Reunion

Let me try and name all the people in this house right now:

Ryan Weber
Dad
Mom
Natalie W
Katie W
Justin W
Jonathan W
Jeremy CW (yeah yeah gotta have that C)
John Maxwell
Tyler Chatburn
Madde Chatburn
Hannah Oliver
Keri Smith
Anna Henry
Matt McFadden
Mark McFadden

Ryan, my mom, and my dad just got back from an Iowa vacation tonight. They were visiting my grandparents on my Dad's side. I really wished I could've gone, because I love going there. Everything is much slower and I actually have time to read and think and enjoy the plain ol' company of another person--but not many, many other persons. To be honest, it's hard for me to enjoy the company of, well, however many people are stated above, at the same time. I'd rather be on a walk with John and Natalie or in a conversation someplace with Justin and John or.. reading Harry Potter or watching some movie, all by myself? It's the day before John leaves for vacation, and straight from there to Washington State College to begin his freshman year. Man...are we growing up? I think.. I think it's just the next faze. I'm not sure what "growing up" means. I believe some people interpret the phenomenon as becoming more apathetic or complacent. I






Well, John actually ended up coming in the room right where I stopped writing that last paragraph. We went on a walk together, just us, all around the area. We talked and talked about how we felt, and then when we got back me and my brothers and him prayed together. I said goodby, and now I'm up here again on the computer, about to go to sleep and go to work tomorrow and the next day and the next and not see John until at least Tahnksgiving, but probably not until Christmas. Reunion it was for a moment, then people started to leave. That list up there has now dwindled a bit. Everyone has calmed down and is a lot quieter. All I can hear are the indistinct voices of the girls praying for John downstairs, and the keyboard tapping.

Well, goodnight then! :)

John Maxwell and I

A few days back, me and John Mac. Maxwell worked at the Taylor's house, as in Beth Taylor, to whoever knows her. I've gone there to do yard work twice so far. Both times John's been there, but we haven't really worked together much. Anyway, it started storming like cats and dogs when we were getting ready to leave (and when I say that I mean cats and dogs in a figurative sense, not literally, as if there were felines and canines falling from the clouds. Joke! Ha. ha.) We got into my little red Toyota and rolled out of the place, having much good and inspiring conversation on the way back. I mean, how couldn't you have some sort of innovative dialogue going on inside of an automobile that's under a sky like this?:

[taken on John's awesome camera, not mine]

We drove back to John's house so he could take a shower and change out of his dirty clothes. He wanted to not feel disgusting while he hung out at our house. That's one fact you must know about John. He's always at the Weber house. So, as he was taking his sweet time about getting ready, I grabbed his camera and walked about the house, snapping, snapping, snapping. I swear, if I had my own camera, I'd go nuts. I really love taking pictures. I enjoy trying to produce discrete compositions out of them. That image of the stormy clouds above proves this statement to be faulty; but heck, sometimes the purpose of a picture is to document, not present. Here's a bit of what John's "lenses" captured that afternoon ("Lenses." It's the same idea as, like, calling your car "muh wheels". Anyway...):

You can tell pretty well that it's raining here. My car/justin/katie's car is the one in back of the van.



. . . After John's shower was done I infiltrated the bathroom. I got really excited when I saw this mirror. It's all about the contrast of the blurriness and distinctness.



. . . Below is the Maxwell's family room. I've never thought "family room" was the right name for it, because we've always called our basement, which is as cluttered as their's, the "school room"--a place of construction, production. Really did like the cluttered aspect of this room though. It isn't tense at all. Just homey and warm, protected from the rain outside that window.

This one of me and John isn't about the contrast of blurriness and distinctness at all; I mean, the whole picture's blurry. Rather, it's about the stillest I could hold the camera in such dark lighting.

This Side of Paradise

Okay, I need to level with you guys. My family has a stack of books in the bathroom, sitting on top of the toilet head. If you don't have books in the bathroom, maybe you should invest in that. At least have a journal where people can write funny things about their privacy. Tonight, as I was sitting in the bathroom (yes, sitting. Come on guys.) I looked back and found a delightful book called This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald, copywrite, 1920. I just opened it and read a few pages, and found these very profound quotes therein:

"'Beware of losing yourself in the personality of another being, man or woman.'" -Thayer Darcy, in a letter to a certain boy named Amory.

And the ending paragraph of the letter I thought was just great--the bold lettering are the parts that I think you could independently write on a sticky-note and put up on your mirror or wall. The italisizedlettering is simply a good combination of words:

"'Amory, I'm very glad we're both alive; this war could easily have been the end of a brilliant family. But in regard to matrimony, you are now at the most dangerous period of your life. You might marry in haste and repent at leisure, but I think you won't. From what you write me about the present calamitous state of your finances, what you want is naturally impossible. However, if I judge you by the means I usually choose, I should say that there will be something of an emotional crisis within the next year.
Do write me. I feel annoyingly out of date on you.
With greatest affection,
Thayer Darcy.'"

"...out of date ON you. " Haha, I love that. Man, I have just got to read more. The world of books is so vast and wonderful, I know it, but I'm just not that much of a natural reader. I want to read, but I don't. It's like how I don't want to sin, but I do.

The Sad Truth About This Blog

Hardly any pictures. The problem is, I don't have a camera, and I never take the initiative to save up for big things like that. I really want to have my whole life documented and posted here so all can see how interesting my days are. I suppose I'll have to be really clever with my words to attract people, despite a nagging need for pretty, colorful images. I'll jump right in now. Hopefully I get into a sort of habit of writing and posting here.

Here's a stream-of-consciousness list of stuff I enjoy:


Alfred Hitchcock
Mowing patterns in the grass
Squishing those foamy-like earplugs and watching them expand
Looking at huge trees
Harry Potter
Driving with my specific selection of music on
Playing piano with no one around
Performing my music for my friends and family to hear
Ben Folds
Live Concerts
Playing with my ears (I fold them up and stick them in to the ear hole...then they like, pop out. I control that by wiggling them. It's crazy, but amazing, really.)
Nat
John Maxwell
Katie
My mom
My hall at college
Getting a boost off of coffee
Being individual
Entertaining people
Pleasing people
Camping
Sticking my hair up, getting it cut
Itching my poison ivy
Making this clicking noise on the backside of my hand by tapping my finger slits with the fingers of my other hand (do habits count as enjoyment?)
Babies
Reading Romans, Proverbs, Psalms, the end of John
Talking to God (another sort of habit thing, actually)
A clear conscience
My twin
Writing
Taking a shower and getting all clean-shaven
Making beats on the table top
Drawing things like: birds, mailboxes, lamps, houses, peoples' portraits
Art exhibits
Beethoven's piano music
Bach
Elliot Smith (he's like Ben Folds...except his voice is way different, he plays guitar instead of piano, and his songs are considerable more apathetic.)
"Paranoid Android" by Radio Head
OK Computer in general
Borders!
Scanning in CDs and listening to music at Borders
Looking at all the endless reading possibilities but hardly ever purchasing anything at Borders
You've Got Mail
Comic books
My bed
My pillow
My other pillow
Holding a pillow between my legs when I sleep
Getting WAY too personal
Being treated like I'm not insane
Being insane
Running on and on with my words
Writing letters
Being constructive with letters, and just generally
Getting replies back from letters (!)
Getting prayers answered
Thanking God for all the wonderful things He's granted me in my life
Not having to take myself seriously
Not having to deal with myself but just love people
Learning from God
Writing out my thoughts so I feel less anxious about certain things
Nice jeans
Comfortable T-shirts (the real worn-out kind, with holes on the tops of the shoulders.)
Carson Blair and his abode
Matt Brown's company
Sam Belz's presence
Getting an A on a paper
Walking outside when it's raining and storming like Tyler Chatburn when he's sweating and Tyler Chatburn when someone's trying to mess with him
Being WARM when it's raining and storming like you know what^^. Otherwise, like if it's cold and I'm cold, that's not so fun
Going to sleep


And that's what I'm gonna go do now.

In my own two hands...I'm shaking.

It's out and I have it. I've read the first five chapters so far. I won't say a thing about it. Don't get on the internet when you're reading this. Don't talk to other people about it. Don't even search for images of the cover like I did. You could find awful, vital spoilers, or just ridiculous propaganda. Either way, don't be swayed by these bad Harry Potter fans who get kicks out of giving the book away before it's read. Go Harry, go.