YARGLE ZARGEL BUCK

Shnil smenth candoket rimsflit.

Time For A Swingin'

Last night I went door-hanging from 645 until about 820. The weather was miserable but Andy, Christian, Kristy, Sarah, and I finished our entire neighborhood. When I got back to the church I was soaked and after I stopped being active I got the chills. Then I got a ride home with Mr. Ballard. Real exciting.

John

No fun

It's no fun being sick, and sick is what I am.

John

On A Clear Day

*Blink Blink* I stretch a little as I finally break away from the unconscious state of sleep into wakefulness. "What time is it?" I think to myself. I knew it was past 7 because I felt like I had been able to sleep in. I have a watch strapped to my wrist but I stretch out and peer of the side of my bed to the alarm clock on the windowsill instead. Its bright red LED display reads: 8:07. It felt later than that. I roll back into a proper position under my covers and think, hoping to fall back asleep, but by this time I'm fully awake. After a few minutes I get out out bed head downstairs hoping to find something to consume.

I finished breakfast and then commenced in doing nothing really important, with no desire to get dressed or get ready to do anything. Mom said we were going to get our Christmas tree today at ten thirty, but now it was only nine twenty-five and ten thirty seemed like a long time away. In less than two minutes, though, Adam said informed me that he would be running an errand shortly. After obtaining permission to accompany him I was dressed and ready to go in less than a minute; just goes to show what a little motivation can do for a person.

(I started this post on Sunday and I'm only now finishing it on Tuesday.)

Later that day we went out to the Christmas tree farm and after a half and hour we found the perfect tree in the way back of the lot. We got it and put it in the half-open trunk of the car and drove home.

Then we played Ultimate Frisbee, the most exhilarating game on the planet. It was a good game on a clear day. Because of the lack of time, motivation, and imagination I will now end this post with very little detail as to what happened for the rest of the day.

John

A Memory Of Light

I've been thinking recently about the twelfth book in The Wheel Of Time, the one currently in the making. So at the library today I got on the Internet and found out that it is called A Memory of Light and it won't be done until sometime in 2008. Two Whole Years, Oh my goodness. Oh well, I'll find something else to read in the meantime.

John

Snowfall

I've said before, you never know when the snow is going to fall, and that's true; this morning when I woke up it was snowing. Then the day began to clear and I thought it was going to be crisp and clear for the rest of the day. But later it began to snow again and this time the flakes were a lot bigger and there were a lot of them. After snowing for about 20 minutes it stopped and the sun came out, now you can't even tell that it snowed this morning.

John

Arrgh!

They chopped my word in half. What the doon.

John

Then & Now

It's a Thanksgiving tradition!

Ella and me

Swing and a Miss

Well hunting season is over and I have successfully failed. I would have preferred to fail at failing though. Anyway, Today was the last day of the season and Adam and I diligently went out in one last attempt to achieve our ultimate goal of possessing two bull elk. We started at a really great spot but the accumulation of all our efforts fell short of the mark. Game Over; Elk:1, Adam & John:0

John

Swing And A Miss

So far I have been hunting for four days and have not seen anything but a big cow elk, a small blacktail doe, and a coyote. The weather has been less the tolerable and I haven't had any good chances even to get were the elk are. I have two days left in the season; two more chances. We'll see how I do.

John

*Steer Clear*

Headache, pain, swelling, sleep deprivation, out of control, failure, soreness, cold, wet, soggy, dirty, tired, can't sleep, can't not sleep. That's my life.

John

Fill It Up, Regular

I have a full day today. At noon I have to be at the Expo Center for a gun show to pick up some ammo for my gun. After that, I'll be heading out to the woods to shoot and sight in my rifle. As soon as that's done I have to be home so I can get to a piano recital. Later, after the piano recital I'll being going to the house of the guy with whom I will be hunting tomorrow morning.

As you can see (unless you are absolutely blind, no offense Tim) I have and extremely busy afternoon, such that I don't have anytime for school. Oh Darn.

John

A Start

My life over the past week hasn't been terribly exciting but I figure I should at least summarize it for those of you who still visit this revamped yet still visitor lacking blog. My thanks to all of you who still do read it once and a while just keep me going.

Last week, on Thursday, I went to Westgate's first Varsity basketball game. I had never been to any high school basketball game before and it was a lot of fun, although at some points the gym was absolutely filled with noise. The Gators were playing against the Crusaders and the Gators ended up winning, that was good because it was their first game of this season. Throughout the whole game Julie wanted me to take a picture of one of the guys on the other team because she thought he was hot and I had my camera with me. During the game I couldn't get a good shot of him though, so after the game I stopped him and asked if I could take his picture. When I told him the reason he just thought it was funny and let me take a picture.

On Friday night we had the fall banquet at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville. Afterwards, some of the teens in the youth group went bowling at Tigard Bowl. We had a good time but once again I didn't do very well. At least this time I wasn't the worst one there. When we had finished I drove home and went to bed about midnight. I really wanted to go to Shari's where I knew that some of the others were going to be. But I had to get up early the next morning so I just went home. The following morning I woke up at 7:30 and I had to be at the church by 8 for the Men's and Young Men's Breakfast. It didn't take me long to get ready and go so I got there at about 10 'til. After the breakfast Pastor Bruce Hamilton gave a short challenge about how to walk in the light (1 John 1:7). He used an acrostic of the word WORSHIP to as the outline. Wait on the Lord. Offer yourself to Him. Repent of sin. Surrender your will. Holiness is required. (I actually can't remember what "I" was for right now). Praise Him. After he had finished I helped clean in the kitchen until everything was done; then I got a ride home with Mr. Ballard. I spent the rest of the afternoon making stuffed Focaccia bread for the youth activity at the Ellis's house. At 4 I got a ride from church with Mr. Bickle to the activity. I had a pretty good time during the afternoon and evening. The only interesting thing that I did was volunteering for a game were I was blindfolded and had to guess the flavor of baby food that was being spoon-fed to me. Then Pastor Hamilton spoke to us on his burden that he has for Christian young people to reach out to the lost youth of the world. Afterwards, when I was supposed to be helping clean up I was in the back of the house brushing the horse that the Ellis's have. Then I got a ride back to the church and from there got a ride home.

On Sunday, following church and lunch, I went to G.I. Joe's to get my general season Elk hunting tag. Then I drove, in the rain, back to the church for evening service.

Upon coming home I had some food then got ready for bed. Proceeding sleep I lay in bed reading my Bible and studying for Bible quizzing. I had the window open a bit and the wind was chill and it howled through the gap; it reminded me of being on the mountain snowboarding. I hope toward the day that the season actually opens and I can finally go snowboarding. But for now I will have to wait and buy snowboard boots.

Thanks for reading about my boring life, whoever you are. You make this all worthwhile.

John

The Best Website

Anna just showed the ultimate website. Everybody needs to visit the Scottish version of wikipedia at sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.

John

Strike or Strike Out?

On Friday I went bowling with Kevin and L.J. L.J. was driving his minivan and he just loves to take the most random ways to get to were he is going. Anyway, we got to the bowling alley and Kevin told the guy at the counter that he would need to rent shoes and that I wanted to rent little boy shoes; so I got "little boy" shoes. Actually it was pretty funny because when he asked us what size we wanted I said "eight" and Kevin said "thirteen." To reduce all the gory details I'll just say that I didn't do too well. It was only my second time bowling in my life and I didn't start off well. But Kevin and L.J. weren't doing exceptionally well either. Nevertheless, we had a pretty good time. When we finished up the guy at the counter (who looked just like a guy I know named Mike Roe that I go hunting with) drained all the money out of my pockets and we went over to Arby's. Kevin and L.J. ordered and then I borrowed some of Kevin's coupons to get some curly fries and a small roast beef sandwich. But I knew I was going to be eating when I got home so I didn't care about not getting very much. Besides, the food at home is free. Then L.J. got a call on his cell phone so he left the table. When he was gone Kevin and I decided that that would be the right time so steal L.J.'s milkshake. While Kevin was chugging milkshake as fast as he could L.J. was trying to describe him to his girlfriend, Kathy, on the phone, it sounded something like this: yeah, Kevin's like me but taller, whiter, and uglier.....AND he's drinking all my milkshake! At that very point in time Kevin could contain himself no longer and he almost sprayed milkshake out his nose. Fortunately for both of us he didn't, for if he had it would have gone all over me. Instead he just lost it out of his mouth, back into L.J.'s cup. L.J. quickly terminated the phone call and rejoined us at the table. When we left Arby's it was still raining pretty steadily as we made out way back to Kevin's house to drop him off. Once again, L.J. took some of the more random routes that probably increased to total trip time by 15 minutes or more, but I'm sure he'll never admit to them being inferior to Kevin's or my way. After dropped off Kevin L.J. took me home with a short detour to the Domino's to pick up some empty pizza boxes for the fundraising table we were going to do the next day.

All in all we had a pretty good time, laughing and making fun of each other. I did pretty terribly at bowling but it was only my second time and it's no real life skill anyway, so I'm not disappointed.

John

Steve Llyod, Christopher Lloyd, and Pink Floyd and What They Have in Common

Alright, I confess, Steve Lloyd, Christopher Lloyd, Pink Floyd have next to nothing common. But I'm sure that the title made you think.

Turning now to real life. I went to Lloyd Center today with Anna, Evan, and Sara. The main reason we went was that Evan wanted to go to Aeropostale to get some black polos but I went along anyway. I like Aeropostale and you never know what you might find at the mall for the upcoming Christmas season; so I went along. The ride across town was enjoyable, sort of. It was raining heavily all afternoon, which I like, and the traffic was heavy so the going was steady but we had to slow down a little bit heading into downtown. At Aeropostale I got a long sleeved polo but that was it. I really wanted to go to J. Crew but Lloyd Center doesn't have one; can you believe the outrage. I had actually never been inside Lloyd Center before today and I'm not really impressed; personally I like Washington Square better. When everyone had finished their shopping we went back to the car and I drove home. Pretty exciting huh? It was raining again on the way home but it was more on and off.

On Tuesday we didn't want to deal with any of the little Halloween creatures that inherently show up at your door on October 31st for some reason, so we decided that we would stop Evan's Starbucks and take a picture of him in his Halloween get-up. After ordering a Cappuccino we drove to the mall in the gail force winds to see if we could accomplish some pre-emptive Christmas shopping. I had a pretty good time despite all the little Supermans and Grim Reapers. I visited the Oakleys store and the Helly Hansen, but my favorite store is definitely J.Crew. We picked up Evan from work after closing then went home. What fun.

John

Shiny Like the Sun

Alright, so my new look isn't quite as shiny as the sun but I'm sure you can tell that I have revamped blog. Upgrading to Blogger Beta was the best decision I've made for my blog since it was created. Yeah, I know it looks pretty shwanky.

I just realized that this is my first entry in November. Happy November Everyone!

John

*Bip*

My thougt bubble has finally popped.

I pretty much lead a random life. You never know when the snow's gonna fall.

John

Snow Dudes

Snow Dudes
Originally uploaded by bertintheturtle.

This pic was taken during the 2005-2006 snowboarding season. I'm looking forward to the 2006-2007 snowboarding season with visceral anticipation.

The one on the left is the better snowboarder, the one on the right just likes to pose for pictures.

John

Climbing on Expirements

This us at Timberline Lodge on Anna's birthday....while she was in Texas. I know we had a good time on Anna's birthday.

P.S. I'm just expirementing with different photo-blogging methods.

Project time

Project time, originally uploaded by bertintheturtle.

......And this is a picture of me and Laura again taken in October 2006. I do like the changes that have been made......but I'm not sure about the bonnet.....

Laura and John

Laura and John, originally uploaded by bertintheturtle.

I thougth that I would do a comparison of two photos; one from the past and one from recently. This picture was taken in May 2005.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!
Originally uploaded by bertintheturtle.

Tim, I thought you might enjoy this one. This picture was taken Thanksgiving 2005.

Camp Bum

Camp Bum
Originally uploaded by bertintheturtle.

I really like this picture.

John

I Donno...

I Donno...
Originally uploaded by bertintheturtle.

Do I look like I know everthing?

John

A comparitively small bubble

A comparitively small bubble
Originally uploaded by bertintheturtle.

I took this pic on the way home the day after the Spiritual Emphasis Retreat. As a side note I have blown bubbles that are twice as voluminous and larger.

John

Oktober Fest

As the month of October is creeps to a close, so closes my job up at the Jaffe's as the gardeners assistant.  And I'm not sad about it.  As soon as I started school it just became a burden to keep going up there every week.  The plus sides of continuing working was that I continued to get a paycheck which I may miss.  I think that I have enough money to get me through this upcoming snowboarding season.  I will, however, continue working at the stables to keep a small amount of cash flow just in case I want some spending money.

I was very encouraged by the BJU team that came to church and school and spent time talking with us and answering questions.  Ever since Mike Shrock came to the Spirit Emphasis Retreat I've been thinking about going to BJU for college and I really think that that is what I want to do after high school.  I know that the Lord's work done in the Lord's time will not lack His provision.

I got an email from Scott Dean today and that was a good encouragement.  I always like to hear from Scott, and it helps me to know how to pray effectively.

Oh, as you may notice I no longer have a tagboard so leave a comment on one of my posts, I'd love to hear from you.  That's all for now folks.

John

--
Play Beautiful

P.S.

I think my tagboard expired.

John

--
Play Beautiful

Withdrawls

I haven't played frisbee in a week.  I need to play.  I can barely think coherently.  I...need...frisbee...

John

--
Play Beautiful

Priorities Football and Ultimate Frisbee

My blogging really has slowed down recently, partly due to the fact that I am so busy, also because I'm not really motivated to write.  But after very little encouragement from Jeremy (see tag board) I have concluded to write an update.

Lately I've noticed that things don't seem normal, things aren't so standard and everything doesn't seem sure. Nothing really significant, but it just seems like things are shifting.  After some thought applied I've come sort of to the conclusion that I've been having some problems setting myself priorities.  I can't really describe it but I'll try to give an example.  On Saturday we played Ultimate Frisbee, but this week I didn't organize it.  Generally I set up games because I like to play but this time Tim had asked me about getting a game on.  People kept coming to me asking if there was going to be a game soon but I never really had an answer; I never really got on the ball.  I don't know why, I just wasn't motivated to set a game up.  So I was kind of surprised when Tim set a game and called all the people together to play.  The game was awesome and I had a great time, and I think I'm sort of reset in my zeal, but for a time there I was almost indifferent.  If that hasn't helped you get some what of a little clue as to what's going on then I can't help you understand.

Moving on from that here is a line up of what I've been doing lately:
On Friday I went to work in the morning, then I rode my bike the ten miles home in 40 minutes so I could go to Tim's varsity football game down in Salem.  They didn't end up winning but Tim played a great game; and he didn't even know I was gonna be there.  So after I got home that night at about midnight I slept until 7 then slept again until 8.5.  Upon completing my household tasks and cleaning up the garage I headed off for the first Ultimate Frisbee game that I'll have played since the school year started.  All I care to say about the game is: Great day, Great game, I'm totally ready to play again.  At home I dug up a tree and moved it to another spot in my mom's garden.  Sunday I went to church as usual, then I played a board game with the other chillens, then I watched the Seahawks swamp the NY Giants before I went to church.

That's pretty much everything for now.  On a final note I have been struggling with myself on being punctual to things like church service and meetings and I wrote a three paragraph essay on punctuality yesterday for writing.  That's everything.

John


--
Play Beautiful

Nehalem Camping Trip

Camping was so much fun this week. We just got back from Nehalem with the Nutters and Chris for three days. We played in the dunes and on the beach. I met some new people and saw some horses. Rode bike with Luke to Manzanita and got amazing donuts. Pretty much we had an awesome time. Ask me about it sometime.

John

Double Trouble

So I started work a two weeks ago and it's been a lot of fun. If you want to hear stories about it you'll have to ask me in person. I can't really explain it all on my blog.

On another note, I just got back from the beach with the youth group at church and it was really fun. More stories about that later, maybe. Or you can ask my in person (or on the phone). I also went to the beach on Thursday with just a few families, and that was even more fun, even thought it was a bit windy. Anyway, lots of fun going on in my life right now, I'll talk to you all later.

John

--
Joga Bonito

The Last Days Are Coming

There is so much to write about and not enough time to write about, or even remember, all that has been going on.  Nevertheless, I will do my best to try and recall and record.

I'll start with the most major of event first.  Camping at Tumalo.  It was  so much fun!  Everyday we would go swimming in the river; down and up the rapids.  Also we played Ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, and soccer.  All the guys would stay up late talking and playing MTG, and when Josh and Mark got there on Friday, we would stand around while Josh told hilarious stories about cars and driving and stuff.  I'm so glad that Jeremy made the choice to come with the Meigs, it just wouldn't have been the same without him.  There was one disappointing thing though, Rachel wasn't able to come.  She didn't come at the beginning of the week because of a previous commitment and when she was supposed to come at the end of the week with Dena it was called off for a couple of reasons.  I would have to say that it was more disappointing for Rachel than for me though; I know she was looking forward to coming out.  We also went to Starbucks about 4 or 5 of the days while we were there.

This week I've been working for the Kieffers.  I worked three days doing some basic yard work.  On the last day (yesterday) I had to dig a little trench which envolved choppoing a bunch of pretty good-sized roots.  After I finished that, we drove over to Alternate Universe and I finally got Pirate's Cove.  Then last night we went over to the Jones' House with the Schmidt's and had dinner, went swimming, and played Pirate's Cove until about 11:00.

Other than all of that I haven't been doing much besides working at home and relaxing.

John

--
Joga Bonito

Ballet With The Ball: A Love Story

Why do we fall in love with soccer? What happens? At some deep level the reason soccer snags us is that good soccer is beautiful, and it's difficult, and the two are related. A team kicking the ball to each other, passing into empty space that is suddenly filled by a player who wasn't there two seconds ago and who is running at full pelt and who without looking or breaking stride knocks the ball back to a third player who he surely can't have seen, who, also at full pelt and without breaking stride, then passes the ball, at say 60 miles an hour, to land on the head of a fourth player who has run 75 yards to get there and who, again all in stride, jumps and heads the ball with, once you realize how hard this is, unbelievable power and accuracy toward a corner of the goal just exactly where the goalkeeper, executing some complex physics entirely without conscious thought and through muscle-memory, has expected it to be, so that all this grace and speed and muscle and athleticism and attention to detail and power and precision will never appear on a score sheet and will be forgotten by everybody a day later—this is the strange fragility, the evanescence of soccer. It's hard to describe and it is even harder to do, but it does have a deep beauty, a beauty hard to talk about and that everyone watching a game discovers for themselves, a secret thing, and this is the reason why soccer, which has so much ugliness around it and attached to it, still sinks so deeply into us: Because it is, it can be, so beautiful.

No country tries as hard or as consistently to play beautiful soccer as Brazil. It's an ideological thing. That is why Brazilian players are so loved. Not in South America, of course, where they have the status of a regional sporting superpower, but by pretty much everyone else in the world. In fact, the Brazil soccer team is unique in sports in being an example of a beloved overdog. In general, sports fans, and especially soccer fans, hate the overdogs (Real Madrid in Spain, Juventus in Italy, Manchester United/Chelsea in England). But Brazil, the only team to have won five World Cups, the only team to have won it playing away from its own continent, is loved. So a great many soccer fans have, at the national level, two teams: their own, and Brazil. It is the only favorite that's a favorite.

John Lanchester

--
Joga Bonito

Yo

Hey, here is another update.  Tim just got back from Bandon for his family vacation and he said that he was really bored.  So we're playing frisbee tomorrow because he has minor surgery on Wednesday.  On Tuesday I might work for Mrs. VanderVelde and my soccer cleats come from Eurosport.  On Wednesday we get ready and leave for Family Camp at Canby Grove Conference Center.  Thursday and Friday are spent at Family Camp and then Anna come home.  Woohoo!  So that's kinda what my week looks like for now.

John

 

P.S. I got talked to by the pastor for taking cookies for from the kitchen that weren't mine.

--
Impossible Is Nothing.

World Cup Soccer

The tournament is over and Italy has earned their 4th world cup title.  I really wanted Germany to win but by some fluke Italy beat them.  All in all the experience was enjoyable though.  In a way this was my first world cup as a true fan, and what a cup to start on.  A month things that weren't supposed to happen.  Ghana beating the 2nd in the world Czech Republic in group play, uncalled for red and yellow cards by the refs, and the "invincible" Brazilian team finds out that even the sissy French can beat them.  Nevertheless,  I really had a good time following all the matches and upsets of the tournament.

 

In 2010 the FIFA World Cup will be played in South Africa, and then the USA will rise to the top.  And then the world will know that Football/Soccer is an american game.

 

John

Developments In The War On Terror

As many of you probably know by now, earlier this week intel came from inside Iraq on the location of Al-Zarqawi, one of the leading powers and threats in the insurgency.  Two US F-16s diverted of there current mission and dropped twp 500 lb. bombs on Zarqawi's "safe-house."  No more Al-Zarqawi.  Later, teams of soldiers and forensics people went in and found the body of Zarqawi, indentifying scars and thumb prints, forensics are looking for info on other safe houses and hide outs of terrorists.  Actually, later on the same day we hit Zarqawi, seventeen other ops were made against the insurgency, and many more are expected.  The persistent efforts of our troops in Iraq have produced the definitive results that only those that are in the right place at the right time can produce. They were not at home in the states. They were not in Japan waiting for some lucky intelligence to fall in their laps. They were deployed in a hostile area ready to fight and do what is necessary.

 

I thought I'd let you all know the good news.

 

John

--
Impossible Is Nothing.

Profile Picture

Hey I want you opinion. Does the profile picture look bad because of pixelation or does it look fine?

John

Ultimate Camping Trip

OMIGOSH!!!  We had such an amazing trip!  We played Ultimate Frisbee in the the rain and I had a spectacular 4 to 9 come back; that was right after I had a 3 to 9 come back on the Wednesday before.  Then on the next day we tried to play again but got into an ultimate fight instead.  Then on the last night some of us stayed up until 4 in the morning talking and hanging.  It was so much fun!

 

Bonnie I really miss you, I want you to come to a frisbee game some time.

 

John

--
Impossible Is Nothing.

Heat Wave

Here is my update.  I have played frisbee in 80 + degree weather and Evan graduated yesterday.  I sang with some other guys for the graduation and then today I had a piano recital.  Working in the garden and working out.  Eating only when I'm actually hungry, and then only uber reasonable amounts.  I'm trying to shed all my extra weight, every last bit.  I've lost a lot already but I want to be lean.  So there's my update.  There is a certain person that I miss a whole ton and don't get to see; you know who you are and really miss you.  Anyway, I'll talk to you all later.  Now that the weather is sort of mellowing out we shall have to play Ultimate Frisbee again soon.  See some of you at Champoeg.

 

John

--
Impossible Is Nothing.

Update

Hey all.  Recently I've been trying to get over what seems to be cold.  I'm over the worst of it but I still have a cough every now and then.  I had state testing this week on Monday and Tuesday and I guess I did okay, but I haven't gotten the results yet.  On Tuesday, after testing, I went bowling for the first time in my life and did pretty well.  I got five strikes!  I got free socks too.  After that we played Ultimate Frisbee; I haven't play in so long!  I can't wait until we play again.  After Frisbee I went to church for outreach.  Kevin and I walked all around for a couple hours hanging door-hanger pamphlets on, you guessed it, peoples doors.  I don't even know how many hangers I hung, but it was a lot.  Anyway, I went to work in the afternoon yesterday and then went to church in the evening.  Today I did school and went to the Mortimer's with Luke.  Tomorrow I will be helping L.J.'s grandpa move his shop and then we will be having a music time in the evening: I might even be the first to play.  Anyway, I'll talk to you all later.  I've got to go now.

 

John

Sleeper

Dreamer or Sleeper?  I just got done watching the movie "Dreamer."  I had fun making fun of it.  I mean, it was a pretty good movie and all, but I don't like Dakota Fanning.  She's a little girl with spunk, I don't like spunky female actors.  She's really not that great of an actor; despite what everybody on the special features says about her.  She playes the role of a daughter but she doesn't barely act like a daughter at all throughout the entire movie.  She acts like an actor, a child actor no less.  Eefn;akgnaz.Ahenio!!!!!  (This represents my frustration).  I know what I think in my head but I don't have the words to write it down with!  I don't like female actors who have to act a certain way to fill the role.  Now, I can't explain it exactly, as I just stated in the previous sentences.  Like in the most recent Alien Verses Predator, the lead role was that one black chick who was all uppity and and and... spunky is the only word that I can think of, and I thought it was dumb.  The same goes for little miss Fanning.  Don't like her.

 

Other than that, the movie was fine, predictable, but fine.  The horses wear great but and it was based on a true story, other than that it was a sleeper.

 

If I have somehow missed something, please leave a comment and I would love to ammend the error, for our mutual understanding.  Farewell, and goodnight.  I'll talk to you in the morning.

 

John

Touch Not the Cat But a Glove

Crumbling

Why does it suddenly seem that my world is crumbling around me? Why does it seem as if everything I've tried so hard to build up is falling apart? Is this actually happening? Or am I imagening things? Am I read tones and meaning into things that weren't intended by the writer? Am I reacting too strongly to something that was meant for nothing? Maybe it was just an oversight. Or was it just viewed as inconsequential by writer? Agh! I just wanted to die today, but I know that isn't the solution. My death would only cause more pain on others. At least, I hope it would. Maybe I've changed so much that my death wouldn't be missed as much as it used to be. Have I said enough? Or have I said to much? Have I become a burden to be borne? Has my existance become a reproach to my friends?

I'm sorry.

John

Operation Market Garden

Lately I've been really busy. Some people say that February is the most lax time of the year; the time with the most free time. They are liars. February has been the busiest time since last summer for me. First of all, I'm doing school and that's no easy task. I used to be really quick with all my responsebilities, but now my school work is increasingly more difficult so I'm not so quick. Second: as the winter season is coming to an end, I'm trying to get as much snowboarding in as possible, or more. I'm also trying to take my new snowboard out on a date before the season ends. Third: Tim Makin, a close friend of mine, recently inflicted upon himself a painful injury that has limited his ability to get out much, so I've been trying to visit him as much as possible. Fourth: I need money and a work expirience, so I just started a job with a friend at a tax place thingy. I mostly make copies and compile files of tax-returns. It's been pretty good so far, but I have yet to see how it's going to be in the weeks to come. However, any thing that will help fund my obsessions is a welcome opportunity. Last of all, I've been watching the Olympic coverage whenever I can, so I've been staying up late and getting up early, couple that with being the busy man that I am and I get pretty tired.

As you can see, I've been a pretty busy boy, and I don't see much relief in the near future. I'm having fun with it all, but I can't say what Mom thinks about me being so busy though... She doesn't like me being busy all the time. Anyway, I have something I've got to go do. Talk to you all some time. Feel free to give me a call some time. I'd love to hear from anyone.

John

BLAHG BLAHG BLAHG

I was going to blog about the Super Bowl and the Seahawks sad defeat, but all of that seems so trivial now. I just read Rae's tagboard and Peter's post and Everything I was going to say doesn't really matter now. Anyway, I want it to be true, and I don't know why it shouldn't be, but I don't want to be hurt again.

Yesterday, Sunday the 5th, was the two year anniversary of my father's death. I really do miss him. It's not just that Ed Bower is gone, it's that I don't have a father (on this earth) anymore. I had been thinking about it a lot, and when the day finally came I didn't even realize until late in the evening talking to some girls at church.

I'm tired, I'll talk to you all later.

John

Football, games, papers, phone calls

That is pretty much what my life was like yesterday. After doing school, LJ came over and we played tag football in the street in the rain in the wind in the cold. I was soaked through and I wasn't happy with how I preformed. My hands were frozen and wet, so I couldn't catch anything. No excuses though, I didn't do well. Then we all came in and LJ played and lost Stratego to Adam. He went home and we had dinner and all that. Then Mom and Anna left for there quilting meeting thingy. Adam took James to the Nutter's, Sara was at AWANA, and I was at home with Laura; writing a paper. So from about 6:50 until about 8:45 I was writing a paper at the computer listening to music. At about Nine I tried calling Rachel, but she didn't want to talk to me. I then tried calling Bonnie, which I haven't done enough lately. But she was talking her other John, and it was a call from Texas so I let her have it. So I was at home with no one to call and nothing to do but read. So right when I was about to start. I noticed that I had some laundry to do on my bed, so I did that first. Then Mom got home, and I started getting ready for bed. I did 100 push-ups and then 100 sit-ups. Then lay in bed for a 30 minutes until I drifted off to sleep. This morning I practiced my piano then did Physics. Then I got on my computer and finished updating my profile on my blog. Doing a bunch of other internet stuff, I also uploaded a bunch more Flickr photos. Now as I'm writing, the Al Qaeda bus just drove by our house (if you wanna know what that is, you'll have to ask me in person). I also discovered an unreleased version of Farewell To Arms by Five Iron.

John

Great, They're going okay!

Aaah. I had piano lessons today, probably the best lessons since my last great ones.

NEWS FLASH!! We just found out that our car engine is burning oil; which, bye the way, is not good.

And I was going to write more, but now we are going out to dinner for Sara's birthday.

John

Changes

Well, I haven't posted in a while but I am at the computer and I thought I would right something short. I don't if anyone still checks my blog anymor , but I'm gonna find out. Anyway, I got a hair cut yesterday and I really like it, but I get the feeling that Rachel is going to hate it. 1/8th of and inch on the the side and 4/8ths on top. Almost a Marine haircut but not completely bald on the sides. Last night there was a Junior high activity at our church that Adam, Evan, and I helped out with. The name of the game is The Hunt, and the point to find ping-pong balls in the dark with nothing but a Ultra-Violet (Black) light. Adam and Evan were being raiders, scaring the groups and stealing ping-pong balls, and I was a team leader. Long story short, my team dominated; hard-core. With a total of 8000 points and the nearest guy team at 5300, we were head and shoulders above everyone.

I've been working out lately, as much as I can at home. I don't have a pull-up bar some I can't do any of those. But I do push ups and sit ups every night. It's working, I can tell.

I watched Anne Of Avonlea last night, I don't know why. It was long and I had to stay up unitll 11:30 to finish it. Some parts of it I really liked, just because of the similarities (with tweaking) to my own life, sometimes. I'm glad Anne turned down Gilber the first time he proposed. She had good reasons, and it kind of justifies what I have to do.

Anyway, I'll right more later.

John