another weekend

Well, this has been a busy weekend. I finally finished a 1000+ page book that I was reading called The Winds of War. It was a good book but it was very disapointing to find out at the end that it is simply setting you up for the sequel. Oh well, didn't kill me and I did enjoy the book. This upcoming week is going to be a little crazy, with two shows to go to and a piano recital/competition. It will be a good week though. The end of daylight saveings time is always sad, but the seasons roll on. By the way, my sister and I were having a disscussion about how almost every native culture that we could think of all over the world has war drums. It is interesting how you can know that it is a war beat without even knowing what is going on. Oh well, that is all for now.

Fine, I'll post since you insist. Well, today I went with Alex Fries (pronounced freeze) and gave him a tour of the Episcopal church here in town. He was duly impressed, and I did something I have never done before. I actually went up into the bell tower! We didn't actually go into the room where the bell is, but when I went to push up the trap door into that part, about three inches of pigeon poop slid off of the door! Super K would have loved it! Anyway, Alex got some pictures without actually going up there. There is only one bell, but there are two ropes. One actually swings the bell and the other is for a hammer that hits the bell. It is interesting.

The amazing part is that I actually went up there with rickity ladders and all. It was fun though. After that we went over to St. Marys and went up in their bell tower. It was pretty cool, I could see Plum Brook Station from up there. Well, thats about all that I did today. Pretty fun stuff.

CHange

Well, I have started my senior year of High School. I'm not sure what I think about it so far, but I will let you all know as I figure it out. (HA). Life is changing, (Gasp, CHANGE!!!) but that is good. I will try to give a real update soon.

Well, sorry it has been a couple of days but I have not been able to find an empty computer when I was available. Several interesting things have happened recently. I have told many of you how annoyed I was with my town for the way that they were acting. Things came to head Thursday evening. A lot of guys were late for evening lineup when we go to the assembly. Our counselor Alex had to keep telling people to be quiet, and they were ignoring him. His assistant Perry then had to tell them to be quiet and they were ignoring him as well. It got to be bad enough that Perry told us we were going to walk in two straight lines to assembly and not talk.

As soon as we got downstairs the guys started talking, and when they got in trouble for it they started talking back. Things were not looking good at all, and I was pretty mad about it. I was mad that they thought that this was anywhere near appropriate. Every night up until this point they had been introducing the counselors from each of the dorms. The kids from that counselors city normally stood up and clapped, cheered, etc. Well, our guys were so worked up that they decided that they were not going to do anything at all.

As it turned out they didn't introduce counselors at all. There is a system here of rewarding the best preforming town in each county with a flag. The first night we won the flag. This was the third night of the flags, and we didn't get the flag, we came in last place.

At the city meeting that night all the guys were talking about why we came in last place. They were coming up with all of these silly ideas, like we just weren't being creative enough, and if we just tried harder with what we were already doing, etc.

After about ten minutes of this I stood up, still upset but not nearly as mad as I was earlier. I told the guys that I thought the problem was a severe lack of respect for the leaders. I talked about how even if you don't like your leaders you still need to respect them, and amazingly enough they listened. When I got up for all I knew, they might just ignore me and decide not to talk to me, but they listened. It was pretty cool because the change was almost immediate.

Since then our city has become unified in a way that I couldn't even have imagined. It has been pretty amazing. Last night, we won the flag, and things have been going great. I also got a hour nap, and as many of you know that just makes life better.

Well, today has been a very busy day. We started off the day with several different things that we knew we needed to get done for the day. This included writing a piece of legislation as well as working together with the counties and cities in order to make sure that those with mental retardation and developmental disabilities receive fair treatment.

We started out the day only to have several of the legionnaires who are working in the court section come by and tell us that we needed to let someone go so that they could go work in the courts. Apparently the courts did not have enough people to cover all of the clerk and bailiff positions. The thing that stinks about this is that MRDD is supposed to be the 5th largest department in the state and we only had 4 people to start with. Now we are down to three, and things have been crazy, but I think we are starting to get settled in to an extent.

A very funny thing for many of you though, I am the one in charge of the budget, payroll, and paying the bills. It has been going all right, except for the fact that we are going to need twice the amount of money that we were budgeted. Oh well, it is a lot of fun, and I am getting to run all over the place. I will talk to you guys later.

Well, I got my job. I am working for the Department of MRDD, which stands for Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities. I am the asistant director. This is actually turning out to be a pretty good job. I am employed by the state, and my boss is a member of the governer's cabinet. The office would oversee all of the programs such as Christie Lane for the entire state, as well as lobby for the rights of those with mental disabilities.

We are pretty much given the opportunity to do whatever we want to do within our budget. The governer is requiring that we write a bill to be submitted to the legislature, and we have to set up a display for the State Fair on Saturday.

I think that this will be a good job, and I am looking forward to it. There is also a Mental Disabilities Bill of Rights. We will print this out and give it to each of the cities. If they display it in a public place then we will give them 5000 dollars, if they refuse or just don't do it then we have the power to fine them 15,000 dollars, so we will also be doing this.

The inagural ceremony is tonight, and it looks like the governer is going to be speaking there. I will also get the chance to talk to him when he visits my office later today.

Well, I'll talk to you guys later.

Primaries Over.

This whole election deal has moved so fast. I did not make it past the primaries. However, I did do very well. I got 120 votes, there was a kid who got 13 more, and then the kid who won got 151 votes. My conseler said that he had never seen a race that close before. Also, there were several canidates behind me. Overall this really isn't dissapointing. I had thought that it would be but there are still a lot of options left. The state job fair starts at 7:30 and I am planning on being there early inorder to get a good job.

I miss all of you, but I have been to busy up until this point to really think about it. There are several pianos here, and as most of you know that makes me very happy. I will continue to update, since this is the most that I have updated for the last month or so.

Primaries

Today is primaries. I already went and voted, we will have to see how it goes. I do feel that I have several advantages as things ended up working out. I was the first canidate to turn in my petition therefore I am first on the ballot. Also, as far as I know I was the only one to go out and talk to people instead of just putting up signs. I will keep praying and keep you guys updated. If I win the primary, then I have a debate later. I will let you guys know.

boys state

Well, I'm back and at boys state. I don't really hve time to tell you guys about my time at the conference in D.C., this information will come though. I just wanted to let you guys know that I am running for Chief Supreme Court Justice, and i have succesfully passed my bar exam. The average pass rate over the years has been 14% with three chances to pass, and at least an 88% to pass. I got a 94%, one of the highest, and I passed on my first try. I collected my signatures for my petitions and have succesfully started my campaign. Daniel xxxxx for Chief Supreme Court Justice. Interpretting the law, not writing it.

Please continue to pray for me. I have also been praying over the entire campus, and I believe that i am walking in God's favor. Talk to you guys later.

Daniel

Tonight

Tonight we are going to play for the talent show at the High School. I am playing with Super K, Belle, Doon, and also another song with Laura. We are going to be playing at the high school itself, and because of this we seem to have been having a difficult time getting ready. First of all we are playing a song by the Newsboys, and it is totally different from anything we have ever done before. We have also not had very much time to practice and are not feeling super ready for this. There has been a lot of extra stuff going on during this time with school and all of our extra activities. There has been a lot of doubt among us as to whether or not we are doing the right thing. Also, I have been dealing with hopelessness myself. I feel that this is because part of what we are coming up against is the hopelessness in the school. I need to go right now but please pray.

Dog Bites.

First of all I would like to let you all know that several weeks ago I was attacked by a vicious man eating German monster. The name Shepperd is not at all applicable, thus monster. (As a side note I was not messing with this monster's sheep, therefore I am not at fault.) I was simply walking by completely unaware and doing nothing to provoke it and all the sudden my leg was in the iron grip of a vicious beast. Luckily due to my amazing running and screaming abilities I was able to get away from the monster with only slight wounds.

In reality, it was a really old German Shepperd that has a thing for tall thin guys, so at least I have a good physique.

Rambling on about who knows what

I had a busy weekend, but it was good. I know that I haven't posted much lately. I have a theory about that. Blogging is a winter sport and when spring time roles around you simply lose the momentum that was once so strong. I promised that I would let you guys know more about the conference, so here goes.

The second night was awesome. Pastor Eric Reeder is one of the leaders of the emerging generation. He spoke that night, and it was very powerful. His heart is for this generation and to see us walk in our destiny. One of the best things about this is that he is not advocating the usual, the youth need to rebel against the oppression of the older generations. He is instead saying that we need to work together with the older generation in order to see true transformation in the church.

If anybody is not following this at all let me know and I will try to make it clearer.

We have a destiny to change our country. God is going to start moving in each of our lives in ways that we have never seen before. You may not think that you can make a difference, and you may not even want to make a difference, but I believe that God has other plans. Give me any reason you want about how we are too young, or the government can never change, or the moral decay has gone to far, and I have to tell you that the God I serve is bigger.

I guess that is all for now. This is also what I call my rambling format, so if anything needs clarified, let me know.

And thus I succumb

I appear to have given into peer pressure, and it has been quite fun reading reading all of your wonderful comments in the meantime. I wonder if I will get this much traffic on my blog by just writing? I would like to quote a very famous person who once said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I have no idea who this person actually was, however they must have been famous because I have heard that one a lot.

As most of you know, I am currently at a church conference in Marietta, OH. It has been really good so far. The focus so far seems to be on connecting the generations. For those of you who do not understand this, it is all about the older people, or the current generation, working with us younger people, known as the emerging generation.

The really cool part is that everything that they are talking about in this conference is stuff that we are already doing here at home in COTK.

We have had a lot of fun here, and it is really good. I will let you guys know of anything else I think about, although I do need to go right now.

Talk to you guys later.

I'm not even done with high school!

You paid attention during 100% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
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I'm am truly sorry that it has been so long since I have updated, as well as being a long time since I have read some of your blogs. I repent right now and will do my best to get back into the swing of things.

I have been fairly busy lately, although really not any more so than is normal. I went with a large group of friends to see Karolyn and Sylvia's show on Saturday. They were awesome!! I won't try to gloss over some of the show but the girls were really good.

Today the weather is beautiful. I haven't been able to go on a bike ride like I wanted to, but the weather is still great. I love the springtime. All of my flowers come up, and life is so evident. I like the winter as well, but this is the time of year where every time the weather forecast is for below freezing weather, I get a little bit worried about my plants.

I love my family. This may seem like a rather duh sort of thought to those who know me, but it is so true. I do care for my friends, and some of them have become almost like extended family. When it comes down to it though, my parents and siblings are the ones who are always there when I need them, and I love each and every one of them so much.

Even though I often get annoyed with them, I wouldn't trade them for the world. This is a picture of me and my siblings at the zoo. We went I believe in January on one of the days when the weather was great.

Well, that is all for now.

I might as well go ahead and post since I sort of left things hanging. The last day of the musical was last Sunday. Michael was able to say most of his lines, however, I had to go ahead and sing for him. This was slightly less stressful than the day before just because I knew what was going on. During intermission though we had a little scare. Michael didn't know whether or not he would be able to say his lines for the second act due to his voice wearing out. I went ahead and read the first scene for him because he didn't really want the director to have to do it again. It went really well and he was able to do the rest of the show.

That was it for the show, I got nice gifts, lots of complements, etc... The next day I woke up sick. Blah. That is why I haven't updated until know. I have been rather out of it. The good news is that I am officially caught up with all of my homework and have none to do over the weekend. It is late so this is all for know. Signing out,

Daniel

AKA The Perfect and Magnificent One.

Wow part 2

I thought yesterday was stressful, hah! Today was way more stressful. I got a call this afternoon that the lead in the musical who I shall now reveal as Michael was doing worse. When I got to the school to get ready I was informed that I would be singing the entire show. Wow, what can I say about that? Not that there was any pressure or anything, after all, this is only the entire show that we are talking about!! Michael was going to try and speak his lines but after the first scene he could barely whisper. Because of this the director had to read his lines, while directing the orchestra, while I filled in on all of the songs.

It was slightly crazy to say the least. We are still praying for Michael, it would be awesome if he could do the show tommorow, but we don't know what is going to happen. The show went well, but it was crazy. I would have to say my own lines for one scene and then race over to the other side of the stage for the next scene. We don't have a backstage area at all so if you need to get over to the other side of the stage you have to go all the way around.

I messed up a little several times, one of the horses is more like silk than milk, but nobody really noticed. We were able to make it through the show, but it was a crazy ride. I really don't think I realized how stressed I was until after I got home.

Well, that is all for now. I will update on how tommorows show goes. Hopefully everything will go as it should, but it seems that you never know around here.

Wow, can I go to sleep now?

Well, I wanted to blog and let those of you who have no idea know what is going on in my life. I can sum it up in one simple word. Musical. My school is doing Oklahoma this year. It has been a lot of fun but it has definitely been stressful.

This was opening night, and it went really well, but let me tell you what led up to it.

This morning we received a call that my good friend Chris had the stomach flu really bad. In case you don't know, Chris is in the musical. When I got to school there were quite a few kids worried about him. The director had one of the other guys in the show start to learn the part. I went on my way and delivered announcements like I normally do. I forgot that it was Friday, and on Friday we have mass, and that I was supposed to do the first reading. Whoops. One of the teachers covered for me, and it worked out. During mass though, the director of the musical took me aside and told me that I needed to go ahead and learn all of the music for the lead part.

The kid who plays Curly in the show walked into school this morning, and he could barely talk let alone sing. He was immediately sent home, and I had to go ahead and learn all of his music. There was a whole group of kids including myself who just skipped half of our classes today to learn stuff for the musical. Not only did they have to replace Chris's acting part, but also his singing and dancing.

Needless to say, everyone was rather stressed. After 6th period I had learned as much as I could of all the music. I was exhausted, so I went home and slept for the rest of the school day.

When I got to the school at 5:30 for practice, we had another problem. One of the boys in the chorus was throwing up in the bathroom, can this day get any better? I had everything worked out in case the lead needed me to sing for him. We took care of the kid who was throwing up and I got his solo.

When the time came to start the show we were all rather stressed, but as soon as we got on stage things started to flow. I can't say that everything went off without a hitch, but it went very well. I ended up not having to sing for the lead after all, he made it through the entire show. It all worked out, and we did end up having fun.

We really missed Chris, but it looks like he should be able to make it to the Saturday Performance.

I suppose that is all for now. Also, thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, it was a happy birthday for sure.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I have hijacked this blog to wish my son a very
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! He's 17 today. Let him know your birthday wishes!

~your mother :)

This is an extremely powerful video, think about it.

Myspace Layouts :: Funny Videos :: Music Video Codes

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Confusion, outrage, mission money

Here we go again with another post about school, don't you all just love these. I horribly offended one of my former teachers today. I know everybody just loves this part but I feel the need for details and background information.

To start with, as I have mentioned in previous posts, I am the official runner at my school first period. Among my other responsibilities, I collect mission money from the Junior High and one of my old religion teachers who doesn't really want to take the money up first period.

The junior high kids love to try to beat each other with which class can raise the most money. Some people feel like this shouldn't be the attitude behind giving, but the really have a lot of fun and enjoy doing it. Because I go around and get the envelopes with the money the kids will often ask me who "won" this week. Often if the totals are close then the kids will pull out there spare change and try to top the other classes total.

Today was a rather unusual day. The mission collection was to help the family of one of the students in the elementary school who has cancer. The money is going to help them with traveling expenses between here and Cleveland. Because of this everybody pulled out all the stops this week and gave a lot of money.

The junior high kids in one of the classes tried there best and came up with $75 total. This in and of itself was pretty amazing. They thought that they had a really good total and they did. However, when I got the envelope from the one teacher in the high school they had over $102 collected. I remembered at this point that I had $20 dollars in my pocket that I hadn't spent and didn't have a specific plan for. I decided that I would help the junior high out since they wanted to beat the record.

They managed to scrounge up some more money and got a total of over $104! This was exciting for everyone. They thought that it was great and I felt that was good that we were able to bless the family. Side note, that verse in the Bible about a cheerful giver, these junior high kids were doing their "conga line". It was pretty funny.

The high school teacher who ended up with the second highest amount found out what had happened. I was astonished to find out that she was furious with me. Apparently she felt that I had betrayed my position collecting the envelopes and I should have never told the other class what her classes total was. With all the hard work they put in I shouldn't be upstaging them, etc...

I was very surprised by this entire thing. The highschool doesn't really have any rewards for giving the most or anything like that. I didn't disobey any rules at all, and I thought that the fact that we were able to raise more money for the family was a good thing. I was rather upset by the whole thing because I saw this teacher right before she left for the day and she was still upset.

So, I'm fine now, I just needed to get that out. I don't understand the entire affair at all, but this is how it turned out. I guess I will just have to see what happens.

P.S. this teacher has decided that I am no longer to be trusted to carry her money envelope. Oh well, less work for me I guess.

Makeing a differance, or not

Well, this week has been crazy. I was talking to Super-K and my sister earlier this week and we agree that it has been crazy. Also, it's pretty easy to lose your focus on life. What is our true purpose in life? We know that God wants us to make an impact in our schools, but we really don't. It seems like every month or so we end up talking about how we need to make a differance. Then we go back to life and forget about it. Thats about all we discussed, but we agree that something needs to change and that most likely that something will be us.

Thats all for now here, on to other things

Stand

updated to add pictures

I promised a while back that I would tell everyone about the meaning behind the name of my blog. Well, here goes. The name obviously comes from the Bible verse beneath it. I have a very good group of friends (you know who you are) that I have known for at least for years now. We play together on the church worship team and have taken missons trips together as well as other such things throughout the years.

We play together and pray together, and we have also had other people pray over us. One of the things that has come up over the last couple of years is this verse. We all have to deal with day to day life and the struggles and frustrations that come with it. Many times we are under intense pressure to compromise on our beliefs. That is where this verse comes in.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph. 6:13. Many times in our lives we get to the point when we can't really see the light at the end of the tunnel. We know that God wants us to stand for righteousness and purity. We know what we need to do but it is so hard. Eventually we will all reach a point were we can't do anything more. When we reach this point we must stand.

When we have given our all and can't do anything more, we stand. We wait and trust in God with the belief that his ways are higher than ours, and we stand. We do not back down, we do not give in, we stand. There is a point were we can't do anything even if we want to, and at this point we stand.

We stand by refusing to give in on our values and beliefs. A good example of this is the recent controversy with the school board. There may come a time when we have given all the information that we can and done all that we can do. When this time comes we will not back down, neither will we try to cause a scene or start a fight. We will stand.

Perhaps the best picture of this that I can think of is when I went on a trip to Washington D.C. this last summer. The trip was an amazing time as we went around our capitol praying. The most rewarding experience of all though was going to the Supreme Court and praying silently with the life tape over our mouths. We didn't react to the jeers and heckling from passerby. We didn't back down to the intense heat and fatigue. We simply stood.

That is my challenge to all of you now. God has given each of us a battlefield. The time may come when you don't know what to do. Maybe there won't be anything that you can do. When that time comes, Stand.

Maybe Change is Good.

I've been thinking again. I know, scary. Change is sad, scary, and sometimes painful. In spite of all these things change is also good. We grow and develop new ideas that we would have never imagined before. We sometimes lose friendships but we develop new ones that are often just as important to us.

As we grow God is able to use us in ways that we never thought possible before. I am now able to speak into the lives of some of my friends from school. Three years ago I wouldn't have even thought that these friendships would be possible. My church is much deeper in worship and prayer than it was five years ago. God uses change to help us grow.

If we don't change we become stagnant and start smelling funny. But really, change allows us to grow as individuals and helps us to continue to grow into the person that good has destined for us to be. Just my quick thoughts for the moment.

Keep your eyes on God, even though life seems to swirl around you like a mighty storm. He alone will keep you safe and preserve your life.

What I Believe

Like everyone else I think that it is time to do a post on this random drug testing issue. I am in favor of the idea of random drug testing on the high school level. I know that this is a very divisive issue, but this is the main reason I am in favor of it. I am also totally in favor of an abstinence based sex education program.

This is an excellent tool to help my peers say no. It is very easy for the school to say that all they need to do is educate us on this issue, but in reality it's more than that. There is immense peer pressure in our schools today. Even if you are a "good kid" who normally wouldn't even think of doing something like drugs, the desire to fit in and be accepted can overrule all at times.

So many kids in the school system today are searching for acceptance in one way ore another. I am fortunate to come from a family who has always loved me and supported me. Many of my peers for one reason or another do not have this unconditional love and acceptance. Even if you do have a strong family, there is so much emphasis placed on fitting in at school. It is so easy to feel alienated. I can tell you from personal experience that going to school everyday and feeling like you have no friends and like you don't fit in at all can drive people to do things that they would not normally do.

It is very easy to start hanging out with the wrong people simply because they accept you. For some people the need to be accepted will cause them to allow themselves to be pressured into drugs as well as sex. I feel like this is a very important tool to help these people to say no. It is currently not extremely hard for a student to become involved with drugs and for nobody to find out. This gives the students who aren't necessarily strong enough to stand on their own a tool to help them stand.

I also feel that an abstinence based sex-ed program is definitely the right thing to do. This will teach students that they can say no. This is contrary to the system we have right now which teaches what to do when you have sex. This is not something that you have to do and I feel that my peers need to be taught this.

I hope that all this makes sense because it is rather late. I definitely don't think that this is a closed issue. My dear Uncle has raised some questions about whether or not the random drug testing is constitutional. For right now the Supreme Court has ruled that it is constitutional, however, this is also the Supreme Court that continues to allow legalized murder.

I don't have any answers really, but I think that this is something that we all need to continue praying about.

Snow Snow snow snow snooooooooooowwwww........

In case you didn't get the title, we have recently had a lot of snow. While the good folks up in New York will probably laugh at us, oh well. I don't think we could really handle the 11 1/2 feet of snow that they recently had. My back is a little sore still from shoveling yesterday, but it was worth it. I have one specific friend who hates snow. I have to agree that it is rather uncomfortable sometimes, but it is still definitely worth it. The following are some of the good things about snow.

I first of all like the entire not being in school thing. No offense intended to any of my dearly beloved classmates, but I don't hate not seeing you very much at all. I have enjoyed spending some time with mainly my family and a some of my friends I don't see as much of during school. I also like the entire aspect of driving in snow (although I think my father feels differently!!) I enjoy the challenge and I am careful about it,unlike some relatives who shall not be named (Senor B).

Also, for some reason I think that it looks pretty cool.

In other totally unrelated news, I discovered that a stray cat is living in our basement. Normally our cat Fuzzy would NEVER have allowed something like this. However, he is not with us right now. Check out my mothers blog to see why. http://lilies-of-the-field.blogspot.com/2007/02/family-characteristics.html The perpetrator is a rather plump cat with a round face, one small ear and the other ear missing. It is a he. This is all I know about the intruder. Any other information will be posted upon its release.

Thats all for now since I still have a little bit of homework that I should have been doing the last couple of days. Have a great day!

I Have a Name!!

For those of you who are not extremely keen and observant, let it now be known that my blog has a name. It's great isn't it. I will write a post on why the name is what it is later. I have homework to do now. Amazing isn't it, I have time to post in school, but out of school I have to much homework. See the oxymoronicness (spelling???) of it and stare Super-K.

I promise to post with all due speed to use a government term.

More School Outrage

Many of you who read my last post realize that I know everything that should be changed at my school. After all, I am me. Well, today has been an interesting day so far to say the least. We had a meeting at lunch for everybody who is interested in joining National Honor Society this year. Over two thirds of my class of 67 kids is eligible this year. Because of this they are trying to thin the ranks a little bit.

The latest scheme is a little over the top personally. We were told that we are pretty much required to attend the coming home dance this year if we want to join NHS. The exact wording was something along the lines of, "If you are not there then we will know that you really aren't commit ed to being a part of NHS." I was rather irate. I have several things going on this weekend including Doon's birthday party, and now I have to go to this silly dance?

I am deeply pained, greatly saddened, etc, etc, etc.....

Oh well, what can you do. I will update on the specifics of this grievous situation as soon as I figure out what I am going to do.

P.S. my school does not have any rules against blogging during school hours so this is legal.

Two Hour Delay

Two hour delays are supposed to be a good thing right? You get to stay home, sleep in (supposedly) and take care of anything you forgot to do the night before. Well all these things are true, however, they seem to lose relevance as soon as I get to school.

There is a new principal at my school this year, and like most new leaders he has been changing things around a little bit here and there. There are some good changes and some changes that most people don't like, (although these kids complain about everything). There is one change that I do not like at all though. This is the schedule for two hour delays.

Instead of spreading the changes out over all the period, or rotating which periods are shortened, everything comes out of the morning periods each day. This causes problems for me most of all. You see, I am the office runner first period each day. I am in charge of getting the attendance slips from all of the teachers first period, taking a hard copy of the announcements to each room and anything else that needs done. I am normally done near the end of first period or the first few minutes of second period.

However, when the periods are shortened, everything that has to get done still has to get done. Because of this I miss all of 2nd period as well as most of 3rd period. This becomes very annoying, and in fact can make it difficult to make up work in these classes. Because of this I am going to talk to my principal tomorrow and see if maybe things might be able to be changed.

On a slight side note. This schedule also hurts many of the teachers and makes it difficult for them. Hopefully this great crisis will be resolved and peace will once again reign in Daniels world.

Go'in Courtin

This is in response to several questions that I have received on my no dating policy. First of all-I do not believe in dating. This has raised many questions, but here are my basic reasons.

First of all, the American idea of dating is not really based on true love and respect. To often it is more about the physical aspect of the relationship rather than anything else. Another reason is that more good friendships are ruined when people decide to date than I would care to think of. I see so many people hurt everyday because something went wrong with their relationship. The whole concept that dating teaches is that "we'll try this relationship, but if things don't work out, or if one of us gets uncomfortable for any reason, it's done." This fail and bail mentality just sets you up for failure in the future, because you never really learn to work through things.

Also, on high school dating, what is the point of dating when you almost for sure will not end up marrying the other person. To those who say that you need experience in relationships, I say that the hormone and emotion laden high school years aren't exactly the best time in the world to learn.

The other thing which I really wish I didn't have to mention is the physical/sexual side of many dating relationships. So many people who never intended to lose their virginity do in dating relationships today.

So you may ask, how will you find a wife. Well, in comes the concept of courting. This is something that I heard several years ago and I have never forgotten.

The entire concept is based not on who you think is the best person for you, but who is the person who will fulfill God's destiny for you. If you think that you may have found the person that God wants you to marry, then you pray about it. You then go to the girl and ask her to pray about it. If it is something that you both feel like God wants you to pursue, then you go to the girls father, or spiritual leader if her father is not saved and ask him to pray about it.

You then get to know one another not by spending time on quiet, you and me only dates, but by spending time with each others families. You spend time in groups and get to know how you each act around those you know closest, and found out what they think of you.

This entire process is about finding God's person for you and establishing a life long relationship.

I know this is probably not the best of explanations, but this is how I see it. If you have any questions or clarifications, let me know.

Cold Day

Today we get a cold day!! I've never even heard of one of these before, but apparently, if it gets cold enough the schools close. I love this! Maybe the whole wind chill down to -30 helps but whatever it takes. I don't have a lot of time today because I have piano lessons in an hour and I need to get ready. I will think of something to write about soon.

Pianoboy

AOSFYC

Today I sent in my application for AOSFYC. For those of you who don't know what this stands for it is the All Ohio State Fair Youth Choir. I am very excited about this opportunity. AOSFYC is essentially living at the state fair for three weeks and singing the entire time. For anyone who knows me you now that this is totally up my ally. There is a slight conflict with scheduling though. My parents are planning on celebrating there twentieth wedding anniversary during the same time period. You are not normally supposed to leave at all during the fair. However, I sent in a letter with my application stating the circumstances and hopefully they will be willing to work with me. I am praying that everything works out because I would absolutely love to be able to do this. I did pray about it before I sent in the application and I felt a peace about it so, we will see what happens. I'm putting the website for AOSFYC under my links in case anyone is interested in more information. I will also update whenever I find out anything. In case anyone was wondering I found out about AOSFYC through District Choir. That is a different post for a different day.

I've been thinking today (Uh Oh they all say), no really, I have. The subject of today's deep thought is CHANGE. Life around me seems to be changing so fast. I'm already a Junior in High School and they want me to start thinking about what I want to do for the rest of my life. I am personally not really sure at this point. I have a couple of ideas such as music and politics, but I don't know for sure on anything.

It seems weird though because when I started High School two and a half years ago this stuff was nowhere near my mind. I was worried about the fact that I didn't seem to have any friends and I didn't fit in at all. Now I seem to have quite a few decently good friends and the majority of people I know will at least talk to and get along with me. Changes like this aren't bad at all. It just seems like it all happened overnight and tomorrow it will be gone and my life will be in a totally different place.

Speaking of friendships and change, have you ever noticed the way that your friendships seem to constantly change? For the first ten to twelve years of my life I didn't really have a "good friend" my own age who I got along with and was my friend. I had my siblings who I wouldn't trade for the world, but not another guy my age I could really relate to. I guess what I really wanted was the type of friendship that you read about in books, or at least I read about in books. When I was I think about thirteen I met that good friend that I had always wanted and prayed for. For the next couple of years things seemed to go along great. We got along relatively well with each others siblings and we even all played together quite a bit.

That changed though. As we both started to go to different schools we started to grow apart to an extent. Although there was never really one defining moment of separation we did end up getting in several fights over the years. I didn't want things to change because my philosophy had somehow ended up being if we are friends now then we need to be friends for life. I guess that is just more of the book reading part of me again, but the changes really did hurt.

Gradually things continued to grow apart, and today even though I still wouldn't mind being good friends it just doesn't seem to happen. It's not like we dislike each other, but we really don't seem to be the I can share my heart with you kind of friends anymore.

Over the last couple of years I have made some other good friends. Some of them are mainly my friends and some of them are friends that I share as it where with my siblings. The relationships are always changing though. While I realize that not all change is bad, the change that hurts usually tends to be in the back of your mind. Relationships will change over the years and some will end while others will strengthen and grow. I do wish that things didn't have to change, that I didn't have to keep doing new and sometimes painful things, but where would I be if nothing ever changed in my life.

I would never be the person God has destined for me to be if it wasn't for the changes in my life. I have also started to develop new friendships with many different kinds of people and I think that I can give and take something different in each of them. Yes change is painful, and sometimes it seems unnecessary, but God is in control ultimately and we can trust that he will work things out in the end. I am glad for the path that my life has taken and for the experiences I have had. Some of them may even lead to that whole career thing.

God you are in control and I trust you totally.

Sorry if not all of this makes great sense, but sometimes you just need to "vent" as my family calls it and get things off your chest.

P.S. to all my friends, don't think that I think any less of you, each and every person that God has put in my life is important to me.

Day 1

Not a whole lot happened today. I played with the jazz band for a lunch today. We did pretty good, although the piano I had to play is not so great. It was tuned on Monday and somehow it was already out of tune by the time of the lunch. My friend Chris is in the jazz band and he did well. Overall it was a lot of fun, plus, there was leftover food afterwords!! For anyone who knows me you know this is a definant bonus.

In other news, our school had its first lock down drill today. Our principle came on the anouncements and said that we were having a lockdown. The teachers locked the doors of the rooms we were in and we sat and talked for twenty minutes. While it seemed to work, the system raises many concerns for me. What happens if we have to do an actual lock down in between classes? What about the other buildings on campus such as the auditorium? How will the phys. ed. classes have any idea what is going on? These are the things I worry about, pitiful I know.

Oh well, I have a speech that I have to give for speech class tomorrow. Better go ahead and get started on that.

First post

This will be my first effort at blogging. I will try to fill in the dark and unknown secrets about my life that you are all longing so dearly to know. The true Daniel will be revealed within the depths of these pages. It could be an interesting ride--so lets go!! :`)