Survivor

Today my resolution was to relax. This semester has already gotten me wearing thin and exhausted. This will be a long semester. But, every weekend I had something planned, and every weekday I was crammed with responsibilities. I have had no time to sit back and relax for an entire day since the beginning of the semester.

Some of you thinking: "It's only 19 days into the semester, Ben. Man up!"

Try taking 18 credits worth of classes, class schedules that are so inconvenient that you have to stay at shcool nearly all day, writing a book, doing martial arts, working out, doing accountability group, church, working, and trying to balance a social life and a family life on top. It suuuuucckkkss.

So, to that I say: "Take a break!!"

Let me tell you, folks, I took doctor's orders (me being the doctor, of course) and was lazy all day. It was a beautiful thing. I feel so good! Tomorrow I think i'll be lazy, too.

This morning, I woke up at 12:00pm. After sleep deprivation for 19 days, my goodness, it feels like you've just slept in a mound of comfy blankets just out of the drier, froliced among the feilds of dream-land, and eaten from the fruit of awesomeness. You need to try it. I woke up and was like: "Woah!!"

Then, I discovered I was home alone (major plus, I love being home alone, then I can sing, dance, be weird, and I had no obligation to change from my jammies (which were sooooooo comfy by the way). So, with bed-head, bare feet, and an old plain white T, I got on my computer and watched the TV show Survivor.

No, before today, I had never seen survivor besides random seconds as I flipped the channels. I discovered that it is highly entertaining, and makes me want to try out as a contestant.

I wonder how you can get into survivor. I bet there are thousands of applicants, but out of those, they must choose 20. Obviously it is complete coincodense that those 20 people are attractive young people... but, if that's how they choose the contestants, then I should totally be on the top of the list. (Cough, cough)

Spear fishing, hunting lizards, owning at random tribal challenges to win prizes, and totally own and being awesome!!! How much cooler can it get? You get put on an amazingly tropical, remote island, and forced to survive. Bring it.

Yeah, so, other than my recent want to become a reality TV contestant on a tropical island for 39 days, not much is new.

My resolution for tomorrow is to find 30 things interesting reflecting on this January. (If you don't know why I picked the number 30, let me enlighten you. 30 is the number after 29, 30 is the number with one less zero of the movie "300", 30 is the age that most people realize that they actually have to grow up, 30 is the number of mini-M&Ms a belimic can eat before having to say farewell to their meal, 30 is the amount of times I have thought someone on a cell phone was talking to me and then I reply to be encountered with a really awkward situation, 30 is the number of seconds the human brain can remain sane while listening to country music (Taylor Swift obviously being exempt), and last of all, and probably the deciding factor for me to choose the number 30 is that it is the amount of days in January.

So, enjoy the list that tomorrow brings. Until then, I will be preparing for my Survivor appearance.

awwwkwwaard

So, I have officially dubbed today "Awkward day" soley based on my work shift.

First, I will briefly mention my day before work.

I hung out with Josh Gates today. I wrote an essay for him about music and our experience in a "music store" AKA, the CD section in Best Buy. It was interesting. Well, the fact that i'd write random stuff like: "We stuffed Country music CDs in our jackets in attempt to spare future customers from losing their sanity, but the five security guards did not find our motives noble".

I did not delete that sentence. I hope Josh submits it like that. Automatic A+.
So, we had a great time! =)

Now, for work. There were five awkward moments.
I introduce you to my four awkward moments.

Moment #1: Five minutes after I clocked in for work, my manager comes up to me and says "There is a couple making out in the store, and I just asked them to leave because they were making other customers uncomfortable".
Not a few seconds later, one of my Jiu Jitsu instructers walks around the corner with a girl... "Oh, Ben, I didn't know you work here..."
It was a very awkward "Well see you... laater..." kind of situation. My manager then comes up to me and says: "You know that guy?? He was the one making out in the store!!"
AWWWKWAAARRRRDDD!!!

Moment #2: I was on the register for part of the night, and I just rang up a lady, then my manager set a drink next to me. Obviously, I assumed that it was the customer's drink, so I gave it to her. It ended up being my manager's drink which was a mix of coffee and espresso... the lady had ordered a sweet drink. She came back a few minutes later and asked for her real drink.
AWWWWWKKWWWAARRRDD!!!

Moment #3: One of my friends came in to Caribou. Side note, I have not had much sleep lately. A few nights ago I satyed up almost all night on a homework assignment and still have not caught up on sleep. So, anyways, I was trying to talk to her, and my head was like totally empty, and I don't really remember what happened. I guess it's not too awkward, just the fear of her thinking i'm really weird. Hopefully my sleep deprived subconscious didn't do anything to strange without my knowledge.

Moment #4: My manager was giving change back to a customer, but accidentally put it in our tip jar instead of his hand because she had a major "brain fart". The guy what like: "Whhhaat?" Her face changed five shades of red and she apologized and kinda freaked out. Even though it didn't happen to me...
AWWWWKKWWWWAARRRDDD!!!


So, yes, I hope you found enjoyment in my awkward situations. But, i'm sure you've had some recent ones yourself. Akward moments are not uncommon.

My resolution for tomorrow is to relax totally! I need sleep and fun aside from homework assignments (not saying that they're fun...) I just need some time to myself to think, sleep, and be awesome!!!

everyday drearyday

Since I did not have time to do a blog post yesterday, I had no resolution for today.

But, I have come up with a checklist of things, that if you are experiencing, you may be at the wrong college.

Random people for no apparent reason make siren noises down the hall, not in a random funny sort of way, but in a: "Let's contact the insane asylum".

Random old ladies stare at you as if you're doing something wrong while you innocently use your laptop

Classmates stare at you when you make a face out of a puddy and make quiet screaming noises as their face distorts

Daydream of punching cute animals

Daydream of being spiderman saving your school from people

Fight off sleep while in class, then as soon as he says "That's all for today" then you perk up and have a ton of energy


And, yes... those are just a few of the things that I go through every day.

posterboard and purses

I missed blogging yesterday, so this blog is for 1/27/10

My resolution for today was to own my homework so bad, It wouldn't be able to discern whether a pencil or a pen was filling in the answers.

I succeeded.

Actually, I owned so much, I didn't have time to update my blog as a result of it.
Yesterday was my dad's birthday. So, after school, when I got home at 6:00, we all ate like 5 pounds of shrimp each (I adore shrimp), green beans, and sweet potatoes. Wow, that was a nutricious and delicious meal!
Afterwards, my dad opened his presents. Then, we all went to the movie Sherlock Holmes in the theater. I had not seen it before, and I was very surprised at how good it was. I was expecting a metiocre film, but it was truly halarious, witty, and a great plot line!

The action scenes were awesome, too.

So, overall, it was a wonderful birthday, and I think he really enjoyed it.

I had been saving a huuge homework assignment for last night. I had to draw an object in 5 different drawing styles, and put the best results on a board in a creative and presentable fashion.

First off, I can't draw. Secondly, I cannot think creatively with art. And thirdly, I had to board to put the artwork on.

I stayed up until 3:00am drawing purses (yes, that is what I picked. It is a simple object) I finally scrounged up a beat up sheild in the basement made out of poster-board, so I cut it into the shape of a purse, and put all my artwork on that.

It actually turned out very nicely, and I am actually proud of something I made in relation to art, for once in my life.

It was slightly awkward walking into school with a giant posterboard purse... so before my first class, I ran into a classroom (which was in the middle of starting) and hid the purse... they looked at me strangely, but, what are they going to do about it? Nothing!

But, i've had a headache all day now from lack of sleep. I will be having a great sleep tonight.

clip, clip

My resolution for today was to do a handstand and time myself.

I just did it about 30 minutes ago, and I am pleased to tell you that I did a handstand for 16 seconds. If you think that'd not so great, try one right now.

You impressed now?

Okay, story time. So, last night I walked downstairs to shower. I looked at myself in the mirror for a minute. I had been wanting a haircut for 3 weeks now, and it was getting way too long. It was getting so long I was getting distracted trying to breathe. That's when you know it's time to cut it. I had school in the morning, so I was like: "I want it cut right now". My mom (who always cuts my hair) was in bed already, so I grabbed the kitchen scissors and started shearing away. Mind you... I was trying to cut my bands, my sideburns, and worst of all, the back. I only had a mirror in front of me, so I guessed where to cut in the back.

When I was done it felt fine in the back, and did't look too bad in the front. About to get in the shower and call it a night, I realized that sometimes what you feel is not what it looks like in reality. So, I took a picture of the back of my head with the camera on my phone. Let me just tell you, when I saw the image I screamed. It looked like I was cancerous and my hair was falling out in the back. It looked hideous.

Desperate, I called my sister on my phone (because I didn't want to walk past my dad who was on the main level) to come down and help. When she saw me, she started panicking, then started to laugh at me. Wow, that was reassuring.

She ended up trimming it a bit in the back, then shaving my neck with my razer so it didn't look like I was loosing my hair. When she was done she giggled a little then said: "That's the best I can make it. Good luck."

So, I had to sit in my usual front row seat in my classes today. I wore a hat and a scarf in attempt to cover up the back of my hairline... but, when I got home, my mom laughed at me, and then I realized that niether my hat or scarf covered it up. Wow, that is awkward. In the words of my mom: "It looks likea little kid attacked you with a scissors."

That statement is true.

She cut it, but it still looks terrible. Thanks, Ben. Yes, 17, almost 18, year old Ben decided that he would cut his own hair with a kitchen scissors. Brilliant.

Good luck with life. =P

My reslution for tomorrow is to own at my homework. (I have a ton to do)

music and football

My resolution for today was to memorize a rap song.

I did memorize a song, but no, it was not rap. I felt more in the mood for a nice, melodic, awesome song such as: Two is Better than One from the band Boys Like Girls. It is an amazing song, and it gets stuck in your head like dried soup on your shirt... but in a positive way... imagine that you can lick the soup off the shirt later when you're hungry again. Yum yum.

So, when I tried to purchase the song Two is Better than One, I bought it, but as it was downloading, my internet shut off and had to restart. When I tried to recover the song itunes said that I had never purhcased it and it could not re-download it. It took my money, but I got no song. So, mad that I was 1.29$ closer to being broke, I bought it again... yes, it is worth 2.68$ and yes, I did do that math in my head.

I find it ironic that I had to purchase a song titled Two is Better than One twice.

At least it worked the second time, and I sang along with it and I love that song. =)

The roads were terrible today. I had to drive ten miles an hour under the speed limit to be safe... and I realized my unhealthy obsession while driving. At a stoplight, or even while driving, I have to look at the person driving next to me. I have had this habit since I was 5 years old, and at a stop light or sign, I will look at as many car drivers as possible, and yes, this sometimes mean that I will turn around completely to see them. It is very satisfying. I still don't know why I do it.

I feel like doing ballroom dancing.

Today I learned that footballs are made from pigskin. I still think it's probably made from leather and the classic term: "pigskin" is what it used to be made out of, but since we are obviously more civilized than that, we now use leather. I hope so at least. Call me overly sensitive, but it is disturbing to me to imagine throwing Porky Pig for a touchdown.

Tomorrow's resolution is to do a handstand for as long as I can and record it on my stopwatch.

these are some of my favorite things

My resolution for today was to write.

Today was interesting. I woke up at 1:00pm and accedentally slept through church. Oops. That sucks. Last night I dragged my mattress into Hannah's room and we talked in the dark, both staring up at the ceiling, until 3:00am. It was much needed brother-sister time. I don't see her half as much as I'd like since she's so busy with work and everything.

Today was very fun. Very fun. Here is what happened today:

I watched an extremely cheesy Kung Fu Jet Li movie with my dad online

I made myself a pasta dinner (aka, I preheated the oven and read the boxed instructions and put it in or the correct amount of time. I love being a gourmet chef!)

I talked to Nate T. on the phone for an hour. We laughed a lot. He convinced me to seriously consider Biola as a college. The main things that are swaying me are: Biola is in CA, it is 30 minutes away from the ocean, they have surfing lessons, the origional California Pizza Kitchen is near Biola, I could go hikiing the mountains on the weekends, the girl/boy ratio is 77/23, the founders of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) recently opened a UFC gym which is like a Lifetime fitness, but then also have martial art training, and it is only 12.5 miles away from Biola, yes, I Googled it. Oh, and not to mention tht Biola has a good writing program that publishes their writers in college.

I cranked up music on portable speakers and sang along with rap, screamo, and awesomeness. My voice kinda hurt after the screamo, but it was worth jamming out to.

I made myself chocolate milk.

I wrote a killer essay that's due tomorrow for a writing class.

I Facebook stalked friends. No, i'm not telling you guys who, because it may be you. Don't be afraid, Facebook stalking is a friendly little hobby I have. Why be scared? It's public information that I'm looking at. Like once I read every single thing on Josh Gate's wall that went back an entire year... sure, that may be kinda creepy, but it's still public information. ;) (Yeah, Josh, you probably didn't know that, hehehehe)

I smiled a lot.

I did an awesome handstand while listening to rap music... it made me feel hardcore.


So, thos were some of my favorite things. Other than what's her face from The Sound of Music, I did not have to put my list to a song... and my list was actually real, hers was far-fetched and laaaaammme. I just noticed that I really dislike her haircut in that movie. It looks like a bowl-cut.

I guess my origional intention for my resolution was to write my book, but I wrote an amazing essay, better than I would have hadn't I written the resolution, maybe. It's funny how that works out.

My resolution for tomorrow is to memorize a rap song and be able to lip sync it perfectly. I am so gangsta... ya know it bro!