Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!
I finally got the wireless internet in my grandpa's house to work, so I figured I should update this.
My week at home has been a great one. I've hung out with Kayla a few times, and just generally sat around and had fun not having homework!
Christmas has been good so far. And I doubt that anything will happen to ruin it. I don't like keeping a running tab of gifts, but i will say that I got some great cologne from Kayla. I smell so manly. I still have one to go, but I won't bore you all with the details.
Seeing that it's Christmas, it's time for a reflective post here. I think it's interesting that the attitude changes around this time of year. Suddenly, Christians aren't so bad. Perhaps the world thinks they shouldn't make us mad cuz we might take it away. Maybe it's just cuz i don't watch as much TV at home, or I'm not as "connected" to the world news, but I have noticed a definite decline in anti-Christian statements. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I'm a cynic, I'm just observing.
Don't forget the reason for the season. We are celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He was God. He left heaven, the place we all look forward to, to come to earth to save mankind. We can't forget that at all.

Wooohooo! Home again!!!

It's true, it's true, fair citizens of Hutchinson. I have returned.
I flew back from Kansas City today. Except for the stupid check in lady dropping my driver's license in a tiny crack between the luggage scale and the counter, (she never apologized, but I did retrieve it.) and the flight being a half-hour late, everything went swimmingly. I got back here and me and my mom went to Famous Dave's at the Mall of America for lunch. Yummy yummy yummy....i haven't had good barbecue in far too long. Anyway, got back to Hutch around 4...hung out, ate dinner, and then went to Narnia with Kayla.
First off, being with Kayla again is great.
Now onto the movie. It was pretty darn close! I enjoyed it immensely. Lucy was the exact thing i imagined. She was so darn cute! The rest of the kids were dead-on, too. Edmund was the snarling brat at the beginning, and good at it. Susan was the logical one, and Peter was the reluctant hero. He looked pretty awkward when he threatened the head wolf with his sword the first time. The visuals were of course, amazing. With three major effects companies working on this film, it was expected to be amazing. The White Witch was incredibly chilling. Her eyes, her hair, everything about her was just freaky. I found myself really not liking her by the time the Stone Table rolled around.
Overall, i thought the minor changes were good for the story. The Professor's role was bigger in the movie, i think. I'm not 100% sure on that though. The movie was great. Plain and simple. They really nailed this one.
I'll have a few rants the next few days.

There is something rotten in the state of Kansas...

As you all know, either from the news or from my previous posts, Paul Mirecki (on the left) is under a lot of fire. After private emails were discovered revealing his true intentions for teaching an anti-creationism/intelligent design class (seriously, what other motive could you have), he has withdrawn the class. Earlier this week, Mirecki was attacked by two unnamed men south of Lawrence. He said that they referred to the debate during the beating, which involved fists and a metal object.
So he says.
In the article in the UDK (click here for the full story), it says that he was taking a early morning long drive in the middle of nowhere when the attack happened. First of all, who does that? Whoe really takes a long drive early in the morning to nowhere? Moving on, he said that a pickup was tailgating him, so he pulled over. Sure. Sounds reasonable, right? I would pull over if a car was tailing me. But then, he gets out of the car. When a truck that was tailing you pulls over at the same time, you get the heck out of there fast. You don't stick around to see what the angry men want. The two men, described as two white men between the ages of 30 and 40, then proceeded to beat him, referring to the debate over the anti-creationism/intelligent design class during the attack.
This just seems fishy to me. Why would you pull over and then get out of your car? Of course, he has refused any comment. I just don't get why he would go through all the controversy and then refuse to explain yourself.
Anyways, that brings me to the latest update. If you read my mom's comment on my last post, Mirecki has resigned as the head of the religious studies department. (Click here for the full Kansan article.) First off, thank God. We do not need an atheist running the religious studies department. Also, it seems kinda like he just quit early. He has been with the University since 1989 and then suddenly resigns after two weeks of albeit, pretty harsh, controversy? Presidents have stayed in office for longer than that after controversy 10 times as bad. He also stated that faculty recommended he step down. Did they know something we didn't? Here's another interesting tidbit from the Kansan article:

"Andrew Stangl, president of the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics, the 121-person student group for which Mirecki serves as faculty adviser, said Mirecki told him on Tuesday that he would step down as department chairman."

Hmmm......I leave the floor open now to any rebuttels my readers (ha) have. I'm just saying, there's something very fishy about all this.

Thankful.

Given the somewhat downtrodden nature of my last few posts, i decided to put an upbeat one in here.
Church was especially good today. It always has been. I'm very thankful to God for allowing me to find this Church (Christ Community Church) so early on. I've said this before in previous posts, but I find it necessary to reiterate, given the past few weeks there. The college bible study is pretty good. I guess it's not fully up to my standard because my standards are unfairly biased. I'm used to a close-knit group in Hutch that i've known for a while. Having all new people, save a few guys from Navs, is a little awkward for me, i guess. But i'm getting better. The sermons are great. Pastor Bill Hurlbutt (I know...strange last name. But he's great!), or PB as he is called, is not afraid to preach on issues other preachers step around. He preaches on sin, on hell (yes, he actually says the word "hell"!), on everything the congregation needs to hear. Not wants to hear, but needs to hear. I enjoy his analysis on already well-known passages a lot.
I am very thankful that God has allowed me to find a good church so quickly. The sermons are good, the pastor is good, the bible study is good, and I can even get regular rides there! And....the bible study has donuts. But that's beside the point. I really do enjoy the college life here in Lawrence, despite the impressions I have given in previous posts. There just are a few things that bug me.
That's all for now.
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11 Days!!!!!

Musings on Various Issues...

Yeah, I know. Weird title. But that's really what this entry is about! Let's start out with the events of the week.
Classes are slowly rolling to a halt here. Finals are coming up after this next week of class, so the "new" material is slowing down. My finals range from 4 to 7 in the afternoon to 7 to 10 in the morning, so they're all over the place. Thankfully though, they're spread out over four days. People seem really stressed out, and there are signs everywhere about not getting stressed, getting advice, and all that kind of stuff. I'm not really getting stressed out yet, but i'm not ruling that reaction out yet. Hopefully it will not occur.
It's really cooling off weather wise here. It's been low 30s pretty much every day this week, so the winter coats and goofy boots that somehow became stylish with the females are out in force. I'm serious about these boots. They look warm and all, but bright pink ones with fuzz (and matching snowpants and ski coat) and the pant leg rolled up to just above it? That's cool? Guess I just don't understand women.
On to the musings.
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I've started figuring out iTunes and the many features built in. I haven't used the music store yet, because i really don't have the money. Or i'm cheap. Either one. Anyway, it has a lot of other cool features. At the risk of sounding like a payed-for ad, I think it's great. First of all, I'm listening to guy (who lives down the hall)'s Christmas music right now. Shared Music Folders, a feature of iTunes, works like this. When I'm plugged into Templin, or for that matter, any other network, I can access the music they put in the Folder. Now, it's not illegal, mind you. Only 5 users per day can access any one person's folder, and they can just listen to it. They can't copy/burn/manipulate the files in any other way. Nifty! Also, I'm subscribed to a few podcasts now. I don't own an iPod, and probably never will. The battery isn't rechargable after a few years, and it costs waaaaayyy too much to replace it. I just listen to the podcasts on my computer. Anyway, most of them are free, and I'm subscribed to 3: NPR morning news, some human interest NPR feature, and TheForce.net's podcast. All of them are very interesting, and I think it's a interesting new way to get information across. Could be a new mass media? Who knows? I just think it's a lot of fun.

Next muse:
There was a big argument here over the last few weeks. There was going to be a course (in the religious studies department, no less) about "the myth of creationism." The actual title of the course, after they took that tag off the end, is as follows: “Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design and Creationism.” Orginally, there was a tag implying creationism was a myth. That got the department in a little bit of trouble, so after a story in the Kansan, they dropped the tag. Now, in an article in the Kansan today, they revealed the course had been canceled. People probably glanced at the headline, said "those stupid Christians" and went about their business. In fact, the reason it was canceled was entirely different. Paul Mirecki, the head of the religious studies department and also strangly and paradoxically enough, an atheist, sent a variety of emails over the past few years and posted them onto a yahoo.com listserve. They had things of this nature: calling Christians "fundies" (fundalmentalists) and saying that the course would be “a nice slap in their big fat face.” He got in huge trouble for this, and the class was dropped. (All this info is from the Kansan story, available here.) People immediatly thought that the class was dropped for it's content, and think that they can use this as another excuse to rail against "fundies." This shows the nature of our society. They are willing to either read waaay too much into an event (such as Kanye West's reading into Katrina) or waaay too little (in this instance.)
But such is life. Hopefully I can do something to counter all this crap when I get in the J-school. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
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Whew! Long one...hope you all didn't mind. See you all soon!
If you care: 14 days until Christmas Break!

Back in KS/Weekend Summary

It was a fun weekend, but alas, I had to return to Kansas for another three weeks to finish out this semester.I had a lot of fun this weekend!      Thursday was fun.  It was a bunch of cooking and cleaning and last-minute set up things for the meal at 2.  We had 16 people over, so it was a full house.  The Burrs, the Smiths, and (I can't remember her name!) came over for dinner and random talk and a very lively game of Pit later on with the kids.  The turkey was delicous as always, as was the cranberries and pie and stuffing and anything else i forget to mention here.  I can only hope that there will be leftover cranberry sauce when i get home in 3 weeks...just kidding.  But you'll make more, right Mom?  Hehe!    On friday we went to "West Side Story" at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater.  I thought they did a very good job.   The script they used was exactly like the one we had for the high school two years ago.  The set was very imaginative.  It consisted of a bunch of metal ladders and platforms through which cast members seemed to just appear out of nowhere.  I thought they did a great job.  Even the gunshot worked!  We got home and prepared for another party.  A bunch of people from school and church came over to our house to just hang out.  We played Cranium and Catchphrase and whatever else was going on in that crazy house.  It was fun to see everyone again and hear Jeremy never stop talking.    Saturday was lazy day.  I started my speech which isn't due until Friday, so that tells you how bored i was.  I really can't remember what else I did on Saturday...my dad and I tried to go see the new Zorro film at the revamped State Theater in Hutch, but their equipment wasn't working or something.    Sunday we went to church.  I went early to set up with dad.  It was fun to see everyone and how much the little ones have grown.  Moose's sermon was good as always.  Then we headed for the airport to send me home.  I got to the gate fine, but they wanted to charge me 7 bucks to use the stupid wireless internet.  Scalpers.  Then the pilots were 3o minutes or so late to the plane, then there was some issue with fuel, and then once we actually got to KC, we had to circle the airport for a long time because of the stupid weather.Well, there's my weekend in a nutshell.  A very large nutshell...i hope it wasn't too boring for all of you. 
---------------------------------------------------------18 Days till I'm home again! 

HOME AT LAST

Hello all, I am now writing from my basement in Hutchinson!
Finally home.
So far, it's been fun. I got home about 12:30 last night, but didn't get to bed till around one. My mom and sister wanted to talk to me or something. Psssh. (just kidding!) I went to jazz band and regular band this morning with Jeremy, and then we went around talking to various teachers. It was fun to catch up. At ten i went to the ever-fun dentist, then back to AP English class to apparntly be living proof of all the things Dex says about college. But i got to have a donut and get applause (and see Kayla--WOOOO!!!!!), so it's all good. Then i sat at the lunch table with Kayla and Megan and a bunch of other peoples, and then went to eat good ol' Coffee Co. food with my mom.
Good times all around! It's so good to be home. It was a little weird at first, but i'm happy to be home. Looking forward to the weekend ahead. That's all for now!

Home Soon.

In about three days, I finally get to go home. Yay! It will only be for about a week or so...but it will still be good to go home.
In other matters...you all need to pray for the student (high school and college) pastor here at Christ Community Church. He was supposed to give the message today and teach our sunday school, but he never showed up. It turns out that his sister, who was also 8 months pregnant, died suddenly late last night or early this morning. They lost the baby, too. It is very sad news, and he needs all our prayers.
The Navs hosted a Barn Bash (hoedown thing) last night, and that was a lot of fun. I didn't have any cowboy items to wear, but they extra stuff there for people like me. I got to square dance, eat yummy chili, and get dragged along the floor in the wheelbarrow race. Woohooo! I sure dusted that floor.
Well, that's about it for the excitement here in Lawrence...see you all in Hutch soon!

Cold Weather at Last!

It's finally cooled down here in Lawrence. About two days ago, the temp dropped to around the mid 30s, and has remained there or lower ever since.
Just like home!
We got a little bit of snow from the massive storm that reached all the way up to Minnesota, but nothing substantial. It will be awhile before the ground freezes here, considering it was around 80 not 2 weeks ago. Oh well. I still get to wear my big winter coat and my nice leather gloves from Colorado! Thanks again, Mom and Dad.
Well...not a whole lot more to report on here in Kansas. The debate still goes on with Evolution vs. Intelligent design. Can't say i've been following it very closely, since i never had to go to high school here. Apparently Lawrence is right in the middle of the debate. I really don't see what the debate is. Why should teachers be forced to teach a theory that has many holes in it and not allowed to teach the truth? Most "intellectuals" (read as: "people far too smart for their own good") say that intelligent design is just a crutch, and then they go back to leaning on the splintered, rotting, and on-fire "crutch" that is evolution. They choose to ignore certain evidences against them and for intelligent design.
The only thing more I can say is: They've obviously never been to Colorado.
Or New Zealand.
Or Australia.
Or--the list goes on.
Well, that's my 2 cents on that issue...if anything more exciting happens here in Kansas, whether it be a acutal important event or just something in my life, you know where to turn!
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http://calebsommerville.blogspot.com: Your window into a world that quite possibly could be pretty darn boring.

Ah, Coms130.

Venting. Such is the nature of blogs.
For the past few days in Coms130, my speech class, we have been giving persuavsive speeches. This one incredibly intelligent girl decided to try and persuade us that the drinking age should be 18. NOWHERE in her speech did she mention that it was 18 in the 70s, or that many horrible things happened because of that. Convienant. Her main points were that "Everyone will already do it, so why not just make it legal?" and "18 year olds are already mature enough." Both of which, of course, are complete and total bull. First of all, "Everyone" doesn't drink. There's even a facebook.com group for those smart ones of us who don't. Second of all, it's illegal. Her "out-with-a-bang" ending was "So next time you all (unproven generality) have a shot or a beer in your hand, think about how much easier it would be if it was legal." So basically, she was admitting it was illegal, but still condoning it. Along those lines, here's my closing line for my speech about why murder should be legal. "So next time you all have a knife or gun in your hand about to kill someone, think about how much easier it would be if it was legal." Same argument, right? Yet now it sounds ridiculous. Hmm....does drinking cause anything like this? Of course YES! Drunk driving, impeded judgment, etc.
Mature enough? Is that why my roommate comes home wasted and calls all his friends to tell them he's "drunk as F---?" Is that why he orders a sandwich at 3 in the morning and then forgets about it? Is that why people at the football game were mumbling and shouting the Rock Chalk chant well after the game? Interesting concept of maturity.
Well, i'm done with that.
I get to enroll in classes today after 6pm, and already one is full. So, instead of Introduction to Political Theory (which actually sounds interesting to me despite the boring title), i'm taking either a art history of Japan or a history of China and Japan.
Well, that's about it...more later!

Oops...Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!

Yeah, kinda forgot about this blog thing. Sorry to all who keep up with me!
I went to the KU/Nebraska game this past Saturday, and it was AWESOME. We broke the 36 year losing streak 40-15 to Big Red we had, and we set a stadium attendence record with 51,000 something people, and we tore down the goalposts two weeks in a row. This was the first, and probably the only, KU football game I went to this year, so I guess i picked the right one! It was crazy...near the end, the number of security guards probably quadrupled. People were tying their shoes tighter and linking arms with each other when there was about 5 minutes left. It wasn't that bad on the field, but i stayed a good distance away from the posts, cuz i didn't wanna get bashed with that thing when it snapped. And boy, did it snap. I went and looked at the hole it was in, and two bolts were already gone, and the remaining two were pretty much bent in half. 1inch thick bolts were bent. IN HALF. It was a pretty crazy celebration. After we hearded out of the stadium, I went home. I didn't wanna stick around for fights to break out and stuff like that.
Hmm....anything else goin on...I play for the church worship band on the 20th! Woo hoo! My first time playing my guitar in front of people since last time i played for church in Hutch. I hope i remember how!
My lovely and very nice mother sent me a very strange package the other day....it's contents:
-bubble-wrapped sunglasses
-Calvin and Hobbes comics (scattered loose throughout)
-Bank statements
-CCM magazine
-other mail
-two screws
But it was mostly:
-Cheap Halloween candy from Target!! WOOHOO!
Thanks mom. Yummy non-healthy candy!
Well that's about it.


Oh, in case you care:
16 days till Thanksgiving break, and 39 till Christmas break! "I'll be home for christmas..." Hehe!

Exciting *cough* weekend

Nah, it wasn't really that exciting. I just kinda sat around.
Actually, i rode down to Mass. St. for something to do. It was fun! Except for the part where i didn't see the stairs and the frame of my bike got a little personal with me. That's where we'll leave it.
There was a lot of people there, considering it was the homecoming game. It was still fun. I wandered around an antique store, but didn't buy anything. They had lots of old crap, and even some stuff actually worth something! (gasp!)
Hmm...nothin else...
24 days till i go home! 47 days till Christmas break! WOOHOO!
And Star wars comes out on DVD on tuesday. This couldn't get any more unbearable. There is too much to look forward to. And not enough happening now.
ARgh!
Hopefully the next 24/23 days will go by quickly. One can only hope.

Family FUNTIMES!!!

Well, another weekend come and gone. It's Monday night, and the Russian homework has started to get boring, henceforth a blog entry. My family was here this weekend. It was a lot of fun to see them again. Megan was crazy the whole time, cuz she missed me. Dad was normal, and Mom was normal because she had a cold. We went to Mass St., Olathe (to visit my cousin Julia), Wallace and Gromit (which is a very funny movie), Church, Navs Night, etc. It was fun!
They were very nice to me. They took me out to eat a buncha times...a steakhouse, Cici's Pizza, TGI Friday's, Marylyn and Russ's house, Muncher's bakery (how was the rest of that chocolate thingy, dad?), and some other places I probably forgot about. They also brought me a new bike (thanks a TON Bob!!), cookies (which are still yummy), and more apples (also still yummy).
Anyways...Megan came to J-101 with me, and knew more about the bird-flu (our so-called "hot topic") than a lot of other people there.
I had a lot of fun with you guys! Thanks so much for a great weekend, even if my brilliant roommate ran away when he realized they were here before he cleaned up the room. Oh well. Who knows how long those socks will be there. Maybe they'll grow into sock trees under the sink.
Riiiight.
Well...That's about it! If there's anything I left out, please let me know.
29 Days until i get to go home!! 55 days until Christmas break. Woohoo!

Public Service Annoucement #2

Hello again, all. I'm sorry the last few posts have just been about current events and such. The reason? Just tryin it out. I would like all who read my blog to let me know if you prefer the current events stuff or the personal stuff, or how much of both, or whatever. I enjoy both.

On the current events side, A new Bond has been named! I read about it yesterday, and Daniel Craig, a 30-something British actor, who's also blond, is the new Bond for the next film "Casino Royale," which apparently was the first Bond book ever written by Ian Fleming. For the full news story, click here.

On the personal side, life has been pretty darn boring. It's fall break here at KU, and there is hardly anyone here. I'll bet there's about 4 or 5 guys left on my floor. The parking lots are completely empty, and E's is hardly ever loud. Come Monday, however, it will all be back to normal. Woohoo.
My family is coming next weekend! I haven't seen them in 2 months, so it should be lotsa fun, especially since it's right after midterms, so homework hopefully will not be too big of a deal. It's also (EDIT:I had been counting wrong!)39 days until I go home for thanksgiving. I can hardly wait!!!!
Nothing else to report. Remember, leave comments about my format!!!!

Earthquake

I'm sure you've all heard about the massive earthquake in South Asia by now. 30-40,000 are now feared dead. This is a major crisis, and I believe that, already, our nation's sympathy is not enough. For Katrina, there was overwhelming response, despite what Kanye West said. For a disaster of many times the magnitude, there has been headlines. Nothing else very notable.
Since I used to live in Southeast Asia, and have seen the depravity and poverty that these people live in, this is a very horrific occurrence that hits a little close to home. Please, keep them in your prayers. They need to see the love of Jesus in their time of need.
Pray.

DARPA Grand Challenge

Back when i actually used to subscribe and recieve Popular Science (now i'm subscribed but don't recieve it) they had quite a few articles about DARPA's Grand Challenge. (Click here for information about the race, and here to read more about DARPA) I learned tonight that 4 robots finished the race! This is huge news. These vehicles were completely run by computers, and they successfully navigated a desert course without human intervention. This is a huge breakthrough for the transportation industry, as well as the military.
It's happy news to me.

Yay cold!

WE have finally started cooling down down here, tempature wise. It was about mid 5os and low 60s today. I wore a t-shirt this morning (45, i believe the ever-reliable internet said) just to get cold. It's been so long since i was actually cold. I know, i sound weird and all, but that's one thing i guess i picked up from the Frozen Wastelands of Minnesota.
I have to give a speech tomorrow on renewable energy. Yuk. I picked solar energy on a whim, and just got done with it about 15 minutes ago. Now i'm just sitting in the study room not wanting to get up and go back to my room.
Well...I don't think there's really much else to report on....except that i get to go home in exactly
37 Days!!!! WOOHOO!
I'm going crazy without you, Kayla, if you're reading this...
If you aren't Kayla, forget you just read that.
I'll write this weekend sometime. Peace out.

Movie News

I don't know if this is even mainstream yet, but it's true:
Peter Jackson, of The Lord of the Rings and soon King Kong fame is producing a movie based off of the video game Halo. I'm a fan of Jackson, and I've only played Halo a few times, but this is big news.

Ups and Downs.

Quick post, since yesterday's was so long.
A few weeks ago, my bike lock was dented (by someone presumably trying to steal it) and was not able to open. I left it there until i could figure out how to get that one off and put the new one that i bought on.
Apparently, i didn't do it fast enough. When i was waiting for a ride to church, i went over there to check on it, and it was gone.
Yup, someone stole my bike.
I reported it to the police, and entered the serial number into the computer database and all that, so there's still a little bit of hope.
If you could all pray over this, that would be great. Thanks.

Manly Bonding

I'm back, and in a little pain. This weekend was a blast, though.
WE went camping first. It was some farmer's property near a lake that they had gone to last year, so we set up tents and stuff up on a little ridge where the road was. Then we built a fire (bunch of college guys and fire...hmmm) and roasted hot dogs. This all took much longer than normal, because we were also talking and occasionally tackling one another for no good reason. Once it got dark, Matt Podszous, or something like that spelling, led a little talk. Someone else I had never met before gave his testimony, which was good, and then left. We broke up into small groups and prayed for awhile, and then we had the adventure of cooking smores. It was fun, even though i was only really hungry for one. Oh well.
About 4:30am, the wind was HOWLING. It didn't help we were on a ridge, of course. I was afraid the tent me and three other guys were in was gonna fall over. But we survived the night, thankfully. Everyone woke up around 8:30 and we ate "breakfast" which consisted of cheap cake donuts and some cinnamon pastry type things. And Orange Juice. Yummy!
Then we packed up camp and headed to the paintball place. After sitting around for awhile (i don't think anyone really knew what the heck was going on) we got our safety talk, got our masks and guns (which they call "markers") and loaded up. The ref (I didn't know they had refs either) led us way into the forest, and proceded to tell us the rules. You get hit, you call "hit", but your barrel cover on, and hold your gun in the air until you get back to the "safe zone." The first round I got hit right in the goggles. I didn't know what the heck I was doing the first round, so it was a little crazy. After Blue Army (my team) won, then we changed some directions and loaded up. The guns have little hoppers on top where all the paintballs are stored. You pop open the back and pour em in! The second round i played defense so i didn't get hit. The third round, which was capture the flag, was intense. I decided to be a little more adventerous. I was on a hill when a Blue with the flag need some cover fire, cuz he was low on paint. Me and another kid holding the hill went with him, and got pinned down by some guys behind some really good cover. We had squat for cover. I got pelted in the chest and arm 4 times or so, but they didn't break, which hurts even more. He also shot me in the top of the head twice. The second one broke. The fourth round i ran out of ammo. That was dumb. The fifth round was the most fun I had. They had this huge plywood fort thingy, and the Blues were defending it. When i was running over the little bridge to get the fort, i fell flat on my face. That's probably the worst injury i recieved. We held the fort and won the last round!
That about it...lot's of sweating, running, shouting, and wildly spraying an area of moving brush hoping it's a Red, not a Blue.
Exciting, I know.
Now i'm sitting in my room, not wanting to do homework, but just wanting to go to bed for awhile. I might.
LEAVE COMMENTS!

Gone for the Weekend

Hello all. Just thought i should put up a new post before i head out. The Navigators are hosting a camping/paintball trip this weekend, and I am venturing to get myself brused and broken in the name of manly bonding.
Acutally, i have no idea if i will be bruised or broken. I've never been paintballing before. Should be fun!
Nothin else really to report...went to a meeting this morning about last friday. Basically, the guy (head of the hall or something like that, never did catch the full title) knew i didn't do anything wrong, but still outlined the toaster and the smoking and that lovely stuff. It was good to get to see the inner workings of the dorm, but at the expense of COMS130. Darn.
Well..i will most certainly be updating Saturday night to tell you all of my adventures.
Da svedanya!(Goodbye, phonitically, in Russian)

Untitled...

..because I can't think of a good title this early. Well, here's an update on the fabulous and exctiing life of me:
Got a "mini care package" from my dear mother with candy and command strips in it (yummy) and an envelope of Calvin and Hobbes (they are running that in the Star Tribune again). My parents know me so well.
I gave blood yesterday. That wasn't so bad. It wasn't Red Cross doing it, so it was a little different, but still ookeydoky(mom).
I also got a lovely letter yesterday to send me to an "Administrative Heariing" over the "incident" last Friday. I also have to skip half of my COMS class, thanks to Mr. Smartypants.
Oh well. At least it will be over then.

Hopefully.

I really don't have anything more to say...keep readin' and keep LEAVING COMMENTS!

Ahhh, Fridays....?

Started out normalish. It was raining pretty hard, and I got soaked coming home from COMS130, in which i did not have to deliver a speech i had stayed up until 11:30 preparing for. Oh well. Came home, went to Russian, which was fine. Went to English, and we did a writing assignment for which i got done early, and left class around 2:10 or shortly thereafter. I called Mom as i always do after English, and talked all the way home. Got on my floor, and as i got closer to my room, i realized the smoke alarm was going off. Justin (my roommate) was getting a little flustered trying to shut it off.
He said someone had been taking a shower for like 45 minutes (i now realize that was all a joke) and the steam set it off. The Front desk guy came up, left, came back a little later with a cop.
When i first walked in the room, i thought i smelled something burning. I asked Justin about it, and he got a little nervous.
Turns out, after the cop, two fireman, the desk manager, and the head janitor got here, he was trying to smoke in here.
Moron.
He got written up for trying to smoke (and trying to cover it up with the shower crap and cologne up the wazoo) and having a toaster in the dorms.
Moron. Moron. Moron.
What a day.

New post! New post! New post!

I know you're all very excited. Too bad i don't have very many things to update you all on...but i'll try to make it interesting.
I went to see "Madagascar" last night at the Union. (Lemur Raves still rock, Kayla!) It wasn't as good without someone to watch it with *cough* but i still had a great time. There was only one weird expierence on the way home, however. I was taking my normal route behind Wescoe, and decided to sit for awhile on the hill that overlooked a little bit of the city. I got all of three minutes to relax when some crazy drunk guy started screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs. I didn't know exactly where he was, but i decided that it would be a good time to leave. His screams were echoing off the surrounding buildings, so it made it a little creepier. Other than that, no weird expierences.
*collective awww through the crowd*
I have given in on another online trap. www.facebook.com is a college website (so those of you who don't have a college email address, you won't be able to see any of the site) and really huge on campuses everywhere. You basically put your picture and info up online and find other people you know and join groups and that kinda stuff. it sounds pretty dumb, but it's actually quite addictive. I started this morning.
Well, i don't think that there's anything else to write about, but i'm sure the opportunity will present itself.






PS. www.fbtb.net has pictures of the new A-wing set up. It's awesome.

New Photos Up

I just put a few pictures of an amazing-looking storm we had here last night up on my photobucket.
Link: http://photobucket.com/albums/y282/calebsommerville/
They're pretty darn cool if I do say so myself.
Although those clouds look menacing, we really only got like an inch of rain. Not very much. I dunno.

Church

I went to "Christ Community Church," an E-Free church here in Lawrence, today. It was probably the best church I've visited thus far. The music was excellent (apart from the possibly over-enthusiastic worship leader, but ya know "make a joyful noise unto the Lord" and all that!), and the pastor was phenomanal. He preached on Romans 1:18-32, which is about God's Wrath.
It's not what you think it is. It's not earthquakes, volcanos, or even hurricanes. God's wrath, according to this passage is Him letting us do what we want. Basically, He "removes his hand" and lets us get what's coming to us. He lets us reap our own rewards. Also, in 1:27b, He talks about men commiting lustful acts with other men, and how that's destestable to the Lord. Hey, smartypants who say that God never says anything against Homosexuals? READ THE BIBLE. Romans 1:27. There ya go.
I went here with my mom and her friend, the pastor's wife back in Hutch. It was a lot of fun to be with family again, even if it was only one member. We had a great time. We went to Chili's for dinner yesterday, IHOP for breakfast today (slowest service EVER; along with the phantom pumpkin/chocolate pancakes, ask my mom) and Cici's Pizza for lunch. All very good, all very free for me. Thanks, Mom!! She brought me a lot of goodies like root beer and Jones Green Apple pop, which is delicious. It was a lot of fun to hang out with her this weekend, even if it was less than 24 hours. Next time, they're staying longer. You hear that guys? LONGER.



Remember, I like comments!!!

Expierence

I really couldn't think of a better title than that. I went to the union tonight to see "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Wow. Whoever thought up all that stuff had quite an overactive imagination. Some of the theogly stuff was a little off, but otherwise it was a very good movie. They decided to start it at 7:00, instead of 7:30 like it says on the schedule, but I don't think I missed a whole lot.
But that's not the expierence I was talking about. It got done around 9:00, so it was dark. The union is about a half-an-hour's walk from Templin (my dorm). It was eeire. There were other people walking around, but it's nothing like walking behind Wescoe during the day with 300 people in your line of sight whatever way you look. It was very still. Not quiet; the bugs saw to that. But still. The buildings looked almost omnious. I tried to go in Anschutz Library, but it closes on Friday at 8. Oh well.
Then I really needed to go to the bathroom. (Sorry you had to hear that, but it's pertinant to the story.) Murphy, the music/dance building, was nearby, and I figured it would be open. It took me awhile to find the darn's Men's room (apparently they don't think that putting the two varieties of restrooms next to each other is a good idea). When I was searching, I came across a door marked "Organ and Church mUsic" or something like that, and someone was playing the organ inside. I stood there for a couple minutes listening, but then thought that I didn't want to get arrested for being suspicious, so I did my business and left. Around the Burge Union (a mini-union near my dorm) the third interesting thing happened: I saw a skunk waddling around in the grass. It took awhile to register, because skunks aren't things one usually sees wandering about every day. I then decided to leave, because it saw me. No need for explanations there.
Well, that's my story of my weird night here at KU. Hope it wasn't too boring or anything...just felt it was a farcry from anything else I've been posting here.
Remember, leave comments!

Creative Charity

Hello everyone again. I don't usually plug auctions and stuff like that on here, but I thought this one was really great. As you all know, there are millions of people pouring money into the Katrina Relief efforts, but none quite as creative as this. From FBTB.net (From Bricks to Bothans, a Star Wars Lego website), i give you the charity auction of the year:
http://www.fbtb.net/
It should be the first news story up. If anyone's interested, great, but I though i'd just post it because it's cool.
See? Legos are beneficial at older ages!


*If you don't already know, i have always, and still do, love Legos. Hope you enjoy that cartoon, too.

Snore Week, Excitement Weekend!

This week, with the exception of an exhauting Monday, has been quite uneventful. I'm doing Russian homework right now (kind of...i don't have eighteen hands. Although, that would be nice. I could be doing so much stuff! Like eating, typing, writing....okay, that's enough.), and thankful for the upcoming weekend. My favorite mother in the world, my mother (duh) is coming down to Kansas City for a Beth Moore conference. Since Lawrence is only 45 or 30 minutes away or something that changes depending on who you ask, she's gonna come visit me. That means that tomorrow, I'm gonna be cleaning my room.
Hear that mom? MY ROOM WILL BE CLEAN.
At least my stuff. No idea if my roommate knows what the word "orderly" means.
Hopefully this visit will tide me over until October, when my whole family is coming down to see their dead son.*
Well that's all the news that's fit to print.




*Dead Son Story: When I was getting ready to move down here, my parents and sister, and other people for that matter, would say things like "this is your last day ever at this school" and "this is the last time you'll get to sleep in your room" so my sister decided that all those "final" statements meant i was going to die come August 11th. Obviously, i didn't die. But, the joke is still funny, right guys?

Me Graduating

Another Trek

On account of some rather persitant persuasion from my parents and sister, I decided to go somewhere and do something, as they said. I went to Massacusetts Street, most of the time called Mass St. here, to get my haircut and go the the local Borders. I also stopped by the Cold Stone Creamery because it was quite hot. Now my feet hurt. A lot. I ave no idea how i got there, or how i got back. I found where it was by MapQuest, but i decided to take the short way. That just involved a lot of back streets. I didn't get lost or anything. Anyways, i got my haircut for 5 bucks and then went to Borders for awhile. Fun fun fun. I don't think i want to walk anywhere for awhile now.
Well, that's my exciting Labor Day! I most certainly did some labor. Probably walked off that pizza i had for lunch.

Public Service Annoucement #1

It has been brought to my attention that my blog is sounding rather downtrodden the past few days. Or weeks. I was told not to be an Eeyore, so I will have to work on that. I wouldn't want to make the 4 people who actually read this sad.
Stefan, the guy I know from Columbia, MO right before we moved to Singapore, has gone home for the weekend. He has been a true gift from God. We both have some of the same interests (like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, CS Lewis, etc.), so that makes life here more bearable. I hardly see my roommate anymore, so I guess that's an upside, isn't it? Let's see....what else...
I have a great support team back home, and even all over the world. I want to thank everyone in Hutch for praying for me and ask them to continue your prayers. I know that a lot of you back home don't even know I have a blog (so get the word around, people!), but I thank you all the same.
I watched Back to the Future III today...watched the first two yesterday. Those are great films, you know? I love the DeLorean.
That was my latest purchase at Best Buy. Next on my list is "The Blues Brothers." I didn't want to spend 40 bucks all at once, so I forwent(no idea if that's a word) the purchase of that for a later date.
Well, as the Times says, that's "all the news that's fit to print." Except...this isn't news...or printed....and I don't even think it's fit.
Whatever.

Hmmm...

Is it normal for TA's to be arrogant, annoying, uniformed and dumb? If so, then one of my Journalism 101 TAs fits the bill. We talk about current events at the beginning of class and the two TAs always lead the "discussion." She's a real pain in the neck. Someone will say something, and she'll say "well, don't you think..." if she doesn't agree with it, which is most of the time.
Alright. I'm done ranting.
Well, a long weekend is coming up, and I have no idea what to do. I'm thinking movies. Or maybe haircut (don't get too excited, mom).
But I should really get to studying. I have a russian quiz/test/she-never-really-said-what-it-was tomorrow, and some introductory speech for COMS 130.
I love public speaking.




NOT!

Blog? What? Oh yeah!

It hasn't really been a busy week....i've just totally forgotten about this. Or I'm lazy. Or something.
Actually, there really isn't anything to report here. I'm getting slightly annoyed at the sheer amount of sidewalk chalk here, however. I've seen probably 20 different places where freshman were advertising for the student senate.
Does anybody really care?
I sure don't. Maybe someone somewhere does, or maybe they're just trying to get something good on their resume.
Who knows. I'm just gonna try to survive my first year.
Maybe i'm weird.

Ahhhh, the weekend.

My first real weekend at college, and no idea what to do. As my mother said on the phone, "Call someone and do something."
Wow. Doesn't leave a whole lot of room, does it?
Sorry, Mom, i had to.
Another regular day of classes, nothin to report there.
I'm boring, i know. People everywhere are falling asleep because of my incredibly boring blog.

Oops

Oh yeah…I did think of something.  Today was the first day of jazz band.  I’m in the lowest one, and that means we only have like one or two concerts this whole year…but that’s still cool.  It was good to be able to play the kind of music I like to play.
More on that story as events progress. (

Nothing Exciting...

Well, it's Thursday...and nothing worth talking about has happened. The first meeting of the Navigators is tonight, so I'm looking forward to that. Other than that...I really have no idea!
Sorry my life isn't more exciting.

I hate Mondays

Like I said, I hate mondays. Class was fine, food was yummy, met a guy that I knew from Singapore (yay, another person I can say I know from college!). Those weren't the things that ruined this day. There are two reasons. One's sitting on my roommate's desk, and the other one's in MY fridge.
Beer.
I'm gonna talk to my RA later tonight about it, at the risk of being called a snitch. Oh no.
So on that happy note, we'll continue!
I was talking to Brian Linton, my best friend from Singapore, and he said that a guy from SAS was going to KU. He gave me David Tierney's email address, and I talked to him on MSN! We met at Mrs. E's, the dining center, and had dinner and talked. Good times. The more people i meet here the better i feel.
Hopefully. Keep the prayers up.

First Real Sunday

Today was my first real Sunday here in Lawrence. Last Sunday didn't count because I was still was in Marching Band and we had practice. *gasp*
I bought "The Bourne Supremecy" last night at Target...good movie. Now i need to buy "The Bourne Identity." Both really good.
Nothin else to report.

Long trip

It is a long way to Target from here. Even though it's probably only 3 or 4 miles, on a bike, it seems like forever.
Prices, by the way, were a lot lower there than at the Union. Hmm.

Saturday

Saturday has come!  Not that classes have been especially hard yet or anything, but everyone likes weekends.  I’m in the Union now, checking out the bookstores and stuff.  Target is selling both Jason Bourne movies for 20 bucks or something, and the Oread Books (the non-university bookstore here) is selling them for 25 apiece!  What’s that about?  Do they think they can make more money off of poor college students?  Ha!
I had to buy a DVD-R for my speech (apparently good old VHS has gone the way of the dodo) and they only came in packs of three, of course.  That costed 15 bucks!  Geez the bookstores here make a mint off us.  Anyway…nothing really exciting has happened yet today.  If something does, I’ll be sure to post it.
Rock Chalk!

Two days down

Two days of classes done. Russian looks fun...except for the annoying TA. She doesn't really know what she's doing...she just kinda wings it it seems like. She goes way to fast when teaching us pronouncation, but we catch up. J-101 seems fun; the prof is a goofball. Yay! Speech looks okay...it's a grad student so he's pretty laid back so far. English looks just like A.P. English except with a lot fewer papers.
Hallelujah.
How are things on the social end? Non-existant. I haven't really done anything with anybody yet. I'm hoping the Navs thing on Sunday will solve that.
That's all for now.