Ben's Blog of Bloglessness

Wreck

2009-03-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

A wreck is what i feel like right now. It's 1:17 AM and I should be working on my paper over a disease or disorder or pretty much anything medical that makes a person sucky. But all I can think about is what to get my brother for his birthday in like 2 weeks. I was thinking about what he would like and what he would want. And I realized I don't really spend alot of time talking with John. barely any at all. And the time we actually spend together is almost completely nonexsistent. I see Nicole's 98 year old grandmother more often than I see my own brother. I just keep thinking want would John want what does he need and i kept coming back to this realization. I know he is a fine Christian man with an apartment and a good Christian wife. I know he likes to drive his big truck and he likes being a cop. but other than that what do I really know about him? About what he does? What he likes? ... It just hurts. And so what am I to do? My schedule most weeks is kinda full. If I don't work on a day then I still should have something I need to work on. Some homework I need to do. I'm a half semester behind on my online chemistry class and I really had meant to be doing it. I want to be more chairtiable with my money. I had planned on just living off my paycheck from hartland and using the paycheck I get from the church purely for mission work. For donations, for buying things people needed. I was going to buy childrens clothes and childrens vitamins. I had nice plans for things. But now with hours being cut so drastically at work (and I really don't have anything against them for cutting hours, ya gotta do what ya gotta do) I have alot less coming in and I need to depend on that steady paycheck from the church. I got 16 hours this week. This summer and all of next year I plan to be getting an apartment. How am I to afford an apartment on that. And I really yern for my own place. Someplace where I can say, "That's where I live." But don't get me wrong, I really apperciate those who open their homes to me. Those who do everything to make me feel at home. But it still isn't quite home. Some say home is where the family is. I would alter that. Home is where your Loved ones are. That sounds better right? I believe so. I Love Nicole, I Love Mom and Dad, I Love my brother and his wife, I even would say I Love my roomates at college and my friends. And I Love my church family. Now some would look at this model and say that I am blessed to have so many homes. And I am definatly blessed to have so many to Love and Love me back. But i think my home, at least for now is torn between those I Love. They didn't mean to tear it, but they did. And it leaves me stretched to thin at times. But if I don't stretch out to them will I lose them? If I don't keep trying will it all go ka-blewee? I don't know. I once gave a good friend some great advice from the best book I know of. Worry about nothing, instead pray about everything. I really need to pray more. Please pray about that and about these things. I'm going to continue to rant know, so if your still reading thank you, but I really won't be surprised if either you haven't made it this far or you don't wanna read anymore. I would say I don't care either way but I don't like to lie.
This Wednesday we had SonShine kids, just like most every Wednesday. For those of you not in attendance we have been haveing several new kids coming. PTL. I attribute it mostly to the meal we give the children. Nicole and I are charged with, and contratically obligated to, the entirity of SonShine Kids. It's our jobs. But that doesn't keep the Lord from sending more people to do His work. If it was just Nicole and I SonShine kids would be an utter and complete failure. So once again I'm calling a PTL for all the helpers. If it werent for their gifts then I would not want to imagine where we would be. I don't have to worry about music, I don't have to worry about food, I don't even have to worry about watching the boys bathroom (thanks Zach). And there is alot else I dont need to worry about because other volunteers are taking care of it. So what am we left to do? Coordinate the stuff, make major decisions (i.e. the format and rules), and try to learn kids names. Anything else? Oh yeah. I make the lessons. Nicole helps me too, but for the mostpart I adapt the lessons from a curriculum. Now that doesn't mean that if the lesson is about Faith I'm going to teach about Faith. Nope, often I go in a completely different direction or topic because I felt led. If I don't do my job, the kids will come and sing songs that they might learn something from, the kids will get fed, the kids might even have some fun, but for the mostpart they wouldn't learn about Jesus. And If I'm the only one in some punk kids life who is going to tell them about Jesus, you can be sure I'm at least going to try. But lately we have been having some problems. (this is going back to the new kids) I'm really pleased that we have new childern coming to SonShine kids. I am, but with new kids comes new challenges. Take for instance last Wednesday night. The first group of kids (they go in groups, one is upstairs with me in lesson time while the other is downstairs eating, then they switch) was the older bunch. 3rd, 2nd, and a few 1st graders. I was trying to teach about Paul, per Nicole's request since it tied in with mission work and we were introducing Lauren's mission benifiet fundraising thingie. She gaves me some ideas along the oath of making the lesson from scratch but we got it done. It really wasn't all that bad of a lesson if I do say so myself. I'm usually with the kids while we are singing but there was some things and I couldn't be. But I got there for maybe a song and a half. Then Seth released the Grapple kids and I told the kids that this was their oppertunity to go to the bathroom and if they asked later then they werent allowed. ( of course though if it looked like a kid was gonna wet themself i would'a let them go). Then after a while they all came back. By then though the kids who didn't go, or got back sooner were going stir crazy and I'm trying to keep it under control. So I Split them up. I say everyone in 3rd and 2nd grade go over here. and thats about a third of them. Then I ask everyone in 1st grade to raise their hand. (so i could see if I could send the entire 1st grade over with the older or if I would have to split them up) about 6 or 7 kids raised their hands while 3 kids just ran over to the older group. so I was like fine, we can have some unevenness, you guys stay her and u stay there ( to the kids who ran over) but for some reason then they acted like I had just asked them to switch places. We finally got that sorted out and I told the young ones to go downstairs and eat, and the old ones to come upstairs with me to learn about Paul. The older kids were rambunckious, liked to interupt, and just kinda mean. You know whatever, I've been dealing with that for quite some time now. My lesson did not go as planned and I really don't think most of them learned anything except that there was some guy named Paul. We switched groups then, and there are a few key young ones that have defined personas worth mentioning. However I do not feel right discloseing thier names so I will call them Ed, Frank, and Bob. Ed is special. He isn't retarded but he is extremely hyper and distractable. People don't treat Ed with enough tolerance I think. I think alot of times he just gets in trouble and he gets yelled at because that's alot easier than taking the time to do things like he needs. If Ed is content with laying on a couch even after I told everyone not to sit on the couch, but Ed is paying attention, I'm fine with that because Ed is getting something and him paying attention shows me that he is trying. Frank is younger, maybe about 4. He isn't the brightest kid but he is sweet and honest. He can be fairly exciteable and likes to follow the lead of others. He is also good about focusing on whatever he wants to do and shutting the rest of it out mostly. Finally there is Bob. Bob oh Bob. Bob is quite intelligent but you'd never gues it. He is probably the oddest out of the 3 and he could befriend a brick wall. He'll talk to anyone andhe does like to talk to everyone. He often gets distracted and usually takes others with him. Frank likes to follow Bob's lead. So the kids come pouring into the room and I tell them multiple times to not sit on the couches. After having to personally tell a few kids to get on the floor with everyone else the only one left on a couch is Ed. But Ed isn't yelling, he isn't screaming, and he isn't asleep. So I start going with the lesson. I realize that most of these kids can't read so I stop writing key points on the board. I was trying to teach the kids but then Bob and Frank were being a bit disruptive so I had to settle that, and then there was an incident. A new girl, we'll call her Marnie (she couldn't of been too old, maybe she was 4) smacked Frank. Right in front of Nicole. Nicole was telling her that you can't do that and just the perscribed talk for hitting and the girl start balling, screamming and freaking out. So I pointed for Nicole to leave. Well Marnie had a big sister there with her and they were tighter than 2 things that are tight. So Marnie's sister goes to leave with her and Nicole tells her to stay. (We have had a few things with these 2 particular girls before and I could best describe it as completly having no clue or concept of authority. I can deal with people who fight authority and rebel and break rules but they know that authority is there. They at least acknowledge it. These girls acted like they could do whatever they pleased.) So I move to the oppisite direction of Nicole taking Marnie out of the room and Marnie's sister trying to go with her. I'm trying to keep the focus on the lesson. Well, while I and Nicole were distracted Frank and Bob gone to the oter side of the room and were playing, so i reel them in ( only for a moment) and then I keep trying the lesson. About 2 subgroups with about 3 kids each then formed in the back. they are clearly not paying attention but are talking quitely. Frank and Bob are doing something and Ed is thankfully complacent on the couch. Then frank and bob get to Ed and the 3 start getting a bit nuts. I'm trying to get everyone's attentions. Marnie's sister has her back turned to me pouting for the rest of the time. (You see often times in the relationship between siblings this close they use eachother as crutches. When you seperate them the younger one doesn't know how to act for herself because the older one is always watching out for her and making decsions. But the older one doesn't know how to deal with their own problems and so just calms up). So now after my attempts at getting attention I have regained some to the group but I would like to get the rest. And the worst part is, about half of them this whole time are sitting down, listeing intently. I just don't know what to do. I do something. I try to teach while getting kids to pay attetion. That worked GREAT! not really. I ran over a few minutes, rushed a prayer, and then someone told me to release the van kids first. So I did. And then some non van kids went with them downstairs. I had had it so I just left the rest go. Then, completely drained I collapsed to the floor and laid there for a few minutes. I just needed to get away so a few more minutes after I got up Nicole and I left. So what am I to do about this. I barely know some of these kids names, how am I suposed to change thier lives. How am I supposed to form personal relationships with 40-60 some odd kids??? I have alot more in my life than SonShine kids but I do believe I am supposed to be here, doing this. I would have talked to those two girls parents next time but they ride the bus with Max. What am I supposed to do? I don't think it would be quite right to come into thier house and telling them about how their child was missbehaving. That isn't really where I lay the blame though. I lay it on the parents. If a child has no respect for authority, who do you think tought them authority? Parents. If a child doesn't thinks they can do whatever they want so long as it's not too loud and doesn't make a mess what does this tell me? I might be jumping a bit here but I believe that tells me that at home if they don't get in the way of mom and dad then their parents don't really care what they do. Parents need to encourage kids to do positive things. Parenting is like training a dog in some aspects. You can hit a dog everytime it pees in the house and it will stop peeing in the house. The dog will probably get by but it wont do anything amazing. It won't thrive. You must take a instrest. Don't just teach what not to do, teach how to do. Don't just teach about what things are wrong, teach why they are wrong, teach why things are right. I have just 1 hour with these kids a week. Just 1. If parents arn't doing thier role at home the rest of the time, how is what I do supposed to help. I really REALLY care about these kids, and what they are supposed to be learning form me. And when I put all that caring and energy, all of me into trying to do this and it blows up in my face. And some kid spits on it because they'd rather talk to thier buddy than learn about Jesus. He gave so much and He doesn't deserve that. I'm not saying I'm perfect, and I'm not even a parent so who am I to be talking to parents about parenting? But I know want I am. Broken, torn, beaten, exhausted, failed. If I don't teach all of these kids about Jesus I think I've failed. Maybe that's setting my goals to high but I don't care. I can see the changes in some kids lives and I rejoice for that. But I can see that evil in other childerns lives. I can see bad homes, bad situation, bad parents. I can feel it from them. And me not being able to change that hurts so bad. I just don't know what to do. It's 3AM, and I need to go to bed. Thanks for reading, or at least scrolling down.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

2008-12-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

Nicole, Lynette, and I went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which will further be called TSO, yesterday. William also was going to come but at last minute he couldn't make it. They were amazing! We were going to go swimming bust then the hotel had an outdoor pool, not in indoor one. Oh well, you can't always get what you want. The hotel was next to this place called Chateau Thomas Winery. I mean't to get a pic but didn't. I wanted to take of tour or something but we didn't have time.
We decided we wanted Chinese to eat so we looked up two chinese places we though were near the concert. When we got on the street and started reading the numbers, I quickly figured out we had made a bad mistake. They were about 80+ blocks away. Luckily Lynette spotted a B-Dubs that was great =] So we go to a parking garage and I wanted to go to the top! Nicole parked on the 3rd floor in the spot with our number on it. I figured this garage was like 5 stories high so I was like I wanna go to the top and take a pic or two. So I can up the stairs. IT WAS LIKE TEN STORIES HIGH. I get to the top with well below freezing air flooding my lungs over and over and I run over to the highest side to snap a few pics. Then I walk back and the girls met me at the elevator. Also I found a plastic pitcher of frozen bud light up there. We then walked to the B-Dubs and got warm and full. Then Nicole realized we left the tickets in the car. I said I would go get them while the girls stayed warm. So I walked all the way back up there, and then all the way back down to B-Dubs. Then we went to the concert. We played Eye Spy while we waited on it to start. Which is realy fun in a room the size of 3 or 4 of my church. The concert it self was practically indescribable. I'll just hit on some of the highlights. Lets see, amazing light effects unlice any I'd ever seen, excellent singers, guitarists, violinists, and a bunch of other guys, lots of fog, on cue "snowing", duelling instruments, jets and balls of flame, anything else? OH YEAH, the jet powered stage. It was pretty wicked. Then we went back to the hotel watched TV and slept. The drive home was icy and I'm being a bit lazy and I'll let you read about it on Nicole's blog, I'm sure she will write about it :) Have fun guys and try my new Wacky search!

Note the date above for the title

2008-12-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Today was kind of a good day. Definatly not bad. First off I got up between 10-11. Me and Nicole played Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and life was good. Then i needed something. Food. So Nicole's mom called over to the restuarant in Westphalia (admit it, some of you are like, "there's a restuarant in Westphalia?" Well there is and it is delisch) and orders us food. So I went to go get it, but she gave me a twenty to pay 4 it :)
I got a bacon cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato and I added mustard when I got back. I also got mozz stix. I can't help but thinking of my Grandma every other time I talk about mozz sticks. Nicole got some chicken sandwich and mozz sticks also. and we ate and watched part of a Numbers. Life was good. Then I was messaging Wills on the XBox to see if it was cool If i came over. I felt I needed some man time. But he was setting up the tree with his parents and its some sort of tradition, cool for him, not for me :( But i get to see him tommorow which is kinda like seeing him today but postdated. Also i logged enough man hours playing with gears of war/ playing fire. Also I think I will now be of better benifiet to the youth and childrens ministries because I am now the proud owner of a goatee! Nicole supports my descion too! ;) she is such a cutie sometimes. I don't know what I would do without my good woman by my side. and I mean that.
Anywho, Nicole went away for work and then played videos games all day. oh yeah, when I got hungry again I ate leftover B-Dubs and pistachios! EAT THAT! have fun guys! *waves*

Sorry guys.

2008-12-15T16:21:00.002-08:00

I feel I should apolagize for the notable melodrama that these papers may contain. Maybe not apolagize, but at least warn you. Enjoy!

My Hero

2008-12-15T16:21:00.001-08:00

My hero is Nicole. She is kind, helps others, and provides to people in need.
Nicole doesn’t readily insult someone even if she ha every right to do so. She would rather help someone out then leave them in a situation where they have no clue what they are doing.
On days when I miss the lecture in Algebra 2 she is there to teach me everything I missed even if I was sleeping. She often will take a friend home if he has missed their ride or cannot drive for some reason.
Nicole provides to people in need. When I quit my job I had no money to pay for anything. She would take me out to dinner or buy me a drink from Starbucks. When I had almost no gas in my car she would drive me or buy me gas.
All these things make Nicole my hero.

Photographer Joe Galloway

2008-12-15T16:20:00.003-08:00

Photographer Joe Galloway was in the first conflict between American troops and Vietnamese soldiers. It was the culmination of many men’s deaths and the unexpected use of a rifle rather than a camera that burned this story deep into Joe Galloway. Colonel Hal Moore told Joe that he had to write this story. It was of the utmost importance that the men who died at the battle in the Ia Drang Valley were not forgotten by the American people.
Joe Galloway and Hal Moore wrote “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young.” It was about the bloody conflict in the Ia Drang Valley. In the Ia Drang Valley 234 of our soldiers died and 242 were wounded. However an estimated 837 dead and 1,365 wounded. It was very clear that Lt. Hal Moore inspired and guided his troops to do better than they ever thought they could. They were up against a force of Vietnamese regular soldiers, not just some gooks from a village. Even though the Vietnamese had over four times our troops, local knowledge of the ground, and some of them had over 20 years of battle experience we came out victorious.
Joe Galloway did not just write about others fighting in the valley, he actually fought the to repel the Vietnamese from our lines. Furthermore this was not uncommon for Joe to participate in combat and to report on it. Galloway's overseas postings include tours in India, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and three years as the United Press International bureau chief in Moscow in the former Soviet Union. Galloway covered the 1971 India-Pakistan War served four tours as a war correspondent in Vietnam and also covered half a dozen other combat operations. Galloway covered Desert Shield/Desert Storm, riding with the 24th Infantry Division in the assault into Iraq. On May 1, 1998, Galloway was decorated with a Bronze Star Medal with V for rescuing wounded soldiers under fire in the Ia Drang Valley. Galloway was awarded the National Magazine Award in 1991 for a U.S. News cover article on the 25th anniversary of the Ia Drang battle.
Barry Pepper played Joe Galloway in the movie version, of the book “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young”, called “We Were Soldiers.” In this movie Lt. Col. Hal Moore, played by star Mel Gibson, lead his troops, along with the help Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley, played by Sam Elliott, into the Ia Drang Valley. The landing zone, also known as the LZ, was called X-Ray. After a couple landings this landing zone was declared too hot and was closed. Lt. Col. Hal Moore needed more troops and he also needed to get the wounded out of the valley. He ordered the making of a new landing zone and his men blew a hole in the forest. This allowed reinforcements to enter the valley and fight off these North Vietnamese regulars. After a long intense battle Hal Moore decided to push up the mountain and take the Vietnamese base. After the battle was won a helicopter dropped in and let off the regular reporters. They immediately rushed Joe Galloway who was awestruck about this bloody battle in a land far away from home. Hal Moore told Joe that he had to tell the story of these men. The men that fought and died not for America, but for each other are the men composed in this real life story.
The book that Joe Galloway wrote about the Ia Drang Valley was the hardest story in his life to tell. This battle forged him for a lifetime of reporting on who the American soldier really was. He would further his reputation as a great reporter and friend to all American fighting men.

Hola Captin

2008-12-15T16:20:00.001-08:00

Hola Captin,
Cómo está usted hoy. Ahora usted se está sentando al lado de Tony. Usted está trabajando en muestras del camino. Me pregunto si comemos buenas fritadas hoy en el almuerzo. Me aburren. Kent está mirando una muestra para los ganados. Kent tiene una muestra que diga Topes. Le veré en el almuerzo Morgan.

Mon autobiographie

2008-12-15T16:19:00.002-08:00

Mon autobiographie
Je ne regarde pas beaucoup de télévision. Je regarde
des sitcoms. Je ne regarde pas trop de télévision. Notre club
de drame à l'école est très fort. Ils montent des pièces
diverses et tous les acteurs travaillent bien. J'aime voir
les films d'action.

Type your title here.

2008-12-15T16:19:00.001-08:00

Confusion

Have you ever been confused about confusion? The definition of confusion, according to dictionary.com, is, "Impaired orientation with respect to time, place, or person; a disturbed mental state." Almost everyone has been confused at some time in their life. For most it is just a simple state of not comprehending what is happening, but for others it can be a serious mental condition. Many cannot exit this state of mind without pharmaceutical and psychological therapy.
Confusion is not clarity or perception; it is when you are panicking and not thinking clearly. When you ponder the impossible and believe it is real. Believing the impossible can lead to many situations the have dire consequences with little options of relief. This is not to be confused with trying to overcome almost insurmountable odds and being told you are doing the impossible, but it is the actual impossible. Confusion often makes one speed the decision process along and choose the wrong way.
There are some extreme cases of confusion in which a medical professional can diagnose a condition. Karl Leonhard, born in 1904 and is customarily regarded as a follower of the Wernicke-Kleist school of thought, developed a complicated psychopathology based on Wernicke's experience. Confusion psychosis is a condition that concerns the thematic organization and the target oriented train of thought. An earmark of confusion psychosis is the jumbling of words and disturbance of organization while talking. Treatment for confusion psychosis includes psychopharmacological therapy and electroconvulsive monotherapy. Psychopharmacological therapy is basically using medicine to treat a condition and is often used in conjunction with other types of therapy. Electroconvulsive monotherapy is simply just he use of only a convulsive response to an electrical stimulus as therapy but is not used with other types of therapy.
Last summer I got very confused on my way to Batesville, Indiana. I was heading there to see my good friend Robert Suffridge. I was driving my 1992 Buick LeSabre east on 450 into Bedford. I went into the city to turn onto Highway 50. I looked for signs but there was traffic all around me. When I thought I turned on Highway 50 I really turned onto 58. I drove all the way to Heltonville before I stopped at a gas station to seek guidance from a roadmap. After learning to real truth of where I was, I turned onto 446 and took it all the way back to Highway 50.
Confusion is not responding in a regular fashion to regular or irregular stimuli. This my definition of confusion and Dictionary.com’s definition vary only slightly. While they did good job they did not include anything about response. We have many things that we may never know about confusion. The aspects, that will describe confusion with a clear picture, are locked away in the deep recesses of minds. People are utterly bewildered and cannot make sense of what is happening around them, much less describe what is happening within their own head.

Ben’s Low-Budget Autopsy

2008-12-15T16:18:00.001-08:00

Here at Ben’s Low-Budget Autopsy we provide discount autopsies and return high quality work.
Located in scenic Hamhung, North Korea, you can see the beach from our storefront window.
We use disinfectant, safety equipment, metal tables, giant body fridges inlaid into the wall, surgical equipment, files, computer, and air fresheners.
Relatives of illegally killed people, even if supposedly killed by the military, are our consumer base.
Ben’s Low-Budget Autopsy“If you think Kim shot ‘em, he might shoot you too

Good Ole Ben

2008-12-15T16:17:00.001-08:00

"Hunger never saw bad bread."

Ben Franklin wrote this saying with the best intentions at heart. He wrote it to tell people to put their pride under a rock sometimes. They couldn’t always have meat and potatoes. If you need something, truly need it then you must take it whenever it is given to you.
When people cannot afford food they are extremely desperate for something to fill their own, and their families, stomachs. If they can’t see hope in the near future they will do anything to get food. Some will steal, some will work hard, others will beg. They all are staving and have nothing to eat. They must accept the food given to them or they will surely die.

Sponsors (Seriously, I have no clue what I was doing in this paper. No recallection at all)

2008-12-15T16:15:00.003-08:00

Crazy Kristen’s “Dang Ole” Car Depot
25453 N Oak Bluff Dr.
Osgood, IN 47037

Dear Kristen,

Thank you for making this contest. I am greatly appreciative that you have picked me to win this contest. I would like to request a DeLorean DMC-12. I would like my car to come(I) with a fully operational Flux Capacitor(PP). Also I would like a storage place for extra plutonium(PP). I won’t be stuck in the past refining(G) plutonium if I had that storage space to hold extra plutonium(I). Marty McFly, sometimes known as “Clint Eastwood”(P), would describe this car as “rad”. A brand new 8-track player would keep me up with the times(PP). I have to have air conditioning when I go from my house to the past(PP) in spite of the laws(PP) of physics(PP). Leather interior would go great along a Hurtz shifter.
Sincerely,
Ben M. Bowman

Names (mildly refined)

2008-12-15T16:15:00.001-08:00

"That which we call a rose by any other name would be just as sweet." Would a rose really smell just as sweet if it were called putrid? Shakespeare ignored the fact that names matter. Before his mother ever saw the twinkle in Mr. Shakespeare’s eye, names defined who people were.
Researching the origins of my name, Benjamin, led me all the way back to the twelve sons of Jacob. Like me, Benjamin was the youngest of the family. Benjamin literally translated from Hebrew, means "son of right". Ben simply means son. Benjamin, along with his 11 brothers, led a tribe of Israel. The tribe of Benjamin later fell away.
While personally I believe it to be a slap in the face of your parents to change your name, many have done so. One of the first people to ever have their name changed was Abram. In Genesis 17:5 Abram had his name changed to Abraham. Saul also had his name changed to Paul. A more modern example of someone getting their name changed would be The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. In celebrity fashion he had his name legally changed to . In 2000 he changed his name back to Prince while his career hit rock bottom.
Do names have meaning, or does a meaning have a name? Men and women can define the names they have and mold society's allusions of their various names. Even so meanings behind names and names themselves have been around for about the same amount of time. According to the Bible when God made man he called him Adam.
Adam meant man. Adam gave his wife a name with a meaning as well. He called her Eve. "For she will be the mother of the world," said Adam.
Names have connotations that can be difficult to overcome. A person named Lucifer would have trouble selling life insurance simply because of his name. Names are created everyday. Wendy was invented for the popular story "Peter Pan." These made up names have a habit of sticking due to the lack bad stories of evil people of that same name. Nevaeh is a recent example of a creative father trying to make his child unique.
Some may change their name, keep their name, try to bring glory to their name, but all these will fade away. Your name will no longer exist as yours. The only consolation you have is that you will live on through names you earned. Dad, mom, brother, sister, wife, husband, grandma, grandpa, friend and servant are what the lucky are remembered by.

Warning Do Not Read This Paper!

2008-12-15T16:14:00.001-08:00

“Caution; coffee may be hot.” As if we would want it any other way. . They are the bark of a dog before its bite comes. They give us a chance to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. Yet recently warnings have become an everyday part of culture. A lion-share of today's warnings are not needed due to the fact that they are already known. A small portion of all warnings are not true. In sharp contrast, important warnings could save your life. However, when not heeded, all warnings are drowned out by the consequences they were guarding against.
On a Thunder Boom firecracker warning label it says, “WARNING – EXPLOSIVE.” When I drove over to buy these fireworks I was not thinking, “I should probably be safe and get the firecrackers that don't explode.” The stupidity of this label could only be beaten by someone who didn't know the firecracker exploded. When a manufacturer is forced to put the main function of a product as a warning it is just another credit to society's intellectual downfall. As an informed consumer I would know the main function of a product that I am considering to acquire.
Do It makes a 14 oz. container of plumber's putty. It is used as a nondrying, watertight seal wherever it is necessary. It resembles potter's clay. The first statement on the warning label is to not take internally. Only a child could possibly think it would be okay to eat plumbing putty. This warning, if it were to be effective, should have been a verbal warning give by a mature adult. However a warning of the verbal nature was not issued. Instead a written warning was given. Written warnings are usually only read by adults, not children. Yet again I am appalled that some adults have to be reminded not to eat these kinds of things.
Mom, Dad, John, and I were in a small motel near West Baden Springs for a conference. It was rather toasty in our room. Dad opened up the thermostat to cool off the room a little. Stuck inside the thermostat, by the management, was a “warning” sticker. It was a simple yellow sticker that read, “Danger High Voltage.” Dad began to chuckle as he informed us that not only was this defiantly not high voltage, but that an average thermostat carries about 1.5 Volts. For those of you who don't know, being shocked by 1.5 Volts is about the equivalent of touching either end of a double A battery. I do not have the audacity to call this a warning, rather I call it a lie. It is a lie that is meant to graft fear into us so that we won't tamper with the thermostat. The motel was not trusting enough to put a “Do not tamper with thermostat” sign and trust that they wouldn't have a problem.
All it takes is not heeding a warning once for your life to be over. Swimming in shark infested waters, eating after working with chemicals without washing your hands, losing a hand in the ball return, and opening a can of silly string with a can opener are all preventable incidents that would change or end your life forever. A simple yet effective no swimming sign could saves the lives of anyone who would have attempted to swim in the shark laden waters. On most chemical containers there is a big warning label. Part of this label tells you to wash your hands after using this chemical. If you ignore this warning you and ate after working with chemicals you could get sick or even die due to ingesting the chemical. Most everyone at some time or another has been bowling. During this wonderful experience it is most likely you were told not to stick you hand in the ball return. It is a big wheel that spins very fast and will rip your hand off. When one of my close friends was 5 years old, she was given a can of silly string. Not knowing any better and unable to read the warning, she tried to open the aerosol can with a can opener. She was stopped by her older brother before she could make any progress.
These incidents would be much more common if it were not for one thing, warnings. That is the very good reason why we are bugged by warnings of our coffee being hot and that trail mix contains nuts. If there were no warnings, society would be driven into the ground faster than a mole running from a forest fire. So I warn you now, pay attention to warnings or someday it will catch up with you.

Student Workers

2008-12-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

The average working teenager earns a wage between $5.15/hour and $6/hour. Unlike after we graduate, women make usually make more money with the exception being manual labor. I landed a job working in a warehouse for $7.50/hour. Monetarily speaking I was a lucky one. However there was still a few problems.
Summer break was in full swing and Nicole and I were living large. We were going to see movies, taking trips to Evansville, going bowling, and we lazied around as well. Then I woke up one day and dad had gotten me a job. Almost everyday that I worked, which was Monday through Friday, was an 8 hour day. Sometimes it was more than 8 hours. I had what most people refer to as a full-time job. My job included: using a forklift to load and unload semi-trailers, arrange things, fill orders, burn trash, sort pallets, landscape. In the beginning my only company was my boss and co-worker C.J. Then he had to go to summer school. I was left to do most of the work by myself. Every weekday I was there from 8 AM to at least 5 PM, but I was usually working until about 6 PM. I made good money, but that was all I did.
In the mornings I would awake at 6:30 AM. I would eat breakfast every morning. Then I would head off to work. When I got off work I was tired and in need of a shower. After I took one I would head over to Nicole's house. In those times I only got to see her about 2 hours a day. I didn't get to spend any time with my family except for when mom would see me off. My job was good if all I was wanting to do was it, but that wasn't the case. I wanted to be with Nicole. To dwell in her enchanting presence was the desire that got me through almost all the days I worked for Chris Hall.
I had a job where I made enough money to save, but I didn't. I spent most of it on Nicole and on dates with her. But how could a student hold down a good job like this and still survive? Let's do the math. Most companies operate on a 5 work day week. There are 120 hours in a work week. Take away 40 hours for a full-time job and you have 80 hours. Attending school will take up 35 hours in a work week. Accounting also for the recommended 8 hours of sleep leaves with 1 hour every workday to: bathe, drive from place to place, eat dinner, study, practice for sports, attend extracurricular activities. The biggest spender of time for a student though, is homework. The truest example of this is that as I am writing this sentence it is September 15, 2006 at 3:56 AM. Since school overloads us students with homework, it is impossible for a student such as myself to hold down a good job.
I was able to work a well paying job over the summer, but in the school year it would have been a completely different story. It would deprive me of good education, good health, and good hair all because I had to stay up late doing homework after work. Having a good job and going to high school are two gears that just don't mesh.

Compare/Contrast

2008-12-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

The School Shimmy!
I moved from Washington to Louisville; Louisville to Badger Groove; Badger Grove to Orleans; Orleans to Osgood; and Osgood to Bicknell. So when a change in venue is necessary, I’m cool with it. Most moves are about the same. I lose most, if not all, contact with my former friends. I go through the long task of packing and then unpacking everything I own. I go to a new school, make new friends, and move on. While my entire environment can change overnight, there are still statics in the blinding flurry of dynamics. My family was always there for me. The sky was usually blue. The basic kids that go to one school have roles similar to other kids roles at other schools. There are jocks, bullies, druggies, thinkers, stinkers, sleepers, slackers, loners, and teacher's pets. Most schools are surprisingly similar.
The most striking similarities are within the elementary section of schooling. So naturally I progressed through grade school as most any other child would. As I got smarter my curriculum got harder. When I grew my desk got bigger. There I was an everyday sixth grade student in the Jac-Cen-Del school system. I was at the pinnacle of the elementary school hierarchy. Then something normal happened. I went to high school. I was on the bottom rung of the proverbial ladder once again. The teachers were different than I had ever had before. They seemed to expect something more of me. As if on an unseen see-saw, the more rigorous my work got, the more lax my rules became. I was allowed to chew gum in almost every part of the school. I could drink soda in the hallways. But the punishments intensified also. Instead of getting a citizenship grade, detention was the primary source of punishment. A splotch of ink on a piece of paper is no comparison to spending two and a half hours of a Saturday morning confined in school. Everything was normal and then dad got the calling to move on.
When you get the calling to move you simply can't stay. We moved to Bicknell over Spring Break in my eighth grade year. So I unpacked everything and got settled in. My first day at my new school was almost a week later. Mom drove me to this big three story, yellow-brick building in a small town that I barely knew the name of. On the way to the office I noticed something was off. Where there should have been numerous lockers there were pegs with small backpacks on them. I put this and the throng of little children i saw in the gymnasium together, reasoning that in this system the elementary was the two floors under the junior high floor. Once reached the office I was given a student guided tour while mom filled out paperwork. As my guide was explaining the daily schedule to me, she mentioned when we have recess. I thought it queer to have recess now that I was out of elementary school. The rest of the day was spent getting my books, figuring out where classes were, and trying to get to know some people.
Day number two went differently. Having all my books and a vague idea of where my classes were, I did what I always did. I looked at the rules. Gum was not allowed anywhere in the school. No food or drink was to be consumed except at lunch and at the water fountains. I didn't think too much of this. The school probably had an insect problem. The next thing I looked at was the punishments for these actions. I was under the demerit system! The demerit system is among the worst systems of punishment invented. When a wrong is done a demerit is given. It is simple and non-effective. It takes a set number of demerits to receive actual punishment. One of its big downfalls is that as people rack up demerits they brag about how many they have. The only way a demerit is used effectively is as a threat. So why would a school apply a system with such obvious faults? The students were not expected to reason about the system, they were merely to know it. That's when it hit me. My progression through school had turned away from moving me toward my future and began to regress me to my past. While being younger appeals to the old, it appalls the youth. Most children strive to be older while only a few strive to be younger. I couldn't imagine what was in store for me now that I was torn from the fringe of high school and thrown into the spindle of elementary redundancy and adolescent confusion.
Like a cow in a twister, there was nothing I could do but to wait till the frenzy stopped and I hit the hard ground of reality that is too often flown over. I survived just as I always did. I leaned on my family. I looked at the blue sky. I made friends. I moved on.

Judges 4 (revised)

2008-12-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

No sooner was Bicknell’s hero Ralph buried did they start doing evil once again. So the Lord gave the Bicknellites to the enslaving hands of Don, Exalted Ruler of the Elks. The man in charge of Don’s army was William. In his charge were 150 tanks, 50 fighter jets, and 700 men. Because William cruelly subjugated the Bicknellites, they cried out to God.Maque was a prophetess who led the Bicknellites and settled disputes among them. She sent for Jordy, the general in charge of the Bicknellite army. She told him, “The Lord, God of Bicknell instructs you to: ‘Go and hide behind the levy along 67 and I will lure William, his tanks, jets, and men along the road. Ambush them and you will have a great victory.’ ” “I’ll only do this if you do this with me,” Jordy said to Maque. “I will go with you,” said Maque. “but you will not have the honor of killing William, since you have not trusted The Lord your God. That honor will be given to a woman.” Maque went with Jordy and he summoned the Bicknellite army. Ben the Westphalian had moved away from the rest of the Westphalians and lived outside of Edwardsport. William found out that Jordy was traveling on 67 and went after him with all his tanks, jets, and men. Maque saw William’s oncoming troops and told Jordy, “Attack! The Lord has left them open and given this victory to you!” All of William’s jets in the sky immediately fell to the ground and exploded. Jordy’s troops moved in. Using a combination of machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades, Williams troops withered away. William abandoned his tank and ran toward Edwardsport while the remainder of his troops retreated to Pine Bluff. Jordy and the Bicknellite army chased after William's army right up to Pine Bluff. William’s army was completely decimated. But William escaped and went to the house of Nicole, wife of Ben the Westphalian because Westphalia and Pine Bluff were at peace. Nicole invited William in saying, “Come in great general, and don’t be afraid of me.” “May I have a drink?” asked William. Nicole brought him a glass of apple juice and some sandwiches. When he had fallen asleep, Nicole went into the guest bedroom and shot William in the face. Jordy came looking for William and Nicole said to Jordy, “I know where the man you are looking for is. Come in.” Jordy came in and found William lying dead on the bed.On this day God beat Don in front of all the Bicknellites. The force against Don became stronger and stronger until the Bicknellites defeated Don.

Update

2008-12-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

Well guys I was putting my blog address on my facebook account when I rediscovered my freewebs account. It housed some of my papers from high school. I think I'm going to post them here.

First blog entry into the blog about me that is mine of course. yeah...

2008-12-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big blogger but sometimes I just would like to blog for a bit and now i have a place to do so. ima go take a shower and bed now. night!