193- Sunshine Brings Out My Outgoing

All I need to do to be reminded that I'm an extravert is watch my attitude towards other change when the sun comes out. I have been making extra efforts to meet people in the last few days, and I'm convinced it's the sun. When it's t-shirt weather, I am just a happier person and care more about meeting people.

Something else. There is a terrible element to awesome weather: the football team practices at about 6 AM. This means I hear team cheers, grunting, screaming, clapping, whistles blowing, and so on and so forth. I should gripe, but I don't know who to gripe to, because it won't change anything.

I have been to all of my classes at this point. I have decided that I've got it good this quarter. My Soviet history course is going to be AMAZING. The prof knows her stuff, has a great way of interacting with students, and a very dry sense of humor which I find highly entertaining in a professor. She reminds me of my first history professor, Dr. Katherine Sadler at Clark College in Vancouver, WA.

Class #2, Intro to International Relations, will be interesting. It's definitely something I identify with. I was a little irked when the professor said that we'd be reading the New York Times for all of our news. While I agree with the publication choice, I would rather read something else in ADDITION TO the New York Times. Everything has a bias, and NY Times is no less biased than anything else. Christian Science Moniter is actually pretty good too, though I am not as experienced in their ways and refuse to believe the words of their founder, Mary Baker Eddy. In addition to this irksome attribute of the class, there was also this simple realization that PoliSci 271 is DEFINITELY a GUR class, as well as a pre-req for anything political science, which I need to minor in the subject. Such. Freshmen. I know this shouldn't irritate me as much as it did, but when you're used to following the syllabus with the assumption that the professor knew what they were mandating with regard to the course assignments, you generally don't question their words or challenge their course requirements. When told to read the "A" Section of the newspaper everyday, a good question would NOT be "The 'A' Section is kind of lengthy, what specifically do you want us to read?" I got the feeling most people thought it would just be an easy GUR, and were bummed out when they found out they actually had to work for it.

The RA class. Yeah. Um. I don't know how good the class itself will be. But the people in it are AWESOME. As mentioned, and to anyone who doubted it, the person who's words you are now reading (whether you're reading is a good or a bad thing has yet to be determined) is an extravert. To the max. So. Throw him in a room with a bunch of extraverts and see what happens. HE DOESN'T SHUT UP. I tried really hard to meet as many people as I could and talked to as many people who would talk to me. Yeah. It was fun.

My back itches.

So, today was an interesting day. It was a lot of fun for the most part. However, there was one particular segment of which was mildly awkward. A middle aged man was holding up a giant sign in Red Square (brick courtyard in the middle of campus) that read "God is Angry at Sinners" and shouting various other things. Oh boy. Surrounding him was a crowd of students asking him questions and basically mocking him.

Dilemma for Brandon. As a Christian, how do I deal with this? I am a firm believer that while it may work sometimes, there are better ways to talk to people about God than to carry a confrontational sign like that. I would rather draw people to Christ by talking about things like love, forgiveness, and living these things out to the best of my ability, knowing the whole time that I'm still a sinner and don't deserve the grace that only God can give. I do my best to answer the hard questions that people have about my beliefs, and if I don't know, I'll tell my friend I don't know the answer to their question with the belief that it's better to be honest than make up some kind of bullcrap to avoid being vulnerable. My suitemate said that he asked one of the sign carriers questions at one point, and the guy was just blowing off questions he couldn't answer, telling his inquirers "Nope, you're wrong. Penalty box."

On the other hand, it should generally be assumed that this guy was my brother in Christ. That's serious business. Option #1: I could distance myself from the situation and play it safe (this is the one I chose when I heard the verbal abuse this guy was taking.) Option #2: Jump in and help. "Help what?" I asked myself. I can talk to people one-on-one and be relational, because that's my strong side (I was reminded of Moses and him saying he wasn't qualified to talk to Pharoah as I wrote this.) But these students were riled-up-mad at this guy, and I could see why. He was yelling at them. He was coming into people's lives, of which he knew nothing, and telling them the were going to hell if they kept up what they were doing.

I am not sure if I'm satisfied with the decision I made. Maybe next time I'll play it off differently.

I had a revalation. I really wish there was a footnote option for these things. It would be so much more helpful to the reader than parentheses. So if anyone actually reads this and knows if you can add footnotes let me know. I would like the information.

Cheers.

192

I love Bellingham in spring. The sun shining this morning was a an absolute delight. So this is the Bellingham I've heard about.

Strangely, I find myself being bored a fair amount. My afternoon classes are going to keep me from hiking as much as I'd like to this quarter, which is going to be a bummer. I've been to the rock wall twice, and had a terrible time both times. I can't climb anything anymore.

I haven't had any classes yet, so we'll have to see what that does to the boredom level around here. There's a book that I have been reading called The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge, and it was recommended to be by my mother after a conversation following the same lines. Despite a poorly chosen title if you ask me, since it seems to allude to some white-trash romance novel, it's really an interesting book. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll probably wind up recommending it, but it's too early in the book to tell.

I should find something productive to do. Because there's no way that this is.

Day 190

My last full day in town.  Strangely, I think I'll miss it.  I love Bellingham a lot, but I've done some hanging out in the last few days and really had fun.

I haven't done much otherwise.  I'm hungry now, so I should probably go eat.  

I'm really excited to climb tomorrow and not have to pay to do so.  Very exciting.  I do have to pay my room and board though... BUM DEAL.  School has completely wiped out my bank account.  I guess it'll do that.

188

This is the part of being home that I have long dreaded: the point at which I have nothing to do.

I can think of people I'd like to hang out with, but I am certain of their unavailability.  I would love to go bouldering today, but I don't particularly want to go by myself.  I'll probably saddle up and go anyway.  

I've been trying to follow the news more closely since I've been home.  I have noticed that I follow it a bit more when I'm in Vancouver.  Maybe for the lack of other things to do.  Maybe because I have a giant awesome computer to look at and play with.  Man, I want a Mac something fierce.  Everything just looks better on them.

I am going to attempt at acquiring a mountain bike this weekend.  We'll see how that goes.  

I have noticed that since I have started climbing, joints that I didn't even know I had have been popping like crazy. There's a few at the base of my neck, my shoulder, my arms.  I have a pretty good feeling that all the fun I had when I was in my 20's is going to catch up to me when I'm 80. Or 40.

Now I'm going to talk to my mom before I go to the rock gym.  Alone.  Lame.  But better than sitting around here for the afternoon doing nothing.    

187, Posting with Regard to 186

Today was very boring until I received a call from my friend Jessica, just back from Australia.  Sweet.  Hang out.  

Coffee was hilarious.  Jessica was trying to teach us (Her cousin, her sister, and I) how to do a Tim-Tam Slam.  It is basically this really random Australian thing where you suck up coffee with a cookie, then shove the cookie in your mouth before it falls apart.  She neglected to tell me that it would fall apart should I fail to put it in my mouth in time.  My coffee then became a nasty chunky mess.  

Anyway, when the coffee meeting adjourned, I hadn't planned on being REALY bored again, so I went out to Jessica's place to watch a movie.  The same people were involved as earlier, except another really loud and hilarious cousin of Jessica's, as well as Jessica's boyfriend.  This presence of the significant other was actually not awkward at all, and I wish it were always that way.  

The movie, "Blonde Ambition" as I recall it, was terrible.  Just for the record. There wasn't anything dodgy in it.  It was just BAD.

We then jumped into a car and drove around listening to Kanye West, whom I've decided I dislike immensely.  Luckily towards the end of the car ride it was Josh Turner, which I know all the words too.  Fantastic.  And MCR, too, which I don't like as much but I got to fling around my flowing red locks, so that was fun.

When I left at about 1:00 it was snowing.  

Bed at about 2:00.  Woke up at about 11:00.  

I'm sleeping pretty well here.

I should probably finish my coffee and go skateboard before it starts raining or snowing.  It looks like the latter.

125, but 126 according to the date

I'm tired, so I'll be brief.

Went climbing/bouldering today with my friend Tyler the Pirate.  It was awesome to reconnect with him, since I haven't actually talked to him and spent time reconnecting in probably...well, the last time we went snowboarding.  So last March sometime (WOW!)  Anyway, that was a ton of fun.  I got my workout and didn't feel like I wasted $10 for two hours at the rock gym.  Sweet place. Lots of fun routes.  

Just got back from readthrough/movie watching/party-ish thing.  That was fun, movie was pretty boring until the end.  

And now I sleep.  

184

Nothing especially awesome happened today.  I woke up at about 10, showered (soaped this time, Ryan) and sat down at the computer with a rather large cup of coffee.  I am so glad to have this luxury back.

Read that G.W. gave the OK to sell Kosovo weapons and actually yelled at him through my computer screen.  Seriously.  In a region of the world so characterized by violence, you'd think someone would realize it's simply not time to sell the them the tools to make it worse.

Tibet is starting to get pretty wild too.  I'm pretty angry the U.S. has accepted the invitation and is OK with having the Olympics in China, actually. The consequences of appeasement may outweigh the benefits.  

I should just stop reading the news.  I only get riled up when I do.   

Otherwise.

Summer plans.  I am to be an intern at Glenwood Community Church this summer and will be working with the youth as they do raft camps and hang out, as well as whatever setup and errands in between.  I'll be taking rafts full of high/ middle schoolers down a river full of white-watery goodness, as well as having a hand in the music there.  Needless to say, I am SO excited. God totally dropped the opportunity in my lap, and it fits PERFECTLY what I want to do with my last summer before I graduate.   So there's a praise.

Also, I will be getting money BACK this year on my tax return.  Last year I owed money, which was lame because I didn't have any then.  Now I have none, and I get some back.  Sweet.  Another Praise.

Didn't go anywhere. Just stayed at home, played music, and skateboarded. The plan is to go to the rock gym tomorrow, but we'll see what happens.