Gungor!

Okay, first, I realize that I've neglected to update my weight. Sorry. I lost 5 pounds in the week leading up to Wednesday, even though I didn't work out on Thursday or Friday, and ordered a pizza on Friday. Whatever.

Anyway, on to the main body of this post. Last night, I went to see Gungor in Des Moines. It was great. It was easy to tell that the band (especially Michael and Lisa Gungor) love what they're doing. When songs about double in length due to jam-out sessions, and those two are dancing around the stage, it's magic. Of course, they played what is just about my favorite song ever, as well as my favorite song from the Beautiful Things album, though that one was played as the final encore. Definitely worth the money if you can make it to another stop on this tour, or another tour in the future.

It's getting crazy

So, on Saturday, my phone was acting up. It refused to receive any signal in my apartment. The problem was, I needed to secure a ride to setup for church the next morning. So, in the late afternoon, I went for a walk to search for a signal. After walking for a bit, I found it. I tried to send a text and.....no signal. I walked for a little bit longer, and got signal again! So I tried to send a text and.....no signal. This happened a few times. So I decided to walk to church in the morning--a 50-minute walk, and I had to be there at 6:30.

After watching the ISU-Kentucky game (and realizing that I should NEVER watch sports alone) I was angry and pumped up, and couldn't sleep. I think I got to sleep around midnight. My alarm went off at 4:30, and I felt horrible. But, being me, I couldn't just blow off something I said I'd do, so I dragged myself out of bed, hopped in the shower, got dressed, checked my email, and headed out. I stopped at the gas station to pick up something to drink, and headed north. I arrived early, and waited for everyone else to get there. After setup and a short practice, there was a meeting. It was for people interested in going to a Bring Me Hope camp to volunteer this summer. I attended the meeting, not really expecting anything.

Well, today I gave up on my phone, and set off to get a new one. I bought the new one, the salesperson installed the old sim card in the new phone, and I left. So now my phone has a camera and a full keyboard. Anyway, on the way back, I made a decision about the Bring Me Hope trip. I decided that I was going to go unless God stopped me. If you'll remember, that was the attitude I (eventually) adopted about coming to Iowa City. So on my way back into downtown, I stopped and picked up an application for a passport. I then remembered that I needed to check my voicemail, and there was one from my dad, asking if I had any plans for spring break. I called him back--not the greatest idea, since I was on the bus--and let him know the bad news that spring break was last week. Then I asked him if he still had my birth certificate, and let him know the reason. He said he'd look for it, and that he was planning to come up on Sunday, so he'll bring it then if he finds it. So yeah, looks like I will be leaving the US for the first time in my life.....for two whole weeks. I'm not sure whether the excitement is just terror or not.

Weight Watching Wednesday V

Unhappy day. I gained 1 pound in the past week. It probably has something to do with not doing anything during spring break--except working out in the mornings--which causes me to get hungry a lot more often.

Anyway, today I didn't work out for very long. My legs just gave out. I guess 110 pound leg curls, 150 pound leg extensions, 160 pound squats and 438 pound leg press is a bit much--though the only one I could do 10-rep sets was the leg extensions.

Well, short post today. Later.

I can't hold it in

Today in my Speech class, there was a special assignment. Three people had to get up and tell a sad/funny/scary story without using any nonverbal communication--for a get-out-of-one-assignment-free card. Of course, I went for it. The only issue was, if we made any nonverbal communication--a smile, a hand gesture, change in inflection--the other students would call out "strike," and three strikes and we were out. Well, I didn't make it through my story, so now it's bursting to get out of me, even though it's embarrassing. So y'all get a nice surprise.
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It all happened back in 9th grade. I was sitting in class, and suddenly, I had to go to the bathroom. Being too shy to actually say something to the teacher, I just held it in. That was my undoing. With about 10 minutes to go in class, I couldn't hold it any more, and peed my pants.

I spent my lunch break trying to dry my pants with paper towels and the hand dryer, with little effect.

Later in the day, it happened again. Middle of class, and I had to pee. At that point, I thought "What the h**l, I've already done it once today," and just peed my pants again.
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So yeah, sorry for anybody that was made uncomfortable by this story, but I couldn't hold it any longer. And for the rest of you, go ahead, make your jokes.

Weight Watching Wednesday IV

I lost another pound this past week, which is pretty good when you consider that I didn't work out on Thursday or Friday. So we're up to 14 pounds lost so far. And my pulled muscle seems to have healed, so that won't be a problem any longer.

Now, I know I promised a special treat about the retreat talent show, but I'm backing out of that. I was planning on recording myself performing the talent correctly (I began to screw up in the second half when it counted) and then what I would have done to make it different for the finals. However, I'm not doing that, so there. If you want to see it done correctly, it'll have to be done in person.

In other news, the first of two packages arrived today. This one had the Killer Bunnies Starter Deck and the Red booster along with a nose/ear hair trimmer and a haircutting kit. (Naturally, on the UPS website, I nicknamed this package "Bunnies and Hairs") The second package, which contains the Violet booster pack, should arrive tomorrow. Right now I'm debating whether or not to keep the boxes that the booster packs come in, since all the cards will fit in the box that the Starter Deck comes in.

Well, I should go. I need to put laundry away so I don't have to stay up late doing that.

Another retreat, another post

As most of my readers know, this past weekend was the retreat. We went to the same place as the ISU Salt retreat, only a week later--the Embassy Suites in Des Moines. Sadly, I was somewhat disappointed in this retreat. I didn't get much out of it. This is partially due to me focusing on tech stuff so much that I didn't notice much else, and partially because (in my opinion) the speaker didn't "bring it." Whether that was because he had a wedding to perform on Saturday afternoon, or something else, I don't know. He just didn't wow me. Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, and I'm excited to hear him speak regularly at Salt (we're stealing him away from Cornerstone soon), but I don't think he's cut out for retreats.

Anyway, I met some cool people and had great talks during small group, and the breakout sessions were good. I'm probably one of about 3 people that didn't go to either the politics talk or the women's talk--though I had to walk into the women's one beforehand to pick up my shoes (and somebody seemed quite upset that I was even in that room, even though it hadn't started yet). During the second breakout session time, I went to the arts one, where I got called an "artist" simply for doing tech. Then before Saturday night's session, I was being a little obsessive with how the projector looked--not sure if that's connected to the last sentence, or if it was just my normal mild OCD.

During free time, I played various games with people, watched some History Channel, and hung out--and now I've finally broken down and bought Killer Bunnies, along with the red and violet booster decks--which should arrive in a couple days. I also got hooked on a new show. My retreat roommates started watching it at midnight after the Saturday evening session. It's only 4 episodes old now, but the History Channel is lame and only has the latest episode available, so I haven't actually seen the first episode. The show is called Full Metal Jousting and it is what it sounds like--guys jousting for prize money.

Another big thing on the retreat was the talent show, which I entered--and failed to make it out of the first round. I'll talk more about that in the future--probably later today. So stay tuned for a special treat on that topic!

Weight Watching Wednesday III

As those that have been getting the sneak preview know, I lost 3 pounds this past week. That's 13 so far. Yesterday was a day off, and today was a leg workout day, so I've been able to rest my pulled muscle. Tomorrow is Thursday, which is basketball day--shoot from the 3-point line, get rebound, shoot, repeat until shot is made. If the ball goes out of bounds--including over the half-court line--it's penalty time. Penalty is half-court shuttle runs, 3 times down and back. This keeps me from just phoning it in and not chasing rebounds. Once shot is made--or penalty is assessed--return to 3-point line and start again. That gets exhausting fast.

Anyway, for today's side note, I thought I'd talk about life with a pulled trapezius. Monday was horrible. I spent the whole rest of the day in pain, even with downing ibuprofen as fast as (or possibly faster than) the bottle recommends. Sleeping that night was fun. My normal sleep schedule involves waking up every couple hours to change positions then going back to sleep. With severe pain every time I moved my right arm or my head, changing positions was near impossible, as was getting up in the morning. The pain got better as the day went on, but shortly before Salt, I had to take some more ibuprofen. Sleeping last night wasn't too bad, and I woke up mostly pain-free. However, the pain has recently come back, so I'm hoping that goes away again soon. If I'm feeling bad when I wake up, I might just skip working out and only go to classes and such, though it might be that sleeping makes it better, and then doing everyday stuff aggravates it. Friday, I'm going to skip the workout in favor of going home to get ready for the retreat.

I have this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side

Okay, the title of this is slightly untrue It's actually my right side. I'm 99% sure I pulled a muscle during my workout this morning. I was doing some lateral raises, and the 8th rep of the set went okay--a little slow, but okay. I decided to try a 9th. That was a mistake. I felt a pinch, then pain. Now whenever I turn or tilt my head to the right, tilt my head back, or move my right arm much, I feel pain. And there's a lump on the back of my right shoulder. Judging on the location of the lump and what causes it to hurt, the damage seems to be in the trapezius.

...And I just found out that touching the lump causes extreme pain. I think I'll be stopping that for a while. Yes, I've taken some ibuprofen, but the pain still sucks. Good thing Tuesday is my off day for lifting anyway.

So yeah, if you see me, and I look like I'm in pain or crying or swearing silently, I probably am. Hopefully this clears up before the retreat this weekend.

Weight Watching Wednesday II

So, I only lost 1 pound this last week. Probably because since I lost my workout buddy, I have only worked out until I felt like stopping. So now, I think I need to work out until I can't anymore, like today. (probably not the best idea on a legs day, since it made walking really suck later)

Anyway, completely unrelated topic, but I remember watching an animated film when I was a lad. It was a great movie, and the soundtrack included "Yesterday". I seem to remember that there was also a dragon involved. Sadly, I cannot seem to find any information on what film this could be--even with the internet! Not with google, not with wikipedia, nowhere. I know it existed! I can't be remembering this wrong! ...........Can I? I will find this movie!

It's now officially on the life goals list:

1. Be an awesome man of God (major work in progress here)
2. Get married and have kid(s) (another one with a long way to go)
3.  Find the animated film with "Yesterday" in the soundtrack (I'll know it when I find it)
4. Be in a tornado--not a simulator, a real tornado (unlikely that this will ever happen, even less likely that I would survive)
5. Catch a wild squirrel or rabbit with my bare hands, just because I can
6. Get into a fight with a puma/bear/other large predator (another one that's unlikely to happen and almost no chance of survival if it does)
7. Eat a large pizza in one meal (Check)
8. Write a book (actual effort and desire on this comes and goes)
9. Learn to play an instrument--currently thinking ocarina (I know, it's a little late to think about starting something like this, but a man can dream, can't he?)
10. Eat exotic meats (Anyone out there wonder what giraffe or penguin or mountain lion tastes like? I do)
11. Attend awesome worship concerts (I've seen Phil Wickham--and Adoleo and Anthem, of course--and in a month, I'll see Gungor)
12. Read some of the great classics (for example, I've read Beowulf, the Odyssey, and Frankenstein; will read Dracula and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde soon; and want to read Moby Dick and the Divine Comedy)
13. Build a Tesla Coil
14. Build a Van de Graaf generator
15. Build a trebuchet

There are probably other things that I've accomplished or want to accomplish, but I can't remember them at the moment.