The Last Power Hour

The last season of 24 has ended tonight. I must say, I'm a little saddened by the loss of something that's been a big part of my life. I've been watching 24 since it first started 8 seasons ago. I'm not ashamed of saying that Jack Bauer has always been, and always will be my hero. It's been a long, amazing run. I'd like to celebrate with some awesome Jack Bauer facts:

There has not been a terrorist attack in the United States since Jack Bauer first appeared on television.- Apparently, some Muslims are really offended by Jack Bauer's overly zealous treatment of terrorists. From what I've read, some people think Jack Bauer gives Muslims a bad rep. No lie. I think if they actually bothered to watch the show, they'd see that the only bad rep that these "Muslim terrorists" get on the show are the fact that they are almost never masterminds.

Ordinary people have panic attacks. Chuck Norris has Jack Bauer's attacks!

Kiefer Sutherland drinks to forget all the terrible things Jack Bauer has done.

Vin Diesel can be rearranged to say "I end lives." Jack Bauer can be rearranged to say "Jack Bauer," which means the same thing.

Jack Bauer made a brief cameo in the film "Stand By Me" as the local bully. His character got so pissed off when the boys didn't let him take the dead body that seven years later, he killed River Phoenix. Jack Bauer never forgets.

Jack Bauer could get off the Lost island in 24 hours.

If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.-freaking Nina Meyers!

If Rosa Parks was in Jack Bauer's seat she would move to the back

The Boogieman checks his closet for Jack Bauer

There were originally five horsemen of the apocalypse. Jack Bauer said he would travel by foot.

When Kim Bauer lost her virginity, Jack found it and put it back.

The Dinosaurs laughed at Jack ...

Nostradamus once predicted in his journal: "In the century 21st, the one known as Jacques will be the savior of the world... five seasons in a row." Moments later, Jack Bauer knocked down the door, shot Nostradamus in the kneecaps, and yelled "WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?!"

Every person in authority who has ever decided Jack Bauer is wrong and a loose cannon who needs to be arrested is dead. Coincidence? I think not.

Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.

Jack Bauer doesn't dodge bullets. Bullets dodge Jack Bauer.

If you ever tried to tell Jack Bauer to go to hell, the Devil would silence you before you finished the sentence.

Jack Bauer was removed from Counter-strike by Valve because the counter-terrorists always won. Always.

There is no such thing as Evolution. There are the animals Jack Bauer doesn't kill.

Chuck Norris and Jack Bauer once got into a fight, the event is commonly known as the Big Bang. If you want to know who won, just ask yourself when was the last time
you saw a new episode of Walker Texas Ranger?

Jack Bauer understands the teacher in Charlie Brown.

The only correct answer to the question, "Who's your daddy?" is "Jack Bauer". No matter who you are.

Jack Bauer let the dogs out.

Jack Bauer has two speeds: Walk and Kill.

Jack Bauer caught all the Pokemon.

Jack Bauer once wrote a book. You might know it. It's called The Bible.

For 137 pages of this goodness: http://www.jackbauerfacts.com/





LONG LIVE JACK BAUER!

Life without facebook/why I love my blog.

it's been 20 days since my facebook went offline and I must say it's been an interesting journey so far. At first, I didn't think it'd be such a big deal, but after a while, I realized how much of a psychological effect facebook had on me. Quite unexpectedly, I've been over come with almost this sense of loneliness, which I think is positively ridiculous. I attribute this "loneliness" to the lack of "connection" now that facebook is gone, or what we believe is connection. Now that instant access to everyone and there mother isn't on a screen, I can't get a hold of them. I can no longer facebook chat, or cruise over to somebodies page and leave a comment. This is positively silly because none of that is what I would define as an actual connection, but more of an artificial connection. I never even seriously used facebook chat to begin with anyway! It really is kind of scary how facebook seemed to trick my brain into thinking that I was interacting socially with people online, when in actuality I wasn't doing very much interacting at all.

You may be quick to point out that facebook may not be the cause of such loneliness, but I respectfully disagree. I got along fine without facebook, talking to the same number of people on aim as I do now, which is a meager few, but if anything; I interact with more people now on a regular basis than I did before. I have deeper conversations and connections now with people who play a bigger role in my life than I did then, and these are person to person interactions. Not over the phone or in front of a computer. So, honestly, I don't think this is actual loneliness, but may be this "false loneliness," if there is such a thing, that has resulted due to loss of such a big part of life up to now.

A few of you may know that my birthday was earlier this month. May 11th to be exact. Facebook definitely impacted the way I experienced that. On my birthday, the only people to actually wish me a happy birthday were my family members. Now, I'm not crying about this or anything. I honestly don't advertise my birthday, so it wasn't really that big of a blow. (I haven't thrown myself a bday party since I was in elementary school.)It was different though. Usually, thanks to facebook, you are bombarded with a barrage of "Happy Bdays" from everyone and there mother who happened to see the notification on facebook. I always thought that was annoying though, since I would always suspect that they needed facebook to tell them when my birthday was. It wasn't just bad things that came out of this though. One of my students, who does not have a facebook (to my knowledge), wished me a happy birthday a few days before it actually happened. I was stunned/happy to find out that someone actually remembered without having to be told! And this kid wouldn't be categorized as the brightest either! I guess I may be able to categorize a text by a student on the day of as a "happy bday wish," but all she called me was an old man. I guess I'll take it. In any case, that's what I've been looking for. Fostering real, meaningful relationships with out the use of a stupid computer.

I think people categorize these new little social interaction apparatuses as a requirement nowadays. That's dumb. I shouldn't have to have a facebook in order to connect with a person. I was talking to a student of mine last night about dating. He couldn't seem to understand the idea of dating without texting being involved. It was a foreign concept to him. As he put it, "it kind of makes you cherish all the time you have." He went on to say that he and the girl he is "dating" enjoy each others company. Shenanigans. I'm not saying that they don't, I'm just saying that that's kind of funny when the only time they ever see each other face to face and hear each others voice is at school. This is just an example, that of a 17 year old to be exact, but I've found myself thinking and acting the same way before too.

I think people honestly underestimate the power facebook and even texting. I think it's kind of scary. It's integrated itself into our daily lives. It's become a ritual for some people. That's nuts. I would never have guessed how much of an impact facebook had on my life until I got rid of it.

This is where my blog comes in. I've been using this free time to think up stuff for my blog. I love it. I've also come to understand how important my blog is to me. A while back, I came to the conclusion that I'm actually quite forgetful, especially with the important stuff that I've experienced. It's hard for me to recall particular circumstances that have impacted my life. I can only ever recall the emotions, the impact on my life, and the results. I didn't really have material to "tell a story" with. I could just relate feelings. I understand that an easy way to solve this is by recording stuff like that in a journal. I own a journal and I've tried using it on more than one occasion. I just couldn't do it. Then I realized that this blog of mine actually has some pretty deep, life changing stuff on it already. For some reason, I blog about my experiences freely when it feels like pulling teeth when I try to write them down.

I don't hate writing. I love writing actually. I enjoy using big words and forming deep sentences and messages. For some reason though, I just can't keep a journal. I guess this has developed a new found appreciation for my blog. I guess it may be slightly hypocritical of me for being dependent on this virtual collection of writings on the internet when I just severed all connections with facebook, but I think facebook and my blog are two different beasts, and my blog surely isn't replacing my interactions and shaping my world-view at all.

It may sound like I'm crusading against our little social interactions over the web and the phone, but I'm not. I'm promoting awareness, and recording what I've learned while struggling with this stuff. I honestly believe we take this stuff too lightly. I'm not saying we should stop using any of this stuff. Not at all. I'm just saying we ought to be mindful of how we use them and how they are impacting our lives.

Who's got two thumbs, two trigger fingers, and the right to own a handgun? THIS GUY!

I got my Handgun Safety Certificate today! I'm pretty psyched. I had to take a test in order to receive the card so that I will be able to purchase handguns in the future. It was pretty much 30 true and false and multiple choice questions that were all pretty common sense. It was pretty awesome. I passed with flying colors! BOOYAH! Now the question is what handgun I will be purchasing first. The million dollar question. I've singled out a few guns that I want to check out before I make a decision.

At the top of my list would be this bad boy! It has the style and intimidation factor that I require. Who cares if the gun flies out of my hand and into my face after I fire it. If it hits something, then it's game over!


I'm very much kidding about that. As cool as a Desert Eagle is, I'd much rather purchase a Baby Eagle which has similar style and would be a lot more practical, not to mention affordable. Some day I'd like to purchase one of those, but they don't seem to be widely available so they're off the list.

At the top of my list would have to be the USP Compact. It's a pretty good sized gun that comes in 9mm, .357 sig, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. I got to handle a model in .40 S&W today and I must say that I really like the fit. I would like to fire it in 9mm and may be .40 before I make a decision though.


Second on my list would have to be the Beretta PX4. It comes in 9mm, .40 S&W, and I think it even comes in .45. Apparently one of the awesome things about this gun is the barrel rotates slightly when firing to reduce recoil. I am not sure exactly how that works but apparently it does. I'm still doing my homework on that. Also, the grips on this gun can be changed out for small, medium, and large grips to fit your hand the way you want it. That's a plus. You want a handgun with a good fit. Then, of course, it's Italian. All in all, the Beretta is high on my list.


Third, and finally on my list will have to be the XD 9. It's the cheapest of these plastic fantastics. There is a pretty broad selection in the XD department. I've never been too happy about their looks, but they definitely beat those ugly glocks in my book.


I'm sure other guns will present themselves, but this is what I've got so far. I'm sure I'll post the end result eventually though.

Halo Reach: Beta!

The beta test is finally open for Halo: Reach. Us die-hard halo fans have been waiting since news of it's availability was announced. I've been psyched since playing Halo 3: ODST.


Too bad I'm in class right now and can't be enjoying it like the rest of the drooling masses of halo fans. But that's what my night is going to look like tonight! After 24, which ranks higher than the beta to me, I'm going to be all over that. I might just fall asleep to gun fire! OR Tea-bag the night away!

Mr. Nice guy

The other day, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and they asked me: " when do I ever do nice things for other people." To be honest, I thought it was an interesting, but random question, and they assured me that they were not trying to offend me. The thing is, that's not a question people ask me very often. It's not even a question I ask myself, so I thought it would be interesting to try and answer that. So I got thinking, and I came to the conclusion that, regardless of whether or not people think I'm a jerk (That's a matter of opinion, I'm sure.), I'm actually a really nice guy. Mind you, I'm not saying I'm the image of generosity and humility; the perfect bearer of Christ's example, but I try. As I thought about it, I realize I do behave myself pretty well. I'm not saying I reach out to every homeless person and feed every orphan, but I comport myself quite well in relation to other people. I hold doors open for people, I say "bless you" to random strangers, toss some change in the salvation army can, stop to help a stranger in need on the occasion, and so forth. Now, I'm not saying this to brag, I'm just saying this because I think it's important to understand whether or not we are really nice people. I may not be perfect, but I do understand that people are as frail and helpless as I am at times and if I have the power to help them, I ought to. Again, I'm not saying I'm a Saint, and I'm not saying that we are only required to do the small things like holding doors open and so forth, but they mean a lot too, because If you don't skip over the small things, you surely take notice of the big things too. Not saying I'm perfect at that either, but I sure as heck try. Just something to think about. I think it's a question we ought to ask ourselves every now and again. How often do I do something without my best interests in mind?

I think I'm done with Facebook.

I've had this long-standing beef with facebook for the longest time. Not enough of an issue to get me to stop using it on a regular basis, but a beef nonetheless. I've never been the biggest proponent of social networking sites to begin with, but it didn't really bug me so much until facebook. My first intro would have to be xanga, back in the dark ages, but that worked more like a blog. Then there came the advent of Myspace, which I opted to use since everyone else was. Thinking about it now; it was a very silly thing. Then came facebook, which seemed more exclusive since it was a college only thing at the time. I guess I was captured by the allure of being part of a special elite of the social networking scene. That didn't last long of course. But that wasn't so bad. I came to be connected to everyone. Seriously, EVERYONE! I was connected to people who went to school with me who I never talked to/never would. It was ridiculous. But I guess it wasn't something a purge couldn't fix after all. I'd have to say that those accursed facebook apps and their endless stream of invites turned out to be the first thing to make me consider getting rid of the stupid thing.

We've been going over the effects of Social networks on relationships and written language in my American Culture class, and we were giving a surprisingly good book to read on the subject. That book really galvanized me to take another look at facebook, figure out why I have one, and compile a list of it's pros and cons in my humble opinion. The following will be a list of MY pros and cons. You may disagree with me, but then again, you may not be considering ridding yourself of facebook.

You're "Always on."
"Always on" is the title of the book I was assigned to read. The author used the term to basically state that we are always connected with everyone else within our social networks. We are always online. People know what we are doing and we also know what they are doing. We can reach them whenever, and they can do the same with us. I don't think it is so bad to be available, but when do we stop being available? When do we focus on ourselves alone, or get some one on one time with other people. I'm straying away from facebook alone here, and addressing Aim and texting as well, which each bug me in some way,shape, or form. But seriously, when do we turn off? I know that when I get home, I turn my computer on and navigate to facebook, open up AIM, and make sure my cellphone is within reach. What is up with that? I figure it is because we are social creatures, and demand interaction with other people, which is natural and important for a human being to survive. Do you ever think that may be this flood of interaction between ourselves and other individuals over the web may be detracting from the importance of our interactions with other people? Can you really have a legitimate heart to heart over the internet?


It's totally public.
Facebook is remarkably public. Now sure, you have privacy settings, but there are still scores of people who can view you page, who get that notification of your actions of facebook, or receive you status update over the news feed. Likewise, you receive these notifications from other people. You can hide those notifications, of course, but how man people honestly hide every single notification they get? I'll touch again on the hiding notification thing later on. Honestly, there are some notifications I don't want to see. I can't stop everyone from updating with something that I don't approve of. It'd be a lot easier just not getting any updates at all.

Now, some people can be crying out in pain through a status update. I guess you are then notified by a friends plight over the web. You can then wade through the morons who respond with something stupid or try to provide some kind of advice. Honestly, the whole idea of appealing to the masses of facebook friends for relief is silly. I'm kind of upset when my friends replace my personal advice and the opportunity to share the weight of a situation with a person privately with the masses of faceless facebook cretins clambering over each other, trying to prove they are the greater friend, or just trying to provide the best advice. I think if you really cared about getting help, you'd use your mouth instead of your fingers.

I'm sure I've done the same thing at some point, but I hope to stop that. I find that status updates, facebook chat, and aim really detract from my relationships and the possibility of growing closer to a person. I would much prefer a deep discussion face to face with a person rather than through some kind of screen. Sure, you can't do that all the time, but a conversation over the phone would be even better than staring at some stupid set of text on your computer screen. I guess a lot of it is just principle. How do I know you are completely available to listen to me pouring my heart out? How do I know you didn't walk away for a minute or two to chit chat with someone down the hall or something? Just something that nags at me.


It's all show.
I think most of facebook is about "the show." Throwing up some funny one-liner in a stauts update, posting pictures of you doing some awesome stuff, inflating yourself through your profile. It's dumb. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that we all do it. Every single one of us. We all try to make our friends see how awesome we are and thereby feel good about ourselves. I think that's shady. I think if I got rid of facebook, I wouldn't be so much worried about that. I'd be a little more genuine and wouldn't be hard pressed to impress the numbers on my friend list. Being genuine isn't just something to deal with in response to facebook, but in general. If I want to happy with who I am, I think that encompasses all things in my life, so facebook will have to go for that reason.


"turning down the volume on people"
I was talking about hiding notifications and status updates from people on facebook earlier. That would be "turning down the volume" on a specific person. You don't want to hear what they have to say, or see what they are doing, so you turn the volume down on them. Why not just turn them off? Why be their friends on facebook if you just don't care what they have to say? Seriously, why do we string all those people along with our silly "friend lists?" I'd say 75% of the people on my friend list on facebook are people I don't see on a regular basis. 50% of my friends on facebook are people I never even talk to. Why do I still have them around? I guess for some reason I haven't brought myself to purge them. Why should I even have to purge people on my list? Do I honestly do that with my actual relationships? Sometimes I wish I could literally purge myself of a few people, but that'd be incredibly violent and would definitely look bad. But it's ok over facebook, though, right?
I guess that begs the question whether or not friendship over facebook is tantamount to actual friendship. Personally, I don't believe it is, but why deal with all of the show if they aren't my real friends to begin with? Then of course, you'll find a couple of people who get butt-hurt about being purged and guilt you with that "so, we aren't really friends then since you deleted me on facebook?" crap.


Do you really care about me, and Vice versa.
I think we feel like we can effectively nurture a relationship over AIM or facebook. I totally disagree because nurturing a relationship over facebook often turns into the occasional "how are you?" posted on the wall, or the occasional comment on a persons activity. Totally not so. I guess we feel like since we said something, they know we care, but do you really care about a person if you believe you can satisfy the needs of a relationship with just a few lines of text? I don't think so. I've been thinking about that idea for ages now. It has even convinced me that I shouldn't do any sort of intensive texting with a possible girl I'm interested in or anything like that. You confuse a real relationship with that digital ghost of a relationship that exists through facebook and or aim.

As far as I see it, removing facebook from my life will be more of a benefit then a detriment. It'll encourage me to be more genuine with myself and my relationships, well at least my real ones. Now, I know facebook can help me to connect with people, but if I really cared about connecting them, I could rely on something other than facebook and really show I care by writing them a letter or calling them. A short little post on the wall of their facebook shouldn't be good enough. Honestly, the cons with facebook far outweigh the pros in my opinion.

What will I do without facebook you may ask? Good question. I'll be getting my school work done, focusing on nurturing those relationships that I choose to, or at least try to, and paying more attention to my good ol' blog. And ya, I guess you can argue that I can be doing the same things I have been crying out about with my blog instead of facebook, but I don't think it's exactly the same experience. I'm not really blogging to expect some notice by everyone since my blog followers are pretty much only people I care for and people whose opinions I care about. Not to mention I have a record of things I've struggled with a grappled with, in text form at least. Not to mention I get to work on how I write, which is something I do enjoy. So that's that. Love facebook, or hate it. I'm totally getting rid of it.

Picking up chicks

This one was rushed a bit, but I really wanted to get it done. I left it incomplete for a while so I just wanted to be done with it. Anyway, life would sure be easier if you could pick up chicks with giant robots.

It's been far too long since I've done a blog post. I keep saying I'm going to get into the rhythm of posting more than once a month, but I never follow through. I guess I need to start making time for it. I've got a few ideas how to do that though.

Life is good right now. I'm doing pretty good in school so that's awesome. A lot of stuff has got me thinking though, so I guess there's some stuff to blog about.

I finished my Good Friday artwork for the church last week. That was an experience. I thought I'd go all out this year, so I decided I'd fast before I started really painting it. This year was the first time I did it solo. Last year was a collaboration with Tom and I, and since he's going to school for art and has those college classes under his belt I figured a solo project might be a little harder. So I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to figure out what to do or be pleased with my work in the end. I have to tell you: fasting was a good idea. God really provided me with what I needed. I've been working on a devotional every morning that focuses on one name for God each week. Since I started fasting on monday, I started a new lesson, and with that, a new name. It turns out that the name of the week was Yahweh Yireh, which means, in Hebrew "The Lord will provide." It was pretty awesome how it turned out like that. I ended up having that name coursing through my brain all day. It really helped to get over the need for food, especially since I'm at school on Mondays from 9 in the morning to 7 at night. So I had a lot of time to think about that and come up with ideas for the artwork. I was pretty proud of the end result.


I actually had a pretty size-able list of names to put on there. I just really liked those.

In any case, expect more from now on. Life is good, and he has risen indeed!