Lost and found (repost)

Most of you have heard at least something about our recent and infamous hiking trip in the white mountains. Here is the story from my point of view. If others post, I'll edit this and link them up top. Edit: Pictures added.

Leah, Abi, Rachel and myself pause for EVER on this bridge. If memory serves me correct, Leah explained to us that she couldn't pass this bridge because of an enchantment.

Our youth group had planned a short hiking trip for Sunday the 23rd, right after church. We were going to climb the trail for Lonesome lake, an easy 2.7 mile hike that lazily twisted and turned around beautiful rivers and waterfalls. The weather couldn't have been more perfect- with Autumn fast approaching, it was the most warm and sunny day you could ask for. Some of our company had even brought gear to go swimming in.

Some of the ample areas where one could go for a swim. Waterfalls abound in this trail; its quite beautiful.

A friend of my sister's and myself had unexpectedly dropped by our church and to our delighted surprise was even able to go hiking with us. But since she had not come prepared for a hike, so she came as she was: A long skirt and sandals. But its not like we were scaling a mountain vertically, or even hiking Lafayette, so she was fine in what she had.

Our group got started up the hill pretty soon after we landed at the parking lot. Shortly after setting out, our group split into smaller groups based on the pace that people wanted to take up the mountain (as usually happens on hike). I decided to stay with my sister and our friend Rachel for the most part, bringing up the rear at a nice leisurely pace. Mrs. L, Nicole and some others went up faster, and my father and LittleMan were somewhere in between. Ethan, Noah and Jay took the riverbed and quickly made good time ahead of us. We thought.

If you've ever hiked around the basin before, you know that the rivers beds running down the mountain are very wide but the rivers themselves generally only take up a narrow strip of it of the rocky bed, so following the river as a trail is very easy thing to do. Its a beautiful walk.

Part of the river bed. The dry big rocks in the picture goes on for quite awhile behind the camera (its where I was standing).

The hike up the mountain was pretty pleasant for me and my group. 2/3rds up we over took Leah, who was resting contemplatively on one of the big rocks in the stream. She joined our group, and informed us that as per parental orders, we were to turn back by 5:00. Apparently this had been announced shortly after everyone got on the trail, but I had missed it (probably because I was off to the side on the rocks myself at that time). So at 5:00, we turned back, making good time down the hill though stopping for some photo opportunities along the way and arrived back at around 6.


Other little groups followed soon after. It wasn't long before we were waiting for the last group to get back: Ethan, Noah and Jay. We were hoping they would show up soon. By 6:30, we were concerned. Fish and game were alerted and my dad and Mr. L. shot back up the trails calling out for them as they looked. They had decided to turn back at 7:00, because of the diminishing daylight and it was a good call- according to my dad, the latter half of his return hike was to dark for him to make out trail markings reliably. We've hiked this trail at least 5 other times, but even he had to walk back slow to make sure he didn't slip or get off course. Both him and Tim L. returned, neither one finding the kids. Night had fully set in by 7:10- it was dark and chilly.

I spent most of this time waiting in the van, being the "responsible adult" with most of the younger kids. Leah, Nicole and Abi were in the van for a little bit, but soon grew too restless and joined Mrs. L. at the base of the trail. I was in the van for an hour or so, with the awkward charge of staying nearby and trying to make sure the kids' imaginations didn't get the best of them and put them into a panic. I've never really done this before... basically it consisted of us either being quiet for awhile or talking about unrelated things and then, someone would start to say how worried they were and what might happen to them out there on the trail. Then I'd try to offer a calming dismissing of the fear, assuring them that all would be fine and that we had experts on the case: It wasn't a big mountain, they couldn't get THAT far, it wasn't THAT cold, etc. I don't know if I was doing it right or not. It was a bit of a difficult job when the only updates that would come to us would essentially be that there was no update, except for that Mrs. L and Leah were occasionally in tears now.

Around 8:40 I heard my dad's voice coming up to the van. I hoped that he was coming to tell me they had been found, but instead he just moved the vehicle down to the part of the parking lot where the ranger and everyone else was. Mounting tension was palpable... a few people in the group were upset at the ranger for sitting in his vehicle seeming to take forever about things, not realizing he was coordinating the effort, not actually executing it. He was in radio contact with the top of the hut and working out stuff on the map.

After pulling the van up to the closer parking lot, my dad gave me some money and told me to go get everyone something to eat. Even though most were very hungry and more were badly in need of a bathroom break, no one really wanted to leave the site. I can't blame them. Dad got some directions from a ranger on the nearest place to get a bite to eat. The van was loaded up with silent and somber patronage. I drove us out.

To get back south towards civilization, you have to head north for 5 minutes or so till you get to exit 34A where you can turn around and go south. I left the site nervous but very purposeful- I have never navigated this area before, and I had a van full of kids who were already distraught... This was my one charge; to get them to a warm place to sit down and get a bite to eat. It wasn't much, but it was important and I did NOT want to fumble it.

I made the 34A turn around fine and rocketed back south. I passed the basin. Pretty soon, I was coming up with exit 34B. The ranger told me that the closest food was on exit 34, and to stay left. I realized that this had to be 34B, because the other one was going the wrong way. I took the exit, and noticed it too split. The sign said services were to the right...but the ranger told me left. I took it slowly, realizing further with each foot I rolled that I was going BACK 93 North. But I couldn't turn around, I was commited now. I was frustrated with myself- now I had to PASS our groups turn off, hit the turn around AGAIN and come back. Meanwhile there were people who were going to explode if they didn't get to the bathroom and grieving siblings in the back. Great. Good call, Zeke.

I sheepishly explained that I had to loop back AGAIN. One person might have acknowledged me but mostly, it was just quiet. When I hit the loop was when most people realized it- "Weren't we JUST here?" "Yes...."

We did get back to 34B and this time I took the right. We got into civilization- but it was mostly closed breakfast shacks, hotels and lodges. We went a bit of a ways before we got into a little towny strip that had two family restaurants open. We had intended to get food at a fast food joint, as people wanted to get back as soon as possible. But after I passed this strip it began to look like we were quick leaving civilization. I decided that we needed to stop at one of those places, at least to use the bathroom.

We all rushed into a little geek family restaurant and I went up to the counter.

"I need to ask something of you that I know is a really big favor, and if you want me to pay for a drink or something, I will. I have a van full of kids here who desperately need to use the bathroom, is it okay if they use yours?" The lady gave me a smile and said "Go ahead." I thanked her and bought a coffee, while trying to get ahold of my dad to ask him where the Macdonalds he knew of was. I couldn't get ahold of him. It wasn't a big surprise though- everyone's phone was blowing up.

Word had apparently spread very fast. Anders tried to get ahold of me (thinking that our whole party had been lost), and Jay's older brother called me as well. Leah's phone was receiving call after call and even more text messages. I think she actually received 5 messages over the course of a few minute long conversation at one point. Abi's was ringing too.

After how nice they were to us, we decided to have a sit down meal at the greek place after all. I tried to lift the mood a bit, pulling out and treasuring a few reluctant smiles from the group. I contemplated a lot of my mixed feelings over that pizza- I wanted to be strong and comforting to the group... logically, it was a very short trail and I was pretty confident they would be found. The only real concern I had was if someone was injured. But I didn't want to sound like I didn't care about it. I didn't want to run off my mouth about how they would be fine. But I felt like some people might be looking to me, so I wanted to keep things calm. I felt like it made me almost distant sometimes... I wanted to comfort the group, especially Leah who was missing a brother up there. But I didn't know how to. I wanted to embrace them, to give them a hug and tell them it would be allright, but I was afraid of appearing like I was making advances. It frustrated me. All I could do was drive them and take care of the food. Thats it; thats basically all I had. It felt inadequate.

After we finnished, we loaded back into the van and took off. Abi's phone had died from receiving one to many calls from concerned people, but Leah's phone still had a good charge. She talked on it off and on. I could feel the fear and concern in every word. It broke my heart and made me wish I could do something more. I think all of us wished there was something we could do... friends and family called in to ask if they wanted a volunteer search team. Jay's whole family was coming down. Everyone on the prayer chain at our church knew about it and so did most of the homeschool co-op.

In the last stretch of highway towards the basin, I overheard Leah next to me saying into the phone the words that I wanted so badly to be true-

"They found them?"

I held my breath for a second, hoping that those in the back might not have heard it just in case it was a false alarm. But of course they had- it was like everyone's ears were straining to hear those words, and a collective sound of exclamations and questions erupted behind me. It was true. Just as Leah was confirming it, we pulled into the place where we had parked and got out. Details remained sketchy- they found them up the trail, .3 miles out, or they found them off the trail, .3 miles out. How did they get lost? Didn't know yet. Were they okay? Yes- as one rescue worker said "They are more scared of their parents right now then anything else."

They would be coming down into the parking lot on the other side, the rescue workers informed us. After waiting for Jay's family to arrive (which didn't take but a few minutes) we all loaded into the van and went to the exit 34 turn around so we could get to the other side. When we arrived, their was a small crowd. Rescue workers, family and other church members- and the boys. They were all there. Everyone jumped out. I grabbed the pizzas I had got from the greek place (we had ordered more to feed them when they got down) and headed over. They were in good spirits, laughing and joking around with us. Apparently they never got the word to turn back at 5. Not that it mattered- none of them had a watch. Or a cell phone.

They had shot up the trail, following the rocky riverbed. The river split a few times though, and eventually they got further and further away from the trails. They didn't turn back till "right before it got dark" which would be just about 7:00. How fast it got dark caught them by surprise. They had attempted to rejoin the trail several times, thinking they had found it only to see it dead end or loose it in the moonlinght. Each time, they'd back track and follow the riverbed down further, slipping a few times and misstepping in the dim light.

I bounced back and forth between the different ex-lost boys getting as much info as I could and carrying around pizza. Delivering the pizza was probably the best part for me, everyone was really happy to have food, and finally it felt like I was doing something to help.

We had to stick around there for a bit, while the rescue workers got the story nine ways to heaven from each of the kids. We left for home around 10:30, thoroughly enjoying the ride back- talking and laughing with everyone over the night's drama.

A lot of things went wrong for this to happen, and everyone involved in authority is still troubleshooting it. It just seems such a stupid thing to happen to us- Everyone on that trip had been hiking before. The youth group had been up part of those trails once before last month, and my family have been up it a lot- I've probably hiked the basin at least 5 times within the last 4 years.

We'll get everything worked out, and we'll all be better for it. Meanwhile, I have to work on some promotional material for our youth group. Nicole and I had discussed possible ways of spinning this whole thing into a new tagline. After brainstorming with my Brandon, I'm thinking of going with the following one:

New Testament Hikers club:
Looking for direction in your life? Join the club!

This fall: LittleMan IS the rock ninja!

My summer so far acording to me.

So... I don't really think I am going to do a proper farewell post to the school year. Mostly because my sentiments have been echoed allready by all my friends- basically, go here or anywhere else in my blogosphere where people mention the end of Agape and my sentiments are very much the same.

I suppose I must elaborate a bit though... So, this was my first year at the co-op. I didn't really know exactly what to expect. Beleive it or not, when I'm in a totally new surrounding with all new people I can be intimdated. I don't like to show it and I suppose I'm not technically shy, but its just as awkard for me to try and strike up a conversation cold-turkey as for anyone else. But given enough time, I can make aquantinces anywhere. For some reason I thought there would be alot of HS steryotypes- very steady people; well educated, formal and intelligent but eccentric in nothing. I think my first guess was that 40 to 60 perecent of the people in the co-op would fit this mold, with a strong representation of these characteristics in the leadership.

Boy was I wrong. This group has blown me away with how awesome they are. They are my type of people; I don't know how to describe it. I '"clicked" with so many of them instantly. Knowledge is there, as is to be expected, but so is that weird sence of humor that draws on knowledge, and eccentric interestes abounding. I am frustrated because words are failing me(or perhaps at this hour, I am failing them...) But the point is, I didn't just make aquantinces- I made REALLY GOOD friends. These people felt like just that- a people, if that makes any sence. I relate to them on so many more levels then I do with any other group. They felt like old friends instantly. How else could I have relationships that are intergal to who I am with people I have met only two semesters ago?

I shall miss everyone, yes- but I am always on the AIM network or Gmail and with technology it never seems that there is such a gap between people as once there was. And of course, I'm not making a plan of avoiding my homeschool brothren all summer either- I shall be meeting up with you all as often as I can.

Which is not for the next 2 weeks or so, with limited exceptions. We have a sort of soft stop-order on extranious activites since we want to get our house in working order for the summer. (We still have some flood stuff to work out, though nothing major.)

I have much planned for this summer- I am going to World View Academy once again (and now some new friends Agape are coming too!) as well as going to Inside out Soul festival. In about three weeks I am going on a bike trip with my friend for 5 days. I'm really stoked about it but nervous all the same as I have to make sure both me and the bike are in working order. My friend is coming up all the way from Kansas for this afterall. Between all this I will also be stuffing my summer with as much Math as I can stomach. I need to catch up on that badly, and the classes I have picked out for next school year will fall through if I don't.

Of course, all that anticipation, but nothing exciting has really happened yet. So far the biggest event was my computer crapping out. Yeah, my main operating system hard drive had served me faithfully for over 5 years, and it began going into its death throws two days ago. Alas, we morn for the drive but move on with our lives. Knowing myself, I have stopped storing anything of value on my main disk along time ago. All my personal docs, movies, pictures, music, etc. are on other drives. This is good.

I'll probably be posting back from Frankenstien (the name of my main computer) soon. I just grabbed a drive we had laying around from a scrapped project and slapped it into my box. Things are looking good. Next post should be from the other side.

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Oh, and don't mind the spelling errors please. Its 12:31 and I have no spell checker on this box. Yes I know there are online options but I'm TIRED. Goodnight.

Of strange donuts

I am not going to go into huge detail about the story of this post because it has allready been blogged elsewhere better then I ever could have (or because I am a lazy butt).

First, click the link above to hear the tail of the now infamous HRMHS (Horse-raddish mustard hot sauce) bostom creme donut. Its the first half of the post. Then, come back and see the pictures here.


Here is the donut being moddeled by the ever photgenic JackLu. Nice smile, Jack.


Now we have the intial reactions. I will confess that I am severely dissapointed with the control that my victim was able to demonstrate under such sensatorial assault- it was good form for her, but bad luck for me:
She saw it coming to many seconds in advance. It allowed her to give me a poker face before washing down the OJ to clear her sinuses, and thus, this picture is lackluster. Way to be K, way to be. You've ruined my blog. Just kidding.

Here is a picture of her moddeling the donut later. I think her face with in this picture actually depicts the sensation of HRMHS donut more accuratly then the first:


Next well- next was actually JackLu. He was even less fun then K- he just kept eating it and asked me in an incredulous tone "What? Like you don't put mustard in all your donuts?".

But probably the best reaction that I was able to catch on camera was my friend, damarque. Basically, I verbally bullied him into it, saying if he could take Basic Training he should be able to take a Horse-raddish Hot Sauce Donut. He complied.

Damarque never actually swallowed it. He took a big bite, then sort of worked his way to the nearest trash recepticle and discarded the offending pastry from his mouth. Someone mentioned to me that this was a huge accomplishment. "You actually found something he won't eat. Dude," the source said on Tuesday, "this kid will eat chalk." This made me feel proud, in a strange nonsensical sort of way.

The last was B. She told us we woulnd't get a reaction out of her. You be the judge:
The prank... overall, it was good- but I am humbly realizing that I need more experience on the delivery. Perhaps staying up till 4 does something to ones reasoning or acting ability though...

You see, the night previous I stayed up till 4 in the morning working on an economics report (which is the pWnZ!!!11!! by the way). I was dead tired, but I was giddy enough not to let it stop me from what I was about to do: a sweet comeback was in the air and I could taste it. It was hot and tangy and kind of stung my eyes.

I retrieved the practice donut my picked up for me from its clever hiding place in the downstairs fridge and ran up to the kitchen with it. I whipped out a plate, some "Chilly Today, Hot Tamali" sauce and some bratworst horsraddish beer mustard. I gleefully found and prepped my tools and began pioneering the extraction methods. When I decided I had finally got enough of the goop out, I started filling the donut in with the speacial sauce. I then pasted the side with some of the extracted creme so that no casual observer would be any the wiser.

Now for the hard part: I had to taste it to make sure the boston creme that was still in the donut didn't neutralize the new sauce. I sort of hesitated for awhile. Then I took a bite out of the side that hadn't been to much affected. Finally, I took a bite from the damage zone. My mouth started screaming at me- I think it was swearing and saying something to the effect of "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?". I ran over to the sink and spit it out. I had milk on hand to wash out my mouth- I used it. After about three rinse cycles, I looked down on the half bitten bite and started laughing. I looked down on what I made, and behold, it was very bad. And on the 5th hour, I rested.

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Yes, I know... promotion night is not mentioned up there. I think this post is long enough, and I am tired. To everyone, just in case I don't get around to making a farewell-everyone post: Dude, your all stinking awesome. I got mad love for all of you- Agape has made my year. I totally wish I met you all earlier, even though now with most of you it seems we've been friends our whole life. Remember when ? Such good times man! Can't wait till next year,

----Signature

Life as illustrated by the many faces of Zeke

Greetings to all! To the one (or possibly two; depending on which way the sanity check goes) of you who actually care: Sorry about not getting a new post up. I know, horrendous. My last one I had a good excuse for; I was trying to be somewhat formal and post a specific topic. I don’t know what excuse I’ll use for this one. Can I call in sick to blogging?

one more apology to get out of the way before I get started. To all of you who have lame connections (I think that’s just you Anders) I apologize for this post’s perfuse employment of images. I like images- they make things so much easier- but sorry about the whole waiting thing. But you’ll get over it I’m sure.

You see, life often seems like a kaleidoscope- hundreds of different images and events happening just barely far apart enough from each other to appreciate them. This is, after all, why we like art- movies, books, songs- because we like to capture and savor these moments. And it is with that in mind that I present “My life in the past few weeks, as told by a crappy montage of images thrown together painstakingly in mspaint” as a discussion springboard:

The picture of me with the tux in the center is myself as Henry Higgins. The one on the bottom left is probably the only non-frightening off stage picture of me with makeup. These of course, represent the now seemingly small blip of time that was the play production of Pygmalion at my home school co-op. Two small pictures- but behind them so much- I know not even where to start. This play has been (though so much work) SOOO much fun. I think this production has been the one I have enjoyed the most- and I say that feeling slightly guilty, since everyone else I’ve worked with before has been awesome as well. But honestly, everything about this play was great. I got to play British jerk- this is much more accessible, I think, then any of my other big roles (Aslan and Prospero). I could draw from more common, ordinary things and I could take them further. I was really able to slip into the role. The other ones I’ve played were good and I enjoyed them, but this one gave me so much liberty to mess around, because I wasn’t as- insecure?- about who the character was. I rarely second guessed myself as the character while onstage. Not that I was overly confident; it still had its moments of difficulty and anxiousness but… I guess, for whatever reason, I was able to believe myself as the character more so then I ever have in a play. The script has a lot to do with it, but I think that another part is probably the great acting stuff I’ve done with my awesome drama teacher…I’ve taken an acting exercise class this semester from her and a play writing class from her last semester, and I see so (and appreciate) so much more in a production now. And speaking of this production…

It wasn’t just the source material and MY experience that was so wonderful for me, it was EVERYONE involved in the play. I am doing a mental double-check right now to be sure, but- yes, I can accurately say that EVERYONE who was involved in this play made it a better experience. I cannot think of a single person that contributed negatively or did not contribute at all. This all starts of course with the amazing director- Mrs. M. She is right in between the last of my directors extremes- laid back and aggressive. Again, I almost feel bad saying this because I loved both of my directors and think they did a marvelous job- but the fact remains that I am awed by how this director was personable and calm through everything, yet could still exert authority or give criticism. She gave us A LOT of space to come up with our own interpretations and ways of delivering lines, so much so at first that it frustrated me a bit. She only made real changes to my deliveries twice. But those times- wow. It is amazing how these little tweaks can change the emotion onstage.

Paragraph six, and I’m still talking about Pygmalion. Oh dear, this is going to be a long post. But so be it, because this experience was that great. It was a book-post-in-your-blog great. It doesn’t stop at the director: all the behind the scenes people were amazing. I’ve never seen a support staff like this. Makeup, sets, props, clothes- all were handled so well. Behind the scenes people really are the unsung stars of the play- they make or break a production of this scale. And in this case, they made it. But the best part of this production, which spans over every memory I have of it, is by far the people. I have become friends with people I did not know well before, and I have become closer to those on the crew and cast that I did know. I didn’t know the actor that played opposite me as Pickering at all until we started the play and now we joke around with each other all the time. I got to know and laugh with the people who (often against my will) applied my makeup. They are all awesome. I knew most of the people on the set crew, but I got to know and respect them more during the play. I am so pleased with the production, not only because all did such a good job in their part, but because all of them were such awesome people.

This actually, brings me to the top left picture… me, with cake all over my face and silly string a’ plenty draped about my person. You see, I am SO loved that certain people took it upon themselves to prank me. I don’t believe I have really been seriously pranked like I was that night ever before in my life. I got to experience what it felt like to have cake smashed into your face, which was good and ended a life long curiosity I held. I got an excuse to put cake in various girls face, which was even better and satisfied an immaturity that I have had to suppress for a very long time. Then I got dragged outside, mobster style, and was assaulted with silly string. This was all fun and good, but I am still hitting myself for such a wasted opportunity. You see, I got wind of a prank involving silly string, and last minute I was able to get a supplier to give me a partially used can for my self defense. I hid it cleverly in my jacket pocket, and when they pulled the caps off to open fire, I drew mine as well. Unfortunately, in the darkness and confusion of that fateful night, I failed to properly make out which end of the nozzle the silly string would actually spray out of. And as such, what was supposed to be my valiant last stand was totally batched and actually aided the enemy I was trying so hard to regain my dignity from. Overall- it was AWESOME. Thank you everyone who was involved in that prank and in the play. I have some great memories I will tell for years to come.

Now we get to top right and bottom right images. These represent a past time I have become increasingly involved in- paintballing. I have a new friend I met a few months ago who is extremely into paintballing, and has got me active in it after several years of owning a gun but rarely if ever, using it. As you can see by the top right picture, I got pWnd pretty hard. Direct hit to the eye and mouth vent. The bottom shows how I actually got to taste the paint, since the ball exploded through the vent holes. By the way, it wasn’t that good- though it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be though. The paint had a rather strong tang to it that somewhat disagreed with me.

I’ve played paintball I think 2 weeks in a row now- and one of them was a several hour cookout/shootout. That was a lot of fun- even though I was the first to get cut down almost EVERY game. I blame the gun and me being a n00b. But it doesn’t matter; the game is a lot of fun. Hard, painful fun, but fun nonetheless. I have several happy welts all over me now thanks to my little binge of sporting, and I am proud of them.

The other pictures get more and more vauge as I was trying to fill spaces in the montage, but I’ll give them meaning anyway. The in the middle right of me on the computer, represents me on the computer. Its something I do a lot- I think I live a good deal of my life the through the avenue of cyberspace. Its my social hub when not at my co-op or church, its my source of information, of entertainment, and the sole recipient of the meager bit of organizational skills I have. Almost all of my creative outlets pass through the computer at one time or another- either blogging, or writing something for school or listening to music. So I suppose this image does show an important picture in my kaliscope of time.

The others- are me with hair. I suppose this isn’t directly related to the last few weeks, but I am going to tie it in anyway. You see, I have had a fro and it looked cool. I have had wanna-be dreads, and they did not look that cool. I have had a beard for awhile, and in my humble opinion, that looked cool. I now have no beard and I believe I am not alone in thinking that I made a drastic mistake. One that re-growth will solve, but a mistake nonetheless. But wait, you say- why the picture of the fro and not the picture of the beardless man? Because

a) I don’t have any pictures of me with out a beard and

b) That is as it should be and will likely remain so.

And that, my friends, concludes this broadcast. It was a long one, I know. I'd say I'm sorry, but that would imply the notion that I will try to change my habbits and in the future will post small episodes. This will probably happen again, I shoudn't wonder. Sorry bout that. Oh wait... dang it. And finally, since I like to be unconventional, and also to make you all slightly annoyed, I will end this post with a whimper instead of a bang.

Ha! New post!

Ahh, another great latter hour post. Or rather, early hour; it is 12:41 right now. Do you know where your kids are at?

My January, like life itself I suppose, has been an awesome mix of rush-rush-rush adrenaline and sheer boredom. I had two PCS I had to fix right now, a play to write, and an economics final to study for. But now? Right now I'm literally waiting for a battery to drain. I'm having a stare out contest with this laptop, you see- I want to access it, and it wants to lock me out with its password. I needed to cut off its life-source- and thats just what I'm doing. Its won't remember what its password was when I'm done with it. I am just watching it die. Sucker is making an awfull mess of it... won't just go out, nOOooO! He's got all these capaciters and what not. He's gonna make me wait. So- wait I will. I can outlast you, you here!

Sorry people, I WAS trying to make a non-technical post, but it just happens! Whaddayaknow?

Of course non-technical things have been going on. I got to see not just one but TWO of my co-op's performance's of It's a Wonderful Life- and what a job they did. Truly amazing; I can tell they pushed themselves very far indeed. A musical, by jove, and a brilliant one at that! Its cool to see your friends sing like that- man, I just love this group. Us homeschoolers have got it going on, I'm telling you. I feel like I've known these people all my life. I just click with them, its awesome. Even the adults I have fun with.

I cut my hair the other day. But instead of just showing up with my hair cut, I taped it to my dew rag and put it back on my head. The results were hillarious- I think it was worth all that time of growing my hair just for this prank. My favorite was Mrs. Grimes, who has always said to me that "I am supposed to cut those things off when I see them on animals" (she is a vet). I saw her come in and I asked her if she still didn't like my dreads. She of course said yeah I said do you want to shear them off? She said "Oh can I?" and I said "Sure, in fact, just pull 'em out right now. Go ahead." She played along, but when she reached for my hair it just came off in her hands. She screamed and jumped away. It was the best.

Uhm... seeing as I am waiting for this battery to give up the ghost, I think I will take an opperutinity to give you all (all 2 of you) an Hair FAQ.

How long did it take you to grow it out that long?
Something like 1.5 to 1.7 years. Longest it's ever been, maybe ever will be.

Why? WHY??
I just sort of did it half out of lazyness and half cause it was fun. I have had big hair before but never this big. My afro was ridiculous!

Why did you want dreads?
a) They would get the haid out of my face a bit
b) They would make me look more like a hobo, and, I mean come on, who doesn't want to look like a hobo?

Hobo's are the bomb. I think I'll have to do a whole post dedicated to hobo culture and why their so awesome, but for now I will shut up because I believe my posts are to akin to books then blog entries. Heres one more hobo picture to sign off by:


----Zeke