Nonsense, Drivel, and Balderdash

OK folks, the time has come. The new is new and the old is old. Its time to move on (maybe). Check it out

I have tried to get the blogger comments going, in addition to the other comments thing. The reason for this is that many people have complained that they cannot use the other one. Either way, I am sure that I have messed up the code for this page... hopefully everything runs smoothly.

Turkey and potatoes and family and friends. Yesterday I had nothing of the sort. I sat on a plane the whole day. The flight attendant came by towards the end of the flight and asked me if I wanted a cheese or a turkey sandwich. I chose turkey, it being thanksgiving and all. Upon arriving in Boston I took the T (subway, for the non Bostonian) to the North Station and then waited there for an hour for the commuter rail to take me up to the north shore, where Gordon is. As I waited, I crossed the wet street and went into the 7-11 and bought a Slurpee and a bag of Doritos, a sumptuous thanksgiving feast. Naturally, I bought the largest Slurpee available, because it was Thanksgiving after all. As I exited the 7-11, I gave a buck to a homeless guy and I headed back into the commuter station. Once inside, I sat down on a wooden bench and munched on my ranch flavored Doritos. The cold slurpee cup kept leaving large water rings on the seat next to me, so I moved it to the floor. I noticed that ...

(ten points for whoever can identify the title of this post as a song sung by ____________) Monday I spent the day finishing up my Classical lit. paper. I thought it turned out decent, though maybe a bit too broad themed in nature. I highly recommend the Aeneid. It is so well written. Virgil has some of the most powerful similes and metaphors that I have ever read. His thematic symbolism isnt as subtle as we may like now a day, but I like it anyway. Today is my last day here in Spain. I will be leaving in half an hour to hopefully finish the whole process of renewing my residency. In contrast with my last visit, this time I have done very little. Yesterday I slept until 3:30 PM, which was heavenly. Then that night I went into Madrid and went to see a movie with Kenny. We saw an Argentinean film by the same director (and cast, pretty much) as "El hijo de la novia." It was entitled "Luna de Avellaneda." It was a bit too long and drawn out, but other than that, it was...

OK, here is the deal.I am in Spain. Yes, yes... I know. "In Spain again??" you cry outraged. Yes, when I was here last time I had to get my residency renewed, unfortunately they told me to come back this week to finish up the process. So, with little option but to come back.... here I am. On the negative side of things, I was going to go see my good friend Charles and his wife Jen in Florida for Thanksgiving. Alas, now I cannot. Maybe I will see them in the spring, my plane tickets will still be good. Another bad thing is that I have to go back to the states ON Thanksgiving Day, because it was the only way we could find a ticket that was cheap enough. So I dont get a thanksgiving at all. This week has been a good one. No other way to look at it. It was packed with goodness and also a lot of work. In fact, I write this as I take a break from writing my Classical Lit paper on the Aeneid. I suppose that the fun really started on Wednesday when some of my friends, mostly internat...

This is the way teaching should be. I hope I make as good a teacher as this lady. My respects to her.

I had a really odd dream last night. I was at my house in spain, and I went outside and saw a very large rat. It was very hostile and I worried that it might bite me and give me some diasease. I tried to kill it. I caught it but it would not die. I tried choking it to death, stomping on it and even beating it to death, but nothing worked. The more I tried to kill it in vain, the more frightened of it I became. Finally I let it go and watched it scamper down into a hole it had dug in the ground. When I told people about it, no one really believed me. I took them over to see the hole, but it still wasnt proof enough (my dog digs holes after all). As we were looking at the hole, it emerged, but it had changed. It had grown bigger, about the size of a dog and had grown more hair. Everyone thought it was a dog, and everyone was delighted by it. I tried to explain things, but no one was listening. I pointed to its sleek rat-like tail, but no one seemed to notice. It gave me a look as if to s...

Esto es demasiado bueno para no ponerlo aqui. Jeje, mi madre esta mal de la olla... anda que no mola la tia. En vez de escribirme y decirme que ha roto otro movil me lo pone asi... "Lamentamos reportar que despues de meses sin rastro, la asesina de moviles se ha hecho sentir de nuevo en las calles de Madrid con maneras nuevas y creativas de quitarle la vida a moviles inocentes. La ultima victima ha sido un pobre Nokia trabajador, que vivia una vida tranquila. No frequentaba clubes nocturnos, ni lugares de marcha. Iba del bolso al escritorio, cumpiendo como buen ciudadano movil. No se sabe el motivo del asesinato, ni el porque de la mania que tiene la asesina con estos aparatitos que no hacen mas que el bien. No quedo satisfecha arrojando la victima como en otras ocasiones desde grandes aturas al duro pavimiento del garaje, ni matandole gota a gota estilo tortura china, con  botella de Fontvella, ni dejandole morir paultatinamente por falta de bateria y abandono en el Talgo Barcel...

For those of you who abhor the pop music industry and its various equivalents on television, etc... Click HERE . Some people hate it just as much as you do.

I just finished watching Francois Truffaut's film "Day for Night." It was amazing. It was, quite simply, one of the best movies I have ever seen. The script was excellent, the filming was great, set direction was phenomenal. Yes, I loved this film. I dont even want to talk about it, I dont want to ruin the magic. But I can say that it is the first movie that has captivated me in a while.

"Give me liberty or give me death" Patrick Henry said. Well, I dunno about him, but give me life. I would rather say, like Achilles, I'd rather slave for another man...than rule down here over all the breathless dead. The new Hampsire motto is "Live free or Die," but I wonder, if we suddenly passed a law that enslaved all the people of New Hampshire... how many would actually rather be dead?

It has been a couple of days since last I wrote something of substance here. This weekend has been a very satisfying one. Friday seemed like it might bring portents of bad times to come, but fortunately this was not the case. The omen that made me scared was the snow. Yes, we had our first snow on friday. It started as rain, and as the day got colder it turned to slush, and finally snow. Because of this slow progression, the snow was not even that pretty. Besides that, the rain from earlier in the day froze all over the ground, causing more than one person to fall embarrisingly. Anyway the weekend breakdown goes like this: Friday I went to the freshman recital, which is where the freshmen music majors show their stuff. They are, of course, really bad for the most part, but it was fun to see the potential that many of them had. When I walked out, there were about 4 inches of snow covering the campus. I sighed, and tried not to think about it, instead focusing on the fact that I had som...

No more words needed.

It is past two in the morning and I just got back from a concert in Boston. One of my goals this year was to go see either Pedro the Lion, or Starflyer 59. When I went to look them up on the internet, to see if they had any shows coming up, I realized that not only were they both going to be playing in Boston, but that they were touring together. For the price of one ticket, I got to see two of the bands that I have always wanted to see. Even better, the tickets were only 12 dollars. So tonight was the big night, I piled in a van with some other random people whom I had met through someone that knew someone that knew that they were going to the concert and had room to take me. We arrived early, as to get a nice spot close to the stage, but we arrived (as far as I am concerned) way to early, because the concert started over half an hour late so we were standing around for over an hour. Once the concert got underway everything was fine. Starflyer opened for Pedro. They were actually bet...

1- Cutting your fingernails with toenail clippers... doesnt do a very hot job at it. Just an observation. 2- Go read Daniels description of Madrid , maybe it is cause I am feeling nostalgic right now, but I liked it. 3- Oh man. I love this sort of thing , so funny. 4- It is currently -4 degrees Celsius outside. I think it is fair to say that fall is coming to a close up here in Boston. 5- I am going to a Pedro the Lion concert on Thursday, he plays with Starflyer 59, so it should be kick butt. 6- I have been looking for a Rave scene around Boston, but I have had very little luck. I did find a pretty hoppin' Goth club that I am tempted to dress up and go to. 7- Virgil's Aeneid is much more complex than either of Homer's works. Quality. 8- There are rumors of an 80's cover song open mic in a couple of weeks. A couple of apartment mates and I are planning on doing Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen." If an encore is demanded, we might have Michael Bolton's ...

"Friends are like plants. You have to water them to keep them alive." I dont know who said that, but it isnt always true. OK, maybe I am only starting to learn about friendship and acquaintance late in life, but I have realized that many times you can water the heck out of something, but the plant just wants to die. Its weird when you used to be good friends with someone but then they (for whatever reason) do not feel the need to keep that friendship plant alive. So your friend allows your relationship to become vegetative (pardon my pun) and there is nothing you can do about it. No matter how many times you tell them that you would like to hang out, or how many times you try to keep that ole lettuce alive, they dont want it to. Who knows why, maybe they have tired of lettuce and want to munch some cabbage. Or maybe they like meat. Or maybe they dont like hanging out with people that use these sorts of metaphors. Its a good thing I have planted friendships in many different f...

They passed it slowly as they went by on the ferry. They were on the deck, looking towards the shore. He was leaning up against the railing when he noticed it, an old factory built in the forties, now wasting away. The boat slowed as it neared the shore, giving him more time to look at the old building, an old hulk of concrete and rust, sitting quietly as time rolled over it. The walls were made of brick, which had been painted red at one point, but the paint had faded and chipped away, remaining only in clumps. Pipes of all sizes protruded from the old factory. Most of them were red and oxidized, but underneath certain parts gleamed shining reminders of the metal it once was. An old brick chimney stack rose from the roof. The end of it was blackened from smoke long gone. As the ferry floated past the old building, she could not help but ask him what he was staring at. "That old factory" he said, smiling sadly to himself as he said it. She turned and looked at it. "What ...

I suppose some people expect me to give a detailed post about the election and about all that jazz. Well, quite frankly I refuse to do so. I just can't be bothered. It is not that I dont care. I just dont care to write about it. I have had enough politics for a while, and I can assure you that I am sick and tired of talking about it. So instead I will talk about something that does interest me: Music. We are at a dark time in history. Each decade has had its good and bad things, but they all had at least one positive thing going for them: The 60's had folk rock, the 70's had punk rock, the 80's had reggae, and the 90's had grudge. Sure, these categories have overlapped over time, but what do they all have in common. What have we always had up until now? Protest music. Historically, we have always had music that has protested the established norm and made society change. I firmly believe that music is one of the most important mediums to get a message out to the worl...

Well, ole Dubya has won yet again. I cant believe it, and yet I totally saw it coming. My pick, Ralph Nader, did not get very far. He was the only candidate that would have actually brought significant change to the country. Democrats and Republicans are both the same dumb thing. Or as charles said it "No matter who wins, the true winner willl be corporate america" (or something like that). Oh well, this just means more war and a possible draft and the demise of any hopes for public health care and social security, and the continued lack of international credibility. All good right? Wrong. Oh well. On a happier note: It is things like this that bring an accute sense of joy to the very core of my being. This is what Wuske went dressed as for Halloween . For those who dont know, it is a furby. So far he wins my vote for best costume, but then again, I didnt see Chris dressed as Jesus. Oh, and here are a couple things worth seeing: A pretty funny comic An awesome piece of artw...

Barley always seems like an old fashioned food. In ancient times it was one of the most commonly consumed grains. Barley bread was the norm for thousands of years. What happened to it though? Suddenly wheat takes the upper hand and barley disappears... or so I thought. I just realized that I eat more barley than I thought. My good old 12 grain bread has some barley in it, and for that I am grateful. The more surprising find is that grape nuts is made up of barley. I was flabbergasted. I had never known I was having a breakfast that could carry the seal of approval of any number of ancient civilizations. I suddenly feel a strong bond between myself and ancient mesopotamia. Grape nuts brings me closer to my fellow man, and for that I will be eternally indebted. Last but certainly not least, there is barley in beer. I do love beer. I really do, for many people it is just a means to an end (getting piss drunk), but for me it is truly a delicacy. Yes, a delicacy made of barley, and that is...

I am writing from my house in spain. I got here yesterday, and am leaving sunday. I have only come to sign some papers. My spanish residency is expiring and I am here getting it renewed. I have to be here, because it is a residency and I have to make them think that I am still living here. If I am not able to fool them... then they take it away, which I am praying will not happen. If it does, then it will be very hard to get it back. Which will be bad. I dont have my nationality, and I will be bummed if I lose my right to live in Spain, even if I was born here.... geez.... I have red tape. If I DO get it renewed, however, I will be able to come back after college and get a job or work on getting my citizenship. Which would be nice. Anyway, spain is nice. raining of course. People think of spain as sunny, but during the months of october-january it looks more like London, gray and drizzly. I went to get together with some of my best spanish friends today. It was nice, we just went to...

Ahh... gotta love a little fun with words. Check it out. The soldier guy calls himself "the witcher" but what a problematic name....

Pues si, estoy mazo rayado ultimamente. No se porque. Y por eso lo escribo en espanol, porque en ingles no hay ninguna palabra para describir "rayado." Ademas, estoy rayado con la gente de aqui. Me caen que te cagas, pero ultimamente.... pues eso, me rayan. Pero tampoco creo que tengan la culpa, porque me rayo solo tambien, pero menos. Y no por algo en especial..... nose.... No he estado asi en un buen rato. Quizas es porque me voy a espana la semana que viene. Eso suele pasarme antes de viajar. Si, me voy una semana. Para renovar la residencia. Bah, por ahora voy a quedarme a solas, y a leer. Y si tengo suerte, a escribir algo decente tambien.

I am currently reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway. I had only read Hemingway once before, in eighth grade. I was not impressed with "The Old Man and the Sea," though I might like it now. I picked up "For Whom the Bell Tolls" to give the ole boy another chance. Also, the subject matter is one that is of great interest to me. I have always been fascinated with the Spanish civil war. In particular I find it amazing that it attracted people from other countries to go and volunteer to fight that battle. Lord Byron died in Greece, fighting for its independence. Many romantics did this sort of thing. The Spanish civil war was the last war of that kind. In part you could say I started this book to get an impression of why they went. I am moved that a group of people that had nothing to do with Spain came and gave their lives for because they thought the cause was important enough. They found values compelling enough to die for. I am only 40 page...

Today was a relaxing day, I did my french homework, did some writing and ordered chinese food. I also watched a great movie. Upon Jonah's recommendation I watched North by Northwest, with Cary Grant, and loved it. It has quickly scaled my favorite movie lists. What a classic! Unbeatable. I also had the first real fulfilling walk in the woods that I had enjoyed in a long time. I took some pictures. Click on them to view a larger version.

In the morning I went out to the beautiful town of Rockport. It is a small coastal town on Cape Ann, in the northern part of the state. It lies about 20 minutes away from Gordon. I am torn about it, it is both a very quaint New England town, and a hotbed for local tourism. At least most of the tourists are locals, but it still makes the place feel slightly artificial. I mean, you can only have so many glass shops and art galleries before a place loses its authenticity. Before you know it, the tourist industry has morphed a simple town into an outdoor mall. Touristy places end up having more in common than normal places, somehow Segovia and Rockport have more in common than Madrid and Boston (in some intangible way). On the other hand, even touristy towns have a certain amount of unique character, which is why people still keep going back. Anyway, Rockport is a very nice town. Little, white, New England houses litter the landscape. Wooden and barn like, and yet drenched in maritime f...

The quad is over (for the uninitiated in collegiate terms, a quad is half a semester) which means that I am halfway through this semester. That is pretty amazing, and I dont know where the time has gone. Midterms are done, and papers are handed in. I hope I do ok. I am thinking of picking up an extra class this next quad... perhaps an easy A type class. I know of one. The end of the quad also means that I have 2 free days meant for finals. However, since I only take semester classes, I do not have finals for any quad classes. The extra long weekend will be nice. I hope I can take advantage of it, instead of sitting alone in my apartment like I would like to sometimes. Oh dont get me wrong, I will watch some movies. Alone preferably. However, I hope to "do" something. Many people are going home or taking off to Montreal to get smashed or investing in stock or something. I am landlocked without a car, but hopefully I can find friends who want to do stuff. My evans friends are ...

I dont know when it happened. But by the time I realized it, it was too late to stop it. The leaves have changed. They are now mostly made up of a series of browns, yellows and reds. I woke up today and looked outside and realized that the school is aflame with fiery colours. I dont know why that happened. God must have employed all of his angels; going from tree to tree, painting over the green boughs. Unfortunately, it was raining today, so I could not enjoy the view as fully as I would have liked. I have also heard rumors of wind, sweeping off the sea a couple of miles away. I hope it is merciful and does not jealously strip the trees of their many coloured coverings right away. There is nothing worse than an embarrassed tree standing naked before its time. On the other hand, there are few things more beautiful than the scandalized whispers of normally prudish leaves, as they toy coyly with the caressing breeze. At least when a strong wind comes from the east, I can sometimes smell ...

I have never been into school all that much. Really. I have always enjoyed learning, but have never been a straight "A" student. In fact, I have always been more of a straight "C" kinda guy. Well, for some reason I have gotten motivated this semester, and have gotten a desire to do as well as I can. So far so good I think. I have a goal, which always helps. I would like to go to Oxford next year. Gordon has a year-long program at the university in Oxford, England. I have always wanted to do some program abroad, even though in some ways... studying here is abroad. But you know what I mean; to study in some country that I am not really from in any way (by birth or passport). Originally, I wanted to go to France and learn french. I have been taking french classes and was hoping to finally get the language down by going over there. The plan was for me to go over there next semester, but I realized that there was no way I could get my english major done properly and t...

I have realized that this page does not load properly on internet explorer. It cuts off the nifty little banner I made at the top of my page. If you can you should use Firefox or Opera or Safari or pretty much anything. Explorer is slow anyway. Also I am cool because I have learned to use something cool. What have I learned? push the magic button to find out!!

This past weekend I was an RA again. The Evan's RA staff went on their bi yearly retreat. They needed someone to cover their shifts for them, and so Mindy asked last year's RAs to help out. Me and Allison split up the weekend. I took over the saturday to sunday shift. Basically it was like last year: I had to do "rounds" every couple of hours to make sure no one was doing drugs, having sex or throwing a kegger. Also, I could not leave the building, because I was the man there in case anyone happened to have an emergency. While this could be a potentially boring situation... it was fun, because 4-5 friends came over and hung out with me all day. Oh, I failed to mention that I got to stay in the RD's apartment, which is much nicer than mine, and has plenty of furniture that we could lounge on (our measly dorm has very little). So we watched movies and ate pizza. We talked for a while and hung out. It is amazing how much time I have spent with those Evans people this...

My life has been chaotically dull lately. The monotony ---hold on, I feel a digression coming up--- Why do we call it monotony? It was a term originally meant to describe music and sound. I mean, mono being one and then tone being, obviously, musical tone. Somehow it has ended up describing a something dull, with little variation. However, why do we not use a similar term relating to visual dullness: Monochrome? I like that word. I think it got swindled by its sonorous brother. I refuse to put up with that... ok, end of digression. Anyway, the monochromy of my lifestyle has sucked me dry of any sort of creative inspiration. I write for class, but in every other aspect, my life has been devoid of writing or reading. I feel so bored inside, artistically apathetic. Strangely, the apathy is limited to that part of my life. I have been keeping up with my studies more than I ever have I think. I still lack a little discipline in my daily spiritual research , but at least I feel some sort of...

I have been wrestling with myself tonight. I grabbed my mind and smashed it against the white, painted, cinder block dorm wall. I punched it, trying to force it into submission, but instead my brain charged me wielding a something sharp and painful. After an hour and a half we found ourselves at an impasse. I had a chokehold on my brain and was slowly choking the life out of it; it in turn gave me a headache. In the end we both gave up trying to write a sonnet. I sat at my cheap, prefabricated desk staring in space, as if the final frontier might have an extra sonnet lying around that I could call my own; finders keepers after all. But not a verse was to be found. I could not create one, and I did not find one lying around. Now resignation is illuminated on my face by the dull glow of the laptop screen. I am tired and cranky. My eyes might smell a bit like sweat, but its hard to tell since my nose is below them. I do not know what happened today. I usually have no problem writing. I us...

Boston, like every city, has a certain charm that comes from its eccentricity. Tonight is a night like none other, yet in many ways it is like so many other urban nights; different people, same old weirdness. There is a heated subway argument between an old, racist, drunken codger and a trash talking midget. The interaction ends with the little man showing his bravado by wielding his middle finger menacingly; it is a weapon he uses with ease. Up above, a street performer is perched upon the top of a tall balancing pole, and simultaneously leaning down attempting to reassure a small child below, whom he had frightened moments before. A block away, a shroom selling teenager offers his goods to a local college student, only to be confounded by the students claim that he is addicted to water. All these great things have a great soundtrack: a piper playing old Scottish hits, an ancient Asian man playing an instrument whose screechy sounds I could not appreciate, a flamenco guitarist strummi...

It has been quite a good weekend I must say. I have pretty much accepted that my "main hang out group" has changed this year from my choir buddies to my evans buddies. This is neither good nor bad, for both groups have great people. It is just a slight adjustment. I probably spent 65% of my time with my choir crowd and the other 35 with my evans people. I think the numbers have been reversed now. While I am a sad that I am not able to see my old friends as much, it is clear that this year has changed and the dynamic is different. Allie is gone and I am no longer in choir. On top of it all the old crew is scattered across the face of the campus now. So, somehow I have ended up doing most of the things I do with my old group of Evans buddies. I must say that I have had a really good time with them this year. They are the kind of people that you can just sit in the living room and do absolutely nothing with for about 3 hours before deciding to drive to Krispy Kreme's at 1 in...

This weekend my father came up to visit me. I had not seen him in 9 months and it was time. I was a bit nervous about his arrival, because it is never been easy to see him; a depressed man is not the best thing for one's mood. However this time things went smoothly, and I can say that I actually enjoyed the time we spent together. We went to Vermont and went camping. Vermont is very pretty, and I am sure that it will be even more magnificent in a couple weeks when the leaves change. On another note, I am enjoying my english classes. Most of all I like the creative writing course I am taking. It is very corny. It makes you write very corny things, that you would normally feel embarrassed to compose. However, they are a lot of fun to do. Today I had to hand in a piece of nonsense poetry. I had a list of words, from which I had to pick a few to use in the poem. Then I had a series of structural rules that I had to comply with. The only other other directions for the assignment was tha...

I need to be remembered. I deserve to be remembered. That is what I am really saying every time I write something down. Lets face it; writing is essentially a beautiful ego trip. Somewhere in my writers mind, I decide that my thoughts are worth keeping for posterity. Somehow I am convinced that my views have intrinsic value; that someone, at the very least myself, will someday benefit from my wisdom. So writers breathe words onto paper, and mash dreams onto computer screens, with the hope that their texts will one day be recognized as the works of genius that they think they are. Oh sure, many artists are shy and self deprecating when it comes to their work, but even the fact that they have written it down says that they think it is worthy of being recorded. It would be tragic for our words to be forgotten. And so we write out of fear. A hopeless act of desperation with which we hope to transcend our vapid existence. Writing is our chance to burst our mortal shell and make something t...

I have neglected my blog for a while. Yes, I know I have been updating fairly often lately, however, I have not really posted anything of much depth. For this I apologize, I will try to write things of substance in the future. However, it is late tonight and I am tired and uninspired. Tomorrow I will resume my walks in the woods. They usually leave me refreshed and ready to write once again. Part of that inspiration comes from the actual woods, nature. However, much of the reason for me coming back inspired from my lonely walks is because I talk out loud while I walk. Sometimes to God, sometimes to myself; but always talking. Sometimes I recite poetry. Sometimes I make up poetry. Sometimes I tell stories. Sometimes I complain. Sometimes I rejoice. However, when I am alone and walking something happens, and my words take new shapes and sometimes form beautiful phrases. When I get back to my dorm I am so inspired by my own speeches, that I sit down and write. Sometimes I think that what ...

OK, so here is the deal. My favorite soft drink is Orange Fanta (followed by Dr. Pepper). So I was overjoyed when I heard that it was coming to the United States. Before I had even been here for 3 days I went out and bought one. What did I find out? This fanta is just another orange drink posing as a Fanta. Thats right. An impostor. Fanta in Spain (and all of Europe as far as I know) has 6% juice. This does not. The taste is noticebly different. I feel cheated.

The day has been unusually warm, or perhaps the rest of the summer has just been strangely cool in comparison. Of course, from the inside of my air conditioned retreat the weather always seems the same. Perhaps the sterility of the environment has been partly to blame for the feeling of numbness I have been having. I have not really been depressed, just tired. My soul has been uttering a constant sigh of resignation for the past 5 days. With nothing to make me feel like I have a mission to being here (last summer I had my RA job to look forward to), I have been haunted by the lack of ghosts. There have been no invisible voices telling me what to do or why I am to do it; just silent meaninglessness to my being here. Today helped me a bit. It is interesting how much people can help you. From what I have seen, there are many people around me feeling the same disjointed sensation I am also experiencing. Matt Austin put it this way " I feel like I want to be somewhere else, but I dont ...

I am back at school. I am less than excited to be here, but I don’t have any other option really. I have to finish school. Unfortunately (in some ways) my major is English, which limits the possibilities for its completion to a handful of countries. I mean, I suppose I COULD take English at the Universidad de Alcala, in Madrid, but that would be pretty stupid. So there are about 5-7 places in the world where English is the first language and I could get a decent education studying it. Arghh... if I was studying politics I could really study it anywhere... Either way... I am back, and I am trying to make the best of it. I am not living in underclassmen dorms anymore. I am now living in an apartment building full of seniors and the like. It is a very different atmosphere than the wild communal feeling of the freshmen living space. On the other hand, I have air conditioning and cable, which is nice. I also make my own meals in my kitchen which so far has been much better than the cafeteri...

I am back at school. I am less than excited to be here, but I don’t have any other option really. I have to finish school. Unfortunately (in some ways) my major is English, which limits the possibilities for its completion to a handful of countries. I mean, I suppose I COULD take English at the Universidad de Alcala, in Madrid, but that would be pretty stupid. So there are about 5-7 places in the world where English is the first language and I could get a decent education studying it. Arghh... if I was studying politics I could really study it anywhere... Either way... I am back, and I am trying to make the best of it. I am not living in underclassmen dorms anymore. I am now living in an apartment building full of seniors and the like. It is a very different atmosphere than the wild communal feeling of the freshmen living space. On the other hand, I have air conditioning and cable, which is nice. I also make my own meals in my kitchen which so far has been much better than the cafeteri...

Well my friends, I am four days away from being back at Gordon. Am I having a freak out crisis? You bet your pants I am. I am not really looking forward to going back to the good ol' GC. Dont get me wrong. I know that I am supposed to go back. My time is not yet up at Gordon. But every day I feel less obligated to go back. Maybe its because some of my best friends are not going to be there anymore. Or because the questions "who am I?" and "where am I going?" have been eclipsed by the mind blowing question "who is God?" I cannot say for sure why my education seems like a waste of time... but who knows. You must remember that it is four days until I leave and my emotional switch is turned on the highest setting. I have many reasons to want to return as well. I will have a snazzy apartment with cool people. I still have plenty of good friends awaiting my return. I love English and literature (though the quality of writing you find on this blog will not ev...

It is dark out. The moon is hiding somewhere tonight. I am sitting on some rocks looking down a long strip of beach in Cadiz. A single row of tall bright halogen lamps shines onto the sand. It is windy. The wind picks up the spray from the waves and blows it towards the land in forming a thin curtain of fog. The mist catches the light from the lamps, making the beach look somewhat ethereal as it reaches, glowing slightly, into the distant horizon. It is a weird highway, too sandy to be spooky, extending towards some spiritual world. I am at one end of the beach, which makes me wonder out loud, "am I at the beginning or the end of that highway?" As the question leaves my mouth, I realize how stupid a question it is. It seemed profound at first, but it proved to be absurd. Quite a lot of what I say is silly. So many of my desires are just as silly when viewed within the proper context. Our human point of view is so limited. We have no true concept of eternity. I spend so much ...

I just returned from Barcelona. It was a great time. I intended to stay for 3-4 days and ended up staying 12. Kenny was in the middle of leading a 24-7 prayer missions team there and I went thinking that I would just trail him around a bit and then leave when I got bored. Little did I know that I would enjoy my time there so much, neither did I expect David to be as entertained as he ended up being. In part I enjoyed trailing kenny around, but I suspect that if that was all I had done I would have indeed left after a mere couple of days. However, Kenny's team was in a sort of disarray based on exhaustion and a lack of enthusiasm and vision. So I ended up being put to work or putting myself to work with odds and ends that needed to be done (such as cooking, or helping with the cleaning, etc). This led me to want to stay even longer, because every time I did something I ended up working with someone I did not know very well. Of course, that meant that then I actually met them and lik...

I have returned from my quite short walking trip. Me and david did about 100 Km. At night we stayed in little spanish towns about the size of... I dunno... somthing small. Many of the towns were very old; filled with castles and cathedrals and tiny winding streets. The sun would beat down on the castillian plain with intensity, and a heavy backpack also added to the fatigue. However, it was well worth it and I would have continued if I could have. In fact I was. We were going to do another 100 K, but I really wanted to spend a couple days in the Santo Domingo de Silos monastery. So the mexican and I decided that he should keep walking (it turned out that once he had gotten into the walk, he liked it) and meet me in madrid in 4 or 5 days. Meanwhile I was going to take a bus to the monastery and stay for a while. I was a little far from the city that I had to catch the bus from, so I hitch-hiked there. Yes it was fun. I had never done that before. I was picked up by two metal heads t...

I am supposed to be hiking right now. Yes that is right. The "epic" journey that I was planning turned sour and lukewarm in our (David and I) mouths and we spit it out. Well actually, I was having fun. But David wasnt. He thought taht the idea of walking from one place to another and finding our own way to get there, was kind of... well, dumb. Yes, I know. I was shocked too. But you know, I said "thats ok, we can do something else. But I still want to walk or hike or something" (I am a flexible INFP remember?). So the fact taht he didnt want to do it, coupled with the fact that our backpacks were about 20 pounds too heavy, caused us to turn back and head to Madrid, after only 2 days of adventuring. Yes, tragic but not fatal. So we came home and took off the next day to the mountains by madrid. We walked the "siete picos,", then we headed straight down the other side ignoring trails and picking our own way accross the countryside. After walking around s...

I went for a nocturnal dip in the waters of my community pool the other day. Me and David snuck over there and went for a swim. It was a good time. It brought back such clear memories of the past that I was in silent awe for a little bit. I sat by the edge of the pool and let myself be completely soaked by the waves of nostalgia. I have been going to the pool at night since I was a kid. At first I would sneak out and feel very sly, for I was going to the pool when I should not have. Then as I became older, I didn't have to sneak around, but I still had to keep relatively quiet. The neighbors were not sympathetic to our little nocturnal outings. At first, they were just worried that we would be hurt at night, and that no one would be there to help us. Later on in life they were just annoyed that: 1) We were making noise 2) We were having more fun than they were. The other night's swim brought back three different sets of memories in particular. I remembered when my Kings Kids fr...

Some of you might remember that I have always complained that my back hurt. A couple of you migh even remember me hurting severly on occasion. Well, last year I went to the incompetent school doctor at Gordon, and he sent me to get physical therapy for... who knows what. They sure didn´t say scoliosis. Because guess what? That is what I have. Fortunately, it is not an extreme case, but hey, it is still there. Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine, which means that your back isnt straight and that you are de-evolving into a homo erectus. Not really de evolving, but the spine does have a curvature in it, and that is not cool. So now I have to get Physical Therapy AGAIN, but at least it is for the right thing now... So instead of saying "Ryan you are a wimpy moron" everyone will now say "Ryan you are a moron." Today I am going to get my teeth looked at, because I think I need to get my wisdom teeth ripped out of my skull. This is VERY fun, I have tried it before. I ha...

Have you ever thought that you might be in the wrong place and with the wrong people? As much as this sounds like the introduction to some angsty post about not fitting in, I don't intend it to be. I just find it fascinating that of all the people that I could have been, I am the one that I am today. If I had been born to different people, or to the same people in a different place... everything would be different. There are a million different lifestyle opportunities around the world; being the person that I am has limited me to only a few. If I had been born on the coast, perhaps I would have become a fisherman. What if I, born as I really am, was truly made to fish though? What if the way for me to find greatest fulfillment for my life is something to which I will never have access; or, because of ignorance or lack of interest, will never try. Or even more frustratingly, what if I would not only find fulfillment in something I will never be able to do.. what if I would also exce...

During the past weeks, the Guardian newspaper has been posting articles about the possibility of a new US draft. The last US draft took place during the Vietnam war. I remember at the start of the conflict in Iraq, naysayers were predicting another Vietnam-like fiasco. I was right up there with them, saying that the US was bound to fail. Not only was I saying that the war was wrong, but I have always said that it was straight out immoral. It does not adjust to the just war guidelines pointed out by Augustine, and therefore (to me at least) it is wrong. The United States government has overstepped their boundaries and created more instability in the Middle East. Iraq is in danger of a civil war which is only being slowed by the rampant anarchy in place. Innocents are being killed, and NO weapons of mass destruction have been found to prove that Iraq had any plans to attack the USA. The whole war is a fraud. So now, of course, I am very disturbed by the mention of a draft. I remember r...

Well, life is VERY good for the next couple of weeks. The EuroCup is in motion, and that means I get constant entertainment. The eurocup is like the world cup, except only European countries participate. This year it takes place in Portugal, Spain's neighbor to the west. Spain played against Russia yesterday and won (of course). The score was 1-0, Valerón scored. I went over to Kenny's house to watch it. He lives in the typical squalor that is a bachelor's pad. No, actually his house is quite nice. We picked up some pizzas, chips, soda, chip salsa, and a six pack of beer. It was fun, especially since we won. Either way, soccer is a beautiful thing. It is interesting to watch the different playing styles of each country. England for example, plays a lot of long ball (long accurate passes), where as the Spanish style is more one on one. They both have their beauty. Northern Europeans play very hard regimented football, with few frills. Where as the people of the Mediterranea...

Excuse the lack of updates. I feel like I have asked for clemency quite a bit these days, but then again, maybe I have just been feeling guilty for not writing. At least two or three people have commented on my blog, and both times the feedback was positive, so I must continue to write for those who DO read this blog. If you do come by, leave a message and say hi! It forces me to write when I am not "inspired." Anyway; on monday, me and David (my friend from Gordon that is hanging out with me for the summer) went to visit an old high school friend whose name is also David (we will call him Jimmy so that there is no confusions of Davids in this post). He lives about 3.5 hours north of madrid in a small town of 20,000 in the middle of the spanish plains. I guess I should start this story a little farther back. On friday I went to my old high school to attend the senior graduation. The graduating class this year was the freshman class during my senior year. Seeing that my high s...