Today was a fairly relaxing day. Kevin is still In Tijuana, doing what he does best to those computers up there, preparing for our week of working at the TJ House. I spent the day finishing up the necessary cleaning in our new room. Now we have room to build our computer/soldering work bench, and also the server room. It's actually a fairly large project, which is going to include building four new walls, putting in two windows, a fan on the ceiling of the server room, and other little doo-dahs, little finishing touches that will make it homey. Like...say, the two full size couches. Or, maybe the projector. I mean...umm, tables, tool racks, storage shelves, and other work related things. That's all we have in there, I promise. Work stuff.
Anywho...tomorrow night, Blair, Kelcie, and I went for tacos and good ole Smokey's (yes, that says tomorrow night, that's not a typo. And if that makes sense to you, then you are very precise and observant). And Blair said something about this Mexican guy that he and Warehouse Dave ran into a couple times at the local taco stands., and how he'd be asking them for a taco or two. That part is not necessary to my story. It just made me remember something I had planned on writing up on here, cause I thought it was interesting.
So, this specific guy, is one of those people most would consider a "social outcast" or whatever that has come to mean these days. I first saw this guy in church (ironically enough) as walked by me down the aisle, stopped, turned around, and casually walked back. On his way back, I got a glimpse of him. He had the body of a small teenager. Skinny, short legs, small chest, just a small body over all. He even had that teenager walk down. But as I followed his body up from his feet (I scan people starting at their feet...cause, I don't know about you, but I remember people by their shoes. Not their faces, or clothes. Shoes.) I noticed that he had the face of a rather elderly man. 60s? 70s? I'm not sure. But it didn't match his body. At all. Which is funny, after saying I don't remember people by their faces really but by their shoes. This guy was definitely an exception to that rule (although, I do in fact, remember was wearing brown baggy pants, skater shoes, and a beanie). I have this guys face engraved in my mind for quite awhile. Just that one in a lifetime you don't ever forget.
Anywhoozles...then my natural brain cycles started, the ones that just go without me saying so. I thought, "Awww, poor guy. His life must be so hard just to simply BE like that. I can't even imagine. Does he have friends? Where is his family? Exactly how old is he? Is his age the age of how his body looks? Or how his face looks? How has he made it this far in life (however far that might be), when so much in this life is based off looks and initial appearance. What are the chances that people are just going to walk up to him and simply ask how he is? What are the odds people will go out of their way to get to know him, or even acknowledge he exists? Being a "social outcast," aren't most people going to initially see him and be afraid of approaching him?" And then I noticed I was doing just that...I was totally judging him on his initial appearance, of how he looked to me. I was just as guilty as anyone else who'd ever come in contact with him. I was doing what I, myself, was questioning.
But it kept on going...
I continued thinking, "Wow, I'm so glad I'm not him. I don't know if I could live like that. Thank you God, for making me who I am. I am so thankful for the life I have." It's like one of those things where North Americans go on a missions trip to, say, Mexico, and feel so blessed, and go home and are so thankful for everything they have, because they personally witnessed the conditions others are living in at that very moment. It's kinda the same thing with this man I saw in church. I was so thankful that God showed this man to me, cause it really made me realize the blessings that I have, if only physical blessings. Even though to most of the world, we call it normal. But to this guy, all us "normal" people are so blessed. We don't have to worry about something as basic as looking normal on an everyday basis (unless you look like Ron Weasley...then life is really tough). We get up and walk out the door every morning, without so much as a thought of, "I wonder if people are going to point and stare today?" That's just not in us. Sometimes, it's actually just the opposite. "I wonder people are going to point and stare at this brand new jacket I got, or new shiny shoes, or, heck, and fancy dancy soccer ball? Look at how special it looks on me. I hope people notice." Whereas this guy's probably hoping people skip right over him, and don't take a second glance. Which, really is a low point. If you're going through your day HOPING and PRAYING that not a single person notices you, something is either wrong you, or something is wrong with the way society treats/acts towards you. I claim that it's the latter. This guy, for one is still a guy, and God still created him just as he is. Heck, maybe the point of his life is to help the rest of us with "normal" lives realize what we have, and to not take advantage of it. It's not my place to say, that's up to God. Maybe he's happy with the way he is, which would be the coolest thing in the world. I don't know what's going through his mind, nor will I ever. But I couldn't help thinking about him, and just thanking God for using him to help me realize how blessed I am.
It's like our Day Home here at the mission. Our day home has like 18 or so disabled kids in it. They come here every week day; picked up at home in the morning, they're here throughout the day, then they're brought home at 3:30. It's like they're just another example of this: God using others to show us how blessed we are.
And then I got to thinking.
What if...?? What if...we were being used by God to show others how blessed they were? What if us "normal" people were here for the purpose of showing others just how fortunate they are? What if I was one of God's examples that other people saw and went, "Wow, I'm glad I'm like me and not him. I have a blessed life." How would that make me feel? I'm pretty darn sure that would make me feel vastly inferior. but who am I to say that I'm not? I see other people and realize the blessings I have, why can't others look at me and see how blessed they are? We all here for the purpose of spreading God's glory, what if I'm part of that to show the blessings God's given to others?
Would I act differently if I knew someone was watching me because they were coming to the realization of their blessings? I'm sure I would. If I was the guy walking down the aisle at church, and I stopped, turned around, and stared myself in the eye (which would be creepy in itself), what would I see? Would I see myself sitting in that chair thinking I have life figured out, and then watch as I glanced down at the shoes and slowly progressed up my body? When I saw my face, what would my reaction be? I bet, if anything, I'd notice a change in facial expression as I saw my face on that body.
All I'm wondering is, every single one of us goes through our everyday lives, witnessing and seeing people who, to us, seem like God revealed them to us for the purpose showing himself to us. By using them, we see God, and all that he's done for us. But do we ever think that we can actually be one of those people? Being God's servant, unknowingly? Of course, we're always supposed to be being his servant, but maybe we're not consciously thinking of it. I'm not.
But maybe I will now that I know there is a good possibility someone is watching me, looking at my shoes, and glancing up to see not me, but God, and the blessings he's bestowed upon them in their "abnormal" lives.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
BEDA - April 13th
Today, Kevin, my supervisor left for Tijuana. The mission has a "house" there, called the TJ House (Tijuana House), and kids from the orphanage here can go there and attend college in Tijuana. He went up to stay there for three days and check out the computer situation. Then, he's going to come back here on Wednesday and assess what we need to do there, and on the 26th, we're both heading up and staying at the TJ House for a week to do a big renovation project on their computers. Yes, I am fully aware that in 2008, 6000 people were killed in Tijuana alone. But what most people don't know, and that the media don't tell them, is that the vast majority of those deaths have been gang and drug related deaths, hence the "drug war." They're not going after tourists...although, I guess after being here this long, I can hardly call myself a tourist...but they don't know any better by looking at me. Anywho, tourists are at far less risk than citizens, cause well, we're not exactly participating in their drug war, are we? Not so much..unless you still don't know about my side business. In that case, I guess I am at risk. Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't go. No, just kidding. I know there are some of you who will actually believe me if I said that...so no, not true. But anywho, I'm hoping to have my video camera by then...(but probably won't), so I'll try and get some footage if I can. Anywho, I'm pretty excited to go...I haven't been to the TJ House yet, and I hear it's pretty cool. And recently the family living there moved out, and Jorge and Gina (who used to work here) moved up there to take their place. And they're uber cool, as well as their two sons, so I'm looking forward to it. Deborah said there are between 10-20 college age kids staying their at any given time, so what's not to like. So many kids my age. And finally some guys to hang out with! (Hahahah...just kidding Kelcie/Deborah. You know you'd go crazy if you didn't have another girl for 6 months)
Anywho, yep, that's my plan in a couple weeks. This Friday (the 17th), I'm leaving at 6am to go play in a soccer tournament in Ensenada with the House 7 boys and some of our friends from town. I hope we get back in time to get the Friday blog in. I know I'll have lots to say. We're playing in a stadium with grass and everything. Haven't done that since high school, back in the days when we were really good (0-14-2). good thing I brought my cleats though, I'll finally get to really use them for realsies.
Ok, so Saturday, I donwloaded an episode of How Stuff Works, the Discovery channel show that well...explains how things work. This particular episode was was highlighting anatomical models, tortilla chips, spark plugs, jukeboxes. I watched it Sunday afternoon, with a special interest int eh tortilla chips and jukeboxes. Tortilla chips just seemed interesting cause it's food we eat, and it's mass produced on a ridiculous, and they still seem to get every chip perfect (and every bag half filled). I think they must have all their scales programmed wrong or something. "Hey, I know it says "There's a crunch in every bag" on the front, but it really only means "There's half as much crunch as there appears to be," so set this scale to stop filling the bag at "angry customer" instead of "satisfied and returning customer."
That wasn't even the issue though. the tortilla chip segment was actually quite interesting. Learned lots. It's the jukebox I had a huge problem with. In the pre-show example, that little 10 second clip showing what they were looking at in this episode, it showed this wicked sweet mechanical arm going around grabbing CDs and neatly placing them in the optical drive to be read and played. I was getting all pumped up about seeing how this machine works, picking out the user-selected song from it's library of hundred's of CDs, and playing it within like 10 seconds or whatever. That's cool right? Apparently not to the Discovery Channel. It started out like this:
1. Queue the replay of said 10 second clip featuring the CD-based jukebox.
2. Play said clip with voice overlay saying, "this is how jukeboxes used to be."
3. Change clips, and say, "but this is how they work nowadays, in more modern times. We don't have time on this show to explain things that went out of style last week."
4. Start playing video about modern jukeboxes...which, surprise surprise, run on MP3s.
5. This 10 minute clip (yes, they managed to get 10 full minutes of footage out of building a MP3 jukebox) consisted of about 10 modular parts, and lots of screws.
6. Ever want to build your own jukebox? Easy. Just follow the Discovery Channel's example, like this:
7. Start off by making the glass faceplate with that spare window you have sitting out back. And while you're back there, take that pinball machine apart and use that cardboard/plastic as the border to go around your glass window. Screw those together.
8. That old refrigerator that you don't use anymore can be used to house all the components, and you can cut a hole in the top part of it where you'll insert your screen and faceplate. Screw your faceplate into the square hole you cut.
9. Clean out your fridge. If necessary, leave it open for 10 or more days to get that oyster smell out of it. After 12 days, give up. It's not going anywhere. And you knew that.
10. Grab the computer your brother-in-law picked up for you at the dump and use that as your server to hold all your MP3 files. Screw that in on the bottom of your fridge.
11. Those speakers in your living room that your wife specifically said you didn't need and shouldn't buy will work perfectly for audio output. Place them standing upright next to the screen. Screw them in.
12. You're also going to need that old power supply that you stole from office computer right before your boss declared a company-wide computer upgrade. Screw that in.
13. That transformer that you never noticed sitting in your garage when you bought the house from the previous owner is a perfect match for the job. Hook that up between the computer and the power supply, and connect all necessary cables. We know you have them. Finally, screw that in.
14. Do you remember awhile back when you went to borrow a few eggs from your neighbor (after preparing everything for omelets, only to realize you don't have any eggs), discovered he wasn't home, and walked out with his audio mixer from his recording studio? Yes, you told him you didn't have it, and didn't seen anyone go in his house that day, but for the purposes here, there's nothing better. This project calls for that audio mixer, and it can go right beside the power supply. Connect to transformer and computer, again, with the necessary cables we know you've been stocking up. Lastly, screw that in.
15. The brand new router your bought for your son and his family...well, yep, you guessed it, son never saw it, son never got it. Son never knew it, son won't use it. Jukebox....or son.....JUKEBOX! Install that near the top, as to get better reception, and hey, guess what??? Screw that in!!
16. The only other thing we need is a cash machine/bill reader/change machine. Hmmm. Wait! Good thing you saved all those parts from your days of working as a Coke vending-machine repairer. Oh, the days of college. Get that old cash reader out of that machine you have in your garage and install that in the ice dispenser of your fridge. And no, you want your bills whole, not crushed. And you guessed it, SCREW THAT IN!
17. Now, obviously, the only step left is to plug it in. Of course, no worries there, cause if you followed our directions, it will work flawlessly, not a single error. No setup required. Just plug it in, and you've got your jukebox. Start making money!!
This entire episode just made me angry! First, they fool you into thinking you're going to see how these sweet jukeboxes worked back in the 70s and 80s, or, maybe if you're lucky, get to see a CD-based one in action. Nope, on the contrary, for ten whole minutes, you watch this guy grab modular piece after modular piece and screw it in, screw it in, screw it in. The narrator said "screw that in" at least 12 different times. Good thing my knowledge of screwing things in increased so much after watching that, or I'd NEVER be able to build my own jukebox. It wasn't the special power supply, the transformer, the audio mixer, OR the router I was worried about getting and hooking up correctly. It was the screws. Just think of the consequences if I hadn't had a screwdriver nearby!!!!
What a crisis.
Thanks, Discovery, for enlightening me in the ways of screwing in pre-manufactured parts. Now I can practically build a jukebox with my eyes closed! What would I have done without you??
Good thing I already know how to build wireless routers at the 54GHz wavelength, write software to properly run my MP3 server, code my laser-scanning cash reader to accept real money and spit out fake money (or anything with so much as a minute nano-crease on it...and just for kicks, randomly spit out perfectly good money just to piss customers off. And by customers, I mean my wife and kids, and increasingly, myself), solder my own power supply together, and correctly hook it up to the transformer I threw together on my way home from work that effectively distributes the power evenly amongst all the components.
You're a lifesaver, Discovery.
Thanks again!
Yours sincerely,
Screwed Yet Again
Anywho, yep, that's my plan in a couple weeks. This Friday (the 17th), I'm leaving at 6am to go play in a soccer tournament in Ensenada with the House 7 boys and some of our friends from town. I hope we get back in time to get the Friday blog in. I know I'll have lots to say. We're playing in a stadium with grass and everything. Haven't done that since high school, back in the days when we were really good (0-14-2). good thing I brought my cleats though, I'll finally get to really use them for realsies.
Ok, so Saturday, I donwloaded an episode of How Stuff Works, the Discovery channel show that well...explains how things work. This particular episode was was highlighting anatomical models, tortilla chips, spark plugs, jukeboxes. I watched it Sunday afternoon, with a special interest int eh tortilla chips and jukeboxes. Tortilla chips just seemed interesting cause it's food we eat, and it's mass produced on a ridiculous, and they still seem to get every chip perfect (and every bag half filled). I think they must have all their scales programmed wrong or something. "Hey, I know it says "There's a crunch in every bag" on the front, but it really only means "There's half as much crunch as there appears to be," so set this scale to stop filling the bag at "angry customer" instead of "satisfied and returning customer."
That wasn't even the issue though. the tortilla chip segment was actually quite interesting. Learned lots. It's the jukebox I had a huge problem with. In the pre-show example, that little 10 second clip showing what they were looking at in this episode, it showed this wicked sweet mechanical arm going around grabbing CDs and neatly placing them in the optical drive to be read and played. I was getting all pumped up about seeing how this machine works, picking out the user-selected song from it's library of hundred's of CDs, and playing it within like 10 seconds or whatever. That's cool right? Apparently not to the Discovery Channel. It started out like this:
1. Queue the replay of said 10 second clip featuring the CD-based jukebox.
2. Play said clip with voice overlay saying, "this is how jukeboxes used to be."
3. Change clips, and say, "but this is how they work nowadays, in more modern times. We don't have time on this show to explain things that went out of style last week."
4. Start playing video about modern jukeboxes...which, surprise surprise, run on MP3s.
5. This 10 minute clip (yes, they managed to get 10 full minutes of footage out of building a MP3 jukebox) consisted of about 10 modular parts, and lots of screws.
6. Ever want to build your own jukebox? Easy. Just follow the Discovery Channel's example, like this:
7. Start off by making the glass faceplate with that spare window you have sitting out back. And while you're back there, take that pinball machine apart and use that cardboard/plastic as the border to go around your glass window. Screw those together.
8. That old refrigerator that you don't use anymore can be used to house all the components, and you can cut a hole in the top part of it where you'll insert your screen and faceplate. Screw your faceplate into the square hole you cut.
9. Clean out your fridge. If necessary, leave it open for 10 or more days to get that oyster smell out of it. After 12 days, give up. It's not going anywhere. And you knew that.
10. Grab the computer your brother-in-law picked up for you at the dump and use that as your server to hold all your MP3 files. Screw that in on the bottom of your fridge.
11. Those speakers in your living room that your wife specifically said you didn't need and shouldn't buy will work perfectly for audio output. Place them standing upright next to the screen. Screw them in.
12. You're also going to need that old power supply that you stole from office computer right before your boss declared a company-wide computer upgrade. Screw that in.
13. That transformer that you never noticed sitting in your garage when you bought the house from the previous owner is a perfect match for the job. Hook that up between the computer and the power supply, and connect all necessary cables. We know you have them. Finally, screw that in.
14. Do you remember awhile back when you went to borrow a few eggs from your neighbor (after preparing everything for omelets, only to realize you don't have any eggs), discovered he wasn't home, and walked out with his audio mixer from his recording studio? Yes, you told him you didn't have it, and didn't seen anyone go in his house that day, but for the purposes here, there's nothing better. This project calls for that audio mixer, and it can go right beside the power supply. Connect to transformer and computer, again, with the necessary cables we know you've been stocking up. Lastly, screw that in.
15. The brand new router your bought for your son and his family...well, yep, you guessed it, son never saw it, son never got it. Son never knew it, son won't use it. Jukebox....or son.....JUKEBOX! Install that near the top, as to get better reception, and hey, guess what??? Screw that in!!
16. The only other thing we need is a cash machine/bill reader/change machine. Hmmm. Wait! Good thing you saved all those parts from your days of working as a Coke vending-machine repairer. Oh, the days of college. Get that old cash reader out of that machine you have in your garage and install that in the ice dispenser of your fridge. And no, you want your bills whole, not crushed. And you guessed it, SCREW THAT IN!
17. Now, obviously, the only step left is to plug it in. Of course, no worries there, cause if you followed our directions, it will work flawlessly, not a single error. No setup required. Just plug it in, and you've got your jukebox. Start making money!!
This entire episode just made me angry! First, they fool you into thinking you're going to see how these sweet jukeboxes worked back in the 70s and 80s, or, maybe if you're lucky, get to see a CD-based one in action. Nope, on the contrary, for ten whole minutes, you watch this guy grab modular piece after modular piece and screw it in, screw it in, screw it in. The narrator said "screw that in" at least 12 different times. Good thing my knowledge of screwing things in increased so much after watching that, or I'd NEVER be able to build my own jukebox. It wasn't the special power supply, the transformer, the audio mixer, OR the router I was worried about getting and hooking up correctly. It was the screws. Just think of the consequences if I hadn't had a screwdriver nearby!!!!
What a crisis.
Thanks, Discovery, for enlightening me in the ways of screwing in pre-manufactured parts. Now I can practically build a jukebox with my eyes closed! What would I have done without you??
Good thing I already know how to build wireless routers at the 54GHz wavelength, write software to properly run my MP3 server, code my laser-scanning cash reader to accept real money and spit out fake money (or anything with so much as a minute nano-crease on it...and just for kicks, randomly spit out perfectly good money just to piss customers off. And by customers, I mean my wife and kids, and increasingly, myself), solder my own power supply together, and correctly hook it up to the transformer I threw together on my way home from work that effectively distributes the power evenly amongst all the components.
You're a lifesaver, Discovery.
Thanks again!
Yours sincerely,
Screwed Yet Again
Sunday, April 12, 2009
BEDA - April 12th
Well, in short, today was so un-eventful, there's really nothing to say.
And, speaking of nothing to say, today was Easter (duh) and the mission church moved their service to outside, a the foot of the mountains (HR Rock), and...6AM. Yep, you guessed it! I was not present. But Kelcie and Deborah went! Brave souls. I did go to the evening service tonight. Things started off great...and by great, I mean that Jose's little son walked right into a pole. Definitely the highlight of my evening. The kid was totally fine, just re-gained his balance and kept walking. But it was sure funny.
I had no one to sit with during the service, so I went to Sunday school with the kids. That was interesting.
This afternoon, I watched TWiT Live, with my buddy Leo Laporte. Good show today, good show. My online soccer site was down for maintenance, so I missed whatever matches were on yesterday and today. Sad life, I know.
Also, I worked on my brother's songs some more. I've figured out one all the way through, called How We Rise. Amazing song. Still waiting to here back from him about whether I can send them to people or not, or if I can use them in my videos.
Videos?? What videos?? yep, that's right. I just got the ok to get a video camera so I can better document my time here for all you peeps out there. I'll get some great soccer videos for sure. Who knows what else. The options are never-ending. Oh what you can do with a camera and editing software. I'm looking forward to it!
Yeah...such an boring day. My buddy Deborah left today to go back to school. Sad...but 18 more days! Her spring break was up, so she returned to Ensenada...and, well, not the most welcoming of all welcomes.
But! In rather good news! The internet has provided content in place of me writing more blabber! Yay! Go Internet! Thanks!
Mildly impressive video. Or, instead of mildly, freaking amazing will suffice.
Rather humorous shortened version of one of the most popular books on the planet. :)
A 360° view of Paris at night. Let it all load (it will be really skinny...kinda looks like the picture stopped loading..and then click on it to zoom in. It's epic.
Time to go to bed, and start the week off on a good note by going to bed before 5am. That's usually advised. Brand new week, brand new bedtime.
And, speaking of nothing to say, today was Easter (duh) and the mission church moved their service to outside, a the foot of the mountains (HR Rock), and...6AM. Yep, you guessed it! I was not present. But Kelcie and Deborah went! Brave souls. I did go to the evening service tonight. Things started off great...and by great, I mean that Jose's little son walked right into a pole. Definitely the highlight of my evening. The kid was totally fine, just re-gained his balance and kept walking. But it was sure funny.
I had no one to sit with during the service, so I went to Sunday school with the kids. That was interesting.
This afternoon, I watched TWiT Live, with my buddy Leo Laporte. Good show today, good show. My online soccer site was down for maintenance, so I missed whatever matches were on yesterday and today. Sad life, I know.
Also, I worked on my brother's songs some more. I've figured out one all the way through, called How We Rise. Amazing song. Still waiting to here back from him about whether I can send them to people or not, or if I can use them in my videos.
Videos?? What videos?? yep, that's right. I just got the ok to get a video camera so I can better document my time here for all you peeps out there. I'll get some great soccer videos for sure. Who knows what else. The options are never-ending. Oh what you can do with a camera and editing software. I'm looking forward to it!
Yeah...such an boring day. My buddy Deborah left today to go back to school. Sad...but 18 more days! Her spring break was up, so she returned to Ensenada...and, well, not the most welcoming of all welcomes.
But! In rather good news! The internet has provided content in place of me writing more blabber! Yay! Go Internet! Thanks!
Mildly impressive video. Or, instead of mildly, freaking amazing will suffice.
Rather humorous shortened version of one of the most popular books on the planet. :)
A 360° view of Paris at night. Let it all load (it will be really skinny...kinda looks like the picture stopped loading..and then click on it to zoom in. It's epic.
Time to go to bed, and start the week off on a good note by going to bed before 5am. That's usually advised. Brand new week, brand new bedtime.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
BEDA - April 11th
Might as well start this day off with a little humor
Today was especially a great day to be alive! Weddings, creepy staring, and roommates leaving.
This morning was Robert's wedding. He's been here at the mission for who knows how long. Quite awhile. He married the house mom of Casa 6, Theresa, and she had the cutest little wedding party/bridal party/whatever you call the bride's group of people. It was NOT the bridesmaids cause it was her little boys too, not just the girls, so I don't think they would appreciate being called bridesmaids. Anywho...they all had their little tuxes, slick hair, and shiny shoes. It was great. I did sound, everything went fine. Avitia did have the mic most of the time, but he didn't try and sing his usual solo or anything. Just a great little wedding all around. Short and sweet. Robert asked Theresa's 8 year old son to accept him into their family, and said he could call him whatever he wanted, but I can't remember the options he gave him. I just remember it being rather adorable and Robert was funny as usual. Theresa was tearing up...as well as Robert, which just doesn't happen.
After the wedding, we went down to the Bible Institute kitchen for the reception. Surprisingly lacking on the food, but whatever, we found ways to have fun. Deborah and I just picked out random people to stare at until they'd feel our presence and turn around and look at us. Then we'd bust out laughing, and they'd give us the "Wow, you're retarded" face. Every time. I have no idea why. Easily the best was when we picked out Pedro from the Bible Institute. So we start staring at him, and he's completely oblivious of us while he's stuffing his face with food. Very quickly, we discovered that standing behind was Edith, one of the "bridesmaids"/"daughters" of the Casa 6 mom, Theresa, the one getting married. From her point of view, it looked like were staring right at her. In a very creepy manner. Even better, Robert the Groom was standing right next to her, and she turns to him and tells him about us by pointing at us and stuff. Smiling, trying to act like it's funny and normal to be stared at. It was kind of an awkward process trying to explain to him with hand motions that we weren't staring at his "daughter" but in fact were checking out the 50 year old man sitting in front of Edith. Hopefully he interpreted our hand signals correctly. If not, I'm soooo dead on Monday. I totally looked like a creeper. Deborah, not so much. She doesn't normally participate in girl-staring activities. Soon enough, Pedro saw us and gave us a great reaction, so we quickly moved on to someone else. Bonnie. She also gave us a great reaction. Like..."They do look familiar, but I'm SURE I've never seen them before."
Oh! I almost forgot! Most interesting part of the wedding. Probably one of the most random things I've seen at a wedding actually. So we're all sitting in this crammed kitchen, I'd say a hundred or so people, probably a little more, and every seat is taken. People are standing, some sitting on the window sills, everywhere. The wedding party shows up last and sits at their reserved table, and then has the privilege of starting in line first. So they get up and go get all the good food before it's gone. We sit in our chairs watching them...jealousy spread across our faces, cause we know full well there's not going to be much left for us. We're barely surviving on our room temperature pop, and heck, we'd already had a fight over that. We've still got three tables to go till we get food. Right before it's our turn to get in line, this Mexican family (the bride's family, from Cabo San Lucas) from the wedding party, at the head table that got to go first, shows up with a large, hot pizza, included with a crisp, chilled 3 liter Coke. They place it on the table in front of them, and start chowing down. Really????? Really?!?! We all sit here waiting for you guys in line, and you get your food, then go out and get a pizza and cold drinks?? Really? No pues wow. Seriously. That just cracked me up that they did that. But...I guess I can't complain too much...my neighbor scored me a piece. We made a deal..I would get him a piece of the wedding cake if he got me a piece of pizza. So I kept up my end of the deal, and before I was even back, my pizza was sitting at my seat. When I asked him what he had to do to get it, he said he pointed to me and said I don't know Spanish and I'm too shy to come ask for it. And it worked. Like a charm.
Lastly, my roommate of all of one week (for spring break) left this evening at midnight, to go back to LA. 7 hour drive...leaving at midnight. Great planning on his part. Whatever, his choice. Anywho, Kelcie, Deborah, Chris, and I were sitting in their trailer, and our movie ended, and Chris got up to leave. Literally, from the point the movie was over, 2 minutes later he was gone. He jumped up from his seat, said see you later,m and out the door he went.
OK.......
Really epic goodbye, I must say. He'll work on that, I'm sure.
And it's officially time for bed. My buddies are threatening to get me up at 5:30 for sunrise Easter service. I've already graciously declined their warm welcome, and picked the later, more humane service. But who knows, it's Kelcie and Deborah...nothing will stop them from still coming in and bashing my head in till I'm awake. Wouldn't be the first time.
And to leave you this evening, I depart on a musical note and a heart-warming, tear-inducing, loving note.
Until tomorrow....
Today was especially a great day to be alive! Weddings, creepy staring, and roommates leaving.
This morning was Robert's wedding. He's been here at the mission for who knows how long. Quite awhile. He married the house mom of Casa 6, Theresa, and she had the cutest little wedding party/bridal party/whatever you call the bride's group of people. It was NOT the bridesmaids cause it was her little boys too, not just the girls, so I don't think they would appreciate being called bridesmaids. Anywho...they all had their little tuxes, slick hair, and shiny shoes. It was great. I did sound, everything went fine. Avitia did have the mic most of the time, but he didn't try and sing his usual solo or anything. Just a great little wedding all around. Short and sweet. Robert asked Theresa's 8 year old son to accept him into their family, and said he could call him whatever he wanted, but I can't remember the options he gave him. I just remember it being rather adorable and Robert was funny as usual. Theresa was tearing up...as well as Robert, which just doesn't happen.
After the wedding, we went down to the Bible Institute kitchen for the reception. Surprisingly lacking on the food, but whatever, we found ways to have fun. Deborah and I just picked out random people to stare at until they'd feel our presence and turn around and look at us. Then we'd bust out laughing, and they'd give us the "Wow, you're retarded" face. Every time. I have no idea why. Easily the best was when we picked out Pedro from the Bible Institute. So we start staring at him, and he's completely oblivious of us while he's stuffing his face with food. Very quickly, we discovered that standing behind was Edith, one of the "bridesmaids"/"daughters" of the Casa 6 mom, Theresa, the one getting married. From her point of view, it looked like were staring right at her. In a very creepy manner. Even better, Robert the Groom was standing right next to her, and she turns to him and tells him about us by pointing at us and stuff. Smiling, trying to act like it's funny and normal to be stared at. It was kind of an awkward process trying to explain to him with hand motions that we weren't staring at his "daughter" but in fact were checking out the 50 year old man sitting in front of Edith. Hopefully he interpreted our hand signals correctly. If not, I'm soooo dead on Monday. I totally looked like a creeper. Deborah, not so much. She doesn't normally participate in girl-staring activities. Soon enough, Pedro saw us and gave us a great reaction, so we quickly moved on to someone else. Bonnie. She also gave us a great reaction. Like..."They do look familiar, but I'm SURE I've never seen them before."
Oh! I almost forgot! Most interesting part of the wedding. Probably one of the most random things I've seen at a wedding actually. So we're all sitting in this crammed kitchen, I'd say a hundred or so people, probably a little more, and every seat is taken. People are standing, some sitting on the window sills, everywhere. The wedding party shows up last and sits at their reserved table, and then has the privilege of starting in line first. So they get up and go get all the good food before it's gone. We sit in our chairs watching them...jealousy spread across our faces, cause we know full well there's not going to be much left for us. We're barely surviving on our room temperature pop, and heck, we'd already had a fight over that. We've still got three tables to go till we get food. Right before it's our turn to get in line, this Mexican family (the bride's family, from Cabo San Lucas) from the wedding party, at the head table that got to go first, shows up with a large, hot pizza, included with a crisp, chilled 3 liter Coke. They place it on the table in front of them, and start chowing down. Really????? Really?!?! We all sit here waiting for you guys in line, and you get your food, then go out and get a pizza and cold drinks?? Really? No pues wow. Seriously. That just cracked me up that they did that. But...I guess I can't complain too much...my neighbor scored me a piece. We made a deal..I would get him a piece of the wedding cake if he got me a piece of pizza. So I kept up my end of the deal, and before I was even back, my pizza was sitting at my seat. When I asked him what he had to do to get it, he said he pointed to me and said I don't know Spanish and I'm too shy to come ask for it. And it worked. Like a charm.
Lastly, my roommate of all of one week (for spring break) left this evening at midnight, to go back to LA. 7 hour drive...leaving at midnight. Great planning on his part. Whatever, his choice. Anywho, Kelcie, Deborah, Chris, and I were sitting in their trailer, and our movie ended, and Chris got up to leave. Literally, from the point the movie was over, 2 minutes later he was gone. He jumped up from his seat, said see you later,m and out the door he went.
OK.......
Really epic goodbye, I must say. He'll work on that, I'm sure.
And it's officially time for bed. My buddies are threatening to get me up at 5:30 for sunrise Easter service. I've already graciously declined their warm welcome, and picked the later, more humane service. But who knows, it's Kelcie and Deborah...nothing will stop them from still coming in and bashing my head in till I'm awake. Wouldn't be the first time.
And to leave you this evening, I depart on a musical note and a heart-warming, tear-inducing, loving note.
Until tomorrow....
Friday, April 10, 2009
BEDA - April 10th
So........................................................
Big news from yesterday???
This mission, FFHM, is now free.
Without being too happy and jumpy about it, basically, our administrator (NOT the good one, the "other" one) was, well, released of his, ummm, responsibilities here. How/Why he had them in the first place is up to the people who put him there, and I would've loved to have been in that meeting where it was decided. Oh, that would have been epic, knowing everything I do now. Obviously, when he was appointed, I wasn't here at the mission yet, and didn't even know the guy existed. Still...it's a huge relief to the staff here. Spirits are up/returned. The staff that were asked to leave can now come back, and boy are they missed. All in all, things are looking up, that's for sure. We don't even have a clue who's going to fill his spot. To be perfectly honest though, I don't think many people actually care about that now. Everyone's just happy the board actually came down and listened, and also, stayed longer than they planned just so they could hear everyone out. At the meeting yesterday, it was said that three of the board members heard from God, assuring them they'd made the right decision. My assumption was that they were the three that came down here to hear the staff out, but I could be wrong. Just assuming. I'm so curious as to what it was they heard. That would be an interesting story. Maybe someday. I don't really know what else to say about it...we're all just over the moon about it. (And the dish ran away with the spoon.)
Today...wow, was just a great day to be alive! We (Kelcie, Deborah, Chris and I) went to the San Quintin Bay or whatever it is called. Basically, just drive to San Quintin, and go west. Stop when you hit the ocean, but preferably a bit earlier, cause they don't appreciate cars in their ocean. Makes it look messy. So, we're loading up in the car, just about to leave the mission, when I look up at the incoming clouds and say, "Hey, I think it's going to rain." Good ole optimistic Kelcie replies with an assuring "No, those clouds are going the other way." Ahhh, phew. Good. Cause Chris and I are sitting in the bed of the truck, wouldn't want it to rain. One hour later, as we arrived at the beach, our lovely rookie Meteorologist Kelcie Gibson, 21, of B.C. was performing just as well as any other meteorologist: it was raining. Not just raining, though, raining harder than I've seen in months. Which might be attributed to the fact that I actually haven't seen rain in the past few months. But nonetheless, it's still true.
We played around on the beach for like 20-30 minutes. Already being soaked, it didn't really matter to us if we got more wet. But boy were we in for a treat on the way home. I wish I had the pictures from Kelcie to display this to you visually. I must admit, it was quite epic indeed. We drove out there with Deborah and Kelcie in the cab, and Chris and me laying down in the bed. Naturally, it was only a two seater. What other options did we have?? There's no way you can fit 4 people in a two seater.
Not so.
The way home, we defied the rules of two seaters. We almost defied the rules of gravity as well, going over so many massive bumps and holes, but we were to squished to be able to bounce in the air. Four people in about 6 feet of horizontal space. Chris driving, Deborah and Kelcie somehow sharing the the other seat, and me no where to be seen in between. I think it's safe to say that the concept of personal bubbles were abolished for this particular ride home. Yay for personal-bubble popping.
Tomorrow is Saturday...and wedding day! Robert and Theresa are getting married. Robert asked me to do sound, so I'm running the sound for the actual ceremony...and I presume will be moving right on to Head Food Eater at the reception, but he never mentioned that. I'm sure it was implied though. He's a nice guy.
Finally, I heard this great quote yesterday from Andrea's dad, Keith. We were sitting there talking about electricity, which sparked (yes, sparked) a conversation about his work, where he's constantly bringing up Jesus in their work. And his quote was as follows:
"Jesus did not come to bring people together, (What??? Run that by me again?!?) he came to separate them. Believers and non-believers."
And I just thought that was so profound. I was a little shocked at first when he said "He didn't come to bring people together." I just automatically thought, what, yes, of course he came to bring us all together, to gather in His name, all that. How can you say that wasn't his purpose. But then he finished it...and I was astounded. I thought it was great. Loved it. Yep! thanks Keith!
(He's hilarious as well)
That seems to be about it for this evening. I need to get some real sleep before I start being in charge of the sound at this wedding. I have to be fully awake and prepared in case someone starts singing alone who really shouldn't be (COUGH! Mr. Avitia COUGH!).
Buenas Noches!
DFTBA!
Thobinator
(1\3 of the way done! Maureen, you're evil.)
P.S. Maureen's featured blog today is from this guy named Tobias, which is significant in itself. But he also explains how Google's PageRank works, using some intense mathematics. Oh, how much I love him right now. Very good blog post. (Hey Deborah, go check it out. I saw a ton of ½ and ¼ all over the place!)
But still not done with the awesomeness! On this epic blog post, after Google Search has been explained, this girl left a comment saying:
"Oh my, you had me scared at me at MATH in the title. But I followed along! It's very interesting. Wow.
Also, I love any name that starts with Tob, so I like your name."
Hmmm...where has she been all my life???????
Big news from yesterday???
This mission, FFHM, is now free.
Without being too happy and jumpy about it, basically, our administrator (NOT the good one, the "other" one) was, well, released of his, ummm, responsibilities here. How/Why he had them in the first place is up to the people who put him there, and I would've loved to have been in that meeting where it was decided. Oh, that would have been epic, knowing everything I do now. Obviously, when he was appointed, I wasn't here at the mission yet, and didn't even know the guy existed. Still...it's a huge relief to the staff here. Spirits are up/returned. The staff that were asked to leave can now come back, and boy are they missed. All in all, things are looking up, that's for sure. We don't even have a clue who's going to fill his spot. To be perfectly honest though, I don't think many people actually care about that now. Everyone's just happy the board actually came down and listened, and also, stayed longer than they planned just so they could hear everyone out. At the meeting yesterday, it was said that three of the board members heard from God, assuring them they'd made the right decision. My assumption was that they were the three that came down here to hear the staff out, but I could be wrong. Just assuming. I'm so curious as to what it was they heard. That would be an interesting story. Maybe someday. I don't really know what else to say about it...we're all just over the moon about it. (And the dish ran away with the spoon.)
Today...wow, was just a great day to be alive! We (Kelcie, Deborah, Chris and I) went to the San Quintin Bay or whatever it is called. Basically, just drive to San Quintin, and go west. Stop when you hit the ocean, but preferably a bit earlier, cause they don't appreciate cars in their ocean. Makes it look messy. So, we're loading up in the car, just about to leave the mission, when I look up at the incoming clouds and say, "Hey, I think it's going to rain." Good ole optimistic Kelcie replies with an assuring "No, those clouds are going the other way." Ahhh, phew. Good. Cause Chris and I are sitting in the bed of the truck, wouldn't want it to rain. One hour later, as we arrived at the beach, our lovely rookie Meteorologist Kelcie Gibson, 21, of B.C. was performing just as well as any other meteorologist: it was raining. Not just raining, though, raining harder than I've seen in months. Which might be attributed to the fact that I actually haven't seen rain in the past few months. But nonetheless, it's still true.
We played around on the beach for like 20-30 minutes. Already being soaked, it didn't really matter to us if we got more wet. But boy were we in for a treat on the way home. I wish I had the pictures from Kelcie to display this to you visually. I must admit, it was quite epic indeed. We drove out there with Deborah and Kelcie in the cab, and Chris and me laying down in the bed. Naturally, it was only a two seater. What other options did we have?? There's no way you can fit 4 people in a two seater.
Not so.
The way home, we defied the rules of two seaters. We almost defied the rules of gravity as well, going over so many massive bumps and holes, but we were to squished to be able to bounce in the air. Four people in about 6 feet of horizontal space. Chris driving, Deborah and Kelcie somehow sharing the the other seat, and me no where to be seen in between. I think it's safe to say that the concept of personal bubbles were abolished for this particular ride home. Yay for personal-bubble popping.
Tomorrow is Saturday...and wedding day! Robert and Theresa are getting married. Robert asked me to do sound, so I'm running the sound for the actual ceremony...and I presume will be moving right on to Head Food Eater at the reception, but he never mentioned that. I'm sure it was implied though. He's a nice guy.
Finally, I heard this great quote yesterday from Andrea's dad, Keith. We were sitting there talking about electricity, which sparked (yes, sparked) a conversation about his work, where he's constantly bringing up Jesus in their work. And his quote was as follows:
"Jesus did not come to bring people together, (What??? Run that by me again?!?) he came to separate them. Believers and non-believers."
And I just thought that was so profound. I was a little shocked at first when he said "He didn't come to bring people together." I just automatically thought, what, yes, of course he came to bring us all together, to gather in His name, all that. How can you say that wasn't his purpose. But then he finished it...and I was astounded. I thought it was great. Loved it. Yep! thanks Keith!
(He's hilarious as well)
That seems to be about it for this evening. I need to get some real sleep before I start being in charge of the sound at this wedding. I have to be fully awake and prepared in case someone starts singing alone who really shouldn't be (COUGH! Mr. Avitia COUGH!).
Buenas Noches!
DFTBA!
Thobinator
(1\3 of the way done! Maureen, you're evil.)
P.S. Maureen's featured blog today is from this guy named Tobias, which is significant in itself. But he also explains how Google's PageRank works, using some intense mathematics. Oh, how much I love him right now. Very good blog post. (Hey Deborah, go check it out. I saw a ton of ½ and ¼ all over the place!)
But still not done with the awesomeness! On this epic blog post, after Google Search has been explained, this girl left a comment saying:
"Oh my, you had me scared at me at MATH in the title. But I followed along! It's very interesting. Wow.
Also, I love any name that starts with Tob, so I like your name."
Hmmm...where has she been all my life???????
Thursday, April 9, 2009
BEDA - April 9th
As many of you know...today has been utterly fantastic. I would easily say that it's up there in one of the best days since being here. The month of December still owns when my friends from Canada came again, and then two weeks later my fam fam came to visit, but this is definitely next. But...look at the time, it's 3 in the morning already, and I'm not about to start typing up some epicness at this ridiculous hour. I've already fallen asleep twice this evening, one five hours ago, and one an hour ago. I'm done with falling asleep and then having to wake up again. It sucks. So I refuse. I'm REALLY going to sleep now. BEDA is not/never was/never will be, be exciting, informative, and epic every single day. Awesome, yes. But long and intense stories, no.
I can give you a couple things though, just to keep up the awesome. DFTBA!
My oldest broseph, Derek, sent me two of his new songs on Tuesday night..and I have yet to listen to any other songs since then. Yesterday alone I listened to each song over 50 times. It's addicting. I'm not sure about his rules on sending them out, or whatever, with all that cool stuff. But if you're interested, I'm sure he'd love to let as many people listen to them as possible. If not...well, he can tell me, and I'll edit this, no one will ever notice, and it will be like I never said anything. But as of now...the songs are mind-blowing (hence the 50 times in each in one day).
Also, great surprise today. First, the garbage truck broke down, which made us really late. We got back a few minutes before lunch...and I was sitting in the courtyard, just like usual, and I looked over and saw Hayden and Hillary standing by the door. I freaked. Ran and gave them a big hug. Hayden was THE "awesome" one in one of the "awesome" groups my first month here. I loved that kid. He was amazing at soccer, loved playing ALMOST as much as me, and, well, he was just awesome. I had no idea he was coming back. SO it was wonderful to finally see him again. We played soccer for an hour after lunch with about 8 or 9 of the little kids out in front of the New Staff Housing. Andrea's parents got some pictures, so when I get those from her, I'll add them on here. And Hillary was just here about three weeks ago? A month? I think it was a month ago. She had this great group, from the same city as Hayden, just different people. Lots of coolios. Hillary was the best though. And she's back. So yep...that was a great surprise. Not to mention that Deborah and Chris are already here, and Abby was here this week as well (she left today). So yeah, it's been a hectic week. Yay for three hours of sleep a night!! I love it. Probably the best part of my day, waking up and going, "Man, sleep sucks, I'm so glad I NEVER get the chance to enjoy it. Then I might start liking it."
And it's creeping right up on 4 now...and I am going to see the whales tomorrow. Woot woot!! They better be entertaining, or I'm going to fall asleep on them.
Not literally. That'd be awkward. And deadly.
Goodnight!
Sorry this was so epically rushed and boring...(twss) but I really have to go to bed. I promise a better update on why today was awesome. And no, it's not because Alex Day is 20 and a day.
Oh goodness, I'm so done and going to sleeeeeeeeeep.
toodaloo, caribou.
I can give you a couple things though, just to keep up the awesome. DFTBA!
My oldest broseph, Derek, sent me two of his new songs on Tuesday night..and I have yet to listen to any other songs since then. Yesterday alone I listened to each song over 50 times. It's addicting. I'm not sure about his rules on sending them out, or whatever, with all that cool stuff. But if you're interested, I'm sure he'd love to let as many people listen to them as possible. If not...well, he can tell me, and I'll edit this, no one will ever notice, and it will be like I never said anything. But as of now...the songs are mind-blowing (hence the 50 times in each in one day).
Also, great surprise today. First, the garbage truck broke down, which made us really late. We got back a few minutes before lunch...and I was sitting in the courtyard, just like usual, and I looked over and saw Hayden and Hillary standing by the door. I freaked. Ran and gave them a big hug. Hayden was THE "awesome" one in one of the "awesome" groups my first month here. I loved that kid. He was amazing at soccer, loved playing ALMOST as much as me, and, well, he was just awesome. I had no idea he was coming back. SO it was wonderful to finally see him again. We played soccer for an hour after lunch with about 8 or 9 of the little kids out in front of the New Staff Housing. Andrea's parents got some pictures, so when I get those from her, I'll add them on here. And Hillary was just here about three weeks ago? A month? I think it was a month ago. She had this great group, from the same city as Hayden, just different people. Lots of coolios. Hillary was the best though. And she's back. So yep...that was a great surprise. Not to mention that Deborah and Chris are already here, and Abby was here this week as well (she left today). So yeah, it's been a hectic week. Yay for three hours of sleep a night!! I love it. Probably the best part of my day, waking up and going, "Man, sleep sucks, I'm so glad I NEVER get the chance to enjoy it. Then I might start liking it."
And it's creeping right up on 4 now...and I am going to see the whales tomorrow. Woot woot!! They better be entertaining, or I'm going to fall asleep on them.
Not literally. That'd be awkward. And deadly.
Goodnight!
Sorry this was so epically rushed and boring...(twss) but I really have to go to bed. I promise a better update on why today was awesome. And no, it's not because Alex Day is 20 and a day.
Oh goodness, I'm so done and going to sleeeeeeeeeep.
toodaloo, caribou.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
BEDA - April 8th
This lovely Wednesday has been....well, fairly fantastic. We have Friday off because of Easter, so we didn't do the garbage run today. We're doing it tomorrow instead, then taking a well-needed break on Friday. Mhmmmm, sleeping in.
My story for today is from a couple weeks ago...from my trip up to San Diego to hang out with Eli. I'm not even entirely sure if I'm allowed to tell this, but it seems like a good idea. What story isn't a good idea? Especially when it involves naked people? Don't worry...no pictures or other visual aid. Hahaha, which is ironic...and you'll find out why soon enough. Also, if you're not familiar with my trip to San Diego, scroll down, and read the other posts.
On the 19th of April, Eli and I met at the airport around 6, met my uncle and cousin, and then went out to dinner with them. We got done with dinner around 7:30-8:00-ish, and then headed to Point Loma (where we were staying) just after 8.
Once we got to my cousin's dorm, we started getting settled in, lovely stuff like that. My cousin's roommate has "storytime" at 10, so we were all getting ready for that. It's a huge deal on their floor. Like...they video tape it, they all settle around and intently listen to this guy, Gibbons, make up and tell a story right on the spot. Literally plans it out in his head while standing on the bed in front of us, and shares this multi-character, science-fiction drama/shooter/I-stopped-paying-attention-after-that-because-of-something-else. Why such a short attention span for an impressive, on-the-spot, story? Nakedness.
So, in this dorm hall, since it's all guys, they're very "open" about their...bodies, I guess? The guys just walk around naked all the time. One guy in particular. For privacy reasons, and so he doesn't come kill me, we'll just say his name is "Brendan" and he's famous on their floor for being, well, naked, as much as possible. And this night of Gibbon's story telling, he was as naked as ever. Comfortably sitting in the chair in front of us, gazing upon Gibbon's, taking in his story. My cousin had the great idea of grabbing his phone and taking a picture of Brendan. Brendan saw it, laughed, and asked him to delete it (which finally resulted in a little wrestling match), just in case, just to be safe. You know how fast those kind of things can get around these days. Literally, around the world in seconds. He's majoring in...well, something that can't be interrupted by leaked photos of him. Completely understandable. So, just to be awesome, my friend Eli quietly pulls out his own phone, and secretly takes a couple photos on Brendan, in all his glorious nakedness. No one noticed, he had the pictures, we were good to go.
Never did Eli plan on doing anything with them. It's just one of those times where we saw how he reacted to the first time, the first picture, so you do it again just to be awesome. To prove that you can without him noticing. I don't know, there is some recognition in that. And it was impressive, cause Eli was all sneaky like, pretending to be texting...but actually practicing for his photography class. Putting what he learned in class to work out int he real world. And come on, how many times have you heard about photography class dealing with naked models? Same thing. Brendan was basically asking for it by walking around naked, geez.
So, story time ends (thank goodness! We had some living to get back to), and the night goes on. It's like 11 by now, and we're all just chillaxin' around the dorm hanging out. Then my cousin, Eli, and I went down stairs to play ping-pong in the lounge. We played for quite awhile, talked about everything between the moon and BBQ sauce. Hanging out with Eli is bound to provide good talks daily. It's just going to happen, you can't help it. It's wonderful.
Midnight goes right by...1am comes around...and we're sitting in the lounge, half asleep, still discussing world peace and time travel. Suddenly, Brendan comes storming down he stairs, followed by an RD of the floor, AKA the man in charge. We figured he brought him with him so that it would be a peaceful exchange and that Eli would do as Brendan said. And Brendan was NOT happy. This guy is the happy-go-lucky guy of the floor, always smiling, being funny, telling jokes. When he's not happy...something's wrong. But, fortunately, when he came down the stairs, fuming, he was fully clothed. If he hadn't been, it would have quickly easily turned into a laughingfest.
Yes, you guessed it, Brendan had somehow heard about this picture Eli had of him and decided to get out of bed and come downstairs to yell at us. Let's just say, he was not a happy camper. After listening to Brendan's speech about how immature we were for taking that picture of him, he stood there while Eli deleted the pictures. He was just about in tears about the pictures. You could tell he was shaking. It was just so weird how he treated the whole situation, like we came to visit so we could get pictures of him and take over the Internet with them. No no. That was just a perk. No, just kidding, seriously, we were there to visit my cousin, and him waling around naked just so happened to be hilarious.
The next morning, we discovered that that the RD that came down with Brendan was actually there took keep Brendan from beating the crap out of Eli, to keep him from taking it farther than he'd already taken it. And, the night before, when Brendan first found out, he was going to call the cops on Eli. This RD had to convince him that he shouldn't do that. Brendan wasn't kidding around, he was literally going to call the cops at 1am on a stranger who took a picture of him while he willingly walked around. Really, Brendan? Really?
And, in case this didn't come across, this whole thing was just downright hilarious. We definitely had some good laughs over it. Just watching it all unfold was epic. The way Brendan handled it all. I guess you kinda had to be there. But, since you weren't, I thought I'd share it with you.
I don't know about you, but managing to get the cops on you within 5 hours of arriving somewhere is just utterly impressive, no matter how bad it is. How many people get the cops called on them in one lifetime?? What about within 5 hours of arriving at a Christian school?c Yeah? Not so much.
Again, it's tired out. The sun was surprisingly inaccurate most of today. Kevin was sick, so I worked with him later at the Bible Institute.
And last night, my brother sent me a couple of his songs...I'll give you an update on those when I'm not asleep. Sounds like a grand plan!
Adios!
My story for today is from a couple weeks ago...from my trip up to San Diego to hang out with Eli. I'm not even entirely sure if I'm allowed to tell this, but it seems like a good idea. What story isn't a good idea? Especially when it involves naked people? Don't worry...no pictures or other visual aid. Hahaha, which is ironic...and you'll find out why soon enough. Also, if you're not familiar with my trip to San Diego, scroll down, and read the other posts.
On the 19th of April, Eli and I met at the airport around 6, met my uncle and cousin, and then went out to dinner with them. We got done with dinner around 7:30-8:00-ish, and then headed to Point Loma (where we were staying) just after 8.
Once we got to my cousin's dorm, we started getting settled in, lovely stuff like that. My cousin's roommate has "storytime" at 10, so we were all getting ready for that. It's a huge deal on their floor. Like...they video tape it, they all settle around and intently listen to this guy, Gibbons, make up and tell a story right on the spot. Literally plans it out in his head while standing on the bed in front of us, and shares this multi-character, science-fiction drama/shooter/I-stopped-paying-attention-after-that-because-of-something-else. Why such a short attention span for an impressive, on-the-spot, story? Nakedness.
So, in this dorm hall, since it's all guys, they're very "open" about their...bodies, I guess? The guys just walk around naked all the time. One guy in particular. For privacy reasons, and so he doesn't come kill me, we'll just say his name is "Brendan" and he's famous on their floor for being, well, naked, as much as possible. And this night of Gibbon's story telling, he was as naked as ever. Comfortably sitting in the chair in front of us, gazing upon Gibbon's, taking in his story. My cousin had the great idea of grabbing his phone and taking a picture of Brendan. Brendan saw it, laughed, and asked him to delete it (which finally resulted in a little wrestling match), just in case, just to be safe. You know how fast those kind of things can get around these days. Literally, around the world in seconds. He's majoring in...well, something that can't be interrupted by leaked photos of him. Completely understandable. So, just to be awesome, my friend Eli quietly pulls out his own phone, and secretly takes a couple photos on Brendan, in all his glorious nakedness. No one noticed, he had the pictures, we were good to go.
Never did Eli plan on doing anything with them. It's just one of those times where we saw how he reacted to the first time, the first picture, so you do it again just to be awesome. To prove that you can without him noticing. I don't know, there is some recognition in that. And it was impressive, cause Eli was all sneaky like, pretending to be texting...but actually practicing for his photography class. Putting what he learned in class to work out int he real world. And come on, how many times have you heard about photography class dealing with naked models? Same thing. Brendan was basically asking for it by walking around naked, geez.
So, story time ends (thank goodness! We had some living to get back to), and the night goes on. It's like 11 by now, and we're all just chillaxin' around the dorm hanging out. Then my cousin, Eli, and I went down stairs to play ping-pong in the lounge. We played for quite awhile, talked about everything between the moon and BBQ sauce. Hanging out with Eli is bound to provide good talks daily. It's just going to happen, you can't help it. It's wonderful.
Midnight goes right by...1am comes around...and we're sitting in the lounge, half asleep, still discussing world peace and time travel. Suddenly, Brendan comes storming down he stairs, followed by an RD of the floor, AKA the man in charge. We figured he brought him with him so that it would be a peaceful exchange and that Eli would do as Brendan said. And Brendan was NOT happy. This guy is the happy-go-lucky guy of the floor, always smiling, being funny, telling jokes. When he's not happy...something's wrong. But, fortunately, when he came down the stairs, fuming, he was fully clothed. If he hadn't been, it would have quickly easily turned into a laughingfest.
Yes, you guessed it, Brendan had somehow heard about this picture Eli had of him and decided to get out of bed and come downstairs to yell at us. Let's just say, he was not a happy camper. After listening to Brendan's speech about how immature we were for taking that picture of him, he stood there while Eli deleted the pictures. He was just about in tears about the pictures. You could tell he was shaking. It was just so weird how he treated the whole situation, like we came to visit so we could get pictures of him and take over the Internet with them. No no. That was just a perk. No, just kidding, seriously, we were there to visit my cousin, and him waling around naked just so happened to be hilarious.
The next morning, we discovered that that the RD that came down with Brendan was actually there took keep Brendan from beating the crap out of Eli, to keep him from taking it farther than he'd already taken it. And, the night before, when Brendan first found out, he was going to call the cops on Eli. This RD had to convince him that he shouldn't do that. Brendan wasn't kidding around, he was literally going to call the cops at 1am on a stranger who took a picture of him while he willingly walked around. Really, Brendan? Really?
And, in case this didn't come across, this whole thing was just downright hilarious. We definitely had some good laughs over it. Just watching it all unfold was epic. The way Brendan handled it all. I guess you kinda had to be there. But, since you weren't, I thought I'd share it with you.
I don't know about you, but managing to get the cops on you within 5 hours of arriving somewhere is just utterly impressive, no matter how bad it is. How many people get the cops called on them in one lifetime?? What about within 5 hours of arriving at a Christian school?c Yeah? Not so much.
Again, it's tired out. The sun was surprisingly inaccurate most of today. Kevin was sick, so I worked with him later at the Bible Institute.
And last night, my brother sent me a couple of his songs...I'll give you an update on those when I'm not asleep. Sounds like a grand plan!
Adios!
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