I'll do it when I come home" but now you're not coming home. Maybe you had life yet to live but you're now paralyzed because you crashed on the highway coming back home from woodland park. What did you still need to do?

Here's the real point: Live or die. Or to put it less bluntly: Live before you die.

Post Room Cleaning

2005-08-25T20:48:00.000-06:00

I moved my desk into my room by the way. It's much more cozy and I like it and I'm gonna keep things clean and nice and it's gonna be awesome. Because I can make all the mess I want, or redo the carpet with used paper and all that and no one will care (except my parents, but they don't count.) Ha ha. No, I'll keep it clean, really! What's that look for? Do you think I won't?

A Weird Dream

2005-08-25T20:39:00.000-06:00

So what happened was that I had this one dream that I can't remember and then I woke up with my alarm and hit snooze and went back to sleep. And instead of the dream I was having, there was this guy standing outside of a white building and he said "You won't be staying for long this time, will you?" in a sort of manner-of-factly way. And I'm like "No, actually. I'll be out of here in nine minutes" (because that's how long my snooze button is for some odd reason, instead of ten minutes, don't ask why.) So he goes "ok, well come on inside and I'll teach you how to make donut glaze." So he taught me how and we did it really quick and I got powdered sugar all over myself and then I woke up and couldn't remember how to make donut glaze. I didn't even think to write it down when I woke up.

Room Cleaning

2005-08-21T20:37:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I'm going to get rid of all the ruth in my room. Because I was told I should clean ruthlessly.

Roads 'n' stuff

2005-08-17T21:27:00.000-06:00

On my way driving up Centennial Avenue today I noticed that the speed limit is now forty. That makes me very happy as I can get places faster and small children will be more apt to stay off the roads. It makes me grin. But then they tore up Fontanero so bad.... Fontanero is now a five lane dirt road. And then they're going to resurface it and also Crystal Park road (down at the bottom) so it makes me very very happy to know that I'm not going to have to go basically offroading every time I want to go somewhere. They've also instituted a great brand new speed bump system: five inch rut in the middle of the road while the speed bump's washed out.

Stupid Things

2005-08-16T21:12:00.000-06:00

So I forgot to tell y'all the other day, but on last Thursday this lady flushed her phone down the toilet at Santa's workshop. We talked about it at dinner today, it was really very funny. Here's the reactions of some people involved.

My Boss: "Well that's too bad. I hope they get that fixed."
Me: "Hey, some people are just dumb, you know?"
The Lady: "You had better find that phone. I'm expecting some calls."

So this just goes to prove that some people are really quite dumb. I mean seriously. So we were talking about it at dinner and we got onto the topic of warning labels (I.E. "May contain nuts" on a jar of peanuts. It'd better!) and we thought of a really funny warning label that we once found inside the instructions for my watch. It's "warning, do not eat watch." So with those two things said, here's the bridge: My dog once ate a cellphone. Wheeee!

And Borrowed Swim Trunks

2005-08-14T21:42:00.000-06:00

This weekend has totally rocked, and I really mean that in the best possible way. First on Saturday I went downtown and helped the scouts out at the church with a cleanup happening out there and then I'm like OH NO! Because I had ran out of fuel during the week (I usually fill up Wednesdays but I didn't last week) so then we went to lunch and I ate Chipotle, which was of course good. During that whole time I didn't realize my fly was open though, so that was kind of emberassing. So eventually after a great discussion with one of my friends (and you know who you are) I went to bed and got up this morning and had a totally awesome time at church and then another awesome time at Aaron's (he's our youth pastor) because he had a pool party/barbecue at his house which is in an apartment complex! It was just that cool. And I'm really motivated now. Whee!

Left Handed Madness

2005-08-13T20:18:00.000-06:00

Guess what? Today is National Left Hander's day and I'm still waiting for my fanmail. Except I don't have any. Bah humbug.

A Mega WOWIFLI blowout

2005-08-07T21:52:00.000-06:00

I was recently informed by one of my friends (that's Preston) that my blog hasn't had a WOWIFLI in quite a while. Also he didn't know what the heck WOWIFLI stood for. In short, Whatever of Whenever I feel like it. So here's a whole bunch of WOWIFLI goodness. It's like popcorn for the brain. Along with my commentary in red.

Funny things I've said:

Dusty: No, you can only see ghosts if you believe in them.
Me: Like Spiderman!

"Has that mountain grown?" - Ah yes, the day I almost gave myself a concussion by banging my head on a door....

"So that means, of course, that your pants are green."

"Give me monkey...." - You know the rest ;-)

"That is Spumoni. It's Chocoloate, Cherry, and Leprachaun ice cream"

Funny things our customers have said at work:

"What flavor is that chocolate ice cream?"

"Look, just give me the grilled cheese sandwich"

"Are these spoons clean?" - No, of course not. We pick them up off the floor and lick them clean.

"What's your name?" - Nametag!

Funny conversations with other people:

Preston: What's 1337?
Brian: LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
Preston: Right.......

Preston: Did you see my new post in my blog about Mozilla Corporation?
Brian: are they doing anything 3vil?
Brian: v3ry 3vil?
Brian: 3x7r3m3ly 3vil?
Brian: 3ff3rv35c3n7ly 3vil? - Effervescently. You know, like bubbly.

Something to think about....

2005-08-05T21:23:00.000-06:00

Please comment with your thoughts. Some things in this conversation were cooperatively edited for your greater comprehension.

------------------------

Brian: hey, listen to this: "It would be though a hard Government that should tax its People one tenth Part of their Time, to be employed in its Service. But Idleness taxes many of us much more, if we reckon all that is spent in absolute Sloth, or doing of nothing, with that which is spent in idle Employments or Amusements, that amount to nothing." - Quoted by Benjamin Franklin in The Way to Wealth

Pat: wow

Brian: Here's another thought: If you were a servant, would not you be ashamed if your master were to catch you idle?

Brian: Think about it, we're servants of God, so why do we sit around and waste time doing nothing?

Pat: As humans we are too used to, and obviously too comfortable, with the material world, so because God doesn't often manifest himself as something we can interact with in a material way he wouldn't often come in and find us slacking off. So because of this we often forget about Him while going about our everyday lives

Brian: But you never know. Remember the parable of the ten virgins? Or of the two Servants?

Pat: yeah, but most people, at least I'm like this, forget about things if it's not right in front of them

My crazy crazy car

2005-08-03T21:56:00.000-06:00

My car is at it again. First that door not working, and now this! I'd better explain:

Sunday night, the inside door handle on the driver's side stopped working. It's annoying, but I live with it. But I was fueling gas today and tried to get out of the car by rolling down the window and opening the door from the outside and it defenitely didn't work. Of course later when we tried, it opened first try. Then it died in a drive through line. My car is trying to humiliate me!

Family Reunions

2005-07-29T22:20:00.000-06:00

I was planning on biking this weekend, but my parents are dragging me to a family reunion for my grandmother. There's a couple good things and a couple bad things about this. First good thing, I don't have any aunts who will want to give me great big sloppy kisses. Although I may have some great-aunts like that, I don't know them. Even though I won't know most of the people there. Okay, maybe there will be some sloppy kisses. I'm bringing a handkerchief. Second of all, my uncles on my dad's side will be there, and they're pretty cool guys. They both work around a lot of technology so we always are talking about that. Well that, and random animal attacks and industrial lawn mowers. But it's still cool. The only bad part that I can really think of is that I'll be trapped in Castle Rock for a day with a whole bunch of older folks that I don't know. Maybe I'll steal the van and walk around the outlet shops.

I'm back

2005-07-28T22:47:00.000-06:00

I would apologize for being not-posty because the internet's been going down at inconvenient times, but I'm not going to because you know, it's not like I'm getting complaint letters. Or bribes. Bribes would be nice.

Send monkey or I will hula dance with a guitar on live radio.

Here we go again!

2005-07-20T19:29:00.000-06:00

Here comes another life lesson that I'm in the process of learning. First, let me say that my day was really bad, but in typical blogger fashion, I'm going to tell you about it. You'll live. List time!

First I had to go to work this morning. Nothing wrong with that, very American and good to go to work, even though every single jerk and/or idiot in the state of Colorado must have been there today. And I'm not just saying that. It was like a convention
Then the SPAM trip got cancelled because our leader hurt his knee. I've been looking forward to that for weeks, and even scheduled some off time from work, so that really stinks.
Then I washed my paycheck. It melted. So after that I went downstairs and was really bummed out because of number four:
My computer hates me and wants to kill me by internet deprivation

All this put me in a really foul mood, needless to say, so I went and caught up on my ZJam Bible studies from the past couple of days when the 'net was down. This week the theme has been trusting God, and they'll probably bring and end to the series this weekend. But yesterday, the author (Tim) talked about when he was all alone in Philidelphia and decided to not trust God for just a minute when he was lost. All sorts of stuff happened to him in those couple of minutes, and so he decided to begin trusting God again and it all straightened out really quick! So what I did, feeling miserable, with tears running down my cheeks is: I prayed. I gave the trip and all of everything I've been stressed out about over the past few days about back to God, and I prayed that he wouldn't let me take it back. I felt a lot better after that, but the really neat part is that right--and I mean absolutely directly right--after I finished praying I looked up and my dad walks into the room and he volunteers to take all three of us (Pat, Bart, and I) on the trip in our leader's place! Then I kept catching up on my Bible studies and I found this verse. It's Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. link

So now that God showed me what I was doing wrong (and I can't take any credit for any of this) I feel I can get on with life and I am totally going to trust him from now on!

Cars

2005-07-19T21:44:00.000-06:00

Today I saw two cars that made me look again. The first one was this car behind me with headlights I can only describe as "brilliant" because they were truly very bright. Very very brights. And with the sun in my eyes and that car behind me I could hardly see the road, so I took a turn and he followed me. Dang it. Then later I saw this honda civic stuffed full of hispanics. It was kind of like a clown car without the clowns, if you know what I mean.

Hey Dad!

2005-07-17T16:38:00.000-06:00

Well, Dad asked for the link to my 'blog last night. So hi there Dad!

Farmer's Market

2005-07-16T21:47:00.000-06:00

Going to the Farmer's Market always reminds me of back when I was seven. The sights and sounds were always a little confusing but fun, especially when Mom bought us honey sticks. These things were basically just honey in a plastic tube, but it was great to just suck on them, and when all the honey was gone we would rinse the tubes out with water to get the last of the flavoring out. A couple of years back they added an art fair to the farmer's market in the middle of the park. I can't remember exactly when it started (I think it was in mid 2000) but it was still back when I just looked around at everything and was bored by the art. But today when we went (Mom and Manda and I, just like old times) I found the art to be fascinating. There was some great knit bags there, they were absolutely amazing! All soft and plushy and everything! So I went over to the library (it's right there on the corner, after all) and reserved some books on knitting bags. I suppose I could just get my grandmother to teach me after all, but we don't get along too well even though it's better than it was. So overall, a really good day. I got a new library card and everything. Not that I lost mine, just wanted one of those little "keychain shopper" things. You know, my grandpa before he died used to say that "'Happy' promises too much, 'content' is much better." And that's exactly what I was today. Not really "happy"because I know what's happening come Monday (work, ugh) but for just a couple hours I was able to sort of forget all that and be 'content'. It was great.

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" - Hebrews 13:5

Manly Stubble

2005-07-15T19:23:00.000-06:00

The other day my mom commented when I came up that I have a shadow in the morning. It's a part of growing up, sure, but I still think it's pretty cool. Today I found a hair on my chinny-chin-chin that was really bugging me so I shaved it off, but I'm not going to shave all weekend, just for kicks. Does this mean I'm insane? I'll probably shave anyway.

2005-07-12T21:06:00.000-06:00

I renamed pistachio ice cream at work today. See what happened is we sell Spumoni ice cream, which is cherry and chocolate and pistachio all mixed together like Neopolitan and I was really freaking out today (was my food spiked or something?) and doing weird stuff So this lady comes up and she says "So what's that?" because really, nobody knows what the heck a "Spumoni" is in America (it's Italian ice cream.) So I point at it and say "yeah, it's Spumoni ice cream, it's cherry and chocolate and Leprechaun" and she says back "Excuse me?" and I just point at it again and grin like an idiot because I haven't realized I've made this dumb mistake yet and say "Yeah, Leprechaun" and she gives me the weirdest look and I suddenly realize what I've been saying and say "erm.... Pistachio" and she nods and goes on with her order. Then I did it again about ten minutes later. Boy do I feel like a dumb guy. Anyway, a correction on yesterday's post, you can't stick a Spoonula to the ceiling.

The Spoonula

2005-07-11T22:11:00.000-06:00

So Friday Brenda brought in a new instrument of coolness to our humble kitchen: The Spoonula. It's a combination of a spoon and a spatula. Very cool, but the name reminds me of Dracula. Maybe at night it goes and tries to suck the juices out of the tomatoes. James did say that they smelled a little funny.... at any rate, it sticks to stuff when you whack it against walls. You go "smack smack thunk" with it and it will stick to pretty much any even surface. This of course is great for practical jokes (like sticking it to the ceiling) or just storing it, though it falls off after a while. Another great thing about this little chunk of technology is that it's heat resistant to five hundred degrees ferenheit! We know this because it says so on the label, and Bobby from the cupboard tested it out (we think in the grill.) So overall, this is a really cool contraption, except for the tomato draining. They're screaming for mercy! eh hem....

But anyway, speaking of long rod-like objects which you occasionally stick in your mouth, I opened up a new toothbrush this morning. It's huge, like sticking a buick in there and hoping to get your pearly whites cleaned. Meh, not that bad but the last one I got was huge too. I wonder if the people at Crest are going to keep making these brushes bigger and bigger until you have a thing the size of Panama on the end of a little rubber stick and you're supposed to stick it in your mouth and swish it around until it knocks out all your teeth with it's hugeness. Then you'll buy new teeth from them.

The State of the World

2005-07-10T21:22:00.000-06:00

You know, with the work week beginning again tomorrow, I'm seeing the perspective of the unsaved world as never before. It's just go to work five days, relax two days, rinse, lather, and repeat. Every once in a while you get paid and stuff, but otherwise it's just the same day after day after dull dull day. Maybe in five years you'll get promoted. Maybe you'll get a bonus sometime, but otherwise it's just get as much done as you can because you're not going to be there sometime soon. But with Christ there's a point to this whole mad crazy scheme: following His will. Then you get many many perks, like fellowship with other believers, and you get to go to Heaven when you die? How sweet is that? And all this is totally free too! John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." This is a call to all the people out there who are trapped in that pointless cycle: Believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you'll be saved! Ask a Pastor, because I'm not sure what to type here, but seriously! Go do it!

More Terrorism

2005-07-09T07:40:00.000-06:00

Note: I wrote this Thursday evening, then I haven't had a chance to post it yet. But I'm posting it now.

So I turn on my computer this morning, and after the requisite two hours of whining and grunting it pops up with a little news item: London has been attacked by terrorists. This would be a pretty normal thing if it were the middle east, but this is London, for Pete's sake! I'm not criticizing the British government for not taking action here, but I am sorry for the hundreds of British citizens who were hurt in the blasts (four of them, one on a bus, three on subways) and the unnoficcially-counted fourty that were killed. This leads to many new roads open and closed for everyone. The British government may take this as a sign that they need to pull their troops out of the war, which would interest their people immensely but wouldn't benefit many other people and give the terrorists a major victory. And if the terrorists have victory, they're going to start being more bold with more attacks like in Madrid and in London this morning. And if England keeps the troops in Iraq, they're going to be doing whatever there, not really making a difference. Correct me as always if I'm wrong on the "not making a difference" part, I have a hard time keeping up with current events and what, exactly, the troops are doing over there. They could be teaching the Iraqi's to play solitaire for all I know, but last I heard they were training police. Back to the point at hand, it's a lose-lose situation for England, but what will they choose? Only time will tell.

WOWIFLI #25

2005-07-06T20:07:00.000-06:00

Kevin: i know u there
Brian: U IS NOT A BLINKING PRONOUN!!!!!

I think I scared Kevin -_-'

Part Two (10 minutes later):

Pat: pijt wit6gh my bnnhose
Brian: no, I think I'd rather not pijt with your bnnhose
Pat: typing with my nose*
Brian: that's another thing I wouldn't do if I were you
Pat: I would
Pat: see
Pat: both my hands were covered in butter

Whoops! Forgot again!

2005-07-06T18:46:00.000-06:00

[insert patriotic image here]

Happy fourth of July everyone! I forgot another holiday! Ain't it wonderful?

Video game and French-ish names

2005-07-05T21:57:00.000-06:00

So recently my sister has begun to play a lot of our old games for PC. She's gotten pretty good at Sonic CD (Sega) and Rayman (UBI Soft) and a more recent game, Gunbound (SoftNyx.) It's interesting that most of the good game companies started out overseas (I.E. not in America) and then came over here mainly. For example, Sega is Japanese and started in the late 90's, as did UBI Soft (except that was French) and now they both have at least offices over here. So I predict that in the future SoftNyx (Korea) will move over here to at least have some servers for Gunbound. Just ¢2 de moi on the gaming industry for today, anyway.

But all that's just a rabbit trail. The real point is that even though she's gotten really good at Rayman, she still hates the "rising water" levels. These are the levels that even though they would be easy if the screen didn't move, it does. It does with a vengance unseen since the beginning of the last rising water level, and it's really annoying to her. So she always makes Rayman drown (poor Rayman) and keeps on trying, since she uses the "infinte lives" cheat. But after she dies, she does this "frustration dance" which sort of looks like Dr. Frankenstein's monster doing disco. Just sort of this up and down bouncy motion of death. And she screams a lot, which doesn't help me trying to concentrate on doing anything else at all. So I'm petitioning the game companies: when you leave the water on, my sister screams. Please conserve.

In fact, I had to go over and do it for her while calling her "grasshopper"! Do you know how humiliating that is for both of us? Just conserve! But after she finishes that level: "Can you come over here? And help me beat this monster? And call me Grasshopper? Please? BRIAN?!?" And I have to come over there and help her again. Maybe she's not all that good at video games. So here's the "french-ish names" part now: What kind of a name is "Rayman"? What were those brilliant French men and women thinking when they named their main character that? It's just so awesome! It brings a tear to my eye!

America complaints? Nay I say!

2005-07-03T20:38:00.000-06:00

You know, my angst-ridden posts of the past few days all boil down to one thing: I'm not looking for any one place on Earth, instead I'm looking for a place in Heaven. This verse sums it up nicely:

"¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. ¹⁴People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." - Hebrews 11:13-16 link

So I'm going to make the best of where God put me and see what he does, instead of complaining about America all the time.

ZJam

2005-07-02T22:44:00.000-06:00

I listened to ZJam tonight. Somehow it reminds me that I'm going to that picnic tomorrow. Perhaps it's because Christian Rock makes me feel good and so does seeing my friends. I dunno. I'm taking a psychology class next year, maybe Mr. Wallace will tell us what the heck it means then, but who knows. I've been conducting a sort of psychological study of my own at work recently. I'll put my hand on a small, medium or large drink and say the three sizes while I've got my hand on just one. Most often, the customer will pick the one that I've got my hand on, which leads me to interesting questions: does it seem like I'm "endorsing" this particular size while I've got my hand on it? do they make the connection from my hand to me saying the size and something clicks in their mind? does this make them want to order chainsaws by a mail-order catalogue? I have no clue! This is why I need a psychology class! So I can figure out exactly what is wrong with my brain!

Another New Template

2005-07-02T12:48:00.000-06:00

Uploading new template, please stand by as we continue to try to provide you with excellent blogging.

*click*

The number you have reached is not available. To reach another number, pick up your phone and dial it. To leave a message, type in the comments after the beep.

*beep*

P, Q, R, S, Tea!

2005-07-01T21:10:00.000-06:00

It is time.... for a food post! First off , I'd like to announce Santa's workshop Chilli Cheese Fries as the new coolest food in the universe. They taste good.

Picture:

Secondly, I'd like to comment on the deplorable state of fruit prices in the Colorado street Safeway.

Image:

Do they offer financing on that fruit?

He craves the indulgence.

2005-07-01T20:52:00.000-06:00

I hereby state by the powers invested in my by the state of Colorado (which constitute of none, except to drive and breathe and stuff like that, but not to vote yet) Great Britain to be, indeed, great, at least in it's humorous comments meant to be taken seriously including but not limited to those made by speakers in the House of Parliament, especially the one who claims to be a Jedi Knight.

I crave the indulgence of the House in interrupting such an important and enjoyable debate to deliver my maiden speech. Furthermore, as the first Jedi Member of this place, I look forward to the protection under the law that will be provided to me by the Bill. link

Those crazy, crazy British people. What will they think of next? Perhaps this: Labor (or as they spell it, Labour) workers.

No Labour Member has even begun properly to define a religion. One hon. Member stood up for the Jedi and said that he was a Jedi knight. No one was sure whether to take him seriously. There were embarrassed grins on the faces of Labour Members. How do they know that he is not in earnest when he says that he is a Jedi knight and that his faith deserves respect? link

I dunno about you, but I think if I saw a Jedi Knight coming at me, especially if he had his lightsaber, he would have my respect if only for the reason he would be able to shortly chop off my head like I open bags of onions with a paring knife. Wallop!

2005-06-27T21:12:00.000-06:00

This is really cool! A while back my scout troop had a t-shirt design contest to determine what our new class "B" t-shirts would look like. I just happened to win! So this is the design everyone in my troop's gonna be wearing to our camputs and stuff, which is also cool. I took a picture for all of you to enjoy. I was complimented on it's "manly" colors. ;)

CD II

2005-06-27T20:58:00.000-06:00

Never mind, I found it.

CD

2005-06-27T20:53:00.000-06:00

Where the heck did my sister put my Third Day CD?

Six Dollar Burger: Now only Six Dollars!

2005-06-24T20:58:00.000-06:00

This photo is entiled: "Now how many of those do you see around?" or "Call now and we'll throw in a free napkin!"

Great News Story

2005-06-23T22:49:00.000-06:00

Now this, this is really funny to me. It's a great news item title too: "Giant Popsicle Melts, Floods NY Park". Read the clippings. It's just so funny!

An attempt to raise the world's largest ice pop in a city square ended with a scene straight out of a disaster film — but much stickier. The 25-foot-tall, 17 1/2-ton treat of frozen Snapple juice melted faster than expected Tuesday, flooding Union Square in downtown Manhattan with kiwi-strawberry-flavored fluid that sent pedestrians scurrying for higher ground. "We planned for this. ... We just didn't expect for it to happen so fast," said Snapple spokeswoman Lauren Radcliffe. She said the company would offer to pay the city for the cleanup costs. "My theory is that it was a combination of the heat ... and it may not have been frozen all the way through," Radcliffe said. Read the whole story.

Now you may say: "Brian, why is this so funny? A giant popsicle melted and flooded Union Square!" But I think that it's so funny because of the total lack of common sense involved. Ok look, it's New York in the summer, right? That means it's what? Hot of course! So Snapple erects a 17 ton popsicle and then doesn't expect it to melt! I have one word to say to you Snapple: Duh. Well, just another funny thing happening to those crazy New Yorkers, I suppose. Like Good Morning America. They must pay those news anchors in caffiene!

Thank you dad!

2005-06-23T21:24:00.000-06:00

I realized today that I forgot to do a Father's day post. So here it is, an open letter to my Dad:

Thank you Dad for teaching me what you know, and showing me how to find what you don't
Thank you Dad for being generous, but also saying "no" sometimes
Thank you Dad for punishing me for doing wrong, but not forgetting to thank me for a job well done
Thank you Dad for the nights you spent up with me when I was sick, and for still driving me places when you were sick
Thank you Dad for making me learn from my mistakes as I also learned from yours
Thank you Dad for being nice to us when we were grumpy
Thank you Dad for showing us how to be nice to grumpy people
Thank you Dad for being there when I had something to show you, to tell you, or to make you proud of me

And finally, I'll post a poem a teacher gave me in first grade to illustrate, and is now hanging on the wall in the hall:

I love you Daddy
You are so special
Dads are God's idea
When you aren't there I think of you
Dads are God's idea
I love you Daddy, yes I do
You are loved by so many people
I am one of them

An assorted variety of random stuff

2005-06-22T20:20:00.000-06:00

So today my dad and I went into town to pick up the CR-V. It was leaking oil yesterday and we didn't want any of that messy, messy stuff to get around the garage (or for the engine to explode, but that's beside the point.) So he took it down and they did it overnight. Today we picked it up, and I listened to a CD in the car all the way home while he's still at Home Depot.

So then, that was kind of pointless. I don't know why anyone would want to read that, but it's staying whether y'all like it or not.

Anyway, I found a really stupid product on the WWW: Spray-on Mud, BBC Story. To the people who actually use this, I must say that you need to get out and actually do what you claim to do before you fake it. If you live in London like in the story, go drive through a mud puddle. Sheesh.

Now here is another thing, but this one's not as stupid. In fact, this one's going onto my wishlist, but we may not have enough lakes around here for me to use it properly. It's a Hydrofoil Water Scooter, just jump up and down and you'll go up to seventeen miles per hour. Maybe I could use it to drive through mud puddles.

This was stupid.

2005-06-21T22:24:00.000-06:00

"We weren't attacked because we "are not perfect," we were attacked because we are the greatest country in the world and the envy of third-world cavemen." - Aggressive Voice Daily

You know what? This sounds like something my history teacher routinely says. In jest. This guy (I think) is totally off base on this, but of course he's a Democrat and I'm a Republican, so we're bound to have different views on this. But you know what? We're not the greatest country in the world. I can't say for sure which is but we're not. Look at it: Abortion, Gay Marriage, Seperation of Church and State, and Murder figures just as a couple examples. Then he has the nerve to call the rest of the world (practically) "cavemen" which is totally wrong. Actually, now that I've tried to think of some benefits of living in third world countries I can't think of any. I guess our life here on Earth just sucks in general. Wait 'til we get to Heaven! That's gonna be awesome!

Patriotism my foot.

Warning!

2005-06-21T21:49:00.000-06:00

You can't keep me from thinking, uncle Screwtape!

In the rain.

2005-06-21T20:28:00.000-06:00

I never should have volunteered for squeegeing tables at work the first time it rained. I did it that day because we were going really slow and had no customers whatsoever, but today was busy. I actually guess I sort of welcome the reprive from filling orders and sort of smiling and saying "Yes ma'am, no ma'am" as the customer insists for the umpteenth time that our Spumoni is, in fact, Neopolitan. Or that we have grilled cheese sandwiches. No ma'am! But back the point here (have you ever noticed I tend to ramble quite a bit? Me too.) My Supervisor (Brenda) comes up to me today while I'm nodding at the customers politely and she says "Brian, we need some more ice. We've run out." which doesn't really have anything to do with squeegeing tables in the rain, but that's just the way life happens sometimes.

So I did.

As I come out of the back room I notice some of my co-workers working out in the pouring rain with a squeegee and a rag keeping the tables dry. Turns out Brenda had them go out to do it because we hit a slow spot and so she said "Well, why don't you go out and keep the tables dry?"

So they did.

And I come into the shop again as the busy rush starts and the rain is still pouring down outside (we get more business when it's raining, because we're the only restaurant in the whole park that's indoors.) So I fill ice cream orders and the rain starts to slack off, but I kept looking for an opening so I could go out in the rain and have fun squeegeing tables. By the way, please forgive me if I'm spelling squeegeing wrong. Or squeege. I'm not exactly sure of those. My wrist was starting to get sore when the last customer ordered his last ice cream, which was two scoops of Strawberries 'n' Cream in a cup. Finally, a break! I run outside to see that the rain is still pouring down on my coworkers and now, me. Perfect! As I came up to them one said to come help and squeege tables.

So we did. In the rain!

2005-06-19T22:51:00.000-06:00

You know what? I just like this picture. I took it in Ouray when we were there about a month ago. Another one I was too lazy to post earlier. ::sigh::

2005-06-19T22:49:00.000-06:00

This is a "little something" I made a while back to put up. I haven't before now for some reason, but now I'm trying out Hello right now so might as well. Not like I'm really that lazy or anything. Or maybe I am. So here you go, the picture entitled "Shazaam". Rendered in Chaoscope in around three hours, which is not bad if I do say so myself.

Meh, some people just don't understand my genius

2005-06-19T17:57:00.000-06:00

It's true you know. Here, observe this image. As always, click to enlarge unless you blinking well don't want to because it's a free country and as of yesterday the senate passed a law regarding a lawsuit that said when the things say "click to enlarge" they don't really mean it and thus charging thousands of innocent bloggers and news item writers nationwide with criminal intent charges which this particular little blogger is going to go hide in his cave to escape from. I'm not deceiving no public! Anywho....

Arright, so that's an image Pat gave me to "evaluate" and make "suggestions" on. I did so with a vehemence so great that even the most accurate dictionary could not stand up to my word slinging prowess with a type-pad type keyboard and thunder is cracking mua ha ha. But anyway, I only had (have) one major irk with this card: It's not sentimental enough. So I decided to write that down using the spray paint tool and red color. This is what I came up with in my geniusousityness. If that's even a word. Curse you dictionaries!

I hope he has more images for me to evaluate!

Some people....

2005-06-19T16:48:00.000-06:00

Well in my close to neverending quest to find things that don't return any search results on Google, I've discovered something sort of scary. It all started innocently enough, I searched for "Llama Hairbrushes" (which didn't) and "Sycophantic Electrocardiographs" (unsuprisingly, not one result) of course, since this page is listed on Google they will now, so don't try it. Unless of course you want to, that's a different story entirely. Now the scary thing is, when I plugged in "Telephone Cleaning Services" it came up with results. I had expected it to be there, because of the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, but it turns out they actually exist! These are just four of the many telephone cleaning services worldwide (these are in Hong Kong.) To conclude this strange fact which no one really cares about I'll include a conversation between myself and Pat about it:

Pat: what does a telephone cleaner do exactly?
Brian: cleans telephones
Pat: odd

This just in, an even more odd fact, also from pat:

Pat: hm.... "antagonistic mules" comes up with things
Pat: and so does "antagonistic mules of doom"
Brian: whoah
Pat: "large evil demonic antagonistic mules of doom that will rule the world" yields results.....
Brian: whoah!
Pat: "large evil demonic antagonistic muscles of doom that will rule the world through potatoes that look like brianin a tomato suit"
Pat: I'm scared
Brian: O_o
Pat: it got 94 results
Pat: "large evil demonic antagonistic mules of doom that will rule the world through potatoes that look like brian in a tomato suit working at santa's workshop"

So in conclusion, some people have too much time on their hands, such as me. Maybe I'll become a drifter when I grow up and make a fake business cleaning telephones so I can pay my taxes because I'm such a good little drifter-like proud-to-be-an-american citizen. Then the antagonistic mule will come and take more, because he's a democrat. Darn democrats....

We will pwn them all. Yes we will!

2005-06-19T16:41:00.000-06:00

A funny screenshot:

Click to enlarge. Unless you can see it, then don't.

WOWIFLI #24

2005-06-18T10:30:00.000-06:00

thatonecrazydude: its really wierd having you teacher chatspeek to you
thatonecrazydude: i don't think if i ever got used to that
ZekeofColorado: if I was on that I would say: "Tharp, you know 'u' is not a pronoun"
thatonecrazydude: yeah and him useing "kk" was wierd too
thatonecrazydude: its like shabam shaboom wowza

Realization Part II

2005-06-14T21:44:00.000-06:00

This song is almost exactly like my post yesterday. Without further ado, I give you "Who I am hates who I've been", by Relient K.

I watched the proverbial sunrise
coming up over the Pacific and
you might think I'm losing my mind,
but I will shy away from the specifics...

'cause I don't want you to know where I am
'cause then you'll see my heart
in the saddest state it's ever been.

This is no place to try and live my life.

[Pre-Chorus]
Stop right there. That's exactly where I lost it.
See that line. Well I never should have crossed it.
Stop right there. Well I never should have said
that it's the very moment that
I wish that I could take back.

[Chorus]
I'm sorry for the person I became.
I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I'm ready to try and never become that way again
'cause who I am hates who I've been.
Who I am hates who I've been.

I talk to absolutely no one.
Couldn't keep to myself enough.
And the things bottled inside have finally begun
to create so much pressure that I’ll soon blow up.

I heard the reverberating footsteps
sinking up to the beating of my heart,
and I was positive that unless I got myself together,
I would watch me fall apart.

And I can’t let that happen again
‘cause then you’ll see my heart
in the saddest state it’s ever been.

This is no place to try and live my life.

[Pre-Chorus x2]
[Chorus]

Who I am hates who I've been
and who I am won’t take the second chance you gave me.
Who I am hates who I’ve been
‘cause who I’ve been only ever made me...

So sorry for the person I became.
So sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I’m ready to try and never become that way again
‘cause who I am hates who I’ve been.
Who I am hates who I’ve been.

Well, it's true for me in the sense that I hate who I was, but as I said before, I've changed thanks to God!

Gravestone

2005-06-14T20:21:00.000-06:00

This just in (as of sometime in the past): Elvis' name is spelled wrong on his tombstone.

I wonder....

2005-06-13T21:56:00.000-06:00

You know, not many people read my 'blog and I'm trying to get it more popular for whatever reasons I have floating around in my little mind so here's what I'm going to do: be more stereotypical!

Um.... my life sucks?

Realization

2005-06-13T21:39:00.000-06:00

So while I was talking to one of my friends (PakAttack151) on IM the other day, and I realized what God has done with my life in like the past eight or ten years. Funny how I thought I did all it on my own before. Scratch that, I haven't even seen it before. Ok, just like always, some backstory:

When I was in Pre-School I was a jerk. Or at least my parents say so, and since I can usually trust them we'll go with that. So then when my memory actually works for remembering things like that, it's about first grade. I wasn't so bad in first grade as I recall, but I was getting really annoying. By fourth grade, most people hated me and I think I had like five friends, max. I was really getting bad. I actually got saved when I was in second grade (I think) but that's not really important to this story. By sixth grade, I actually had people calling me gay and my parents went to the principal to deal with it, but people still hated me. In seventh grade I was pretty neutral, and unknown among the unknowns and starting to get depressed. That year even my best friend who I had known since fourth grade (again, not sure about that) hated me. I just had a really bad year that year, got really depressed as I recall. Real quick let me say that this may be pretty far from the truth. My parents could probably offer more insight, but they're not writing the blog post now, are they? Anyway, in eighth grade I had this great Bible teacher (Mr. Shannon, wherever you are, thank you) and he challenged me and really the whole class to follow after God. He was probably the most influential Bible teacher I ever had. At the eighth grade retreat (we called it the great eight escape) I made a commitment to God: to do a devotion every day. I still have the stake I wrote it on in my room, hanging off the antlers of the jackalope on the wall. So since then I've grown tremendously in God, I can't tell you how much he's blessed me. I have friends now, almost no one hates me (except my sister, sometimes) and things are going great! I mean, I know people usually write in their blogs on how their life sucks, but mine is rocking right now, and I wanted to share that with everyone who will listen! God changed me so much I can hardly believe it, and He did it right under my nose without me noticing! It's amazing!

Wow....

2005-06-13T21:20:00.000-06:00

This is a great story (even better, because it's true) that I heard at Boy Scouts this evening, as told by my scoutmaster and some of the guys who went on a campout with him:

So what happened was that at their campsite they had heard this strange noise like a Sasquatch. So in the morning my scoutmaster was being a "jerk and waking people up early" like he always does (those were his own words too) and he heard that noise again so he woke some people up and said "so did you guys hear the Sasquatch last night?" and they said they had and was it really and he quickly said it wasn't, but he made the call (it was a very human sounding call) and the "thing" called right back. And so then they see this guy coming out of one of the other scout leader's cars and it turned out to be this drunk stoned guy with hypothermia. He had it so bad that he had even stopped shivering, which only happens when you're very very near death. So they actually gave him blankets and some food and warmed the guy up, and then my scoutmaster's son (Adam) called his dad and told him that he had found a car parked in the middle of the road on his way down back into town (for Adam had to leave early that time.) So my scoutmaster told his son to take down the lisence plate number and everything and they'd include that when the police showed up. The guy they found had actually stolen one of the scout leader's car keys to get in the truck and that probably saved his life, actually. But they had called the police when they figured it out and before the guy showed up. SO! That's just the background story: what happened next is the greatest part. One of the other scout leaders got a chance to sit down and talk to this guy (he was about college age, I'm guessing) and the scout leader actually shared the good news with this guy and he accepted Christ into his heart and became saved! That just totally blew me away that God would have my scout troop out in a place which was pretty much picked by random and at the same time have that guy pick that spot to stop and get out of his car and get lost for the whole night. And that, my friends, is way more than coincidence. If the scouts had turned left instead of right at one of the roads, they probably would've read about a dead guy found in the woods a couple days later in the papers. That just shows how totally awesome God is.

God is Powerful!

2005-06-12T18:31:00.000-06:00

I was reading throught II Chronicles the other day (I'm reading the Bible all the way through now, as well as doing a daily Bible study) and I came across this in chapter 2:

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:
"Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you their king."
¹² And Hiram added:
"Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the LORD and a palace for himself. (II Chronicles 2:11-12 Context)

So Hiram was the king of Tyre, which was a pagan nation. They worshipped false gods and all that, sacrificing and everything, but from this you can see in verse 12 that Hiram awknowledged God existed, which is more than most people today do. I just think that that's cool.

a new skin!

2005-06-12T15:07:00.000-06:00

Don't you like this new skin? I like it because it's wonderful!

A CD I'm gonna want

2005-06-11T14:21:00.000-06:00

This is gonna be such an awesome CD:

"A bad case of the blehs"

2005-06-11T13:59:00.000-06:00

Alert: this is a poem, of a concept I feel like I kinda have a grasp on now.... sorta

A bad case of the blehs today
I wish that they would go
and leave me to do my own thing
where I can take it slow

Looking back on yesterday
there's things I would redo
keep doing those things everyday
then things that would undo

but life doesn't come with one of those
it's not a CPU
it's press it once and hit commit
and then go on and do

You know what? I may finish this later, but I've lost sight of what I set out to do. Shouldn't listen to music with words while writing -_-'

A really good insight:

2005-06-11T13:52:00.000-06:00

Brian: well it's pretty good
Pat: yes it is
Brian: I guess I'm listening to "teenage music"
Pat: lol
Pat: no, you're listening to "modern teenage music" I don't the teens that lacked the internet and TV and all that had near as many problems as we do

An awesome rant

2005-06-10T20:22:00.000-06:00

Yeah, this link is a really good point of view. I applaud her courage, and I have some more things to say to add to it, but I lost them just as I typed that. Darnit. Maybe I'll remember later, but that link is really good and despite the fact that it looks to be very bad-looking, it isn't.

Sex appeal in today's society