111th
It’s my 111th birthday! Oh wait, it’s not… but it is my 111th post (did I mention that I’ve just recently read Lord of the Rings?). I think my 100th post was probably a bigger milestone, but then again the spacing between 100 and 111 has been many, many months…
Anyways, I was originally going to entitle this post “working man,” but I thought I might like to save that one for later. I started at Disney on Saturday and now have the complete script of my ride memorized (including numerous animal facts, as I am on Kilimanjaro Safaris). However, other than work, my life’s been rather dull.
I guess my body has forgotten what it’s like to work eight hours a day, five days a week. Though, if you included my commute, my working days would be closer to 10 hours a day. Recently, my free time outside of work has been spent in things like reading, but mostly I’ve been sleeping. I’ve been going to bed at about 9pm every night (getting home from work at about 7ish), and then sleeping until around 6am. So, do the math, and I only have about 3 hours of free time every day. I personally don’t mind the routine right now, but it’s made me realize how extremely mundane the working life can be; imagine if this was my job: working 50 hours a week and only having the weekends to rest, relax, do chores, and hang out with friends. I would be spending more time at work and sleeping than anything else… yuck. I’ve gained a whole new perspective on appreciating my college years.
Oh, and imagine if I’d gone to Colorado LT (leadership training, a Great Commission Ministries camp in Colorado). At LT I’d be working 40 hours a week, and then be expected to go to meetings for an additional 20 hours a week: 60 hours of “working” every week with a dictated sleep schedule… I’m glad I came home.
“Cool”
It’s funny that the word “cool” has lasted so long as slang (or has it really lasted that long at all? I’m not that sure being only 20 years old). We make fun of our parents for the word “groovy” back in their day, and equally we make fun of words like “dude,” “rad,” and “bad” from the 80’s. It seems that each of these sets of slang lasted for approximately 10 to 20 years. By my recollection, “cool” has been in the vernacular for at least 10 years, I wonder how long it will be until there is some adolescent staring up at me and laughing just because I said that something was “cool.”
One Life To Live
I have recently been reading the Lord of the Rings sequence by J.R. Tolkien. I have wanted to read the books before the movies came out, but it seemed as if I never had time. In these books I’m most drawn to the characters of Aragorn and Gandalf (oh, and Tom Bombadil for those of you who are really into the Lord of the Rings) because of their prolonged lifespan and their ability to achieve so much inside their lives.
First, there’s Gandalf who appears not to be affected by the passage of time. He’s gained great wisdom in many of the multi-faceted areas of Middle-Earth and possesses the insight and clarity to act upon his knowledge. Aragorn is much the same, though his life ends shorter at 210 years. Despite their differences in longevity, these characters still seem to be able to achieve so much in their existence.
As I observe these characters, it seems that if I could live for hundreds of years I too could achieve great things. If I could live this prolonged life I think I would bear no scruple at reading the Silmarillion or the various other tales of Middle-Earth. Yet, with so many other things that I wish to do in only one life, I feel that reading these books would be superfluous when there is more important* matters at hand which are closer to reality.
I sometimes wish the span of my life would extend many times beyond that of normal men so that I could do and experience all the good things this world has to offer. Gaining wisdom, discernment, and clarity, as well as expanding into “book smarts” in the sciences and refinement in the arts. However, I feel that even if I should live so long, I would regret it at many points.
Unfortunately, living a prolonged life is improbable, and even if it did occur, there would be no guarantee of achieving all that I desire to do. Therefore, my hope must be to live a life so full, that by the end I have lived many lives in one no matter the number of years. I pray for a full rather than long life as I have only one life to live.
*The word “important” is obviously a relative word that varies among individuals. For me, the readings of fantasy works would seem less beneficial to the ends that I wish to achieve than reading other works such as self-help books recommended by those I admire. However, I bear no mark against fantasy novels and dearly wish for the time and patience in order to dwell in their worlds as well as this one.
Communion
It’s strange that we Christians, whole yet broken, partake of the Bread that is Broken yet Whole for Communion; that by acknowledging the broken body of Christ, our broken lives become whole.
Musicalness
It all started two days ago when I set out to burn some mix CDs to listen to in my car. My initial goal was to compile all the albums I have that only contain one good song into burned CDs of only good songs. However, this goal soon transitioned into an attempt to create what would be my ultimate radio station on CD format. Unfortunately, I soon realized that this would take over 30 CDs. My goal then subsided into the first again, but I developed a new desire to create a playlist for my i-Pod that would contain “my ultimate radio station.”
Yesterday and today I’ve been going through my music collection updating all my files: making sure they have the right artists/names. I’ve also ventured to go as far as to try that newfangled rating system that the players have now; I have yet to see if they transfer between players though. And while I’ve been doing all this, I’ve been racking my brain deciding which playlists the various songs should go into, if they should go into any at all.
Sadly, when one has over 3,500 MP3s (all legal), this process takes a very long, wearisome time. So, for better or for worse, I’m spending the last few days before I begin working at Disney dabbling in my hoard of MP3s when what I really wanted to do was read the rest of the Lord of the Rings or write poems, or just do something that seems a little more worthy of my time.
Cell Phone Theory
It’s strange that when I see that someone has called me on my cell phone, and left a message, that I’ll often call them back before I listen to their message. Yet, if they’ve called and not left a message, I most likely will not call them back.
Still Alive
I just wanted everyone to know that I am still alive and well. I really should post more often, but then again I should do a lot of things more often…
