My dad's gone missing....

It was Saturday night up at my dad's house, and we decided to go to Target to buy a DVD. We get there, eventually find the movie, and just kind of wander around some more. Cody and I were looking at a sweet speaker system, and our dad was just an aisle farther down. When we looked in the aisle, he was gone. Since he was holding the movie, we figured he might've gone to the registers. After walking past each and every one, he wasn't there.

We decided to entertain ourselves a little bit. There were two security guards standing by the entrance, so we walked over there. We put worried looks on our faces and said to the male guard, "We need your help. Our dad walked off somewhere in the store, and we can't find him anywhere. He's been diagnosed as clinically insane, so we need to find him quick."

Needless to say, our dad wasn't too happy with us, but at least we got a good laugh out of it.

Pre-Christmas school day

For the last two years, my school's choir teacher has played Christmas music in the Commons on the last morning before Christmas break. It's kind of a cool idea and all, but very random. I never really thought much of it meaning anything until I walked into the school today. As soon as I heard the music, I realized how close Christmas actually is.

I had one-act play auditions on Monday, and I ended up with 4 different parts in the play. We're doing "High School for Dummies." Sadly, our competition date is the Saturday of the upcoming TEC weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to Rochester in time for Saturday night's festivities. I'll definitely be praying for everything to go well.

That's all I've got. Not sure how much I'll be online leading up to Christmas, so I'll say this now:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Remember the real reason for the season. We celebrate Christ's birth through love, not gifts. Be joyous this season, and don't worry about being politically correct in wishing people a good holiday. If they're offended by you saying Merry Christmas, they can feel free to say Happy Hannukah or Happy Kwanzaa right back to you.

God bless you all!

Mariah's English assignment

I had nothing interesting to blog about tonight, so I chose to use Mariah's English assignment as a quiz of everyone's knowledge. Figure out which common phrase corresponds to each of these:


1. Surveillance should precede saltation.

2. Freedom from encrustation of grime is contiguous to divinity.

3. The stylus is more potent than the claymore.

4. Eschew the implement of correction and vitiate the scion.

5. All articles that coruscate with resplendence are not truly auriferous.

6. A revolving lathic conglomerate accumulates no diminutive glaucous saprophytic plants.

7. Missiles of ligneous or petrous consistency have the potential of fracturing my osseous structure but appellations will eternally be benign.

8. Pulchritude possesses solely cutaneous profundity.

9. Exclusive dedication to necessary chores without interludes of hedonistic diversion renders John a hebephrenic fellow.

10. Individuals who make their abode in vitreous edifices would be advised to refrain from catapulting petrous projectiles. [Hint: Chuck Norris does both]

11. Neophyte's serendipity.

12. Members of the avian species of identical plumage congregate.

13. It is fruitless to become lachrymose over precipitately decanted lacteal fluid.

14. Scintillate scintillate astral minific.

Bob and Giesenbauer

I noticed Tim's random Threeve in his own blog comments that stated how long it had been since Bob had commented him. That made me wonder how long it had been since she had commented my blog also. How long has it been? Counting this post, it is 15 posts and 117 days. I'm pretty hurt by that.

I also learned yesterday of a website offering random "Bad Commercials" for radio broadcasts. I decided to fill in the questions and see what they had to say about Giesenbauer, Inc.



Hey!

It's the season for sheer randomness, and Giesenbauer, Inc. is your sheer randomness headquarters!

Are you really, really gullible? Then call us today at 507-317-2081!

Yes, it's that time of year again at Giesenbauer, Inc., where you'll find Death second to none.
So for all your sheer randomness needs, call us at 507-317-2081!

This offer is illegal in every state except Minnesota and Iowa, and you won't believe our friendly, knowledgeable staff!

Yes, you've got us screwed six ways to Sunday, because we've got to get rid of this crap before the auditors discover our two sets of books.

So hurry on down to Giesenbauer, Inc., where we haven't had an employee freak out and shoot innocent customers for over 2 months and with prices so low, you know our stuff must really suck!

So call now at 507-317-2081. That's Giesenbauer, Inc.. 507-317-2081.

And remember our motto, "But our shenanigans are cheeky and fun..."

That number once again is 507-317-2081!
That's 507-317-2081!
507-317-2081!

"Chem is cool....if you like drug addictions...."

Chemistry has been quite the interesting class these last couple days. Yesterday, we spent a good amount of time learning how to build molecules of caffeine, nicotine, codeine and cocaine. Great fun! We then spent almost an hour talking about 1 of the 5 groups we intended to cover in our notes. Completely avoiding ethers, aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids, we spent that hour taking about alocohols. Think that says something about where some people's minds are?

Today we had a "Code Red" drill test during chemistry, and it was decided we should definitely be in chem if there is ever a real "Code Red" threat because we have a small storage room to hide in. When we got back out from the storage room, we finished covering those groups that just happened to be left behind yesterday (and of course people had to complain that it was taking forever to get through them....and whose fault is that?).

That's my rant on the randomness of chemistry these last two days, and I'll end this blog with a quiz. Name each of the following four compounds by their more common (household) name:

1. CH2O -- methanal
2. (CH3)2CO -- 2-propanone
3. C2H4O2 -- ethanoic acid
4. C4H8O2 -- butanoic acid (this one's a tough one)

Battle With Worry

The above title is actually the title of my first completed composition essay (remembering an event). I have nothing better to blog about, so I'm posting it on here. It's roughly 4 pages on Word, so it's a little long (just a heads up).



Of all the adult women I have ever met, I see my mom as one of the strongest; her mentality, emotion, and will power are all characteristics that show her tough shell. Only something like a natural disaster would ever cause me to feel like I needed to worry about my mom. This last summer happened to be when she first encountered the dilemma of “her boys,” my brother Cody and me, having to worry about her, and it happened to be one of the most practical yet scary reasons there could ever be.

On June 2nd, like most other lazy summer days, I was lying in my bed when two soft knocks sounded at my door, followed by an immediate turn of the doorknob. Since my mom has been the only person ever to enter my room that way, I knew she was the one behind the dark wooden door. Her expression as she opened the door instantly told me she was not having a good day. Knowing my brother Cody lie in his bedroom next to my own, my mom sat down, called his name, and asked him to shut the door after he entered.

Sitting down next to me on my bed, my mom began to tell us about a former problem she encountered. Some years ago, a lump had developed in her breast. She did not go to the doctor at the time to have it examined, and it eventually disappeared and ceased to bother her. Then, just a few months before this conversation, my mom had discovered a new lump. At first, she thought nothing of it, but she finally decided to hear the doctor’s opinion. That led to the conversation in my bedroom.

With her voice starting to crack and tears forming in her eyes, she said to my brother and me, “This time it’s cancerous.” I could not think of any time when I had seen my mom shed a single tear, so when she started crying, I knew she feared what would happen. Silent and worried, Cody and I choked back our emotions as we had been doing in tough situations for as long as I can remember.

After a few minutes in silence, the small refrigerator in the corner started with a hum, and my mom continued the conversation by telling us not to change our plans for the summer. Cody would still be traveling on a theater tour, and I would still be camping at Whitewater State Park with my youth group. Unlike my brother, I could have easily changed my vacation plans in order to be with my mom at the hospital in Mankato during her surgery. Instead, she insisted I still attend my camping trip, just as I expected.

Seeing as though Cody and I are both devoted to our belief in God, Mom asked us to pray. Not only would we pray that her surgery succeeded in its purpose, but we would also ask God for peace, courage, and a positive attitude for the three of us. Knowing we also had a large Christian community to utilize because of our involvement in Teens Encounter Christ, Cody and I later decided to ask those friends, through phone calls and e-mails, to pray for our family.

Finally, my mom exited my bedroom without saying another word. Cody, wearing a black t-shirt and the jeans he borrowed from me, scratched his chin as he continued to sit on my bed solemnly. I quickly realized he was having the same issue as me; we both wanted to say something, but neither of us had the right words. My head buzzed with loud thoughts that muted out the sounds of the television. Before either of us could think of the words that we hoped to say, Cody left in sheer silence.

Nearly two weeks later, I reluctantly started my camping trip. The hilarious car ride to Whitewater took my mind away from the bad news, and few thoughts about the situation entered my mind until Wednesday, the day my mom scheduled her mastectomy. Because of my worry, my breakfast that morning lacked taste. I knew my grandma had accompanied Mom to the hospital, but I still felt uneasy about not being there. “How will I know everything is going well?” I thought. Luckily, the arrangements to receive phone messages from my grandma were in order, but I had to travel almost four miles into the town of Alba to get a signal on my cell phone. My youth director took me aside on that warm Wednesday morning to pray with me; the words, “she is a strong woman,” flowed from her mouth during the prayer and sang to my heart like a beautiful chorus. An idea arose as we were finishing the prayer, and I chose to hike to a glorious cliff, appropriately named Inspiration Point, later that afternoon. I only hoped my phone would receive even a slight signal there so I could check my messages. My phone showed enough of a signal to make calls, but my voice mailbox was void of any message from my grandma. The desire to know whether the surgery ended successfully or not burned inside me like a wildfire; I called my grandma to find some information.

“The doctor said everything was perfect. They took out some lymph nodes, and they’re pretty sure they got all of the cancer,” Grandma said quickly. She then added, “Your mom’s asleep right now, but I’ll have her call you as soon as she’s awake enough to talk.”

Two hours later, as the sun began to set, I was still perched on the edge of Inspiration Point, sitting quietly in the presence of God, fighting the tears of joy creeping to the rims of my eyes, and glorifying the fact that the surgery went well. The steady vibration of my cell phone in my pocket brought me out of that euphoria and back into reality. A huge smile stretched across my face as I answered the call from Mom. After deciphering her quiet, raspy voice for fifteen minutes, she told me it was time for her to receive a check-up and some medication, ending our conversation.

Before she lost all of her hair, my mom donated it to Locks of Love. The rest began to fall off of her head quickly, so she chose to have her head shaved instead. Seeing my mom without any hair continues to be somewhat of a strange experience, but I know she is bald because of the treatment that is helping her. Anxiously, my mom counts down the days until the end of her treatment, and at the same time I think about the reasons she, Cody, and I stayed so strong during the ordeal. My mom admits she would do anything in the world for my brother and me and that she sees us as the most important part of her life. Similarly, my brother and I have had to grow up fast and be strong adults because we have lived without a father figure in our house for nine years. She may have to “worry about her boys” more than we need to worry about her, but I believe Cody and I have an unending need to protect our mom during troubling times because we had to rise to the level of mature adults quickly. Mom has continuously shown a strong mentality, emotions, and will power, but all in all she stays strong for “her boys.”

I made the switch

I decided to switch over to Blogger Beta. I had wondered about the changes for a while, and tonight I finally checked it out. I liked some of its easy features that make it much more like Wordpress now (sorry, Greg). The most interesting feature I found is the one I'm using right now. I think it might've been available for the original Blogger, but I just never found it. What is it? Well, I'm typing this blog via e-mail. Gmail to be more specific. I love Gmail (thanks for the invite way back when, Bob!)....

"Run, freedom, run! You gotta run away!"

Tonight was the last of my performances for the 2nd play I've ever been in. I joined the Town & Country Players in their dinner theater show. It was "Earth So Rich the City Grows," and it told the story of how Blue Earth was started. We had some interesting songs, but they weren't all that exciting. It was a really lame show, but at least the costume was more comfortable than the one I wore for "Once Upon A Mattress."

On that note, and continuing with the musical aspect of this blog, I struck up a conversation yesterday with the guy who directed our school musical. I asked him if he had ever heard of the Broadway show "Avenue Q," which is basically an adult version of Sesame Street. He had, and we talked about it for a few minutes (and sang some of the songs) before he introduced me to "Urinetown." It's about a city where a drought occurs and people can no longer own personal toilets. They must pay a fee to use a public restroom, and if they get caught urinating (or deficating) anywhere else, they are sent to Urinetown.

I must admit, it's a strange concept. I borrowed the soundtrack from Kurt, and it has some good songs. All in all, I like it. It would probably be an interesting show to see. He said it was the only one he saw while he was in New York, and he really enjoyed it.

Philosophy book

I've been skimming through my philosophy book (Philosophy for Dummies) instead of reading chapter 8 and taking notes. I found some interesting passages on one of the many well-known characters within the TEC Community: Death
**Red are from the author, Green are quoted in the book from other sources

Part IV title: "What's the Deal with Death?"

Chapter 17 title: "Philosophical Consolations on Death"

Chapter 18 title: "Is There Life After Death?"

"We face our mortality, and we look at four different fears that Death inspires."

"...yet by looking at the questions distinctively raised by Death..."

"Death and taxes. You'll have to see an accountant for tax advice. But a friendly philosopher can help you understand the other unpleasant certainty in life."

"We fear Death. And we all live in some measure of denial, pretending that it's a fiction."

"Death surprises us in the midst of our hopes." -- Thomas Fuller (18th Century)

"My first real experience with Death was when I was in seventh grade."

"As a young boy, I heard about Death only when my mother talked about her childhood."

"Men fear Death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other." -- Francis Bacon

"There are at least for different kinds of fear of Death [one of them being] fear of punishment after Death."

"Whose Death is more terrible..."

"Therefore, after Death, there must be a realm of existence in which justice prevails."

"He didn't see Death coming."

"This is a particular kind of fear of Death...that is confined to those maintaining a certain specific world view."

"I did not believe at the time that Death is annihilation..."

"For life is nearer every day to Death." -- Phaedrus

"In the midst of life, we are in Death." -- The Book of Common Prayer

"All our life is but a going out to the place of execution, to Death." -- John Donne

"Nobody knows, in fact, what Death is, nor whether to man it is not perchance the greatest of all blessings..." -- Socrates (scary thought)

"Death, the most dreaded of evils, is therefore of no concern to us; for while we exist, Death is not present, and when Death is present, we no longer exist." -- Epictetus

And though there are many, many more along with those, my favorite would probably be this one:

"Death...is simply the ultimate horror of life." -- Jean Giradoux

"I don't want you groping around in the dark all night."

Last night and tonight were our performances of "Once Upon A Mattress." Tonight was definitely AMAZING in comparison to last night. Everything went so smoothly, and I had a great time doing it. I can't pick an order for a Top 10, so I'll just post my highlights of tonight (might try to give reasoning on some of them).

-- 3 for 3 on taking off the crown (my wig would've came with it last night 2 times)
-- 2nd row "LoudFans" (Janet, Mariah, and Shayla)
-- Perfect songs tonight
-- I didn't blank on "Man To Man Talk" like I did Wednesday for the elementary
-- "The Minstrel, The Jester, and I" was the best out of any time we did it
-- Laughing at "LoudFans" during my first song
-- Searching for the Wench, I looked out into the crowd....decided to look at Mariah....
-- The greatest, most lively crowd we had (especially topped the elementary kids on Wednesday)
-- "Your job is just as important as everyone else's" [Larken] (John {Dauntless} and I laughed every time this line came up in all reahearsals and performances)
-- No cast laughing on Minstrel's line, "You're leaving forever?!?!" (We laughed just about every time until we started performing)
-- I saw Cody all dressed up in the second row....my first thought was "How embarrassing."
-- Brice made it to the show (the little liar)
-- USC folks (Kyle, MaryErin, KG)
-- Meeting Alex's {Harry} dad....he's hilarious....
-- Cast party watching the video of the night
-- Horrible TP job on my car (also with a leaky can of Full Throttle)
-- The night as a whole!!!

I'll miss performing the musical for people, but I won't miss it in the essence of things. Alas, a lass is what Dauntless no longer lacks....

New Lines!

Today, I accidentally decided to revise my lines in the song "Man to Man Talk" during a matinee for the 5th and 6th graders. How did it come about? Basically, I blanked. Horribly. I was doing fine at first, but it came to a pause where I'm supposed to "think," and I absolutely lost everything. I got the next few words down for my gestures, but then I blanked again. Got a few more words, and one last blank. It almost happened a 4th time within that 30 seconds, but a whispered to John, "What is it?" and he fed me the word I was supposed to gesture.

Thankfully this was for the 5th and 6th graders who had basically no idea what was going on in the show. If it would've been tomorrow or Friday night, I probably would've freaked out horribly. I still freaked, but realized it's not a huge deal that it happened today. I resorted to reading through the song a few more times so I don't blank again. Not really sure how it happened in the first place since I'd had it down for so long, but it happens I guess.

For anyone going to the show tomorrow night or Friday night: I won't blank. Promise.

That's all folks....

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet.

Blue Earth lost to Rochester Lourdes in the state quarterfinals today in Blue Earth. It was tied at 29 with 6 minutes left, and apparently Lourdes grabbed an interception with 43 seconds left. The final was 29-36.

Guess that means I'll be hearing people whine for weeks about this. Oh joy.

On the other hand, this won't be as short as I'd hoped. I went to the play in Wells tonight with some TEC folk. It was a good time at a good play. USC always has great sets for their plays, and this one was no different.

Highlight of the play: Seeing Death had a cameo appearance as The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. Way to go Ben! (The irony of this was the kid's name was Ben who played the ghost....)

Poets R Us

I fell in love with a book of the Bible I hadn't ever ventured into before. It made me become a fan of abstract poetry, which I had never really enjoyed before. My new Biblical love is none other than Lamentations. My favorite verses are probably 2:11, 3:31-32, and 3:40.

"My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city."

"For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love."

"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord."

I also randomly listened to "Here Is Our King" by David Crowder Band, and absolutely love the chorus:

Here is our King

Here is our Love

Here is our God who's come to bring us back to Him

He is the one

He is Jesus

And He is our King

He is our Love

He is our God who's come to bring us back to Him

He is the one
He is Jesus

Jesus

I have nothing else to say except that my new venture is going fairly well. I asked God to keep me in check in any way He felt necessary, and He's done just that.

Majesty....Finally....

[insert appropriate title here]

My day was great. It may have started off on the wrong foot when I got a hardcore shot of soap in my eye, thus leading to me wearing glasses so the soap didn't get under my contacts, but all in all the rest of the afternoon/early night was great. That is, until I got home.

As soon as I walk in the door I hear from my mom's boyfriend (the one who threw the cat down the stairs) a sarcastic, "There's the golden child." I was pissed. Completely and utterly offended. More than anything, I felt like I was being judged. The first thought I had was about his own youngest son and what he's done in his life, but I knew right away that wasn't the right thing to be basing my anger on. I said something back, but nothing really crude or anything. I went into the kitchen where my mom and grandma were, and my mom told me to ignore him. I usually do, but he usually makes those comments under his breath so I can't hear them.

And so I sat in the kitchen for a good hour until my mom went to bed. Then I walked to the church to pray. Oddly enough, my bad mood turned into somewhat of a revelation. I decided that I was changing things about my everyday life. That way, I could shove his comment back in his face. Not in a "I really am a golden child" way, because I know I'm not and I never will be. But I mean to do it in more of a "at least I'm doing something with my faith life" way.

My TV is officially unplugged, my Bible by my bed. I'm writing a talk when I have nothing to do in study hall every day. I'm spending my time after school and play practice with God instead of wasting it away like I usually do.

What was this realization? Well, I realized I'm greedy. Not greedy for attention, not greedy for any material possessions. I'm greedy for things to go my way. Greedy for everything to fall into place according to my standards. And so I'm doing my best to give up that greed. I'm working harder on giving up things that feed the greed (yeah, I rhymed) and focusing on living not for myself and my greed, but for God and for the people around me. If someone needs me for something but I have other plans, I'm going to do my best to help them out or at least split my time between the two.

This is starting to make no sense to me because I can't think of how to word anything, so I'm stopping there. I just ask you all to pray for God to help guide my way through this and for Him to help me be able to walk through my house without feeling judged by my mom's boyfriend. Thanks a ton! I love you all!

It's been far too long since....

....I've been able to say these words:

THE BUCS ARE GOING TO STATE!!!

For all the doubters [cough]Nate[cough], I chuckle in your general direction. We beat Jackson County Central tonight 24-21. I wasn't at the game, but I heard the minute it was over. I also chuckle in the direction of the NRHEG (one word) football team for their incredible 40-0 loss to Triton tonight.

It's between Plainview and Rochester Lourdes for us to play at home on Friday. Either way I'll be there and I won't have a voice on Saturday.



Buc Pride!


**Edit** I just got word from Janet that Lourdes won tonight, so we should be playing them on Friday.

Evacuate the premises

Today was an interesting day first hour. We had about 20 minutes left of study hall when the fire alarm went off. We walked to the grassy area past our parking lot where we sometimes go (other times it's only to half of the parking lot), but then they made us walk all the way to Lampert's. We stood inside their storage garages for a good 10 minutes before we went back to the school. It was really random, and I could just imagine what it was like for drivers on the road watching 300+ kids walk across at the same time.

I have nothing better to do now than post another week of BEA Fantasy Football. Here goes:

Week 3 -- Blue Earth Area Buccaneers at Jackson County Central Huskies

Game Winner: Jackson (39-12)

Fantasy Winner: Jackson (69-20)

QB
L. Becker (3)
M. Brandt (6)

WR
C. Sukalski (6)
F. Passer (0)
T. Sonnicksen (0)
J. Grages (9)
M. Haeffner (0)
T. Hendrickson (0)

RB
B. Hanevik (0)
G. Mensing (1)
T. Stewart (9)
C. Lines (14)

TE
G. Holmseth (0)
J. Lewis (6)

K
F. Groeger (0)
?. ??? (1)

DEF
BEA (10)
JCC (24)

**Quick note: Logan threw 7 interceptions in this game. It was bad....and we play these guys on Friday to go on to state, where we would play either Plainview or Rochester Lourdes at home in the first round....

Section Finals!!

The Bucs are officially moving on to the Section Finals! We beat Maple River tonight (ranked #1 in the state because of their weak schedule), and we'll be playing Jackson on Friday. We lost to Jackson in the regular season, and they annihilated Fairmont tonight (last I heard was 43-8), but we're one of those underdog kinds of teams. Garrett got sent to Mankato tonight to get x-rays after he was taken off the field, so hopefully he's alright. I think it was all just precautionary. All in all, Friday should be an interesting night! Buc Pride! And now I'll post another week of BEA Fantasy Football.

Week 2 -- Blue Earth Area Buccaneers at Fairmont Cardinals

Game Winner: Blue Earth (20-19)

Fantasy Winner: Fairmont (42-37)

QB
L. Becker (14)
E. Hugoson (10)

WR
C. Sukalski (3)
F. Passer (0)
T. Sonnicksen (1)
M. Klutz (7)
J. Peymann (6)
?. ??? (0)

RB
B. Hanevik (8)
G. Mensing (0)
P. Mallory (10)
B. Lubenow (0)

TE
G. Holmseth (6)
M. Berhow (3)

K
F. Groeger (0)
M. Klutz (1)

DEF
BEA (5)
Fair. (5)


Just a quick little something that is going in my history books: Tonight marks my first comment ever from Ben Hoogland on Myspace. I think I may have shed a tear or 2 of joy when I read it. I'm also glad he is now "random-cuz-I'm-random Ben" and not "crabby-cuz-I'm-sleepless Ben."

Buccaneer Dream Team

I decided last week to get all of the football stats from my chemistry teacher and do something with them. My idea was to see what kind of fantasy points my school's team would rack up each week. So now whenever I have nothing better to blog about, I'll be posting a week's worth of fantasy play for my school.

Week 1 -- New Ulm Eagles at Blue Earth Area Buccaneers

Game Winner: Blue Earth (22-0)

Fantasy Winner: Blue Earth (58-13)

QB
L. Becker (20)

N. Van Roekel (-2)

WR

C. Sukalski (10)

F. Passer (9)
T. Sonnicksen (1)

Z. Geistfeld (3)

D. Runck (0)

W. French (0)

RB

B. Hanevik (3)

G. Mensing (1)

D. Otis (3)

J. Carda (1)

TE
G. Holmseth (1)

J. Suess (1)

K

F. Groeger (0)
?. ??? (0)

DEF

BEA (13)

NU (7)

Sorry about the crappy format. My table I made with HTML earlier on wasn't formatting on here the way I wanted. Either way, I'm sure you'll see more of these than you think because I, like Nate, have had nothing too special to blog about lately.

Thursday, Bloody Thursday

Today (much like Ben) was kind of a big deal. At least in my eyes it was. Today marked my first time giving blood. I didn't have any big worries about it because I personally like getting shots and the like, so I didn't figure I'd have any issues at all giving blood. I think my only issue was how I felt like I had eaten to much for lunch before I gave blood. That turned out to not be a big deal. I actually had to go eat pizza and bananas at the canteen when I got done because I was so blasted hungry.

The guy that took me in to get all my information and have me answer all the questions looked really familiar. Turns out he kind of knew me too. He's my friend Tim's dad, but I've really only seen him once before today. It was pretty interesting talking to him about Social Security Numbers. The students that were helping out at the blood drive were cracking jokes about squirting blood all over myself. Turns out Amanda (my next-door-locker neighbor from the last 2 years) had nothing better to do than watch the last 2 minutes of my blood draining and walk me to the canteen.

Good day today. I'll definitely give blood again. At play practice Emily and I were talking about how we were "heroes" along with everyone else who gave blood. I was singing on the inside. Singing Enrique Iglesias....

01-22-73

Yesterday was a national day of silent solidarity for pro-life. I was one of two people who participated at my school. It was definitely a tough day, and I can honestly say I slipped up a couple times and my smart comments got the best of me. Other than that, it was a great day. A lot of people asked about why Melissa Fenske and I were being silent. It sounded like many of them thought it was interesting too. Hopefully next time we can get more people involved at my school.

Big props to others that I know participated:
Mariah
Melissa J.
Lillie
Kyree
I'm not sure who else I knew personally, but there were many all across the country participating also.

Jerk Chapter 1

I'm not a cat person. I mean I'm really not a cat person. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'd kill cats for fun or anything, but I just dislike them. Even my brother's cat here at my house irritates me. Yet, I have compassion for animals that get hurt and such. Which brings up another reason why I don't get along with my mom's boyfriend.

About 20 minutes ago, the cat shut itself in the bathroom upstairs. Every 5 minutes or so, it would paw at the door a little bit. No meowing, no extremely loud noises. Just a little bit of pawing at the door. What does my mom's boyfriend end up doing? Throwing it down the stairs. By "throw" I don't mean a big toss just to get it back downstairs. I mean he literally whipped the cat to the bottom of the stairs. The sound of the cat hitting the landing was louder than any noise the cat made while it was shut in the bathroom. The first thing that came to mind was "Well, that was a little extreme." Then the cat walked past me at the computer, and I noticed it was noticeably limping. Now, I'm not one to swear much, but the thought that came into my mind when I saw that was, "Wow, he really is an [expletitive]." I would've thrown the cat down the stairs too, but not to that extent. It would've been more of a toss just to make a statement, not 90 mph fastball to pound that statement into its head.


Question of the Day: Do you like cats? Why or why not?

The moon is shining bright, the mood is feeling right....

I just got back from a walk that was intended to accomplish two tasks:
1) Get a pop from the store's pop machine
2) Think a little and pray a lot

I completed both of those, but I also just made some observations.

- I love this weather. Right now. Exactly how it is. It's absolutely perfect for my taste in weather.
- The moonlight and cloud formations made it look like there was a light coming from the ground that was casting shadows of the trees on the clouds. It was quite beautiful.
- I'm a strange person, but that just means I fit in with a lot of this town. An older lady was out walking her dog as I was walking around.
- Ben brought this up at the team meeting, but I thought about it some more tonight: Tim truly does look like Nick Punto.

Hi! My name is Nick Punto. I play baseball for the Minnesota Twins. I enjoy parties, foosball, carrot cake, and the occasional jazz concert. I've heard rumors that I have a twin (that's a pun) somewhere out there. His name is Jim or something like that. Someday I should probably go out and meet him. Maybe after I win the World Series. Yeah...that works...my people will call his people.

Why, hello there! My name is Tim Parrott. I play Ultimate Frisbee for TBA, and watch out because this Parrott can definitely fly. We rock the Adidas logo like no other. I enjoy football, playing guitar without knowing how, and the occasional scone with my wife. Mmm...scones... In closing, I look a lot like Nick Punto, except rumor has it his "man-pretty" status is only higher because of his mad third-base skills. If Ultimate was shown on FSN, I'd have him beat. Eat that, Nicky my boy!

Question of the Day: How do you take your weather? Hot? Cold? Medium-rare?

M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A....MINNESOTA....MINNESOTA....GOOOOOOO TWINS!!

I am very proud of the late innings played by the Twins tonight. It was a beautiful sight to see. I had actually just pulled out my Homer Hanky on the strike before Mauer hit the game-tying homerun. It was pretty prophetic.

Here's my view on the postseason. The Twins should be fine with not taking the division. Without it, they would face the Yankees for 5 games, and Johan Santana would undoubtedly pitch two of those. If they should happen to win the division and also beat Oakland in the first round, the Twins would face the Yankees for 7 games. Rumor has it Johan would pitch only one of them. With Radke having a very nice showing tonight, this might not be an issue, but I believe they should buckle down on the rotation and try to work Johan in when it comes to crucial games. Silva could possibly be helpful in the more in the clutch situations, but in my opinion he doesn't have a good pitching matchup for a definite win against the A's. I'm slightly torn on this, but I believe it would be better for the Twins to face the Yankees right away in the postseason.


Question of the Day: Which do you think would benefit the Twins' postseason more -- first round vs. Yankees or A's?

The Strawberry Shake Mystery

Tonight, Tommy and I stopped by McDonalds to get strawberry shakes after The Amazing Race in Blue Earth. We went in and ordered, and this is the conversation that followed. Remember, I'm quoting this as exactly as I can, so I apologize for any crude language. And also, we can't remember the employee's name so we just called him Damian.

Damian: "You want that?" [pushes chocolate shake towards me]
Aaron: "Why, you just make it for kicks?"
D: "No, I meant to make a small vanilla, but I pushed the wrong button."
A: "Oh, alright."
D: "You can throw it at something if you don't want it."
A: "Well, Main Street is always good. And I know Purvis got his windows cleaned by some kids today."
[I take my McChicken and strawberry shake off the counter]
[Tommy takes his cheeseburger and waits for his shake; Damian asks if he needs something]
T: "Uhh, I had a strawberry shake."
D: [points at me] "He just took it."
T: "No, he got one too."
D: [pushes button on screen] "Shit, he did."

It was probably the funniest trip to McDonalds I've ever had. Good times.


Moral of the Story: Always look for free shakes at McDonalds. It can lead to fun, interesting, and definitely random conversations.

"Oh, lover, I'll cover you..."

Woot for random RENT lyrics....anyway....

I attended an outdoor wedding for the first time in my life today. It was at Seven Mile Creek Park, in between Mankato and St. Peter. The weather held off for the half-hour ceremony, then it started to sprinkle. It was quite the beautiful day. I sat next to a hilarious guy named Les at the reception. He made fun of me for glancing over at some random girls that walked into the room. Les made a lot of other jokes about almost everything. He reminded me of someone, but I still can't think of who.

That was my day. After I got home, I went to Tommy's for a movie. I had to stop at the population sign outside of Frost and take the monkey off of it that Mariah left there, but she'll get it back somehow. That was actually the first real cunning way she's returned it. I'll give her props on that one....


Moral of the Story: "I'll be here when you're ready to roll with the changes" -- REO Speedwagon

Buccaneer Homecoming

Today was our Homecoming, and quite the lame one it was. Our schedule was supposed to be shortened so we could have our parade and everything, but we ended up with 80-minute classes for 3rd and 4th hour. It was horrible. Our pep fest was as lame as ever, and I wish I would've skipped out on it and came home. Was anything good about this homecoming? There were a few things.

First was in accounting. We took another easy test and spent the rest of the time messing around on the computers since we weren't given any other word because we had a sub. Good times....

Next was releasing the Spirit of Homecoming Past in chemistry. It was quite interesting. We also didn't do much the whole 80 minutes of the class.

Finally was my realization that Logan Becker is a great quarterback. If he were to by playing professionally the same way he is now (minus his 7-interception game last week), he would be racking up HUGE fantasy points for someone. I think next year I might just make a fantasy team out of my school's team and see how many points we would get over the year. I might have to do it after getting a stat book at the end of the season, but whatever works. I suppose I could get a stat book from someone this season and see what happens too.

All in all, I think this year's homecoming was still pretty lame. The negative outweighed the positive. Go Bucs!

Now I sit here bored, wondering what the actual final of the game was tonight since I left with 1:04 left in the 4th.


Word from the Frontline: As I got to my car leaving the game, I heard that Sukalski had just gotten his 3rd interception of the game. Buc Pride!

ChiSox

If there was one thing I really wanted for my birthday, it was for the White Sox to beat the Tigers. Lo and behold, Detroit got shut out yesterday. I credit Justin Verlander for pitching a not-so-great game.

Today's school day was pretty boring. Tomorrow's shan't (is that how you punctuate that?) be much better, except for the fact that I'm going to watch our girls tennis team play St. James tomorrow. That should be great since I know some of the St. James girls.

That's all I've got. Buc Pride.

The Cutting Edge

Welcome to midnight. I can now officially watch R-rated movies. Hooray for me?

I'm sitting here completely unwanting of the ambition to start this analysis. I've been procrastinating since Thursday, so why start now? I suppose it is due today, so I should get to it. But who really cares about the interpersonal communication involved in The Cutting Edge? Alright, Mrs. Ehlers cares, but does anyone else? No. Didn't think so. Thank you.

Other than that, I practiced "Man to Man Talk" today with Prince Dauntless. It went alright, and we're optimistic about having it down in no time. Having the song on CD (thanks Janet) will probably help me practice my actions. That will definitely be good.

It's cold outside right now. My thermometer says 41 right now, and I'd guess that's about right. There's also something random going on out there. A cat has been chasing a mouse around for the last half hour. They've gone by my garage a few times, and they kind of had a stand-off by the church. I haven't seen them in a few minutes, so I wonder if the mouse got away or finally met its timely demise.

This is my list of the first five people (in order) to wish me happy birthday today:
Emily Renken (we actually shared the exact moment together on MSN)
Janet Youngers (in 4 languages)
April Drube
Mariah Tappe
Shayla Bocock

And also, the most random one. At 11:50, the nice folks at RadioY sent me an e-mail wishing me happy birthday.

Ah, the power of parentheses....

Our read-through for the musical went really well tonight. I didn't actually have to read out loud until about 7:45 (we started at 6:00), but it was pretty entertaining.

And now for the reason behind my title. Every line of mine through Act 1 and the first 8 scenes of Act 2 includes parentheses. It's great. They've become my new friends.


Word from the Frontline: What I'm looking forward to the most for this musical -- the song "Man To Man Talk," where I, as the king, must give "the talk" to my son; at this point I am still only able to pantomime.

Back....from....school....

I just got back from school with a bit of news. That news is that I don't get to say a single word in my school's fall musical. Scratch that. I do get to speak, but it's not until near the end. Why is that? Because I'm the King who has been cursed and isn't able to speak. That means I get to do my entire part in actions until the curse is broken. It should be a good time!

Once Upon A Mattress

November 16-17

Blue Earth Area High School

Battle for the Brown Jug

Every year, around this time, Blue Earth Area High School experiences one of its greatest events: the game against Fairmont for the Brown Jug. Tonight was the night.

I heard about 15 minutes ago what the result of the game was. After 5 years without the jug in our posession, we beat Fairmont 20-19 to bring it home. I kind of wish I would've decided to go.

Last night, apparently, a few of our players were in Fairmont hanging out when a Fairmont player named Dion Tino (and some of his friends) noticed. They got mad just because the Buc boys were in their town, and one of Dion's friends took a swing at Forrest. He dodged it and only got hit in the arm, but Dion decided to punch cars.

The funniest thing about it all was Forrest's trash talk today. Forrest isn't a very big guy (if any of you were at TEC 62, he was the one with the spiked hair), but he was saying he was gonna take out Dion, whose arms are probably the size of my thigh. 'Roids? Probably....

Thank you, Dion, for having a name like Dion Tino and taking tonight's loss like the little girl that you are. We salute you for your car-punching prowess and steroid-like stature.

And always remember your team colors:
Maroon = BEA
Red = Fairmont
Color blind?

Horribly singing songs for T. Boone Pickens

Quick line from "Damn Regret" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus to give a nutshell summary of what I felt tonight when I walked outside.

The moon is shining bright; the mood is feeling right

And now, onto tonight's post.


I auditioned for my school's fall musical, Once Upon A Mattress, today. The acting part wasn't too horrible, but my singing was miserable. I have major fears of singing in front of people I don't know andI can't read music to save my life (and so I can't do impromtu singing of songs I don't know). Both of those things were major factors in my 0.1 out of 10 singing abilities tonight. I think when the practices get going and stuff I'll be more comfortable with it and have no problems. I was one of 2 guys to audition today, and so I'm sure I'll at least get a minor part (which is totally fine with me). There is one male for sure that hasn't auditioned yet, but he's a complete shoe-in.

The greatest part of my audition was when they had me read for the part of the mute king. It was fun trying to act out everything instead of speaking, and the part only has 5 speaking parts at the max. On that note, the only down side is that there's a song as part of a trio. Like I said, maybe when I get more comfortable it won't be too bad.


There's really only one more thing I want to blog about tonight, and that would be T. Boone Pickens. In the past, Pickens has given away money to quite a few charities: Texas Scottish Rice Hospital for Children ($8 million), Katrina victims ($7 million), UT Southwestern Medical Center ($2 million), and the T. Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State ($1 million). He could've given money to help out many things in his surrounding community. Oklahoma ranks in the bottom third of all states in infant death, child health insurance coverage, and child neglect. And one of out seven Oklahomans is at risk of going hungry. So what's his latest venture? Big bad Boone Pickens wrote his most recent check out to be the biggest in the history of the NCAA by giving $162 million to the Oklahoma State football team, very little of which will go to other sports.

When asked why he did it, Pickens said, "'Cause I want to. That's the blood, guts, and feathers of it." It's been a whole two years since he paid for the last improvements to Boone Pickens Stadium, and yet he believes the football program was in "an urgent situation that needed big dollars." How can this guy sleep at night when the new athletic complex is going to relocate 250 nearby families. Oklahoma State is giving these people a piddly $300 bonus for every year they've lived in their house.

I agree with Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly when he says, "Some people think they ought to name the whole school after Pickens. Boone Pickens University. Well why not? He's handpicked the athletic director, the football coach, everything up to the curtains in the suites. Plus, all the money he donates to the school goes straight back into his wildly successful BP Capital energy hedge fund. Which means he gives the money with one hand, manages it with the other, and decides how to spend it with, I don't know, his teeth?"

This guy may be a successful businessman, but he's definitely doing the wrong things with his money. A professor at OSU explained how departments at the school are in "basements, dorms, attics, and condemned buildings." If Pickens really wants to keep his donations inside of the OSU boundaries, he could at least help out the academics.


Word from the Frontline: I'm dandy....thanks for asking....

The joy that once was Facebook

I always used to see Facebook as a safer version of Myspace. Until now. Facebook has just started using new feeds to let you know every single move that is made by every single one of your friends on the site. You leave someone a little message on their "Wall," and the whole world knows within seconds. You join or leave a group, the word is spread instantly. Facebook's new idea really just screams "safe stalker." It still isn't as bad as the information that people willingly put out there that catches the eye of predators, but it is definitely borderline.

Now, onto my first day of school.

Study Hall
Sitting at a lunch table in a miniature gym for 85 minutes isn't exactly my idea of fun. I'm supposed to have it again 3rd quarter, but I'm going to find something to fill in that spot. It's going to be nice for any last-minute homework (which I'm bound to have), but I definitely can't say I enjoy it.

Accounting
This class is going to be simple. Tests every 3-6 days on each chapter that we get through, homework that should take a maximum of 20 minutes (maybe 40 if it's a rare, big assignment), and a lot of interesting characters in class. Our first assignment was to bring in a magnet for our teacher to put on his metal boards at the side of the room.

Chemistry
Shayla may hate chemistry already, but I love it. Schoenfelder is one of the easiest teachers to get along with, and our class has some fun people it in. Definitely the class to have after lunch.

Communication
We gave impromtu speeches today. My topic was "Explain how a person can be smart but might not be wise." It was pretty easy, but I couldn't think of much to say in the five minutes she gave us to prepare. Still wasn't too bad, and I'm thinking this class will live up to my expectations: Horrible!

Labor Day

I never have done much on Labor Day, and this year isn't expected to be different. I finally got out of bed a little while ago and walked outside. It's one of the most beautiful day's we've had this summer, which makes it all the worse that school starts tomorrow. I'm kind of excited to get back into a pattern of having something to do every day, but it's still school, homework, and tests.

All in all, I just want to find something to do outside today with this beautiful weather. Maybe a nice drive out in the middle of nowhere would be good.

Tonight's Revelations

I had a couple of revelations tonight, but they have nothing to do with my inner-most thoughts and emotions. They have nothing to do with religion. They have nothing to do with Arj Barker. They have everything to do with TV.


My first revelation is Kyle Cease. I saw him tonight on Comedy Central Presents, and I loved a lot of his jokes. He's got a ton of energy, and he feeds off the crowd like no other (i.e. "High-Five Guy"). My favorite joke:

You ever notice whenever you go to a restaurant it doesn't matter if you want Pepsi or Coke they always have the other one.
"Can I get a Coke?"
"Is Pepsi alright?"
"Could I have a 7Up?"
"Is Sprite alright?"
"I'd like a Slurpee."
"Icee?"
"Do you have any salt?"
"Does Mrs. Dash work?"
But my favorite restaurant ever is Taco Bell. I love the deliciousness of Taco Bell. Am I right? You over here...you know what I'm talking about. Everyone else loves corn, but you hate it! My favorite thing about Taco Bell is you can order a water and go to the other end of the place and fill it with Coke. I did this until I realized that it wasn't fair.....to the people in the drive-thru. So one time I went through the drive-thru and said, "Yeah, I'd like to order a water, but I want you to fill it with Coke."

My other revelation was from last night's MTV Video Music Awards. I didn't get to see the show because I was at a fire, but I watched the one thing I was looking forward to tonight on MTV.com. It was the live treadmill performance from Ok Go. You can probably hunt around for it on the site. I couldn't get a close enough link to bother posting on here.


Word from the Frontline: April almost died last night due to an explosion caused by a boiling can of root beer. Even more entertaining was the previous fire when it hit Tommy in the face (ironic, since it was his plan to put it in the fire).

30 Days

Tonight I decided to watch the show 30 Days on FX. I had seen it only a few times before tonight, but the commercials for this episode seemed interesting. In this episode, Morgan Spurlock (typically just the creator and host of the show) spent 30 days inside of a prison in Virginia. Some of the things he pointed out were pretty interesting.

-- The U.S. prison system has turned into more of a dumping ground than anything else.

-- If every prison had a form of a full-time drug rehab program, there would be more opportunities for prisoners to try to get better so they could return to lives on the outside, freeing up space for the constant flow of new inmates.

-- Solitary confinement would be a living hell. Sitting in a 7 x 10 room for at least 72 hours with nothing to do? Sounds to me like it'd be a great time to pick your eyes out with your own tongue.

I then decided to scope out the FX website. The show Nip/Tuck is nothing less than stupid. Especially since there is a game on the site that lets you use a picture of yourself to change your look and see what you would be like with plastic surgery.

I'm bored and have no idea why I blogged about this. Maybe it's just the fact that I have nothing to do right now. Yeah, I think that's it....

The E! True Hollywood Story of: Mariah Tappe

I recently discovered a book containing key information to unlocking the secrets of one Mariah Tappe of New Richland. I decided to follow through with this information by using it (and prior knowledge) to conduct an interview with Mariah.

Good afternoon, Mariah. It's a pleasure to have you here.
No, no. The pleasure is all mine. Where did you get this wallpaper?

I believe it was Home Depot. Now, let's get down to brass tacks. If you could have one wish come true, what would it be?
Definitely to meet Britney Spears. She's so cool! Or I would want money because it's green and spendable.

Speaking of Britney, didn't you also once say you would "walk in her shoes for a day" and "meet her above any other celebrity?"
Yeah, I did say those things. She just seems so nice. I'd love to see what it's like to be famous and have money like her.

That sounds a little conceited.
What?

Moving on, if you were a cereal, which would you be?
Rice Krispies. I just think it's amazing how they get them to snap, crackle, and pop. I can't figure how it works!

So other than your answer to the previous question, what is the most embarrassing experience of your entire life?
My pants ripped a little in school once. I thought I was going to cry. My therapist says that's what's ruined my life.

I thought being stuck overnight in a funeral home was what ruined your life.
No, that was my sister Mackensie. She always has loved dead people.

I'll remember that. Could you describe yourself in just three words for me?
I would say funny, smart, and pretty.

Again, that sounds a little bit conceited. Am I right?
What?

Forget I said anything.
Okay.

Anyway, what do you believe is the nicest thing you've ever done?
I gave to carraty once.

Excuse me?
I gave money to UNICEF one time.

So you mean "charity."
No. I mean UNICEF.

Ugh. Forget it. Who would you say you love?
Nick Carter.

I apologize to our readers. What do you like best about your appearance?
My hair. It always looks amazing!

So, Mariah, if you could be any character on The Brady Bunch, who would it be?
I always liked Cindy. She was so young and confused. Her hair was always fabulous, too.

I would be honored if I wasn't in this situation right now.
What does that mean?

It means...it's great to have you here.
Why thank you! I'm enjoying this!

Glad one of us is. Now, if you had a secret to keep, who would you never tell?
Jessica. She has a big mouth.

Well, since I'm not Jessica, what's your deepest, darkest secret?
I'm not telling you.

Why not?
That's a secret too.

I hate you.
You hate juice? Why? My favorite is apple. It tastes really good with apple pie.

Great. More useful information. Instead of gaining more stupidity today, I'm going to skip the rest of my questions to get to the one everyone is dying to know the answer to. If you had to choose one person to be stranded on a desert island with, you would choose...?
My mom.

Wait a minute. Your mom? The person you call "The Woman" and talk trash about all the time?
Yeah, that's her.

Why her?
Good point. I think I'm switching my answer to Katie or Taylor.

Well, coincidently we have an all-expenses paid trip to a desert island for you and a guest. The first person you name will be your only friend for the rest of your life. Who will it be?
I should probably call The Woman to let her know I'll be leaving...

Your mom it is! Thank you very much for joining us today. Enjoy your trip!

If I had any idea what to title this....I'd be a happy guy....

I quit football yesterday morning. My mom wasn't too thrilled with my decision because she (understandably) would rather see me finish something I started, but football just hasn't been as enjoyable as it used to be. Plus, there are other things that I could be doing with my time. The last couple days have been pretty good to me. I've looked for jobs in Blue Earth, but there's been nothing. I figured I'll probably have to go to Albert Lea to find something.

I've also kept my TV shut off (with the exception of Mike and Mike In the Morning on ESPN this morning) and dug into my Bible. I've actually been a lot more patient the last two days with my Bible than I have in my entire life. Usually I get really tired of the repetitiveness (see: Leviticus) and try to find new places to start reading. But now I've realized it isn't worth it to skip around so much, even when it gets boring.


Word from the Frontline: Daunte Culpepper dropped huge numbers on Carolina last night. I see more promise in him than I expected. Congrats to Nate on his pick in last night's League of Champions draft.

"You smell something Rabbit?"

"Yeah......fear......"

I'm not really afraid of anything major. I'm good with heights. No problems with spiders. I can look at a sock monkey without screaming. I was thinking today about what I'm actually afraid of, and I came up with one thing.

Jeopardizing

I'm not sure how to go into detail about this without sounding like a weirdo, but I'll do what I can.

My fear of jeopardizing comes up quite often. It could be something as small as jeopardizing a homework assignment by waiting until the last minute, or it could be as big as jeopardizing a friendship just because you don't see eye to eye on something either of you has done. No matter what it is, I just have a fear of jeopardy. I feel like I jeopardize a lot of things without even knowing it, and that just makes my fear worse.

No, this blog doesn't really have a point (or even make a ton of sense). It's just my random thought of the night, and now I should probably try to sleep before football practice.


Word from the Frontline: I'm almost sick of football. Just one more week of two a day practices, and then I'm pretty much home free.

"Even if saving you sends me to Heaven...."

I don't exactly have anything to blog about, so I'll just randomly spout off some facts of the day.

-- Birthdays today: Amanda Follmuth (18), Robert Redford (70), Edward Norton (37), Patrick Swayze (54), Denis Leary (49), Malcolm-Jamal Warner (36), Paker McKenna Posey (11)

-- Comedians I have talked about and/or watched today: Dane Cook, Jim Gaffigan, Pablo Francisco

-- Funniest sights of the day:
1) Coach Kuechenmeister (football head coach) shaving in the coaches' office this morning
2) Coach Kokos (line coach) giving Poopcup the finger
3) The reason behind the nickname "Curly" that was given to a teammate

-- My level of boredom on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high): 37.48

-- My class schedule (big thanks to Shayla for giving me something to blog about):

Quarter 1
Study Hall [??]
Accounting [Holmseth]
Chemistry [Schoenfelder]
Communication [Ehlers]

Quarter 2
Philosophy & World Religions [Frederickson]
Accounting [Holmseth]
Composition I [Alleven]
Chemistry [Schoenfelder]

Quarter 3
Study Hall [??]
Advanced Algebra [Rustad-Huisman]
Spanish III [Tietje]
AP European History [Duden]

Quarter 4
Nursery Landscaping [Niess]
Advanced Algebra [Rustad-Huisman]
Spanish III [Tietje]
AP European History [Duden]


Word from the Frontline: [complete silence]

Are you ready for some football?

I wasn't even close to ready for football when it started on Monday. I sat out the morning practice because I felt sick when I woke up, but I was ready to go for the night practice. It wasn't too bad at all. Yesterday's practices were probably about the worst. I felt like crap through both of them. And today, we got yelled at in the morning for having a slow pursuit drill, but tonight we got through 20 reps of footwork with the bags and boards in 4 minutes as an offensive line. Our coach told us that meant we could skip out on shuttles whenever we did them. Also tonight, we were doing countdowns from 90 for conditioning. I expected them to be horrible, but I felt great afterwards.

On the other side of things, there is no other side of things. Football is all I've been able to do lately. I had some of the same thoughts as Nate, but I'm going to stick it out for a while and see what happens.

Word from the Frontline: Name of my Buc Card sales team -- Goody's Gaybobs (led by coach Gudahl)
Name of my fantasy football team (when I finally create it) -- Goody's Gaybops; I just think it sounds better

Recap....

I'm just here to recap the last few days of my life, since this is the first time I've really been at a computer lately.

Wednesday
I took off to Mankato with my mom to meet my brother and continue our trip. We were headed to Arlington to drop my car off at Nate's. We left my car there, talked to Nate, Okon, and Brittany for a minute, then moved on to Belle Plaine. When we got there, we checked into the hotel, which wasn't too bad of a place, and then went to the funeral home with my grandparents for a visitation. I didn't know my aunt's dad really well, but it was good to be there to support the family and such. That night, I couldn't sleep very well. I slept from 12-2:16, then didn't fall back asleep until about 6. During that time, my brother was snoring and suddenly stopped, had an arm spasm that caused him to punch me, then started snoring again. Quite odd.

Thursday
I woke up at 8 and ate some cereal at the hotel, then we left for the funeral at the church. We had some time to kill, so we shopped around the thrift store and dollar store. I found a nice, never-been-worn dress shirt for something like $3. After the funeral we went out to the cemetery, then back to the church to eat. We had to leave there and head back to Arlington to meet Nate so I could ride with him to council. Turns out, we left a little later than expected and had to meet up with Nate in Mankato. We had an interesting ride to council that all started after Kimmy was late to meet with us in New Richland. We even had time to vacuum out Nate's truck. After the meeting, a bunch of us headed to Perkins. Quick side note: I apologize to Greg for the random sandwich that was put on his car. Nate apparently didn't want it anymore since it was the reason he didn't have enough money for a Moolatte or Perkins. I rode with Sarah, and we happened to almost get killed 3 different times. I think it was because we talked about car accidents the whole way to Owatonna. After Bob and Ben finally showed up, we were told to be quiet in no more than 5 minutes (no thanks to Bob's amazing awesome laugh). Ben made Ruth get out of bed to come see us, and he also stole her hat. We played some dice in the parking lot to see who would get shotgun. Kimmy won, but only by a point.

We dropped Kimmy off, then pulled off on a random gravel road. Nate almost took off while I was on top of his truck, but Curtis was still hanging onto the back when we did take off. Pretty humorous. Nate and I stayed up until about 2 that night, and on Friday....

Friday
Nate and I watched some "Next" on MTV for a while, then I headed home. On my way back, there was what I think was a garbage truck being sprayed down by fire hoses on some road that goes onto 169. It was pretty interesting. I dropped off Shayla's cooler that she had left with Nate, then came home. I hung out for a couple hours before I went to Relay for Life. On my way there, I stopped at Tommy's to get my CD's. He was really tired, and it showed when he called me 20 minutes later and asked if I had been at his house that day.

Relay for Life
It was a great time yet again this year. John convinced me to run around the course with him, and he was a great person to run with. He pushed me to run more than I wanted to, and I definitely thank him for it. I almost saran wrapped a car with its owner inside of it that night, but she realized it while I was doing it. As she got out, I started wrapping her. She tried walking away only to find out that there was saran wrap attached to the car that was holding her back.

Saturday
I went to get a free McDonalds breakfast with a couple people, then I came home and slept. I talked to Mariah for a few minutes about how mean I was to call her 5 times between 4:00 and 6:00 her time (in California), then I finally fell asleep. At about 4:00, I woke up and decided to get slightly cleaned up and ready to go. I finally got to Oswald's about 6:20, and we waited for folks to show up to the shindig.

Fiesta
We had a good time hanging out. We played some flag football when people were first there, and it eventually turned into flag tag. Pretty entertaining. When Hannah and Jen decided to leave, 5 of us jumped on the car and rode down the driveway. Matt surfed on the hood while I surfed on the roof. It was really fun. They gave us a ride back up to the house, but this time John joined in on the fun. After they left, we played "Ghetto Ultimate," using car lights because it was pretty dark out. Eventually, after a nice conversation about scary movies, we decided to take a walk through the trails in the woods. It was pretty interesting, and Kimmy was hyperventilating at one point. After everyone left, I helped Tommy and Melissa bring stuff inside before we had some cake. It was definitely the most heavily frosted cake I'd ever eaten.


And now, here I sit with no ambition to go to bed. I know I'm missing a lot of details about all these days. It's just that I'm not the type of person to remember all these things.

I started thinking about how much I don't want to start football, but it's going to happen in about 29 hours.

Tourists....

About 2 hours after my post about my morning bike binge, I was in the car heading towards Orange City, Iowa. I told my mom, "I'll fall asleep about 3/4 of the way to Blue Earth," (which is 12 miles away). I fell asleep about 1/4 of the way there. I woke up long enough in B.E. to tell her that I wanted a Dr. Pepper from Kwik Trip, then I fell back asleep.

The next thing I remember, we were pulling into O.C. We sat in the car for a few minutes, then went inside to sign in for the meeting. We watched a powerpoint on the school and then a video. In the video, there was a guy who looks a lot like Matt Reiter (who goes to NWC), but it definitely wasn't him.

After the little meeting, we started the tour of the campus. Our guide was new in the admissions office, and he is the new wrestling coach at Northwestern. There were a couple of times when he would crack jokes and say that he was passing the rest of the tour on to me. He did luck out in 2 of the buildings. In Coley (a male dorm), the RA from last year was in there and led us around. Then, when we got to the theater building, I told Cody (yes, I mean my brother) that our guide was new at the school. Our guide offered to let Cody give us the tour, and he did.

When that was done, we hung around in the Bultman Center while other prospective students met with teachers, coaches, etc. in the fields they were interested in. I was the only one of the 3 in my tour group that didn't need to meet with anyone, so my mom and I waited around talking to other people until Cody showed up. When he did, we went back to West and helped Cody's roommate for this year move in. Then we headed on home. I slept quite a bit on the way back, but I also did 3 scratch-off tickets for my mom and listened to most of the Twins game.

And yes, I did get my free t-shirt. It could make its first appearance at this week's council meeting.

Word from the Frontline: Number of people I talked to that knew Cody -- 2 or 3
One of them was a guy Cody stayed with during his tour this summer
A second was a girl he worked with somewhere
A third could be someone that was visiting NWC a day earlier that mentioned they knew him

No longer sleepless in Seattle....

For the last hour or so, I've been cooling down after an amazing 16 (or 18, not sure how it measured out) mile bike ride outside of town. I left a little after 6:00, started it on the hilly gravel, and I felt great the whole way. The only time I was uncomfortable and ready to quit was when I had to stop and turn around after my hat flew off. Stupid semis anyway.

The first song on my shuffling playlist was "Come and Listen" -- David Crowder Band. It was a great song to listen to while watching the most incredible part of the sunrise. The rest of the way was accompanied by a lot of sweet Christian rock: Anberlin, Sanctus Real, Run Kid Run, Seventh Day Slumber....the wonders music can do!

On that note, I should probably go shower and get ready to head off to NWC for a college visit. I don't really need to visit there after all the times I've been there already, but I'm doing it for 2 reasons:
1) To see if it'll help me decide if NWC is the right school for me
2) How can I pass up a free t-shirt?

Fiesta de Bricemeister

It was a good time tonight at Brice's house. I showed up a little before 8:00, and John Coffield was soon to follow. We hung out by the tree (Brice and John were in it) for a while, and then Amanda and Molly pulled in. They saw me hiding behind a tree, but they freaked out when they found Brice and John.

We hung around outisde playing with the frisbee and such, and then we gave up on it. Inside, we played pool, ping pong, and foosball. It was quite interesting. Then, Jenny and Lillie showed up. We hung around in the basement, and eventually we started up some Apples To Apples. I love that game, and I definitely got a couple of cards that fit me. Of course, all 10 of Amanda's were perfect for her. Kyree and Matt showed up about 10:45 or so, and we were still waiting on Kimmy. She eventually showed up with some Godfather's pizza for us.

Matt, Kyree, and Kimmy ended up spending an hour and a half in the bathroom chatting (with random visits from the rest of us). The rest of us jammed out to some sweet tunes in the basement. We thrashed a little, took pictures, and bummed around. It was a good time.

By the end of the night, most of us were hot and sweaty, be it from being shut in the bathroom or jamming. We also had a pyramid made of at least one of every kind of pop people drank. Most of it was Mountain Dew, a couple Diet Mountain Dew, a few Dr. Pepper, a Super Chill Strawberry, and the top was a Frappucino. I'll have the picture fairly soon.

Word from the Frontline: Number of green cards I had in Apples to Apples -- 6

Powerless

I meant to post this blog last night, but Frost lost power as soon as I got home. On that note, here it is.

Last night was a great time at Oswald's house for Tommy's birthday fire. As soon as the cupcakes showed up (provided by Shayla), I shoved one in Mariah's face. It was quite humorous. We hung out for a while, finally got the fire going, and eventually there were about 12 of us there. It started to get sort of quiet, so Brice pulled his car down and we jammed out to random music for a while. Kimmy and Shayla got me back for Mariah, and then Kyree did. So Tommy got Kyree back, and we had a great picture taken together. The NRHEG crew left, then the rest of us took off about a half hour later. It was a good time hanging out with those great people yet again.

Word from the Frontline: Number of babies born while I was in Mankato hospital today -- 1
I might've missed one during the 45 minutes that I was trying to sleep in the car, but I don't know.

Mission: Impossible?

For those of you who don't know, I have decided on a new mission in life. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do it, but I have to try.

Step 1: Find a harmonica to use
Step 2: I have no clue....maybe practice....

What is this mission?

It's to do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWWoZEl4oXA

Sorry I couldn't get the video to work on the blog. The code wasn't working out for me.

Music makes the people come together

As I watched the casting special for the new competition "StarTomorrow" today on NBC, I noticed the judge, David Foster, was picking his own personal likes and dislikes about music while listening to each competitor. With that, I started to think about a few of the things I love to hear when I'm listening to music.

1. Important, or powerful, lyrics being repeated later on in the album
-- I like this because it's just a cool way to get a message through. It can also be used to add a little flair to other songs.
Ex: Lyrics from a few different songs are repeated in "A" on Cartel's Chroma album

2. Album follows a storyline
-- This is always interesting to me because I think it's fun to kind of fit the storyline of the album into the day you had, or even your life so far. It also makes use of transitions between songs, which doesn't happen enough.
Ex: Chroma - Cartel

3. No chorus in the song
-- I'm not sure why I like this, but I think it sounds cool and makes the song a little more interesting.
Ex: "Folsom Prison Blues" - Johnny Cash

4. Random lyrics that don't fit the rest of the song
-- Again, I have no clue why I like this. It just makes for an interesting discussion and sometimes even a good laugh.
Ex: "Buckets for Bulletwounds" - House of Heroes

5. Background lyrics are amusing and fit song
-- Pretty much the same reason as above.
Ex: "A Million Ways" - Ok Go

6. Depressing tone with positive lyrics
-- I just think songs like this help show that there's a bright side to everything and that it's easy to make light of a situation.
Ex: "Ok" - MuteMath

That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there's more that I haven't discovered yet.

Word from the Frontline: Number of musicians I can say I really liked today on StarTomorrow -- 2, one of them was Jeff Coffee, and the other was a band with a name that I forgot

"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.

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

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