I want extremely to be at the beach.

Its been pouring rain here for the last 15 hours or so, and its been awesome. Seriously though. Its about time. Anyway, I have a rather strange obsession with being at the beach when its raining. There's something about the rain pouring down on the grey-blue oscillations of the waves. I can't rightly describe it; the rain beating down on the waves; the waves intermittently buffeting the rain with their crests and then succumbing to the rain, sinking, crashing back down to the normalcy of the wide ocean. There is a romanticism about it: the romanticism of battle; the romanticism of life. Maybe that's it. Maybe that's the connection, the fascination I have with the a stormy sea. Maybe its that it is a refection of the struggle of humanity. Life is constantly throwing stuff at us, trying to beat us down. Most of us intermittently experience highs and lows, crests and troughs. We sometimes rise to an extra-human state and rebuff the hardships life throws at us and unfortunately we usually crash back down towards the normal, flat lifelessness of humanity. Then the cycle starts over and repeats itself until one stays wholly crested or wholly depressed. Okay, I'm just rambling now, its time to move on.

Alas, yesterday's scheme failed because Abby somehow got on. (It was google+, actually. I hates it.) Now she's for some imponderable reason talking of revenge. Why? I don't get people sometimes. Actually, scratch that. Most of the time. Ha ha, I just looked at the window and a huge truck went by with "Thank you for driving safely" printed on the back of it in enormous print. Think a font size of 428. I mean big. I don't know why, but whenever I see such signs or signs related to such signs, I impulsively want to run into them and say, Thanks for what, exactly? or something to that extent. I don't think I'm evil, really, so I cant explain why. I guess its just one of those things that are. I do know that they annoy me, though. Maybe its just that they are presumptuous, but I cant say.

Well, life is pain and I therefore can't stay here with you all day. I need to rise up and tackle life. So we'll be something-ing you later.

TTFN.

~-~-~Thomas

This is not a serious post.

...So you all can just chillax. I have a feeling its going to be quite random, too, so prepare yourself for craziness. The only problem is that I have any entertaining ideas. I suppose I can start out by telling you that the doctor visit went to well and that everything is "perfect." Yay! Personally I think this calls for a celebration....Sooooo if any of you guys want to throw a party for me, contact me and we'll get things going. I love traveling and people, so distance isn't a problem. If you pay for the airfare, naturally.

Right now my ex*my brother walks in and hands me a 2,000 dollar check from my sponsors. Thanks guys. You're awesome*istence consists of waiting, pining for the weekend. This is my usual weekday existence, but its been intensified because this weekend is going to be sweet. Friday is going to be filled with its normal awesomeness, Sat. there is a Marti Gras dance, and Sun. my choir is singing one of my favorite choral pieces, Sicut Cervus. I'm really super excited about the dance. It was super fun last year and I've been waiting for it to happen for the past couple of months. I only hope that all this buildup and excitement prove to be worth it and the dance goes off wonderfully. When they--dances--do there really is something magical about them; they are spinning, whirling dreams. I hope this one turns out to be one of those magical ones, because letdowns are seriously the WORST.  

Also, for those of you who read my friend Abby's blog. She won her debate. I'm telling you this because her blog's production oscillates quite a bit and she hasn't told you yet. I don't like cliff hangers, so I thought I'd let you know. Plus, her parents inadvertently (or so she said) blocked my blog on her computer, so she doesn't read this old thing anymore. Do you see the scathingly brilliant ramifications of all this? She is going to tell you all about how her team won, and she'll expect everyone to be excited about it, but it'll all be old news by then. *insert evil laugh* The only problem with my amazing scheme is she may read my blog now because the whole blocking fiasco occurred a few days ago, but it may be rectified even as a type these words. But still. If it does end up working, it'll be payback for....well...I know there's got to be something....ahhh yes! The time with the place and the thing. That one. What comes around goes around around Abby. :D Anyhow. It shall be glorious. And if you want great rewards, you need to take great risks. And that's that. I'm an amazing friend, am I not?

Well, its time to toddle off so TTFN

-Thomas

Oh, life.

This morning I woke up with a screaming pain in my calves. Isn't that exciting? You see, for almost a year my body hasn't let me work hard enough to have that feeling. Its so great. And yes, I'm a tad bit on the insane side.

My apologies in advance, but today I'm going to be quite serious again, I think. For some reason I've kind of had a serious vein the last few days, which if you know me will be surprising, but it is nevertheless true. I've been thinking a lot. Its quite a new experience, but its really very fun. 

We all, or at least most of us, have dear friends and relatives who are confused and do not lead the best of moral lives. Because we love them, we naturally want to have what's good for them; we want them to experience the joy and peace that follows from living in accord with God's law. But often bringing them to into Christ's fold seems to be a lost cause. For instance, one of my Grandmas died a fallen away Catholic. We prayed and prayed for her and yet there was no tangible sign of change. I hope and pray that those prayers came to fruition of her deathbed, but there is no way of knowing. The question remains, though. Why does God let these people become so confused? Why does he let people who we love and are close to live so cut off from his love?

I don't think one can perfectly answer this question. Life is a mystery to us. It is as if an 8 year old opened a applied calculus book. The 8 year old would not at all understand it and things that would appear to be contradictions to him are in actuality beautiful truth. With life, we are the 8 year olds and God is Issac Newton. We cannot understand it fully because it has to do with God, God is infinite, and our human minds are too puny to be able to wrap around the idea of infinity. 

We don't exactly know the why, but the good news is that we do know what to do. We have to know what to do or else there wold be no purpose to life. We are to trust in God. We cannot trust something we do not love, though, and we cannot love God unless we love all who we are surrounded with. If we suspect that someone we know is undergoing a trial, we must pray for them and show them true love. For by showing them pure, in-corrupt love we are showing them God in the best way possible. Once one has done that, one has done all one can do*, and the rest is up to God. The only person who's heart we have any sort of control over is our own. All that is left to do is to trust in HIS providence; trust that all is for the greater good, and, as Aslan would say, not become overly bent on other people's stories. 

Speaking of prayers, I would be much obliged if ask that my checkup goes well today, and that my health problems are pretty much gone as they seems to be. If its HIS will, of course. ;)

I promise next time will be a light one.

-Thomas 

*Showing someone love is sometimes more than simply being nice and compassionate. One needs to weigh the circumstances, obviously. 

Pure amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

After not having a whole screen since Sept., I have finally replaced the old one and........its like a dream...I just cannot describe the elation.....

You don't what you've got until you lose it....and then get it back again.

Good night and hopefully I'll have a real post for you tomorrow. 

TTFN 

-Thomas 

"Love one another as I have loved you."

First off I want to say that if you are looking for a laugh or whatever you look for in my less serious posts, you probably should go back to wasting your life on YouTube or whatever else you do. So, make up your mind and do what you want to do because this thing is about to get seriously serious.

When you are a teenager, for some unfathomably unreasonable reason, you are looked up to by younger children: you are their role models. This usually means that maybe one or two younger people are the I wanna talk like you, I wanna walk like you, etc. type. The type that follows you around and tries to mirror your every action. They can get quite cumbersome. Sometimes you get stuck with them and you just want to be talking with your friends who are chilling in a circle on the other side of the room; you are tired of being idolized; you just want to detach yourself from this annoying tail that goes where you go, is constantly praising you, is constantly trying to emulate you, and is (mostly) constantly failing to do so accurately.

Why I am bringing this up? Well, its kind of complicated. I'll do my best to explain it. A few nights ago I saw that sort of relationship personified and the 'Idol' was thankfully giving the 'worshiper' her full and undivided attention in a loving way. I was struck in a powerful way of the beauty of it all. It was so amazing. I was left in the wonderment stage until I got home because I was quite busy. When I at last got home and laid myself down to go to sleep, I asked myself why, why had that seemingly commonplace situation been so uncommon and wonderful to experience?

These are my thoughts. It was a wonderful type of the love and relationship that we should share with Christ. The 'Idol' was a Christ-figure in that moment and the worshiper was all of humanity. When all is boiled down, isn't it true to say that all of humanity is trying to emulate Christ, either in the right or the wrong way? We are Christ's stupid, clumsy tail. The only difference in the relationship between us and Christ and the relationship between the "Mama duck and her ducklings" relationship we humans have is the infinitesimal difference in the gap of rank and the gross inadequacy with which we imitate him. Granted, an infinite difference is a rather large one, but the two relationships are intensely related, just as the grooves and cracks of the Grand Canyon are related to the grooves and cracks of our finger prints. That is why that particular moment was so beautiful to experience.

So I guess what we should take from this is that we should be gracious 'Idols.' Not only because we were all at sometime the followers others and are now the followers of Christ, but because in doing so we are beautifully imitating Christ. We should be patient as Christ is patient, we should love as Christ loves because we are to be windows through which the light of Christ is transmitted to others. Can you imagine what it would be like if Christ got tired or impatient with us?

TTFN

An awful, horrible confession. *proceed with caution*

....But it was my brother's fault. As it invariably is. I suppose at this time it may be helpful if I told you what exactly I did. The answer is strudel. Blueberry strudel that was left over from brunch. I had a piece. Well, 3 pieces to be precise, but precision is so overrated and archaic. I returned home from a day at the beach utterly famished. I hadn't had anything to eat all day except for a few measly (esp. measly due to the fact they were from In-In-Out) fries. And there they were, sitting there on the counter--a whole plate of them--literally asking to be eaten. WHAT COULD I DO? As a little bit of a side note, I just realized I haven't told you why my brother was the culprit, exactly. I guess it would be a good idea to clear that up now. He was in charge of ordering my food, (how I ever entrusted a position of responsibility of that magnitude, I have no idea) and he somehow "forgot" my burger. But I didn't want to hold people up, so I let it go. That's why I was famished and that's why the strudel was too much to handle. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it, as my Grandpa would say. Am I innocent or guilty?

 And that was my confession. Being melodramatic on the internet is kind of my thing. As for the rest of the day, it was pretty awesome, but not really worth talking about because...because, well, just because. It makes sense up here, so you'll just have to trust me. Oh, there was one particular point that was entertaining, so I guess I'll share it with you. As you probably know if you have had any personal experience with me whatsoever, my mouth slips up more than occasionally. We were all getting into the car after mass to go to a basketball game and my friend asked me where I wanted to sit. I replied that I could something anywhere. That something turned out to be a word that sounds quite similar to 'sit' but that has a connotation that is usually frowned upon in dignified society. Thankfully I wasn't at the Ritz, and everyone graciously laughed it off. It was pretty funny, actually. Oops, I just remembered another slip up that was probably even worse and maybe more hilarious, but it had to do with my foot and a ball, not my mouth. And, both because I'm a jerk and its dinnertime, I'm not going to tell you the particulars. Or the super awesome tangent I was planning on going on.


Whoa, this is another really short post. Lucky you.

TTFN

-Thomas

USA! USA! USA!

Today is the U.S. vs. Canada semi-final hockey game and my brother is watching it in the other room. I'm not watching it not because I'm unpatriotic, but because I'm hopefully going over to a friend's house tonight to watch a recording of it. Not checking the score is going to be one the hardest things I've ever had to do. The stakes for this game are higher than anything I've ever experienced.  I don't know if I have it in me to not do it.

Just so you know, this is going to be a really short post because I have tons stuff to get done before 1, so don't expect much. Not that you are, but this will be even worse than usual. I have nothing much to say besides the fact that today might be my first play practice and I'm super duper excited about it. Its going to be sweet.

Can I also say that we Californians are just about the most spoiled people on the planet. Today is another magically beautiful day. Its not too hot, not too cool, the sun is shining brilliantly, and for us its just, "Oh look, another one." We don't even care.

Also, last night swim team was amazing. It was so much fun; almost too much fun, if that's at all possible. It was awesome and I wish everyday was like that. But then again, we wouldn't appreciate them as much id that was the norm, so idk. It seems everything that is of the world has a flipside. That's why it stinks so much.

And with that happy thought, I'll bid you adieu.

TTFN.

-Thomas

About yesterday...

You guys may be under the impression that I'm being wildly inconsistent this thing because I didn't get a post in yesterday and I've missed a couple days here and there lately. I actually have a legitimate excuse for yesterday, though. I did write a post. A rather long one, in fact. But right as I was about to post it, my computer had a glitch and I lost it all. It was quite frustrating. Especially because, as you would have known if my post hadn't been deleted, the only reason I was posting was due to the fact that I was frustrated already because my tire had flatted and I had missed my workout. So here I am proving my dedication to y'all by getting up early and squeezing a post in before mass.   

Last night I was thinking about some serious stuff before I fell asleep, so I think I'll try to describe the thoughts I was having before I get into the fun stuff. What I was thinking about mostly had to do with friendship and relationships, and included in that was a tangent on both  how beautiful and how ugly the relationship between a younger person who looks up to and older person can be.

With the relationship stuff, I was more concentrating on the negative spectrum, so sorry, this isn't going to be an all sunshine discussion. More particularly, I was thinking about the rift that we humans create between ourselves and others. Or in other words, I'm talking about the people one doesn't necessarily like being with. Before I go on, I want to say that there are people one should avoid, due to the fact that they are occasions of sin for us. But I'm not talking about those people. I'm talking about the people we see as a nuisance; the people who are 'strange' in our eyes. It seems to me that we humans tend to see the differences in reach other rather than similarities. There is one thing on this subject, though, that I am sure of: it is the work of the devil. What does the devil do? He tears things apart that should be together. He makes little differences and oddities look like impassable canyons. This is just what his specialty is. The very first thing he did to us was create what would have been without God's limitless mercy, an irremovable gap between God and man. He creates these false canyons between us and the people we are annoyed with because he know that by showing love to others, especially others we do not necessarily love to be with, we become more Christ like, and in becoming more Christ like, we become closer to God; closer to closing the gap Satan has created. The irony of it all is that, like all the things Satan twistedly tells us are burdensome, the differences between us are actually a good. They make life so much more interesting. Can you imagine if everyone thought and acted the same way? How awful would that be? It would be like being stuck in conversation for the whole of your life with a bunch of air headed valley girls. I can only imagine. Ohhhh my gosh, yesss. That's like exactly what I was thinking. This is like totes cray cray. Like OH. MY. GOSH!....yeah, that would old within about 10 seconds. What I'm trying to  say and what hopefully you can see is that we should embrace each others differences, providing, of course that they are not intrinsically evil. And believe me, its way better when everyone is getting along. I just hate it when people don't.

I was going to say something about the tangent I had mentioned earlier, but I think I'll save that for another day and get on with the fun stuff. You see, I realized I lot of things yesterday and a lot of them have to do with the no-unnatural-sugars diet that I'm on. I realized that the reason I like things others don't, a.k.a. my workout drink, is because my tongue doesn't know what really good things taste like. Its actually kind of cool. If I have yogurt, it tastes like the most wonderful ice cream. Anything with the slightest hint of sweetness tastes like candy. Its awesome. That's part of the reason I don't hate my evil friends who eat cupcakes and other sweets rather passionately in face and throw skittles at me. The other main part of the reason is that I know that when I'm older I'll be healthy and able to enjoy a full life and you gremlins will be too fat and diabetic to even get to the restroom without the assistance of a walker. Plus, I really don't want to eat them because all of the sugar gives me a headache. This all reminds me of the song Bilboy Baggiepants sings at his birthday party in The Lord of The Beans. "Take a little bit of this, take a little bit of that, you think it makes you happy, but it only makes you FAT!" That's what I sing to myself when you evil peoples eat those sweets in front of me. So hah! The joke's on you!

The one problem I have with this diet is that Lent is bearing down on us with its normal way-too-fast speed and I don't think I can really give of sweets because that would be somewhat cheap. What am I going to do? EVERYONE gives up sweets. Last year I gave up meat, but I don't think that was healthy with all the training I do. I could give up movies, but I don't watch many of them anyway, so that's kind of pointless. This is a real dilemma. I need your help guys. What the heck am I supposed to do? The only thing I can say is that whatever it is it will be something that I do rather than giving something up. But there are so many areas that one can improve in, its hard to choose....maybe the joke's on me after all. :(

Yesterday was actually a big day in my life, I made something that will change it forever. It happened like this. I was studying on by bed and it was somewhat uncomfortable because I had to prop myself up to read. It gets tiresome. And regular chairs are much too upright. So I thought to myself, Thomas, you need a throne, that's what you need, a throne. Me being the man of action that I sometimes am I went and built myself a study throne/corner/lair. Its quite possibly that best thing that's happened since the printing press. Its in my walk-in closet and was made with about 10 neatly folded blankets and 3 pillows. There is perfectly situated shelf that is ideal for holding one's books, snacks, cups of juice, water ,and tea, and of course one's pencils and highlighters. Right now mine has my science and civics books, and novel, a highlighter, a pencil, and my toasted bagel bits on it, just to give you an idea. And, like all good thrones, it has a royal guard to keeps the evil hordes at bay: the teddy bear my great grandma gave me. Its pretty sweet. And you know you want one. The great thing is that they are available to order at the link wwwdotthomasisageniusdotcom

Well, its almost time for mass now, so I should be getting going. Have a fantastimastic day filled with progress and not a moment of bore.

Ta-Ta for now,

-Thomas

Soooo...

Its been awhile, hasn't it? Yeah, I really don't have any excuse, its just what it is. The thing is that nothing is really happening with me. Its just a constant above average. Classes are going well, my friends are still cool, and I love life, but its quite monotonous. I almost wish something bad would happen just for the sake of change and excitement. Note that I said 'almost', though; I don't want something bad to happen and I know life about always doing exciting things.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I just remembered that something did happen. Last Sunday was my last day in the month-long course of antibiotics I was taking. I'm so happy to be done with it and hopefully it cleared things up. We have a checkup sometime in the near future to confirm that. My training is starting to fall into place again too, so hopefully that will work out. Its so nice to be back in the swing of things; everything just falls into place and my days are much more productive and therefore more satisfying.

So far today hasn't been anything special. Just another Tuesday. The classes were really good, even though I didn't finish one of the readings...oops. But I was mad because my friend aced the quarterly test for physics, and I got 1/4 of a point off because I made a really stupid mistake. It was a big number, so I had to put the answer in scientific notation and I miscounted the digits and put 10^7 instead of 10^8. GRRRRRRRR. I'm kind of competitive that way. But I got an 'excellent' on my essay about keeping slavery legal under the constitution, so that made up for it a little bit.

Speaking of that class, we are read the Lincoln-Douglas debates and other speeches from the pre-Civil War era and they are so cool. Lincoln's prudence and amazingness really comes out in his speeches. But they are more than intelligent. They are beautiful and fun to read. I recommend reading them, especially his speech the young men's lyceum. Here is an excerpt of it for your edification:

I do not mean to say, that the scenes of the revolution are now or ever will be entirely forgotten; but that like every thing else, they must fade upon the memory of the world, and grow more and more dim by the lapse of time. In history, we hope, they will be read of, and recounted, so long as the bible shall be read;-- but even granting that they will, their influence cannot be what it heretofore has been. Even then, they cannot be so universally known, nor so vividly felt, as they were by the generation just gone to rest. At the close of that struggle, nearly every adult male had been a participator in some of its scenes. The consequence was, that of those scenes, in the form of a husband, a father, a son or brother, a living history was to be found in every family-- a history bearing the indubitable testimonies of its own authenticity, in the limbs mangled, in the scars of wounds received, in the midst of the very scenes related--a history, too, that could be read and understood alike by all, the wise and the ignorant, the learned and the unlearned.--But those histories are gone. They can be read no more forever. They were a fortress of strength; but, what invading foeman could never do, the silent artillery of time has done; the leveling of its walls. They are gone.--They were a forest of giant oaks; but the all-resistless hurricane has swept over them, and left only, here and there, a lonely trunk, despoiled of its verdure, shorn of its foliage; unshading and unshaded, to murmur in a few gentle breezes, and to combat with its mutilated limbs, a few more ruder storms, then to sink, and be no more.
 
They were the pillars of the temple of liberty; and now, that they have crumbled away, that temple must fall, unless we, their descendants, supply their places with other pillars, hewn from the solid quarry of sober reason. Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence.--Let those materials be moulded into general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws: and, that we improved to the last; that we remained free to the last; that we revered his name to the last; that, during his long sleep, we permitted no hostile foot to pass over or desecrate his resting place; shall be that which to learn the last trump shall awaken our WASHINGTON.

....its just........ahhh. He wrote that in his late twenties, too. I would tell you the full context of the speech, but it is at least party obvious in this and I hope to awaken your curiosity so you will look it up and finish it yourself. It is well worth it and not very long.

-Thomas

Mangos and peaches are a good combination.

Hello, my name is Lanéit Phantiane (my parents are not the nicest of people) and I am going to be your guest poster-person today. Sadly, the kind gentleman who normally types to you, Thomas Cain, is currently unavailable due to what we will call personal reasons. If you have a brain that is roughly the size of a grain of salt, you will be wondering who I am, exactly. Since most of you probably fit the aforementioned criteria, I will explain myself. I am the second son of the Duke of Flanders, known to me as 'popsie', but to you as his gracious duke, Antone Phantaine, of Flanders. Now, if you know  anything at all you will know that since the revolution there haven't been any Dukes or Lords or Kings in France. So. If you have put two and two together you will come to the conclusion that my father has been dead for quite some time. Where does that leave me though? I must be quite a ripe fellow, mustn't I? Well, I am. 239 years ripe, to be precise.

I've had a very interesting life so far. I've been shot through the heart 7 times in each of the continents. In Antarctica it was pecked by penguin beaks, but I think that should count too. My travels have made me fluent in Jamaican, all the Slovak languages, and of course my two native languages, French and English. (I escaped the Guillotine by fleeing to the 'UK' as the call it now) I was lost in Asia though. I never could pick those languages up. :( Oh, and I forgot to mention that on the other side of the world I'm known as Niac Samoht. I don't know why, but I am. So that's that.


Anyway. I suppose you want to know my secret to having this long a life. Fit and Trim Mom. That's my secret. At least I think it is. It's either that or that in the reverse order. Mom trim and fit.  Or maybe Trim and fit mom. That doesn't much matter though. You can buy it.....its a great book. It teaches you how to make brownies out of beans--or was it beans out of brownies? I seem to be mixed up and backwards* today--and pancakes out of cottage cheese. It makes you live pretty much forever. I got it 200 years before it was published. I can time travel (....did I forget to mention that before?) in case you're wondering.

I am now currently (how's that for redundancy? TAKE THAT, you English teachers of the world) working for the Jamaican government as an assassin, just FYW.....its so clever how they use acronyms so much nowadays, isn't it....It was rumored that this Thomas Cain person was a threat to Usain Bolt's title of 'the fastest man in the world', so we had to take care of him. Don't worry, he got last rites so he's in better hands than he's ever been before. Looking at his physical makeup, though, I think they were either baseless rumors or we got the wrong man. I've done that once or twice before and its sometimes a wee bit awkward. And now I have come to the reason for my posting on here. Can you verify that this really is Thomas Cain's blog and in doing so verify that the man I just extinguished (I don't much like the word 'kill') is, in fact, Thomas Cain because, as I said before, I find it hard to believe that there were even rumors about this person. Thank you.

.........................So I have no idea where that came from....I guess that's what happens when I come on here and have on idea what the heck to write about. I have a somewhat strange imagination.  In other news, I had a nightmare last night in which I got my first cavity. It was horrendous.

-Thomas

*Put on your Sherlock cap and see if you can find my backward mixed up-ness. Its staring right at you, you just have to look and think outside the lines....what's my name again?....whoa, I'm really having a rough day. XD

Well what d'you know, its Sat. again.

Yesterday, my virtual peoples, I fulfilled one of my four goals for this year. I'm 1/4 of the way to being able to die in peace. The other three are: 1. Disprove the First Law of Thermodynamics. (because its bogus and I hate it) 2. Become a World Champion. 3. Write a #1 New York Times Best Seller. If you have any other cool ideas, let me know. They have to be cool, but also attainable. The one that accomplished last night is by far the hardest of the 4, so I think I'm good.

I also got an invitation to my sister's wedding, which I immediately declined because I think wedding are stupid. Plus, they didn't even put me in the wedding party.  So I told them I had something going on that day. The really stupid thing, though, is that my mom is probably going to force me to go anyway. And probably wear a tie in addition to that. The nerve!  *Transition to serious me* I am actually really excited about the wedding. But its also kind of weird. And why is it that right when you start to get close to your older siblings they either get married or go off to college. You see, my sister is 5 years older than me, so growing up I was the annoying brother that made you want to plant your face in a bag of popcorn every time you went out in public with him. But time eventually bridges most age gaps, and we are just getting closer to each other, but now she has to go get married and burn it all down. There is something really cool about the wedding that I wanted to share with you. We realized yesterday that their wedding date is the same day as the wedding anniversary of some of our oldest and best friends. (the family that we pretty much grew up with) Its just so cool. I cant get over it. God is pretty awesome.

Yesterday was a big day, in cased you hadn't noticed. So many awesome things happened that I'm not going to tell you about them because it would take too long. I did go see the movie Monuments Men, though, so I'll tell you about that and then cut this thing short. Its one those movies that you're not sure if like or you really like. It was different. And I think a breath of fresh air. It was made like an old movie. No over the top gore, no in your face adrenaline. That kind of made it seem slow, but at the same time it was kind of a nice breather from all those non-stop, in your face movies that come out nowadays. I'd recommend it if you're somewhat tired of said insane movies that are filled mostly action and have very little actual acting in them.

Guess that's all folks.

Have a safe and great rest of your weekend!

-Thomas

This sums it up quite nicley.

Weally weally busy.

Just wanted to pop in and wish y'all a great Valentine's Day. If you are single, consider yourself lucky. For today at least. This holiday is just one big pain in the neck, at least if you're my age. I had a thought and I just lost it, AND I've got to get going, so I'll catch ya later.

-Thomas

This may or may not turn into a rant....

So my parents went to out dinner tonight and left my little big brother in charge of making dinner because everyone else was at swim team. Now, my brother is great guy, but I think he may be a bit of a stranger to moderation. Our dinner consisted of chicken and french fries. Simple, right? When I got home he had just finished the chicken. It was alright, but it was incased in about 3 centimeters of rather strong seasoning. Then we got to the french fries. There were about three times amount we could eat, and the whole bottoms of the 3 baking sheets were swamped with about a quarter of an inch of oil. He made a good smoothie, though. The only problem was that he had turned the kitchen inside out. It was an awful mess and he informed me that my little little and I were cleaning it up. So I went on my run and was welcomed home by two counter-fulls of dishes. It wasn't great. But im done now, and I did them really fast, so hah!

Well, since I'm already ranting I might as well go off on ipad picture-takers. I think I'll write an open letter to them all. Its fun.

Dear ipad picture-takers,

Have you any idea how incredibly unintelligent you look while taking pictures with said device? I mean, if you ever were to see a video of yourself doing said action, I am convinced that you would either be completely mortified, or you would die laughing at yourself, (not exactly the death one would hope for) depending on your personality. Seriously. You look like a complete bafoon whilst taking your pictures. I am convinced the people at Apple put the camera in just so they could laugh at you when you use it; because, discounting that feature, they seem a pretty bright bunch.. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned panoramas. Not to be harsh, but taking panoramas with one's ipad makes about as much sense as purchasing undergarments and the secondhand shop: zero.  I hope this note has made you see the glaring gravity of your error.

-Yours Truly.

Wow! That was really, really really fun writing that.

Oh, and the seminar that was on Sat. got postponed till next weekend, so I might end up going to the dance after all. We'll see.

Good night, or morning, or whenever you end up coming across this.

-Thomas, who has started thinking and even talking in a British accent because of the play he is in....its scaring him.

Hmmmmmmm

I was going to get on here earlier, but my sibs begged me to finish my rendering of Leave it to Psmith. So I did. Plus, I hadn't actually read the whole thing yet. It is hilarious. I am getting more excited about this thing as each passes at an exponential rate. The guy I'm playing is going to be so much fun. But the thing is, everyone would be fun to play. Here I am now and I tell you I have been somewhat converted to this whole wacko food movement that my parents have joined the ranks of. For two reasons. First, hilarious situations and second, brownies.

Last night my mom made brownies. They had no flour and no sugar. And they were better than regular ones. They funny thing is that their main ingredient was beans. Beans are high in fiber and protein. These things were amazingly good and they were really really healthy. I am sort of in a sate of shock right now. Its just...Sayeth what? Although they weren't quite as sweet as regular brownies, they had the most amazing texture. It was superb. My mouth is watering thinking about with whipped cream and fresh berries. This recipe is pretty much magic I think. I could go on and on, but I think I'll stop now because...well, I'm not exactly sure why, but I will.

And now situations. Before I start, I want say that our pantry is pretty much a forest of containers. The, in turn, are full of pretty much every seed and grain the world has ever know. We even have Egyptian sprouted grains, whatever that means. Anyway. Last night after I returned from  choir practice, my brother an I decided that we were going to have some bro bonding time, so I proceeded to make the most delicious tater tots known to mankind with my new secret recipe. ( also my new favorite late night snack) We were interrupted my elder sister, though. (The one that's getting married, for those of you who know my family.) And her friend. They had come to make sugar cookies for their respective fiancés because Valentine's Day is tomorrow.

Well, do you remember the forest of containers? The thing about forests is that if one is not familiar the particular one one finds oneself in, it is rather easy to get particularity lost. To put it bluntly, they got lost. Their flower wasn't exactly flour, and they didn't catch it until it was too late. I'm not sure what is was. Something a name I had never heard before and have subsequently forgotten. Let's just say that I'm glad I'm not either of their fiancés, though, both because they wouldn't think I was worth the effort to make another batch and because those cookies are going to be NASTY DUUUDE!!!

Hmmm don't any else to say, so I think I'll write an awful poem. I give you my full permission to laugh because I really don't care.

Oh how my heart ebbs and flows,

As the waves and tide of the sea

Up with rush it flares, then goes,

Down to where no one will be.

 

Oh will you ever catch its flow?

That only time and God can see. 

Till that time thou should know,

How much I dearly love thee.

.....Well that didn't exactly pan out. *TALK ABOUT MELODRAMATIC* It doesn't really make sense. At all. Or fit with anything. So laugh away my hearties! Whatever. I like bright colors. (in case you hadn't noticed) Lunch time!


Oh, and I almost forgot. I've come to the conclusion that I'm somewhat absent minded because this morning I found a circle drawn around a scab that's on the fore part of my forearm. I have no recollection of it happening. I think it happened last night at choir because I was sitting next to this dude that for some reason draws all over his skin. I guess maybe he gotten tired of working on his own skin so he decided to give mine a go. I don't really care much, weird-person-who-draws-on-skin, but in the future I think I'd be obliged if you  asked permission or at least told me you were going to do it, before you start defacing my skin. Is that too much to ask?

TTFN

-Thomas

One of those days.

Do you ever get those days when it seems that some awful something or other came and drained every bit of rigor out of your body during the night, leaving one bereft of any energy whatsoever? Well, I get them every once in awhile and today is definitely one of those days. It started with not being able to haul my bones out of bed for an hour and a half. I got up at 7:30. How scandalous! I then stiffly proceeded downstairs to the kitchen where my amazingly cheerful mom give me a hearty, Good morning, Thomas! To which I gave what you might call an Eeyore-istic response. I sometimes wonder how some are as cheerful as they are. I guess it probably has to do with being holy or something of that nature.

I then  picked up my computer and headed for the living room to attempt to get a post in before mass for you, my beloved readers. But when I got all settled I was to tired to think of anything to say and even  if I had been able to, I doubt anything would have come of it because now my hand is still warming up. So I stared blankly at the screen for a few minutes and then decided to give up the whole thing entirely and postpone it all. (no pun intended)

The rest of the day has passed drearily away. I fell asleep while reading my history today, even though it was actually quite interesting. And that pretty much sums it up. I also don't think my overall feeling of dreariness is helped by the fact that my throat is extremely raw.  Its raw because I did a crazy enthusiastic read-through of the play that I'm in, for my siblings. It was pretty awesome. I didn't get through the whole thing, but I did do a good chunk of it. But both because the kids were laughing their heads off and because I was having a considerable amount of fun doing it, I didn't stop until the inside of my throat was literally searing and only and only until after I stopped did the pain begin to be fully realized. Its still hurts hours later. It was a performance for the ages, though, so who cares.

Last night at youth group was kind of different. We talked a lot. But I'm not going to talk about what we talked about because I don't think its really very healthy to do so. So that's that. This is totally random, but I hate when you see a trait in someone's personality, or even just a situation that you see something not-so-good in someone else, and upon further reflection it turns out that what you saw wasn't just a hasty judgment; that what you judged at first wasn't even as bad as the real situation is. When I think I see a fault or a mistake in another, I want it to be that I was just making judgments without any real basis. Or in other words, I would rather be wrong in my opinions than for anything or anyone to be as bad as I thought they were. In fact, I loved being proved wrong in these instances. But last night I saw clearly an angle of a situation that had previously been kind of cloudy. Sadly, in this case, the remission of the clouds didn't bring light and sunshine, but only a deeper darkness. I think I am too often able to perceive people's motives. Its annoying. But its even more so when I cant. That doesn't happen very often, but when it does, its frustrating. I second guess myself and overanalyze and go through thousands of different scenarios, until my brain feels like its going to explode. I have one such case right now, but I have a very strong feeling its going to be resolved in the near future.

In other news, I found out today that there is going to be a movie coming out with Ian Mckellen starring as Sherlock Holmes. A retired Sherlock Holmes, no less. I'm intrigued, but I definitely don't know what to make of it. It'll be interesting to say the least, though. I am also trying decide whether or not I'm going to go to this dance that's on Sat. On second thought, scratch that. I just remembered that there is a seminar that night. Its funny what thinking does, isn't it? I guess that decides it. No dance. Oh well.

Sorry for that melodramatic nature of this post, its just so much more fun that way. Plus, I get a kick out of weirding people out. So I guess you'll have to deal with it.

Well, I'm back to the old grindstone mates!

TTFN

-Thomas

IT WILL NOT BE BROKEN!!!!!!!!

I have I nice little string consistency going here and I didn't want to break it. So here I am. Sorry I didn't get a real post in, but I was either gone or busy most of the day and when I did have a little smidgen of downtime, the internet was also mysteriously down. It was awful and probably good at the same time. I guess that's it. Bye!

Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the zombies bite. Sorry about that....we may or may not have played a very disturbing game at youth group.

-Thomas

A postponment and a prayer.

So I got everything ready for my essay, posted it and it looked great in my writer page of my blog, but then when I viewed the actual published post it was all messed up space wise and pretty much unintelligible. I'll figure out how to fix and post it some other time. Thankfully, my post had a rather long subsection, so here it is:

I want to share this prayer with you that I really like both because of its shortness and its simplicity. I say shortness because I'm not the biggest fan of long, formulated PERSONAL* prayers. They certainly have their place, and many of them are quite beautiful, but I like contemplative prayer. I like thinking about God and having conversations with him. The way I see it is that one is supposed to have a personal, intimate relationship with God. How can one foster such a relationship if all one is doing is reading prayers at a rate of 25 prayers per hour? There is rather a need to sit still while thinking about God and let him do the rest. Without such contemplation and the resulting intense relationship we are like dry sponges, perfectly useless and totally unable to carry out our respective purposes; whilst with it, we are like sponges that have just been plopped into water--the ocean of love that is God--constantly soaking it up. Through that 'soaking up',  the water becomes part of the sponge and the sponge is totally immersed and surrounded by the water. Then, through the relationship between the two, the sponge is raised to its full potential.

The only problem is that our minds are quite wonder-ish in nature, so we are easily distracted. That is where The Rosary comes in. It is a fusion between formulated and contemplative prayer. And therein lies it's greatness. It is not merely a rattling off of the same acclamations and responses over and over and over again. If so, why would they be called mysteries? There is nothing very mysterious abut repeating a set of words for what sometimes seems like eternity. The words, rather, are there to help our wandering minds to stay focused on our contemplation of the like of Jesus, which was most definitely mysterious at times. It is really a model for sessions of prayer. The ultimate way to pray is  a mixture of formulated and contemplative prayer. Well, that got much longer than I was planning it to be. Funny how that happens, eh? Anyway. Here is the prayer:

As I lay down my head this night, I wish to thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of today; I also wish to ask forgiveness for all your blessings I have rejected through my stubbornness of heart. Lord, please keep my body strong, my mind clear, and my heart pure, so that I may be able to share in your love for all eternity. Amen.

And I realized after I posted my last post that I didn't even mention the dark chocolate and raspberries. Oops. All I wanted to say is that my mom is an angel because of, but not limited to, the fact that she bought me a bunch of fresh raspberries and this really nice natural, sugarless dark chocolate for me.  Which is pretty much the best combination on the planet. In fact THAT'S what our relationship with God should be like: we should go together like chocolate and raspberries. ;) Anyway. Thanks mom! They almost made up for not being able to eat my valentines candy.

You should get some sort of prize for getting to the bottom of all this, but sadly all I can give you is gratitude. Sorry. Imagine all that with an intro and a sizable essay....

-Thomas



  *Note not public. :)



Dark chocolate and raspberries.

Yesterday was an amazingly good day. It started well, it ended exceedingly well, and everything in between was pretty darn good too. The start was, of course, singing in the choir for the first time. It went well, I think. To be honest, I wasn't exactly expecting much; I saw it as more than a favor then anything else because they really need guy voices. But I was so wrong! It was an honor. I got to stand in the place of, and sing in communion with, the angels. How cool is that? It was amazing. I felt like I got so much more out of the mass, as a whole, through singing my lungs out. I'm not exactly sure why, but that's that. I did.

After I got home from mass, I got picked up by friends to go to a basketball game that was being play by other friends. It was pretty much a plethoratic plethora of plethorosotic friends. It was great. They lost, but up a valiant effort. Its not about winning and losing, right? Its about having fun. Once they were done with their dismantling game, we all went out to fast food. I got water. It was delicious. I got it through a quite frustrating process, though. When I asked for water, the kind--but possibly a bit diluted in the cerebral area --lady at the counter gave me a cup; a plastic cup. It was decidedly not water. I wanted to ask the kind lady how one was supposed to drink plastic, (I'm under the impression that its probably not good for one's health, even if she could have told me how to.) but then our wonderful chaperone informed me that I was supposed to get the water for myself, and that the plastic was for holding it. Imagine that! I don't go to fast food very often, but I think next time I go I'll ask the wielder of the counter to give me plain water. I don't need a fancy cup. That's how they do it back home, anyways.

The evening passed by tolerably well. But the real crown of the day was the run. I went on a run. A real one. Like more than 5 miles long for the first time in ages. It felt so good. And I felt like superman till I woke up this morning. Seriously. Regular, intense exercise is probably the best human therapy the world has to offer. All one's problems float away. Everything falling into place, and everything works out. (no pun intended) Its the best.

So to sum up: I'm doing great!

I better go finish my school, but I think I'll post the essay I talked about a few days ago later, so stay tuned!

TTFN

-Thomas

Butterflies.

Ok, no not really, but I am singing today at church in front of, or rather behind, 350ish people for the first time since I was a little boy. But the thing is is that its not really about the people. We sing to giver further beauty to the most sacred event in human history: the holy sacrifice of the mass. That's what makes it a little nerve racking. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't pass out and fall with a laud ka-boom.


Yesterday was the read through for a play that I'm in with a bunch of friends, Leave It To Psmith. I think its going to be really fun. I'm playing one of the main-ish characters, though, so I have a ton of lines to memorize. Ick!

Well, I don't have anything clever to say, so I think I'll write on something that bothers me. A lot. I have been thinking about writing on this for awhile now, and I guess the time is ripe. Let's dig in then, shall we? Ahem! So, this is going to sound strange coming from me if you know me, but I'm going those little mean-ish remarks that people for some reason find extremely amusing. I don't mean anything super bad, just things like when everyone is at box hill in Emma, and Emma tells Miss. Bates something along the lines of, You see, there is a limit to the dull things you can say; you are allowed but three. Sorry if you haven't read Emma before because that wont have meant much of anything to you, but there is a remedy: read it! Anyhoo, I want to start off by saying that I do this quite a bit. I don't do it to hurt people's feelings, though. I'm exactly sure why I do it at all. I suppose its to make people laugh, including the person I'm joking with. People do the same thing to me, and I think its funny and that they don't mean it, as I hope all people that I do stuff to mean that I don't mean it at all. That's not to say that I don't go over the top every once and awhile. I do. And I'm neither happy nor proud of it. But you see, when I do these sort of things I really try to do it solely to people I trust can take it as a joke because I feel wretched when I think I've actually hurt someone. What I get really annoyed and almost mad, at times, about is when people pick on others who are socially, or in any other way, insecure, just because they are that way. If someone doesn't feel comfortable isn't  one's job to make that person as comfortable as one can? How is that person going to ever feel comfortable or secure when others go out of their way to ignore them, or, even worse, give them unkind attention? It makes me so mad to see this happen, probably partly because its so bent and partly because I know I used to totally ignore those kind of people myself, and its a revolting recollection.

Got to go to mass now, wish me luck!

TTFN

-Thomas `

Never doing THAT again!

Yesterday was the Valentines day party thing and I spent almost the entirety of it playing sports. Not because I especially wanted to, but it was cold,  I had left my sweater in the car, and my mom was gone.  First we played tackle football for awhile, and I've decided that its just not worth it. When I got up this morning, my body felt like it had the approximate age of, 107 years, 68 days, and 2 hours. It was and is awful and  that's why I'm never doing it again. Then we played volleyball. We wont talk about volleyball. Sandwiched between the football and volleyball escapades, there was a little bit of downtime. There is moment that I am imponderably proud of during this downtime. You see, pretty much what this thing was was a candy exchange. I, of course, don't eat candy. So I gave all mine away. Then one of my friends started throwing skittles at me, which, btw USED to be my favorite kind of candy. He was throwing them at me so I could catch them in my mouth. He missed the first few, so that was all right, but then I was confronted by a purple skittle, flying end over end, right toward the middle of my face. What was I to do? I couldn't let it bounce off my face, that would just be awful. So I caught it. There it was, lying there on my tongue. For half a second. Then the unthinkable happened. With an incredible surge of willpower, I expunged the beautiful skittle from my mouth onto the grass. What now? Bring it. Bring anything. I defeated a skittle.

By the time we got home and showered, it was pretty much time for adoration. It was an amazing holy hour. I'm kind of a hit and miss person with holy hours. Sometimes I just cant get locked in and it seems like its an eternity. I pray, but it really just a skeleton of prayer. There are a few times, though, when everything is perfect; when the hour it over too soon; when you just kind of want to sit there forever because you are so moved. Those hours are just about as close as you can get to heaven on earth. They are indescribably amazing. Just thinking about them gives one warmth and peace. These hours happen very often with me, but when they do, it makes them all the more sweet. Last night was one of those hours. It made everything so much better. I know what matters now, and I can handle anything life throws at me. I mean, I handled the skittle. What could be more difficult than that? To do HIS will is enough.

After adoration, we all walked up to a friend's house to hang out. It was really fun. We didn't really do much, but it was fun all the same. My friends are the best. Like, way better than yours. Jk. But they are awesome.

Well, that's pretty much it, and I need to read this play that I'm supposed to be acting in, so TTFN


-Thomas

I want some candy!

Ok, I'm done with all my Valentines, so that's good. Some of them were actually pretty clever, if I can say so myself. The only problem, though, is that ones that needed to be clever aren't. Whatever, you cant have everything. The real problem is that our house is currently full of starbursts,  skittles, and Bliss dark chocolate. Its not too hard to not eat those because they are not exactly for us. Still, there are extras, so my siblings are constantly chewing some sweet delight that I'm not able to eat. The real trial is going to start later, when I get a whole bag of candy that people have given me. Its going to be torture. I guess I'll just have to give it away before the temptation gets too strong. Pray that I have the strength!

I might be seeing you later, but probably not.

Ta-ta for now,  (its my new thing, I got it from Tigger)

-Thomas

Rain? Actual rain? +Awesome other stuffs.

1.Its actually rained here for more than 15 min. and its still raining! Yippee! This is awesome. This is what we've all been praying for! Yaayyyyy! And it will get even better once I get my feet wet. Which is a really ridiculous thing to say because as soon as I step outside the rain will stop, trust me, I know about this kind of stuff, actually since I live in SoCal I know absolutely nothing about anything to do with water, even swimming, which is stupid because I have a pool in my backyard. So yeah, I'm an idiot. Like a huge idiot, like the Charlie brown complex.


 2.So this morning I wrote an awesome (at least it was fun to write, I hope my teacher thinks so) essay for my civics class, defending the Founding Fathers decision to keep slavery legal under The Constitution. Sadly, it really was the only choice they had. I don't want to get into it on this post because its too complex, so maybe I'll post it later. We'll see. But you can trust me. I'm right.

3.Last night, as you all know, I went to choir for the first time. Although I was sort of lost at times, it was actually really cool. And it will get even better once I get my feet wet. Probably the best part about it is how cool it sounded, imagine you are Jonah, and you got swallowed by the whale, and you where singing lungs out, and then the whale started singing in an amazing operatic baritone voice, and the songs from the Magic Flute filled the belly of the whale, that's what it sounded like last night. And so all of my friends should join because its the perfect chance to experience what the inside of a giant plankton eating beast would sound like. The only problem with this is that the inside of a whale smells like the inside of a sushi joint, and I hate sushi. And that was choir.

4.So I was studying musical theory today. Did you know that there is an impossible note? No matter how hard you try to play this note the sound will never come out. Sounds kinda pointless right? In fact, it is the most important note because it is the most unique. You "find" it on the grand staff of the B flat minor scale of the third triad of the impeccable chord the Bass. Which is the opposite of the G sharp Major diatomic harmonic scale of the Treble Cleft. Confused yet? Wait till I get going! Where was I? Oh yeah, when you break up the left chord separating the bass and the rest of the chord, you establish a rhythmic pattern, if you're good. This pattern is known as the left hand first president major scale in the key of F. You could also try arpeggiating the chord. Arpeggiating the chord will give you a sound roughly resembling the sound of John Denver in the third act of the Sound of Music. Yes, he is in the Sound of Music. And that, my friends, is just about all you have to know about music theory.

5.I also have a Valentine's day party that I have to make like 20 valentines for. I haven't started yet. And its tomorrow. The most egregiously un-bodacious part this is that I will actually have to work at these things because I've procrastinated so long. Blegh. Valentines.

Okay, not to be judgmental, but if you have a brain that is larger than a lentil, you will have noticed by now that the paragraphs of this post seem to be numbered for no apparent reason. Its a game. You see, this post was written  by yours truly and a friend. Thanks friend! Anyway. If you think #1 was written by me, say, 1T if you think it was my friend, say, 1F, and if you think it was a combination of our truly amazing talent, say 1B and so on and so forth for all the paragraphs. Each correctly guessed paragraph is worth ten points and if you guess the name of my friend, you get an additional 20. I commandingly commandeth you all to play it. Put your thinking cap on, use your deduction skills, and get going. It will do you good! Anyway. Leave your final answer in the comments section. You know you want to. THE GAME IS ON.

Take care and good luck! TTFN!



-The Authors.....Ohhhh doesn't that official....I think I'll have 'friend' do this more often in the future. ;)

A new order, a strange ritual, and drowning.

1. My parents have adopted a new lifestyle. And in doing so enslaved us children into it too. Its supposed to leave you slim, fit and trim, or something like that. As far as I can see, it pretty much consists of getting the most outlandish strange food, mixing it all together, and calling it a 'meal.' This morning my mom made 'pancakes.'  They weren't good, but they weren't awful either. They weren't pancakes though. They tasted like a cheerio-flavored omelets. I'm dead serious. I'm not entirely sure what they were made of, and even if I did the ingredient list would probably be longer than a normal post, but I do know that they had no flour, but had tons of eggs, oats, and piles of cottage cheese. And my mom said they were not only pancakes, but "perfectly normal" ones too. I don't think my parents get that just because a thing is the same shape as something else, doesn't not mean that they are the same. The matter matters. A pizza does not equal a cookie. Case closed.

2. I am kind of a backwards person, so I guess it makes sense that I do things backwards. Let me give you a prime example. If your reading comprehension is above the 3rd grade level, you will probably by now have gathered that my family goes to church a lot. If you have gathered that, then you gathered correctly. My family normally goes to church every day. And that normally is at 8:30. Which means that I have to get out of my pajamas and into regular clothes. After I come home, I get dressed for the day and therein lies my backwardness. I think for most people getting dressed for the day means getting out of one's pj's and into normal clothes. For me, it means getting out of my normal clothes and into my pj's. I actually call them my lounge pants because that sounds much better than pj's. They are so much more comfortable than jeans, and so much more cozy than shorts....its one of the perks of being homeschooled. Be jealous.

3. Yesterday I had the worst swim practice in the history of mankind. I felt like I was drowning. I was taking water, my muscles (what are left of them) were aching, and I was going at a snails pace. Coming back after not being able to workout for an extended period of time is not pleasant. But the plus side is that things can only go up from here. And they will.

Oh, and I'm joining a choir tonight. Hopefully it wont be weird, and hopefully I'll have a good voice. I honestly don't know if I have or haven't. I guess we'll find out. It should be interesting, at least, and they need guys voices, so what's to lose?

So to sum up: If invited to our house for dinner, be sure to have a prior engagement; if I ever ask you out, don't accept if you are normal and if you cant tolerate people who wear pj's lounge attire all day if they can get away with it; I'm out of shape.

Take care,

-Thomas, who is off to his workout at his trainer's shop.

I survived.

Yes, I'm still alive. None of my readers slit my throat during the night for promising ten dollars and at the same time not.

On second thought, I'm not going to post right now because I just now had a scathingly brilliant idea. AND I HAVE TO GO CARRY IT OUT AT ONCE1

Have a great non-posted day!

Thomas, who really wants a Captain America snuggie right now.

Read this post if you literally have nothing else to do. (or if you want to laugh at me)

 I, (surprise, surprise) am bored. And have a spitting headache, so I am not inclined to read. I think its my fault though. I kind of stuffed my face with these dark chocolate acai blueberry things have are supposed to be good for you. In my opinion their flavor is far too pleasant for that really to be true, but I'll take it. Anyway. I think they had more sugar then by system was used to, because my blood vessels are bloated right now and are causing my head to be turned into a highly pressurized mushy brainy tissue chamber. They were so good though......

Besides stuffing my face, I finished my school and got a good chunk of reading in. I'm currently reading a historical novel that revolves around the life of St. Thomas Aquinas, my patron saint. Its pretty good. I like it. The author is quite intelligent and is a master at melding facts and exciting fiction together seamlessly.

At one point I was so bored I left a comment on a blog that took about 45 min. to type up. It actually had to be edited because it was way over the 4,096 character limit. And all it was was a list of strange Norwegian names....I was trying to guess my friend's middle name.  Here it is: (and I'll put it in italics so you can skip over it easily)

Is it Dagfinn, Dagfrid  Roar, Roger  Hanna, Hanne  Aslaug, Åslaug Eldbjørg, Knut Torfinn, Turidi Gunn, Gunnar  Sigmund, Sigruard Børge, Børre  Reinert, Reinhard  Gislaug, Gisle  Herbjørg, Herbjørn , Laurits  Hilmar, Hjalmar  Tønnes  Hild, Hildur  Margunn, Marius  Bastian, Vanja  Jarle, Joar  Pål  Esten, Eystein, Øystein  Gaute, Gry, Gurli , Karoline  Herdis, Hermann, Hermod  Gunda, Gunnhild  Idun, Ivar  Birte, Bjarte  Jomar, Jostein  Ansgar, Asgeir Vera, Veroniknie Dorte, Dortea Riborg, Rigmor, Rikard  Åshild, Åsne Leikny, Lone  Ingfrid, Ingrid  Ingve, Yngve  Randi, Randulf, Ronja Svanaug, Svanhild Hjørdis, Jardar Sigbjørn, Sigfred  Juliane Aleksandra, Sandra, Sondre Frode, Frøydis  Halldis, Halldor , Selma, Tina  Torstein, Torunn  Mathias, Mats, Mattias, Mattis  Viktor, Viktoria  Inger, Ingjerd  Laila, Lill  Maren, Marina  Audny, Audun  Erna, Ernst  Gunnbjørg, Gunnveig  Ada, Patricia,  Andor, Annfrid  Are, Arild Beate, Bettina, Betty Sindre, Sverre  Edel, Edle  Edvin, Tale  Gregor, Gro  Greta, Grete  Mathilde, Mette , Christel, Christer Gudmund, Gudny Gjertrud, , Sander  Joakim, Kim  Bendik, Bengt,  Rikke, Ulrikke  Rudi, Rudolf Holger, Olga Vebjørn, Vegard  Arve, Arvid  Sigvard, Sivert Gunnvald, Gunvor , Nanna, Nina  Eiril, Eirin, Irene Oddveig, Oddvin  Asle, Atle Rannveig, Rønnaug  Ingvald, Ingveig  Ulf, Ylva  Ellinor, Nora  Oda, Odd, Odin, Mons  Elise, Elsa, Else  Eilen, Eilert  Kjeliieg, Kjellrun  Jannike,  Oddgeir, Oddny , Jørgen, Jørn Tea,  Thea  Vivi, Vivian Toralf, Torolf Gina, Gitte Filip, Valborg  Gjermund, Gøril Mona, Monika Gudbrand, Gullborg Guri, Gyri  Mai, Maia, Maiken Espen  Magda  Normann, Norvald  Linda, Line, Linn  Karsten, Kristen, Kristian  Hallvard  Siren  Harald, Ragnhild  Eirik, Erik, Erika Torje, Torjus, Truls  Bjørnar, Bjørnhild   Henning,Oddlaug, Oddleif , Iris  Ragna, Ragnar Annbjørg, Annlaug  Cato, Katinka   Magnar, Magnhild  Gard, Geir  Pernille, Preben  Juni  Runa, Runar, Rune  Heid, Heidi Torben, Torbjørg, Torbjørn  Gyda Renate, René  Kolbein, Kolbjørn Ingolf, Ingunn  Bjørg, Bjørge, Borgar  Sigfrid, Sigrid, Siri  Tanja, Tone, Tonje  Erland, Erlend  Vigdis, Viggo Tiril, Torhild, Toril Bodil, Botolv  Bjarne, Bjørn  Elling, Erling  Salve, Sølve, Sølvier Agnar, Håkon, Maud Eldrid, Elfrid  Jorunn, Jørund Aina, Ina, Ine Per, Petter Solbjørg, Solgunn  Ask, Embla Kjartan, Kjellfrid, Ulla, Ulrik Mina, Mirjam Torgrim, Torgunn Hulda, Håvard Sunniva, Synne, Synnøve Gøran, Jøran, Ørjan  Anita, Anja Kjell, Kjetil Eldar, Elias Mia, Mildrid  Solfrid, Oddmund, Oddrun Sanna, Gorm, Guttorm  Arnulf, Ørnulf  Gerhard, Gjert  Margareta, Margit, Marit Janne, Johanne  Malene, Mali, Malin Brit, Brita,  Kristin, Rita  Reidar, Reidun Ola Olega Arne, Arnhild Oskar, Osvald  Gunnlaug, Gunnleiv Didrik, Doris Evy, Yvonne , Lasse, Lorents  Hallgeir, Hallgjerd   Brynhild, Brynjulf , Wenche Tormod, Sigvald, Sigve , Bernt Ragni, Ragnvald   Signe, Signy  Belinda, Bertil  Øyvindn Berta, Berte Solveig, Solvor , Lise, Liss, Vilde Ida, Idar Brede Njål  Siril, Siv, Sollaug  Regine Trygve, Trym, Tyra Jofrid, Jorid  Stian, Stig Ingebjørg, Ingeborg Aslak, Eskil  Hildebjørg, Hildegunn Konstanse  Trine, Trond  Kyrre, Kåre  Snefrid, Snorre  Jan, Jens  Ingvar, Yngvar  Einar, Endre Dagmar Lena, Lene  Hege, Helga, Helge , Remi  Liv, Live  Evald, Brynjar  Målfrid, Møyfrid   Frida, Fridtjof, Frits  Kevin  Valter, Vibeke Tarjei, Terje, Torgeir  Kai,Kaia  Hedda, Hedvig Finn Kjersti, Kjerstin  Tora, Tore  Heine,  Bergljot, Birger  Karianne, Karine, Kine  Severin, Søren  Eilif, Eivor Sture, Sturla  Noralf, Norunn Aksel, Ove, Ånund Edit, Edna  Veslemøy, Vetle  Tuva  Egil, Egon Ingebrigt, Ingelin Ingvild, Yngvild  Tordis  Gudveig  Torkil, Torkjell  Oddfrid, Oddvar Hauk, Hogn Magne, Magny, Lisbet, Halvdan Cecilie, Silje, Sissel  Gudrun,Torlaug, Torleif  Rut  Sonja  Arnljot, ArntBorghild, Borgny, Sveinung Barbro  Ståle Hallfrid, Pia, Steinar Hilda, Hilde  Oddbjørg, Oddbjørn Inga, Inge  Iselin Ingar, Ingemar Sigurd, Sjur Eva Une, Unn, Unni  Sylfest, Sylvi?????

If it wasn't one of those, I give up.


Impressive, huh? Ten dollars to the person who read each of the names before reading this sentence. The problem, though, is that I have no way of knowing you're telling the truth, so no one is eligible to get it. Sorry. But it is your fault for being a dishonest wretch of a human being. (nothing personal, it just had a nice ring to it :D)

And there you have it. The most boringist post ever from the most bored person that currently lying in this particular blue couch. I'm not really that bored. How can I be? There are so many things to think about.

-Thomas


 

Super...what exactly?

Hello there peoples. I was going to say good latish morning to you all, but then I realized that you come from many countries and time zones, and also that you probably will not read this post for at least a couple of hours. Hence the, 'Hello there' because time reliant salutations don't exactly work here,  I'm not clever enough to think of a more exciting greeting without a least a little effort, and I'm not, at the present, inclined to exert myself over such a trifling matter.

As most likely everyone in western civilization knows, yesterday was Superbowl Sunday. But as far as I could see, the only 'Superbowl' was the bowl of a stadium that the players played in. That game was the biggest joke. I'm not one of those casual fans; I love football, yet I was actually waiting for the commercial breaks and was sad when they ended and the game came on. That being said, big congrats to the Seahawks and their fans. The commercials were pretty good this year, though, and that made up for it. The Doritos ones, the turbotax one, the pistachio one, and I could go on and on.

Now for sports in general. I love sports. I love playing them and I love following them. I get why I like playing them, but following them really doesn't make sense to me. I remember 2 years ago my team lost in the Superbowl. I was so depressed that I decided I was done with following sports. It doesn't make sense. One could just as easily go for the team that won as the team that lost. There are good guys and bad guys on every team. They are almost identical in every way except some are better than others; except one wins and all the others lose. It didn't make sense to me that I was physically depressed because a bunch of guys that I don't know who could very well be thugs, lost a game that in the end has no impact on my life and totally unimportant. I didn't stop following sports and I still obsess and it still doesn't make any sense. I think most people have obsessions, though, and only the super mature and reasonable don't. For instance, tons of people are crazy about celebrities and movie stars. They obsess about them and their obsessions lead them to do crazy things sometimes. I never got into that sort of thing. I don't care one way or the other about any celebrities. But I'm crazy about sports....I'm just thankful that I'm not crazy about both.

I was pretty much done with my school by 8 this morning, so be jealous. Actually don't because that means that I got up at 5 something. I think someone put a chip in my head or something because my brain literally sleeps like its on a timer. I usually wake up at 7:30, but I went to bed two hours earlier than I usually do, so I woke up at 5:30. Its weird. And I don't like it. For quite obvious reasons.

Well, I think I'm off for now. I need to find something else to do. Maybe some light training and definitely some reading, hopefully some time with friends. If I get totally bored or something, I might sign in again later. Stay occupied and interested.


-Thomas




Stay occupied to the

Whoa, its February?

I was on a blog last night and it said that it was Feb. already. Say what? Seriously guys, where did January go? It seems just yesterday I was at a New Year's Eve party stuffing my face with sweets. Oh, those were the days.

Today's post is going to be split into two sections. Section one is going to be me talking about smart cars and section two is both going to be a little bit more serious and also a surprise.

Smart cars. I really don't know why on earth one would buy one. Believe it or not, they are actually worse than Priuses. And I'm not just saying this. My dad looked into buying one of them and they honestly are the most nonsensical cars in existence. They would make sense, maybe, if they got really good gas mileage, but they don't. Their mileage is actually comparable to pretty much every normal car manufacturer's "gas saver" model. Plus, unlike Smart cars, these other ones are actually cars, not just tiny two-person boxes on wheels that turn into death chambers in event of almost any accident. There is a question that remains, though. Why do people buy these things? Well, I suppose the final answer is that people are idiots, but reason people buy these cars, I think, is to send a message out to the world. The message is as follows:

Dear World,
I am a smart car driver. "Why?" You ask. Well, there are actually lots of reasons. I both have a lap dog and am single, or I'm not single and I love my dog more than I love my husband because there really isn't enough room in here for two normal sized people. I also love whales more than humans. In fact, I pretty much like everything better than humans. Oh, and did I mention I love thrills. You no idea how thrilling it is when you are on the freeway next to an 18-wheeler. One is always asking oneself whether or not its driver see one's SC, or whether one is going to get squashed like a roly-poly under a skate board. The excitement is indescribable, I assure you.

-The smart car drivers of the planet.

....Yes, that was an awful stereotype and no, I don't care.

And now for my short surprise blurb. *drumroll* I was really struck by this a few days ago, and I thought I would share it with you. My guy friends and I are not by any stretch Prince Charmings, but we do hold the door for people and are generally courteous in public. Anyway, a few days ago I was coming out of a medical complex and there was an ill old lady coming in from the other side. I naturally side-stepped, smiled, and held the door for her. Her response was so telling of the state of our culture. I could see the look of utter surprise on her face. She was surprised that someone was helping her out by simply holding a door open for a few extra seconds. I find that so sad. Have we sunk that low as a people? To a point where even the old and infirm don't expect help from those who are blessed with health and youth? Yes we have. The old and infirm, the very people we owe our existence to, are constantly ridiculed and belittled in the screen and all over the media. Man, we have a lot of work to do people. I only whish I knew what to do and where to go....


Happy Sunday, (feast of the presentation, too) and congrats if you are either a Broncos or Seahawks fan.

-Thomas

Cowering in fear.

Here I am sprawling on the couch. To the casual eye everything would seem normal, even tranquil. The morning sun is streaming through the windows, my little sister is in the next room eating an inordinate amount of cereal, and everything seems perfectly fine. But then one might notice that every once in awhile I have a slight tremor, and it is not due to the cold. There is tension in the air. If one were to see inside me, one would see my heart going, a-thumpa-thumpa-thwack, a-thumpa-thumpa-thwack. If one could read my thoughts, one would sense an ever-brewing fear, and also the words, Thomas, don't hurt yourself.

Yesterday I did probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. And my hip is bearing the consequences. You see, I was going to a friend's house at 2:30, but I didn't finish my chores in time to have time to walk. Naturally, I asked my mom for a ride, and naturally she was too busy to. She told me to run, but I wasn't feeling very good at the time so I for some reason decided to try an experiment.

The experiment was a cross between rollerblading and running. So I tried rollerblading with one rollerblade. Down hill.  It was kind of like a scooter, except your foot was permanently attached to it, there was no handle, and no brake. Everything went more smoothly than I probably should have expected, all things considered. That is, till I literally had 30 feet left before my trippy experiment was to be over. At which point I forgot that I didn't have skate on my right foot, planted it on the ground, and very soon afterword found that I was planted in/on the concrete with a searing pain in my hip. It was literally from 90 degrees to 0 in half a second. So kids. The lesson for today is that two is usually better than one, especially when arms and rollerblades are concerned. And for our extra point today: when wheels are used, having brakes is generally a good idea.

Those words that keep resonating in mind are the last words my mom has spoken to me. They were spoken to me yesterday as I walked out the door. I was gone till 11:30 last night and she is at church right now, so she doesn't know what happened. I was actually kind of scared because I could hardly walk yesterday and it was super painful, but I'm pretty sure its just a bruise because its feeling better this morning. Still I'm scared for a different reason now. My mom is not going to be a happy camper when she finds out about this. I'm not looking forward to telling her and hence the fear.

When I got home last night I had to do my nose ritual, which is pretty much just me squirting distilled water and saline up my nose. I was just about to do it when I saw that the jug of distilled water had run out, so I went outside to get a new one. I had drink of it before I filled up the squirter thing, and it was great. Ice cold and refreshing! I was so happy. Until I remembered that that I next had to squirt said 'refreshing' water up my nose. Now, one's nose is probably one of the most sensitive areas of one's body. It is therefore unpleasant to squirt even room temperature water up it. All I'm going to say is that it was painful and that my eyes may or may not have teared-up.

Oh, and yesterday I found out I was dating someone....you learn something new everyday. No, not really, its just some people thought I was dating this girl. Apperently because I play foosball with her?....People get the strangest ideas sometimes.

See around....or not.

-Thomas