The Vacation...

So I chose a bad time to come "back" cuz I could post once and then had to go to visit family with no internet.

Anyway, I thought it interesting that the thing that really stood out on this trip was the music. To kick things off we talked about the music we were going to take on the trip with us and were thinking back over what we used to listen to on long trips. We brought up Judy Rodgers and her old kids sing along cassettes and sang our way through every song we could remember.... kinda random and I know not really interesting but still....

At the reunion in Tennessee we had a house packed full of people and somebody would randomly start singin a carol and pretty much instantly all through the house people would pick it up and soon "Hark the Herald" was bein belted out by 25 voices young and old from various rooms. Then the carol (or verse of it) would end and everyone would go back to their cooking and movie watching and card playing. One of my aunts also brought along a book of carols and the history behind it and we who remained around the dinner table would sing them after hearing what we were actually singing.

Sunday morning was also kind of musically cool. We went to a good 'ole souther baptist church where we sang a wide mix of musical styles, but of course we sang "Go tell it on the Mountain" and "Beulah Land" in good southern gospel tradition.

So yeah... kinda lame but i thought it was kinda cool all the same that the most fun we had over that vacation was with the music and we aren't even a super musical family.

Christmas Tip #1: Packaging

Ugh we love it at Christmas, the nice easy gift wrap that tears wonderfully and makes a satisfying rip sound like a school worksheet that you have finished with. But about that plastic stuff....

The packaging of electronics is twice as bad as the rest. First it is extra thick to protect the contents. Then they heat seal the edges and hone them and their serrations to resemble a steak knife, and crimp it to a 90 degree angle so several pairs of scissors must be broken on them trying to obtain the stuff you actually wanted inside (forcing you to go out and buy more scissors and stimulate the economy.. so its a good thing?).

If blood is not drawn at first attack, then you obviously aren't trying hard enough to get at what's inside and this may tip off to the giver that you are not overly enthusiastic about their gift. So be sure to always stab yourself on the devil's wrapping paper at least once and demonstrate your excitement.

Cleanup for these things is also somewhat difficult as the environmentally conscious celebrationist (<----Bushism?) does not know what to do with the plastic waste. Typically none of the plastic packaging that houses the goodies is nor marked with a recycling symbol and does not indicate its recyclability in any way. This is one for brighter minds than mine to figure out though.... so having raised that guilt inducing question.... g'bye!

The Return of the Jedi. The Return of the King. Return of the Living Dead. Return to Neverland. Return of Jafar.....

So I'm back to blog. I don't know what I'm going to say, but facebook statuses and notes cannot communicate the huge quantity of emotion and passion that has built up over a semester. And so I shall continue writing and ranting and raving and hopefully motivate myself to think!

But Sheesh you people are prolific. 71 new posts and those are just the recent ones! I am sorry but *hits read all button* now I can start afresh and glory in your quirkiness and snarkiness and BRILLIANCE without feeling like I am days behind in a literature class.

101 posts. A year and a half. Its over... Its kind of sad, but for a while this blog filled a need I had to express and try to stir up ideas for others, and now it doesn't fill that need. I don't have the mental energy to write anything worth reading anymore...

SO for now I have to say goodbye. It won't be forever, I know that. Keep me in your aggregators and every now and then I may pop in with something new, but for now, its time for no guilt and to move on with life. Thank you all for reading and please keep in touch with me still! Somnite@gmail.com and u can search for me on facebook using the same username, just please leave a note saying how you know me.

Well, farewell for the moment!!!!

Anthropological Observations

I like that title.

So this is another post on racial issues, but it goes in a very different direction from my past posts.

A lot of this post is theory taken from a dissimilar situation and applied to the racial divide. I work dish room at a tourist restaurant in Lancaster County. The managers are extremely nice and friendly people and will often help us with our work. Most of the dishroom staff, myself included try to be sensitive to others who may have disabilities or handicaps and most of the workers have some kind of learning disability or handicap. Well, there is this one man that I work with frequently who we'll call Carl. Carl is a bit slow, and someone who you would say is "not all there." We get along and work together, laugh and joke when we are in a good mood but mostly just work.

Well, on several occasions we would have a very busy day at the dishwasher and at 10:00PM we would still be backed up in which case "John" one of the managers would jump on the dishwasher and start helping us. The odd thing is that as soon as John started working, Carl doubled his pace and they both started singing and laughing and joking. Several of John's jokes however were extremely insensitive and he poked fun at Carl's lack of intelligence. However instead of being resentful or angry or hurt, Carl loved it, and feels more accepted by having his differences poked fun at. Instead of denying that such a problem existed, John closed the gap and treated him like an equal that didn't have to be treated sensitively.

I wonder if the same thing is applicable in racial contexts. I have known many people of Asian-American descent, but the relationships have been a lot less strained and polite than those I have had with people of African American descent. Part of this I think is due to the respect that I think society often demands for people of one minority group over another. While we may be friends with Asian people groups, we must acknowlege and be cautious the African people groups. To this etent, racism most certainly is present in our culture today. Most of the Asian kids find their identity in their origins, but poke fun at themselves at the same time.

At college my one growth group leader was asian and we would always say "where is the asian kid" and things like that or poke fun at Asian stareotypes because it was a way to share something with them. It is somewhat akin to the hilarity we get from listening and debunking homeschool sterotypes.

Yet society blocks us from having this casual kind of relationship with african americans because we are to respect an not look down on them, when in fact all that is sought is a casual an light-hearted interaction.

That's all for now I guess....

This is your friendly reminder...

... To not give out your address, DoB, or Social Security Information of the phone. My family countered a scam today.

A lady called saying that we owed $103 on a Wal-Mart credit card and asking if we would pay it. My mother of course said that she had no such card and never did. The lady said statements had been mailed, but could she please verify address. My mother gave the first line only. The lady was very hesitant to give any information or verify anything on her end, and asked my mother for her SSN and DoB. Upon which point momma said heck no! and asked for a phone number where she could contact someone and get things straightened out. At that point, the scammer hung up.

True story.

(yeah, I am feeling lazy again and am not signifigantly emotionally destraught over Obama's doings these days to write another rant... maybe in another day or two)

From the last post...

I'm revisiting my last post referencing star wars, but taking it beyond just posting a link to the article. lol, I am actually going to be posting quotes and stuff with a link you can visit if you want context or more information. A warning though, when I post quotes, I will be leaving out bracketed sections which is the reporter's INTERPRETATION of what the speaker meant by a pronoun or ambiguity. I want to post it just as it is, so you can read it with same amount of offense, patriotism, or stupidity that the speaker said it with, not some spin put on it by the media.

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

"What I have no interest in doing is running GM," Obama said. His only goal, he said, was to get GM back on its feet and then "to get out quickly."

Yet, the U.S. could end up holding the shares for some time.

Neither Obama nor his spokesman offered an indication of how long the government's involvement with GM would last. "I don't know that there is a timeline," said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary.

This is intresting. So Star Wars! I'm thinking of Epsiode 2 when the senate votes emergency powers to the chancellor, and he runs things "reluctantly" and with prmoises of "turning power back over to the proper authority" as soon as the crisis has been averted. This while covertly doing everything to make sure that the crisis continues. Obama = Palpatine.

Why do I say that he is ensuring the crisis continues? Well, Obama just sold GM's Hummer line of vehicles to China. Godbye jobs, goodbye income for GM. GM can't make money, financial insecurity and more gov. control! Grats Obama, stage one is successful!

Stage 2: Enact tax policies that will either slash profits of major companies (forcing them into "bankruptcy protection" and government control) or force them to ship jobs over seas, causing further economic slumps and bankrupt companies to take over.

Stage 3: Declare regret at this and demand re-election on the grounds that any other candidate is just hungry for all the power over commerce that the office now holds. Oh, and be assured that future Presidents will have this power. Remember according to Liberals, "no timeline" means "forever." Just look at how they handled Bush and McCain's lack of timeline. They declared that "not timeline" meant "forever" and used it as grounds not to elect him. (Oh, btw, I want an Afghanistan timeline! Our soldiers still aren't home, they're just a couple countries east)

Alright, so future speculation asside, lets look at the here and now.

What are Obama's credentials that he should be running one of the largest and once the strongest companies in the U.S.?

-Law Schoold Grad. I don't care where it was. (but I do know, its just not a relevant fact in this post) Law degrees do not teach you economics or business managment, and no law school grad with ZERO company experience has what it takes to go right to the top and determine what is healthy for that company.

-Community Organizer. Basically a person with an agenda (not necessarily one that is beneficial to a large group of people) who gathers other people to his/her cause and makes a fuss about some issue or another. In short? a lobbyist who organizes other lobbyists who are demanding resolution to a local need or want, whether it harms others or not. Lobbyists were a huge part of the campaigns, with both parties declaring that they would not be run by lobbyists. Oops! Our mistake, we elected one of them! Ok, so lobbyist... not really qualified to be running major business in our country.

-Civil Rights Attorney. A lawyer is a person who ignores the facts or manipulates them for money. Most politicians were once lawyers. Yah, society has made a few election mistakes. However, In my opinion, Civil Rights Attornies are the worst of these. They are racists who get paid to be so and manipulate the facts so that other people look racist instead of them. Civil Rights attornies once had their beneficial place in our society, but not anymore, when the public lives in fear of being sued for all they're worth or losing their jobs, because someone called them a name they didn't like after being sworn at and degraded by the "victim." Damaging to the desirablitiy as president? Yes. But whether desirable or not, does this experience make him qualified for running a country or a big business like GM? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

- One Term not completed in U.S. Senate. (because of election he only filled four years) CEO stands for Senior Executive Office. Obama was for four years a LEGISTLATOR, not an EXECUTIVE. If he had been a governor, that would be ok, he would have had experience being in the role of a person making that kind of decisions, but not a legistlator! Sarah Palin would be more qualified to run GM than Obama (Her crdentials were equal in weight to Obama's, but somehow the VP needs more qualifications to be "a heartbeat away" than it does to actually be in the spot. She was also in an executive role as Governor for several years). Several sources site the margin that he was elected by to senate as a credential, as if it carries some kind of weight, but it is merely a testimony to the weakness of the other politicians that Illinois turns out, and the gullability of citizens of Illinois. It merely makes a statement about the constituency, no the qualifications of the man. FAIL! Not quite enough to make it acceptable for him to run GM.

"He has a strong obligation to ensure that there is a management structure in place that is making smart business decisions," Gibbs said. "Is the president going to thumb through engineering reports and each page of the annual report? No."

Now his secretary says that "oh, yes this is a responsibility, but its really not a big deal. Even if he does have a strong obligation (which he doesn't) to this company, as the CEO of GM, Obama does not have the obligation to fulfill those responsibilities of reading through the reports so as to know what is going on in the company. Then maybe he might actually be able to make informed decisions. Who knows? Give it a year, and we may see Oprah running the place, and turning out the latest cars instead of unfounded advice and feel good destruction.

Alright, so I've said my piece on this issue. I've thrown in my opinions, but there is a large amount of objectivity in them. If you disagree, I'd really like to know and read your comments, but please do not swear, call me names (or call me or my posts close-minded or bigotted). <--- these are grounds for deletion of your comment.

Here is the link to the article again if you would like to read the whole thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090601/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_gm;_ylt=AnWf9Hi51QTZgOT4L6flM0ADW7oF

For the people using reader and other aggregators...

there is a poll up

I hate to be repetitive but....

Think Star Wars, episode 2....

The War is Starting

A collection of terrifying realities. Here is what America voted for!

Goodbye transportation, cars are now made by the government.

Your homes are not your own, and you cannot practice your religion freely.

Openly racist and biased judges are picked based upon that racism and bias, to write new laws, where they think the old ones are not worth following. (disturbing quote in bold)

The fuel that they are requiring us to use and aggressively promoting is destroying our country.

After a promise to support Israel, administration breaks promise and continues to support policies that would ruin the country and ensure that more missiles destroy Israeli civilians.

I plan to explore each of these in a bit more detail, but this is how bad our country has gotten, and it will be getting worse!

Taxation Witout Representation!

My family was just talking this over yesterday, as we were discussing how the little brothers were going to file for taxes on the money that they got for mowing the neighbor's grass. This really wouldn't be an issue, for some one like me who is a huge fan of upholding the law (if you dont like the laws, change them proper way, but if they aren't worth changing they are probably worth upholding and enforcing). The problem I find in this is that it is the same issue over which the Boston Tea party was stirred up, and the Revolutionary war came about.

See, the patriots of 1776 did not demand representation without taxes. They wanted representation with taxes as a fair and inevitable part of having a government, or the same state of no representation in parliment, but also no taxes, since people who are not considered citzens enough to vote are not citizens enough to pay taxes.

I think that same principle holds through today. Why should someone who is not old enough to vote be old enough to pay taxes? If they are not represented in congress or legislature, aren't they "un-citizen" enough to be free of taxes as well?

Not really lengthy and researched is this^ but it is a thought, that I think is worth considering.

Despite my claim to be law abiding though, I laugh inside whenever I pick up change on the street, knowing that this counts as income (according to tax code), and that I will never pay for it.

College students are stupid...

... they are no lifers who do not have the time or even the leftover mental capacity to post on their own blogs or read their blogmates writing.

This is an announcement of a guilt free break until summer is underway and I figure out some way to restore brain function!

Wow....

I usually hate and shun the things that the world makes popular. But maybe their misguided ideas and pride have stumbled onto something truly inspiring!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

**********

It is SNOWING here. Groundhog lied. It has been 6 weeks. I want spring now. We cannot see the grass. I pulled my winter coat out of the storage bin where I put it on saturday. I am depressed. I am tired.

"I'm a Marshwiggle! I need the SUN!!!!!!"

For the first time ever....

I can sincerely thank Obama and his administration. In light of my recent posts, I think maybe you can appreciate this very brief article posted on Yahoo News:

ASHINGTON (AFP) – Journalists based in the United States got a shock Thursday when they dialed a toll-free number to join a conference call with senior officials accompanying US President Barack Obama in London.

The number turned out to be a sex chat line inviting callers to use their credit card numbers.

"Do you have any hidden desires?" a sultry voiced woman asked.

"Well, do you feel like getting nasty? Then you came to the right place -- brought to you by the girls of Swank magazine," she said.

Reporters finally got through to the two officials in London -- National Security Advisor James Jones and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- when they gave up on the US "800" number and instead dialed an international number.

The White House did not offer an explanation when asked how it sent the wrong number in an email listing both numbers -- one for journalists in the United States and the other for those overseas.

"Lots of important issues to cover today!" Thomas Vietor, a White House spokesman, told AFP when asked about the mistake in a follow-up email.

When pressed further about the number, Vietor replied: "I haven't dialed whatever number you're referencing. Please call such numbers on your free time!"

Jones and Clinton were being interviewed about the NATO summit on Friday in Strasbourg, but the contents of the call cannot be released until 0400 GMT, in line with rules stipulated by the White House.

Ridiculous!

Please not that this is not a rant against Obama's Aunt, Onyango. It is also not anti-Obama, this is a rant on media distortion and immigration and asylum procedures.

That this is even an issue shows how much of our countries law is a popularity contest, and how little justice is served. Recently I posted a link to an article about a former Nazi who they are considering deported; someone who they cannot prove is here illegally. The media is lobbying for his departure for some gain of their own, but now their heroic law abiding president's aunt has come up and they will do anything to keep her!

They argue that A) not many Kenyans seek asylum here. (implying that they are not an economic or social threat)

B) She needs to stay for health reasons they say because she has some neurological issue. hello! the woman walks with a cane, and pictures of this were the only proof cited in the article about such health issues.

C) She would become more of a celebrity in Kenya and would not be able to live normally. Yeah? So we ignore our countries laws, which our President has sworn to protect and defend, for political and public relations reasons. (not even public relations to our own society, its actually Kenyans who are to have no say in how this country is run)

The article does grudgingly admit the following "People who seek asylum must show that they face persecution in their homeland on the basis of religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group. Onyango's reasons for seeking asylum have not been made public"

Sure, expect to blow it past the public as a secret and to protect her privacy. As if the media ever cared about anyone's privacy before this! I think it rather suspicious.

And I have somthing to say!!!!

I was recently the recipient of a "major award" (*snickers and giggles*)


The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their words.

I recently received this award from Q, although I cannot imagine why. Maybe because my persistence is seen in that I torture my precious readers even when I have nothing to say? Anyway, it is still rather exciting and quite a happymaking moment in my evening.

I snowed today. After a week of 58-65 degree weather, it snowed. That was upsetting, since I was supposed to do a landscape for class tomorrow.

And we all found this hilarious, but one of the guys on my hall hit a lampost today with his car, the one right in front of the dining hall. This was somewhat ironic, since lampost is the name of one of the girls dorms. So we shall forever say that Beta1South took out Lampost. It was also kinda funny since the car was fine. There was a small gray mark and one of the lights was cracked, but the base of the lampost was bent into a hairpin, the top was completely off and shattered all over the place, and the insides of the light spilled out of the broken casing.

This is the story of today.

Spring Cleaning

MY layout is all fresh and clean now. I left the snow, just to be cheeky. I like the white layout, high contrast, easy to read. very nice overall. I lost my widgets, but I can't remember what I had on here, so its no big deal. If I won't miss it I might as well get rid of it anyway, right?

Anyway, I am somewhat sane tonight. Still not feeling like writing anything profound right now. I think it is the commitment of an hour or so to actually sit down and write something out without getting interrupted. Even writing this short thing, I stop and watch a youtube video, read a blog, check email, facebook, etc.... I need to focus on something. Coldcase is on. lovely.

AJ is here with me, and Jon. both working. I have no homework that I can really do except a five minute assignment due tuesday.

I guess I'll watch Cold Case then, so I can feel like I can focus on something. Anything!

Me is lame....

And not just my grammar in the title. I haven't posted on here since the 11th. wow. I have a lot to say, but finding time to put it all down is hard. Actually, focus is the hard part. It is just so much easier to watch a tv show on hulu.com than it is to type and think most of the time. I struggle to answer emails too. Ah well, maybe in another week I will have something special to say.

How sad is this?

Read this, or at least skim it, you'll get the general idea.

So we can deport a man for allegedly falsifying information almost 60 years ago, information which is still under dispute? We have no problem arguing for his deportation when he is too sick and old to travel. But we cannot deport young, healthy illegals who are pouring over our borders each day, clearly and defiantly illegal, rather than the man who they have to spend months proving is here illegally?

Don't get me wrong, I expect if he is violating the law that he should be deported, but peacefully and gently, while making allowances for his health, and only if they can objectively prove that he is here as an illegitimate.

This morning...

I didn't forget! Really, I didn't! So I happened to be an hour late for church this morning and missed sunday school? But it was all my alarm, and it worked out really well. You see, my alarm went off and I thought I was hitting snooze, but must have turned it off instead, but it was ok, see. There were four of us that were all supposed to go in the same car. Tae's phone reset her alarms with the time change, and she woke up a half hour late, so she got herself ready and called AJ who had stuck his phone under his pillow when the alarm went off, before going back to sleep. Who then came in and woke me up. We raced to the showers and got ready in 20 minutes, then went to look for Nate who was just coming down the stairs and thought we were still going to be on time for sunday school because he had forgotten all about the time change. :) So, really I did not forget to change the clock!

People I Find Hard to Love (Part 3?)

On my last post part of Jeanz response said this: "...then there are the ones who act one way toward a certain person for a day and then turn around and act very different(viciously so) the next. Sometimes this is through provocation(in some cases then, it is justified), but when it isn't, it can be very straining on their "victom"... But how do I (or you) deal with those kind of people?..."

This is another one of those types that I have had trouble with myself actually, but I did not mention it because for me it is resolved, or we are just going through a particularly long period where the dislike and attitude are suppressed. I think in my response to this, I will use an example and share about the experience.

Most of you probably know that I am a cheerleader here at college (yes, I am male). Well, on the squad is a girl who is very much a cheerleader. I mean in the way she talks, acts, hangs out with people, etc... I have no problem with this person really, but for some reason this person took a very intense dislike to me immediately after tryouts. I noticed that she disliked me pretty quickly, since she is not the type to hide feelings and live on. Of course seeing as the person is one of the reasons life on the cheer squad has been difficult and trying for me, I didn't hang out with her off the floor.

Then stuff happened and we were kinda forced to bond as a team, and suddenly any feelings of dislike towards me were gone and we were "friends." That lasted for maybe a month to a month and a half, during which time I tried to take and interest in her as a person, not just someone I was forced to work with, and she seemed to respond pretty well. Then something (I have no clue what) happened and suddenly we were worse off than ever before. I used the term "one way hate street" to describe it. And then suddenly things changed again, and we were working together. We weren't friends, but I was able to be friendly without here snapping back, or trying to undermine my place on the team. That's basically where we are right now.

Now, as to how I deal with it. How did I deal with it? I started by ignoring anything hurtful that they did or said and concentrated on "living above reproach"; making sure that I did nothing that would provoke. This didn't mean doing whatever they wanted to stay in their good graces, just fulfilling the expectations laid down by the coach as best I could and trying to cooperate when reasonable. I also avoided the person whenever I did not need to be around them. Kind of difficult sometimes with frequent practices, but I managed pretty well. I don't know if this is a good idea, because if the person gets the idea that you really don't like them for some reason, then they may tend to respond worse than they have been. I don't know if trying to talk to them and be friends with them was a good idea, considering the touchiness of the person. We were friendly for a bit, so I thought it might help, but I don't know if it would have continued if I had just left well enough alone, or if talking to them made things turn around. I just don't know on that one.

I do know that prayer has been absolutely necessary for my continued sanity over the last year as I deal with this person and all the other types. If you are dealing with a person like this, here's what I would say:

1)Be nice, and don't provoke, but avoid being a "suck up" at all costs. Don't let them control you and your emotions.
2)Pray for them and their attitude.
3) If 1 and 2 fail (prayer never fails though, and should be continued every day whether it seems to be working or not), maybe speak to them and ask them why they are treating you like this. I hate confrontation so this one would be really hard for me to do, and I never got to this point. I figured I could just deal with it for as long as I had to rather than risk making things worse.
4)If it is a friend that is being attacked, come alongside them and encourage them. If they are being put down by the attacker, then tell them the truth about how they are doing. Malicious attacks like I have experienced are usually lies, and even if we know it, it is helpful for others to tell us we are doing well. THANKS JENNA and STEPH!!!
5)Find characteristics in the person that are good. My cheerleader can inspire the team to do better and work to potential, and is amazing at doing her job on the team. She is able to help us all do our jobs better when she takes the time to tell us how to do it right and not just telling people they are no good. It is easier to love someone when you can look at the good in them and realize that they are a brother or sister, made in the image of God and that God put them there for a reason. Maybe some of the attitude could be something happening in their own lives and they really need a friend, or encouragement. Sometimes people who are snappy or hurtful are that way because they are going through a really tough time and need to make themselves feel better by putting others down.


That's what I got. I don't know how sound it is, but that's what I've been going through right now with these kind of people. Thanks everyone for your input and comments!

People I Find Hard to Love (Part 2)

I guess this part is where I really am guilty and need to work.


Stupid People: No, not your definiton of stupid. I don't mean the people who are not smart or who just don't know a lot. I mean the people who have working minds just like anyone else, and refuse to use them, because they have either been trained not to, or are too lazy to bother. This is a rather broad spectrum, but I know I need to be more forgiving and just run with it. But they just plain annoy me. My dad refers to these people (not the same people as I think of, but this type) as Ignorant.

These are the people (mostly girls, but boyfriend/girlfriend will do it too) who will link arms across a sidewalk when it is snowing out and refuse to break their little chain when there are people walking in the opposite direction on the same sidewalk. I really don't mind when it is dry out and I can just step onto the grass, but when I have to walk in 6 inches of snow, just so they can hang on eachother.....
These are also the people who decide that the place to have lengthy conversations is in the only doorway into a room.
Stupid people seem to have a sense of entitlement too. If an area is your expertise, they EXPECT you to check their homework for them and even answer some of the questions for them. I don't mind doing it if someone needs help, but I will not assist them in cheating or check work that they were too lazy to even try at. If they won't work for it, they don't deserve the grade.

These people are also characterized by their dining hall ettiquette.
Chronologically: After chapel during the lunch rush, when the line to swipe the ID cards is 100ft out the main entrance, these people will go around to the other side of the building, go in upstairs, come down the steps and end up right in front of the scanner, where it is considered proper manners to let them cut, (unspoken rules, because the upper floors are a girls dorm). So while you are shivering out in the cold, these people who showed late (probably because of one of their lengthy doorway conversations) zip themselves right to the front of the line. (This is not so much stupid as just plain rude)
After scanning in, they will wander arond the dining hall for an extensive period of time, just kinda drifting from side to side, and making anybody who would like to pass them move around. When they have finally decided what they want, they will get in a line, then gradually try to move up as far as they can before finally getting to the food. It works especially well if they know you, because they will stand next to you and make a few pleasant remarks, then move up to the next sucker in line.
Now the rows of tables and chairs in the dining hall are rather close together, so it is rather important to be careful not to charge down the aisles and barrel into anyone, yet this is exactly what these people do. You may be halfway down a bottleneck with a full bowl of cereal, and here they come charging through the opposite end, not even trying to turn sideways as the pass, because after all that is your job.
After another lengthy conversation while blocking the dish conveyor their dining hall experience is over.

So that is the end of my rant. And I really feel bad about all this. I know that my descriptions in the first part were justification for treating people differently, it is no excuse for not loving them how Christ would love them.

I really want to be able to see everyone and love them without knowing anything about them, whether they are rich or poor, but too often I only think about loving the poor and needy and not about those people that I see every day who combine their various attributes to make sure I am praying for patience regualarly. A new Christian I was speaking with here said to me: "I have only been a believer for a short time, but if we are not all about loving people like He would, not matter what they do, then I think I've really misunderstood what this is all about." That was what started me thinking about all these things, especially since professing believers that I know fall into all of these categories. Even if I am not commanded to love the world, the Bible clearly states that "He who loves God but hates his brother is a liar and the truth is not in him."

Who annoys or makes you the most miserable? I think we need to pray for a changed heart for them, and clear perception and patience for ourselves.

People I Find Hard to Love (Part 1)

I originally was going to entitle this post "People I Dislike," but changed my mind and decided to alter it to match my calling as a Christian and call it "People I Find Hard to Love." Originally this was also going to be one post, but it got very long, so I will do it in parts and finish it later, while I think more

I am not going to mention names or even specific cases in this post, just groups and types of people and I ask that if you read anywhere past here that you read to the end or the "parts," because you will probably have a pretty poor opinion of me from just reading the first half.

Its been a while since my last post, partly because of these people. They are the people that make my life miserable. Whether they should or not I will get to later, but here are a few groups that make life right now just tolerable.

Extreme Extroverts: I like extroverts. Many of my friends are extroverted and I love them. Some of them help me communicate better, others fill in the gaps where I really don't want to talk. Extroverts are great brainstormers for projects, and contribute a lot to small group discussions. I am talking about a different kind of extrovert however. Nearly all extroverts have a small piece of themselves that is introverted. On a scale of 1-10 they may be a 9. These people that I have trouble with are the ones who are a solid 10.
This really isn't a problem, except when you are alone with them, or in a group with them, or around them in any non-class setting. They hate silence. It is if they are incapable of existing in an environment free of talk. They will go out of their way to make conversation with anyone who will stay in the room or within talking range. ANYONE. People who are watching a movie, people with headphones in. People working on homework. People having a conversation with someone else. They will open closed doors and search for people to find this conversation. Now, I could understand if this was from loneliness, and I would stay and talk if I thought there was a need there for anything but empty meaningless talk. But these people have no discretion in their time choices or topics.
These people just won't quit either. You can drop hints, or say directly that you need to get back to work or that you are going somewhere, but to get them to shut up, you typically have to leave yourself on any minor excuse, even to go to the bathroom or something petty.

The second group of people that I have trouble with is the People Who I Feel I Need to Protect My Friends of the Opposite Gender From. This group is the one I find hardest to love. People who are crass. People who use frequent profanity. People who have a bad reputation for womanizing and flirting. People who are insincere, and especially those with girlfriends who meet all of the above descriptions.
I really don't feel an intense need to protect from these people, but it is always a nagging urge to push them away, to avoid them when I am around my female friends. I over-interpret every gesture and word, and fight the tendency to say bad things about them (but only what is true) to make the girls cautious. It worries me even more when these people tag along with me and my best friend just to be with our female friends. There are several people that do this. It is to the point where I will often avoid my friends to keep this kind of people separate from them. This kills me sometimes to do, but I really don't want them getting hurt, especially when they don't know the history and reality of these other people. This is probably my most legitimate dislike, difficult to love set of people.

The third group are The Pretenders. These are the people That go to a Christian College, but have no idea what it means to be a follower of Christ. These people are able to present themselves as spiritual people in group settings and in discussions, but to someone who actually knows them and observes them, it is obvious that they are Pretenders. These are often the people who seem to be the most secure in their faith, who struggle the least, who are the most knowledgeable about history and stuff, and sometimes up on the latest theological issues. But the desire for God isn't there , and the people who don't look cannot see it. The pretenders fool so many people and it is hard to know sometimes if this is a personal dislike for that person because they fall into one of the other categories, or if this is really something I am seeing as lack of commitment to their Christian walk. Can I trust my own perception enough to challenge them to step up? I don't know, right now I am just frustrated that these people are all around me and no one sees but me. (I conclude that no one but me sees them because I try to behave indifferent towards their spirituality while others praise their supposed growth)

To be continued......

Nothing in particular....

It is late. I am waiting for my laundry to dry so I can put my sheets back on my bed so I can sleep. In the style of the last post: (and out of the lameness of having no time or mental presence to write anything else, even my speech for Friday...)

Loud music across the hall.
Turn it down now.
Keyboard loud tonight.
AJ to the left. Jon straight ahead.
Messy room.
Not mine.
Sheetless bed.
Tired.
Hungry.
Why?
Plenty of snack stuff.
Not right now.
Going to brush teeth.
Check laundry.
Random: Lancers Out!

Why?

So I sit here. I really don't have much to say. There is a paper due Friday, so I'm at the coffee shop and .... not working. Worldview stuff. Helpful, yes, but kinda boring.

KM, KA, and AJ are here and we are just chilling while the K's wait for class to start. Thomas just showed up too.

I really really don't want to start writing. I don't want to read the stuff either.

I am chewing gum.
Phone sitting by my comp.
Aj singing.
Stop.
Crowd walked in.
Coffee smells.
Unfamiliar faces.
Friends!
Dry hands need lotion (not mine)
Party plans.
Profs coming.
Nice view.
Snow.
Winter.
Ick.
I want summer now!

Blogaversery!!!!!!!

One year ago down to the minute this was posted. Huh, it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I talked about music in the church. (that was back on my old blog with the really hard to type URL) A lot has changed about my blog, along with me, but I'm just happy that I made it a whole year!

I am also approaching my 100th blog post which will be another rather large accomplishment for me, meaning that in one year, I will have posted a few notes short of once every three and a half days. And for me being such a slacker sometimes, that is quite a feat. Woot!

The Rest of that Day...

So after the fact, I will tell you how the rest of that 18 below day went.

I headed back to the dorm to get more snacks, but finding no-one there, I assumed the worst and that they had evacuated the building due to the sprinkler system. So I sat in the lobby for another couple of hours watching still further episodes of cheesy TV shows online. I eventually got tired of this and went back to the dorm where I found people!

The water was finally back on so I could take a shower. But the amazing day did not end there.

That night, I was supposed to have practice with the Cheer squad. It was on the printed out schedule that we had. So I ventured out (By the way, my phone was dead, my car was dead, and it was still 18 below outside) on a 8 minute walk across campus to the gym. I waited for 10 minutes and no one came. So I figured that I must be at the wrong building and had read the schedule wrong. So I walked 8 minutes across campus to get to the Rec center, where the lady at the desk said "no team." So I figured everyone was just late and walked 8 minutes back to the gym. No team. So I decided to check the Rec Center again for myself. (there is true dedication combined with the stupidity of a jock) No team. So I decided that I would go to the gym one more time to check and then quit. So I did and found no team. And I ran back to the dorm and skyped one of the coaches (who only comes every other time and this was a night at home for her) who called one of my teammates and found out that no one had showed up for practice because they didn't know we had one. So I crashed.

My Day: 10:00AM - 12:00 PM

So I decided I should continue this. It could be interesting.

I continue to sit here in the lobby as it approaches noon and I have just finished watching Bush's Farewell speech (no comment) and two episodes of "Legend of the Seeker" TV show (I am so commenting on that later positive and negative). I am considering going back to the dorm to find out if they actually have evacuated it, or if I am at least able to get in to make soup for lunch. But then I just remembered that I did not wash my dishes last night and the water is still shut off, so I would have to make due with fruit, granola bars and poptarts, or maybe oatmeal to go or snack crackers. Sheesh. Lazy me ruined lunch. Oh well.

I have the lobby to myself at the moment. *yawn* I don't know if it is worth going back to the dorms or not. I might just stay here and sleep. They did wake me up rather early this morning.

I want to shower!

My Day so Far 9:00 - 10:00

I write from a remote location. I am a refugee from a cruel deprivations and fleeing the frigid world of no showers, toilets, and possibly no fire sprinkler system. Yes. It is a hard world.

Alright, so at 9:00 AM, one of the RA's knocks on my door, waking me up and letting me know that the pipes have burst. They had to turn off the water, meaning there will be no showers or toilets. They were not sure which pipe it was yet, but if it ran to the fire sprinkler system, we would have to follow protocol and evacuate the building.

Well, needless to say, as soon as I heard no bathrooms, I started making an exit plan, bundling up and making my way through a foot and a half of snow, huddled against the evil 18 degree below zero weather and the diabolical -25 wind chill factor. But I won. I survived the exposure and made it to the dining hall. So I sit in the lobby with my drinks and food and laugh at those who chose to stay behind. At least I have working toilets. :-)

Middle East and Me

I got a response to my appeal, and Q suggested that I explain what I think on what's happening in the Middle East. Iraq was specifically mentioned, but I think I shall encompass Israel and Gaza too.

At the beginning, I thought that going into Iraq was a good idea, along with half of America. Really, what else were we supposed to do? We had been told that Iraq had WMD's and was planning on using them in war. Saddam himself let everybody think so, so logically, he was ok with whatever consequences may have come from his actions. Status Report: Intelligence says they have nukes. Saddam says he has nukes. Result: Bush (like any rational human being at this point) thinks they have nukes and responds accordingly.

If Bush had sat there and done nothing, and Iraq did have weapons, well guess who was in huge trouble with everybody when a couple million people get blown up. So we went into Iraq.

Now Bush gets all this flack because we went in and didn't find any WMD's. Bush lied to us they say. Well, Bush was lied to and he is really just the mouth that relayed it to us. What about the Intelligence agents who gave faulty reports to Bush? Was the president (who is stuck behind a desk reading papers) expected to know more about what went on over there than the people whose job it was to find out this information? Simple answer: NO.

Now in regards to what happened afterwards:

Mistakes which I partially blame Bush for, and thought he could have handled better came next. We stayed. I don't say that we should have pulled out right away, but we should have taken steps to build a stable government and pull out as soon as possible before the Dems started complaining about their pet projects being undefunded because of the war budget. I realize that this could take a large amount of time, but really when the country reaches the stability level in which we found it, that is where we needed to wash our hands and say "Enough. We fixed one of your problems and removed a progress roadblock, now its your job to move past where you were." I know it sounds harsh, but we spent millions upon millions and thousands of lives doing what Iraqis should have been doing themselves. We were building them roads and schools that our country needs.

So at this point I think the solution is to pull out. Now.

George Washington once said: "The great rule of conduct for us, in regards to foreign nations, is , in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connecion as possible. ~ George Washington 1796

I'd like to also explain a little bit of what I think about Israel and Gaza. At this point I do not think we should be involved other than in convincing the stupid UN that Israel and Gaza should be left to fight it out. The whole situation is ridiculous. Israel is getting bashed across the board because it is defending its people by fighting back. Israel gave Gaza to Hamas in 2005. Since then, over 6,300 missiles and mortars have come out of Gaza, and targeted Israeli civilians. This past Christmas eve alone there were 80. And Israel has waited it out without doing anything. Mostly because of international pressure not to harm the "civilians" living in Gaza. Really? Seriously? How many civilians does Gaza have to kill before Israel can retaliate and protect its own? Is the government of Israel responsible first to Gaza's civilians or to its own people? Hamas targets civilians. Israel only wants to target Hamas. GO FOR IT ISRAEL!!!!!!

By the way, if I left anything unclear or if you have any, feel free to ask any questions you might have. Remember, be respectful, and don't call me close minded because I have disagreed with your point of view.

Ahem.....

Well, since profundity is not easy to spawn in this environment, I shall attempt at factual. Are there any political or social topics which someone would like to read a rant on? I have a rather long discourse on the electoral college already written, which I may post, but I was hoping for something fresh perhaps. Laws people wonder about, government processes, gossip, etc....

Also, I may swithc the wordpress soon so that I can password protect posts. Just a thought.