Tired Socially…
Friends, I am suffering from the strange feeling of social tiredness. This may be connected with regular tiredness, but it this time it has an unsightly social edge.
Basically, I’m tired of being friendly. I invest a lot of energy in each social interaction, and frequently, come away exhausted. (this isn’t normal, is it?) So, while I don’t want to tone down my customary cheerfulness, I really don’t want to talk to people right now, because I just don’t have the energy for it.
This might have something to do with the fact that I’m not sleeping very well. Kristin’s (my sister) alarm keeps going off at 4:30 in the morning, and while it’s simply a Christian music station and thus not too startling, it always wakes me up. She also is at New Attitudes, which means she’s not there to go, turn off the alarm, so I have to get up to do so. Just FYI: The often play the dorkiest Christian music at 4 in the morning.
Anyway, I’ve got to go try and wake up to my perky normal self before 9:00 rolls around, and I have church. Good thing the lights will be on.
Running Bi-Milestone..
While I hate this noble xanga to be reduced to nothing more than endless accounts of my experiments in physical fitness, I would like to celebrate one major milestone in my healthy goal.
Today I ran 2 miles.
I hope someday I will look back on this post and laugh, “wow, remember when I could only run 2 miles?” I hope I will then go and run 5, maybe 7. But not more than 8. I cut myself off at 8miles for two reasons, 1) I’m lazy, 2) I’m petrified of bone and knee trouble later on.
There are 2 injuries I try at all costs to avoid, back problems, and knee problems. By God’s grace, I hope to steer clear of both. (I also avoid summer-saults)
Make Jason Physically Fit Game
In keeping with the current focus and passions of my life at the moment I decided to update you about my recent drive for physical fitness via a interactive game. That being said…
…It’s time for the…
Make Jason Physically-Fit Game!
The game where you get to transform Jason’s life and health at the click of your mouse! Ready to play?
Rules:
The Only rule is that when you see a dotted line like this: “~*~*~*~*~”
across the bottom of this page, you must stop scrolling down, and aline the bottom of your screen with that line. So right now, the bottom edge of your screen should be stopped right here:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
when you have finished reading the section, follow directions and continue down.
Lets go!
Once upon a time there was a sedentary boy named Jason. He was a jovial boy, but had grown rather heafty on account of his lack of exercise:
Yes, I know this is Fat Albert, and yes, I know his ethnicity, but work with me here…
One day he decided to start exercising, to improve his quality of life, and help him be healthier. He decided that there were 5 zones he needed to work on inorder to look, and feel, his best, and be in shape:
Here are the Zones:
Zone 1 – Arms
Zone 2 – Chest
Zone 3 – Stomach/gut/tummy
Zone 4 – Legs/feet
Zone 5 – Head
Your job is to help Jason get into shape by selecting which body zones he should work on. Use the corresponding numbers on your computer keyboard.
Chose a Zone to work on:
Press 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Good Job! You Chose Zone 1!
- Arms -
Thanks to you, Jason now has nice strong arms with which he can do, chinups, or carry his mother’s groceries, or school books (yes, he gets both watches too). He has even come to enjoy doing curls with weights, in spite of the fact that he hurt himself the first time.
Way to go! Choose another Zone!
choose from 2,3,4, and 5
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Good Job! You Chose Zone 2!
- Chest/Pecs -
Thanks to you, Jason now has a nice strong chest that will help him do pushups, or give his mother a stronger hug, and have his clothes hang better on him. He has even come to enjoy sticking out his chest with pride – something he couldn’t do before.
Way to go! Choose another Zone!
choose from 3,4, and 5
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Good Job! You Chose Zone 3!
- Abs/Gut/Tummy -
Thanks to you, Jason now has nice strong abs that will help him keep good posture, fit into smaller pants, jiggle less when he walks, and even help him get out of chairs more easily. Even though he still hates situps, and air cycle-thingys, he enjoys his flatter stomach, and smaller pant sizes.
Way to go! Choose another Zone!
choose from 4, and 5
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Good Job! You Chose Zone 4!
- Legs/feet -
Thanks to you, Jason now has nice strong legs that will help him stay on his feet, run away faster, jiggle less when he walks, and even help him walk around his home more easily. Even though he sometimes struggles with running more than 2 miles, he enjoys knowing he got a good workout.
Way to go! You only have one more improvement to make!
I’m willing to bet you’ll chose Zone 5!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Naturally, you chose Zone 5!
- Head -
It’s clear to see this is the only option for such a condition. Jason now has a nice paper bag that will keep him from scaring away his friends and family. Even though he sometimes struggles with the dark, and his claustrophobia, he enjoys knowing others will no longer suffer.
Thanks for playing, I hope you enjoyed this little fitness game, and are encouraged to examine your fitness too!
So long for now!
Ryder Davis Award Text
I noticed that the hand-written text of the Ryder Davis award was starting to fade, so I decided I had better type it up, and where better to put it than here on my xanga, along with the story, for all the world to see… haha…
The Ryder Davis award was created in 2000 A.D. by David Somerville and Jason Cunningham at the Silver Bay Association in upstate New York after attending an amateur performance of Damn Yankees where a Mr. Ryder Davis played the award-naming-after performance of Mr. Applegate in the show.
We were so impressed by his acting ability and flair for improvisation that we created an award bearing his name to give to actors or actresses starring in an amateur performance who do a good enough job. Here is the text of the award:
Name of Actor or Actress -
“Due to the natural talent and effortless grace with which you portrayed your character, instantly captivating the hearts of the audience, it is the duty, pleasure, and privilege of myself, as well as that of the other panel judges, to confer on you the prestigious Ryder Davis award. Congratulations.”
The Colonel by Carolyn Forche
Here is the coolest poem! I was given this in Creative Writing this past semester, and I’m about to throw out the paper copy I have for space reasons, but here it is for you to enjoy! Note: This is based on a real experience.
The Colonel
by Carolyn Forché
What you have heard is true. I was in his house.
His wife carried a tray of coffee and sugar. His
daughter filed her nails, his son went out for the
night. There were daily papers, pet dogs, a pistol
on the cushion beside him. The moon swung bare on
its black cord over the house. On the television
was a cop show. It was in English. Broken bottles
were embedded in the walls around the house to
scoop the kneecaps from a man’s legs or cut his
hands to lace. On the windows there were gratings
like those in liquor stores. We had dinner, rack of
lamb, good wine, a gold bell was on the table for
calling the maid. The maid brought green mangoes,
salt, a type of bread. I was asked how I enjoyed
the country. There was a brief commercial in
Spanish. His wife took everything away. There was
some talk of how difficult it had become to govern.
The parrot said hello on the terrace. The colonel
told it to shut up, and pushed himself from the
table. My friend said to me with his eyes: say
nothing. The colonel returned with a sack used to
bring groceries home. He spilled many human ears on
the table. They were like dried peach halves. There
is no other way to say this. He took one of them in
his hands, shook it in our faces, dropped it into a
water glass. It came alive there. I am tired of
fooling around he said. As for the rights of anyone,
tell your people they can go f— themselves. He
swept the ears to the floor with his arm and held
the last of his wine in the air. Something for your
poetry, no? he said. Some of the ears on the floor
caught this scrap of his voice. Some of the ears on
the floor were pressed to the ground.
May 1978
A Bloody Final Dinner from Freshman year
Well friends, I’m home now… no more college dorm life for me until next fall. I would like to relate one last college tale – indeed the last college memory to be made for my freshman year. I would like to mention the final dinner that I had with my two closest friends at AU, Sarah and Ryan.
Ryan, Sarah, and Jason, in that order
Inspite of some initial drama involving restaurant choice and the budget, it was finally decided that should go to Filomena Ristorante on M Street in Georgetown to celebrate our fantastic year together, and ”eternal friendship”. Now, one would expect to be able to dress for such a special evening without too much trouble. Well just as I put my sports coat on, I look in the mirror and see blood pouring down my ear.
So I grabbed a bunch of tissues and mopped up the blood. As I pressed a tissue against my ear trying desperately to stop the bleeding before we leave for dinner, there is a knock on the door – its Sarah telling me they’re ready to go, I grab a bunch more tissues and run out the door.
I jump into Ryan’s car, and we’re off to Georgetown, my ear still bleeding. I spend the entire drive pinching my ear with a tissue, and feeling the blood soak through onto my fingers, then swiftly switching to another part of the tissue. I fold it in layers to it will soak up more, and pinch firmly so it will stop, but to no avail.
We arrive at dinner, and I am forced to hold my ear all through dinner, at one point my bloody papertowels (I used up my tissues and switched to paper towels from the restaurant’s bathroom) attracted the attention of a passing waiter who asked if I had been attacked. I felt like saying that I had survived an assassination attempt on the way over (Ryan’s dark color SUV would have been appropriate for such a story) but I instead assured him that I was fine.
Even through the blood, I thoroughly enjoyed dinner, the food was good, the conversation was good (inspite of the fact that my attempt to make the night more special then just a dinner was vetoed by both of them in a rude, but understandable gesture of… something…) and the service was remarkably swift. Perhaps the most enjoyable feature was the atmosphere which was elegant, yet comfortable with the emphasis being in the details of the room.
My ear finally stopped bleeding as soon as we left the restaurant. I was actually quite thankful afterwards because I couldn’t eat as much with my right hand being in constant use holding a towel up to my ear. It was a process of dropping the towel, taking a mouthful of dinner, then quickly replacing the towel again (which would be catch suprisingly large drips of blood).
In the evening we had as was only fitting, our last session of meeting in the T. I will miss very few things more than talking with my friends in the T, and that last session was perhaps the best we’ve had in weeks (because of finals – stress tends to dampen conversations).
Towards the end, Denton sat down, and dominated the conversation with facinating tales of how the government is developing super-soldiers, and chemically-modified men who can run great distances and lift heavy things, etc. Don’t get me wrong – it was facinating, and had it not been 3:30 a.m. and killing all other group interaction I would have stayed and listened to more of what he had learned about the subject – however, I decided to head to bed, feeling slightly annoyed.
After a few minutes, Sarah came and joined me in my room, and we had a deep, and powerful discussion about my depressing state of affairs. In effect, I plan out everything, and insist that the actual event goes as planned in my head, and then become slighly bitter, not at any one person, but in general – in other words: pure unadultered sin. We ended up talking through it, which was really helpful, encouraging, and badly needed. (we talked about many other things too, but I’m not going through them all now…)
The next day, I headed off to work, finished off moving over the old fiscal year. Sarah came and visited me at the office, which was a HUGE unexpected surpise! It really was very kind of her to visit, I will/do miss that girl immensely. We chatted awkwardly for a little while, and when she dissapeared from the crack of the closing elevator door, I waved a sad goodbye to her fading image… then walked back in to slowly label the Fiscal Year 2005 boxes with their corresponding departments.
Overall, a very sorrow-filled, yet positive conclusion to a wonderful year. Even though I didn’t get a chance to express anything I wanted to express to my fabulous friends at AU, I trust they know my appreciation for them, and how much I look forward to seeing them next year. (or during the summer, as the case may be.)
Dad’s Underworld immorality email
With six more days of school left, dad sent me this message, which I wanted to pass on to whoever wanted to read it.
Ever heard this song by John Mayer? I don’t know if he is a Christian but to me the song exposes a myth that many people have bought into.
The myth is that the “Underworld” of immorality and promiscuity is the “Real World” and that people like you and Kristin who were raised in the “Kingdom of God” instead of the “Kingdom of Darkness” are out of touch with the real world. They are not even ashamed to pressure you to join them and participate in their lowest-common-denominator culture.
promiscuity (noun)
1. behavior characterized by casual and indiscriminate sexual intercourse, often with many people.
Welcome to the real world
She said to me kind of condescendingly
Take a seat, take your life
Plot it out in black and white
Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
And the drama queens
I’d like to think the best of me
Is still hiding up my sleeve
They love to tell you stay inside the lines
But something’s better on the other side
I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the top of my lungs
I just found out there’s no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you’ve got to rise above
So the good boys and girls take the so-called right track
Faded white hats grabbing the credits and making transfers
They read all the books but they can’t find the answers
And all of our parents, they’re getting older
I wonder if they’ve wished for anything better
While in their memories, tiny tragedies
They love to tell you stay inside the lines
But something’s better on the other side
Chorus again
I am invincible (3 times)
As long as I’m alive
Chorus again
I just can’t wait till my ten year reunion
I’m gonna bust down the double doors
and when I stand on these tables before you
You will know what all this time was for
Noah, and his physical fitness
Friends, I would like to publicly praise my dear friend, Noah, for his commitment to my physical development next semester. He is truly a good friend.
Now, just like Her Majesty the Queen, I too have, what I like to think of as “Staff” that bring their various expertises to helping me through life (one of my weaknesses.) For example:
1) The Counsel on Public Appearance
-Members: Ryan, and Simon, (and Jessie D.)
-Job: Make sure I dress well, my colors go together, and I don’t wear the same color twice.
2) The Committee of Physical Development
-Members: Noah, Ryan, and Simon, (and Jessie D.)
-Job: Stave off a heart attack for at least 30 more years.
Well, that’s just a small sampling… there are others… Noah [see picture below], however shocked news circuits everywhere last night with the following dialogue:
(From L-R): Ryan, Noah
Noah: oh dear
Auto response from Jason: at the Gym (You don’t honestly think I’m serious, do you? hahahaa…) [this was my IM away message]
Noah: oh dear [in response to away message]
Jason: haha next semester, MAYBE I’ll give it a try… maybe with only you to intimidate me, I’ll get over my fear? maybe?
Noah: hahaha
Noah: ill gladly give you a hand at the gym
Jason: I really appreciate the offer. I really do. Can we start first thing next semester?
Noah: sure
Noah: as long as you do push ups all summer long, and keep running
Jason: ok. Pushups will be done all summer, and I’ll keep up my running, and even look into the whole weights thing, see if my brother maybe knows something…
Noah: cool
Jason: I’ll transform my life! haha
Noah: haha
Noah: hopefully ill be able to help
Jason: how can you not?! You help even by asking about it.
Noah: haha
So, my reason for writing this is to remember [and remind] Noah of how he offered to hold me to this program, and to get your commitment to do the same.
Prior to coming to college my life was rather sedentary…
But it would be wrong not to publicly thank Simon Stilwell, my roommate, and all those on the board of the CPD (Committee on Physical Development) (and Jessie D.) for all their encouragement in the last semester, forcing me to challenge myself in an area I have long dreaded – that of exercise. Very few people could get me to go on 8am runs very easily – yet they’ve done it numerous times. I am deeply in their debt. I look forward to being challenged again next semester!
An artists rendering of Jason next semester – clearly there are some serious scale issues.
(To allay fears that I’m permanently changing my personality so I can fit in with a cooler crowd – you really needn’t worry – that’s impossible!)
