Mood: calm, contemplative and slightly sad
And so, the chronicles of my life continue. First thing I think I'll recount for the world to see is my trip to Jumonville.
It was a dark night of the 18th when I arrived to the refuge at Wesley hall on the grassy clear skied campus of J-town. I was greeted by the sound of an Airsoft gun firing, thankfully not at me... I had arrived about 30 or so minutes before the rest of the kids, so all the hyper college interns were having fun. This was accomplished by one of them chasing the other two with a semi-automatic airsoft gun. After the arrival and subsequent unpacking in of the High School students from NorthWay Christian Community, the mass of students migrated from the cabins to the music filled Wesley hall. I entered the doors with "Be My Escape" blasting in my eardrums, I was pleased to discover that this was no recording but a successfully played imitation by the band that was there. It was pretty awesome to see a good friend of mine and my sister's in the lead position of the band. After a few minutes of looking around and observing the crowd and listening to the speaker for the weekend, I say immediately that there wasn't much to be gained spiritually from this experience besides some good practice in tolerance and evangelism.
After the message, there was pretty much just free time for 30 minutes. Most (like myself) decided to congregate around Wesley hall. After meeting up with the few members of northway that I can consider good friends, I observed a group of about 5 girls chattering all at the same time to one of the girls. A few of the comment I caught was "come on!", "just do it!" and "GO!" after the latter comment, three of them shoved the one girl (whos back was turned to me) quite violently into ME... After making sure she wasn't going to fall, and trying to contain my surprise, I saw that the girl I had just caught was an old friend of mine from about two years before. I decided to ignore the storm of giggles and talk to her. Funny stuff, she was all frantic and embarrassed. :-P
The rest of the weekend.... For the most part was... Interesting. Lets just say it really tried my moral standards and my tolerance of blatant sin. There was this cool part when I started playing the piano after dinner once. I was playing Coldplay and various well known piano songs. at one point, I had about 15 people all around the piano. some pretty sweet stuff.
until next post. Which should be tomorrow or the next day.
-Wes
Monday, November 28, 2005
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Memories
I lapse into the past. Encapsulated in ruminitions of times that tend to be so consumed in dark mists. Oh but it is not sorrow which my mind dwells on, but joy, pure euphoric joy of what can be so grasped by my human mind. I lament on day that I was saved by grace. I see also they days that I can recount of a love that did not hold true. But clearest of all, I see those who surround me now. An ever growing bastion of joy that I can call my church family. I can see those who God has blessed me with, and times when I have joined them and been with them in their lives. I bless the name of the God who created me that he has GIVEN me through divine providence these people who I hold so dear.
(end of sophisticated writing)
Some of you may think I don't care about you, and if I do its not much. I want to make a list of all of you who I hold in a special place. Although the names and all the reasons would fill a book the size of a dictionary. I treasure you all like brothers and sisters. God his given me a great gift in you all. Thank you for being in my life.
Love,
Wes
sorry for the mushy post. :-)
(end of sophisticated writing)
Some of you may think I don't care about you, and if I do its not much. I want to make a list of all of you who I hold in a special place. Although the names and all the reasons would fill a book the size of a dictionary. I treasure you all like brothers and sisters. God his given me a great gift in you all. Thank you for being in my life.
Love,
Wes
sorry for the mushy post. :-)
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
A very interesting day.
Yeah, its Monday and I'm going to post about Saturday because it was the most interesting day I've had in a while.
The day began with a bit of a "suiting up" of sorts. I got on some ripped jeans and a cruddy old whit t-shirt along with some heavy-duty goggle and black gardening gloves. I marched down to the basement where I was to confront the exterior wall in a battle of man vs. 20 layers of paint from various time periods. We had tried all known solvents on this paint and nothing seemed to work. So, my mom called in the big guns (aka, my arms). I used a miniature pickaxe to chip away at the paint to reveal that the ancient rock beneath had been turned back into a fine sand because of moisture. After removing a few square feet of paint, I would take a wire brush mounted on a drill and grind all the loose rock and clinging sand away. After a few hours, this left me covered in sand and dust and rock. After washing the copious amounts of dirt and sand out of my stiff hair, I joined my sister in going out and visiting the horses. After some substantial rubbing and scratching, I decided to se how horses react to music. More specifically, Coldplay. My sisters horse paid attention for a few seconds then walked away. Where-as my horse stayed and listened to the song for about two minutes or so. As Dan said, "Smart horse!"
However, dumb rider. On my way out, I decided to forego the gate and go through the fence I assumed to be off. Now, for those who don't know my house, I have an electric fence around the fields that has two wires, one chest height, and one thigh height. I crouched down and stepped inbetween the wires.
ZAP
extreme pain... I got shocked somewhere I hope I will never get shocked in again. After limping around for a few minutes I decided to go jogging. While making a final lap around the upper field, a deer that was laying down in the high grass got up and ran along beside me about 20 feet away. After keeping up with me for about 5 seconds, it bounded off into the other field and the woods beyond.
So, pretty sweet day.
until next time.
-Wes
I am the crisis
I am the bitter end
I'm gonna gun this town
I am divided
I am the razor edge
there is no easy now
The day began with a bit of a "suiting up" of sorts. I got on some ripped jeans and a cruddy old whit t-shirt along with some heavy-duty goggle and black gardening gloves. I marched down to the basement where I was to confront the exterior wall in a battle of man vs. 20 layers of paint from various time periods. We had tried all known solvents on this paint and nothing seemed to work. So, my mom called in the big guns (aka, my arms). I used a miniature pickaxe to chip away at the paint to reveal that the ancient rock beneath had been turned back into a fine sand because of moisture. After removing a few square feet of paint, I would take a wire brush mounted on a drill and grind all the loose rock and clinging sand away. After a few hours, this left me covered in sand and dust and rock. After washing the copious amounts of dirt and sand out of my stiff hair, I joined my sister in going out and visiting the horses. After some substantial rubbing and scratching, I decided to se how horses react to music. More specifically, Coldplay. My sisters horse paid attention for a few seconds then walked away. Where-as my horse stayed and listened to the song for about two minutes or so. As Dan said, "Smart horse!"
However, dumb rider. On my way out, I decided to forego the gate and go through the fence I assumed to be off. Now, for those who don't know my house, I have an electric fence around the fields that has two wires, one chest height, and one thigh height. I crouched down and stepped inbetween the wires.
ZAP
extreme pain... I got shocked somewhere I hope I will never get shocked in again. After limping around for a few minutes I decided to go jogging. While making a final lap around the upper field, a deer that was laying down in the high grass got up and ran along beside me about 20 feet away. After keeping up with me for about 5 seconds, it bounded off into the other field and the woods beyond.
So, pretty sweet day.
until next time.
-Wes
I am the crisis
I am the bitter end
I'm gonna gun this town
I am divided
I am the razor edge
there is no easy now
Thursday, November 10, 2005
I'm Symphonic!
I woke up this morning to discover that I was going to the symphony today! Although overjoyed, I had wished I had gotten more sleep. Last night was awful, I couldn't get comfortable in bed. So after a few hours of tumbling around I finally got up in search of a better place to sleep. Upon finding the dogs had taken my favorite spots, I resigned to the couch, where I woke up just 7 hours later.
After getting everything sorted that I need to get so, we set out for the Symphony. After completing the various tasks encountered on the way there, and the insane difficulty of Pittsburgh parking, we took our seats above the orchestra. There were a few simple pieces that could be considered a bit of a "warm up" but then there was the main piece which contained the performance of a world famous violin soloist: Leo Kavakos. I was enthralled by his performance. More than I have been with anyone before. I became so locked on to this guy who was standing center stage that as I continued to stare, I became increasingly aware of my contact lenses. As time wore on, I found that I had not blinked for more than a minute! After resting my eyes, and using my ears, the music became all the more personal. Every stroke of the bow was like it was being executed on my very eardrum, each physical pluck of the string became my pulse, the rising and falling of the bow became the blood in my veins. It was musical Nirvana.
What is music though? It is vibrations in the air produced by an instrument at a certain frequency to produce real-time positive or negative effects from the brain. What is the power that God has given music over us? What gave David the ability to sooth Saul? It's a profound gift that few tend to appreciate. Music is part of who we are, and it is a gift from God, we should treat it as such.
Let my Life's song sing to you O Lord.
-Wes
After getting everything sorted that I need to get so, we set out for the Symphony. After completing the various tasks encountered on the way there, and the insane difficulty of Pittsburgh parking, we took our seats above the orchestra. There were a few simple pieces that could be considered a bit of a "warm up" but then there was the main piece which contained the performance of a world famous violin soloist: Leo Kavakos. I was enthralled by his performance. More than I have been with anyone before. I became so locked on to this guy who was standing center stage that as I continued to stare, I became increasingly aware of my contact lenses. As time wore on, I found that I had not blinked for more than a minute! After resting my eyes, and using my ears, the music became all the more personal. Every stroke of the bow was like it was being executed on my very eardrum, each physical pluck of the string became my pulse, the rising and falling of the bow became the blood in my veins. It was musical Nirvana.
What is music though? It is vibrations in the air produced by an instrument at a certain frequency to produce real-time positive or negative effects from the brain. What is the power that God has given music over us? What gave David the ability to sooth Saul? It's a profound gift that few tend to appreciate. Music is part of who we are, and it is a gift from God, we should treat it as such.
Let my Life's song sing to you O Lord.
-Wes
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Its that time again
Birthday time! Yep, My B-day was the 5th. Had quite frankly an awesome day, exercised outside to loud music for a few hours, got some sweet presents, then we went out to dinner! We went to this place called the Shogun Steakhouse, it's one of those places where they cook on the table right infront of you. Despite the chef's best efforts, (i.e. fast movements, flicking sharp cooking instruments at me, pouring Vodka infront of me and lighting it) I didn't flinch. (amazingly) I even got to taste Sake! It was alot stronger than I expected. The restaurant had this little river going through the building, and there was this sign that said "Please no throw penny in pond, please save fish lives." so, that was worth a laugh or three.
School is finally getting back on track. Geometry is getting easier. I'm going to church this Sunday (finally). Life is going good generally. I've been asking people what their eye color is recently, just out of curiosity. Alot of people have brown eyes, however there's the few that have blue or some variation. (Although some are falsely perceived to have brown eyes. :-P)
Random thought: It feels good to be wearing my new iPod on my belt. Its like I've got Chris Martin and U2 going everywhere with me. At least in effegy.
I'll be around, and I always want to talk.
-Wes
P.S. new more frequently updated blog of mine! If you're looking for random drop in: www.iwishwessames.blogspot.com
School is finally getting back on track. Geometry is getting easier. I'm going to church this Sunday (finally). Life is going good generally. I've been asking people what their eye color is recently, just out of curiosity. Alot of people have brown eyes, however there's the few that have blue or some variation. (Although some are falsely perceived to have brown eyes. :-P)
Random thought: It feels good to be wearing my new iPod on my belt. Its like I've got Chris Martin and U2 going everywhere with me. At least in effegy.
I'll be around, and I always want to talk.
-Wes
P.S. new more frequently updated blog of mine! If you're looking for random drop in: www.iwishwessames.blogspot.com
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Not Quite All Here
Well, I'll pick up on the biggest day recently, that would be the Quinlisks moving day.
I awoke at the unusually early hour of 8 (for Saturday at least). We made all haste and departed for the Q's, we came bearing Chillie and some really cheesy kids bowls that had animal faces on them. I was partially but not totally surprised to find that about 20 people from the church had turned up for the move. Most of the basement was already either out in the back yard or on tarps on the front lawn. It was pretty safe to assume everyone else was keeping their doors locked because of the joyous din we created in da hood. the principal movers (aka beasts or sherpas) worked on getting all the larger furniture such as dressers, tables, bed frames, a very heavy piano, etc... out to the large (27 foot?) U-Haul out in front. With the packing direction of Mr. Harvey, we packed basically all the furniture in the Quinlisk's possession into the long truck. The arguous process continued for a while and around 11 AM we closed up the white(well, light brown) gate of the truck and caravaaned over to the new house. We unloaded the truck and put everything within approximate range of its place, and the biggest events was the unloading of the frame steer tractor from the high bed of the Krazel's pickup. After said machine was down, we had to push it around back and light of it's failure to start. Four or five of the guys were needed to push the bulkly and awkward thing to the shed. Needless to say, now I know how a rugby team feels now. The rest of the day continued without a major event other than a lamp practically catching fire. The last half an hour or so of my presence was spent cleaning up the hundreds of white plastic forks stuck in the front yard an the countless streamers and tinsel littering the trees and plants. All good fun. :-)
Afterward my Dad and I went to the Village and took a walk to the Apple Store in hopes of my purchase of a new video iPod. We got that, and more, as it turns out. But that's another story in itself.
Monday and Today were relatively uneventful. My Russian teacher has me listening to this one singer, Aleksander Malenin. Quite honestly, I have not heard anything this sappy since Never Alone by BarlowGirl. (and yes, I did just admit that I listen to BarlowGirl.) So much drama in my life right now. Sometimes I feel like I'm living a really cheesy sitcom like 7th heaven. I read an article/survey on the internet today..."The top five kinds of guys every girl should date" I was surprised to find that "The Bad guy" was #3 and "The Nice Guy" was #5! I guess it is true that nice guys finish last. Ahh well, life goes on.
-Wes
"Peerve Ras Ya lubeel." I fell into true love for the first time. -Aleksander Malenin.
I awoke at the unusually early hour of 8 (for Saturday at least). We made all haste and departed for the Q's, we came bearing Chillie and some really cheesy kids bowls that had animal faces on them. I was partially but not totally surprised to find that about 20 people from the church had turned up for the move. Most of the basement was already either out in the back yard or on tarps on the front lawn. It was pretty safe to assume everyone else was keeping their doors locked because of the joyous din we created in da hood. the principal movers (aka beasts or sherpas) worked on getting all the larger furniture such as dressers, tables, bed frames, a very heavy piano, etc... out to the large (27 foot?) U-Haul out in front. With the packing direction of Mr. Harvey, we packed basically all the furniture in the Quinlisk's possession into the long truck. The arguous process continued for a while and around 11 AM we closed up the white(well, light brown) gate of the truck and caravaaned over to the new house. We unloaded the truck and put everything within approximate range of its place, and the biggest events was the unloading of the frame steer tractor from the high bed of the Krazel's pickup. After said machine was down, we had to push it around back and light of it's failure to start. Four or five of the guys were needed to push the bulkly and awkward thing to the shed. Needless to say, now I know how a rugby team feels now. The rest of the day continued without a major event other than a lamp practically catching fire. The last half an hour or so of my presence was spent cleaning up the hundreds of white plastic forks stuck in the front yard an the countless streamers and tinsel littering the trees and plants. All good fun. :-)
Afterward my Dad and I went to the Village and took a walk to the Apple Store in hopes of my purchase of a new video iPod. We got that, and more, as it turns out. But that's another story in itself.
Monday and Today were relatively uneventful. My Russian teacher has me listening to this one singer, Aleksander Malenin. Quite honestly, I have not heard anything this sappy since Never Alone by BarlowGirl. (and yes, I did just admit that I listen to BarlowGirl.) So much drama in my life right now. Sometimes I feel like I'm living a really cheesy sitcom like 7th heaven. I read an article/survey on the internet today..."The top five kinds of guys every girl should date" I was surprised to find that "The Bad guy" was #3 and "The Nice Guy" was #5! I guess it is true that nice guys finish last. Ahh well, life goes on.
-Wes
"Peerve Ras Ya lubeel." I fell into true love for the first time. -Aleksander Malenin.
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