Ze Bike

Today I fixed up my bike. It was pretty fun. I've never done much to it other than filling the tires and oiling the chain. It did get a tune-up once, about a year after I got it. Today I took a toothbrush to the gears and chain, trying to get rid of the fuzzy look.

This bike (2002 Schwinn Voyageur AL) is so comfortable. I know it's a sissy bike, but considering the kind of biking I've done in the past it's great. I got it (as a graduation gift) right before biking the C & O Canal trail, which is a sissy trail, so I figured a sissy bike would be appropriate :-) My mom even likes to ride this bike because it's comfortable. So, now I'm ready for biking trips! A few of my friends are doing the MS 150 bike race, and have had several training runs already. Maybe next time they go biking I'll be able to come.

Ridiculosity!

This got me mad. But it also gave me an excuse to link to a site I enjoy...not that I've gotten a Car-ectomy, (I've never had a car), but it's full of useful tips.

The Best Concert Yet

Oh my. Where to start? With sleep deprivation from midterm preparation? With the cup of deliciously caffeinated frozen chai from Kiva Han's? From a religious demonstration on campus that was soon swallowed by an anti-demonstration of homosexuals where a friend was passionately reading something in support of gay rights? Or perhaps the 54C bus driver refusing to open the bus doors, causing me to be late?

Nah. It started years ago. I don't even remember when or why I first heard MuteMath, but I knew it had some connections to an old band I liked called Earthsuit. [EDIT: I just heard their song "Peculiar People," and I think that song got me interested in the band. I often sing this song as I walk to the bus stop, or feel particularly weird.] So I watched some videos, bought the album, and fell as deeply in love with them as one can with a band. No, I'm not a groupie. Their music is simply that good. I've heard it said that people who like Mute Math are fans of music, not the band. Interesting. Explains my point, I hope. Though I do think their creativity extends beyond music. Go look them up on YouTube...Darren is hilarious.

Years before Mute Math, however, I liked Eisley. I still don't understand why they're just an opening band...I've liked them for years! Are my musical tastes just that obscure? Anyway. I saw them on tour with Switchfoot, and it wasn't bad. They weren't amazing live, but kinda like playing the CD, just really loud, with bass that will shake your pants. So the sound was good, but not the show. Still, I like them a lot.

On Tuesday a month ago, all the fun stuff mentioned in the first paragraph was accomplished and/or observed. That whole religion vs. gay rights thing had me thinking pretty hard, and I may actually blog those thoughts when I have time (like...when? Yeah). Yay for a newfound friend, Steve. He's a lot of fun, and during this trip I got a good quote out of him, though I forget the details. Something to the effect of "I just don't get awkward." I shall have to keep that in mind.

After I found a bus driver who would open the door for me, I got to Steve's neighborhood. We jumped in hiss black Taurus and found John Behrens and took off for Cleveland. John zonked out in the back seat, so Steve and I talked about music and road trips (he took 4 friends, 3.5 weeks, and a few thousand dollars to tour the US. So cool!). Dinner was some sandwich from Au Bon Pain that had really spicy guacamole. But I got a jar of actual tea, which was cool. No preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup, nothing but not-from-concentrate tea. Cleveland was crowded because the Indians were there for a playoff game. Parking was expensive and hard to find, but we found a sweet meter which was a block away from John Q's Grille. Never been there, but the name was cool!

Then, back to the creepy, oppressive House of Blues. They've got this thing going on..."Unity in Diversity," or something, and have icons from major world religions all over the place. Ugh. But the first thing I noticed were my friends. Some of the Akron kids came up for the show, and I had a sweet reunion with Jess. That girl is a breath of joyful, beautiful air, and I wish I had more time to spend with her. I got to meet some of Steve's friends, too (he grew up near Cleveland). So we mulled around, chatting a bit, forcing our way forward as much as possible, and waiting for Eisley.

Eisley was good. This time around the vocals (which I've always loved) were much more stylized, and I think Stacy and Sherri have gotten much better with time. Garron (the bassist) had a disgusted look on his face...I felt bad for him. They also played songs from their new CD, which was cool. Their new sound is a lot more aggressive. Nice. They finally played Trolley Wood :-D At points during their set, I'd realize what they're playing, light up, glance at John, and we'd both exclaim "I LOVE this song!" or some variation thereof. Dave T also got hooked. He kept muttering about poetry inspirations and stuff.

Eisley left, and we waited. Craig reminded me of the Switchfoot concert, when I got tired and sore, so I just sat down on the floor between sets. Well this time I talked to Dave, tried to convince Steve that we should swing dance to the background music, rubbed John's shoulders, and tickled Jess. We pressed forward as much as possible to get close to the stage...I'd guess I was about 5 feet from it? REALLY close. Close enough to tell that Paul Meany was sweating before he started playing. Fortunately, we were also on the drummer's side of the stage.

"I approach my instrument as a frustrated athlete."~Darren King (source)

Ohhh, MuteMath. You rock. In so many ways. So, check this out--Darren, the drummer, TAPES HIS HEADPHONES TO HIS HEAD. That's certainly a sign that one should prepare for an adventure. He also had a sparse drum kit, but boy he used it maximally. He is amazing. Love in the form of a drummer, as Steve said. Heh. Any time I saw Steve he was gaping at Darren, as if he could become a better drummer just by watching Darren's genius firsthand. I certainly enjoyed the drumming. His vibes are close to my soul's rhythm, if that makes sense. His beats are creative and unpredictable and tight. At one point in the show, he pulled his drumset apart, heaped the kick drum and other random parts on the Rhodes piano and jammed there for a bit. Meanwhile Greg was playing his board full of effects pedals, Roy was playing a cymbal with his hands and a stick, and Paul was beating the life out of a freestanding bass drum.

"I want to make it hard for people to be hopeless." ~Paul Meany, in Soulshine

The lead singer/keyboardist, Paul, is childishly energetic. Not in an immature way, he just came up with crazy stuff to do and had weirdly cool dance moves and loved interacting with the crowd. He drifted between a synth, a Fender Rhodes piano, a keytar, and an instrument they made out of an Atari game console. Unfortunately the keytar broke about halfway through the concert, but I didn't miss it all that much. Paul likes to jump around, and at one point was pounding his keyboard, decided his feet would do better than his hands, and jumped on it. Bad idea--he was unbalanced and hit the stage pretty hard, knocking his mic stand over in the process (it almost hit me!). But he bounded up and kept going. A note about the Rhodes piano (get it?)--they sawed the lid in half so that just the keys were exposed, thereby protecting the rest of the instrument. Wow. Oh, yeah, he'd hit a chord then do handstands on the thing, too. I laughed out loud.

And, oh, man--Roy, the bassist, played an upright bass for "Obsolete," which was so cool! The pickups were taped onto the fingerboard, which was curious. I'm guessing they were pilfered off of an electric bass. He knows bass, in my opinion...he's not just a wanna-be guitarist or someone who wants to be in a band but give minimal effort. He knows what he's doing. Plus, I just loved seeing a classical instrument on a stage with weird electronic instruments and effects pedals. Greg, the guitarist, was amazing, as I've come to expect from lead guitarists. He had a big...guitar...that I was curious about. It was a hollow-body electric guitar with f-holes...it looked "vintage" (i.e. old), and I loved the sound. Of course, his effects pedals may have had something to do with that sound. Those pedals, by the way, were all screwed onto a board, which he carried around and played sans guitar (and maybe a sampler was involved).

The whole band was good with crowd interaction, which is cool because usually that responsibility falls on the lead singer. The crowd there was excellent, and a lot of people knew and sang the words, which the band seemed to appreciate a lot. Because of this they seemed like real people, not just "artists" on a pedestal who assumed people's appreciation.

I wanted to post a video from one of their shows, but I don't have a favorite one. So go here, or here. Just don't stay there for too long...

Whirlwind NE American tour, part II

Well! Last weekend I went to Harrisburg with my brother and two great friends. This was one of the best road trips I've had in a while. There were a few disappointments which were due to physical injuries, but I got over that. On Thursday I fenced epee with my baby epeeists and got hammered pretty well, and ended up with multiple bruises and two cuts. My pants somehow survived, but someone lunged against me with such force that it broke skin and my whole quadricep was swollen. On Friday my friends asked if I was running the 10K race that weekend, and I said no and referenced the holes in my leg. "Holes in your leg? Ha!" They made a lot of jokes about holes after that. They still are.

Kayte, Mike, John, and I were destined for Kayte's familial abode (of Debra Bell fame). At the beginning of the trip, John got a call from a number he didn't recognize. Someone offered him a job. How sweet! Nice touch on the weekend, God! On the way there we laughed for most of the trip. John invented a song for Kristen's (Kayte's sister) birthday. It was nice having a real guitar plucking around instead of a stereo. It was much easier to listen to people's voices. John also brought his "torpedo pen" that folded out. He occasionally snapped it at my ear, alternately scaring, surprising, and annoying me. Kayte started to keep a score between John and I to decide who could annoy the other most.

The first night we were there, the boys went for a jog. Kayte and I threw a blanket on the ground outside to lay on and watched the sky and talked. We went to bed and talked while the guys talked in the family room. The next morning Mr. Bell made breakfast for Kayte and me before we headed to a meeting on the gift of prohecy.

I am pretty sure I don't have the Spiritual gift of prophecy. Once every few years I'll think of a verse that may bless the congregation I'm with, but it's not consistent enough for me to consider it a "gift." However, at the prophecy meeting, I had Isaiah 40:28-31 for a woman who was receiving a prophetic word. I knew she had a disease, but found that it was osteoporosis and knew God wanted to reach her through that. I asked Mr. Prater if he thought the verses were appropriate, but couldn't read them from my tiny pocket-sized Bible. I read them to him. My voice was shaking, so I'm not sure if people got what I was saying, but God can do cool things with such failures on my part, so I'm happy!

At the prophecy meeting I was praying for a friend named Erin when Frank walked up to me. Frank was on the prophecy team that was visiting from Philly. He said he didn't have a word for me, but wanted to pray for me anyway. I'm so glad he did. In his prayer, he mentioned a lot of things but I remember mostly that he prayed that I would be a blessing to my father, since we share such a special relationship. I loved that, and hope I will take his words into consideration when I'm dealing with my father.

They prayed corporately for people who felt weary in their service to God. Yeah, that's me. I know the Holy Spirit has gifted me with a servant's heart, but sometimes it is really hard to use that gift. Saturday evenings get bittersweet when I remember I need to wake up at 6:45, but it's 2 AM and we're still having a lot of fun. Regardless of when I actually go to sleep, it is hard to discipline myself to wake early enough to get sufficiently ready for a church service when I'm the only church member I know who gets up at that time on a Sunday morning. The actual service, i.e. spending time setting up the sound system or BS stuff isn't bad, even if it's only my Dad and I. So I was prayed for in that area as well. John later encouraged me to foster a more grateful attitude toward serving, with a lack of pride and cynicism. I'll be praying that God gives me grace for waking up early, and that I will serve in secret joyfully. I need to be grateful for my alarm clock, and view my Sunday AM routine as service to the church. I also need to trust that God will provide for sufficient sleep and healthy sleep patterns during the rest of the week.

My brother also was prophesied over, though I didn't get to hear most of it. It seemed he was encouraged, though, so I am glad he was able to come. I did a lot of silent prayer from my seat. As I was praying, I was considering what actually was happening. Mostly encouragement and prayer. Why don't I do that more often with friends? I can see growth in their life that they may not see--can't I purposefully pray and encourage them to their faces, instead of only praying in private? That was cool. It was also cool to see total strangers describing situations in other peoples' lives, based solely on a word from God. It's another way to show that he really does know us intimately, and cares for us.

After lunch we went for a hike with Kayte's father, sister, John, and Erin. Mike went for an interview. The hike was very fun. I love trailblazing, and we frequently lost the trail and did whatever we felt like doing. I got a lot of scratches from thornbushes and John got a tick, but I think that was the worst experience. John got a lot of ManPoints on that hike. Mr. Bell was generally in the lead, so whenever we reached a particularly wide stream or got tangled in thorns, John was there to offer a hand or bushwhack us out. We talked a lot, too, despite the occasionally loud, crunchy leaves. Kayte's full of good questions and interesting experiences!

Dinner was Lebanese (not LEE-ban-ease, but LEB-an-ease, apparently) food. Good stuff. We debated over watching a movie or playing ping-pong, and ended up playing ping-pong. Kayte tried really hard to beat John, and John kinda tried to shut her out. Neither happened, but it was fun to watch! Later, John got that Songwriting Look on his face (he was also playing the guitar, which was another sign). Kayte and I headed upstairs soon after that.

Sunday morning was weird, because I didn't wake up while it was dark :-P Church was great. I'm glad I didn't think to focus too much on the sound system, otherwise I probably would have been distracted from the songs. Mr. Prater preached on I Thessalonians 2:1-8. More evangelism! Great! I love that stuff. I took quite a few notes. From conversation afterward, I gathered that the phrase "Don't invent, look to include" had a big impact on how people viewed evangelism. I thought of quite a few people whom I could evangelize more, and some people who I don't know if I could evangelize. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with those relationships.

Right after church we took off for the 10K race. We got hit in the parking lot of Giant, though we were sitting still and had been for quite some time. That was interesting. I didn't run, but I cheered and took pictures. One of Kayte's friends, Lauren, was there to cheer as well, and I discovered that she fenced epee. That was cool! We talked about that for quite a while. Being at the finish line was the best part. John was first, Mike was after Gabe, and Destiny beat Kayte. The lady pushing a stroller beat everyone but John, which was funny and inspiring at the same time. Kayte and Gabe finished really strong. People seemed pretty elated after the race. As we were leaving, though, Destiny's mom busted a tire. Lots of odd car incidents, er, accidents, there.

The runners all took showers when we got home. I played about an hour of frisbee with some kids who are part of Gabe's Bible study. While they were in the basement, I ate pizza for dinner and chatted with the Bell family, Lauren, and Cameron (Kristen's famous boyfriend). We celebrated Kristen's birthday with a few cakes and presents. John sang the song he wrote for her. Nice wink during the song, John! Mike gave her a box full of packing peanuts and a Chik-fil-A cow, complete with a parachute. Cameron seemed to enjoy that more than Kristen. I wonder why :-P

On Sunday night I was in the mood for massage. So I rubbed Kayte and Mike down, then got hand massages from John. I enjoy doing that so much. I think I irritated Mike's upper Trap muscles, but he didn't complain. I found this sweet muscle that goes from behind the ear to under the clavicle on Kayte, but I have no idea what it's called. I should find out.

Monday morning was pretty relaxed. Kayte and I discussed plans for fabric shopping. John was expecting a call from his potential employers on Monday morning, so when we discovered the soot on the bottom of the chandelier, he promptly used it to draw dark lines under his eyes to prep for the big talk. Some time after that we went to the fabric store. It was pretty funny watching the guys run around, picking out hypothetical Youth Camp team colors and laughing at weird prints. Mike asked if he looked good with bright blue velvet (I think he'd look better in black or brown, personally). Kayte and I took a while to make our selections, then asked for the guys' opinions. They shot down our selections, which turned out to be a good idea because one of the fabrics we chose was $9/yard. Ow.

We got home, ate lunch, and chatted with Mrs. Bell. She's one of those unusual people who share my interest in linguistics. She dissed my writing, though I don't think she's ever read it. After hearing that I like to write everything in one sitting, she said, "Well some day I hope you LEARN HOW to write!" I guess there are a lot of ways to write a paper. Mike was playing with a lighter during our convo, and at one point she turned to him and said, "Mike!" He immediately put down the lighter with a goofy, guilty look on his face. He'd guessed what she wanted...that was funny.

On the way home I discovered some rubber bands in the car. I promptly decided to get back at John for his pen trick, and shot him in the chin. Bands flew back and forth, and John successfully blocked one of my shots with a piece of paper. I think Kayte gave me a few points for the rubber band thing, but John was still ahead.

On the way home we talked about our parents, our futures, and the church. Good topics. We all decided that some day it would be sweet to be part of a church plant somewhere. We took turns talking about what we appreciate in our parents, and what we might do differently than them. The guys talked about their careers, since both had gotten job offers over the weekend. Kayte talked about Philly. I would really like to go visit her when she moves there. Oh, and John got another significant phone call. He got subpoenaed! I'm somewhat jealous...

We played Imogen Heap's music in the car, which I love. John definitely won our contest to annoy each other. There are a lot of tunnels on the turnpike, and we'd been trying to hold our breaths through each of them. I'd been sitting in the front seat, somewhat sideways, with my knees on the armrest. While we were in a tunnel, John (who was sitting behind me) started petting my knee with his foot. AHH! Who could hold their breath after something like that? Kayte gave him way too many points for that...but it was pretty good. Kayte got my brother, too. He took a huge gasp as we entered a tunnel, and after about 30 seconds she reached over and slapped him in the stomach. Not only did Mike let go, but after trying not to laugh at his reaction, I couldn't hold it either. Double-whammy for Kayte.

Appropriately, we ended our trek at Chik-fil-A. While we were leaving, I tried to surprise my brother by jumping on his shoulders. This never works. I don't know why I do it. But this time I ended up with a moderately sprained ankle. Ow. That's the worst pain I'd felt in months! I actually got woozy. When we got home, I found that my epee with a Zivkovic grip had arrived! Sweet! So, while everyone else unpacked Kayte's car, I ripped into the box and started playing with my new weapon. John left to head right back East for a vacation with his family, Kayte went "home," and Mike and I crashed.

End of trip. Good trip. Good times. Good friends. Thank God for them! At times like these, I'm astonished at how God uses my circumstances to bless me and show his love. I wonder how this trip will change my friends and me, for I feel that it has. We did a lot of trivial things, but our relationships were strengthened and I don't think God just wanted us to have a fun weekend together. The future, once again, proves to be fascinating.

Whirlwind NE American Tour, Part I

In the next few months, I'll be all over the top right quadrant of my country. (Not Ireland, silly, the real one). Here's the report on the first weekend! (I'm really cheating on the time this was posted, but wanted them to be posted chronologically. Ergo, I cheat. Pardon.)

I had a hard time finding a substitute for my Saturday job this weekend, but God provided. I was working like a bee before we left, and was able to sleep a lot on the way there. I saw my Colorado relatives for the first time in four years. That was cool. They were there because my Uncle Ernie (who owns his own Physical Therapy clinic) does these Primal Reflex Release Technique (PRRT) seminars all over the country.

I was supposed to wake up at 5:30 AM on Saturday to help at Uncle Ernies' seminar, but considering that I couldn't sleep until 2:30 AM, I chose to stay at Uncle Dank's. My little cousins and I decided to walk to the local $1 store, where we made the manager nervous. He greeted us with a Mexican accent, loudly asking, "now yous kids don't mess anyt'ing up, 'kay?" We got laser pointers, gum, and chocolate. Not bad :-)

After lunch we made bits of a music video that never fully materialized. In this video, you can see my brother Matt, my cousins Jordy, John, and Emily. Jordy does his sweet rendition of the dance move called "the Worm."

Dinner was...I forget. But we watched some March Madness basketball on Uncle Dank's 64" HDTV. Honestly, I prefer our projector, but the stereo he had hooked to the TV was SWEET! He even had outside speakers. Nice touch.

On Sunday, I successfully woke in time to attend Uncle Ernie's seminar. He gave me an anatomy book to browse through during class, which was good since most of his presentations went right over my head. So I played around with my face, finding bony structures and muscles, until I was needed. Uncle Ernie had 13 students, so I became a guinea pig for them to try their new techniques. It was fascinating, though I really had no idea what was going on. The basic idea of PRRT (I think) is to counter stress. When people are stressed, they go into the "fight or flight" mentality, which "upregulates" their system and, over time, will cause musculoskeletal pain. Therapists use PRRT to "downregulate" their patients, and eliminate pain that can be tied to stress. I think there are other uses, but this was just a beginner course and I didn't even have the credentials to take the course. But I enjoyed it.

We hung around my Grandma's house that afternoon. I ate a lot of Hershey's kisses while I talked with my aunts and mom. Aunt Karen tried to find out why I'm an insomniac, but couldn't find a cure. Still, it was fun to talk about me :-P

The "grown ups" stayed at Grandma's while my siblings watched the younger cousins at Uncle Dank's. We got the subs pounding and recorded some more sweet dance moves. We jumped on the trampoline for a bit, but soon switched to "Ghosts in the graveyard." That game is really fun, but it's really loud, so I'm glad it ended shortly after dark.

I discovered Guitar Hero that night. I thought Dance Dance Revolution was a cool video game, but this beat it. It's the sweetest video game I've ever played (which isn't saying much). You've got this cheesy little guitar, right, with buttons instead of a fret board and a switch instead of a pickup, and a whammy bar. You pick a song to play, and the screen shows a fretboard and tells you which fret buttons to push and when to "strum" the switch. During the long notes, you can use the whammy bar if you choose. Every once in a while, something called "star power" is available, and you can "rock out" by shaking and tilting the guitar. My cousins call this "feeling the music" and it adds points to your score. By the time I left my uncle's house, I had progressed from playing single notes to "chords." It was sweet! It made me wonder if kids enjoyed that more than actually playing an instrument, though. Kinda sad thought.

We left on Monday afternoon. Aunt Karen invited me to visit them in Colorado, which I'd love to do this summer. Aunt Liz later e-mailed me, saying I'd left some shampoo etc. at her house. Oops! I'm expecting to get it back in the mail any day. Sorry, Aunt Liz!

I have a cool family.