Thirty Days, Three

Greetings and salutations. 

Without further ado, I present to you the gripping final installment of my Thirty Days. 

Day 21: Something you’re proud of -

What am I proud of? Plenty of things: Graduating high school, making it to college, not quitting something I loved when I really felt cheated and pushed aside, technically earning Honors at Graduation, but not receiving them (I'll post more about this toward the end of the post). I have plenty of things I'm proud of.

Day 22: What do you want your future to be like - 

I want my future to be happy (yeah, yeah), I want to be doing something I love, as in acting, writing, or traveling. Overall, I just want to have a future, because some days I worry I won't have one.

Day 23: Favorite Movies and TV Show -

Favorite Movies: Harry Potter 1-7 (PT 1 and 2), almost any Disney movie, Tim Burton films, Guillermo del Torro films, Pirates of the Caribbean, I like a bunch of movies.
Favorite TV Shows: I like the trashy dating shows on Game Show Network, such as Baggage, I'm also a Gleek, I definitely enjoy American Dad, and a few other shows . . . I didn't watch very much during the school year.

Day 24: Something you’ve learned -

Specifically this year? To breath. I've also learned procrastination sucks, family drama likes to well up when you come home for break. Oh, and my spirit animal is an owl. Throughout my life? How to listen and be there for someone, how to not give up (perseverance and all that), and that last names make or break somebody. 

Day 25: Something you are looking forward to -

At the moment, I'm looking forward to going back to school; I miss my friends and the school. Further ahead, I don't really know. I'm not particularly one to look incredibly far ahead. But I do look forward to earning my degrees, finding a career I love, traveling, and just exploring life.

Day 26: Your Dream Wedding - 

Um, well, let's see . . . I haven't necessarily thought about it - ever.

Day 27: Photo of your city town- 

This is the place I call home. It's small, but it's home. This is really all there is to it . . . just Main Street and the surrounding area. *BONUS FACT* All the street names in my town are in Danish with the English translations underneath.

Day 28: What stresses you out -

Failure, not being able to sleep, not being able to express myself, Day 22, family, friends, so on and so forth. I stress out often and it contributes to my inability to sleep at night (at normal hours), and that just stresses me out even more.

Day 29: Who is your hero - 

My heroes are the typical ones everyone expects everyone to have, mom, Jesus, other family members, friends, etc, etc. I also really admire authors who have contributed to the world in a positive way. 

Day 30: A picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge - 

But not really

1. I have made the decision to change something about myself, positively. 

2. I have had tons of fun working with the daycare kids.

3. I have gotten a futon for my room!

4. My fish has gotten new digs: a new hiding rock, and new plants.

5. I have made it about halfway through my reading list. 

And that, readers, is my cheated Thirty Day Blog Challenge. I hope you enjoyed this, I did until I realized it involved making more lists within my list.

As promised, here is more explanation between Day 21 and the whole Honors thing. It doesn't necessarily paint me in the best light, but it happens.
So, during Graduation practice for the Class of 2010 (when I graduated), I was told I had Honors, meaning I would get the little ropey tassel thing to go over my stole. I was incredibly happy about that, it meant that my hard work had paid off. Now, we're at the actual ceremony and the graduates were preparing to walk and adding the stoles, tassels, and what not to our gowns. I arrived expecting to receive my golden Honor tassels, but that notion was put to a stop. Report cards had come out and I hadn't done as well as I could have (two B's of varying level). I had lost my Honors to two girls who had taken classes that weren't nearly as challenging as the ones I had taken my Senior year (read, they had taken art classes. ART CLASSES). Needless to say, I was ticked, and was ready to refuse to march and receive my diploma, but I was talked to by many members of my class (at least those who knew better) and acknowledged they knew I deserved the Honors over the other two girls. 

I admit, East Central wasn't the greatest school ever, but it had never wronged me as badly as it did when I had my Honors stripped from me at Graduation because two girls took art classes and the classes weren't weighted. I'm still bitter about that and I know I shouldn't be, but I am (I'm also suspicious because East Central is notorious for using the last name card).

Anyway, that's enough of that. I could go on and on about certain resentments at certain last names, but I won't. Until next time, sleep tight.

Thirty Days, Two

Greetings and salutations,


Previously on . . . Late Nights and Street Lights . . . you learned how I would reply to a series of semi-questions. Now, it is my privilege to present to you Part Two of this list, eleven through twenty: 


Day 11: A quote you love - 
That's a hard one . . . I'm a sucker for a good literary quote. One of my favorites though, comes from a certain bear. "Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." - Winnie the Pooh


Day 12: Something you don’t leave the house without - 
Easy; I never leave home without my cell phone (Droid Incredible), wallet, and generally my iPod (Nano, 4th Generation, in Green). I also never leave my house without clothes. 

Day 13: Goals - 

My goals? Well, I suppose I want to act professionally for a while (either in a major theatre city or over in Europe) and maybe be a published author, be it in newspaper, magazine, or a novel. I also want to travel, have a dog of my very own (not even kidding), and generally be a happy soul radiating positivity on the world. 

Day 14: A picture of you last year – how have you changed?

 

Physically? Just a few minor, cosmetic alterations (piercings, tattoo, hair not cracked up most of the time) Mentally? Tons. College does that. Also, I have completely different people in my pictures this year.


Day 15: Death row meal - 
While I tend not to think about my Death Row meal, for a multitude of reasons which I won't deal with here, I suppose my Death Row meal would probably be fruit . . . preferably of the citrus kind. Also, the juices of said citrus fruit.

Day 16: Your opinion about your body and how comfortable you are with it - 

So, as most people who know me know I'm pretty small. Overall, I'm pretty happy with my body, sure there aren't a few small things I wouldn't mind having smoothed out, but you know, that happens. No one is absolutely one-hundred percent happy (okay, there are probably plenty of people who are) with their bodies'.

Day 17: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs - 

1. Mumford and Sons - Thistle and Weeds 

2. Taylor Swift - Teardrops on My Guitar

3. Linkin Park - New Divide

4. White Lies - Strangers 

5. Mumford and Sons - Timshel

6. Adele - Don't You Remember

7. Sweeney Todd Movie Soundtrack - No Place Like London

8. The Bravery - Jack-O'-Lantern Man 

9. Muse - I Belong to You (Mon Coeur S'Ouvre a Ta Voix)

10. Flyleaf - Break Your Knees

Day 18: Something you miss - 

I miss being able to breath calmly and not worry about everything like I do now. No lie, it's like I have an anxiety disorder or something, it gets so bad.  I really do miss that. 

Day 19: Something you wish you were better at - 

Well, obviously sleeping. I'm also really bad about taking the advice I give to other people for myself. Which by extension includes every amount of advice on romance, emotional stuff, academic stuff, and so on, and so forth.

Day 20: Something you wonder “What if…?” about -

I wonder "What if" about various scenarios in my life, I'm pretty selfish when it comes to "What if" scenarios. Particularly family things, and what I'd be like if I was an only child or if didn't live in Minnesota or anything like that. Occasionally I go into the future and think about my family and myself then. As a theatre major/nerd (sort of) I tended to cast plays and musicals at my high school . . . in my head. 

And thus brings a conclusion to Part Two to my epic, three part saga (a la either Star Wars, although most people will ignore the second set of three). I hope you're enjoying this much insight into my head, reader, whoever you are.

Well, until next week, readers, sleep tight.

Thirty Days, One

Greetings and salutations.

In this post, I've decided to do something unoriginal, possibly informative, and hopefully makes for an interesting post. 


A little bit of background so that I can put the post into some context: I have this wonderful little thing called a StumbleUpon account. During my sleepless nights, I take to the internet and push the little Stumble button I have and it takes me to hundreds and hundreds of websites based upon my selected interests.

With that button, I found myself a little list and have decided to partake in a Thirty Day Blog Challenge, a la the Facebook Thirty Day Challenge. But, instead of thirty separate blog posts, I've split the list into the three posts worth of ten off the list. As such, these will probably be among my longer posts, if not the longest.

Without further ado, I present to you Part One of Three of the Thirty Day Blog Challenge.

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts -

My name is Andrew, and I have a blog, which you're reading.

1. I am the oldest of four children.

2. I can cross my eyes, wiggle my ears, and wiggle my nose

3. At the same time.

4. I have a birthmark similar in shape to a stegosaurus or a fist.

5. I was born in an Air Force base hospital.

6. I am a connoisseur of oranges and orange juice.

7. I wear many bracelets . . . I feel naked without them. 

8. My knees pop often when I bend them to sit down.

9. I frequently have feet that are, as my mother eloquently puts it, "icebergs."

10. My main shoe of choice are Converse.

11. As much as I love to travel, I've never left the States. 

12. My shoulder pops when I move it a certain way.

13. I have both of my ears pierced. 

14. I will only let certain people cut my hair.

15. I'm bad about blogging, I almost don't know why I have one sometimes.

Day 2: Nicknames -

Andy, Andy-rew, J.C, Musical Hog, Rudd, and Pooh Bear. Four are from friends, two are from family. I think you can figure out which is which.

Day 3: Your first love -

In all honesty, I don't think I've had a first actual love. I'm kind of broken like that.

Day 4: Your parents -

Well, my mom is pretty fantastic. I don't really know what all to say about her that I haven't said before. It's back a few posts, somewhere. As for my dad, well, good question. 

Day 5: What song inspires you -

It's Arise by Flyleaf. I'm inspired by it so much, I went and had some song lyrics tattooed on my ribs. Really, any song by Flyleaf inspires me.

Day 6: Pet peeves -
The word "dude."

Day 7: What makes you happy - 

Music, friends, books, sleep, orange juice, family, and Baby Jesus. All in no particular order. 

Day 8: A place you’ve traveled to and where else you want to travel -

I've been to Chicago, New Orleans, Florida (twice), and various states stopping for food and bathroom breaks, because I count those since I've spent a good amount of time there. I know that isn't much, but that's not bad considering I'm from a single income, family of five, from a very poor county in Minnesota. I want to travel through Europe, like backpacking and the like. I would also like to visit every state in the Union and maybe pilfer a license plate from each one. 

Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend - 

This one isn't entirely fair; I have many friends who I'd consider to be my "best friend." So, I'll see what I can manage.   

Day 10: Something you’re afraid of - 

Failure, letting people down, my future (sometimes), and I'd post a picture, but I absolutely refuse to Google this because I'm that afraid of it and I don't want a constant reminder of it on my blog. The un-Google-able image for me is the Crypt Keeper from Tales From the Crypt (For the record, I get nervous just thinking about it, let alone typing it). One of those long seated fears from my childhood that I can't seem to shake. Google it yourself if you want to see for yourself, I'll wait. 

And that brings an end to Part One of my Thirty Day Blog Challenge. Technically, I'm cheating, but I really don't want thirty posts dedicated to just this. It also forces me to work my way back onto the schedule of a weekly post . . . since I haven't been doing it regularly for the past three months. 

Till next time, sleep tight.

Books

Oh, hey there readers.

So, as I have been on summer break, I have had an inordinate amount of time to do whatever I wish. During the year, I had less than a proper amount of time to read as much as I normally do. 

This post is also a mildly brief summary of my summer . . . it mostly involves sleep.  Mostly

 

 

At odd hours, like 3 AM to like 12 PM or variations thereof . . . even with attempts to fix my internal clock. Anyway, back to my point about my reading habits. I spent most of the month of May doing the above (see: the picture) and as such, didn't read AS much or as often. June was when I started reading more and looking for more books to read, and boy did I find myself some good books, at least in my own opinion. 

After hearing such wonderful things about The Hunger Games series, I decided to pick it up and see if it was everything everyone said it was. Oh my Jesus. They (there are three books in the series) were fantastic reads and I couldn't put them down. 

Unfortunately, I had about a week and a half between each book; I didn't want to spend all that money on a series I might not have liked. In between each book, I decided to read something else, one book was part of a series and the other was a one-off. I started the Harry Potter series, again, and then picked up a brilliant little book, Th1rteen R3asons Why (Thirteen Reasons Why); it was . . . very moving. 

I thought it was a fantastic concept for a book, and after reading the questions to the author at the end of the book, it made so much sense and I thought it made the book even better, knowing he put the thought into why he wrote it the way he did. 

I know that eleven books isn't much, especially considering the way I read, but I've shifted my attentions to other things . . . my priorities shifted as did my attention span. I did the whole reading thing, but it's difficult for me to do so when I have no real place to go that's nearby and quiet so I can spend hour upon hour reading in peace. I also have responsibilities around the homestead that increase as my siblings disappear for the two weeks that they do. 

On the other hand, I have a list of books that I'm working my way through, slowly but surely. I think I'm reading through six books (I don't have an exact number), and one of them is the start of the series, of which I have the first three, and then I'm thinking of rereading another series that I have at home, so there's another seven right there. Long story short, I won't be at a loss for books anytime soon.

That's all I really have in the meantime that's related to the title of the post. 

In unrelated news, I have had my flesh tattooed, 

 

 my other ear punctured, 

I have a sweet job, 

and I have an awesome bike. 

Back to the original topic, I may or may not decide to write up summaries or reviews of the books I've read or something. It's another one of the decisions I'll flounder around on.

Well, with that, I suppose that's all I've got. 

Until next time, sleep tight.

Pokémon

Greetings and salutations. I have a fun story for you, whoever you are, and I hope you enjoy it.

The year was 1998. I was a wee six year old little boy. It was Christmas, and as a wee six year old, I was incredibly excited for Santa Claus to visit my house and bring me presents. Christmas morning came and I could hardly contain myself. I wanted my presents, and I wanted them right away. I tore open my presents. Okay, not really tore, I was a very clean child, I didn't make many messes and whatnot. Anyway, I opened my presents and there it was. A Game Boy Color. 

 

I was incredibly excited and was very proud of my very first personal gaming device. But at that I didn't have any games . . . yet. I found my way to two smaller wrapped boxes. Under the decorative wrapping paper, I found amazing wonders, 151 of them. 

I was super excited to go on an adventure through Kanto with the very first 151 Pokémon. I remember going through the gyms, having trouble with the first two because I picked Charmander as my starter in Red Version (and Squirtle in Blue Version), taking down the nefarious Team Rocket, defeating the Elite Four and raising an amazing team (rather, amazing teams, since I had both versions) of Pokémon. I don't remember every Pokémon I caught or my exact team, but I still had an amazing time. 

Over time, I left my teams behind as I just stopped playing the games. I never did play Yellow Gold, Silver, or Crystal, the next games in the series, I did manage to get a hold of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the "reboot" of the series. I remember those games significantly better because they were only six, seven years ago. I didn't enjoy those as much as the first games, but they definitely had playability. 


It would be another few years when I would revisit my beloved Kanto. I received one of the remakes of the first generation, LeafGreen . I again found myself playing through the gyms, the caves, and those scoundrels of Team Rocket. I managed to build the best team ever, at least in my opinion; I had all three starters, Alakazam, Dragonite, and Pidgeot.

Sigh, good times, good times. 


Now at nineteen years old, I have again begun another adventure with the newest of the Pokémon. While Black is pretty fantastic, it won't hold the same place in my memories as the originals,  but it is a very solid addition to the series. I even went and purchased SoulSilver, which is the remake of Silver, and Platinum, just to indulge my inner six year old. I have no regrets in doing so, it makes my summer interesting and gives me something reasonably productive to do. That and reading, but that's another post for another time. 


So, a quick recap, using pictures! Pictures are very useful. 


I have played the following Pokémon games: 

And I regret nothing. I have had plenty of fun with these games, it was definitely worth investing my time and effort into these games. 


So, until next time, sleep tight.

The Second Excuse

Greetings and salutations. 


Once again, I am afraid I have to make excuses and as such, I will not be putting up a new post this week . . . and I am unsure of when my next post will be up. I do have one in the works, however, I being the individual I am, have been forced to preempt my blog for something more important: life and my future. 



Until next time, sleep tight

Summer

Greetings and salutations,



Holy news week, Batman! So much has happened, and it's barely May! 


We've had ourselves a wedding.

The world's most wanted man was found, and killed.

And in the mean time, I've sat at home, in my pajamas, playing Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

 

Because I've been doing . . . well, nothing, it can only mean one thing: I'm officially done with my first year at Concordia. I did it, I made it! And it only cost me $36,000 to do it! The price I pay for a private, four year, liberal arts, Christian college. I have three more years . . . and what a trip it'll be.

ANYWAY, this is not a post for reminiscing about the past eight months, this is more or less about the next four months. Sort of. Or whatever random tangent I happen to fall into. Eh, we'll see. 


My plans for the summer

1. Work - Paying 36,000 dollars a year for an education isn't cheap and I need the money anyway.
2. Sleep - Seems counter-productive, but I really like sleep and seeing as how I didn't manage that much this past year, it's make up time.
3. Alter my body - This means tattoos and piercings! Or something along these lines. I do want another piercing and I do want to be drawn upon with permanent ink. So, we'll see. 
4. Give blood - At least one more time before I partake in number 3.
5. Hanging out with friends - This includes Cobbers, TECies, and people from East Central, hereby known as Eagles. The Eagles category includes any East Central alumnus.
6. Make everything up as I go - Which is generally how I make my plans. 
7. Blog - Maybe less frequently. Probably. Maybe. Meh. Kind of flaky on this decision.
8. Game - A little ambition of mine is to work my way through the Legend of Zelda games. Fun little story, I've never actually beaten any of the Legend of Zelda games I've started. I usually reach a spot and leave it for a bit, and when I go back to play my game was deleted. Which really torques me; some people have no respect or decency.

It shall be a glorious four months of summer. I have high hopes that this summer shall be easily one of the best. Then it's back to Concordia with some of my favorite people and back to floor 6!!! In a room of my own! I have many, many plans. One such plan includes a hammock. 

 

 

Or something along the lines I can transform into a nest like area. My bed was pretty much a nest of pillows and blankets last year and it was fantastic. I want to take that and make it better. Because I'm a being of simple comforts, I enjoy a comfortable bed and sleeping area. I can't help it. When I do sleep, I like to be comfortable. Although, I do find a way to sleep almost anywhere . . . because I can nap really anywhere.

So, with that, I suppose I should say till next time, sleep tight.