Resisting Loadstone Rock

New Blog

2010-09-14T14:47:00.002-04:00

I am not my own any longer. As such, I have started a new blog at kyleandtrish.blogspot.com

See ya over there!

camp four (part three)

2009-08-16T16:59:00.002-04:00

A few minutes later, when the boys were settled down, I heard a crash and a bunch of stunned sounds from the boys. I looked over and the top bunk was on the bottom part of the bunk, with two boys on top of the pile and one in between the two. The top bed had fallen down, so I ran over and unpinned Josh who was trapped under the fallen bunk. He was ok, and the only thing that was broken was Alex's hair brush. Which, don't get me wrong, was a big loss, but I wasn't too bothered. This attracted quite a bit of attention, with large groups of people standing around; it was pretty entertaining for all involved.

Sam had told them bedtime stories the last two nights, and they wanted me to tell one the last night. I told them I would grab a guitar instead, and I played a few songs, and then played some instrumental stuff until some of them were asleep. I only tell you this because its the first time that I felt like knowing how to play guitar was useful, and the first time I didn't feel inadequate when I played. Tyler is this how you feel all the time?

They like to do that sing a song (name, name) sing a song, song at meal times; hopefully you know what I'm talking about because that was the most confusing sentence I've written in the last four sentences. At least. On the last day I was nominated, and I did the “little bunny in the woods” song, in memory of Rusty and Amy. Shout outz.

Also on the last day, Page, the girl that had a vendetta against me from the mud swing, won camper of the day. Her prize was to choose two people for a shoot out, and the loser gets pied with shaving cream. Guess who won? I was put in as the goalie, and an englishman was put in as the one who was to score on me. I stopped one, but a couple of minutes later I was kneeling before her and her plate of shaving cream, and a couple of minutes and thirty seconds later every part of my head was covered in shaving cream. I still don't think she likes me, but I can check the roster before I come again in future years.

uh, I gotta go. kbye.

camp four (part two)

2009-08-15T05:43:00.004-04:00

Now I'll give you a little more detail into what goes on in camp. Things like being awakened at 5 in the morning by a vacuum cleaner, a flashlight, and a video camera in my face by the camp director and programmer.

Because they thought it would be funny, thats why.

I was on ropes course all week, which is my favorite activity to lead. Mostly because the guys love it, and the girls love it once you give them enough encouragement. Apparently being suspended 10 feet in the air on ropes and boards, and swinging 15 feet across a couple of them can be kinda scary, I don't know. They almost always don't think they can do it, and then they do it. Its awesome. On Wednesday 9 of the boys from my dorm were on it, and it was a blast. They loved it, and didn't kill each other. Well, at least until the end, when it came time for the mud swing where you try to get the other person in the mud; they tried to kill each other then, but I stopped them. Oh, the day before I did make an enemy when I threw one of the smaller girls into the mud because she wasn't muddy enough after being on the mud swing. She was 9, and didn't weigh much, but apparently pretty smart. More on that later.

the mud swing

The last night was epic. Everything went perfectly how it should in a guys dorm; I'll explain. After the movie we had quite a lot of time before lights out, and the room was getting pretty messy so Sam (my fellow dorm leader, a little on the by the book, follow the rules end of the spectrum) told them to clean up. When they didn't listen, he got a little frustrated, so I asked if he wanted to go get ready for bed. Hah, that sounds harsh, but it wasn't really, you had to be there to understand. Fine, don't believe me. Its true, and I don't need you to. I then told the boys to clean up the room so that they wouldn't break there ankles when they were having their pillow fight, and the trash was picked up in record time. About two minutes later pillows were soaring through the air (I faded to the background...), and 10 minutes later they were pretty exhausted. Which was good, because I was afraid Sam would come in without his smile, and I could get them to stop before he did. Everyone was happy.

I'm going to break this into three parts in all, so I'll post the rest tomorrow.

camp four

2009-08-14T13:34:00.004-04:00

I definitely hit the ground running here at the Oakes, it's good that I started to get over jet lag in Liverpool. I'm not complaining, but am pretty exhausted. What you are about to experience is an entire fourish days of camp crammed into two wall post, so hold on.

There were 12 kids in my dorm this week, and most of them were out of control crazy, but I loved it. We rarely got points for “quietest dorm” either at bed time or meal times, and usually a shovel would have been the most effective tool for cleaning off the table after meals, but I learned a lot this camp about being friends with the boys while maintaining an authoritative figure. Thank God that I had their respect from early on, and the kids listened pretty well. All of them said they were Christians, but I don't think any of them followed Jesus, or even believed a lot of the Bible. By the end they were listening a lot more attentively to meetings and dorm times, so pray that the seeds that were planted in these kids will grow.

Here is a rundown of the schedule on a typical day of a three night camp:

8:30 breakfast

9:30 meeting (the speaker has a lesson)

11:00 activities (ropes, rc cars, rafts, craft, wall, archery or mini golf)

12:15 dorm time (my co-dorm leader and I split the boys to talk about the earlier meeting, or whatever)

12:45 lunch

2:00 activities (choice of the above activities)

3:45 whole camp game

5:30 tea

6:45 meeting

8:00 game and bonfire, or movie, depending on the day

10:00 lights out (ya, right)

I'll fill you in on the details tomorrow. It was the best time I've had dorm leading, and some crazy things happened.

transition

2009-08-11T06:28:00.003-04:00

I do have to say a little more about my time in Liverpool before I move on to the Oakes, because there's one story that MUST be told. But first a little background. I learned a lot about Muslim culture from being with them so much, and advice from the team. Eat with your right hand, eat what's immediately in front of you on your plate, don't point the soles of your feet out at them, don't pee in the cleansing basin that they wash their faces in, etc. hahaha I laugh every time I think about this; this is legendary.
One of the things Muslims are absolutely religious about is cleanliness before worshiping, before eating, and maybe other times. You shouldn't even have bad breath, so you clean everything. There is a washing basin to clean your face in, and when one of the team members had to use a restroom, he found something that looked enough like a toilet to satisfy his needs. When the team leader found out about it, he obviously couldn't make a scene, so there was a kind of restrained excitement when he told ryan “kevin just pissed in the cleansing basin!”, and they just sat there having one of those muffled fits of uncontrollable laughter. This happened before I came, so I wasn't there, but that was about the first story I heard about Kevin, and I think it's the best story I've ever heard, someone defiling the place where Muslims clean their faces. We think the only higher level of defilement you could have is someone taking a crap in the washing basin, and that would be unbelievably hilarious; imagine finding a turd in the place where you're about to wash your face! Haha maybe this reveals my immaturity, but this is SO FUNNY!!! ok, I've gotta go be responsible now.

(i wrote the above a couple days ago, and i'm finally caught up to real time)

The Oakes is great, everything is just how left it (except the theme, which is spy academy this year, and is sweet), the team is great. At this point I probably know about a quarter of them from last year, but next week there will be a huge reunion of most people from last year; its going to be epic. Sometimes I feel like I've stumbled across this other world that only a few people get to experience, like its some sort of fantasy world that you come accross in a closet. As a dorm leader you're instantly a huge role model, and its becoming easier and easier to connect with the kids.

I've acclimated much more quickly this time, and its starting to feel more like home at the Oakes. I got to that point at the end of last year, and it's carried over pretty well this year. I think the people here have a lot to do with that, but its partly the building, the way things are run, and the atmosphere that seems to be pretty similar no matter who is here. The aim is to make this camp the best camp the campers have ever had, no matter which camp it is. Excellence is pretty universal, and the camp leaders are always solid. I'm going to go take pictures now, sorry there aren't any for this post. I'll have a few next time. Cheers

leg 1

2009-08-09T09:03:00.004-04:00

So, turns out scheduled blogging was a terrible idea. Thanks Ross. No, in theory it's a great idea, I just don't have scheduled times to blog, which makes scheduled blogging difficult.

My first leg of the trip is finished, and it was absolutely phenomenal. I visited a mosque, took an Arabic class, ate way too much food at a Yemenese restaurant, and got a tattoo. Well, I got some sweet henna, and I don't care what you say, it looks BA. I met a guy who grew up near the city that Osama Bin Laden lived (Sayeed still doesn't think Osama had anything to do with the twin towers). I also met a Kurdish guy who was SO cool, he speaks way too many languages, comes from Syria, and by the end of the trip was stoked about his new Bible; he texted some of the guys at three in the morning saying how pumped he was to have it. I met a girl from Beijing who knew almost nothing about Christianity, and was “looking for a religion,” so I got to tell her about the life of Jesus, and the girls invited her to dinner the next night. And this is all in Liverpool! There's so much Muslim culture here its unbelievable. And ya, I went to the Beetles museum and saw where Ringo Star and Paul McCartney and John Lennon used to live, but that was more for you than for me.

We stayed in pretty much the worst part of Liverpool; when I arrived I heard stories of how the team leader's house was broken into a few weeks ago by two masked men, who he scared away by growling. I also learned that our door had been broken down a few times, but it was replaced and well bolted. The first night I was here I heard someone banging a door that sounded like ours with the intent of getting in no matter what it took, but it turned out it was a few houses down and it was a kid who's mum had kicked him out of the house. I slept weeeeelllllll that night.

The team was really cool too, the leaders were phenomenal people with amazing stories and amazing faith. Both will be going to Yemen pretty soon, one temporarily for his sixth time, and the other indefinitely. I got along with the team really well, and they were all a lot of fun. Turns out Trish is a really fun girl, and I got to spend a lot of time with her too. The whole atmosphere was incredible to witness, with lots of prayer and exciting, encouraging stories, and meeting with all kinds of people in mosques and universities and houses.

As far as my journey goes, I got in with no difficulty at all to London on Tuesday (my first class plane ride might make it to another post), and made a billion transfers in different types of trains (without getting lost! Dis great news!) until I got to Liverpool. I leave today at 4 for Sheffield, and start camp on Monday. Please pray a lot.

If you see Tricia, ask her for a description of a lambanana

embarque au england

2009-08-03T12:59:00.011-04:00

Step 2: hang in there, you're only one step away from a BRAND NEW CAR!!!

oh, I've just been informed that we don't have the funds to give everyone brand new cars. Uh, hm. I guess I don't have a lot to offer, thanks for being here anyway though. Sometimes these blogs are hard for me to keep up on, and I assume they are for you to. However, the brilliant Ross Feller had the brilliant idea of a scheduled blog (brilliant, I know...), so that you know when you can expect a new post. I shall henceforth be blogging on days that start with a “T”, not including Tadurday or Tunday.

I'll pause for you to either laugh because you thought that was actually really funny, or contemplate whether or not you want to keep reading because that was so incredibly lame.

So I'll blog on one or both of those days (that's Tuesday and Thursday if you have had no clue what I've been talking about this entire time), and you can expect at least one blog a week. I don't know how busy I'll be or how much time I'll have to write, or if I'll be able to find a power adapter for my computer, or if my computer will get stepped on, so no guarantees.

In keeping with the second annual tradition of me going to England, my family and I went on vacation before my departure. This time to Michigan, which was a very nice way to drop me off at Johnny and Amy Klotzle's, where I am staying until my departure from Detroit at 6:40, Lord willing. A lot of you probably know the situation, but I am flying out with Johnny's airline so that I can get free tickets (although I do pay some fees), and hopefully first-class seats (!), and save millions of dollars. It's a standby ticket, so theres a small chance I won't get on the flight, but I'm not too worried about it.

Here's a general outline of my trip, as long as God keeps it crackin

Monday(3) 6:40: peace out, I'm off with free drinks and hot towels. Tuesday(4): London Heathrow until they're done looking at my pictures in my little blue book. Les Mis? Train to Trish P in Liverpool, who's team I'll be staying with until Sunday(9): train to Sheffield, where Alley picks me up on her way to church. (10-21): crazy kids at the Oakes, talking about Jesus, reuniting with old friends, and convincing people that America is better. Saturday and Sunday(22-23): camping in the peaks, celebrating Helen's birthday. Sunday(23): fly to Hungary, Wednesday(26): train to Frankfurt, Germany, check into a hostle, and leave Thursday(27) for Chicago, where I get picked up and taken to Purdue (any takers? I could try to talk in a British accent all the way home! You know you want to...), and suffer the wrath of my professors for missing three days of school.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the cars we saw in Michigan on our vacation; everyone was showing them off the day we were there, which was nice of them. Unfortunately you haven't won any of them.

old school Dodge symbol is way cooler than present day's

Indian Chief

name the car by its taillight...

'65 Corvair, of course!

In case you didn't know what that red light in the back means

That seems like a weird way to end a post, so I'll leave you with a music recommendation for the week: Andrew Bird's album Armchair Apocrypha is pretty stellar. Hm, that doesn't seem like much of a better ending, but then this isn't an ending, its a beginning. [music crescendo]

bug poem

2009-03-04T15:19:00.003-05:00

so, i was in a bugs in prose and poetry class this semester.

the final project in this (eight week) class was to write a poem with bugs in it.

i began working on it at 3am the morning before it was due (don't expect brilliance).

Beyond This World

small keepers of simplicity,
do you enjoy the flowers that give you life?
Or are you like us, complaining
about serving the queen?

sometimes I think we put too much stock
in stocking up with things that won't last.
the spoils of my ambition don't compare
to the simple pleasures you can't buy.

comfort is a cage , stagnant and unproductive.
A comfortable chair in a dark room.
even the caterpillar in its chrysalis is slowly changing,
and then it soars with the eagles.

while spider checks his website for bugs,
the butterfly avoids the 'net.
we talk by pressing buttons,
ants talk face to face.

we talk to the emptiness before us with a blue light in our ear
fireflies are captivated by the lights of their lovers before them.

so enjoy the plenty of simplicity, the blessings of poverty,
Don't lose sight of the things that are important
behind the glaring glitter of this world.
while the overdressed man enjoys his fine wine and cheese,
still he remains the host of the party of fleas

Christian Scriptures

2009-02-04T19:43:00.004-05:00

A few recent conversations have compelled me to think about what I believe in regard to the infallibility of the Word of God, the validity of the books chosen, and how much emphasis we should put on the written Bible as Christians. This led me to research the early Christian Church, and the following is the culmination of that research (sources can be provided upon request).

Most of the debate today is on the validity of the books of the New Testament, rather than the old. Jesus studied and memorized what we call the Old Testament, and quoted from it often. In addition, II Timothy 3:16 states that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”. This is a solid claim for the writings of the Old Testament, the Scripture used at the time this was written.

In the first centuries there were a number of councils that were called to settle disputes, expose heresies, and to maintain the orthodox tradition. These early Ecumenical Councils were influential in forming and maintaining the Christian doctrine, and on assessing the current consensus regarding which books should be included in the canonical Bible, and which should be excluded. These early councils did not, however, decide conclusively which books should be included in the canon. The validation of Scripture was based on popular opinion, and occurred independently of these councils, though many of the people that were influential in steering this popular opinion were sometimes in attendance.

The first council of the Christian church was held in 325 AD – the Council of Nicea – called mainly to address the heresy that the divine nature of Jesus was invented, and the Jesus was not one with God. The conclusion of the council was that Christ was consubstantial with the Father, i.e. he was one with the Father, and a definition of the Trinity followed. By this time all but five of the books of the Christian Bible we use today were accepted with little to no dispute by Christians of that era, and by the Council of Hippo in 393 AD all were accepted. By the council of Carthage, three years later, the 27 books that comprise the Bible were generally accepted as the books that were included in the canon, and were in wide use of Christian congregations throughout the world. Though the early Councils did not decide which books were to be included in the canon, they did bring consensus to the doctrine that we hold today, with the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) being the summation of these doctrines. The final decision that lead to the printing of the 27 books that we now call the New Testament was made at the Council of Trent in the 16^th century.

Books that were included in the canon had to be written by an apostle or a companion of an apostle (an eyewitness of Jesus Christ), had to coincide with the doctrine taught by the early Church, and had to be widely used within the Church. In the early Christian Church it was not uncommon for those found translating, or even in possession of these manuscripts to be put to death. In effect, the last criterion to be met was that the book had to be worth giving one's life for.

Thomas Oden, who compiled Systematic Theology, had this to say in an interview on defining the Orthodox Tradition:

We have texts to study and there’s no mystery about what those texts are. Generally speaking, they are the seven ecumenical councils, they are those regional synods that have interpretively followed from the seven ecumenical councils, and they are eight theologians that the Tradition has frequently named as most accurately stating the mind of the believing Church, four of the East that are received in the West and four of the West that are received in the East; Athanasius, Basil, John Chrysostom, and Gregory Nazianzen in the East and Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, and Gregory the Great in the West. Anybody who knows the conciliar Tradition knows that when you go to those theologians you get a fairly accurate reading of what the consensus was. Not an absolute one hundred percent accurate reading because even as good as those theologians were they sometimes missed the mark, but basically they’re extremely reliable interpreters of the consensus.

Something else to think about from George MacDonald:

The Word

But herein is the Bible itself greatly wronged. It nowhere lays claim to be regarded as the Word, the Way, the Truth. The Bible leads us to Jesus, the inexhaustible, the ever unfolding Revelation of God. It is Christ “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” not the Bible, save as leading to Him.

I believe that the Bible is the best thing we have to study the life of Christ, and that it is fully true. It is the most powerful text in existence. I embrace all of its teachings. I do not believe that it should be worshiped, however, or that it is the way to salvation. The Bible illustrates the life of Jesus, gives us glimpses of the nature of God, and provides instruction for which we can base our lives on. It is not the whole truth, but it points us to The Truth.

the partial monte

2008-10-21T22:23:00.008-04:00

ok mark, this one is for you. today i'll introduce you to my car. i don't have a name for it, or even a gender, mainly because most of the names suggested are less than flattering.

born in 1996, this black (sorry, african american) monte carlo could pack some heat. i can't really tell you much more about its early years, because the man i bought it from wasn't too willing to give me that information...

it now has some slight body modifications, some things are sticking out, some things are dented in, which could explain why it pulls to the left. hard. the left headlight has been out for a good two years (i lost count of the warnings i've received for that. when the cop asks me why i think he pulled me over i just don't answer anymore, because i never get all of the answers right), although thats not purely from laziness; i've tried to replace it but it goes out within the next couple of days. over the summer i could move the rear wheel back and forth without moving the car itself, but thats fixed now.

i think i could market it as a good team building car, because when you're inside you're forced to communicate for lack of a radio to listen to, and also to roll up or down the passenger window. the passenger can put it down himself, but the driver has the only control that can put it back up, although he does not possess the power to put it down. at least it rolls down, though, which is more than i can say for the drivers side window. this makes paying tolls fun. the cigarette lighter can no longer charge my ipod, which i found out on my way from wisconsin this past weekend. i tried to fix it by messing with some wires, but couldn't. i had to write a report at panera (it was due at 6 and i wouldn't have had time to drive home and finish it, so i stopped off in madison wisconsin), and when i came back out my car wouldn't start. i got a guy to jump me (the car, rather), but to no avail. he thought it was the starter or the alternator, although it obviously wasn't the alternator (its ok, he was asian. sorry sam), and i thought for sure it was the starter and i would have to wait until the morning to fix it (it was 5 oclock wisconsin time, and my phone died before i could make any calls). so i was making plans to sleep in the back seat, e-mail my professor to say i couldn't make it to class, and so on, when i realized that i didn't know where i put my key. in the process of ransacking my car, i noticed a small card-like chip device on the floor of my car. i put it in the slot that looked like it fit, found my key in my pocket (the little pocket), put it in my car, and it started! pretty sure God had something to do with all this.

so i guess i've moved into story time with my car without really intending to. but while we're on the topic...
when i got back from england, i drove from home to school without difficulty, but thats about as far as i got. one day i noticed that my tire was getting really low, but i needed something for a class that was starting a couple hours later so i drove on it anyway. on the way back i felt the car drop, and heard the grinding of the rim on the ground. i figured i should probably check it out, so i pulled over, put the spare on, and tried to drive off, but i just heard a grinding sound, and my car wouldn't go anywhere. so i got out, looked at it, and realized that the spare tire they gave me at the tire repair shop was the wrong size, and was GRINDING INTO MY CALIPERS. so i took it off, put the other tire back on, and realized that my other front tire was flat, too. by this time i was really late for my microbiology lab, and i just decided to leave it and take care of it later. when i checked on it later it was gone, towed away and impounded, and about 7 phone conversations and 300 dollars later, it's arrived at a wallmart to get new tires put on it. when i went to pick it up, they informed me that the car no longer worked. i tried to start it, and agreed. new battery! when they put the battery in they locked the keys in the car, but my car is pretty easy to break into so it didn't really matter.

in conclusion, my car is cursed.
actually now it looks like my transmission is going out, so it may share the same fate as my computer (segue to next post)

last blog?

2008-08-01T06:11:00.003-04:00

so, my computer died the other day. not the battery, the computer. i've buried it in a pile of clothes. a few weeks ago she suffered blunt force trauma to the head after being stepped on, and i'm afraid she never recovered. the screen started going black, then the charger went, and now all i have is a computer corpse laying in my room. unfortunately, this may mean the death of my blog here in the UK as well, as we only have a couple of public computers that we can use, and i just don't have much time these days.

things are going great here, i'm still getting along really well with the team, but i'm starting to miss everyone at home a lot more. especially you.

today we are going camping at the peak district, we have the next two days off before the six day camp next week (ages 11-15). i'm dorm leading that camp, so hopefully i get enough sleep. i am now going to go eat and prepare for camping. peace

train rides in the uk

2008-07-22T15:09:00.012-04:00

i have been super busy, and i'm afraid this may have caused me to lose my three readers. i apologize. it would take about 10,000 words to write about everything thats been happening, but hopefully 10 pictures will serve as a good substitute (10 x a picture speaks a thousand words = 10,000). i am in the middle of the first summer camp, and am having the time of my life. really. i think this might be the funnest (no, not most fun; funnest) summer of my life. but before this camp i was able to do some traveling. i went to chatsworth, london, canterbury, and dover, and here are the resulting pictures.

this was a sign outside chatsworth, and i think it means go really slow, and honk your horn. i found it humorous! you can find some of my other pictures of chatsworth on davids facebook page

the castle formerly known as dover castle. we stormed it, took it over; long story short its now called fiechter castle.

do not throw things on men laying below.

the people i traveled to dover, canterbury, and london with. good people, good people.

on the the view from the top of the castle; this was the english channel (still is i guess), and about thirty miles out you could see france if it were clear.

this is the cathedral in canterbury, it was amazing and huge and old.

we're back in london, i think this might be westminster abby? i'm not sure, but it was amazing and huge and old. yes, everything in london is amazing and huge and old, and i'm starting to miss sheffield. the stoplight was supposed to signify the modern world living in old buildings, sorry if you don't like it. but not really.

a statue outside of buckingham palace, right before the storm.

oh ya, and we saw wicked in london. be jealous. it seriously blew me away; i didn't think it would, but it did. and i am not ashamed.

by the thames river there are all kinds of things that were funny because its david and karalea's last name.

thats all for this time folks. tune in next week for camp picks (hopefully), and leave a comment so i feel loved (definitely). peace

my first camp!

2008-07-14T18:08:00.005-04:00

my first camp! (is there an echo in here?) my responsibilities were immigration/emigration, cars, tuck shop, and outdoor games. the kids came at about 7 pm on friday night, and i was one of four people who gave them their name tags, took away their cell phones (i mean their “mobiles”), and made sure they had allergies (why do so many kids have allergies? i have my theories, but i won't bore you with them). later we had introductions, and all members of the team had to answer the following questions: who are were, where are you from, and describe your toothbrush. weird, i know, but this was my answer: “my name is kyle. my toothbrush is american, just like me [pause for the laughter. i'm finally appealing to the british sense of humor, this is good]. my toothbrush is blue, unlike me, because i'm happy because i know jesus can i get an amen! [some hesitation, but a pretty strong amen and laughter follows. this is also good; that would have been really embarrassing if they just stared at me...].”
saturday morning came early, we had our daily staff devotion and group prayers, and i went and set up the ropes course; basically unlocking some stuff and setting up the zipline, then trying to break everything to make sure it won't break on the kids instead. this is the coolest ropes course i've ever seen, and hopefully i'll get pictures up when i supervise kids on it. i then helped lead the remote control cars course (i know they looked thrilled in this picture, but they got much more exited later!), which would have been really cool if they all worked properly; but about twenty minutes in four cars were already broken. this means another half hour of soldering wires later, and the reason why no one likes leading the cars course. sigh. but this also means that i could go watch kids jump on the trampoline and play fooseball with them, which was more fun because i could get to know them a little better. this group of kids comprised very few christians, and mostly from the inner city, so they weren't very well behaved in general. they were still a lot of fun, especially for me because i wasn't a dorm leader and didn't have to deal with them at bed time, but there was definitely a need for jesus and good role models in these kids' lives. we had lunch, and then i helped in the tuck shop. which is really just a candy shop, but they call it sweets instead of candy, and tuck shop instead of sweet shop. i was forced to learn english currency very fast, and i'm pretty sure i short changed a couple of kids (shhh don't tell anyone). they have coins for 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, 1 pound, and 2 pounds, and the size of the coin means nothing. the 2 pence piece is the size of a quarter, and the 1 pound piece is the size of a really thick nickel, but the 2 pound piece is slightly larger than the 2 pence piece. so you can see where i might have difficulty. more cars, more problems, but it was still fun. any time i wasn't doing activities, i helped out in the kitchen or cleaned up, fulfilling my role of a “support team” member. we had tea (i now refer to supper as tea, get used to it), helped lead the group game, which basically meant i just watched people run around. and then they had bonfire, which was great fun. this place is amazing, because i can act as crazy as i want, and not get embarrassed because someone else is always acting crazier. and they have really fun dancing with their songs. i probably cleaned after this, because i do a lot of that here. sunday was the last day of this camp, so i ran the cars course for the last time, which went really well with few broken down cars, and they left around four in the afternoon. we went to church at around 6 to catch the evening service, and this time we went to a larger church called fullwood, and i really enjoyed it. on our way home we (ok, i'll say names that will mean nothing to you: “we” means me, nick, andy, helen, and fran) went to a pub that was owned by some of the people that went to fullwood, and met some other people from church there. on the way home we went around all the roundabouts about five times each, with celine dion blaring over the car speakers. the rest of the night was spent laughing. good times, good times.

english countryside, etc.

2008-07-11T15:06:00.008-04:00

monday morning we helped with the “super clean” at the oakes, which comprised cleaning everything. i didn't know how it was possible to clean more than they already did (e.g. bathrooms are cleaned twice a day), but after cleaning stone walls and wooden doors, my eyes were opened. we had originally asked for this day off, but we felt bad skipping out on this day and leaving the team to do all our work. so we only skipped half the day, and at noon we (me, david, sam, kirsten, andre) went to castleton, which is a town in the peaks district, and has the remains of one of the oldest castles in england. so for about four quid (or pounds, or about eight dollars) we were able to hike up to the castle and look around. we also hiked to different places around the area, which was beautiful, and up one of the hills.

you guys need to come to england, seriously

andre, the sheep whisperer. ha.

now, i think that the weather report in england is always just “scattered showers”, and it doesn't rain very long but the weather does change very quickly. so the sunny hike up the hill changed to a rainy hike down the hill, and we had to hide in this little cave in one of them until it passed (at least the worst of it). when we got back into town we stopped at our first english pub, and had the traditional fish and chips (cod and steak fries).

moments before the falling rock crushed my friends

sam, kirsten, and andre left tuesday morning, which was also the day of the open house for the oakes, ~~and i tried to look busy.~~ and i served tea and scones to guests. wednesday we prepared for the camp this weekend, i'm in charge of outdoor games, the remote control car course, and tuck shop (sweets shop (candy shop))). we also started preparing for the summer camps which start in about a week and a half, and i made a poster. we ate supper, then i lost at monopoly. the theme for the summer is going to be robin hood, with half of the house being sherwood forest, and the other half nottingham castle.

this weekend is our first official camp, and although i'm not dorm leading until the first summer camp, i will be heading up (or co-heading up) outdoor activities, tuck shop, and the rc race car course. so next post i'll update you on that, along with our planned trip to chatsworth, which should be amazing. cheers!

this place is proper old school

2008-07-10T16:50:00.003-04:00

sorry guys, i havn't had much time to write anything. but tonight they're watching lord of the rings, so i decided to blog instead. i've kept a very brief journal, every night as a general reminder for what happened during the day, and have gone back and filled in the details. i'll try to give a better intro to the place later, but for now heres a terrible picture of the front of the georgian house i'm staying in, a house older than our country. here they just say its "proper old school".

thursday we played “england vs. the world” ultimate frisbee, our team comprising representatives from america, lebanon, and hungary. I think we lost. don't worry, the next day was july 4^th, so we were able to rub that defeat in their faces all day. we didn't really have a proper july 4^th celebration, but rich and becky (metcalf) did have a cookout with burgers and brats, and the few americans that were around wore their old navy independence day t-shirts, so that was cool. this was the day that i learned how to play cricket; we went down to the cricket club and watched professional cricket for about an hour or so and they taught us the rules. later that day i had a go at it (oh gosh, i'm talking like them...) in the oakes' front yard, which was pretty fun. apparently they can have matches that last for five days and then end in a draw, so i think i have classified it as slightly more boring than baseball to watch. which is pretty flippin boring.
the sauders and sam came saturday night (hows that for alliteration, eh?), they told us of their journeys up to this point, sunday we went to church at south sheffield, played volleyball, frisbee, and a little music, and had tea (which actually just means supper). night fell, and helen decided that we needed to do something crazy (hopefully i'll get pictures up of these people), so we drove a little ways and ran through fountains, which was ridiculously cold and ridiculously fun, hopped in a car again, and drove to the peaks district to climb mountains. they're more like hills really, but they have huge cliffs (the new pride and prejudice was filmed on them, so go watch that movie to get a better idea of where we were). keep in mind that it is dark at this point. and we're climbing cliffs. and we forgot flashlights. and most of us were in flip flops. the moon was pretty full, and for the most part there were paths, so that part really wasn't that dangerous. but when we were on the top, singing and dancing and carrying on, we noticed that there was some fog in the distance below us, and it was getting bigger. and then it got really big and ate us. at this point we decided that it was probably a good idea to go back down, since it was dark and we had no flashlights and fog had enveloped us and death was imminent. it made for a pretty comical hike back, with people slipping, tripping, and stepping in puddles that looked like rocks. we returned with some small scrapes and most of our dignity, so it was a good night. we stayed up later than we should have learning english words, but it was worth it.

chips = french fries

crisps = potato chips

fag = cigarette

pants = underpants (haha)(i'm mature, really. really, i am)

fanny (packs)= um....

journey to england

2008-07-04T19:33:00.007-04:00

I'm writing this on my way to England, and I'll talk about the trip I was just on to Gatlinburg to kill time. Or you can think of it as my journey to England. I'll try not to make it too long, and just hit the highlights.

thursday.

we leave leo. we arrive in gatlinburg.

friday.

the day we were almost eaten. bitten? eaten. the day we were almost eaten. we hiked to laurel falls, which was labelled easy, and the trail was paved, so it was more of a warm up, but it was still pretty cool.

we noticed that the trail kept going, unpaved and less travelled, so we continued. we were met by a man running frantically the other way, running into trees and falling all over himself (with a bloody stump where his arm used to be) screaming "turn back! turn back!"
we thought it was kinda strange, but we kept walking anyway. actually we just met a mother with small children saying that they heard that there might be a bear ahead, but whatever. so we kept walking, and about fifty yards later we heard a rustling in the bushes right off the trail, and saw the bear, who saw us, and started charging at us. we learned later that she had two cubs, and was apparently pretty protective of them. it couldn't get to us because of all the bushes and brush, so it only charged a couple of feet, but it was still pretty scary. after we got done falling all over ourselves (like the mountain shifted suddenly two feet to the left), we realized that we needed a picture of the bear.

i got a decent picture, it started charging again, the mountain shifted again, and we decided to leave. so that was nice.

saturday.

climbed another mountain. (chimney tops, maybe?)

sunday.

see "saturday".

monday.

day before we leave, we went on our longest hike, to rainbow falls, an 80 foot waterfall. on our way back shannon and i followed the stream back rather than
going down the trail, which was about 1032 times more enjoyable than mindless running down the trail. we saw some coll stuff, i took a few pictures, a few of the few turned out.

tuesday.

drove to south bend IN (9 hours), said bye to the fam, met an nfl football player, boarded the train beside him (he took up four seats, my baggage weighed about as much as him and took up the next four seats). he plays for the seahawks, just got back from camp and was on his way through chicago to see his family. we talked a bit about travelling, england, and the resulting heartburn. we arrived in chicago, i hung out with erica (ryan said he was too cool for us, or had work at 5:30 in the morning, or something).

wednesday.

airport, plane, NYC (les mis). waiting, walking, reading. aeroplane (books, movies, music, writing this. i tried to sleep, but every time i closed my eyes their was a miniature skyquake ( i think smart people call it turbulence... (so i didn't get much sleep)))))). london! (bathroom! baggage claim, bus). sheffeild! (searching for phones, conversations with old ladies, and then finally, contact with the oakes). the oakes! meeting cool people, trying to stay awake. bed!

i'll talk more about my time at the oakes next time.

that time between classes...

2007-04-19T10:25:00.000-04:00

so this post probably wont have anything very interesting in it; actually if you read the whole thing you may actually find that you have a lower i.q. by the end. basically im just rambling because im trying to kill time between classes. im realizing that this is the hardest time to kill. but its not for lack of trying, believe me. i have tried all kinds of things in the past couple of weeks. walking around, trying to sleep, last week i went to the mall and bought a polo (yes, a polo), but this time just will. not. die. actually im just waiting for the free food theyve been having all week here at ipfw. this is one thing im going to miss from this college, is the free food. monday it was chick-fil-a, yesterday it was pulled pork or pitas, and today is the last bash bbq with chicken and ribs. its really not that good of compensation for the college as a whole (it actually stands for "I Paid For What?"), but at least i dont have to pay my 2 50 for a subway sub today.

in other news, yesterday they found a 7-foot alligator clogging a drain in adams county. they thought it was a turtle but nope, when they looked it was an alligator. the caption under the picture in the paper said that an expert estimates that based on its size, it was between 7 and 20 years old. what? what kind of an expert did they talk to? (this should be read in a low, stupid sounding voice) "oh. i uh... talked to my 8 year old son, he's really into alligators right now..." i mean is that as close as they could get? im pretty sure i could estimate that a 7-foot long alligator is between 7 and 20 years old. oh well, he was probably just under a deadline and had to put something down.

doo dee do dee do.

DIE TIME DIE!!!!

ya its definitely not going by very quickly. i suppose i could rant some more. really i dont think of myself as this critical of a person. i could be wrong i guess...

so ive been watching lost this season, and overall i think its a pretty good show. although theres a couple of things i cant figure out. like how is that fat guy still soooo fat?! i mean, based on what i see in survivor, people that get stranded on islands are supposed to look anorexic-like after however long theyve been on the island. but not hurley. he is really funny though, hes probably my favorite character. the other thing i cant figure out is how did that many attractive people get put on that one flight? i think its statistically impossible to have 90 percent of a flight comprised of attractive people, but thats the way it is on lost. based on my public transportation experiences, its usually about 97 percent not attractive people, but maybe thats just me.

well, if youve read this whole thing, i am sorry. im pretty sure you have actively been lowering your i.q. the whole time. although i saw a book the other day that might be able to help you out. it was called How to Raise your I.Q. by Eating Gifted Children, by Lewis B. Frumkes. i should go.

pet peeves

2007-04-16T12:52:00.000-04:00

here are some of my current pet peeves

when im walking to my car in the parking lot, and somebody that wants my space stalks me in their car the whole length of the parking lot.

when people don't silence their cell phones when everybody knows you should. i don't want to hear "this is why i'm hot" when im taking my physics test.

when, on tests, the choice selection goes as follows (particularly in genetics):
a.
b.
c.
d. b or c
e. all of the above
f. a or c, but only if its tuesday and you're writing with your left hand
g. none of the above

when girls decide to get a manicure while talking on a cell phone while drinking coffee while driving.

people that don't know that "alot" is either missing a space or an l. or people that put a z where an s should go (boyz), or a k where a c should go (korner), or any other ridiculous letter substitutions. or PeOpLe WhO tYpE LiKe ThIs. or people that don't capitalize at all. oh wait...

i have to go to class now, but maybe i'll think of some more later.

vintage (adj. characterized by exellence, maturity, and enduring apeal)

2007-04-13T14:51:00.000-04:00

heres a couple pictures my sister took this semester for her photos class that i really like; that make me appreciate the imperfect, the worn. the things with "character." in her class she has to develop the pictures herself (i took it a few years ago to, so i know the procedure) and its pretty easy to get imperfections on the photo paper from chemical spots and exposure to light, as you can see in the news paper stand photo. i find that in some cases it enhances the photos. it adds to the vintage nature of the photograph. im not entirely sure why i feel this affinity towards the imperfect, maybe because it reminds me of myself, and of all of humanity, and the realization that its ok that we dont have enough to give, and that there is beauty in the imperfect when presented with passion and honesty. i dont think the feeling is unique to me, or even to christians, so im not sure that i understand it exactly. bright eyes sings "well i could have been a famous singer if i had someone else's voice, but failures always sounded better, lets mess it up boys make some noise [followed by a cacophony of various instruments]." i had a couple more really good quotes to go along with this, but i cant for the life of me remember where i read them. basically that the people with the most amazing characters often bear the biggest scars, having gone through the hardest battles and toughest times.

© 2007 by shannon fiechter. used by permission.

actually they werent copy written or used by permission. she steals my cds, i'll steal her pictures. thats how i roll.

truth

2007-03-29T23:48:00.000-04:00

a couple of weeks ago i talked to joe gerber and he said that one of the pivotal points in his studies of Truth and stuff, were when he realized that no matter what he believes, God, Truth, and other related things will still exist. i thought, "neat."

Absolute Truth

The string was clipped
That held Earth to sun.
We all tripped,
Our pride undone.

Falling, but not down;
Reality stripped,
Lost, with the ground.

Boats still floated,
Only now in the sky.
The ostrich gloated,
For now it could fly!

Though it should be noted,
That all will soon die.

This account may entertain,
But feasibility it does not contain.
Your beliefs may range,
The laws remain unchanged:

Gravity exists.

-kf

instant gratification

2007-03-21T13:11:00.000-04:00

i drew you this pretty picture. its a goat.

biology

2007-03-19T15:42:00.000-04:00

ok, so i have a riddle for you.

riddle: there are two people in a cabin in the middle of the woods. the cabin has no windows or doors, and there is nothing in the cabin but the two people. and the clothes they're wearing (which is irrelevant, but some people take things literally, and have vivid imaginations, so...). one of them is me. we are both dead. how did it happen?

a: the personthatwasnotme made a comment somewhere along the lines of "i think biology is dumb and boring and stupid." i then proceeded to take the knife that was stabbed into my heart by this statement, and stabbed the other person in the eye.

i kid i kid, i wouldn't do that. i can't, however, understand people when they say that they think biology is boring or irrelevant. i find it amazing how all of the structures of life come together as orchestrated by the hand of God. every gene on every chromosome that makes every amino acid to make a protein to make you and me and millipedes and monkeys as separate entities provides more than enough evidence for me to believe that there is One who created it all, and is fascinating to me. I suppose you can find God's fingerprints in about every area of study, but biology, in my opinion, is the dust that reveals them most indisputably. its hard for me to be bored by God's creation, whether its on a molecular level or a phenotypic level. oh, if you haven't figured it out, im a biology major.

intents and purposes

2007-03-14T19:46:00.000-04:00

sooooooooooo i decided to start a blog. actually it was jon gerst's idea (check him out at danschafer.com; ladies avert your eyes -- he has been know to hypnotize). there are some things that i've written, and he's read, that he thinks you should read, so i'll post, so you can read.

the ginormous picture on the side is actually ginormous by accident, but i decided keep it like that. i hope it doesn't scare you.

the title of my blog comes from, actually i'll let smarter people explain it: "A loadstone is a magnet, specifically one consisting of magnetic oxide of iron. The word “load-stone,” meaning literally “way-stone,” comes from the use of magnets in marine navigation (Oxford English Dictionary); figuratively, a loadstone is an object that attracts" (smarter people). in arabian nights theres a story where a loadstone attracted a ship, and magnetically pulled all its nails out, which doesnt usually make ships very structurally sound, which makes people go "aaaahhhhh we're gonna dieeeeeee!" i didnt hear it from arabian nights though, i heard it in charles dickens' a tale of two cities, who was alluding to the arabian nights story. i think. so my title is an allusion to the allusion, with the loadstone being the World.