Much to do, little time to do it.

Alright, so this is bound to be a long one.

First and foremost: Appalachia Service Project.

Let me say that when I heard I was going to be digging a 20-inch-deep trench for a waterline, all the way up a mountain, it sounded impossible. Turns out it's even harder than it sounds.

This was seriously the most grueling service work I've ever done. Ask any of the people at my work site- slamming the Mexican back-hoe through solid rock is very very exhausting. We managed to get about 75 yards or so done. Not too bad. Here's my crew:

Though he's not in this picture, let the record show Atch was at our work site for day two. The dude in back between Annie M. and David is Josh- the guy whose house we were working on. I really hope that this guy gets running water soon. Say a prayer for him.

Also, can you believe that the year is almost over? Seems like yesterday that I was becoming a junior. And here we are with mere weeks left in school. This weekend is prom, next weekend my sister is moving to DC and we've got a bazillion AP's, the weekend after that is something (I truly can't remember what), and if I did my math right, we're at memorial day, and then SUMMER! Okay, so that sounds way more logical and exciting in my head. Just deal with it.

And to depart, I want to share lyrics from a song I heard on the radio that I had forgotten about. It's by Oasis, a British band headed by two brothers who hit it big in the 90s- ever heard of Wonderwall? This song, however, tops Wonderwall. It's called "Don't Look Back in Anger." Download it.

Slip inside the eye of your mind/Don't you know you may find/A better place to play?/You said that you've never been/But all the things that you've seen/Slowly fade away...

There's much more, and the melody is incredibly catchy. Also fun for those of you who play instruments- piano and guitar are big in this one.

That'll do it for me, kids. Live big, stay classy.

I'm back, baby!

You're probably scratching your head asking "back from what? you blog twice a week."
Well, if that's the case, you missed VI tonight. I was in the band for the first time in over 2 months. Admittedly, I was a little rusty on the guitar, and maybe even a little bit nervous, but it's rare that I'm SO EXCITED to play the worship set. Frankly, I couldn't care less how I sounded up there tonight. The way I felt standing on the stage is indescribable. Looking out on the faces of people so enthusiastically connecting with God, while my music motivates them, is a very gratifying experience.
It's funny how things like worship, we take for granted. You may disagree, but I think God was very present in the room tonight. All I can say is that I'm very happy to be getting back into the swing of things at VI; I missed seeing all you guys, and I missed playing my awesome guitar for y'all.

ASP TOMORROW!!

And as always...
Live big, stay classy.

Shia is my homeboy.

For those of you who watched the Even Stevens on Disney channel, this may be a bit nostalgic. If you didn't watch that show, well, you're a loser. Just kidding. But seriously.


Remember Louis Stevens, the crazy brother? I always wanted to be just like him. Anyway, he's played by actor Shia LaBeouf (whose name translates from Yhiddish/French roughly to: thank God for the beef). Here he is.

Remember him now? Anyway, he's in this new movie called Disturbia. It looks semi-creepy, but he's gotten great reviews. I want to see it, and hopefully I will in the upcoming weekends (pretty busy with ASP, Cappies shows, Prom, etc). He's also going to be in Indiana Jones 4, which I didn't even know they were making.

To promote Disturbia, Shia was on SNL last night. It was kind of cool to see him there, because I feel like I grew up with him, being a die-hard Even Stevens fan. It's the same reason I love Keenan Thompson, former Nickelodeon star of All That and the Keenan & Kel Show, who now is a cast member on SNL.

Shia was hilarious. My favorite sketch was the SNL digital short, which was sort of a farce of slow-motion dramatic shooting scenes from the movies. He's a pretty funny guy.

Anyway, thought I'd blog about it because I'm becoming slightly obsessed with him- I forgot he even existed till I saw the preview for Disturbia. Check it out and let me know how it is.

ASP in less than 4 days!

Live big, stay classy.

Watch out, Oprah: this is the Drew Troller Book Club

BUY THIS BOOK.

Seriously. This book is lengthy, at about 400 pages, but the chapters are short and make for an easy read. There's about 100 chapters, so do the math and each chapter's only about 4 pages. You could easily read this in a single weekend, and it's a wonderful book. My synopsis:

Pi Patel is a 16-year-old Indian boy whose family owns a zoo. One day, his dad decides to sell the zoo and move to Canada. So they set out on a huge boat loaded with various zoo animals. The boat sinks in the middle of the Pacific. Pi finds himself stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of nowhere...

Here's the catch: there's also a 450-pound Bengal tiger on board. Pi has to figure out how to survive for a long period of time without his family or any sign of civilization, not to mention figuring out how to keep from becoming the tiger's dinner. He eventually figures out ways to train the tiger to be obedient (it's cool) and survives an astonishing 277 days.

This book has an amazing twist ending which I'll try to avoid spoiling. Buy the book to find out.

Anyway, I'm putting it in this blog because there's a lot of mention of God. In the middle of his terrible journey, Pi actually finds God. (Nevermind that he practices Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity simultaneously). Pi claims that anyone who hears his story will believe in God. I don't know if it's exactly a religious book, but I'd definitely recommend it to any Christian looking for a relatively quick read that entertains and enlightens.

Shamelessly stealing from Atch

Yeah, 2 updates in 2 days. Don't get used to it. AP's are just around the corner- blah.

I'm sure Chris will love the title of this blog. I know he does music stuff in his blog a lot, but I want to take a slightly different thing. While he does bands you don't know but should, I'm going to talk here about a musician you may have heard of but forget that you loved.

His name? Jackson Browne.

Mr. Browne was a very popular musician when your parents were your age. He wrote songs for many of that era's biggest names, including the hit "Take it Easy" performed by the Eagles. I admit I had never heard of him until my dad bought his solo acoustic album. For those of you who have never heard me say this, let me say it for the millionth time: acoustic guitar is about the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Especially when it's accompanied by such compelling lyrics.

Here's Jackson Browne back in the day, at the Oscars nearly 20 years ago

I know, a hottie, right? Anyway, if you ask me, he's actually aged pretty well. Here's how he looks these days:

Anyway, now that you've seen the man, here's what I really want to talk about: the music. Browne wrote a lot of songs that express a sort of angry protest at the political practices of his day (on his solo album, he talks between songs about how bummed he is that Bush won the 2004 election). But he also has a lighter side, where he writes inspiring lyrics. I strongly recommend his Solo Acoustic album, especially songs like "These Days," "Birds of St. Mark's," "Fountain of Sorrow," and "For a Dancer."

I pulled off the lyrics from that last one because they're pretty inspiring, and have some Christian undertones. Here goes:

Keep a fire burning in your eye/Pay attention to the open sky/You never know what will be coming down/I dont remember losing track of you/You were always dancing in and out of view/I must have thought youd always be around/Always keeping things real by playing the clown/Now youre nowhere to be found//

I dont know what happens when people die/Cant seem to grasp it as hard as I try/Its like a song I can hear playing right in my ear/That I cant sing/I cant help listening/And I cant help feeling stupid standing round/Crying is to ease you down/cause I know that youd rather we were dancing/Dancing our sorrow away/right on dancing/there's nothing you can do about it anyway//

Just do the steps that youve been shown/By everyone youve ever known/Until the dance becomes your very own/No matter how close to yours/Anothers steps have grown/In the end there is one dance youll do alone//

Keep a fire for the human race/Let your prayers go drifting into space/You never know what will be coming down/Perhaps a better world is drawing near/And just as easily it could all disappear/Along with whatever meaning you might have found/Dont let the uncertainty turn you around/Go on and make a joyful sound//

Into a dancer you have grown/From a seed somebody else has thrown/Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own/And somewhere between the time you arrive/And the time you go/May lie a reason you were alive/But youll never know//

Anyway, that's his song. I think it's a cool example about living life to the fullest, and how we all help each other grow into the people we become. Just a thought for the day. And of course, as always...

Live big, stay classy.

I'm Dreaming of a White.... EASTER?!?!

So, yeah. It's snowing. Check the calendar, it's April 8th. And yes, it's supposed to be spring. And yes, supposedly our planet is heading toward this disastrous warming. Well, Al Gore, if global warming is for real, then why did I have to wear my winter coat on EASTER?
Ok, sorry. It just bugs me that I can't wear my new shorts or sandals.
Anyway, spring break was kinda boring. Nothing too eventful happened. I saw Blades of Glory, which is actually a pretty funny movie. Not the best I've seen ever, but worth a view if you get sick of the snow and want to go indoors or something.
Other than that, I haven't been doing too much. I'm pretty stoked for Appalachian Service Projects- we leave in 11 days! Doesn't that seem really soon?
Well, sorry this thing is so short today, but I don't have too much to report. Just wanted to update since it's been a week.
Live big, stay classy.

Spokes-Men for Jesus

Yes, the corny titles are back. This particular one is a terrible play on bike spokes, the things that keep your wheels together. Bad, I know. But it popped into my head during the long ride I took today.

Around 2:15 or so, Lee, Dustin, Laura Slon and I started biking in Milford, headed towards Loveland. Lee started out being in front, but Dustin and I took turns keeping him in place by flying in front of him. Slon consistently stayed in back, singing the Wicked Witch of the West's theme song. After eating some snow cones, we all continued to go further into loveland, getting near Mason before turning around. On the way back, I am proud to say I was leader of the pack. Dustin and I got a good half mile ahead of Lee and Slon.

In the end, we wound up doing about 32 miles. Very exhausting. My legs, back, and butt are all sore. But it was worth it, because it was a beautiful day and we had a fun ride. Not to mention, I got to show my small amount of athletic dominance over Lee and Dustin.
Hope you guys are all enjoying your spring breaks!

Oh, and here's my wonderful artistic rendering of the ride. (I got bored)

Live big, stay classy.