Tuesday, June 29, 2004

I'm not doing so great on the frequent updates. I haven't really done so for months now though so I guess it's nothing too abnormal. Where to start. Well I must say I had a great weekend. My roommate from school came up for a long weekend. We went to the coast, to the city (SF), to the woods, and I got to show her around the city where I live (that didn't take long). Overall we had a really fun time. Since we've lived together it's just so non-pressure to be around her. It was funny, because the whole time she was here it never really felt weird to have her here. When I woke up in the morning it was like...she's here. Of course she's here. That's not so weird...even though it really is. Today was our first full day on our perspective ends of the state which is quite sad. Five months until I see her again.

This week marked the start of my worship leading endeavors at a camp about 15 minutes from my house. A friend of mine is coordinating the camp and she asked me a couple months ago if I could lead worship for this intensive, 3 week leadership camp they started this year. Today was day three, and I'm totally having a blast with them. It's a small group which gives me the opportunity to get to know each person. I already have all their names down. Really it's just the ideal size for my personality. Tonight I went out there earlier than usual because they had planned to be on the ropes course that night. Well, after I was finished up my friend invited me to go along with them on the ropes course, so I did! I mean really, how often do you get a random invite to go down a zip line? So, about an hour ago I was hurtling through the air. Good times. That's all I've really got to say I think. Three weeks and one day to Oz.

Sunday, June 20, 2004

I know I know. So I write a post about how excited I am about this gig then I don't even say how it went. And I'm a slacker and didn't post any pictures, but I did forewarn that might be the case so you can't blame me there. Anyway, the gig went quite well. There was a good crowd whenever we started playing, and a good group of people from my church came to show their support which meant a lot. Aside from that, there was nothing really meaningful or amazing about the gig. We came, we saw, we conquered...or something like that. It was all pretty non-emotive for me actually. I'm not sure why that was, but when I finally got there it wasn't a big deal. I wasn't really nervous, I wasn't really excited, I just went out there and did it. No adrenaline, no nothing. I'm still trying to figure out why that might be. Maybe it was playing with people I didn't know, or maybe it was the venue. Maybe it was the fact that there was a lot of pressure with this gig and I was just glad to have it over. Or maybe it was the pain of knowing that $100 was departing from my savings account to pay for the band. Whatever it was, it was a good experience, I think it helped out our church, and now it's over.

This week I've been working at the music store doing stuff on computers. Some people have been gone from the office so it's just been a few of us in there. The camaraderie has been more fun this past week than I ever remember, but besides that things have been very boring. The work they have me doing is just very monotonous, and while I'm very grateful for a paycheck I often come home feeling like a zombie. I'm hoping they have something different for me once I finish this project on Monday.

Yesterday was a monumental day. I talked to all three of my roommates on the phone in the same day. It was so great. This week I've really started to miss people from school for the first time. I was wondering when it would set in, and finally after six weeks it has. One of my roommates just got back from 3 weeks overseas a couple days ago, so it was the first time I have talked to her in a long time. It was great to hear her voice. It made me realize how much I miss her. But hopefully I will be seeing her and another friend in early July. Also, one of my other roommates is coming out here on Thursday. Talking to her last night also reminded me how much fun we have together and how much we laugh when we're together. We're going to have a great time. I can't wait to show her this crazy place.

Lately I've been waking up early in the morning, then drifting back to sleep again. But since I have already woken up once, I tend to sleep lightly during the last couple hours and I remember a lot of my dreams as a result. Score another dream for Australia. I have 2 Australia dreams a week easy. Here's what was going on. It was the first day of classes, and I was trying to find what building my class was in. I went into one building (oddly enough the entire building was one classroom) and discovered that I was in the wrong place. So I got up and walked out, and I think eventually found someone and asked them where I needed to go. They then pulled out a map and showed me another completely different part of campus which looked like it was at least a mile away. So I went walking down this path toward the other part of campus, and the path took me by a beach and some other things. Then somehow I randomly ran across my seventh grade history teacher, so we stopped for quite a while and talked. Then I realized I was missing my classes, and as I looked at my schedule I realized I had another class I'd forgotten about and I was missing that one too. Then finally I think I decided to stuff it. I don't really remember what happened next, but somehow I think I ended up at Leah's or somewhere with Leah. I realized at this point that I didn't know what day it was, and it might have been Friday and I don't even have class on Friday! So I'm wondering what day it is, then Leah tells me that today is Christmas, but not many people in Australia celebrate it so it's kinda hard to tell! So then I'm trying to figure out what day it, because in my dream it's only two days after I've arrived in Australia, which means it should be the 24th. Which still doesn't make any sense, because I'm flying to Australia in July, not December, but somehow in my dream it was December. And apparently it was Christmas, but Christmas isn't a huge holiday in Australia and for some reason the uni decided to add a whole extension to campus like five miles away. Right. These are how irrational my dreams are. I don't really dream about normal things or normal problems. Instead I have these obstacles in my dreams that don't really exist. Like for whatever reason in my dream I could never really be sure of where I was going or where the campus was...like I couldn't look at the map or something. But at least these dreams provide some entertainment as I reflect on them later. Or maybe I'm just sick in the head.

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Before I get ready for work I have to say this. The band I'm playing with tonight is AMAZING. We had a rehearsal last night and they sounded so good. I was totally in awe. I'm so stoked for tonight. And to top it off the Lakers lost.

Sunday, June 13, 2004

Well, I'm almost through my second full day back on the mainland. Unfortunately, the last two nights of sleep have been a bit restless, but I'm hoping that tonight I'll finally be tired enough to get myself on track. No need for three nights in a row of falling asleep at 2am.

The trip was nice and relaxing. We did a bit of swimming, went out on a catamaran one afternoon, went to the Polynesian Cultural center on the north shore, beat my dad for the first time at golf (95 baby), and spent some time at Waikiki. Overall very relaxing and luckily not too hot. I didn't start breaking out until about our fifth day there, which is a ton better than it's been in past years.

There might be a picture or two to come, depending on whether or not I feel motivated enough to upload then transfer them onto my parent's computer. There might be stories to. Then again, maybe not. All depends on my schedule and more so on my motivation this week.

This week I'm going to be working, which is a huge blessing. I also have a huge gig coming up on Wednesday which I'm really excited about. And I just completely lost my line of thought, so that's all for now.

Thursday, June 03, 2004

Hello photoblogging. And hello free storage of the photos. A-ma-zing. Be prepared for more photos in the upcoming months. Actually I might start a different blog that's just photos, I'm not sure yet. Anyway, that little guy down there is my adorable second cousin, who just started crawling this week. He's the cutest, and I'm going to miss him so much while I'm gone.

So the whole week has been a bit uneventful. I spent some time with a few friends which was fun, went to the beach, bought a few things for vacation, read some C.S. Lewis, braved the DMV to get a new license, and rehearsed for my gig coming up later this month. Sounds like a lot but it really wasn't. But finally today is the day, and my Grandma and I are leaving tonight for the city, and early tomorrow we fly to Honolulu. Aloha and mahalo. Those are the only Hawaiian words I know. Well, beside that fish Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. And my friend's middle name is Hokulani. That means something about a star I think. I'm definitely fluent.

I'm most of the way through The Weight of Glory which actually turned out to be a collection of sermons by C.S. Lewis, the most famous being the weight of glory. Beside that one, I really liked his Transposition. It's a great discussion about the relationship between heavenly things and how they relate and filter through our emotions and senses. Sort of hard to explain, but he uses the gift of tongues as an example, then expands to a more all-encompassing level. It's very good, and really philosophical which I love. Seriously, find a way to get ahold of this essay, especially if you're one of my tongue speaking friends (which I think are like the only two people that read this). Lots of good things to think about. There's also a very philosophical one called Why I am not a Pacifist. He uses Scripture but also method and authority to determine what his stance is.

So I guess that's all for now. Maybe I should start packing. I hate packing. It's definitely in my top five list of things I hate to do. I think going to the doctor is above it though.