Quick reviews....

My first review is on To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. When our English teacher first gave it to us, she said one would be able to teach an entire creative writing class with that book alone. After reading it, I have to agree with her. Lee did an amazing job writing this novel, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. There are a lot of great messages in the book, but my favorite would probably be the good ol' quote from Atticus, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view -- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Quite the wise man, Atticus is. I'm trying to apply that to my life right now by climbing into the skin of the people I've been trying to get to go through TEC. It's hard to see things from their point of view after having experienced how incredible this ministry is, but at the same time it's hard to explain the feelings that occur there. All in all, I can just keep trying.


My other review is on the movie Crash. It's basically a two-day story about inter-related characters in L.A. who all have some trouble with racism and the like. The movie has a great message, and it comes about through many interactions that range from cruel to utterly heartwrenching. It's the only movie I've seen recently that I can truly say I've really reacted to. I was almost going to throw my remote at the TV at one point because I wanted to kill this guy. Go see it!!

El número del día: Number of times I've been ready to start my take home test question for To Kill A Mockingbird but decided to procrastiniate -- 23

Hoogland for President in 2008

One thing I forgot to mention about Ann's party was our conversation about Ben being President in 2008. His campaign includes pulling all the troops from the Middle East and sending in Cody and Matt to show Osama how horribly wrapped his turban really is. We figured it'd take those guys just a few days until they'd have Bin Laden on TV, wrapped in saran wrap, and labeled with "MB FOR LIFE" in duct tape on his chest. On that note, I'd just like to say this: If I dislike all the candidates for the 2008 election (I refuse to vote for Ralph Nader), I will gladly write in Ben Hoogland.

In closing, I look good in red. Check it out.... [singing] butt dance, butt dance....!!

Ben Hoogland Or Bust

Having just come home from Ann's graduation party, I figured I'd blog a little bit.

The party was quite interesting. As soon as we saw the fondue fountain, we officially made it the TEC "melting pot" (gotta love word play) by surrounding it with TEC members. Then we took over a little room in Ann's house. It smelled "pretty" in there (and probaby will for years to come) after Ben, Levi, and I were having a perfume fight in there. I honestly don't think the smell of some Britney Spears perfume will ever come out of that room.

Overall, the greatest part of the party was Kyree's car. To get back at her for utterly annihilating his room with TP, Cody decided to take it out on her precious car, the Ghetto Wagon. Yes, the entire 24 rolls of TP made a comeback by being the stuffing for the prize game bird that was this prank. Then, the car's windows were filled with great phrases like, "We Love Frat Boys" and "Ben Hoogland Or Bust"....hilarious. After that, the saran wrap came. It was a well-done effort by a saran wrapping legend that may just be a part of my family. Throw on some vaseline and a few sprinkles on top of that (yes....I said sprinkles....Cody told Kyree, "I was gonna get you a cake, but I only had time for the sprinkles), and there you have the new, and possibly even improved, Ghetto Wagon.

I think that's about all I have to say about the night. And just for the record, I still smell pretty....thanks, Ben....

Los números del día: Number of Ben's tires that were peed on -- 1 (thank Boyum for that). Total number of welts from licorice -- ?? too many to count. Total number of sprays given from various perfume bottles -- ?? too many to count. Number off Ann's shirts that Ben, Matt, Cody, and I made look good tonight -- 4 (so what if they were a little small and Ben stretched the pink one out).

"Yeah, but if I wear the tight shirt all the girls will come running...."

I decided I'd also reflect on the day today, just for kicks.

English
As I said, I was about 5 minutes late. I took the quiz, leaving one question blank, and almost fell asleep while we were supposed to be reading. It's pretty lame when we're told to read for 65 minutes out of an 85 minute class.

Animal Science
Great day today! We did nothing but listen to some final presentations. For the last one, we went outside and grilled pork patties and burgers. It was a good time.

Spanish
We finished our tests that we started yesterday, and then we got into our groups and taped more for our final videos. My group got a couple of scenes done, and then we decided to finish the rest after school.

Lunch
-- Chicken strips
-- Salad
-- Peanut butter sandwich
-- Milk

Health
Had a sub again today, but this time we couldn't screw around. We finished all of our worksheets, and the highlight of the class was watching Channel 72 News (which is actually just the news shows from the video productions class). It was hilarious seeing big Ty in shorts that would probably barely fit me. Creepy....

After School
I helped Tim's group with their Spanish video. When it came to the Fear Factor scene, Tommy and I decided to put on the tight shirts and do kung-fu fighting for their bloopers. Eventually we got to keep the tight shirts on and play basketball, then frisbee, then have a strongest man competition, which included curling dandelions, pushing over trees, and benchpressing a fake duck.
Then I had to work on my own group's Spanish video. It went pretty well, and the ending turned out fairly funny. I think the best was when I ripped Tommy's shirt for the Starburst commercial. Here's our list of what we're doing for our video:

- Intro to movie
- Napoleon Dynamite scenes -- Napoleon needs Chapstick, Napoleon & Kip slapping each other, Napoleon trying to feed Tina, Napoleon and kid on bus, Napoleon and kid wanting tots
- Intro to second movie
- Freddy Got Fingered scenes -- Gordie's chicken sandwich, Gordie finds treasure, "It's for the beavers", cheese sandwich
- Cell phone commercial -- throwing phone at person for "theft protection"
- Starburst commercial -- "If you don't have friends, you don't have to share." This was amazing because the apple I threw on the ground totally exploded, and Tommy's shirt ripped perfectly. 'Twas hilarious.
- Transition scene
- Mastercard commercial -- "Spanish II with Sra. Tietje: priceless. Where there's life, there's Sra." Great times.
- Final scene -- We talk about how we're done with Spanish II, and I say that we're going to Sra. Tietje's house. On that note, we jump up, I take off my top shirt so I'm just wearing the tight black one, and we're last seen running up the stairs (I fall, of course). More great times.

And that's all I've got, really. After that I was out at Tommy's for a little while. And now I'm sitting here thinking about finishing my letters to all the graduates. Sounds like a plan to me....

Messy Spirituality

I massacred my sleeping pattern yet again last night, sleeping from 5:30-11 pm or so, and I ended up staying up until 4:30. Yes, I was about 5 minutes late for school, but that's not the point. From about 2:00 am until I went back to sleep last night, I decided to catch up on my Bible reading and also finish Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli for the 3rd time. A section of it struck me this time that never had before. It's a little longer than it seemed when I read it, but bear with me:

Until Jesus came along, we were all outside the fence of God's grace.

In the Second World War, a group of soldiers was fighting in the rural countryside of France. During an intense battle, one of the American soldiers was killed. His comrades did not want to leave his body on the battlefield and decided to give him a Christian burial. They remembered a church a few miles behind the front lines whose grounds included a small cemetery surrounded by a white fence. After receiving permission to take their friend's body to the cemetery, they set out for the church, arriving just before sunset.

A priest, his bent-over back and frail body betraying his many years, responded to their knocking. His face, deeply wrinkled and tan, was the home of two fiery eyes that flashed with wisdom and passion.

"Our friend was killed in battle," they blurted out, "and we wanted to give him a church burial."

Apparently the priest understood what they were asking, although he spoke in very broken English. "I'm sorry," he said, "but we can bury only those of the same faith here."

Weary after many months of war, the soldiers simply turned to walk away. "But," the old priest called after them, "you can bury him outside the fence."

Cynical and exhausted, the soldiers dug a grave and buried their friend just outside the fence. They finished after nightfall.

The next morning, the entire unit was ordered to move on, and the group raced back to the little church for one final goodbye to their friend. When they arrived, the couldn't find the gravesite. Tired and confused, they knocked on the door of the church. They asked the old priest if he knew where they had buried their friend. "It was dark last night and we were exhausted. We must have been disoriented."

A smile flashed across the old priest's face. "After you left last night, I could not sleep, so I went outside early this morning and I moved the fence."

Jesus did more than move the fence; he tore it down. No wonder he made the scribes and Pharisees nervous; fence makers do not like their fences torn down.

All I can say to that is: Oh....My....Wow! (Thanks to TEC 63 Wheat Team for the phrase....)

Lazy day of praising Mary....

I was kicking back tonight, after I slept from 5:30-10, and thinking about what I actually did today. The answer? Absolutely nothing.

In English we just acted out chapters 17-19 of To Kill A Mockingbird. I don't know why so many people hate that book. Personally, I enjoy reading it.

For animal science, we watched our reward movie for averaging 80% or better (I think it was actually 92%) as a class on our last test. We watched the ever-funny, ever-loveable Dumb and Dumber. Always interesting stuff. I just happened to fall asleep during it too.

Spanish was the only class we did anything in. We took a vocab quiz and the first page of the test (listening and lectura). Completely boring, yet easy enough to not care. She gave us a sheet to practice for the rest of the test, and she said if we did well on the sheet we'd be fine for the rest of the test tomorrow.

Today was the most lazy day ever in health because of the substitute we had. We were supposed to take notes, do 3 worksheets, and watch the beginning of a movie if we had time. What did we end up doing? Taking notes and watching the movie. Did we watch it as if it were part of the curriculum? Of course not. We watched it as any regular movie (since it was Daddy, the TV original), and we thought one of the characters looked familiar. We took 20 minutes to look her up on IMDB and found out we were right.

Then I came home, sat at the computer for a while, and read a really cool prayer from Beliefnet Prayer of the Day.

In Praise of Mary

Hail, holy Lady, most holy Queen,

Mary, Mother of God, ever Virgin.

You were chosen by the Most High Father in heaven,

consecrated by Him, with His most Holy Beloved Son

and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

On you descended remains all the fullness of grace and every good.

Hail, His Palace.

Hail His Tabernacle.

Hail His Robe.

Hail His Handmaid.

Hail, His Mother.

and Hail, all holy Virtues, who, by grace and

inspration of the Holy Spirit,

are poured into the hearts of the faithful

so that from their faithless state,

they may be made faithful servants of God through you.

-- St. Francis of Assisi

I decided to go up and read some of my Bible after that, then I just relaxed in my bed. That led to a nice 4 ½ hours of sleep.

Now, I think I'm going to end this blog as it is and eat some chicken patties and stuffing. As Emily would say (since she said it about banana bread tonight) it'll be "yummy scrumboes."

Los números del día: Number of times a teacher had a 15 minute conversation on their cell phone today -- 1. Number of times we made fun of her by calling kids in the class next door -- 7. Number of times I heard the word "meth" in a 40-minute presentation -- 133.

No lions....no tigers....just colorful bears....

You just have to love random parties! I went to a little shindig tonight with Renk and the gang (the lesser known Hootie and the Blowfish), and it was quite interesting. We rocked out our homemade 4-square court with some hardcore games. I was almost killed with a frisbee on more than one occasion. I hadn't really ever hung out with some of those people, and it was definitely a good time. Is it a newfound youth group for me to attend? Possibly. I have yet to decide on that one. I don't really know exactly what the beliefs are at that church, and I'd like to base my decision on more than just the fun time I had at the party.

This would be my dirty, dirty car before I left the park. Some folks had a good time putting delicious gummi bears on the windshield. To them: I thank you....and you will see retaliation.

El número del día: Pieces of gummi bear I peeled off of my windshield tonight -- 19. I admit that I was tempted to eat them....

Hope my first blog doesn't excite you too much....

For my first blog on this site, I decided to reflect on this past school year, class by class.

American History -- Mr. Duden
It was a pretty easy class, and we always got to watch good movies to go along with what we were studying (Glory, Forrest Gump, Dances With Wolves, etc.). Mr. Duden is an awesome teacher, and it'll be sad to see him go after next year. I'm glad I've got AP European History with him next year.
Final grade: A- (both quarters)

Phy. Ed. -- Mr. Kuechenmeister
I always love gym classes! It's been pretty interesting having Tom in all my gym classes for the last three years, and this year was probably one of the most fun. It's much easier to have gym with Kuech during football season because he always seems to be more laid back.
Final grade: A

Biology -- "Doc" Armstrong
Science never was my strongest class, but I always did just fine. Bio was pretty interesting, and it was the first time I saw someone answer their phone, put it on speakerphone, and not have a single person notice that they were talking (atta boy, Tom). Ms. Sackett was a cool student teacher, and I envy the 8th graders since they had her the whole 2nd semester.
Final grade: A (both quarters)
Next year's equivalent: Chemistry

Geometry -- Mrs. Barke/Mrs. Rustad-Huisman
Easy class, as most math classes are, and very entertaining with Mrs. Barke (who still has only 6 days to eat lunch with us). I don't think Tom will ever try to take his clothes off during class again after the first quarter of geometry, but you just never know with him. I'm glad it's over with, and I can go back to algebra next year.
Final grade: A (both quarters)
Next year's equivalent: Advanced Algebra

Architectural Drawing -- Mr. Rue
At first, I loved this class. Soon after, I absolutely hated the class. By the end, I loved it again. Rue is always an interesting character, and if he's actually leaving next year I think it'll be strange in our school without him. I won't have anyone to make fun of when North Dakota hockey gets smoked. I had always thought about architecture as a career before this class, but now I'm not so sure. There's a lot of things that I never knew could complicate your building plans.
Final grade: A, A-

English 10 -- Mrs. Alleven/Ms. Vondracek
Alleven hates freshmen and sophomores, so while I was still a freshman, my brother made me go up to her and tell her I wasn't afraid of her. Her response, "You will be..." I never was though. She's a cool teacher, and much more exciting to have than Ms. V. Either way, I still don't enjoy English classes. It wasn't too bad, but I never seem to get my work done on time. Quick apology to Alleven: I'm sorry that Challenge Comp. didn't fit into my schedule for next year...please don't hurt me.
Final grade: A, ? (projected: B+)
Next year's equivalent: 1. Composition 2. Communication

Spanish II -- Sra. Tietje
Spanish almost comes naturally to me. I love the language, and Enrique Iglesias is always fun to listen to in that class. I plan on taking all four years of it to save some money if I go to college in Iowa. Sra. Tietje is an awesome teacher, and I'm glad there isn't another Spanish teacher in our school.
Final grade: A, ? (projected: A)
Next year's equivalent: Spanish III

Small Animal Wildlife -- Ms. Niess
I never finished mounting my squirrel, and I hated reading out of the book. I didn't like a lot of the people in the class either. All in all, I'm not a fan of this class. That's all I have to say.
Final grade: A
Next year's equivalent: Nursery Landscaping

Animal Science -- Ms. Niess
Better than small animal, but still not that great. I like the people in the class better, and Dan and Seth make a hilarious combination. I still wish Mr. Lanoue was around to be the ag teacher.
Final grade: ? (projected: A)

Health -- Mr. Kuechenmeister
We only have 12 people in the class, and it's really easy. I'm only doing as bad as I am because I blew off two assignments. Definitely lame. But getting 96 out of 100 on my presentation definitely wasn't bad for sleeping from 8 pm - 4 am the night before and doing the entire thing when I woke up.
Final grade: ? (projected: A-)


And finally, to follow in the footsteps of my elders (Bob, Greg, and Tim):
El número del día: 13 -- number of times I was asked, "Why are you here?" at track practice today.