Monday, July 31, 2006

"That is 'Hell's Kitchen Catholic Church' ironic...."

Well, time for me to finally recap this last week. It all started on Wednesday when Nate showed up. We sat around for a while watching World Series of Pop Culture and eating spaghetti. Afterwards, we headed off to the Faribault County Fair in Blue Earth. We stopped at Wal-Mart first and made a nice investment in a couple walkie-talkies. We wandered around the fair and met up with Brice, Kimmy, Owsald's, and eventually John. It was a good time seeing Nate make all the carnies angry by telling them how Valleyfair does things. We got some good stuff from the Free Barns and the random grab bag lady. Playing Bingo was great too.

On Thursday, we woke up and decided to play some The Godfather. It ended up taking about 6 hours until we left (at least 1 of which Nate slept through). Then we decided to prank Shayla. She was coming down to Frost for a movie night at Oswald's, so we told her that we were in Mankato. She decided to beat us up the rest of the night after she found out it wasn't true. When Melissa got home from work at about 9:30, we put in the movie of the night, "Yum Yums: The Day Things Went Sour." Very intriguing plot line. After that, Brice left and we watched Donnie Darko. Great movie, but very strange. Melissa left for bed, and we decided to watch another movie. Kimmy wanted to watch Wedding Crashers, so Nate put in the documentary Grizzly Man. John, Tommy, Kimmy, Nate, and I laughed at the randomly selected third chapter. John left, and we watched part of Wedding Crashers before Kimmy left. Nate, Tommy, and I slept in the tent. Before we fell asleep we played a great round of "Actor Connections." Nate dominates that game, but it was a great time.

Friday was declared Godfather day. We played an hour or so of The Godfather before heading out to eat at, where else, Godfather's. Kimmy was very "pleased" to see me, Brice, Nate, and Tommy, and she had us leave some pizza in her car after we left. I found out later that one of her coworkers called the boss saying some guys were messing with her car when he left for delivery. Nate and I watched the Twins lose in extra innings when we got back, and we finished the night by watching The Godfather.

Nate left on Saturday, and I didn't do much. I did about the same today, except today was the Guardian Angel supper for San Antonio. The people who gave money to support us showed up to hear about our trip and eat. It was a good time.

Word from the Frontline: Number of times this month I've heard "Get Down" by Audio Adrenaline -- way too many to count.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

This is the sound of me wanting to puke....

I know what you're thinking. "What is Aaron Bauer doing awake at 5:22 in the morning?" I'll answer by saying this: I'm posting a blog, of course...I thought it was obvious since that's the timestamp on this post.

I've never been anything close to a long-distance runner. The thought of running a mile usually makes me cringe, but there is the odd occasion when I just feel like running. This morning was one of those occasions. I decided to definitely run a mile, then see what was what. By the time the mile was finished, I was determined to complete a goal I've never dreamed I would.

Now, it definitely wasn't the fastest, nor the most well-paced, nor the swiftest, but it was my first ever 2-mile run. I'll admit I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I'm so happy and proud to finally run 2 miles nonstop. On the other hand, I feel like crap. I'm steadily drinking water and such, but I will probably puke sometime soon (I know you all wanted to know that).

So I'm switching from quotes to random information now at the end of my posts.


Word from the Frontline: Time, in minutes and seconds, it took me to run 2 miles this morning -- 18:13.77

Monday, July 24, 2006

Mody Beiter for life!

TEC 64 will now be known to me as two different things:
1) Seeing a good friend really grow spiritually for the first time
2) My first true Mody Beiter experience

At TEC 62, I made many appearances and all, but it wasn't anything like this time. On Friday, I went to Ben's talk. I love that kid to death. He's so energetic that I can't help but have energy when I'm around him. After the talk, I went to Matt's for the night, but not before we checked on the pictures at Wal-Mart. Of course, something went wrong and they weren't in the one-hour. We decided to check again in the morning.

On Saturday morning, we woke up and headed back to Austin for Jackie's talk. We checked Wal-Mart quickly, and the pictures still weren't done. After Jackie's talk, Matt, Levi, and I went back to Albert Lea. Greg had resent the picture order, and they were ready to pick up. I learned a fun fact about Levi's house while we were there: it is impossible to find! On our way back to the church, Dean called us and asked if we took Kyree's stereo. Of course, we wouldn't take our shenanigans that far. We noticed her door was unlocked the day before, and we chose her for our weekend target, but we definitely didn't take her stereo. Then we went to Betsy's talk. I wasn't an actual guest, but I sat by the door for it (I apologize for that, but at least I wasn't in anyone's way). The next thing I can remember is walking upstairs and having people ask if I took someone's car. Again, our shenanigans don't go that far.

Agape was incredible! I got to see how Shayla was doing, and she was crying instead of me. I also learned something else there: never stand next to Ben Hoogland at Agape! He likes to cause trouble.

After Agape, we all went on our traditional trip to Perkins. It was a good time, but we had to go back to the church because A) Matt forgot his sandals, and B) we had unfinished business.

Since Kyree was out of the picture for this weekend, we chose a new victim at Perkins. Who was that victim? Nate, of course. His truck looks beautiful draped in high-quality industrial saran wrap!

The back of Nate's truck...with a great message!1) Ben will be President someday...and 2) "I can get Mody Beiter" turned into "I got Mody BeiteredMmm...saran wrap...

We also decided to honor the fact that we promised not to get Bob's car by just leaving her a little present on the windshield. It's too bad she came out of the dance for some air while we were standing by it.
I think it's very attractive...

We wrapped Kimmy's car a couple of times around, and then we did the same for Curtis. We wanted to be able to say we got the TEC trailer, so we slipped a small piece over part of the hitch. Our last big project was started by Bob (even though she likes to deny it). It happened to be the Reiter van. I wish I would've taken pictures, but Dean came outside and chased us around like he was actually mad.

As we left the church, a cop passed by us and turned around. After I pulled over and he went past me, I thought he was going for Matt. Lo and behold, he passed by Matt too. The night was a blast, with or without Nate supposedly watching us wrap his truck.

Today was the least coordinated closing service I've ever seen. It was still great, and Matt and I almost screamed for Bob as loud as we could. We were close. I also got my part of the revenge from Nate in small-scale. I had left clothes at the church on Saturday, and Nate decided to duct tape them into a ball before he gave them back.

That was my weekend. It was a blast, and I don't see how it could've been better (other than the theft situations). My application for 65 will officially be in the mail tomorrow.

TEC 64 MODY BEITER TEAM (plus Bob)
SERVING GOD THROUGH SARAN WRAP SINCE 2005

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Insomnia: The everlasting Gobstopper of freedom

The clock strikes 1:26 a.m. The rain has stopped falling; the thunder fades. Two teenage boys are wide awake, and they aren't in any rush to find a place to rest their heads. The plans running through their minds are too strong. Phones, scones, and randomness all occur within the confines of this night. Let us see what beauty it beholds. Welcome to the World of Insomniactisctisdism. Enter at your own risk.

1:29
The plan begins to unfold. The boys phones connect with clarity. They choose their first victim: Mariah Tappe.

1:33
The call is made. After waiting for the answering machine, they begin. The boys make fun of Mariah for not answering (ever!). They also ramble on about having too much fun and Nate's younger sister.
"Holy bat vomit! You suck more than I do!" -- random sound clip

1:41
The next call, made to a Megan Olson. Yes, she was sleeping. She was told that her lost dog was found, but it started to make sheep noises in the background. What does Megan do in return for this incredible call? She falls asleep on the phone.
"I can make a sheep noise." -- Nate

1:46
Tim Parrott doesn't answer his phone. A message is left letting him know the disappointment the boys feel when he doesn't answer. It is cut short, but still quite entertaining.
"Nate, let me tell you some random facts about Tim...." -- Aaron

1:59
A young Betsy Norell is sleeping and doesn't respond to the ringing of her phone. The boys decide to play the old game MASH and let her know the results. Her future looks very bright. She will be marrying Aaron Bauer, driving a vomit-colored Hummer, live in Austin, and other various aspects of life.
"If any of these things are inconsistent with your hopes, I'm sorry. We can't do anything about that." -- Aaron

2:05
The boys are angry with Ann Monson. She sounded tired as she answered the phone, but she hung up almost instantly. They didn't try again.
"MONSON!" -- Aaron

2:07
The next call was made to Kyree Wobbrock. Yet another answering machine. Random things like beatboxing, black guys, and issues with time and space.
"I open the gate to make phone calls." -- Nate

2:15
The choice is made, and the threat from Janet Youngers to shut off her phone is challenged. Of course, her threat has failed. She answers, and the boys start the timer. Janet has five minutes, and only five minutes, to enjoy the honor of their vocal presence.
"Your five minutes is up." -- Aaron

2:22
Quick break is taken to check the new voicemails. The first is from Kyree, responding to her own message. The second, on the other hand, is Kyree thinking she can leave a second message.
"I gotta work on staying up late for college." -- Kyree

2:28
The remaining list of 12 is decreased to only 5. The next selection happens to be Abby Marshall. She doesn't answer her phone, but the boys decide to make her first insomniac experience memorable by singing to her their rendition of Kanye West's "Gold Digger."
"I'll be Kanye, you be Jamie." -- Aaron

2:37
Her time has come. She has recently become the proud owner of a cell phone, and the boys must utilize this fact. Sadly, Laura Satturland has her phone shut off, hence making the boys leave her a message. A fantastic song was sung to end this phone call, and then the boys called it a night.
"Na na na na. Na na na na. Hey hey hey. Goodbye." -- Giesenbauer Inc.

2:44
This tale of near-epic proportions ends with a mutual goodbye from the two teens. They go their separate ways for the night.
"Peace." -- Nate

The minds of these boys will meet again sooner than some may think in the World of Insomniactisctisdism, and they will once again terrorize the phones of many of their cohorts. When will this be? Only time will tell. Will you be involved? It's just a roll of the dice. Yet if your number exists in the depths of either of the boys' phone books, you can bet that someday you'll be a victim of the randomness. Farewell, goodnight, and sleep well knowing that tonight was a night to be remembered. As will the next.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Lyrics

After my last post, I decided I need a place to post lyrics whenever I feel the need. Where would that place be? Well, not here, of course. It will be at http://bauerbuilt-lyrics.blogspot.com

Yes, it's a similar URL, but more specific as to what it's for. So if you ever feel like reading what songs are running through my head at the current time, go ahead and check out that site.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Tunes

I have nothing to blog about tonight, so I'm going to post the lyrics from "I Liked You More" by Lost and Found. It doesn't apply to my life or anything right now (I know people would think that), but it's been stuck in my head all day and I love the tune of it.



I saw you out walking with a guy last night
The one you told me all you ever did was fight with
Well I don't know what's become of the girl that I knew
Between your old boyfriends and your new boyfriends
God only knows where the boys will end
I liked your friends more when you belonged to me


And now you tell me that you've really changed your mind about
What you need to live and what you can't live without
I don't care what you think as long as your thoughts are your own

But you're strutting around like you own the world
And you claim to be a woman when you act like a girl

You had a spine when you belonged to me

You say you need to know where I've been and with who
You tell me you'll tell me if I tell you

My heart don't want to hear what your heart has to say
I can break it myself, yeah, thanks anyway

You told me that you wouldn't never go to bed
With no smooth-talking guy without using your head
You said "My eyes are open ain't nobody gonna get me free"
But you been with three guys since I saw you last
And then you say you can't respect me on account of my past
I respected you more when you belonged to me

I liked you more when you belonged to me

I liked your friends more when you belonged to me



Random quote del día: "If God cannot work, neither can we." -- Sioux Center Sudan

Monday, July 17, 2006

¡Hola y bienvenido!

Today was the day I returned from the ELCA National Youth Gathering in San Antonio, Texas. The theme was Cruzando: Journey With Jesus. How was it? It was fun, informative, and hot.

We left at about 9:30 on Sunday night (the 9th), and drove to Oklahoma City. I slept for aobut 3 out of the many hours it took to get there. We we arrived, we were officially rained out of the so-called Six Flags. We went in and saw a "magic show" (was really a thing for little kids) until the rides opened up. We rode most of the rollercoasters and a few of the other rides, and then we left to check into the hotel. It was a very, very nice Holiday Inn. Huge rooms, nice restaurant and bar, and power outages.
Things I learned on the bus ride:
- Ian will kill you if he doesn't sleep.
- Found one of the nation's top places for fountain drinks.
- There is only 1 comfortable position to sleep in on the seats of a charter bus. Only God knows what it is. Good luck finding it.
Things I learned in Oklahoma City:
- Don't mess with the lady at the Swing ride. She's tough.
- Filming a documentary in a hotel without electricity is highly entertaining. Blair Witch makes a great twist in the plot.

The rest of the ride to San Antonio was fairly simple. We went through one of the greatest towns on the planet: Kyle, Texas. I think I shed a tear of joy as we passed by. Our hotel in San Antonio was 9 miles away from the downtown area where most of the Gathering activities were, and it also wasn't as nice as the Holiday Inn in Oklahoma. Yes, it was the Airport Hilton, but the rooms were small and a bottle of Fiji water cost $4.50 if you opened it. We just hung around the hotel for awhile until we decided to head for the Riverwalk. After deciding not to wait an hour at Hard Rock for a table, I went to an amazing Italian restaurant called Paesano's with a few people. Afterwards we met up with Fran, Boyum, Amanda, Dan, and Julie upstairs at Ben and Jerry's. It was great to see some TEC folks down there on the first day.
What I learned:
- Jorge is not an Italian name.
- Cheese tortellini is on my list of top 3 Italian dishes.
- There is a $500 fine for even pretending to jump into the San Antonio River.

The next day was the start of the actual Gathering. We had a good time seeing Hawk Nelson and Superchic[k], and Tony Campolo was a great speaker. We were also introduced to Bond....Steve Bond. He was the Bibly Study leader for the week. The last thing I remember from this night was doing open mic with Melissa and Jenny. What did we sing? It's a very repetitive and mostly annoying TEC song. First person to guess it wins a not-so-shiny penny.
What I learned:
- Don't tune your guitar while Tony is speaking.
- Hawk Nelson needs more energy in their shows.
- Taking a zip line over thousands of people onto a stage looks too fun to be legal.

Donald Miller, one of my favorite authors, turned out to be a great speaker. He has so much humor to add to his stories, and he seems like a very down-to-earth guy. I still dont' like the music of Krystal Meyers, but I was very impressed with The Katinas, who I'd never heard of before. They had a lot of energy, and their exit was very humble and incredible.
What I learned:
- 25,000+ voices singing "Here I Am To Worship" sounds so beautiful....
- "Dish soap makes you skinny."
- Krystal Meyers still can't sing....I'm sorry....
- Thousands of cell phones lit up together looks incredible.

I can't really remember any other specifics from each day, so I'll put general comments from here on out.
- On the first night, our group was first in line at the Alamodome to get good seats. We sat there from 4:30 until the doors opened at 6:30.
- On the last night of gathering in the Alamodome, a group from a TEC east of the Cities got in line at 1:00 (they wanted to get good seats for Newsboys). What did they do to pass the time? Made over 80 placemats for TEC 75.
- Mark Hanson, the presiding Bishop of the ELCA, can dance. They did a version of the "YMCA" that was called "ELCA" (written by none other than Lost and Found).
- Lost and Found, though an acquired taste, is still amazing. Even if you don't like their singing voices, you have to see one of their shows to hear the humor. Absolutely hilarious. Be prepared for me to pull some of their humor at the upcoming TEC.

I'm not sure what else to write other than my overall thoughts on the week. So here it goes:
I did feel God there this week, but I didn't think this experience did anything to strengthen my faith. I feel like there was too much emphasis on poverty, slavery, and immigration to do anything for me other than make me aware of and understand these situations. I did have a great time, and I would gladly do it again. I just wish there would've been less of the politics involved. At morning worship every day, it was pretty good. The Bible Study always had a good message, but they still took it to the extent of the things that politics usually cover. The only thing I liked about all that was the fact that governments aren't doing enough to stop these situations, and we as Christians can at least take steps in the right direction to help out.

That's all I've got. I'm having one heck of a time keeping myself away from Fight Night Round 2 right now, so I'm going back to that. Feel free to ask me anything more specific in a comment (I'll reply as a comment also).

Much love to you all, and God bless!

P.S. Sorry for the humidity up here while I was away. We had beautiful 100 degree weather with a nice dry breeze. Humidity? What humidity?


Random quote del día:
"He's mad because he couldn't stop the knockout because he couldn't get the two little circle things into the middle thing to get up." -- Tommy

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Go Joe....Go Johan....Go Twins!

As of 9:00 tomorrow night, I will officially be headed off to San Antonio. I had a difficult time deciding what my last blog would be about before I left, but seeing as the All-Star Break begins on Monday, I figured I should blog about my beloved Minnesota Twins. More specifically, I wanted to blog about what I love about them right now.

1. Johan Santana
The man is a machine. He currently has a 2.76 ERA with a record of 9-4. Santana also currently leads the Major Leagues in strikeouts (131). He was a great choice to be voted onto the AL All-Star team, and I hope he does well. I've been very happy with his pitching, and I have yet to see a game where he disappoints me beyond belief.

2. Francisco Liriano
How can you not be happy with the young-blood. Tonight alone he pitched 7 shutout innings with only 4 hits, 3 walks, and 95 pitches thrown. He also racked up 8 strikeouts. After tonight his record improved to 10-1, and his ERA dropped to 1.83, making it the lowest of Major League starters (Santana is 5th). So why didn't he get the last AL vote for the All-Star game? I have no clue. I honestly wanted to "Punch A.J.", as the campaign stated, when I heard Pierzynski was voted in. Liriano deserved it, and if he continues to pitch how he has, the Twins would be stupid not to keep him in the starting lineup.

3. Joe Nathan
After getting 15 saves in 16 opportunities so far this year, Joe Nathan has been showing just as much skill as he has in the past. I started liking Nathan during his amazing season last year. After closing out tonight's game, he has thrown 52 strikeouts in 36 innings. Nathan also has a 5-0 record this season with a very nice 1.75 ERA. My favorite thing about him? His characteristic exhale. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch him pitch.

4. Joe Mauer
Young-blood. Hometown Hero. The should-be AL starting catcher in this year's All-Star Game. But why isn't he? Because the popularity contest that is All-Star voting came up with Ivan Rodriguez. Do I agree with this? Of course not! Mauer has a batting average of .383, the best in the Major Leagues. His defense is also unparalleled. Out of 496 chances, he has made 467 putouts. He also has only 3 passed balls and 2 errors. Personally, if I were Ozzie Guillen coaching this year's AL team, I would kick Rodriguez to the curb and let Mauer show everyone what Minnesota blood can do.

5. Justin Morneau
At the beginning of the season, Morneau was in a slump like no other. At the start of June, his average was just .244, and it is now up to an astounding .301. He also has 23 home runs and 73 RBIs (the most of any AL first baseman) this season. If Morneau continues his method of swinging less and waiting for his pitch to come, I believe he will become more of a key player for the Twins than he already is.

6. Current Standings
After tonight's game, the Twins are 11 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central race for the playoffs. If they continue to play as they have been, the Twins can make up some of that ground. If we don't get closer, we can still gain on the White Sox in the Wild Card race, where we're only 8 games behind (following a White Sox loss tonight).

All I can say is: Go Twins!


That's the last of my blogs until I come home on the 17th. First person to give me an update of how Twins players do in the All-Star game gets a free penny.


Random quote del día: "You're tellin' me that suck is not a number?" -- Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs


Quick update on my mom:
She's doing great, and she's having the right attitude about everything. She really wants to get treatment started as soon as possible. Hopefully she'll be starting on Friday.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Uno dos tres cuatro cinco cinco seis

I promised Greg a "completely random and time-wasting blog" while he was gone, so here it is.

My day consisted of very little. I helped my mom wash and wax her car, for starters. Then, I kind of just sat around. Eventually, I ate supper and decided to do something afterwards. I cruised in to Blue Earth craving ice cream. I searched for the personal containers from Blue Bunny (I believe), but I left town with a pint of Snickers ice cream. In all honesty, it was amazing. The best part was probably the incredible chunk of caramel that i found as I was finishing.

Now, after I quit eating, I texted Jill to ask if eating the whole pint was a healthy idea. After she told me it wasn't, I realized my stomach will probably pay me back later. It has yet to do so.

Random quote del día: "ylab true or false" -- Me pretending I was Tommy while texting someone....I have no idea what I meant by it, but he said it would be funny....


I just figured I'd throw in some interesting quotes that I've heard lately and haven't used yet.
"He's taking a two hour ride on the giggle train. TE! HE!" -- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
"It's actually a combover from the back of my neck." -- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
"Stop looking at my bra!" -- Molly to some little kid in Albert Lea
"You know what? Love isn't blind. It's retarded!" -- Yes, Dear (I think that's what it was from....)

Monday, July 03, 2006

"Light green....you're team number four....you now have a madatory 14 minute rest time...."

Yesterday was, in a word, amazing. Mostly because that's the only word that makes this a play on words. Yesterday was the local version of the Amazing Race. It took place in Wells.

It started out with 15 minutes of going door to door (each team on a different street) to raise money for the Kubu family. The team with the most money raised got to start the race first, and each team followed in 5-minute intervals. Our pink-wearing team, appropriately named We Know Janet, started 4th.

The first challenge took everyone forever. We had to hit a coffee can with a golf ball using a slingshot-style piece of rubber (well....sort of rubber). After that the tasks were easier. Dig a plastic egg out of a sandbox, find ribbons in evergreen trees, sink an 8-foot putt, get a ringer in horseshoes, eat an all-American meal of hot dog/fries/jello (only thing was....the hot dog and fries were IN the jello [thankfully we had Tommy to eat that]), etc.

I know I'm missing all of the details, but it'd take me forever and I just don't have that kind of ambition right now. For that, I apologize.

We finished in 5th place, but we still had fun. We didn't win anything initially, but they had a drawing for the teams that weren't in the top 3. We were the first team drawn, and we got a free pizza and movie rental. We took them both and went to Mariah's house to eat and watch Wedding Crashers.

Plans to compete next year? Ready to go.


Random quote del día número uno: "Oh hey!" -- Kimmy
Random quote del día número dos: "When I was six years old, a carnie stole my bicycle." -- Mariah



Final comments: Mine and Tommy's shirts were done last-minute, and we ended up with crappy iron-on paper. They weren't what we wanted and were meant to have sayings on each that we decided we didn't want to put on because it was a hassle. We did add duct tape, so that made it slightly better.
My name: Baron
Tommy's name: Toz
Janet for Convenor
"Just Follow Janet..."
Kimmy and Mariah's shirts were done at about 5 in the morning, and they went pretty much all out. Kimmy's big J in the front and S on the back were falling off the whole time. We thought the S was going to be stuck to Mariah's couch later on.
Kimmy's name: Sexy Kyle
Mariah's name: Ghetto Fab
got janet?
It should be illegal to be this cool

And my final final comment....WE LOVE YOU JANET!

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Everybody's workin' for the weekend

Today was a day of work to raise money for the trip to the ELCA Youth Gathering in San Antonio. We had a food stand during the 4th of July festivities in Bricelyn. At this food stand, I did the one job I didn't want to do (oddly enough). Grilling. Any other time I would gladly do it, but there's so much grilling happening that the person doing it has majorly red eyes from the smoke and heat. I actually didn't have this problem. It turned out to be a really good time manning the grill, and I'll probably do the same job next year.

When it started to get dark, we began selling glow sticks to the crowd. Crazy expensive things.... The best quote during this was when we sold a guy 3 sticks, and he told us the colors didn't matter. We gave him a green and 2 yellow. One little boy of his said, "I want the green," and took it. Now the other kid doesn't have much choice, but he says, "I want green!" His diad, "You've got yellow." The tone of the guy's voice was priceless....

That's really all I've got. I had other things to go in here, but I'm going to move on to writing a random narrative about the fireworks from tonight (which were amazing). I'll post it on here in the near future.

Random quote del día: "I heard you farted while you were singing in the talent show...." -- Me