Beneath Medicine Tree

first of all, Merry Christmas! i hope everyone has a blessed day admiring the date of birth of our saviour Jesus Christ.

secondly, this means that 2008 is quickly coming to a close. i am now going to make a list of things i did the most in 2008:

most times i read a book:
4 the outsiders
3 through painted deserts
2 irresistible revolution
2 knowledge of the holy
30+ other books tied for 4th place

most songs listened to (by band):

487	New Found Glory
377	Tegan and Sara
244	Radiohead
237	Bright Eyes
226	The Smiths
217	Saves the Day
211	Have Heart
194	Brand New
183	Neutral Milk Hotel
171	The Format

most times i tripped:
365 crack, uneven pavement, etc
100 flat ground no other objects involved other than my own feet
15 stairs
10 slippery object or surface

Your Favorite Weapon

my semester is almost over! and that means family time is coming. weee! but seriously. one more final and im halfway done with my sophomore year. i still feel like im sixteen sometimes. like the last 4 years just flew by and i grew up too fast. even though im still not really grown up to some people. gahh this post is all over the place so far. i apologize.

anyways...i still need to go Christmas shopping because ive been so busy with school and such that i have had no time. i guess i'll do it this weekend when i head home. hopefully its wont be crowded everywhere, even though i secretly know it already will be.

its been raining like crazy since monday and im about the happiest little schoolboy in the world. i love the rain. i cant stop watching movies or putting down a book. rain here means snow else where so that also makes me quite happy.

Mutiny!

boredom created this last week...i might have helped a little

Logic Will Break Your Heart

Thoughts as of late...

First of all, God is to be the focus of everything in my life. Yes, I have all my other things going on that are important to me but they are important to me because they are important to Him. Why worry about anything else when He is in control of everything? Sure, I think about other things during the day but when its just Him and me…nothing seems to matter but my time spent with him. That’s not to say that those other things aren’t important at all when Im only in prayer with Him.

Sometimes I feel bad if I dont think about my loved ones or other important things during my time in prayer, because I thought I might be a bad friend by not thinking about them during my time with God, BUT its just that when im with God I only care about Him and His plans for me. Yes, friends are prevalent in the those plans, but when in tune with the Holy Spirit all that matters is the love that God has for me. He is so infinitely huge, and its impossible to grasp that because of our human nature. Though, the more time we spend with Him, we see His hand in everything and we catch a glimpse of that hugeness.

Secondly, by having Christ at the center of the my life, everything else falls into place. God is not just a point on a list of important things. God is the only thing. Period. By caring about God, all else goes into place according to his perfect will.

"Let a man set his heart only on doing the will of God and he is instantly free. If we understand our first and sole duty to consist of loving God supremely and loving everyone, even our enemies, for God's dear sake, then we can enjoy spiritual tranquility under every circumstance." - A.W. Tozer

Bleed American

first day back at school since thanksgiving break. sometimes breaks come at the perfect time and this was a perfect example of that. now i have 2 more weeks of classes and then finals. so basically 3 weeks of school left. so stoked! then i have a 3 week break from christmas and then i go back to take 2 classes during a 3 week interterm session to catch up in my schooling.

my favorite book of all time is called "the outsiders." the female author S.E. Hinton starting writing the book when she was 15! and it was published in 1967 when she was 17. the book is about the struggles between the working class (the greasers) and the rich social class (the socs). at first the greasers seem to get all the the bad breaks in life and the socs get everything handed to them. but after diggin deeper into it you realize that life is rough all over. the west side of town sees hardship just like the east side of town does. no matter how different you think you are you all watch the same sunset at the end of the day. we all go through periods of both hardship and triumph. this is probably my tenth time reading it and it keeps getting better and better. read it. i highly recommend.

"The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not." - C.S. Lewis

The Artist in the Ambulance

ive been drinking tea everyday for the last month or so and ive been thoroughly enjoying it. its just so soothing to both my body and my soul. i would argue thats its as addicting as heroin (though ive never done heroin). anyways...dang good stuff.

i saw a documentary last week called "the ordinary radicals" and it was truly inspiring. it was basically promoting shane claibornes book "jesus for president" which im currently reading and cannot seem to put down at all. they are basically modern day hippies that love jesus and love people. you cant go wrong with living a life like that. we're called to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. And to love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:34-40)

ive been really curious about Leo Tolstoy lately and what he's all about so i looked up some of his quotes. he seems pretty solid i guess. here are my 2 favorites quotes by him...

"All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love."

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus

wow

its been a long long long time. i bet nobody even reads this anymore. and if you do then youve probably read my whole blog about 4 times through already. i apologize in advance for the next year of blogging to be just as boring as the last.

i am now going to list some things i enjoy and some things that bug me. none of this in any particular order.

likes:
music, art, the internet, bikes, books, sweatshirts, social justice, fruits and vegetables, nexus, inexpensive food, bracelets, tea, milkshakes, recycling, necessary holidays, rosaries, candles, super smash, the office, radiohead, hats, sewing, culture, halo, icons, and of course friends and family

dislikes: ignorance, plastic bottles, hate, alcohol, unnecessary holidays, and many more things that might hurt some peoples feelings.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." - C. S. Lewis

Boxer

school has started and i have another new hobby

http://jaydegrenade.com/

peace, love, late

Sleepwalker

school is almost here and i have another new hobby

http://www.myspace.com/rocknexus

now go. go away

Turn It Around

i am so ready for summer to come and rescue me from life right now. i cannot wait to see all my amazing friends from home. unfortunately i am going to miss a lot of chill peeps from school, and i am also going to have to get a job. lamesauce.

today i realized that i really really like polaroid pictures, silent films, and oxford dress shoes.

i miss my family right now too.

The Con

i dont want anyone to see my insecurities. ironic, isn't it? tomorrow is a new day and i see hope on the horizon. barely but i know its there.

" And we'll keep working on the problem we know we'll never solve
of love's uneven remainders, our lives are fractions of a whole.
but if the world could remain within a frame like a painting on a wall.
then I think we would see the beauty.
then we would stand staring in awe at our still lives
posed like a bowl of oranges,
like a story told by the fault lines and the soil." - Conor Oberst

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

Music that has been comforting me lately:
Bright Eyes
Page France
Tegan & Sara
Have Heart
Third Eye Blind
Comeback Kid
Matt Costa
Ace Enders
Hotel Lights

Authors that have been comforting me lately:
Richard J. Foster
Shel Silverstein
Shane Claiborne
Erwin McManus
Paul the apostle
King Solomon
King David

Movies that have been comforting me lately:
The NeverEnding Story
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Outsiders
The Goonies

friends that have been comforting me lately:
ALL OF YOU

i love my friends and family so much its RIDICALUSSS!

The Things They Carry

passions are crazy. one day i think my passion is for mission work and then the next i think it is music. heck it might by playing music while doing mission work. i just do not even know whats going on these days. i found a few new hobbies that i never thought that i would enjoy. i go to the fitness center and work out at least once a day. its so refreshing during and afterwards. i also go to the library everyday to get my hw done. its the only place i can focus and block out everything and get some work done.

thats all for now. . .

Till We Have Faces

13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." - James 4:13-15


"Tomorrow isn't coming, that day won't be here. What you do to pass your time will ruin your next years. I can't be your savior; I won't be your guardian angel. And when is the right time for you to slap your own hand. Put it down and put it away. Enough is enough, you've had that today. Nature will take its course and you will waste away. You are your biggest enemy, the biggest harm to yourself. TODAY'S THE DAY. DO SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE! WE ARE THE ONES THAT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR." - David Tiano


Life is short. Go on an adventure. Do something that no one has done before. What are you waiting for?

Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

i honestly dont know what to write about anymore. ive been trying for the past two weeks, but nothing has come to me. so i guess im going to write about how much i hate writing. i know that youre probably saying that this is quite ironic that im writing about hating writing, but just bare with me.

so during high school i had to take 4 years of both math and english. math was always a piece of cake for me, but english is another story. each teacher in high school taught me different ways to write essays and none of them really stuck with me. now that im in college and i have essays almost daily, life can become temporarily frustrating.

man this post is depressing...haha.

"Caked up and faked up, she's obsessed with the outside
Nothing earned, too afraid to fail, so she lead a hollow life void of insight
Loving what you see but hating what you think because between your mind and your body, There's a missing link that leaves you vulnerable, susceptible to pain
You're a garden of potential, submerged in the rain

True beauty can't be seen with the eyes

Armed with a mind
I'm going to strengthen my action with thought
Make use of the gift that I got and walk fearless because I'm armed with a mind
A weak offense when you step to this
Mind over matter is power over fists
I walk fearless because I'm armed with a mind" - Patrick Flynn

Deja Entendu

im turning 19 in less than a month. 6 of my good friends also have birthdays in between now and then. so stoked for yall, but i bet we all wished we were turning 7, and that we going off to neverland after our parents tucked us in at night. anyways...back to the topic of birthdays. i know they are celebration of ones birth, but i think that is quite selfish. birthdays always come with selfish expectations like who got me presents, or who is actually going to say happy b day to me? that is simply ridiculous. lemme tell you what, how about on my birthday we all go to grocery stores and eat french bread for every meal, go on random adventures in between those meals, and then end the night with a glorious movie. oh wait...i do that everyday, and i cant wait to do it again.

"It's a revelation; a moment of clarity, and I am trapped inside this moment. Deadlines are left to die and I guess I am truly free. My brain was spent. I worried as I fell in knee deep where consequences and circumstances suffocated and I could barely breathe. And by all means, this rain should be bringing me down. Seattle is keeping me in tune with just right now and a song that tends to be so oddly timed. Outside the rain falls. The city is cold and miserable but I am not. All we are is all we've started. All could all be gone, so let's begin. I often wonder if I'll ever finish all that I have started, and the answer I have found is no. No, I will never finish all that I have started because life is about DOING the process and not the result. Life is about DOING whether you want to or not. My life: a constant work in progress and I wouldn't have it any other way." - SYG

The Execution Of All Things

so i only made it 175 miles up the coast on my road trip. the storm that is currently hitting the west coast was too tough for us to travel in, so we took a train home. we met A LOT of crazy people to say the least. im am completely positive that 5 out 6 people that picked us up did some form of drug use. all in all it was a memorable time.

"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all"

This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About

in seven hours i will be venturing into the unknown with my friends nick and travis. i am both terrified and thrilled at the same time. our destination is over 400 miles away and we dont have a vehicle, much money, or expectations. whoever says that hitchhiking is outdated has yet to live. we dont know what will happen and frankly we dont care just as long as memories are made along the way.


"they say right when they flood the house and they tear it to shreds that, 'destruction is a form of creation,' so the fact that they burn the money is ironic. They just want to see what happens when they tear the world apart. They want to change things." - DD