motivation

How does one motivate themselves? This is a question that has been haunting me for a year now. I always get it in my mind that i would like to accomplish a goal(lose weight, learn guitar, etc) and then I don't succeed because i do not put the time or effort in to accomplish the goals I've set. How do you motivate yourself?

Update

Well i've gone to the gym for two consecutive days straight...i'm sure this must be setting some sort of record for me since i left college. I find it hard to motivate myself to go but i know in the end i have to go to be healthy. I've been trying to cook my own meals and eat out less but with my work schedule that is not always possible. I would really really like to be around 175lbs again. Hopefully i can keep up the effort.

Musings

These musings are the sole property of the brain of Michael Harper. They do reflect how scatterbrained he is. This post is not copied right from wikipedia and may be used without the expressed written consent of the National Football League

• I've started to cook my own meals a little bit more. My menu for this week is/was picante chicken, beef enchiladas, citrus salmon, asian chicken salad, and spinach pies.
• RED is once again coming into town. This time on October 24th with Brian Head Welch and Icon for Hire
• I'm taking a mini-vacation next weekend to visit leesburg and alexandria...oh and some pretty Baller-ific friends that live there.
  

Activity

So last week(ish) i wrote about feeling down in the dumps....well that hasnt really changed...except it has.

I made the mental decision to reject those feelings...and it worked! :)

Thats not to say i dont feel lonely at times...but rather that i dont allow those feelings to consume me/define me. You see, I had to actively fight off those feelings. You see, a lot of times I approach life passively...waiting for stuff to happen to me so that i can react to it...this usually ends poorly.

Hebrews 12:1(NIV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

belonging

For about the past month i've been slowly getting more and more depressed. I think a lot of it has to do with my friends moving away. In the past 3 months, 3 friends of mine have moved from HR to NoVA. I know we can all sing "friends are friends forever" but its just not the same. The thing is that I as a person desire friendships. I desire to be around people and laughing. Laughing is good.

So times like these when friends move away...i find myself feeling alone...i'm not close with my family...so i cant turn there. Where do you go to meet people that can become your friends? is there a place for that? lol

Anywho...the point is that I dont know what to do... A part of me says that God will provide at just the right time...but a part of me doubts(because i am an idiot) .

Lord, I don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

Concert what what

A while back ago i wrote a wishlists of sorts of bands i wanted to see in concert . Well I just found out that September 3rd, 3 of the bands in that top ten list will be there. Here is a preview of them in order i listed them.

1. Disciple

2. Sent By Ravens

3. TFK

Is God All Powerful

Robshep wrote an extremely awesome blog question why things happen. While He didn't state this question directly...his blog basically put forth a debate question called "the existence of sin." This argument is basically summed up as:

• The Bible says God is Controlling Everything/All powerful
• The Bible says God is Love
• Bad Stuff still Happens

Basically, the question is "are those first two points true?" Because if they are, we would not expect the last one.

I answered Rob's question with the following:


I'll preface my thoughts by stating up front that I lean slightly more towards calvinism than free will.
I truly believe that God is working through all things(its in the Bible). I also think God is in control of all things.
Matthew 10:29 states a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God willing it.
Ephesians 2:10-12 talk about how God has predestined us to certain things and that He is working all things to his will.

We look at all the bad that happened to Job(his family KILLED!) and God was behind it all. Allowing it to happen. In fact he is the one who gave permission for it to happen.
So if i truly believe God is in control..the question switches from "does everything happen for a reason" to "why does God allow bad things to happen?"

I was in Denver when Columbine happened. For so long people questioned why God would allow this to happen. Yet I also remember the story of Rachel Scott which brought many to their knees before Jesus. We was working this incident to bring people to him.

I think the key in all this is our definition of GOOD in romans 8:28. So many times i interpret that as MY good. Rather everything God is doing is for eternal good/aka His Glory.

Lastly...I believe that we perceive ourselves to have free will. But God created us and formed us in the womb. He knew the decisions we would make...and he created us to be the person that made those decisions. We can not surprise God with our decisions. I dont think God reacts surprised to us and then pulls together a plan around our mistakes. That takes away sooo much of Gods power. I do believe that we make decisions...but those decisions have been ingrained in our being but the God who created us. I personally lean towards calling that "predestination" but i understand the argument for free will.

What are your thoughts?

Musings(A Break From Songs As It Were)

These musings are the sole property of the brain of Michael Harper. They do reflect how scatterbrained he is. This post is not copied right from wikipedia and may be used without the expressed written consent of the National Football League

• Green Lantern flopped at the movie theaters. This did not surprise me..you know why: Ryan Reynolds. Hasn't the past 10 of comedy central shown us that Ryan doesn't make a good lead actor....or really a good actor at all.
• Transformers 3 did not flop...no accounting for peoples taste for explosions i guess.
• Future of Forestry and Falling Up have been my go-to bands for the past month.
• Tomorrow RED will be in concert in VA and i have to miss it :(
• I got a google+ account....its not anything special...sort of reminds me of linked in(thats not a compliment)
• I feel like i'm seriously lacking motivation...for anything...at all..ever
  

30 Day Song Challenge day 16 - a song that you hear often on the radio

I'm changing up the list a little of my own accord...i was getting really tired of "omg i hate this song now" post that it wanted me to do. The truth is I dont hate any song and every song i have at the very least allows me to reminisce back to that time period and usually puts a smile on my face.

Anywho...I very rarely listen to the radio when i am in the car as I tend to enjoy my peace and bc their aren't a ton of good radio stations. Also, bc the one station i do enjoy has tons of static in Yorktown/Hampton. :( But on the rare occasions where i do listen to the radio, this song ALWAYS plays....and honestly i can not complain...except for the fact its so catchy

Avalanche by Manafest

30 Day Song Challenge day 15 - a song that describes you

Gosh this is hard. I dont think a song can capture the essence of Michael Harper. I feel i'm a very hard person to describe by nature. One of my favorite quotes is by Ralph Ellison when he said:

"And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man."

Basically saying I define who I am and really dont wish to be defined.

If i had to choose some songs it would be

White and Nerdy - Weird Al
Jekyll and Hyde - Petra
This is a Call - TFK

30 Day Song Challenge day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love

WOW. This one is really hard because I feel no matter what i post somebody will say they knew i liked that song. So this is going to be a multiple song post. I feel like the following songs go against people perceptions of me and they are all songs i love.

A whole bunch of people believe/know i'm not a huge fan of country music...but i love this song


A lot of people see me as really chill and not one to "rock out". I'm assuming these are the same people who believe i <3 Josh Groban(aka people who dont know me well). This song is awesome and comes from a band i've seen in concert twice:


and last but not least...lets throw some Manafest down

30 Day Song Challenge day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure

I dont know if I have a song that is a guilty pleasure. I feel a guilty pleasure by definition is something you are a little embarrassed of but still like it anyways. I like to figure myself as immune to be embarrassed by pretty much anything. I guess if i had to choose a song it would be the following song that represents my love of nerdy parodies and video games.

30 Day Song Challenge day 12- a song from a band you hate

Man I dont like the negativity of throwing an entire band of under the bus. Especially if I have heard all their music. Also, I'm not sure I can think of a band i HATE. So instead this blog will be about a song from a band that I do not like...but I am a HUGE fan of this song:
The song is Miseria Cantare(The Beginning) by AFI

The beat is really sweet and the vocals are hypnotic...Watch how this crowd acts to the song being performed

30 Day Song Challenge day 11 - a song from your favorite band

HAHAH! Yes! I've been waiting for this one for soooo long. This is the very first song from RED on their very first record. This song is what hooked me to RED. I've now seen them 3 times in concert. This song has EVERYTHING:

Strings
Screams
Guitars
Sick Vocals
Guitar Spins(the twins spin their guitars in unison when they perform this in concert: its sick.



Also,
Check out some of these lyrics


And this is how it feels when I ignore the words you spoke to me
And this is where I lose myself when I keep running away from you
And this is who I am when, when I don't know myself anymore
And this is what I choose when it's all left up to me

Breathe your life into me
I can feel you
I'm falling, falling faster
Breathe your life into me
I still need you
I'm falling, falling
Breathe into me
Breathe into me

30 Day Song Chalenge day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep

I don't know if there is any song that "makes" me fall asleep. I feel like this is kinda like asking "what is the most boring song you've listened to?" I dont like that question. So instead I'm going to change it to "What is a song that you can fall asleep to and/or that helps you fall asleep? Yes Yes that sounds much more pleasant. It also leads to an answer. This means the song must be a slow moving soft song that helps you reach peace. I can only think of one song that this applies to:

The Dark Side of Indoor Track Meets by Falling Up

As a side note, the video i link to right there won an award at the 2008 Fargo Film Festival for Best Music Video. I love falling up(as has been evident by my constant tweets about there new CD "your sparkling death cometh" which if you dont have you should go buy..now....no seriously i'll wait...................)

Anyways, the music is original and beautiful and melodic and the vocals are perfect.

A special side note should also be put in that this was really hard to choose between Falling Up and Future of Forestry.

30 Day Song Challenge day 09 - a song that you can dance to

This is so easy! I went to ODU for 4 years and went to every single men's basketball game. That means I can dance to

Ice Cream and Cake by the Buckwheat Boyz

ODU BABY!

30 Day Song Challenge day 08 - a song that you know all the words to

Well to be fair I know the lyrics to pretty much every song I own. I have a fairly good memory and i'm a huge fan of strong lyrics and/inane lyrics. Mainly what i am trying to get at is I like to know what I am listening to.

However, I ended up choosing Bounce by TFK

This song is from the CD Phenomenon. It was my first "rock" cd i ever heard. See in the house i grew up in, drums and electric guitars could probably be considered the worst thing ever. We were listening to edgy music when we listened to "Shout to the Lord" So one day when i was at the library I noticed this CD in the "christian" section and convinced my mom to let me check it out. To this day it remains one of my favorite cd's and i can quote every song by heart.

30 Day Song Challenge day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event

This is another easy one. The song i chose is Switchfoot - Meant to Live

Switchfoot was my first concert. EVER. It was a really fun experience. I even got to do the VIP experience. However, my biggest memory of the event was getting in line for autographs for the band right after this song played. We were going to go beforehand but honestly i didn't want to miss this experience live. So, i'm waiting there in line as the concert finishes up, and the stop the autograph line RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. I was super bummed. Luckily my girlfriend at the time had a father who was the head of security. He snuck us backstage and I got to talk to Jon Foreman and they gave us their picks from the show. A TOTALLY awesome experience.

30 Day Song Challenge day 06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere

Going to make this one really quick since its the weekend. I'll actually give you a TON of songs that remind me of somewhere.

The location: Camp Hope Haven

I worked as a camp counselor there for 6 years and it was so challenging but it was so amazing. Part of the fun was taking events that happened at camp and turning them into songs. So visit this sight and listen to many of the famous songs of Hope Havec.

30 Day Song Challenge day 5 - a song that reminds you of someone

Here Comes Santa Claus Reminds me of Santa Claus..does that count? Or the little drummer boy reminds me of the little baby jesus(you thought i was going to say the drummer boy didnt you?!)

I also didn't want this post to be about songs that were "our songs" while i was dating girls cuz that is sooo boring/passe/angsty.

So I finally decided that I would choose a song that reminds me of a lot of someones:

College Kids by Relient K

This song reminds me of so many experiences during college and all my friends. Having friends who struggled with school, the dating scene, and with wondering what the point of college is totally epitomizes my college life. It was always a blast.

Also i've realized school teaches you nothing and being able to create my own degree with calligraphy would be awesome.

30 Day Song Challenge day 04 - a song that makes you sad

I can't really think of a song that makes me sad. When i listen to music the last emotion i want to feel is sadness so i don't think i listen to music that does that. I'm aware that i could just do an easy out and say Simple Plan or The Christmas Shoes BUT...neither of those are my sad songs. Nope. My sad song is a song that literally made me cry every time i heard it as a young lad:


The Melody Within

Now why did this song make me cry?

Well if you have never seen the 1993 movie Rigolleto then you are missing out...well not really but sorta. Is a off shoot of beauty and the beast/ phantom of the opera. Bonnie(the chica doing the singing) has been trained by the big bad "monster" Ribaldi. Over the movie you find out he is actually kind hearted/loving. Bonnie leaves to go and perform this song at the national competition. While she is away the villagers storm Ribaldi's mansion and...


SPOILER ALERT

They kill him.


It still makes me sad actually :(

30 Day Song Challenge day 03 - a song that makes you happy

This is easy. There is one song that whenever I hear it will instantly make me smile. That song my friends is the smooth stylings of The Friendly Indians singing I Know You Know
Do I really have to explain this? Psych is a HI-LARIOUS tv show. And this is the theme song to the show. Its been done with a Christmas theme, in spanish, performed Bollywood style in Hindi, covered by Boyz II Men and Tears for Fears. Its awesome. And I always know that once it plays i can sit down for an hour be prepared to relax and laugh.

30 Day Song Challenge day 02 - your least favorite song

Wow. I think the popularist in me wants to say Friday By rebecca black or Baby by Justin Beiber. But i love the parodies of those songs so obviously i don't HATE them. That means I have to look for a song that I've listened to and gone "no, that is not for me." And also i wanted to make sure it was something i felt comfortable linking to on my blog.

That said I'm going to go With Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over by The Devil Wears Prada

I just dont like the song at all. I like my fair share of screamer music(Underoath, August Burns Red, Demon Hunter) but this song seems inane and isn't very coherent and lacks good guitar work. It just noise.

30 Day Song Challenge, Day 01 - Your Favorite Song

So my friend Sean is doing this and I need to blog more. I figured it couldn't hurt to try it as well. We start off with a hard question. What is my favorite song? I feel like that is such a vague question, similar to asking what my favorite ingredient in food is(flour...no wait salt...no wait...um mm milk...dang it!). I preface this to say that this song is currently the most played song on this iteration of my itunes install.

But first...the criteria. Any song I like must have solid vocals. I really don't like wimpy vocalist who are soft and quite. I also like my lead singer to have good enunciation(which means screamers are out).

My favorite song currently is: Believe - The Letter Black

First lets look at the song musically. I'm a huge fan of strings in music(see my love of RED). Sarah Anthony has a great voice similar to an Amy Lee and Lacey Sturm. However, she also gets to play off the great voice of her husband Marc.

Lyrically this song is simple yet profound

"I'm not afraid anymore
Of what I don''t know
Believe (I put my faith)
In the unknown
Believe (I put my my hope)
In God alone
Have faith in what you don't know "

Its simple and beautiful and reminds me a lot of Never Alone by BarlowGirl(which is probably top 3 songs I've listened to the most EVER.

Musings

These musings are the sole property of the brain of Michael Harper. They do reflect how scatterbrained he is. This post is not copied right from wikipedia and may be used without the expressed written consent of the National Football League

• My Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Finals! WOOT!
• A band i really like called falling up is releasing a new cd called "you sparkling death cometh" and you can check out one of the songs here
• Looking at the title i was really hoping it was an announcement that Edward and all vampires were going to die.
• I ate at Orapax last night...I love their greek food. If you are ever in Norfolk you should go there. Period.
• I am working an 18 hour shift today so lets hope i get home alive.
  

Identity

In the 11th grade we were asked to read a book on our own accord and write a paper about it. I looked through the list of books like Pride and Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities, etc and saw nothing special. I ended up picking Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. This book ended up affecting me sooo much. To make a long story short, the book can be summarized by this quote from the last few chapters:

"And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man."

I love this idea of finding peace in your identity. On Sunday, Marvin taught about Romans 12 and how if we as Christians focus on Christ and surrender to Him, He places us to our God given talents to their best. It was a reminder of this thought of identity

Then YESTERDAY, Red released their video for Feed The Machine. Now whether or not you like this style of music, the video is powerful and echoes this thought. Enjoy!

Musings

These musings are the sole property of the brain of Michael Harper. They do reflect how scatterbrained he is. This post is not copied right from wikipedia and may be used without the expressed written consent of the National Football League

• Really excited about my Mavs being in the NBA finals. I'm really scared that we may get destroyed. First game is tonight! lets go Dirk!
• Speaking of Dirk, he is probably the player i model my own Bball game after...off balance shots...except mine don't go in as frequently
• I love the uproar over the OSU scandal....is anyone really surprised that athletes are getting benefits/preferential treatment? This isn't a NCAA problem...its an educational system problem...even in middle school I knew the athletes got specific privileges.
• I feel like a big upheaval is about to happen in my life...i have no clue what it is...but i can feel it coming
  

Passion

As the greatest muse of our time once said

"Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?"

If you don't recognize that,its the beginning to Lose Yourself by Eminem.
So the question I have for you is what is it that you are trying to capture? What is your passion? What drives you to the next thing? Is it accruing more money? Is it accruing more praise? What makes you want to jump out and grasp the moment?

These are questions I can't help but ask myself. As a Christian guy my motivation should be Christ. Period. But too often i get distracted. I do go hard after money/praise/recognition. What can stop me from this?

The Gospel

Concert Wishlist

The other day I was thinking about concerts that I actively want to go to. Here is a rundown of some bands I HAVE NOT seen before that i would love to see in person

1. Disciple
2. House of Heroes
3. Sent by Ravens
4. The letter Black
5. Rev Theory
6. Saliva
7. Breaking Benjamin
8. Flyleaf
9. Anything fronted by Josh Brown(formerly of Full Devil Jacket/Day of Fire
10. Thousand Foot Krutch

musings

These musings are the sole property of the brain of Michael Harper. They do reflect how scatterbrained he is. This post is not copied right from wikipedia and may be used without the expressed written consent of the National Football League

• Now that I've moved to Hampton the first things on my to-do list are to find a good pizza joint and a good mexican joint.
• also buying blinds...you know the old saying "people in glass houses shouldn't run around naked"...or something like that.
• I'm really excited about the Mavs doing well in these playoffs. also really excited about Man U clenching another EPL title.
• Speaking of Man U, they play Barcelona on May 28th for the title of "Best team in the known Universe"
• For some reason I've been blasting Lecrae non-stop this weekend. #thuglife

Craziness

This has been a week full of craziness. I ended up not moving last week bc some last minute stuff fell through with the house. I had to extend the lease on my apartment(which luckily they let me do) and am now hoping to close some time this week.

I got to go to Alter Bridge in concert last night. Those guys are so good on guitar it is unfair. Was a really fun concert and was definitely a night of relaxation that i needed.

Buying a house(why i have not blogged in forever)

Sorry about the lack of blogging on my front...but i've been too busy BUYING A HOUSE. I'm excited/scared/nervous/overwhelmed/happy. A big reason i decided to buy is bc i didn't want to be one of those people who just rents forever. I really feel like renting is a black hole for my money(you get no ROI).

On the other news front...my friend Sean of the fabulous http://acegface.blogspot.com just got married. YAY! Sean is a super cool guy and his wedding was a blast. I believe my favorite portion was watching sean awkwardly dance...it made me feel better about my own dancing.

PSN is down and its been a weird period of no online play..and *GASP* hackers are to blame. Its all good though as its giving me more time to read(Game of Thrones) and play SC2.(GO TERRAN!)

Hopefully once i settle down here in a bit i can get back to regularly blogging

musings

These musings are the sole property of the brain of Michael Harper. They do reflect how scatterbrained he is. This post is not copied right from wikipedia and may be used without the expressed written consent of the National Football League

• Is there a better meal than bacon and eggs with toast? I submit that there is not.
• In about a month I'll be seeing Alter Bridge in concert...woot woot
• Also, in about a month I will be moving out of my current apartment.
• Hopefully I'll be moving into a house!
• I'm going to miss having roommates.
• Offering rooms for $300 a month in my house...don't worry it goes to a good cause(my mortgage)
• Looks like its tennis season again..I started out this season with a resounding whimper...losing to Sean Coleman(SEANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!)
• Also looking like basketball will be nice to play.
• I like pizza.
  

Accountability

Roughly on January 1st, I wrote a blog about how I wished to lose weight. I pined about how i was going to eat healthy and work out more and get in tip top shape. Guess what? I did not lose any weight. I look back now and reflect on why I didn't get in shape, it all comes down to one word... "accountability". Mainly the fact that I had none. No one to push me into the gym on the days i didn't want to go. No one to ask me if i was sticking to my diet. No one to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Now think about all the other portions of your life. Your relationships, your work...are you accountable in those? How about your spiritual walk? Who are you accountable to? Sure you can have intentions on reading the bible more...of growing in your spiritual walk. But who is the person that pushes you when you need it? I find i fail at doing things on my own. Its a necessity for me to walk through life with accountability.

Shock and Awe

Shock and Awe...roughly my reaction to getting to meet my favorite band in person for the first time. On sunday, I got to meet all the guys of RED and chill on their tour bus for the RED Acoustic Experience. Since I'm sure RED doesn't me spoiling all the goodness I will simply say it is well worth the money to attend. The guys were definitely chill and joked around with the entire group of 6 that got to attend this experience.The RED guys rocked out the start of Winterjam and judging by the line at their merch table throughout the night it seems like they made some new fans.

But one thing bothered me....throughout the night I heard people judging the band for the style of music they play. This shocked me. Do we really believe God is limited to a particular style of praise? I feel God desires glory and we should give it to him. He tells us to make a loud noise and fill the earth with song...no matter whether that be rock, hip-hop, heavy metal, or pop. In the end, as long as the object of our affection is God, the style of our music should not matter.

Here's the bracket

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Not saying its perfect. I like ODU to get to Sweet Sixteen this year but i can't honestly put us past KSU. I stayed prettty true to the numbers in seeding.

Also, lets play a game of blind resume. In this game we look at three teams resumes and decide which team deserves to be in the tourni:

Team A: 21-11 ( 9-7), RPI: 60, SOS: 88
Team B: 23-11 (12-6), RPI: 53, SOS: 87
Team C: 21-13 ( 8-8), RPI: 65, SOS: 68
Team D: 22-8 (12-4), RPI: 30, SOS: 76

Guess what? Team B with the better in Conference record and RPI is VCU. Team C does have a harder strength of schedule but loss more games and did worse in Conference...that team is the Colorado Buffoloes. Team D is the UAB Blazers who everyone is complaining about...and team A? the one no one would choose of those 4? The one with the easiest SOS? That would be VT. Don't give me that VT got robbed.

ODU Monarchs 2011-2012

As ODU just punched its ticket to the big dance, i can't help but start looking forward to next year...and honestly I'm scared. For the first time in a the time I've been at ODU, the question "where will the points come from?" is a valid concern. Here's a look at ODU's line-up for next year and what we'll need from each of them.

Nick Wright Nick needs to get physical and quick. Right now he has a little too much panic in the post. He needs to calm down, go through his reads and make smart decisions.
Josh Hicks Josh is a combo guard who is suppose to be very good from Outside. Haven't seen a ton from him this year but we'll need him to step up in a big way soon.
Dimitri Batten Dimitri Redshirted this year and will likely step into the Josh Hicks role...meaning he gets meaningless minutes at the end of games to prove his metal.
Trian Iliadis Trian needs consistency. Trian took a big step up in his game showing less fear and scoring more points for it. Now if we can get a consistent 10+ points from him.
Chris Cooper Coop needs to be dominate inside. Work on developing your offense to the basket.
Marquel De Lancey -Likely to start splitting time with Donte Hill, we need Marquel to play smart and pass well. Also continue to work on the jumper.
Richard Ross or as I like to call him, mini-Baze. This guy is EXPLOSIVE. He needs to follow the Bazemore model and work on his jump shot. I see Ross as a breakout guy for ODU next year.
Kent Bazemore Baze has got to be the preseason CAA player of the year...and he's going to need to earn that title throughout the season if ODU is to do well.
Anton Larsen Anton will provide Nick Wright duty this coming year meaning he will play every game and will need to play with energy. Learn to grab rebounds and you'll be cheered for years.
Jason Pimentel Probably going to be redshirted but he is obviously the upcoming replacement for Frank
Breon Key Probably going to be redshirted but he is obviously the upcoming replacement for Finney
Donte Hill- Donte is a transfer from Clemson(the first transfer in Blaine Taylor's history). Hopefully Donte brings that ACC athleticism and attacks the basket while maintaining good vision of the floor

Pondering

I never quite know what the content of this blog should be. Sometimes i'll write an entire blog post and then delete it because i think it sounds too melodramatic. I try to keep things a bit lighthearted but also touch on some key things that are happening in my life. Its a super fine line and I guess I toe it well.

All that being said...I'm struggling. Spiritually, emotionally, physically....i feel like i've checked out of a lot of things. My New Years resolution was to get in shape...yet i made no realistic strides towards that progress. When I came to WEC my resolution was to grow spiritually and socially. Some days i feel i'm accomplishing those goals...others not so much. For the first time in my life...I feel like I am waiting for something to happen. Part of me wants to go out and do things my way..but i learned long ago that is a recipe for disaster...so i sit here..waiting..listening..and praying.

Top 25 Most Played List

Currently on twitter, my friend Sean of the fabulous http://acegface.blogspot.com/ and I have been playing around with a hashtag #25mostplayedlist . This has been a nice fun diversion for us and its been very interesting comparing our lists. So far my list is:

25 - The Feel Good Drag: Anberlin
24 - Ladies and Gentlemen:Saliva
23 - Rollin:Big & Rich
22 - Miseria Cantare:AFI
21 - Ooh Aah(My life be like):grits
20 - after the world:disciple
19 - This is it:Jonah33
18 - Carry on my wayward son:kansas
17 - the kill:30 seconds to mars
16 - the dark side of indoor track meets:falling up
15 - Step Up:drowning pool
14 - Bring me to life:Evanescence


As you can see my music taste range all over the place(also shown by only 1 artist showing up twice in my top 25 list). I have country, rap, and rock all representing. So what about you? Want to join in on the hashtag madness? What is your #1 most listened to song?

Heart Shaped Candy

I thought about writing an entire post today listing the reasons I hate Valentines Day...but I'm not that much of a scrooge.


When I was a kid my favorite part of VDay was getting free candy from my fellow classmates...it was like a mini-Halloween except without all the nasty Candy Corn. I think the most common candy was the Chalk Tasting Heart Shape Candy(white was my favorite flavor). On each Heart was written romantic words like "Hug Me"or "I love you". Also Spiderman VDay cards were the best. I never did figure out why handing those outs didn't make the ladies swoon ;)

Super Bowl Mind Dump

How did you spend your Super Bowl? We had my 55 inch LED tv hooked up in the living room with a 22 inch LCD connected in the dining room so you could grab food and not miss the game.

On the menu was such greats as Pizza, taquitos, chili, and chips & dip.

The commercial winners for our group seemed to be Pepsi Max and Doritos. That being said i still won't ever drink Pepsi Max.

On Half Time, while it did exceed some of the groups expectations, the black eye peas are just not a super bowl halftime show act. In fact the biggest reaction from the group came when Slash showed up before Fergie started murdering "Sweet Child O' Mine".

The group as a whole was rooting for the Packers so we were very happy with the results.

Some betting lines we would have hit if we actually gambled: The word "brave" being held for longer than 6 seconds and Aaron Rodgers as super bowl MVP

Betting Line we would have loss: christina aguilera singing the anthem correctly.

Music

Most of yall know I am absolutely a huge fan of the band RED. Well today they released their newest CD Until We Have Faces based on C.S. Lewis novel of the same name. If you want a quick listen you can currently hear it here

I've already listened through it a few times and it exceeded my expectations.


Also set your calenders for May 8th, Alter Bridge will be hitting it up at the norva!

Here We Go....

Decided for a far more fun post this week. Just wanted to throw some things that have been in my mind out there.

• February is A) a really hard month to spell...I mean seriously who ever heard of the u before a rule? B)The shortest month..which is awesome because that means March gets here quicker. 3)The month billions of roses die.

• So I've been thinking about the incredible hulk recently. In the movies/comics, bruce banner's wife is the only person who can talk him out of Hulk state back into his real persona. I think this is unrealistic. Really? The person you spend all your time with is ALWAYS going to get you less angry? Wonder what fights in that household are like.

• My birthday is coming up...in March. Did I mention February is a really slow month. I hope i get something awesome.
  

Opening Up

Relationships...Friendships...Acquaintanceships(that's a real word right?). All of these revolve around being real and opening up to another person. The struggle for me has not been finding people to talk to. My struggle has not been finding people who will open up to me. Rather my struggle is opening up to others. I'm struck with this fear that if others saw me I would not be accepted.

Rob talked on Sunday about the thought of man's dependence upon relationships with man. That God has inherently created within us a desire to be with other people. But i think it goes much deeper than that. The verse Rob used was Genesis 2:18: Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” I think this verse is bigger than friends...i think its bigger than people in your life. I think what this verse points to is a longing for companionship. A person who you share your life with. Everything. That one close friend who always walks beside you.

For many years in my life this need was filled in me by my best friends. Guys who I hung out with everyday quite literally. Right now I seem to have lost this. Sure I have some amazing friends(shout out to my CG peeps Sean, Casey, and Meghan), but I have yet to find what i consider true companionship. Someone who is like a brother or a sister to me.

Sometimes I feel like i'm living the song stain glass masquerade by casting crowns:

"So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them"

Rubik's Cube

I can solve Rubik's Cubes. This is the direct result of a 1.5 hour bus ride to and from high school for 4 years. There are tons of different ways the Rubik's Cube can be scrambled. However, the way to fix it is always the same. There is a set of patterns that I can always use to always fix the cube back into position.

Sometimes, I try to treat my life like a Rubik's Cube. No matter the position i try to use the same fixes for different situations. I'm not sure this is the best. As I thought more, I realized that I'm not put in cookie cutter situations that have generic answers. Each situation..each trial...is specifically for me and for a certain purpose. When I realize this it makes it more imperative that I stay still and calmly wait for an answer to be shown to me.

Calender It Up

So some big things coming up on the calender that I wanted to make note of for myself:

January 14th-I will be going to see Anberlin and Circa Survive perform at the national in Richmond. SHould be a good show. Will be my first time seeing Anberlin live.

Febuary 14th-Single's Awareness Day!!!-my absolutely least favorite holiday that we celebrate.

March 14th- My Birthday!!! Probably the best Holiday we celebrate. Also known as PI day(3.14 get it?) I share my bday with Albert Einstein....now if i only shared the intelligence.

March 20th-I'll be hitting up the RED acoustical experience before winter Jam at the Scope. Basically I get to Meet the band, get a FREE ticket to WinterJam and get to go in the doors EARLY with the band. Get a free poster, get pictures, autographs AND a free acoustic show ON THE BUS.

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Now that that's done on to the blog post proper. Something that has been going through my mind is that i wish asking someone on a date didn't have all the social ramifications associated with it. While I'm alright with being rejected by a girl, what really sucks is knowing that if she does reject you that the level of friendship you currently share will never be the same again. I'd say this singular thought has paralyzed me most with my dating or lack thereof.

conversations.

so yes i am totally blogging this from my phone. anywho this one will be short and simple. i love having conversations. they can be funny,intellectual, spiritual, or just inane, i love them all. ive been having some really awesome conversations of recent with a good friend. one thing that was noted is that personal communication is better than group communication bc it is more focused. this really spoke truth into my spiritual life. doesnt god also desire one on one personal communication with us? yes group communication such as church or cg sees god doing work, but i firmly believe that the most meaningful conversations we have with god are in our quiet time with him