Christmas Season Things and Stuff
I am currently at my Granddad's house in Texas enjoying a quiet morning and looking forward to spending the afternoon with my good ol' pal Jared, his brother Brett, Joe, and my cousin Tanner.
I didn't have time to post this story earlier, so here it is:
On Friday evening we drove to church for the Christmas Eve service in the new building. The parking lot was terribly icy, and as we searched for a parking place, we saw a teenage guy slip and fall pretty bad. My brother and sister both began laughing and making fun of him. I mentioned that they probably shouldn't laugh at the poor guy, but as usual, they didn't listen and continued to laugh. As soon as we parked, my sister opened her door, stepped onto the ice, and instantly fell. She landed on her back and slid partway beneath the car next to us. My Mom screamed, "Andy! Help her!" But I was too busy laughing. My sister was very upset because she got mud on her jacket and tore her pantyhose.
Friday, December 24, 2004
“Christmastime Has Come, There’ll be Toys for Everyone . . .”
Once again it is time to celebrate my favorite holiday of the year. This morning we opened our presents, since we’ll be leaving for Texas early tomorrow morning. This has definitely been the strangest Christmas I’ve ever had. First, it still doesn’t seem like Christmas because I’ve been so busy with school and work until recently that I haven’t had time to “get into the Christmas spirit,” as people say (I hate that expression). I haven’t even been to the mall since October, which is rare because I usually do my shopping there. This year, I either bought stuff for my family online or handed my Mom cash (I didn’t want to go to Victoria’s Secret to pick out lotion for my sister. That store frightens me). Also, I opened my main gifts early: World of Warcraft from Joe (we each paid half, so it was our gift to each other). I also received a rather nice drum set from my parents (and I’ll be paying for 35% of it or so myself). It’s a beautiful black Ludwig set including toms, bass, snare, throne, hi-hat stand, and crash stand. Unfortunately it didn’t come with any cymbals, so I’ll have to save up and buy them later. The head for the snare sounds like crap, as well: I’ll buy a nice Remo head soon.
A slight digression: I’ve started playing the drums (hence the new drum set). A friend of my brother’s needed a place to store his drum set a few months back, and Joe has been keeping the set in his room. In the past couple of months I’ve been slowly learning to play in my free time. I really enjoy it.
Back to the main topic of this post: this morning as we opened presents my Dad was a bit irritating. When he opened the box from me and my sister, he pulled out a white polo shirt and said, “Ooh! A girly man shirt!” My Mom was annoyed by that remark and explained to my Dad that it was a very nice shirt and was in no way effeminate. His next gift was a bottle of cologne. He sniffed it and said, “Is this for men?” My Mom pointed to the box where in large, bold letters it said: “For Men.” A few minutes later, I opened a Fourteeners calendar from my parents. I flipped through it and found a photo of Mt. Bross and showed it to my Dad and asked him to tell me which one it was. “Democrat! Er . . . no, um, Gray’s? Torrey’s? Is it Holy Cross? . . . Pike’s Peak?” He basically went through the list of every fourteener we’ve climbed and still didn’t get it, even when I said, “remember? The summit is often compared to a football field?”
In a few minutes we’re going to have lunch at P.F. Chang’s, my family's favorite Chinese Bistro (whatever that means). I’ve never been there, but they all say it’s wonderful. This evening we’ll go to church. For the past few months our church has been building a new sanctuary, and this will be the first service inside. It seats 7,000 and looks pretty cool. I think they'll have a musical like last year, so it should be entertaining.
Once again it is time to celebrate my favorite holiday of the year. This morning we opened our presents, since we’ll be leaving for Texas early tomorrow morning. This has definitely been the strangest Christmas I’ve ever had. First, it still doesn’t seem like Christmas because I’ve been so busy with school and work until recently that I haven’t had time to “get into the Christmas spirit,” as people say (I hate that expression). I haven’t even been to the mall since October, which is rare because I usually do my shopping there. This year, I either bought stuff for my family online or handed my Mom cash (I didn’t want to go to Victoria’s Secret to pick out lotion for my sister. That store frightens me). Also, I opened my main gifts early: World of Warcraft from Joe (we each paid half, so it was our gift to each other). I also received a rather nice drum set from my parents (and I’ll be paying for 35% of it or so myself). It’s a beautiful black Ludwig set including toms, bass, snare, throne, hi-hat stand, and crash stand. Unfortunately it didn’t come with any cymbals, so I’ll have to save up and buy them later. The head for the snare sounds like crap, as well: I’ll buy a nice Remo head soon.
A slight digression: I’ve started playing the drums (hence the new drum set). A friend of my brother’s needed a place to store his drum set a few months back, and Joe has been keeping the set in his room. In the past couple of months I’ve been slowly learning to play in my free time. I really enjoy it.
Back to the main topic of this post: this morning as we opened presents my Dad was a bit irritating. When he opened the box from me and my sister, he pulled out a white polo shirt and said, “Ooh! A girly man shirt!” My Mom was annoyed by that remark and explained to my Dad that it was a very nice shirt and was in no way effeminate. His next gift was a bottle of cologne. He sniffed it and said, “Is this for men?” My Mom pointed to the box where in large, bold letters it said: “For Men.” A few minutes later, I opened a Fourteeners calendar from my parents. I flipped through it and found a photo of Mt. Bross and showed it to my Dad and asked him to tell me which one it was. “Democrat! Er . . . no, um, Gray’s? Torrey’s? Is it Holy Cross? . . . Pike’s Peak?” He basically went through the list of every fourteener we’ve climbed and still didn’t get it, even when I said, “remember? The summit is often compared to a football field?”
In a few minutes we’re going to have lunch at P.F. Chang’s, my family's favorite Chinese Bistro (whatever that means). I’ve never been there, but they all say it’s wonderful. This evening we’ll go to church. For the past few months our church has been building a new sanctuary, and this will be the first service inside. It seats 7,000 and looks pretty cool. I think they'll have a musical like last year, so it should be entertaining.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Movie News
Matchstick Men
(Nicholas Cage, Sam Rockwell) 2003: 79%
The Trouble with Harry
(John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn) 1955: 70%
Elf
(Will Ferrell, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner) 2003: 68%
Dodgeball
(Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn) 2004: 43%
Matchstick Men
(Nicholas Cage, Sam Rockwell) 2003: 79%
The Trouble with Harry
(John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn) 1955: 70%
Elf
(Will Ferrell, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner) 2003: 68%
Dodgeball
(Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn) 2004: 43%
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
One Down
On Friday I had my first final: Cultural Anthropology. It was an interesting class, since I've always enjoyed learning about cultures around the world but have never had a chance to study them in-depth in a classroom setting. The final was more difficult than I had expected, even though I studied a while for it. It was mostly essays and short answer questions with a few multiple-choice thrown in. When I was finished with the exam, I didn't think that I had done well, and I was a little depressed about it. Evidently I've lost my ability to judge my own performance: I checked the class website this morning and discovered that I got a 95% on the test. Now, if all of my other finals can go this well . . .
On Friday I had my first final: Cultural Anthropology. It was an interesting class, since I've always enjoyed learning about cultures around the world but have never had a chance to study them in-depth in a classroom setting. The final was more difficult than I had expected, even though I studied a while for it. It was mostly essays and short answer questions with a few multiple-choice thrown in. When I was finished with the exam, I didn't think that I had done well, and I was a little depressed about it. Evidently I've lost my ability to judge my own performance: I checked the class website this morning and discovered that I got a 95% on the test. Now, if all of my other finals can go this well . . .
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Thinking up Titles is Difficult
This morning I went to work, as usual, and when it was time for me to leave I walked to my car and was dumbfounded when I could see it sparkling from 100 feet away. Just this morning it had been covered all over in a thick layer of dirt (I haven't had time to wash it since the last big snow). My car looked so different that at first I wasn't sure if it was mine. When I unlocked the door and hopped in, I noticed that the inside had been vacuumed and smelled strongly of soap. I had a theory as to this miraculous happening and my Dad confirmed it when I returned home: while I had been working, he drove to the library and took my car to a nearby carwash. Wow. I thought that that was pretty nice. My Dad's a cool guy.
Today is my sister's sixteenth birthday. This evening I picked up one of her friends and brought her back to our house, and in the meantime another of her friends had arrived. The three of them enjoyed a candle-lit three-course pasta dinner . . . and the most interesting part of the evening: my brother and four of his friends from Rampart acted as waiters. That part of the dinner was a complete surprise for my sister, and the other girls were both a little nervous having five seniors serve them.
This morning I went to work, as usual, and when it was time for me to leave I walked to my car and was dumbfounded when I could see it sparkling from 100 feet away. Just this morning it had been covered all over in a thick layer of dirt (I haven't had time to wash it since the last big snow). My car looked so different that at first I wasn't sure if it was mine. When I unlocked the door and hopped in, I noticed that the inside had been vacuumed and smelled strongly of soap. I had a theory as to this miraculous happening and my Dad confirmed it when I returned home: while I had been working, he drove to the library and took my car to a nearby carwash. Wow. I thought that that was pretty nice. My Dad's a cool guy.
Today is my sister's sixteenth birthday. This evening I picked up one of her friends and brought her back to our house, and in the meantime another of her friends had arrived. The three of them enjoyed a candle-lit three-course pasta dinner . . . and the most interesting part of the evening: my brother and four of his friends from Rampart acted as waiters. That part of the dinner was a complete surprise for my sister, and the other girls were both a little nervous having five seniors serve them.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Books to Slay and Orcs to Read
My parents have returned from their trip, and everything is back to normal. The worst thing that happened while they were gone was that I burned a quesadilla (I guess I'm finally growing up, since the past times they've left us home alone we've had much worse accidents).
Finals week begins Monday. I don't expect any of my finals to be too difficult, but I have a few hundred pages to read for various classes that I've been trying to avoid for many weeks. On Friday I'll be able to register for classes, and I'm excited because now I'll be able to get into junior and senior level literature and grammar courses.
World of Warcraft, the brand new massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing game (MMORPG), has been stealing a good portion of my free time. In the past I've stayed away online games of this sort, mostly because my internet connection sucked and I didn't want to pay monthly fees for the game. Now that I have a good connection and a steady job, I have embraced the MMO world (and the fact that WoW received a 9.5 from GameSpot helped sway me). World of Warcraft is a superb game with a vivid environment, deep roleplaying system, powerful items, and a seemingly infinite amount of quests (I could pile on more adjectives, but you get the point). I'm playing as a Dwarven Paladin, and as of now I'm level 18. I don't even want to think about how many hours it's taken me to make it this far. The scope and size of the game are staggering, and I constantly feel very small. I was especially depressed when I saw a level 30 pie vendor in one city. Must . . . reach . . . level . . . nineteen.
Sitting in chairs in taverns is great fun . . . for a little while
Underwater copper mining: an invaluable skill
Gryphons are a great way to get around
So pretty
Level 20 orcs are tough
My parents have returned from their trip, and everything is back to normal. The worst thing that happened while they were gone was that I burned a quesadilla (I guess I'm finally growing up, since the past times they've left us home alone we've had much worse accidents).
Finals week begins Monday. I don't expect any of my finals to be too difficult, but I have a few hundred pages to read for various classes that I've been trying to avoid for many weeks. On Friday I'll be able to register for classes, and I'm excited because now I'll be able to get into junior and senior level literature and grammar courses.
World of Warcraft, the brand new massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing game (MMORPG), has been stealing a good portion of my free time. In the past I've stayed away online games of this sort, mostly because my internet connection sucked and I didn't want to pay monthly fees for the game. Now that I have a good connection and a steady job, I have embraced the MMO world (and the fact that WoW received a 9.5 from GameSpot helped sway me). World of Warcraft is a superb game with a vivid environment, deep roleplaying system, powerful items, and a seemingly infinite amount of quests (I could pile on more adjectives, but you get the point). I'm playing as a Dwarven Paladin, and as of now I'm level 18. I don't even want to think about how many hours it's taken me to make it this far. The scope and size of the game are staggering, and I constantly feel very small. I was especially depressed when I saw a level 30 pie vendor in one city. Must . . . reach . . . level . . . nineteen.
Sitting in chairs in taverns is great fun . . . for a little while
Underwater copper mining: an invaluable skill
Gryphons are a great way to get around
So pretty
Level 20 orcs are tough
Friday, December 03, 2004
No Parents Week
Well, I was able to watch the sun rise today, and the traffic on Powers isn't so bad at 5 AM! I dropped my parents off at the airport this morning. They're flying to Williamsburg, Virginia, and they will be there until Tuesday. A friend of my parents', a retired Delta pilot, offered them plane tickets to anywhere they wanted to go. For awhile, they wanted to go to Switzerland . . . then they changed their minds and thought that Costa Rica would be a great place to visit. Last month, though, they settled on Williamsburg because it wouldn't cost as much. My Dad has seen the town before and he loves the Colonial history, so I'm sure they'll have fun sightseeing (and taking a break from work). All I know is that if someone offered me free tickets to anywhere in the world, I wouldn't even think of traveling within the United States.
While they are gone I'll be in charge around the house. I'll have to take care of the dogs, pick my sister up from school, cook meals, clean bathrooms, wash dishes, prevent Joe from bringing girls over to spend the night like he tried to last time my parents were away, etc. I'm sure we'll get along fine without my parents, but it will be a little strange.
Well, I was able to watch the sun rise today, and the traffic on Powers isn't so bad at 5 AM! I dropped my parents off at the airport this morning. They're flying to Williamsburg, Virginia, and they will be there until Tuesday. A friend of my parents', a retired Delta pilot, offered them plane tickets to anywhere they wanted to go. For awhile, they wanted to go to Switzerland . . . then they changed their minds and thought that Costa Rica would be a great place to visit. Last month, though, they settled on Williamsburg because it wouldn't cost as much. My Dad has seen the town before and he loves the Colonial history, so I'm sure they'll have fun sightseeing (and taking a break from work). All I know is that if someone offered me free tickets to anywhere in the world, I wouldn't even think of traveling within the United States.
While they are gone I'll be in charge around the house. I'll have to take care of the dogs, pick my sister up from school, cook meals, clean bathrooms, wash dishes, prevent Joe from bringing girls over to spend the night like he tried to last time my parents were away, etc. I'm sure we'll get along fine without my parents, but it will be a little strange.
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