Day 36. Mid Terms are OVER!

I won't sugar coat it. The last few days have sucked, hard core. I spent my whole weekend writing essays and studying for midterms. Today, midterms behind me, I feel like a champ again. I feel like I can have fun and not feel guilty about what I should be doing.

To put an exclamation point on the day, I got a letter in the mail from my Grammie. Oh, how exciting! Those of you who have lived in dorms know the feeling. Day after day of going to the mailbox only to find it empty, finally to return one amazing day to find a letter. Now, this is where either the ultimate letdown or the greatest joy occurs; the moment you pull the letter out to find it addressed to either your roommate (lame for you) or to yourself (YAY!) I am actually very excited to write back. I love writing letters.

I am very stoked on playing the bass at this point in time. I kind of go through guitar phases and bass phases, but I am always excited when I get into a bass phase because I usually get better. Sorry to room-, stack-, and suite-mates for whatever racket my music may cause.

I am searching for my influences in my music. Here's a few:
Tim Foreman of Switchfoot
Paul Baloche's Bass player. If you know his name, please tell me. He's amazing.
John Entwistle of The Who.

That's just the bass, and I haven't tried to account for guitar influences. I know John Mayer is in there somewhere, though.

I am coming home this weekend, so those of you back in the 'Couve should give me a call and we'll see about hanging out. Heros is on now. Bye

Day 31. I've Been Here A Month!

Today was sort of a low point for me since I've been here. Midterms hit like a sledgehammer, along with the realization that if I don't work my butt off I may not get into grad school, and since I want to keep my options open, it would be wise to do so.

I missed friends from home, felt myself starting to get sick, and finished a crappy book, devoting three hours of my life only to find that the ending sucked and having to force myself to read about a subject I really don't care that much about.

A positive. I got a new phone today, which is fun. It's blue. :-)

And I missed a phone call from someone that I really wanted to talk to because I haven't in a very long time.

I'm listening to a lot of "classical" music lately, which could account for the headache, considerring that I'm wired to actually LISTEN to classical music and all the different parts to really get what the composer is writing. Yeah, Mozart, not so hard. Shostakovich, it's getting there. Debussy, OW. The guy was a flipping genius. I just can't listen to his music while doing anything else. It turns my head in so many directions it hurts.

I also can't wait for snow. I need to go REALLY fast down a hill again.

Oh. Read some Ecclesiastes as well. That'll bum you out, but it excites me to hear one of the wisest man ever to live talk so realistically about the world.

And I think I need to sleep now.

Day 30-Here Comes The Sun.

Woke up this morning to the sun beginning to come up over the horizon. Yeah, it was still dark, but you could tell it was gonna be nice out. And nice it was. Went to class in the morning, ate lunch, and spent about 2 and a half hours out on the slack line. Met some people, a few I had met before, and some I hadn't. One trippy thing happened, though. The more I talked to this girl out there, the more I knew that I knew here from somewhere. And I'm going "man, she sure reminds me of Alicia." Alicia was my 8th grade crush. I started asking questions and it was darned scary to run into someone I had a crush on seven years ago. And we met back up slack lining at the complete other side of the state. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!

So anyway. John just closed the window, and is apparently adverse to fresh air and sunshine, making it unbelievabely hot in this room. Therefore. I am going outside again. Because I get all my energy from the fresh air.

If bats are nocturnal, what are we?

Day 25.

Woke up friggen early this morning, then went to class. Afterward, I went to talk to a TA for one of my history courses to get his feedback on something. He wasn't there in his office hours. GRR.

Heard back on my Mt Baker interview. Turns out I had been plucked for training. I was sort of excited and sort of not. On one hand it's "Sweet! A few extra dollars and a season pass!" However, I realized that having to work all of Christmas Break, Thanksgiving, Spring break, and every weekend until closing in April was really not worth the free season pass and $8 an hour I'd be getting. So I called back and declined. I am sort of thinking I'm an idiot right now, but I did what I thought felt the best. It'll hurt a little financially, but it's just not worth it to miss out on that much. I'll work over Christmas break or something. Ha. It's time to start thinking about that crap now.

I am coming home in two weeks. My momma called me up and said that the church was willing to fly me down to Vancouver to play the bass for a Sunday. They apparently have a prospect for a new worship leader (ANSWER TO PRAYER!) and they want me there to play. Sounds good to me. Home cooked food would be enough to get me there.

Speaking of food. I'm hungry. A lot. I should go find sustainance.

I missed dinner to watch a really stupid movie called Idiocracy. Sort of a dysutopic sort of situation where everyone is super stupid. Uh. Yeah. Waste of time.

Everyone take it easy. By everyone, I mean the maybe 2 people that actually care enough to read this.

Day 24. I Really Did Nothing Today

No. I'm serious. I should be so much busier than I actually am. I was in my room all afternoon and evening. I got out for a 30 minute skate-break, then came back and did more of nothing. I think I need to go meet more people, because this is abso-friggen-lutely ridiculous.

Other than doing the assigned reading, I listened to messed around on the guitar, played Halo with Cameron, listened to Dire Straits, played cards, and ate something that made me feel like crap and gave me really bad gas. No. I mean HORRIBLE. John even spoke up. Amazing.

The parents are coming in three days! I probably should figure out something for Evan and Kelsey to do. Mom is easy, she just wants to look at pretty buildings, look around campus, and go to a quilt shop. Dad is the chauffeur. I don't want Evan and Kelsey to be bored. It's such a cool town, and I want them to have fun. I still need to contact the parents and let them know what to bring, which is probably just going to be Risk, a few Xbox controllers, and a card table if they've got one. I can't really think of anything else.

I can't really think of anything else. Being alone a lot makes my mind wander. To those of you at home reading this right now, I miss you. A lot. Any time any of you are going to be in the area, don't hesitate to ring me. Bellingham is about an hour and a half north of Seattle. That's what I mean. Up-to or north-of Seattle. Call me.

Facebook is good, but it's no substitute for a real live person.

And that, I bid ya'll good evening.

Day 23. I think. It's Been Almost a Week

A lot has happened since I wrote last Wednesday. A few things kept me from writing. One, the prevailing sunshine over the weekend kept me outside and up late writing last minute papers. By the time I thought to write, I was snug in my bed saying "Rats, I forgot AGAIN!" I tell you all, I live in a beautiful place. My suitemate Brandon and I went on a hike and caught the last day of sunshine. From the top of the ridge to which we hiked I was able to see where exactly Bellingham is geographically. To the east: Mt Baker and the North Cascades, which really are different from the mountains back home. To the south are the Chuckanut mountains, which are really more like big hills than mountains, but they're still awesome. To the north the Coast Range of British Columbia is visable, although the sky has to be pretty clear to see them well. We hiked a little further down the trail and caught a view of the San Juans and the Puget Sound to the west. It's amazing. Ya'll really have to come up and visit!

I went to church on Sunday in the small town of Ferndale. Some friends from Vancouver had told me to check it out, so I did. It was almost entirely older people. In fact, I venture to say I was the only college kid in the room. Fun. Met the pastor, told him where I was from and so on. I doubt I'll go back, just because it was so far. And it was awkward. It seemed like they had a good thing going though. I got a real sense of community from them.

Got a letter on Saturday. I never thought I could be so excited ever in my life. SWEET! Someone wrote me a letter! It was from my grandma, and I just wrote her back today. Now I've just gotta get my act together and get the blasted thing in the mail. For which I have to go to the post office. Which is at the complete other end of campus. SUCK

I do believe that was everything eventful that happened. I am pretty tired, for reasons unknown. It's probably the crappy school food.

...

Until next time.

Peace.

Day 17?

GOOD NEWS! I was able to procure a parking pass for this year. It's a ways away from the dorm, but that's ok, because I don't have to worry about moving my truck every two days anymore for fear of being towed. It's certainly exciting for me.

In addition, my interview with Mt Baker Ski Area is tomorrow afternoon at 3:00. So pray for whatever needs to happen there to happen.

Finally got an email off about my analytical research essay proposal. Hopefully he says it's ok. I really don't want to think about another topic.

I am also finishing up a book for my American history class, and the subject matter which we are discussing is luckily something I find fascinating. This is good news. Learning things you don't care about sucks.

I found a group of guys for a sort-of Bible study. They call it "Core Groups." I'm not sure if it's Corps, though. I should double check. It's out of CCF, which is one of the on campus ministries here. Anyway, being there was super encouraging. I got this really strong feeling of comraderie, a kind of "we're all in this together" thing. Very cool. One of the guys got me to say I'd go to CCF on Friday, so I guess I'm doing that.

I really need to go to Costco and get some in-between-meal snacks. A big box of 'em. If anyone reading this is at Western and feels the same way, give me a call or Facebook me and we'll work something out. I do have a card and a car...

And an interview tomorrow.

And I'm hungry.

Day 16. Drank A Lot Of Water

Yes. I drank a lot of water today. Don't ask me why it's worth mentioning.

Woke up bloody early this morning, only to get to class, assignment finished and in hand, and have it be cancelled. Yes, there are worse things in this life, I just would have preferred to have not gotten up.

Did some looking on my history paper, figured out what I want to write about. I think I'm going to look at Chinese immigrants in Eastern Oregon, specifically John Day. Which, some of you know, is where I lived before moving to the 'Couve. It provides incentive for me to care. Otherwise, I went and check on my truck. It's still there. Did some reading for tomorrow, and I have all my stuff together.

It is time to investigate the possibility of food. And Halo. It's become a bit of a passtime in floors 1 and 2 of Gamma 9.

Now. Excuse me while I go frag my friends.

Day 15. Back in Swing

I woke up this morning and it was sunny! That was exciting and pretty much set the tone for the whole day. I wore flip flops and a tee shirt, I was productive, awake, and even got a fair amount of slack line and outside time in. I also played guitar a bit.

Yes, I did do my homework, and I have class at eight in the morning. JUNK

The weekend was good, I spent it at home and beat Halo 3, as well as hung out with the family and friends. I had both the Mooch AND Burgerville, neither of which is available in Bellingham. Overall, I felt rested, and I slept a LOT. It was nice. I ate real not-dining-hall food. It was nice.

Well. Halo. I think.

Day 13. Home for the Weekend

I am so sorry I've been slacking on these things. It seems as though I am continually preoccupied with other things. Last night I did some catching up on my bass playing, and I needed that a lot.

Drove down yesterday afternoon to good ol' Vancouver. Mostly ate stuff that wasn't school food, played Halo 3, and watched the Office. It felt good to veg.

Today wasn't much different. I woke up and Mom had chocolate chip coffee cake and a pot of coffee waiting for me. OH. MY. GOODNESS. It was like heaven or something. It was the coolest thing. You don't realize how cool it is until you have to skip breakfast and walk 10 minutes to get your coffee. PLUS it costs $1.25. That was pretty much the highlight of my day. I love my mom.

I just got back from Simon's new place. We (Pirate, Chadd, Simon and I) shot each other up on Halo 3. I won every game. That felt good.

I'm tired now.

Good night.

Or good morning.

Whichever you prefer.

Day 11. Sorry I Missed Yesterday

Today I went to classes, ate lunch, and then went and played outside all afternoon. Up here, a nice day means it's not raining. Today was a nice day. I got to skateboard. And I got to slack line. This is very cool.

So I did some research tonight. Well, kind of. I know what I want to propose for my analytical research essay. I requested a book from SUMMIT. And I'll read it and propose when it comes in. It will have primary source documents in the bibliography. It helps to know these things. Work smarter, not harder. Well. I could probably work a little harder.

I am going home. Tomorrow, actually, for the weekend. I am still a little hesitant, but the campus seems to kind of shut down on weekends, and it's kind of boring. I would go play outside, but it tends to rain as previously mentioned. So if you are a loyal reader of TTT (that's short for Trying To Think,) and you live in the 'Couve or surrounding area, give me a call this weekend if you are interested in hanging out.

I could probably use a hair cut.

Or not.

I am tired.

I want waffles.

And ice cream.

Day 9. ALREADY!?

Today was the first Monday of school I have had to endure here at WWU. I didn't have to get u very early, my first class was at 11, so I think I got up at about 10. Getting up earlier is useless because I can't have breakfast. I decided against it because not having breakfast was cheaper. I think I might splurge next time.

Endured my first round of Lets-Bash-The-Christians today. That was fun, especially because I don't know ANYONE at all. I wanted to stand up and just yell "OK I know the friggen Salem Witch Trials were bogus, I know that the Crusaders were after money, I know that the Native Americans living here were treated horribly..." and just go on and on down the list. It seems to me that the Puritans and the Church back in the Crusades seemed to forget about the most important element of Christianity, at least to me; LOVE. Kind of a big deal, considering we're saved from Hell because of it. I can expect many of these lectures in the future, of this I am sure.

Had my first waffle at dinner today, that seemed noteworthy. It's not really that cool, but I thought I'd mention it.

Went to the gym to climb around on the rock wall as well. I'm addicted, but I'm not gonna do it anymore until I get some chalk and some shoes that fit. JUNK, my hands hurt.

I also really want ice cream right now.

I also really want to go flip my board around a few times. I haven't skated since Friday!

Homework's done, but I can always read.

But I'm not going to.

BAM!