A Man Possessed of Some Radical Notions

A Moment

2011-04-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

What’s in a moment? Can we find life in every breath?

Sometimes, I have a hard time throwing things away. I’m that guy who has 2000+ emails in his Gmail account. I don’t really do the same thing with physical objects—at least not to the same extent. I’m not afraid of loss, because loss is a part of life. It’s the little things that make life special that I treasure. [A bright-eyed glace, a mote of dust floating in a sunbeam, a cold, cold breeze breathed in deep]

I once knew someone, a good friend of mine: We used to see each other every week at church. We laughed and lived together, and shared a love of the little things. Even though her taste in little things may have been a bit different than mine… There were plenty of excellent moments shared between us. And I got to keep one as a souvenir for a while.

I suppose that’s the advantage of having the same cell phone carrier for 5 years: You can save your voicemail messages.

The message in question wasn’t long, nor was it short. It was precise, and thought-out.

Except for one part.

For a moment, thoughtful speech patterns broke down, and tone changed. In the lightest, most timid tone—as though the words would shatter like crystal—emerged the words,

‘I hope so.’

And then the moment was gone. The shield of intellect and raised, and the thoughtful message concluded.

It was neat…

I saved that message for about a year. In that year, so much happened, so much changed. Every now and then, when I thought of it, I would listen to that message. It would remind me of Highschool, and of good friends, of church, and of little moments. Passing afternoons.

I got rid of the message, but the memory is grafted into me. It’s a sharp memory, piercing my consciousness, reminding me of the nuances that all flow and coalesce into a moment in time.

“At that moment, Heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him…”

Matthew 3:16

“All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll.”

Isaiah 34:4

The Bible is full of extraordinary, ethereal, and gorgeous moments. Moments that far surpass any sunset or little voicemail. Moments are magical—They come and as soon as you realize what you’re seeing, they pass away over the horizon. They are fleeting, but still visible, images and feelings phantasmically preserved in memory.

Fire coming down from heaven to a damp altar/

Smoke from incense in the very presence of the very God/

Creation weeping, in an instant, trembling as its maker dies on a cross/

A soldier, sworn to serve Caesar, shouting that the one on the cross is the son of God/

God is not only Lord of eternity, he is God of the moment.

-WWS

Apology

2010-10-01T22:35:00.001-05:00

^"7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attain the resurrection from the dead."

--Paul, an Apostle of Christ, in a letter to the church he planted in Philippi.

Everything I was ever proud of, I count as Rubbish. Trash. Refuse. Valueless rubble. Flotsam. Jetsam. Ashes.
It's so difficult to communicate biblical concepts in English sometimes.

How can you gain a person? or be found in a person?

In Hebrew this past week, I learned the literal meaning of sin. In a way, I feel like I should have known it, but I guess I just thought sin was its own definition.

To sin is, literally, to miss the mark. If you were an ancient Jewish archer, and you missed the bullseye, you sinned. Adam missed the mark of his promise to God. I miss the mark daily.

To be found in Christ is to have Christ hit the mark for you--Daily.

To gain Christ is not to gain his teachings, but to gain his very spirit within you. A living thing. A breath within your own. A Ruah in your Nephesh.

As to myself, my truth is not my own: It was given to my by the one who created the stars in the sky and the earth below. My identity is not in me or of myself, but in Christ, the one who came and saved--saves--me from the curse of missing the mark.

How do I know? I feel it in my deepest being. Heart is too weak of a word. Soul is too transient. But from the place where all hope, love, and reason springs, I feel the presence of someone who is set apart. Someone holy. Someone who is not me. Someone who is. I can feel him, as surely as I can breath and feel cold air in my lungs.

But I'm not a purely metaphysical person. I've studied and studied more. I've questioned. Doubted. The more I've studied the Canon scriptures and the literature, history, and commentary surrounding them, the fewer problems I find. We may not have the original manuscripts of the New Testament, but we have original letters from church fathers in the late 1st century and early 2nd that gratuitously quote the Gospels and Letters and testify to their authenticity. The current Bible wasn't bound together by politicians or kings, it has been affirmed and reaffirmed by church leaders and scholars dozens of times since the second century. If there was a God, and he wanted to communicate with humans, why would he give them his words and not protect his words?

I have missed the mark many times in my life. I've said things that should never have been said and done things that shouldn't have been done. But when it comes to my belief in Christ and the reality of the Holy Spirit--and the fact that he is living and active--my conscience is clear and my hope is unwavering.

-Wes

Insomnia in the 1st Century BC

2008-12-25T22:48:00.007-05:00

"Oh Mary,

Why did you leave to be with Elizabeth? What has happened? Did the Romans take you for their own, and so now you are ashamed? Mary, we are betrothed to be married... In the eyes of God, we are husband and wife... But what am I to do? The child you bear is not mine. I loved you. I built a house for our family while you were away. I have striven to cast myself as an upright man before the Lord and before His people. How am I supposed to believe you?

HOW?!!?!!!

An Angel. you say an angel came and told you of this child... That the Holy Spirit would manifest the messiah... the very son... of God... in your womb. The God who spoke to Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Moses, and even Adam... The God whose justice and wrath wiped away Sodom and Gomorrah. The God whose love and mercy delivered his chosen people into the promised land even after they fell away. The God whose holy presence inspires fear in the highest and purist of priests. I am a Carpenter! I don't know the Torah, I don't know the books of the prophets.... You are the daughter of a farmer... A farmer who can barely pay his taxes due to Caesar!

At any moment, even tonight as I lay awake... they could stone you and this "messiah" to death in the streets. You would be called a blasphemer and an adulteress.

I asked your father for your hand because I believed in your propriety and virtue. Look where that got me! If I claim the child, everything I've built my life on will be shattered. Our neighbors will hate us. We will be shunned at temple. My eldest son will not be of my flesh and blood... I face an heir worse than Ishmael!!! But Mary... if I divorce you... Your family will be destroyed. You could be killed. The baby who grows inside you may never see the light of day.

If he is the promised Messiah... I would be condemning all of Israel. If he is the Messiah... could I really kill him?

I am not fit to be the father of a King. A conqueror; a savior... God himself...

You say you have broken no vow... You say that no man has touched you... You say......You say......You Sa----....."

And so, Joseph fell asleep. In his dreams, an angel came to him and gave him release from his fears and anxieties. But in reality, Joseph was human. He must have had his doubts, even after the angel visited.

Mary and Joseph did the hardest thing...

-Wes

Veni, Veni Emmanuel.

The State Of Love

2008-07-07T22:26:00.002-05:00

(A little back-story: It’s summer… I don’t have to write well for anything. So, this was a little project that I picked up to prove to myself that I could still write the way I learned in AP English. The first section is from June 28th, I picked it up again today and finished it. Let me know if you enjoyed the writing style.)

Every so often, we hear some terribly important address that sums up the state of the free world. Things like gas prices, the exchange rate of the dollar, the looming “recession” manage to make the highlights. On a smaller scale, if you go to church on Sunday morning—Saturday night in my case—or if you listen to Rush, Michael Savage, or some similarly conceited conservative pundit, you have doubtlessly heard about the ‘less significant’ ailments of today’s culture. These bigmouthed, microphone equipped men rave about the evils of political corruption, corruption in the mainstream media, corruption in schools, and if you’re lucky they might even talk about the crabgrass that’s corrupting your backyard.

There’s something similar about all the messages that are being tossed around the nation. There‘s one uniting talking point that the conservative media cannot divorce. This terrible, terrible misconception pervades our headlines and perforates our ears its honey-coated ego-satisfying spin: It is the concept that it that the biggest problems in the world are large scale. Rush Limbaugh can spend a whole hour yelling about abortion, homosexual governors, and liberals, but he—like many other commentators—misses the point. I beg, ardently, to differ.

Let me plead with you. Let me try to convince you that there is something bigger than gas prices, global warming, or illegal immigrants. Let me tell you about the war that’s ravishing every single person all around the world. From the old man in Tibet who will die tomorrow to the unwanted American baby who was conceived yesterday: No one is unaffected. I’m talking about the conflict that has owned mankind since Eve bit the apple. I’m talking about the cause of all problems in the world today. This is my ‘State Of Love Address.’

Today has been filled with examples of what love isn’t:

Love isn’t the worn, teal minivan parked next to the “gentlemen’s club.”
“Love is patient” Love waits on the Lord to blossom, it’s too delicate and wondrous to be found in a brothel.

Love isn’t “making out” in the back of a van in 9th grade.
“Love does not insist on it’s own way” like passion does.

Love isn’t sexual desire for someone of the same gender.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the Truth.”

“If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. For now we see in a mirror dimly… Now we know in part; in eternity we shall know fully… So now abide in faith, hope and love; but remember that the greatest of these three is love.”

Every day seems to burst with examples of how sin has taken beautiful, pure, almost supernatural human passion and twisted, and contorted, and mutated it into lustful self-destruction.

For the past several weeks, the #1 selling song on iTunes has been “I kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry. Yeah—you read that right—KATY Perry. I was disgusted by the sin that the song implies. This week, I got curious about why the song remained #1 even after a phenomenal album from Coldplay should have eclipsed it. Tonight, I finally sat down and listened to the song via YouTube.

I was stunned.

Musically, I think it’s a pop masterpiece. The beat is addicting, and Perry’s surreptitious voice drives the song very well. It left me stunned to the point of desperation—How could someone with such talent and such an amazing voice devote her abilities to perversion and lies? Here are some samples from the lyric sheet: The tagline is obviously “I kissed a girl, and I liked it.” But other samples include, “It felt so wrong; it felt so right” “…my experimental game, it’s human nature.”

Yeah… Human nature… She got that bit right, but later she says something that typifies the song as just another part of humanity’s struggle to find what we all call ‘love.’ Katy says, “[it’s] Too good to deny it. ‘Ain’t no big deal; it’s innocent.”

I suppose this is the one line that justifies the whole song in Ms. Perry’s eyes. “It’s innocent…”

How can you be more misguided?

Why can’t she see the light of Jesus shining down? Why can’t she turn her voice to give glory to the one who truly loves her?

Love is not kissing a girl and liking it.

Love is not what the hearts of this world are seeking after.

True. Love. Is. Eternal.

Love is from God. No matter how hard this world tries, we will never come close to the true, joyous, inebriating, rapturous, beautiful, illuminating, delivering, bountiful, boundless, elating, constant love that God feels for us. (phew… I think John Piper may be rubbing off on me…)

Now, how can what’s wrong with the world be made right?

Only we Christians can change the State of Love. We hold the key to ultimate joy and satisfaction… Yet all too often we either clutch that key tight to our chest, believing in its power but afraid to share it with anyone else. Sometimes we smoothly tuck it into our back pocket or purse so we can just go about life as if we never had it.

Here comes the part where I plead with you and with my own heart: Share the Gospel. Hold that key out to anyone who would reach out, anyone who would repent, anyone who the Holy Spirit leads to you.

Know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8 gives some great perspective on all this. :-)

-Wes

“It started out with a feeling, which then grew into a hope, which then turned into a quiet thought, which then turned into a quiet word. And then that word grew louder and louder ‘till it was a battlecry.”-The Call by Regina Spektor

So...

2008-05-29T21:06:00.002-05:00

In the past 8 days, I have:

1. Hosted a mother and son from Texas
2. Driven said duo to all of the battlefields and monuments in the tri-county area... literally.
3. Driven 4 hours to Kettanning for an AP Party and 5 hours to the airport and home.
4. Learned to swing dance and had an absolute BLAST.
5. Taken upwards of 330 pictures
6. Worked on a roof for an ungodly amount of time and hence:
7. Darkened my skin tone by about three full shades
8. Made a Facebook page that won't get disabled
9. Prayed with a dear friend who received Christ (so awesome)
10. Biked in Mingo with some other friends and bit the asphalt a little
11. Found out the exact time when I'm going to test for my blackbelt (8:00 AM, June 21)
12. Had some of the best sourdough bread EVAR.

I will gladly elaborate on any of these events for you if you want. :-P

Love,
-Wes

"Let's waste time, chasing cars.
If I lay here... If I just lay here...
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?"
-Snow Patrol

Prince Caspian Review

2008-05-16T21:45:00.004-05:00

A whole movie review in two sentences:

Prince Caspian was The most epicly-spinetingling, engrossing, emotionally-thrilling, ecumenically-strengthening film I think that I have ever seen. I will warn you, there are at least two things that are radically different from the book; but CS Lewis's spirit is still there and you have ABSOLUTELY no good excuse to NOT see this movie.

Conclusion(does not count as part of the review):

Go. See. It...Now. Even today if possible. If you can only see one movie for this whole year, make it Prince Caspian. Forget about Iron Man and The Dark Knight. And I don't want any whiney comments about the differences from the book.

Side note: It has quite a good deal of stuff that I wouldn't recommend for anyone under the age of 8-9. I like scary movies, and even I was scared at one point.

Love, a very thrilled, hopeful, and happy,
Wes

Bare Feet and Sunsets

2008-05-07T23:45:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday was a good day. I did a lot of studying for a test I'm going to be taking far too soon.

I was alone for half the day though... Which can be kinda mind-numbing and humbling out on the farm. I sat around, went over flash cards, played videogames, and listened to a bit of music.

Finally, the sunset came. I snapped my picture of the day of the nearby hillside(not the sunset itself, for a change) and decided to go for a short walk.

At the beginning of Spring, I convinced myself that I need to go barefoot more often this year. I've always been one of those kids who would never DARE walk on any surface outside that wasn't as smooth as Sam's Club cement floors. So, by golly, that's going to change. So, I walked about a sixth of a mile or so through knee-high fields and across country road asphalt to get a better view of the setting sun. I think it was definitely worth it.

Walking toward a sunset reminded me so much of how insignificant I am. I know, I know, this is kinda a parroted statement, but hear me out. For thousands of years, that same sun has risen and set, despite who walks under it. Probably for hundreds of years, the grass that was in between my toes has grown, been cut, then grown again. The wind, the air that licks my face at the top of the hill might have been the same wind that blew across Cain's sweaty brow as he tilled the soil for food.

As I stood there, burning my retinas with UV rays, I struggled to come to terms with the fact that each day is such a microcosm of an instant in the timeline of the world. Why should it matter how I feel? Why do we build things like skyscrapers and bridges and cities on hilly peninsulas? I mean, seriously... WHY would you EVER want to build a commercial super-center on a piece of completely un-level land that you can only approach from one direction without using a bridge? It's just stupid... But here's Pittsburgh. Humans do some completely ludicrous things during their tenure here. Even when a day is so short and meaningless in the grand scheme.

But every day means so much to me. Every day. Every day. Every day is a whirlwind of thoughts, feelings, penstrokes, keystrokes, friendships, shutter clicks, pursuit and flight.

I'm getting really stinkin' old! I'm exactly 17 and a half today. Although, it wasn't exactly an amazing half-birthday... Have you ever had the feeling that you KNOW that you've been promised a gift, but you never know when you're going to get it? It's hard. Some days, it feels almost unbearable. Today was one of those days. Ideally, I'd like to my life to all work out: I want my friendships to be in perfect condition; I want my attitude to always be God glorifying; I want to be loving, and giving, and good... But so often I fail.

Uhg... God is driving me crazy! He keeps slapping me upside the depressed head with gratuitous amounts of encouragement when I least expect it. He doesn't leave me to wallow in my misery, like my worldly self would like him to. He keeps reminding me of his son who died for me. He keeps reminding me of how, even though every day is as fragile as an antique Christmas ornament in the hands of a haphazard, hyper 2-year-old, he has a perfect plan for me and all my failings.

My feet are sore. But that's only temporary, just like me. And I think I'm okay with that.

-Wes

"Wholly Yours"--David Crowder

Antiques, College, Forsythia, and Homeschool Magazines

2008-04-12T22:50:00.009-05:00

In that order…(Yes, I know this post is a little long… But it’s from my heart and I’ll try to make it interesting.)

Three weeks ago, I went antique shopping for the first time in my life. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more fun “first.” I’m so glad that I didn’t have any cash on me, or it would have all been gone by the end of the day. Monongahela City doesn’t just have some antique shops—I think it might be the antique center of the mid-Atlantic region. There are no fewer than five FULL houses of antiques and nick-nacks. I saw everything from a sweet compound bow to a camera from 1912.

{Heh, A BarlowGirl song just on the party shuffle on iTunes… Just thought I’d let you know.}

Everywhere we went, my mom and I were offered hot beverages and cookies. Everyone was so happy and carefree. In one of the shops, a turntable was floating Frank Sonatra’s silky, young voice around the antique jewelry. To my complete surprise, the record didn’t pop or skip: It was in perfect condition. Records are a beautiful thing to me… The sound that comes out of them is so warm and mellow. If I’m going to listen to Frank Sonatra, give me a spotless record over a CD any day.

I had a really cool revelation while antique shopping… As I was going along, I found at least one item that I could associate with a friend.

“Hah! Shannon would get a kick out of this coat.” “I bet the Calvettis would like this sweet Cavalry Cutlass” “Wow, this painting (from a local artist) reminds me so much of John!” “Alaina would love this picture.” “I bet Danielle would think that this quilt is awesome.” “Nathaniel would like these books from the 1800s.” “Kevin and Dillon would probably compare this ancient (unused) cologne with Axe or Tag.” “Mitch would probably put on that wig.” “Dave would love that cast-iron firetruck.”

The list goes on.

I love antique shopping, although I wasn’t so sure I would.

Last week, I went to *airquotes* Junior Crimson Day *airquotes* (insert royal fanfare here) at Grove City. If I wasn’t already sold on GCC, that day sealed my inebriation.

Inebriation:
To make drunk; intoxicate
To exhilarate, confuse, or stupefy mentally or emotionally.

So, now comes the “disclaimer referencing the true doctrine of providence.” I, Wesley Sames, do give God the complete right to do his will with my life… But I certainly ho—pray that his will for me involves GCC. I listened to the professors like a kid in a candy store, and I almost actively salivated as they dangled knowledge and faith in front of me like some kind of chocolate-encrusted, caramel-filled, innoxiously-scented carrot.
I don’t care what the odds of acceptance are or what languages they make me take.

I love Grove City, and I can’t wait to send my full application.

The forsythia is blooming. It’s official, Spring is livin’ large. My mom has always loved forsythia and she has always let our forsythia bushes grow naturally. While driving out to route 51 last week, I saw a row of forsythia bushes that were chopped down into perfect 4x4 cubes. If I was any more saddened I would have wept. Call me nostalgic, but I think our forsythia is amazing… It’s natural branches look so awesome in the breeze. I would never dream of forcing them to conform to a symmetrical pattern. Everything is coming to life out here. I praise God with all my heart and soul at the sight of new life in spring. That’s a big deal considering the fact that I don’t do it often enough. Thank you so much Lord for the seasons and their beauty, uniqueness, and glorification of You. The Farm may be a little out of the way, but it has its advantages.

I love forsythia, so much so that I hope we have it in heaven.

I wrote my untitled “Place” essay for AP English Language and Composition a few weeks ago. I liked it, but I didn’t think there was anything exceedingly special about it. Oddly enough, my amazing APLANG teacher, Maya Inspektor(formerly Molly Richman), loved it. Last week, she emailed me and said, “Hey, Wes, my Dad is going to print the next edition of The Excelsior tomorrow and he has an empty page he needs to fill. I would really like to put your ‘Place’ essay in there.” Now, I never was an avid reader of The Excelsior, but I felt like it was an honor to have one of my essays placed in here. Needless to say, my mom was even more ecstatic than I was.
So, the issue came, and I was shocked to find out that I knew most of the names of the authors in the magazine, and I knew two of them very well. Now, here’s a lesson in the loving providence of God: The entries on pages 7 and 9 were—if not comically ironic—so awesomely encouraging to me, in two completely different ways.

"You who are broken-

Come to Him and trust,

He will love you unconditionally...

You who are hopeless-

Draw close to Him,

He will give you reason for Life...

You who feel forgotten-

You who feel alone.

He will be with you

and loves you more than is fathomable."

"An ambition itself is a basic, purposeful idea to do, see, or become in life.

To have ambition is to have dedication, to place importance upon execution,

and to deem a certain amount of sacrifice as worthy that an accomplishment might be fulfilled...

Talking too much about dreams can begin to feel the same as if you've eaten an entire can of marshmallow fluff, or squirted a whole can of whipped cream down your throat--rather empty of anything but sugar and nitrous oxide.

Don't just imagine your dreams, but follow them up with action."

The next month is going to be hard... In so many different ways... I'm so blessed that I not only have a God who cares, but also friends who give encouragement even when they didn't mean to.

I love my friends; I don't deserve them, and I don't want to leave them.

But the most important thing is:

I love God, and I will follow where he takes me... Even if it is into the wilderness.

-Wes

"Runnin' down corridors,

Through automatic doors,

Got to get to you,

Got to see this through."

"Wires" -Athlete

V-Day Comeith

2008-02-13T21:22:00.003-05:00

So, I walked into Hallmark 20 minutes ago to get my mom a Valentine's Day present, and audibly laughed as I walked in the door. Now, it wasn't a long laugh... It was maybe a loud chuckle... Enough to make a few people look up from their noise-making and song-singing cards and stare at me instead of the ridiculously red shelves that lined the store. I was laughing because I was confronted with the typical Valentine's Day stereotype: "Men wait until the last second to buy something."

The male:female ratio in the store was easily 10:1

I was also laughing because I was joining their ranks. I was one of those men who was waiting to get their gift at the last second... Life is so fun...

School has been presenting me with constantly renewing dilemmas recently. The SATs are over and done. Thank goodness. My scores are going to be an interesting valentine’s day present.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been up early and up late working on school… Frantically turning in assignments with a hair’s breadth of time before they’re due.

I'm going to be using HippoCampus for my religion studies... Hinduism is this week!

Trig is... going... I'm doing two days worth of it every day.

German is making sense. Although having 12 different ways to write a verb (I'm not even kidding) depending on what tense and person it's in seems a bit eccentric.

Russian lives on. I think I may want to teach my kids Russian. It just sounds so cool... Almost like an encrypted version of English. Of course, If I teach my kids Russian, they won't be able to go to Grove City without learning another language... *cough*

"A Time For Us" by Nino Rota, Composed for 'Romeo and Juliet'

Providentially Romantic,
-Wes

Music from Ages Past

2008-02-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, my iPod is dead. This, however, does not mean that I am AT ALL generally lacking in the music department. I got a bunch of new CDs for Christmas, and my mom got an under-the-cabinet CD/Radio. Jeremy Riddle and David Crowder have become my almost constant companions. I’m really enjoying “God of All Glory, Stand in Awe, Sweetly Broken, God Moves (or whatever track 10 is)” and “Oh The Glory of It All, Neverending, and Rain Down” respectively.

As to the title of this post, it refers to the fact that I did something pretty...well...retro a few nights ago. My dad and I were listening to "The Wall" by Pink Floyd on the record player today, and he said "You know, Pink Floyd is really meant to be listened to in a darkened room with headphones on." It was just a passing comment... But it gave me an idea.

So, it was about 11:00. Everyone was asleep. I opened the stereo, plugged in some headphones, and set the record rolling. There I sat for 20 minutes or so, sitting slumpedly by the stereo. [ha... Alliteration.] Somewhere halfway though "comfortably numb" I thought to myself, 'gee... I wonder how many teenagers did this same exact thing when the album came out.' It was a really cool feeling. Somehow, I related with the past in a completely new way.

Today's song: Comfortably Numb.
"Hellohellohello. Is there anybody in here? Just nod if you can hear me."
"And I... Have become... Comfortably Numb."

Not Quite Numb,
-Wes

P.S. I know "Slumpedly" isn't actually a word.

R.I.P. iPod

2008-01-30T20:53:00.000-05:00

I think iPods are one of those luxuries that you get used to after a while. My iPod’s main function over the past year was principally to lull me to sleep. Sadly, the death of my iPod’s hard drive has ended this luxury. The ramifications of its failure are still presenting themselves even about two months after the fact. Many nights, I’ve laid sleeplessly in bed, thinking about the thousands—maybe millions—of things that I have going on in my life. I guess I’ve become dependant on music to rock me to sleep. Music, for me, creates a sort of peace; it creates a place that I can fall into and forget the world and all my worries. In a lot of ways, I guess you could say that Music became something of a miracle drug for me.

Well, here’s the truth of it: That peace was extremely artificial. Synthetic. A placebo.
But now, I know the truth in Paul's customary greeting, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

The lack of music in my nightly routine has shown me (yet again) how much I need Christ. I know that I’ve lost hours of sleep to worry, fear and discontent. I know I’ve lost valuable rest to tossing, turning, and waking from shallow sleep. God has given me a new need, and (yet again) he has met my need only because I asked. He has given me peace, rest, and the occasional good dream. That’s definitely something to be thankful for.

“God With Us.” –MercyMe “My heart sings a brand new song. My debt is paid. These chains are gone.”

-Wes

FreeRice

2008-01-02T11:30:00.000-05:00

So, I was on the PC World website when I found a link to this website: www.freerice.com

It's 100% real. They really do donate rice depending on audience participation.

Honestly, I can't think of a better way to increase my vocabulary.

SO! Spread the word(s)! Feed some hungry people! Post a link on your blog! do something!

$1.19

2007-12-01T17:48:00.000-05:00

That's exactly how much Christmas shopping I've done... Just so you know.

And now for something completely different.

I practiced my manual focus/open aperture photography today, measured the difference between f/1.4, 1.7, 2.0, 2.4, 2.8, 3.5... So, after taking about forty worthless pictures, I formatted the card to save time. Little did I know that the camera actually had pictures from other occasions on it. Doh. Oh well. Maybe I'll be more patient next time...

I read through the book of James in my devotions this week. My Reformation Study Bible is so incredibly sweet. The bible is really cool--understatement--because I feel like I could sit, read a verse or two, reflect about it, then read the same verse again, and reflect again in a different way. Something that caught my eye in James this week was the final section of chapter 4. Paul talks about not boasting in the future. It made me realize how fragile my future is. I'd like to graduate, go to college, get married, and get a doctorate... But how much can go wrong in 8+ years? I could die driving to church tomorrow; next week I could become paralysed from being thrown incorrectly at Karate; Next year I might not get accepted into the college I want; within the next 4 years, we may be at war with some other nation(s), and I might get drafted...

I'm a very fragile person...
Luckily I know someone who's strong enough to protect me... Even if his hands, feet, and side have been pierced.

-Wes

"Gone"--Switchfoot

A Year of Thanks

2007-11-22T23:08:00.001-05:00

"14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." 2 Corinthians 5

"I was dead. But, now I live.

At the cross you beckon me. You draw me gently to my knees, and I am lost for words, so lost in love.

What a priceless gift, undeserved life,
have I been given, through Christ crucified.

I'm not who I was.

I know you've cast my sin as far as the East is from the West.
In the arms of your mercy I find rest.

You're all I want; You're all I need; You're Everything. Everything."

I was originally going to write a big, long post about the past year... But I think I'll just sum it up: Christ, is so worthy, so holy, so amazing, so present, and so good.

By Grace and Love, Moving Forward,
-Wes

Nothing in 500 Words

2007-10-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

Well, here was my AP English assignment that I wrote today... It was very open ended, and meant to be fun. I was supposed to write absolutely nothing in 500 words in reply to an article entitled "How to write nothing in 500 words". Unfortunately, for all my effort, I couldn't manage to not make a point. To a friend who provided a wealth of contradictory writing examples that still stick in my brain to this day: Thanks. :-)

Well, here it is:
"First off, let me apologize. I am in no way an expert on articles, article writing, articles on writing, writers who write articles, or writers who write articles on writing to aid other writers. So, that being said, I humbly present my essay reviewing the article “How to say nothing in 500 words”. In this essay I will…1). *Ding* inform you in the art of writing nothing, 2). *Ding* throw aside hundreds of years of the evolution of the English language, 3). *Ding* tell you how to write good.

Generally, 500 words is an audaciously awesomely auspicious quantity of verbiage for an analytical essay. Fewer words would result in a vague obscurity, while more words can sound verbosely sesquipedalian. I believe that this is true. In my humble opinion, 500 words is the perfect quantity for writing nothing. In fact, so much nothing can be put into 500 words.
All things being equal, I could work my fingers to the bone and travel to the ends for the earth in search of original material. But, from where I sit, I prefer the easy way out when it’s all said and done. Under the cover of darkness, I could give the best years of my life to writing successfully. The pure and simple truth is that this is simply not the American way of life. Time and time again, we need to sit down and for all intents and purposes follow the true American norm: mediocrity.

But, we can change mediocrity into something so much better: embellished mediocrity! With a few simple short concise succinct keystrokes, we can turn a beautiful short sentence into a monstrously complex piece of prose full of busting with grody colloquialisms. An example: She ran. When polymorphed into an intelligent sentence, it reads: “This is the time when the female person about whom I am writing decided to take to her heels and swiftly sprint on a direction that was random and erratic”. See, wasn’t that so much more better?
Remember this: never ever back up your statements with facts. Facts often confuse and disorient your reader, and might dangerously subtract from your points or they may detract concepts your trying to present. If you bombard your reader with too many facts, they may become dazed and confused. Also avoid abstract analogies, they all too often end up like a panda in a golf cart.

Comparisons are just as bad, if not worse than abstract analogies. It’s very true.

In conclusion, 500 words is the perfect space in which to write nothing. To sum up, I prefer to write my nothings in the form of 500 words. In the end, I am entirely not an expert on the subject of writing. My humble and well-thought-out opinion is that it is completely entirely easy to write absolutely nothing in the space of 500 words. As I see it, why should I extend effort to make a piece of writing that’s actually meaningful when I can simply pump out 500 words of nothing in a fraction of the time?

The End."

funfunfun

In The Garden

2007-09-28T12:43:00.000-05:00

If I could choose a day to last forever, I think it would be a lot like today.

The world is green and fresh from a new rain.
The water flowing through the gullies and down the streams accompanies the wind as it blows through the trees.
The sun shines down, not harsh, not hot... It's bright glow feels like a warm embrace.
In the shade, the air feels fresh and crisp, and the wind lulls and wraps like a cool sheet on a hot summer night.
The whole earth seems to heave with deep breaths. Awake, but relaxed.
The clouds glow, illuminated by the suns gentle rays, reflecting its beauty that is too harsh to look at directly.
I wonder if this is how Adam felt, looking out at the Garden...

But even amidst all that beauty and comfort, even in the very presence of the Living God. He was still alone...

-Wes.

Pulling Teeth

2007-09-21T08:47:00.001-05:00

Well... I'm going into surgery today. I'm going to get four wisdom teeth out, the membrane under my tongue snipped, and a gum trimmed up.

My mouth is going to be a warzone.

Any prayers would be wonderful. :-)

Give Me Words to Speak, Give Me Steps to Walk, Give Me Faith to Carry On.

2007-08-27T20:03:00.001-05:00

OooooooooHiiiiiioooooooooooPyle.

A very cool place. Which was only made cooler by the presence of cool people. It's so great to have such a joy-full church family. I feel like whenever I'm with everyone, I just see God's grace everywhere. All weekend, there were good times to be had: pressure points and prank calls with the guys in the car, mountain pies that ranged from perfect to indistinguishable from the coals in which they were made, scary stories with all of the guys, beatboxing and singing around the camp fire, laughing at Alaina constantly being dressed in red, white, & blue, Kevin allegedly seeing a skunk jump into the fire and burst into flame (it was Phoenix-skunk), silly string on Mike's car, Jack Sparrow imitations by the pool, (attempting to) split wood and almost getting an axe swing to the shin from Nathaniel, swimming illegally because you only live once, biking more in one day than I have in my entire life, seeing my pastor stand over someone with a raised axe, weird and comical handshakes and high-fives, truly awesome worship at the foot of the J-ville cross in the face of a massive thunderstorm.

Wow that was a long list, and I can still think of more...

But by far, the most memorable thing about the trip was cucumber falls, and how I got totally humbled there.

Call me insane, but it's been a long-standing dream of mine to stand under a waterfall. At cucumber falls, I attempted to walk through the 50-foot torrent alone and fell the first time, crushed under the weight of the water. I tried a second time, and made it through. Third, I stood under it for about 5 seconds and stepped back, and finally I stepped in for about 10 to 15 seconds. At this point, I was pretty much full of myself... I could handle what this bit of nature could throw at me. Talk about being macho and self-reliant.

BIG mistake.

Mr. Skiles asked me to take Dani through the falls, naturally, I accepted. As we walked up to the back of the falls, I explained to her to keep her back straight and her head up. Blinded by the rushing water, I locked my arm under hers.

"Ready?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, 1.2.3."

She slipped and fell, ouch.

No biggy, I'll try and hold her up.

Wrong.

I slipped and fell, pretty much on top of her, Mega ouch.

So, the worst had happened. Mr. Skiles had trusted me with his daughter, and she got hurt. After making sure Dani wasn't extremely injured, I immediately went to Mr. Skiles and apologized. So, where was my macho, master of nature attitude now? Buried.

But, like always, God spoke in a way that I could never have expected. Shannon consoled me simply by saying that it wasn't my job to be ever-dependable. BAM, it hit me. How could I have put all my trust in my own abilities? When God is so much more infinitely powerful and so much more infinitely reliable than me. The waterfall, that God had created, bore so many of the aspects of God. It was furious, powerful, and constant, but also it formed a gentle pool, that refreshed everyone. It was truly awesome, while I am a depraved sinner who doesn't deserve to be refreshed or loved.

But Thank God, I am a son of the One and only I AM, adopted brother of the only perfect man, and daily receiver of the grace and joy of the Holy Spirit.

So, how did it turn out? Mr. Skiles and I are now closer, my friendship with Danielle is stronger than ever, and God has taught me, yet again, to rely only on him.

I am adopted, I am loved, I am disciplined, I am refreshed.

Praise God.

Acceptance

2007-08-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

School update time!

AP English Language and AP US History, here I come! I was accepted to both courses. I'm going to be learning English Language and Composition from Maya Inspektor and AP US History from Daniel Burns. My sister took APUSH in high school too, so I have some degree of knowledge as to what I'm getting into (Also, I believe that she took the course with none other than Kayte Bell, considering that she was on the class roster, and happens to be in the same graduating class as KA). From Kerriane's work and everything that's been said about the class, it should be a really fantastic experience. Not to mention that I'll be taking the class with a great friend from church. I can't wait!

SAT work is going well, I blazed through a ton of math yesterday. My verbal work is pretty good to begin with, so with some more effort, it could be great. The Essay is a big priority. I need to try to keep my ideas in the range of meaningful AND concise. I can't blaze out 4 four paragraphs of body and only have thirty seconds left to write a conclusion, (which is exactly what happened once). I need to keep trying to find that sweet spot. I may be taking an online class for that too.

Music! New Music!

I've been going out on limb with my listening recently. I've been purchasing singles, albums, and just general songs from bands I haven't been to interested in previously.

New favorite singles include:
"If Everyone Cared" by Nickleback (Hard-rocking romanticism)
"(you want to) Make a Memory" by Bon Jovi
"Wires" by Athlete (a really sweet song)
"Iris" by GooGooDolls
Sort-of: "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" by Fall-Out Boy

New Albums that I've been listening to:
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Eyes Open - Snow Patrol (heh, Police, Patrol... kinda funny.)
End of Silence - Red

Those of you who know music will know that The Police are kindof an old band. Their CD has been laying around the house, just waiting for me to listen to it. It's cool stuff.
The Eyes Open purchase stemmed from my enjoyment of the single "Chasing Cars". Snow Patrol is different, they remind me of Coldplay.

Now, End of Silence I think needs a bit more of an explanation. I've been looking for something energetic to cut grass to, and Linkin Park just puts me in a bad mood. Enter the iTunes $6 albums deal! I noticed this particularly angst'y cover art near the bottom of the page, and I was directed to the latest album by the band "Red". As it turns out, they're a Christian alt-rock band whose main influence is Linkin Park...

Their influence shows.

The whole album is very driven and passionate, sometimes to the point of being corny; exactly like Linkin Park. But it's got some good stuff on it. That being said, I wouldn't recommend it as a Quote/unquote "Christian" band. It isn't worship, at all. It's all a reflection on all things the band deems to be "Red": Passion, Pain, and ultimately, Redemption. It suits my purpose as workout music though, so, I'm satisfied.

-Wes

His Will be Done

2007-07-26T09:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had to wait for something, and the moment you feel ready to have it, you were told "Hold on, there's other stuff you need to focus on."?
Thank God, I think I'm having one of those moments.

I'm not going to Russia. The church in Perm cancelled the trip. Despite the fact that I now have an obscene amount of saved money that has no purpose, this is a downer. I've been gearing up for this trip for the past three months and it's just kinda slipped through my fingers.

However, I think it was a work of the Holy Spirit. He wants me here. He wants me to concentrate on other things. Things that, in the end, are more important. My (otleechna) friends, my church, AP courses, and my PSATs and SATs. God has given me a solid foundation on the rock. It's me who needs to choose what to build the house with. I keep being told that the SATs are only a test, that they don't make your life. This is a true statement, sort of. But what it does decide is where I go to college, and where I go to college is a big deal! The final four, (most likely eight) years of my education RELY on those scores. I've been studying for them, but not very seriously. Time to buckle down...

Does anyone else read their fortune cookies when they go to Chinese restaurants? I have fun with it. I never take them seriously. Especially when my sister has gotten one that said "Don't kiss an elephant on the lips today." (no joke). But, sometimes they have cool stuff to say. One time, I got a particularly meaningful pastry. The message inscribed in it's recycled paper slip was short, and sweet to anyone who knows Christ.

"Deep Faith Eliminates Fear"

I still have that fortune. It's really cool to think about at times like these. God has kicked me up off my butt and pointed me where he wants me. Thankfully, I am grounded in deep faith that God's Providence is enough. My God goes before me, he lives in me, and he comes after me. I can see him there. Who should I fear? (Joshua 1:9, Psalm 27:1)

So, now I'm going to start work on my two AP applications, studying for the SATs, and devoting with the guy's prayer meeting in mind. :-) God is good.

Well, as my AIM profile now says: "The wait is over, the Future is here."

and I want you to be a part of it.

-Wes

Today's song: "Wires" by Athlete

I Have...

2007-07-06T12:20:00.000-05:00

Poison Ivy all over my face, neck, and shoulders... It's horrible.

I'm still alive though, and have a lot to blog about. Check back soon.

"The Piano"

2007-06-14T11:21:00.000-05:00

Since I had no music segment in my last post, here's a post completely about music!

I found this video on YouTube, and it sums up a quality of freeform piano playing that I often struggle to express in words.

When I play, It's very rare that I think completely about the notes I'm playing, the melody, or any of that jazz. (hah, Jazz...) My thoughts have a tendency to wander from subject to subject, and my playing fluctuates with them.

-Wes

The Fields Are White For Harvest, But The Berries Need More Time

2007-06-12T19:09:00.000-05:00

I love the outdoors. God in his mercy gave us plants, animals, water, air, and open sky. This is an amazing time of year out here... Nature is completely alive. The fields of hay and Timothy are golden and ready to be cut, the grass is green, Goslings are learning to fly, the blackberries are ripening, and the lightning bugs are coming out. It feels almost magical.

I have a good feeling about this summer... More than a good feeling, I'm absolutely twitterpated with it all.

No matter how many times I tend to think otherwise, this farm is a blessing. No matter how many times when I feel too far away. No matter how often our neighbors thunder their fuel trucks in and out. This farm is still a blessing. It's taught me so many things. Thanks to these past few years, I know how to garden, how to build a free-standing wooden structure, how to tear out and re-build walls, weld metal, how to improvise when lacking the right tools and/or supplies, install 3/4 inch hardwood, not to meantion gained somewhat of a knowledge of a VERY broad expanse of topics regarding a country household. I can't even begin to comprehend the advantages this knowledge.

God has given me so much, and asks for so little.

Lovin' my Country Home,

-Wes

Swept Away

2007-05-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

Eyeyeyeye, what a memorial day weekend. Way too crazy to compile into one post, but I still want to make a post, so, I'll talk about Sunday.

Well, almost everyone was gone at NA, but that's alright, there were still tons of cool people to hand with, awesome worship and inspiring word to be taught from. Worship, was different from usual. Usually I can get right into sort of a worshipful mode(which tends to last into the next day. :-P) But yesterday was different: I was having a hard time. But, as we were worshipping, I prayed for a song to come along and help me forget myself and really worship. Immediately, I thought of the song "Grace Like Rain." by Todd Agnew. It's a variation on Amazing Grace with an added chorus. Lo and behold, it was the next song. God is so good isn't He.

Joel preached the final sermon of the Genesis series, and subsequently covered the life and times of Joseph. Towards the end of the sermon, Joel addressed the fact that Joseph not only forgave his brothers for their betrayal, but he invited them to live in Egypt under his personal care. This awakened the memory of one of my favorite verses, John 15:9, which says "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." It's such a simple and small verse, but it speaks volumes of the love of Jesus, and therefore also the love of God. Jesus is not just saying, "I love you, each and every one, and I always want you to know that." It's SO MUCH MORE than that. He is expressing that we, as Christians are to abide(live, exist, stay) within his love. So, not only does Joseph mirror Christ in his mercy on his brothers, but he also mirrors Him as showing a desire to have his loved ones dwell or abide in his bountiful love. This concept isn't just a concept that Jesus presents, it's not just how Joseph lived his life, it's an over-arcing vision on the Bible. This is how the Holy Spirit reaches us, it's how we live in Christ and walk in his love: He abides in us, and we abide in his love and blessing.

So, Jesus just isn't your co-pilot, he isn't a far off wise-man who tells you to ask WWJD, and he is most certainly not the little angel that sits on your right shoulder. He is with you always, not overshadowing you, not tailing you making sure you're doing good, but abiding in you, and sanctifying you.

In utterly unrelated life news, I'm planning the first (as Dan aptly put it)"Sames's 'Come out to the farm and use all our cool stuff' Day". I'm thinking the second week in June. Look for a date in your inbox soon!

Also, it would be cool to get a group of PCOPers to go to Kennywood this summer, because SOME of us have never been there, and/or been there very rarely.

Well, with normal live done, on to music.

Today's song! Sweep Me Away, by Charlie Hall. It's a worship song with very few words, but it was presented VERY exceptionally. Charlie's Baritone voice is electronically sustained and reverbed in almost the same fashion a piano note is sustained by the sustain pedal and reverberated by the other strings. The product is a captivating and almost visual song. A hidden gem.

Uhg, the Sonata. I'm sure everyone is wondering where it is. It's here, but I had some pretty bad recording problems. First time through, I went too fast, then I messed up I don't know how many times, finally, I did the song perfectly, but the recorder stopped itself at 23 seconds (that one was really frustrating.) and at the end of my attempts I messed up the final movement. So, it's coming, give me some more time.

-Wes

My Creed

2007-05-18T21:32:00.000-05:00

Well, in working on my portfolio, I came across an assignment that I had earlier in the year. I was instructed to construct my own Creed of what I believed in the pattern of the Apostles', and Nicene creeds as well as the "Definition if Chalcedon". Here it is! I hope you enjoy it.

I believe in the one God the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible, and in the one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son of God, begotten of his father before all the worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the father, by whom all things were made, Who for us men, and our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnated by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary, full in his Godhead and divinity and full in his manhood, possessing a human body and soul, was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried, his human soul descended triumphantly into hell in order that he may pay the invisible and incomprehensible judgment that we deserve, his body, soul and divine nature were re-united on this earth on the third day, alive, he appeared before his disciples and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again in glory to judge all his creation; Whose kingdom shall never end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Triune God, the Lord and giver of Life, who proceeds from the father and the son, who with the father and the son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets, and performs miracles by the saints and those who would believe. Amen.

Projects!

2007-05-14T20:35:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm still here. I havn't abandoned you all yet. Although I'm really busy right now, and it's some crazy and good stuff that some of you may be interested in.

I'm writing my first Sonata! (three movements, a main theme, etc) I have a framework for the whole piece and a unique melody. It's in C# Minor, which has 4 sharps (same key as moonlight sonata). There are some allusions to moonlight, although it's very different. I hope to record a rough version tonight.
School is crazy. I'm getting Evaluated this coming monday, and just started working on a finalized profolio this week. (>.<) Yikes.
I'm reading Shakespeare like it's going out of style. I just finished A Midsummer night's Dream and Macbeth, I'm moving on to Henry V and Richard III. I absolutely loved A Midsummer night's dream, and if anyone wants to actually go see the play sometime, please please let me know.
Wrapping up loose ends of the school year is becoming a HUGE task.
We will have Vents in our house soon! It's amazing! I've never been so happy about chunks of aluminum in my life.
The wood for all the trim in the house has arrived.
My sister is home from college, for good! She's gradjimakated! Which is oh so awesome.
For those of you who know that I'm actually in my room now, it's not really a room. It's a place with four walls, a 3/4 inch hardwood floor, and a bed in the center, nothing else. :-P But I'm happy with it.

That's the major points of my life now.

Today's music is: "Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BMV582" J.S. Bach and "Time" by John Behrens

On a more personal note, I just wanted all of you guys to know something.

I love you all. :-)

Life is crazy for me right now, and I really miss my church family. I've been a part of Providence's family for nearly 4 years now, and this is the longest I've been apart from everyone. I'll be back soon, and I want you all to know I think about you often. Yes, YOU.

Love,

Wes

A Hobbit Weekend

2007-05-06T19:49:00.000-05:00

"...But where our hearts truly lie is in peace and quiet, and good tilled earth. For all Hobbits share a love of things that grow. And yes, no doubt, to others our ways seem quaint. But today, of all days, it is brought home to me, it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life."
-Bilbo Baggins

Today's music is: "Concerning Hobbits" by Howard Shore.

Yeah, call me silly, but I spent a weekend living a very Hobbit-like lifestyle this weekend. Yesterday, I did soooo much garden work, and enjoyed it greatly. I even did it in sandals/bare feet. Today, I did sooooo much more gardening, although today's work included more rocks and mulch, not so much fun. But still, I was outside, so I was happy. :-)

God gave Adam creation, man, what an amazing gift. I can't even begin to imagine the thank you note that Adam could have written. In the recent months, I've been discovering the joys of being outside. Peace and quiet, (to some degree) and good tilled earth really are what they're cracked up to be. These past few weeks have helped me realise that I love the country. Give me a bible, a family, a piano and some land, and I would be happy.

God created everything and said that it was good. That says to me that God was happy with this new dwelling place. In a parable, Jesus talks about two servants who were given sums of money and made more of them. The Master in the story says to the good servants, "'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" This rings true with all responsibilities. The Master(God) desires man to share with his happiness. He places us in charge of small things (daily devotions, modesty, respect, other daily activities) and if we do well with what he gives, he places us in charge of great things (Marriage, a home, children, land). God gives us responsibility, so therefore he challenges us, but he gives us the greatest Helper(The Holy Spirit). So, not only does he want us to be happy, and share in his happiness, but he HELPS US THERE! WOW. That just blows my mind. For a amazing God to even want to make a sinful, decrepit race happy, is an amazing, wonderful, and almost unbelievable concept.

But he slew his own son, and secured happiness for all of us.

Wow.

-Wes

From The Ashes

2007-05-05T22:36:00.000-05:00

Welcome back. Or maybe simply welcome. This is a very old blog of mine that I'm going to attempt to revive. Feel free to peruse the archives, but I want the real life of this Blog to be what's new.

This, of course, begs the question: "What's new?"

Yikes, maybe that's too big of a question for the moment, so I'll start with something simpler: "What's with the new Blog name and Title?"

Well, I've fallen in love with music since I last posted in this blog, and I thought it would be a stupendous new name for a blog. My soul, when I sit at a piano, sings through the keys. God has given me a wonderful gift in the form of piano, and an ability to sit and play what's on my mind. Some people have journals to write out their thoughts, I have the keys on a piano and a memo recorder. (That I just started using recently)

Coincidentally, what I play often reflects my circumstances in life; thus it equates well with an online journal.

Again, Welcome! and I hope you enjoy the ride. :-)

-Wes

I... Had A Dream

2006-08-14T22:39:00.000-05:00

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
-M.L.K. Jr.

A few nights ago, I had a dream. I was dead, I had died shortly before my 17th birthday. I was walking in between two angels. I was explaining them the idea of dieing young, and how as a human, we experience a sad feeling in disappointing the other humans we love. (Hey, they're angels, not humans.) They had six wings, folded in various ways. The angels were walking, not flying, but our feet made no noise in the soft grass. I wasn't sad, I was happy. The angels comforted me and said that Christ had saved me and that my war against sin had been won. But still, I thought of everyone I knew. Everyone I loved back on Earth, how they would be sad for my early(in their eyes) departure. The angels led me to the far side of the field, and told me to behold the ones I loved. Standing before me, was my sister, flanked by two young men and a woman who I knew to be her children, behind them, their children, and future generations. My parents were also there. In the crowd, there were people of mixed race: some black, mostly white, some asian. all standing there, staring into my eyes and smiling. I looked up, everything dissolved, I closed my eyes and I praised God for his glory. I opened my eyes to see, my alarm clock... and my dark blue sheets cascading softly on my bed.

This dream is running off of the concept that if time is nothing to God, then the elect are already in heaven because heaven is not on a timeline, it just exists.

-Wes
Blessed Dreams.

First post in forever

2006-07-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

Hello blog, man, It's been so long... Youth Camp has come and gone, along with many other happenings that warrant a placement in your HTML halls. Sadly, I think I'll just go back to the Russian party and go up from there, I can't recount the past few months and do them justice you know.

Ahh, anyway. So, the Russians. First, a little back story: My Russian tutors son is a VERY active member of Rotary International, which sponsors business trips and whatnot for people to go to other countries and LEARN SOMETHING! For the past 3 years, my tutor' son (Vitalie)has been taking groups of Russians around Pittsburgh so they can learn from local economics and other areas of interest. For example, last year he had a group who really wanted to learn about the functioning of Non-profit organizations, this year it had to do with generating enough energy for such a large area. Now, formalities aside, these people were so funny and so different, I hope I can name them all, lets see...
Leonid: a man of unknown profession who hails from Lenin's home town, and he was the picture of the generalized socialist Russian. Funny guy though, he gave me tons of pins, most of which had lenin's bust somewhere on it. There were alot of jokes made that he was a spy and former member of the KGB, although it was all done in good humor. Couldn't speak English, but I talked with him alot anyway(tried to, in Russian that is)
Nikolai: I never got to talk much with him, but he always had some kind of camera or video recorder in his hand. didn't speak English.
Andrew: same as Nikolai, only minus the video camera.
I believe there was another Nikolai, who is a composer, who also didn't speak English, but played the piano beautifully.
Gresha: the translator of the group, aka the only one that could speak english. Gresha as an amazing soon-to-be professor of Russian-American relations at a local university. It was so wonderful to talk with him, he wanted to know so much, and I wanted to know so much too, so we basically exchanged knowledge for what seemed like hours.

There were two meetings, a welcome meeting and a farewell meeting. I'll see if I can accurately separate these two meetings into two narratives.

Well, we arrived just in time to join in the meal, although we were unfortunatly late. I indulged in Pickled herring with onion in vegitable oil, all of which was raw, but good, along with caviar and butter on wheat bread. Pork was the only "Normal" thing served, but there was also this great pockets of eggroll of some sort, along with some kind of cabbage dish and a beet and horseradish dish that I didn't sample. While I was eating, I met everyone, including a young lady named Jenna who is 20, soon to be 21. I'm still not sure exactly how she and her family are involved in all this, but it all worked out for the better. For the remainder of the night I mingled and had leangthy conversations with Gresha and Jenna about the policial structure of America.
Food and talk gave way to entertainment, Jenna sang, I played piano a bit, but the real highlight came when Nikolai played a beutiful russian waltz. I began to dance with an invisible partner, and Jenna asked me "Do you dance?" and so, I took off my boots and got a quick lesson in waltzing and voila! Jenna and I were dancing in the middle of the living room. Jenna, who is/was a ballroom dancer gave me the basic steps of the waltz. Kinda funny how life can lead so such things as dancing with a girl I had only met that night.

Ok, well, that's enough for now, check back soon to read more on the russians.

Simple(ton) thought of the day: "Orange Bandanas only look good on blond haired girls."
Someone interesting I met today: Barbra Haggardy

-Wes

A dream

2006-05-08T21:38:00.000-05:00

Black, all Black, but suddenly a rush of sound and feeling, suddenly, like a silk blanket being ripped out from under me, I feel a harsh grit. My wet body feels all the aches and pains of extreme exertion. Where am I? It would seem to be a beach. I stagger up, trying to recall what happened. Did I fall? It sure feels like it, but I’m not on the coast, I’m on an island. I can’t see too well, it’s like looking through a haze. Before me lies a mass of vegetation, the air lightly brushes through the branches of the palm trees as I notice that the sun sinking on the horizon, it must be about 6 o’clock. The world seems as though it’s winding down, shadows are long and there’s a twinge of orange in the light. Quickly I notice my shoes are almost totally destroyed. I toss them into the expanse of turquoise without a second thought… My clothes begin to dry as I walk eastward with no particular will or reason: Like walking while asleep. I robotically walk along trying to make sense of my exhaustion and despair, for I can’t seem to find why I’m here. The sun creeps lower in the sky as I continue my mindless trek, I’ve rounded the island and I’m walking back west again. There’s a figure on the beach lying prone an motionless as I could imagine I was not but a few hours ago. Slowly, almost with an extreme apathy I approach the form. I find I’m at a loss to call out. But, like a cat, I stoop down and shyly inspect the figure lying face down in the sand. None of it’s features seem to be discernible, neither due to decay, nor to mutilation, simply a deficit, an inability to discern. I shyly grasp the pale clammy arm, and feel for a pulse. Nothing… slowly, and without expression, I gently pick up the ragged frame that had lain before me. The sun is halfway down. I cling to the body in my arms, as if my simple perseverance in walking on would make it come back to life. Slowly, and cautiously, I hope. Have you ever experienced a raw feeling or attribute of the mind, without a predicate, without an object or target? If you haven’t I can’t express the raw unfailing hope I felt. Still, without emotion, I trudge on in the wet, cold sand. The sun is disappearing. I look down and recognise the face on the body I carry. My head leans back and my eyes close. Then I awoke.

Wishing you pleasent dreams
-Wes

My bottom ten

2006-03-21T23:42:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Strongbad WARNING, EXTREMELY PESSIMISTIC

10. trying to clean milk off of glass countertops... it just leaves a white residue.
9. The Jibblies
8. Pops(sodas) that have super long meaningless names or flavors. TRY NEW DIET "ONE" BLACK CHERRY VANILLA LEMON LIME DR. PEPPER! if it takes more than 3 seconds just to say the name, its gone too far.
7. Mountain Dew has minimal effects on me... which isn't fun at all.
6. being sick for extended periods of time (like right now)
5. Canned green beans....*jibblies*
4. that intersection on 51 near castle shannon off library road that's like a 9 way.
3. People who think they're working hard at something and think they're good enough when in the meantime they're not trying hard, they're hardly trying.
2. That awful feeling of missing the last step on a stairwell in the dark. like your stomach drops out from under you.
1. Makeup, in any shape or form that's not deodorant or a hair product such as gel or hairspray. Especially when applied to the face. eye shadow...*jibblies*

There you have it, Wes Sames' bottom 10, subject to change.

mostly meant to be hurmorous, except number 3... that's one that really gets me

-Wes

Un-minorness! Woohoo!

2006-03-06T21:18:00.000-05:00

Woohoo! Dan's 18! Party at his house! literally.

Yep, Saturday was just that. I packed up my stuff and headed over to "the Behrens farm" decked in John Deere, flannel, and jeans. Country music was the order of the day through Dan's new "iPod Hi_Fi", a mini stereo that he got from his uncle. We feated on a magificant ham as well as chicken and Mac n' cheese, along with cheerful conversation about Dan and everyone's future. After dinner, Mr. Behrens decided that we should all have some time to share some stuff about Dan, sentiments bounced around the room akin to stuff you would most likely hear when someone is appresheated at a funeral, but not glummly, but happily. It's a sentiment that I've always had that it's a shame that no one is ever able to attend their own funeral, because most people just don't know how much they mean to the others in their life. I think that this practice the Behren's have introduced to me will carry over into my own parenting. As the night continued, the country gave way to other forms of music, talking gave way to games, skits, and a jello slurping contest. Slowly but steadily The party felt very much like a theme party, which it was, but for a while, it almost seemed natural for everyone to be wearing old timey sort of weird stuff. Then Katie walked in sporting a red hoodie (before changing into flannel) and brought home how odd the scene must have looked. :-P

Later on, there was much guitar playing, talking, and the like. Finally, we all hit the hay at like 1 AM.

Some party, sorry for the short post, more to come

-Wes

A new rockin' year.

2006-01-01T00:33:00.000-05:00

Well, its here, a year that some have awaited restlessly, and a year that others have dreamed into, still others have prayed that it may never come, and the last have prayed that it were to come sooner. This tangle of emotion is all brought to fruition in the one defining moment of 1/1/06 00:00.01 military time. some stand in times square staring up to the sky in hopes of a bright new year, some sit down in their houses with empty bottles by their side, some weep in an empty house, and yet, there are those who stand in Times Square passionately embracing their loved one. somehow, I looked through the screen of our TV at the crowd, and I saw none of these things, I didn't see the divas, the idiots, crazy people, or even the normal people. I saw the grace of God. All that has been given me in the past year. It's all become unbearably real. I was slightly dreaping midnight, knowing that at 12:00.01 I'd be seeing couples all across Times Square osculating. But, as it happened, I wasn't troubled at all. Somehow my finite mind for once was able to look past the here and now and see God's future. Instead of cursing God for my position now, I thank him endlessly for the position he's going to put me in in the future. Without God, we are dust incarnate, we are smoke in a gail, and our amorous affection is just simple squabble without knowing the pure sacred love (PlatonEcheskye) from God. To humanity, God's silence is like death, but on New Years 2006, God roared. God roared like Aslan rising from the stone table. A cry calling us to his side and for us to trust in him; at least for me.

I love this awful beautiful life.

-Wes

Tis' the season to spread the love! (or is it?)

2005-12-24T23:54:00.000-05:00

This is when you should be taking that grain of salt by the way.

Well, I've been doing some thinking on the subject of the season and it's tendency toward romantic thought; this is in conjunction with quite a few discussions with someone who I can call a voice of moral conscience. It appears to me that within the church, we all seem to create this shell around ourselves, due to the importance of modesty in the Christian faith. Now, I'm a firm believer in "if you 'ain't sellin' don't advertise" so don't get me wrong. I just think that we, as a community do not express the kind of love we have for eachother well enough. I am well aware of the fact that modesty leans us away from temptation and sin. However, a fear of physical contact is almost ranging on un-needed separation. Christmas is a time when we all seem to realize how much we all mean to eachother. Its opened my eyes to quite a few things. For one, not all physical contact is tempting. I can honestly say that I have received more hugs in the past several days than I have in the past year, and not a single one was tempting to me. (At this point I'm just throwing opinions around like paint to splatter in the walls in some hopefully comprehensive way) Maybe, its not the action of physical contact, maybe its the state of mind of separation itself. Maybe, if you think it is going to be tempting, then the actual act WILL be tempting. But, if you brush it off as an act of appreciation and brotherly/sisterly love, then it can be (in my humble 15 year old opinion) an edifying and encouraging experience.

Well, you've heard my argument, and anyone who reads this should be well informed that I'm a hopeless romantic. I do see that I may be a bit bias, but for a hopeless romantic such as myself, to say that every single display of affection I have received over these Christmas celebrations has not temped me in the slightest should say quite a bit on how I feel on the matter.

(A note to John Behrens: I did really want to provide quotes for such a matter, I even had them on hand in a Word document. However, decency inclined me not to incriminate anyone’s opinion the matter. Rest assured though that I have sufficient proof on the situation for me to form some strong opinions on it.)

Yours, forever in the Christmas spirit,
Wes

"The Post"

2005-12-22T22:53:00.000-05:00

The holidays are uppon us and I'm sitting her frantically typing in what free time I have. I wish I could report on al my journeys thus far in the Christmas Season. Sadly, you're going to have to suffer my meger rambelings on the main events in my life. A few days ago, Sunday actually, I attended church and immediately there after my dad and I embarked on a journey into the heart of the steel city with hopes of giving our eardrums a racking at the Trans Siberian Orcestra concert. Now, for those who don't know the TSO, they are a band who plays almost exclusively Christmas music; Their fashion of approach to this cleche genre is very different though. The band consists of three main players, guitar, keyboard and drummer. It doesn't stop there though. The rest of the band is another guitar, a bass, another keyboardist, an electric violinist(who makes his own violins) and a string ensomble of about 12 or 15 various string players. This is not counting their wonderful vocal section. So, these guys get pretty rockin. (samples available at http://www.trans-siberian.com/multimedia/index.shtml -- I reccomend A Mad Russian's Christmas and Wizards In Winter)

Long story short, we didn't get tickets for the early show. But, the 7:30 had some nice seats. So, my dad and I had a couple hours (6 I think) to blow in the burg. We went over to the Heinz Sports Museum, luckily it was open and we spent a whole 4.5 hours there. Monsterous fun. After touring the museum we roamed around the strip looking for an eatery, without much trouble we found the Harp and Fiddle pub. This place was crazy, it screamed Ireland. I'll have to go there with Laedelas some time, she'd love it. Our server even had this heavy irish accent. After consuming half of my Shepperd's pie we had to leave to get to the show, so, I wrapped up the remainder and we bolted off (as much as one can bolt in pittsburgh at any given moment) to the concert. It was phanominal. The lights, the music, the action, I couldn't have expected more. Fog everywhere, fake snow, fire, sparks, EVERYTHING. All the classics and some variations on multiple songs. Something freaky though, I saw two people that I could have sworn were two other people. One from the front, another from the back. really crazy, if not for subtle differences like hair length and minor differences in the face I would never have known the differences. Thats it for my historical recounts, I've got more to ramble about though.

Recently, I could swear I've lost all wit I possess. I've just drifted and drifted from my spiritual life and it shows. I've been amazed at how I've almost totally lost my gift to encourage people as much as I have in the past. I only just realised it a little while ago though. Its so sad that most of the time we need the sense "knocked" into us. We drift so far than come running back. Thankfully I can at least run back, and I have. So, I've been feeling more and more of God's spirit, which has been great.

More to come, after I sort some stuff out.

Feeling slightly insane
-Wes

2005-12-09T00:39:00.000-05:00

What do your eyes say about you? by Buzzy2232
Name
Eye Color
Your Personality is	Happy
Your Smile is	Jaw dropping
Your friends are	Important
Your kiss is	Soft
Your life is	Beautiful
Your passion is	Your friends
You are	Amazing

Quiz created with MemeGen!

Yes, I fell to the dark side and did one of these. I was suprised to see that it was right on several counts. but I don't think my smile is jaw dropping or my life is so beautiful.

And yeah, a quiz with random generated answers is not like the shaper of my destiny, but its still pretty cool!

J-town with NWCC

2005-11-28T22:01:00.000-05:00

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

Memories

2005-11-27T22:31:00.000-05:00

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. :-)

A very interesting day.

2005-11-15T23:40:00.000-05:00

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

I'm Symphonic!

2005-11-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

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

Its that time again

2005-11-09T22:58:00.000-05:00

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

Not Quite All Here

2005-11-01T23:03:00.000-05:00

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'm Blogrific!

2005-10-26T20:58:00.000-05:00

(mimicking other blogs)
Mood: I'm not too sure, I feel like I have a headache, maybe from thinking too much.
Listening to: "Trouble" - Coldplay

Well, my life plugs on as per usual. It's a real challenge to make it as interesting as I want it to be. As for the moment, the exciting news is that we have one more wooden wall frame to put up upstairs, then the electical, ductwork, and finally the drywall and plaster and paint! Also, I'M GOING TO FINALLY HAVE A ROOM! OH JOY! For those of you who don't know, my "bedroom" is the corner of a room that has 20 five foot tall and 2 foot wide windows. This room also holds the computers, the kitchen, living room, office, and school room. So, I wake up in the morning to my Dad getting coffee and my mom sitting at her desk or cleaning. not to mention the sun and all of creation looking in on me. so, We're moving my bed and everything into the basement. I will finally have four walls and it will be dark and quiet in the morning when I wake up. so, YAY!

This Saturday, Mom and I are going to take out our 3 ton horse trailer and going to the Quinlisks to help them move the heaviest of their furniture. That should be fun. just a minor side note.

Life in general has proven interesting for me recently, in the midst of all this work, and school, I'm trying to build new friendships, and at the same time, strengthen old ones. I'm reminded of Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another", This is so true and so profound, and the concept's presence is so evident in my life that I'm blown away by it. I need to figure out how to make new friends again though, I've been concentrating on the tight ring I've formed in Dan, John, Shannon, Justin, etc. I need to look outward and find new friends, so, I'm working on it, even though its hard to find just the right topics of conversation. :-) I'm improving though. For the past week or so, by brain has been racked so many times it hurts.

Just today: I discovered I can actually sing in the same key as Chris Martin (lead singer of Coldplay) this I found quite astonishing because of how low my voice is. I'm not saying I sang WELL, I'm saying I matched the notes.
I listened to the Doxology performed by David Crowder, it moved me to tears. (not that thats a hard thing to do...)

Ahh well, life goes on. Until next time.

-Wes

I'm "That Guy"

2005-10-19T21:08:00.000-05:00

While surfing around the net today, I came across a selection of image contests. One of which read " 'That Guy' contest" I browsed around looking at different pictures that had some random guy poking into the picture at some odd angle or who was somewhat out of place...

I was Stunned...

I found a picture of myself... At Kennywood... On the bridge...

Me... in a " 'That Guy' contest"..............

I guess I should have leaned in with the girls...

A New Venture... for the Quinlisks at least

2005-10-14T22:34:00.000-05:00

Ahh, well, my family had a very industrious Thursday at the Q's new house. Mostly, the evening comprised of tearing up and cutting up carpeting and the wooden strips that hold carpeting to the floor. When we first got there to work, we say a large piece of green carpeting rolled up on the floor. So, my Mom got right down to business and started cutting it up and rolling it into tight rolls for the garbage service. Only later were we to find out that Matt wanted that particular bit of carpet for his bedroom in the basement... Luckily, after some measuring of the guys room (and the dining room) we discovered that the--egshb (sorry, my cell phone just went crashing down onto my keyboard-- anyway, we found out that the carpeting in the dining room(same carpet as the shredded one) was exactly the same size as the guy's room. So, phew, that was close a major blunder. So, the rest of the evening was consumed by the removal of 99% of the carpet on the first floor. The second big event of the night was Mr. Q. Sticking his bare hand inside the wall behind the sink and drawing forth a slew of razors and some black gunk. Thankfully, his hand was still intact, and he would soon draw literally a hundred razor blades from this hole.

Tonight, I went to Youth Parent Care Group (and no, its not one of those support groups, its like the youth group for our church.) There, we expeienced an awesome message on faith and trying aspects of life that tend to take us away from God. Truely awesome stuff, along with some reading from hebrews. With the addition of splitting off into two groups (boys and girls) which kinda helped some of the guys "come out of the shell" so to speak. Afterwards, we adjourned to the basement for some different activities. Dan and I decided to try our hand at Fix You, sounded pretty good dispite Dan's AWEFUL singing (hehe) and a lack of a decent organ sound. We continued to The Scientist which was pretty easy. (for those who don't know, these are songs by a band called Coldplay) After some general hanging around and other different minor stuff, I funally made my mark on Justin Harvey's computer moniter which already possesed the scrawlings of many a person's sharpie. I added "And it was called YELLOW" (also another Coldplay song)

I stepped out onto the lawns of suburbia and the cool night air hit my face, mingles with the smell of freshly cut lawns. I looked down the rows of nearly idenical houses and I looked up at the clear yet starless sky, it is times like hese that I understand why God put me in the country where I can smell the fresh un-tainted air and see thousands of stars and the thickly sprinkled Milky Way.

Being distant is hard, but it has its benifits.

To my friends, each and every one, those who were at the Harvey's tonight and those absent: I love you guys...(now, girls, don't take this the wrong way. :-P I mean as friends.) but, seriously!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

-Wes

well, long time no write

2005-10-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

(DUN DUN DUN...)

Yea, I'm back.

Well, it has most definitely been a while, since the 24th actually.

The biggest thing that happened to me recently is that I won an Xbox 360 from Pepsi! I entered in the 12:30 AM drawing and actually won! So, thats really cool. Lets see, last Sunday Dan orchestrated another Frisbee game. I was actually going to be doing the same, but he beat me to it. I discovered a new/interesting was of throwing a Frisbee, you place your palm ontop of the Frisbee and wrap your thumb around the underneath and use a fore-handed flicking motion to throw the frisbee. Now, bear in mind that this method is by far not practical in any way... But it makes it fly so I count it as a throw. In the pre-game, Dan, Mike, and I were out warming up (unfortunately, I was wearing a polo shirt and jeans, but YAY for undershirts!) Sadly, and disturbingly, Mike wasn't as fortunate to have an undershirt and he had to expose the beacon of light he calls skin. *shiver* BUT! On to the game.

The game itself was, shall we say, interesting. Luke ran ALOT.... like, 5 times as much as anyone else... and it produced results. Several good passes and plays by the usual power players. Heather made a few good end-zone catches, Mike was his usual crazy self, Dan unleashed the power of a foreign beer company logo... So, all in all, pretty normal. But, after Frisbee, we broke away from the norm and played some soccer, by far the most astounding thing that happened thoughout the entire game was an amazing stunt pulled by luke... in some circles its called the "sphere shot". the ball was coming straight down, luke did a half backflip and kicked the ball when he was parallel with the ground. needless to say it was very impressive, but not only that, it actually helped his team score! Very fun.

POST GAME: hangin out at the Q's. We just hanged around outside, and listened to rap.... THE NEIGHBOR'S RAP that is. They had a car stereo or something going at full blast pumping gangsta rap into the hood... with some pretty disturbing lyrics...

Not much has happened since Sunday... I'm bogged down in school and i'm up to my neck in homework for the first time in my life. I'll be sure to make another post if anything interesting happens.

RANDOM FACT: Au Bon Pain means "Some Good Food"

-Wes

<>

geez... My life gets more and more interesting...

2005-09-24T22:46:00.000-05:00

Well, another Saturday, another plot turn in my life...

Although most who read this know, but some don't, my iPod died this month... I sent it away to apple. I was amazed to find a brand new iPod on my doorstep. I mean BRAND NEW. So, yeah, I'm so happy about that at the moment. And today was... Interesting to say the least.

woke up at around 8, got out of bed at 9:30. Got all ready and headed out to KARATE at 11... I had to be there at 11:30 for demo team practice. TONS... Of....Stuff... To... Cover... Including a public speaking bit... After we practiced for two and a half hours, straight. We went to the park where the demo was going to happen. The demo went EXTREMELY smoothly. This was the last demo of the season, so Mr. Goetz treated us to dinner at ponderosa. After dinner, one of my friends from Karate came up to me and said that he thought my public speaking was awesome. He wanted to know if I would act the lead part in his senior project. I told him I had NEVER acted, period. He insisted that I try... So, hes sending me the script. This should prove interesting, as my character requires copious amounts of hair gel, and as of yet I dunno if there's any romance. The results should be humorous, at best. I'll be sure to keep all of you posted.

new fave song at the moment: Pour me- Coldplay (iTunes exclusive)

sorry for the short post, but I thought if it were any longer, it may bore you. .

-Wes

Ahh, more of the unsame

2005-09-20T21:56:00.000-05:00

well, so, its Tuesday the 19th... Time for a recap.

Well, last Saturday, I went over to the Q's at around 7 for HQ's B-day party. The party was awesome, tons of people there, marshmallow roasting, chatting, football tossing, tons of random goodness. Then in an unexpected climax to a good night, I got on the trampoline with Luke Harvey... One fateful bounce, I went REALLY REALLY high, I think about 4 or so feet of the trampoline, As I came down, the first thing that hit was my eye to Luke's shoulder. I fell down in pain, I opened my eye ASAP and found that I couldn't see. This really freaked me out, I thought I had experienced a retinal detachment due to trauma. Which would mean I was blind. Thankfully, this was not the case. My eyesight was slowly returning as we made our way from the Q's house to the office. Upon getting to the office, we discovered that I was bleeding out of the conjuncivita, which is just a pressure relief system the eye uses. It basically looked like I was crying blood. So, my dad had to use numbing drops and a Q-tip to fish out the clotted blood from the side of my eye. After cleaning me up, he checked out the surface of by eye for injury, nothing found. He then checked my retina for damage, none there either. (Thank God...) And finally, he dilated my pupil to get a better look at the inside of my eye. Now, when someone gets dilated, it makes the black part of their eye, or the pupil grow large. This lets in more light than what the eye would usually allow. So, after that we headed back to the party, which at this point had dispersed. Then headed home, while I lay in the seat of the car with my eyes shut so I could block out the headlights and taillights on 51.

I awake the following morning to find that my eye is cemented shut with a ton of yellow crud. A shower cleaned that right up though. I was dismayed at the fact that all the light pouring into my still-dilated eye was really hurting. So, I dawned sunglasses and set off for church. Got quite a few questions-comments on my sunglassed appearance, but nothing too bad.

After Church I helped clean up and got in John's Mazda to head to Wendy's...I have a feeling that in that time I was in that car, my life was flashing before by eyes at several times. John, you're crazy, and if you read this, you need to know that you don't have to impress other guys by driving real crazy-like.... Well, not much happened at wendy's, John H, John B, and I went through the drivethough then parked and went inside to eat because the line inside was insane. We said our farewells to a few people, including Dan, who had to miss Frisbee to go to a College fair. Ahh well, it was ok, we survived. What followed was an insane game of Frisbee with about 25 people. Tons of running, guarding, and more running. We played for about 3 hours or so. Some sweet plays that included Justin throwing a cross-field 80 Yd. pass to Steve Schuch.... I was brought to my knees with astonishment. I think I like Frisbee games of like 7 people per team more though.

I found out some sad news on my eye on Monday, the dilation had gone down significantly since Sunday, however my left eye was still noticeably more dilated than the right. This distressed me for quite a while... I was afraid that my future wife or kids may look at me and see something like o_0 instead of o_o... But thanks to a few good friends, I was reminded that it shouldn't matter, because its not the eyes themselves, its the feelings conveyed by those eyes. Besides, I have DARK brown eyes, so its not going to be extremely noticeable. ahh, but its just a little disheartening... a permanent disfigure caused in a few sort seconds of trauma. But, God provided me with a father who's an eye doctor and thanks to him, it's not as bad as it could have been. that's all for now...

-Wes

ahh, Joy, and happiness. Two different things

2005-09-13T21:20:00.000-05:00

Well, Monday... The day after one of the worst afternoons/evenings in months. Who knew God would use it for the greatest good.

Well, as the day started, It was typical. Normal breakfast, normal school. But, then we went to Reading & writing club with the Taylors and the Behrens. Had a good but short time there, then resumed my miserable-ness at home... After a while I started talking to John B. Which helped me a lot, I was encouraged, and so I went out and read the bible and prayed for about an hour and a half. By the time I was done, it was dark. I decided to go have a fire by the lake. I went inside, got some warm cloths on and gather supplies. Matches, flashlight, newspaper, bible, pen, ipod, etc. Stuffed it all in a backpack and went on my way down the hill. Gathered up some wood and put it in a typical fire-making shape, put some paper under it, threw a match in. Nothing happened. The paper just burned up. I use up all of the paper and the logs don't even smoke. I really didn't want to go back up to the house to get more paper, so I did the last thing I would normally do in this situation.... Pray. I prayed "God help me light this fire that I may glorify your name tonight by its light."

I opened my eyes, the logs are laying there in the now-cool ashes of the paper.

Suddenly, one of the logs begins to smoke, and light on fire!. Soon, the fire spreads to the whole pile, and I'm left praising God for such a small but significant miracle. I spent the next two hours in prayer and reading the bible by firelight. I was blown away, totally. I was so filled with Joy. Not just happiness, but JOY. Glorifying God for my very existence. The opposite of what I felt on Sunday night... Almost total opposite.

Ahh man, God has given me so much! How can I possibly criticize that which I hold most dear? HOW!?!?! I desire now to further relationships with all my friends. All of them, so I may futher serve God.

Thank you God, for my friends, and my distance from them, which brings me all the closer.

A call to my friends: Go find someone you love as a brother or sister in a Christ and give them a big hug and tell them that you thank God that they're there.

Pro Christo,
Wes

post pending

2005-09-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

OK, now then, disguard the previous post... for, my mindset has made a 180 degree change. I'll post about it when I get the time.

Wake me up when the week ends.

2005-09-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

Sunday's here, I wake up, wide awake and super happy. "YES, I'M GOING TO CHURCH TODAY!". I think about everything spiritual, I focus on praising God in worship, I relinquish my life to him again. I'm brought to my knees before him again. I stand in worship, all want is gone, all longing is gone, I think of nothing but God's glory, his mercy. The loneliness that I tend to experience seems so far away, and like it will never come back. I'm brought close to tears thanking God for taking it from me. I listen to a message based around rest for the weary. I feel revived, a new man(or guy, at least). I'm ok with the fact that I only have a few minute long conversations with my friends. I get in the car, still empowered by God's grace and that alone. Listen to David Crowder as we check out the Q's new house, and seeing if we can maneuver the horse trailer to see if we can help them move. I get home, eat lunch, still happy. I change into my lightest, yet most-covering clothes to get ready to move hay. I grab two bottles of water, walk outside, and as soon as I get out the door and look around. KABAM........ I'm run over. Flattened...Destroyed...For no reason... Just BANG. It hits me like a baseball hits a bat as its going it's fastest.

I'm in the middle of nowhere, away from everything I hold dear...In the heat of the day...About to go unload 175, 20 pound bales of hay with only my dad to help. Life stinks.

I sit here, typing, feeling like an empty shell of a person, whereas 12 hours ago I was ontop of the world. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I FEEL THIS WAY. I really don't.... My life is great, really! But I just feel like this.

"I know something is broken, and I'm trying to fix it, trying to repair it. Any way I can..." -Coldplay

does everyone at my age feel this way or am I missing something?

-Wes

humm, a healthy dose of introspection

2005-09-08T21:03:00.000-05:00

Well, its been a few weeks since the LOTR party, and I'm feeling homesick. Not for my nuclear family home, but my home in the church. I've gotten out a bit, to work and Karate, so its not so bad, but an unfortunate amount of time is spent staring at this screen talking to people I wish I could be with and talk to face-to-face. When I'm not doing school, watching tennis, or on the computer.. I'm thinking about how I feel, if its right, if its wrong... Confronting issues that I need to turn over to God. I'm convinced there is no better non-living thing to talk to out here other than the stars. On Sunday night of labor day weekend, I had a little fire down by the lake with my dad.. Good stuff, but when the only thing you hear is nightly noises and the crackling of the fire(and the occasional song on the car stereo from the ipod.) its easy to let your mind work at the pace which fire burns. To enthrall yourself in introspection, and lamentation...

I know this is all going to sound extremely selfish... But, I feel really by myself out here. Its quite possible that that's why I'm on AIM so much. I know I have karate and work, but its so weird just look out the window and see God's creation, but nothing else. Thoughts wander to friends that seem so far away, people I've known who are distant now, my current situation in life. All as a merciless sun beats down on this green earth. *sigh* too much...

Still lots of thinking to do...

-Wes

prose of the night:

the stars, are my companions, my confidants. I may speak as I wish to them and they will not decrease in brightness. They will continue to fill my eyes with heavenly light. As they do for every living thing, regardless of Sin, fate, plan. They will twinkle on, eternally destined to be an object of thought and wonder. But though I may offer my thoughts up to these skyward bodies, I will never receive an answer. They will never console me when I mourn, praise me when I do good, understand what I'm going through. They only float there, as passive mute observer. I take solace in knowing that my friends will be there, through thick and thin. To be more than passive observers. I must rest in knowing God has a plan for me.

-written by me.

popping noise bounce pop again

2005-09-06T19:58:00.000-05:00

Yep, Tennis.. The American pastime.... Or maybe not....

Well, Tennis has never received a lot of attention at my house... Maybe none at all. My parents played when they were 18, but not really since then. So tennis has been a bit obscure to me all my life. I knew it was a sport, I knew about the US open, and Wimbledon, I knew the basic rules about out of bounds, soforth... But nothing beyond that. But then along came a fan that would spark my interest in the sport.

I noticed said fans enthusiasm for the sport and decided to watch a few rounds of the US open. I was HOOKED. I watched that little yellow fuzz ball bounce back and forth for an extremely long time by my standards. I've already acquired a favorite player, Robby Ginepri, and plan to see him though to the finals. After watching for a few days casually, It looks like it would be a fun sport to learn. So, maybe I'll pick up a raqute and get someone to teach me. Its nice to have a fresh sport to watch. Thanks Katie. :-)

In other news, I can cross off one trial for the rest of my life... or my teenage one at least.

Ahh, good day.

-Wes

One week done

2005-09-02T23:09:00.000-05:00

Well, the first week of school is over, Labor Day approaches. I have a few things on my mind. I'll just share a few.

The song Yellow, by Coldplay is currently stuck in my head every other second.

Dreams, have baffled me of late. A few random, fun ones, a few serious and almost real, and somewhat disturbing ones.

The stars are brilliant. I never cease to wonder at these points of light. I saw Andromeda tonight, along with the could of diamonds known as the Milky Way. I just wish all my friends could see the stars as well as this.

The ability to just sit and empty my mind and concentrate on only God and his creation has been a luxury. It seems like I'm constantly thinking about one thing or another instead of relying on God's timing and providence.

Another matter has come to my attention. whats going to happen to everyone who's here today? Who's going away? Who's going with them? Who's staying? Who's going to get married? Its all in God's hands, really. but I can't help but wonder, if the wonderful friends I have now, who I'm only going to hear from every now and again. It almost moves me to tears to think that. I can't stand the idea of the loss. But it's all the more reason to enjoy every little thing, every conversation, every smile, every joke, every moment.

Look at the Stars, look how they shine for you. And everything you do, yeah they were all yellow. I came along, I wrote a song for you, and all the things you do, and it was called Yellow.

COMMENTS

2005-09-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

PLEASE, PUT YOUR REAL NAME, I'M GOING TO START DELETING NAMELESS COMMENTS.

Thanks.

Hark, dwellers of the real world!

2005-08-31T20:31:00.000-05:00

Well, its time once again... A BLOG ENTRY. and Account of the LOTR party

To pick up where I left off, after leaving Shop n' Save, we went to a nearby sports store: Dunhams looking for leather half-finger gloves. Once exploring said establishment, I found a package that contained only a right glove, the left had been stolen, therefore, the package of two gloves that was normally $20 was now a single glove with a price of $5. Thinking two gloves would be better, I ignored this bargain and continued on my quest. Second stop was Gander Mt. (HUNT, FISH, CAMP) I was dismayed by the fact that they had run out of half finger leather gloves that week, and would not get more for a month. None-the-less, I savvied forth to Dick's in the mall, only to find the same result as in Gander Mt. . At this point, I was totally dismayed at my lack of a tanned, dyed animal hide. So, I decided to go home without purchasing any items of a glove-like nature.

Once I was home, I decided to look up a picture of Aragorn on the net to see if I could find good ideas for my outfit. After a few pictures of Viggo's unshaven mug, I found a full body picture. I was amazed to find that he only wore one glove, on his RIGHT hand. My hope renewed, I remembers the glove at dunhams... It was MEANT for me.

The idle hours leading up to the party were spent working on my costume, and after completing preparations, I was hit with an idea... To come bearing gifts for the elves. Being a Ranger of the North, I prepared some spare ribs and called it "Boar" and began thinking about what else a guy that lived 24/7 outside would bring the most clean, graceful beings in existence, what would be a resource worthy to bring... WILD FLOWERS! So, Fueled by the sheer want to play the role perfectly, I walked all around the farm looking for flowers. Many came from the bushes, and were really wild. Others came from the garden. I made enough for the Elves that might be there (Shannon, Dominica, Katie, Katie, Sarah, and Rebekah, And of course Mrs. Q for providing her house.). Even though the Calanos weren't there, I found a use for the remaining three bouquets, by giving two to the little Calvetti girls, and one to Mrs. Caldwell. So, that worked out nicely.

The party was off to a slow start when I came, Dan looked, like a very large hobbit, Shannon looked like an Elf with short hair, Dominica looked like an Elf, a lot of people looked like themselves sadly. After a while we ate a selection of Shire pie, Lambas, and Boar. Right around the time everyone was eating, Katie arrived, looking like a Willis fan... But soon changed into yet another short-haired elf.

After everyone had eaten their fill we all sat down for a little three and a half hour movie. Much of the entertainment was created by the perfect blend of inthrallment in the movie, and little wisecracks made by the general viewing public (Myself included).

After the midway point, the time had come for me to leave, I went out to wait for my ride in the rainy, dark, cold night. Where I was joined by a friendly feline, until my Mom came.

The second day of the party was similar, only minus one tall Hobbit. We all read (or sang) our favorite parts of the trilogy, some of which were quite lengthy. More boar, (shredded beef) and more lambas, and more movieing although I sadly had to leave before the first part of The Two Towers was finished.

Maybe more updateage at a later date.

Shop n' Save... ON INTERNET!

2005-08-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

I’m sitting here writing this, while listening to coldplay in the parking lot of Shop n’ Save… one of these stores has a sweet wireless internet connection because I’m surfing at the speed of light. I just spent the last 19 hours with Dan, the day consisted of a lot of funny random phrases from Mr. Vocabulary himself. Some concerned Baseball for we went to a Pirates game that I’ll talk about later.

*Dan trying on one of his dads vests* “This Feels like a corset…”
Me-“and how would you know that?”

Me-“It would really stink to get hit on the head with a foul ball.”
Dan-“It says on the back of the ticket that the park is not liable for injuries from a ball or bat.”

Dan getting a Cardinal’s player to sign his CUBS hat.

Dan-“(Uses some huge word in some context that I have no idea what it means.)”
Wes-“Your vocabulary is too copious for my intermediate comprehension, you must endeavor to elucidate more explicitly.”

My eyes must have been REALLY wide when I saw John type “Hey baby” to Katie Caldwell under MY name… After restraining said culprit in a L.P.A.D. headlock,(body upright, slightly bent over backwards with my arm around neck from behind) I dumped him on the bed, where he proceeded to cling to my arm, he soon realized I have more muscles in my arm than his entire body, and gave up. (and no, its not a L.A.P.D. headlock)

Humm, pirate game, not much to be said. The highlights are as follows: actually parking and getting across the bridge in all of maybe 10-15 minutes. Watching totally un-artistic players put their names down in paint, one of them only put his name with the letters descending then ascending like in a V shape. Seeing a pirate use the words “Matey, Timbers, pegleg, ARRR, and FedEx Shipping services all in the same sentence.” Getting hit in the head with a peanut. AND SOME GOOD BASEBALL. :-P

After getting settled in downstairs, Dan and I talked for a few hours, finished “Monty Python and the quest for the Holy Grail.” Then a healthy dose of sleep.

Presently, I am about to go in search of half-finger leather gloves for my costume for the LOTR party tonight. I plan to go as a ranger. (there should be quite a few fair Elf maidens there, so I need to try and be a reasonably clean ranger.)

So, that’s all for now, I’ll post later about the party.

The PCOP reality TV show!

2005-08-23T11:02:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I thought I'd share a brainstorm I had with Dan B. last night. Imagen if you will, a commercial for the latest greatest TV show.

15 teens.
1 house.
1 GOD.

THE YOUTH OF PROVIDENCE!

in, "The REALLY REAL world, PCOP."

Sounds sweet eh? Dan and I came up with all sorts of stuff, funny situations, ideas, layout of stuff in the house. stuff like 3 fridges, one for food, one for Mt.Dew, one for Dr. Pepper. Shower stall doors that go all the way from floor to ceiling. Me putting mistletoe up at Christmas time just to watch people swerve to avoid it. John and Justin playin their guitars in the living room, Dan watching a cubs game in the kitchen, Frisbee... soforth. Fun ideas, maybe MTV will market it. (yeah, right...)

Submit your idea or funny situations for the ongoing PCOP Reality TV show! post a comment or email me at wwsames@gmail.com

Could it be? An Update?

2005-08-20T12:06:00.000-05:00

Yes, folks Shady's back with a brand new rap....

Wait, no, thats not right.

Anyway, yeah, I'm back. Time to cover a few weeks worth of my life.

First up on the agenda is a recounting of the day a ton of folks came out to the farm.

Well, we had a few good friends over, Dan B., all the Qs, Katie Caldwell, and Nathaniel Taylor. After having some lunch, we engaged in the normal activities, with small twists.

First off, we did Frisbee in the fields, maybe better known as obstacle Frisbee because the ground was littered with 4.5 feet tall round bales of hay. Those that had the precision throwing skills would throw the disc inbetween the bales to the others on their team, other less fortunate ones (like myself) had to throw above the bales risking a pick-off. Needless to say, these obstacles added a new dimension to gameplay. When we weren't weaving in and out of the bales, we were running into them, or back peddling into them. The game ended with a bang when Katie received a blow to the wrist, caused by Dan throwing the Frisbee a bit too hard. After the game we hanged out at the house for a while, and Heather rejoiced at the fact that my sister had come home (This meant "HORSE BACK RIDING! WOOHOO!").

We sallied forth to the barn with due haste and helped a few people have the fun experience of riding a horse. (I played my part by jogging infront of my mare to make her keep jogging, I was running backwards mind you.... Not an easy feat.)

Meanwhile, Mike, Matt, and Nathaniel had discovered the Go-kart and under the supervision of my dad were running around the farm in it. (dun dun DUNNNNN)

After everyone was done riding the horses, we took refuge from the hottest time of the day by entering the swimming pool. Much diving, dunking, wrestling, and all around competition prevailed.

After that another, smaller, shorter game of frisbee was played, everyone except myself got back in the pool, I went off and looked down to the lower field to see if I could spot the go-kart. Suddenly, I see mike running full sprint up the hill and I immediately knew what had happened. Mike had been riding in the go-kart with Matt driving, they took a turn to fast and it rolled. Unfortunately, Matt had had his hand on the roll cage as they began to roll, this crushed his hand under the machine. We had no idea how bad the damage was as my dad drove off to the emergency room with a very pale and nauseated Matt. Mr. Caldwell took the moment of anxticy and sadness to pray for Matt, (Thanks SO much for that Terry.).

In a few minutes, everyone was dry, changed, and ready to head out. We all said our farewells and they drove off into the (Almost) sunset. I can't say that I wasn't sad to see everyone go, it was such a fun day that had ended to sadly and abruptly that I felt pretty bad. I felt distant, removed from my friends, my confidants. But God wouldn't let that feeling last long.

On that tuesday, I spent the day feeling pretty much misrebel, for almost no reason! After I got home from work, I proceeded to whine to John B. who did his best to encourage me. (Thanks John for putting up with that...) Later on in the night (or early in the morning for that matter) I talked with another friend we was having struggles in their life. As I continued to talk, I felt empowered. I felt the holy spirit on me, it lifted all my unnessesary troubles off me and gave me the strength to talk with my friend that it made them feel spurred on in their faith. I was re-assured of God. I was talking with a different friend at camp once, and he said to me, "When you get a hug from a person, the warm fuzzy feeling only lasts a short time. When you get a hug from God, the warm fuzzy feeling says, for days and days and days and days, untill it fills your whole heart.". I pretty much felt a hug from God that night that lifted my spirits, and it gave me such joy to serve, and lift up my friend, that it gave me a new outlook on life for DAYS afterward. I realised that I'm only truely happy when God uses me for the furthering of his Kingdom. *sigh* :-)

Crazy.... and I'm still feeling that hug from God, 4 days later.

-Wes

From "oh no..." to "woh" to "ahh CHOO"

2005-08-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

Well, so much to talk about, so little time to talk about it.

Well, at about 4:00 Sunday, July 31st, I was informed that the camp my sister works at is shorthanded for how many kids they had that week. They practicly begged for me to come and be an assistant councilor. So the madness of packing insued, becuase the kids get there at around 6 and the camp is 30 minutes away. After I get there, I see alot of friends and have a great deal of fun for the next two days. This is where the "Oh no" part kicks up... One of my boys decided that he didn't want to even be there and so he became a day dreamer, even while on a horse. The horse basicly did all the stuff from memory, because that kid wasn't steering. This made me look bad becuase I'm the novice of this kind of horsemanship that his camp teaches. My troubles only intensified when I found out that my two oldist guys were pimps... (forgive the slang, but its the best way to describe it.) One of them would buy stuff for the girls so that they would like him, the other basicly showed off his muscles and all the girls swooned. So I had to constantly keep them in check. Basicly a bad day.

Thursday... I don't think I'm even going to talk about it... Just rest assured it was possibly the most embarassing day of my life...

Friday, The horse show... My job during this huge show was to make sure that all the horses rotated properly from the barn to the arena and visa versa...

Bad News

The show is going well, suddenly, one of the ranch hands comes up to me crying with blood all over the upper right corner of her shirt. I soon find out that one of the horses got kicked in the head and has a nosebleed. Being around horses a good bit, and knowing that horses can bleed two gallons and still be fine, I reassured the girl that Missie(the horse) will be ok, and not to tell any of the kids...

Guess what?

The kids find out, one way or another, I have now visited the horse and my dad is tending to its nose which has stopped bleeding. All the girl campers and ranch-hands are crying (This is a big deal, because there are a total of THREE guys on staff counting myself.). I have to try to reassure all the little girls AND the teenagers that the horse will be fine, while at the same time making sure each horse is in the right place at the right time.

Thank GOD (woh part begins)

The girls calm down, the kids settle down in general, the wounded horse is showing signs of recovery, The show goes off without a hitch. The night following the most stressful day I've had in a while goes off wonderfully. God gave me the power to change the course of several friendships for the better. God was with me, standing beside me for the rest of that night. All the emotions from Thursday are worked out, for the better... I said my goodbye to some of those who were leaving early.

Then I realised that this whole week was an act of God, cercomstances were made by him to make this for me, this last night proves it. After I saw this, all the lessons I had learned, all the difficultys I had risen above, all the ruts I hit, were all to make myself better. That night, I prayed more forcefully than I have when I was saved, I opened my entire heart... I experienced God, I felt him and his hand uppon me, just like the night I was saved.

And there it is, the happy ending to my story. I honestly think that my last week might as well have been video-taped and made into a mini-movie or some episode of that show "Bug Juice" or something. It was so powerful and had a plot progession of ok, to bad, to aweful, and to amazing.

And last, the "ahh CHOO"

I'm sick, I have been sick since I got back, kinda stinks but I'm empowered emotionally and spiritually.

FORGET THE WORDS: "GOD IS GOOD"
THE TRUTH:"GOD IS AWESOME"

:-)

-Wes

OH! The insanity!

2005-07-29T12:30:00.001-05:00

Wow, awesome week

Kennywood trip: First of all, it was a once in a lifetime event. The threat of thunderstorms scared off 80% of the people that would normally be there... Even though it didn't rain all day. When we first got there, we didn't have to wait at all for the rides, just got on and rode. After a while it got busier and we had to wait like 5 minutes to get on. There were a few we had to wait 15-30 minutes for, but they were few and far between. I think my ears still hurt from the girls screaming...

I'm also beginning to think Anna Harvey is a superhero.... her power is SUPER SONIC SCREAM! "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Highlights of the day:

Going on the raging rapids twice (With very satisfying results)
Watching crazy people do the sky coaster...
Going on the Phantom's Revenge FIVE times.
Feeling like I'm having a seizure in The Exterminator
Capping mad fools with Justin (arcade, Time Crisis 3)
Watching Dan rant about how pointless "Noah's Arc" and the water part at the end was
Riding the Pirate Ship three times..... amongst MANY screams.
Falling asleep on the turtles
Running across half the park and not being out of breath (Woohoo! personal accomplishment!)
Dan leaving his mark on Lake Kennywood in the form of a plasic cup
Hearing "Gotta break the habit, man" every time I bought a Mt. Dew.
Seeing Hezz and fat older guy wearing the same shirt.... A Women Workers shirt...

Wow, eventful day.

I thank God for my Friends. They are one of my greatest blessings.

Just a Shoutout. :-D

Oh, the Woes of AC

2005-07-25T13:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I've spent the past three days without AC. but this one is by far the worst. The National Weather service shows that the heat index is 97 degrees (meaning without wind and plus humidity) and the humidity is at somewhere over 75%

uhg... alright, I just wanted to whine about that.

AWW!

2005-07-24T13:13:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I had a serious "aww" moment today... While we were practicing "You'll provide for me" after church today, little Sarah Calvetti came up to me inbetween songs. She made a motion with her finger that signaled me to lean down and said "Mr.(the dot was pronounced)Wes, I have something to tell you. *grin*" (I was a wary at this moment because that was my nickname in Children's Church "Mr(dot)Wes") and I replied, "What is it, Sarah?" as I bent down. She blushed like little girls do and said "I love you.". I smiled and said "awwww, Thank you Sarah.", after that she looked satisfied and tapped me on the nose with her index finger. I was kinda stunned by this sudden show of affection, but it made me really happy that I was making an impact on the kids I serve by helping in Children's Church.

(For those of you who don't know, Sarah Calvetti is around 6 or 7 years old. Those who know for sure can correct me on that.)

My voice is feeling real deep now because of that practice... I had to sing with 8 girls, all of whom have pretty high voices, and my voice is just about as low as Johnny Cash's voice...

I went to the LOTR symphony last night, had an awesome time watching the bows of the violins rise and fall in unisen... After the show I saw a lady decked out as Giladrial, I mean seriously decked out, 3 foot sleaves, movie prop broach, hair extentions, THE ELVISH EARS, and tons of make-up. After that I joined John and Dan B, and Heather and Shannon Q (Who were on a Double date. :-P) and went to Starbucks at 12:30 AM

note to self: never go to station square after 11 PM ever again...

7/14

2005-07-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

Its raining, I'm sitting in here at my desk, wondering what to do with myself, read a book, watch TV, play a game, practice Karate, write a small entry in the blog (hehe), go out in the rain... humm, really pretty awesome when life has no huge boundaries, its nice to know I have a choice of activities...

First, I can read a book and be engrossed by a world, made by an author, with characters and a plotline

Second, I can watch a TV sitcom, and become absorbed in a world created by writers and actors, with fake characters and a plotline

Third, I can play a game made by graphic designers, most of the time with fantastic characters and plotline...

On the other hand

I can tone my body and mind by practicing Karate, stretching limbs, toning muscles, improving muscles and improving God's temple that he has given me in the form of a body.

I can write as I'm doing now, putting down thoughts for all the world to see.

And I can go out and enjoy the greatest never-ending show, with the most characters, and the best heroes, God's Creation.

I think I'll go running.

Random thought

2005-07-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I said a little bit about my left and right brain fighting, I think one side K.O.ed another last night. I woke up with an aweful headache an whiplash... from what I'm not sure though.

I had a thought about God's grand design today... Think about starlight, what is it that you think of? Suns that are millions of lightyears away? Little points of light in the night sky? The past? Well, I thought about the general idea of light, and this infered the idea that every milisecond, a different ray of light is entering your eye and reflecting onto your retina. I think that what I'm thinking about in this can be summed up in a line of a song

I see a starlight, that has found me,

It was lost for a million years,

And as it fills my eyes, it disappears.

well, there you have it, isn't it amazing that God's creation is so huge that a ray of light can be lost in space, for thousands, or millions of years only to end up in the eye of a being that will only reside on this earth for around 100 years compared to the infinate lifespan of a ray of light. God chose for that light at that instant to hit in that exact spot on the earths surface where your eye would be, just so you could see the light of the star... Isn't it a marvel?

Odd how we take creation for granted.

The first update

2005-07-11T01:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I spent the last week leading 6 to 9 yearolds around on horses, tiring, yet fulfilling. Two things I love, horses and little kids.

Today I heard an awesome sermon on Spiritual gifts. Saw some great friends I haven't seen in a while. I had a Karate demo at 3:30 that went very well. After that I just chilled at home till now.

Unfortunately, I have been feeling confused a lot of the time these days. Its hard to explain, but it kinda feels like the left and right side of my brain are fighting. Between spiritual issues and fear of man, I feel mentally taxed. No matter how much sleep, or exercise I get it doesn't go away. When relief comes, its very temporary, but I need to just give it up to God and walk on.

In other news, there must be something wrong with me, I'm a GUY and I have a Hillary Duff song stuck in my head...

Yo

2005-07-10T21:21:00.000-05:00

hey, If your reading this, you should know me, but anyway, I'm Wes Sames. and you will find that I'm going to post alot of random thoughts and ideas in the blog, as well as lots of updates on my life... prepare to be bored...

A Man Possessed of Some Radical Notions

A Moment

Apology

Insomnia in the 1st Century BC

The State Of Love

So...

Prince Caspian Review

Bare Feet and Sunsets

Antiques, College, Forsythia, and Homeschool Magazines

V-Day Comeith

Music from Ages Past

R.I.P. iPod

FreeRice

$1.19

A Year of Thanks

Nothing in 500 Words

In The Garden

Pulling Teeth

Give Me Words to Speak, Give Me Steps to Walk, Give Me Faith to Carry On.

Acceptance

His Will be Done

I Have...

"The Piano"

The Fields Are White For Harvest, But The Berries Need More Time

Swept Away

My Creed

Projects!

A Hobbit Weekend

From The Ashes

I... Had A Dream

First post in forever

A dream

My bottom ten

Un-minorness! Woohoo!

A new rockin' year.

Tis' the season to spread the love! (or is it?)

"The Post"

J-town with NWCC

Memories

A very interesting day.

I'm Symphonic!

Its that time again

Not Quite All Here

I'm Blogrific!

I'm "That Guy"

A New Venture... for the Quinlisks at least

well, long time no write

geez... My life gets more and more interesting...

Ahh, more of the unsame

ahh, Joy, and happiness. Two different things

post pending

Wake me up when the week ends.

humm, a healthy dose of introspection

*popping noise* *bounce* *pop again*

One week done

COMMENTS

Hark, dwellers of the real world!

Shop n' Save... ON INTERNET!

The PCOP reality TV show!

Could it be? An Update?

From "oh no..." to "woh" to "ahh CHOO"

OH! The insanity!

Oh, the Woes of AC

AWW!

7/14

Random thought

The first update

Yo

popping noise bounce pop again