Update:

Hello friends. It has been quite some time since I've updated, but only because I haven't had much to post about. But here we go.

I was away on vacation last week on a cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia. That's in Canada, by the way. It was fairly boring in terms as vacations go- with 3500 cruisers on board I would guess that 93% of them wore diapers and the average age was 68. I hope that I will not make it to the age of being crusty. On the plus side of the whole shebang, the food was pretty good.

In other news, my car was recovered. It was a pain getting it out of the impound, with the process of going to the police station and the MVA taking most of the day. Then there was the whole problem of it only going a few hundred yards before completely shutting down. As it turns out, there was a problem with the battery and the security system inhibiting the ignition. As of right now, the car has been fixed to working order and should be driving like new within the next week or so. Everything except for my backpack and my computer was left in the car, so now I can go climbing again with all my gear.

That's enough for now. I'll write more when my life isn't so boring.

Limbo:

Oh hey...

I almost forgot about this junks.

I don't take pictures, and I don't have any saved pictures since I don't have my own computer at the moment.

I am trying to focus on putting together interesting things to fill the time.

Facebook is probably the best way to find stuff out about what I'm doing.

Late:

The late night does funny things to your mind. Some say it plays tricks on you; others say it is a time of pure clairvoyance. It's current effects on me - I cannot discern right now.

Motives:

In high school literature classes, my teachers always emphasized the 'why'. They said to focus on why the author chose to write in certain rhythms or why the use of illustrative language or why the theme on liminality. I remember sometime this one teacher would just write in red pen 'why?' at the end of my papers.

I wonder why I do certain things. What are my motives? Before I can evaluate whether my motives are right and pure, I have to figure out what they are. Sometimes I feel like I have such built up, complex networks of emotion and doubts that I can't truly identify the reason behind my actions. Say something as simple as a laugh or giggle at something amusing makes me wonder why I thought it was so funny, or why I reacted with more animation instead of just smiling. Or for example why I would do someone a favor. Am I expecting something in return? Isn't it human and natural to expect something in return whether it is physical, spiritual, or emotional? Should I feel guilty if I want something back? Why am I helping or giving? I don't know. There are simple answers that make a lot of sense. You know, because I care, because I'm supposed to, because it is what Jesus desires of me, because it is good. There are also many simple answers that don't sound as good... because I want them to like me, because it gets me attention, because in the end I'll come out on top.
I've seem to stumble upon the fact that the question of why brings up so many 'because's and hence, makes the whole motives thing so complex. The added dimension of sorting these 'because's creates another layer of complexity. I hope to figure this motives thing out a little more in my head, and work hard to straigten out why I act as I do.

Strengths:

At any given job interview, they always ask what are your strengths and weaknesses. I always make something up... something that sounds good and fancy. Really, I'm not very good at a lot of things. But now that I think about it, I am pretty good at least a couple of things:

1. Sneaking. Because I am really light my footsteps don't make very much noise. I try my best to make use of shadows and if the person is walking I synchronize my step pattern with theirs. Plus I have a small frame so I can slip through small places like staircase guards or parking garage fences. I would make a decent spy, except I am relatively not non-descript and I also would probably get really nervous of being discovered.

2. Senses. I think my five senses are in pretty good shape. I have a good, musical ear which I haven't damaged since I haven't been to too many rock concerts (nor do I own an iPod to blast music with). I'm beginning to understand food better, which has allowed me to develop a stronger awareness of taste. I've always been fairly sensitive to touch, just in general. I think my smelling is about normal and my vision is slightly below normal. Not too bad all around.

I wonder how the interviewer would respond if I answered with these.

Shows:

To procrastinate from studying and as requested by Seye, I present to you- another post.

While poking around on YouTube, I came across this little nugget:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqMOEcCAj2o

Man, seeing this brings back so many fond memories.

Hey, why don't you leave a comment with a memory from one of these childhood TV shows and I'll see if I share it with you:
Mr. Rogers
Power Rangers
The Magic School Bus
Barney
Bill Nye

Psalmer:

To be honest, I either skim or skip whatever is posted if I know it's not just the author writing. You know- song lyrics, book excerpts, news articles, and Bible verses... they're so cliche. But I don't really care because my blogging medium has never been very entertaining in the first place so I have no standard to uphold.

David writes:
O Lord, I call to you;
come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to you.
May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it.

And his words are fantastic... they reach into my soul.

Psalm:

David writes:

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

That, my friends, is gorgeous and is the prayer of my heart. I hope it can be of encouragement to you if you are experiencing some dryness.

Injustice:

This is absolutely ridiculous:
http://smallthingswithgreatlove.com/

Check it out and sign the petition.

I've typed a dozen different sentences here and keep erasing... I'm not sure how to spill these thoughts on respecting other cultures, yet standing up for the oppressed.

Shoes:

I used to only own a single pair of shoes. Sometime around junior or senior year of high school I purchased a pair of New Balance tennis shoes to be worn for almost all occasions. For dress shoes I would borrow a pair from my dad. However, now I might own more shoes than I have owned cumulatively throughout my life. Let's take a look.

First, I couldn't find a picture of my old NB shoes since they're ultra old. I tore half of the sole off playing racquetball last week so a replacement was in order.


I picked these babies up from Costco to be my running/ all-purpose athletic shoes. If you see me at any given moment I'll probably be wearing these (I don't expect the white to keep very long with how much use I think they'll be getting).


These were bought yesterday. They're quite beautiful and very stylish if I may say so myself. My dad got sick of me stealing his shoes so he took me out to get a pair of my own. After three different shoe shops we found a style I liked at a reasonable price. The soles are made of really hard leather so they don't really bend when I step. Hey, they only hurt a little when I walk... a price to pay for looking good.

These slip on loafers are for when I'm wearing khakis. Really, nothing else I have is business casual.

These were really cheap at REI... I couldn't help myself. I'll probably wear these whenever I go out on the town.

Also really cheap at REI. I field tested these on a short hike the other day and they were very comfortable and allowed me spectacular control on even sharp, slipery inclines. I can't wait to go camping and do some serious trails with these on.

I need sandals, obviously, if I'm going to be doing summer activities. I got these in Hawaii because I had a pair that hurt my feet. As an added feature they have a bottle opener on the sole for IBC cream soda beverages and the such.

On to climbing shoes. These are my pride and joy. I haven't fully broken them in yet, but I know that my performance has increased significantly when climbing with the Anasazis. They are a top notch, aggresive climbing shoe so I can no longer blame my performance on my lack of gear. Rock shoes just don't get better than these. I picked these up at full price since I couldn't do some of the more technical moves with the old junks I was sporting.

My first set of climbing shoes and a definite pair of workhorses. They're like the ones pictured except green and an older model. They are a great beginners shoe to comfortably learn foot placement with some edging and some toe grip. Unfortunately, they are flat bottomed so there's only so much pull you can get with them. Also, I started to tear a hole in the rubber so I've started to retire them.

Ryan picked these up for me because they were cheap, but they are just the tiniest bit too small. As a matter of fact, my left foot fits but the right just doesn't squeeze in. They are ultra aggressive and sweet looking, but I'll probably just put them up on ebay... unless anyone thinks they have smaller feet than me, then they can just take them.

And finally, I found a pair of these... used and smelly for only two dollars. They don't fit me at all, but if someone has slightly larger feet than me, they can have these.

That's all of the footwear I own. Too many pairs of shoes? I think so. I'm really just used to having no choices and wearing one pair all the time. Hopefully these last me a long time and I don't make anymore purchases for a while.

Talents:

You know those dumb ice breakers where you go around in a circle and say your name, year, major, and something interesting about yourself? I always draw a blank on the last one. Now I'm going to just say that my talent is Minesweeper, and that I'm pretty sick at it. Is that interesting enough for ya, punk?

Vegetable:

Not really feeling alive right now.

Retreat:

This new google log in system has made it such that I am much less inclined to update. I don't enjoy signing in and out just to switch accounts.

This weekend was my last IV retreat, excluding chapter camp. It's a strange feeling, thinking that after 8 times of going through the retreat routines, I'll probably never do anything quite like them again. The seminars this time were fairly interesting, small groups were eh, and the rest of the time kind of just went by in a blur. This week will be moderately busy with a few exams and homework assignments due, so I was trying to be a good student and study over the weekend. I guess I've become one of those boring retreat nerds. For the first time in my retreat career, we had snow... and a good dumping of it also. Late Saturday night we built a pretty sweet bonfire and then the white stuff started to fall. It was pretty magical. I should have used the spectacular setting to hit on someone and get them to marry me. Shucks, I guess I'll just have to resort to alternative methods like rufies. What? Who said that?

One of the last exercises was to write a letter to our future selves that we will receive in one year. I think that'll be pretty interesting to read a year from now. I'm excited about how things will be changing.

Stories:

Oh... that is really sad. I don't have any really funny old school stories. I'm very convinced that my childhood was a boring one filled with academics and classical music. Crap, I don't want my kids to be like that.

Puma The Suede kicks: $50 Merrell Mesa Ventilator II Trail shoes: $75

REI Polar Pod +20 degree sleeping bag: $69

Insulmat inflating sleeping pad: $28

Sierra Design Hyperlight AST 2-person tent: $220

Total price given these Amazon.com prices = $442

I got all of this at the REI sale for: 15+27+25+12+90 = $169 ... not bad

Corks:

It's not everyday that you get to go out to a nice restaurant. Thursday night I went to probably one of the nicest places I've ever been. Mr. Raine and I enjoyed a deightful meal in which I could simply summarize as exquisite. However, a summary would not do it justice.

The first thing we saw as we entered the restaurant was the kitchen. Right there we could see the work of the chef and his two sou chefs as they cooked and plated the food.

The meal started with wine. The place, as evident by its name, puts a strong emphasis on wine and how it can be complimented by food. I ordered a 2004 chardonnay since I was going to be having fish and Raine got an 2002 Shiraz to go with his beef. Both were excellent wines.

Raine's starter was a Yukon Gold potato soup. Yukon Gold potatos are a medium starch potato that are typically used for more tender potato preparation, but I guess it can be used for upscale soups.

I started with a grilled sweet onion salad. The grilled onion was truly the star of the dish, and I thought it should have been presented in a more prominent manner. The vinaegrette was quite good with a slight hint of salty parmesan. I wouldn't rank this as an extremely delicate starter, in terms of flavor, but I think it served pace the rest of the meal.

Raine's beef burgoisnon (sp?) over mashed potatos and field carrots. He said it melted in your mouth.

My pan seared escolar (snake mackeral) over a white truffle panacotta with baby colliflower. First the presentation is excellent. The car and precision put into making the little tadpoles and even foaming the sauce slightly to add texture to the plate just made this dish fun to eat. The escolar might have been the best fish I have ever tasted. It didn't flake in the same way as talapia or bass do. Instead it was just tender. The savoriness of the pan sear complimented the panacotta really well. I could tell the ingredients were well thought out and the concept in the chef's head was executed perfectly.

Raine finished with a traditional vanilla creme brulee. Absolutely smooth.

I finished with a ricotta pear cheesecake. I've never had a ricotta cheesecake before. It's an entirely different approach to cheesecake. Instead of the creamy, sit-in-your-mouth richness that typical cheesecakes have, this one instantly melted in your mouth because of the lightness and fluffiness of the cheese preparation. Delicious choice of pear, caramel, and walnut.

This all leaves me to wonder, will I ever eat any better than this in my life?

Conclusion:

I forget it too often. I need Jesus. I can't explain it in full... part of it is how I view myself, part of it is how I think others view me, part of it is how I see the world. Without Him I am nothing. Even to those who are close to me and value me dearly, I would be nothing to them if it were not for the work that He has been, is, and will be doing in my life. When I think about it, I wouldn't want the people around me to value anything else in me except for the way I live for Jesus. Let it be the testament of my life- I need Jesus.

Stolen:

I kind of stole this one, but I think it's fun:

If you got onto the Amazing Race, who would you choose to be your partner?

Haunted:

Have you ever been haunted by your dreams? I know some fears will manifest themselves in a recurring theme. But what about the dreams where amazingly good things happen and you wake up to find out that you haven't done anything except kick off your blankets? Those can haunt you too. So my mornings for this past week have been fairly torturous mentally and emotionally. I'll leave it at that.

Jerk:

I'm anti-Ibekwe... what a jerkface.