I'm In Heaven!

I found two amazing concerts, one which is definitely coming to the 9:30 club in D.C. and the other that is not certain yet, but the tour is going to 40 cities and one of those is bound to be either Baltimore or D.C.

The definite one is Jack's Mannequin (Dark Blue) with Head Automatica and The Audition
Jack's Mannequin has a lot of amazing songs and their CD is probably the best CD I own. Head Automatica sounds a lot like Jack's Mannequin with a little more of a pop edge and over all a lot of fun. The Audition Has some really good stuff too, fitting the mold of the other two bands without being unoriginal. Check them out they're all really good. It would be really cool if i got a bunch of people to go to this. It sounds like a really fun concert.

The other one is the Take Action Tour, which has The Red Jumpsuit Apparattus (Face Down) as the main act along with Emery, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, A Static Lullubye, and Kaddisfly. This concert will have a much harder sound, which also would be a lot of fun, and The Red Jumpsuit Apparattus is totally amazing. I'll keep my eyes out for news on this one.

Frustrated Empty And Confused

Those three words describe exactly how I feel right now, and I don't even know why. There are a lot of things prominent in my life right now that could explain, but none of them are severely bothering me now. I think it's my lack of progress. I've been sitting here on the computer for a couple hours, and I would gladly do something worth while, but nothing comes to mind. I'm missing something that is full of meaning, and I can't figure out what the heck it is. I need something more in my life, but there are always insurmountable barriers in the way of my efforts.

Prayer would be nice

I want to say something on a lighter note, but humor escapes me at the moment.

Oh Yeah! Jonathan turned 3 today!

What I've Done All Week

Wednesday, our first day here, was really boring, and I was really tired. All I did that day was sitting around reading magazines and listenning to my ipod.
Thursday, Thanksgiving day, I got up and ran a 3 mile race in 30 degree weather, then later of course I ate Thanksgiving dinner.
Friday, several members of my extended family went to a friend's farm, not the kind with tons of smelly animals, but the kind with lots of really cool land which would have been awesome for manhunt or capture the flag. Meanwhile, Alex watched James Bond all day.
Saturday (Today), just my family went back to the farm to take some family pictures. Then we ate lunch at this pizza place in downtown Brattleboro, and I got stuffed. So that brings me to right now. Tonight at midnight we're leaving for home, which should take between 7 and 8 hrs., and, if all goes right, I should be at church tomorrow morning.

From Brattleboro VT

I just ran a 5k (3.16 mi.) my time was 19:56, just ok. Wow Vermonters are FAST! I got blown away.

Happy Thanksgiving, one of the least corrupted but most boring holidays.

Can't wait to be back home.

School's over, but I have to go to Vermont, so the only people I get to see till Sunday are my immediate family, and my cousins (10 I think), who are all younger than me by 3-13 years and aunts (In Vermont it's not "ants") and uncles. This is the first time that I really don't want to go up there, but I guess I'll survive. See everyone Sunday morning hopefully.

Christmas soon!!!!

Two Face (it’s long, but bear with me)

Isn’t it so weird how we can be totally different people depending on where we are and who we’re around? When I’m around people who I enjoy being around, I almost always have a good time, I feel energetic and great (unless I really screw up, which I’ve done way too many times). Then when I get home I feel awful. Everything comes flooding back; regret, loneliness, frustration, you name it. Everything that everyone goes through and feels like they’re the only one, I feel like I’ve been through. I have my huge problems, then I have my less critical but almost as painful problems and insecurities. I would go through the latter, but none of them are anything that have never been said before, and I really don’t want my sincerity to become something to satisfy people’s cravings for gossip. The last thing I want is someone to read this and think to themselves “Sucks to be him,” then either write some insincere rosy comment that took like 5 minutes to think of, or not write a comment as if they had never been here at all. I don’t want to seem selfish and self-pitying, because I know that I’m not the only one in this fight. So here’s a shout out to everyone who’s ever been alone, who’s ever been furious with themselves, and who’s ever had crushing regrets. Here’s to everyone who’s ever felt hopeless, you’re not the only ones. We’ll get through this, but not without trusting in God’s forgiveness and the support of everyone else around us. If you know what I’m talking about, give me a little bit of confirmation. Write your sincere thoughts, and don’t conveniently act like you were never here. (you can at least write “no comments” though not preferably)

The concert last night was amazing!!! I can't wait to see the pics. My neck is so stiff and my ears are still ringing and it's been almost 12 hrs. since the concert, but surprisingly, I didn't lose my voice. Yeah everyone was laghing at me going crazy last night, esp. Julia (both of them, lol). Sitting out on the streets of Baltimore at midnight was a fairly new experience, but even that was fun. Then we played "Never Have I Ever" on the lightrail on the way home and we found out who had tried shaving thier legs (lol). If anyone knows about any good concerts coming up, let me know, cause that was awesome.

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down

One of my recent faves. The song is better than the video.

Monday Speaks For Itself

Yep, it's typical, a boring Monday with four days left till Friday. It is kinda cool though that this song acctually applies for once:
"On a rainy Monday, I feel it inside of me..." cool song, Rainy Monday by Shiny Toy Guns

Dark Blue

Jack's Mannequin - Dark Blue

How do I post youtube videos?

I had to write this for European History. 803 words to be exact.

The French Religious Wars

France in the 1500s was on the brink of war all because of a few simple yet deadly political assumptions. Not only this, but, since the church and state primarily went hand in hand in that time, these tensions showed up in politics too. Any problem that there was on the level of the state, without fail became the Church’s problem as well, and vice versa. This made for a very complicated social system, because any rivalry, whether political or theological, was allowed to take over every aspect of society often allowing it to become deadly. Thus, when the Catholic and Protestant churches had their major disagreements, it became a political issue as well. The politicizing of the church’s issues would often lead to militant struggles. The use of theology as a political weapon, and the idea of a nation in which the church and state co-ruled were ultimately the seeds for the French religious wars.

The theological rivalries between the Catholic and Protestant churches caused much unrest at the level of the church. Since France had for so long been staunchly Catholic, the government strongly reinforced Catholicism. Despite these efforts however, the Huguenots grew in number. Under the threat of these anti-Catholic thoughts imported from Germany and Switzerland, the Catholic leaders led persecutions of the Protestant Huguenots. The Huguenots were still able to thrive despite these vehement attempts to get rid of them, and, despite their minority status, they still managed to acquire important social status. These circumstances resulted in a split among the French rulers, which ultimately complicated the political scene.

The French government had other problems of their own to deal with. These started with the accidental death of Henry II during a celebratory joust. He left the kingdom to his wife Catherine de Medici and his sickly son, who died soon thereafter. With limited influence, Catherine was at the mercy of the Guises, a very powerful family in France. Catherine had to choose sides between the Huguenots, and the Guises, neither of which she wanted in control of France. If she sided with the Huguenots, she could easily overthrow the Guises, but if she chose to join with the Guises, she could use their alliance to help her rid France of the Huguenots. Catherine, who had an invested interest in the preservation of the monarchy, did not want the Guises to take over the government, so since the Guises were anti-Huguenot, she looked to the Protestants as an ally, despite her Catholic beliefs. The Huguenots however, under the leadership of the prince of Conde, did not fully commit to this unofficial alliance, a very big mistake on their part. Later on, Catherine, under great pressure, decided to side with the Guises, a move that might have been avoided, if the Huguenots had decided to side with Catherine These political moves would play a major part in the French religious wars. With both the church and the state, under internal pressure, the combination of theology and politics created a bloodbath in France.

This deadly combination was the biggest mistake the French made. The French political leaders would claim to hold theological ideas, without evaluating the truth, simply for the political allies that it would create for them. Little did they know that it would cost them in the end. Catherine, whose unstable political situation made her decisions very desperate, is the best example of this. In her very tough decision between the Huguenots, and Guises, she originally chose to gain the favor of the Protestants, but later, she changed her mind. This indecision did nothing but fuel the tension between Protestants and Catholics, and had even bigger consequences. After she had made her final decision on an ally, surprisingly things did not get easier for Catherine. With the Huguenots gaining power, she was faced with the prospect of an international war with Spain. She responded to this by ordering what is today known as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, in which thousands of Protestants were slaughtered. This maneuver, however, only stirred up the Protestants to retaliate; it was one of her biggest mistakes. All this came from the politicizing of the church.

The political motivation that swayed these wars was the integration of theological debates that belonged in the church into the federal level. Catherine’s indecision between the Huguenots and the Guises was based on this issue. The frustrating aspect of all these struggles and bloody conflicts is that that they could have been avoided so easily. If the issues of the church and state had been kept in their respective circles, they would not have been able turn into a war, but the ideal of a Christian nation blinded the French to the other options.

Absolutely Terrifying

Yesterday morning Rockbridge had a seminar with Dr. Atwood from New St. Andrews, for the high schoolers. We were set up in a double horseshoe with the 10th and up in front and the freshman in the back (the freshman almost outnumber the rest of the highschoolers). So about halfway through the seminar the foot of the senior sitting in front of me was shaking like crazy and making a really annoying squeeking. Then stupid Joey decided to take a peice of paper and slip it under the foot to stop the squeeking. What I didn't realize was that our former naval commander principal was sitting right behind me. five seconds later I felt his hand on my houlder and he's like, "follow me," and in my head I'm like, "Oh crap!" in the hallway he said none too softly "What were you thinking!!!!!!!!!!!?" loud enough that some of the people in the conference room could hear. Then he sent me up to my homeroom for the rest of the seminar, and told me he wanted to see me at lunch. Up in my classroom Mr. Colvin, our Latin tercher, was grading papers, and he read a buch of funny mistakes that people had made to me and basically tried to take my mind off of the horror of my predicament, he was cool. At lunch I ended up talking to the less scary principal of the lower school because the ex-navy guy was gone, and I had people asking me what had happenned for the rest of the day. WOW.

Double Dipping

For those who don’t know, that’s probably everyone, starting last Sunday, my family is not only attending GBEPC in the morning, but also a new church plant in the afternoon called Westminster Presbyterian Church, but as far as I know, we are not planning on leaving GBEPC, mostly because of me. Yeah, that just about fills my entire Sunday, but I’d much rather that than to have to leave Glen Burnie EP (if we did, that would be our 3^rd church swap in three years).

I took a lot of pictures of our trebuchet experiment in Physics, but I can't post them, so I'll have to try later.
Oh, and my Ipod Nano got destroyed. I'm so glad I have that warranty.