So little to write

i'mma soldier

2008-07-07T16:16:00.005-05:00

i'm a jerk. it's true. i really am a big, huge jerk most of the time. some really good people are big jerks and they don't particularly mean to be. like tobymac. I was watching an unfinished movie from dc talk's first big tour way back in 1994 or something. they had become a big act and dc talk was no longer just an opening act. toby has a way of pushing things and people to the limit. i found it interesting to watch the portion of the film that focused entirely on just him and the way he treated his bandmates. he was a jerk without trying to be. toby is a humble jerk. today i feel like a big fat jerk.

but what was on my mind throughout today was an article i read this morning when i was supposed to be getting ready for college classes. yesterday patrick found an article in dallas morning news about college student interns and how helpful internships are for students. "interns get on fast track." but that wasn't the article i read this morning. i read "tired of the same old drill? army can provide new start." i've honestly always been curious about the thought of joining the military, especially since sarah had her fling with the air force. i have actually almost decided that i will seriously seriously consider joining a branch if i end up a few years removed from a college degree, unable to find any kind of job that i am happy with, and still unmarried. i personally can't see myself unable to find work that i will be content with, as i am already trying to plan out what i want to do even while still in college. but there's still that curiosity about the military, that feeling that i would actually be contently productive and acquire the skills i should have learned growing up. my mom's strange stance against the military even before the war (if I recall correctly) only peaks my curiosity and rebellious side all the more. i'm pretty sure i won't be that scared of the war, especially if obama finds a way to pull us out in one piece. i remember hearing the statistic that it's easier to be hit by a bus out in the street than to be killed in the "war in Iraq." besides, this isn't about the war or supporting a liberal president. this is about me. (but for now i am safe and sound at baylor university whuut!!) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/classifieds/news/jobcenter/careeradvice/stories/DN-culpcol_06emp.ART0.State.Edition1.4d60b19.html

now seriously, i've got to write two essays, read several from the textbook, and still be able to stay krunk! i know i will be able to do this however, because i am listening to seriously dope gypsy beats. getcha some fo real. http://www.amazon.com/Seriously-Good-Music-Gypsy-Beats/dp/B000R7I2SS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1215466773&sr=8-3

missing my friends

2008-07-05T23:17:00.002-05:00

i really have no clue. my main point for writing this is to speak on friendships i have messed up in. why does it smell so funky in this room? really, it smells strange. i'm a much better friend than i used to be, although i still suck. but i remember judging, i remember pushing things, i remember being jealous. i remember, in essence, using my friends without intentionally trying to do so. but i was also stuck in a world i do not wish to ever go back to. i'm embarrassed by my mistreatment of my friends in the past. i'm constantly evolving into...somebody. who was i then? who am i now? i get to choose who i'm going to be. i don't get to choose what happens to me. i get to choose who i'm going to be. i have chosen to do wrong in the past, but i am trying hard not to choose that for the future. i don't like the way things have been. i am slowly shedding all of the skin i was in. i am slowly divorcing myself. sometimes we must do this to discover our true identity.

:)

2008-07-05T02:39:00.002-05:00

so i'm deciding to write because i just found out that two very cool people who also happen to be my college friends have a blog on blogger! i'm just randomly going to write what's going on in my life, eighth grade-style. i'm embarrassed already.

um, summer school. it has been enjoyable, i just officially met this cool guy in my college algebra class named Eddy, and found out that he has also heard Alanis Morissette's cover of "My Humps." i don't even know why i'm in this class. baylor does not even offer college algebra. i need the math refreshment...i'm getting a C in this class or something.

my english ii/composition ii class is aight...my prof keeps it krunk, but we have essays due every week so that sucks. not gonna lie though, the prof is great. i mean, we talk about hilary clinton and frankenstein in there!

i've been talking to this boy who goes to oklahoma university, it's been fun. although i've recently started a trend of unintentionally making myself sick when i like a guy...strange things go on in my brain. i basically get to the point where i have trouble even eating. it's happened with two or three guys.

i haven't practiced violin since the last time i practiced, which was at the end of last semester. i'm glad. i'd actually like to burn that piece of crap. can't wait to play next semester!

um, i've been listening to kanye west and de la soul and talib kweli. i've been listening to tobymac's live CD/DVD literally every day. i'm still formulating my white girl plan to overtake the rap community. maybe just the christian rap community.

i really wish this guy named Frances from nigeria would stop calling me. oh why did i give him my phone number??

¡Mexico!

2008-05-18T20:48:00.003-05:00

So I think this is the best time in Mexico I've had so far. I've been to Oaxaca three times and Cuernavaca once. The group from the university in my hometown is small and compact...they're all muy padre and I like them. I get sick everytime I come to Mexico. Of course, I think I'm still paying for what I did to my body this entire semester in college. I'm never doing that again. I was getting sick the last few days of the semester, and I only had two or three days after I left school before we left for Mexico. I didn't get as ridiculously sick as I should have because my sister bought me some good preventive medicines and I slept the entire day before going home to pack my things. Anyway, I came down with illness before we were one week into our Mexico trip. I've been sick since Friday, when I became really tired, my whole body ached, and I could feel a fever coming on. Advil is from God, but it wears off. I have spent most of the past two days in my bed, so tired and feeling so weak and helpless. Quite an odd feeling to realize how weak you are. But dang, the view from my window is awesome! We spent most of the first week at the seminary in Xoxo, now we are all with different families in their homes, and next week we are going back to the seminary before we return to Tejas. I have my own room in this house! I love the view, especially at night! We are on the mountains, so you can see all the lights from the houses and things. I am going to take pictures, so I will post those on here. I think my understanding of Spanish is getting better...this has been a great trip so far, except for the sickness.

Weird, but true. My first choice was the cover with Toby flying through the air into the crowd...

2008-02-28T22:34:00.005-06:00

I just got to see four possible choices for the front cover of Toby's live album (kind of like when I got to choose his last album title? I chose Portable Sounds, and that's what it ended up being). And can I say that all of the choices were aamazing? I was feeling all of them. Odd that two of them featured a cool pic of Toby against a backdrop of a yellow background. This is odd because for Portable Sounds, I had envisioned the disc containing a lot of yellow and black in its color scheme. Yellow just seemed like Toby's color. I told Sarah about it and she understood as well...we began to see these sweet little yellow sports cars and point out, "There's Toby's car..." I guess that sounds weird, but it makes sense to us. Sarah's boyfriend (now husband) even began to point out Toby cars. It makes perfect sense to see Toby riding around with shades in one of those cars. It's just so him.

I finally got to relax tonight and watch some Thursday night basketball. My Lake Show is doing incredible...one of the top three teams in the league, I think. Pau Gasol is doing an amazing job. Kobe was killin', and Derek Fisher is still my hero. I saw the starting lineup and I thought, "Now this is a team that feels classic." It just has that classic feel. I'm excited. I actually played in two intramural bball games here at HSU...one last week and one on Tuesday night. I sucked, but I still want to keep playing. The team I joined (late) lost Tuesday's game, and it knocked us out of the tournament. The team was called "Those Idiots"...funny stuff. The players were all kind, and good players.

Humm...so much going on with music right now. I'm recording some stuff in the studio (where I work) and what I've come up with is definitely interesting. I'll let y'all check it out soon. Leave me some love here if you read this. I want to know if this post is read. Um, I still suck at the violin, but sometimes I really love it. The HSU Orchestra is playing some extremely cool pieces...I hope we can pull it all together for our concert, which is next Friday! We're doing a full requiem with the concert choir, and a piece with an internationally known guest guitarist. It's good stuff. Too bad we'll miss the Newboys at Abilene Christian University. Crummy classical music.

I'm really excited because I can feel God bringing me up and taking me somewhere. I don't know where, but it's gonna be good...I've just gotta make it through haters if people in my life don't like what I'm doing. I don't know where this post came from...I usually can't figure out what I want to say. Now I'm flowin'. I guess my writing class is paying off, or something. Either that or it's just 'cause I write down random stuff in my notebook all the time, and I had a private journal that I was using for my flowing thoughts. Good stuff. Take it easy.

Wait, I think this post came because I don't care what people think anymore.

2008-02-01T17:04:00.000-06:00

Thank God the Lakers finally got rid of Kwame Brown!!!

Now we've got Pau Gasol!!!!!!!!!!!!

I unpack my clothes, and peace flows out of my suitcase.

2008-01-13T22:37:00.000-06:00

At this moment I feel almost completely at peace.

Classes start tomorrow morning and so does the thoughtful craziness that is going to be my life. Upcoming journal posts will be more than just updates on my life. It's gonna be good, I promise.

Oh, and Family Force 5 is coming to Abilene on Thursday. I had "Luv Addict" by FF5 on my Myspace profile (waaay back when I had one) for months straight. Falling Up is coming too. Sometimes I like to listen to them.

My other birthday presents

2007-12-29T17:03:00.001-06:00

A not so great birthday present was Benazir Bhutto's death. I wake up and CNN is on (of course...) and the main story says in white letters, "Bhutto has been assassinated." I'm like, "So? It's my birthday!!" Yeah, I really am sorry that she was assassinated, because she was against extremists and militants and terrorists. Pakistan is going crazy now, and the U.S. had a really good ally in Bhutto. I'm not so sure about Musharraf. The U.S. is saying, "Oh crap, what are we gonna do now?"

My sister, the great economist and historian, was very upset about her assassination. "I loved Benazir Bhutto so much, I even dressed up as her for Halloween ten years ago!" This I found quite funny. She put one of those garment things around her head, did the dark eye makeup, and went to a Halloween party. It stunk that she was killed, and it stunk almost as bad that I had to hear about it on CNN all day. Usually CNN doesn't report just one thing all day, so I can keep my sanity a little better. I got to hear what Bush had to think about it, I got to hear what McCain got to say about it (I think my family likes him a little bit? He's apparently probably better able to handle the situation in Iraq...he's just old. Speaking of which, I get to register for voting!), I got to hear what everybody's mother had to say about it. So, Benazir Bhutto, I got to hear all about you on my birthday. You're 54, have three kids probably all under 15, and a husband. You knew the militants were out to assassinate you. You wrote an email that was forwarded to Wolf Blitzer in which you said that you would blame much of your future assassination on Musharraf's inability to protect you with adequate security. You wore unstylish glasses sometimes. The last word you said was Allah. You were running for a third term as Pakistan's prime minister. You were Pakistan's first female prime minister. I think you had two gunshot wounds--one in the neck and one in the back? You died in the hospital an hour after you were hit. John McCain personally knew you. My sister was you for Halloween, and you died on my 18th birthday. Pakistan is now Terror Central, according to CNN!

But, my early birthday present was a Samsung Upstage II cell phone. It's not a flip phone; it's a very slim "candy bar style" phone. It has an MP3 player, 2.0 megapixel camera, and it's kickass! (http://www.infosyncworld.com/mobility/samsung_upstage.html) My other presents were some clothes that we went shopping for on the day after Christmas. I'm changing my appearance a little bit during this month and when I return to school. It's going to be fun. I'm really excited about returning for my second semester in college. It's going to be different...new classes, a new job (or two), a different perception about some areas of life, and hopefully I'll be working on some new projects. I'll blog about them if they come into being. But, I'm very excited. My appearance will probably change after I buy myself some personal birthday presents (and, I don't know how I'm going to get all of the money for them until I start working)...I'm going to buy a bunch of CDs (I love music and books!), get an ear cartilage piercing, get some sort of coloring in my hair (never done that before), and buy a symbolic ring. But, I need to know my ring size first. I still feel dumb, so I'm going to make an attempt to read more, even though I'm not sure at this moment which books I should read.

I miss Barnes & Noble! I can't wait to see it when I go back to the metroplex next week!

What an awesome birthday present

2007-12-29T16:19:00.000-06:00

So, one of the best birthday presents for my big 1-8 birthday was going to see the movie The Great Debaters. Why? Well, the non-fiction story of the movie is that of an all-black college in the 1930's. Denzel Washington's character heads up a debate team at Wiley College...can you guess where? Marshall, Texas. I remember hearing about the creation of this movie quite awhile back, before I was even done with high school. I remember my school bus would drive by Wiley College every morning on the way to middle school and junior high. Mrs. Holmes, my bus driver, graduated from Wiley. It's not a school that people really talk about...the most I knew about it was that caucasians generally didn't go there. I feel like this movie is really significant, because East Texas towns don't get much of any rep on the big screen, especially Marshall. The movie is well written and produced, and very powerful. The story revolves around racial issues, which is significant today as I perceive Marshall to still be somewhat segregated, as much of the South still is. Anyway, one of Wiley's professors forms a debate team, which is little-known. The movie follows the debate team as they struggle to defeat known black colleges, as they move on to white colleges (one of the first all-black schools to do so), and ultimately to the best of the best...Harvard. In the backdrop, or should I say, the forefront of their lives, the characters struggle to endure the cruelty of the white population of Marshall. The characters of the debate team themselves are fascinating. James Farmer, the quite young son of a respected Wiley professor and preacher; Samantha Booke (with an 'e'), the first female ever on the Wiley debate team; Henry Lowe (also with an 'e'), the quite intelligent guy who has a hard time dealing with his problems. The scenery of the movie is very East Texas-esque, something I was very curious about. I don't know if they filmed the lake scenes at Caddo Lake, but CL is a very popular place for everyone around here to go.

This movie is very powerful to me because of all the crap the characters have to go through. At one point later in the movie, the team is driving to another college, and as they are driving they stumble across a black man being lynched, with a group of white men surrounding him. The team barely escapes the angry mob after it realizes that their car is full of black people. Later in the evening, Henry Lowe basically has a breakdown. After James Farmer confronts him, Henry gets upset at James and tells him--"You will never forget what you saw. You will never forget how that felt." Gaah, it was awful.

Go see this, it's worth all of your money. Go learn about the story of this college from my hometown, and think of me. Enjoy the richness of the characters, enjoy the scenery in the movie, and enjoy a part of history!

Harsh reality

2007-12-21T02:24:00.000-06:00

Pondering my life as I sit and stare at the walls of my room. Walls that I looked at hundreds upon hundreds of times over the past ten years. The oddness that reaks from the posters of the black basketball players. I thought about tearing them down in the future.

Pondering this past semester, my first semester as a college student in Texas---doing my own laundry, becoming a better musician (or at least gaining more musical knowledge---do I even care anymore?), drinking coffee, agreeing with myself that I don't want to be an accountant. Personal growth...have I grown? The disconnection is still there, but not because I want it to be. And yet through the changes that have been made, so much still remains the same. That terrible off-and-on depression, working against it every day. Silly that I fooled myself into thinking the main problem would mostly go away once I left for college. Not only was it still there, but reinforced almost every day. All the time...and then they'd all leave for the weekend. They would all go home. The feeling that I felt when I saw the empty parking lot and knew where they had gone. Home to see their mom and their dad. The visits from happy families, complete happy families and happy friends. The closeness and the bonds that I'll never have. The brokeness from the instant pain that comes ever so quickly, as I walk across campus by myself. That never goes away.

Then, looking at the cold walls of my bedroom. This isn't home.

Silly me, I knew I couldn't run away from all of it, but I thought I could escape most of it. It chases after me, every day. How I respond will determine the outcome of my life.

"This is how you remind me..."

Um...okay...?

2007-11-07T22:18:00.000-06:00

So, today I was late for a trio rehearsal because the women's soccer game went into double overtime and penalty kicks. We played Trinity University, from San Antonio. My roommate was the first kicker for the penalty kicks...and she scored! Yeha!

Anyway, I kind of took some heat for being late to the trio rehearsal. I was totally not about to leave the game after I had been sitting there for most of the first half, all of the second half, and two overtimes with the score 0-0. It was nice to see us win. I think we scored all five kicks, and our goalie stopped two of TU's kicks. Tomorrow morning our team is heading to Atlanta, Georgia for more of the NCAA tournament, but they're really beat up and also playing a team better than Trinity.

Well, my phone rang at some point during trio rehearsal, and Dr. Neubert (he "coaches" us on our pieces that we're supposed to practice outside of the "coaching") looked at me like I was crazy. He said something like, "What is that bizarre sound? It sounds like a washing machine." Kathryn added, "It sounds like a siren."

...It was the opening of "Jesus is Still Alright" by dc talk. :/

Just don't ask.

2007-11-04T02:27:00.000-06:00

Did anyone watch the Jesus video? Funniest video ever?

I'm starting to become more active with schoolwork and the like. I'm striving to pay more attention in my economics course, I studied a lot more for my second business test, I'm making a commitment to turn in all of my music theory homework papers on time (I turned some homework in late during the first half of the semester, but my high midterm test grade overruled the 'B' I probably would have gotten with only homework grades. My professor takes off ten points for late work, plus the exercises I actually get wrong.), and my violin practicing has become much more hardcore. Dr. I is helping me develop my bow arm, which is a struggle for me because I've always placed so much emphasis on my left hand, which I don't think I even realized until today. I am left-handed and left-sided, so my thought process is sometimes backward from the standard. I feel like I am using a different part of my brain to focus on just my right arm and wrist (and fingers! Craziness!) instead of the fingers that are playing the notes with my left hand. The bow arm actually is more important, which I am just now beginning to understand this semester. My bow itself has issues, so that doesn't help my cause. It needs to be rehaired, and it has a natural tendency to bounce all over the place. It's hard to control, which makes my bow arm situation even worse. Anyway, I've been practicing kind of hardcore lately. I was even wired enough a few nights ago to go in the practice room around 9:00 in the evening and come out a little bit after 11:00. I'm hoping that some progress will really show up by the end of the semester.

I have been thinking about getting a second bachelor's degree in music for quite some time - before I started college, actually. I've really had some different perspectives for the past month or so. Music Theory/Composition was sounding great, but I hesitated because of the extra time it might take to graduate. Although I want to learn to write music, I'm fairly certain now that I'm going to declare a double-major in Music Business. The courses required for the Business Administration minor are some of the same fundamental courses required for my Accounting major (thus I might be able to graduate with both degrees by 2011). I'm also really interested in music production and I've even discovered a good school with one of the best music business programs in the country. If I was to transfer to that school, I might not even graduate with an Accounting degree at all. If I was to complete my degree at yet another university, I might only graduate with an Accounting degree and music minor. And if I stay at HSU, I'll leave with the two degrees. Confused? You're not the only one. My mind is all over the place with what I can do. I've randomly been very interested in law school along with music business. I even know one of the law schools I want to apply to (University of Virginia).

Mmm, insomnia. Dr. I isn't the only one experiencing it.

Send your love

2007-10-01T00:10:00.000-05:00

I'm urging all my friends to go watch this video, because I love it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nl2rf50-mWE

Someone told me about this video over a year ago and I finally watched it for the first time a few nights ago. It's called: The Jesus Video. It's my all-time favorite and the funniest video ever created. A-men.

I'm going to Marshall with my friends in two weeks for the HSU-ETBU game. It's the day after our first orchestra concert. I'm so excited for that weekend.

Everything is starting to fit together. Maybe Jesus is somewhat proud of me? More news will be on the way.

The part where I write stuff that you read...

2007-09-22T02:59:00.000-05:00

So the whole get work done before internet thing hasn't worked so well. But I'm getting my work done. I think.

I moved in a month ago. A month? It seems like I've been here for a year. Time is always so messed up at first, then it just flies by like nothing. New Student Orientation (the bizarrest and coolest beginning a college student could have) couldn't have ended three weeks ago. Classes couldn't have started three weeks ago from Monday. I didn't walk in my room for the first time and see my roommate's pink bedspread a month ago. My mom didn't help me move in all of my stuff a month ago.

My roommate's a soccer player. She actually played against the institution of my mom's employment today. She was in my hometown. So weird. She is a freshman, presently a starter on the team, and becoming increasingly familiar to me with each passing day. I've gone to some of the soccer home games, which have been a lot of fun (I have so much more respect for soccer players now). I wish I could have been in Marshall today and Longview tomorrow, just to experience the familiarity of the last ten years.

My new friends all rock. I am in a small group of friends who are transfer students. It's great and I love them already, but I really dislike being the youngest. I've always almost preferred making friends with people older than myself. No worries, I have lots of freshman friends.

A brief synopsis of classes: Music classes can be such a drag to get through, as we have an 8:00 every single morning. No one suffers like music majors, because they have 8:00s all the way through their entire college career. I'm just a minor, haha! I love my economics professor because he's funny and sarcastic. On Thursday he was asking us what it would cost for us to become ranchers. For example, would we become ranchers if we made $100,000 a year? $500,000? A million? We were all somewhat reluctant to really answer him. He says, "I'm not asking you to be porn stars! I'm asking you to raise cattle!" My accounting prof almost made me cry the first day (my fault...I should have gone to his office to talk with him after I dropped Calculus and added Princ. of Accounting...by the way, I'm still planning to take Calculus), but I'm really enjoying the class and I think he's cool. He is funny as well. "You know, you guys look like you'd rather be at the dentist's office getting wisdom teeth removed rather than be here in your accounting class." Intro to Business is so un-challenging that I'm scared. We talk about Apple (the dudes who make iPods, Macs, iPhones and the like) all of the time. We watch a Youtube video to start off the class almost every time. We randomly watched part of Britney Spears' VMA performance. She's coming out with a new album. Wow...

I've become such a basketball freak that it's actually starting to scare me. I think I might even be more of a freak than I have been. If I ever thought that I could just forget about it, boy was I wrong. So Thursday night basketball on TNT is starting October 30, and I'm going to watch games in the cool basement lobby instead of the main lobby. People don't usually spend time in the basement lobby, as far as I know. If they come in on Thursday nights, they just might find...someone who's passionate about something...

Wow, it's 3:41...so today I might go see more volleyball, go to my first-ever HSU football game (they can't be as good as those ETBU games were...except that ETBU can't say H-S-H-S-U-U), take a drum lesson from a hot guy, and...whatever else.

Classes start tomorrow

2007-08-26T14:29:00.000-05:00

I have set a rule for myself regarding the use of internet on my laptop. I am not going to use the internet for leisure time (e-mail, Facebook, blogging, etc.) until I have finished my school assignments, practice times, rehearsals, and other academic commitments for the day. I am only allowing myself to use the internet before I finish all tasks on the exception that internet research is necessary, or if I know that I have important e-mails in my inbox relating to school matters.

HSU is crazy fun! Thinking of my hometown makes me groan.

Hopeful

2007-08-20T19:51:00.000-05:00

1. I have my sweet laptop.

2. I am moving in tomorrow.

3. I love my baby nephew.

Transition

2007-08-01T15:07:00.001-05:00

I have been fiddling with the layout of my blog today. I am not satisfied with it. I will hopefully be able to make the changes that I want to make. I did find another on-line service that allows users to subscribe to blogs. It's called FeedBlitz. I posted the easy-to-use sign-up box on the right side of my blog. Hopefully it's easier to use than Bloglines.

I e-mailed a residence life director at HSU a few days ago and explained my roommate-less situation. He wrote me back today and assured me that I will have a roommate. That makes me feel better!

These next two weeks are going to be fun and crazy. We are having a small graduation ceremony, so I have to send out invitations and prepare a speech. I'm also in the process of buying clothes and everything else I need, ordering my laptop, packing, and taking care of minute details.

I am in transition. My brain is going in different directions. I'm ready to get to Abilene and sort everything out.

Frustrated and phlegmatic...

2007-07-31T21:35:00.000-05:00

Um...I now have no roommate. My basketball-playing roommate decided it would be best to room with another basketball player. I am frustrated that I have to find a new roommate. If I am not able to obtain one, I will have to pay lots of money and sign a crummy Private Room Agreement. I'm also afraid that I'm going to get a psycho person for my new roommate. At least my old one was cool. In addition to my roommate dilemma, I got a call from the number 000-000-0000 yesterday, at a time when I was not able to answer my phone. I later checked my voicemail. The aforementioned caller was a HSU staff member. She said in her message that the MicroFridge my old roommate and I attempted to reserve for our dorm room was not available. The staff member said to "make other arrangements for a refrigerator." (MicroFridges are nifty. Go to http://www.microfridge.com.) I am a bit frustrated.

I think I have decided on the tuxedo black color for my laptop. My gift registry project was successful, in my opinion. I raised $137.49. That more than pays for my printer. I am grateful to my family and friends who contributed.

Kevin Garnett got traded! YES!!! Last year during draft time, I remember a remark I wrote on one of my posts here. Something like, "free this man from his prison!" The opportunity to play with basketball greats and future hall-of-famers Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in Boston is huge. I just want to say that I really liked the Celtics a few years ago. I still like them, but my affinity for them has not been as great because they haven't had any sort of identity. I am a Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen fan, so I am excited.

Today I read a book called Positive Personality Profiles. I have touched on the different personalities in school: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholy. This book took the same personalities and gave them different titles: D, I, S, and C.

"D's" are equivalent to cholerics. They are driving, dominating, out-going and task-oriented individuals. They can get in your face.

"I's" = sanguines. They are inspiring, easy-going, out-going and people-oriented. They sometimes have problems because they want to talk instead of getting work done.

"S's" are phlegmatics. They are reserved, people-pleasing, easy to get along with, shy, and people-oriented. They want to be appreciated by others.

"C's" are melancholics. They are cautious and careful. They are perfectionists. They don't like to take risks. They are reserved and task-oriented.

Anyway, I find the four temperaments very interesting. 80% of people have more than one temperament. Most people have one dominant temperament and then at least one other supporting temperament. I will probably have much more to say on this topic in the future. I hope it isn't bad to write about three unrelated topics in the same post.

Choosing a color

2007-07-17T20:03:00.000-05:00

I need you to help me! I'm not here to parade around that I'm getting a cool laptop, but I need you to help me pick out which color to get. There are three: tuxedo black, crimson red, and pearl white. I was immediately attracted to the red, of course, but I really like the others as well. The red is deadly cool. The black is also very appealing to me, but my only beef with it is that it may absorb a lot of heat if I am outside on a hot day. Then there's the white, which I also adore. I was actually looking at Apple's MacBooks before looking at Dells, and I was extremely attracted to the white MacBook. Here, please click on this link and take a look at the previews of the colors (just roll your mouse over the description and the picture will change on the left side): http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=eep&cs=2236&eep_orig_cs=2236&sm=2&oc=AYCWTBPL&link_number=17970622

So what do you think? Truth be told, Red (Elektrik_Red, a longtime username) has kind of died. I still love the color, but I'm not sure if I want my laptop to be red, even though it is not the bright red. This crimson red is my favorite shade of red. Also, I'm planning to use this notebook for taking notes in some of my classes. Red kind of stands out. I don't know! I love the black! And the white! Help meee!

Oh, and as always, you can still contribute to the cost of my laptop, if you wish: http://www.dellunleashed.com/rdavis07 (or just click on "Chip in for my Dell" on the widget on the right side of this screen)

I have been tagged. You have been warned.

2007-07-05T19:28:00.000-05:00

Seven random facts about me that you might not know.

1. I am the youngest of three children in my family.

2. I taught myself how to juggle when I was nine by reading a book from the library.

3. I wrote to someone in prison (and got in lots of trouble).

4. I am left-handed.

5. I played cello for a brief period of time and earned a seat in the the all-region orchestra cello section in the eighth grade.

6. I had my own high school letter jacket for about a week (they made me give it back after I switched schools!).

7. I became friends with an actor during my first visit to Mexico. He has made small appearances in several shows, including "Charmed" and "CSI." He was also in a movie with Jack Black by the name of Airborne. I have seen him in a few commercials since I met him, including a Radioshack commercial and an Ameriquest commercial. He is warm, good-looking, very nice, and shares a common interest with me: the Los Angeles Lakers. We e-mail every now and then.

Pick out five favorite movies, then look them up at IMDb. In the overview at the top of each movie’s page, there are “Plot Keywords,” usually five of them. (Plus more, if you click the link.) Take the first five, and post them. Then the rest of us get to play movie buff and see if we can guess them.

Heeheehee...

1. Turtle / Interracial Romance / Traffic Light / Spit In the Face / Mr. Potato Head
If you have seen this movie, it won't be hard to know this one. By the way, I didn't take the first five because some of the other ones were better (and hilarious).

2. Single Father / Secret Identity / False Teeth / Restaurant / Child Swearing
Tee hee hee!

3. Jamaica / Bobsled / Hotel Room / Winter Olympics / Sled

4. Falsely Accused / Island Prison / Sword Fight / Prison Escape / Betrayal

5. College Football / Vomiting / Football Coach / Moving In / Hiding In Closet

Somehow I don't remember Independence Day being this big of a deal.

2007-07-04T11:15:00.000-05:00

I don't know, but it's an exciting day. I must admit that I have grown rather tired of the bipolar weather this past month. As Relient K says, "And lately the weather has been so bipolar, and consequently so have I..."

tobyMac is coming to Frisco at the end of September. My sister and her husband are actually selling their house and making plans to move to Frisco, which is close to where they live right now. So since Sarah is permanently back from the Air Force now (can't wait to see her again), I was thinking that it would be awesome if we (and anyone else who wants to come along) could make the exodus down to Frisco to see Toby. We talked about our desire to go to concerts, and we mentioned seeing Toby. I'll be in college, which is quite a few hours away to the West, but I'm sure we can work something out. I was thinking we could crash at my sister's place after the concert (shh Z, don't say anything because I haven't asked her and St. Patty yet). (And don't tell them that I just called him St. Patty.)

Yesterday my mom and I went shopping, cause she gets a discount on the first Tuesday of every month. There were no good jeans, which I will desperately need for college. Two of my favorite pairs are almost too holey to wear now. We went to Old Navy and found shirts that we thought were 50% off, only we discovered at the checkout that they weren't. Bummer. I have so much shopping left to do...

I have actually found the laptop I want: http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1330?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19
Click on "Overview." Red is my favorite color, but the black one looks awesome as well.

My favorite blogs at the moment (check them out):
http://laurish.blogspot.com/
http://www.xanga.com/bittersunday

Oh, and don't forget the great Emily Ask. http://emilyask.blogspot.com. She is way too cool for me.

Happy fourth...

Rachelle

These are the signs of life.

2007-06-23T14:35:00.000-05:00

My roommate is a basketball player...

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

A couple of days ago when I was going with my teacher to pick up peaches, I came upon the highlight of my day. I was sitting in the van while waiting for my teacher. I glanced to the left of me where all of the people were standing. Just a split second after I looked up, this girl (probably around seven-years-old) swung a fly swatter in the air and threw it down hard on the table. Having killed the fly, she was clearly feeling triumph. She raised her fist in the air and enjoyed the moment. A few seconds later her grandparents were walking over, and I heard her say, "Who's the queen now?" That girl was my hero.

Summatime

2007-06-17T17:12:00.000-05:00

I started picking berries at a local berry patch last week. The blackberries are fun to pick, but they don't pay as well as the blueberries. The blueberries take forever and a day to pick, but hopefully in the next week or two, more will be ripe. Thankfully I was able to take Saturday off because of bad weather. The job is Monday-Saturday and picking just three days last week took a toll on my body. I'm revamped and ready for tomorrow, however. I'm saving my berry-picking money for my laptop. Anyone have any laptop suggestions?

I got a call from Sarah on Thursday. Unfortunately, my phone was turned off. I received an email from her sister stating that the Air Force was working on a deal to get cell phones for the recruits or something like that. Apparently, Sarah attempted to call me with her new phone privileges. I was ticked that I had just turned my phone off. Within a ten or fifteen-minute period, I turned the phone back on and discovered her message. I haven't actually spoken to her since she left, which was May 1st. She is currently on medical hold and is working on getting discharged. The process should be finally completed in a few weeks.

Calculus and Physics are coming along slowly. Please pray for me and my math if you read this. The days are going by quickly and while I am getting pumped up for college, my last two courses still need to be worked on heavily. I have completed all other subjects though! It feels good.

It is still a small world. On Thursday I went with my teacher's son and his wife to a business plan meeting and I met a woman that I had previously seen at the gym, back when Sarah and I were still working out there. One day at the gym, she walked up to me and asked me if I worked at Kroger. She swore that I looked just like a girl who worked there. I frequently saw the woman enter the gym to work out. Anyway, she is involved in the same business that Paul and Ruth are involved in (I am also thinking of joining). I'll probably write more about it later.

Just a few notes about the world...
* The NBA Finals was completely disappointing.
* The 2008 election is an annoyingly popular topic. It is a little early.
* When asked about his thoughts concerning Paris Hilton, my uncle replied, "I would've just spanked her and sent her to bed..."

Confusion

2007-03-30T09:03:00.000-06:00

I was sick as a dog during the release week of tobyMac's new album. I had planned to go with Sarah to Best Buy on the day it came out, a Tuesday, to pick up a copy. I miserably stayed home on Monday and forced myself to come to school on Tuesday. Months ago I had planned to buy Toby's album on the first day and being sick wasn't going to hinder me. Sarah and I left school around lunchtime and made our way to Best Buy. We both bought copies of Portable Sounds. I then payed for our lunches at McAllister's. During the afternoon, my fever came back and I was miserable. I was thankful when I went home later on and didn't come to school the rest of the week.

So Sarah is leaving for the Air Force on May 1st. We are both hurriedly trying to finish our Accounting. In a couple of weeks, we are going to work together on the practice sets. The practice sets combine the information we (supposedly) learned and apply that to real Accounting work. Miss Kay said that they could take 40 hours each to complete--and we have two practice sets. Sarah said that we'll order a pizza and make it a party. We both laugh about that. We're having a graduation/Air Force going away celebration for Sarah during the last week of April. She and I both need to move on, but I do feel very sad that this is the end of what we had in high school. When I first came to this homeschool group two and a half years ago, there were seven high schoolers, including Sarah and I. There were expectations that at least half of these students would stay at Miss Kay's school and graduate through her program. One by one, they all left, either by dropping out or by going to another school. By the end of the Spring semester of '06, Sarah and I were the only ones left. We became very good friends within my first semester at this little school (Spring of '05). So being the first graduates of Miss Kay's school means a lot. We also share a plethora of memories. Whether it be walking to the duck pond, walking to the gas station or even the mall (the last of which we did more often before Sarah got a car), we have walked and talked a lot over the past two and a half years. Back in the first semester of this year, I had a ride from Marshall who would take me to a gas station in the mornings. Sarah would pick me up most of the time. We would have a grand time laughing at the absurdities of the outside world and picking up donuts. We still go pick up donuts now. We've picked up the occasional pizza, we've run errands for Miss Kay, we've gone to Books-A-Million, we've eaten lunch at the mall, we've had loads of fun at the gym, and we've whined about accounting and math and whined some more. The point is this will all be gone on May 1st and it will never come back. The chances are that we will see each other very little over the next four years. But we are both moving on to better things and we had the grandest of times.

Speaking of moving on to better things...about three weeks ago, my mom called me during school to tell me that she had received an e-mail from Hardin-Simmons University which revealed that they wanted to give me the tuition exchange scholarship through ETBU. I had recently just accepted that I would be attending the local ETBU for hopefully no longer than a year. I didn't think that any school would give me the scholarship without first receiving my transcript, which I am aiming to send to HSU next month. I was overflowing with joy when I heard that news. I discovered that the next audition for music scholarship consideration was two weeks away, so I got busy preparing for that. My mom and I are hoping we can get some money to take care of room and board expenses. We spent the night before the audition at my sister's house, which is a little over three aways away from HSU. My sister took us over to Abilene, Texas the next day. After leaving the big Fort Worth metroplex area, we entered a long stretch of two hours of land. Miles and miles of nice land, with not much else in sight. Welcome to West Texas, I guess. Abilene is supposed to be nicely sized, with a population of 100,000 +. The proof of that didn't show much on the Hardin-Simmons part of town. As we were searching for a place to get food, we happened upon another university, Abilene Christian University. It looked bigger and nicer than HSU. After passing by ACU, we began to enter a more promising part of town. Perhaps we were getting closer to downtown. There wasn't much time for exploring because I had to get to my audition. We also didn't do any exploring afterwards. If I end up going next year, I'll get to do lots of exploring. Things are a little hectic right now. I'm trying to graduate and figure out how to get the funds I need for HSU next year, among other things. Anyway, I did like the campus of Hardin-Simmons. It's not a very big school, but I think I'd enjoy myself there. I think I'd also grow a lot more as a person there than I would at ETBU. I'll probably be blogging more often if I go there. I'll buy a laptop and it's likely that I will write little posts on a more consistent basis, even though I know I will be very busy with all sorts of things. Enough of this post...this is just a broad review of what's going on with me right now.

Hey Emily, these are for you!

2007-02-24T16:33:00.000-06:00

Portable words

2007-02-02T18:29:00.000-06:00

Why is it that songs from upcoming albums are always made available to the public when they probably aren't even the best songs from the album? I've listened to clips for all of the songs from Portable Sounds, and I'm fairly certain that "One World" and "Made to Love" are not the best songs on the album. Of course I still think they're awesome, but I want to hear the full version of "Boomin" or something else. 18 more days!

I don't care much for either of the two Super Bowl teams. I've really just never liked the Colts much, but they've been a good team for such a long time and definitely deserve to finally make it to the Super Bowl. I've always felt like Peyton Manning is overrated though. He's a good quarterback, but I never saw why everyone talked about him. If Chicago wins, that's cool too. I just want to see a good game. So I guess I want the Colts to win, but I'm okay with Chicago winning as well.

I'm sick with a cold and very ready to sit back and relax, eat some food, and watch a movie before going to sleep. I'm taking a music theory test tomorrow morning and it's kind of important; a small amount of college scholarship money is involved. Actually it's a very small amount, but it can buy some books.

I recently discovered that a person with an Accounting degree can apply for a job in the F.B.I. The idea of it is way cool. It looks very difficult to get a job. I imagine that they only take the best. They're looking for people with certain qualifications and there's a lot of testing involved. I'd have to work really hard on my mathematical reasoning and analytical skills to even have a chance. How cool would that be though?

Desperate tobyMac fans

2007-01-21T17:09:00.000-06:00

Portable Sounds is coming in one month from yesterday!! YEAH!!!!

Sarah and I made a trip to Best Buy on Thursday and I asked one of the workers if he could look up the album and check if the store would be carrying it the day it came out. It took him forever to find it and he kept frowning and shaking his head like the answer would be no, they wouldn't be carrying it. I was like, "If y'all aren't carrying it, can you order a copy?" Finally he said, "February 20th?" in a tone that hinted towards the answer I hoped for. He then confirmed that Best Buy would be carrying the album on February 20th.

Chicago just pounded New Orleans. It's too bad cause N.O. totally had a shot at winning, down just 16-14 before Chicago took over. It's strange to think that there could be a Chicago-Indianapolis matchup in the Super Bowl. Eww...

Every basketball star has to start somewhere.

2007-01-17T18:46:00.000-06:00

At the end of November, Sarah and I checked out a gym recommended by our teacher that was close to our school. Sarah needed to get in shape for her upcoming leave for the Air Force...and I was wanting to get in shape so that maybe I could play basketball in college? So we both were able to join up until April or whenever she was supposed to leave. Well, for the past couple of weeks I've been the only one out of the two of us actually going to the gym. After changing into my red shorts and t-shirt, I stare at myself in the long mirror. I definitely don't look like a basketball star. Anyone else in that gym who looks at me must be secretly laughing. I'm this pale white girl with spiderweb arms and legs who wears black and white Chuck Taylor shoes (at least I don't wear the red ones). My skin turns very pink while working out. Ah yes, I would laugh if I saw myself from someone else's point of view. It's still fun to observe other people. The owner of a business a couple hundred feet away comes in to walk on the treadmill and use the weight machines. I applied for a job at his business last year and actually came in for an interview. He never called me back about it. I don't know if he remembers who I am, but he's nice and we smile when we cross paths. Then there's the guy who gave me such a great deal on my gym membership, K.C., who says, "Aw, what do you want?" when I enter the gym. There are a few big scary black men. There are young white men with piercings and tattoos. There's a short chunky lady who mistakenly thought I was a cashier at Kroger. "You look just like her!" Then there is the occasional tanned white girl. Then there's Sarah. Okay that was a joke.

After running pathetically on a treadmill close to the business owner who never called me back, I tiredly make my way to the weight machines. I make sure that no one who looks strong is watching me as I change the amount of weights from slot 18 (at the very bottom) to slot 4 on most every machine. I am pleased to find that the business owner who never called me back uses no weights on the crunch machine while my abdominal section lifts 25 pounds on that piece of equipment.

I have met some cool people like K.C., the other guy who works there (I think his name is Jay), and some chick that I just met today. She and I were in the locker room and I asked her how long she had been coming to the gym. We briefly talked and she told me that she had just finished LVN school. She seemed nice.

So the point? I am slowly but surely building strength in my upper, middle, and lower body. And hopefully I am building my stamina. I walk in sporting glasses and Chuck Taylor's, pink spiderweb skin, and a goofy grin. Yeah, I'm gonna be a basketball star.

P.S. Happy birthday Hula. I won't be calling or writing you this time around, but I'll never forget your birthday.

Baltimore

2007-01-13T11:03:00.000-06:00

I want Baltimore to get to the Super Bowl and win. I have Raven fever right now and it's due to Steve McNair, Jamal Lewis, Mark Clayton (Oklahoma, whut?!), Ray Lewis, Samari Rolle, and all those other guys. Their game against Indianapolis this afternoon should be good.

EDIT: This game stunk and was a waste of valuable time. I keep missing all of the good games, except that I watched the second half of New England-San Diego and it was good. I'm wanting a New England-New Orleans Super Bowl matchup. Stinky Baltimore, couldn't win a simple game against Indianapolis. Stinky Colts, beating my Ravens. Stinky stinky stinky.

It's something personal.

2007-01-11T20:38:00.000-06:00

Kevin Max, the "eccentric" man behind the music of dc talk. (Don't be surprised if I talk about dc talk on more than one occasion. Old friends will never be surprised anyway.) So anyway, the start of my story begins a few months ago when I was with my best friend Sarah at her church's youth group one Wednesday night. At some point when we were all visiting with each other, I found a magazine on the magazine table that included an article about Kevin Max's latest project. Nearby was a girl whom I had met and spoken with more than once before. We had briefly spoken about another musical artist whom we both liked. I asked her if she liked Kevin Max. Her response was, "I don't listen to his music. He has a beautiful voice, but...I don't like him." She might not have said that she didn't like him, but she said something like that. My response was, "Oh, why (don't you like him)?" She wouldn't tell me and responded with something about "personal reasons" for not liking him. So I thought that maybe she was crazy and wouldn't like him just because he divorced his wife a few years ago. No, that wasn't it. "Oh, I didn't even know that." And she wouldn't tell me. Well, my best friend Sarah was there throughout the whole conversation, and her and I still ponder about this subject all of the time. What was it about Kevin Max that prompted her to not like him so much? I tell Sarah to ask the girl why she doesn't like Kevin Max all of the time before she goes to church on Wednesday nights. She hasn't asked her yet, but I am determined to find out the reason why. What on earth could it be that she wouldn't even tell me? Sarah and I talk about this almost every week. We thoroughly enjoy ourselves when we talk about it because we find it so ridiculous. We joke around and talk about wearing Kevin Max t-shirts or other KMax apparel to the Wednesday night meeting so that the girl will see us. So I occasionally try and think of personal or moral reasons that she wouldn't like Kevin Max...
* He divorced his wife (let's all have a cow and not listen to his music!)
* I think he had a baby out of wedlock because the time difference between the wedding with his new wife and the birth of his baby was something like six months (I can't even remember where I read that information. Oh yeah, Wikipedia.).
* Under the smoke/drink question on his MySpace, KMax has his answers marked as Yes/Yes (let's all have a cow and not listen to his music!)
* He has like, these huge tattoos on both of his arms. I was not aware of them until just a few days ago when I was browsing his website, which is something I rarely ever do. On one of his pictures, his tattoos were quite obvious. I'd put the picture on here, but my internet connection is too slow and stupid.

Probably none of these happen to be the reason why she doesn't like Kevin Max, but what she said still bothers me. I just can't figure out what it is. If it has nothing to do with his music, then what could it be? Sure, I disapprove of the morals of a lot of mainstream artists even if I like their music, but I still wouldn't go all crazy just because they do some things that I don't like. I don't judge people, and I especially try not to think badly of people I don't even know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Max and http://www.kevinmaxmusic.com for background information and other stuff.
Album review coming soon. Don't get too crazy when you're listening to Kevin Max!

2007 Tostitos Bowl

2007-01-08T21:35:00.000-06:00

Right now it's halftime between Ohio State and Florida for the college 'chip. I'm not an avid fan of either school, but since Florida is beating Ohio State so badly right now (it's 34-14, yikes!), I'm really wanting Ohio State to come back and at least make it a decent ball game. I really don't care who wins, but a good game is always fun to watch. I have much more to discuss, but the game should be back on now, so I'll check it out.

The Strange Sensation of Updating

2007-01-06T16:00:00.000-06:00

After discovering that I am listed on the sidebar of a couple of bloggers that I read, I have decided to post, thinking that since I am listed on their sidebar...maybe they would actually read a post if I posted one. Isn't that a thought?
Well...I reread some previous posts and there are definitely some subjects I could update on. First of all, I've decided to major in Accounting. No music major (yikes), no journalism major, and I narrowed down which business field I want. My decision could definitely change, but accounting is the foundation for all things business, and I can do a lot with an undergrad degree in Accounting. I'm still going to study music and I still want to take a journalism class (or classes). I'm really not limited to just being an accountant with the degree, so I think that I'm making a good choice. Where I'm going for college next year is still up in the air and I have no idea what's going to happen.
I recently purchased some albums and I think I want to post some reviews on here soon. I love talking about music and records and discovering new artists. Music is amazing. Anyway, I think that people would like reading what I have to say about some of the music I listen to, so if anyone's reading this, you might come back to read what I have to say.
Indianapolis and Kansas City are playing in the first 2007 NFL playoff game. I don't think that KC is doing so well, but I want them to win. I've never really liked Indianapolis. Sorry, Colts fans.

TCU's business program is No. 1 in Texas...

2006-10-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a break from studying math (I'm trying to get those 2 lessons done for this weekend). The SAT was actually semi-fun. When I arrived I had to stand in a long line while this guy looked at photo IDs and our registration paper. Everybody had driver's licenses and school IDs while I used my passport. Sarah hadn't arrived yet and I discovered that the test takers were broken down into groups according to the alphabetical order of last names. I went into room 218 and took my seat. The test was going to start soon and Sarah called me on my cell. She was like, "Okay, I don't know where you are..." and I explained that we would be in separate rooms and we'd meet up later. We hang up and two seconds later I see Sarah at the door to my classroom. I yelled, "Sarah!" and she looked up and we both laughed. It was probably the funniest thing ever. She wasn't taking the test in the same room as me so she had to move on.
I don't feel bad about how well I performed on the test, but I don't feel extremely good. The geometry problems got me and there was actually a good deal of whack vocab that I had trouble with. I think I made a decent score though. The results come back on-line on November 2. The last day for regular registration for the December ACT test is November 3. Also, the last day to register for the December SAT test is November 7. I was just trying to get a feel for the test this time around, in case I didn't feel my score was satisfactory.

Operation SAT

2006-10-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

I am going into combat tomorrow. I will face the SAT and come out victorious. I really need a good score. I think this is probably the most important test I've taken so far in my life.
On a lighter note, I finally finished chemistry this week. I also worked out a plan to finish my Pre-Cal book hopefully a few days before the Christmas break. I need to start Calculus as soon as possible. My plan seems a bit steep but it's definitely possible.

1.5 lessons a day (45 problems)
2 tests on every day I take tests (no lessons worked on those days)
2 lessons every weekend

There are ten weekends left. Two lessons times ten weekends equals twenty lessons. Subtract that from the amount of lessons I actually have left to complete, fifty-five, and I have thirty-five lessons to complete on class days. I have fourteen tests left to take. Two tests times ten days (I added three days for good measure...I only technically need seven) equals more than fourteen tests, so there are a few days left over. 1.5 lessons times twenty-four days equals thirty-six lessons, which is one lesson more than what I'll need to finish. We have thirty-four or thirty-five days left in the semester. So I should have a few days leftover after I finish the lessons and tests. Sound confusing? Good.

All I have left to finish in English III is a research paper and a small amount of bookwork. It's my goal to finish that stupid paper this weekend.

2006-10-11T17:05:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I went with Sarah, Miss Kay, Ansel, and Andy to the U.S. Air Force recruit office. Sarah learned more about the Air Force, took a pre-ASFAB test, and scheduled an appointment for tomorrow with the recruiter we had been talking to. I'm thinking that she's really going to do this and I'm definitely happy for her. I would actually consider doing this if I didn't already have some goals and some direction for my future. The programs sound really good...good educational programs, good training, and good money. Talking with the recruiter was interesting. We found out that Sarah can't really choose any college she wants to go to. She can get college credits on the base, or she can go to one or two of the Air Force colleges they have. Something like that. This week has taken an interesting turn of events, to say the least. Even just a few months ago it probably would've seemed absurd for Sarah to really be considering this. I would totally consider this if I didn't want to go to college and go on to other things.
I just voted for what I think Toby's new record should be titled. The three options were:

*Portable Sounds
*The Color of We
*Feelin' So Fly

I voted for "Portable Sounds." "The Color of We" had the most votes. Toby's releasing his first single soon!!

Crazy teenager, crazy life

2006-10-10T14:51:00.000-05:00

So today at school I've been discussing with Sarah what we're going to do with our lives. Our immediate and long-term future. She has been wondering what she should do and I've been wondering what college I'll end up going to, what major(s) I will pursue, and what career(s) I will earn my living from. It's been interesting to talk about. Sarah has decided to check out what the military could do for her. She wants to get her college paid for by the military and then work the required amount of time for them.
I went to my sister's house over the weekend. They are going to name their baby boy Samuel Morales! I'm going to be the crazy aunt who picks him up (and his siblings after my sis has more children) from school with my tobyMac blasting and such. I'll buy him ice cream and then say all these crazy things to his friends. Speaking of tobyMac, he's actually releasing his new album in February. I went on his website a few days ago and the first single is supposed to be released this month. I'm so excited!
Hmmm, I've been deciding if I want to make this blog public or just keep it with me. I told some people about it but I'm about 99% sure that no one is reading this (which is fine). I just don't want to tell people about it and then have no one ever read it.

NBA draft and trades equals craziness

2006-07-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

T-mac's new record is about halfway done. When will Toby come back to East Texas? Hopefully I'll get to go to a show in the next year or two.

Italian big man went first in the draft! I can't even remember his name. I saw part of his press conference...he seems cool and nice. I'm happy for Toronto and I'm sure they'll be improved this year. Hopefully the television networks will show more Raptors games so I can watch Chris Bosh and the new Italian guy. Let's see...who else do they have? I can't even remember. I know they picked up one or two other players in the draft who are supposed to be good, but I can't remember who they are. *does research* Oh yeah, that's right, Toronto has Charlie Villanueva(I like Charlie Villanueva). I mean, they had Villanueva. They just traded him to Milwaukee for T.J. Ford. I like Ford, so it's all good. Plus it'll be cool to see Villanueva play with Andrew Bogut. And Michael Redd.
Lakers look like they picked up some fresh talent too. Hopefully we'll progress even more this year(and begin to play consistently, jeez).
When will Kevin Garnett be traded???? Free this man from his prison!!

So Miami proved everyone (else) wrong.

2006-06-22T17:55:00.000-05:00

My high school Accounting course takes a long time. Like, a really long time. However, it is slightly enjoyable and accountants can make good money. I guess I could write raps in my spare time and work on my basketball skills while being a sophisticated accountant...

tobyMac is coming out with a new album in December. Need I say excitement?

Next season every team will eat Kobe dust.

No Brainer

2006-06-19T13:28:00.000-05:00

Dwyane Wade for Finals MVP.

I'm so Anti-Texan. I always oppose other Texans who like teams just because they're from Texas (Uni. of Texas, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavs, etc.).

Nah, I'm a good Texan. I just like to be different from other people I suppose.

As I said June 5th, Miami in six games ... hey, it could happen on Tuesday!

The fat lady indeed has sung.

2006-06-05T18:41:00.000-05:00

It is down to Miami and Dallas. First of all, let me say that I never would've guessed in a million years that these two teams would be playing each other for a championship ring. Second of all, I'm delighted to say that they are! It should be exciting. Also, I was completely wrong about Phoenix and Detroit ... I thought they would bring it, but they apparently aren't made of tough stuff.
Z.T. asked: OK mrs. future sports writer, Will you use your head or heart to make your next prediction.
I would have to say that I want Miami to win. That would be my heart saying that though. My head tells me that Miami has a very good chance to win (the chances are 50/50!) if they do everything right. Dallas can build a momentum and score a lot of points in a hurry. If Miami wants to win, more people other than Shaq and DWade have to step up. Dallas' bench scores a lot of points. Will Miami's bench players score a lot as well? Can Miami stay away from fouling Nowitzki?
My head is telling me that Miami wants this more than Dallas. Alonzo Mourning came back after all those years with Miami ... he has got to get his ring. Gary Payton wants this too. Antoine Walker. Shaq has what it takes, and there's no way that anyone on Dallas can stop him! There's no one strong enough to guard him. And forget about guarding Dwayne Wade, Jason Terry. You can't do diddly squat!
I say that this series goes down to six games (I typed seven at first).
Hahaha, Miami is going to win!

Nowitzki? Nash? DWade? Flip Saunders?

2006-06-02T17:30:00.000-05:00

Will Miami make it to the Finals? It is a tough decision, but someone's gotta make it. I need to be practicing for later on when I am real journalist material and will make real predictions that millions of people will listen to! But for the time being, this will have to do.

Since I really want to see Gary Payton, Dwayne Wade, and Shaq either win a ring or contend for one, I will say that Miami wins the Eastern Conference series, but only after Detroit has forced a Game Seven. Everyone knows that Detroit is a better team though. I mean, come on, Miami had a terrible time against the better teams throughout the course of the season. Detroit has shut down for some reason ... partly because Chauncey Billups was actually being a ball hog in one of the games I watched, and also because Rasheed Wallace hasn't shot the ball well. It would be kind of nice to see Miami pull off the series win.

Now ... who wants to see Dallas play in the Finals? Have they ever been to the Finals? I don't believe so. It is incredibly tough to choose which team I'd like to see play in the Finals from the Western Conference, because truthfully I'd love to see them both go on. I've changed my mind a few times already. But you gotta love Dirk Nowitzki. I almost think he should have won the MVP Award. His game has improved tremendously, and he is now a dominant player. For instance, Dallas lost Game Four and Nowitzki didn't play well. He was fantastic in Game Five, and lookie ... Dallas won! The Mavericks would be nowhere without him. I don't even think they would be in the playoffs. Sure, he may be clumsy, but uh ... he got game. Phoenix is such a classic act. I would love to see them play in the Finals. Nash has so much heart. I just hate to see one of these two teams lose. So here we go ... Phoenix is going to win Game Six. Dallas will be playing Game Seven on their homecourt. They are so close to the Finals that they can taste it. Everything this franchise has worked so hard for these past few years can be accomplished this season. The Mavericks are such a deep team now. I think that Phoenix will fall short, but they're tough, so they may pull it off. Same with Detroit ... they are so tough, they just might pull it off. You know that the playoffs are exciting when you're having an extremely hard time with your predictions. I love being a basketball fan.

Okay Z, I know you've got something to say about this, so type away!

A Band Named Anberlin

2006-06-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

Anberlin? What kind of band name is that? My thoughts exactly. While discussing favorite bands in an on-line message board, the name Anberlin kept popping up.
"Oh, Anberlin is the best!"
"It's all about Anberlin!"
"Anberlin, Anberlin, Anberlin!"
So I'm thinking, "What's so great about Anberlin?" Everyone was so pumped up about the band, so I decided that I would check out their music. I buy CDs on-line through the BMG music service and on my most recent purchase I ordered a copy of Anberlin's Never Take Friendship Personal, their second full-length studio album (BMG doesn't carry their first album). I had read from the message boards that their song "Paperthin Hymn" was excellent, so I was kind of expecting that song to be the best on the album. It's not. To me anyway. I immediately found "Stationary Stationery" very catchy, and after a couple of listens took a liking to the title track, "Never Take Friendship Personal." Anberlin released "Paperthin Hymn" and "A Day Late" as singles, but I think almost any of the songs would have made great singles.
So what does this group sound like? They sound a lot like any other rock band, except they're actually good. All of the guitar parts are completely irrestible to me. They blast out at you on the title track. Anberlin has traces of a punk sound, but they're more like a band that just wants to rock and is extremely good at it. The band sounds full, like they really know how to play their instruments (it's hard to believe isn't it?).
I think that Anberlin is one of the best bands that I don't hear people talking about (unless of course you read the message board that I was reading). I'm sure you're itching to hear their music ... get ready to be blown away! Visit http://www.purevolume.com/anberlin. The first four songs listed are from Never Take Friendship Personal. It took me a few listens before I really liked these songs, so don't give up after only one listen.
The album opens with the title track which hits you hard, as I said before. The lead singer screams on a few words in this song, which I didn't particularly care for at first. Now I think those vocals add to the song. There is no screaming in any form throughout the rest of this record, so no worries if you're a person who doesn't like screaming in songs. I really am not able to describe in words how brilliantly the band plays from one song to the next, so go to the purevolume site I mentioned above, honestly listen to their music, and buy their album if you fancy their sound! Never Take Friendship Personal is very well produced (Aaron Sprinkle is their producer, who also has produced records for other artists I like from the Tooth & Nail label.). For more details about the band and music, visit http://www.anberlin.com/anberlin_band.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anberlin. Good lyrics + great music = Anberlin.

Subscribe Away!

2006-05-31T10:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, I found the e-mail subscription service that I talked about in the last post ... to subscribe to my blog, all you have to do is enter your e-mail address into the box on the right side of my site underneath my profile, links, and "previous posts." I don't know if an e-mail is sent daily to your inbox or if one is sent only when I post a new entry (hopefully it's the latter because daily e-mails can be annoying if I don't post everyday). Anyway, this service is useful for people who don't want to have to manually visit the site everytime they want to read new posts. If you sign up, then an e-mail will be sent to you so that you won't have to come to my site! Isn't it brilliant? Anyway, sign up. NOW.

A Few Thoughts

2006-05-30T18:26:00.000-05:00

Mmm, blogging. I'm really impressed with some Blogger (or blogspot, I don't know which one it really is) sites I've seen, so I decided to get one of these. I'm considering permanently moving my primary blogging site to Blogger. I think there is a way for people to be able to subscribe to this blog without having to actually sign-up for an account. If only I can find faithful readers! Let the journey begin!

I would like to share with you the answer I gave to the "random question" that Blogger asks everyone on their profiles. I had to ask for a different random question because my answer for this one was apparently too long (even after I had shortened it!).

Question - Compose the lyrics to a new national anthem that features an animal sound at least once:

MY ANSWER:

Euniceland, Euniceland,
Hail to the mighty hand of Eunice (moo!)
Oh so grand, (baaaaaa), oh so grand,
With more taste than food that's bland (gorilla makes crude body noises)
Eunice is my savior, she is everywhere to me.
I'm just glad she lets me live in a place where I do not have to pay a fee. (chihuahua whines)

I find it remotely funny. I have fun writing this kind of stuff. I hope you enjoyed it. I should answer as many random questions as I can to build my humor writing skills.

All is well in my life! I'm looking forward to watching Game Four of the playoff series between the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns tonight! It's hard for me to decide which teams I want to play in the Finals ... I just feel privileged that I am able to sit back and enjoy it. I don't care who wins, as long as it's good and exciting.

R. Davis