4th of July

Anyone who knows me well knows I hate extreme political views, regardless of the extreme. I hate political parties- all of them. I feel that if we would just eliminate parties, all this squabbling and bickering and name-calling would end; we would finally have a true Democratic process; we would truly get things done; we would honestly listen to each other, and not just try to prove ourselves right every time. I wish so much that we could, for the first time in a long time, consider what is truly the best choices for our country, and not what Fox, or MSNBC, or these corporations tell us is best. Of all the things my mom taught me growing up, (a love for music and art, love for reading, love for learning,) the ability to think for myself is probably the most important thing she's given me. She taught me how to form my own opinions, how to weight other people's input, how to consider my sources of information. I cannot stand it when otherwise intelligent people just parrot what their parents believe, and never truly step back and question it. It kills me when I hear people, whom I respect genuinely care about, buy into the rhetoric and bull crap that is fed to us by the "media" and political interest groups. It makes me sad. My parents have never told me to think the same things they do. My mom, as well as my dad, will always ask me WHY I feel the way I do. They question my opinions because they want me to have valid logic behind them. My dad has said many times that while he doesn't always agree with my views, or even my reasoning behind it, but he respects and admires the fact that I will never shy away from giving my opinion, and that I always can and will back it up. I wish more parents would so this; I know when I get married and have kids, I certainly will.

As long as I'm posting, HUNGER GAMES ROCKED!!! Seriously, it was one of the best books I've ever read. While I still don't like the first-person view, it was a great read.

I've had a wonderful Sabbath today. Last week was good, but today rocked. Sometimes, I honestly do not understand why I used to live my life against Christ, although the word "stupidity" comes to mind often when I think about that.

I don't wanna work tomorrow. I hope it's dead all day so I can get out early.

-Jdawg

My fingertips hurt.

I finally got the chance to go back to Brother Harris' studio today. I spent most of the day there, and I got two demos made up. The first song is coming along better than I had expected; the only problem with the first song is that my guitar's high "E" didn't wanna stay in tune, so the first melody is flat. I am still considering having a violin play the first melody. That would probably sound nice. The second song we worked on, isn't going so well. First, my guitar was out of tune. Second, I was rushing to get a few sections recorded, and it sounds very sloppy. Third, my guitar's tone sounds like the kind you'd get from a $100 Wal-Mart guitar. EQ adjustments are required. Fourth, Brother Harris' drum beat threw off my timing on the main chord progression, and I couldn't get the strumming pattern right. I played it after I got home, without the drums, and it sounded fine. I also didn't get to re-record "Child's Prayer" and "Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" like I wanted to, since the last versions I did sound very rushed and sloppy, which they are.

I have started on my summer reading lists, and I am about halfway through Hunger Games. I love it, but I can't stand the first-person point-of-view; it makes it much more difficult to follow the dialog, and slightly hard to understand the imagery; however, it's a great story, and it cuts to the chase very quickly, which I love. (Brave New World, on the other hand, didn't; it spent the first 5 chapters just explaining how the world was set up. Very boring. I skipped most of it.) After this, I have Digital Fortress, and Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir on my list. After those, I guess I'll work on the rest of the HG trilogy.

Yesterday was pretty awesome. My Primary Boys were absolutely the most well-behaved I have ever seen them. Ever. And this wasn't a sugar-induced coma, either. I've tried that. It doesn't work that well. After church, Brother Barrett and I had lunch together. We talked about how Nate's mission was going, talked about things from church, he showed me his guns, and I took his bike out for a spin 'round the block. After my cruise, he and I ran through our Home Teaching list. The Alloco's were the only family we ran into. It amazes me still how well they manage. I can't wrap my head around how two blind people can live so independently. And they have such a strong faith in Christ, and they show it in every way possible.

Well, folks, it's entirely too late at night for me to be up.

-Jdawg

51st post

And I still don't have anything to say. Sorry, I know this is just so disappointing to my loyal readers (all 0 of them)

50th post

...and I don't have anything special to report. Check back later.

YSA Beach party

Last Saturday was the annual YSA Beach Bash. Matt and I were out body-surfing, and two sisters started swimming near us. Well, I tried to talk with one of the sisters, and it didn't happen; I ended up talking with her friend. So, about an hour later, the girl I wanted to talk with was out swimming on her own. I decided to try again; this time I had success. We hit it off great. We talked for hours. She told me to add her on Facebook, which kinda bummed me out because I wanted to get a number. Great day.

Sunday, Lauren Newman came up to me at church, big smile.
"Josh, I was SO glad when I saw you talking to that girl yesterday."
"Yeah, I was pretty glad about it too."
"No, I wanted to hook you two up!"
"You know her?"
"No, but when I saw her, I figured you two would be perfect. She didn't just hang out with a big group of girls the whole time."
"Well, I guess I took care of that for you."

not-so awesome possum

A family of possums has moved into the crawlspace under my house; this normally wouldn't bother me too much, except they keep dying under there. Ever smelled a dead animal that's been decaying a few days under a house in hot, humid weather? Whatever smell you're imagining, it isn't that pleasant, and it is permeating throughout the entire house. I finally have gotten into the habit of doing grocery shopping and keeping groceries stored in my cabinets, and now my kitchen smells like an unwashed hobo's armpit. The past few times one died, it was near the entrance of the crawlspace, and we've been able to get them out; however, this time it decided to die somewhere near the laundry room, which is way far away from both crawlspace openings. Aaron and I both tried to get inside the 2nd opening, because the primary one is blocked, but neither of us could fit, and once we saw lil' junior possum staring into the beam from the flashlight, we decided to let the professionals handle this one. Let's see how it goes.

3am

i seriously should be asleep right now. But I can't. Too much on my mind. So stupid. Every time I see her, i start getting those same emotions. So dumb. She's made it clear she is only interested in being friends. She and I don't even have a lot in common, but I can't help but like her. Tonight didn't help that, but it was still fun.