Words of Wisdom?

So every year in the DHS yearbook, they put up the seniors' pictures along with a little submitted blurb. Well, we received the "submitted blurb" paper a while back, and I've been brooding on what to say. They have two categories - what do you want to be remembered by, or what advice would you give underclassmen.

Well, seeing as my most stunning accomplishment at DHS has been encasing Mr. Handley's stapler in Jell-O, I couldn't think of anything spectacular to put for the first subject (although "Daniel will always be remembered for his frequent tripping over desks and competitive math tendencies" has its merits.)

So I decided on the "what advice would you give to upcoming underclassmen" prompt, and here's what I've come up with:

"High school, in order to be relevant as well as educational, requires more that what is taught in the curriculum. Therefore, never be afraid to seek out the Truth, always remember your sense of humor, and know that no matter how bad things seem, faith will never fail to pull you through."

It's a bit wordy (they suggest 25-30 words, this one's about 52.) But I think it sounds pretty cool... How about you?

Let me know what you think!


-Daniel

In Which Daniel Informs His Avid Readers Of The Comings And Goings Of His Life.

(How's that for a prestigious title? Sometimes I impress even myself!)

Well, sorry for the phase of not writing... or the "Not writing phase," as you may call it. Your choice.

At any rate, I've been avoiding the blog for some time now (travelling only by day and keeping off the roads.) And come to think of it, I don't exactly have a reason why. I mean sure, tons of bloggable (if that's not a word then it should be) stuff has been going on recently - running with Mr. Anderson and Mr. Logan, Academic Team, Work, Band, and the usual lot. I just haven't felt overly compelled to sit down and type. Which is strange, especially for me. In fact, the only thing that brought me to the keyboard this very cold December afternoon was the title of this blog - I've been ripening it in the far reaches of my brain for some time now.*

I could have written an enthralling blog accounting the "D-loop" run during which we three brave runners almost fell victim to the hideous deeds of Old Man Winter (and his close friend, Good Sir Mud Puddle.) Or a captivating tale of the ginormisosity** of this year's Academic Team. Or my strange new affection for thick socks and Corn Nuts.***

Yeah, I could have written a blog about the super-coldness of Dayton and how my windows actually froze shut because of it. Maybe even about my starting to save up for college and apply for several dozen scholarships (I never knew I'd get so interested in global warming or the Holocaust... what won't a student do for money?) I could also have written on how I forgot that I absolutely adore Christmas Music, or how I stumbled across the miracle that is "Pilgrim Radio," or about how my car ran out of gas (again) the other day and I had to wrestle a gas station attendant into letting me fill up my container and then run across Highway 50 in negative ten billion degree weather to deposit the smelly stuff into my gas tank.

Ooh, or I could have blogged on how Christmas shopping gets trickier every year due to the fact that you have to buy things with your own hard-earned money (literally "hard earned" for me... Mint Chocolate Chip has roughly the consistency of cement mixed with diamonds.) Or about Guitar Center's fabled drum room, in which you can play the electric drums with friends until the salespeople catch on and give you the boot. Or maybe about how I won over the entire staff of DHS, resulting in them voting me for Student of the Month?****

Yeah, by why in the world would I blog about any of those things?

=D



-Daniel

*And by "for some time now," I actually mean "on the drive home from school today."
**pronounced "jiy-nor-muss-sauce-it-ty"
***It's like a megadef score when I get both at once...
****That story is a lot less cool then I let off. And nerdy.

Next Step: Tuition.

Hello once again to my avid collection of readers! It's been a totally tubular past week or so, and I thought I'd let you all in on what's been stewin'.

First off: I've been accepted into CCU! The enrollment counselor called me up on my way out of Academic Team practice (I'm a cool kid,) on Thursday and congratulated me on my acceptance. She asked if I was considering other colleges as well, and I said "yes," just to.... well, I dunno why. I guess I just wanted to make it sound like I'm on top of things. In reality, I'm 99.99% sure I'm going to Lakewood, Colorado next fall. Everything about the school's been picked over by Mrs. Krueger, Mr. Rohrer, mom, dad, and I. I think it's going to be super sweet. No idea what I'm going to major in, but English (emphasis on creative writing,) business, Spanish, leadership, Biblical studies, and music all interest me... We'll see where God takes me!

Second, last night at Crave was awesome! We played a set consisting of Your Grace Is Enough, Salvation Is Here, and We Are Hungry, which are three of my all-time favorite worship songs. On top of that, it was the music video awards night so the room was packed! It was almost like we were at a REAL gig! (Except we didn't get paid. At least not in money...) AND, Hans came with me! It was awesome. And he wasn't super freaked out or anything afterwards (hmmm, go figure... Christians know how to have fun, too! Hahaha.)

Well, I thought I had more exciting tales of bone-crushing defeat or exhilarating triumph, but I guess not. Other than those two things, life is normal (alas, I have a dirty calculus test tomorrow.) So I guess I'll bring this blog to a close.

Thanks for reading!


-Daniel

The Purpose Of Life As Revealed By Forrest Gump.

I just gone done watching Forrest Gump after a long day of sitting around. It came on channel 50, right after a riveting Modern Marvels episode on farm equipment. Forrest Gump is like the unsung hero of movies to me. I always forget about it, but then afterwards I'm always left thinking, "Whoa! That was the sweetest movie ever!"

So without further adeu...

Whoa! That was the sweetest movie ever!

I can't help but sit here, tired but not able to sleep, thinking about my adventure. How does mine go? Who are the lovable cast of characters that I'll get to meet and go through life with? What are the crazy adventures I'll get to embark on? Where will I learn crazy new lessons or engage in epic conversations, or experience phenomenal moments?

And immediately after that train of thought, another more awesome one comes chugging along - my story's already begun. I've already gone through the beginning of my movie - the part that sets the scene and the fundamentals of the film. I've already met characters and experienced tragedy and triumph.

But then continuing in that direction, I start wondering how life would be if it were really just a film all about me...

...

...

...

Yeah, let's not go there. That'd pretty much be the biggest waste of breath ever.

So I guess I'm not trying to say that life is a movie about me, me, and me (written and directed by me, endorsed by me.) But rather insinuating that my life is just another part of the story, and wondering what my side looks like. In fact, even more interesting are the possibilities of my interactions in other peoples' side of the story. How do I alter their episodes? Am I the role model? The geek? The antagonist? The optimist? The regret?

The end of Forrest Gump is amazing, too. It always makes me feel so... insignificant. I sit there, watching Forrest and his son perched on the same stump that Forrest sat on with his mom on his first day of school. And as the camera pans out over Greensboro Alabama, the whole story has an air of repetition. How does Forrest Jr.'s life play out? Who does he fall in love with?. Watching from the couch, underneath three cats and a load of laundry, I can't help but think about how pointless a lot of things really are.

Irritation with my brother, the copious amounts of leftovers in the fridge, my shiny motorcycle, the money I'm saving for the holidays. It all seems so worthless, doesn't it? One time when I was a freshman, I made a critical decision to bring my Gameboy on the band bus on our way down to Las Vegas for the state basketball finals. Picture this - there I was, on a bus full of band kids,* huddled under my blanket,** playing Pokemon.

Here was my (uncharacteristic) genius method of thought: In three years, no one is going to remember this. Heck, probably even by next year, no one's going to be running around saying, "Ew, there's Daniel.... did you hear he battled Charizard all the way to Vegas one time?" On a larger scale, there's this poster in Mrs. Dickerson's room that says something like "In five years, it's not going to matter what clothes you wore, how your hair looked, or what car you drove. What will matter is what you learned and how you use it."

But in 90 years, what will even that matter? What will your yearly salary, or your best family vacation, or your house, or your friends matter in 90 years? Wow. If it weren't for God, this would be an extremely depressing blog.

So where does that leave me? I love what Jeremy Malekos said one time: "My kids always know the answer is either going to be no, yes, or Jesus." Following that (awesome) train of thought and referring to the beginning of this paragraph... Jesus.

What does Jesus want from my life? How does Jesus want to write my side of the story? Because I've got a feeling He's a lot better writer than I am. Isn't it sweet how we're reminded how awesome God is through... Forrest Gump?

"When you think about it, there's so much holding you back. And yet there's nothing at all holding you back."

Or as Relient K put it, "This it how I choose to live. As if I'm jumping off a cliff. Knowing that You'll save me."


-Daniel

*Now I'm not saying anything bad about band kids. As I'm sure everyone already knows, band kids are the best group of kids known to man... and the second best know to felines.
**Yeah turns out I brought my blanket, too. I'm pretty cool.

Good News.

Hey everyone, glad you're here to read this. I'm not kidding when I say this is the most important thing you'll ever hear from me.

That being said, I'll get started. (Please bear with me, as this will be rather lengthy.)

I had just pulled out of the Shell gas station in Hawthorne and was rapidly accelerating to highway speeds. I had left my dad behind (upon his request,) because his engine was having some problems and he was waiting for a trailer to come so he could load his bike up and head back to Reno. It had been raining on and off the entire day, we had been told, and so the road was slick with fresh rainwater. I had a white Jeep to my right as I reached about 75 miles an hour. Then something happened for the first (and I sincerely hope the last,) time - I lost control of my 2003 Triumph Speedmaster motorcycle.

You see, motorcycle engines are a little fickle at times. And after standing around for about an hour and a half in the 43 degree rain in Hawthorne, the engine becomes thoroughly cooled off. This means that it takes a substantial amount of warming up before it's fully ready to be ridden. But I was cold from the aforementioned standing around, and more than ready to get home after a week away in Mexico, so I went for it.

As I reached 75mph, I went to shift into fifth gear. This means I pulled the clutch, meaning that for a brief instant, the engine was idling. And since it still wasn't warmed up enough, it died as I completed the shift into fifth. Since the engine was in gear but not running, the tire was locked in place. Usually, it would have been overcome with friction from the road and done what's called a "rolling start." But the roads were slippery from the day long rain, so the rear tire stayed still as the bike continued to move.

I didn't notice anything at first besides the loss of power, but then the rear of the bike slid to my left, fishtailing. I immediately went into panic mode and threw down my feet to gain stability - they began to slide as well. I leaned wildly to my right and the bike followed, correcting itself only momentarily before slipping off to my right, again in a fishtail. As I mentioned before, I had lost control completely, travelling at 75mph down the highway. One thought smashed through the haze of panic in my mind: I need to get the back tire spinning again. The back tire was swerving left to right as I impulsively grabbed for the clutch to take it out of gear. It worked. The tire began spinning once again, returning stability to the bike. With the engine still dead, I coasted to the shoulder and stopped. I had some think time.

I was shaking from the adrenaline as I sat there, cars whizzing past on my left. A million thoughts sped through my mind. The most prominent was the little physics lesson we had been taught in my motorcycle training class. Our instructor had told us all about tires locking up; if the front tire locked up, you had to keep it pointed the way you were heading and get it spinning again, no harm done. If the back tire locked up, you had to be really careful to line it up with the front tire before starting it spinning again, because if it started going when pointed another direction, the bike would rapidly correct itself and you'd be more than likely thrown off.

How? I thought, how did I manage to pull the clutch, in a blind panic, at the exact right time so as not to be chucked from the bike? Luck? Chance? I don't accept those for a second. Luck and chance don't account for anything. I can tell you as surely as I am still breathing right now, God was with me in those few death-defying moments on the highway.

But you know what? That's not the point of this blog. God saving my life physically isn't the reason I'm sitting, still cold and tired and dirty, having not taken a shower or eaten after my long day of riding, at my computer desk in my house.

You see, there are a few things I want you to take from this story.

The first is this: I was being dumb. I knew my engine needed to be warmed up a lot more before expecting it to perform at highway speeds. But I was dumb and impatient and went anyway. I didn't think about the consequences and I didn't think about my safety because frankly, I didn't care at the time. But God did. God didn't say, "Well, I don't really care about this one teen aged, impatient kid out of a million down there, I'll just let this one slide." (No pun intended.) God looked out for me although I knowingly did something incredibly stupid.

The second thing Is this: I didn't do anything to deserve the outcome - God didn't base his actions on mine. When I was sliding sideways down the road, I wasn't thinking to myself, "Okay stay calm. Remember the training course and hit the clutch when the tires are lined up." I didn't lie in wait, stoically, until the back tire clicked into position before jamming that clutch handle and saving the day. Instead, I sat there with my feet sliding on the asphalt, yelling profanities at the top of my lungs and acting on instinct. And look what God gave me! It wasn't what I deserved, that's for sure. I deserved, from my actions, to be shot from the bike and land headfirst on the trunk of an oncoming semi truck. Ephesians 2:8-9 says this: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." God saves us not based on what we do, God saves us because He loves us.

The last thing I want you to realize is this: I recognized and believed that it was God. I didn't call it luck or chance, although those are surely easier, more widely accepted answers - telling you all about my incredible luck earlier today would be much easier than telling you all this. But I knew and proclaimed that it was God. In John 3:18, Jesus Himself says "Whoever believes in him [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." I put my faith and belief in Jesus Christ and he delivered me from death.

So the question you have to ask now is: where does that put me? Maybe you've already placed your life in the hands of Jesus. Maybe you've already recognized that it's not based on what you've done or do, but rather on His love for you (that one rimed.) Maybe you've proclaimed with your mouth and believed with your heart that Jesus is King. If that's you, congratulations - I owe you a high-five.

If it's not you, think long and hard on this because let me tell you right now, it's worth it. God is worth it. Maybe you're not interested in religion. That's cool, neither am I. It hurts me when someone calls me "religious." it truly does, and here's why: religion is man's attempt at understanding God. Religion is the commentary on what God has said. I'm not interested in religion any more... I'm not interested in checking the box every Sunday or taking the "Communion Pill" to feel good about myself. I could care less about trying to impress others with how righteous I look or act. Now I'm not telling you to blow off going to church or anything, I'm just urging you not to show up, say some prayers, sing some songs, check church of your "to do" list, and then leave. I'm also not insinuating that the only result of religion is to take the focus off of God... in fact, I came to get my first glimpse of Jesus through a religious organization. But what I am getting at is that being "religious" doesn't bring you salvation - Jesus does. What I am after, and what I strongly urge you to seek out, is a relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. That, and nothing else, is what interests me.

Or maybe you're just not sure about this God character. Maybe you believe there's "something up there," but haven't looked into it or don't want to look into it. Please, please, please, give God a chance. Dedicate some of your time and efforts to seeking out who He is, because He won't let you down. Think about it - if there really is "something up there," wouldn't you want to know more about Who or what it is? God is waiting for you with open arms.

Thank you all for reading this. I know it was a bit wordy, but seeing how God can't be placed even into billions of millions of words, I'd say I did pretty good at keeping it short.

If you have questions, comments, hate mail, whatever, please feel free to contact me. Call me, talk to me, send me smoke signals. I want to hear from you all, and I want to help in whatever way I can.

I hope you're all having an awesome Veterans Day weekend.


-Daniel

!Nuevo!

!Hola por la pueblocita de Puerto Penasco!

(I hope that's actually Spanish and not some hybrid of Gibberish and Old Norse...)

Anyway, I'm here in the town of Puerto Penasco, Mexico.  If you're wondering, it's at the tip of the Sea of Cortez, around this place called Rocky Point.  It's been a total of roughly 89,642 adventures to get to where I am now, so I'll just skim over the ones that pop into my mind...

Set?  Go!

-We had a total of 2 out of 3 motorcycles break down on our way to Vegas on Saturday... mine was the only one that didn't cop out.  (Huzzah!)  My dad's had some minor electrical problems and so he sent my uncle to continue on his way while I helped him out.  Then after some time, when we figured out what was wrong, he sent me off after my uncle and sent Phil (our amigo who is driving his truck,) back to Hawthorne to get my dad's battery charged.  Then I more or less blew right past my uncle, who was broken down on the side of the road... but it's not so bad because about an hour later, my dad and Phil blew right past him, too.  (Don't worry, once we all got into cell reception, we coordinated and had a U-Haul on it's way to pick him up.

-I felt like I was in some kind of an action movie on Sunday afternoon, because my dad and I found ourselves hauling through the Southern Arizona desert towards the border with Mexico, racing against the setting sun and both trying to figure out ways to convince the Federales to let us through.  (Dad had to disconnect his headlight because of affirmentioned electrical problems.)  (Don't worry, we made it.)

-The tides here are crazy, so during low tide you have about 200 yards of would-be submerged sand to write on... Which may be childish, but I did it anyway.  Now my name's forever written on the bottom of the sea!

-The comparison is stark here... we're in multimillion dollar condos on the beach, and not even a half a mile inland from us, in Puerto Pensaco, are shacks housing several families at once.  I seem to be the only one staying here who is bothered by it.

-The other day I bought a genuine Luchadore mask from a street vendor (I bargained him down from 20 American dollars to 12.  Booyah!)   He called it "The Blue Demon," and my uncle and I have since formed the super duo of The Blue Demon and his faithful sidekick, Viking Man.  Our mission: protect the Mexican Way!  We've foiled many Pinata burning attempts and even stopped a few touristas from draining the infinity pool!  El Fantastico!

-We made this salsa on the first day here, and they (Dad, Uncle Allen, Phil, and Chris [Phil's brother,]) added like 14 gallons of olive oil, so it tastes gross!  And I should have said something, because so far its been an ingredient in EVERYTHING!  Shrimp, eggs, tacos, cheese dip, even stir fry.  No me gusta.  :(

-Speaking of adventures, my uncle (Viking Man,) just asked if I want to go down to the ocean with him...  When duty calls, The Blue Demon must answer!

Farewell!

-El Daniel

P.S. Don't tell Senora Lozada I'm using such blatant Spanglish in my blogging... The Blue Demon dares not upset her!

Right or Wrong?

Winter's almost here. According to the last three years of my life, I should have a tight knot in the pit of my stomach. I should be dusting off the headgear and buying new mat shoes. I should be laughing on the outside, cringing on the inside at the rumors of how Coach is going to be a lot more intense this year.

But this year it's different.

I've decided not to do wrestling this time around. And now I'm not sure if that decision was right or wrong. I keep going back and forth on weather I was a genius or an idiot.

I do feel happy. I'm happy I don't have to wake up at 4:30am on Saturdays and travel via freezing cold bus to some remote Nevada town. I'm happy I don't have to worry about whether or not Trinity (Badass) Perkins will be in my weight class. I'm happy I don't have the pressure of having to win matches in front of the rest of the team and all the parents hanging over my head. I'm happy I get my Christmas break to myself and I don't have 2-a-day grueling practices during which I sprint up and down the water tower hill and do push up after push up. I'm happy I can eat whatever I want and not have to worry about jogging it off under ten pounds of clothes the next afternoon. I'm happy I can hang out with friends after school and keep a job.

But at the same time, I find myself doing something I thought I never would. I'm already missing wrestling season. I'm going to miss the companionship you build with the team when you all survive the first week of hellish practice. I'm going to miss dumb jokes like the Boga Lobster or The Toto. I'm going to miss the exhilaration you get when you catch someone on their back and hold them their with all your strength. Call me a jock, but I'm going to miss the feeling of sweat pouring off your body as you throw someone down on the mat. I'm going to miss the shockingly sharp contrast of exiting a wrestling gym - cooking hot from all the action and the fans, and screaming loud from the coaches and the officials - and walking out into the crisp, calm Northern Nevada winter's day. But most of all, I'm going to miss that incredible feeling you get when you can feel your opponent weakening and weakening as the seconds tick off the clock late into the third period, until you plow them over and go in for the pin.

But then again, Knarr won't be coaching this year and all the seniors from last year are obviously gone, which means that the season would be dramatically different from what I remember. And I really need a job this winter to save up for this summer's shenanigans. And (this is the first time I've ever admitted this,) but i really do hate the singlet we have to wear for competition. But maybe that's just because I don't have a six-pack.


Later,

Daniel


P.S. On a totally unrelated subject, I was listening to the song "Love Song" by Third Day on a mix CD a friend burned me a while ago. After it was done, the CD just kept going on in silence. I wasn't really paying attention, so I didn't care. Then suddenly I heard an unfamiliar song. And I remembered - the reason "Love Song" had been put on the CD in the first place was for this hidden track. So I listened. And listened. Over and over I played it, the song captivating me anew each time.

Take my heart and help me feel

Take my faith and make it real

Take my eyes and help me see

All the love surrounding me

Don't let me go

Hold me close to where you are

Don't let me go

Take my heart,

Take all of me

Take my loss and take my gain

Take my trials and take my pain

Take my life and let it be

All that you would have for me

"It's quite beautiful, really."

So Much Awesome.

Well, I've got two little tidbits for all my avid readers out there...

The first: Across The Universe is the most awesome movie I've seen. Ever. I mean, let's face it - the Beatles are sweet no matter how you slice it, and so a musical devoted to their songs is inherently amazing. But on top of that, the unexpected humor, developed characters, setting, and plot line are phenomenal. I found myself laughing hysterically as well as looking on soberly during several occasions, and despite the awkward sex/boob scenes, it's still a movie to be seen. (I've seen it twice so far!)

Secondly, I've encountered a crazy situation as of late. There is an older man (probably about 45 or so) who lives somewhere back behind the Calvary Baptist Church, off Flowery Lane. I've seen him walking along Highway 50 or hitchhiking from that corner several times. I first talked with him when I gave him a ride last winter from Slotworld in Carson City to the Calvary Baptist Church here in Dayton. We talked about college and such, and he mentioned that he was good friends with a professor down at UNLV who was involved with the architecture program. "No way? I'm looking at taking that program!" (Because at the time, I was.)

I didn't really see a lot of him over the spring, but when summer came I began to spy him along the highway. Occasionally, if I had room or he was hitchhiking, I would give him a ride - always to the 7-11 across from Dairy Queen, so he could catch the bus to the community college, where he works. We would talk about politics or urban sprawl in Dayton, (obviously topics of his choosing.) One time, he brought up the topic of how Clark County is currently looking to use our water up here because they're so dry down there. Which is weird because at Boys' State, my little group of legislators hacked down a bill regarding the use of water from Northern Nevada by Southern Nevada.

Now here's the kicker: Today I gave him another ride, only this time he said he was headed to Reno. He said that he was taking a day to goof around in Reno, and later he was going to see Across The Universe. "No way? Some friends and I are heading in there later tonight to see that movie!" (Because Hans, John, Mike and I had arranged to see it at the Summit Theater at 7.) He mentioned that some friends of his in Colorado had recently seen it and told him how good it was, so he'd decided to check it out. That's crazy, because right after I posted my last blog from our hotel in Colorado, Mom and I went and saw it at the local theater. The guy and I then got into a talk about The Beatles, and he knew a lot! Not just about their discography or biography, but about their style or music and the dynamics in their band (stuff like how Ringo is an underestimated drummer because McCartney plays such strong bass riffs that so little percussion is needed.) I dropped him off by the on ramp off of Highway 50 and bid him farewell.

Seven hours later, Hans, Mike, John and I sat down to watch the movie. It was sweet (see "tidbit number one" if you've forgotten.) Afterwards, when we get up to leave, there's only one guy left in the theater with us, sitting at the end of our row. You guessed it - it was him. I asked him how he liked it. He said it was good, "The soundtrack to my life."

So, uhhhhhh. Coincidence? UNLV architecture, Reno trip, water issues, Across The Universe, friends in Colorado, passion for The Beatles, same theater (and row and show time, for that matter.) I just think it's almost a little spooky. And thought provoking.


Later,

Daniel

The Sweet Smell of "I Can't Wait."

Huzzah!

I'm currently in Denver, Colorado at our hotel. Mom and I have spent the last two days exploring around both Colorado Christian University and Denver. Both are pretty much amazing.

CCU - I'm super psyched about it. At first I wasn't too thrilled because the campus is a LOT smaller than I thought it would be. There's basically the apartments for freshman (pretty much dorms, but cooler,) the apartments for upperclassmen, the Events Center, the soccer field, the School of Theology, the Student Union, the library, the cafeteria, the bookstore, and the "big building," with most of the classrooms in it. All the buildings are single storied... kinda. They all have basements, but they're not huge buildings like at UNR or anything. It's enrollment is only about 1500, and you can walk around campus in under 20 minutes. I recognized too many parallels to Dayton to be immediately thrilled.

But then I took the tour and realized that this is college! I met tons of sweet people doing tons of sweet stuff, and explored most all of the buildings. The community here is really tight. Everyone knows everyone else, if not by name then at least by reputation. The student-to-staff ratio is 20:1, meaning small classes meaning more attention from professors. But I didn't want to make my decision based on these things... I wanted a person to talk to about it all... someone who'd be real with me.

Luckily, I stayed with a student ambassador, Greg, and his roomies Aaron, Phil and Clifton. They were all ridiculously cool, and I got my first ever taste of the "It's 1:30am and I'm hungry... who wants to come to Sonic with me?" effect. It was sweet. We even drove up to the top of Lookout Mountain and... well... looked out over Denver. Beautiful. It was like the earth had decided to mirror the stars. Thousands upon thousands of twinkling, pulsing, steady lights of white, orange, red, green and blue.

So pretty much, I'm as sure as is possible that I'm going to go to CCU come August.

And then there's Denver! We spent most of today driving around doing craziness. We tried to go to the zoo (That's right, I'll be living in a city with a zoo,) but we found out that it was free admission day, so it was more of a people zoo than anything. So we instead went to the 16th Street Mall (That's right, I'll be living in a city with a mall that takes up an entire street for miles,) then we contemplated going to the aquarium (Yep. And there'll be movie theaters and bowling alleys and ice skating and skiing and hiking and rafting and rock climbing and homeless ministries and bi-weekly chapels on campus and kittens and jet planes and highways and sneakers and music!!!!) As you can tell, I'm pretty much super excited.

Now all I have to do is pass some AP tests and graduate. How hard could that be?


Later,

Daniel

Brilliant!

It's been cold in good 'ol Dayton recently. I mean like go-outside-and-start-your-car-15-minutes-early cold.

And wet. Oh, rain - always with the sense of humor... "I'm not gunna come hang out all summer, but as soon as things get cold, I'll go crazy!"

Buy I digress.*

What I really want to write about (or blog about, depending on how you wanna look at it,) is my in genius discovery today. Now, this isn't anything like the "you can send yourself a message on Myspace" discovery or anything. (Nor is it quite up with the "Milk-N-Cereal" idea, but it's pretty cool nonetheless.) I was a-walking out in the cold, windy rain earlier today when I was struck with a sudden notion - "I want to cover my head!" So I pull up my hood, and was instantly rewarded with the wind ceasing to tap dance on the back of my neck, and the rain being prevented from assaulting my head.

And it came to me: hoods are like portable forts.

Think about it! You're outside, it's cold, and you want to be inside. Unfortunately, there's no inside to go to. So what can you do? Put up your hood, you silly sleepy head! Then you have this little shelter around your noggin' that keeps the warm in and the cold out. And it even comes with a handy viewing-screen that allows you to see what's all going on! Genius!

So next time you find yourself wanting to be indoors, just reach back and go inside your fort!**


-Daniel

*Every time I say that, I feel really prestigious... like I should be sitting in an armchair in front of a fire, wearing a robe and smoking a pipe. Anyone else?
**Of course, what good is a fort without a name? So far I've got "No Girls Allowed" (a classic,) "The Dome Gnome," and "Big Red." All superlative fort names, If I don't say so myself.

The First Decree:

Hear ye! Hear ye! His Kingship demands that you listen!

So there I was, minding my own business, meandering through the halls of Dayton High with Campaign playing on my iPod. When suddenly, out of the shadows* comes Amber with a piece of paper. She strolls up with a business-like air and stops in front of me. Perplexed, I hit -PAUSE- and raise my eyebrows as she starts to speak.

"Finally - I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oh. What's up?"

"You've been nominated for Homecoming King."

"Seriously?"

"Yup. So do you want to run or not?"

"Uhhhh. Well.... uhhhh..."**

So I began thinking:

Homecoming King? Me?! That's kinda cool. Kind weird, but kinda cool. Okay, Daniel, think through this - you don't have time to throw together a Stomp for a skit, and you won't even be here for the crowning because of the cross country meet in Lowry. But of course you'd win. I mean, with your heart wrenching good looks and witty intellect,*** who wouldn't vote for you? And then after you win, you can begin your long-awaited reign! You'll be called "King Daniel," and you can rename Dayton to Stankerville, just like you always wanted, and you can hook lemonade up to the drinking fountains and make Band a required class.

Ooh! And don't forget to make your throne out of math books! And require everyone to speak with a fake accent, and have fake mustaches for sale at lunch time! And lastly, decree that the school year shall end on November 13th, that way you can graduate as soon as you're 18. Perfect! Not just say "yes."

"No, I don't think I will."

"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway. I'll go ask Hans if he wants to run. Bye!"

Are you kidding me?! Did I mention a throne out of math books? Psh, whatever man. See if I help you out again.

Aw, fruit! Oh well, 'Daniel the Squire' is a pretty cool title, too.

-PLAY-




*Or the leadership room.
**Sometimes my verbal skills astound even me.
***Or lack thereof.

Reality Check.

Wait, wait, wait. So you're telling me that I'm that person now? Like, me? Not anyone else?

I'm the high school senior?

I'm the guy with his very own car?

I'm that person with a motorcycle?

I'm the one studying for Calculus tests?

I'm the one who's been to Hume?

I'm the one doing Mr. Rohrer's lame poetry packets?

I'm the one with a job and a bank account?

I'm the one applying for scholarships?

It's me encouraging complete strangers?

I'm the one trying to share my faith with my friends?

I'm teaching an FTP class?

It's my turn to start looking for colleges?

I'm that person wandering the halls because I have a free period?

I'm the one helping to lead worship at Crave?

I'm that person volunteering my time at churches?

I'm that person who's gone on a mission trip?

I'm the person giving tours of the school to new students?

I'm that guy with friends who are in college?

But I'm still Daniel?

Seriously? Because I was confused for just a second.

Not To Us.

So the other night, I went with Aaron and Brandon into the Sparks Christian Fellowship for a concert. Aaron warned me beforehand that the bands weren't screamo, but they "crunched guitars.*" I was a little skeptical, because I'm not into the whole yelling-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-into-a-microphone approach to music. But I decided that I wanted to go just to hang out anyway.

The night started out super fun - we spent like half an hour driving around Sparks looking for the place, because the Mapquest map was way wrong and the GPS in Brandon's dad's car kept leading us to random shopping centers. It was hilarious because Brandon's dad is a super cool dude and we were all joking around and having a lot of fun... we didn't even care that we missed the first band.

We showed up at 7:30 (it started at 7,) just in time to see the second band's** set of songs. Their lead singer was awesome! He crowd surfed and threw water bottles into the masses and got everyone super riled up. Aaron, Brandon, and I made our way to the front, packed in elbow-to-elbow with some sketchy looking characters. It was awesome.

The second band, Fireflight, came on and things calmed down a little bit. (Their lead singer was a chick, so a lot of girls crowded forward and so we guys didn't want to get super crazy.) Fireflight had a mellower set than the first band, but they were still the crazy, shredding guitars, screaming into the mic, double-bass pedal type of band. It was kinda offsetting at first, but man can you get into that music!

Then finally, Disciple came on. They're apparently pretty well known, although I'd never really heard of them. (For the record, the only 'hardcore' Christian band I'd ever heard was Skillet.) But oh, man. Theses dudes knew how. To. Rock! The lead singer was jumping around, hair flying everywhere, the guitarist was bellowing into the mic and thrashing his head to the beat, the drummer was a madman hopped up on the Holy Spirit, and the bassist was practically a brooding vortex of head banging.

Everyone in the crowd was going nuts, with people jumping all over the place, smaller people getting crowd surfed - a mass of shoving, sweating, yelling, cheering and thrashing people. There were strobe lights, smoke machines, spotlights, the whole nine yards. The music was super loud, the temperature was super hot. I couldn't even understand what the singer was yelling, but the driving beat and wailing guitars were good enough for me. There was even an encore at the (rather animated) request of all of us in the crowd.

It was so amazing - I found myself jumping with the beat, yelling with everyone in the crowd, and just plain going crazy. A quote from Donald Miller comes to mind - "Sometimes you need to watch someone love something before you can love it yourself. It's as if they are showing you the way."***

It was officially my first ever concert. No offense, Campaign, but after last night, I can see that while your Wednesday night shim dig at Hume was fun and all, this was truly a concert.

But wait! The best part has yet to come! On the last note of the encore, with the crowd going 100% insane and the drummer flogging the cymbals and the guitarist thrashing his strings in a mind-blowing cacophony, the singer is down on his knees holding out the last word. The crowd's message is clear "You rock!" And the lead singer points his finger up into the air and calls over the sound system, "Give Him your praise!"

Not to us,
But to Your name
Be the glory!

I was seeing those lyrics being acted out right before my eyes. This guy and and his band, who could have so easily been like, "That's right Reno, give it up! We rock!" Were instead using their amazing talents to point to God. "Worship Him. Give Him your praises. Jesus is King."

Dude.

Then after the lights had come back on, and people around me were apologizing for any elbows to the face they might or might not have thrown during the guitar solo, the lead singer came back out and read us some sweet Scripture about how God wants no one to perish. He concluded by basically giving an alter call. "Who out there wants to say 'yes' to Jesus? Who out there knows that He hates your sin, but loves you? Who out there wants to be saved?"

Oh my goodness. I have to do that again sometime. but for now, I gots to scoop some ice creams.


Thanks for reading!

-Daniel

*For the record, I had no idea what Aaron meant when he told me that. I just kinda nodded.
**I don't actually remember their name... my bad...
***Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller.

Is It Normal?

So I've been thinking a lot recently. Go figure. And I was just kinda pondering how we accept so many things as normal, since we only have our own lives to go off of. You know, like how you experience something and assume that everyone else experiences the same thing. Thinking about that, I realized how far from the truth that must be... So in that spirit, does ANY of this stuff seem normal?


Some mornings I just want to hop on my motorcycle, twist the throttle, and see how far I can get and how fast before sundown.

Pretty much anytime I listen to my iPod, I air-play the drums.

I dressed up like Batman with a 'Hagrid beard' the other day and sat in the halls of our school holding a sign that read "Gotham or Bust." And had a lot of fun.

I really, really, REALLY want to be one of two places right now: Hume Lake or Muir Beach, San Francisco. And both for the same reason.

I got 100% freezing-cold drenched today while riding into Reno, and I didn't warm up until like half an hour ago. (I was literally cold ALL day.)

I can't really enjoy a song unless I know/am seeing the lyrics.

Melding two words together is super addicting. And hilarious. Every time.

I can't wait for the cold, dark winter mornings this year.

City names like Dallas and Los Angeles have come to mean a whole lot more over just a few month's time.

Love changes your views on everything.


Anyone? Does anyone else feel the same way about any of those? Just curious...

The Dayton Valley Shuffle.

So once again I find myself sitting in Makin' Coffee checking internet stuff on this borrowed laptop on a Sunday morning. And once again, I can't think of a single unified subject for my blog. So for the second time, I'm just going to poke a hole in my head and let some stuff leak onto the keyboard.*


-It's super cool having a youth pastor who grew up in Dayton. Jeremy was telling an anecdote the other day where he and some friends were driving golf carts around the Dayton Golf Course... and I was like "Hey, I've done that!"

-This school year has been weird in that I'm not (I'm going to sound super-lame, but oh well,) afraid of anyone. Before, I was sometimes uneasy speaking out or acting weird because there were upperclassmen that might disapprove. There were cool kids who might not like me, or cute girls that might brand me as a loser. But that fear is 99% absent now. I don't know if it's a result of the amazingly life-changing summer I had or just the fact that I'm the upperclassman now, but it's really fun. I feel comfortable hanging out with whoever and talking about whatever.

-The youth group at CVC is super-cool! My bad if I sound like a jerk loser, but I was kinda worried about how things would go this year... but after last night, with an amazing worship session, a sweet message, and watching "She's The Man" at Brandon's house afterwards, I'm really looking forward to this winter!

-Rachel Jackson is hilarious. Especially when she's jealous of Amanda Bynes. :)

-Childish prank calls may be the most overlooked of all the pranks.

-Mr. Paul's game face might haunt my dreams for the next 57 years.

-Sharpie mustaches smell gross and make you dizzy.**

-Writing letters by candlelight = old time awesome.

-Pilgrim's Progress is a super-cool book, made even more so by the fact that it's written in Olde English and I still love reading it.

-Darn you, Campaign!

-Squashes don't squash when thrown. They explode. Which makes them my new favorite vegetable.

-I hope my doodle doesn't void my ACT essay...

-It's super-cold in Makin' Coffee today.

-I need new running shoes. Drat.

-It's strange... despite the fact that it only happened once, (and not nearly long enough, I might add,) I always expect another helmet to come clacking against the back of mine whenever I hit the brakes on my motorcycle.***

-I have a newly-earned respect for anyone working in the food service industry. "No, no... take your time. Seriously."

-Sundays closing at Baskin' Robbins are way too fun to be qualified as "working."

-I really, really REALLY want to visit a big city. Especially after watching the music video to "Change Your Mind," by The Killers.

-I'm going to go now before my fingers freeze completely and fall off. Thanks for reading!



Later,

Daniel K

*I didn't actually poke a hole in my head, just in case you were getting worried. Which I know you were.

**And aren't fun to wake up to on a bus ride. Jerks.

***For the record, the scary-awkward calls to Mr. Greer were worth it. By far. :)

Blend-i-sized!

Just some thoughts as of late blended over the weekend and poured into a blog:


I wish I were a really good songwriter... I'd meld all of my favorite aspects of songs (deep lyrics, good drumming, driving bass, and build-ups,) into a sweet concoction that'd be a best seller for at least the next 46 years.

If I could do back flips, I would have a lot more fun at dances. And cross country meets.

It would be wicked-awesome to fly to school everyday. But I might settle for riding the bus...

I've come to Makin' Coffee every Sunday to use the Internet for the past four weeks. I feel famous around here!

I need to do a sport for fun, as opposed to getting/staying in shape. Any suggestions?

I'm gunna start trying to drink half a gallon of water each day, because I'm always super-dehydrated after runs.

Police escorts are super-fun, as is riding with 200+ motorcycles through downtown Reno.

I can't wait for Street Vibrations this year.

I need to start reading again. And fast.

Missing two calculus lessons this November is gunna suck.

I'm almost 18!

Nerf guns are way fun... and I'm sure Nerf wars will be a lot more fun.

Are Nerf guns allowed at school?

Who would win in a fight: The Mad Hatter or King Leonidas?

Mrs. Kreuger, are you reading this?

Is anyone reading this?

I think I need a haircut soon (if you catch my drift, Robbie...)

Why are cellphones spelled without E's? Razr, Pebbl, etc.

Should I just ditch my cellphone in March when my contract expires?

I need new Myspace pictures.

Should I still get that tattoo when I turn 18?

For once, I can't wait until winter. How strange.

Jealousy sucks.

Having a fully-loaded car with everyone air-playing a different instrument is wicked fun. Especially when you're in traffic.

HAAAAAAAWNS!

Dances are fun as long as you apply the lyrics to "Our Love Is loud" to whatever your doing.

Velvet Elvis looks like a good book.

I want to make a montage of my senior year.

Dayton High School - prepare for the hilarious genius that will be the combined efforts of the class of 2008!


Later,

Daniel K

Just Because.*

Hmmmm. Funny story, I asked Mom to drop me by the library so I could use the computers while she goes out and picks up Sarah and Mike from work and gives Jamie some practice driving.** But upon arrival and activation of this very computer, I found nothing to do... no emails to check or Myspace stuff to attend to, or even funny websites to visit (the library connections aren't the fastest...)

So I decided I'd write a blog while I wait for her to show back up. Exciting, huh?

Well, today was the first day of the second week of school. It was an A-Day, so I went to Government, Literature, Calculus, and Band. Nothing spectacular happened, although the drum line and I worked on this snazzy new cadence for marching band this year - super tricky, but ridiculously fun once we got it down.

And I still can't believe how many essays I'm writing! Most of you know I love to write anyway, and so far I've completed four and am working on two. Sweet! (I'm a nerd, I know.) I've got this really cool idea for one of my admission essays, where the prompt is "Describe your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?" And Mr. Rohrer's been pressing on us that we need to find and angle with which to approach essays, so I don't want to create a "Jesus means faith, spirituality, hard work, love, and life lessons" essay, however true all that stuff is. So I'm going to try and make one that expands on one of my favorite aspects of my faith.

I want to write an essay that focuses on the fact that not only is Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords, but that He also has the most amazing, unexpected, and hilarious sense of humor. I want to bring out instances from Hume Lake this year... instances like the night we had a crazy-intense worship session with Campaign, where you could just pray out to God with all your heart, and three hours later I was literally rolling in my bunk laughing because we had just lobbed a mushed-up brownie into the room adjacent to us in our cabin.

I just absolutely love how being a follower of Christ is not only a life-defining, heartbreaking, sacrificial journey, but also how He is loving enough to grace us with joy and happiness and laughter. Amen!

Well, I'm going to get going now, because the phone at the library desk has been ringing nonstop for the last five minutes, so I think cops are on their way or something... or I could just be over analyzing.***


Later,

Daniel K

*Mr. Rohrer also keeps telling us we need to always use engaging titles, so my bad for that one.
**She just got her permit - huzzah!
***In fact, I'm almost certain I am.

You Win Some, You Lose Some.

Hahaha, so turns out that yesterday's Dayton service was, more or less, a disaster. Pastor Jack was out of town, so they recorded Minden's Saturday night message on DVD to play for us. Except that about three quarters of the way through, it hit a scratch and froze. (Awesome.) So they winged it with another speaker, (which turned out remarkably well, I must admit.) Then when we were about to play this song, "All Who Are Thirsty," I came to a nasty realization - I'd forgotten how to start the song! It opens with a drum solo, which had apparently gotten hungry halfway through the last song and booked it for the donuts (jerk!)

Yeah, the whole deal was freaky at first, but looking back, I can get a pretty good glimpse of God's awesome sense of humor.

And then there's Baskin Robins.... I scored a free banana split AND a Heath Bar Shake on my first day! But closing was crazy, because there's just tons and tons to get done - no more minor league like with Keva Juice. I didn't get home until about 12:15, which was awesome. Just call me the Workin' Dan!

Well, I'm gunna get going now, but not before one last announcement: Stephanie G.* is awesome, amazing, and astounding all rolled into one (awemazounding?) My favorite is how God can put us hundreds of miles apart, and He can still use her to set me straight. I loves it!

Okay, bye for now!


Later,

Daniel K

*Are last names allowed? I assumed not, being as there's supposedly a lot of internet creepers, so I opted for the single letter. Maybe I'm just crazy.

Terrorists, Seating Charts, Cosine Graphs, and a Snare Drum.

Well, school has finally started. This summer was so packed-full of "coincedences," awesome memories, and life-changing experiences that the Daniel who went in to school the morning of Thursday, June 7th to take his Marine Science and English III finals seems like a long-forgotten memory. (Hence the last, super-long blog... Sorry about that.)

Being a senior? Meh. I guess it's cool. I mean, if you're into AP classes, jobs, college planning, and free periods. If you're into aircraft hijacking simulations in Government, or the looming intensity of Calculus, or English classes full of long books, or playing at football games in the band.

I'm....... undecided. Sure, it's fun to have a double-lunch because of my free period, and it's cool to be "the top" of the school, and writing college application essays, however tedius, will help later on, but I just can't, I dunno, get into it this year? (I can't think of how to word it exactly.) The past years, my focus has been so close - Dayton, sports, grades, an occasional Reno trip. But this year, it's different. It's like I had my nose in a Gameboy for the past few years, and I just looked up to see some people shredding Guitar Hero on the big screen.*

But hey, the Gameboy does have two screens now, and it even has the stylus that you can use to poke Mario's eyes with! So like I said, I'm undecided. I guess one thing keeping my eyes on the Gameboy is that no matter how much I want to, I can't go shred on the plastic guitar until I get this "diploma" thing, no matter how many times I've defeated Bowser.

And with that final nail in the coffin of my coolness,** I'm gunna go.


Later,

Daniel K

*Me + Nerdy Metaphores = True Love.
**The cat's pajamas are overrated, anyway.

The Long Awaited Summer Wrap-up

Pastor jack stands in front of the congregation, hands in the air, praying aloud for all to hear. Jeff stands in front of me on the stage (behind Jack) "noodling"* lightly on his guitar. To my right are our two vocalists, to my left are our guitar player and bassit.** Everyone in the room is unnaturally still and quiet save for Pastor Jack, still praying, and Jeff, bent over his guitar plucking strings. I sit on the semi-uncomfotable stool of my drum set, sticks in hands and anticipation rising along with the volume of Jeff's noodling.

Mr. Delphin stands in front of the graduating class, parents, faculty, and administrators, babbling on about something or another. I sit below him in the grass, trying to catch Stephanie's eye as she looks up at Mr. Delphin. My drum sticks sit waiting on my snare. To my right are all my fellow percussionists, staring blankly up at the principal. To my left are my senior friends, sitting in thier graduation robes waiting.

As Jack wraps up his prayer, Jeff's noodling shifts ever so subtly into the opening riff of "God of Wonders." Our guitarist comes in with him, layering on the melody. I can hardly wait for the few measures of intro to get over so that I can start playing, but I know that it's necessary in order to make the song sound good. Finally, I come in with a kick drum/snare beat. As Jeff begins vocals.

Boom
Crack
Boom Boom
Crack

"...graduated class of 2007!" Everyone applauds as Mr. Delphin wraps up, and Mrs. Bum gives me wild-eyed looked that warns me to take my focus off Stephanie and onto the music in front of me. I grudgingly begin to play "Recessional" as the graduates smile, high-five, laugh, joke, and throw beach balls. Then, starting on the far right, they begin to file out of their seats. I can't help but smile now as I look on - they did it! They're done! They've got their lives to start living! Huzzah! I try my hardest not to rush the beat of the song, fighting back the urge to yell and cheer and clap along with all the parents and teachers. There they go! Stephanie and John and Diana and Melissa and Michelle and Doug and Amy and Rachel and Dallas and Nicole and everyone else. Everyone I hung out with this year. Everyone I walked with, joked around with, shared laughter and tears. But I couldn't go this time, I realized. I couldn't partake in this. I had to stay back, watch, wait. I had been racing along with them, barreling towards the stoplight. But drawing closer, it had flicked from green to yellow. they pushed on, but I went to the brakes. And as the light hit red, they shot off unhampered. I sit at the line, waiting for it to turn again.

"And I spent last night,
tearing down,
every stoplight,
and stop sign in this town,
so I think there might,
be no way to stop me now..."

-Relient K, "I So Hate Consequences."

I force myself to stop thinking about other songs, as that will surely skew my beat. After the opening lines, I throw out the first crash of the song, and revel in the amazing noise of the finely tuned metal. I add eighth notes on the closed hi-hat as we get into the real feel for the song. The congregation stands and tentatively begins to sing along with Jeff and the other vocalists. I don't much like the feeling I get at this point - I've moved passed the opening (where I'm most excited and anxious,) and have got the 'ball rolling' on the song, but it's still not what it should be quite yet.

The night after graduation was, of course, Grad Night. That night was one of the most remarkable of my summer. I know only one person who would be reading this blog who fully knows how much it means to me, and I want to say, once again, thank you. I reveled in the amazing memories if that night through the next week. I didn't like Boys' State at first, because I had moved past the beginning of the summer - past all the excitement of the end of school and the anxiety of becoming a Senior. Summer just wasn't... summer... quite yet.

But as the tune drives on, Jeff comes in once again on vocals. This time he sings the chorus... the most remembered words of the song... I switch to the ride cymbal and just cruise along with the tempo, throwing out an occasional crash and snare accent. I always love these little add-ons... they're what turn a run-of-the-mill drum beat into an excellent-sounding rhythm. I close my eyes and let the overwhelming feelings of the song flow over me. Thank you, God, for this.

I finally got 'warmed up' to Boys' State and I actually had a lot of fun the last few days. Upon returning, I had a some time to rest before I hopped on my motorcycle and cruised across Nevada with my dad and uncle. Endless, painted deserts*** surrounded us as we raced through the sweltering heat of the ET Highway, piling miles onto our bikes as if they were layers of wax. After the ride I barely had time to wash clothes before I went to Hume Lake... the most remembered part of my summer... I want never to forget that blissful week. Worshipping God beneath a night sky that was blue like jazz,*** yelling at the top of my lungs "THORLAK! THORLAK!" Running around the foggy morning waters of the lake, holding Stephanie's hand in mine as we meandered together around the camp, getting creeped out by stumbling on a submerged pipe, shouting the words to "Salvation is Here" along with hundreds of others who love Jesus with all their hearts, sitting around a campfire listening to Robbie and Johnny lay down some major theological debates, muttering "aha, you fool" as I walk past David, staying up late (not watching TV or playing video games, but reading my bible with Aaron, Kenny, and David,) dropping my sister's camera while trying to get a picture of Stephanie making a funny face, ridiculous rec games that somehow got me laughing and frustrated at the same time, dipping my feet into the hot sand at the volleyball courts while watching Aaron spike the ball at Robbie, standing in line for lunch, having Stephanie sneak up behind me and throw her arms around me (I always love these little things she does. They're what turn a run-of-the-mill day into a truly excellent memory), Steve's quirky, sometimes annoying, sometimes convicting messages every night, and so, so much more. Thank you, God, for that.

The congregation begins to dissipate as Jeff pauses from the lyrics to bid them farewell and God bless, and then returns his attention to us as we begin to rock out to the buildup phase of the song. I start on a closed hi-hat, slowly working my foot off the pedal so as to let it ring more and more. Soon it's attained almost the same sound as the crash, so I lay down a fill and then shift to riding my crash cymbal. I never used to like riding the crash - I thought it was kinda annoying, since it was so loud and rang so much. But I also used to be (and I still kinda am,) a very conservative drummer, meaning I stayed quiet and left all the fancy stuff to the other instruments. But now I can really see the beauty of crash riding. I see how it's like a step above the hi-hat. I understand how it's full, loud sound perfectly compliments the furious strumming of Jeff's hands and the impassioned singing of the others. It's beautiful.

After Hume, I had about a month of doing nothing but running cross country, working, and going to "The Crave." It was during this time that God really began revealing to me something that's amazing beyond words. I had never truly believed in love, you see. I had been more than a little turned-off to the idea of love through endless school drama and people saying, "I'm in love!" Over and over to different people (sometimes not even a month apart...) I mean sure, I cared for Mom and Sarah and Jake and Dad and my friends, but I was confused and sceptical about this whole "love" shimdig. But then God blessed me with Stephanie. Donald Miller**** once wrote that "love is like Heaven in that you care for someone else more than yourself." Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself. Every one's always talking about putting others' needs before your own. But I had never felt a passion to do that kind of stuff. I'd do things for people that inconvenienced me, but looking back, it was more to gain favor or a better reputation. Stephanie is 100% different. I would find myself going out of my way to do stuff that would make her happy. I didn't care what others thought or what I wanted, because... I dunno... because she meant more to me that myself. Crazy, huh? It was like God was coaxing my eyes open, whispering "Look, son. Now do you understand?" And I did. I saw that God is love. I saw His great love for us echoed through my own love for Stephanie. I understood what heaven will look like. I saw how love compliments God's brilliant, careful work and His people's impassioned actions. It's beautiful.

As only a few people remain in the audience now, I decide to try a little craziness. Fueled by the raw emotion of the song, I begin throwing in frequent fills and taking risks I wouldn't normally take if in front of a large audience (see? Told you I'm still conservative...) It was ridiculous fun. I was smiling now, and I looked up at Jeff to see him wide-eyed and mouthing "you're speeding it up! Slow down!" My stomach turned over for a second. I hate when I screw up the tempo, since that's, like, drummer 101. I lock eyes with Jeff as he bobs his head to what the tempo should be. Slowly, I work my way back down to "the groove" of the song. I was kinda annoyed, because I hadn't sped it up that much. But Jeff had noticed it, and that's what makes him a good musician - he sends us in the ways we need to go for the betterment of the band's sound, even in we don't understand why he does it.

The mission trip. We stayed in Vallejo, California, in the First baptist Church of Vallejo. It was, without a doubt, pure craziness. From the get-go, God was working in amazing and frightening ways. Not only were we out in the slums of San Fransisco handing out food and talking with homeless people, but we fasted for a day, helped barbecue food, unloaded and sorted through supplies for the church, and cleaned up the place. By the end of that day, we were all mentally, emotionally, and spiritually beat. It was something else, lemme tell you. And it was also during this time that God began to send me in a way that I don't understand. I had never been really, truly mad at God before. I had been having the "feel good" experiences with him thus far. The "worshipping under a night sky that was blue like jazz" moments. Now I was having a hard time. I didn't understand - I still don't. I was, well, pissed. "Why? Why, God? Why do these things to me? Why take these people away from me? Why allow this sort of pain into my life? This pain that makes me long for the pain I had when I cleanly snapped both bones in my wrist?" But that's what makes Him a good Father - He sends us in ways for the betterment of His glory, even if we don't understand why He does it.

As we head into the home stretch of the song, I get a peculiar feeling in my stomach. It's that feeling of mixed joy and dread that I get when I finish an excellent novel, or the feeling that comes en mass on the last day of school. The feeling that tells me it's almost over, but man has it been amazing. We enter the last bars of the song and I throw out a spectacular fill***** to end it, landing my final blow on the crash cymbal. My eyes are almost full of tears as memories of this summer blaze by me. I sit still and silent as Jeff smiles and thanks everyone for playing and as my mind races at mach 60. In less than 24 hours, I'll be back in school. I'll be a senior in the graduating class of 2008. I'll have a year's worth of awesome ahead of me, but man has this summer been amazing.


Thanks for reading,

Daniel K

*"Noodling" is where the guitarist plays melodic notes to give a background-type-feel to the ambiance.
**Sorry, I'm terrible with names, and I don't remember our vocalist's, guitarist's, or bassist's.
***I wish I could take credit for these awesome terms, but they in fact belong to Donald Miller, the amazing author of "Blue Like Jazz," "Through Painted Deserts," "Searching For God Knows What," and "To Own a Dragon." Check him out sometime, because he's worth it.
****Same guy as mentioned above. He's the bomb.
*****I hope I don't sound conceited (not conceded) here... I just mean that it was the finale part.

Thoughts and Dreams

So I keep having this dream. And it's not you're typical night time, can't remember it, not important dream, either. It's one of those vivid, focused dreams that you remember when your awake. It's one of those that carry on into daydreams while your spacing off at work or while driving. Here's how it goes:

I wake up because I hear a door slamming. I sit up and glance at my alarm clock - 10:00am. I roll out of bed and almost trip over a pile of discarded clothes. I go and immediately use mouthwash to get that nasty "I ate Oreos before bed and forgot to brush and now they've grown mold on my back teeth" taste out of my mouth. I go over to my window and pull up the blinds. Muted, overcast sunlight meets my eyes as I look out over the campus. (Here's where the dream aspect kicks in, because everytime it's different...) Sometimes I see tall, stately oak trees lining the roadway up to my dorm. Sometimes it's the ocean lazily sliding wave after wave at the shoreline beneath me. Or maybe towering mountains covered in crisp snow, or a sprawling cityscape full of every shape and color imaginable, or rocky hills sprouting scrub brush and cactus.

I turn as the door opens again, and my roommate strolls over to snatch up his laptop which he apparently forgot. I smile and give a nod in greeting, which he returns before pulling an about-face and booking it for the door. Probably late for his study group or something.

"Tonight, 9:00 sharp!" I call after him as he whisks down the hall, not bothering to shut the door in his hurry. He calls an affirmative over his shoulder and dissapears into the elavator. I can't wait for that night for some reason - maybe we're planning a prank, or a run, or a visit to somewhere off campus, or what have you... either way, it'll be great.

I grab clothes from an open drawer and head for the shower - I have a class of some sort this morning, too. My mind wanders as I make my way through the halls of my dorm... my permanent hotel... my house. The passages and rooms are full of colorful characters from all walks of life. Brimming with a plethora of music, languages, hairstyles, interests, fashions, and expectations. I nod and smile at most, high-five some, avoid the gaze of others.

After cleaning up, I stroll back to my room and finish getting ready for the day. My iPod is a must, the headphones wrapped tightly around it. Next comes my wallet, boasting my snazzy campus ID and dorm-access card. I probably don't have a cellphone, because I don't feel like paying the bills. My keyring, now missing my Nevada house key and car keys, can stay on my bedside table because I won't be using my bike lock or motorcycle today.

I make my way downstairs (I'm not a fan of elevators,) unwinding and inserting my headphones as I go out to the front of the building. I make a detour past my motorcycle out of habit, though I know that campus security patrols the parking lots at night. Finally, books slung over my shoulder and "Made to Worship" being piped into my ears from my iPod, I head off into the unknown campus to attend some unknown class with an unknown professor at an unknown time, in an unknown city and in an unknown state.


It seems like everytime my mind drifts, it plays these few minutes of thought over and over and over. I can't wait, as most of you know. I don't want to sound like a jerk or a whining kid or anything, but I really can't wait to get out of Dayton. Don't get me wrong - it's been great. I love the freezing winters up at Mt. Rose and the scolding summers here in the valley. I love hanging out with all of my friends, learning and growing together through adventure after adventure. I love going to basketball or football games. I love (although I'll admit I'm not always great at showing it,) the teachers, the parents and my fellow students at DHS. I love marching in the band, making dumb math jokes, doing pranks, ghost hunting, watching Wayne's World in Miller's room, going to see movies at the crappy Carson Theater, sneaking texts in class, goofing around during lunch, singing "Build Me Up Buttercup," camping at the Dayton State Park, climbing old gross water towers, messing with cones during road construction, breaking curfew, worshipping at Crave, sweating my eyes out during sports practices, nailing all those fills during "Pretty Fly For a White Guy," and so much more.

But I just can't wait to move on out of Dayton and start my new life.

We recieved these little calendars at the Freshman orientation yesterday which are totally up my alley - they're about 5" x 5", and show the dates of every school day this year, as well as all of the days off for breaks and holidays. (Sweet!) So looking at it the other day, I came to a logical realization... I only have 25 square inches left of high school! As weird as that sounds, I'm so psyched!

Alas, (I don't get to use that word often enough,) I need to think here. I know God wants me to have hope and feel joy and love these things, but I need to be careful. I was talking with Robbie the other day, and I told him how weirded out I am. "I've dedicated myself to God's will," I explained, "but I'm not too keen on God's timing. I keep telling God, 'no, seriously... if you tell me where you want me to go to college now, I can get in my application early and start e-mailing people and all this sweet stuff!'" And Robbie said something awesome. He smiled and told me, "Yeah, but I bet God's up there going, 'no, you don't get it, because if I tell you this or that now, then you'll take your focus off this thing or that person, and that's not what I want.'"

So processing that, I've decided that I don't want to miss out on the opportunities before me. I can't take my focus off the people or places around me this school year. I can't blow off everyone in Dayton for hopes of the people in Colorado or Oregon or California or anywhere else.

Some songs came to mind while thinking about this...

"Shine your light

and let the whole world see,

we're singing

for the glory of the Risen King."

-Mighty To Save

"Lift my hand and spin around,

see this light that I ave found

Oh the marvelous light, marvelous light,

it's Christ in me"

-Marvelous light

This year, I want to be that beacon of Jesus' light to those around me. I want to give hope, comfort, joy, conviction, whatever. I want to use my music, my writing, my speaking, my actions, and so much more to reflect Jesus. I've had the most incredible 6 months in my life, and it's all because of Him... It would be amazingly selfish of me to keep that inside.

Please, please, please, hold me to this. I know I'll stumble and fall flat on my face. I know I'll screw it up and say something wrong. I know I'll pull a Daniel and do stupid stuff in front of the wrong people. I know I'll be discouraged, disheartened, shot down, told off, and what have you. I know this because it's who I am - who we are. But I know that the most beautiful thing of all is this: when I trip and eat it into the dirt, God will be there to pick me up and dust me off. He'll be there when no one else is. He'll be there to wipe every tear from my eyes.

Praise God!

And then after this year - college! :)

My Downs, God's Ups

Well, that just about describes how it works, huh? I get all down because of my family situation or my money or my... whtever. Then God swoops in and takes me to new heights. Awesome.

I just got back from the CVC Dayton service, and Pastor Jack told a story that went something like this:

"There was this pastor at a church and he had arranged to package up crates full of supplies to send to a missionary in Africa. So he and his congregation met one morning and spent the whole day nailing crates together, packing them, sealing them up, and sending them away. After a long day, they finally sealed up the very last crate and sent it off. Everyone left, and the pastor locked up the church before heading out to his car. When he strated it up and began to back out, he made a startling discovery - he could hardly see because wasn't wearing his glasses. So he went back into the church and searched forever for them, but couldn't find them. And it was then that he remembered - he had taken them off and rested them on a crate earlier that day. So the glasses must have been sealed up in a crate and sent off to Africa! Well, the pastor wasn't very wealthy, and because he needed such a strong perscription, the glasses were very expensive. So he went back out to his car and began to question God. He yelled and screamed, asking God, 'Why? Why would you take them from me when I need them and they cost so much and I barely have enough money as it is to keep food on the table for my family?' About two weeks later, the missionary from Afric showed up at the church to talk about his experiences. At the end of his story, he thanked the church for thier generous donations. He said, 'I would especially like to thank you all for the very personal gift. You see, a few weeks ago, bandits and vandals came into our village and tore apart everything. They looted even the inside of the church, and during the process, they smashed my glasses to smitherenes. Without them , I am practically blind. But when your crates arrived, the very first one we opened up had a pair of glasses in them, resting on top of a blanket. I put them on, and they were the exact persciption I needed. I wanted to thank you so much for the glasses.' The pastor of the church was standing in the back of the congregation with tears running down his face, because he now saw that depite how things look, God is always in control and His plan is more genius and amazing than any we could come up with."

Luke Everett calls them "Godincidences." A good friend* and I still call them "coincidences," but with this kinda emphasis on the word which denotes our disbelief. I've had a tough week... well, a tough couple of weeks... dealing with this stuff God's doing in my life. But who am I to get mad or frustrated at God's plan? Not only did God have a hand in that story, but He also shaped it into my life by giving me hope when I so deperately needed it. I was sitting in the cold, hard, foldable chairs in the Sutro gymnasium when I felt God smiling down at me. It's that indescribeable joy and peace that He graces us with from time to time... the kind I experienced for the first time one night on March 23rd in the Capitol Grounds at Carson City.

I just wanted to say sorry. Sorry, God, for getting so bent out of shape at these things you do that are, eventually, for the better - for Your glory. I'm begging your forgiveness.

I also played today at the service**, which was awesome. We did "Beautiful One," "Only You," "King of Glory," and "All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises." I love that God's gifted me with the skills to worship Him so freely and with such intensity. Playing through the songs, I can finally (if even for a little while,) just let go of my "baggage." I can stop caring about what time I have to be at work, or how much gas is in my tank. I can forget about how tired or hungry or thirsty I am. I can just let the rhythms roll off my sticks, let my spirit dance, and let my mind focus completely on God. It's spectacular.

Well, I've got to be going now. No telling when I'll be able to do my next blog entry, since we're taking the computer from here (the old house,) to there (the new house,) tomorrow, and we don't have internet there yet. Hopefully I'll get back online before school starts, though, because I want to unpack some of the crazy stuff God's done in me or through me this summer.

Thanks to everyone who's still reading my blog!


Later,

Daniel K

*Sorry, I meant to put "The best friend God could ever give me."
**And it should be noted that I tried my very hardest not to look nervous, even when I bobbled the beat or stumbled over a fill on occasion. :)

Round two.

Sweet, I'm back in blogging action!

Well, yesterday after my last entry I did indeed head into Carson to pick up "Five Score and Seven Years Ago." John and Hans accompanied me, and then we spent some time goofing off around Wal Mart before heading home. "Five Score" is an awesome CD, and I highly reccomend it. So for my favorite song is "Must Have Done Something Right."

After that I had a long-awaited phone conversation with Stephanie*, then I went back to the old house (AKA The one with this computer still in it,) and AIM'ed until my family got home from Six Flags.

What an ordeal that was... Turns out my mom told me last week that we were doing a lot of the heavy-duty moving "this weekend." She didn't specify which day/time/anything, so I went about scheduling as normal... As it stands, I don't have any time before 9:30pm on Saturday, which is the day we're hauling all the furniture and stuff over. So when mom found out, she more or less got super pissed at me. Whatever.

Sometimes I just don't understand why God puts all of this junk into my life. Why three of my best friends in the world are moving/have moved away, why Mom and Dad split up, why we're moving again. I think that's a problem a lot of people struggle with. After another conversation with Stephanie, I sat down in my room and thought through my week at Hume this Summer. I remember one day in particular, where Steve talked about how we should not worship God purely because of situational things (like families or cars or jobs or anything material,) but rather we should worship Him because He is our Savior, our King, and our Lord.

Tell you the truth, that was kinda eye-opening. I was frustrated because things weren't going my way? What? How childish is that? I felt ridiculous. I looked through my Bible, reading about all these disciples or prophets who suffered immensly more than I have, and yet were still dancing because of God's great mercy. Ouch. So I prayed to God, worshipping Him because He is everlasting, neverending, all-knowing and all-powerful. I concentrated on worshipping Him because of who He is, rather on what He's given me. And it felt... right. It was strange, because thanking Him for giving me things doesn't feel wrong, but thanking Him for being who He is feels right. Maybe that just reaffirms that fact that it's awesome to thank God for giving me stuff like amazing friends or an iPod or a motorcycle, but that shouldn't be the end of my worship, or even the majority of my worship.

I went to bed late last night (as is the norm now,) and woke up early today (again, the unfortunate norm for me...) At cross country practice, we ran the water tower run, which is about 3.1 miles, which is about the length of a varsity course. Everyone did really well, with all the girls well under 30 minutes and all the guys a lot better than this time last year (I was four minutes faster! Woo-hoo!) So we stretched and then headed our different ways.

Except Hans and I... we headed the same way. You see, my aunt and uncle visited us last week, and they left their quads up here while they returned to Vegas. So after asking permission, I decided that a good 'Ol quad ride would be super-fun! (Unfortunately, I only had two helmets so I couldn't invite a third person to come with us...) We went through the valley and over into Moundhouse, where we met up with John. So the three of us spent today roarin' around the mountains behind Moudhouse. It was awesome, and we even found this sweet spot to go camping someday. It's up in these trees on your way up Radar Mountain** and it's full of tree-stands and campfire pits and such... I can't wait!

Now I'm home, waiting for Mom and Sarah to show up so we can get to packing and moving. So I'll say goodbye for now, and thanks if you're reading this!


Later,

Daniel K

*It should be noted that Stephanie is not a jerk in any way, shape, or form for suggesting that I start this blog. In fact, she's awesome. If you haven't high-fived her yet, do it now.
**This isn't the actual name of the mountain, I just felt like calling it that since it's got a bunch-load of radars and antennas and junk on top of it.

Wait, wait! Let me explain!

She made me do it! She forced me to, with her newly-acquired college attributes and whatnot! It wasn't me, I swear! She made, she made me, she made me!!! (Though I can't say I'm not a tad bit excited she did.) Yes, most of you can probably guess who I'm talking about right now. She started her blog and then threatened me with many chokeholds, prison shanks and phone conversations* that she wouldn't continue hers unless I started mine. She's tricksy that way :)

So here I am, trying to think about what to write... Okay, enough thinking.

Today I ran cross country and then drove as fast as my mobile would go back to my house for a quick shower before heading into Reno. (My bad if anyone, I dunno, was trying to, like, talk to me on the phone or anything as I went up Six Mile, because it didn't work quite as I planned...)

In Reno, I visted Prestige Portraits and got my senior pictures taken. What!? Senior pictures!? Dude, five and a half weeks ago I was getting my freshman band pictures taken!** Wow, it's hard to come to terms with the fact that we've got one more year left at Dayton High... and harder not be elated by this realization. Oh, and as it happens, photo shoots are ridiculously awkward. I was in this darkened room with a spotlight on me as I contorted my body into crazy shapes while trying to shift from smiling to seriousness on a regular basis. Apparently not one of my fortes. But the craziest thing about it all was that afterwards when I viewed the pictures, I looked like I was in totally natural, casual poses. Weird.

Anyway, Next I decided to kill some time and visit Freedom Riders of Reno, AKA the Triumph dealership. Turns out I'm looking into buying a new motorcycle helmet. Mine's kinda old and gross, plus I'm looking for one that I can hook up my delicious iPod to and then rock out to Relient K or Chris Tomlin as I'm flying low through Washoe Valley. The helmets themselves run from $250 to $350, and then the speaker system is about another $100 to $150, so I've got some saving up to do, I guess. But it'll be pretty sweet when (if) I get it!

Then I met my good friend Robbie at Red's 395 Grill and we talked over lunch for about and hour and a half about God, humans, and everything in between... (ie a lot.)

Well, there it is - my incredibly interesting day*** as of about an hour ago. I think next I'm going into Carson again to pick up Relient K's CD, "Five Score and Seven Years Ago." (I'm sure Stephanie'll be thrilled,) then introducing myself to my new neighbors and getting to bed early for the first time in about a week.

Farewell for now!


Later,

Daniel K

*She actually only used on of these methods... You guess which.
**It wasn't actually five and a half weeks ago. I may have told a falsehood.
***I realize that it was neither incredible nor interesting.