Shaving

I'm thinking that maybe I should stop using the bachelor's method of deciding whether or not to shave. (Am I expecting to see people today? If yes, shave. If no, don't shave.) Anyway, the reason I say that is my chin is really itchy right now--with how much I'm scratching, parts of my face are starting to feel as smooth as if I just shaved. But I really hate shaving, and I'm no good at it. I usually end up cutting myself or missing a spot. And it's not like I can just let it grow--sadly, I did not inherit my dad's sweet facial hair, and can only grow a weak mustache, neck beard, and soul patch.

Yeah, random weird post this evening.

Biblical Thoughts

This is just going to be a short post with a couple links. Not really any story or anything today. Sorry.

Anyway, you may remember this post from about a month ago, where I comment on what I read in my bible that day. Well, I'm thinking that I won't be posting things like that on here anymore. Since I do my readings through a bible app on my iPod, and their website has a place for notes and all that stuff, I'll probably just put notes like that up there, and won't talk about it here (unless there's outcry against following me in two different places). I think the main reason I'm doing this is because these likely won't be very frequent (today marks only my second since that first one) and they'll be fairly short--just a quick thought or two while reading. Anyway, here's a link to my notes on their site. I'll also throw it up on the side there, to make it so you don't have to fumble around looking for this particular post in the future.

Worst Finals Week Ever

This finals week started out poorly. My first final--7:30 am Monday--was in a class that I was starting to get the hang of--or so I thought. I couldn't remember anything. The next final--right after the first one--I was in such bad shock about the first one that I couldn't concentrate. So those two went badly.

Then I had a break until Thursday. My first final that day (and only one I thought I had that day, but we'll get to that) went pretty well. On my way home after that, I was remarking that "The longer this semester goes on, the more it seems like a 'practice semester'." By which, I meant that it seemed like I was going to have to take everything over again.

Today, I went to go take my last final--or so I thought. Apparently, I had been looking in the wrong spot for what time that final was. It wasn't at noon today. It was noon yesterday.

Well, I'm going to go into the basement, and I'm going to stay there until I get done being mad at myself.

Shoe Repair

A little while ago, I thought about going to bed. Then I realized, I'm only 25 and it's only 8:30 and just because I have to be somewhere at 6, I'm thinking about going to bed? I've gotten old fast. Just about 4 years ago, I stayed up all night to watch all the Star Wars films in a row--after having been up since 6 that morning.

Anyway, I decided to postpone bed. First, I checked the mail. Only one piece of mail, and that for the elder of my roommates. Then I decided I'd finally try to do what I wanted to do--fix the problem of my shoes. See, a lot of the time, after having a pair of shoes for a while, they'll start cutting into my heels when I wear them. I tried to fix that problem on another pair in high school, which started with a little duct tape, and ended in a mission to cover the entire shoe--inside and outside--in duct tape, which was foiled by my mom, saying "what will people think if I let you go out in shoes like that?" The obvious answer to that question is of course "That I have the coolest parents ever." She didn't see it that way, so I had to get new shoes.

Anyway, this time I wanted to improve the repair over last time, since the duct tape took a lot of layers to do anything. The problem is, the new repair plan would involve putting cotton balls under the duct tape, and I didn't have cotton balls. So I put on my boots and headed out. The gas station didn't have any, so I headed to the nearby pharmacy. After getting back, I sent out a simple text to a friend in Ames. It read "Pick a color." He responded with "taupe". So first I had to google it to figure out what taupe was (I'm a guy and I'm colorblind--color names don't mean much to me unless they're "real colors" and not "woman colors") and then I picked out the roll from my duct tape collection which most resembled the results. I used that to repair the shoes, and decided to write about it here, so he could find out why I asked him to pick a color without telling him why. But seriously, taupe? Who in their right mind picks taupe? Crazy kid.

Well, I'm sleepy now. I should probably hit the hay. Nighty-night everybody.

Starting over II

I forgot a little bit earlier. Since I'm essentially starting over on my computer, I've lost a few things. It's not a ton that I won't be able to get back, but there are a few things. Like my first chapter--and complete outline--of a novel/series of short stories/series of novels (I'm not sure how long I could have stretched that one out--probably at least a novel and a series of short stories) which would take a lot to re-create. And the basic beginning of another novel--which wasn't much, and I can easily re-create it. However, I'm not sure I actually would have done anything with either of these things in the long run, so it doesn't matter much. Everything else is stuff I can't even remember, so there's nothing important (I think) that I've actually "lost".

Starting over

On Wednesday, my computer crashed. From what I could tell by searching online (with my iPod) and doing what troubleshooting it recommended, either the hard drive or the cable connecting to it is done. Rather than spend a lot of time trying to see which--or taking it to someone who would know better than I--I bought an external hard drive. For the first time in my life, I got something other than standard shipping. I went with overnight. However, I missed the delivery yesterday, so I didn't get it until today (thanks very much, Spanish oral final). So now I'm going to be spending much of this afternoon and evening getting back to something resembling my old computer. Currently, we're about a quarter of the way through an Apple software update.

I'm more self-conscious than I like people to think I am

The title of this post is something that popped into my head one day during high school, and was basically my outlook on life at the time. Not all that much has changed since in this regard. I still want people to think that I don't care what they think, even though I do. I've even blatantly lied and said "I don't care what _____ thinks."

The reason I bring this up is that my roommate and I were talking last night about this very thing--how I think other people see me. I responded with a simple "I don't know" and looking at my feet. That's obviously a lie, since I hear what people think about me a fair bit, so me not knowing would take a lot of ignoring people. So I'm going to put a quick little description of how I think people see me, and you can see if that all matches up with your view.

Anti-social (to a point), servant-hearted, quiet, sweats a lot, cries a lot, a bit of a hugger, quite likely crazy.

Giving of Thanks II

This morning, during MMP, we were talking about the things that we've seen God do this semester, and that reminded me of the post I made a couple weeks ago, where I talked about things I was thankful for. I realized that I had forgotten some of the big things in that post. Like getting freed from an old trap, the epic concert in the Englert, the retreat, and the letter from Pete.

Lately, during my quiet times, I've been realizing that even if I were to thank God every second for the rest of my life, it still wouldn't be enough for all the things He does for me.

...and I've managed to get myself almost to the point of tears again. I swear, every time I make a God-centered post, I end up crying. Maybe I should just go back to the crazy stuff I used to post about, where I talk about disturbing children's movies that I used to love, or trying to make my way home with my legs duct-taped together, or other random insanity that used to mostly dominate this blog.

Mr. Molasses

For those of you who don't remember (or never saw) the much-beloved, smash hit Saturday morning educational kids' show "The Weird Al Show", the title of this post is a reference to the slowest superhero ever. (By the way, if you wish to see more of the series, I do have it on DVD).

Anyway, the past couple days I've been feeling very slow. At times, my brain kicks down into low gear, and it feels like I'm moving and thinking in slow motion, while the world keeps going normally. These spells only last for a few seconds, but it's quite disorienting. I'm not sure what's causing it, though it seems to happen when I'm not doing anything else. If I somehow learn to control it, I could become the lamest superhero ever--bad enough even to where most Batman villains have cooler "powers".

In some unrelated news, I got my new toy today--a speaker dock for my iPod. Now I can finally fulfill my dream of listening to music in the shower. Though potentially, the neighbors might hear and ask me to turn it down in the future, since it's not that hard to hear things like "I didn't rob no bank" or "Hide the dope, your mom called the cops" while I'm in my room. Don't you wish you lived in a neighborhood as classy as the one I live in?

Giving of Thanks

So, a couple days ago, I was doing my morning prayer on the bus, and Gollum's song started playing on my iPod. I started thanking God that the lyrics to that song aren't true for us--in fact, basically the opposite. Specifically, these lyrics (because these are the opening lyrics):
Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Yeah, I know. A song about an outcast murderer from the soundtrack of a major blockbuster as source for prayer ideas. What can I say? I'm weird.

Anyway, today during connection group, we were talking about things we were thankful for from the past semester, and I thought I'd share. One thing was actually that other lyrics people weren't available to do Salt. Yeah, that meant more work for me, but it more work means I don't get bored...and I've sort of been able to take over the lyrics area (at least for Salt). It makes me feel more important.....though most of the time, I hate feeling important.....sometimes, I just don't understand me.

Anyway, another thing I'm thankful for is linked up above. The cancellation of MMP last week. It's gotten me to start praying on my own more often, and reading my bible regularly--going strong every day since then. So yeah, breaking the normal routine of MMP has helped me take some little steps in my walk with God.

Well, just one day (and two classes) away from Thanksgiving break. I really need it, too.

If only....

Reading my bible today, and I was struck by this passage:

"He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.
If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together,
someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot."
-Job 9:32-35 (NIV)

If only there were someone like that.....everything would be so awesome.....

Crazy day

First, I'm going to start off with an update. Yesterday, I posted that my laptop charger was on its way out. Well, a few hours after posting that, it failed completely. Luckily, one of my roommates has a similar computer, so we're going to basically share a charger until my new one arrives--which UPS says will be Monday. As I type this, it's in Missouri.

Anyway, a couple of odd things have happened today. On my way to my first class, I stopped in a men's room. As I was washing my hands, two guys came in, knocked on the handicap stall, and then both entered the stall.

The second odd thing was while waiting for my second class, I was rubbing my eyes to get the last of that sleep build-up out and it looked like dried blood. My thought process after that is as follows: "Hey, if I'm crying blood, that's probably a good excuse to skip out on class. Let's see if that's the case. Nope, regular tears. And now I'm crying in class. Crap. You know, it's probably better that I'm not crying blood. Whenever that happens on House, it's a bad sign." I was then on the verge of tears for the rest of class from (internally) laughing at myself.

And now for something that may be shocking. I'm not going to Anthem tonight. For the first time since becoming a Christian, I'm going to miss out on an Anthem concert. Part of this is due to the critical attitude I had at the last Ames Anthem I went to. Part of it is that I'm not really in the "normal" age range of attendees there. The average age at Anthem in Ames is far younger than Adoleo and Anthem in Iowa City. Ames packs in high school and middle school kids, college kids, and not much older. Iowa City, on the other hand, is college and post-college people. I know, that's not a great reason, but it's part of a bigger "I don't really fit in in the Ames Salt crew anymore". Almost everyone I knew back there has moved on in the world--marriages, babies, real jobs, new cities, new churches, etc. Cornerstone isn't my "home church" any longer, and I guess I fully realized that at the Spring Anthem. My home church doesn't have a home. My home church comes in a trailer, and holds services in bars, hotels, and theaters.

Typing that last paragraph reminded me of something in my prayer this morning. I was thanking God for not listening to me about not sending me here. I resisted so much to the idea of coming to Iowa City, but now that I'm here, in Veritas, helping out in what little ways I can, I can't believe that I fought against the move.

Well, I've got Spanish class in 10 minutes, so I need to wrap this up. Um.....bye.

Power to the Laptop!

Last night, I noticed that my laptop's power cord was starting to go bad. At times, it will act like it's unplugged, and my laptop won't charge. It's not completely gone yet, though, as a little jiggling or unplugging and plugging it back in gets it going again. Well, this is unacceptable. I can't wait for it to be completely bad to start thinking about a replacement, so I ordered that this morning. It should be here in a few days--I hope the current cord lasts until then. I also ordered one of those iPod dock/speaker setups, because I've wanted to be able to listen to music in the shower since I lived in Ames and saw that someone else had a similar setup. That will take a little longer to arrive, but that's okay. I still have no idea where I can put it in the little basement bathroom. There's not much room in there that isn't taken up by the fixtures.

And now for an update. I mentioned this long ago, but I'm finally getting around to jumping through the last hoop for going to classes at the University. I'm going to the student health clinic after class today to fix the problem of the records for MMR vaccination--by just going ahead and getting the shots again. And of course, the prices mentioned in that post have gone up. They're now $190 for getting the shots again, and $367 for the test to prove that I've already gotten them. So, as I said before, I'm going with the cheap option and getting another round of the shots.

Techie to the core

As I've mentioned before, I am a little serious when it comes to running lyrics. Well, last night, my roommate was running lyrics, and I was sitting next to him. He would occasionally ask me about timing--should he put up the next slide, should he blank the screen, etc.--and I realized something. My timing is good because I know the songs really well, and I know the songs really well because I listen to worship music a lot. What I realized, however, was this: part of the reason I listen to worship music as much as I do is so that I can be better at running lyrics. Yes, I love worship music, but that's not the whole reason I listen to it. I see it as part of a job. When I'm at the church computer, it's MY JOB to make sure that the right slides are shown at the right time, and to correct any misspellings/typos in the slides. In essence, when I'm listening to Gungor, Phil Wickham, David Crowder, Adoleo, Anthem, etc., part of me is mentally preparing for the next time I'm on the schedule.

I know, I'm weird. But if I wasn't, this blog would be far less interesting to read.

No MMP? No Problem.

Monday morning prayer was canceled this week because the Veritas staff was all out of town. Happily, this meant extra sleep. Sadly, this meant no meeting with other believers to lift each other up to start the week. However, I decided to use the bus ride to class to have a little "Martin's Monday Morning Prayer". This was a rousing success, with a 100% turnout rate--and we listened to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack to add to the mood. After praying for the entire 20-minute bus ride, I went ahead and planned on continuing that, and just giving the bus ride as time to chat with the Father.

I spent this morning's bus ride in prayer, and continued on my way into the IMU (to pick up the Des Moines Register, even though I haven't actually read it in about 2 weeks). Then I had another idea. I don't often read my Bible--and by that, I mean I haven't read in about 2 weeks as well--and I've got another bus ride ahead of me where I get nothing accomplished. Why not read it then?

So that's the plan as it stands now. Bus ride to school: prayer time. Bus ride home from school: Bible time. I'm not sure what to do about Saturday and Sunday, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm also not sure how long I'll follow through on what I'm saying, so we'll have to wait and see.

Signs of a bad day

There are a few things that I only seem to do when my day sucks. If the first thing I do when I get home is to walk out on the deck and throw a rock into the pond out back, my day is below average. If I immediately follow this up with killing computer-generated enemies and/or ordering a pizza, it's bad (however, ordering a pizza without the rock throw simply means I want pizza).Whenever I bust out the Swedish rave music, things are going very badly--not that anybody would actually know what I'm listening to (unless they ask me directly). Naturally, I say this because I was playing it recently--Friday, to be specific.

You see, two weeks ago, there was a pancake party after Salt. I didn't go, saying that I had a test and a speech the next day. I was also stuck on the topic for the speech. I couldn't come up with anything. So I did what made sense. I skipped that class. This past Friday, I showed up to class (after hearing everyone else give their speeches) and found out that I was back in the rotation--still with absolutely nothing close to a speech ready. I said as much, and got to have a nice, long talk with the teacher after class.

So now, because of a massive, month-long brain fart, I'm going to fail that class. I spent my next class completely unable to focus and hating myself for failing, then went home while listening to the Swedish rave music, threw a rock in the pond and ordered a pizza. I spent the weekend in self-loathing.

I'm feeling better now, so y'all can stop worrying about me--at least, for a while. As has been mentioned before on here, I'm not exactly stable.

I'm not invisible

I tend to think I'm invisible--to most people anyway. I go about life like only those closest to me notice anything I do--the random things I do, the crazy things I say, whatever. This post is proof that that's not true.

I had to field this question three times today, so I'll just throw it out here again. I didn't go to any Halloween parties this weekend. There are simple reasons why. I'm not terribly fond of parties. As I mentioned long ago, I don't often stay for prolonged periods of time at parties. This is especially true if the party in question has elements that I don't like--like costumes, dancing, karaoke, pancakes, etc--then I tend to leave even faster. So if it's a costume/dance party, as soon as I'm left alone for about 30 seconds, I'll be on my way home.

I know what you're thinking. "Now wait a minute, you've been to two karaoke nights in the past three weeks, and went to another one shortly after moving to Iowa City." Get off my back. I was just about to explain that. There are things that make me more likely to go to (or stay at) various parties. If I'm feeling really bored or lonely, then I'm more likely to go to a party. If there's a good reason behind the party (the birthday of a good friend or two, someone getting baptized, etc) then I'm more likely to go (and stay). So the karaoke nights are explained by loneliness; boredom and birthday; and birthdays (in chronological order). Also notice that at the two most recent ones, I didn't sing. So I was just hanging out at those.

And of course, there are times where I'm just not feeling up to being around a lot of people. Being around a lot of people is physically and mentally exhausting to me, even at the best of times. This is probably why I like to think that I'm invisible--if I am, then people won't mind too much if I'm not social.

--END HALLOWEEN STUFF--

How's this for crazy: I'll most likely be working out with a Hawkeye football player soon. Again, I know what you're thinking. "How on earth does that happen? Are you sure you're not just making stuff up?" You know, you're really mean. I'm just going to stop posting if you're going to be this mean. Anyway, on Monday, I made a Facebook status saying that Iowa City was making me fat (of the ~100 pounds I lost during the last year I lived in Ames, I've gained 90 pounds back since moving). Apparently, people notice me more than I think they do. Today, one of the football players (who goes to Salt and Veritas) sent me a message asking if I wanted a workout partner. It took two hours to get over the shock and compose my thoughts for a reply.

I don't understand it. Crazy stuff just seems to happen around me. It can't possibly be me that's causing crazy stuff to happen, can it?

Old Traps

Last night, I was just hanging out at my place, wasting time, when I got a text around 7, asking what I was doing. After a short conversation, I was informed of a worship night happening, or I could go see paranormal activity. I hadn't heard of the worship night before that, so the father of lies chose that opportunity to spring one of his old traps on me: "You're a loser and nobody likes you. That's why nobody tells you about anything anymore." At that point (7:20 pm) I decided to go for a walk, which would take me past the place where the worship night was happening.

But first, it took me on a long path that included going past the hospital--so I now know that the hospital is about a 40-minute walk from my place--and crossing a wooden bridge through the woods and some train tracks. "My" plan was to walk past the house, and if no one noticed me, I'd just keep going. And to make that a virtual impossibility, I was wearing my coat, which I almost never wear, so it would make it even harder for me to be recognized in. I walked past, and it looked like there was maybe two people there. Of course, no one noticed, since I was wearing a coat I almost never wear, and walking on a sidewalk that isn't very well lit, and no one inside had any reason to look outside.

I kept walking, staying stuck in the trap, and eventually feeling really alone. I got about a mile past the house when I finally said "This is stupid." Literally, I stopped and said that. I leaned against a power pole, thinking about what I had been thinking, and after a short time, I turned around and headed back. I started praying, and my prayer at that point was a little angry at myself for falling for that again, so it had some "colorful language".

When I got there, I was soon asked how I was, and I admitted that I had fallen into an old trap, and told everyone there about it. I almost cried when I was in the trap, I almost cried talking about it then, and I almost cried typing about it now. How many times am I going to (almost) cry this month? It's getting ridiculous.

Hello world! (Part 2)

Well, we once again have internet here. We lost it for a while, because the neighbors (seemingly) forgot to pay the bill. So today, our own was hooked up. There's just one little catch. We don't have wireless yet. We've only got a direct hookup, so only one of the three of us can be online at a time, until Sunday when we get a wireless router. Anyway, not much to say today, so this is short. Though I did sleep for about 14 hours last night. I starting napping off and on at 4, then at 8 I just gave up and went to bed, then slept until 6.

Random Stuff

So, a couple comments on the Anthem and Adoleo concert again. I've been meaning to make a post for these, but I've had two tests in the past two days, but more on that later. Anyway, while talking to people about it, I kept hearing about things that I missed. The drummer going wild, the additional drummers nearly hitting the lead pastor, etc. I didn't notice any of these things. As I thought back, I realized that most of the time, I only notice one person if I'm doing lyrics. I notice who's leading the song, and everyone else might as well not be there. Tunnel vision can be a good thing, since I'm concentrating on what I need to, but it can be bad since I miss out on awesomeness. Secondly, I bought one of the songs they played, Like Incense/Sometimes by Step and was disappointed. The drum part in the recording is just too soft. I was probably just comparing it to Friday night's version, but it didn't seem as good when the drums are completely drowned out by the vocals during the big epic part. (I think this is the first time I've actually heard a song and said "the mix on this is just bad.")

Anyway, yesterday I had my second test in two days, and I was tired. I still haven't recovered from last week. I knew it wasn't going to be great when I misspelled my own name. Seriously. I wrote my name, then looked down and saw that I had started with my last name with "Kakl" instead of the normal (and correct) "Kalk". I wish that was all I got wrong, but I had no idea how to do one problem, since I hadn't written down the right information for it on my "cheat sheet"--a one-page, single-sided, write-whatever-you-want type deal. I think I did better than the last test in that class, but that's not saying much. I got a 47 on the last test.
I've also been thinking about getting a secret tattoo lately. I'll get it without telling anyone, and it will be hidden by my normal clothing--but nowhere inappropriate, get your minds out of the gutter. I intend to get it done before Christmas.

First Anthem and Adoleo dual concert ever!

Last night, I got home over 16 hours after leaving. Here's what happened.

At 7, I left for school early so I could get online (we still don't have internet). After three hours of classes ending at 11:30, I had a one-hour break which I used to do homework and get everything due that day done. Then came another hour of class. After that was an hour and a half break. I had a shake for lunch, and ate it outside in my T-shirt while people wearing jackets walked past. Then I got online and found out that I was 3 weeks behind on Community and the Office (we also don't have TV). I watched one episode of Community, then headed to the Englert. At three, it was time to start setup.

Setup took an hour and a half, including the problem that we didn't have enough bolts to hold the confidence screen to its legs. (We still don't know where all the bolts went. We have two of these screens, each with 6 bolts, but apparently, one of them only has 2 bolts in it.) Hooray for Gaff tape.

Practice went well, but since I was running lyrics for both bands, while they each got breaks to go eat, I didn't. Luckily, I had thought ahead and had brought some almonds, and snacked on those while Anthem practiced--even though outside food and drink is not allowed. At one point, I had one of the people that had arrived early run and refill my Mountain Dew bottle with water--and I don't even remember his name, or his wife's name (all I remember is that she knew me as "the guy from the video"--and it's been a month and a half since that was shown).

The show was epic. For a while, there was around 20 performers on stage--Adoleo plus 3 trumpets, two additional drummers, and a small choir. At another point, there was a call for people with iPhones to film a music video. Some of them got to go up on stage and get close to the band--which seemed uncomfortable for the band members at moments.

And with me being me, I got really into it, often having one hand on the computer and the other in the air. I know of at least two Adoleo members that noticed, because they specifically mentioned it to me. But then, I was close to the confidence screen, and there wasn't a lot of people around me--most of the time, there was a grand total of 5 people in the balcony, counting myself and the lights guy.

At one point, there was a family with small children in the balcony, and one of the kids--a little girl of about 4--passed into a taped-off area and started climbing towards the projector for the confidence screen. I was really worried for a few seconds there, but the mom noticed and retrieved her.

After Adoleo finished, I quickly ran to the bathroom--I had been holding it for the past half hour or so--then had a couple short conversations, and we began tear-down. After all that, I got a ride home and walked in at 11:15. I quickly went to bed, but not before turning my bed (also known as a futon) around and reading for about an hour.

I was gone for over 16 hours. But it was well worth it.

I always secrete ocular fluid at weddings

Yesterday was a wedding, and I told at least one person I was going to the reception. Then I skipped out after the ceremony. Sorry. I'm just really awkward at wedding receptions.

From what I can tell there are two main things at wedding receptions (three if there's an open bar)--eating and dancing. As I've mentioned before, I can't eat around large groups. I don't dance, either. And even with the possible third thing, I don't often drink. So I end up as someone who just sits at the table off in the corner.

And of course, the one wedding reception that anyone who actually reads this may have seen me at, I simply took off when I wanted to leave. It's my standard party trick--one minute, I'm sitting awkwardly in the corner, the next minute I'm three blocks away. If parties are outside of walking distance from home, I don't like to go. So yeah, I'm awkward and a bit of a loner at parties/receptions. Sorry again.

Internet Addict

Yes, it's true. I'm an internet addict. I can't seem to get through a day without seeing something funny on the web, whether it's funny pictures of cats or people falling down stairs.

Some would point out that if the internet is down, I can't waste time online, and have plenty of time to do homework or read my bible. However, around 90% of my homework requires internet at some point, so that's a problem. As for my bible, I normally read using an iPod app which stores the data for my bible reading plan online.

Anyway, this post is about the fact that I currently don't have internet at home--again. Here's a tip for all you young'ins that read this: If your neighbors are going to let you use their wireless internet, make sure they use it at least as much as you need it. If say, for example, they wouldn't notice that their internet is down for two days, and 90% of your homework requires internet at some point in the process, it would be really bad if their internet went down in the middle of the semester, wouldn't it?

Random

So, this is going to sound completely random, but here it is. Back in the day, I had a huge crush on Julie "The Cat" Gaffney from the Mighty Ducks movies. Just thought I should share that with y'all.

On a side note, did anyone notice that she also played David Cross's goth girlfriend/co-worker in Men in Black II?

Yeah, well... You knew I was weird already. Don't look at me like that.

Yet another retreat

About two hours ago I returned from the Salt Company Fall Retreat--I'm currently waiting for my laundry to finish so I have clean clothes to change into when I shower. It was amazing. When it started, I had slipped back into my depression from earlier in the week, and I just wasn't feeling great about going. Even though I wasn't feeling good, I let myself go to try to get the best out of the weekend.

During free time yesterday, I got into a soccer game. I played goalie for much of the game, and made a couple saves that involved putting my head in the way of people's legs/feet. The other team was just picked too well, because our team never really came close to scoring. Oh well.

Just before the Saturday night session, I was feeling exhausted. I even sprawled on the pew in the front row, anticipating taking a short nap before worship. That didn't happen, so I was feeling wiped out when it started--and after everything was over, we had to tear everything down so they could use it at church this morning. There was no way I was going to be able to help with that. At the end of the session, Ed was leading us through letting things go--idols, depression, hurt feelings towards others, etc. Of course, being me, I broke down and cried for a while. After the closing worship, I just felt so much energy.

After that session, we went outside to replicate the end to this video:

Adoleo - Waiting for You. from Gabriel Noll on Vimeo.

There were some scary moments during that. One of the lanterns got caught in a tree for a bit, another one got a hole in the top and sank back to the ground (Luckily, I had been following that one, and I caught it before it touched down again). That one got thrown in the bonfire, which caused it to burn, then float up as a charred mess, nearly hitting another lantern on the way back down. Another lantern came back down, was caught by one of the guys in my small group, and he held it until it had enough loft to take off again.

And naturally, the next morning, there was a "what has God done this weekend" open mic thing. I normally avoid getting up at times like that, but this time I just went for it. Of all the people that shared (mostly women, like the population of the retreat), I was the one up there that came closest to crying on the stage. Second place on that was a 6-4, 260 pound defensive lineman for the Hawkeyes.

As for what made me break down, it's simply this: I'm sick and tired of depression. I'm also tired of putting time with God after my own entertainment and school.

Ed Noble is an amazing man, and it's easy to tell that he is led by the Spirit. This is the second time I've heard him speak at a retreat, and both times, I've wound up unable to stand because I can't trust my legs to hold me.

Well, I think the dryer's done now, and I want to get cleaned up for an afternoon of nothing. Though I likely won't hop in the shower until the Cowboys game is over.

Depressed

I've been a bit low lately. The past couple days just haven't gone well. I've been exhausted, my pop spit on me on Monday, I got a bad grade on some homework (which I got back today), etc. So for lunch, I decided to hit up Capanna for gelato. My three favorite flavors (strawberry, kiwi, and lemon) were all unavailable. So even that didn't cheer me up much.

And then there's what I posted about yesterday. Well, that got me really down today. Thinking about my funeral reminded me of the vague premonition I have--that I won't live past 30--and this time, thinking about that got me down. It doesn't normally, but I really felt depressed. Not to the point of suicidal, just to the point of "I don't want to be around people, I don't want to do anything, I just want to stay in bed."

Anyway, I got home just a little bit ago, feeling lousy, and went to check the mail. Inside was an envelope with some familiar handwriting from Hawaii. Since I don't think anyone who reads this actually knows who this would be from, it was from Pete. Yes, the same Pete that gave me my first Bible. Inside was a letter talking about how things have been going and talking about my God Story video. I started crying. Just when I was feeling low, an encouraging letter from an old friend arrives in the mail.

Well, I don't think I'm completely out of the depression, but that helped.

Is this morbid?

Today on the bus, I was listening to music. This is really nothing new, since I always listen to music on the bus. However, a somewhat new thought came up while listening to "This is Not The End" from Gungor's newest album. The thought process went something like this (presented here as the internal dialogue that seems to flow endlessly).

This is such a good song. It makes me smile and (almost) cry at the same time.


Yeah. I kinda want it to be played at my funeral.


Wait, what? Here I am, 25 years old, and thinking about my funeral.


Oh, just shut up and enjoy the song.


"And you know you'll be alright
Oh and you know you'll be alright
This is not the end
This is not the end of us
We will shine like the stars
Bright, Brighter"


Anyway, now I'm wondering: is it morbid that I'm thinking like that while listening to that song, or is it fitting for that purpose? I mean, I have brought up thoughts of my death before, but this is kind of a different direction for it.

And now I've gone and gotten myself near to the point of crying for two consecutive posts. I'm going to lose my man card if I'm not careful.

Tears

So yesterday, I was sitting around, and I decided that I wanted to watch The Lion King. Luckily, one of my roommates happens to own it on DVD. So I sat down and started to watch. It was the special edition with a new song--which adds nothing to the story, so it's really worthless. Anyway, the one scene came. You know the one. The one with the wildebeests and the gorge. I started to tear up when Scar and Simba were talking in the gorge. It happens every time. I tell myself, "You're 25 years old. A movie about cartoon lions--which is a ripoff of a television series about cartoon lions and a Shakespeare play about Danish royalty--should not make you cry." Yet I still cry.

This isn't the only movie that does this. Apollo 13 makes me cry too. That one makes me cry at the end, though. The scene where everybody's all tense, thinking the capsule's burned up, then you see the capsule with the chutes open, and you hear "Hello, Houston. This is Odyssey." No matter how much attention I've been paying to the movie, once that line is uttered, the tears start flowing--if they weren't already.

So yeah, now you know a couple movies to watch with me if you ever want to see me cry. There are probably others, but I can't think of them--unless you count my God Story video. You could also start playing Gungor's Ghosts Upon the Earth album, but that isn't guaranteed. Or you could just sit near me in church or on a retreat (though not when I'm running lyrics or lights, the tears don't seem to come when I've "got a job to do"). I guess what I'm really trying to say is that my tears are on a hair trigger. I even start tearing up when I talk about how I always seem to be crying.

Okay, now I need to make some computer-generated creatures die to balance things out.

Long Day

Yesterday, I had class from 8:30am-1:30pm. This is normal for a Tuesday. After that, I came home and watched Apollo 13. After the movie, it was time for Salt set-up. I was there to help with set-up, but had to take a test at 6:30, so I couldn't run lyrics. Unfortunately, the projector wasn't projecting. I spent a while trying everything--reconnecting cables, switching VGA splitters, turning the projector on and off, restarting ProPresenter. Everything, that is, except changing the mini dvi to vga adaptor. Veritas actually has two of these adaptors--one that works, and one that doesn't. Just before I had to leave, I decided to check that. I switched the church's adaptor with the one I bought when I got my computer (which I conveniently put in my backpack and haven't ever actually used it). It worked, so I left mine hooked up, then checked the computer bag for the good one. I completed the trade by taking both of the church's adaptors. So I traded a working adaptor for another working one, and got a broken one as a bonus.

After all of that, I went to my test. I think I did well, even without considering that there are 140 points possible, and the test is graded out of 100 points (though anything over 100 isn't extra credit, it's just ignored).

Following my test, it was time for Salt. When Lance talked about having your biggest secret on display for everyone to see, I felt like I was going to throw up. And those of you that have read this blog from the beginning know that I've admitted to far more than most people ever would.

After Salt was a bonfire/cider/hangout gathering. I had homework that I needed to do, but I stayed there until most people had left. Well, when I got home, I started doing the homework. I intended to do all of it, and possibly just stay up all night instead of getting what little sleep I could, but our internet went down after I finished the first problem, so I gave up and went to bed--this was around 1am.

This morning, while waiting for my first class to start, I sent an email. The reason was that last night, the lights techie asked whether I was going back to run lyrics at Veritas the weekend of the retreat, and I told her I didn't know. This confused her a little, since she had been told that the "old people" were going to be going back early to setup and run church, and I'm older than she is, but I hadn't heard anything about this plan. Anyway, the email was about that, wondering what the plan for the retreat was, and the plan for Salt for the near future (the only thing I was scheduled for the rest of the semester was Veritas). A little under 2 hours later, the creative arts director sent out an email with the plan for the retreat. So, being the squeaky wheel helped a little today.

On a completely unrelated topic, I got the Mighty Ducks movies on DVD today. I ordered them the same time as my new shoes, but they took 5 days longer to arrive (though I actually got them 4 days after my shoes since no one was home to accept delivery for my shoes).

Sorry ladies

Spotted this on the first floor, west side of the Chemistry Building:

Looks like you need to be authorized to use this particular restroom. The men's room is on the same side of the door as this sign, so the guys are okay. Also, just after I took this picture, someone came out the door, so I calmly turned around and walked away. I kinda wonder what he thought I was doing.

Side note: now, thanks to Blogger getting an app, I no longer have to actually connect my iPod to my computer to be able to write a post with pictures. I can start it on my iPod, save it as a draft including any pictures, and finish it on my laptop.

Psychological issues

So, recently I've been telling people about one of my big fears. As some people know, I have (a form of) aquaphobia--the fear of water or drowning. I have a really strong fear of drowning. This extends to the point where having water on my face is unbearable (most of the time--I'll explain the exceptions below). As I've mentioned before, I'm okay with being in water, even when I forget to take my iPod and phone out of my pockets. As long as my face doesn't get wet, I'm fine.

I used to be fine with water. Up through the 5th grade, I could even swim. And when swimming was part of freshman gym class, I was able to get into the water. However, by that point, I had forgotten how to swim.

In case you're wondering, yes I have nearly drowned in my youth. The closest was the time I was nearly killed by someone trying to save my life--I won't go into that now, maybe in a future post. There were a few others where almost nothing happened, so they'll only get a passing mention. Then there was the time that I only know about because my mom told me about it. I was wearing one of those floaty rings when I fell in the pool and got stuck upside down. My mom and my aunt each grabbed an ankle and pulled me out. All of these happened by 5th grade (at the latest) so I'm not sure why the fear showed up later, but whatever.

Anyway, the main exception to the extreme discomfort at having water in my face is when it's raining. I love rain, and jumping in puddles afterwards. Yet, showering is a different story--I just can't seem to bring my face under the water. So, yes, that means my face is the least often washed part of my body.

Now you'll notice the title is plural. So what else am I going to tell about, you ask? Well, it's simple. This most recently came up yesterday, but it's a semi-common occurrence. The church was having a picnic/gathering for its one-year anniversary, and I passed up on having food. I told some people that I wasn't hungry. While that was true, it was more a symptom of the reason than the reason itself. The real reason (which I told at least one person) is that I can't eat around a lot of people. If it's a small group, I'm fine, but as soon as it becomes a group of ~20 people or more, I'm suddenly not hungry anymore. Get me away from the group, and I'm hungry again. The one exception to this seems to be pizza. With pizza, I can just go to town and eat more than some groups of three (or more).

Well, now you know a little more of what makes this guy tick. Maybe next time I'll talk about the real reasons I often don't go to events/gatherings, why my pockets often accumulate random garbage (and by garbage, I do mean garbage), why I don't like phones, or an in-depth analysis of Inception. Aren't you glad you read this?

Hello world!

Just a short post here. We finally have internet at our place! Okay, so it's actually the neighbors that have internet, and they're just kind enough to let us have the password. But anyway, no more taking over a table at Java House or running in early or staying late or being forced to go into town on a Saturday or taking my computer to church to download homework files or going to friends' houses to mooch internet. I can sit right here in my recliner and type all the gibberish that comes into my head. One side effect of that is that I'll likely be blogging more.

On a side note, I did get my homework done before connection group, so I could go to bed now if I wanted, but I won't. I'll end up getting less sleep than normal again tonight, and being exhausted all day tomorrow. Low sleep always helps when you're trying to quit caffeine for about the tenth time.

Sleep is for the weekend

In my last post, I said that I was operating on only 5 hours' sleep yesterday. Well, after all my classes, I had homework that I decided I should work on, since it's due tomorrow, and tonight is connection group. This involved another late night (for me) of homework, and at one point, I had my TI-86 and my TI-36X calculators out, and my computer was open to wikipedia. All to solve one problem. I made a mistake somewhere while writing the last problem on that assignment, but I didn't want to spend the time to hunt it down, so I gave up on it and went to bed. This morning, I left for class, and after I got there, I realized that I had left my lab goggles at home, which meant that I couldn't go to lab unless I spent an hour and a half going home, retrieving them, and returning, so half the lab would be over by then. So now I get to work on what I needed to do today on Tuesday.

This afternoon, I get to work on more homework that's due tomorrow, then break for connection group, then back to homework (though I hope to be done before that--which is, sadly, very unlikely). This may end up being three consecutive late nights, thanks to that stupid "I want to be a better student" garbage.

At least I can sleep on Saturday.

5 hours is not enough

At my connection group last week, we were talking about what we want to accomplish this semester, whether personal or spiritual. One of the things I mentioned was that I needed to work on being a better student. I have a habit of simply quitting on school when it gets boring, and only going to class.

Well, last night (and this morning) was a test of that. I have a homework due at 9:30, and I hadn't checked on what it actually entailed until on the bus ride home between class and Salt yesterday. It turns out it was a one-page paper. Not good. I didn't have much time between class and Salt, and I don't have access to a printer at home. So I was going to have to stay up late and come in early in order to get it done. If I hadn't said that I needed to work on being a better student, I likely would have simply not done it. But no, I stayed up past midnight getting it done, then up at 5:30 so I could get ready for the 6:38 bus. 5 hours sleep. Blah.

After getting that homework printed out, I checked my email. There was something from Kirkwood. It was telling me that since I'm not enrolled there, and I received student loans, that I will need to start paying those at the end of the 6-month grace period. I checked the student loan website, and it seems to say nothing about that, noting that my University of Iowa loans have been added to my bill--and no mention of the Exit Counseling that Kirkwood says I have to take, and should have the option to take. I'm still going to call the offices later to make sure I'm not in deep trouble, but it should be fine. Still, 5 hours is not enough sleep to deal with that kind of scare.

(And in case you're wondering, I've already gotten homework that's due tomorrow done, so coming in early has gotten me ahead)

The Night Before

Last night was the second Iowa City Salt Company of the school year, and I got to put myself on a very exclusive (I'm guessing) list. I was on lyrics, and got to start my own "God Story" video. There were a couple surprises because of this. One was the crowd laughing at points. I didn't think of it until actually seeing it that some points are kinda hilarious.

The big surprise, though, was the people coming up to me afterwards and commenting. I wasn't expecting strangers to come up and compliment on my life. I'm a shy person, so attention is not something I'm well-equipped for, not to mention that they were talking like something I did was so great. From my point of view, I was just swept along in events, especially those in the video. It was all thanks to God (and some of his wonderful servants) that I am able to look back and tell my story with a smile instead of shame. Some of those servants were mentioned by name in that video, but there were many others whose contributions were less quantifiable. The old saying "it takes a village" normally applies to raising children, but it also applies very well to God stories, and not everyone is going to have the big part in the story. Some are going to be the "dozens of people" praying. Some are going to work the soil for years and still see no fruit until nearly 5 years later, when they get a facebook message telling that the soil they worked so hard on has finally borne fruit. Yet the story would not be complete without each and every one of those that tended that soil.

And now that I've gone and gotten all misty-eyed thinking about all the people that helped lead me to God, I've got to go to class in 20 minutes, so I better stop here and compose myself so I can be ready for Physical Chemistry.

New Apartment Tour

Okay, I know I said I'd have this up a couple days ago, but life got in the way. As I type, I'm using the time after a short lab period before my next class, which is about my only unspoken-for free time today. Anyway, two days ago was the first Iowa City TSC of the year. We had ~200 people there, and I found out that there are a grand total of two people that are trained on either lights or lyrics (and are official lights or lyrics people, not sound guys or our bearded leader/drummer) that can actually make it to the practice time--and therefore can actually do lights or lyrics.

Anyway, on with the tour. Firstly, I apologize for the quality of the photos. They were taken with an iPod by someone who isn't a very good photographer. We'll start with the kitchen and work our way from there. Here's a couple shots of the kitchen, complete with the sound system.

Next to the kitchen is the first choice: go upstairs to where my roommates (who share a first name) dwell, or go to the living room. This tour won't be going upstairs, sorry.

Then there's the living room, with seating for a few people (the couch currently there will be replaced, and will move downstairs to the "game room".

And opposite the seating is the entertainment wall.

Now, in case you can't see in the above picture, here are some closeups of what's there: an NES, a Super Nintendo, an N64, a Wii, and a Sega Saturn.

To the left of those is the movie collection, and to the right of the TV is the deck. The view from the deck is of this beautiful pond/lake, and beyond that the Fareway parking lot.

Finally, we turn around, and see some more stairs, leading down:

At the bottom of those stairs is the "game room", which is fairly empty at the moment. We're waiting for the replacement couch for the living room, and to hang the dart board.

The door in the above picture leads to my room, located under the living room. Across from my door are two doors: the left leading to the basement bathroom, and the right leading to the laundry room.

Well, that's all the important parts of the place. There is another bathroom up on my roommates' floor, and near the front door the maps for the nearby bus routes are hung. If you want a slightly more thorough tour, you'll have to drop by, but for now you'll have to settle for this.

Sad Day

Well, I intended to make another "Tour of My Apartment with Pictures" post, but apparently, I forgot the cord to plug my iPod into my computer, so that will have to wait until tomorrow--or this afternoon, if my place finally has internet (the neighbors are going to get it set up and give us the password, but this was supposed to be done on Friday, so we'll see when it actually happens. On a happy note, Salt is TONIGHT!!! One "bad" thing about Salt is that of the 4 people in Veritas who are lyrics people, only one can actually do setup and be at practice.....so it looks like I'll be on every week until I train someone else--or until September 20, when I have a test and can't make it. I'm okay with that. At least it means I know what I'm doing every week--and I'm still one of 4 people for each Veritas lights and lyrics, so I may be busy.

Also, I'm one class away from being done with my first two days at Iowa. I've got an hour and a half before Spanish, and if you'll remember, I have almost no gaps between classes. However, I have a 3-hour lab class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which I might get out of early a lot.

Well, I need to get back to wasting time before I have to go back to class, so I'm going to end this post here.

Gone Retreatin'

Yesterday I got back from the ICTSC Leaders' Retreat (and this time, I was actually invited as a leader, and not just someone who was willing to carry things). It's weird (to me) to think of myself as a leader in Salt. All I do is help setup/teardown and run lyrics or lights--I don't run a connection group or anything like that. But it was a good time: getting to know people that I hadn't met before and getting to know people I already knew better, realizing after walking back out of a lake that my iPod and phone were still in my pockets (both are fine, and my iPod had to have been underwater at some point), working with my team on strange challenges (and still getting 3rd out of 3 teams, sadly) including pushing a car and throwing a frisbee at a stick, eating 13 slices of pizza for dinner on Monday (if you're ever in Corydon, Iowa, hit up Breadeaux Pizza), riding home in a car that kept bottoming out (somewhere around 15 times), and stopping at Pizza Ranch on the way and noticing their vision and mission statement for the first time.

And now for upcoming events, it's now 4 days until we expand into all three major sections of the room we have Veritas instead of the normal two. It's 5 days until I start attending the University of Iowa, and 6 days until the first Salt (and the release of This Hope). That's an exciting 3 days right there.

Fast Times in the IC

So, a lot has happened since my last post. There was buying Microsoft Office for $8.50 and hanging out with people until late on Saturday; there was church--where at one point, I lost my footing and crashed to the ground, hurting my knee--walking for an hour and a half, swings, croquet, and sand volleyball on Sunday (my knee was killing me by the end of the day); there was the job interview--I didn't get the job--killing ants, and more hanging out on Monday; and yesterday was chilling with my dad after he brought me a dresser and a microwave, then clearing my stuff out of the room at the bottom of the basement steps--except for under the stairs. No longer is it impossible to walk a straight line from my bedroom door to the downstairs bathroom.

Now for one of the big things. On Saturday, I had planned on going to a wedding, but the person I had arranged a ride with was working--which I found out on Sunday--so I couldn't go. Instead, I decided to go downtown to get internet, since I didn't want to go to the coffee shop nearby and feel like I need to buy something to justify my existence there. So I hopped on the bus, and promptly put my bus pass in the wrong slot, where it was eaten and lost to me. To punish myself (and save the 75 cent return fare), I walked home. I found a bridge over a wooded valley, got stopped by a train, and saw my former roommate--but then, my path home did take me right past his fiancee's house and his new apartment. I couldn't get a replacement pass until Monday, and it would cost $2, so the bonehead move ended up costing $3.50--including a one-day pass on Monday to get to my job interview.

Lately, I've been hooked on an album. Here's a link to it on youtube. My three favorite songs on there are: The Motions, I Will Rise, and Strong Tower, but the whole album is amazing. It's all I've been listening to for the past few days, but I still can't wait for the Adoleo album. Less than 2 weeks!!!! I may end up juggling the two albums for a while after This Hope comes out.

Anyway, school starts in a little more than a week and a half, and I still haven't wrapped my mind around the fact that I'm going to be a Hawkeye. I've got my schedule all printed out, I'm using their wireless internet, and I've got a student semester pass, but it still doesn't seem real. God really does take you to places you never before thought were possible.

I have returned

I moved back to Iowa City yesterday. My dad and I were able to get everything from my old apartment to my new place in just 4 trips. Luckily, 3 of these were just from the church storage unit to my apartment--only about 2 miles. After getting everything moved in, I set up my futon, then hung out until evening. At that point, we headed out for a farewell barbecue. After all the food was consumed, the younger of my roommates (the other one won't be around a lot until the school year) and another guy went for a swim in the river. They stopped about halfway across because they found a submerged tree. My roommate was trying to stand on it, but he couldn't find a large enough branch and he went under, swallowing some water. He struggled trying to get back to shore, and another guy had to jump in and help him to shore.

After all that excitement, we went to watch the Veritas softball team play--including the other roommate, who is only a few months younger than I am, but still makes me the oldest. They won 17-11. Then it was home to the new place to figure out plans for today and sleep.

This morning after my shower, I went out and sat on our deck, looking over the pond/lake and the Fareway parking lot beyond while reading my bible and listening to music (the first song was, of course, Lookin' Out My Back Door). I spent about an hour out there, nearly fell asleep a couple times, and basically had an awesome time.

We bought shower curtains, a toaster, a cookie sheet, and a frying pan today. Yes, for the second time in three years, I had to shower without a shower curtain. Well, I just swung into a coffee shop to get an internet fix. (We don't have that set up yet)

Oh yeah, if y'all are around and want to visit, check the book of faces for my address--or simply go to the Kum & Go on Mormon Trek and call me (I live almost directly behind there). However, I might not be there. I am taking 17 credits this fall.

And I have a job interview on Monday. It's at ACE hardware on the other side of town from my new place. I doubt they'll still want me to work there after learning of my real availability (I believe they just have my availability from the beginning of the summer) but that's okay. I'm not really sure I can handle what's already on my plate without adding more. Especially if I continue to have this desire to be in a relationship. 17 credits plus volunteering at church plus (potentially) pursuing women is going to take up a lot of time.

New Record

Well, I broke my longest time awake record yesterday. As I said in my last post, I didn't sleep Saturday night--and had to run lyrics two weeks in a row on no sleep. Shortly after writing the last post, I hit the wall. I could have fallen asleep then. Unfortunately, my alarm was going to go off in about an hour, so going to sleep wouldn't have helped much. So instead, I walked to Hy-Vee and bought some caffeinated beverages. All the way there and all the way back, there was a terrific light show all around me. Lightning in all directions, but no rain where I was. Five minutes after I got back, the downpour started.

My dad showed up for church, and afterwards we went back to my place to get ready to go to the storage unit. My roommate had the key, or else we would have gone sooner. I nearly fell asleep waiting for him to get back. We hauled most of the rest of our collective stuff to the storage unit, rearranged some things, and closed it up. Then my dad and I went to Godfather's for some pizza. After that, we drove past my new place, and then back to the current apartment. We talked for a while, then he went to his hotel room.

Unfortunately, all the seating in our apartment is gone now. The only large piece of furniture left is my futon. My roommate fell asleep on the living room floor at around 10:30, so I had to sneak past him to get to my room at 11. I fell asleep quickly, but I had been up for 40 hours at that point, so it's not surprising.

I woke up at 12:30 this morning because some people had decided to shoot of fireworks in the parking lot. Of course, when I actually sat up and looked out, they were done and gone. Another reason on the list for why I'm glad I won't be living in this building much longer.

Well, I should wrap this up. I've still got to take apart my futon and pack some small items. Peace out, Iowa City. I shall return on the 4th.

Not This Again

Well, it's Saturday night (or should I say Sunday morning) again, and again, I can't sleep. This time, I AM on the schedule for church in the morning. I'm on lyrics. This will make 2 weeks in a row running lyrics on zero sleep.

Why couldn't I sleep this time? Once again, my mind wouldn't shut down. It was mostly thinking about the move--though instead of big things, this week it was where and when to pack each and every item and how to pack everything into the storage unit. However, underneath it all was a little song. This song got stuck in my head after seeing the movie almost first thing Saturday morning. Which movie, you ask? Why, it was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, of course--the one with Gene Wilder, not Johnny Depp. Which song was stuck in my head? I Want It Now, sung by Veruca Salt. This is the song she sings just before she's judged to be a bad egg and sent down to the (possibly lit) furnace. Just in case you've never seen it, don't remember it, or simply refuse to search Youtube for it, here it is:

(the "with lyrics" part in the video title refers to the lyrics being in the description, sorry. Here's a link to the video if you want to read the lyrics along with the video)

Anyway, I'm starting to get hungry. I should eat soon.

Addendum

I forgot one thing in my last post. (Yes, I know I only posted it about 90 minutes ago) While setting up yesterday, I was in that ultra-hyper state that sometimes comes out of exhaustion, and I was running around, trying to get things done quickly. At one point, I got to where I was going (at a decent pace) and decided to slide to a stop. I made this decision because I had forgotten that I was wearing shorts. And as those of you who have been there know, the conference room we have church in (as with all hotel conference rooms, I'm sure) is carpeted. This combination of factors would later be described by my roommate as "the perfect circumstances if you wanted to give yourself a rug burn". So now my right leg hurts when I (or anything else, really) touch it.

And a side note on the internet situation. It turns out that sometime between when I got frustrated and left and the time I returned, the internet started working again. So I walked for an hour (totaling there and back again) in the ~85 degree sun when all I had to do was wait--a couple hours more at most.

No New Record

I fell asleep with less than an hour to go before breaking my personal record for longest without sleep. Oh well. I'll tell you about the rest of my attempt--and the post-failure activities--here.

I went to church to help with the setup. As I said yesterday, I wasn't on the schedule, but the guy that was supposed to do lyrics called in sick, so I got the opportunity to run lyrics on zero sleep. I hit a wall with an hour before church, not sure if I could even stay awake for the next hour, let alone throughout the service. Luckily, I got my second--or by that time, probably my third--wind, and was feeling awake just in time. After the opening worship, as the band was walking off the stage, I got hit with a wave of nausea. I considered calling someone over, but it wasn't too bad, so I stayed at my post. The nausea passed, and during announcements, the other techies back at the main booth were trying to contact me. Unfortunately, my phone was living up to the $15 price tag, and not getting a signal. I hoped it wasn't important and continued on.

After getting home, I sat down to watch the US women play, and got my laptop out. Our internet was down--and as far as I know, it still is (I snuck onto campus because going a day without internet while needing to be in semi-regular contact with my mom is bad news). I fell asleep sometime during the first half of the game--between 2:15 and 3 in the afternoon. The record would have been at least tied if I had stayed awake until 3. After the game, I flipped through all the channels to find out what was on--the TVGuide channel doesn't actually show listings on Mediacom (making it pointless) and the internet was still down. At 9, I went to bed, and took my computer with me to use it as a portable DVD player. After the movie--the one about the old guy reading a book to his sick grandson--I went to sleep. When I woke up this morning, I checked to see if the internet was back up, and when it wasn't, I decided to sneak onto campus so I could get online--and get the bonus of setting up my laptop to recognize the UI's wireless system. That brings you up-to-date on how things are going, so I'll end here and continue getting my internet fix.

Can't sleep. Clown'll eat me.

As I start this post, it's 2:30am Sunday. I've been awake since 7am Saturday. That's 19.5 hours of awakeness, with probably another 15 ahead--or more. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

I've gotten into that mood again. The mood where I want to be in a relationship. When I put down my book at around 9:30 to try to sleep, I started thinking about which one of the awesome women at Veritas I would want to ask out. Why my mind seemed to want to make this decision when I'm trying to sleep, I don't know. Anyway, I'm no closer to an answer on that than I was when I started. I ended that thinking at around 12:30 with "It doesn't really matter anyway. I'm not at a very good point in my life to be thinking about a relationship."

Well, my mind didn't want to let me sleep, so it simply changed the problem it would focus on. At that point, I started worrying about the upcoming move. Mostly because I have about 30 hours less than I had thought when I made plans. I had thought I only had to be out by noon on the 27th. Nope. 7am on the 26th. And I hadn't heard back from my mom about her helping out--and her boyfriend is the one with the truck, so the big stuff would not be easy without them. So I was running through my list of friends (and their vehicles) trying to figure out who would have a truck and might have spare time. At 2, I got up with my only intention being to complain about not being able to sleep on Facebook. It was then that I got the response from my mom. She couldn't make it on the days I had asked her about--the 25th and 26th. She would have to come two days before that. I told her that would be great, then completed my task of complaining about being awake at 2am, and decided to get off the computer.

However, as I've mentioned before, I wake up easily. Even though I hadn't really slept, just coming out to get on my computer was enough to get my "second wind" of wakefulness. So I gave up on sleep and hopped in the shower, before coming back out here.

So why would I be awake for the next 15 hours? Well, church setup starts in about 3 hours. Even though I'm not on the schedule, my roommate is, so I'll go to avoid having to ask someone for a ride--it's just easier to me that way. Then there's the band practice, where I'll probably just mess around on my iPod or read the bible. After that is church, then teardown. And of course, at 1:45 this afternoon--which will be shortly after teardown ends--the USA Women's soccer team plays in the World Cup Final.

Anyway, it's now 3am, and being awake for 20 hours really makes a guy hungry. But before I go, one last note: my longest awake streak stands at about 32 hours. I'll probably beat that today, but we'll see.

Good Wednesday

I know, it's Saturday now, but I kept putting this off. Wednesday was a good day. It was the coolest day in a couple weeks (in both the "good things happened" sense and the temperature sense--it wasn't even supposed to hit 80 here), so I decided to do some things I had been putting off for a while. I needed to figure out storage for the move--since I have to be moved out by the morning of the 26th, and can't move in until the 1st--and visit my bank to sign up for e-statements. I had mapped out where two storage companies were, and planned to visit them first. The first one had a sign about redirecting mail, and didn't seem like it was open--or would ever be again. The second had a sign stating that their office had moved. So I went to my bank. Everything there went fairly smoothly--even though the person helping me wasn't 100% sure on the procedure.

When I left the bank, I decided to visit the Veritas offices--since they're only about a block away--to use their internet to regroup and plan my next move. When I arrived, the only person there was the newest staff member--who also happens to be the coolest bass-player's wife I know. As I was figuring out where to go next, the drummer/creative arts director/head of the tech team and his wife arrived. He asked what I was up to, and I explained the storage problem, and he offered me the church storage unit--since all the church stuff stays in the trailer. Not being someone who often turns down free stuff, I accepted. Shortly after, his wife was going to head downtown, and offered me a ride home. This saved me a 2.5 mile walk, and allowed me to get home with plenty of time before the US Women's World Cup team took on France in the semis. I watched both of the semi-final games, then got ready to head out to welcome the East Asia team home.

When the time came, there were around two dozen people there to welcome the East Asia team back. They all seemed somewhat out of it, but they had been traveling for about 24 hours so you had to cut them a bit of a break. It was good to see them all back safely--and they seemed happy about the crowd that had come to say hello for the first time in 2 months.

Well, I'm going to end this post now. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the movie I'm watching--Iron Man 2--the pitch-by-pitch updates on my baseball team (I usually can't get interested in actually watching baseball, so I just "watch" it on the MLB's website) and typing out only what's pertinent to this post all at the same time.

Practice Runs

In my last post, I mentioned that I would be doing practice runs to make sure I could get from class to class in 10 minutes. Today was the first day I actually got out to try them. I spent an hour and a half going from my place to campus, finding all my classrooms, doing two of the three practice runs (and the one I didn't do is simply one of the others done in reverse) and coming home. The short run--chemistry lab to spanish--takes about 5 minutes, and the long run--english to chemistry--takes about 7 minutes, so even if you factor in other foot traffic and/or potential bad weather, 10 minutes should be a breeze.

While in the Chemistry Building--and yes, that's the actual name for it--I found this:

(okay, this is actually in the main lobby, directly across from the door, so finding it wasn't that hard)

Yes, that's a periodic table, complete with samples of most of the elements--very few of the high-numbered elements are stable enough for a display like this. Also, that screen just to the left of Boron (or to the right of the plaque with "Periodic Table of the Elements" on it) is a touch screen interactive table. Fancy, huh? Below are some of the individual elements. I'll let you figure out why I picked these ones.

If you're wondering, yes those circles in the tungsten picture are holes that you can reach your fingers through. There's at least one other element with holes in the glass like that.

I'm orientated

Yesterday was orientation. That meant I had to get up early so I could be at the IMU at 8:15. Being me, I got there early, waited for it to start, and then was the first in the line for picking stuff up. They gave me a folder, some papers, and one of those little paper-thin backpack things that no one really uses after orientation, and many don't even use then. I had my real backpack with me, so I stuffed that at the bottom.

I went upstairs to get my Iowa One Card (for those of you who went to Iowa State, this is the equivalent of the ISUCard). They took my picture, and offered me a free t-shirt for liking the IMU on facebook. I actually turned it down, though they were quite insistent that it was really easy. I got the card, and went to wait for the long introduction speech thing. After that was small group, which let me figure out a class schedule ahead of meeting with my advisor. This ended at around 11:30, and my advisor meeting wasn't until 1. I hung out around downtown, got lunch at the mall, and waited.

I met with my advisor, and he told me that a class that I found to be full while searching earlier was one I HAD to take this semester--it's only offered in the fall, and it's a prerequisite for some classes that are only offered in the spring. I told him it was full, and after some phone calls, he told me to get on a wait list for it. I went to register for classes, tried to get on the wait list, but the wait list site kept sending me broken links, so I had to email the webmaster. He pulled some strings so I could sign up for the wait list, and so I signed up. Shortly after signing up for that, I checked to see if there was an opening. There was. I tried to register for the class, but the system wouldn't let me. I went to bed still not registered for the class. Naturally, the first thing I did this morning was register for that class, which thankfully still had the opening.

So now I'm fully registered for the first of (hopefully) 3 semesters at Iowa. With around 50 credits (or semester hours, depending on who is naming them) before I have all the graduation requirements met, I have to take some slightly heavy semesters--or I could go 4 light semesters, but I want to be done. This fall will be 17 credits--9 Chemistry, 3 English, and 5 Spanish. As far as my schedule goes, it varies from day to day. Every day starts at 8:30 with a chemistry course. Days end at either 11:20 (Mondays without Spanish tests), 4:20 (Mondays with Spanish tests, Tuesdays without Physical Chemistry tests, Thursdays, and Fridays), 6:20 (Wednesdays) or 8:00 (Tuesdays with Physical Chemistry tests).

I may have to do some practice runs on some of my in-between classes walks--Chemistry to English and English to Chemistry. The Chemistry classes are even in the same room, so it's slightly a waste to have to leave in between. These are also my morning classes three days a week, so I'm sure I'll get good at them eventually. Sadly, Iowa doesn't have floor plans of their buildings online, so I can't prepare as well as I could at Iowa State--another way the Cyclones are spoiled. I actually have to go there to find out where rooms are. I've got a month and a half to get all that figured out, so I'm not worried.

72 hours of fun

A fair bit has happened these past three days, and I'm quite sleepy--even after an afternoon nap. Let's start with Friday.

Friday, I woke up around 6:15, which seems to be happening a lot--even though my alarm is set for 7. I usually stay in bed until I hear my roommate's car leave--he works at 7--then I get up and shower. After hearing his car leave, I stayed in bed a little longer, trying to sleep, but after about ten minutes I gave up and started to head to the shower. When I left my room, there was my roommate. I showered, confused as to why he was back. A while later, he came out of his room, because he couldn't sleep. Apparently, what had happened was he slept with his contacts in, and this caused him pain. He said he nearly crashed three times within a few blocks of driving, so he just called in sick and came back. He then spent most of the day playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on his N64.

That afternoon, my future roommate showed up, because we were going to hang out. He wanted to help me learn to drive, so I hopped behind the wheel of his car and we were off. We got lost on some country roads north of Solon, saw a hawk and a deer, fishtailed a little bit on a gravel road, eventually found our way back to Solon, then came back and drove around downtown. Upon returning, I realized I had driven for about 2 and a half hours--most of it lost on country roads. Shortly after that, my phone received texts saying he was on his way.....three hours after they were sent.

I spent most of Saturday watching Stargate SG-1. 13 episodes in one day may have been a bit much. I also watched the movie Eight Men Out. As a White Sox fan, that story just makes me sad....and angry....and sad.

Today started off normally. I got up at 4:30, knowing that I was on the schedule for setup at 6. My roommate and I picked up his fiancee, and headed over. At 6, there were only 4 people there, counting my roommate's fiancee... And we couldn't use the loading dock... And the normal children's ministry area was taken. When asking why, the head of the tech side of things found out we weren't on the Marriott's schedule for that day. (3 more people showed up by that point--so 7, when we normally have about 10)

As proof that God loves Veritas, the personnel decided to let us have our normal room anyway. Nobody else was using it, and there was even a smaller room nearby for the kids. Unfortunately, there had been a wedding reception in our usual room the night before, so they had to change it over last-minute. They were a real blessing. I wonder if they've ever had to change a room around while the group they were setting it up for was also setting up their own stuff.

While hooking the main speakers onto the truss system, I dropped a piece of one of the safety cables, and it bounced under the stage. While one guy on the floor was looking for it, I leaned out, trying to see it so I could point it out to him. I overbalanced, so I had a choice to make. My options were:

1. Do nothing and simply fall on his back
2. Step on his back
3. Jump over him and try not to hurt myself on landing
4. Grab the truss to steady myself

Options 1 and 4 didn't occur to me at the time. 4 was probably the best option, but having not thought of that, I went with 3. I jumped. I couldn't manage to get my feet under myself and land properly, so I fell to my knees and injured myself. (Don't worry, I'm fine now)

We also had two new projectors, so we got to set those up as well--and not go through the hassle of setting up the old one. During practice, the female vocalist was laughing at all the techies fawning over the image clarity offered by the new projectors, but hey, we're kinda nerdy.

Everything was ready in time for church, so most people there wouldn't have even known about the booking issue--or anything else. But like I said, sleepy now.

That's no hoop, it's a space station!

So, in my last post, I mentioned that I still had a couple hoops to jump through before starting at Iowa. Today, I tried to finish the last one I could before Wednesday (which is the "fun" of Orientation).

I had to prove that I had had my shots, so I called up my doctor's office. They had me leave a message, then called me back. It turns out, they don't have records for my infant inoculations. I don't know where else to call to get that information, so I'm sort of trapped on that one. They did have the records for the meningitis and hepatitis series that I started in 2004--then never finished.

After learning this, I was a little upset, so I walked down to Capanna and got some gelato while listening to Gungor. That calmed me down immensely.

Looking at the form again, it looks like I only need to prove immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella--and I've got a semester to get that done. Then again, searching further indicates that proving this would cost me $271, or I can get the MMR shots again (two rounds of shots) for $182. So while it's not as bad as I thought--I was worried I wouldn't be able to register for the fall, or I'd have to make about 2 dozen phone calls in the next 5 days--but it still sucks. Hooray for disappearing medical records.