So I did get on...a Spin on Thanksgiving.

...because my family and the guests are on a walk and I'm at home doing the dishes (well, I finished them...sorta)

Anyway.

Because most people, when they write on Thanksgiving, are thankful and mushy or boring or both. And because I have so much to be thankful for that its impossible to put it into words, I am going to write on why Thanksgiving is the WORST holiday. Its different. I'm different. So lets start.

Ok. Before I start, so you don't get the wrong idea, this isn't serious and I think that the core idea of Thanksgiving (giving thanks to God) is a both good and important one.

That being said...

The most common misconception about Thanksgiving is "OOOOOhhh the food is so great!!"

If the meal is a traditional one, I would say that that statement is utter and complete rubbish.

Seriously. Turkey is nothing but dried-out chicken* on 'roids (I honestly don't get why the U.S anti-doping agency hasn't outlawed this holiday. I mean, humans are on the same level as animals, right?  So why don't we get the same treatment? Why bust Lance, when you don't bust the turkeys in  turkey runs at rodeos and such?) On other holidays, you get prime rib or filet mignon. Thanksgiving? Yo here buddy, here's a juiced-up chicken.

And Yams? Nuff said.

Stuffing is, well, stuffing.


Pies are kind of gross....the crusts...ewww. (I had a pack of Smarties for dessert)

Bread and mashed potatoes? The best parts of Thanksgiving dinner. But they really aren't exclusive to the holiday.


So I guess that 'the food is so great' statement has been twisted because a) there is too much of it and b) because Americans are big fat gluttons.

To sum up: We slave away all day long in order to make too much food, then we eat too much food, and are left without a thing to be thankful for because we are sick and there are mountains of dishes awaiting judgment in the kitchen. Well, I guess there is one thing to be thankful for....its almost over. =P


Come to think of it, the leftovers are probably the best thing about Thanksgiving. Playing second fiddle to its aftermath? That in itself pretty much proves that it is by far the worst of the major holidays.

Well, the nomads have made their return, so I should probably attempt to socialize....wish me luck!

And believe it or not, the Smartie part was true. I'm a sad individual.

 Happy Thanksgiving!!!!


-Thomas

*Just in case mom reads this: You make the turkey and all the other odd Thanksgiving dishes much more than edible. That was the juiciest, (no pun intended....although them thighs were pretty massive ;)) tastiest turkey ever! I really don't know how you manage to produce such an abundance of quality food in one day. You truly are amazing.

Books and a Hike.

So this morning I got lost in the book. Like seriously lost. You know like when you start reading a book and then you 'wake up' hours later. I started reading at 7:30 and before I knew it it was 11 and I had to get ready for mass. I love when that happens. And, at least for me, that never happens with movies. After about 3 hours I start to fall asleep. What I'm trying to say is that we've all had those books that we just cant put down and stay up practically all night until we finish it, whereas with movies its almost impossible to stay up all night watching them without losing interest and nodding off to sleep, esp. when one is watching movies by oneself.

Ok. Why is that? I think what makes a good book more interesting and thrilling than a movie (and therefore waaaaaaaaay better) is the fact the when we watch a movie, we are bystanders; that is, all we are doing is experiencing someone else's creation in a rather superficial way. When we 'get into' a book though, our minds and the author's mind collaborate and intertwine to create an entire universe. Creating a universe (even if one is merely a copilot) takes a considerable amount of active thought. I guess I'd say, then, that the reasons we become more emotionally invested, if you will, in books rather than movies are a) we are at all times actively thinking and therefore occupied and b) that since our reading experience is party created by us, and because we all love ourselves and things we make, we become attached to it.....and that's why books are way better than movies. Don't get me wrong though, I love movies....its just books are, well, better and special and yeah.

On a entirely different and random note, I went on a hike (which was on the ranch that I spent my young younger years) with a family of family friends and parts of my family. I wanted to just stay at home and read or have a friend over, but I guilt tripped myself into going. It stated out great--this crazy hillbilly guy told that there was a bear in the creak we were hiking up. After dealing with my little sister, (who isn't exactly the hiking type) we finally got to our destination. Ohhhh it was so dreamy and beautiful.....all those childhood memories. Which were pretty much, I was a hillbilly. It was great. Oh, and did I mention the legions upon legions of biting gnats? Getting eaten alive was just the way I wanted to spend my afternoon. What happened to making the right decisions making one happy?

It wasn't all that bad, actually. Its just fun to complain. We didn't see the bear, but I wasn't joking about the flies. Grrrrrrrrr


I guess that's it for now.

And as I wont be posting anything tomorrow, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Oh, and I nearly forgot. We finally got a new car!!! We so needed it! And its not just a lame one. I'm happy! (and thankful)


-Thomas


-Thomas

Hands Tied Behind My Back....

Or I guess I should probably modify that to, "hand tied behind my back" but that's irrelevant. The bottom line is that I will (most probably) from now until I graduate from college, have limited internet time. My amazingly second chancy parents* have disconnected my computer from our network. So my previously un-limited internet time is now most definitely limited. This series of unfortunate events has left me rather shell-shocked and I am in a pretty dazed state. *insert old lady 'wat' meme*

You know, I really should have seen this coming though--I wasted A LOT time on my computer on stuff that I even consider a waste of time and I don't know if my dad, who pretty much thinks that all movies except Collin Firth's Pride and Prejudice are a waste of time, could wrap his mind around the amount of time I wasted on my computer. Come to think of it, he was probably horrified. So. I guess last night his horrification boiled over and he severed the lifeline of 99.9% of my computeral activities, the internet, into bits.

The direct result of this deprivation, of course, is that I wont *sniff, sniff* be able to blog with nearly as much magnitude or frequency. But I assure you that I shall do my best to make sure that the drop off is as small as possible, though it is, I fear, inevitable.....that's your queue to break out sobbing. (I will try to give more bang to the buck, so to speak.)

As painful as it is to admit it, it think that my parents probably made the right choice. I did spend  way too much time on my computer, and this fortuitously un-fortuitous deprivation will give me time to read more and I will have more free time to just be myself, so its all good.

But Thomas, you say, you having more time to be yourself is definitely not a good thing.
Shut up! I reply, you really are heartless. Here I am, deprived of my true love and wallowing in freakish misery, trying to be positive, and all you can do is give me the cold, hard truth? Really?
=P

Anyway. Otherwise I'm doing fine. I dragged my sick self to my classes and they went well. I for some strange reason had one of my giggly moods in physics though...that was interesting.

Oh, and I started To kill a Mockingbird yesterday and I'm loving it so far. The author's writing style is wonderful and the plot is just thickening. So I think I shall go curl up in my bed and delve into the deep south.



I shall have a post on books and other stuffs next time....which will hopefully be sometime in the near future.

BBye!

-Thomas

*sarcasm

Sick day and blurb on being lost.

So. I'm Sick today as well. All I can say is, oh bother! After sleeping in, I had breakfast and then decided that I was going to have a read-a-thon. Then I searched for the book I was planning on reading for about 45min. Its part of a trilogy, and I have to read it for this seminar. Anyway. I think I probably could have built a veritable palace out of the books that I found by the author of the book I was looking for. I must have found...well, I don't know, a lot, including at least one copy of each of the other two books of the trilogy. I would been frustrated even if I wasn't sick, but my general feeling of doziness bitter anguish, coupled with not being able to find the book was not cool.
I seriously hate the name Clive Staples Lewis (he must have had seriously evil parents or ancestors somewhere down the line...Clive Staples...seriously?) now and I never want to see it again unless the magic words, Out of the Silent Planet are either above, below, or next to it. Big fan of his stuff though, and I don't blame him for using his initials.


After awhile of searching, I collapsed on mah bed as I was exhausted in mind, body, and spirit and this desperate question came to me: How can one find if there is nowhere left to look?
Then I thought that my searching for that book is a lot like life sometimes: you feel like you've been everywhere and tried everything and you just want to roll over and die.  But then, (if you let him) Jesus comes and picks you up and everything is better. The result was this highly unoriginal blurb:

When All Seems Lost.

 

By Me.

When all the roads seem tangled,

When no end seems in sight,

When all hopes seem strangled,

When life seems a dark night.

 

When all there is are dead ends,

When one is scared, affright,

When life is endless pits and bends,

When all is the left, not right.

 

When there is nowhere left to hide,

When one cannot hope to fight,

When the Earth and mighty Sun collide,

When the pain your heart bites.

 

Then is the time to turn to the Lord,

Then is for him to set all aright,

To mend the breach, to man the ford,

To bring life unto a brilliant light.

 

And when all is said and done,

Thanks be to God the Father, God the Son,

Thanks be to God the Holy Spirit,

Three in,

 One.

 

 

 

Ya'know it probably would have been better if I hadn't given the backstory and then you would have thought I was going through some kind of life crisis, but I've told you once and I've told you twice and now I'm going to tell you again, my life is boring. Probably the most exciting thing that happens is that I get sick. A loooottttt. I am so over it. Why? And that's usually about the most drama you will get out of me. There are some special occasions though. ;)

 

 

Well, I hope you are having a great week so far and that it continues to be so!

 

 

-Thomas, who is still waiting for his brilliant light to show up i. e. Out of the Silent Planet.

 

 

Oh, and did I mention that the Patriots are totally freaking awesome? Take that Payton Manning!

 





Sick.

Last night I went to a bro-party at my friend's house.....the burgers were like.....aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Seriously. I mean, they had BACON bits in the patty. (and onion and all these other suspicious looking things) But the mixture of everything together? WAS PERFECT!

Anyway. I didn't come to talk about food, (funny how that always happens, eh?) I came to complain about being sick. And last night, after I got home from the party, my throat was feeling a lil'bit scratchy. Then, when I woke up.....searing pain. Its not like a normal sore throat, its raw. And by raw I mean it feels like a little something crawled into mah throat with a piece of gnarly sandpaper and rubbed things into a bloody mess. Literally.

Besides that, I'm doing great. I (mostly) avoided unwanted company and hanged out with my bros after mass. Oh, and on the way home my sister picked my friend, my brother, and myself up, so instead of having to walk ALL THE WAY HOME, we got a ride home. So I'm happy. (I love you, marge mah barge)

On a slightly random note, my brother just walked into the room and hung a poster of....HIMSELF over his bed. All I can say is, WHY WHY WHY?

And I think that is note this post is going to end on...
Oh wait, should I get the picture that my brother made the poster out of....I think yes!

 



Isn't he just beautiful?....if I wasn't sick, I definitely am now. =P


Bbye!

-Thomas

Bad Habits and My Strangeness.

We've all heard the saying that bad habits are easy to make and hard to break. I'm assuming that y'all know why that's so, so I'm going to skip explaining it. *collective phew!* Most people get into bad habits because an outside force (person or thing) affects them. So, I'm going to tell you about an AWFUL bad habit that my brother has given me in the last three weeks. For those last three weeks he has gotten tutored at some snazzy center up in Santa Barbara. Anyway. He is finished with it now, and I think it has effected me more than it has him. You see, he had to get up at 6ish every morning and, as we be roomies, that meant that I woke up at 6ish every morning as well.  *lets out a tired, half-moan*

I think I pick up on habits pretty quick because six every morning now. Its an awful habit, my virtual friends. You have no idea. I woke up at 6:30 this morning and I considered it sleeping in. I thought I was lucky. On a Sat. morning! That's how bad it is. On second thought, I don't think words can describe how bad this bad habit really is, so I will leave it at that.

The problem is that I don't know how to get rid of it. What can I do? Starve myself of sleep for a week and then see if that throws me off this diabolic cycle. But what if it doesn't? Then I would have wasted my precious sleep. Gah!

Ok. Now for the strangeness part. I really think I need some professional help. I do the weirdest, strangest things sometimes. I call them my 'experiments.' It usually has to do with me subjecting myself to some kind of pain, just so I know what a person in a certain experience really feels like.
I don't know exactly why I do it. But something seems to be telling me that knowing these feeling will be helpful for my future self.

Honestly though. Like last Sun. I just lay there playing dead while my little brother tried to wake me up. I let his do all kinds of awful stuff to me because I wanted to know what it felt like to be beat upon and not be able to fight back. Like a slave or a prisoner that is being interrogated  Lets just say it wasn't a pleasant sensation. Or last I walked home in the cold for over a mile without my shoes on because I wanted to know what it felt like to be a homeless person who couldn't afford to buy shoes.


I mean, I guess this would all be good to know if I was planning on being an actor or an author, but right now my plan is a physical therapist, and I don't see the connection. I'm kind of worried too because what if the next thing that I want to experience is like, getting hit by a car, or jumping off cliff?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder what jumping off a cliff feels like?

Sorry, got to go.

Just kidding.

That being said, it has come to my attention that its the "Day of The Doctor" and that reminds me. If you think I'm strange, you need to meet a Whovian*. I honestly don't get them or that show. I mean it's fine, but not really anything THAT special. And definitely not worth having a day named after it. Or a Google Doodle dedicated to it. I have to say that I liked the 9th and 10th doctors, but the 11th was not do good. He just didn't seem Doctorish to me.


And FYI (for those of you who find it difficult to put two and two together) this was a not serious post and what I said about my 'experiments' was not entirely true. They did really happen, but not for the reasons that I gave. The reasons were much more boring and commonplace and, because its so much more fun to make things up and dramatize things, I did. They were not entirely false though. While they were happening, I was like, Wow, this must be how it feels to get interrogated by terrorist  and Oh, so this is how homeless people feel when they don't have shoes. And sometime during the two 'experiments' my imagination turned myself into a heroic martyr, fighting for freedom and a poor homeless person. I think I need to grow up. But I don't want to.

I guess that's it for today.
I think this wins the prize for my weirdest post yet. (sorry)

-Thomas

*To my valued Whovian friends: You really are strange. JK. I really do like the show, but I don't think it like fantastibasticlly amazing. But, to each their own. Whishing you a Whofastical day! I hope it proves to be worth the wait! I honestly was just trying to push buttons. :D







  

Fri. Morning News.

*Static*
Gooood morning, and welcome to the T-Cain show, presented by Toyota Prius: Go more on less. Thank you for making us part of your day.

Before we get started, here's Suzie Robles with our traffic and weather report:
 Good morning everyone and thank you for turning into our morning weather, brought to you by the BRAVO association of America.

The sky is blue and will continue be so until the sun goes down at which point it will turn deep, dark blue. And there's your weather for today and tonight.

As for traffic, CANT YOU IDIOTS FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY? At 8 everyone's trying to get to work, so there's going to be traffic going towards the city. Then, CAN YOU GUESS? At 5 its exactly the same thing, except this time, peoples are going in the OPPOSITE direction.

THERE IS YOUR TRAFFIC AND WEATHER. BYE.

*I let out an awkward laugh* Well, it doesn't look like Suzie woke up on the right side of the bed this morning, here's to hoping that you listeners are doing better than she is.

And now lets get started on the segment, but first here's a quick message from my friends at 1-800-FLOWERS. We all know Thanksgiving is fast approaching and what would be better than sending your loved ones flowers? What would be a better way to them your thanks? There isn't one. Call our hotline and mention T-Cain and we will give you an automatic 15% discount. Yes, that's 15%! But hurry, this offer won't last, call 1-800-FLOWERS today!

So. Today's segment is on Thanksgiving because I think that we should talk about it. You might ask yourself, what there to be thankful for? My life is kina boring right now, or, even worse, my life is awful right now. Well, I'll give you something to be thankful for. Be thankful you weren't at the first Thanksgiving. I mean seriously. Here are ten reasons you should be grateful that you aren't going to/weren't at the first Thanksgiving.

1. You'd be living in the 17th century. (that alone is about a zillion reasons)
2.So, you probably would have gotten drunk, fell in a stream, and died the next day of a cold.
3.There would be a bunch a half naked people going crazy.
4. Even worse, there were people attempting to go crazy in in corsets and hoopskirts.
5. Worse still, if you were a guy, you would have to wear one of  those stupid hats.
6. The food would probably have given you tape worms, but you would have to eat it because if you didn't it would be rude and you'd probably get burned at the stake or something like that.
7. The popcorn was cold, days old and didn't have any butter or salt on it and you would think it is delicious.
8. You would overstuff yourself with food and, unlike nowadays, it wouldn't even taste good.
9. You would use about half of your food supply for the year on that one day.
10. You would either a) starve or b) watch all your friends and family starve.


There you go.

And now I have to go.

See you next time!

AND BE THANKFUL

All of us at the T-Cain show wishing you a safe and happy holiday--except Suzie. She was fired.
Thank you for making us a part of your day!
*fades into really bad music*

All Sunshine and Smiles.

....Because its all cloudy and gloomy. (I know, SoCal people are crazy) It rained last night. Like actually factually rained! And its supposed to rain till Saturday. It finally feels like autumn. More importantly, we got water. So yeah, I guess you could say that I'm totally freakin happy right now.

Yesterday I did complaints and insults, so today I was going to do thanks and compliments, but it would sound super cheesy and cliché and I therefore am not going to do that.

What to do.....

Hmmmm.

Ok, this is really unimportant, but I thought it was ironic. Remember how I insulted spiders yesterday? Well, they apparently have a evil network that reads my blog because I woke up this morning with a ginormous spider bite on the side of my leg.  So, my children, the moral of the story is, you cant trust the system. (my apologies to those of my readers who don't get the reference. as consolation though, if you didn't get it, you aren't missing much)

Gah. I cant think of anything to write. Isn't guacamole the best? Yesterday I had it with mango lemonade in it, and it was so yummy.

Whoops, something just happened that needs my attention like right now, so we'll see ya later.

Maybe if I get some inspiration I'll return later today.....

-Thomas







ok

Not dead, just busy and un-chatty...

I promised a post on Mon. on Sunday....so yeah, about that...it turns out that I have a pretty legit excuse. I had a midterm yesterday and on Mon. I was frantically 'studying' i.e. watching the Pats on Mon. Night Football. I'm still not happy with that call. Listen up refs, I know you all read this blog.  I know you're listening. You hippamotiomic land basses deserve to be unemployed in GREENLEND.....FOREVER! Well that's that. As mah grandpa would say, I guess I told them!
I was actually studying a lot for the test before the game started, so that's why I didn't post. I did start one though, but then something came up, and my evil mind thought, why don't I play with them a bit? I could just write nothing and then they would think I'm in a comma or something....wouldn't that be funny?

For the sake of clarity, (something that I think my writing could use a lot more of) I didn't really think you would think that something was really wrong with me, it was just kind of wishful, dreamy thinking...

Anyway. I've decided to come out the closet and put you poor, unknowing creatures into the light. (Sorry I'm in such an unpleasant mood, I'll try to have a smiley, upbeat and kind post tomorrow for you...if that's what you're looking for in this post, I strongly advise you to simply turn around and walk away because this post is probably going to be me complaining and insulting.)

Complaints:
1.Why is life so boring?
2.Why do I have a headache?
3. Why does mother nature mock us by making it LOOK like its going to rain, and then have the clouds just roll away without letting us have any of their life-giving water.*
4.* See above on football game.
5.Why are my joints made out of glass?
6. Why cant I be six again?
7. Why isn't everyone six?
8. Why do I get into awkward situations so much?
9. Why cant I fly?
10. Why cant I figure out WHAT THE HECK IM SUPPOSED TO BE DOING?

Insults:

1.To the person who invented tests: I curse you, you malignant manipulator, to a life of everlasting tests that you have not studied for.
2. To clouds: You heartless pieces of evil fluff! I wish upon you everlasting sun.
3. To the people who go to events just for the food/refreshments: You crawling, clinging, quimsical cockroaches, I banish you to the land of parties without food/refreshments for the remainder of your worthless days.**
4. To the persons who do not hold the door: YOU SELF-CENTERED wretches! Are you really in that big a hurry? I wish upon you perpetual doors closing in your face!
5.  To the Spider: You eight legged, blood sucking, merciless so-called individual, you get to get caught in your own web and then you get to eat yourself! (sorry, that one's a wee bit disturbing, but they seriously deserve it)
6. To the fly: You stupid creature.
7.To yo mama: Just kidding, I would never do that. ;)
8. To the people who watched Thor just to see Chris Hemsworth shirtless: All I can say is, BRAVO! No. That wasn't a compliment. That was an acronym. (Big Rabid Asinine Volatile Opossum)
9. To movies that totally biff good books: WHY? WHY? WHY? Ok. I know that that was more of a complaint, but I'm a more practiced complainer, so it just came out like that.
10. To you, the readers of this blog: I pity you, you poor mewling quim, have you nothing better to do than read this attempt of a blog? As punishment for wasting your time on this, you are sentenced to reading this post for eternity.

Have a good one!

-Thomas

*We seriously need rain. Officials are saying that if we don't get a substantial amount of rain this season, they will have to start rationing water. So please pray for it.

**Those of you who know me probably thought, Wait a second. Isn't that what you do? Didn't you just banish yourself? No, you see, I go for the food AND the refreshments, not for the food/refreshments. There's a big difference.

Hard Knock+Playing Intense Football+Takis+Arizona=Bitter Pain.

...In the head, but mostly in the abdominal area. *groans* No, seriously its that bad. If you saw a picture of me right now, you'd probably throw up...oh wait that's normal. Whatever, I feel too sick to think of a better example. And you're probably asking why I'm Blogging then. Well, I. juuuust. *keels over in anguish and sighs* asked. myself. THAT. QUESTION. AND. I DONT. KNOW. THE. ANSWER. SO. I. GUESS. ILL. STOP RIGHT NOW.

Goodbye. And, if I live till morning, I'll get a more substantial done.

Duty before------------------------

Swim Meet.

Phew! The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind.


So. I was signed up for a meet. (or so I thought) You see, when I got to swim team last night, my coach told me that she hadn't gotten the email I sent her telling her I wanted to go. And because of that I wasn't signed up. Which meant that I couldn't swim. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal. But, as it turned out, it was the last meet my coach was going to be there for (she is quitting at he end of the month) and that was the only reason I was doing it....I don't usually do them because I'm either training or racing or having fun on the weekends. Anyway. I was bummed.....so much for sentimentality.

But then at 7 o'clock in the morning my coach called my mom and told her that she had pulled some strings and got me in. So, I was pulled out of bed by my ears and I then went to the meet.  Fast forward to me looking at the results board before my first event. I see "Cain, Thomas A., Heat 2, Lane 4, Age:17" After seeing that, my eyes roll up and down the rest of the sheet of paper and I see the ages of the other swimmers in my heat. "Age: 10" "Age:12" "Age:15" "Age:13" "11"....Say Whaaaaaaaaaat? So. My coach hadn't told me that I was racing against a bunch of, well, 10 year olds. You have no idea how bad it was. There I was up on the block, almost twice the size of the person next to me. It was awkward. Then I get in and it gets more awkward be cause I win by about a length. Then, when I get out, it gets even worse because all the 10-12 year old girls think I'm amazing and look at me as if I'm some sort of god. Yeah, not the best. So. Bottom line: I look good when I'm racing people half my size. I did two other events later though and there were people that were my age. So that was cool. I usually hate the 100 breast, but today it was fun because it was a really good race. I think everyone was within a body length. (I didn't win) 

The definite highlight of the day was the t-shirt relay. (a 50 free relay and each team gets a t-shirt that they have to wear while swimming each leg....the transfer can interesting) It was so much fun. Our team was totally amazing! Here are some pictures to prove it:

 

 

Our team.

 

The rest of us.

 

 

 

 

Our group seriously has too much fun. Its just nuts.  Oh, and now you can see why I think we should change the name from "Heritage Valley Aquatics" to "Heritage Valley Daycare" There are so many tiny kids and almost no older people. I mean, little kids are great, but sometimes I feel like an awkward, out of place giant.  Its all good though.

 

 

As for the rest of my life, this pretty much sums up where I'm at and what I'm feeling and my sense of what I'm supposed to be doing:

 

 

 

 

So. Pretty much I'm confused. But that's fine because that's pretty much my normal state. =P

 

 

-Thomas, who literally ate a half a container of Ice Cream while putting together this post...it was so good, he feelz so sick now. So much for healthy eating. You know what? He thinks that that is the last unhealthy splurge he's going to have for long, long time. Lets see how long he can last. Anyone have any guesses?

 

 

....You know, being a third person is waaaaaaaaaay better than the first....even Jesus says so. So Hah!

 

K. Shutting up now.

 

 

BBye!

 

 

Laziness.

That pretty much sums up today. And I don't feel up to writing a post right now, so here is a little essay I wrote on whether Liberty was worth dying for or not--don't expect much. It was  awhile back and I had had almost no real writing instruction at that point...

       A common definition of liberty is the ability of individuals to have agency, or the ability to control their own actions. So when asked whether the defense of liberty is worth risking one’s life for, one should consider these questions: is the liberty being taken justly? To what degree is my (or anyone who I am concerned with) liberty being taken? And does the potential good outweigh possible death? If one was to risk one’s life for a justly forbidden cookie, would the cookie be worth one’s life? Obviously not. But on the other hand, if one was a slave who was treated cruelly by his master, and saw his wife and children also being beaten unjustly; would it worth risking one’s life for the God-given right of social freedom? That seems more reasonable. The first is unreasonable for three reasons: the liberty that is taken away is done so justly. The degree of liberty that is taken away is very small. Lastly, the potential good does not outweigh the evil. The second is reasonable because every point in the first example is reversed.
 
       Liberty can be taken away either justly or unjustly. Liberty is taken away justly if the person or
persons who take it are the appointed dealers of justice; appointed either by God or by people e.g. parents (over children), and governors (over citizens). Also, in order for the loss of a liberty to just, the liberty that is in question must be within the jurisdiction of the appointed authority. The government has the authority to make civil laws, but not ones pertaining to religion. Such takings away are necessary because human nature is inclined towards both the good, and the evil. If humans were inclined only towards good, then there would be no just deprivation of liberty.

       The degree to which liberty is deprived can vary immensely. Not being able to eat a cookie is not a very great deprivation of liberty. But the taking away of every opportunity to determine one’s own actions is a titanic loss of liberty. There is so great a gap between these two examples that it does not take much reasoning to see the how much the degree of the loss of liberty can vary.

      When one asks one’s self whether the potential good outweighs possible death, there are two
questions to consider. What is the potential good? And what is my life worth in regards to that certain deprivation of liberty? The potential good of a cookie is small compared to the loss of a life in which the only loss of liberty is not being able to eat a cookie. But risking one’s life for the potential good of social or moral liberty is definitely worth it. The potential good of social or moral freedom is huge, because one’s life is made worthless when one is reduced do the state of an animal (or slave), or when the state forces one to go against ones moral principles, making one’s life a contradiction.

     So is it worth risking one’s life for liberty? That depends on how the three questions are
answered. If the liberty that is being taken away is being done so unjustly, and to a large degree, and also the potential good outweighs death, then the answer is yes. But on the other hand, if any of the three questions prove to be false, then the answer is no. It follows then, that answer to the question: is liberty worth risking one’s life for? Is: it depends.

I know its not all that great. Whatever. It was an SAT topic essay, so it automatically is not allowed to be great.

Signing off now,

Thomas

Sore Legs.

First off I want to apologize for this post being so late in the day. I kind of put it off and put it off. But here I am. I made it. We're all good. :))

So. I went and did a little workout today at my trainer's bike shop. The result? Sore legs. But its a good kind of sore. Not bruiser sore, more like worn out and used up sore. The soreness reminds me that I've not only used my legs for a good purpose, but that I've also strengthened them and made them, although this sounds weird, more perfect legs. They were made more perfect because they were used as they were meant to be; they were carrying out nature's prescription.

Ok. There are two thing that I wanted to potentially talk about, the above paragraph is sort of related to both of them, and I cant decide which one to choose, so I think I'm going to talk about both.

First its going to be on exercising....

I'm going to steal a line from one of my awesome sponsors, NIKE. Their slogan is: If you have a body, you are an athlete. Now I personally do not necessarily agree with that statement. I know some people that are definitely not athletes. They have other talents, but being athletic is not one of them. I would change it to, If you have a body, you need to take care of it. But I do grant that athletics are a way through which one can take care of your body.

You see,your body, no matter how fat or disfigured it is,* is sacred and a gift. Its sacred because it is the temple of your soul. And, for hopefully most of you, God dwells in it. Like anything material, the body deteriorates from disuse and neglect. If you leave a tree (in a dry place...like socal, for example) to itself and don't regularly water and prune it, it will first become fruitless and then it will die. The same goes for your body. If you don't 'water' it with sweat and 'prune' it with exercise, it will become useless and you might even lose your life. But those negatives shouldn't be the main reason one exercises. Rather, you should exercise and take care of your body because God didn't give it to you for you to neglect it and let it slowly rot away, he gave it to you in the hope that you would respect and take care of it. So. Do. So.

And I'm not saying you should suddenly like become a gym rat and a nutritionist. There are more important things to take care of. But, if want to have a truly balanced life and live your life to the fullest you possibly can (or in other words, live your life as perfectly as it is humanly possible) get out every few days and exercise. I promise you you wont regret it.


The other thing I wanted to talk about is a wee bit vague so we'll see how it goes...

It has to do with a something, or, to be more specific, a quote I came across last night at Youth Group. It ran something along the lines of, I have made myself a slave in order that I may become greater. Or, in other words, he humbled himself in order to become greater. Why does one need to be humble to become a great person? Well, I think to get the answer, one needs to look at the antonyms of 'humble'. Lets see. The first one that comes to mind is proud. But there are many others: arrogant, vain, boastful etc. A person who is truly proud baths himself in his perceived perfection. He knows he's perfect and he is therefore satisfied with his present state and he looks down on his fellow humans. But, that person's pride is his downfall because it is impossible to perfect in this life, so he makes a grave error.

The truly humble man, however, sees his imperfections and looks for good qualities in others, so he can imitate them and become a better person; the truly humble person is always trying to become the greatest person he possibly can. He, like a good athlete, is never satisfied with his status quo. He is constantly striving, pushing for betterment. And that is how real greatness is made. And that constant striving is all God asks of us.

The problem is that most of us are in a limbo between true pride and true humility. So, I guess I'd say that, for the most of us, right now the main struggle is to keep the scale tipped in humility's favor.  And, as a note of warning, the older and more accomplished one gets, the more and more opportunity one has to be proud because you have more and more people to look down upon.

Gah! That turned into another sermon. I'm sorry. No, I really am. Its just that my life is too boring right now. Its a good kind of boring because I'm having a ton of fun, but it's boring for you because my weeks are pretty much the same, week in and week out. And (surprise, surprise) I still have no idea where my emotions should be directed, so there is no news on the personal front. So, to update you on my life pretty much all I'd have to do would be 'Ctrl+C', 'Ctrl+V'  and they probably bored you nearly to death the first time around, so if I gave you a second dose it might significantly reduce your numbers. Plus, these posts really make me think about important things and even if those thoughts don't make any sense in my writing, they usually made sense up here, so its making me a better person and that's my job, right?

Plus, if I do end up becoming a priest and if one day I let preparing a sermon slip through the cracks, so to speak, I can just pull one of these out of my post archive. ;)

So, to sum up. Be active and get humble. And I promise that if something exciting happens, I 'll tell you about it.


Side note. I just love the saying "Get holy or die trying." Its the best. Agreed?


-Thomas, who's stomach has been telling him to give it some food for the duration of his writing of this post...and here he is talking about taking care of one's body....talk about talking the talk and not walking the walk....

*not trying to imply that anyone who reads this blog if either fat or disfigured. Although if you are either, its not the most important thing so don't be discouraged. :)

Randocity.

And I know that's not an official word, but its so much more fun to make up one's own.


Today's post is mostly going to be about brilliant ideas that don't turn out being quite as brilliant as previously thought. (at least that's the plan at the present moment)


Before I get started into the meat of the post, last night something happened that was most un-fortuitous. I brushed my teeth. Not normally a bad thing, but it is when one's *beautiful, caring, loving little monster of a sister has decided to put soap all over one's toothbrush without one's knowledge. Lets just say it wasn't the best tasting brushing session.

 
For example: Last night I had what I thought was a brilliant idea. My parents and I were doing the dishes and that particular occupation was not, at that time, exactly the one I wanted. So I went upstairs. Or, to put it roughly, I ditched. Now I knew there were two possible scenarios. My mom and dad would either, a) ignore the fact that I wasn't there and pleasantly finish the dishes together, or b) realize that I had left them to do the dishes by themselves and not be overly happy. I was betting on the latter, but I thought it was a win-win situation because I thought if I made some joke about how I left because they were getting too romantic for me or something like that, everything would be good and we would all return to the kitchen in a good mood, with me missing the last ten minutes or so of work time.  But the problem was that instead of my dad being not overly happy, he was overly unhappy. So the confrontation was a little more sticky than I thought I was going to be and I think that I rightfully thought that a crack about him and mom being overly mushy would not have gone over very well. It was instead just a plain old sorry--my scheme had collapsed and my brother and I went to finish the dishes by ourselves--we were not in the best of moods either. ;)

Other examples include: playing a prank on a sibling and having one's parent walk into it instead of the desired victim, playing a prank on one's parent, and last but not least, setting up a booby-trap and then forgetting about it and booby-trapping oneself.

None of the situations in this post have good endings, so its appropriate that this post not have one as well.

Goodb--------


*denotes sarcasm

Its Veterans Day!

And I have the day off from school. Well, kind of. I have some homework to do. :( But that's not what I'm going to be talking about today.

Americans love to have fun and use every opportunity that presents itself to do so. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, its one of the things I love about America. But, like everything, it can be taken too far. Am I not right in saying that your average Joe, when he thinks about Veterans Day, all that comes to mind is, Boo frigging yeah man! Three day weekend baby! Lets party it up!

What is Veterans day though? It is a day of gratitude. Gratitude for the sacrifices that all the men and woman in our armed forces (and their families) have made from the Revolution to the present day. A little while back, I posted a poem, Mariah's Lesson , and, although I'm no poetry expert and have no idea if the style was good, the message it sent was one that coincides with what I'm trying to get at right now. The 'priceless' gifts were her home and her family; her safety and her peaceful life.

We everyday Americans can in no way know or experience the sacrifices our military personal make so that we can live happily and in peace in our beautiful country. I had the privilege of working under one of the most amazing people in existence last summer. Where to start--Well, first and foremost he is a veteran; an ex green-beret who had lived in Afghanistan for 11 years as an interrogator/assassin. What makes that amazing, though, is that when he was a boy, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and the doctors said he would never run again. When he was 15 he won the LA ultramarathlon and then he became one of the elite of the elite in our military. Besides that, he's a recording artist who has recorded in MGM studios, and he turned down offers from the Secret Service, the CIA, and the FBI to become what he is now: a lifeguard and a youth group leader at his church. Talk about a full life, right?

Anyway. He was one of the best speakers I've heard in my life. We would have flag burning ceremonies and he would talk about it and patriotism and how we should celebrate Veterans Day, and I was brought to tears and chills every time. It was that powerful.

He said that the way Americans celebrate Veterans Day usually makes most veterans angry. All they see are people having fun....huge parties and B.B.Q'S and no mention at all of their sacrifices. They go to the cemetery to visit and thank their fallen brothers who have given "their last full measure of devotion" for their county and no one else is there--everyone is just partying it up. The average Joe can only think about how mush fun his party is going to be and how much stuff he has to buy for it. The veteran, the person for whom this day is dedicated, can only think of his fallen comrades, the pains of war, and how little respect he and they get out of this day.

Doesn't that seem backwards?

So, I guess what I'd like to say is please, please do SOMETHING special today out of respect for our veterans and the sacrifices that they have made so that we, the average Joes, can live in peace and freedom. If your town has a special ceremony, get out and go to it! If you see a veteran, thank him!(or her) If you are having a party, dedicate a toast to all of our heroes! And, if you are doing absolutely nothing 'special' thank the veterans in your heart and say a prayer for them! All of these small, easy acts mean so much to them!


God Bless America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And there you have it. Yet another preachy post from yours truly.


-Thomas

Updates.

Wow! So many things have happened since Thurs. I think I'll just split this into days.

Friday:
Started as usual with mass. After we got home I got a phone call telling me that I was accepted to TAC, the college that I want to go to next year--I was so happy. I could wait to get off the phone with the guy so I could do my victory dance and go scream around the house. :) After that I spent the rest of the day at the park/a lecture about vocations. All in all, it was I great day.

But I'm not finished even remotely finished yet....just wait till I get going! Where was I? (Sorry, I you-know-what last night and I count resist.) Anyway. We still haven't gone over what happened Fri. night. Well, I went to see Thor: The Dark World. with a bunch of friends. Ahhh! now I can die in peace.=P It was preeeety darn good though. To put it simply, Loki stole the show. I was amazingly good. It makes me feel sorry for Thor though. I mean, having your sneaky little brother outshine you in your movie...that's got to sting.

After the movie we walked to the church, went to adoration, and then got doughnuts. Seriously, the adoration nights we have are so good and at the same time so fun...I could go on and on. And when you go to the doughnut shop at around midnight, they have just finished cooking them and they are soooo so good.

So. yeah, that was Fri. Aren't my friends the best? I think so.


Saturday:

Started with...can you guess? Mass. When I got home I did all my chores super fast and then I went and played a game of Flikr (a cross between soccer and ultimate Frisbee) with my friends. My team won. We were awesome. The team consisted of a guy, me, and two girls that played offence/midfield, and two girls who played defense. And all I can say is, we were awesome. Again. After playing for awhile, we went downtown for frozen yogurt and chilled there until around 3. then we walked to my friends house and hung out till we had to go home because another friend's birthday party was last night. And that was fun. We had pizza, played volleyball, and watched The Princess Bride. That movie is just timeless.

That was Sat.


And now for a quick update on my training: For right now I'm really concentrating on running because as of now it is my weakest of the three disciplines. And the last two runs I've gone on have gone surprisingly well (Translation: I didn't die. No, its actually that my joints have good, which is awesome.


Ok, that's a very abbreviated version of my weekend. My family is going to the earlier morning mass, (9 instead of 9:30) so I had to keep it short. :(


Here is this post in a nutshell: Life is pretty awesome for me right now.


-Thomas

Checking in.

Really quickly. Just wanted to make sure you know I'm not dead...just been gone like all day for the past 2 days. I'm doing great and hope you are too. Ok, got to go to a B-day party now....big post/update simmering on the boiler though. ;)

-Thomas

God's Justice and Writing Style.

Have you ever experienced something that makes you think, wow that's God's justice right there!? I love those moments. Its just so nice to actually see justice at work because usually that all happens after we die. I think God shows us his justice every once in awhile so that we know that its actually there. I mean, sometimes it does seem that the 'bad' guys always come out on top, and he gives us these little moments, or sneak peaks, to let us know that all the wrong will, in the end, be righted.

So, why am I bringing this up? Well, as it turns out, I've experienced two of these 'sneak peaks' recently and they have been hilariously funny. I already told you about the one when my little brother pretended to be sick and promptly got sick on Halloween a couple of days later. But the other one concerns my big little brother. (the one who obliterated his bed) Please set your time clocks to last Sun. Do you remember me talking about how he and one of my friends wrote some embarrassing stuffs on the back of my shirt? Well. Ahhhh this is so amazing on so many levels. Yesterday he stole one of my shirts. Again. And it just happened to be the very same white polo that he had mischievously written on 3 days before and I just happened to not have done laundry since Sun. Fast forward an hour after he puts on the shirt and its 7:30 in the morning. He is arriving at his classy tutoring center in Santa Barbara. His clinician sees his shirt and asks him, Why do you have hearts and the name of a girl scribbled in chalk all over the back of your shirt? Ahhh! You have no idea how much I would have paid to be a fly on the wall at that moment! Anyway. My brother blames it on me, saying I'm weird and was messing around with my girlfriend. I seriously cant wait for justice to be done for that fat lie. But I might have to wait till he dies. Isn't that just great though? He got embarrassed for the writing that  he wrote and for stealing one of my shirts. Again. It was pretty amazing.

And now for a short blurb and writing style. I'm reading The Vicar of  Wakefield  for school right now and its not awful, but I don't like it at all. The author tells the story from the point of the father of the family that the story revolves around and its just awful. You feel so detached from the characters. They feel like zombies. They never display emotion so you never are emotionally attached to them. When I read a book, I want the characters to come alive. I want to love or hate them. Passionately. And this author's particular style is so dead its just annoying. So, if there are any perspective authors out there, make sure to have your characters human, relatable, personable, and alive because if you don't, then I wont like your books. And that's all that matters, right? =P


I need to sign off now and do my school.

Have a good one!

-Thomas

Deep, Deep Thoughts.

Ok, not really. I haven't even decided what to write about yet....

I guess I could tell you that I got offered a job last night, but then again that wouldn't come to much because its confidential. *collective oooohs and ahhhhhs from you, my virtual audience* Yes, confidential, my friends....isn't that exciting?

Ahh then there is what my sister did today. She had a fit because she signed up for a swim meet, and only afterward found out that "No, my dear. You can't use fins for your races."  I think it nearly brock her little heart...poor thing.  But that doesn't quite have the beef needed for a real post, now does it?

Oh, I guess I could write about friendship and how amazing it is. But it would probably just turn into another huge cliché.

Or maybe about the apparent paradoxes in Newton's Laws of Motion. But then I would just look like a complete nerd and probably none of you care about them....

Hah! I think I have  it now! I could talk about the practical vs. the theoretical and how one needs to distinguish between the two in order get anywhere in a class. On second thought, that may be helpful for some of you, but the majority probably already knows that, (there are some though, that don't. More particularly there is a person in one of my classes who is so freaking practical, its just nuts) so it isn't common interest. Botheration!

Or maybe I could simply talk rant about how annoying it is when life seems like a tornado, all crazy, whirling and out of control, and you just seem to be along for the ride: there is nothing you can do to make it go the way you want. Not saying that's how I feel right now about life....its just fun to rant. But you probably already get enough of that.

But you know, it is kind of frustrating to not be able to put together a coherent post for you, my valued readers. Hah! Speaking of being in a tornado, its probably not far off from what you are experiencing right now....Sitting there. Helplessly trying to figure out the purpose of this post; a connection between the paragraphs. Something, just one little piece of a something, to tell you that all this isn't just whirly, out of control tornado of a post.

There you are, poring over your computer, hopelessly trying to patch this post together, because you know, deep down inside, that everything has a purpose and must somehow, somewhere make sense of itself. And you think correctly, my friend.

But will you ever find out what it is? I think not.

Well, I actually just lied because I'll tell you on the third post from now.

-Thomas

I Love Spontaneousness!!!

And I know that's not a word. But. Last night was amazing! Why? Well, because it filled with spontaneocity. Let me explain.

Yesterday was Tues. and on Tues. there is youth group. Youth group is, as previously mentioned, the highlight of my school week. Needless to say, I look forward to it. A LOT. So, when I walked to the parish center and there was a sign that read, Hey guys, sorry, but youth group is canceled for this week. See you next week! And on top of that I was going to have to walk home by myself. :( I was not happy. I left and started walking home. After going about a block, I saw some friends on their way to the church, so I sprinted after them because I thought that maybe I could hitch a ride or at least call my parents for one. I got there just as my friend's dad was driving off and told her that it was canceled, but she thought I was kidding, so she didn't stop the car. Then other people started showing up and we decided that we didn't need the leaders anyway, so why not just hang out? Then one of my friends (she's pretty much one of the bestest persons I know) called her dad and asked if we could all go to their house, have a fire and hang out.

So we did that. And as we were leaving other people were coming and we yelled out at them to come to so and so's house. It was just so much fun. And then when we got to the house that's when the real fun started. Everyone was just having a great time. It was just.....yeah, going from that low of a low to that high of a high, I just can't describe the feeling.

I also found out that our theater is having an 8 o'clock showing of  Thor TOMORROW! Yes! Just one more day. It's gonna be so much fun! Although I by accident read a pretty big spoiler. :( )) I can't to see some of my friends' faces when it happens....its gonna be amazing.


Oh, and today I'm going in for my first  official bike workout--I'm excited and scared at the same time.


Ok, I guess that's it--sorry all these posts have been so blurby recently....I really haven't been having any thoughts about anything interesting lately....I might do something later today...we'll see.

In the meantime though, stay happy, healthy, and sober....I know all 3 will be a challenge after reading this patchwork of a post.


Till next time!

-Thomas

Its Tues....Again.

And I have no idea why I'm blogging right now because I really should be getting ready for class. But for some reason I just can bring myself to do homework right now. Nothing much new here. Just plugging away at life. I have nothing to write about, so I think I'll tell you about my adventure at 6 Flags...Hopefully I wont regret it.

Ok, where to start...So after going on Apocalypse, our group split up. Some of us went to do it again, and my 3 friends and I went in search of some restrooms. As it turned out, there was one directly outside exit of the ride...perfect, right? It would have been, but the signs were on the front of the building and we came from the sides and the doors were on the sides. Do you see where I'm going? All we saw was the entrance to a bathroom and, as it didn't have the person with the dress overhanging it, we casually walked in. Now I don't know the customs in girl's bathrooms are, but in the men's room a lot of obnoxious talking goes on. So, as we were walking in, we were making loud comments like, Ohhhh that ones a mess. And so on and so forth. When I got to the last stall, it was open and clean, so I shouted back to my friends, Hey y'all IIIIII found a clean one! And promptly entered the stall. I sat down and in the stall saw a pair of feminine looking Converse and skinny jeans. My first thought was that some retarded girl had found her way in to the guy's restroom. Then an awful thought entered my mind: Could we be in the wrong side? While this was going on, I afterward found out that 2 of my friends had realized our mistake right away and bolted, while my other friend had had am embarrassing encounter with a lady. It went roughly: a lady walks in, sees him, apologizes, walks out, walks back in, tells him he is the one in the wrong place, he runs out. So. Back to me. I finished my business and bolted out, just in case it was in fact the ladies room. It turned out that it had been because there were my friends, right outside, waiting patiently for my expected hasty exit. I was greeted with a burst laughter and I could not believe that my friends had let me out to dry like that. What are friends for I guess though. Looking back on it we all laughed our guts out, but I can tell you I wasn't laughing while it was happening--it was agony.

So that's my adventure--and probably one of the greatest brainfarts of all time.  As I said, I  wasn't sure if I was going to write about it at first, but as I couldn't think of anything else, I took it as I sign that it was ok. If of you were thrown off by the subject content, I'm sorry. Its not meant to be crude; its meant to be an entertaining account of one of my many moments of intense stupidity and I hope that that's how everyone took it.


Adios, virtual amigos!

-Thomas

Sprained Ankle, Dislocated Hip, and Ruptured Pelvis.

So I went on my first early morning run today and it went about as well as you'd expect, I guess. Although I don't have any of the exact injuries mentioned in the above title, its not all just a bunch of malarkey. My ankles were bothering me and my hip was as well. I'm afraid the ruptured pelvis has absolutely no foundation at all though. It just sounds really awful, so I wrote it because the run was, quite frankly, awful. I also (correct me if I'm wrong) think that its logically impossible to rupture one's pelvis because its a bone, but it really does have a gruesomely painful ring, doesn't it? I mean, just writing about it is sending pain waves to my brain. Anyway. The moral of the story is that I need to strengthen my weak little ankles--I'm going to start working with a running coach and he doubles as a strength and conditioning coach, so hopefully we'll be able to work things out.

Otherwise life is just going. I have nothing particularly exciting to write about because nothing particularly exciting has happened. I will say that yesterday was a pretty awesome day though. It started with mass, and then about ten of my friends and I went to this little café, but it was really busy, so we went to this nearby gazebo and hung out there. It was surprisingly nice. The only downside was that my brother and one of the most immature of my friends found some chalk and proceeded to write embarrassing things on the back of my shirt. We wont go into the details. Other than that and the fact the one of my other friends thought that if she poured ice down my back it would somehow erase the chalk, it was a blast. Then I went on a bike ride with my dad and some friends and that was really nice. When I got home some friends picked me up and we went to the beach, played volleyball, watched the sunset, and roasted hot dogs while one of my friends played the guitar--it was great!

And that brings us to today, a Monday and so it therefore is against the rules to have fun of any kind today. With that in mind, I leave you to the rest of your dreadful Monday, because I have some physics and calculus that are in need of attention. :(

And on that happy note, Goodbye!

Just kidding, I would never do that. I have a picture for you:

That's me with 2 Aussie professional IRONMAN triathletes (one of them had just gotten 2nd at the the world championships the week before) a para-swimming national teamer (the dude without the legs)  and some celebrity who's name I have forgotten. Can you tell I thought was going to throw up all over them? I must say, I think I masked it pretty well


-Thomas

     

Facing the Approaching Doom.

Today is my last day of freedom. Tomorrow I start training up again...

Goodbye, cozying in my blankets in the morning because I just don't want to get up quite yet.
Hello dragging myself out of bed before the sun is up and running miles and miles alone.

Goodbye, relaxing afternoons, playing volleyball and hanging out with friends.
Hello to sitting on a stationary whilst sweating like a pig and spiking one's heart rate to 200.

Goodbye, late parties.
Hello, going to sleep early.

Goodbye, being able to relax comfortably.
Hello, aching joints, muscles, and tendons.

Goodbye, Ice Cream.
Hello, disgusting protein shakes.

Goodbye, all sweets.
Hello, fruits and veggies.

Goodbye, laziness.
Hello, discipline.

Ok. As you can see, I like complaining. I actually am excited to start everything up again. Why? You ask. Well, I think it mainly has to do with the fact that I am an insane person. Morning runs are probably my favorite part of training actually. After one gets past the getting up part and gets into a rhythm, they are really nice. Its just you and nature: everything is so quiet and peaceful its just ahhh. Oh, and did I mention the sunrise? How it makes the dew on the hills sparkle like diamonds? How everything is so crisp and fresh, its like taking a bite out of a cool, perfect apple, and how it refreshes you like no other? In case you hadn't noticed, I am a fan.

And that, believe it or not, is one of many perks one gets when in training and at no other time.

So here's to the start of training! Please, if you can spare a moment, say a quick prayer that I stay healthy this season--it would be greatly appreciated!!!

Happy Sunday!

-Thomas, who is loving daylight saving time right about now.  

Yesterday and Exhausted-ness

So yesterday was a seriously amazing day. It started with church and then I went to 6 Flags. And all I can say I wow! My friends are so much fun, the ride were so much fun, everything was fun. After 6 Flags we went out to dinner and then went to adoration--I cant tell you how amazing it was to experience those two extremes in one day--the loud, hectic craziness of an amusement park and then the quiet peacefulness of a holy hour...talk about a balanced day, right? When we were done with the holy hour, we went back to our friends house and hung out for a couple of hours...a perfect ending to a perfect day! Oh, and something insane happened at 6 Flags as well. It was quite the experience, but I'm not quite sure if its appropriate (its not that bad, but I've learned the hard way to watch what I write about) to write about it on the blog yet, so I might talk about it later. We'll see.

So yeah that brings you up to today. I woke up not feeling well, and I'm hoping it has to do with being really tired, getting tossed violently through the air all day yesterday, and the amount of un-healthy food I ate yesterday. Not with being sick...keeping my fingers crossed. :) Esp. because my brother was sick yesterday and the day before.

Hah. That reminds me. My brother. Ok, so him being sick was one of the funniest coincidental things I've ever witnessed . And I'm not being mean. Let me explain. On Mon. he decided that he really really didn't want to do his school, so he promptly started to complain about feeling sick. To get my mom to believe him he went downstairs, put some food in his mouth, chewed it up, put some water in, swilshed it all around, and "threw up." I have to say he played the part of an invalid quite well. I would have given him and Oscar for his performance if it was in my power to do so. Anyway. He eventually began to feel guilty and confessed all. And then on Thurs. he actually got sick. It was perfect. And just to let you know, he was laughing about it too....God's ways are strange and wonderful and sometimes hilarious.

Wishing you a happy, healthy weekend!
-Thomas