Yearly Vine

Each year Matthew likes to take a picture by the vine outside his house. This year it turned out very nice so I thought I'd (Amy) share it. Doesn't Matt look spiffy? I sure think so! :)

Thanks to our yearly photographer -- Carol Bennett !!

Yearly Vine

April Fool’s Day Joke? (no, no it wasn’t)

So, a lot of people have been wondering if me leaving DBU was one giant April Fool’s Day Joke. The short answer is no. It wasn’t a joke, I have left DBU for good.

For those who wonder why, here’s the brief answer. I have never gotten along well with DBU (as those close to me will readily testify). I went there with high hopes of a Christian College and those hopes were quickly dashed by immature dorm students, unprofessional administrations, and mandatory, pep-talk “chapels”.

My zeal for the school was further deteriorated with the realization that the head of my (Computer Science) department was an aged, old woman who’s degree was in biology. Additionally, what momentum I had to get through school was worn down by a degree plan which forbade summer or winter classes. Indeed, the course descriptions usually had the phrase “offered in spring semesters of odd numbered years”.

But there was a bright spot in all this. A young woman by the name of Amy showed up on the scene and I found a renewed desire to remain at this school that was perfect for the liberal arts, but not so much for the sciences.

Due to her refreshing presence I attempted to stick it out at DBU despite her pleas that I transfer to a college that was more reputable for a Comp Sci major. My parents, sister, and maybe even Jessica (who went to DBU with Amy, Emily, and myself) also all wondered why I didn’t just go somewhere else.

However, this semester brought to my attention that I might have been ignoring several warning signs God had placed in my path back when I was trying to get back into UTD. Back then every class I tried to take just went horribly wrong. It wasn’t until I pursued DBU that things started going right.

But, with each passing semester here, it has become harder and harder to get registered for my classes. This past semester was the worst of all and I actually had to sit down with the dean of my college TWICE in order to get permission to take one of my classes.

I tried to fit an 18 hour course load with a 15 hour a week job. While that normally shouldn’t have proved difficult, the reality of the hours the classes and work took resulted in me having almost no time to study or do homework. I stubbornly tried to shove through, and after finding that (surprise) things were going horribly here at midterms, I realized it was time to stop fighting for something God obviously didn’t want me pursuing and walk away with my nice GPA while it was till above a 3.0.

Future plans included getting a job, maybe taking some courses designed to get me some (additional) computer certifications first (or after I get a job, we’ll see how it goes), and researching some colleges/degree options that will fit my personality.

My brother Andrew was much the same way. We don’t do well in traditional college settings, but give us a self motivated class and we blaze through it in no time flat!

And for anyone who doesn’t yet believe me that this isn’t some elaborate joke:

Edit: As a quick side note I would like to point out that despite all the things I genuinely loathed about DBU, I had a great respect for the teachers and faculty. While it is true that an aged woman with a biology is in charge of the Computer (and other math and natural science departments), she has a DOCTORATE in biology and she is a very sweet and caring aged woman who did a lot of nice things for me (like employing me in the computer science lab). While I can't stand DBU for myself, it is a great school for others full of helpful and kind professors. When I left I talked to each of my teachers to let them know I was leaving and each took the time to pray with me (as did the affore mentioned aged woman)

April Fool’s Day Joke? (no, no it wasn’t)

Last cake update

Well, I am happy to announce that cake decorating class has come to a close. It is a LOT of work, but I learned a lot. Now I can do basic cakes, mostly on the kid side of the arena. Nothing fancy, just fun stuff. Below you will find a few pictures from my third cake, the clown cake. This was a very easy and fun cake. I ran out of time in class and decided to leave it very simple. The cake was consumed that night while at Scott’s Movie Night.

Last cake update

Wow, 4 updates in a row?

I know, I bet you’re all wishing Amy would come back (or at least you will by the time you get to the end of this post which somehow became a lot more political than it was meant to be)! But I have two things to mention today.  The first is I had an interesting experience today in the computer lab I work in.  A young black lady came in for some help (I use the word black because I find the term African-American to be offensive for 3rd+ generation black people.  The term almost implies as if they are somehow less American than I am, that they are first African, and then American.  The phrase also implies that only black people live there which is equally false.  So now that you know why I use the word “black” instead of “African-American” I hope you won’t find it offensive).  And I notice that she’s wearing this shirt that has a dramatic picture of Obama and Martin Luther King.

I must admit I was stuck with the irony of the shirt.  As I’ve mentioned before (or at least as I think I have) I have a great deal of respect for MLK and the fact that he desired genuine equality for all people regardless of skin color.  That he desired a future where his children and my children would not be judge based on the color of their skin, and as a victim of racism, I find his ideals inspiring.

So it is that I find the fact that anyone would commend the election of 2008 as shinning beacon of race neutrality ironic at best, and hypocritical at worse.

According to CNN 95% of Black people in America voted for Obama.  While historically Black people have voted Democratic ever since President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and no Republican supported the measure, 95% is still an unprecedented high since 1968.

More than that, further research has shown that while white voters remained stagnant and with only a slight sway in favor of Obama, all other racial groups made a radical transition, one that would supersede natural political transition from one group to another following the end of an unpopular election. 

Additionally, polling said racial groups revels a complete lack of knowledge in what policies Obama actually stood for.  When a policy McCain supported was attributed to Obama they would adamantly support it and when a policy Obama was support was attributed to McCain they would say something like “that’s exactly why I couldn’t vote for him!”

This election was painfully racist!  Which is why I find it ironic/hypocritical of people to pair up Obama with MLK.  Honestly, I think MLK would be heart broken to see people throw away their votes because of the color of a man’s skin.

I must again state the fact that while I have no problem with a black person being President, I am not a supporter of Obama largely in part to his stance on abortion and his appropriation of tax payers money to support non-essential things to low income families such as digital TV tuners and abortion as well as a great deal of his other policies.  See that?  That’s judging based on policies not race ;)

The second thing that happened today was as I was leaving the kitchen and heading for my room my eyes fell on a curious little panel on the wall about 7 feet up.  On the bottom it read “Fire Alarm Device Do Not Paint”.  While that alone is kinda interesting what really caught my eye was this:

Maybe you’ll notice what I did from a different angel.

That’s dust.  A LOT of dust.  So much dust that if this were any kind of detection unit, it would be useless.  But you have to admit it matches EVERY LAST AIR VENT in the apartment

I’m not sure what that stuff is, but it doesn’t come off when you dust it.  Look at the whole picture:

   How… how does an air vent even get like this?  Is my health at risk?

Wow, 4 updates in a row?

Big boys just have bigger toys

The past few weeks I have been in the midst of a hard debate with myself.  I have long loved bike riding, just a year or so ago I would go on 20 mile bike rides for the fun of it.  Up here at DBU, however, there aren’t really what you could call safe bike routes.  So I’ve been searching for a nice bike rack that I could put on my car and get back into the habit of bike riding.

The only problem here is that the bike rack I really wanted would cost $500 just for the bare bones.  The basic gist of the idea is that I have no runners on the roof of my car.  Runner, of course, meaning those things that you see on mini-vans.  But this awesome company named Thule makes runners to install on cars without actually ripping up your roof to do it!  They just cost the afore mentioned $500.  Then it would cost another $100 for the bike adapter so I could carry around the bike on the runners I just bought.  So that idea was a no go.

The second option was a hitch mount.  Only, again I have no hitch on my car.  I could get it installed but that would put me right back up in to the $300 range and then another $100 for the bike rack.

The final solution is what is called a trunk rack.  It uses cords that attach to your trunk to keep it from swaying around.  It’s a great idea, and some are as cheep as $40.  The downside to this being that it usually causes paint damage to your trunk!  I finally decided that this was, however, the only viable method and bought a bell 2 bike rack from Wal-Mart.  It took me 10 minutes to set it up the first time and I realized, “Wow, that’s horrible.”

It was a cheep design, it lacked the straps necessary to prevent horizontal movement on the trunk, and it looked kind gaudy.  Plus, it lacked proper fasteners to secure the bike in such a manner that the bike wouldn’t hit the bumper of my car all the time.  I realized quite quickly that I could use this bike rack, but that it would demolish my trunk in the mean time.

Fortunately, earlier today, Amy and I had stopped by this wonderful (albeit slightly inflated prices) bike shop called Bicycles Inc.  A nice older gentleman showed me the pros and cons of the different trunk racks and after hearing the price tag, I politely turn him down.

Having set up the Wal-Mart bike rack, however, I quickly removed it, and sped with all haste back to the bike shop before it closed.  I arrived with mere minutes to spare, purchased the bike rack (which while being worth it still pained me to pay). 

It’s a Saris Bones 2-bike model.  It was a little difficult to set up the first time, but that was mainly because I was unfamiliar with trunk bike racks in the first place.  Once everything was in place, I tried to give it a little jiggle and was EXTREMELY satisfied when not only did it not move an inch, but it actually caused me to jiggle the car! 

Here are some pictures I took after driving it back to DBU.  You can see in the bottom picture that it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of room for a second bike to be placed without bumping the bumper, but I’m not sure if that’s reality or just a trick of the photograph. 

Ironically, After all the work I did getting this set up and making sure my bike was in shape, I forgot my helmet!  Oh well, I played some ultimate Frisbee for the first time since I got a grade 2 sprain of my ankle (playing ultimate Frisbee a year ago) and needless to say, my leg muscles aren’t too happy with me right now.  It didn’t really help anything that it was about 30-40 degrees outside from what weather.com says, but it was a blast none the less!  I look forward to getting to drive out to some bike trails in the area and start biking again!

Big boys just have bigger toys

I wonder if I’ll finish this one…

The following is a new story that suddenly came to me.  It is the first chapter of a work in progress that I hope will one day turn into a fun story for my nieces and nephews.  And the picture to the left is a picture of me on crazy hair night.  Hope you enjoy both the picture and the story.

The Curious Life of Marlo T. Brandersnuff

Have you ever tried to read a sentence backwards? Here, try it with this sentence. backwards sentence a read to tried ever you Have? Did you read the word backwards differently with it at the front than you did with it at the back? Did you find it hard to read the words in that order? As if your brain knew everything was jumbled up? It’s not very easy to read a sentence backwards is it? At least if it’s written you can start at the end and work your way back to read it like normal, but what if it was spoken? Do you think you could work it out? This is a story about a man named Marlo T. Brandersnuff who lived every day of his life hearing sentence spoken out backwards!

I first met Marlo the summer after I turned 27. I had just graduated college, and was excited to get out into the world and find a job. I had recently moved and was enjoying a peaceful cup of coffee in a quiet little corner café I found. As I sat there drinking my coffee and enjoying a newspaper, a strange man about my age sat down next to me and said, “Well, I suppose that’s everything then. Thanks for being such a good friend to me all these years and be sure to remember to give the book back to me when I’m 71.” I barely had time to look up from the newspaper before the man had up and left, leaving behind a curious, small, leather-bound book.

Intrigued, I picked up the book and examined it. It was a simple book. It had no fancy picture on the cover nor a summary of the book on the back cover. A utilitarian, magnetic clasp reached around the right side to keep the book shut tight and the leather cover was worn from frequent use. It was, in fact, similar in every way to the book you are now holding. Including the titled that spread across the front cover, which read, (as I’m sure you already know) “The Curious Life of Marlo T. Brandersnuff.”

It was the title that gave the otherwise plain little book such an air of mystery to me. I sat there and wondered what adventures lay within the pages of this book. What mystery was held bottled up by the magnetic clasp. What action lay waiting to burst out for whoever dared to open it?

“Return the book to him?” I muttered to myself. “What on earth could he have meant?” Despite the intrigue the book seemed to promise me, I was determined to enjoy my day of getting to know this new city I found myself in. I quickly finished off my coffee, placed the book in my backpack, and began my grand tour of this new city on my bike.

Whenever I moved somewhere new, I would get on my bike and head off in any given direction. I would follow side rides and rabbit trails just to see where they led and to see if I could find my way back home. It was great fun as well as a great way to learn the area. Once I was done exploring, I would know 5 different ways to get from my house to anywhere in town.

Today, however, my mind just wouldn’t focus on where I was. Three times, I almost ran into a tree or a person, twice I ran through stop signs without stopping, and once I even rode my bike right into a pond! It was a small miracle that I didn’t ruin that curious, leather-bound book right then and there, but fortunately when I ran into the pond, I fell off my bike and landed in shallow water keeping my backpack nice and dry.

“Alright,” I said to myself with a laugh. “I know when to stop fighting my own curiosity. It’s time to read that book!” With a broad grin, I carried my bike out of the pond and found a nice spot under a giant oak tree. Even though I had spent the whole day exploring points of interest and biking around town, I couldn’t help but feel energized with excitement as I laid out a small sheet to sit on.

Sitting down, with my back to the tree, I took a moment to enjoy the view. The pond was located in a small park on the west side of town. The tree I had chosen let me face the sunset as it slipped down and gently kissed the horizon. It was summer time and I knew that even with the sun setting, I had another good hour of sunlight left. Plenty of time to start the book and bike back home before dark.

I removed the magnetic clasp and chose to indulge myself in one of my few bad habits. Rather than start at the front of the book and be surprised by the ending, I chose to skip straight to the last page and see what was written. What I read there was what I consider the beginning of my strange and amazing friendship with Marlo T. Brandersnuff.

I wonder if I’ll finish this one…

Happy Valentine’s Day (Part 2)

As you may have noticed, this is a little past Valentine’s day, but I want to make sure people have plenty of time to see and post on Amy’s posts before I make a post. Besides, I had a part 2 in mind for Amy and mine’s Valentine’s day.

Amy and I are both very practical people. Neither one of us wanted to go out on Valentine’s day itself since we both knew the places would be crowded, and that just doesn’t sound like a fun, romantic trip to be surrounded on all sides by strangers.

So we celebrated our Valentine’s day the Wednesday before Valentine’s (you can read her post below if you want to see more about that). And it turned out to be a rather good thing that we did celebrate early since I got sick on Thursday with what I assume was an allergy attack that turned into a nasty little infection. It had me out of it all for several days.

However, I decided I wasn’t quit done with Valentine’s day. If we weren’t gonna celebrate on V-day itself, then we should (for at least this year) celebrate it again the following Wednesday too.

So it was that I set up a date for Amy all before hand. I rented a movie, chose which restaurant we were gonna go to (it was a pizza place by DBU that we had never tried, turned out to be less than awesome), and bought some really colorful flowers who’s name I can never quite remember.

Thanks for being so amazing Amy, for always listening to my ideas no matter how far fetched they may be, and for being so understanding of how much school work I always seem to be working on. I love you Amy Grace!

Oh and here's a funny little comic from Frazz

Happy Valentine’s Day (Part 2)