Semester's over.

"Emmanuel, sing 'Hallelujah!' Emmanuel, redemption is here! Emmanuel, shout 'Hosanna!' Creation sings 'Emmanuel!' God is with us...."

I've had that song in my head at least once every day for the past four days. The Christmas Grand Ole Gospel Sing was a blast. I found out on Friday that I would be playing in it on Sunday, and it made my weekend. I got to practice with the band, go to rehearsal and see almost the whole cast, hang out with the Seale Sisters afterwards, and then see the entire cast, including Behind the Cross, who weren't in the performance, but came to see it, during the two performances. It also brought back great memories of the musicals, because of how the break between the two identical performances was similar to the performance Saturdays for the musicals. I also got to see Chris on Friday night, and we wrestled (I did a lot better than before, simply because I'm stronger now) and played Halo for several hours, and then did a little catching up. It's almost scary finding out how much some stuff has changed while I was gone, when those things had been the same for as long as I could remember. I guess you always see life happening to other people, but then, when it finally happens to you, it doesn't seem so normal and predictable anymore. I've changed a lot, too, and not just physically. The Seales said that they had noticed any change in me, that I was still the same as before. At first, I was rather glad, and thankful, that I hadn't changed, but then I started to really think about it. I've always tried, not always successfully, to make sure that I'm the same person all the time. Not necessarily act the same all the time, because different situations and environments call for different types of behavior, but to have the same attitudes, temperaments, and, especially, morals. For example, it's ok to yell and scream at a football game, but not in a library, but is it ok to curse in front of your friends, but not at church? And not just cursing, but the things you talk about, joke about, and do. What I try to do is think about the person that I admire and look up to the most, and try to guess whether they would approve of whatever I do. If they were always there, watching me, would that person be proud of me, or disappointed? My goal is to always make that person proud. I'm not perfect, not even close, but I try.

Something that I'm sure I've mentioned more than once before in this blog is that I've been trying to get closer to God, and to have more regular quiet times. Well, recently, I got this devotional book, and, after getting it and getting all excited and thinking it was gonna help me get closer to God and everything, I realized that I was looking at it the wrong way. It's just a book, no matter what it's about, or who wrote it, or what. If it's not the Bible itself, it's just a book, written by a man (or woman. whatever). So, I prayed and asked God to use this book to help guide me in drawing closer to Him. I think He's done just that. The book really doesn't do all that much in itself. I read the entry, write my response to it, leaving space so I can see what I wrote next year and write how I feel then, and then read a little from the Bible and pray, pray, pray. I've been reading a little bit less, and praying a lot more, in my quiet times lately, which have been much more frequent, too. I'm very thankful for the book, and it's very special to me, but only because it was a gift from a very special friend. What really matters in my quiet times is God, and me, and what He is doing in my life now.

lyrics i don't know

Don't you just hate it when you get a song stuck in your head that you only know like two or three words of? That happens to me every now and then, and it's annoying. I also get songs that I know like half the first verse and the chorus of stuck in my head all day. Then I go to Hannah and tell her that she needs to get their new CD recorded so I can listen to the song. Then I continue to hum it, or sing it in my head, or out loud, until it's no longer stuck in my head. Sometimes this takes a long time.

So, this weekend was pretty cool. I went to this thing called Songfest on Friday night. It was pretty cool. There were some really talented people in it. After that, I drove to camp. Got there at a quarter after 11, and I thought everyone was asleep. Apparently I'm supposed to assume that they aren't, and go over to their house and knock on the door to see if they're awake and wanna hang out. But it's ok. I went to sleep instead. The next day we worked on the float for the Christmas parade in Smithville. It was really cool. It had lights all over it, and music, and it was pulled by two HUGE Clydesdale horses (is that spelled right?). Ironically, however, we spent all day working on the float, trying to get an award for it, and then we all picked costumes really quickly and just threw them on right before we had to be set up for the parade, and the only award we got was for "Most Festive Characters." I'm telling you, it was all because of me waving and smiling and yelling "Merry Christmas" to the judges! Anyway, we all went back to the camp afterwards and ate hot dogs and had hot chocolate (and Kool-Aid!!). I had a cup of coffee, cuz I had to go home that night. I hate coffee, but that cup actually wasn't that bad. So I had gotten into camp the night before literally on fumes and prayers, so I was a little bit worried when I left for home. I had $10 cash, which was enough to get home, but the closest gas station, a chevron, had just closed when I got there. I had to drive like 4 more miles to get to a shell that was open. Then, this morning, after I had packed everything up and left about 15 minutes later than I wanted to, the stupid gas pump (cuz I had to get even more for the trip back to College Station) was broken, and the one next to it, and the one 3 pumps down! I ended up going to a different gas station, but it set me back at least 20 minutes, so I was almost late to fall out for the second parade I was to be in this weekend. That one was even colder than the first (which was COLD), and it was wet, too. It was some Bryan/College Station City parade or something like that, that the Aggie Band was in. The bass fish ended up having to walk the however many miles back to the dorms. It was pretty messed up. Oh well. It's over now. I actually enjoyed the Smithville parade, mainly cuz I was with people from camp. I hated the BCS parade the entire time I was there, though, or at least most of the time. Now I'm staying up late to just stay up late. We have a bag in tomorrow! That means that no one wakes us up, and we don't have to go to formation. This makes me happy. It is pretty late, though, so I'm gonna go now. That was my weekend. I'll post more when dead week starts. Can't wait!!

The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

So I came so close to skipping class today, I was literally seconds away. I came into the classroom, and my buddies had me convinced to leave, when the professor walked in. He saw me, and my conscience won over. I couldn't just leave, even if some people do that. So, instead of sitting in Sbisa eating with Dylan, I'm sitting here, cold, hungry, and having to sit through 50 minutes of learning what I already know. Stupid conscience... This lecture seems pointless. I don't know where he's going with this... Oh. Wow. He just spent over 10 minutes explaining that the derivative of the integral of a function is that function. Next week can't get here fast enough.

It seems like the world goes "Thanksgiving BreaCHRRRIIIISSSSTTTMMAAAAAASSSSSSS!!!!!"

So I just finished one of the longest and best Thanksgiving breaks ever. Even though it was more like a 3 day weekend than a break (I didn't get to leave campus til Thursday after the game), I somehow made it last a really long time, and I had a lot of fun, even though I didn't get to do everything I wanted to, or hang out with everyone I wanted to. I didn't do a whole lot Friday, but I did get to sit in my dream car, a SHO Taurus. I didn't get to test drive it, though, because the Ford dealership didn't have very many, so they weren't letting anyone drive them. I might get to come back and drive one near the end of the year, though. It was really cool. I got to hang out with Chad, and then Brittany, for a while, too. Then, on Saturday, I went to Brian's birthday party, which lasted all day. I shot skeet for the first time, and got to shoot two rifles my dad got while I was at college (I think. I don't remember when exactly he got them, but I hadn't shot either one before), an AR 15, and a pistol later at Brian's house. We also played soccer and dare base, and then had a praise jam. It was pretty awesome. And then, today, my brother and I went to my grandparents' church. my grandfather is a retired pastor, but he forgot the retired part of it, and is now pastoring a church in Schulenburg. We went in uniform, took some pictures, and then they took us out to steak for lunch. It was the best lunch ever. Then I went home, got all my stuff together, went to see the Seale Sisters sing, and then came back to College Station, where I am now. And God worked everything out perfectly, too, cuz I was really worried I would be late getting back, but when I got back right before 10:30, I took the pass off of my door, and when I looked at it, I saw that I had been signed out until 11...

feeeliiiiinnggss....

i have mixed feelings about everything right now (except sbisa cookies. i love sbisa cookies), so when i randomly decided i wanted to write a blog about my feelings, i suddenly realized i didn't want to, because i didn't feel like it anymore, and i don't know what to write about (hopefully the name of this blog is starting to make sense by now). how about dreams? and i don't mean like, something you really want to accomplish, i mean literal dreams. like you have when you sleep. i took a nap in studio 12 today (it's this lounge kinda thing in this building at a&m that i just discovered today. i walked in and immediately fell in love. it's filled with couches and comfy looking chairs, there a small coffee shop kinda place, a couple tables, and a piano), on one of the couches, and, while i was sleeping, a group of people sat at the table in front of the couch and started playing a card game. in my sleep, i vaguely remember dreaming about people talking about a card game. then i woke up to find the people behind talking about their card game. that kind of thing has happened many times before to me. i find it really interesting, but also frustrating, because i rarely remember those dreams in any detail. another frustrating thing is when people drag out something that seems like it has a point, only to go off on a random tangent and leave the reader hanging in mid sente

Some Things Not To Do As A fish

1. Don't leave for class 10 minutes before it starts.

2. If you do, don't forget your cover.

3. Don't leave for class 5 minutes before it starts.

4. If you do, don't speak to people going the other way on the quad.

5. Finally, don't stop running once you realize you're running late to class.


f(x)=x^2+x 1/3x^3+1/2x
(1/3+1/2) - (9+4.5) 5/6-13.5 5/6-81/6=76/6=38/3=12.667


I'm not looking forward to that physics test today. My grades in that class are already pretty bad, and I don't know what I'm doing now in that class anyway. Stupid corps, making me fall asleep every day in class. I hate coffee.

Smoke me

So, here I sit, alone in the dorms, cuz everyone left, and I'm here trying to figure out what I'm gonna do. The uniform tomorrow is Alphas. Mine just happen to be in the cleaners, which is not open on Saturday. We don't have much time for me to go looking through Sarge's for a top to buy tomorrow morning, but it seems like my only hope. My brother suggested asking around the band to borrow one from someone who won't be at the game, or might have an extra, but the chances of finding a male's A's top that at least comes close to fitting me, with an Army patch, by that is probably way less than the chances I'll have at Sarge's. I have no idea what to do, except pick up my dry cleaning myself from now on. If I hadn't failed at everything else this week, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

'Twas Friday the 13th in Aggieland...

Ok, so I wrote the first paragraph of a short story, or novel. It's really weird, though, so I'm gonna work on it some more. It's weird.

Gravitational Forces

So I totally fell asleep in Math*. It was bad, worse than normal. I wasn't just like "Huh? I fell asleep?" I had no idea where I was for a while, and then I went "Huh? I fell asleep?" I remember laying head down, and dozing off a couple times before jerking myself awake because of the dream I was having. I ate a bunch of unhealthy stuff at Sbisa today. If Mr. Castoreno takes people to do pt tonight, I think I'll go. I don't want to get Mr. Saulino mad at me, in case he was serious when he said I had better be doing pt on my own the next time he asks me. I could use some productive pt anyway. Well, I've made it halfway though physics, and I have no idea what's going on. I finished my mint, though, so I might fall asleep pretty soon. It's hard to write. My eyelids are heavy. I should bring a pillow to class. [the last sentence is barely legible, and drifts off the lines. no joke]

*Math notes
Wow, I can't even think of something to write about now. My life is so boring, even though so much happens. I'm always doing something, but I never get anything done. I'm hungry. We're halfway through the first week of this. Or maybe it's the second. I don't even know. I just know that I want our juniors

Math 151 lecture notes, 11/9/09

C o n c a v i t y [sprawled out in cursive]
(concavity)


I kinda love taking Calculus over again. I’m only awake because I’m not tired, which I’m sure is, at least in part, because of the mint I ate in a futile effort to spite Longmore for having snack mix and pop-tarts in class. I’m so hungry. I haven’t yet eaten breakfast on a bag-in day. Oh well. It saves my meal plan, I guess. Except that it’s automatically deducted anyway. Man…. I’m hungry. And now I’m tired. Only 18 minutes to go, though. I’ll just write for a while. This weekend was pretty awesome. I love being with those people. Everyone in the Gospel Sing cast is so great. They’re so genuinely loving and caring, and it was so nice to be with people like that for a while. The Seales are so helpful, too. I really hope we blessed them with the gas for going out of their way for me. 12 minutes. That church we played at yesterday morning was pretty cool, too. It was really nice of them to take us out to lunch. I love Mexican food. 8 minutes. I read my Bible a little this morning, but it wasn’t really a quiet time. The stuff that the little intro in the Bible (it’s a one year with daily reading things) said caught my attention, though. I’m gonna look back over it later. I just need to make time, not find it. 4 minutes. He’s wrapping it up. 3 minutes…

Monday's math notes

y'=ky y(t)=Ce^kt

1/2 life - 105 days y=Ce^kt t=time (days)
2013g 2013=Ce^k*0 y=grams
etc, etc, etc...


Anyway, yeah, there isn't really much to say, I'm just thinking, or daydreaming. I'm so ready for Christmas break, for dead week. No corps games. No classes, even. Hopefully, I'll be able to buckle down and really study. It would be awesome if I could keep an A in math and physics, and pull a C, or even a B, in Engineering. I have no idea if I'll actually be able to or not, though.

Ok, so here goes my first blog post ever. I tried doing this on like Monday night, but the internet started acting up, and I haven't gotten back to it till now.

So basically, there's 19 years of my life that hasn't been blogged yet, so I'll give a brief summary. First, I was born. Then, I went to high school and learned everything. After I finished all that, I went to work at Camp Winchester and learned a bunch more. Now I'm here at Texas A&M, trying to get a degree to show that I learned a bunch of stuff. Life is all about learning, I guess.

So far, fish year in the Corps has been super tough. I knew it would be, but stuff like this is so easy to talk about, but so different when you actually start doing it. I've thought about punching, or leaving the corps, probably almost every day since I've gotten here. It would be so easy, and so much fun, to just go to college like a normal person. This is cheaper, though... Oh well. Really, I guess the worst part is the lack of time to do anything that I really want to. My bass is up here, in the band hall, but I haven't gotten to play it at all yet. That might change tomorrow.

Today was a very good day. Today is Wednesday. Wednesdays are always good days for fish, because on Wednesday, there's no training time. That basically means that, instead of coming back from class and getting yelled at and having to do a bunch of pt, we start studying instead. We eat free-flow chow, which is dinner without the fish bites and annoying rules and stuff, and we usually have a Bible study with the outfit chaplain. Today was an especially good day, though. There was no particular reason for it, it just kinda happened at first. Now, however, I have plenty of reasons. First, I got to class on time, for the first time in at least three weeks. Second, I just decided today was gonna be good, and third, today was our outfit's Halloween costume party. That meant that all the fish got to pull out the costumes they had been making for their sophomores and dress them up in them. Mine was dressed up as a "trailer king," or basically a redneck, and he loved it. He had the blue jumpsuit, the white, sauce-stained tank top, the mullet, the trucker hat, boots, and even a beer belly. All of the sophomores were laughing and smiling and joking with us, which NEVER happens. They aren't allowed to. Today was special, though, cuz today was a very good day.