My Christmas Present

I decided this year I'm going to give myself a video camera for Christmas. That way I can start video-blogging and making movies again. Phil and I have a couple scripts that need to be filmed, and I definitely have some more ideas for music videos to be put into the works. A new dawn is going to rise come the start of next year... watch out world!

On aside, I just got back from Eastern Oregon/home for Thanksgiving. While coming back I was listening to some old CDs I found when poking around the basement. I decided to pop a couple in my CD player for the drive back and rediscovered one of my favorite songs... 'Martyrs and Thieves,' by Jennifer Knapp. Her voice always gets me everytime.

Lyrics:
There's a place that I used to cling to... it presses harsh hope against time.
In the absense of martyrs there's a presence of thieves who only want to rob you blind.
They steal away, any sense of peace... I'm a king, I'm a king on my knees...
I know they are wrong when they say I am strong as the darkness covers me...

So turn on the light and reveal all the glory, I am not afraid...
To bare all my weakness knowing in meekness, I have a kingdom to gain.
Where there is peace and love in the light, in the light...
Oh I am not afraid... to let your light shine bright in my life, in my life...
Oh... I am... I...

There are ghosts from my past who've owned more of my soul...
Than I thought I had given away...
They linger in closets and under my bed, and in pictures less proudly displayed.
A great fool, in my life I have been, have squandered till pallid and thin...
Hung my head in shame and refused to take blame, for the darkness I know I've let win...

Well, I've never been much for the baring of soul, in the presence of any man.
I'd rather keep to myself all safe and secure, in the arms of a sinner I am.
Could it be, that my worth should depend by the crimson stained grace on a hand?
And like a lamp on a hill, Lord I pray in your will...

There is a place that I used to cling to... it presses harsh hope against time.
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Peace everyone!

Chairs

About a month ago I got a new office desk chair. Up until today it even had the tags still intact. Finding myself with some free time, I finally removed said tags and had a look… The first tag was pretty generic in describing chair features with an illustration in case you didn’t know where to find the features. Though, the second tag I have included in this post for everyone’s viewing pleasure. I personally like the picture of the chair on fire under the ‘Don’ts’ section as well as the picture of the doctor using a stethoscope on the chair in the ‘Do’s’ section. Should we be worried that information like this is necessary on a chair?

Random Thought

There is already the most interesting man in the world... he does beer commericials and Phil quotes him in his blog.

I on the other hand am one of the most amazing people in the world. Eventually, when I retire, I'm going to offer a scholarship for someone to hang out with me for a year. I mean, seriously, Rhodes scholar? There are like 83 of them a year... If someone really wants a prestigious education in more than just academics, they should apply to be an Andrews scholar... It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Instead of watering down the talent pool, there will only be one, per year. One shot, don't miss your chance.

Who wants to be on the application screening panel?

Hello Summer

What have I been doing for the past month and a half? I don't really know. Playing lots of golf mostly. I wanted to play the 60+ golf courses here in the Portland area, and have gotten to 39 so far. The biggest hiccup is that about 14 of them are private. Oh well. To have played close to 50 golf courses this summer while working is still pretty good, right?

I was supposed to go to Coos Bay for 2 months, but am now probably going to go to Seattle or Anchorage for a stretch if they can't find anything for me to do here. We'll see.

I hope to post something a little longer later... (I always say that though. ;) )

Here we go again...

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”—E.M. Forester

There has been so much that has happened in the past month, past 6 months, past year, past two years, past three years... that leaves my head spinning... Where I was, where I was planning on going, where I am now, where I am currently going.

Before I used to be a master of my emotions rather than letting my emotions get the best of me. Now, I find myself having lots of joy, and also having lots of sadness. Getting upset at weird little stuff, and laughing at even stranger things.

Throughout it all I find myself asking a couple questions:

If you got into trouble and could only call 5 people (non-family) to try and help you out of it, to be there for you, and who would be there for you (either by calling someone else to be there for you, or hopping the next plane, skipping work/class) who would you call? Who can you really count on? I know the people I'd drop everything and have dropped everything for (I have a college transcript to show for it)... would they do the same for me? Is it worth it?

What kind of friendships do I want in my life and what kind of friendships are the most valuable?

It may be true that people come into our lives for reasons, seasons, or lifetimes... but is there any real reason that true friendships shouldn't last a lifetime? I've always thought the most valuable friendships were the ones that go both ways. The ones where both people put forth effort and aren't afraid to communicate. Trouble seems to arise when one person dominates and is not very flexible or accommodating. Trouble can also arise if one person is too accommodating to the point where they stop thinking for themself. I think ultimately the big reasons why a lot of friendships fail or go into the reason/season categories are out of selfishness, self-centeredness, or apathy. One person or both decide that they can't get anything from the other person (fun, knowledge, happy things), the friendship is too emotionally draining to the point where time seems to be wasted versus being well spent, or the lack of caring to the point of not having strong feelings one way or the other.

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”—E.M. Forester

Sometimes things just don't work out how we hope or plan... That's another fact of life... The universe doesn't care... Our lives are so miniscule in the grand scheme of things... Take a look outside at the night sky sometime and see all the stars... billions of miles away... shining light that left the stars millions of years ago... Numbers that are unfathomable when measured up against humanity's limitations.  I guess the lesson learned is that sometimes you just have to let go of that rock you're holding onto in the river, stop trying to fight the current, and let life take you to where you're 'really' supposed to be going.

On a lighter note... here's a great music video and song that moved it's way into my top 10 favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY

Delays

There has been a fact of life that I forget from time to time... "Life is not fair."

The funny thing is that we're all expected to play by the same rules, but we all start at different places on the game board. Some people start at Free Parking. Some people start at the Jail. Others start at Income Tax. The lucky few start at Boardwalk. Some people are the top hat. Some people are the dog. Some people are the thimble. Others are the car.

Anyways, everyone has burdens they don't think anyone else will ever understand or care about... the trick is being able to stop and lay them down... and then start up again walking forward without looking back...

Tired

I'm tired...
Tired of trying. Tired of putting myself out there. Tired of always having to to make the first move. Tired of being an afterthought. Tired of saying yes in order to keep getting asked, but tired of saying no to try and hide. Tired of not knowing what I want. Tired of knowing and not being able to obtain. Tired of saving the day. Tired of seeing people move on and forget. Tired of selfish people, self-absorbed people, people who don't care. Tired of waiting. Tired of faith. Tired of lack of faith. Tired of people not understanding or wanting to understand. Tired of advice.
I'm tired...

What's nice...
Being missed. Smiles. Thoughtful listening. Warm cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate. Random phone calls. Warm pie w/ a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Hugs. Laughter. Being needed. Having a purpose. Sunrises. Sunsets. Smooth jazz. Days off.
What's nice...

Valuable Lesson

One of the things I almost always forget:
Often times it's more important to a woman that she wins an argument than actually being right.

Busy

It's definitely been super busy. I was up in Bellevue for a couple weeks designing cylindrical screens for a 240 million gallon a day water intake for the City of Seattle.

Monday I get to go to Eugene for some setup for testing that I'm going to be doing the following three weeks. Had the project meeting today and they said climbing harnesses, life jackets, hard hats, rain gear and sun screen will probably going to be necessary. O.o This will be interesting.

Will be heading back next weekend for my cousin's wedding and might stop by my company's Boise office to drop off some paperwork.

Eventually I hope I'll have time to post a more proper blog... until then, Salute!

Andrew

Costco

Costco sells everything... I just saw Chacos there for 60 bucks! :O

Work

Well, I survived the first week back at work. A little crazy since one of our admins got back from maternity leave (4 admins running around), and I got deleted out of our system somehow so it took almost 3 days before I got a computer. Though, my laptop for work is awesome. It's a CAD machine with 3 GB of ram with a Quad Core processor. O.o What's weird is that it doesn't have Vista. I still managed to get 60% billable time for the week and managed to avoid filling out any performance goals. We'll see how everything goes. I found out that 5 people in the company got laid off (mostly senior people, one from here and 4 from Pasedena), but I got hired. Go figure.

My Onid account is about to be deleted, so I no longer feel like an OSU student anymore. The tricky part is getting all the accounts I linked to my OSU e-mail to my other e-mail accounts. Oh well, it's kind of a fresh start like getting a new phone number.

Happy March everyone! :)

Shapes

I started a comic this summer and never really got around to posting them... Here's the first from my series, "Shapes"

Rollercoaster

When I was a kid I loved rollercoasters/thrill rides. One of my favorites was the "Ring of Fire" that they used to have at the county fair. The only problem was that none of my friends liked rollercoasters. Since most were 2 people, I usually had to wait for when it was slow or had to ride with a stranger (since almost no one rides them by themselves). When with friends I usually had to ride on the more laid-back rides like the flying swings, Tilt-A-Whirl, Gravatron, but even then the spinning could give some trouble.

Most of my family doesn't like rides much either. I remember being in Las Vegas for a family reunion when I was ~12 and wanting to ride on the NY, NY rollercoaster and the only one who was brave enough was my widowed 75-year-old Great Aunt Rosie. I guess when you go through as much as she has (Great Depression, WWII, discrimination, being interned, starting over in L.A.) a little rollercoaster isn't much. They took the customary pictures on the ride, and of course we got some; I should try and find them next time I'm home and post one.

So what does rollercoasters have to do with me right now? Well, my life over the past couple months has been like a rollercoaster and I was feeling pretty topsy-turvy, but had to just remember and honor my parents' and grandparents' generations for surviving and prospering through their rollercoasters in order for me to have the opportunities I have today.

Besides, aren't rollercoasters supposed to be fun? So is life. :)

Moving

Well, I'm finally finished moving... I'm going to do a quick run-through tomorrow and then it's the unpacking/throw stuff away/donate stuff phase. I've got to head back to eastern Oregon ASAP, but hopefully will find my clothes and toiletries before taking off. I can't believe I lived in L.O. for 7 months already. Time is starting to go by quicker and quicker. :P

The Move

I'm moving at the end of the month, so I also decided to move my blog over from xanga. It still has my old posts from years ago, but too many ads for my taste.

This one should be easier for me to update and maintain.

Cheers to 2009!