1st Quarter Done!

Yay! I'm so happy! I'm done with the first quarter of work. :D I was up doing schoolwork until about 11PM last night finishing it, but it's done! Not only that, but on time too! :) This is very exciting for me, and I'm incredibly happy to have it not hanging over my head anymore. Hopefully I'll be more free this weekend than last week end, and Carpenter, I will definately be able to do something on Halloween. :D Other than that, I worked a lot last week (relatively a lot). Though it turned out to be less since on Thursday and Saturday I got to go home early since there was practically no business. Imagine! Slow on a Friday and Saturday evening! At least I'm improving my skills at making tray sculptures. Hehe, it's pretty fun, and people think they're cool, though I think in some way, deep in their minds, it rankles that I'm not doing anything useful at the time, even though I only do them when I have nothing else to do. lol Kind of like when I organize all the little numbers that people get when waiting for their food, and then take out all the prime numbers and give them their own stacks. lol I must say though, it sure beats cleaning the bathrooms which I usually have to do if I'm there late enough. :P

The Owner, Heirron

A Poem, But the Real Thing

So I kind of jumped the gun in posting my poem. Below is the revised, and better version of it. All I can hope is that Carpenter gets on and reads it so that we have someone other than Miss "Baseball sucks and your poetry is like, totally weird." ;)

Mr. Cubs

In professional sports I know a team
Of players that are as exceptional as they seem.
No need have they of any revision,
They’re as one man without division.
Together they are known as Mr. Cubs;
No group of meager subs,
But he is one polished well
Enough that he can sell
Many tickets to his adoring fans.
And he smiles wide into the stands
So broadly and with teeth so white,
With jacket so clean and pressed so tight
That the crowd cheers just as loudly as it is able.
After seeing Mr. Cubs it surely won’t be brought to table
That at any point he would ever fall behind
His opponent. His fans never fail to remind
All who pass that he would
Almost never loose, and how could
His fans claim to be the ones to dictate
What other teams Mr. Cubs would eradicate?
So in their claims they must be right;
Their alibi surely has not a chink in sight.
Sadly, when the rout is difficult for Mr. Cubs
And there is not always a steaming bath in tubs
Before a game; when there is some pressure
He makes a most piteous gesture
To his fans; he cannot help but choke and splutter
When in a game of great and utter
Importance to those who pay to come and see.
They promised every game to win, but gee,
Who can begrudge them a loss or three when
Every last shoe on every foot has been
Polished up so very bright
And his toothy smile has been so white?
Mired in high expectations deep
They could do with a little sweep.
No matter what, the fans never loose their hope
And every year manage somehow to cope
With a little loss, because Mr. Cubs will
Promise so much every season to instill
High hopes in all who after him follow.
Whatever he says his fans seem to swallow.
With his good looks he can always do this,
And if he sometimes fails to keep a promise
It can always be glossed over;
Mr. Cubs knows the fans, and moreover
Knows they will never become mad
That he, once or thrice, did something bad.

After all, there always is next year
To fill with promises for all to hear.

Thus, I think this team must be the best
For it surely has no fault in truth or jest
For which one could justly bring him down.
Oh no, nothing that could ever make one frown.


The Owner, Heirron

A Poem

Having just read the poem Carpenter put up, I figured decided to post mine as well. :) Personally, I think his is better, and it is without question of a nobler cause. Mine is more what one would call light entertainment, and is supposed to be in a Chaucerian style. It is intended to be somewhat subtly humorous, with thinly, if at all, veiled sarcasm. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little bit of likely unmerited satire! :)


Mr. Cubs

In professional sports I know a team
Of players that are as exceptional as they seem.
They carry themselves in perfect unison
As one man without any division,
And he is known to all as the Cubs;
No group of meager subs,
But he is one and polished well
Enough that they can sell
Many tickets to his adoring fans.
And he smiles to those in the stands
So broadly and with teeth so white,
With jacket so clean and pressed so tight
That the crowd cheers just as loudly as it is able.
After seeing Mr. Cubs is surely inconceivable
That at any point they would even fall behind
His opponent. His fans never fail to remind
All who happen to pass that he would
Almost never loose, and how could
His fans claim to be the ones to dictate
What other teams Mr. Cubs would eradicate?
So in their claims they must be right;
Their alibi surely is air tight.
Sadly, when the rout is difficult for Mr. Cubs
And there is not always a steaming bath in tubs;
When on the poor fellow there is some pressure
He makes a most piteous gesture
To his fans; he cannot help but choke and splutter
When in a game of great and utter
Importance to those who pay to come and see.
They promised to win it all, but really,
Who can begrudge them a loss or three when
Every last shoe on every foot has been
Polished up so very bright
And his toothy smile has been so white?
No matter what, the fans never loose hope
And every year manage somehow to cope
With a little loss, because Mr. Cubs will
Promise so much every season to instill
High hopes in all who after him follow.
With his good looks he can always do this,
And if he sometimes fails to keep a promise
It can always be easily glossed over;
Mr. Cubs know the fans, and moreover
Knows they will never become mad
That he, once or thrice, did something bad.
After all, there is always next year
To fill with promises for all to hear.
Thus, I think this team must be the best
For it surely has to fault in truth or jest
For which one could justly bring him down.
Oh no, nothing that could ever make one frown.


The Owner, Heirron

P.S. Hopefully that all came out right. It didn't really want to post. :P

Posting

Hey guys. Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I just don't have time during the day, and by evening I seriously don't want to write anymore. :P However, I do have a fun little thing to say now. Yesterday, Lucas was over (along with other family members of course, but what I have to say pertains only to him) and he very much enjoys using mi flechas, or my bow and arrows. :) Anyway, I have this old crappy bow that's about as tall as Lucas is at the moment, so I string that up for him and we get out my target and he shoots the arrows. He's four now, and is able to shoot them pretty much on his own. I help him some with knocking the arrows, and I sometimes have to remind him how to put his fingers on the string, but I'm really quite proud of his ability and desire to use the bow. In my opinion, as he gets older, he should be gotten increasingly larger bows, so that as he grows up he is more or less used to using a long bow. Then, if he sticks with it, when he is older, he'll a fantastic longbow man. :D It would also be cool if I could get him into sword fighting.

As for myself, I think I am now a better archer than I was before yesterday. After Lucas left I stayed out a while and was shooting my compound bow some. Anyway, I discovered that I was holding the bow string too far away from my face. This made the angle the arrow flew at kind of weird, and would get in the way of aiming properly. So, once I changed that and altered the way I spot my target some, my marksmanship improved a bunch. My target is funny too. I've had it for a few years now, and there is an area in the center--perhaps four or five inches in diameter--that is having a hole beaten through it. It's kind of funny to see, and it definitely means I need a new target soon. Also, my arrows aren't the greatest, and I'd really like to get one of those cool things that you put on the handle part of the bow that makes the arrow leave the bow more smoothly. Anyway, archery is fun. :)

The Owner, Heirron

Wake-skating

I got to try out the new wakeskate! :D It's super cool, and I think it has lots of potential. It's different enough that it'll take a little getting used to and all, but the amount of pop one gets out of the thing is incredible. I was getting some huge ollies out of the thing. Way bigger than I had before. I also got a pretty big wake to wake, and landed a toe-side 180 spin (not to be confused with a shove-it; the board never left my feet) to switch off the wake, which is not nearly as complicated as it sounds, but cool and somewhat difficult nonetheless. Now, it has been quite cool recently, and I am sure you are all wondering about the water temperature. I will not hesitate to inform you that it was squite shockingly cold. However, since the air was quite warm, it was fine once one was up, and after one got back in the boat. So yeah, the water was definately not the sort of temperature one could get used to, but the coldness was totally worth it. :D And there definately will not be any more runs since the boat has been winterized and the track was taken in. lol Anyway, my mom got a bunch of pictures of Todd and myself using the thing, so I'll be making a facebook album of the event soon. :D Tootles!

The Owner, Heirron

Performance

Last Sunday (yesterday), Rigel had a performance that I was helping with, and as I have told many people, and may have even posted here somewhere, I had to do a half-hour of music myself. Well, it was during the dinner portion of the vow renewal and no was really listening, so it went really well. I'm sure they heard, but I don't think they were listening. Which is also why I don't think anyone noticed when I played through the first few pieces again while the rest of the band was still setting up. :) Also, my playing went well overall, I think mostly because I didn't feel under any pressure to play perfectly like I usually do for competitions and recitals and so forth. There was also this amazingly delicious sourdough bread they had there. I ate a bunch of it, and it was super amazingly tasty. I also really need to get a glove of some sort for playing the boron, since scotch tape is really slippery and makes the stick thing hard to hold on to. :P

The Owner, Heirron

Wah! Excitement!

I'd forgotten! Something exciting did happen! Yesterday in fact!I got a new wake-skate for my birthday! (woo) I'm super excited. I just wish I didn't have to wait 6 to 7 months to use it. :P Anyway, it's a Ronix Zariel which is a by-level wake-skate (the only one they make), and weighs almost twice as much as the one we have now, which make sense since it's about the same size, but two layers instead of one. :)

Here is a side view of the board. As you can see, it has two layers. "What is the point of this?", you may ask, and the main thing I know of is that it gives one way more pop when hopping the board out of the water. The are probably other advantages too, and I just don't know about them. Anyway, I'm hoping the extra weight will make it a bit easier to control on spin tricks, and easier to land on too. So yeah, I'm really excited about it. :D

Here's a picture of the graphic.

The Owner, Heirron

P.S. If you're wondering why I got this now, instead of on my birthday, which is over a month away, the reason is that I found out about it. You see, my brother was coordinating this with my mom (it's from my brother, parents, and grandparents I believe), and I using the copier in the office or some such similar task while she was checking her e-mail. Anyway, I'd seen that she had one from Todd, though I didn't look at it. Then, as I was standing there, she says, "Oh, he found the wake-skate already." And I was all like, "What? What wake-skate?" And she was like, "What? Oh, uh, nothing, wake-skate? What wake-skate?" And I totally paused a second, and then was all, "Ooooh, I see." And things proceeded from there. Anyway, it's not like it makes much difference. :)

Gah!

Hey guy(s), sorry it's been so long. My life has become very busy, and yet managed to remain completely boring, though I'll admit that's not stopped me from posting in the past. Regardless, today I worked a 4-7 shift, and my advise to you is never, ever go to Culvers when there is a $1 burger sale. :P Seriously, it was really bad. By then end of my shift we'd run out of numbers to give people, though as I was leaving it looked like it was going to be slowing down a bit. Anyway, that was about the most ridiculous three hours of my life. But, I should stop wasting time and go read some more US gov. Sounds exciting doesn't it? :P

The Owner, Heirron

More About Bibles!

Finally! I've gotten around to making this post. :)
Now, what has struck me is that the Bible really is the best way to get to know God. What has also been driven home, is that reading the Bible is not just an intellectual endeavor. God speaks to us through His word, sometimes very powerfully. For example, a couple of weeks ago now, I was feeling very down one evening because I had a bunch of schoolwork to go over and send in, and of course my college application, and all that sort of thing that clearly wasn't going to get done that night. So feeling as sad as I was, I thought I'd go read my Bible some and talk to God about it. For a passage to read, I decided on the book of James. I'd been looking up all the references to the word "serpent" earlier I believe, and for some reason James stood out in my mind. So I flipped open to it, and editorial header for the first chapter is, "Trials and Temptations," or "Profiting from Trials." Anyway, I read through it, and it was wonderfully helpful. God came through for me when I needed Him. A similar thing happened with Psalm 28. I was once again feeling rather down, and I thought I'd read a Psalm, so I opened up to Psalm 28, which is a Psalm of crying out to God for help, with an interlude for call destruction upon the wicked, and praising God because he's heard the Psalmist's plea. So that was also very helpful to me, especially since I could directly pray it as written, or at least the first part.

Now, part of the reason I am mentioning this is to point out that I have discovered that aside from being intellectual, reading the Bible can be quite experiential. I think it is easy to assume that it is not, and until recently, I think I more or less fell into that category. Also, I believe I recall hearing that it has happened among some of the "extreme" (for lack of a better word) charismatic groups, reading and studying the Bible has been downplayed in favor of some sort of spiritual experience. Beyond the dangers of seeking spiritual experience without proper guidance from the Bible, the idea that the Bible isn't an experience, I have realized, is rather silly. What could possibly be better than to hear the very words of God himself? Also, rather than coming across as abstract emotions and feelings of possibly dubious origin, when one reads the Bible, one may hear the voice of God speaking of things specifically talking of certain things, and precisely dealing with problems (like he did for me), or giving words of praise, or faith, or instruction (for an example, please read 1 Corinthians 13, one of my favorite chapters in the Bible), or whatever.

So anyway, that is my spiel on reading one's Bible. And don't take my example on how often to do it either. :P Despite all this revelation regarding it, I have a hard time not letting other things crowd out my Bible reading time. So I would love it if 1) you all are more responsible than I am now and read your Bibles every day, and 2) if I became more responsible than I am now and read my Bible every day. lol

The Owner, Heirron