Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Staying Afloat

Tonight the whirlpool touched the ocean floor. I'm cascading with the current... splashing around helplessly... thrashed by debris.... desperate gasps for sweet, sweet air chopped into desolate pieces as I sputter in the salty water. The ocean's falling faster now, its belly gliding smoothly down the shores, and down, and down, and splash! back up again! And down, and down, sculpting the sand, naked and wet, to the figure of the receding tide. And now, as wildly as the clouds roared in so many months ago, as violently as the torrents poured down on me and swept me away, the ocean lays me down, breathless and beaten (but alive and oh, so well) on the soft, soggy mattress that will soon become dry land again. And lying, back pressed firmly against my beloved terra, my chest heaving up and down like my turbulent captor, the sea, the corners of my lips turn up ever so slightly. I'm gazing so far out into the universe, my eyes reflect the glow of moonlight and stars I can't even see, and tonight, right now, I own this moment.



I haven't written in so long. It feels incredible. If you can't tell, this is an allegory; and no, it's not about sex :P. Believe it or not, I was just talking about this semester ;-) Hope you didn't hate it too much! :P (Gah! Must use less emoticons in blog....)

I'll be back. I can see it in the moon, reflected with the midnight sky onto the icy pond behind me.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Peek-a-boo!

An interesting question:

Does the greater Middle East have a comparative advantage over the United States in crude oil production?


I know I'm in(ternet)cognito these days, but I'm focusing on kicking ASS in school. Week 1 is finished and I have perfect attendance. ROCK!

I might update my reading list later, but if anybody is interested, I'm on my way to the library to get Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. I'll post my schedule here in the next few days (namely when I get my apartment set up and my computer plugged in. Yes, that's right, I haven't set my computer up yet. That's how many computers there are on Purdue's campus!) I LOVE THIS PLACE!


BOILER UP!

Monday, July 31, 2006

100%

God, I'm going to miss this place, but not that much.

Huntington tomorrow. If you're on my A-list, you'll get a call.

This is surreal. I can't believe it's ending just as quickly as it began.

If I thought I was dedicated this year, I'm about to switch into uberfocused mode.

I'll try to catalogue my incredibly healthy life choices here, both for motivational purposes and future reference. I shall start by reading my text books and studying as much Italian as possible with this Rosetta Stone software.

I'll post my schedule soon.

Tonight, I sleep. Tomorrow, I win.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Emotion Reloaded... Cha Cha Cha

Laundry's done. Apartment's mostly packed. Work's winding down. Condy's in Asia.

All's well.


I have my first modeling gig (is that what we call them?) this weekend for Express. It's kind of a joke, but I need money and at least I get to see some of my friends before I move. I keep telling people I'm banking on getting discovered so I can drop out of school and move to New York and become anorexic. Minus the anorexia, that would be sweet. (Don't hold your breath.)

Let's see... I'm going salsa dancing tonight! Cha cha cha! I'm definitely going to miss Evansville. It's funny that I finally started to wake up again socially toward the end of the year. I guess the summer heat will do that to ya. I actually started a song last night about it. It's called "Reloaded". Basically, it's about a guy who spends a long time being emotionally exhausted because of a bad relationship.... Actually, it's not about that part at all. I know some of you have experienced this.... After just being completely introverted for a long time, the ice starts to thaw and you begin to feel like you can have fun for the first time in ages. Thing is, when you start to have fun again, you begin to realize (or at least I began to realize) that the gun that shot you in the first place is loaded again, and now that you're putting yourself in front of it again, you have to wonder when there's going to be another bullet in the chamber.

I didn't actually write too much of the song last night... I just had the idea for it. I like "another bullet in the chamber". That needs to be in there. Good thing I put it on the internet. COPYRIGHT!

Ok, guys. I'm at my buddy Josh's finishing up my laundry for FREE! (Thanks, J Z) It's time to go drink cocktails. One mustn't be sober when one is dancing merengue. ;-)

Holla!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

o/` Tied Up and Twisted, The Way I'd Like to Be o/`

She totally crashed into me... I couldn't have seen it coming. I couldn't have stopped it. Of course, I probably have no chance of keeping her, but it sure was nice being crashed into. I needed that.

You hear that? If you're reading this, you're beautiful. Your paintings are like nothing I've ever seen. Your personality is as radiant as your smile. I'm sorry I didn't meet you sooner, and now I'm leaving, and I have no idea if I'll ever see you again. I can deal with that--there's a lot of future ahead of me, God willing--but man, oh, man. Where did YOU come from?

This is kind of what it felt like.



Hahaha.... That's all you can really do at a time like this. Laugh out loud. And be thankful to the core that you can laugh. I know I am.

Well, then, now that that's out of the way, I'm sure you're all wondering where my political commentary is. I'll give you the Reader's Digest version for now. The end of the world is upon us. More next week.

No. On second thought, I don't have anything else to say tonight. I'm pretty sure I just opened this window to vent about a girl. Maybe it's the stress of moving that's getting to me. I don't know. God, she's hot.

Oh, yeah! For those of you who don't know, I received official notice from Purdue that I now have in-state tuition. If you'll recall, this has been a long time coming for me, and Friday, when I found out, was probably one of the happiest days of my life. I move to West Lafayette this weekend. Look out!

Good ol' summer. Red hot days and white hot nights, and the moon climbs the midnight sky once more.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

And the Espy Goes To...

I hope to chronicle "Road Trip 2k6" here in the next few days. There should be plenty of pictures and stories to fill in a whole slew of posts. The only missing ingredient here is the dedication of the author (me). Since it's been what seems like ages since I've thrust my thoughts upon the internets, I doubt I have very many readers.

Prove me wrong. Motivate me.

You may ask yourself, "If Adam is having a hard time feeling motivated to write about his trip, why does he suddenly feel motivated enough to write about writing about it?"

Actually, you probably aren't asking yourself that. That was a complicated, jumbled, inefficient thought.

Point is, though, that something else inspired me to poke my head into the world wide web. This Jason McElwain kid, J-Mac, is incredible. I just wanted to share this picture with anybody who wanted to see it. I don't know about you, but it gives me the chills. Not the creeped out chills, but the ones I get when I see ginormous fireworks exploding across a patriot sky. Good chills. Kiss that Espy, killer. You earned it.



Blogging is so therapeutic. I should do it more often.

Friday, June 09, 2006

With a Huff and a Puff...

I watched a movie tonight.... First time I've done that in a long time. It was interesting. The jury's still out on whether I liked it. I'm tryin' to grok it.



One thing's for sure, though. Brothers Grimm.....


Will Grimm: I've been thinking of an alternative career path. One that uses all of our new expertise.
Jacob Grimm: Will.
Will Grimm: I haven't sorted it yet...
Jacob Grimm: Will, this is the real world. We-we're men without a country, we're enemies of the state, and worst of all we haven't a single bean to our names.
Will Grimm: It's a good name, though, isn't it?
Jacob Grimm: It's a damn good name.*


* (Emphasis mine)

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Peacenation

Serenity is paramount.

My phone doesn't work. Aside from building a boat dock, a ramp, and a few fires, I have no responsibilities whatsoever. I have no schedule. I don't have to worry about money, people, noise, pollution..... pretty much the only concern I have is for the bugs. I'll survive them though.

Lake Michigan is absolutely gorgeous. The weather is impeccable. The flight in was quick and uneventful (which is usually better than the alternative). I can feel my chest relaxing for the first time in months. I kicked up dirt on the shores of Lake Michigan this morning. It's a little more awe-inspiring than the Ohio.

Honestly, I couldn't be happier right now. I'm going to go play the guitar or read or indulge some other guilty pleasure I never find time for in the "real world". Catch ya on the flip side.

I'll be camping tonight when the moon kisses the midnight sky.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Hi, My Name Is

All sorts of crazy goings on today.... I got my official acceptance letter at Purdue (for the second time), I got a pretty cool compliment at work which I'll have to tell you about later, I made some good money, I found people to cover all my shifts so I can head to West Lafayette tomorrow, Donovan confirmed that he will indeed graduate, and I just helped my new neighbors Jason and Clara(??) set up their network.... They apparently noticed my Computers Plus uniform a few times and knocked on my door tonight to ask for help. No harm, no foul. They're cool folks anyway.

Today rocked.

Now, I should go pack. Please note that the primary purpose of this post was to help me remember their names, but I've already forgotten dude's wife's name. Why am I terrible with names?

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

The Wind Up

If I had a summer to speak of, this would be it. That's right, I'm less than 3 months away from West Lafayette, IN. Work's going well, I've got some pretty sweet vacation lined up for the next couple of months, and then I've got to redirect all my energy into academia.

Milton wrote a dissertation on his idea of an ideal education. I won't bore you with the gory details, but I was interested and pleased that he included physical exercise, diet, and theological study as integral parts of the broader whole. His school varied little from those of Aristotle, Isocrates, Plato, Galileo Galilei, and the host of poets, philosophers, and kings who were raised under their tutelage. These aren't men who "took themselves too seriously" as a principle. Prima facie, they took the world seriously and made serious endeavors to wield what knowledge it presented them to forge for mankind its future. From the die of their lives we have cast the blazons of intelligence, fortitude, temperance..... These are not emblems to be cast down and forgotten, nor to be worshipped as unattainable idols of men before our time. They are a compass-head for those men and women willing to sacrifice comfort, fortune, and companionship to the glory of God and His creation.

How's that for letting go of myself? Come to think of it, how cowardly is that? And what a tragic shame.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

I Fear, Too Early: For My Mind Misgives

Well, I'm basically one week into April. This is going to be a long, dry month.

Pshh..... I just wrote three or four paragraphs about love and then highlighted them and replaced them with this sentence. I should not try to write seriously when I'm this tired. I'll need to remember that when I'm at Purdue ;-)

Suffice to say I'm beginning to notice the effects of the phenomenon of exponential growth within my person as the years progress. At the same time, I'm becoming increasingly aware of the stablizing effect age has on my personality. Perhaps the "refining" effect would be a more appropriate nomenclature.

Of course, at the same time this is developing within me, it's manifesting itself in all the beautiful women around me.

I'm thankful I didn't get married when I was eighteen years old. It works for some people. It's not for me, though I always thought it was.

I've lived. I've loved. I've learned. I don't believe in regret. Life is, after all, yours to miss.

But He, that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

My Blood, Shed for You

The Lion said to her, “Are you not thirsty?”

“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the lion.

“May I—could I—would you mind going away while I do,” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And, as Jill gazed at its smooth motionless bulk, she realized she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic. “Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promises,” said the lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. “Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry, it just said it.

“I dare not come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the lion.

“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

There is no other stream," said the lion.


Sunday, April 02, 2006

Spring Forward, Fall Back

Hey! What if I updated this thing? Wouldn't that be weird?

Problem is I get tongue-tied every time I try to say what I want to say...

The details of my vacation have been withheld at the request of the CIA. They are now need-to-know classified pending further investigation.

Not much in the way of an update so far, I suppose. I'm taking a voluntary sabbatical from alcohol for the month of April. Really, I started about a week ago. So far, so good, though there was a hearty bout between the little guys chilling on my right and left shoulders earlier this evening in front of the fridge.

In entertainment, lately I'm bouncing back and forth between C.S. Lewis and my new TV adventure, Gilmore Girls. If you have any comments about the implications of my enjoyment of the show, I invite you to direct them to my bulging bicep, who will more than likely direct his secretary, my right fist, to take a message on your face. ;-) No, seriously though. Lauren Graham and Alexis Biedel are both hott as hell. (Author's note: Those of you who know me best should know that I had to look up both of those names. I only know them as Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. I'm not good with actors' and actresses' names, social lives, or fashion faux pas. Lorelai, by the way, is a beautiful name.) The dialogue on the show is written by somebody with a measurable IQ (that's an anomaly in Hollywood) Plus, there's a healthy level of sexual mother-daughter innuendo which keeps me coming back for more. Honestly, it's a good show. I had no idea what it was until recently, even though it has apparently been on the air since 2000. I've almost burned through season one now. Between that and C.S. Lewis's gripping literature, I find myself with just enough free time to work out, run, clean, and cook myself ridiculously healthy meals in between work and sleep. All in all, I'm content. Now let's go to Ollie with the Black-U-Weather Forecast. Ollie?

"It's gon' rain!"

Thanks, Ollie. Tune in next time when we uncover the truth about Roald Dahl. Great British novelist or sick, twisted megafruitophile?



Oh, one more thing. This is serious.

I love you. I miss you. You were more to me than you'll ever know.



Rest in peace. :'(

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Freakonomics

I really need to update you guys on the last week and a half of my life. I have a cold and I'm reading Freakonomics right now before I go to work. I'll get back to you tonight or tomorrow. As always, names will be changed to protect the innocent.

I'll bet you didn't know Norma McCorvey was largely responsible for one of the biggest crime reductions in US history. Fascinating.

Next post - Fear and Loathing in West Virginia: Behind the Scenes

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Fear and Loathing in West Virginia

What are you doing, West Virginia? Of the three of these bills, maybe.... MAYBE..... I could deal with the road bill. I wouldn't like it, but I could live with it. You get yourself into a bind and then you have to work your way out of it even if you don't like the means to that end. But extended detainment of citizens?
There are some constitutional concerns that need to be addressed before we proceed.

--House Judiciary Chairman Jon Amores (D-Kanawha)

Ya think!?!?! The bill, proposed by Sen. Evan Jenkins (D-Cabell), "would allow police to detain a person under the reasonable suspicion of committing a crime for up to six hours." Reasonable suspicion, eh? Perhaps now would be a good time to tell you the story of a very good friend of mine who was recently driving home to West Virginia from New York and her unfortunate run-in with Ohio's finest. Here's a quote from her blog:
So, I drove Mitch's car because he was way too tired to drive. Mitch fell asleep. I wasn't even speeding much...like 5 over...and a cop pulls us over. I had to hang up on Adam...poor kid.
Estimated time 11 53pm. Location- Outside of Cleveland. Mitch is awoken by the beauty of sirens. Cop takes licenses and proceeds. Cop makes Mitch get out of car. Cop questions. Cop moves toward carpet and finds some sort of substance he imagines to be "marijuana". Cop questions some more. Cop makes me get out of car. Cop places me in the back of his SUV with Mitch. WE sit. He searches the car. Takes us out of car. Asks us a million times if "we smoke". Finally, we get to get back in car. Ending time 12 34. Nice way to waste an half hour on questioning....nice. I hate cops in OHIO.

These are the people the wonderful legislators of the state of West Virginia wish to empower with an unconstitutional authority to detain anyone they damn well please for SIX HOURS! It's a high-tech, high-speed world. People get sentenced to 24 hours of jail time. Six hours is a long time. Especially considering they don't have to charge you with ANYTHING! The US Supreme Court had a hard time deciding that citizens were required to provide identification to law enforcement when they weren't driving vehicles. If this bill becomes law, I hope a cop tries to detain me for 6 hours without charging me JUST so I can get the media publicity associated with the ensuing FEDERAL LAW SUIT!

Sorry about that rant. I won't go into a rant about this last article. It needs its own post anyway, probably, and I'll leave it up to some of my friends to argue the other side here. I'm referring to the minimum wage law which was passed in West Virginia today. It's bleeding heart liberal short-sighted teary-eyed idiocy, if you ask me. And hey, look at that! You did!

Comments? Concerns? Suggestions? Over the last few months I've been hard at work developing an incredible, revolutionary new piece of software which I've now implemented in my blog. It's called "comments"! The system works thusly: You click where it says "0 comments" (or however many comments there are on any post I've written), then click "add a comment". You then record your thoughts on my post in a text field in your browser. When you're finished, you either log into blogspot or you type in your name (and your website, if you so desire) and then click "Login and publish". It's neat. Then I can read what you think and respond to it, and so can all my other readers! I dare you! I double dog dare you!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Aight, Stop! It's Hammer Time!

Reading C.S. Lewis's essays has made at least one thing abundantly clear to me. If my goal is to devour all the important philosophical, theological, and political literature I can find, I'm going to need to a) stumble upon an alternate dimension like Narnia where I could live a lifetime while 5 minutes passed here, or b) live to be a hundred and seventy. Neither of these seem likely, so I guess I'll just have to aim for the sky and hope to break free of gravity before I fail miserably. At least then I'd be free-floating.

Seriously, the man has read almost every book known to man. A few weeks ago I gave up trying to add his "suggestions" to my reading list online, keeping a notebook beside my bed instead. I've filled up an entire page, three columns, and I'm barely half-way through his writings. I guess studying literature at Oxford will do that for ya, but realizing the sheer volume of reading I want to do is starting to make me look at my plans. I have often said I never wanted to finish college. Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should teach while I do research and earn new degrees. I could always save up a little money and try to start some businesses. Or I could try to become a university president somewhere (those of you who know me best know there are two places above all I'd like to do this right now, but if I did decide to become a professor I would want to teach at different schools across the world, and who knows? I might fall in love with Stanford, or Cambridge, or the University of Stellenbosch or God knows where. Each school has different worlds of knowledge I could leech from while contributing my own brand of sarcastic wit to a bunch of post-adolescent neophytes (somewhat like myself right now...) Plus, you know I'd be the prof that students would love because I would party with them. ;-) I don't know. It's food for thought. A year just isn't enough for this zen road trip. A lifetime isn't enough. Or, better put, all life is is one big zen road trip. My life, anyway.

In other news, I'm officially incredibly healthy. I'm pretty sure I had the flu two weeks ago, but I didn't even realize it until two days in, and it was gone the next day. I had a mild headache (something I'm not used to), I was running a fever the whole time, but I made it to work both days, I stayed on my feet, I didn't even really feel that bad... Didn't really even notice that I might be "sick" and not just hung over 'til the last day. Plus, I'm back to running 3 or 4 times a week, I'm lifting just as much, and I've wrangled my drinking "tendency" into something much more manageable.... even enjoyable! Righteous.

Speaking of which, I'm learning more about God every day. Not that this is at all surprising, but I will never quench my thirst for knowledge about Him. (I haven't yet discovered a brand of knowledge for which I have no thirst. I just feel especially parched when it comes to theology.) More to come when I grow up. Stay posted.


On an unrelated note, I came across two noteworthy blogs in my infinite scouring of the internets this morning. I would've posted them for you this morning, but Blogspot was down. Frustrationation. Oh well.

1) MC Hammer has a blog! He seems to be doing pretty well. Mostly, he talks about his kid and sports and the state of hip hop. I'd surf on over there and check in on the baggy-pants sensation if I were you.


2) Hammertime was the lighter side of my surfing this morning. I did come across a blog of exceptional quality which struck my heart, compelling me to write this post in the first place. The blog belongs to Michael Brown, an unemployed graphic designer in Durham, North Carolina. He writes about his daily life with his wife and his three children, his on-going search for a job, and puts forth some insightful commentary on sociopolitics and theology as they manifest themselves in his life. But wait. That's not all. He maintains his blog from a computer terminal in a public library. Yes, Mr. Brown and his family are homeless. Most of his musings profess to help other homeless people across the country in coping with their predicaments. He gives some practical advice, some philosophical. I haven't had a chance to read through the whole blog, but I've definitely bookmarked this one. You might want to as well. I honestly think somebody should give this guy a book deal, quick. He's a fairly talented writer as far as I can tell. Given his social status, I'd say he can write plenty well enough to earn a buck or two.

As always, but particularly in this last matter, I'm interested in your thoughts. This is my life in the fast lane, folks. Live it. Love it. Learn it.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

How Can They Meet Us Face to Face?

I ended my first book with the words "no answer". I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice? Only words, words; to be led out to battle against other words.


That was, hands down, the most moving piece of literature I've ever consumed.

I feel embattled in my quest for God. I don't need that kind of guidance. The world unaided provides more than enough resistance along the path I've chosen. I appreciate good intentions for what they are, but mine isn't a journey bound by the logic of this world. In all mundane matters, my thirst for knowledge and the necessity to apply the full power of my mundane logic are married into one, but this matter, by its very nature, cannot be based in logic. When its foundation is laid, all manner of logic might flow forth from it, but the fact itself to which I have committed is in a plane separate and distinct from all human thought.

To that end, what is the virtue in pressing me to seek out "both sides" of an argument which does not exist? All the mind I have is set into that desire, and I am beginning to think our entire lives are dedicated to that purpose, but it seems to me dangerous to condescend anyone but a child or a fool by thrusting upon him that which he hasn't seen (or can't yet see) for himself. If the man has any passion for the matter, it can only serve to drive a wedge between him and his concerned benefactor; worse still, the lesson stands to be lost in translation.

Even still, I'm worried about what lies behind this. You urge me to look to both sides of the story told on Earth. Let that be my concern. If you agreed with me, would you still urge me to seek out the "truth"? We must presuppose Euclid or Aristotle or Newton or Einstein to have theorized correctly before we can delve into any number of our modern activities, and we do so regularly. Do you, then, urge me to look to both sides of these stories for truth? So why the passionate disposition in this matter? Yours is not a proselytizing ideology. What is the motivation for ensuring that I've heard both sides before I make any decisions? Given my choice, what do I stand to lose if I'm wrong? Even if your advice may indeed change my mind, to what end?

Again, I enjoy challenges to my philosophical, scientific, physical, and artistic endeavors. I often seek them out. My spiritual journey does not share a roof with any of these facets of life. They are mortal. This walk is difficult, almost impossible to bear at times. I will bear those burdens which God sees fit that I should endure, and no less, but neither do I seek any more.

These are my misgivings. I struggled to author them, and they are infantile and confused. They could be said to be addressed to the world at large, and in fact they are, but they are obviously more direct than that as well. I pray these words are well met where they fall, for they are only those. Words. I use them here to deliver human love to human ears. These words exist for that purpose. They fall short in communicating that which exists outside our nature. That is a conversation reserved for a time when all the experiences and the lessons life has to impart upon us have expired; that is to say, Till We Have Faces.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

By the Bright, Shining Light of the Moon

We live in a beautiful world...

What's up, the internets? No excuses. Just been neglecting my blog. Really, it's been a conscious decision, not like I just forget or am too lazy. Any time I have enough free time to write in here, I realize that there's a lot of other things I want to do. Namely, read a book, work out, play a song, cook, clean, get ready for work, go to work, or sleep. That's right. My life has about 8 flavors right now. The beautiful part isn't in the selection.... it's in the intense depth of each one of those flavors. Quality over quantity, here. It's producing amazing results.

As far as reading goes, I've been slowed down recently by trying to get back in touch with a lot of my friends. I spent a month or so pretty well cut off from the world reading non-stop, and I knocked off a bunch of books, but I needed to talk to some people. I talked to one of my favorites tonight, and it was definitely soul food. I needed that more than anything at this point, even if it was only for a few minutes.

C.S. Lewis..... Always been my favorite author, and I never even knew why. The Chronicles of Narnia are obviously amazing, and even as a child I was aware that there was some degree of Christian metaphor in those pages, but you can't really appreciate the depth of his story-weaving until you've given his more "grown-up" works some serious thought. If I was born into Christianity, walked away from Christ (and even almost the very idea of God) of my own accord, and given my footing and my sight again by one of God's more blessed chilrden, C.S. Lewis very definitely delivered my mind, body, and spirit back across the distance I had transgressed.... and by his momentum, propelled me exponentially further toward God than I had ever been before. I recognized soon after "turning around" the potential for my faith to be reborn a phoenix from a dove, but it was impossible to imagine the world from the eyes of a phoenix without those flames burning across your own field of vision. Now, my sights ablaze and my vantage point granted by the wings of God, I can see just how long a journey this really was meant to be. It looks more difficult even than the hardest times I've seen behind me, but at the same time it looks easier than ever.

I don't know when I'll post again. It was just a quiet evening, too cold to run, the music set my mind to work, and here it is. I expect another, albeit smaller-scale, disappearance in the coming weeks so I can get my reading back on track. I'm going to finish The Voyage of the Dawn Treader tonight and then read Till We Have Faces. I'll be thinking of you.

With a joyful heart, a peaceful mind, and a tattered spirit, I bid you farewell. Meg says the moon is yellow in the midnight sky.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

What Time is It?

This is why I love Purdue.

This..... heh.... this is something which, if the guy turns out to be onto something, will be the biggest discovery since that whole flat world theory was put to rest.

I'm in a very bad mood tonight, through no fault of yours (unless you're one person...) and I'm trying to keep myself distracted by reading geek news. It's not working. I should be freaking out excited about that second one. I'm not.

I'll try to write something substantive some time soon. Don't hold your breath, though. I have a day off tomorrow, but I'm evidently going to spend it asleep, having stayed up all night because of someone's a) stupidity or b) extreme thoughtlessness.

Boiler up!

Monday, January 30, 2006

6 of One, Half Dozen the Other

Somehow, today's an important day for me.

Ah, yes. It marks the halfway point in my journey through Evansville, Indiana.

That's right. Six months down, six to go.

Look out. These next six months are going to be a whirlwind of zen road trip-ism.

I look forward to seeing you all on the other side.

(It's actually kind of interesting that this is the halfway point. It coincides almost perfectly with my transition into my next book. What I'm about to do is going to forever change my life. I'll tell you more about it when I'm done.)

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Hail to the Chief

Life is advancing on me at all fronts. The only recourse is phalanx.

I just watched the premier of Commander-in-Chief. That show is a joke. The subject of the show isn't two guys, a girl, and a pizza place. It's the Oval Office. The intellectual capital of this solar system. How many people told me I would like this show? Do none of you see the difference between this and Aaron Sorkin's work? What about between Kelly Clarkson and Rachmaninoff? Pat Buchannon and John Calvin? James Frey and David Hume?

Within 5 minutes of her presidency, the first First Lady has already egregiously violated the God-given sovereignty of another nation in favor of Western ideals. Cited empathy. You would be sickened by the courses of action a similar breed of "empathy" toward these United States by a great many of our foreign counterparts might prescribe. We are, however, presently in a position to divert these tendencies. Ironically, these empathetic tendencies of ours will play the jester who strips us of that robe of protection. Think UN, seventy five years down the road.

Who am I kidding? It's inevitable. Just give me the high ground and a bunch of rocks.

Perhaps I've grown a little cynical. I still love my country. What it should be. After careful consideration, I've decided I would be willing to bear the burden of national office for my countrymen... I do not propose to serve them directly. I may be the first politician in several centuries to say that. I will serve God, and as His mandate, myself. By preserving my right and theirs to do so freely, I stand for every man, woman, and child born, sworn, or carried into this great nation.

I stand ready to serve at your call. The unspoken truth, of course, is that you won't call.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Death in the Family

Oh dear God...

I have been in recluse for a little while, tending to work and my overgrown reading list, and I'll be back under the sheets for a while yet, if I had to guess, but this can't go without comment.

I feel like I could've saved it. I look back at all of you Huntingtonians with an unjustifiable sense of anger and disappointment, directed at no one in particular. And then I feel like I dove from the deck just as the explosion rendered devastation behind me. Less an explosion. More a slow, gruesome death. Like the plauge. What plagues Huntington? West Virginia? My old life?

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. To witness my beloved Keith Albee reduced to this (let alone to imagine its "not-for-profit" times to come) twists the dagger further into my heart, but I'm committed to enduring the quest I've chosen, and so I'll carry on, turn my head back one last time in disgust at you and in respect for the fallen hero of days gone by, cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.


(If you don't understand any of this, go about your business. Nothing to see here.)

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Viva La Musica



Good song. I'll be back with you as soon as I'm finished reading Ayn Rand. I miss you, the internet.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Let's Go Exploring


This was the last Calvin and Hobbes strip ever printed.

For a child, snow is a miracle. The heavy white fog that blankets the world, casting the sun's rays brilliantly back into the sky, pleasantly illuminates our adult lives, but the weight of the snow on the ground presses against our more "mature" senses in a less romantic way: "I'm going to have to shovel this stuff." "I wonder if the roads are safe." For a child, the vivid white powder bears no burdens. In the most impressionable stage of his life when all his experiences are adventures and he's developing his perception of the world with every wisp of sensation it provides him, the snow is nature's most comprehensive sudden impulse, reshaping and refocusing his lens. Do you remember taking your first delicate steps into the fresh white snow as a child? I do. I tried desperately not to break through it for fear of shattering the dream I felt all around me. When the serenity remained intact, I realized I had my first canvas spread out at my feet. It was magical.

Grown up now, I don't always take the time to stop, hold my breath, and step out onto the snow with that childlike wonder, although the ability to appreciate such an immaterial act was crystalized in my mind long ago. Bill Watterson tends to pluck that particular chord within me more often now than I let nature do the same. That's why I posted my favorite strip of all time today. I didn't really think I had anything else to learn from that spiky-haired hellian and his strip-ed friend, but this morning when I saw that strip and I felt the excitement of the world through Calvin's eyes, I realized that the snow is just another color. When I open the door today to step out into 2006, there won't be any snow on the ground. The world is still my canvas.

Make 2006 the best year of your life. Don't leave your canvas waiting, untouched. From every step you take, the ripples of beautiful colors will flow and blanket the world like so much fallen snow. Step surely. Walk straight. Go in peace, and know that you go with God.