I Can Read

I LOVE to read. There, I said it.

I read for fun. I read to learn about history and current events. I read to grow spiritually. Reading improves our writing and speaking abilities. It makes us smarter. It stirs up our imagination and drives creativity. Books can teach us life lessons and morals. They allow us to learn from others' experiences.

This summer I plan on reading at least one book a month.
Here's the list of potential candidates:
-Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
-Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
-The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
-East of Eden by John Steinbeck
-John Adams by David McCullough
-A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
-The Invisible Heart by Russell Roberts

For anyone looking for a quick read, I recommend The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. The book gives us an interesting view into how Satan and his minions try to tempt us and lead us astray. The book is a collection of letters between two of Satan's minions describing their efforts and devices to tempt men. It's an inspiring book that gives us a new perspective on how to resist temptation, it opens up our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and of our purpose in life.

Read it. I promise you won't regret it.

I think I have a phobia of floating heads. What do you think that would be called?

The other night, I was just minding my own business, sleeping in my bed, when I suddenly woke up. I opened up my eyes and it was pitch black in the room. I stared at the ceiling for a second and listened to the rain beat on the window. I felt tired and hoped that it wasn't time to wake up. I turned onto my side to check. It was about 2:30.
Good. I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes.
I tried to go back to sleep, but I had an uneasy feeling that wasn't letting my mind rest. Then I heard something that sounded like faint breathing. I have been known to freak myself out late at night, so I've learned to control my thoughts from racing and tried to convince myself that the breathing was all in my head.
But the breathing didn't stop, and the feeling of uneasiness just got stronger...

I opened my eyes and slowly turned onto my side, as I turned I saw a hunched down figure quickly dart through the doorway. The sudden movement made me jump. I laid in my bed, unmoving for about 3 minutes, just listening for a sound, for any sign or evidence that what I had just seen was for reals. I just couldn't take the anticipation and decided to take action. I was hoping that my eyes were just playing tricks on me, but I had to check ,just to make sure. I slowly got out of bed, doing my best to not make a sound. I grabbed my baseball bat, and headed towards my door with only the slightest bit of hesitation. I peered into the hallway, looking in both directions.
Nothing.
I sighed in relief and stepped into the hallway. Then, a movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned to my right in time to see a dark figure jump down the stairs. They landed with a loud crash at the bottom. I ran, silent, intent on attacking this intruder. The figure laid in heap at the bottom of the stairs. I hesitated, then slowly and deliberately began to walk down the stairs with my bat poised for the attack. I reached the second to last step, took a deep breath and used my bat to poke the figure...

I opened my eyes. I had let my mind race and I was beginning to freak myself out. I took a deep breath to calm myself. I convinced myself that there was nothing to worry about. I turned onto my side and gasped with fear.
Floating within the pitch black of my closet was an orange/red glowing sphere. It was bobbing slowly up and down with the sound of the breathing.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Then the glowing orb began to move towards me. The chills ran through me, not the kind of chills you get when you lay looking at the stars with someone you care for, but the kind of chills that come with situations of danger and impending death. As it got closer I realized it was some kind of a head. I could see its bloated cheeks and its bulging eyes seemed to be staring me in right in the core of my soul. Fear gripped me tightly and I had no idea what to do, so I sat there staring at it slowly move closer.
It got within a few feet and I realized I had to do something. I jumped up in my bed, I didn't know what I was going to do, but I figured something was better than nothing. Then, then glowing head disappeared and someone began to laugh hysterically. The lights turned on and revealed my friend, Eddy, red-faced and laughing, dressed all in black, and holding a flashlight.
I couldn't believe what had just happened and asked, "What in the H?"
My friend then showed me what happens when you put a very powerful flashlight** in your mouth and turn off the lights.
!Voila a glowing head!

It was nuts. Good times.

I can only think of one thing that has scared me more. But it's a story for another day, and a different medium.

That's all.

** Note that when I say powerful, I'm not talking about mag-lights, I'm talking about seriously high-powered flashlights. The flashlight my friend used cost over $250. Flashlights of this caliber are made by surefire, my friend has 3, he is obsessed.

close call with plasma

Every monday and friday afternoon I spend 2 to 3 hours and sell myself. It's ok, I don't have anything better to do those afternoons, and it pays for my rent. Plus it's pretty fun. most of the time.

This last week tho, things were a little different. I was just sitting there, pumping my fist, donating my plasma, watching Hancock, and pretty much just minding my own business when my life was changed forever.

A girl had just finished selling her plasma and was walking towards the west end of the room where you get paid. She was almost there when she suddenly stopped and swayed for a second before falling forward. She she landed on the tile floor by slapping it with her face. The sound of impact was like that of a big, 32 oz., uncooked steak getting slapped on the kitchen counter.

Blood started gushing from her broken nose and began covering the floor as she lay there unconscious. With a gasp of breath and a sudden jerk of movement, she came to and began to vomit all over. People waiting began to stand up and scramble away from the mess as employees began to do their best to control the situation.

But there was little they could do as all hell broke loose. Three more people soon fainted causing employees and "patients" alike to begin running and screaming. It was utter mayhem and I couldn't believe what was happening.

I looked around me and other people who were donating were yanking needles out of their arms and running for the doors as blood spurted from their un-bandaged arms.

I didn't understand what was happening, but the panic was contagious and I felt the urge to follow the example of my peers. I tried to stay calm, but the situation soon deteriorated. The lights went out and people started attacking each other, and I saw a kid go down as a girl bit him on the neck. I feared for my life, so I grabbed some gauze, tape, 2 sticks of dynamite, and a large roll of duct-tape and did my best to find a way to an exit.

I'll never be the same, but I love donating plasma, it saves lives.

Mystery of life solved?

Scientists have finally discovered the reason why scratching relieves an itch!

I know what you're thinking right now.

You're thinking, "There is no way in H we've finally answered this deep, complex, and mysterious question that has foiled scientists and geniuses for decades!"

But you'd be wrong, we have, right here.

Scratching relieves an itch by blocking activity in the spinal cord nerve cells that transmit the sensation to the brain.

I have no idea what in the world that means, but I'm just relieved that we finally have this problem figured out. It's been driving me nuts for years, and I'm glad we've spent millions and millions of dollars to finally understand our itches.

Just as a side note, we still haven't figured out why we have some itches for no apparent reason. But have faith, more money will be poured into understanding this intriguing and very important question and more of life's mysteries will be solved.

i wonder

i wonder at times,
why so many bad things happen so quickly,
why the world seems to fall apart,
why my life seems so sickly,
why i have so many problems,
why nothing goes the way i think it should,
why bad things happen to those i love,
why the world has no more good,
why He won't answer above.
life can come crashing down
and destroy our lives if we allow
but it always moves on down
whether or not we allow.
sometimes i wonder
why there are so many things i enjoy,
why my family is the best ever,
why i have good friends that bring me joy,
why i can be happy forever,
why i am so blessed,
why so many things fall into place,
why i'm not depressed,
why He gives me grace.
life is good,
why, i wonder...

Bad things happen, it's life. It's not in our power to change those things that happen. All we can do is find the best things in life, and look at things with a good perspective. Our purpose is to be happy, we can only do that by being optimistic and including Him in our lives.