Blog Post No. 500

     Wow. This is going to be the five hundredth post on here.

     A couple years ago I wrote a post about social media and honesty. Most of the time we only see the "good parts" version of the story, with all the other stuff taken out. Most of these posts on here have been the "good parts" version, because college was rough. And because since graduating, nothing has happened.

    While doing the farm chores this summer while Mom and Trevor were competitions I realized I have no farming talent or skills to speak of. Instead, I'm very experienced at keeping the laundry and dishes running, making sure the trash is taken out and the litter boxes are clean, that sort of thing.

     Spraying chicken manure off the back porch daily gets old pretty quick, but someone needs to do it.

     Furniture Row Racing is shutting down after this season due to lack of sponsorship, which isn't surprising, but it's still pretty sad. Makes me wonder a little bit how much longer NASCAR will be able to keep going, and if it's worth tagging along for the demise.
     When I looked at the Frontstretch staff page last week, I noticed my name was bumped up to "Staff Writer" from "Contributor" sometime recently. That's nice. They're a great group of people to work with, but would the effort expended be better spent elsewhere?

     I've made $7.33 so far in earnings this year, from contributing to Bam Smack Pow. I forgot to cash the check for my 2017 Fronstretch contributions before it went bad, and I've never been paid by RSU for producing the play in March. (Not a great way to inspire your alumni, that isn't.) Around October I should start getting payments from editing Dog O'Day, so that's a little bit more coming in. 
     I've sent out what feels like a lot of job applications this week, feeling kind of brave, though still mostly hopeless.

     All four cars are pretty much undrivable, with only the car we're borrowing from Melody's dad running reliably. This wouldn't matter all that much, since I can't drive, except that we live in the middle of nowhere, so I'm kind of stranded. That's really difficult. You aren't supposed to move back in with your parents after college.

     Severe cabin fever has settled into a permanent state. As part of a large-ish family, you're considered most of the time as a part of that unit, not as an individual.

     People at church mean well, but every week there's several questions of "Have you found a job yet?" And I'm like, "Not yet, but eventually something will come up." And there's too many memories to be able to focus - would you want to return weekly to your middle school, to your high school?
     My introverted brain is dying on the way back from having to try to make small talk, and not go into overdrive wondering how everyone is doing now, of those who used to be here. 
     I still believe, it's just...Idk. Mostly I've been going just because it gets me away from Dad for a couple hours.

     I simply cannot function whenever he's around. It's bad. All my energy goes into survival - I've written a grand total of one poem since graduation, and then with the play, that's been my total creative output since graduation.

     Haven't posted on Instagram since May, because I haven't done or seen anything worth capturing.

     Lots of people getting married this September, seems like. Is that normal?

     Susan's dog died last week, and the Coxes' dog was put to sleep this afternoon. They were both old and sick, but still...it's so hard.  

Ten Years of SGYC

     This morning ten years ago, somehow I forced myself to leap into the Great Unknown. Where I actually leapt into was Mr. Gundersen's van. It was a new adventure for nearly all of us - Grace Bible-Tulsa hadn't sent anyone to this church camp before, though a few of the girls had been before with friends from other churches. 

     See, Marie had talked Josh and I into going with her, and then she backed out at the last second. (I want to say her family went on vacation two weeks before camp started, but I'm not sure.) FFH's "I'll Join the Rocks" was one of the songs stuck in my head on the way to southwest Missouri.

     What happened? I met my teammate Daniel the first night - he'd been here before, showed me the ropes. The next day I met a guy named Matt, who had also never been there. As the week progressed, I met twins Marshall and Madelyn, and a lot of other people, including Taylor, Shari, Jojo, Jake and Ashton. I met counselors like Terry, Tim, Brother Larry, Robin and Janet C. I learned how to square dance, and while doing so met Ashland. I also learned how to play volleyball. 2008

     The next year the fire-remodeling was happening, and SGYC was a relief from the stress. Daniel and I had started emailing each other regularly, and his advice and encouragement was something I benefited greatly from. It rained often, and I learned how to play ping pong and met Jed, Jon Jessica and Amanda. 2009

     Sam and Dylan had joined the GBC youth group by our next trip. Tim wasn't there because of his brain tumor, which made for an odd week. It was a strange year of camp in general. I taught Dylan how to throw a Frisbee, and this was the first time that Ashland and I were teammates, on Black (the Panthers). 2010

     2011 was eventful. The White Cubs were terrible at the Tournament Challenge sports, but we worked really well together (mostly our team was composed of Tulsans and Hankinses). Sam and I did a duet of Carrie Underwood's "Temporary Home" for Talent Share, and that didn't go so well. Bennett kept the guys cabin in stitches. 

     2012 was also eventful. It was just at the end of senior year, Jeff Johnson was the camp pastor (he wasn't great). Miss Kathy led the singing, which was amazing. Our Blue Bison team won the Tournament Challenge. Jessica and Amanda came back for one more year of camp. Ashland and I made Mrs. Boyer a sympathy card (her dad had just died).

     I was a counselor in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. I've helped with archery, Bible Jeopardy, and volleyball, and led softball. I've made friends with most of the counselors, but the past two times I've felt like things were just too routine, something was off. I don't know what, exactly, but I hope that it can be fixed.

A Good Weekend

      This week started out with the tension of anticipating the RSU Theatre Program's production of Texaco Mornings, to go along with the nervousness of phantom midterms. So there was a lot of anxious cleaning.
      And then Tuesday morning I heard back from a job-application email the week before, which is rare and stressful, because A: you're talking to a stranger, B: on the phone, C: about yourself, and D: trying to make a good impression. I was basically hung up on, which is how that usually ends, but at least I heard back.
     "Hey, I think I can actually make it! Like maybe Friday night." Ashland texts me somewhere early in the week.

     Wednesday Caleb was supposed to start his first day working for Justin, except he couldn't get there because the truck broke down. (It's since been sort-of-fixed, I think.)
     Crashed the youth group because I hadn't heard the end of David Platt's sermon series on "Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare" because my freshman year at NSU had already started. The sermon was interesting. And also, it was DC Talk Night in the Throwback Christian Music series, and I'm like the resident DC Talk expert.

     Thursday night Caleb had a MEND fundraiser he was volunteering for, along with Hope, Mattie, Seth and Laura. That seemed to go well. Trevor and Amy had swimming, so everybody was happily busy. Wasn't able to make it to the opening night, but it's one of those things that couldn't be helped. The quiet house was nice;; read through a book of Billy Collins poetry from the OKC book sale.
     Andrew said there was a great crowd; I know Debra and Cody both made it. "Proud of you, man!" Cody said. Dr. Dial-Driver wasn't able to make it, but she sent me a nice message, and she had everyone give her a report. ("I told her that even if you didn't know Wes wrote it, you'd know Wes wrote it," Dr. Mackie said).

      Friday morning was a good day for blasting Jars of Clay while cleaning.
      I missed the landmark 100th episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that night, but it was totally worth it. Not every day your play is produced. (But IT SHOWED FITZSIMMONS' WEDDING, which I would have loved almost as much as Andy and April's or Ben and Leslie's. Maybe I'm okay with weddings as long as they're fictional?)
      "Looks like I'll be seeing you tonight," Ashland texts me. She tackle-hugged me as soon as I'd gotten both feet into Baird Hall, pretty much. "I told people I knew you, and it was like, I knew a celebrity or something!"
     About eighteen to twenty people were in the audience, which was a decent size. It was great to see Andrew, David and Dr. Mackie again. I also recognized a couple classmates I knew by sight. The Ruscos came, which I wasn't expecting. It was weird seeing the script performed, but the audience seemed to like it. The acting wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful, either. The actors missed or mangled about twenty percent of the lines, mostly skipping the dramatic parts. "This is a lot funnier than it should be," was all my brain registered in the moment.
     We stopped by Taco Bueno afterward, and were quickly reminded neither of us liked it. But late-night conversations are always good, even if the food isn't great. Mostly the topic was INFJ-ism in the workplace, and commiserating the general difficulties of college and young adulthood  "I was like, 'You okay?' You were really tense," she grinned once we'd gotten into dissecting the performance. (This didn't register at all.) We both graded it a high C, mostly because the actors who played siblings were obviously strangers, which was a little awkward.

     Since it was going to be rainy, and because it was cheap and indoors, we decided to go to the Gilcrease Art Museum Saturday morning. It was fun. We rummaged through Indian artifacts all National Treasure-y, roamed through pretty much everywhere, and wished our photography skills were better. Since the temporary Norman Rockwell exhibit was still there, of course we had to see that - I kept a lookout for security guards while she illegally snapped photos to show her grandma. We didn't get caught.
     Since it was beautiful weather, we prowled around the grounds outside taking pictures of the flowers and tree buds. We got some good pictures, and we also got chased by wasps for our troubles. Ignoring tradition, we actually got a couple good selfies this time.

     We only got minorly lost on the way home, Taylor Swift blasting on Pandora, and we had lunch at Whataburger since she wanted to try it. The food was greasy and delicious, the convo was good.
   
     A huge crowd showed up for Saturday night's closing performance; probably thirty-five to forty people. Talked to Brandon, saw Brittany on the other side of the room. Only about five percent of the lines were missing, and different moments were seen as humorous. Andrew did a great job directing. It got a high B grade. 

     The premiere of the sixteenth season of American Idol was tonight on ABC; the editing was unfocused, but it has potential. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie seem like they'll work well together.

Good News

     Last Friday was Amy's cheerleading night with a local Down Syndrome group at a Catholic high school nearby; which is one of the high points of her year. She did great, and had a fantastic time. The Comets were trounced in both games, though.

     Yesterday I got an unexpected encouraging note from the editor-in-chief of Frontstretch.com, thanking me for merging smoothly into accelerated traffic late last season and drafting along well with the rest of the staff. And this morning I was promoted to doing a column for the upcoming season.

      Caleb was raising money for a Special Olympics fundraiser tomorrow morning, and he reached the goal he was hoping for.

     The folk music group the Spencer Family were visiting GBC Sunday night, so Mom and Amy have been listening to their songs all this week. And Mom got to visit with the Guenthers since they dropped by. 

     Ashland adopted a hedgehog earlier this week, which was worth celebrating. "Lol, I'm a mom!" she texted me excitedly. "By adoption, of course." Hedgehogs are maybe even cuter than coatimundis.

Mid-January Happenings

     The Okmulgee County Tournament was last week, which meant I covered 22 basketball games in six days through radio broadcasts. Wrote up five articles today for ONN. Wrote two Fronstretch articles last week, too.

     There was a potluck lunch at church yesterday, which I wasn't exactly thrilled about, because it's awkward to eat around other people. Like Frank Gilbreth, I tend to see eating as unavoidable delay. And the fact that four couples have gotten married within the last year, and another two couples engaged, makes it awkward at GBC. I kept an eye on the Selby boys to give Justin and Melody a break, which meant a lot of sprint races from one end of the hallway to the other.

     Caleb got his driver's license on Friday afternoon, which he's thrilled about.

     The Patriots and Eagles will play in Super Bowl LII, they seemingly just played each other in Super Bowl XXXIX, in February 2005 - I remember the year because Mimi was incredibly sick. She died six weeks later.

     I was hoping to borrow Dr. Mackie's habit of writing a poem a day this year, but that hasn't gone very well so far.

Post-Christmas 2017

     Christmas was pretty low-key this year. Lots of ping pong.
     Pandora says I listened to 4,116 songs this year, for 15,753 minutes.

     From what I heard the youth group ice skating was a little awkward, but went pretty well.
     The church's annual music night was nice.

     Went to the Steeleys on Christmas Eve after church, that was nice. Playing Monopoly with Dylan and Paige is a little like being on Shark Tank. 
     Caleb gave me awesome Parks and Rec coffee mugs; one with Tom grinning and the other Mouse Rat-themed, complete with their former names.

     December has been a fairly horrible month, which is fitting, as it wasn't the greatest year ever.

   

Arkansas Hiking

     The annual edition of the Grace Bible Church-Tulsa Arkansas Retreat was this weekend. It was beautiful scenery that was great to look at.
      About 35 people were there in total, the largest group ever - mostly young families and old people, so a typical Sunday. Which meant, as usual, that I had Danny's line from The Family Nobody Wanted running through my head a little bit: "There's nobody the right size of me!" (It's from a memoir by Helen Doss.) The Wheelers, Selbys, and Purviances were the young families (and Mom was watching Amy), and then Courtney and Caleb had Mattie to hang out with. Met some newer people I vaguely knew by sight, which was nice, I guess.
     Met the Gundersens' friends Nann and Quint from Branson; they were awesome to talk books and play poker dice with.

     Went on a couple short hikes; maybe five or six miles in total, to Triple Falls, Chickenhead Bluff and Hawksbill Crag/Whitaker's Point. (The last one is considered the "Most Romantic Spot in Arkansas," which is kind of interesting. Many couples get engaged there.) They were all incredibly pretty. On Saturday had lunch at a cool tourist trap restaurant called the Ozark Cafe; the Jasper eatery is the oldest in the state, with the original 1907 floorboards and an awesomely random collection of items on the walls. We spotted several sports-car groups and motorcycle groups along the highways, too.
     Rode with the Selbys most of Saturday; they're awesome parents to have four small boys that well-behaved. It was good to get to talk with Justin and Melody. There was an interesting museum in Ponca called the Elk Education Center, besides showcasing local wildlife, there was also a lot of local history, which was fun to read. Enjoyed hearing Mr. Gundersen's stories he's learned of local history.

     Watched some of the TCU-Iowa State and OU-Texas Tech football games on TV aside from the hiking and exploring, and I think I got a few good pictures. Tried to memorize the layout of the cabin, to maybe use in a plot sometime (maybe Winter's Grace, if it ever happens?).
     A sign in Jasper read that the Pirates won the 1960 Class B state championship in basketball, and had the entire roster of boys underneath that announcement. Pretty awesome. Not so awesome is that Mr. Gundersen fractured his fibula while hiking. 

     Mountains are wonderful. It was sad to return to Oklahoma. I need to reread Shepherd of the Hills. Halloween was very quiet; I halfheartedly dressed up as Bill Murray in Space Jam. 

CAMP: Part XI

     This year, I don't really know what is happening at SGYC. I know there are about 52 campers, and I know that Steve Long is the pastor (which should be great), but beyond that, I'm not sure.

     Why am I not sure? Because all the GBC youth bailed (though I can understand why), and so I didn't have a way to get up there. Which is frustrating, because Ashland and I had worked out that I would visit on the way back.

     Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 has been stuck in my head recently.

     So this week is much the same as any other this summer. Today's been filled with work, and the family went to visit the DeSpains. Today's articles are high school orientations and city fundraisers, and making PDF files of last week's stories. I Skyped with Amanda, Maya and Ellie for a bit this morning. They were "talking" to Uncle Wesley all the rest of the day, Manda said.

UPDATE 7-27:
     From pictures and Facebook posts, it sounded like it went well.

Graduations

     Courtney's graduation was yesterday, at First Baptist Broken Arrow. (That's where Elizabeth goes.) There were 23 graduates in total, including Laura, Callie, Marie K. and Carter Fox. A ton of GBC people showed up - Coxes, Mrs. Mix, Lees, Wilsons, Grahams, Buckmasters, DeSpains...probably more than I missed. Dayla and Ashley and their kids came, too. That went fine. Someone's dad looked exactly like Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World, which I thought was interesting. 
     It was a much more elaborate graduation than mine was. But they've been working on it for months, so it should be.
     We went to the Fergusons' afterparty for Laura once it was over, and that was great. The Coxes and Wilsons were also there, along with Ferguson cousins and Josh and Sara. It felt a lot like Thanksgiving - which is how it always is when visiting them. A little chaotic, sure, simply because there's so many people, but a happy, pleasant chaos. They're just Race of Josephy people, and so they feel like family.. It was great.

     The graduates were recognized at church this morning, and that went well. We briefly explained what our plans were, and mine are vague. So....yeah.

     Mine was last Saturday, and it was about like the rest of college - panicking, not sure of where to go or what to do once I got there, and then waiting for eons for something to happen. We were arranged in blocks by the divisions the school set up, with no order beyond that. It was "latch onto someone you know" and hang on, moving/exit buddy-style. Since we got there late, I manage to find my line and crash into Jenny, so we stuck together. Cody was right behind me once everyone was situated, and Kinze and Lauren a couple rows back.
      Andrew got a good picture of me walking off the stage, and I got a couple with Dr. Mackie on the way out. Also, I got straight A's this semester, the only time that ever happened at RSU. My total GPA was 3.79, so I graduated cum laude. About 300 people graduated overall.

Thanks

     The acknowledgements are one of the best overlooked parts of books, because while writing is a solitary act, the creation of a book involves a lot of time and a lot of people. So does getting through college. There are far more people who ought to be on this list, probably, but it's been a (very long) journey full of twists and turns and rocky places, so I can't remember everything.

     First, thanks to Mom and Dad, Courtney, Caleb, Trevor and Amy. You guys are awesome. And thanks to Grandpa and Robbie for being there while I was in Tahlequah. And Harry and Louise, and Nano, for being themselves.

     Thanks Ashland, Amanda, Daniel, Dylan, Jessica and Jon, for your friendship, prayers and encouragement throughout this whole process, for being there to listen when necessary, tease incessantly or trade insults or excited movie-news speculation with, get advice from or work with on projects.

     Thanks to the GBC people who prayed for me throughout the journey, particularly Steven and Jamie, Scotty, the Gundersens, Fergusons, Steeleys, Wilsons and Dugas. I'm sure there are lots of others, too.

     Thanks to fellow SGYC counselors like Brother Larry, Miss Kathy, Mrs. Boyer and Ryan, for their caring about the kids. Plus they're all good to work with. Grateful for friends made at camp that I still hear from once in a while, like Derek and Shari.

     Thanks to Alton and Maddie for offering encouragement about life at key times, and outside-of-school writing pals Cassie, Julie, Mrs. Curtis and Mrs. Hollis.

     Thanks to Sport, Sunny and Copper, for being great dogs, and Sunny and Copper for helping me get through that first year. Thank you, Rags, for being a fantastic cat, and helping me get through the rest.

     Thanks, Josh, for helping get through freshman year. Congrats to you and Sara on the wedding in a couple weeks!

     Thanks, Sam, for helping me get through that first semester.
     Thanks, Mallory and Cheyenne, for always being ready to joke about how awful Deiter's horrendous Comp I class was.

     Thanks, Bob and Deb, for showing what following Christ looks like in your lives, in your marriage and in your ministry while leading the NSU BCM.

     Thanks to the SWAT crew, particularly Samantha, Elizabeth, Susan, Jacob, Ja Li Si and James. It was fantastic to work with you guys, and I appreciate your friendship so much. Other BCM people who should go here: Daniel P., Annie, James Hoover, Stephen, Zach, Jocelyn, Bucky, Amber, Ashleigh, TJ and Drew. All of y'all also brightened up sophomore year quite a bit, whether that be working on the worship team, Bible studies, vollleyball/basketball, or planning miscellanous things like the Friday Lunch Bunch gatherings or Thunder watch parties. Finally, a special shoutout to Elizabeth, Stephen, Daniel P., Bucky, and Mom for introducing me to the residents of Pawnee, Indiana. (In other words, for getting me hooked on Parks and Recreation.)
     Thanks, Randall and Lacey, for your efforts leading RSU Chi Alpha, and showing how a young couple can serve Christ through their marriage and ministry.

     At NSU - Thanks to Cassie and Dr. Eversole for teaching in the MassComm/Media Studies department, and to Professor Semrow and Dr. Faulds in the English Department.

     Thanks to the Galdemezes and DeSpains for being there when needed, and allowing me to feel like part of y'all's families - including crashing the couch and raiding the library.

     At RSU - Thanks to Dr. Mackie, Dr. Dial-Driver, Dr. Marrero, Mr. Williams, Tip and David for loving your subjects, and being amazing teachers. Thanks especially to Dr. Mackie for explaining how to write poetry, and to Dr. Mackie and Dr. Dial-Driver for trying to teach me how to use an academic tone in essays. Thanks to David for teaching scriptwriting and directing theater projects, and all three of them for encouraging me to keep writing.

     Thanks, Brittany. It was great to work with you and spend time with you this semester

     Thanks to Cody, Kinze, Lauren, Brian, Coale, Debra and Jenny for being frequent classmates/coworkers/friends. It's a privilege to work with you guys, whatever that work might entail - acting, writing stories/poetry/nonfiction/essays/stage plays/screenplays/radio copy, arguing with each other about edits in our work or about the merits of works studied, mutual panicking over deadlines, whatever. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday.

     Thanks for Youth Tour pals for understanding what college life is like, and being willing to laugh along in gladness or sympathy with one another's triumphs and trials. Adam, Lorene, Ravi and Tauri immediately leap to mind, but I know there are others, too, from that trip. It's been really cool how most of us have kept in touch over the years.

     In short....

Easter 2017

     It's been a restless and wandery day. There's a storm coming, the tension has been slowly building since morning. Called home, everybody's helping Amy hunt for Easter eggs, and then the traditional baseball game with them afterwards.
     The Passover dinner at GBC apparently went really well, there were about 110 people there, roughly twenty percent of them being visitors, in the sense that they aren't part of the congregation, but all were at one point or are well-known friends of folks who are.
     Dado's final living brother, Kenneth, died this morning. And yesterday would have been Grandpa's birthday, the first one since he died last summer. That was kind of hard to deal with, but easier than I thought it'd be. Maybe because I was distracted by the day's tasks. Mom, Courtney and Amy all went over to Tahlequah to Louise's Thursday, Trish and everyone are visiting, and Bob came over.

     GBC's not officially sending a group to SGYC this year, but there's a plan for an Oklahoma-based camp to start near Chouteau in summer 2018. According to an email I got from Mrs. Boyer, Steve Long will still be the pastor this year, which should be a good thing. I'm not sure if I can be a counselor this year, depends on how the job search goes. If I do go, it'll match the time I spent as a camper - five years.
     Amanda's been teasing me incessantly all week long. ("Rolling eyes") Maya's second birthday is in two weeks.

     Reading slowly through Wendell Berry's Hannah Coulter, because he just can't be read quickly. And also, it's good to sit and think for a while on what his characters have to say and experience. Same way with Flannery O'Connor. I've mostly been reading her nonfiction work Mystery and Manners, which I would say is one of those books on writing that everyone ought to read, along with Stephen King's On Writing, William Strunk Jr's and E.B. White's Elements of Style, William Zinsser's On Writing Well, and William Goldman's Adventures of the Screen Trade. And, if you're into that sort of thing, the AP Stylebook.

     This week's movie of study for Gothic Film and Lit was Crimson Peak, which started well, but unraveling quickly into a horror movie that just didn't work - the harshest critique a story can have. Dr. Mackie and I hate horror movies, so there was that part of it, but Kenzie likes them, and even she wasn't a fan. Tom Hiddleston did well in his role, and there were some good ideas as far as storyline or plot developments, and it had a lot of the traditional Gothic elements (creepy mansion, ghosts, a secret, naive young woman, murder) but there was far too little backstory and far too many unanswered questions by the end. Also, all three of us vehemently wanted the heroine to die, which can't be a good sign.
     The Predators crushed the Blackhawks in game two of their first-round series, and in other NHL action today, Ottawa beat Boston in overtime, Toronto defeated Washington halfway through double overtime, and the Ducks put out the Flames. In NBA news, the Thunder start their first-round series against the Rockets tomorrow night.

     Tom Sawyer went fairly well both nights; the audiences were mostly responsive and animated, and also fairly high in terms of numbers: maybe twenty-five Thursday, thirty-three Friday, and only about a quarter of those were comp tickets. It's kind of sad that thirty people is an enormous audience, but that's the way it is with the RSU Theater Department.
     I played the voice-acting role of Sid Sawyer, Tom's insufferable half-brother, who is, in the words of Derek Steeley, "the Eddie Haskell of American literature." And he's right; Sid is (shudder). So that's partially how I played him, although I was primarily thinking of Waldo from The Little Rascals. (Indignant shudder.) Most lines were voice-acted, as it was a staged reading, which meant only key scenes were acted out. My actual character was Doc Robinson, whose only purpose is to be the brutally-slain murder victim of Injun Joe in the graveyard. Cody played Tom's friend Joe Harper, Keirstine (Jennifer from last spring's "Tales From Tent City") was Becky Thatcher.

     Jimmy Fallon was the host of Saturday Night Live this week, and about half the sketches were really funny. For SNL, that's a good average. The cold open was making fun of Trump again, which was pretty snicker-worthy. - it features someone in a Grim Reaper costume, which instantly brought to mind Jacob's Killer from "Go With the Flow," one of our SWAT skits. (Our blooper reel still cracks me up. And MAN do I miss everybody....) Another good SNL sketch tonight was a date getting crashed in the most awkward way imaginable by the woman's ex, with the punch line stating that he was the one responsible for dragging the guy off the United flight the other day. And they didn't have the best reputation in the first place even before that - remember the (parody?) tune "United Breaks Guitars"? Another was a time-traveling version of Family Feud. 

     Haven't been able to get much work done today on essays and stories that need to be written, but that's part of why I'm typing this post - hopefully it'll kick-start my word output. Sometimes that happens. But anyway, it was time for an update.

Friday Night Thoughts

     Week after next will be spring break (which I doubt will be much of a break). But still, that's a pause from classes for a bit, which is kind of nice. The Thunder are losing to the Suns in Phoenix right now on the almost-silent TV, and Pandora is running in another window. I got a short story finished that's due next week, and a good chunk of another assignment mapped out. It's been a pretty usual Friday night - sort of productive, a little lonely, but with some effort at following a routine to give things some structure - that's why I'm typing this blog post, and why the game is on.

     Overall, this week was pretty average; last week was rough. Uploaded some overdue stuff to the writing projects blog, which I'd been meaning to do for a while. I need to work on the book-review blog, too.

     Texted Dylan and Jon earlier today, it was good to hear from them. They're both doing all right. Jon had some good advice, which is helpful. Ashland and I are counting down until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 releases in early May.  Her classes are going "fairly easily" this semester, she said last week, so that's good. No news about SGYC 2017 yet - if I can, I think I'd like to help out again.

     Trevor had surgery on his shunt Monday morning, and that went well. Caleb got Dad's old phone, so Courtney and I taught him how to use Spotify. That was fun.

     The MCU is currently at 14 movies (and an ever-widening array of TV shows) since 2008. That's amazing. I think it was right at the end of 2011 that we got into sucked into it. Anyway, Iron Man 3 released at the start of finals week my freshman year, which was a really great motivator.

     Capstone is extremely depressing. Which is slightly better than feeling depressed, anxious AND extremely pissed off, which was how I felt after every Seminar class let out last semester. We've been talking a lot about philosophy for some inexplicable reason, and most English majors don't understand philosophy, so our eyes glaze over while three people out of fifteen say anything. And so far the overarching topic during the immediate coursework has been Death. So if religion can't be used (and it can't, because this is a classroom), how else can you talk about or argue your way around its inevitability? Everything becomes a foolish waste of time.
     The highlight of yesterday was finishing a crossword puzzle in one sitting, which doesn't happen often. But it sounds pathetic that that was the highlight. I'm frustrated by my Pop Market stuff this week, considering that it was one my teaching weeks and the topic was sports. I could have whipped out a really good sports scene in no time, so why did I go with nonfiction, straightforwardly reconstructing myself at five watching Monday Night Football? And the discussion Tuesday morning didn't go too well, either - except for Brian (who was also teaching this week) everybody is pretty apathetic towards them. So their sports-set inclass assignments were full of really obvious errors; that drove me crazy. (I'm really persnickety when it comes to writing well, especially when it's about sports.) Still, there was at least some praiseworthy scrap from almost everyone's piece.
     There are a couple novels that I'll probably come back to from Gothic Film and Lit, but I've pretty much hated every single movie.
     Psych is going fine, and it's interesting, but you can only contemplate serial killers for so long before wanting to just wail at the evilness of their actions, and of sin in general.

     I really miss relatives at night. Grandpa, Mimi, Nano... I'd call Robbie to see how she's doing, but I lost her number when my old phone died. Mom was asking if I was going to order graduation announcements, but I don't think I will. Are college grad announcements a thing people do? And if they are, where would I send them? Almost all the extended family who would be proud is gone, and it would be weird to send them to non-relatives.
     Also missing the NSU BCM and having a place where I fit; where you knew where friends were hanging out and where you knew you were doing something useful, however small. The SWAT antics on the road and during practices, and the wonderful intensity of basketball/volleyball practices. Playing worship music with Daniel P., James Hoover, Ja Li Si and Annie. The Friday Lunch Bunch get-togethers. Praying collectively with other believers. If I could have stayed in Tahlequah I'm pretty sure Grace Baptist would be my home church by now. (I miss the Galdamezes, too.)

     Steven and Jamie are having another murder mystery tomorrow night, which should be amazing for those attending. I wish we could have done more of those during my generation's time in the youth group. GBC is a great church still when it comes to teaching and all, it's just....not so great when you're a single college student in a church full of older people and young families. And the downside of attending the same church for 14 years is that you remember so much. Too many ghosts in the hallway.

     Tried to shoot some baskets this afternoon, to take advantage of the nice weather, but that didn't go very well. Missed about 85% of my shots, a mix of not practiced in forever, it being a really windy day, and the clear-Plexiglass backboard. Those are always really hard to play on, because there aren't any spatial clues about where the backboard is - it just looks like it's hovering in space, which is really unsettling.
    Last night I played Abby Lee for about an hour, mostly playing along with my 90's Spotify playlist. (NSYNC does not work on an acoustic guitar, FYI. Jars of Clay, however, sounds excellent that way.) It didn't go great, but at least it was playing. Usually here lately there's a desperate run through my hymnal/worship-music-songbook about once a week, because it's hard to know what words to pray a lot of the time.
     Missing Rags, too. And Sport. Creek and Firefly and Klipsey and Shadow, Rocky and Swifty. Sunny, and Copper.  There are a lot of animals.

     A classmate named Cody was presenting a reading of his capstone screenplay Tuesday night, so I read a minor role as the minions of the school bully. Hopefully he'll get a good grade on the project.

     Kurt Busch won the Daytona 500 last Sunday, which was good. The college basketball conference tournaments are starting, which has a flickering excitement to it.

     Been flipping through old posts this week. I started this blog one February afternoon as a high school senior, and in December 2014 I wrote a long post about honesty in social media. When it comes to writing, I'm not sure how much truth and honesty are intertwined, though I kind of think they are separate things. It's a muddy area. But mostly I think I've kind of glossed over what this college experience has been like, mainly because of the monotony - at some point there aren't any more ways of saying "I went to class, I did homework, I wish this were over and I had a clear idea of what happens next." I don't know how much I'll post here once the summer comes, but I'll probably keep writing in some way or another.

Hymn-Filled Weekend

     The weekend got a little better. Mom wanted to see Ben-Hur, so me, Courtney, Caleb and Trevor all came along. Morgan Freeman played a rich Arab guy, and he was the best part of the movie. It was all right, but not like my favorite movie ever or anything. It really tanked at the box office, though - out of a $100 million dollar budget, the opening weekend earnings was only about $11 million. Ouch. 

     Rags was very glad that I was home again for a bit, and so was I. 

     The Olympics ended Sunday night, with the US winning the most medals, 121 of them. China was next with 70, Great Britain in third had 67, Australia was eighth with 29, and Canada was tenth with 22. Altogether, there were 88 countries who won medals, out of something like 200 total. PluggedIn's blog had a good recap. 

      We tried to keep up with it as much as we could, with the disappointing result that we witnessed far more water polo and men's diving than anyone should witness. But the abundance of volleyball is a plus. 

     My stomach's been really upset today, but that just happens sometimes. Still don't know anything, really, about my roommate. There's only been one fire alarm so far, and a weather drill was tonight. That was only moderately nerve-jangling, as opposed to a fire alarm.

     There was an interesting article I read on the Art of Manliness blog about the history of the feminization of Christianity, which touched on a lot of points I have trouble with in the modern church generally. For example, the sissification of worship music. 

     I wished I could have made the Saturday morning sermon on glorifying God in depression, since the Gundersens are spending three months in Jasper starting last night. They'll be very much missed by everyone, but hopefully it will be a productive and useful resting time for both of them. 

     Church was really good yesterday morning. Most of the service was given to Matt Ferguson as he gave his testimony, and then he was baptized afterwards. Mrs. Rusco said to somebody while we were all assembling in the parking lot, "I love how plain our baptisms are. It's just - water, and you. That's all you need, really; there's not really any need for fancy stuff." Josh and Sara were there visiting, because of course they couldn't have missed this, and neither could the Grahams. And then Josh finally found an internship, which is more great news. It was one of those times that's hard to put into words, but cheers the spirit somehow. 

     Texted Ashland and Dylan this morning, it was good to hear from them. They're both hanging in here so far this semester, which is good. And knowing that everybody else is struggling, too, makes things a lot easier to deal with. Still trying to get used to my new phone. Mostly finished the SGYC wrapup post last night, I just need to do some tweaking here and there. Steven and Amanda have both provided encouragement, too, which is always helpful. 

     Songs of the Day were "Trust and Obey," "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and Relient K's "For the Moments I Feel Faint". Most of the day was spent studying; took care of sending the needed documents where they needed to go for financial aid, so I'm sort of proud of myself for getting that out of the way so early. About came unglued several times this morning in Children's Lit when the subjects of homeschooling and classical education were trashed, but I didn't snap anyone's head off, so that's something. Last night was one of those rough nights that are good for prayer, which are to be preferred to the rough nights that aren't. Didn't sleep well at all last night; waking up about once every fifteen minutes for four hours, then getting a handful of real sleep, which came during the time I was going to study. And then I tried to take a nap, which didn't work, either. So I'm just blogging with Pandora tuned to my "Decent Christian Music" station, trying to wind down some. I might find something on Netflix in a minute, if this doesn't work. 

CAMP: Part X - These Are The Days

     Camp is always different, even though it's always pretty much the same. But the 2016 edition of the Sovereign Grace Youth Camp somehow managed to be very much both alien and familiar. The subtitle of this post comes from a little-known song of Keith Urban's, from his album Be Here. 
     For one thing, families were allowed to stay the week, too; that worked out fairly well, for the most part. All 12-year-olds were able to come again this time, and while it was probably too soon for some campers, others had no trouble adjusting to the rhythms of SGYC life during the week at Beth-Eden.

I snapped this one morning in 2012, but it works well as a stock photo.

     It was a little unclear whether we would even be having camp this year, as only three people had signed up by the deadline. So families were allowed to stay the week as well, which added several more faces to mealtimes. 44 campers signed up total, an even number of guys and girls, which was convenient during the Virginia Reel. 14 of those kids were rookies. Only two of the three wings of the guys' cabin were used, and the girls said that about three-quarters of their bunks were empty. For the Tournament Challenge, only four teams were used, which resulted in a rather awkward restructuring of the schedule, and neither Team Black nor Team Yellow taking part this year.
     From Tulsa, our group consisted of returnees Mattie, Caleb, Trenton and Hope, plus our rookie Seth. Lydia Alpert rode with us, too. Lots of people said that it was just too expensive for what they paid for(especially compared to other camps). The price($170) did seem a little steep for the experience. Others said that they didn't feel like going because none of their friends would be there. That makes sense, though I would say that that's when you go for those younger than you, to make sure that they have a good experience. And maybe people didn't come because they didn't want to listen to Curtis Knapp preaching all week.
     Anyway, other counselors (besides Tim and Terry, obviously) were Tom Henry, Brother Larry, Ryan Butler, his brother Mark, Janets Crawford and Pokorny, Rachel Silverberg, her brother Zach and Abbey Underwood.

     It felt extremely strange that Zach Silverberg and Mark were asking me for directions on what proper counselor behavior and camp etiquette is, though it shouldn't have, really. I was there at Beth-Eden for five years as a camper and then this was my fourth year as a counselor, so I knew the procedures and schedule and all that. More just the fact that I was now in kind of a middle rung, between the pastors and the rookie counselors as far as respect and stuff.
     My and Mark's cabin was very quiet and well-behaved for the most part. Even Strobe wasn't too terrible. Caleb's cabin, patrolled by Ryan and Zach S., was the wild and crazy (and much more fun) one this year. They threw Jolly Ranchers as grenades at each other, had pillow fights and candy stampedes, and I think I heard something about wrestling and push-up contests.

     Another strange thing, though by now it shouldn't be strange at all (and mostly isn't any longer) - The vast majority of my generation campwise is married and/or have kids by now.  I knew this, of course, but I think it was driven home since Amanda's second daughter Elora and Shari's daughter Lucy were born the week before camp started. Kaitlin got married this summer, and Matt got engaged. Jon has a girlfriend now(which is awesome and teaseable), the list could go on for miles - I think there's maybe three folks I knew well who are single. And that's all good. It's part of the stage of young-adult life that we're all at now...but in the beautiful misty morning Missouri light cleaning the showerhouse, it really hits home that we didn't pay attention to Taylor Swift's advice.

     Mom and Mrs. Cox drove us up there, and except for getting slightly lost in Springfield looking for a Casey's, we got there all in one piece without anything strange going on. Uh, well, okay....not quite. Caleb and Hope began a staring contest at the Missouri border, and it ended in a draw thirty-six miles (and twenty-five minutes) later. They're still arguing about Simmons' merits as a character on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and that argument began roughly last November. (FYI: I side with Hope on this one. Simmons is amazing.) The boys also chomped through twelve sticks of gum at a time, for some reason. It looked disgusting. But they had fun.
     There were an overwhelming number of Batmans and Captain Americas for theme night(Superheroes), and Markie won the costume contest, as she has every year that it's been held. I was a S.H.I.E.L.D, agent, since I doubted anyone else would fill that niche. But maybe there was a bit of Hydra lurking around the edges - there always is, on the show. And something just didn't quite add up this year, for some reason. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, exactly. Maybe that the routine was almost too routine; most of us could follow the day's progress in our sleep. It's a nice blend of mental and physical exercise, yeah, but maybe the schedule needs a change.

     Standing in line for lunch one day, Mrs. Boyer complained that she was starving, and wondered why, since she'd eaten breakfast a couple hours earlier. Ryan and I pointed out that we'd all been running all over the place, and keeping Super Alert at the same time, which drains a lot of energy. Courtney asked once we got back what the level of focus was, and so I tried to explain it: About the same as for watching Amy, but multiplied in general by however many campers there are, more specifically divided by gender. End result? That takes a lot of energy.

     Curtis's first sermon was on the Ten Commandments, running through a fire-and-brimstone list of all the ways humanity in general could be sinful. It wasn't quite as squirm-inducing as Jeff Johnson's use-the-Bible-as-a-sledgehammer messages, but it wasn't easy to pay attention to, either. And this was made worse by the fact that the counselors' and visitors' benches along the back wall weren't there. So we had to make several rows of chairs, which helped from a discipline standpoint, but made it harder to get rested, too. (If you look at pictures of previous camp years, the counselors in the background of general sessions always look half-dead, due to the constant focus and hustling from place to place. It doesn't matter how good the sermons are, that's just what happens. You take notes if you're feeling particularly awake.)
     The second sermon was a further listing of further sins, and beyond that I had to look up the subject matter on SermonAudio, because I had forgotten the rest of them. The next two sermons(Tuesday night and Wednesday morning) were titled "The Justice of God in Dealing with Lawbreakers," with a main text of Revelation 20:11-15, and "The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners," from Luke 16:19-31, the story/parable of the rich man in hell and the beggar Lazarus. All of those are topics which probably should be taught when appropriate, because they're covered in Scripture, but an audience of teenagers and small children seems like the wrong place for those particular sermons. After the talent share things got a little better, "The Mercy of God in Propitiation"(Mark 14:32-36) and "The Mercy of God in Justification"(Philippians 3:1-9). The final two sermons on Thursday night and Friday morning were on the healing of the paralytic from Mark 2:1-12 and the leper in Mark 1:40-46. From experience, I know that no camper listens all that well on Thursday night because of the anticipation of finding out who won the Tournament Challenge and the book-signing time(and being allowed to stay up late). Then on Friday morning there's the dread of having to pack and leave and not see these people for a whole year.

     Brother Larry's tabernacle group sessions to the 18-and-19-year-olds on the need for righteousness were terrific, based on the one I heard on Thursday. Ryan taught a group session on the need for discernment, which I sat in on in the chapel on Wednesday when he was speaking to the 14-and-15-year-olds. That was a good one, too. Tim's group session message was a lightning overview of the Bible's overall storyline, particularly dealing with the Old Testament. The 12-and-13-year-olds paid a lot more attention to that than they usually do.

     Among the family members attending were Ryan's wife Mandi and their sons Eric and Jonathan. I played a lot of air hockey with the boys while supervising swim-time table tennis, and tried to teach them (and campers) ping pong, with varying degrees of success. The Butlers are still a bit too young to learn the game, but the campers did well. Tim's wife Angie and kids Jenna, Caleb and Ben were also there, along with Curtis' wife Catherine and about a million small Knapps. Noah and Ali Johnson were tagging along for the third year in a row, thrilled about going back to Indonesia in September, and another family from Ryan's church in Arkansas were there, a mother and the two politest kids I think I've ever met. The older boy, Chris, latched on to me just like Eric and Jonathan did. That was kind of fun.
     Among the guys I played ping pong with were Nathan Knapp, Michael Henry, Zach Hill, Nathan Underwood, Ethan Stewart, Jon Kobb and Hunter Bebout. And I taught Christopher Underwood how to add topspin to serves, only later realizing how frightening the results of that could be, being as he's an Underwood, and therefore brilliant by genetics at table tennis.

    Dylan and Grace Underwood came to visit Wednesday night during the talent share, bringing their (adorable) sons along to visit with their (many) uncles and aunts. (Further proving my point about us all growing up, as they met as first-year counselors and were married by the next July.) And naturally, those uncles and aunts dominated the talent share, as Jacob, Brett, Markie and Rosie teamed up as the Dischwood Quartet for a couple harmony-filled songs. Also visiting were Alexa and Zach Hankins; it was great to see them again and hang out for a bit. Autumn Brashers also visited.

     I was in charge of cabbage ball again this year, and that went pretty well. It was only twice that I had to call an automatic out for throwing the bat, and I didn't get anywhere near as much flak for my umpriing calls as I did last year(that I could hear, anyway). And most of that flak was good-natured teasing, not disgruntled bitterness. Mark helped out a lot with close calls at first and second bases, and Ryan watched third base when he had time.
     Mattie, Hope, Lydia, Seth and Trenton's Green team stomped all over Blue 10-2 on Tuesday morning, and Caleb's White team pounded Blue 18-7 that night in Worst/First play. (In other events, Red beat White in three sets on the volleyball court, Blue defeated White 14-7 in ping pong and Red topped Green in both Bible Jeopardy and archery.)
    Wednesday's cabbage ball game was won by Green, 9-3 over White, and other even final scores included Red winning volleyball over Blue, Red winning ping pong over White, and Green defeating Blue in volleyball by a 11-5, 8-11, 11-1 score.
     Thursday's cabbage ball action featured Green soundly thrashing Red 12-1 and then Red crushing Blue (to an embarrassing extent) 10-1. It got so out of hand that at one point when Blue asked me about a possible strategy, since they were trying so hard to catch up and we were rapidly running out of time, I said "You're behind by a million miles. Y'all can do whatever you want!" This caused giggles in the assorted fans watching. Also cheerfully laugh-inducing were Abigail's valiant efforts to inspire her team: "We're Blue, team! Like the sky! See that sky? Millions of people have been inspired by skies just like that one to do amazing things, like paint pictures and compose brilliant music! We can win this game! Team Inspiration!!!!" In other events, White beat Blue in archery, Green beat Red in ping pong, White beat Blue in Bible Jeopardy, and Green beat White in volleyball. This set up a tie for first place, as both Green and Red had six points each.  
     Stats for the Tulsa folks, which I figured up while bored one day once we got back: Mattie was 7-11 with 3 RBIs and three runs scored, Trenton was 9-11 with two home runs - including a grand slam - and four doubles, a triple, 6 RBIs and four runs scored. Caleb was a perfect 7-7 at the plate with an RBI and three runs scored, Hope was 5-7 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored, and Seth was 3-9 with a double and a triple, three RBIs and four runs scored.

     Book-signing time went well, there was a lot of ping pong, several chess matches and games of Jenga, plus lots of scurrying here and there, but not very many pictures. There weren't hardly any taken all week, which was unusual. And there were definitely no Nerf gun fights. Mrs. Boyer ran the girls out of the dining hall about 11 p.m., and I let the guys play ping pong for another hour before switching off the lights about fifteen minutes after midnight. Most all the guys were asleep by one; apparently a couple girls stayed awake talking til four, according to a rather disgruntled Mrs. Boyer at breakfast.

     On Friday morning, while the rest of us munched on cinnamon rolls and finished signing each other's books, the final Bible Jeopardy tiebreaker was given to the teams: Name the seven things Jesus said on the cross. After some figuring, the answers were these: committing His spirit to the Father, asking the Father to forgive the people, asking for Mary to be taken care of, forgiving the thief on the cross, asking for water, wondering why He'd been fosaken, and finally "It is finished."
     Both sides got the answer to this question right. (So did Janet Crawford and Mississippi campers, after Googling on her phone.) So the backup emergency tiebreaker had to be put into play: What were the Hebrew names of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? (Nobody had any clue on this one.) The answer, apparently, was Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The winners were Green, as they got all three right. So they won the Tournament Challenge this year with seven points, while Red had six, White three and Blue one.

     Some of the rookie campers definitely shouldn't really have been there. Some of the family members  probably shouldn't have been there. But there will always be a couple people like that. Lord willing, they'll have picked up something along the week that will change their behavior. Until then, as a counselor, the best you can do is scribble "You are moderately evil. But I hope you have a good year anyway" in their camp books. And then pray for them throughout the year, as you pray for all the kids.
     You always ask yourself, "Was it worth it? Did I actually make a difference in these kids' lives?" The immediate answer, I think this year, for me, was a resounding "No, you didn't. It wasn't worth it this year." But it is still a worthwhile endeavor, I think; it's just that this year was more about survival, with only 44 campers. Mrs. Boyer and Tom Henry were the only folks from St. Louis; even Robin wasn't there this time. At some point everyone will decide that healthwise they just can't do this any longer. Hopefully some of the younger kids will be back as campers when they're old enough, but the number of participating churches has shrunk over the years, and the amount of kids from each church has plummeted. I don't know what the future holds for SGYC, any more than I know what it holds for me personally. But it's been a wonderful ministry in the past, and the Lord has worked very much through the camp. Looking through all these camp-book signings, as it's literally written cover-to-cover again, maybe I did make a difference. It's hard to tell sometimes.

     Mr. and Mrs. Wilson drove us back to Tulsa, and nothing out of the ordinary occurred on the return trip. We ate lunch at a McDonald's in Elkland, and one of the employees was a man with Down's, which I found interesting and awesome. Enjoyed getting to talk with Trenton while we were eating. As soon as we got home I was finishing my final project for my summer course, and then the following Tuesday Courtney and Mattie left for Florida and North Carolina as they went to see Kerra and go to a new (to us) camp called Snowbird in the Appalachians of western North Carolina, which is something like reformed theology at Falls Creek, from what I've heard. The GBC youth group might go there next summer, if they can raise enough money through fundraisers and stuff. Or they might go to Glorieta, New Mexico. That'll all be figured out over the winter/spring.

###

CAMP BOOK SIGNINGS -

"best counselor ever! :) Michael Henry"

(Anna Knapp's signature)

(Daniel Pokorny's signature)

"Great to meet you, Keegan"

"Hi Wesley! It was nice seeing you this year. - Caroline, Isaiah 55:12"

"Thanks for doing cabbage ball! It is so nice to see you each year! Markie"

"Sup, your awesome. - strooobe"

"Dear Wesley, Thank you for being a counselor for such a routy bunch. I had a good time and hope you did to. God bless, Nathan"

"You are the best referee(if that's what it's called in baseball) Hope to see you again next year! Abigail S."

"It was good to see you this past week! Seth" (This was written inside the front cover, as on a different page he had written "Sup dude. You're my sister-" before realizing that Mattie's book was lying right next to mine. We all thought this mistake was pretty hilarious.)

""Hey Wesley, I had a lot of fun having you as a counselor and cabbage ball umpire. I hope you come back next year! - Trenton"

"CALEB!!! YO"

"Wes, good to meet you and call you friend. Zach" (This was Counselor Zach, as his group called him.)

"Hope you had a great week! Abbey U."

"Thanks for letting me slide in cabbage ball and for being a great counselor! - Mary J."

"Wesley, it's always good to see you! Hope you had a fantastic week! Hope to see you next summer. Valley"

"Wesley, you were a great counselor. Thank you! Cara Knapp"

"Your so cool! And a great counselor. - Belynda"

"Gr8 ping-ponging! Jonathan Kobb"

"Wesley, thank you so much for taking time out of your week to counsel us! :) Your a great counselor! Brett"

"Wesley, thank you so much for coming to camp with us again! cabbage ball was a lot of fun. :) - Abbi"

"Thanks for being such a cool counselor, Wesley! - Mattie"

"Had fun during cabbage ball! Zach"

"Dear Wesley, thank you for all you did and for being a great conselor - Lester :)"

"Hey Wes! Good to see you this year! Hunter B."

"Hey Wesley! Thanks for always being such an awesome counselor and for laughing with us tonight. I will pack my slingshot next year :-D - Emily Pokorny" {I had dinner with her and Jon Kobb Thursday night, and somehow we got to talking about weapons, of all things. Emily mentioned that she was a decent aim with her slingshot, and Jon asks, completely serious, "Did you bring it here with you?" She and I dissolve into hysterical laughter.}

"Dear Wesley, Thanks for your love for the Lord & the young people at camp. You have been such a great encouragement to me over the years we've been at camp together. I will never forget the time you sang "Amazing Grace" and it left me in tears. Continue to seek Him first always. God willing - next year. Love, Janet C."

"Wesley, Great week spent w/you! Always encouraging and never dull - that's you! Love you! Miss Terry :)"

"You were a great counselor my first year. Thanks! :) Nathan U." (Like all Underwoods, he has amazing handwriting.)

"Wesley, Thank you so much for giving your time this week to make camp the wonderful thing that it is. You're a great counselor! Hope to see you next year! In Christ, Jacob" (He's basically a lock to be a rookie counselor next year, and it'll be great to work alongside him.)

"Press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus! Curtis Knapp"

"Wes I had a blast doing cabbage ball with you. God bless you :) Mark"

"Great to see you again this year. I pray the LORD will direct your path. Blessings, Mrs. Janet P."

"Wesley, Thanks for being so stinkin' awesome! You are a great friend! - Hope"

"Hey Wes, Good to see you again this year. I'm glad to see you're continuing faithful in your walk with Christ. - Rachel S."

"Wesley, It is always a joy to see you and to serve with you at camp! May the Lord bless you! Ryan"

"It was great having you as a counselor again - Lydia C. Alpert"

"I'm sure many of the kids tell you this, but you're a very fun and great counselor! I hope to see you next year, Lord willing. - Ethan"

This Week in Review

     This hasn't been the greatest week ever. For most of it I was sick with either an ear infection or strep throat (I think the latter). Then Grandpa died on Wednesday afternoon. Which was good in a sense, because he isn't sick anymore, but it's still hard to deal with. The funeral will be Tuesday afternoon.
     It's strange to think that it's been almost five years since Youth Tour. All these pictures of Memorial Day cemeteries and stuff on Facebook, so it's neat to remember that I've been there at Arlington.

     My birthday was yesterday; it was pretty quiet, as it should have been, given the funeral preparations and all. But it was nice. Got the DVD of Inside Out, and a series of books on language by a guy named Mark Forsyth. Started one of them, The Elements of Eloquence, which is wonderful so far. Began rereading through the Anne of Green Gables series for the who-knows-whatth time, which is nice. Definitely needed after finishing Seabiscuit again while reading some depressing textbooks for my summer course. Laura Hillenbrand is a wonderful writer, capturing danger and tension especially well, but at a time like this, especially if not feeling great, that's not necessarily a good thing. I didn't much like C.S. Lewis's A Grief Observed, but it's the best so far out of the textbooks I've read for this course. Watched a strange, but good, movie on Netflix called My Girl. It's a coming-of-age story about a girl who lives in a funeral home, and one summer her dad remarries and her best friend dies. It would make a great novel, reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird if it took place in the early 70's, which makes it even more unusual that it was an original screenplay.

     In sports news, an American rookie from California won the Indy 500 yesterday, and the Thunder will likely lose to the Warriors tonight in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. Then Kevin Durant will probably head somewhere else. But the team will carry on somehow, just like Tahlequah will continue to run somehow without Jack Lankford in it. The Sharks and Penguins are playing for the Stanley Cup, the first game of that series in tonight.

     Kaitlin's wedding last Saturday went well, it was at First Presbyterian in Sand Springs, which is a very pretty church. It was a good wedding, whatever those criteria are. It was almost like being at GBC seven or eight years ago - with the Buckmasters, Grahams, David Ipock, the Buenos all there. The Scotts drove up from Russellville to be there, their boys are growing up. Most of the Fergusons were there, Laura had just about left for North Carolina for her summer job. Good to see Josh again. Also in attendance were the Wilsons and Ruscos, and half the Coxes.

2015 in Review

     Glory is helping me type this post, she's purring and half-asleep beside me on the bed I use as a desk while at the house. The year's almost ended, so it's time to think over what happened. Basically, it sucked. There were a couple bright spots, like how the entire internet celebrated Back to the Future in October, but in general, bad things happened. As Westley said in the movie, and Fezzik's parents said in the novel, "Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something."

     People shot people often; in St. Louis and South Carolina and elsewhere. There were a lot of racial complaints; in St. Louis and on the OU and Mizzou campuses, among other places. A Muslim guy beheaded a coworker over the summer in an Oklahoma City warehouse. Terrorists bombed Paris repeatedly. The Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide. There was the Bruce Jenner mess. Age of Ultron and Jurassic World ruled the summertime box office. It was announced that season fifteen of American Idol will be the end. Trevor tore his knee all up. Found a couple December 1941 issues of the Joplin News Herald at an estate sale. A woman murdered several people at the Oklahoma State Homecoming parade.It rained and rained and rained even more. Grandpa got cancer which turned terminal. Everyone was outraged at those Planned Parenthood videos and Starbucks changing the design of their holiday cups.

     In sports, the Thunder had an awful season, American Pharaoh was the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown, and Jeff Gordon drove off into the sunset.

     I wrote in-depth pieces on AI and not driving, and there was the annual recap of SGYC '15 to get down. Watched all of Parks and Recreation, Friday Night Lights and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first seasons of Agent Carter and Daredevil, and nearly, if not all, of Phineas and Ferb. 

     For me, I was stranded on the island of a hilly campus in a city where I didn't know anyone, which wasn't very walkable, with the irony that Claremore has several major highways running through it, allowing people with cars to pass freely wherever it is they wished to go. But it's just a place where I happen to be, not a town where I live. Same thing with RSU, it's just another temporary home where I happen to be right now. It was very good to get to see NSU people occasionally; Daniel, James, Bucky and Amber at Falls Creek in April, and then Daniel, Bucky, James, Jordan, Annie, Ja Li Si at Momentum in September.
     Had a roommate for about three weeks, before he freaked out about the roaches crawling around the apartment. (They weren't that bad.) He was cool, but it was kind of nice to be by myself again. Except when it wasn't. Got lonely often, and there was way too much time to think when I didn't want to. Classes forced me into all-nighters at least once a week, which took a toll. Learned that I sometimes enjoy poetry, though; and also that I can't handle the stress of broadcast news. Also discovered that I am extremely judgmental when it comes to literature.
     Occasionally heard from Daniel, Amanda, Jessica, Dylan, Jon and Ashland, they were all helpful in getting through the year. Became an uncle to Amanda's daughter Maya.
     Read a ton of horrible novels and plays for school, about a third of which was worthwhile.
     Spiritually, it was a tough year. I don't think I met a real Christian around the campus at all all year; and something is weird at GBC, siphoning the energy and congregation even more than in previous years.

     Watched a lot of Studio C sketches, trying to stay upbeat and press on. The Avril Lavigne songs "Everybody Hurts", "I'm With You", "Keep Holding On", "Mobile" and "Tomorrow" could pretty accurate describe most of the year. It just seemed like a year full of failure....and that's hard  to take. Most of the time I was exhausted, stressed out, panicked, worried or pissed off; generally a mix of all those. When I wasn't, I was probably sleeping.

     But now it's over. I want to say that the sun'll come out tomorrow and that 2016 will go easier, but the Irish and pessimistic parts of me say that things can always get worse. I don't see exactly how, but I bet that's probably true. On the other hand, it could be a good year. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I Can't Christmas

     I can't even Christmas this year. Don't know why. Just....hasn't felt holiday-like at all. Not even Thanksgiving really did, even. The closest I came to feeling Christmassy was while the congregation was singing carols at church during the annual Christmas special Sunday night, but even then it wasn't much. It's just too weird an atmosphere to be around. I don't have a place to serve or a role to play. And given the mass exodus of basically everyone over the past couple years, I'm the only one of the core part of the youth group(of our generation) who's still around. Dylan's transferring to Stillwater in January, Sam and Marie fell off the planet, Josh is going to some Presbyterian church with his girlfriend, I think, and Suzanna's at JBU.

     Trying to process that this will likely be Grandpa's last Christmas, which isn't really computing all that well.

     Sometimes it just feels like I'm trapped in a no-man's-land, no longer a kid and part of life around the house, really, but not anywhere near having a family of my own. So it's weird seeing Facebook say that once a week someone is getting engaged or married or is pregnant or whatever. And all the jewelry commercials this year are terribly stupid, which is disappointing, since they're the second-best ads generally, after the beer commercials.

     Songs of the Day  from this morning are Love Handel's "You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart", Mouse Rat's "5000 Candles in the Wind" and Taylor Swift's "Mine". Which are all good songs, but it's unusual to wake up with them playing on the mental radio station.

     While Courtney, Caleb and Trevor were skating with the youth group last night, Mom and Amy went shopping, so I had the house to myself, which made for some nice quietness. The dogs kept barking at random things and wanting outside, only to decide they were cold three minutes later. Anyway, I spent some of that time sitting quietly and staring at the Christmas tree, which is very calming. (I wrote more about them a couple years ago.) That was nice. And then I watched some episodes of Phineas and Ferb and Parks and Rec. That was good, too.

End of August

     A couple weeks ago I found this interesting article published on ESPN's website, which originally was printed in ESPN The Magazine, about this football player who quit the 49ers after his rookie season and retired because he was afraid of future brain damage.
     With football season starting this week for colleges all across the country and high schools across Oklahoma, it seemed like a good time to share.

     Teaching Oedipus on Friday in Lit Traditions went pretty well, I guess. Over the weekend I raced through J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book and Jack Schaefer's Shane, besides getting homework done. (Taming of the Shrew is really hard to follow...reading Edgar Guest as homework isn't bad, though.)

      Good to visit home last weekend; Rags and the dogs were really happy. So were the people. And I was able to be at GBC for the first time in a while, that was good. The DeSpains gave me a ride back.

     Forced myself out into the world of socialization for about an hour on Monday and Tuesday nights, Monday at the RSU BCM and then Tuesday at Chi Alpha.
     In NSU BCM news, things are going well. Elizabeth is in Broken Arrow this semester; but Daniel and Bucky have things under control. Also, Ja Li Si is dating Samantha's brother, which is cool.
     And Sarah Gaston was the latest person I knew to get married, guess that happened over the weekend. Cody Wright is working in the Oklahoma City Police Department now, I think. Pretty much lost touch with everybody from the Okmulgee homeschool group.

     The weather has been really pleasant for late August; humid and rainy in the mornings, then bright sunshine in the afternoons.

From the Blue Notebooks, Vol. 9

     The last portion of the blue-notebook journals I kept off and on in high school. Editorial comments are in brackets; I just got back from D.C. on Youth Tour as we start this post.

     Sunday, 6-26-11
     Hey,
     Wellsir, as Uncle Billy Watson would say, "No rest for  the wicked, and the righteous don't need none." Been busy doing something since the 10th, every day. Ken is real bad sick, maybe a stroke, they don't know exactly, but he had to move into the nursing home[where he used to work, and his little sister Nina lived]. They're taking it pretty hard. Saw Nano on Wednesday, she seemed in pretty good health. Dayla's kinda mad at Mom, we missed archery(but nearly everyone else did, too. It was scheduled at an odd time.) Cars 2 came out on Friday. I've nearly got all of my pictures onto Facebook, guitar is going all right, but barre chords are a bit tough. The Coxes were in Dallas visiting family, so Ryan taught Sunday school instead, it was good, about legalism. Hopefully I can get some school done this week. Camp is the 25th-29th, it'll be Courtney's first year, she's pretty excited. It'll be nice to go back.

     Wednesday, 7-13-11
     Hey,
     It's been hot. First time in 14 or 15 days the high was only in double digits. Got all my DC pictures up, & got the official pics, too. Lorene leaves for the national YLC on Saturday. Swifty died of heatstroke. :/ Mom got another baby Alpine goat named Frolic, she's cute. And tiny. We saw Cars 2 at the Orpheum in Okmulgee. It was really good, but I can't make comparisons until I see it again. Full-blown spy movie. It was supposed to be the last archery today, but Dean totally forgot about it, so it was moved to August 24. Spent most of last week installing furniture at Morris' new elementary school, & we moved the last session of Henry V to Monday. Me & Samara got a practice in on "Temporary Home", we made some progress. Needs a bit more work on the timing, though. Just about got registered for the ACT, that's good, I guess. Trying to finish my algebra book by September. The NFL & NBA lockouts are still going on... Ken isn't doing much better. We went to Louise & Harry's last night to see Trish, Vonda & her kids, Grandpa stopped by, too. Good times. Softball should start soon, & football on its heels. And we'll find out who made Oklahoma Living, too.

     Tuesday, 7-19-11
     Hey,
     Sport died. 12 years, 3 months & 5 days old in people years, that's about 86 in dog years. We'd just moved to Morris, I was 6, and Courtney hadn't had her first birthday yet. Horrible way to start the day, huh? Then Dad ran his truck over a bucket of white Kilz, spraying it all over the side. (He got most of it washed off.) Everyone's been irritated, there's a huge mountain of algebra awaiting me, and I only got three loads of laundry done. Pretty terrible day. At least there's camp on Monday. This has been a bad month for pets. Still triple-digit temps every day.

     Wednesday, 8-3-11
     Hey,
     Camp was a huge blessing. [See the year's recap there; the next year was even more so.] Frisbee, ping pong, good teaching, friends(re: Ashland, Jed, Jon Lange, Matt, Daniel Noah, Madelyn, Marshall, Eva, Joanna Ivie, etc., etc., etc.) It was fun. And also scary. Sam & Jed both passed out, & Eva gashed her eye open. It was a really different year, a full third of the campers were new. I think the Lord will keep blessing the camp, we've all gotten a lot out of the teaching, I think Courtney enjoyed it. [This was the year of the black eye due to the touch football game.] She got a FB, too. Senior year started Monday, hopefully I'll survive, lol. Little sick lately. I got into Oklahoma Living, due to spacing issues, they couldn't run the journal entries, & since they needed something about Youth Tour, and I had the only (I think) complete summary, it was inserted and seen all over the state. Pretty awesome, really. It got to 113*F this afternoon, it's crazy hot. The NFL will go on as scheduled, the NBA, probably not. I might get to do some stuff for Vype's website, I'll meet with the editor of the Eastern OK magazine Friday after guitar. [This did not work out. Also, OKBlitz had just shut down.] I'm getting close to getting the playing by tabs. Not fire-my-guitar-into-the-wall close, but that Plain of Discouragement close. Jed has a very large crush on Samara...haha. [It was funny....then. Later? Not so much.] Josh is in Wisconsin, the Wrights just got back from their last family vacation, to Yellowstone & Mount Rushmore, before Cody leaves for boot camp in Nov.

     Tuesday, 8-16-11
     Hey,
     Started the Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 from the Muellers, it's actually making sense! Not sure how often I'll write, Herman & Larry want more space in the Free Lance, and the Dewar lady, Sunny Tiger, might do their football again. So, softball, or just a few football, or nothing til basketball, Idk. Going to do a bit for the Vype website. Amanda & Jed have had some relationship troubles, looks like I'll be Dusty again... [Reference to one of my fictional characters.] Trevor's birthday is tomorrow, he's extremely excited. He'll be nine. I need something to happen....it's kind of lonely doing school & talking to friends through FB & texting. If the Nolands did drama, that'd be great...but otherwise, though I'd enjoy it somewhat, it just wouldn't be worth the effort. Looked around Books-A-Million today. [This was the night Bennett and Courtney were initiated into the GBC youth group; Sam helped us kidnap Courtney on the way to CherryBerry. It was fun. And gave us something more to tease her with.] I want, somehow I need, to get at least one book published. I just hope when I do, it'll be a good one. But hey, if that's not what God has planned for me, well, I'll be okay with that. Frolic's growing well, we've had Copper nearly a year, Sunny has been going downhill.

     Saturday, 9-3-11
     Hey,
     Been spending a lot of time looking at colleges. It's kind of scary. Overwhelming. Terrifying. Glad I have friends who tell me to relax. [Sam, Jed, Amanda, Ashland and Daniel were probably who I meant here.] Had a good talk with Ashland Tuesday, it was strange, but good. Registered for the SAT, October 1 at Bishop Kelley. Went to the Kellyville-Beggs game last night, it was my first HS game solely as a fan since fourth grade. Good to see Bill, Mickey, James & Larry again. We nearly had a mini-YT reunion, but me, Danielle & Bailey G. couldn't ever quite find each other. Jed's coming down in about three weeks, it'll be cool to see him again. Dad's working security in Stillwater, we might have a garage sale Saturday. Going through new songs at church, which is always good. Softball is nice to watch, but tough to write. hadn't had much time for fiction or guitar.

     Monday, 9-19-11
     Hey,
     It's been one of those times when there's a real conflict of emotions going on. Mimi's birthday was yesterday, she'd have been 64. It was kind of a tough day. Suzanna was baptized, & we sang an old song I know real well for the first time. Today was beautiful weather, algebra went pretty well, the SAT is less than two weeks away. We had a movie night at the Coxes' Friday, saw Facing the Giants then picked it apart afterwards. Pretty good discussion, we played a lot of chess, & grilled pizza. Jed's coming down next week, that should hopefully be cool. The garage sale didn't go so well, between eight and ten customers all day, & $75 profit. It feels wrong to not be covering football games. Need to do a lot of praying, Lizzie's been really discouraged, and Jed & Amanda are both pretty torn up as well. I don't want to take one side or the other, I just want it to be worked out however it should be. 9/11 was also tough. It was a weird feeling, it wasn't the kind you should have. It wasn't remembered anywhere near enough. We went to a Tulsa Shock game after church, it was like wrestling: An experience you want once, and then never repeated. Bad basketball, bored fans, & lesbians. Dad's inspection business is starting to pick up group, he's excited about that. I wish I could pen down all my feelings lately onto paper and be able to use them later. There's too much to write here. Book sale is this weekend.

     Sunday, 10-2-11
     Hey,
     The book sale was great, like it always is. This week has been stressfull. Took the SAT at Bishop Kelley yesterday, we got there at 7:15 am, the test started at 8, and ended at 1:10 pm. There were about fifty or sixty people taking it, half of them Asian or India Indian. I think I did okay, but won't know til the scores come in in November. Mrs. Boyer and Jed came in from Lawton, their visit went pretty well. Mom & Mrs. Boyer got along pretty well, Trevor liked meeting Jed, there was a lot of ping pong. [A lot. We had to break in the new table, though, so...and when you have a houseful of extremely competitive people...] We had a cookout last night, Paige, Katie Carmichael & Samara came over. We also played some Apples to Apples. Me & Jed had a long theological discussion, on topics from the Christian's response to science and denomination differences to why we fear; and pondered our mistakes and desires, as well as whether or not we should study past failures to not repeat them(I say yes, he said to ignore the past, since we can't change it.) We stopping stopped at 1:40 this am because Dad wanted us to get to sleep, & we were keeping him awake. I'm worried. Not so much about me, now, but about Amanda, Jed and Samara. Pretty much, he dropped Amanda for Sam. He fell head over heels for her, & she for him, though doing a somewhat better job of hiding it. Mrs. Boyer doesn't approve, neither does her dad...it's a mess, and it's only going to hurt everyone involved. It's painful to watch, feeling so helpless, witnessing th genesis of yet another of the world's nasty breakups. On a lighter note, it was Marie's 18th birthday today, she's going to see TobyMac at the fair tomorrow night. Josh & Mr. Cox asked me to be assistant worship leader, I might start that in a week or two. Softball's done - is my sportswriting?

     Tuesday, 11-1-11
     Hey,
     I scored an 1800 on my SAT out of 2400, got a 660 in Reading(91st percentile), 620 in Writing(86th percentile) and 520 in math(51st percentile, hadn't taken geometry yet). I only got a 7 out of 12 for my essay. Oh, well. I have about two or three weeks of Algebra 2 left. I'm going crazy just spectating at games. I don't know how to just watch. Thursday is Senior Night, which is weird, and kind of sad. I've never known school culture, yet I think I understand some of what everybody'll go through. Last night was Halloween at Westville. It went better than expected. The best part? Talking to Nano & passing out candy to trick-or-treaters. Wish I would've brought my recorder. She was telling how she & Lois used to make popcorn balls, and one time a man in overalls, etc, walked right in and sat down on the couch! And they looked at him and wondered....and then he pulled his mask off & it was Julie Cagle, who came twenty miles just to play a prank on them. I feel irritated, lonely, sort of. The year's going by too fast. I don't feel like I belong anywhere(well, in a sense I don't), and an overwhelming grief for people in general, their sins and mistakes. I either need new songs to learn, or a new instrument to learn. I'd like to write something great. But maybe I just need to keep plowing along, with newspapers in smalls towns, and Facebook fiction nobody reads. Maybe I can serve God better in that way. I've got a tangled plot set in HS that I can't even make sense of, and a well-developing one in a setting I know needs work.

     Friday, 11-25-11
     Hey,
     Thanksgiving was yesterday, it went pretty well. Caleb, Trevor and I watched the Macy's parade, Tosh Fletcher was in it. We went to Grandpa's , ate, talked, watched the Dolphins-Cowboys game, visited everybody at Louise's, then came back for leftovers and dog petting. Lillyanne won the betting, she was two pts off as the Cowboys won 20-19 on a last-second FG by Dan Bailey. Ken died this morning. Kind of hard to process that yet. Applyed[applied] for a job at Beggs General Store, need to check on that. [Didn't get it.] Need to apply to colleges and take CLEP tests, but, that kind of takes money...and my acoustic is messed up, something wrong with the B string tuning peg, won't build up tension. Started as co-worship leader for the youth group last Sunday, that went okay, it'll take a few weeks for me & Josh to get the timing down. Samara's grandpa died a few weeks ago. It's been kind of tough knowing how to help. A nice old lady Jed knew died, he's having a tough time with that. Lfe's just been kind of stressful. I'm really missing Youth Tour, and thankful I got to experience that.

     Tuesday, 12-27-11
     Hey,
     First off, OSU won Bedlam in astonishing fashion 44-10. It wasn't enough to get to the national title game, though. Didn't get the job(or any at all) yet, Christmas went all right, it was like usual: Holiday-spirits for a few days after Thanksgiving, then guilt, fear, uncertainty and thankfulness. Got a new Bible, two sets of guitar strings and a Chick-Fil-A calendar. Geometry is making sense.

     (In the large gap here, I created this blog on the afternoon of February 24, while Mom was visiting with Trinnica.)

     Monday, 4-9-12
     Hey,
     In Louisville, KY fro the Together for the Gospel conference. Me, Josh, Dylan, Mr. Cox, Mr. Rusco, Mr. Pickard and Paul Stefan left at 8 am, stopping for gas and breakfast at Joplin's Kum and Go aroudn 11:30 am, a pack of Hostess donuts & Diet Coke makes a fine meal(and it's only $3.33). MO is a beautiful state, all through. Breathtaking. The road seems natural, to have grown there; you don't drive to make great time, you drive to have a great time. Crossed into IL at 3, SO IL is like Hwy 16 between Morris & Muskogee, with Maryland trees interspersed in thickets. SW IN is straight from Hoosiers, nothing but flat farmland. Passed by New Harmony, I can see the landscape Philip Gulley's characters live in. SE IN is hilly and wooded, freaky alone feeling. Spent two hours in Illinois, two in Indiana, got to the hotel(Galt House) at 8:30. The place is fancy. Even nicer than the Embassy or Hyatt in DC. We then after checking in went walking(WALKING) around Downtown Louisville at 9 pm, looking for a place to eat, we found this high-class place called Bistro 301. Bursting with culture here. It was an adventure something like jaywalking thru DC. Saw the Arch[from a very great distance], added three states to my 'been to' list, weird facts: Once we left OK, didn't see one toll booth nor casino. Conf starts tomorrow, we'll see how this goes. Nearly everyone else fell asleep. Sharing room w/Mr. Rusco, Dylan w/Mr. Cox, Josh w/Paul Stefan, Mr. Pickard has his own room, 19th floor.

     Tuesday, 4-10-12
     Hey,
     Second day(first full) in this city on the Mason-Dixon Line which produces 80% of the US bourbon supply and 90% of all disco balls[according to a brochure I found somewhere in the hotel]. Ate Panera for breakfast after a Starbucks run/Bible study time, ran into this black guy named Lasadhi, he was waiting for his bus, reading James 2 on his iPhone, we talked for about five minutes, then he prayed for us. Toured the Lousivlle Sligger Factory Museum, that was really cool. Italian place called Louigi's for lunch, much too $$ and food, these places are all like that. One meal is all you need for the day. Thank goodness for Clif bars. KFC Yum! Center is nice, 8000 people is quite a few for something non-sports-related. First day of the conference went well, preaching was good, the panel sessions interesting. Got 17 free books, we stalked Mr. Pickard halfway around the room before he spotted us, haha. Held a bat of the first guy they[Louisville Slugger} made bats for, watched how they make them, got scrapwood for free, they were playing "The Story of Us" on the speakers in the gift shop. Paul Stefan not feeling well most of today, walking all over this downtown is interesting, feel like it's an episode of Doc. Ohio River is enormous, wonderful scenery, neat buildings. Charging camera battery now.

     Thursday, 4-12-12
     Hey,
     This was a good trip. Glad I came. There isn't many times you know God's speaking to you, but this was one of those times. John Piper is a very good preacher. Of course, those other guys are, too. Messed up stomachs most of today, not that cool. We're okay now, though. Met Gunner yesterday, that was kinda neat, met a youth pastor at a Tulsa church named Joey; he was a character. Protein bars are good investments. Had dinner at this bar called Bluegrass Brewing Co(BBC), neat place. Mr. Cox and Mr. Rusco went to a special meeting on marriage after the session last night, me, Dylan and Josh watched SportsCenter, it was cool. [I was texting Sam there, too; trading updates of how the week was going. Josh's sister Natalie knocked most of her teeth out after a stroller accident.] The Yum! Center has some severe faults - Too few bathrooms(four) and too congested walkways. I like the Ford Center/OKC Arena/Chesapeake Arena and BOK Center much better. Good trip. [We all} had lunch w/Ana Marie yesterday, tomorrow's Friday the 13th. :/ Two weeks til enrollment meeting, one month until graduation. Early start tomorrow, better run.

     That's all.