A Full Circle

My Blog sucks

2007-09-27T21:16:00.000-05:00

I sometimes think that blogs are a little stupid. So, I don't really like this one. Umm, I started a new one though, in efforts to keep myself new, and cool, and other fun words. Tracey is a hoser and unlinked me from her blog so this is to in spite of her. Here's my new blog link:

http://fullcircdos.blogspot.com/

Enjoy

To my faithful blog subscribers:

2006-12-22T00:33:00.000-06:00

Hello.
Yes, I know it has been some time since you've heard from me. I have a question to to pose you.
Eventually. So far this Christmas break has been full of good things. In no particular order:
Spending good quality time with old friends, often cut all too short.
Reading plays.
Seeing plays.
Watching movie trailers, which I often find more enjoyable than actually watching movies because they can sometimes let you down. Even crappy movies usually have decent trailers.
MUSIC!
Pictures.
Less poetry than desired, but enough to suffice.
Shopping? Not so much of that has been done.
Home cooked meals!
Summer job interviews.
Reveling in awkward situations.
Unexpected 'late' (this term I use loosely here) Perkins run, turing into a different Perkins run (oh wait, there's only one here, so...), turing into a Coldstone/ can we find ANYTHING to eat this time of night in this stinkin' town run, ending up in a Wendy's stop, and an ever so long stay at my least favorite retailer.

Things yet to come: (this is where some of you come in)
Several Christmas celebrations
Many more home cooked meals.
Painting?
Buying books for spring semester.
Research.
More plays.
Pre-blocking for Rope?
Hopefully more of many of the good things listed above.
Podcasts. My friends, I have the general idea of podcasts. I don't even know where to start looking for the good ones. What would you recommend? Maybe just tell me what some of your favs are and I'll check them out on iTunes.

My apologies for not being too creative here, but it must be my inner stage manager coming out and telling me I need to go to bed.

Missing Link: I would maybe post my semester grades here but I'm too scared to look at them. So I'll give you my classes for next semester that I'm going to embark on buying books for soon.
Theatre Production Ensemble (.5)
+ Introduction to Literary Studies * (4)
+ Introduction to Lighting Design # (2)
+ Scenic Design # (2)
+ Foundations of Education ** (2)
+ Topics in Dramatic Literature#:
Comedy (2)
+ Issues in Western Civilization from 1789*:
Utopia and Distopia (2)
+ Performance Studies ## (4)
= Way too much reading for Cody to endure. (18.5)

# Counts for major
## Required for major
* General Education Requirement
** Secondary Education Endorsement Requirement
(0) Credit Hours

Good night and Good luck

And now you're back, from outerspace...

2006-11-02T00:38:00.000-06:00

Since I'm lazy and everyone has been (rightfully) whining that I haven't posted in a long time, I'm going to post my most recent poem written on 10/19/06 it doesn't have a title yet, and yes, I ripped off the first line from Ben Folds, but only because I love him.

Don’t change your plans for me

but if I asked would you

would you change your entire life

your life and our economy

this world as you know it is not as it will be

I’m talking about living together

living and moving with the seasons

berries and leaves our nutrition

nutrition from the earth

No more higher education

mass transit or volkswagon beetles

no trendy computers

environmental destruction or wall maps

no time pieces

electrical boxes or choo choo trains

no wars

infanticide or world hunger

Just us

Missing Link: This is Techno-fast week here in West hall, it's tough but really quite neat. More info to come on that.

Go number 41!!

2006-09-03T17:24:00.000-05:00

So, I haven't been blogging much lately. I have been slightly consumed by the theatre department. I am stage managing for our children's show this year called Man in the Moon. Should be a whole lot of fun. Here's a link to our season for this year, http://www.nwciowa.edu/calendar/section.110/events.aspx. Rush, Gone to Earth, and Directing Class One-acts are the other things I will be involved in in some way, shape, or form this semester.
I am Directing a show for the One-acts as seen above. Pending approval from my professor I'll be directing Asile 17B by John Walsh.
Okay, so I'm a really big dork and I'm in a photography class... and yesterday I deveolped my film in our dark room. Sadly, it didn't turn out at all, all of my beautiful pictures; ruined! I was sharing my frustration/ sadness with my friend Nhguav (who's name has been changed for his protection) told me to "come over so that we can be pissed off together" because his pictures didn't work either. What a great guy!

Missing link-
Is no longer missing, it's now right there on the right hand side of my page! Check it out and consider signing your name and telling your friends. "Make poverty history" -One.org

Hey Hey Hey!

2006-08-19T09:12:00.000-05:00

So, I know I've been back in town a long time and have had plenty of time to Blog, and to tell you the truth I've thought about it often but never gave myself the time. I think it's because I felt like I was still in the 'tour computer using mode' the one where a host family offers to let me use their computer I take about 5 minutes to check my email. No replies unless absolutely necessary.
Yes, tour went great! I'd love to share some of my stories that I have logged away in my short term memory vault before they are overrun by thoughts of school and theatre and the college life.
My mom is doing well, continued prayers are appreciated. This woman amazes me, she is very strong, very confident. Never once have I heard her say "Why me?" or "Why now?" I have heard her say on several occasions, "Going to get through this; have to."

Today's Missing Link:
Worker trapped in vat of chocolate
First thing I thought of: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory I may or may not have seen this movie once or twice since I've been home.

Colossians 2:2

2006-07-18T16:32:00.000-05:00

So, I am really sucking at updating this blog but here, check this out, it's a tour blog from all of us on tour.

http://ankesoftware.com/DME/

Missing link: Amount of time it takes a 15 passenger van to get smelly with 10 people in it. About 20 mintues

sew ewe noe

2006-06-15T23:09:00.000-05:00

Mad Gabs

I thought I would let the community know that my mother had her surgery on Wednesday. Doctors are confident that they got everything that was cancerous. She woke up about 9:00 or 9:30 on Wednesday night and feeling fine, at least as good as one can feel at that point in the recovery stage. I called her again tonight at about 10:00 she was tired but feeling well. My mom will be released tomorrow sometime. And hopes to be back to work in about a week, barring any complications. We will know hopefully by early next week if the cancer has spread anywhere else in her body.
Our family thanks you for our continued prayers and support. A simple thank-you does not do justice to how much it means to us.

Missing link: An "inspiration" from last night: "He stopped on the road and shot a man dead for $45; the man was me".

Did you know that the ground is actually pretty clean and you can eat anything off the ground as long as it doesn't have rocks in it...

2006-06-15T22:25:00.000-05:00

...because rocks break your teeth?

Things here in good ol' Orange City are going quite well. Despite OC being a really boring place, any of you who have spent any amount of time here can understand that, I'm having plenty of fun and am getting more excited than I have been yet to quite literally get this show on the road! We've been working from about 8:30a until about 9:00p just about every day so far this week which has been exausting, don't let me fool you, but much fun, infact I'm about to fall asleep as I sit here to type this to you. Let me just tell you what the rest of our schedule looks like until we offically leave on Sunday morning.
Friday Morning: Any scenes for Sioux Center Sudan that need to be run, Acient Isrealite Drama review.
Friday Afternoon: Final dress rehearsal for all shows; load up the trailer
Supper at Barkers (our director's place), a time during which we will try to convince Karen to take in a kitten by bringing it to their house and making her play with it and fall in love with it. It won't work.
Jeff told us that 'if we were good' he'd take us out to see 'Cars' on Friday night, what that means is, "I'm taking you all out to see Cars on Friday night, no matter how good you are" because you can't just say something like that and then not do it... if only I would have known that as a child...
So, I'll consider making a post on that movie, I hear it's pretty good.

Missing link: My cup of tea tonight as I write this: Botswana Blossom, Red Tea from the Republic of Tea of course. "RED TEA ISN'T JUST RED TEA It's a tea with an attitude. You've heard of the great gift of health from a cup of green tea, now there is RED TEA, an indigenous wonder herb of South Africa called rooibos (ROY-boss), is full of polyphenols and flavonoids which help protect the body from free-radicals that weaken natural defenses and eventually lead to aging and the onset of disease. Studies show drinking RED TEA daily can reward you with powerful anti-oxidants that help create a healthier, longer life."
First, highly reccomended, but even better is the Good Hope Vanilla Red Tea.

Day Won

2006-06-12T21:13:00.000-05:00

waking up shortly after my alarm went off at 7:00 I hopped in the shower, and Andy (the guy from the company who is staying with me at Nick's house) and I were off to make it to the theatre building by 8:00 in time for breakfast. Shortly after arriving at the Theatre Arts Center (TAC) we had the most amazing breakfast that I'd had, probably ever. Monkey bread, egg bake, some fruit, and a cup of hot tea rounded out my meal.
We talked about what's going to be happening during tour, went over our schedule, had worship then jumped right into rehearsing for Sioux Center Sudan.
Supper at the VanMarels was amazing especially the salsa dip they had for us, lunch provided by Jill Fisher (John Paul's wife, you heard about him before) was also good, a learning experience, I had never had a quiche (I know, weird that Uncle Tim just mentioned it in a comment) before.

Overall today has been a pretty laid back day, long, but laid back. Much stress has been removed from my mind now.
Our schedule will normally be about 8:30a to 9:30p, incase you were wondering.

Missing Link: Number of nights of prep work it took before the infamous 'sign heist' prank happened: 23

And we're off

2006-06-11T16:29:00.000-05:00

Well friends, it appears as if my time at home has drawn to a close, as I'm leaving in about an hour from now. I hope to keep you all updated on what's happening on my trip through blogs when I have access to internet. And I suppose I can try using my audio blog sometime soon. Anyway, thank you all for your encouragement and I hope to see some of you on the road!

Missing Link: Number of times I said 'good-bye' for the last time to Brice: 4 Melissa: 3 Tommy: 2 Aaron: well, we won't go there.

What's a Saturday?

2006-06-10T15:06:00.000-05:00

I've noticed that no one really posts on Saturdays, maybe it's because they have lives. Here ya go, this is for you.

On the Horizion

2006-06-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

Using the same page Bob did I made a map for you all of the states we'll be perforimg in, not just the states we're going through. Again if you'd like to come I'd love to see you. Here's a link to our itinerary http://www.nwciowa.edu/theatre/calendar.142/events.aspx. If you want to see me you should give me a call so I know you're coming!

Missing Link: Today's Missing Link is provied by one of my best friends who often says profound things, tonight is no diffrent. Taking a direct quote from Ryan Pendell, "yeah, well, I'm going to crap in your mouth". Lofty Ryan, very lofty, I'll miss you next semester!

Eight seconds left in overtime...

2006-06-09T17:12:00.000-05:00

Last week I received a postcard in the mail from the local Dairy Queen, worth a free 12 oz blizzard for my quickly approaching birthday. I decided that since I was going to town to get my haircut this afternoon anyway I'd go in early, and grab a late lunch at Dairy Queen and top it off with a free 12 oz blizzard. I drove up and noticed it was a little busy and I considered not cashing in on the blizzard now, but against my better judgment I went ahead anyhow. In the very loud and highly populated store, I ordered a bacon double cheese burger and a Srawberry Cheesequake blizzard. After the cashier asked me what I wanted to drink, I told her I only wanted the sandwich and my free blizzard. I was very confused when the cashier asked for $5.94 but said, well, whatever and gave her 6 dollars and was given back six cents. Only after I was given my tray with a double bacon cheeseburger and a basket of fries did I realize what happened. After telling the cashier that I only wanted the burger she called over the shift manager, Sue.
Now, Sue seems to be an angry woman, not only from the look on her face but also from stories that I've heard from friends that have worked there and had run-ins with her. I apologized for making trouble, after reassuring me that it wasn't my fault and a few caculations I received two dollars and seventy-five cents! I could be wrong but I think anyone who would pay just a quarter shy of three dollars for a basket of fries at a fast food joint must be doing some kind of drugs... Anyway, as I was walking away Sue threw away the fries in the wastebasket behind the register. Needless to say I felt at least somewhat responsible for those perfectly good fries being scraped.

I had two thoughts while I was there. One, while she was turned around figuring stuff out the fries were still on the counter so it crossed my mind just to grab them and tell her to not worry about it, or to just snag one and toss it in my mouth. At one point while eating my burger I seriously considered taking the $2.75 that was still sitting on my try and buying a basket of fries.

Missing link: "Nudity is not appropriate or tolerated anywhere on campus..." -Page 32 of the 2005-2006 Nortwestern College student handbook.

the sound of soft blue light reflected by nearly still water

2006-06-09T00:45:00.000-05:00

Tonight I did some thinking about the past, as I often do while unpacking my crap, which in this case are in boxes downstairs. I have a horrible habit. All of the letters, notes, cards etc. that I receive I tend to keep and throw in a drawer at school, my top one if you must know, then at times like tonight while I'm trying to be productive I end up reading what was written in all of them. This stirred up many old memories, and stories all of which I've played through my mind tonight. None of which I am going to share with you now.

Minutes ago I was talking to my friend Natalie just about you know, whatever, the usual. Natalie asked me a question that I have heard several times as of late and hadn't given much thought to until now. "Are you excited for theater tour?" Well, that's an easy one to answer, yes and no. But I hadn't given it the time of day really after thinking that I decide to elaborate on my answer. Yes, because it's going to be a great experience, I'll have a ton of fun, meet some really cool people that I'll get to spend the night with, be traveling with people who will love and support each other even when we're on each other's nerves. No, because I'm not even close to being ready with my lines and can't find the ambition to practice them (I need to have them securely memorized by Monday at 8:00am), because I'm going to miss being here and really bored as dumb as that sounds, even to myself, because I'm currently regretting not working at camp, and because for probably the first time in my life I think it'll be hard to leave my family.

Missing link: I FINALLY bought a tripod for my camera (about time right Bob?). Number of pictures I've taken since the day of purchase about a week ago: 0 sad, I know, I need to get on that...

Drink some tea!

2006-06-07T14:33:00.000-05:00

Blogger.com is being incredibly slow today so I'm posting this one from my email, which is fun.

So, today I completed my second batch of sun tea of the season. It's not too bad (in fact pretty darn good if I do say so myself), but it's only the second time I've tried so hopefully I'll keep getting better with practice. I highly recommend all of you to drink more tea, it's so good for you! Many of them have antioxidants which help to keep you healthy. I tend to keep a wide gamut of tea in my stash for personal consumption and for consumption by others. My favorite place to get tea is from the Republic of Tea: http://www.republicoftea.com/ their stuff is a little spendy but the quality is well worth it.

Missing Link: Deep thought by Jack Handey from someguy.com. "I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people."

long dam day --"See ya there grandma-bear!"

2006-06-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

Today, I went to Good Earth Village.
Shortly after arrival at 10:03 I was greeted with several screams and hugs and a few handshakes.
I jumped in line and grabbed some eggbake, which was amazing! and went to the picnic shelter and sat by Levi to eat my brunch. After brunch I took the test to get recertified for CPR (Gretchen told me I could do that if I came down to do work projects today).
I met and got to work with a bunch of cool new people and fun old people (ones I already knew and enjoy, not really old in age) on a work project in two separate parts, same project.

For almost a year now the creek has been rising and threatening the trails and for at least a while, the creek had actually taken over one of the trails and was flowing right down it. The reason for the creek rising was a series of dams slowing the creek enough to create many tributaries, some of which were on trails. We chopped, hacked, sawed, lifted, and pushed log after log until the dams were finally clear.
Several hours, splashes, sinks into the mud, team lifts, and engineering feats later the water was about a foot and a half lower and flowing freely. Not to mention no longer onto the trail.
Mission accomplished. I got my butt kicked by that creek and have a scrapes, bruises, sore muscles and bones to prove it. But overall it was a great day in which I got to see and work with some of my favorite people and as I said before meet some cool new ones. I think that's about it for now.

Missing link: Last Saturday I went to a wedding close to the town in which I go to school. It was in Sioux Center, on my way home I had supper (yeah, I know it's weird but it was a noon wedding so we had lunch afterward) at Arby's in Worthington. I was munching on my curly fries and I heard a little girl sitting behind me say "See ya there grandma-bear!" I thought it was pretty funny so I should share it with you all.

rookie mistake

2006-06-03T00:21:00.000-05:00

So, I haven't been recieving any of your comments and I was starting to get depressed and thinking about giving up on the blog because I was like, well, noone is reading it anyway!
Then I realized, with Aaron's help, that I had to approve all of your comments and that I had to go into moderate comments to do so. So, this is the post where I reply to all of your comments up until now.

Bob- I don't even know what a menudo is! (I'm guessing you're refering to the JB weld...)
- I would love to see you on July 9th!

Aaron- Yes, his voice does carry well.
-I don't know if I can believe you about the OJ

Janet- I too love the Twins, and I believe they did come through and win that game, because for 3 games after I posted that blog they went on a winning, I don't think we can say streak, so maybe rant?

Nate- Yes, Mao was a funny funny man

All of you!- Thank you for your prayers.
- I got the commenting thing fixed now, so comment away, and I won't have to be sad anymore.

where has the hospitality gone?

2006-06-02T19:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went shopping with the beloved Brice Hanson. I bought some cereal, celery, orange juice, and a four pack of Frappiccinos to split with Brice. After getting back to the metropolis of Frost I put my groceries away, cereal in the cereal drawer, celery, orange juice, and Frapps in the fridge.

To make a long story short(er) I woke up this morning and I said, good, I have time to eat breakfast before I go off to work! (it's one of my jobs that I'm working here and there before tour) I get out the cereal and pour myself a bowl. I decide that nothing would go better with this bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats than a tall glass of freshly opened Florida's Natural Orange Juice-- with pulp of course, the first glass is always the best. I pick up the OJ and take off the blue cap to pour myself a glass and what do I see? Orange juice. Normally what you'd expect to see right? Well, I'm weird I take pleasure in popping off the freshness seal and pouring that first bit out of the container.

You guessed it, no freshness seal. And there was just about enough orange juice gone to make me suspect that someone had horked the first swig earlier that morning or the night before. At this point I was hoping that the freshness seal was broken before I bought it, after quick look under the trash lid, it was indeed in there, right on top. This frustrated me for a time but then I decided that it wasn't that big of a deal.

At school I would love it when people would come into my room and open my fridge to see what they can take to drink or come and munch on. At times at school I bought things like pop, which I don't normally drink, just so that people who wanted one could come and have a dew.

If anyone can tell me why there is a difference is between home and school and my 'hospitality quotient' that would be great.

Missing link: The first drink wasn't the only one the perpetrator(s) took, the total amount of orange juice I got out of that 1/2 gallon carton: 2.5 glasses.

Free Blizzards

2006-06-02T18:53:00.000-05:00

Well friends, I'm thinking I should give you an update on what I posted about last time.

Today my mother (Roberta) received a call from the doctor and they confirmed that my mom does indeed have breast cancer. Thank you for all of your prayers thus far and ask for continued prayers in the weeks to come. We have a meeting with the surgeon on Monday to talk about what's going to happen next.

For those of you who read this blog this may be interesting news to you, tonight I signed up for the audioblogging service provided by blogger.com. So at some point I'm going to try it out. So if you're a frequent reader and can't access the audio file let me know and I'll work a little harder on actually writing my blogs. Each one has a limit of five minutes, so there's that...

Missing link: yesterday I received a postcard in the mail for a free 12oz. Blizzard for my birthday yay!

what if God's people prayed?

2006-05-31T22:23:00.000-05:00

Whenever my mom has to 'talk' with my brother and I it's not normally good news (especially if she uses that tone of voice) because we normally don't talk about too much.
Tonight the news was not good. After bringing me into my brother's room she told us that she was going to the doctor tomorrow morning to have a lump on her breast checked out. I'm scared for her, and she is pretty scared too. All we can do is pray, and your prayers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

what a day

2006-05-30T15:05:00.000-05:00

This last weekend was a pretty crazy busy weekend. I don't even remember what I did friday night, probably nothing because that's the way I am. I know that Saturday shortly after my grandparents arrived at my house my brother and I left to meet the infamous Matt Reiter at his house (the other half of the Mody Beiter team) we'd planned on driving together to Ann's party. After driving near ann's house and seeing the billions of a cars there I figured this was going to be a pretty huge party. After squeezing our way in the front door I realized I was right. To get anywhere in that large house of hers you had to get thin and squeeze your way around. I got to see all kinds of people, some whom I'd never met (Janet Youngers, among others) some who I thought that I might not ever see again and was delightfully surprised by (Andrew Hermanson, among others).

Anyway, Ann Monson's party was pretty frickin' sweet, partially due to finding out what Ben drives, and partially to finally paying back Kyree for destroying my room while I was gone at school. But mostly because I got to hang out with wicked sweet people as I mentioned above.

I have finally started getting a little more excited about tour, I always said I was excited but I think that's because that's what was expected of me. I've been bummed for awhile about not going all the way out to the west coast but I've come to realize that it's really a blessing in disguise as my roommate mentioned shortly after my discovery. We drove down to Council Bluffs, Iowa to see my cousin on the day of his graduation party on Sunday and along with a few people that I talked to at ann's party, much of my family from that area are planning on coming to see me when I'm close to them on tour, which is where the blessing comes in. It'll be awesome performing for people that I know and getting to talk to them.

Well, that was just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, so now, I'm probably going to work on getting my lines memorized for this tour thing.

Currently listening to: 36 Days-- Hawk Nelson

Missing link: Completely free days in the next two-ish weeks before I go back to the OC: about 7, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to need to spend most of that time on my lines... boooo!

"If you're not careful I'll take this leg off and beat you over the head with it..."

2006-05-26T22:31:00.000-05:00

The faculty and staff at my college never cease to amaze me. John Paul, who before coming to NWC had a stint in Hollywood as a number of different things on just a short list of movies and can be found on www.imdb.com under "John David Paul". I tell you this to tell you a little about John Paul, the amazing man that he is. John Paul's official title is: Assistant professor and designer/technical director, so basically he's the head of the scene shop, the place where we use all the power tools, and saws and all that cool stuff to build the sets for our shows. When I first met John Paul I didn't know anything about him other than the rumors that I've heard from other people about how much he likes to talk. My freshman year I was regrettably not involved in theatre until second semester so I was on a short list of people who had not been trained in at the scene shop. My training consisted of me walking around the shop with the 'Assistant professor' as he would ask me if I knew how to run the particular saw we were standing by, after that he pointed to a cabinet where the rest of the tools are kept. After a short introduction to what we were doing that day I was told to go to work. And I did, completely clueless as to where anything was located and what the procedure was for anything, I thought people were lying to me about John Paul being long winded. Come to find out later, JP is very long winded, if you ask him a question that would require a ten second answer you'd better have about 10 minutes to spare otherwise you'll be late to what ever you have next.
This post is not about John Paul being long winded however, this post is about how ironic it felt to me that the guy who was asking me if I knew how to properly use the saws correctly was partially missing two fingers on his left hand. Only later did I find out that he also only has one leg. I thought to myself, 'well, I'm sure glad this guy knows his stuff about safety, because I wouldn't want to end up CUTTING OFF MY LEG!' And it's great cause he jokes about it all the time, hence the title of this post. John Paul's right leg is 'made out of the same stuff they use one the space shuttles' he says. I specifically remember one day after a long crew JP was sitting on a chair on the stage with his leatherman (a multi-tool) in his hand and stabbing himself in the leg and saying 'hey, look at that, doesn't even hurt'.
If any of you have seen the movie Fargo and noticed a limb going into the wood chipper, that would be John Paul's leg... no, not his real leg, but a fake old wooden one that he didn't use anymore and just had lying around the house, he was consistently tripping on it...
This year on April Fools day I was house managing and so it was my job to communicate with the Stage Manager to tell her when she can start the show. And so I told her that there was a slight problem in the Lobby, that John Paul had actually removed his leg and had threatened to beat a man over the head with it. Stage Manager Kristen quickly sniffed my bluff and told me to tell John Paul to chill out and pull himself together. And to offer the other man a cookie. To this day John Paul still thinks that Kristen owes him a cookie.
Anyway, I hate to be anticlimactic but it wouldn't be a Cody story if it wasn't, so I'll tell you this. John Paul is actually a really cool guy and we go to the same very small church in Orange city.

Missing Link: today's ambition rate: 65% today's song: Wedding Dress by Derek Webb

Can I buy a bad day?

2006-05-24T23:05:00.000-05:00

Nope. I realized today that I don't really ever do anything. My mom came home from work and she said what did you do today? Dreading the answer I stalled "ahh..." and to make it sound like I did more I said it all really fast in one breath, (kinda like the way that they talk at some Chinese restaurants Greg) Mowedthelawnwatchedthetwinscleanedoutmycar, sorta. Then it hit me like a ... well, something that hits really fast... I haven't really done much all week other than watch the Twins. And I can't quite go anywhere without a job because that = no money... Man, I need to get to work on actually doing stuff, like memorizing my lines, looking for scholarships, and doing laundry, or hijacking light bulbs. Alright, I'm going to start defragging my computer and then go to bed or something.

Missing link: The Chinese politician Mao Zedong refused to ever brush his teeth and instead just washed his mouth with tea.

come see me! I'll love you forever.

2006-05-23T22:47:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's official you heard it here first. Here is a link to the itinerary for my trip this summer. Check it out. Come see us if you can. If you have any questions... well, just leave me a comment, you'll be the first.
http://www.nwciowa.edu/theatre/calendar.142/events.aspx

Missing Link: What is Twins baseball outside? Me dragging my TV out onto the patio... that is until 2010...

this is a skin irritant

2006-05-22T17:56:00.000-05:00

I bought an umbrella when I was home for this last TEC weekend and I love it. It's huge and could probably fit about 4 people underneath of it. Shortly after purchase I realized that one of the poles is broken close to the tarp part of the umbrella. It doesn't really hinder the performance of the umbrella but things like this just annoy me. So, I spent part of my afternoon trying to fix this. I tried super glue, super krazy glue, krazy glue pen, and JB weld. I'm here to tell you that sadly, NONE of these worked for fixing my beautiful umbrella. I wasted only about an hour and a half on this project and several trips to the junk drawer. So, if you have any advice or ideas for things that will hold it together I'd love to hear them (unless it's duct tape. I promise you it won't work, I'm a firm believer too that duct tape can fix just about anything, this is not one of those things).

Missing Link: number of times I flipped the steaks tonight: 6 (it's supper time)

Memories

2006-05-18T23:23:00.000-05:00

mood: reflective
well friends, (and other random people reading my blog) (If I add the two together I can probably count you all on one hand...)
I wish I could thank each of you individually for the influence that you've each had on my life (but I wouldn't know where to start so I'll just write this blog). Tonight I came across some artifacts of my past, things that stirred up old memories, good mostly, a few bad. But I felt something I've felt before, maybe you've felt it too. It's gratefulness to a God who has a divine plan for our lives and knows the things we need to experience here on earth to shape who we are as people. I have had so many amazing opportunities and experiences and I wonder tonight, 'in two years will I look back on now and think wow! what an awesome experience! Do I have opportunities coming my way in the future that will mold me, my personality, my beliefs, my values, change my group of friends, my family?
One of the last songs from Wicked, one of my favorite musicals, sums up what I think I'm trying to say.
"Who can say if I've been changed for the better. I do believe I have been changed for the better. Because I knew you I have been changed for good."
Thank you

Missing Link: Number of people from my graduating class that I talk to on a regular basis: 0 Number of people from my graduating class that have influenced me in some way, shape or form: pretty much all of them.

welcome to my blog

2006-05-18T14:59:00.000-05:00

this being my third post I thought I'd finally take the time to welcome you to my blog. Thinking I should mention the fact that I sometimes get frustrated with things. Somtimes with people and I always do my best to seperate the idea from the person (something I learned in my theology class credited to my friend Matthew). If someone has an idea that is way out in left field or doesn't agree at all with my views I don't attack them as a person. I approach their idea. I hope that you will give me the same respect, please comment on the things I talk about, but seperate the idea.
All of (0) my readers have been asking me about the missing link thing. Well that's something I'd like to tell you about. You see, my friend Bob has a blog as well and she (yes, Bob is a she, I know, strange, but if you knew Bob you would understand that it totally fits her personality) has a sometimes random, sometimes related to the topic fact at the end of each of her blogs. "Missing link" is something I came up with completely on my own, but then I realized that my friend Nate (a boy) has that for his email address, so I told him I'm using it but not planning on giving him the credit because noone can 'own' a word. So, missing link, you can't have a full circle if there is a link missing right? So, that's why I always tell you what the missing link is. Okay, I'm done rambleing, I'm going to go to my brother's baseball game now, since the Twins don't seem to be worth anything lately can you say 5 game losing streak?

Missing link: number of pranks/ times I broke NWC policy this past school year, too many to count. number of times I got caught: 1

I love you and all, but it's only a movie...

2006-05-18T11:38:00.000-05:00

so what I'm trying to say is take a chill pill. I haven't read the "Da Vinci Code" so maybe I shouldn't be saying anything at all, but I'm going to because this is my blog and I'll do what I want, so there. There are rallies and protests firing up all over the world, I recieved an email the other day inviting me to join a protest and I laughed. Hard. And said something along the lines of 'are you serious?'
Photo: An Orthodox monk rallies against
the film in Athens, Greece, on May 16. (1)
A friend of mine at college borrowed the book from his mother who didn't want him to read the book because she was afraid it would 'shake his faith'. If you're worried about the film harming you or being detremental to your faith then by all means don't see the movie but don't try to deprive the rest of the world from seeing a potensially great movie that will certianly be a blockbuster.
"Opus Dei, an influential Catholic organization that is one of "The Da Vinci Code's" villains, asked for a disclaimer to be added to the film." (1) Have these people ever seen a fictional movie? Because I've seen a few in my days and I haven't seen any with disclaimers about it not being fictional. Director Ron Howard responds in an interview to this request for a disclaimer"You want to create an environment where people can suspend their disbelief and lose themselves in the thriller aspects."(2) Dan Brown does not claim that the book is truth. Howard said, "...it is a work of fiction. It's not meant to offend, it's not theology. If anyone thinks the story is going to be upsetting, they shouldn't see it." (2) Co-star Tom Hanks (who I never pictured playing the main character in this film after reading "Angels and Demons, the precurser to "DVC") says in defense of the film, "If you are going to take any sort of movie at face value, particularly a huge-budget motion picture like this, you'd be making a very big mistake. It's a damn good story and a lot of fun … all it is is dialogue. That never hurts." (3, emphassis added) "Monsignor Robert Sarno, a Vatican official, told Vinci (an interviewer for CNN) he did not see the storyline as an attack on the Church."(1)

Brian McLaren who is a firery contemporary Chritian writer and pastor is someone who I've come to apprecate much lately. His books are always insightful and often good for discussion and deep thought and reflection. He also chimed in about the movie,"Frankly, I don't think it has more harmful ideas in it than the Left Behind novels."(3) Take that for what you will, they are also something that I haven't read but I know they sparked some debate in Christian circles. I think that often people don't understand entertainment, that is our problem. Or maybe it's that they can't think for themselves, and take everything at face value.

I find the time magazine article titled "6 Ways to Break the Da Vinci Code" I'll list them here.
Ban, there is a Danish Territory which is banning the movie, the first one since Monty Python's "The life of Brian".
Starve, a group of Christians in India intend to fast "unto death" if their Government doesn't ban the film.
Sue
Ridicule
Preach
Counterprogam
Bomb, to keep people away on opening night there are bomb threats going up at large theaters all around the world.
Just kidding, checking to see if you're awake. The article is titled 6, remember?

Here are the 10 articles I looked at today about the Da Vinci Code, My guess is there are hundreds more...
Here are the links if you want to look at them:

Missing Link: (from source 5)

"I no longer study Kabbalah, my baby is my religion."
—Britney Spears, in a message on her official website. Spears was raised as a Southern Baptist.

So, I'm a dabbler

2006-05-16T22:23:00.000-05:00

Yeah, you heard me right, a dabbler.
I have realized these last years that I am very interested in several very different things. Sometimes I feel that I spread myself too thin in this wide world of... things to dabble in...
I think it's safe to say there are a few things you'll probably never see this guy dabbling in. Computer programming for example, no knowledge, no desire. Or alligator wrestling, not really my 'bag' as famed Austin Powers would say. Another good one would be well, I don't really have any more

good ones but if I think of one I will for sure let you know.

In what do I dabble? Well that, my friend is an excellent question. Because that is what this blog is about. It's about me and what I dabble in. Deep thought for one (the way I said that last sentence in my head is definitely NOT the way you read it, trust me). I dabble in Poetry. Writing that is. Reading it is good on the occasional rainy day but there is nothing like feeling inspired by something someone says or does and then saying wow, I'm going to write a poem about that! Then after toiling and laboring for an entire tenth of an hour, having my in-house poetry guru tell me it's crap, not directly, to my face but by the look in his eyes and the tone in his voice when he says 'it's good'. I can tell it's a good poem when Ryan says 'wow' or doesn't say anything just sits back in the green chairs that overpopulated the lounge. Of course Ryan isn't my only source of response. Often I go back weeks later after writing my most recent "gem" and decide to fix everything but one line. Let me share with you one of my favorites, which happens to be also one of my firsts. (Cheesy Title, I know)

Little Girl

In all her body not a grain of salt
Nothing she can grasp
Nothing will give her an ounce of joy
Her parents throw chairs and dishes
Spit kick punch and swear
Her young mind cannot understand
"It is my fault" she explains to her teddy
She does not know why her mommy has black eyes and broken arms
Or why her daddy is bleeding and often sleeps on the floor
She cries herself to sleep most nights,
On her bed, the couch she often hides behind

I dabble in Photography. One of my all-time favorites taken about one year ago.

I dabble in Acting. That is what landed me a 'summer job'. Driving around the country with 9 other people acting.

There are so many more, too many to mention here.

However, most recently and the reason (I think) why my first ever post is on this topic of dabbling. Playwriting. I have started researching, as of like two hours ago when the twins racked up another loss and put themselves another game behind in the AL Central standings, about pregnancy. I know, weird topic probably for a guy to write about because we could never fully understand, but I tell you this. It is my intension to try as hard as I can to appropriately represent feelings of women during pregnancy in a play about... well now you're just going to have to wait until it's written.

Missing Link: Eleven poems written to date. How many of my poems do I actually like? 4ish