from pines to palms, and then to pines again

here are some pics from the pines of dunamis to the palms of palm desert! if anyone can tell me the location and significance of the picture with the boat, they are awesome... my bros will definately know the answer to this one.

totem pole

'totem' is a funny word...
did i mention that i am being eaten alive by mosquitos?

from that same coffee shop i was at one year ago!

well, first thing i looked for was the stain that i left when i spilled my green tea on that chair last year...
still there

its beautiful weather here in idyllwild. even though i have my car up here, i decided to walk into town because the weather was so awesome. dunamis is fun, and i am having fun filming and editing... here is where i do my editing at:

pretty snazzy, eh?

it's hard for me to take pictures of other things because the video camera is pretty much glued to my hand all day long. i'll try to take some pics while i am in town and post em later.

well, i am going to take off... i don't want to spend all my free time in a coffee shop.

hooroo :)

200th post

wow... this post marks #200 for me since i started my site over a year ago... pretty crazy eh? too bad there is nothing special about this post...

summer has officially started!
i am taking off today to go work at camp dunamis for two weeks (i am the videographer and editor for each week-session). i will have internet access for time to time (when i can get into town) so i will post some stuff while i am there. but for now, there is not much to say...

so, ya... that's pretty much it.

pretty boring for #200... i'll make #300 better :)

hooroo

inner-child mischief

so, it's late at night, you've got a package of sharpie markers, and your house still hasn't replaced the torn up carpet with the new carpet yet... what do you do? (of course, with your mum's permission...

ROCK ON! SCHOOL'S OUT!

(my shirt says "procrastination kills" on it.... I am living proof that it doesn't)

i remember... [warning: long and thought provoking]

schoooool's (almost) out, for, summer! schooool's out, (not quite) for, ever!

so, the only things standng between me and singing this song semi-truthfully are four very icky exams... well, three, because the bible exam will be easy. On the other hand, History, spanish, and the very-dreaded chemistry will not. I am trying to stay positve by thinking these happy thoughts: after thursday, never again will i have to deal with words like leptons, quarks, stoicheometry, polymers, and 1,2-ethyl 3,6-dioxylhexane (the last one is kind of made up, but believeme, there are things with very similar names).

these past few school years have been going by fairly quickly, especially this year (except during third period chemistry where time somehow seems to stop). thinking of the increase in speed of school years going by has brought me to remember something my grampa (my pop's pop) told me a long time ago... all of you, take note...

My bro Aldo graduated from highschool the same time i "graduated" from 6th grade. I remember seeing my bro graduate and thinking a few things: wow, he is old. i can't believe he's going to college... i wanna go to college. it's going to take forever to get to high school and then college. I expressed these very young and frustrated emotions to my grampa, and sure enough, he came up with some very clever and comforting (and quite amusing) words of wisdom. He looked at me and said: "Cookie (that's what he calls me), you know what? Your done with the first half of your education before you get to college... a whole half done! And you know what? The second half will go so much faster... (that's where i say "psshh, ya right!") Seriously. You wanna know how i know that? (of course i do!) Because, just like everything else in life, your school 'carreer' is like a roll of toilet paper... (i giggle at that bathroom refrence) Seriously, school is like a roll of toilet paper... the second half goes so much quicker than the first half!"

words to live by... life is like a roll of toilet paper. i've experienced it first hand and can attest to it... so pass it on!

there is a short disclaimer... yes, things will only go by faster now, but that is no reason for forgetting to stop and look around... go ahead, smell a few flowers, take a few second-glances at things you normaly just skim. I could go on... these are things that I write mainly as reminders to myself :)

but please don't dilly-dally... go towards a goal or something... and don't get stuck on this life...remember, there's more to come :)

i never realized the delicate balance there has to be with life...

i better stop now... thoughts are going straight from brain to keys without any processing, and i am beginning to ramble...

hooroo!!!!

WARNING: leash can have same side-effects as guillotine?

you're going to have to click on this pic and take a closer look... see the pointer and middle finger departing?

some stereotypes are true... for instance:

it's in the blood

so, i heard a story about my gramma the other day (my mum's mum... she is called 'nonna,' which is italian for gramma... pronounced "no-nuh").
anywho, my Nonna used to love to bowl (she nearly bowled perfect games) and she used to love to play golf. i began to see the things my nonna passed on to me (well, not the perfect games, but the love to play fun things like bowling and golf). however, there was something different about the way she played golf. she would play a full 18 hole course with no more than two or three clubs... it gets better. her favorite club? the putter. she would sometimes play a full course with only, that's right, only a putter. Isn't that awesome!! that's where i get the 'weird blood' in me. i was thinking of following in her footsteps and paying tribute to my nonna's awesome legacy this summer... 18 holes, nothing but a putter... i think i'll get the same score i got the last time i played (with a full set of clubs).

hooroo

(i know i've been trying more pics and less wordy stuff, but this story was too good to pass up)

with corn between my teeth...

well, i had the house to myself and nothing to do... not only was i extremely bored, but i was also extremely hungry. i decided that i wasn't going to go out to some fast food place and i wasn't going to be lazy and have a bowl of cheerios... so i hopped in my car and drove to pavillions with a few things on my mind... chicken, carrots, and corn. i had no idea how in the world i was going to cook it all, but that is what i walked out of the store with: some filet chicken breasts, corn (with the husk still on), and carrots. i have to admit, i was grinning when i got out of the store because 1. i had no idea what i was going to do, and 2. because i knew that i was going to eat whatever came out of my experiment because i was so stinking hungry...

well, a pot of boiling water and a pan filled with a little of 'this' and 'that' later, i produced this:
grilled carrots and chicken with corn on the cob. I can't quite remember all that i did, but i do know that it was delicious. about 15 minutes later, i had a satisfied stomach and my cooking-confidence shot up a few points.
now, why did i take pictures of this, and why did i tell this story? don't ask me, i'm just a little weird, and with time on my hands, i am bound to do something like this :)

gotta go to sleep... tennis tournament tomorrow!!!

hooroo