6.24.2005

Mr. Freeze: Let me guess, Plant Girl? Vine Lady? Huh? Hand over the diamond Garden Gal, or I'll turn you into mulch!

i remember back in the day when summer was a time for me to laze around and do as much of nothing as i possibly could in between hanging out with dantheman. we've been on our summer schedule for three days now, and i think i've spent more time in my boardshorts than i have regular shorts. nice start to summer in my book. my real kickoff is next week though at palomar camp. i can't even begin to describe how big of a spiritual lift camp is for me every year. i'm bringing a couple of kiddos with me from simi to meet folks down south, and kinda get that spiritual kickoff as well. i know from the past that camp always chenges me for the better, and i would probably scare the kids if i came back w/o having other there to explain what went on. it's kinda like when you see a great snl skit, and you try to explain it to other people, and it never really works unless there's at least one other person who's seen it.
other stuff, there must be a conspiracy against me on the road. i swear i've been stuck behind more people driving ten under the speed limit the past few days. seriously, going 45 on the freeway is more likely to cause a wreck than going 70. also, onramps are for accelerating, not for stopping to gauge traffic. if you're really that concerned about having a gap to get in, wait till 11 pm or so when traffic clears up.
so i've been practicing trying to sing and play guitar at the same time, which is a huge feat for someone who was born tonedef and w/o rythym. mad props to lead singers who play instruments. anyways, the songs i've been learning are: ring of fire by johnny cash, story of my life by social distortion and in a moment of randomness... what's up by 4 non blondes. next on my list is some flock of seagulls and neil diamond.
i'm going to see the new batman movie tonight which has me pretty stoked. here's some of my random thoughts on batman: 1. he is by far my favorite superhero because he has no super powers, just his mind and some cool gadgits to help him out. B. i may be the only person that actually enjoyed the past couple of batman movies. i think they were a great homage to the old show, but i am really glad to see this movie go back to the comic version. 3. my parents paid for a different movie and snuck in to see the original batman move 16 years ago at the urging of one of their friends. i just think that it's pretty cool that's the only crime i can think of my mom ever committing.
speaking of movies, they are releasing a 3 dvd boxed set of the bill and ted's series. it really doesn't matter what's on the third disc, i'm buying it the day it comes out. you should too.
at the rate i'm going the past few weeks, it's going to be a whole year before i finish my cd. don't hold your breath.
well, after a day of painting vbs sets, swimming with the kiddos and going to see batman, i'm going to sleep easy tonight. well, my break in the day is up, just thought i'd check in and say hi to the two of you that read this (or at least respond) whoever else happends to stumble by.

6.20.2005

twice in one day, i may be addicted. or i'm just tired.

oh yeah, i saw this thing on someone else's blog, and since i've had over 2,000 hits on my blog i'd kinda like to know who's reading this. so if you don't mind, please let me know who you are and where you're from, and maybe something interesting about your town.

also, i started posting some of my artwork on another blog, so feel free to check out my stuff at dversion.blogspot.com or go to my profile and click on the dversion link at the bottom of the page.

one love, one heart.

Glenn: This is a great idea. I'm glad you came around. You want to do some gambling and have some fun right away, or you just want to get married?

what a weekend...
so my boy kelso finally got married this past weekend and i got to go out to houston to be a part of it which was a blast. def what i needed before summer hits here with the youth ministry. when i say finally got married, i mean that in a good way, it was one of those situations where you sometimes forget that the couple aren't already married. anyways, let's get some details here before i forget...
i got in thurs afternoon and hung out with the kelso fam for a while, and tried to adjust to 100 degrees and 90 percent humidity. seriously, if i were on of those guys in the alamo, i would have let santa ana have the whole state if it were around the middle of june. anyways, it was cool because i got to see a bunch of people that i hadn't really seen since graduation and i was pretty stoked to actually say that i have a full time job. thweat got in later that night and we hung out at kelso's apt waaaay too late, but it was cool because it was seriously like the college days, up talking about nothing with no regard for the clock. the next day we met up with eby for lunch and it was pretty much nonstop laughs from that point on. picking up tuxes was some comedy, gong to wal-mart was actually fun, those little things that can only be a blast when you are with a bunch of kf's.
oh yeah, can't forget about the prank call. one of mi compadres is a youth minister in okc, and he was driving down from dallas so we decided to give him some grief. i called as 'dan from the oklahoma city juvenile correctional facility', and went on to reel him in to believing that one of his kids was incarcerated and his only phone call was to his youth minister. come to find out the kid we knew actually did get in some trouble and our compadre was pretty worried. anyways, we had him going for about five minutes before i was about to lose it and we let him know what was going on. not to brag, but it was prob one of my best prank calls ever. it's good to know i still have the touch.
so back to actual wedding details...
the wedding itself was pretty cool, but it did have some memorable highlights. the wedding dress was evidently a bit too long because halfway down the aisle she had to pick it up if she was going to make it up the steps. one of the ringbearers decided to use his pillow to take a nap on the first row, which got a good laugh. also, it was blazing hot in our tuxes, and with a few hundred people in the building the ac wasn't exactly cutting it. i'm sweating bullets onstage, with one sliding down my cheek, to which i can see a lady in the audience point and mouth out 'oh how cute, he's crying.' the funniest though, was me waiting for a chance to wipe the sweat from my forehead, and trying to remember how long we had till the first prayer. i remember the second the minister started praying i wiped my forehead off and i heard the photographer take a picture. great, i just ruined a picture of the whole wedding party praying. come to find out, there were about eight others who did and were thinking the exact same thing. that's the wedding pix i want to see, all of us wiping off our heads. actually the pic i want to see is our 'draft day' pix. kelso got all of his groomsmen hats from their home town baseball team (fortunately he remembered i'm an angels fan) which is a great idea, and we took a pic together where it looks like we all got drafted. nice.
the reception was cool, we kinda hung out for a while, but the place was actually decorated really nicely, it looked like something straight out of a magazine. i kinda felt bad because we were all pretty tired from the previous nights, and didn't feel like mingling a whole lot, but i managed to meet a few southern accents, and visit some friends i hadn't seen in a while. sidenote: sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers than it is to good friends that you haven't said a word to in years. esp when they're married. we took some pics of the oc crew and i def forgot my camera, so all of you guys that were there and claim to read my blog i'd love for you to email me some copies.

other random thoughts from this weekend:
i'm starting up a 'i don't hate jeff thweat' club.
north houston has a lot of open space, which was freaking me out. i kept thinking 'where is everything?'
we bought some sodas to stock the hotel fridge that were 14oz instead of the usual 12. those extra 2 oz really make a difference, just when you think you're done, there's that little bit left over. kinda like extra backwash, but with caffeine.
people were giving me grief on dealing with l.a. traffic, yet everyone from houston kept talking about how long the drives were to their workplaces.
i didn't realize how much i have grown accustomed to being on my own and not having to share a room with anyone. as much fun as it was hanging out with the compadres, it was really nice to have the hotel room to myself on sat night.
add another celebrity to my met list. i met al green, one of the best soul singers ever, at the san francisco airport on the way home on sunday.
i really should clean my room before i'm gone for a few days, because nothing is worse than coming home to a huge pile of laundry and not remembering if it's clean or not.
i don't like humidity.
not all texans act like they are.

well all in all it was a great weekend. it was awesome to catch up with some oc amigos, and i was glad to see kelso get hitched. i had a blast hanging out with everyone, and despite the fact that i maybe slept 6 hours total while i was gone, i feel pretty energized to start off our summer here in the ministry.

a-team quote of the day:
'i'm gonna make you fly... fist class foo!' -b.a. baracus

one love, one heart.

6.07.2005

peanut butter and jelly in one container and no clean up, does life get any better? i submit that it can not. -brian regan

just a few random thoughts on my mind...
my sister sent me a copy of 'captivating', the female counterpart to 'wild at heart'. yikes, i need to apologize to a lot of females that i know. actually, probably all of them.
i was in our apt complex office the other day to drop off our rent and complain about the fact that our ac hasn't been looked at since we put in a request a month ago. i walk into the office and there are two desks, one of which has a lady showing brochures to a potential renter. the other guy asks me what i need, and i mention that the cuz and i had forgot to pay our rent on the first and had the checks in hand (this was the 6/2). anyways, he gladly accepts the checks and in a voice clearly audible enough for the potential customer to hear, he informs me that we are fine paying on the second, and that we have three days to pay the rent. (something not made known to us when we first signed on, and has caused several stressed out times of trying to get the check in before the office closes. yes, we have paid our rent on time every month.) anyways, on to my second request. i mention that our ac was not working and i had put a request in several weeks ago for it to be fixed. he looks over at the potential customer then puts his hand on my shoulder and says, 'why don't we go talk about this in the front room?'. i tell him its not a big deal, i just want it fixed. he then asks me again to go to the front room, so i make the comment, 'it's okay. we can talk in front of [potential customer], just please get somebody to come and fix our ac. thanks.' nice try, but the guy checking out the apts is going to figure out the apts aren't exactly a sparkling piece of sunshine when he moves in, and i'm not going to go have some long drawn out conversation about it in the 'other room'.
so i took my computer in to the apple store last week to get the screen fixed. this is the one and only problem i've had with my computer so it's not really a big deal. anyways, i get to the store and i realize that the official job title for the guys that fix my computer is 'mac genius'. no joke, these guys have genius written on their business cards. now i love macs and all, and i consider myself somewhat of an elitist for owning one, but genius as a job description? if you were a genius you wouldn't be working at a store in the mall, and you could figure out that nobody wants to have to deal with pretentiousness when getting the computer fixed. anyways, i couldn't resist the urge to keep calling these guys by their job title, so phrases like, 'excuse me genius, could you print out my calendar?' and 'excuse me genius, how can i upgrade my warranty?' were used. the other customers chuckled, evidently they were making some observations about the job title before i got there.
ffwd to me at my fave hawaiian bbq spot down the street for lunch yesterday. i'm in there enough that i know most of the people that work there, including the girl that works the counter during the afternoons. nice girl, but totally lacking self confidence. from what i've gathered she used to party in high school and barely graduated. she couldn't afford a state school, and pretty much gave up, but is now trying to earn money for college. so i'm waiting for my order, and these guys that are ordering keep referring to her as 'register girl'. now i'm not the most keen of observers, but i thought that these guys were being incredibly condescending to her, and i looked over and the smile that she normally has to force out is completely gone, and her voice is barely audible when she gives them their receipt. i don't know where this came from, but i tapped the guy on the shoulder and said, 'her name is [enter her name here]'. it was amazing the look that came across both of their faces. her eyes were wide with shock, and this guy was pretty embarrassed realizing what a tool he had been. i'm not really writing this down to brag, but i think it's important that i make a point that: a. i'm not always a smart alec as i was in the above paragraphs and b. our speech can be so demeaning. this girl has been through so much, and has had to learn life lessons the hard way, and just when it looks like she has a glimmer of confidence this guy comes with his comment. so after he went to his seat i made sure that i told her that God has a specific purpose for her life, and she's much more than the girl that works the register, no matter what she's done in the past. she knows i work at the church, so i offered out an invite. i don't know if she'll ever show, but we'll see.
on a lighter note, i've decided to save up my money for a couple of things. mi hermana is doing a semester studying abroad at oxford next fall, and i got cleared to go visit her for thanksgiving. i'm stoked. not only will i get to hang out with my sister, but i get to travel overseas. so if anyone has ever been to england nows the time to start sending in your advice for stuff to see or do. my only idea so far is to see the original globe theater where shakespeare first premiered his works. my other savings goal is to redo my office. i know i've only been here for a few months, but i've got change my surroundings. my office has this nasty purple old lady carpet that drives my allergies nuts, so i'm going to put in some pergo flooring i think. anyways, i need cool ideas for stuff to put in my office. anything goes, just know that one whole wall in my office are shelves that can't be moved.
cool furniture here i come.
well, it's getting to be dinner time, and the fish tacos at rubios are calling my name.
one love, one heart.

6.02.2005

Go with God?.... I always travel first class. -H.M. Murdock

mmm.... free therapy...
i don't know what it is about blogging for me, but i love the release just sitting down to write brings.
today is weird though because i'm not on my computer, i'm using lawdog's laptop, because the mighty mac has been sent to the shop. actually, that would be the theme for the week. so my computer started acting all weird the other day, which is the first issue that i've had since i've owned it, so i had to take it in to the apple store. long story short, i should get it back in a week with all of my files and 9000 songs intact. its just frustrating when things don't simply work like they should. move onto the truck. it's time for an oil change, tire rotation and overall look under the hood just to make sure things are going as they should, and then this morning it took a while to start, and at some point i guess the battery wasn't working because my clock reset. neither one of these things are a huge deal, but the fact that they happen within days of each other just gets frustrating. add to that my paycheck was a week late and hasn't cleared yet with my bank and i'm starting to stress a little. needless to say i've been listening to marley all afternoon.
what else... i sealed the deal with dantheman the other day and i'm getting his snowboard, boots, bindings and bag with my birthday money. the rest i'm saving for my next couple of lift tix. (there mom, all of the money is going to snowboarding stuff) i'm pretty stoked though, because i already know how the stuff works, and that it all fits and i like the way the board rides. so anybody that is looking for a vacation out to cali come on out and lets go slide on some snow.
what else.. we're switching over our small groups study from a discussion group to a praise and worship time for the summer. so i get to try my hat on as a songleader. God's going to have to bless this cause there's no way it's going to be any good if' i'm the one in charge. yeah, keep me in your prayers. i've been practicing singing though the past few days. if you want a good laugh, sneak upstairs to my office and just listen for a while to me singing to myself.
i made it through the whole month of may w/o any soda which was quite the accomplishment. i had a soda yesterday for lunch and it really didn't taste all that great, so i think my plan to unnatach a pepsi can from my hand has worked. i'll prob still drink sodas every once in a while, but i can't see drinking as much as i was before. this whole challenge thing has been pretty cool though, the kiddos def got into it. we had kids giving up tv, video games, soda, junk food, chocolate, talking, sarcasm... and replacing it with prayer, compliments, hugs and who knows what else. of all the things we've talked about since i've been here the whole commitment thing has seen the biggest result. who'd of thought? anyways, i've got a challenge down for june, the cuz has come up with a workout for me to do every morning. more details on how that goes later. i really like this idea of challenging myself to something new every month. some of the thoughts for future months are; vegetariansim, hour of prayer every day, no tv, a book a week, who knows. feel free to respond with any ideas or suggestions. the crazier the better.
oh yeah, one of the kiddos and i came up with a great phrase the other day, 'bathroom clarity'. meaning that clarity and focus you get when you really have to go to the bathroom and there is nothing else that occupies your mind. there could be little green men coming out of the sky and you wouldn't even care because all you can think about is getting to the restroom. i think it's a great way to illustrate that idea, so we've introduced that as a term in our youth ministry.
either a lot of people are reading my bill, or i just tapped into something big with my whole california should be split into two states idea. i was at my fave hawaiian bbq place the other day and i heard some guys talking about how lame nocal is, and how it should be another state. hmmm... sounds familiar. one guy made the argument that if we split the state in two, neither one would be very big. i understand the concern, but if we're not the biggest state, or even the biggest in the continual 48, then its really not that big of a deal. i'm just tired of being from the same state as the oakland raiders.
what else... i rearranged my room and did some spring cleaning yesterday. i'm down to the last of my old kappa shirts, which is sorta bittersweet, but then i remember i haven't been in kappa for a while, and those shirts mostly have dates on them, which isn't good when its 05, and your shirt says 02. yeah, it was time for those to go.
oh yeah, i'm currently putting my 'before i turn 30' goals together. after the success of my 'before i turn 25' goals, i thought it would be fun to do it again. so far on my list i have:
visit my ancestors in norway
travel to at least three continents
learn to ride a motorcycle
perform an original song live
publish a book
show my artwork in a gallery
visit yankee stadium
grind a rail on my snowboard
hang ten
record an original cd
go to a red carpet event

i'm open for ideas and suggestions on this one too....

well, i'm onto other things. just wanted to say hey.
oh yeah, hannibal's words of wisdom has been changed to 'the A-team's words of wisdom'. either way, here you go. "My size? My size is the amount of space I fill up. Thanks for asking." - Murdock