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March 31, 2004
one hand
round this rowdy random thankless world
right the wrongs and give the best gift
time
still yourself to know the beauty
of one hand
praying
Posted by paul at 08:31 PM | Comments (3)
Theme? We don't need no Theme
So here it is... a random smattering:
The 10 best rock bands ever - I must admit that I don't think that I have ever heard of Sly and the Family Stone and would definitly remove them from the list.
An the musical note: There are some bands/artists that can only be listened to at certain times whether that be in the afternoon or evening. I must say though that Pete Yorn can stand at any hour. If you have never given him a chance and enjoy mellow rythm driven rock check him out. Seriously. Do it.
(aside: if I could I would try Pete's bushy hair for a day (don't worry Christie has more sense then I do and would make me cut it))
I like riddles:
"There are three things that amaze me--no, four things I do not understand:
how an eagle glides through the sky,
how a snake slithers on a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
how a man loves a woman."
"There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise:
Ants--they aren't strong,
but they store up food for the winter.
Rock badgers--they aren't powerful,
but they make their homes among the rocky cliffs.
Locusts--they have no king,
but they march like an army in ranks.
Lizards--they are easy to catch,
but they are found even in kings' palaces."
Ah wisdom, sweet wisdom:
"As the beating of cream yields butter, and a blow to the nose causes bleeding, so anger causes quarrels."
Posted by paul at 10:22 AM | Comments (1)
March 29, 2004
the contents of my day and what I learned
Wake up: Bedrooms with windows provide much more motivation then those without
Appointment with Ziebols: Secret to a happy marriage - Bring her breakfast in bed
CprE 485 Lab: 400 level classes realize that you have already learned just about enough, so sit back, relax, and get an A
ComS 342 HW a: Don't try this at home... may cause severe injury
ComS 342 TA a: After an unintelligble half hour I understood that he had just given me the solution... probably out of frustration... and to get me to leave
ComS 342 HW b: Realization - this class is way to much work for someone of my intellegence
ComS 342 TA b: Good News - English is his native tongue, Bad News - He spends 10 mins explaining why the hw isn't worth much and that a lot of students are in my place, but then tells me to spend more time on it
Lunch: Spent 47 sec wolfling down 1/2 lb of quasi-beef and a gut-buster sized fry, spent next 47 mins asking God to take me home
ComS 342 HW c: I am such a hard worker...either that or I am rather stupid
Go Home: After spending 8 hours in a computer lab the sky seems really big and beautiful...I want to be done with college.
Posted by paul at 05:02 PM | Comments (2)
March 28, 2004
Character
Phil: You asked about character and the question is deeper. You asked me if you had any character and the answer is you do not for the simple reason that you do not regret anything.
Bob: Are you saying I don’t have any character until I do something I regret?
Phil: No Bob, I’m saying you have already done plenty things to regret. You just don’t know what they are. It’s when you discover them, when you see the folly in something you have done and you wish that you had to do it over but you know you can’t because it’s too late so you pack that thing up and you carry it with you to remind you that life goes on. The world will spin without you. You really don’t matter in the end. Then you will attain character because honesty will rush out from inside and tattoo itself across your face. Until that day, however, you cannot expect to go beyond a certain point.
-The Big Kahuna
This is an amazing movie about a young man (much like myself) with a lot of drive and passion who get told in the end by a sad suicidal older man that he needs character. I don’t completely understand the response. Maybe that’s why it fascinates me.
What does it mean to be a man of character? To sweat and strive for the purest of purposes?
Posted by paul at 06:25 PM | Comments (1)
March 25, 2004
Fun!
I really don't have a lot for leasure activity.
I have hobbies per se: guitar, sketching.
I also enjoy: movies, music, sports.
But how many of these do I enjoy often? Mostly none...
I saw my pastors and church staff out the other day flying kites... Dave Bovenmyer standing there looking pastorly with a "taz" kite at the end of the string and Elaine Royes running around and laughing. It was quite a sight. I wish that I could have joined them.
Posted by paul at 11:53 AM | Comments (4)
March 22, 2004
He had no Chin
He was tall and walked with an awkward loping gait. Striding about with his head moving back and forth with his steps almost giraffe like. His long, blond, flat hair tucked in behind his ears and draped down the back of his neck. He was articulate but soft spoken. And he had no chin.
The probably existed some sort of bone like structure that functioned as a jaw because he could open his mouth, it just seemed that between the base of his neck and the bottom of his nose was a slightly curving path. His mouth opened in an oval near the middle of the nose-neck gap and simply seemed to appear out of blank flesh. Words coming out and food going in, it was amazing.
Posted by paul at 11:18 AM | Comments (3)
March 16, 2004
The Girl with the Grubby Fingers
She was a normal, laughing, fun loving girl. It was her fingers, though, that set her apart. They were grubby fingers. You know the kind that seemed to be more at home digging through the dirt than with fingernail polish on. I still am not completely sure why her fingers struck me as grubby. They were wide but not overly fat and seemed to come abruptly to their end with almost triangular shaped nails. They moved rather clumsily and fumbled with almost everything that they touched, roving and climbing, never resting, blunted confusion.
Posted by paul at 11:11 AM | Comments (1)
March 15, 2004
Breeeeeeeeaaaaaaak
So this is spring break huh? Cool! I hope that no one is losing patient with the fact that I haven't been blogging.
It has been busy and I have been in Wisconsin visiting my fiance Christie Gibson (welcome to all of you google searchers. Yes you found it, the #1 spot for news and information on Christie Mae Gibson!)
anyway
its tough to blog here because I don't have JOHNSON-RETURNS my trusty computor.
But stay tuned I will have some great posts coming up...
"NPR and why it's great for long trips."
"What are native Wisconsinites really like?"
"Car Alternators: The Joys, The Sorrows."
And, "Eddy what happened to your head?"
Thanks for reading, we'll be back after these messages from our sponser.
Posted by paul at 09:49 PM | Comments (2)
March 10, 2004
100% God 100% Man
Something that I have meditated on for awhile is how connected to God was Jesus and can we attain to that level of inter-connectedness?
Jesus had the uncanny ability to read minds. I have been reading through Luke and on several occasions he knew what others where thinking. So my question is "was that just because he was 100% God?" or "Can we do something similar with the correct 'yielding to the spirit'?"
Posted by paul at 12:01 PM | Comments (6)
As the leaf blows by
There are flashes
When reality leans in close to my face and blows her sweet breath over my covered eyes
But fantasy sits behind me with her hands over my ears giggling
This world moves in fast forward
while the next sits waiting for my entrance at stage left
Brilliance and lunacy are both beyond my grasp
Again I stand on the stairs reaching for that which floats by
I catch it... don't I..?
Posted by paul at 09:27 AM | Comments (3)
March 09, 2004
Christie Gibson is #1 again
Well I have climbed the ranks of google once again (thanks to matt) and now have reclaimed the coveted #1 search result for Christie Gibson.
In other news:
The song Warehouse by the DMB is awesome in it's recorded version and I am told (by pat) that the live version is even better (if that is possible (i think it is (do you?)))
Posted by paul at 11:43 AM | Comments (5)
March 08, 2004
The Tendency to Dream
I have always been an avid reader. From my earliest memories I have taken almost anything that I could get my hands on and read it cover to cover. I believe that this habit produced in me a healthy imagination that has lived on to this day. Even now I can blink back reality and go where I want to or perhaps transform reality into what I want to. Even the mundane of life’s quirks can fascinate me as I can mentally produce the background behind why it is so. (It also helps that I find most of life to be more than slightly humorous.)
It seems at times to be a strange contradiction within me, though, to have this imaginative spark, this creative drive, but to also have this practical sense that follows me around.
I continually amaze myself. (Just goes to show how easily amused I really am.) It seems that whenever I set back and get introspective I come away realizing how contradictory I really am. And for someone who tries to make sense out of everything it can be frustrating. In the words of Uncle Hub from “Secondhand Lions” (which I saw for the second time tonight and would recommend to anyone) “There are just some things that you have to believe in whether they are true or not.”
And strangely enough I believe in myself. I believe that there is something there for me and only me…
Thanks for riding on this introspective post. I hope that you will come back and see us sometime soon.
Posted by paul at 10:09 AM | Comments (1)
March 06, 2004
Small Victories
So this blog has gone through many hoops to entertain, inform and sometimes provoke to thought. At times it has done this and at times it has fallen flat on its face. This past week in particular has seen several endorsements from those whom we all know and love:
Cliff Plymesser: admitted "first and last trip to a blog"
Julie Johnson: my little sister makes an impassioned appearance
Kathy Hanson: to my surprise lauds my writing ability
Earle and Drencher: "super" computer rankings come in at #4 (a little disappointing but hey who can argue with a "super" computer)
Surprise visits from Angie M. and Emily a fellow inter from last summer plus there was all of the regulars Mike, Matt, Ochuk, Pat, Angie, Heather and many many more. I even got a comment from Micah (who really like my blog and reads it everyday but rarely comments)
Now I just have to figure out a way to get Dave Powers to comment...hmmm
Posted by paul at 05:06 PM | Comments (2)
March 05, 2004
Black and White
This last week has been a dark one. I saw the sun I think once on tuesday afternoon and other then that not at all.
It seems like a movie or something. You know one of those movies with the rather artsy director that puts a cool glow on the screen like in minority report or decides to go retro and do it in letterbox (before dvds aka before letterbox was cool) like last of the mohicans or in black and white like schindlers list.
In fact this last week has been a very black and white week. All these subdude tones and grays. It has been a black and white emotional week as well with sharp contrasts and stark differences.
Wow a deer just walked by my window!!! There is life on this earth after all...
Posted by paul at 04:55 PM | Comments (4)
March 03, 2004
The prototypical grad student
You know that you have seen him. Mostly typified by a fashion sense developed and currently kept at about whenever this person graduated from high school. (Which nowadays is about 1995)
He walks rather slowly (because he is so old) and almost continually hangs his head (because his brain is too heavy or because he has been trying to figure out this intense lambda calculus equation for the past 3.7954 months. (That’s metric months not English months)) Consistently blinking and or pushing up his owlish pair of tortoise shell spectacles he mumbles about the aforementioned lambda calculus incoherently.
He has a beard (and he is one of those people who shouldn’t have one) and hair that hangs over his ears and the tops of his spectacles. He tries to part far on the left side of his head but it has the tendency to fall forward because he is looking at the ground so much.
He wears a members-only gray jacket with the mock-collar and all the snaps. This clashes nicely with the flannel shirt underneath and the black jeans that are now charcoal because of use.
Now you maybe thinking well this guy is just retro-early-mid-nineties style. But, no he just doesn’t make that cut. He doesn’t care now and hasn’t cared for almost a decade. To top is off he slings a messenger bag. And not the cool bags made fashionable by the gap and Nathan Meyer. His bag is loaded so much so that the seams are splitting and there are coffee stains all over it.
But to his credit the grad student is bettering society. He will soon be a professor to pass on the absurd amount of useless knowledge that he has assembled. So thank you grad student and man, lay off the Asian food it makes your clothes stink.
(p.s. I love Asians and Asian food (and I love grad students (especially Tony Hill)))
Posted by paul at 10:22 AM | Comments (12)
March 02, 2004
Reflections on Radiohead
In reality Radiohead is your all purpose rain band. Coupled with Counting Crows and Ben Folds you can live out any rainy day in complete bliss.
Radiohead provides a veritable slew of raucous and regenerative hooks layered upon sorrow and reveling in loss. From the Rock albums of Pablo Honey and The Bends to the surreal pulsing rhythms OK Computer, Amnesiac, and Kid A to finally the interesting blend provided by Hail to the Thief. They really keep you on your toes. I wish that on days like today I had all of their CD’s so that I could shuffle them in tribute to Thom York and his band of geeks…
Alas the only album I have is the Bends. It’ll have to do.
Posted by paul at 11:13 AM | Comments (3)
March 01, 2004
Rain
So I like rainy days.
I really like rainy days.
I don't consider myself a really downer type person and though I have certainly felt depressed in the past I have never "struggled" with depression. (as described by those who have)
So what is with my fascination with dark sad clouds and miserable drizzly rain? I guess I also have an affinity for slow mournful music. I like dirges. I don't enjoy death or pain, I mean I am not a sadist or masochist or anything.
What's my deal? Do you like rain?
Posted by paul at 01:39 PM | Comments (10)