i love my sister
we love amy
though sometimes she's suspicious
but we laugh it off
Great Scott!
...
secrets
more secrets
(insert caption here)
angry/pirates
i like this one
The End!
Thursday, August 24
Magical Summertime Smiles
i love my sister
we love amy
though sometimes she's suspicious
but we laugh it off
Great Scott!
...
secrets
more secrets
(insert caption here)
angry/pirates
i like this one
The End!
Monday, August 21
all done...
With that said, i move on. (;
I have a few choices for reading that are tempting...among them are The Count of Monte Cristo, a Mozart biography, War in Heaven (by Charles Williams), How The Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Caihill (sp?)...and a few others. None of which i have ever read.
Any ideas or suggestions are more than welcome.
*(oh, and if you haven't already, make sure you take a look at the post below...)*
Sunday, August 20
Strongest Dad in the World
I got this in an e-mail my mom sent me today, obviously written at least a few months ago...but it is poignant and inspiring...and the perfect image of what love is. I agree with what my mom wrote...that in the video where he lifts his son, it is a beautiful picture of us and the Lord. The images in the video will bring tears to your eyes...but you won't want to dry them. At least i didn't. (:
[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]
I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.
But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck. Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day. Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike.
Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs. "He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors
told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an institution.''
But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way,'' Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain.''
"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.
Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that.'' Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker'' who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks.''
That day changed Rick's life. "Dad,'' he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''
And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon. "No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''
How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon?
Still, Dick tried.
Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think? Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way,'' he says.
Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time'? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.
"No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' one doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.''
So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
"The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''
[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]
I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.
But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck. Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day. Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike.
Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs. "He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors
told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an institution.''
But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way,'' Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain.''
"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.
Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that.'' Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker'' who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks.''
That day changed Rick's life. "Dad,'' he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''
And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon. "No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''
How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon?
Still, Dick tried.
Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think? Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way,'' he says.
Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time'? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.
"No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' one doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.''
So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
"The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''
Saturday, August 19
We hope to see you again in the near future...at the No Future
Last night, after a day at my school finalizing registration and cleaning my apartment, i drove back to Pasadena to the No Future Cafe (a small music venue) just in time to miss Pip and Jeff (of The Dandelion Council) play. ):
But there were two guys after them called El Ten Eleven who were pretty sweet. Actually, i liked them quite QUITE a lot. I bought a cd, and Sarah bought a shirt, of course. Most defenitely a new favorite. You can see videos of the bands from last night on the website...the sound is pretty iffy though.
(by the way...if you click on the thumbnails, it will take you to a larger picture. just so ya know...)
afterwards there was goofyness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah and Pip...can anyone say cutest picture EVER??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah and Alec...looking "peaceful"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff "I so wasn't making that face!" Adams
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then, Boba...naturally! We tried to go to the Karaoke bar (pip wanted me to sing a Doobie Brothers song with him) but we had to purchase more drinks, or what have you, to stay. Being the penniless artists we are, we left. But there was this man there singing a pop ballad in Chinese...blew us away.
Instead we hung out in the parking lot and sang Father Abraham, talked about funny noises, and told stories and listened to music in the car.
Yay. (:
But there were two guys after them called El Ten Eleven who were pretty sweet. Actually, i liked them quite QUITE a lot. I bought a cd, and Sarah bought a shirt, of course. Most defenitely a new favorite. You can see videos of the bands from last night on the website...the sound is pretty iffy though.
(by the way...if you click on the thumbnails, it will take you to a larger picture. just so ya know...)
afterwards there was goofyness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah and Pip...can anyone say cutest picture EVER??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah and Alec...looking "peaceful"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff "I so wasn't making that face!" Adams
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then, Boba...naturally! We tried to go to the Karaoke bar (pip wanted me to sing a Doobie Brothers song with him) but we had to purchase more drinks, or what have you, to stay. Being the penniless artists we are, we left. But there was this man there singing a pop ballad in Chinese...blew us away.
Instead we hung out in the parking lot and sang Father Abraham, talked about funny noises, and told stories and listened to music in the car.
Yay. (:
Thursday, August 17
The Challenger Deep
A few days ago, Sarah and i were talking about how we would love to see Jurassic Park again...mostly because we haven't watched it in years. It's a subject we bring up every few months or so...and it's one of those things that you always forget about when you're at the video store looking for somehthing to rent.
Last night, on a rare (honestly) evening of flipping through channels on our brand new directv system (the novelty has not worn off), Sarah and i chanced upon...what else? Jurassic Park! It had only been going for about a half hour...and we were just in time for the T-rex scene. The sfx are still spectacular. It was quite fun.
When the movie was over, we flipped back one channel and watched a special on the Nat'l Geographic station about ocean trenches and Tsunamis. The ocean has always held a mysterious, haunting fascination for my sister and i. The narrator said that only 10% of the worlds oceans have been explored...and the last attempt tp reach the bottom of the Mariana trench, the deepest in the ocean, was in 1960! Forget outer space...lets explore our own planet! Let's learn more about our very own alien life 7 miles below the surface!!
7 miles...i read somewhere that if you cut Mount Everest off at sea level and put it on the ocean bottom in the Mariana Trench, there would still be over a mile of water over the top of it. In the documentary, we learned that the pressure at the bottom is so intense (16,000lbs per sq inch!) that if the submersivle that was sent down had sprung even the tiniest leak, water would come through so fast it would have torn throught the mens bodies, killing them instantly.
And there are creatures LIVING down there...it's incredible. And we know next to nothing about them. Or rather, no human has ever even seen most of them before. Doesn't that stir something in you...??
The ocean is so terrifying and amazing...if i were smarter (and braver) i would go and explore it myself.
Last night, on a rare (honestly) evening of flipping through channels on our brand new directv system (the novelty has not worn off), Sarah and i chanced upon...what else? Jurassic Park! It had only been going for about a half hour...and we were just in time for the T-rex scene. The sfx are still spectacular. It was quite fun.
When the movie was over, we flipped back one channel and watched a special on the Nat'l Geographic station about ocean trenches and Tsunamis. The ocean has always held a mysterious, haunting fascination for my sister and i. The narrator said that only 10% of the worlds oceans have been explored...and the last attempt tp reach the bottom of the Mariana trench, the deepest in the ocean, was in 1960! Forget outer space...lets explore our own planet! Let's learn more about our very own alien life 7 miles below the surface!!
7 miles...i read somewhere that if you cut Mount Everest off at sea level and put it on the ocean bottom in the Mariana Trench, there would still be over a mile of water over the top of it. In the documentary, we learned that the pressure at the bottom is so intense (16,000lbs per sq inch!) that if the submersivle that was sent down had sprung even the tiniest leak, water would come through so fast it would have torn throught the mens bodies, killing them instantly.
And there are creatures LIVING down there...it's incredible. And we know next to nothing about them. Or rather, no human has ever even seen most of them before. Doesn't that stir something in you...??
The ocean is so terrifying and amazing...if i were smarter (and braver) i would go and explore it myself.
Tuesday, August 15
So here's the deal...
I am going to move to Ireland and live in a castle on a green hill with a beautiful garden by the water. I'll have goats and chickens...and grow my own vegetables. I'll learn how to play the violin.
There will be no cell phones internet or tv...but i'll have lots of books and things to paint with and a mailbox a half mile away where i can send and recieve letters.
I will have electricity, though, so i can listen to music and have light when it's dark. And plumbing...because i'm not that crazy.
If anyone wants to come visit me, just let me know! i'll have plenty of extra space, and a fireplace in every room! We can go on hikes and make berry pies and practise our accents. I'll let you all know my new address soon...allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. It takes a while for mail to get to castles.
There will be no cell phones internet or tv...but i'll have lots of books and things to paint with and a mailbox a half mile away where i can send and recieve letters.
I will have electricity, though, so i can listen to music and have light when it's dark. And plumbing...because i'm not that crazy.
If anyone wants to come visit me, just let me know! i'll have plenty of extra space, and a fireplace in every room! We can go on hikes and make berry pies and practise our accents. I'll let you all know my new address soon...allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. It takes a while for mail to get to castles.
Monday, August 14
Friday, August 11
Tuesday, August 8
Lord, i need your help. My abilities are so worthless and any strength i have so meaningless without you to guide it. I don't want to live only for my own gain...selfishly pursuing everything that i think will simply make me happy. But this world, this life, is not a happy place, and i'm not here to be happy. i'm here to discover that my only joy and purpose is found in you, Lord Jesus. I sit and wonder why i can't be producive, why i can't be outgoing, why i can't make myself better, and it's because i'm not asking you to help me. God, will i ever learn?
Lord you know what my desires are. You gave them to me. Actually, You know them a lot better than me right now...more than usual...because i don't even know what i want. Much less what i need.
What am i willing to give up? i don't know that either.
My art?
My music?
My "things"?
As much as i seek your direction, i'm afraid of it, Lord. And yet i know that You have only the perfect plans laid out for me.
Jesus, may i desire you above all else.
Above my longings, my materials and my flesh...
...and please grant me the ability to discern your voice from my own.
Lord you know what my desires are. You gave them to me. Actually, You know them a lot better than me right now...more than usual...because i don't even know what i want. Much less what i need.
What am i willing to give up? i don't know that either.
My art?
My music?
My "things"?
As much as i seek your direction, i'm afraid of it, Lord. And yet i know that You have only the perfect plans laid out for me.
Jesus, may i desire you above all else.
Above my longings, my materials and my flesh...
...and please grant me the ability to discern your voice from my own.
Tuesday, August 1
Cast it into the fire!
Is is hot or cold? Raining or Sunny? cloudy or clear...? make up your mind!
i've had very strange dreams last couple of nights. Despite all my best efforts, I can only remember flashes of different scenes...
flash #1: i'm in a small room with windows all around out of which i can see i'm in a beautiful backyard. In my hand i have fake flowers. they look like carnations and they are faded colors of blue and orange and purple, and there is something i'm supposed to be doing with them. i keep looking at an old, gnarled tree just outside the window. there is someone with me but i don't remember who.
flash #2: i'm climbing up a hole in the ground with someone else and we come out on top in the middle of a dirt mound. There is grass all around and lots of people walking. I think there are some buildings too. I see a guy i know and i whisper to the girl who is with me to get down and not to let him see her.
flash #3: i'm in the cracks of doom fighting desperately with Gollum who is trying to stick a needle in me and shoot me full of some sort of lethal poison...i'm not kidding. i try to grab the syringe and it scratches my arm. the needle breaks off and i throw it down into the swirling flames of Orodruin.
it sounds funny now, but it was scary as hell! Oh go ahead and laugh.
That's all i can remember as far as dreams are concerned.
My jaw is killing me. Today i had two fillings replaced, and while the dentist was drilling an oil well in my teeth i watched the Sound of Music in my head to distract me. I must have run through 16 going on 17 about 4 times. It actually worked pretty well!
Now all the novacain has worn off and i feel like i've been suckerpunched. ooowww.
wow...i'm a geek.
i've had very strange dreams last couple of nights. Despite all my best efforts, I can only remember flashes of different scenes...
flash #1: i'm in a small room with windows all around out of which i can see i'm in a beautiful backyard. In my hand i have fake flowers. they look like carnations and they are faded colors of blue and orange and purple, and there is something i'm supposed to be doing with them. i keep looking at an old, gnarled tree just outside the window. there is someone with me but i don't remember who.
flash #2: i'm climbing up a hole in the ground with someone else and we come out on top in the middle of a dirt mound. There is grass all around and lots of people walking. I think there are some buildings too. I see a guy i know and i whisper to the girl who is with me to get down and not to let him see her.
flash #3: i'm in the cracks of doom fighting desperately with Gollum who is trying to stick a needle in me and shoot me full of some sort of lethal poison...i'm not kidding. i try to grab the syringe and it scratches my arm. the needle breaks off and i throw it down into the swirling flames of Orodruin.
it sounds funny now, but it was scary as hell! Oh go ahead and laugh.
That's all i can remember as far as dreams are concerned.
My jaw is killing me. Today i had two fillings replaced, and while the dentist was drilling an oil well in my teeth i watched the Sound of Music in my head to distract me. I must have run through 16 going on 17 about 4 times. It actually worked pretty well!
Now all the novacain has worn off and i feel like i've been suckerpunched. ooowww.
wow...i'm a geek.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
