Whew. It's 11:15 on Friday morning. It's been a while since I've had to do anything other than take care of my two girls. So getting up at 6:30 am is definitely not something I'm used to. Don't worry, though, everything is going to be ok.
School is a huge blessing. I'm so lucky to have God in my life, and for him to have provided the way for me to go to William Jessup. It was very surreal for me to walk into class again, 5 years removed from art school, and 10 years removed from junior college. Not only that, but in case you hadn't noticed, I'd sworn off school forever at one point.
Wednesday morning my first class was Western Civilization I. Not exactly my favorite subject, but going to a Christian school means that every course taught will incorporate a Biblical perspective on the subject. Which for me, is exactly what I want.
From there, I go to The Gospel of John class. Awesome. Yeah, I said awesome. In the 75 minutes I sat in the class, I learned more about that book than I'd learned in my entire life. I love that class.
After that, I go to my church administration class. It's normally a class seniors take in their last semester (seniors majoring in the Pastoral route), so I'm not exactly sure why I'm in the class. But it's good. There's only 6 guys in it, and we meet in a room smaller than my bathroom. Truth be told, I hope I don't forget what I learn in this class over the next 3 years. I kind of do wish I took it as a senior.
Thursday morning I started off with Christian Foundations I. It's my biggest class, and meets in a lecture hall. Which means everyone is too afraid to speak and spark discussions. That's fine though, because the point of the class is to go through the entire Old Testament of the Bible. Again, I'm excited about it because that's exactly what's been lacking in my life. I've always had the heart for my Christianity but have struggled at times with the history and head knowledge.
My second class is Spiritual Dimensions of Leadership. and it's interesting. Since everything is Biblically based, it was (sorry for the redundant word here) interesting to see everyone in the class divided on certain issues. Very intriguing. I'm up in the air about this class, reserving judgment.
And finally, my favorite class this semester is my last class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Developmental Psychology. The teacher is probably the reason why I will love this class above all others, but I also love the subject material as well. In fact, they may start a Pastoral/Psych major next year, and I would strongly consider switching. I love learning about the human condition, and why we do what we do and are who we are. I'm a Sanguine, through and through. And more specifically, an ENFJ. Just like Barack Obama, which made me want to slit my wrists when I found out. Anway, very intersesting stuff, and the teacher has a great personality and makes it worth paying attention to.
Tuesdays and Thursdays we attend what is basically the equivalent to Church, but we call it Chapel. All students have to attend. The theme this year is "Well Balanced", a creed I will definitely need to absorb as I begin to try and balance being a father, husband, friend and student.
(And now a few hours later I'm adding this)
Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!! REPOST with name of high school and graduating year. (I didn't write that part)
Did you marry someone from your high school? No. (That was Spanish, btw)
Did you car pool to school? With my brother on occasion.
What kind of car did you have? A 1977 Camaro and a 1989 Pontiac 6000 STE
What kind of car do you have now? 2004 Toyota 4Runner and a 1998 Ford Taurus GL (Which stands for GOOD LUCK, considering all the problems it's had)
It's Monday night...where were you? Young Life at 7:44
It's Monday night..where are you now? Watching Monday Night Football and doing homework.
What kind of job did you have in high school? Macy's, Cinedome Theaters, Stuft Pizza
What do you do now? Going to school to become a pastor after years of working in the "real world".
Were you a party animal? No. But I went to a lot of parties?
Were you considered a flirt? Mos Def
Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? If making out with girls was considered "band, orchestra or choir" then you could have called me the maestro.
Did you get suspended/expelled? Yes. Once for shoving Kelly Voeltz in the pool while she was fully dressed, and once for refusing to turn over my PAGER.
Can you sing the fight song? I don't think Mission San Jose has a fight song. And if they did, Phil Richards probably beat it up.
Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? I didn't really have a favorite high school teacher. Although, I did enjoy making out.
Where did you sit during lunch? The quad.
What was your school's full name? Mission San Jose Elementary High School For Kids Who Can't Read Good
When did you graduate? 1996
What was your school mascot? A mountain. That was a "Warrior". I'm not kidding.
If you could go back and do it again, would you? Yes, but I would definitely make out with more girls.
What do you remember most about graduation? That I wished I had worn no pants underneath my gown.
Did you have fun at Prom? Yes. I went with Jordana and we had fun. No, not like that. But we did make out.
Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Yeah. We never talk though. She is on my friends list, but I don't think she's checked her profile in 9 years.
Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? We didn't really have one. About 25 people showed up at some bar in SF, and that was our "reunion'.
Do you still talk to people from school? Yes, quite a few.
I start school on Wednesday. Here's my schedule. Dang. I seriously can't believe that first sentence was typed by my hands. Going back to school was something I swore I'd never do. And when you're reading this, keep in mind I'm starting as a Sophomore.
MWF: 8:00 - 8:50AM Western Civilization I MW: 9:00 - 10:15AM Gospel Of John MW: 10:30 - 11:45AM Church Administration M: 12:00 - 1:00PM Spiritual Formation Group TuTh: 8:00 - 9:15AM Christian Foundations I TuTh: 9:30 - 10:20AM Church TuTh: 10:45 - 12:00PM Spiritual Dimensions of Leadership TuTh: 12:30 - 1:45PM Developmental Psychology
My review of "Prom Night". (Or, what I learned from watching Prom Night)
Occasionally, I will break, and allow Nicki to turn our movie night (which is normally I movie I choose) into her choice. Now before you go and get all "wow, you're SUCH a nice guy. cough cough JERK." on me, you have to realize that Nicki's taste in movies is horrible. Her favorite movie is Titanic. Need I say more? She also loves horror movies. And occasionally I will see a preview for a horror movie that I think looks alright. Such was the case with Prom Night. And please, I said ALRIGHT, not great. Here's the trailer:
After watching this movie, which is now in a tie for the worst movie I've ever seen with "The Happening", I learned quite a few things. Here goes.
1. If a psychotic killer that murdered your entire family escapes from prison, the SAFEST place for the police to take you to keep an eye on you is your house.
2. Donna likes to spend a lot of money on her hair for prom to get nothing done to it.
3. If you murder someone by stabbing them 6 times, then drag them on your hotel room floor, onto your bed, then stuff them in the ceiling vent, you will NOT get any blood anywhere.
4. If you're in the running for Prom King and Queen, and you give a huge speech about how much you're both excited, nervous and anxious to see if you've won, then you will go up to your hotel room 5 minutes before the announcement and spend the rest of the night up there.
5. As soon as you turn, murderers will hide in your blind spot.
6. Elevators and escalators do not stop running when the fire alarm is pulled and sounding.
7. If you're the police office guarding the house of the target, everything is A-OK as long as her bedroom light is on.
8. Police will use a 4 year old photo of the escaped convict, as the faxed bulletin sent out to other police stations instead of using the most recent picture they were just looking at from the prison he broke out of.
9. High school's nowadays only assign one faculty member to cover the entire prom.
10. The media will be at the entrance of the hotel where your prom is at, to interview and take pictures of the high school students before they enter.
11. Sometimes Principals are also P.E. teachers.
12. The best way to tell your best friend that they're girlfriend is dead is to tell them, then immediately walk away and let them deal with it.
13. If you're hiding under the bed 4 feet from your mother and watching her get murdered, the best thing to do is cover your mouth so you don't scream.
14. More than 75% of SWAT team members have mustaches.
15. Even if the SWAT team has a master key for the entire hotel, they prefer to bust down doors instead, for dramatic effect.
16. Floors that are under construction will not blocker or boarded off. You will be able to access them with ease.
17. If you want to escape from a maximum security prison, all you have to do is go through the vents.
18. Prom is the best time in everyone's life.
19. There are no more ugly people in high school.
20. Being Prom Queen is the most important thing in life.
21. Black baseball caps do not make you look suspicious.
22. Only 3 people work one shift at a gigantic hotel.
23. If an escaped serial killer's car is found in the parking lot of the hotel where his target is having her prom, don't tell her because it might "ruin her prom".
In conclusion, Prom Night was a waste of time, and had nothing unique, new, exciting or interesting about it. I am now dumber for having watched it.
1. I hate the olympics. For as much as I like sports in general, I couldn't care less about the olympics. And that's all I have to say about that.
2. Speaking of the olympics, would someone like to explain to me how China, a country that only won ONE medal in the 2004 summer olympics (notice I'm not capitalizing "olympics", because I hate them) have SIXTY-ONE medals in 2008? They're the host country. Something is up. You don't go from ONE medal 4 years ago to SIXTY ONE medals with a week to go in 2008. I don't like it. Not one bit.
EDIT: I stand corrected. Apparently the broadcaster said China only won one medal in the specific event he was covering at the time, not the entire olympics in 2004. China won over 60 medals each of the last two olympics. But whatever.
3. The new Star Wars movie (the animated one) is dreadful. I mean, AWFUL. Absolute rubbish. The entire 100 minutes of the movie, I sat there wishing it would end. Seriously, from the opening scene is when I started thinking that. Gone was the traditional Star Wars music from the opening. Gone was the traditional golden scrolling text from the beginning. Gone was any resemblance to any other of the 6 Star Wars films. I could start and stop with Anakin having a padawan. I could also start and stop with his female padawan calling him "Skyguy" the entire film. If I'd had coke or popcorn, I would have thrown it at the screen. What an absolute disappointment and black eye to the Star Wars franchise and universe. What's even worse is that in a few months on cable, the movie is contuining in sitcom form. Uggggh. Kill me right now. Why? Because I know despite how much I absolutely loathed this movie, I'll still force myself to watch the tv episodes. George, please stop being the executive producer and supreme-o decision maker. Let someone else take the reigns for a while. Go make Howard the Duck 2: Electric Boogaloo.
4. I went golfing on Friday. Notice I said I didn't play golf. I refuse. But Justin got married Saturday and he wanted all of his "guys" to golf with him on Friday. It was about 368 degrees outside, so thank God I wore 50SPF. But man, what a horrible "sport". There is nothing fun about it. Nothing "athletic" either. It's a skill, I'll give you that, but it is most certainly not a sport. And the worst part? My friends, all turned into uppity bastards for the 6 hours we were on the course. It's like once you put on your stupid polo shirt and plaid shorts, you HAVE to act like a prick. The one good thing that did come out of it though, was that spending those 6 hours watching my friends golf, solidified my stance on never ever wanting to do it myself. Chlorophyl? More like BOROPHYL.
5. I start school next Thursday. So technically, this is my last week as a free man before I begin my journey into pastorhood. I'll be in Las Vegas sinning it up for the next week if you need me, under the name "Satan McLucifer". Wow. That joke and this whole #5 are completely inappropriate. But funny.
6. I caught a cold last week. It's just now getting better. Does someone want to explain THAT to me? It was like 105 degrees all of last week.
7. I spent my entire day today cleaning my house, grocery shopping and doing laundry. I officially need my man license revoked.
8. I need a lawnmower. BIG TIME. My backyard looks like the Vietnamese jungle. My front yard looks like an abandoned baseball outfield.
What's old is now new again. (Read: I changed my website back to the blue color scheme)
I'd been pretty underwhelmed with the former look of my website for quite some time. So today I took some time to spruce it up a bit and make it look a little more fresh. I'm not sure I accomplished that, but I definitely have some more room to do things now. I hope you enjoy it.
I start school in 15 days. Long story short, I qualified to receive the maximum amount of free money (grants, scholarships) based on our financial situation. Which is basically equivalent to 90% of my tuition. God has his hand all over this decision. :)
I'm really hungry right now. Kayla has a cold and Brielle stood for 7 seconds on her own yesterday.
I just got back from waterskiing all day. The last time I went skiing was when I was 14. Today, I got up on the first try. Yay me.
I still feel like I'm on the boat right now, however. So, I'm going to go to bed. Last time I felt like this was on a boat in Moneterey after I tried deep see fishing. It was so bad that when I got home I just laid on the floor in the shower in the fetal position for about an hour. Thank God it's not as bad this time.
Why I have a problem with television shows that get a movie adaptation...
I haven't completely fleshed this thought out, so bare with me while I write and think at the same time. But this is something I've given some thought to recently.
I have a problem with movies like "The X-Files: I Want To Believe", "The Simpsons Movie", "Sex and The City" and countless others. The problem I have with all of these film adaptations is that I rarely, and I mean RARELY see something in the theatrical version of the tv show, that wouldn't or couldn't fly on television. There was nothing in the Simpsons movie (with the exception of Bart showing his penis while riding the skateboard) that couldn't have been a 3-part episode on Fox. Same with The X-Files movie. Same with Sex and The City. Same with Miami Vice. Same with you name it.
If I'm getting to watch a television show for free, on a weekly basis, then you better have something pretty damn special in store for the movie version. Think about it. You're (with the exception of a few adaptations like Miami Vice) going to be using the same actors and writers as are used on the television version, so why would I want to go spend $11 on what basically amounts to an hour and a half episode of that program? 9.9 times out of 10, the movie version doesn't (and shouldn't) advance plot points or storylines from the the television version, so what's the draw? Other than being a devout fan to the particular show, I don't see one.
The movie version of a TV show to me, seems like a way just to make a few more dollars for the people involved with that television show. And maybe that's just it. Because with all of these movie versions of TV shows, nothing feels "cinematic" about it.
