And so it ends

Disclaimer: forgive all my crappy typing errors, i didnt reread this at all.

How do i feel about completing my 13th major stage production at CPLS? Alright. Relatively satisfied. Not that sad really. I think the sadness may come later. Tonight was great. Most of the people who mean the msot to me came for what was definitely our best performance. And the rest of the people that are important to me, well, they weren't there. Tearing down set was more of a task than expected, as usual, and the cast party was as cast parties always are, not as exciting as the underclassmen hope them to be. A couple freshman guys who rode with me asked, "so what exactly do we do at cast parties?" Being the honest person i am, i told them, "Not much. Sit around, make fun of all the little mistakes we made, give out cheesy awards (that were the stuff of dreams back in elementary school when we went to the blumreich's for the little people Oscar's...good times), eat pizza, sign posters (which we didnt even do this year, thankfully, otherwise i would have had to sign a bunch of posters of people i don;t really know that well because the most excited people are always those with whom i share very little. Perhaps that is a statement on my enthusiasm, or perhaps my realisticity (word?). But i have digressed.), and then leave.

I love having my brother at shows because he notices some of the little subtleties i throw in every night without any real hope of anyone noticing, but he never fails me.

Right now i should be packing for my NYC trip which begins tomorrow with a 24 hours bus ride...woohoo! I am still debating whether or nto to take lots of ntoes and compile an essay similar to last year's "An eight day eight night bus tour with 50+ people, some of whom i don't like". I am not seeing the possibility of something that polished coming out of this tour, but you never know what might happen. Anyways, i probably will try to pack everything between sunday school and noon tomorrow...we'll see. If anyone wants me to bring anything back, you better comment fast, because once i am in NYC, i probably won;t check my blog often. And even if you make requests, i probably won;t honor them unless you are someone who i already intend to get something for. And so, i take my leave and thank you both.

On a side note, Andrew, boo yankees!

Quotables: GI style

Chesterton: Heretics
Now we have fallen a second time, and only the knowledge of evil remains in us. (2:1)
Nobody has any business to use the word “progress” unless he has a definite creed and a cast-iron code of morals…For progress by its very name indicates a direction. (2:2)
Pascal: Pensees
The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means; the future alone is our end. So we never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so. (#172)
Surely it is then a great evil to be in doubt, but it is at least an indispensable duty to seek when we are in such doubt. (#194) Happiness is neither without us nor within us. It is within God, both without us and within us. (#465)

No one puts it cooler than that guy.

Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy (for those of you who wish to never know anything for sure)
At last I have discovered it – thought; this alone is inseparable from me. (4:1)
I will suppose therefore that not God, who is supremely good and the source of truth, but rather some malicious demon of the utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies in order to deceive me. (2:2)
Augustine: City of God
…The end or supreme good of this city [the city of God] is either peace in eternal life, or eternal life in peace. For peace is a good so great that even in this earthly and mortal life, there is no word we hear with such pleasure.
(that, my friends is why we are never satisfied here)

Everybody Wave

Today i had no after-school activities. I really haven't known how to handle myself. Should i be productive, or should i grasp this lax day and suck the nothingness out of it? The middle road is of course the best. On my drive home i avoided the highway and opted for more rural streets. The wind racing through my four open windows announced spring's arrival. Arriving home, i took a stroll down my lengthy driveway to retrieve the mail and dumpster. In the bundle of post were two envelopes from Pepperdine University, my future home, a Sears mailer, and various other junk. Having pulled the mail from our Post Master General-approved POS mailbox, i dropped a couple letters on the road while i ambled back to my daunting driveway. I paused, right in the middle of the street. The feeling was pretty weird, "What if a car was coming over the hill right now? Well for one thing, i probably wouldn't be standing here, but still. That would be creepy if i got hit cuz i was picking up soem worthless mail." Lesson learned: regardless of traffic, standing in the middle of frequently used roads provides a feeling of vulnerability most of us could use.

In one of the Pepperdine envelopes was hidden a sweet-action window cling, which is now fixed on the back window of my car (by "my" i really just mean the one i usually drive). Crazily, i had just been desiring such a decal. Maybe the huge tower with a cross on Pepperdine's campus is an antenna used for psychic communication and mind control.

Anyways, i have thus far, used my empty afternoon to go through the afore mentioned mail, talk on the phone, browse the web, make some invitations for my graduation open house, listen to music, and some other stuff...this week doesnt appear to be too daunting. And next week, well, NYC!!!

Visual Sunday: Slacker

Ok, so i was slacking this week, and by slacking i mean i was insanely busy with the drama (Merchant fo Venice (which you all should come see this friday or saturday at 7 pm in the Stone Table Theatre at 635 SW Clay)), so my friend Ben N. hooked me up wit hthe products of his Digital Imaging Class. Enjoy.

So many stairs...i feel like i am in Eternal Sunshine, turning different ways and seeing the same thing...ahhh! 

Look what Ben can do with Adobe photoshop CS in digital imaging class at T-High! This picture used to be all black & white. Now it has color, and a cool reflection in the floor. Oh to go to public school...sometimes.

This is what my profile pic might look like (obviously with me in it instead of some random guy i don;t know who is probably going to stumble upon my blog and wonder why the heck his picture is there....to that guy i say, "blame it on ben...no the other ben." 

Quesadilla Explosion

So, the drama the last couple nights has gone miraculously well. Ben and James Iliff are straight up hysterical. It's just a shame that more people aren;t coming to see us. But you my gentle reader could change that next weekend by coming to see me and a bunch of other thespians put it all out there on stage.

On to the juiciness. Tonight after the performance, a group of us went over t oChili's to chillax and get a bite to eat. Our waitress, who strangely recognized me as Paul Carr's little brother even though she only knew Paul cuz they went to school together through 3rd grade (i doubt she ever saw me. heck, how did she even know i existed) and who happened to be pretty good looking, came to take our orders. I had bee npretty set on getting the classic nachos and not sharing them, but shortly before her eyes gazed into my soul asking, "And for you?" I saw "Quesadilla Explosion" on the menu. Scanning its subtitle, i was absorbed by its chargrilled chicken, melted cheese, and diced tomatoes...mmmm, yum yum. "Yeah, I'll have that (Quesadilla Explosion)," i said to her.

After the standard restaurant wait, our waitress carried over her tray of goodies. "OK, here's the salad." I thought to myself, "Whwat fairy here ordered a salad. I mean i wouldnt be surprised if one of the girls did, but man, if it's one of the guys..." The plate was being pushed towards me. The waitress' eyes locked onto mine, and in slow motion silence, her mouth formed the words "Quesadilla Explosion." My jaw dropped; i stared like i stare when in awe of someone's stupidity. "I ordered a salad?" I didn't have the heart to complain about it. I had just lost more manhood points than Van Damme ever had. As Seinfeld puts it, "Girls don't respect a salad guy!" And i'm not a salad guy. And this was no ordinary salad. This baby was a salad monster. Ingredients included:White lettuce, Green Lettuce, Red Lettuce, light green lettuce, purple lettuce, spinach, shredded cheese, beans, corn, vinegar, oil, chargrilled chicken, tortilla bits, melted cheeses, and even nuts. The cook, desiring this salad to live up to its name, found every piece piece of non-meat he had, added chicken, put it in a bowl with an m-80, and lit the sucker. The result, Quesadilla Explosion. What began as a 4th of July hoax, is now a Chili's staple.

I'll have you know that when describing the Quesadilla Explosion, you have to talk in the Ron Burgundy voice (no i havent seen Anchorman. Yes i plan to. No i don;t need to to know what the voice is...thanks doug.)

Early exit

It's amazing how satisfied you can be with school, when all of a sudden, you loath nothing more. I remeber telling Brady S that i would never get Senioritis, and then ammending the statement "at least not as badly as you." Good thing i made that ammendment, because wow. Today in choir i just had to leave. i had a taxing calc class, a music history test and an ancient lit test earlier in the day, as well as an unusually enenjoyable madrigals time. People that i usually like were driving me crazy with disrespect and just downright poor attitudes. Choir wasnt especially bad, but everything we did sucked, and i was just ready to go home, so i did. I mean it wasn't major, i only left 15 minutes early. But still, the feeling of just hopping up, putting on your backpack, and walking out the side door into freedom with no authority figures aware of the escape invigorates the soul. I hopped into the car, ejected my Dashboard cd, replaced it with P.S. and skipped to the most appropriate song, "This Place is a Prison."

Mind you, i have to return i na couple of hours for opening night of our drama, The Merchant of Venice (which, if i like you at all, i want you to come see, just so i have a face to look forward to talking to after the show. and if i don't like you, u are still welcome to come as long as u laugh it up).

I am really just tired right now. I want a week off, but i will probably not get one until our cruise in June...yay...scuba diving, gluttony, warmth. I need to go watch the Amazing race and eat, and who knows what else.

--he who eagerly awaits may 20th whenever he walks out of the wardrobe doors and into summer.

Visual Sunday: merchants need entertainment

During play practice this week, Matt, Savannah, and i got a little bored during our downtime. SO what better way to entertain ourselves than by attempting to take artistic B&W photos on with my camera? These are some of the products of our amateur efforts.

Credit to Matt for the one of me staring up, and to Savannah for my eyes...that sounds weird...mmm. I'll take credit for the rest. All photos were taken in the Stone Table Theatre at Cair PAravel-Latin School (yes, i go to school in freaking Narnia).

Matt looking cool as a silhouette. 

mmmm, empty seats and a blank upward stare...profound 

I was trying to do something cool with the piano keys...not sure if it worked. I KNOW, i could make a necktie... 

Brittany will be a little T.O.ed if she finds out i posted this, but i really like all the movement around her, including the creepy face in the top left corner hehe. 

This might be my favorite. Mary Waldy rocks my face off. And on a side note, i think this could be a screencap from a horror film. 

i just liked the blue hue, and in retrospect, the words are pretty meaningful, and even if you can;' read them, seeing Jessica and Shylock next to eachother presents conflict. 

New profile pic anyone? 

All over the place

Why haven't i posted since tuesday? Well ya see, i actually have. Only blogger decided to delete my post on thursday evening, and of course i had forgotten to copy it before publishing (i only forget when it crashes...grr). So the last couple days have been spent in a nathan-like state i.e. blogger withdrawal. With that lost post i also lost a new poem whic hi had titled "Ultimatum" it was pretty cool. I tried rewriting it, but it just wasn't the same. I know it opened with somethign about "black formica tables." The only full lines i really remember were:"If looks could be killed,/this one would take full clip in the dome." Good times.

I watched City of God last night. It is the "based on a true story" retelling of an aspiring photographer's interactions with the "hoods" and drug lords of the Rion de Janeiro slums. Probably the most moving thing was watching the utter destruction of juvenile innocence. Kids never had a chance to be kids. They either killed, were killed, or ran away from all they knew: poverty, death, and lousy jobs.

I have a decision to make. Should i see Star Wars Episode III in Topeka at our new theatres, or, for traditions sake, should i once again make the pilgrimmage to the AMC Studio 30 in Olathe? Olathe will have the digital projectors again...tempting...we'll see. I guess i still need to decide where i am going to college too...i'm leanin' west.

It's weird watchign the McDonald's all-american game and thinking that those kids are my age, pondering the possibility of multi-million dollar signing bonuses. Also, some of those kids look about 25, not even a slight resemblance to the 18 year olds i know.

I just got a late notice from the library for a couple of DVDs...which i still haven't watched. You would think that with a 3-week rental i could watch two 2-hour movies, but no, i just keep putting it off. Thank goodness for no late fees at the blessed TSCPL.

Infecting the mother ship

Medical exams, mmmm, and i don't mean the MCAT. Today my dad and i made the beautiful drive to Manhattan ("beautiful, kansas?" you say. Yes, it is complete with a sweet little scenic overlook...right Anna?) through the rolling Flint Hills. I got an eye exam at the Eye Doctors (price, young, orel, and horsch...i had young...he was not). Dr. young was very congenial. We chatted about Wheaton, our churches, and other religious stuff while he had me follow his pen aroudn the room and tell him when my eyes went from blurry to clear. He said my ocular faculty was ready to kill some foreigners. Yessssssss.

About college. Soon i will decide between Wheaton and Pepperdine. Most of you don't understand how i could pass up the beach, and climate of Cali. Your lack of understanding is understandable. You same people don;t understand the ties i have to Wheaton through Paul, Adriel, Sara, Doug, and all the other people i know who have gone there. The college pretty much rocks...i'll be honest. But Pepperdine's AFROTC detachment seems to have some edges. Access to the coast and an AF base provides more opportunities outside of ROTC classes, and during your jr/sr years, you still do ROTC classes only once a week (although that day is friday). Decisions. They may be the death of me, but more likely it will be the lack of blood supplied to my brain.

New favorite song: Mad World by Gary Jules...also has a sweet music video you can see at launch.yahoo.com.

Visual Sunday: poker night

Ok, so here is me going through a hand of cards...anything not in quotes is just going on in my head, the rest is also going on in my head, but in addition, it is being said aloud...whoa...feel free to comment on a specific picture or this...i don't really care...any feedback o nthe profile pic? I can get a new one if you guys think it sucks, or i can go back to me in negative :).

Look at those chips...they just want to go to their home in the middle of the table where they magically multiply like the little asexual clay composite 11.5 gram masses they are...only one way to send them there...mwahaha!! 

"I raise" hehehe they don't know what to do now...do i have a big pair, or absolute junk, well if i know these guys they will all just fold around hehe.

As long as he doesn't reraise me, i am fine. Uh oh, he is reaching for chips. He wouldn't even think about it, or would he?
"Thomas, i think i have to reraise you...1000 to go buddy."
That dirty little pirate hooker.

"Alright then, i'm all in"...and what are you gunna do about it, you are gunna fold aren't you cuz you are too big of a pansy, and my rotoscope-esque picture is scaring you, yeah that's right..."you fold? really?" 

they're mine, they're all mine, and i had NOTHING...NOTHING!!!!! 

"Congdon, party of a billion!"

Tonight, the frightening happened, a merger of monopolizing proportions, a joining of families with more power than the five families of the five Burroughs. Yeah, they got married. Mark and Katie (y?) Congdon...kinda weird, but not surprising.

The wedding was quality. Great video, good music, good idea to have Leenerts and Jim each have their own roles. I enjoyed ushering, even though i just found out that i was doing it two days ago haha how typical. I had to run to Kohl's yesterday to get a tie and belt (19.88 total), then i borrowed Craig's suit, only to find the pants be too small; i grabbed Paul's pants from one of his suits which were a little big and wore craig's jacket with them to make my smorgasbord (sp?) suit.

We ushers had good times though. Each one of us had our own code name which we used to "radio" each other via our boutonniere roses: "Eagle 1, this is Base Camp, what is the ETA of the guests?"
"Roger, Base, this is Eagle 1, Booster Seat is taking recon on guests now, over."
"Base Camp, this is Booster Seat, ETA one guests is 0600 hours, prepare for oporation escortation, over and out."

Good times...

Lots of people at the Great Overland Station for the reception. It's kinda hard to believe that Topeka contains such a beautifully restored train station. For a little while i almost felt like i was in a real city...not to worry, this little gem of a location is nestled in the ghetto.

Congrats Katie & Mark, and thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!