Bummed

not feeling so great the last couple of days. unfortunately it got bad enough last night and this morning that i had to miss work today. started sweating, then shivering and shuddering, then sweating again last night. ugh. i'm hoping i'll be able to go back to work in the morning, but i don't know what the possibility of that is. also, i have this campout and wedding and other stuff to do this weekend. so it will really stink if i don't make a fast recovery. your prayers would certainly be appreciated.

hmmm... i can't really think of anything much else to carry on about. well... oh there was one funny guy who came to the sign shop yesterday. he was delivering a sign in a big truck and i was needed to help him unload it. i think he was a bit dubious about whether i would even physically be able to handle my end of the 20', wood-crate-encased billboard. i was wondering too because i was starting to get that weak shaky feeling you get when you're starting to get sick. so he kept looking at me while we unloaded it, and when we leaned it over and set it down on a stack, he just stood there with his hands on his hips staring. then he said, "boy! you been eatin' yo cheerios?!?" i was like, "huh?" i'm not used to being addressed in quite that way... then he said, "you must be really strong to throw that sign around like that!" i was thinking just the opposite at the moment about my strength. then he went walking past the fridge. he stopped right beside it and slowly turned back toward me out of the corner of his eye with a sly look and his back slightly bent. "whatcha got in that fridge? mind if i grab one from yer thirty pack?" i was like, "huh?" then we just stared at eachother for a few seconds and i busted out laughing and then he busted out laughing to and went on his way.

tmesis \TMEE-sis\, noun:In grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a compound word, now generally done for humorous effect; for example, "what place soever" instead of "whatsoever place," or "abso-bloody-lutely."
Examples of tmesis:
If on the first, how heinous e'er it be,To win thy after-love I pardon thee. --Shakespeare, Richard II
His income-tax return, he remarked, was the "most rigged-up marole" he'd ever seen. --Frederic Packard
In two words, im possible. --Samuel Goldwyn

The Big Sweep

i'm seriously hoping that i'll be able to get more work in the next few days. i want to be full time, but the last couple of days there hasn't been anything for me to do after 3... except sweep. so by this point everything is pretty clean. today i just completely re-swept the whole shop. i guess i could just do it everyday. i'm becoming more and more convinced that no matter how much i swept it there would always be more to sweep up. but of course i don't want dale to waste his money paying me to do excessive sweeping. while cleanliness is beneficial, after a certain point it just gets to be monotonous activity that bears the resemblance of busy-ness.

tutoring parker is definitely going to help. i am getting a generous return for my assistance, for which i am deeply grateful. he's definitely a great guy to work with. it looks like we're going to go camping this weekend. his dad and another kid may go with us. should be fun, and we'll be able to get lots of his requirements done.

and folks, the weather outside is definitely getting frightful. the a/c is so delightful... you know it's going to be a sticky day when you're sweating by the fan at 8 o'clock the morning. in other news, the cat bit roger on the leg and i laughed. he didn't, he just hopped around on one leg. for some reason i got that image in my head of the family guy sitting on the curb holding his shin breathing deeply through his teeth and wincing and rocking back and forth for a long time. fun times...

sylvan \SIL-vuhn\, adjective:1. Of or pertaining to woods or forest regions.2. Living or located in a wood or forest.3. Abounding in forests or trees; wooded.
noun:1. A fabled deity or spirit of the woods.2. One that lives in or frequents the woods or forest; a rustic.

Signs

i thought i'd share this one sign from dale's shop with you. it reads thusly...

ALLIED SIGN BUILDERS INC.

no physical fitness program required.
everyone gets all the exercise they need by:

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
FLYING OFF THE HANDLE
RUNNING DOWN THE BOSS
DODGING RESPONSIBILITY
AND PUSHING THEIR LUCK

i love a boss with a sense of humor.

Bubba's Butter Dish

if you're an author, what do you do about titles? do you just put the first thing that comes to your mind? do you struggle for hours coming up with an attention grabber, a sort of preliminary hook for each chapter? do you simply come up with the "best fit" description for the following section? thankfully here in turkeyville behind this desk, there are no rules. i sometimes do any and all of the above, and sometimes i come up with the most random non-sequiter possible in order to achieve something interesting or attention grabbing, without any of the work.

i have nothing new from work to report... i'm hoping that tomorrow i will be able to begin some welding practice. but really no new news, except i got a really nice paper cut. especially painful and hot feeling with all those weird glues and stuff. "the flesh... it burns!!!!" oh wait, that was lunch out of the microwave.

went to the bank and took care of some... ahem... business.

ran errands and some pretty basic mumbo jumbo billy-bob at the supermarket stuff.

guess what?!? micah got back from his humongous geology trip! he brought back a whole blazer full of rocks, some of which he was proud to display and gush about. wrung a few stories out of him too. and he put 9000 miles on his vehicle. pretty impressive for a single summer session class. i can't wait to see all his pictures. we had bible study over there, and it was just us and thomas. it was really good. these men's bible studies are just always such an encouragement. i don't know how many times i've said that, but what's the hurt in saying it again? seems like the times i most feel like not going, or i feel too tired and unprepared, god uses it most for encouragement and blessing.

i have a new temporary job i'm about to embark on. i am going, in my capacity as an eagle scout, to help anothe younger scout complete the rank of 1st class by tutoring him and helping him complete requirements. he has received the opportunity to attend a jamboree in washington dc but he has to be first class. so he has about 1.5 weeks to complete all the requirements. i'm convinced we can do it. i made a sort of an outline for him this evening, as far as what to work on and how to space out the work. we made a tentative schedule for working on each thing and set some goals. cody is also going to help, coming to fill in and do a bit of teaching and requirment passing on the days that i can't be there. don't worry parker! we'll get you there somehow.

risible \RIZ-uh-buhl\, adjective:1. Capable of laughing; disposed to laugh.2. Exciting or provoking laughter; worthy of laughter; laughable; amusing.3. Relating to, connected with, or used in laughter; as, "risible muscles."

Of All the Ironies...

well, it's that time of year again. time for kids to be going to summer camp (not that that hasn't been going on for some time now). and also the time of year for boys scouts to be going to camp. so today papa went driving off to a week with the guys at el rancho cima, and evan and i are still at home! isn't that crazy? i'm at home working (cuz i'm already pretty much through with scouts, except for possible leadership positions in the future) and evan is saving his money for a trip to mexico. i'm pretty sure this is the first time this has ever happened at our house. certainly the first year since i was eleven that i have gone a year without any summer camps.

just us four older children went to church this morning (since papa is at summer camp and mom stayed home with the little tykes because owen ain't feelin' so swell). very good and encouraging words.

had a tasty lunch of shepherd's pie and watermelon. and ice cream. then i pretty much checked email and stuff and took a nap. quite an exciting afternoon. just about the time i decided i was going to get up so we could go to church again, mom announced that we wouldn't be going, and that we were going to the track. suddenly decided to whip us all into shape. so i lugged my sloshing gut full of dinner out there... and spent quite some time stretching. i guess cuz i was postponing the inevitable moment that i would have to begin "work." and man did i feel it. now i know i've been playing ultimate and stuff (which has been quite tiring) but that doesn't quite compare to just running and running and running on the track, which i haven't done on a consistent day to day basis since last year. i only ran 1.5 miles before a short rest. got the first mile done in 6:37. then i stretched out a little more and ran one more mile. that one i got down to 6:30. *sigh* i have much work to do in the time and distance categories. not to mention limberness exercises. i should make some goals for myself in regard to improving my physical condition before the beginning of the fall semester.

does anyone have the slightest idea when blogger will start updating the profiles again?? right now my profile says that i have only written 19 posts totaling 7547 words. the last post being feb. 10. now i know perfectly well that isn't correct. it's kind of annoying i guess. i am slightly curious about some of the outdated info, that curiosity most likely being exacerbated by the fact that i can't find out. grrr...

i couldn't resist this word of the day because of the example sentence. *grins*

amative \AM-uh-tiv\, adjective:Pertaining to or disposed to love, especially sexual love; full of love; amorous.
Theoretically, any given left-kisser should meet more right-kissers and, over an amative lifetime, or even good year in junior high, be subtly pressured to shift to the right in order to land a wet one -- or just avoid a broken nose. No? --Donald G. McNeil, Jr., "Pucker Up, Sweetie, and Tilt Right," New York Times, February 13, 2003

ahhh, had a pretty fun day at work today. it was just me and dale out there and he showed me some new stuff. i wired a bunch of sign innerds (what a nice word), which is something quite out of the ordinary for me. i was afraid i might have trouble with the colors, but i didn't have much of a problem differentiating any of them. dale jokingly called me a genius every time he tested the lights after i wired them and they came on bright and clear. so if you know how to strip the ends of wires, twist together blue with blue, red with red, and yellow with yellow, and put caps on them, you automatically must have an iq of 200. maybe more if you can match the ones with blue and white stripes! besides wiring, i also got to do some aluminum crimping, to make the edges of the sign out of. had to shape the flat pieces of aluminum into square tubes that sealed around the edges of the sign, and held the face in. so i got to see a sign that john and i worked on earlier in the week (putting vinyl on) come to shape as a recognizable sign, complete with inside lighting. dale also showed me how to weld. with his machine, it looks incredibly easy. you don't even have to hold a welding rod, it just self feeds a little wire down the middle. requires a steady hand, and a bit of getting used to. he's going to let me start practicing on some scrap next week.

after work, i ran a couple of errands, and picked up bethany from a party. then i went and got dan who came home with me for the afternoon. we had a blast, walking around in the woods, exploring the creek, falling into the creek, discovering a really stinky dead chicken deep in the forest, and trudging through poison ivy. we also played a bunch of ping pong (dan and i played a lot the last couple of semesters in wilson hall), and it was fun, especially since i've hardly played at all since getting back from school. after dinner and more ping pong, he went back to his wonderful chemistry studying. and now i think i shall take my rest. till next time, eat more yogurt.

peripatetic \pair-uh-puh-TET-ik\, adjective:1. Of or pertaining to walking about or traveling from place to place; itinerant.2. Of or pertaining to the philosophy taught by Aristotle (who gave his instructions while walking in the Lyceum at Athens), or to his followers.
noun:1. One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant.2. A follower of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.

i just opened up this page and sat for several minutes.

and now i will tell you everything that is in my mind to tell you.









so now that we've got that out of the way, here's your word of the day. okay, just kidding. i did have a day today, but nothing especially new happened. i did get to run the plotter by myself. i've learned enough now that i can actually make use of myself when no one else is there. besides sweeping of course. i can always do that. and roll up cords and wires. in fact, it's a good thing that i rolled up a bunch of tangled wires yesterday. i had been wondering if i ought to just leave since i didn't have much in the way of sign making to do (actually absolutely nothing) and i was just cleaning up. then i saw all these spools that were coming apart and were in a mountain of confusion and twisted wire and knots just hanging there. so i proceeded to get it all fixed and rolled up neatly (you know how i am about puzzles an stuff). then today, dale came rushing in from the truck, which he left idling in the drive, and grabbed that very spool off the rack and ran back to the truck and tore off. i was like, wow... he really needed that bad. i wonder what in the world he would have done if he'd gone over there and seen that giant tangld mess that was there yesterday. wadded it up and put it in the bed of the truck to rush it off to whoever needed it so urgently? haha, i had an almost smug feeling of satisfaction. but yeah, work is going fine. speaking of which, i'm going back tomorrow and working in the morning. maybe learn how to weld or something. oh, besides getting a paycheck, there's one other exciting thing from work. once, my nose started itching and i went running to the paper towels and i sneezed about 9 times before i could even get across the shop. i wonder if i'm having an allergic reaction to something.

tonight, ("tonight, tonight... ooooooooooooooooh tonight") we watched mission impossible two. again. all the bad guys died. again. haha, i love that movie! seriously!

scoffing - (skoff-ing) edifying criticism directed at an intolerable individual, possessd of inconsequencial and absurd opinions and behavior.

The New Job

here's the update on working at allied sign builders! i officially did begin work on tues. my friendly new co-worker, john, helped me get started with "sign-making 101." we got started on a vinyl sign. actually he already had half of it done, but it's two-sided, with the same thing on both sides. i was introduced the materials, a few simple tools, and some beginner's practice. for those of you as ignorant as me (or as i was a few days ago) about sign-making, here's a few of the things i've learned. the vinyl letters are stuck to a sheet of heavy paper. a clear sheet of sticky contact paper is stuck to the surface. whatever surface the letters are going to be placed on is spread on a large table. then you measure till you've got it exactly where you want the letters on the finished product. once it's in place, tape down the middle and fold it in half. peel the paper off the back and spray it with water. this is to temporarily neutralize the contact glue, making it easier to get it on the right spot without it suddenly sticking to the wrong place and getting stretched and messed up. then you use a stiff squeegee to rub out the water and air bubbles and stick the letters down. then the other half can be done. the reason for doing it one half at a time is it's less material to deal with and therefore easier. the tape keeps the other half from moving while you stick down the one half. okay, that was a big "duh." after leaving it for a couple of minutes the contact paper can be peeled off leaving the vinyl letters on the sign. i guess that's the basic process for a lot of the signs. there are lots of tiny details along the way. using a tiny scalpal like knife to trim edges, squeezing out water and air bubbles, layering multiple colors, sealing the edges of the over-laps, etc. etc. etc. also of course there is the computer stuff and the equipment for cutting the vinyl and all the design process. today i was shown the computer program they use for designing the signs, and also a small cutting machine for doing some of the lighter (thinner) vinyl. john showed me how to tell the machine to cut the vinyl through the computer, how to set up the vinyl in the machine for it to be cut, how to strip off the excess material around the letters, and all that jazz. i find it all quite facinating. one thing i've noticed is that the sign making business does not make efficient use of materials. i guess it's really pretty much impossible to avoid, but there is an insane amount of trash. we filled up 4 or 5 barrels with tape and contact paper and backer paper and paper towels besides the floor sweepings in the last two days. speaking of sweeping, between all that other stuff i've been learning how to do, i've been trying to get the entire shop cleaned up. it's going to be quite a job, but i think if i do sections of the shop at a time it won't be too bad. actually i think i like organizing and stuff. but whatever. i did cut my hand on a piece of metal while cleaning this evening. i'll have to watch out for that sort of thing in the future.

anyway, that is quite a long boring description of sign-building. it's more interesting when you're actually doing it.

of course i played ultimate frizbee (yes, the z is deliberate) yesterday. it was at least as fun as usual, if not more so. i feel myself improving, which is always nice. the guys and gals on the team are really nice. they're so understanding of my green mistakes and lack of skills. always ready to help out, offer advice and new techniques, and just full of general encouragement. i can imagine a different attitude on their part making it not nearly as enjoyable for me. thankfully they make it terrific!

tomorrow, jordan flournoy is definitely giving a recital (piano) in lufkin. and you should absolutely come. for those of you who don't know, he's incredibly talented (18 and getting ready to come to sfa for grad work, in piano performance i believe). call my house if you know the number and want some more info. of course i would give it to you here, but i don't know anything more about it, except that it's at 7:30 in lufkin. tomorow (thursday june 16 2005).

ineluctable \in-ih-LUCK-tuh-buhl\, adjective:Impossible to avoid or evade; inevitable.

Gruesome Fridge

today i had the immense pleasure of completing the cleansing of our garage refridgerator. i started on it last night, but today i did most of the work. now, cleaning a fridge this old is quite an adventure. in the freezer of course there were the typical things like bags of old frozen blueberries, a discolored ziplock full of water (why would you freeze a bag of water? please tell me if you have some ideas). but also there was a jar with a baby mouse in it. and a powdered milk container with a sealed plastic lid with a full-grown mouse in it. don't worry yourself about where they came from. and don't tell anyone who might buy the fridge that they were in there. then when i hit the actual refridgerator part i thought everything was going to be fine. think again... when i pulled out the drawers to clean them i discovered what was underneath. i swear it was an 8th of an inch of gooey sludge. ahhhh *gack* so i had to loosen it up with water and then scrape it with a metal scraper. what i say is, whoever buys this for $100 is getting a screaming deal. it's all sparkly now!

papa and i played with the frizbee today. it was quite fun, but the heat of this place is becoming apparent. i think my fore-hand throw improved by about 100% today just because i worked on something that a guy on the team showed me at the end of our last practice. it was the first time for me to put the new technique in action and WHOA! it really makes a difference.

turns out i got $30 for my train set at the garage sale. talk about another screamin' deal. i know there's several pieces of hobby material in that box that i spent at least that much money on, or that someone who gave it to me spent that much on, and they go the whole box full for that much. but some of it needed work, and i can't say i know how to fix it. spent many hours trying, but no. since i never get it out anymore, and it's just been sitting in a shelf collecting dust, i'm glad to have it off my hands and have the money in hand.

i couldn't help chuckling over this one.

hugger-mugger \HUH-guhr-muh-guhr\, noun:1. A disorderly jumble; muddle; confusion.2. Secrecy; concealment.
adjective:1. Confused; muddled; disorderly.2. Secret.
adverb:1. In a muddle or confusion.2. Secretly.
transitive verb:To keep secret.
intransitive verb:To act in a secretive manner.

The origin of hugger-mugger is unknown; it is perhaps from Anglo-Irish cuggermugger, "a whispering, a low-voiced gossiping," from Irish cogair!, "whisper!"

Bulging Mega-Pipes

i would soooo never want to be a truck driver. alright alright alright (some of you will get that) perhaps i should never say never... but i saw the craziest thing. a trucker was going across north street on the intersection caty-corner to wal-mart. he had a flat bed trailer with some awesomely gargantu-whine pipe. now folks, we're not talking about your typical culvert of drainage pipe. this thing was up there with the clouds. and it was still laying on one corner [sic, cuz i didn't want to say side twice. even though i am now]. on the side of this pipe there was another knob, or a place to attach another huge pipe sticking off to the side (three times). it was turned in such a way that this knob was sticking straight up into the air. when he started to go across he obviously got real concerned about the traffic lights (with good reason). so he pulled way over to the left, across both lanes of on-coming traffic. fortunately no one was coming that way at the moment. when he got the whole truck and trailer around the end of the long light pole then he pulled back and got himself straightened out. i wonder if he did that at every light he came to. hmmmmmm. don't i have anything better to write about you ask? good question. the answer is simple. NO.

i have officially decided my email must not work. well, what do you expect me to think if it's completely empty?!? okay, i'll leave off.

played ultimate this evening. for those of you who don't know yet, ultimate totally rocks. come and join us if you want to a) have fun, b) get in shape, c) um...run in the grass, d) oh yeah, be way cool cuz you have sweet frizbee-throwing skills. y'all, the only equipment you'll ever have to invest in for this sport (if you get serious) is a pair of cleats. 20 bucks! for crying out loud, $20 for the funnest time of your life! *wASOaf;ilweljk* (that was me getting my hands slapped for typing ridiculousness.)

i completely rearranged the dormer in my room today. i took the one snake cage out and cleaned everything. then i turned the desk to the side and put all the printer and tower and stuff there instead of having parts of it under the desk impeding on foot space. and now there's room on the desk for all the speakers to sit properly, with no excess wires in the way, and the mouse can move freely. tidied up the closet and fit two boxes that were stacked on the floor in there and put the snake cage in there place. i would say i'm tickled pink, but really i'm just happy to not be kicking the printer anymore.

i got a bit of a hair trim this morning. been developing into quite the scraggly eye sore of late.

oh, and i did some piano practice and had my piano lesson this afternoon.

hopefully got some work coming up next week. but it's been nice to have a week to practice.

apparently there's a not-to-be-missed garage sale going on tomorrow which i must be prepared to serve in. to bed, to bed.... oh, sorry i forgot the word of the day last time.

animadversion \an-uh-mad-VUHR-zhuhn\, noun:1. Harsh criticism or disapproval.2. Remarks by way of criticism and usually of censure -- often used with 'on'.

Keyless Entry...

or should i say, alternate key entry. yes, i just discovered yesterday that the van and truck keys are interchangable. now, i knew that the truck could take the van key, but i thought that was just because the truck is so worn out. it has so many problems nothing could surprise me. when i drove into town i didn't have the van key, so i just tried the truck key (why? go figure). so i drove on my merry way to town without the van key. when i got to school and went in to practice i locked the vehicle of course. uh oh... i know you can tell where this is going. when i got back and reached in my pocket it hit me before i even looked at the key. placing the key in the slot confirmed my fear. no matter how i wiggled and jiggled and slipped it part way in, and then slid it part way out and twisted and conived... no. it wouldn't turn. then i got a "bright" idea. maybe it'll work on the other side. so i walked sheepishly to the other side (you would look sheepish too if you were out in front of a bunch of other people struggling with a key in the lock of your own car. which they would probably start wondering if really was your car...) and put the key in. then i said a little prayer and turned... and voila! it worked!!! how crazy is that? what a relief that was. and i'm sorry if i've dissappointed you by bringing the adventure to such a rapid conclusion. but i was quite relieved. we've have other cases of more miraculous "other key" entries. once one of the dear little munchkins of our family got locked into the car, much my mum's destress. we were at church at the time and mom asked one of the other ladies if she could try her van key on ours. they said a prayer before trying it, and it worked. there was much rejoicing of course. but guess what? it gets better... when they locked the door again (with the real keys on the outside this time of course) the other key wouldn't work. not matter how hard they tried, the key that had just unlocked the door wouldn't work again. cool stuff... and who says god doesn't have angels watching over us?

i've been getting lots of good practicing in this week. since i know how badly you're wanting to know, the scherzo is coming along great. it's way fun to play. dr parr forgot about my piano lesson today. i'll have to chew him out good for this one...

went bowling today, with sam, seth, and akei (i know that's wrong, but i don't think she'll be reading this. it's pronounced ay-kow...sorta. japanese... i know it's spelled something like that cuz i saw it once). it was fun. i did really bad my first two games, then decent the third and last one. ok, time to head home and get some zzz's. hoozah for venison and beans.

oh! i almost forgot! i have a new email address i'm going to try out. my titan account has been causing me trouble, such as cutting off the ends of emails. so, the new one is drpeppper00 (at) aim (dot) com. is my aim obsession creeping in here? ok, but they offered me 2 gigs. could i possibly refuse? when i needed a new account anyway, and was planning on starting one at any moment? it is currently in operation, so please feel free to send me something so i can try it out. and yes, i love to hear from any and all of you, so don't feel like the only reason i want an email is to check out my new account. :-P write write write!!!!

Yogurt

work is almost used up. well, in some places. specifically where i've been working. i made a delivery today, and that about wraps things up until there are more orders. i've made a few phone calls looking for a job. actually, two to be exact. or three if you count two to the same place. :-P i'm not really used to the whole looking for work thing. it's always been there when i needed it (and when i wanted to run from it). i dont mean to make this a job searching site, but feel free to let me know if you have the perfect job for me! however, the plus side of not much work, is plenty of time for practicing. i went to the music building at around 10:30 this morning... and stayed there till about 4:00. got lots of practice in on both the piano and violin. i did in fact do the piano and the violin at the same time today. i wanted to have the piano playing my violin part to help me stay in tune. sometimes it's easy to get off when it's just the violin (for me, be as inexperienced as i am) so hearing a unison pitch on every note keeps things on track. so i played it on the piano and it accompanied me while i played the violin. aren't disklaviers the most wonderful thing of all time? ran a few errands this evening, including getting some more music at encore. also set up an eye exam for tomorrow. ugh, more money i have to spend. wait... i love spending money. buuuuut, i've been working on a budget and i'm becoming more and more aware of how much too much money i'm spending. and i hadn't even thought to put eye care in there until now. oh well, rough times build character. lol to those of you saying, "you ain' seen nuthin' yet boy!" so true, so true... ahhh, looking forward to another day of practicing.

blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\, noun:
Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement -- often used in the plural.

"Perfect, gentle reader: I will not begin this book with a tribute to your discernment, because a person of your obvious accomplishments would certainly be immune to such blandishments."
--Richard Stengel, You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery

Quotes

if i can figure out my template well enough, the list of "recently overheards" will be appearing soon. i will also add a little commentary at the end of each one to make it a little more interesting. there may be a couple that "you would have to have been there" to understand. but they'll still be entertaining, especially for those who were there. but stay tuned, for this next exciting addition...

watched mr and mrs smith yesterday. those of you who read abigail's blog will notice that she wrote about it too (she and anna were right accross the aisle from me). i went with sam and seth and their parent's, but we didn't get to sit together cuz the place was packed. but the movie was hilarious. it was definitely brad who kept the thing together. after it was over we were commenting on how easy it is to watch brad pitt. he fit smoothly into the role. i thought he did a good job anyway.

went bowling... but we only got to play one game. so without a warm up we didn't do very well. next time i think we're going to do about 3 hours or something and get a bunch of playing in!

ah well, i have things to do. must do something productive besides blogging today.

"A faint crepuscular light extending beyond the cusps of the planet."
--G. F. Chambers, Astronomy

HUH?!?

crepuscular \kri-PUS-kyuh-lur\, adjective:
1. Pertaining to twilight; glimmering; hence, imperfectly clear or luminous.
2. (Zoology) Flying in the twilight or evening, or before sunrise; -- said certain birds and insects.

ooooohhh... now i understand...

Look Out!

you know that feeling you get on the edge of a high place, where you suddenly want to throw yourself off? i know, i know, you don't really want to... but you have this feeling where you're afraid you might just compulsively do it, and it's actually a little scary. like, you imagine how aweful it would be if you tripped and fell over the handrail and then you get this dreadfully delicious temptation to walk over next to the handrail and lean over it to give yourself butterflies. ok people, don't act like i'm insane. well, maybe i am, but i know somebody else has experienced this at least a little bit. i remember experiencing this when i was little. we went to england for a couple of weeks (i think i was 5) and one of our activities was climbing to the top of what i thought was a mountain. it was probably just a very large rock, but it was steep and the two story bus looked like a hot wheel down below on the road. so it was pretty high. but i distinctly remember walking around on the small rounded top of the rock and feeling a little queezy looking out over the edge. my tummy mildly flopped and my finger tips felt just a bit tingly and clammy. i stood up and mom screamed "JORDANGETAWAYFROMTHEEDGEANDCOMESITBYMETHISMINUTE!!!!" i was like, "mom, chill, i'm just going over to this puddle." now, i'm sure if she knew about these thoughts and feelings of, "oooh, wouldn't it be freakishly awesome to fall over the edge...?" then she would have died. or maybe she did know and that's why she was so dubious about me saying i was inspecting a small puddle. but yeah, the point of this was, that i just had that feeling again today. actually i've had that feeling a million times since then, but i just decided to mention it particularly today. except the feeling was a little different this time. i got it as evan and i were driving home in the dark and we were passing other cars. i was like, "whoa, the cars we are passing are like, totally only a few inches away." i all of a sudden got this creepy sensation of how easy it would be to turn the wheel a few inches over and go... i mean, aghhhh!!!!!! ok, ladies and gentlemen, i'm not psycho. course, crazy people probably say that. i'm just sayin', i got scared and had to make myself think of something else. enough weirdness for now.

i went to work this morning. then practiced at school for a while. went prayer meeting this evening, where i played piano at the beginning. then a few of us went to java jacks to chat and sip coffee. then i came home, and of course wrote this post. as well as chatted for a bit on aim. which i am still currently doing. but i've been doing excellently on not staying up super late on it. did i mention that i did make it a full week without getting on at all? from fri night when i was last on super late, until the next sat. i'm quite proud.

glutinous \GLOOT-nuhs\, adjective:
Of the nature of glue; resembling glue; sticky.

"At this point Leonardo wakes, decides the sensation is extraordinary but not death, and gazing up through the glutinous film of boiled carrot drippings, says: No, Salai will be riding a horse."
--R. M. Berry, Leonardo's Horse

"An' They Were Dancin', an' Singin'..."

so yeeeeaaahhh. here i am royally falling down on the blogging job. at the moment i'm feeling rather tired. yesterday i went to an eagle scout court of honor for cody. congratulations on a terrific achievment cody! then there was a combo graduation ceremony for him and two of his sisters (they're triplets) and another guy (daniel). so that was quite a lot to sit through. then we went to the reception afterward (where there was some very tempting punch, of which i partook liberally. as well as a famous "miss wicky eagle scout cake"). then we went with the fearings to auntie pastas. now, i don't think i've ever complained about auntie's before, but i was almost unimpressed by my pasta this time. it wasn't bad, just tasted a little like the chicken had been cooked with some other chicken that had been burned. just a slight unpleasant flavor. barely noticeable. oh well. it was still pretty good. theeeeeeen we went to the real graduation celebration at knights of columbus. we mainly ate refreshments and drank sweet tea and listened to really loud music with slow ghetto disco lights on and danced the night away...

this morning i "had" to play piano for church. steve and billie are gone so i was filling in. now i put had in quotes because i don't usually look at it as a chore. i'm happy to help out. it's just this time i was under a little stress, cuz i didn't even hardly work on the hymns until this morning briefly before leaving. and then actually played them for the service with less that 15 minutes of work on each probably. but it was ok. i had thomas to comfort me, by looking at me askance afterward and commenting that i seemed to be having a bit of trouble. :-P

oh! i think i forgot to mention canny's graduation. though i believe evan has. or will. they came down from indiana, and while they were here had the graduation at the baptist church in alto. the speeches were indeed wonderful. ahhh, such a talented family. after ward we got high as kites on helium balloons (in voice if not from the effects on the brain). then we went bowling. it was all very fun. now my right bicept (gosh, i just had to think really hard about how to spell that. hope i got it right) is a bit stiff and sore. haven't been bowling in a while...hmmmm.

ok, that's quite enough for now.

unfledged \uhn-FLEJD\, adjective:
1. Lacking the feathers necessary for flight.
2. Not fully developed; immature.

Happy Birthday Bethany!

bethany has reached the ripe old age of 14 today. congratulations lil' sister!!! there has been much dancing and shaking of the tamberine today. as well as hootin' and hollerin'. unfortunately not by bethany, cuz she isn't feeling well. we're going to try to do presents and cake tomorrow. :-( no fun being sick on the b-day.

this morning i went to work as usual, 7-12, then went to the music building. i practiced the piano or violin or both until 3. then had violin and piano lessons. then sat on the front steps of the music building waiting for a ride, listening to a cd, and watching dreadful little children running around in front of the building and piling out of vans. one of them even dared speak to me! he seemed entirely too interested in my affairs for his own good. his departure was appreciated. wow! how calloused and mean i've become! actually, i was decent to him. i was just surprised to be disturbed while looking at my phone by an obnoxious little clarinetist.

i love yogurt.

tumid \TOO-mid; TYOO-\, adjective:
1. Swollen, enlarged, or distended; as, "a tumid leg."
2. Bulging; protuberant.
3. Swelling in sound or sense; pompous; inflated; bombastic.
(just like my tummy)