The Man Behind the Helmet

Who knew that Lord Vader had such a sensitive side? For that matter, how many of you knew that Han Solo was at one time an Imperial cadet in training? I found this blog to be very entertaining, but be warned, if you're not a Star Wars nerd, you probably won't appreciate it.

Today was my history final, which I think went very well. I finished my 7-page paper this morning and had just enough time to print it and brush my teeth on the way to the test. Now I get a little break until my next test, which is D.E., but I'll probably spend a lot of that time working on my take-home Modern Physics and Optics finals. This weekend should be pretty enjoyable. Exams are always a relaxing time, especially when most of your courses don't have an actual in-class test. Today ought to be a good day for cleaning my room... Looks around and grimaces.

I hope the rain stops soon so that we can enjoy some free time outside! Thunderstorms are awesome, but constant drizzly, cold rain just stinks.

R&E's wedding is coming up soon. I'm excited, though I need to get a hair-cut pretty soon. I'm glad that Mom & Dad will be coming up for it. We might actually get a chance to relax some in Nashville, but I'm not sure yet. It would be cool to take them to Ru San's or something. We went there this week with the Magic/WoT crowd and had a blast. I tried both eel and cranberry sushi, which were really good, and a tuna-walnut sushi, which was not so good, but I think it would be an enjoyable local outing. Ms. Grady has now firmly decided that she is not a fan of sushi, but I'm proud of her for trying something new. Maybe we could go to the Parthenon, too. I dunno. Anyways, after the wedding we'll be taking Ms. Grady up to hand her off to her folks, which means that all of our parents will finally be meeting. I'm a little nervous about that, but I think we'll have a good time.

This post is long. A little too long...

Must. Stop. Typing...

Aghhh!!!! Runs away and begins bowing and offering sunshine muffins to his brother's brilliance.

Father, please forgive me for taking people for granted; for forgetting that the greatest blessings in life you have given us are the people we share life with. Forgive me for thinking it was about my entertainment or my good standing or my "responsibilities" and help me to see that it's about your will. Help me to love those around me; to genuinely care for them, because they are your wonderful creation and to love them is to give glory to you. Protect me from the creeping weed of selfishness and let me instead walk in your Spirit. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Survey says... What was I thinking!?

Thank You, Father, for not letting me die.

So in case you've never noticed, I have a habit of sometimes kicking off my sandals whilst walking through the grass on a nice day. But not just kicking them off; I like to send them flying. It's led to some fun times, like the other day when Ms. Grady and I were walking and I kicked up my sandal and got it caught in a tree. I ended up climbing the tree and shaking the branch mercilessly until it yielded my sandal. Ms. Grady thought I was crazy and hoped I had learned my lesson.

Well... I hadn't.

Today I was walking her back to her dorm near the old bell tower when I got the urge to kick off my sandal. I saw the bell tower and thought, "Surely not..." So I kicked my sandal up in the air, and sure enough, it landed smack in the middle of the tower's ledge, about two and a half stories up. Ms. Grady about had a fit, and so I started throwing my other sandal up to knock the first off the ledge. I guess at this point Murphy's law kicked in, because by the third throw I had both sandals stuck in the top of the bell tower. Ms. Grady proceeded to remind me that these were the sandals my loving brother gave me for Christmas. The next thing I grabbed was a rock, followed by two large sticks. Before it was over I had disturbed several pidgeons and had three or four things stuck at the top of the bell tower along with my sandals. And it was getting dark.

Now being a stubborn male, I don't think I could have born the shame of asking maintenance or campus safety for help, so I pondered possible solutions and came up with three. The tower is quite old and made from stones that I imagine were just lying around the old farm. They were cemented together but had been worn over the years, making decent hand- and foot-holds. So I started to climb, but about 5 feet up decided it would be a little too difficult to get back down once I made it up (the holds were not as good as I thought they were), so I aborted that operation. That left two choices: get a ladder, or get some rope. Neither were forthcoming. But I remembered something close: my 50-ft CAT-5 ethernet cable which I plug my laptop into the school network with. I went to my room and untangled the cord and got a hanger to help things out. After a couple of tries with the cord-and-hanger and some explaining to Ms. Grady's relatives (who happened to be walking by) about what we were doing in the bell tower at night, we managed to get one sandal down. In the process, however, we shifted the other sandal to a place where the cord was pretty much useless to bring it down. DOH!

There was only one solution left. Setting his face as firm as the stones he rested his dusty hands on, the Gourd-man began to climb. The first few feet on the way up had been recemented recently, but above that point the original mortar was in place and made for better gripping. Slowly, carefully, and with several 'Honey, please be careful's resonating from below, the Gourd-man worked his way up the dark, web-infested interior wall of the tower. After several minutes he reached the top, and grabbing a steel strut which supported the massive old bell (which was still intact), plucked his brother's sandal from the ledge. Then, letting the sandal drop to the ground below, he began the calculating descent to safety. Going down was much more difficult than going up, but after a few minutes and much support from his beloved, he reached a point close enough to the ground to let go and dropped softly to the stones below him.

Yeah, I've climbed the old bell tower. My Lipscomb exploits are now complete. I think I'll take on Everest next... OK, maybe not. But I did learn something from all this:

Pidgeon poop smells?

Well, yeah, that's true, but what I was really getting at is I think I'm finally ready to break the sandal-kicking habit. Good night everybody!

Almost... there...

Stay... on... target!

Copy, Rogue leader.

The semester is very close to being over, now. I'm at the point where I don't have to go to chapel or UB anymore, though I'll probably keep going to UB. And of course the homework and tests are continuing to pile up. Just gotta make it through a few... more... days...

The Martian Chronicles were really good! It makes me want to read the book. But first I have to finish WoT. This summer, it WILL be done. Last night's session was a lot of fun. Have I ever mentioned that we're playing a WoT RPG? Well, we are. It's basically d20 DnD in the WoT world. (Sheesh! I sound like a government agency or something. The RAPP commissioner reported today that the FLB squadron of the DoD and the GDP were in serious danger of MAR attacks from outside SQUUD forces...) Anyways, GSM and I had characters that got drugged when we drank some enchanted ale, but when we all woke up the next morning locked in the stables, we busted out and kicked some serious butt. Good times!

Yesterday we had a B-day party for PB, and we took her out to Wild Noodles in Cool Springs, which was an excellent restaurant. I recommend the Beef Stroganoff. (sp?) And the Wonton S'mores. She seemed to have a good time. Happy 22nd, N!

And now I must begin work on a lab report. Or some Mario Kart 64. DOH!

STAY... ON... TARGET...

Frisbees and Fun

Last night we had an outdoor picnic, played frisbee for like 2 hours, and then played DDR for about 4 more. I got absolutely no homework done, but it was a blast. I think everybody had a good time.

Today I'm doing homework. Luckily today is Service Day and all of my classes are CANCELLED! Woot! We'll be going to the Monroe Harding Children's Home to do "landscaping", which probably means cutting grass. Tonight is the theater department's Martian Chronicles adaptation, which I've heard from some is going to be really good and from others is going to be pretty cheesy. I'm pumped though. I've been to most of the theater dept.'s performances since I started coming here and I've never been to one I didn't enjoy thoroughly.

That's about all I have right now. No deep commentaries today.

Oh! Update: I'll be staying on campus next year, for anyone who's curious. Dad pointed out that I really wanted to move in with GSM, so I was trying to make the numbers work towards that end, which is probably not a good idea. After a little introspection and some pouting I saw that he was right, so there we are! (Plus I forgot about a whole semester's worth of FOOD on the budget I made up.)

*Mumbles to self:* I'll escape this bubble YET! Just wait! BWAHAHAHAAAAA.....

A Dilemma

The Wheel turns, Ages come and pass, and the Circumstances have brought to my door and interesting dilemma: When I was first looking at the Vanderbilt Internship, I was planning on moving in with the Go Stone and staying with him into the next semester. Now it turns out that Vanderbilt has offered me free on-campus housing for my duration there (basically two and a half months). So the question is, should I accept the offer and not move in with GSM, leaving him to search for a roommate and possibly not have room for me next semester, which would mean I would live on campus next year, or should I see if he can hold out for a few more months (I would start paying rent in August), or should I just go ahead and not worry about the VU offer and move in with GSM? The only thing pulling me towards living on-campus at VU is the money I would save, about $550 or so. On the other hand, I was really looking forward to moving in with GSM and living off-campus next year. In the long run that might actually be cheaper, because living in the dorm at Lipscomb next year costs more than an apartment by far. I'm going to make up a few budgets and compare numbers for some different scenarios. In the mean time, does anybody have any advice?