How Much Wood Could A Wood-Chuck Chuck?

One day there were three cowboys sittin' around a campfire, eatin' their beans and drinkin' their coffee. Frank says "Joe, tell us a story." So Joe began.
"One day there were three cowboys sittin' around a campfire, eatin' their beans and drinkin' their coffee. Frank says 'Joe, tell us a story.' So Joe began.
'One day there were three cowboys sittin' around a campfire, eatin' their beans and drinkin' their coffee...'"

I love that one. My friend told it to me maybe three or four years ago. It's always a nice one just in case someone asks you to tell a story. Start right into that one and before long they'll learn not to ask such silly requests.
I've been pretty busy lately. I would like to blog every day, but the time flies by so quickly that I come to the end of the day only to find the same post that was there three days ago labeled as the "latest post".
I auditioned for the musical that my school is putting on. I have been in a school musical before. It was The Music Man that we did two years ago. I was the bass in the quartet. Those were good times. This year we are doing the Rodgers and Hammerstein version of Cinderella. What fabulous part did I receive, you ask? I, me dear readers, received the part of...get this...Herald.
That's right, I am the herald. This means that my big line is "Here ye, here ye, here ye all!" There is more to it, but you'll just have to come watch the play to find out what grand news I bring. I'm not really disappointed by the part they cast me as. It isn't a tiny part. I could have ended up as one of the "townspeople". Not to say that being a townsperson is a bad thing, just to say that I do have a good sized part. I even have a solo. It's a good one too. But, again, you will have to come see it to know what it is.
November 17th--19th. Don't miss it. Laters.

Pedestrian Stop-Lights

As the two figures walk down the avenue there conversation becomes a little more than audible to any passers by. Neither one gives much thought to the fact that their useless banter can be heard by the general public. They continue with not so much as a thought to what they are saying. In fact neither one really thinks much at all.
"I don't see how such a thing can even come to pass."
"Well, it's true enough. Regardless of the plausibility of the matter it did happen."
"What will this mean for the rest of them?"
"I'm not really sure. And for that matter what will it mean for us? I hadn't even thought about it."
"Do you suppose there is anything that can be done?"
"I'm certain there are many things that CAN be done. Whether or not it will make any difference I couldn't say."
"So there is no hope."
"No hope in deed."
"What should we do now?"
"I suppose we just keep walking until we come to our destination."
"But where is that?"
"At the place we stop, of course."
"I wonder if the rest of them know what happened."
"If they haven't figured it out by now, they will soon enough."
"Do you suppose any of them saw it coming?"
"Nothing can be certain. I'm sure it's possible. Who knows?"

SEE!?!? This is what happens when you take AP English in high school. You read things such as "Waiting For Godot" and next thing you know, most of your abstract thoughts are in absurd form. "What are we doing?" "Nothing" "What for?" "That's what we do". Absurdism--it's a roller coaster of obnoxious, entertaining, random, vague, pointless, (and many other things) thought. I don't know why I wrote it. It's just the kind of thing that has been waiting to be written for over a week now. I thought it would be fun to write such a thing. True, this is a weak piece. I wasn't trying very hard. I wasn't even trying to write such a piece. That's just what happened when I let my mind loose.
I am going to have to write a paper this weekend. Another one. I mean, what was wrong with the one I wrote last week? Was that not enough to last you a little while? You have to have another one within two weeks of the last.
It's due Tuesday. So long as I have something tomorrow I will be doing well. Once I have an idea and some words to work with I don't have much trouble writing the whole paper. We'll just see how long this one takes. This should be fun. Laters.

*Nerd Alert!*

Have you ever had one of those days that just didn't exist? Not that it didn't happen, just that it was kind of like it happened while you weren't really in it. Not that you ceased to exist for a day, just that your consciousness was, at the very least, dulled to the world to the point that you wonder if you were even conscious at the time. I know that there are some of you who know what I mean. Well, lately my life has been a lot like that almost everyday. Not that I'm not conscious to the world around me, and not to say that my life has been boring. In fact, if anything, this feeling has been brought about by the constant action, excitement, and all around good times I've been having for the last month. My life isn't dull, I am becoming dull to the excitement of life. All the great things that have been happening in my life have become the norm. It's just the way life works now.
I realize this is something that won't last for too long, and soon I will be wondering if there is any point to life other than going to school and being a hermit in my room. This is why I am not taking these weeks for granted. It may not seem like it's a big deal any more, but I know that it is. So when people ask that oh, so classic line, "How are you?", I respond quite quickly and with honest excitement "I am doing excellently." I don't know if that is even a proper sentence, but I'm not trying to give them an essay on my life. It gets the point across.
It's crazy, I even have fun in school. I would rather not have to go to school, but so long as I'm there I'm going to make the best of it. And I'm having a grand time.
Well, dinner calls. Laters.

Photo Opp!

Today was a half day. I got out of school at around 11:25-ish. Before I managed my escape, however, I had to get through my 5th period class...AP English. I wasn't worried at all. I actually enjoy the class (please don't faint at such remarks. It's true, I do enjoy many of my classes. And no, I'm not sick.) Today is Wednesday. Wednesday means practice AP exam in English class. I'm still not worried. After finishing the test I had a few minutes before our time was up. Well, I decided to use this opportunity to "take care of some business." I went and asked Mr. Christiansen if I could step out of the room for a little while, to which he responded in the affirmative. All of this is fine and well, but his next words made a circus act of my entire day. He said "Take something with you" as he pointed to a few pictures on a shelf next to his desk. I didn't quite follow what he was saying. I got the idea that he meant to take something as a hall pass, but he was pointing at pictures of what I believe to be his family.
"You want me to just take a picture of your family right off your desk?" Was the thought that screamed in my mind. Not only was I to take one of the pictures, I also had to pick which one. I didn't want to start playing favorites. Luckily, just as I was reaching for the cheapest frame that I saw C.J. walked into the room, and his next line was so cool. His words were "Here. This is a good one." as he handed me a slightly more manageable picture of two kids.
It took me a little while to get over the shock of the whole situation. Looking back on it I still get goosbumps. It was quite a moral dilemma. I'm not the kind of person who just walks off with peoples stuff. Sure I was to bring it back, but it was still something I was just not ready to do.
Well, the whole issue being resolved I went about my business for the rest of the day, and now you find me here.

"Help You, I can."

I was looking through some old digital film when I found this beauty. The story; my brother and I (the weird one) were kind of board. So we decided to take a few pictures. That was fun. You may see more in the future. Laters.

Prepare For The Big One!!!

It is my observation that many people don't even realize the absurdity by which they live. I realize this is not a new discovery, however, it is quite applicable to understanding the misunderstanding. It's kind of like what Eric said in his comment about my last post. Though nihilism and Christianity don't exactly work together there is a certain aspect of Christianity that would seem, to the outsider, to be nihilistic. To the person who does not see there being anything after this life could look at Christians and say "What is up with you? Don't you even care about all the stuff that is going on around you? You better start movin' or you're going to be left with nothing." I mean, that's kind of what it looks like. Here the rest of the world is going around, every one doing what they think best to be in the best position possible for themselves. I know some people might say that there are those out there who, without any Christian influence, are totally focused on helping others. To that I would say they find it easier to live with themselves. It's a conscience pleaser. It's what they do to get themselves off their backs.
But then people like that look at Christians and what do they see. "That can't be very fun. Why not just put that down for a little while and come have some fun. You only live once, you know." It looks like we don't even care very much about anything.
The reality of the matter is not that we don't care about life, rather we don't look at the same aspects of life as being important. Cars, cash, and power just don't seem that appealing.
The funny thing is that while others may see me as being apathetic to life I feel as though my life couldn't be any more grand or exciting without going over board. I don't mean to say that I have a low tolerance for movement in life. Just that God knows my limits and he is keeping within my operating zone. And it's a BIG zone.
Sometimes I wonder if maybe the zone He has me filling is a bit big for me. "How am I supposed to be all the way over there one second and then all the way at the other end the next second? I mean really!" The only thing that helps my sanity is knowing that I'm not the one that is supposed to fill the zone. I suppose you could say "God is in the zone." I just work here. He works through me. I don't have to be big at all. That's His job.

I don't remember what this post was about. It kind of rabbit trailed all over the place. But that's ok. If that's the way my thoughts are working then that's what I'm going to write and how I'm going to write it. Ummmm...... Laters.

cPonEfuAsCioEn

If but to dream, then I shall dream no more.
For loss in life be alike to gain wherever phantoms are concerned.
No need is there for deep despair when all of now is lost to time.
'Tis but a dream in all its glory. Never more. Never more.
What is the place to the eye of change? Dust and soot, the blankets of time.
I see no more of the self I sought to be. The dead skin empty on the floor.
Where is the portrait of the child who's eyes once peered into the soul?
No longer do I fear the losses of the game that plagues the mind.
What more need come to the hearts of sound calling?

However,
peace be found amidst the storm of confusion.
Sight given to those among the blind.
Understanding comes though few may know it.
Fear evades me as I seek new life.
Freedom found,
And far from a dream.

C Kin Butler 2005

(Insert Really Catchy Title Here. I'm Too Busy To Do It Myself.)

I would just like to say, first of all, that I am not dead. Yes. I know I said that I would now be able to post more often, but I hardly expected my life to become this chaotic. My English teacher even told us on the one occasion that he didn't give us any homework for the evening that it wouldn't happen ever again. So I am expecting to be at least a little busy for the duration of the school year. All accept second trimester. I don't have English that term. I would just like to apologize right now for the lack of blogging that will occur this school year. I assure you it has nothing to do with a lack of desire to blog, a lack of material to blog, or an extreme dislike of my "fan base". Honest, I really do want to blog. I just get really busy, and before I know it it's time for bed.
That said I am afraid I must bid you all fare well once again. I have homework yet to be done. Laters.

Bone-appetite

I would like to start off this post with this statement for anyone considering going into a ministerial position that involves preaching in front of any kind of masses.

If you are going to give a serious sermon, I would advise that you refrain from making any really comical comments in the middle of said sermon.

I say this because of a situation that occurred yesterday. I will not mention the parties in question. However, I do believe I can tell the story. (The names have been changed to protect the guilty. And I'll be really vague.)
So I was sitting in church yesterday with a few of my friends, and the sermon was on the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel. Somewhere near the middle of the sermon Pastor "Bill" made a comment about it not being a situation where "the foot bone is connected to the shin bone. The shin bone is connected to the thy bone." Rather it was more like "Here a bone. There a bone. Everywhere a bone." I found this to be quite amusing and permitted myself a short laugh and a few snickers after the fact. The real trouble, however, was what happened to the two friends on my right. They couldn't stop laughing. And to make it worse, whenever they had finally calmed down "Bill" would say the word "bone" again and they ruptured into another round of laughter.
Now, to be perfectly honest they weren't laughing that loud. I mean, it wasn't like "HAHAHAHA!!!" It was more like " phhhhhht!". They were trying really hard to hold it in. But then "bone" and . We found out later that "Bill" had noticed the situation and had tried really hard the entire sermon to not look over in our direction. It was a great sermon.
Anyway, later that day I was really hungry (this has absolutely nothing to do with the previous story) so I started looking around the house for some kind of food to eat. I found some bread and peanut butter. I thought to myself, "that sounds good, peanut butter bread." So I started to lather the peanut butter on the bread and thought "this needs something". Going to the cupboard I found some old marshmallows. They were a little hard and stale, but I figured I could melt them and then maybe pour it onto to peanut butter bread. I was going to just put the marshmallows in the microwave to melt them. However, on further consideration I decided to melt them the way I usually melt chocolate.
While I was melting these marshmallows I decided to peruse the rest of the kitchen to see if I could find anything else to add to the mixture. I found baking cocoa and powder sugar (two materials with which I have done may things in the past). This gave me an idea. I pulled out the milk and started to mix the cocoa and sugar. When the marshmallows had melted I through all of it in a pot and got it boiling. When I poured it out into a pan I quickly stuck it in the freezer for half an hour.
Upon extracting it from the freezer later I found that what I created was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Okay, maybe it looked exactly like chocolate pudding. But it tasted more like fudge. MMMmmmm, fuuuuuudge. I call it, "fudge pudding". Catchy title, eh? We'll just see how well it sells. I could make millions....or just really happy friends.
Hmm...what should I concoct next? "Wanted: Food taster. Willing to work for peanuts, and whatever else I happen to use in my mixtures."
Laters.

Ta da!

I have yet to tell anything of my first week of school. This a little disconcerting considering it is Friday and I haven't blogged since Tuesday. So I've had Much opportunity for just such a thing.
I guess there isn't a whole lot to say. I'm doing very well in all my classes. I have choir and band first period (they alternate every other day.), drafting 2nd, chemistry third period (how would you plural the word "chemistry"? Like, "I have many classes of chemistri." Or "{I don't have a good sample sentence to go with this} chemistries." just a thought), Advanced algebra 4th (don't let the name fool you. It's just regular algebra.), and last, but certainly not least, AP English fifth period (We'll just see how this one turns out).
I'm really excited about this school year. A lot is happening, and I know that it is only the beginning.

Strings, Straps,...How About Bailing Wire?

"If wishes were horses... we would have a lot of drowned horses in those wishing wells." --Kin
I have been really busy these last couple days. First I went to Guitar center on Saturday after helping a friends brother move all his stuff into a moving van. Guitar center is a pretty cool place. I bought a couple sets of guitar strings. I've had my guitar for two and a half years now and I had never purchased a single set of strings myself. Whenever my strings were getting old a friend would offer to give me a set from his/her massive surplus of guitar strings. (I don't know why my friends always get guitar strings in bulk. It's like they shop at the Costco/guitar center). So this was the first time I have purchased my own guitar strings. Remember that shed I painted? I didn't exactly do it for free. So I had some funds, and now I have new guitar strings. (How many more times do you think I can say the words "guitar strings" in this post?)
I also got a new neck strap. My old one is starting to fall apart. And by "starting" I mean "has been since a year ago", and by "fall apart" I mean "the thread is coming out and I could fix it if I had the time, patience, and enough black thread." So I got a new one.
It's amazing all the different kinds of guitar straps they had there. They had one for the goth (clips, chains, and lots of other metal stuff, all on black leather.) They had one that was made out of a seat belt. It even had the buckle on it so that when you wanted to take the strap off you could just undo the seat buckle. I thought it was pretty cool. I would have even got that one had it not been for the fact that the buckle was made out of a lot of heavy metal that would have dingged up my guitar pretty good.
That was a fun trip. I even saw John Ross and Tim Lopez (I don't think he is related to J Lo, so don't ask). Tim was looking for a new guitar and he brought John along to help him out. They are both friends of mine from Summer Seminary. It was good to see them again.
Well, that should do for today. School started so I'll be locked in this room a lot during the weeks. I should be able to post regularly now. Laters.

Wowzer!

I was thinking about some things yesterday. (I know, it's dangerous to participate in such activities) And I started thinking about some stuff that had bothered me not half a year ago. I was thinking about it and trying to explain it to my friend as though it was something that I still thought was true in m own mind. Trouble was, though I had explained it other people before and I knew exactly what it was, I wasn't able to explain it yesterday. I was still trying to explain it when I finally figured it out.
It doesn't bother me any more. After this year, with all that has happened, I have no doubt about this thing that I was so unsure of only six or seven months ago. It had to do with my relationship with God and it possibly lacking something. Now I know that it doesn't, and that it will continue to grow.
Because I have no doubt on the subject now I wasn't able to even describe the way a felt only a year ago. I've moved beyond it. And God is continuing to remove any doubts that might remain in my mind.
I keep thinking about all that God did in my life last year, and thinking "What is he going to do this year?" I mean, it doesn't seem like there is any more that he can do. But I know that he will do great things this year. It's really exciting.
Keep an eye on this blog. It only gets better from here. Laters.

No Officer. I'm Not Color Blind.

Well, we don't have to worry about the water heater. Dad took care of it really quickly. I only had to live without hot water for one night. Now that you know that I'm sure you will all sleep well.
I realize it has been a while since I have blogged. Like...one...day. Okay, maybe that isn't so long for some of you. But it seems like forever to me. I mean, I've been really busy these last two weeks. That's probably a good thing too. I managed to pick up a little cash with that shed painting job. I finished it today. That shed is looking really spiffy. And I got free high-lights in my hair. People usually pay a lot of money for that stuff. I got paid for it. The white actually looks real nice, if I do say so myself. Sometimes it looks like dandruf though. That's what happens when you don't have it done professionally. (Note: just in case you didn't get it, I didn't really get high-lights done to my hair. It's paint that got in my hair while I was painting ;-)
I've been talking with my friends a lot lately. Mostly on AIM. I would just like to thank all those that have been supporting me in all that's been going on in my life these days. You all know who you are. I'd list you all off by name, but I'm not going to...for security reasons. See, I got your backs, guys. They won't get me to squeal. Your secrets are safe with me.
I'll just take this space right here to mention, in one line a piece, all the weird stuff that I have thought about lately:

Paranoid parents.
4 trip projects.
Paint spills.
Walking routes.
Papers on the internet.
Past experiences -> Future possibilities.
Best case scenarios.
Green apple smoothes.

Thank you. I would again like to thank all those who have contributed to this list. I couldn't have done it without you. Laters.