A Tribute To El Dorado

Yeah...I only have a few weeks left of summer here in McKinney.

Here's a link to a lot of pics I took today at work so I'll always remember El Dorado and won't forget the good times there. They're kinda funny and stuff so if you wanna see where I work and what it's like check it out. It's a pretty sweet job.

Click here!

Oh, and by the way...the Astros are doing stinkin awesome. They are my homeboys. One more win against the Mets and that's a clean sweep. Chew on that, Beltran.

Later fools.

Life Is A Gift

Wow...the past few days I've really come to realize some cool things. This post isn't gonna be very long, and I'm not gonna try to be witty or funny or something. I just....want to say what I've been shown lately.

Life is a gift. It is so amazing that each of us has life. Just one life, one living person can make such a difference in soo many lives. Not only that, but life in itself is so awesome. I know that there's so many people that would beg to differ with me right now. Most of them who would disagree with me in that statement aren't reading this blog, but there are so many out there that don't feel like life is even worth living, or that it's not that great. I've been there before too. I know how it feels to not want to be alive to feel the painful emotions that come sometimes. And, I know that in my life I will experience those times again where I don't feel like life is all that great. But, deep down inside, I know for a fact that life is a gift given to everyone by God, and he wants us to enjoy it. And we are here for a reason. Life is not an aimless journey. Life without God is hopeless, and meaningless. That's why the World searches for hope and meaning in this world, but can't find it. Knowing God and having a personal relationship with Him brings hope in its every sense to life, and fulfills your meaning in life. I know from experience. We are here on this earth to have a relationship with God, and to bring him praise and glory. And God wants us to enjoy our life. He gives us so many blessings to enjoy, because he wants us to celebrate life. But...life can never be fully experienced in all its joy and fulfillment until your life is surrendered to God - the reason why we exist.

I mentioned above that we can make a difference in so many people's lives. Just one phrase spoken to someone can completely change their day. Just think about that as you go through your day. As you see people, just realize that you can make a difference in their lives. After you buy something at a store and the cashier is handing your receipt just tell them sincerely "have a good day". That may sound corny, and it is a pretty common thing to say. But when you say it, mean it. Tell them to have a good day and really care about them. I think that they will notice that. Smile at people, wave at people, meet new people. Just really and truly care about the people around you, show them that you care, and you will make more of a difference than you might ever even realize. I just think that's so cool that we have the opportunity to encourage people and brighten their days with an act that costs us nothing or very little. And even if it does cost you something, the fact that you can make a difference is a gift too.

One more thing I've realized that I kinda mentioned in my last post is that people in general are just so cool. We are all so complex and we all have our own experiences and backgrounds. We all have crazy and interesting stories to tell, and perspectives on issues that can only come from the unique experiences that we've gone through. Just think about that, every person you know and every person you see has a "story to tell". Everybody's thinking about something. Go meet them and find out.

That's it. Life and people are just so cool. It's something I've come to realize more than I did before, and I hope that this might make you think about stuff a little differently maybe.

I'll Take "The Rapist" For $400

That's....therapist...

My life is so...interesting. And I don't mean that in a "I'm cooler than you and my life is better than you" way at all. What I mean, really, is that life in itself is very interesting. I've just been realizing that lately. Reading people's blogs, talking to people, just watching people at work and other places, thinking about how weird and crazy I am...this summer it's just made me realize more than ever how interesting and complex life is. And I've come to realize how cool people are in general. I just really enjoy talking to people and seeing what life is to them, and what they think about every day. People's minds are so complex, and everybody has something cool to say. As I was parking carts and drinking my latte mocha this morning as the sun rose, I thought about how great life is, and it's only great because I know God gave it to me and is guiding me through it. I thought about a song from a while back that I used to hear on KSBJ, the christian radio station in Houston. The main lyric of the song was "life is precious, life is sweet". And really...it is. Don't forget that. And I'll try not to either.

You know what's really cool? This summer I have been working on cart staff at El Dorado Country Club. I never thought I would work as a cart guy, but it's a really cool job all in all. Surprisingly, I wouldn't have this job if it weren't for my mom. She told me I should apply at a golf course, so I did. And shizzam, I got a job. The guys I work with are pretty crazy. Actually, I think they think I'm crazy. I have definitely laughed a whole lot this summer from working up there, though. We do some crazy stuff sometimes and they are a lot of fun. Hahahaa...I'm just laughing right now thinking of some of the funny stuff we've done. Most of my funny memories somehow involve Kenny, a crazy guy that I work with up there. Haha, hiiii Kenny! I know he's reading this right now so I thought I'd give him a shout out. Hollaaa. His nickname up at El Dorado is the gremlin, because he looks like one. Actually, he doesn't. But if you saw him you would know that the gremlin is a good nickname; he's just a mischevious little guy. Yeah, but we definitely have done some crazy stuff. Like taking the jump behind the 18th teebox...wow. It gives you a nice little adrenaline rush when you are off all 4 wheels in a golf cart and then do almost a 360 to stop the cart after the jump. Soooo tight. Won't ever forget Kenny's pyrotechnics show in the cart barn, which involved spraying long lines of carb choke on the ground and lighting it on fire. Haha...there are so many other funny things that we do on a daily basis up there but you'll just have to come and see if you want to find out.

Why do rappers feel the need to always spell out their names? I know that's no new news that rappers always spell out crap, but it still bothers me.

Speaking of "music", I just recently discovered a band called the Gorillaz. I mean, they're kinda big, I didn't "discover" them really, but I discovered them for myself if you know what I mean. They're really weird. I downloaded one of their songs called "Feel Good, Inc.". This is basically what it sounds like: Starts out with a realllllly weird guy laughing and then it's like dum dum dum dum dum feel good, and then they talk about a windmill, and then a rapper comes in and is like "don't stop get it get it", and then the weird guy laughs again. That's pretty much the whole song.

Tonight is one of those nights where I can't type anything right, and it's making me want to throw something. See, I'm even struggling through this sentence.

Hmmmm...well I feel like I have a lot of other stuff that I potentially wanted to write about, but I'll save it for some other time I guess cuz if I did have other stuff to write about I can't remember it. Plus, I can't type tonight.

Oh....um, don't stop, get it get it...

Chicken McShut The Heck Up

Wow...I feel like I have a lot to say. Haha, I haven't posted in I guess about 5 days or so...and I keep on thinking of things that I want to say in my blog then I forget them and I just procrastinate writing in this thing...that's how those 3 month gaps between entries happen. It's been a great 5 days or however long since I last posted though. Every day is great really, but I actually have things to say that are interesting. Well, I'm not gonna list what I did, because that's not cool...but doing cool things inspires cool thoughts, eh?

Haha...I've been planning in my head to write a paragraph about McDonalds in my blog for a while now, so here it is. Well, I've always had a funny thought in my head about McDonalds, well it's funny to me at least. My theory is that when you are inside McDonalds you should speak with "mc"s in front of as many words as possible. After all, McDonalds does it. Chicken McNuggets, McGriddles (I had one the other day for the first time and they are soo good), Egg McMuffins, Quarter Pounders. Like, when you're inside McDonalds eating your BigMac you have to be like "Man, this burger is McDelicious". And when you have to go to the bathroom, it's not just a regular bathroom. You have to go to the "McBathroom". And when someone won't shut up just be like "McShut the heck up!!" Anyway, you should really try it at least once. If it doesn't work out for you, that's cool. Just try to put "mc" in front of words when you're talking. All the cool kids are doing it...mainly me. Oh, and by the way, did you notice earlier that when I was listing all the types of foods at McDonalds that they put mc in front I put Quarter Pounder on there? Yeah, it doesn't start with mc. I just wanted to get a reaction out of you. But quarter pounders are really good.

I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday! Well, only my top 2. I had already gotten my bottom 2 out a few years ago. The funny thing is that when I got my bottom 2 out they hadn't come through yet, so they had to literally cut open my gum and pull them out and stitch them back up. The funny part about that is that my dentist did that and I was awake the whole time...with a lot of numbing stuff in my mouth though. This time, though, my top wisdom teeth had already come through and all they had to do was pull them, yet I was put to sleep. I think that's pretty funny because if there was a time I needed to be put to sleep it was the first time. The first time was in Houston, though, and the second time was in Dallas. It goes to show that the Dallas...ites are pampered. We keep it real in H-Town, we don't need no stinkin anasteshia. Oh, and I've never had surgery before or anything so this was the first time I've ever been under anasteshia. Heh...anyway. Yeah so I go in there and they put the IV in me, which may I add that after giving plasma all second semester I could barely feel the IV needle go in haha. So, I was expecting them to tell me to count down from 10 and they weren't, and the anasteshia was going into me and so I started to ask them if I was supposed to count down. I don't really remember but I think I fell asleep when I started to ask them that. Haha. I don't remember half of the afternoon after I woke up. The doctor told me that when I woke up I would essentially be drunk and...well, I'm pretty sure I was. It was really funny. I don't remember waking up or anything, the first thing I remember was being wheel-chaired to our car. I don't think I could've walked really well. A nice old lady wheel chaired me out and I remember going on and on about how I've never actually been in a wheel chair before, at least for practical purposes. On the way home my mom stopped at McDonalds and got me a McVanilla Shake and while she was inside I called Sean. I don't remember what I said but he told me later that it was pretty funny, and that I sounded pretty messed up. Anyway, it's a pretty fun experience to look back on, and now I can say I've finally been put under before. I have two holes where my teeth used to be though, and it feels weird. I'm just glad they stopped bleeding...

Katherine Hill got home today! She is so excited to be back and talking to her friends again. I've honestly never met anyone that appreciates her friends and home as much as she does, but I think it's really cool. She's pretty much going crazy. But that's just the story of her life...going crazy for Jesus! ohhh snap.

On Saturday I went with my college Sunday school class and other people from my church to help paint homes in South Dallas. The first lady whose home we painted was very interesting. She was an old black lady and she was really nice but she was just...interesting. She sat on her front porch the whole time while we painted her house and was basically just shouting about Jesus and singing old school revival songs. But hey, she was on fire for Jesus. So, go her! It was cool to go out and do something like that. Ministry and volunteer work is really important, and is something I should do more of. I thought it was interesting that we were in a really poor neighborhood but they actually had decently nice cars. Well, some of them did. I definitely saw a nice Silverado that I would definitely not mind having. I guess they'd rather have nice cars than nice homes.

Tonight is the weekly "Sand, Psalms, and Sonic" event at my church that I talked about in my last entry. I'm leading the devotion tonight and I'm kinda nervous. I've never led a devotion or anything like that before. I'm going to talk about a guy named Arthur Blessitt who has been carrying a 12 foot cross around the world since 1969. He has taken it to 303 nations and walked 36,651 miles. He holds the guinness world record for "The World's Longest Walk". And that's not even considering the fact that he has walked that whole way with a twelve-foot cross over his shoulder. Everywhere he goes he ministers to people. He shares the message of Jesus with people on the road on the way to his next event where he's preaching. He is the perfect example of my favorite verse, Luke 9:23. That's what I'm going to talk about tonight. I think it's pretty cool. I think God does too.

Dang, I need to eat. Stop distracting me, people.

I think last time to end my blog I told you guys to chunk the deuce sometime during your day. Well, if you live in England, don't do that, because apparently that's like flicking someone off. But if you live in America, do it! Even if they're British, chunk the deuce at them, cuz they're in America now babyyyyy.

I'm Weird

It's been a good night. Every Tuesday night at my church there's a college ministry event called Sand, Psalms, and Sonic. Basically we start playing sand volleyball at 6:30 and play until it gets dark. Then we have a little 15-minute devotion out next to the sand volleyball courts on the grass, and then after that we all go to Sonic and get slushes or something to eat, or whatever you want at Sonic haha. It's a really cool thing. I always look forward to it. Anyway, I've had the opportunity lately to reach out to a guy who just graduated from high school and moved down here from St. Louis and doesn't know anybody. My parents met his parents and they told me about their son, Robbie, and told me I should give him a call. So I invited him to church a couple weeks ago and he's been going with me every Sunday and tonight I got the opportunity to take him with me to Sand, Psalms, and Sonic. Anyway, what this is all building up to is that it's just been a really rewarding experience and a blessing to do this. Last summer, I was in the exact same position as him. I had just graduated from high school, moved to an unfamiliar place where I knew nobody and just wanted some friends. Luckily, this summer, God has really allowed me to meet a lot of cool new people at my church, which has been great. But, it's so cool how God uses people and uses experiences that we go through to reach out to others. I asked him on our way home tonight how he liked Sand, Psalms, and Sonic and he just seemed to really have enjoyed it a lot. He said it was his first time all summer to actually do something normal and socialize with people his age. It was so great to hear him say that, and to know he got something he needed, because I know exactly how that feels, and I know there's so many people that need that too. It was just cool that God used me for something like that.

I was talking to Robbie, the guy mentioned above, about Texas compared to Missouri, where he's from. One thing he did mention is that Texans have a lot of pride in their state, and he seemed to admire that. Well...Texas is the bomb diggity. So, darn right we have pride in our state!!

Yeah, so the title of this post is "I'm Weird", which so far hasn't really made sense because I haven't said anything about how I'm weird. But...you just wait. I'm getting there. I was just thinking about myself before I started writing and I just think I'm weird. Sure, most people are weird. But, I feel like I'm really weird. Maybe it's just because I'm myself and everyone's harder on themselves. I just wonder if other people have the same kinds of feelings as me and have tendencies on the same "weirdness" level as me. Like...why the heck do I get feeling so lonely so easily? All I have to do is listen to a song that kinda means something to me, something I can really sing with with my heart, and all of a sudden I'm lonely. It's like...I just want someone to share that with. I know I have God with me all the time, and I'm never alone. I really do know that. But, I still get that feeling where I want to share things that mean a lot to me with a person. I have it imprinted in my brain that I shouldn't have to share these things with people; that God is all that I need. But, it just seems that I get that feeling at times regardless. Sure, loneliness is not an uncommon thing. But, I dunno, I just feel weird. There's a lot of other things that make me feel like I'm weirder than most people, but I could go on forever explaining them. I mean, you see how long it took me to explain the first one. Well, actually, I can explain this one quickly: I react to a lot of things emotionally, and end up saying stupid and sometimes hurtful things. And a lot of times the things I say to people when I react like this don't really make sense to them, and they end up confused. But then sometimes people realize that I'm just reacting weird to something. Oh, and I think too much about everything. Haha...this paragraph is weird. See, I told you! Anyway, I'm done talking about that. I guess you can judge yourself whether I'm really weird or not. But, whoever I am, it's okay, because in God's eyes I am awesome and am "fearfully and wonderfully made".

I hate how my room is either too hot or too cold. I wish I could just feel content with the temperature.

I miss Katie Hill. I wish she'd get back from France already so that we could have some interesting middle-of-the-night conversations.

I'm tired, I think I'm gonna go to bed. I got a long day of driving golf carts tomorrow (I work at El Dorado Country Club and I'm on cart staff). But in all honesty, that job is pretty hard work at times. We do a lot of stuff other than just parking carts and cleaning them and all that. Really, we keep that place running.

Leave some comments, they really do make me smile. You don't have to have an account to leave a comment.

Tell your mother I said hello.

If It Wasn't For Texas...

OOhhhhh eeeeeeee...

I'm listening to a country cd I made today. I've been listening to it pretty much all day. I was cruisin down highway 121 today in my new car with my windows down listening to this cd loud and it just felt...great. I think it's a necessity of life to drive with your windows down listening to good music. And, if you live in Texas, it's even better if it's country. But...if you live in Ohio, you should listen to Relient K. But, anyway, yeah...country is just, cool. The lyrics are very interesting and I'm just soo sick of all the other music on the radio. The quintessence of all these other radio songs is hollaback girl by Gwen Stefani. That is why I like country now.

I'm gonna be honest...I feel like I'm posting just for the sake of posting. I mean, I feel like I have a lot of stuff I could say, but it's not like flowing out like it usually does when I don't post for a couple months...heh. I kinda have something on my mind at the moment too and I am just kind of worrying about it...but, I shouldn't. I would go into what it is, but it's just not worth it and plus, it's just a long story. It's all good though.

I like songs about Texas. I am proud to be a Texan.

So, the All Star Game is tomorrow, or wait...today. Tuesday. Pretty exciting, eh? I watched all 3 and a half hours of the home run derby tonight. I'll be honest, I got bored watching it and I wanted to go do something else. Watching people get thrown slow pitches and trying to hit them into the stands gets a little old after a while. But, I didn't want to stop watching it because I was spending "quality time with my dad", so it's all good. Speaking of baseball, the astros have a record of above .500 finally. In other words, they finally have more wins than losses. That's always exciting. They're crazy. I'm not just a fair weather fan, though. They my boys.

I'm runnin out of things to say quickly. Here, just read something from a good Keith Urban song.

There's a new wind blowing like I've never known
I'm breathing deeper than I've ever done
And it sure feels good, to finally feel the way I do
I wanna love somebody,
Love somebody like you

And I'm letting go of all my lonely yesterdays
I've forgiven myself for the mistakes I've made
Now there's just one thing, the only thing I wanna do,
I wanna love somebody,
Love somebody like you
Yeah, I wanna feel the sunshine,
Shining down on me and you
When you put your arms around me,
You let me know there's nothing in this world I can't do

Sometimes it's hard for me to understand,
But you're teaching me to be a better man
I don't want to take this life for granted like I used to do,
I wanna love somebody,
Love somebody like you

You know...when I first heard this song I thought of it from a guy-girl perspective. But, reading it, it describes my relationship with God too. A relationship I already have. Because listening to that song at first I thought about how I'm looking forward to having a girl that I can have that kind of relationship with. But, it's really cool to know that I already have that kind of relationship right now with someone who loves me unconditionally. And whenever that kind of relationship happens with a girl, it will be really cool too.

I dare you to chunk the deuce at someone tomorrow while you're driving. Try it, it's kinda fun.

I'm Bonzo, But I'm Not Going To Bed. Ha!

Wow, I'm pretty bad about updating my blog. I guess it's just that I go through periods of my life where I don't feel like blogging....but I'm gonna try to honestly blog more consistently, because it's pretty fun. I hope people read this...if they don't well, I guess they're too cool for me, and school. Anyway, here it goes...

Ok, well, the reason why I decided to blog tonight was because of a mr. sean murphy's away message...song lyrics. It's always song lyrics that cause me to want to write in this blog. Well, not always, but a lot. Ok so his away message was part of Billy Joel's song "She's Always A Woman To Me". It's a good song. Here's the part that got me: "She can kill with a smile, She can wound with her eyes. She can ruin your faith with her casual lies. And she only reveals what she wants you to see. Yeah, she hides like a child, But she's always a woman to me". Thanks, Sean, for typing that, so I could just copy and paste it from your away message. Ok, so that might sound like its making women sound bad or something, but I mean, honestly, it's true...I mean, ok, so the kind of woman I want to end up with doesn't casually lie, but all the rest is so true. A girl's smile can do so much to you, and looking into the eyes of a girl can just make you wonder how they are so pretty. Girls, at least to me, do only reveal what they want you to see. I get so confused by them sometimes, and I'm out there saying everything I'm thinking to them. And...at least in my experience, girls seem to run a lot of times from conflict. I don't mean that in a degrading way to girls, but it just seems that when a conflict arises with a person, they tend to run from it. Anyway, I was just thinkin about that after reading Sean's away message. Girls-you confuse me, but I don't know what I would do without you. haha, to end this paragraph about girls, or...women, I will quote yet another song, this time by John Mayer. "Boys you can break. You find out how much they can take. Boys will be strong, and boys soldier on...but boys would be gone without wonderful woman's good, good heart". So true.

So, um, today is my birthday. Yeah, July 8th...haha i get excited just thinking about it. I love when it's my birthday. On July 9th, I always think about how I have 364 more days until my next birthday and get sad...oh, and on leap year i have 365 more days til my next birthday, daaaang. But, yeah I can finally say I'm 19 now instead of 18. My birthday is so far behind everyone else in my "grade", I always enjoy the first 6 months or so after my birthday because I'm actually the same age as everyone else, but then I feel really young saying I'm whatever age I am because people think I'm a grade younger. I get almost tempted to lie and say I'm older. Yes, I know it's dumb. Anyway, I got a new car last week. I guess that's kinda my birthday present. 2003 Chevy Trailblazer...word to your mother. But, my parents are soo cool that they bought me some new sunglasses too. Well, I've never had a nice pair of sunglasses before so this is cool for me. I asked for some Ray-Ban aviators, I found some really cool ones that aren't like gigantic and they wrap around a little and I think they look really cool. And I'm pretty positive they got them so I'm pretty excited about that. Ok, I guess this isn't too exciting for you...but I'm excited, so just be excited that I'm excited.

Wow, John Mayer is the bomb diggity. Sometimes I just get into moods where I can't stop listening to him. Speaking of music, again...I'm into country music now. If you find the right stuff, it's really good. I wonder if this is just a phase...there was a period of about a week where all I listened to was "I miss Mayberry" and "Fast Cars and Freedom" by Rascal Flatts. Now I'm sick of those songs, but I like country still. It's just...Texan, and I'm proud to be a Texan. Go Texas, coolest state ever!!

Ok, so I got this shirt at Foley's a few days ago. I saw it and was just like, whoa. And it was only like 12 bucks. I don't think I've ever put photos on my blog before, but I saw Sean do it so I know it's possible. What I'm gonna try to do is take a picture of my shirt and put it on here. I havne't done any of this yet. It's like...real time. Ok I'm gonna go take a picture of my shirt, brb...















Yep, so I think that's pretty much the coolest shirt ever. Haha. Well, in case you didn't pick up on it, it's a take off on Girls Gone Wild...at first I wondered if I should feel guilty but I don't cuz I mean, it's just squirrels...squirrels are awesome and harmless. I'm just glad they're not humping each other or something. Very glad.

This paragraph is dedicated to Miss Katherine Louise Hill, who resides in England at the moment. But she goes to a&m, weird, huh? As I write this I'm talking to her on AIM. Check this out:
texaskatie66: i just threw up all over my laptop
texaskatie66: and my bed
texaskatie66: ewwwwwww
Wow, that doesn't give a very good impression of her. But, she didn't actually throw up. But, it just goes to show that living in England kinda makes you crazy. I just met her at the end of 2nd semester and she's a baller and a half. You should IM her: texaskatie66, as indicated above. Watch out, though, she's a pistol.

Wow, this has already been such a great bday. I've had like 5 people wish me a happy birthday. Go facebook and birthday reminders! Well, I have good friends too so I can't give all the credit to facebook. But, I'm kinda drained on things to say. It felt good to post again, though. I'll be doing it a lot more often so keep a look out, or something, or other.

Annnnd I'm spent.