Christmas Eve

Have I ever told you what my favorite part about Christmas is? It's the feeling of peace and the Christmas music. Those are my favorite parts about Christmas. And the feeling of peace I can feel the most on Christmas Eve, more than any other day. I think because on the days leading up to Christmas is all preparation, no time to just relax and soak in the warm feeling. Christmas day is too chaotic (at least at my house). So that leaves Christmas Eve. My favorite day in December.

I love getting together with the family, playing games and laughing together. I love spending Christmas Eve night at Grandma's, while she always reads us a new story. And our musical chime choir. And our puppet show of Luke 2. And just being there. It really is the greatest tradition.

So I'll try to keep this post short, since I know you all lead busy lives. Go, and be golden. And if you haven't before, maybe try to have a wonderful Christmas Eve with your family, it really is the greatest. :)

Raynaud & Dermatographia

Hello friends, friends of friends, and those who randomly stubble upon my blog.

Welcome.

Today's post is brought to you by a lifelong syndrome/disease I've been living with, and didn't even know it! Allow me to elaborate. For as long as I can remember, my hands have had this weird little thing where when I get cold, my fingers turn white. And not just turn white, but get numb and move really slow (which is kind of difficult to live with when you want to play the piano). I just shrugged it off as something that happens to everybody when their hands get cold. I mean, isn't that normal for you to loose feeling when you're freezing? Of course it is! But the catch that I didn't understand when I was yay tall (referring to smaller than I am now, not an actual measurement of height), was that I wasn't freezing. I was rarely even cold enough to be shivering when my fingers turned white! But being young and ignorant, I didn't care about it and moved on with life.

The second disorder I have is called Dermatographic Urticaria (meaning "skin writing"). What does that mean? Well, basically just what it says! I can write on my skin! Ok, well anybody can write on their skin with a pen or something. Let me be a little more specific. When I scratch myself, my skin 1) feels better after the scratching (which I hope is normal with all of you...), and 2) turns red. I can see all of you right now trying this out on yourself. Wait for it... Wait for it... WOAH! Your skin turns red too?! Great! Now let me continue. My skin stays red after I scratch it. Depending on how intensely I itch it or rub it, the time it stays red varies from a minute and a half to about three minutes. I bet your skin has probably returned to normal by now. If not, wait a couple more seconds.

. . .

Still red? Woo! We can be the 5% of the population with Dermatographia, together! So you may be wondering how I found out about these disorders. I'll tell you.

For the white finger syndrome, like I said, I didn't even realize it wasn't normal until my dad pointed it out one day. I had just come in from mowing the lawn in the early summer when the sun was shining bright and I was feelin' nice and warm! Then my dad said, "Woah, Trevor. What happened to your fingers?" That's when I looked down and realized I couldn't feel my fingers because they were white again. "Oh," I replied. "My fingers just get white at random times." My dad told me he thought that was odd, and gave me one of those looks. You know, with the raised eyebrow. I just shrugged, and continued on to my room. After thinking about it, I remember that my grip on the lawnmower was fairly tight, and the air was a little more crisp than it usually was (although it didn't seem like I was gripping the handle any tighter than I usually did). But another thing I realized that morning was that my little syndrome definitely wasn't normal.

How I found out about my Dermatographia was at school one day. It was in Jr. High and I was standing in the lunch line, when one of my friends who was standing behind me said, "Woah, Trevor, what happened to your neck?" My initial response was, Oh crap! What happened to my neck?! Then I decided to be rational and ask what he meant. "Well, you've got all these red lines across your neck! It looks like you were mauled." That's when I remembered that I had scratched myself a little while before on my neck. Then my little wheels got turning. Wait a minute, if the back of my neck is red... Then I scratched myself on my arm. HARD. After about 10 seconds, red lines started to appear. Huh! I didn't even realize that when I scratch myself, my skin turns red. Then I just assumed everybody's skin did that, until everybody started pointing it out. "Hey Trevor, you've got red lines across your neck!" "Hey Trevor, what happened to your cheek?" "Trevor. Trevor. Trevor. You're red all over!" So it wasn't normal.

Figures.

It was only earlier this year when I learned that these disorders I have actually have a name. There's Raynaud's Phenomenon (or Disease, called both ways), which is when my fingers turn white. And then there's Dermatographic Urticaria, which is my red skin... thing. (Although, if you visit the Wikipedia page that the Dermatographia links to, I'm not quite as extreme as the pictures show.)

Now the question that you've all formed in your minds sometime during this post: Are you going to die?


Answer:
Yes, I am. But not from these strange little syndromes.

Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day. You've all just learned something to share with your moms.

(Meaning the syndromes, not that you're quirky friend who blogs about disorders has them.)

Christmas Poem

Christmas

Here we are again

Trimming the tree

Putting the lights

Where all can see

Here we are again

Singing along

To the radio stations

That play our favorite Christmas songs

Here we are again

Laughing with all

Smiling, and talking

And making a scene

Because here we are again

With all that Christmas brings

Here we are again

Angels in snow

Coats way to big

For anyone to know

Here we are again

The snowballs fly

Gracefully in the air

Until they smack into somebody's thigh

Here we are again

Laughing with all

Smiling, and talking

And making a scene

Because here we are again

With all that Christmas brings

Here we are again

Remembering Christ

Nativity scene

Read all through the night

Here we are again

With family and friends

Drawing closer together

With greetings to send

Here we are again

And as most like to know

That Christmastime is not all the time

Spent in the snow

Because here we are again

With Christ in our hearts

And the joy that we feel

Gets us ready to start

The feeling of Christmastime

- Trevor Howell

Life

So.

It's been a while. I know because... Because... Um. Well, I know that it's been a while. And you know that it's been a while, so let's just leave it at that. As many of you know, I've been quite heavily involved with a little somethin' somethin' called MDT (Musical Dance Theater). Yep, it has pretty much taken over my life in the month of November.

Let's talk about that.

When I first saw the rehearsal schedule for "Big" in the month of November, I just about died on the spot. And without even experiencing anything! But I lived through the moment, and life continued on. Fast forward a couple of days to November, and there we go. November 1st. The first of many 2:30 - 6:00 p.m. rehearsals yet to come. My thoughts for these rehearsals after school consisted of the following: "Yeah. My life is over." Or, "There goes my life." Or maybe even, "I shoulda known." I was sure that I was going to die, even though I, by some miracle, survived the initial shock of seeing the rehearsal schedule for November.

So November went on. Some days slow, some days quicker. But eventually we got to dress rehearsals. Our first dress rehearsal was on Saturday the 12.

8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Big Bad Tech Day. That's what the directors like to call it, and I can now see why. It was crazy. We ran through the show twice, once with Kalin, once with Ryan. After we finally finished, I was ready to go home and crash, but of course my homework load came to haunt me.

The Monday following Big Bad Tech Day, we had our next dress rehearsal, 5:00 - 10:30. The next day was the same. Then Wednesday our call time was 7:30 a.m. because we were doing an in-school matinee for other schools who came on a field trip to see us. Then our very first performance was that night!

. . .

I'll just say it didn't go too well. After chatting about it the next day, and what we were doing, and why so many things messed up Wednesday night, our Thursday night show improved by 110%. Then Friday it improved at least another 100%. Then today, Saturday, we kept that same energy up. And our show is AWESOME! To say the least.

But why am I telling you all of this? What are you supposed to get out of this post? Let me tell you.

When I first looked at the November rehearsal schedule, I almost died. When I went to the actual rehearsals, I mentally died. When I got home at 6:00 every night, I felt like my life outside of MDT died as well. But looking back on this whole experience, I realize that this is life. Life is busy, that's just what it is! Out in the real word, you're not going to have a whole lot of free time. Out in the real world, you'll be working your butt off every day. And out in the real world, you're going to be exhausted.

What an experience this has been! It's amazing, really. To look how far this show came from being nothing, to being a whole heap of messed up jumbles a week before opening night, to opening night, to a day after opening night! All because of hard work and realizing that sometimes, things take up time. But work is good, and working for a goal in mind is even better. And when you have the opportunity to show somebody else your work of art is a very gratifying experience.

I'm so blessed to be able to be in MDT, as much as I thought it was taking over my life. I've learned a very valuable life lesson, and that is that good things take work. And usually, it takes up a lot of work. But it's almost always going to be worth it. I'm so grateful for the people that helped me learn this, maybe inadvertently, maybe not. But I'm so grateful nonetheless.

Everybody come see "Big the Musical" before we close on Tuesday night, and see the work that we've put the effort into for you!

Something to Spice Things Up

It's late. It's like, 9:14. NO WAIT! It's 9:15 now.

Anyways, I realize that it's a late hour and I also realize that my posts can get quite lengthy. So I'll just summarize. Ahem...

A little opera goes a long way

I am a pineapple's best friend

There goes the Cantaloupe Snatcher

Sitting next to the caramel campfire

Someday, I'll live in a honeycomb

My French friends live on oranges

Airline food

Airline french fries

Airline TWINKIES

Wait, I'm getting off topic. . .

Christmas is about to blanket our fingertips

Where has the little egg gone?

Space pirates

Ethereal sunset on the lake bed

CRAP IT'S ALREADY 9:22!!

Caterpillar siblings

The ice blanket slides down the afterglow

Michael Jackson

WOAH WOAH WAOHHHH. Wait up. Michael Jackson? Ok. It's late. I'm done.

Silly, Silly High School Kids

Silly, silly high school kids. Silly, silly indeed. 'Cause seriously? I'm only 15. K? Let's get that through everyone's mind before we begin this post.

. . .

Ok, well we've already begun, but just get that through your mind.

Incident #1 

Location - Seminary

Time - 6:50 AM

We were beginning class with the devotional and everything, when we got on the subject of the Night of Shakespear happening that night. People start getting curious and asking questions, when the girl sitting next to me leans over and whispers, "What time was that at again?" I told her it started at 7:00. She then proceeded to ask, "So what part are you?" "Oh I'm not in Drama 4," I replied. Shocked, she turned to face me and exclaimed, "What? With how good you are?!" (Which I'm really not all that great, by the way) "Why not?" "Well, I'm already in Musical Theater, and I didn't really have room in my schedule for any more drama besides that. Plus I'm only a sophomore, so I couldn't be in that class anyway." Even more shocked looking, she says, "Are you kidding me? I thought you were a senior!" I just sarcastically laughed, and half hid my face behind my hymn book until class started.

Incident #2

Location - Spanish II

Time - Around 8:40 AM

So Sr. Taylor was leading us in a class discussion about household items, and parts of the home and such. When we got to the computer, we started naming its parts. Monitor? La pantalla. Mouse? El Raton. Keyboard? El teclado. I was the one to answer what the keyboard was, because I vaguely remembered what I had learned about the computer back in Spanish I. "Muy bien!" Came Sr. Taylor's reply to my answer. Then without thinking, I made the comment, "Whew! 9th grade Spanish is staying with me!" After I said that, Sr. Taylor laughed, and went on with the things he was talking about. Then the girl sitting in front of me turned around and said, "You can remember way back to what you learned in 9th grade?" "Yeah..." I started to say kind of sheepishly. "I'm only in 10th grade..." "Oh really? I thought you were a senior!"

Bueno.

Incident #3

Location - The Bus

Time - 2:20 PM

School had just gotten out, and I had just gotten onto the bus. I was pretty early, which was different for me, 'cause I'm usually running to try and catch it before it pulls out of the lot (my bus is the very first one. Just my luck). So I got to claim which seat I wanted to sit in that day instead of having to lay on top of people with my books on somebody's face, and somebody sitting on my backpack. But no! I got to pick my own seat. Soon though there were swarms of kids coming onto the bus, and before I knew it, I suddenly couldn't see the ceiling anymore. But then I realized that's just cause I wasn't looking up. A few moments later, somebody from MDT sat down in the seat behind mine, and was like, "Oh man! Can you believe that dance today?!" I couldn't, and I informed them of that. Then she went on to say, "Yeah, but we'd better enjoy it while it lasts, 'cause this is going to be our last performance!" Psh. I didn't know what she was talking about! We still had one more that year! "No, because after this we still have Pippin!" I said. "Oh, no, that's not what I meant. I mean, we're going to be in college next year!"

Well. This was news for me. I thought I still had 2 years of high school left! "No, I've still got two more years of high school left actually." Being the stupid-kid-that-never-thinks-before-he-talks that I am. 

"What?! Aren't you a senior??"

Ok, it gets old after a while. Actually, it got old after the first time. I'd like to point out that these first two incidents were in the same day, and this third one was only a couple of days before the first two. I just ordered them this way, because time wise, that's how they went.  I'd also like to point out that every single person who stopped to say, "wait a minute..." was a girl.

Figures.

Don't get me wrong, I love being me! ...But I want to be me! Not this senior kid who is in Spanish II. I just want to be a sophomore! It kinda wears on you after a while. Although, there are a million ways to take advantage of this situation. And it may be fun to try some once in a while... XD.

But seriously. Do I really look like a senior to you?

Slacker-Bum Lazy-Pants

That basically describes me. I mean, seriously. The last time I posted was like, a month ago! A MONTHHH!!! What I really need is a meaningful post. Completely heart-felt. Strait from my soul.

. . .

But unfortunately, that's not what you guys get today. Just a remorseful little boy who blogs about being lazy.

 

P.S. I said blogs, not brags. Just in case you read that wrong.

P.P.S. This post is done now.

P.P.P.S. . . . For reals.

P.P.P.P.S. STOP READING!

P.P.P.P.P.S. Y'know what? Forget it.

Train of Thought

Train. Red. Hard. Bright. Clink. Penny. Farmer Brown. BOOM. Laugh. Comics. Music. Song. Soothing. Cream. Bubbles. Warm. Hot tub. Gatorade. Moon. Cattle. Bumble bee. Bat. Batman! Spiderman. Rain gutter. Gentle. Quiet. Imagination. Rainbow. Music. Jon Schmidt. Rock out. Fun. Night. Stars. Glory. Heaven. Beautiful. Aurora. Lights.

Flowing. Stream. Transparent. Glass. Fork. Autumn leaves. Canyon. Telescope. Cell phone reception. Space hotel. Apollo 13. Texas. Alamo. Revolutionary War. British accents. Kilts. Bagpipes. Weird Al. Funny. Bunny. Killer bunnies. Chainsaw. Hedges. Turtle. Suessical the Musical. Tarzan. Phil Collins. Solid. Jell-o. Tomato. Potato. 5 Guys Burgers & Fries. Grandma. Kitchen. Delicious. Sunday dinner. Peanut butter sandwich.

This list could go on and on. I'm not even sure how my mind pattern works, so this was fun! Even though lots of my thoughts aren't connected to each other at all. My mind wanders a lot...

Anyway, thanks to Alesha for this fun idea! Until next time, my imagination will continuously be wandering!

Looking For Something New?

I've found some really cool/ funny/ amazing things lately. Wanna know what they are? Well luckily for you, I'm gonna tell you! (I would obviously tell you anyway, 'cause I'm blogging about it. I mean seriously, can you imagine how rude that would be if I just started into something and then left it hanging?) . . . (Hehehe... There's an idea for a future post...)

The Cool

Did you know that I recently began a new chapter in my life? I call it, "High School." And since I have no older siblings, nor anybody to seek guidance from of what this high school is like, it was like an adventure for me. Correction: It was an adventure for me.

And I'm looking forward to every minute of it.

I also began playing Rugby. You know, kind of like football without pads. It's gonna be intense! Although, a 125 pound kid isn't going to be much of a threat to a 3-ton Tongan who's charging forward with the ball, but hey. It's for the fun, right?

The Funny

So, I've been hanging around Jason lately. And being around Jason always gives you a good laugh. Yesterday was no exception. So there we were, out in the Eaglecrest Elementary field. Maddie, Alesha, Parker, Jason and I. And we were having a good time! But it got better.

So we were sitting on the power box as usual, when Jason says, "Hey, wanna hear a joke?" Of course we do. But do you want to hear it? Of course you do! So I'll tell you :)

What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?

The Holocaust.

But wait, he's not done yet!

Why did the boy drop his ice cream cone?

He got hit by a bus.

Yeah. Life is never dull with Jason!

The Amazing

By amazing, I mean music. What else would I call amazing? Don't answer that.

So let me share with you some songs that I've found lately that I have absolutely fallen in love with.

(Also check out Arial Promenade by Seagull Orchestra)



If you don't feel like listening to these, that's ok. But these songs and these artists are amazing! They just add... enchantment to life. I love it so much! And I forever will.

Top 10 Things - School

Top 10 Things

Reasons school must start again

1. The elements of nature have never been on our side anyway
2. Obama hasn't resigned yet
3. The extra-terrestrials have invaded. They are now our teachers and they want to suck out our brains as soon as they can
4. I was only kidding about the first part of number 3. Our teachers are human. But we still don't know their designs...
5. The media hasn't influenced the principal at all (obviously)
6. Somebody faxed me. That may not be a reason to start school again, but it's almost definitely a bad sign
7. They have trained our internal clocks to wake us up earlier for these nine months anyway. Curses...
8. They just finished brainwashing the summer school students, and they weren't completely satisfied. As usual
9. Unicorns no longer exist. Proof? There would've been an epic battle between the power of good and school. But the human race hasn't seen this battle since Noah's ark when he forgot to get a pair of Unicorns.
10. I'm writing a blog post about it

Get Ready For Random

BEHOLD!

The mighty albatross. See how it spreads its wings in pure majesty. Watch as it leaps, flaps, and soars into the distance. Off into the glowing sunrise. Or maybe it was the solar eclipse...

I wish I had a camera right now.

Because some things can't just be captured in your mind. Because eventually, no matter how hard you try, it's going to evade your memory. Because sooner or later, the stars are going to fall from the sky, creating a swirling, awe-inspiring rush of wind and imagination. Because, just like those stars, you too want to be free.

When you think of pencils, where does your mind lead? Haha! Pun not originally intended. Although, when you read back over it, it's kind of funny :)

I'm laughing right now. Why? Because I'm staring at a black, twisty chord connected to my house phone land-line. Don't ask me why.


Orange diamonds glitter in the sky. Deep velvet blankets the air. If you really want to fly, why aren't you up there? If the seagull sun doesn't impress your view, then go back home. Because I'm stuck here like glue.

Sometime in life, we're all going to have to face the unexpected. For me, who knows when that will be? Not you.

But I know when you will be caught off guard in your life.

Right now.

No drugs were consumed in the making of this post.

Or Maybe I'm Just Dreaming

Silence
It's a strange thing. A thief to come and steal away any emotion the sound wishes to give to you. To send to you. To implant in you.

Wishes
Can you ever really be sure what a wish is? Is it the bidding of the stars? Or the sky coming down to color the trees, the grass, the birds, the very substance that you've been so longing to have?

The grass
It's flowing beside you. Long and smooth, almost silky it seems. It blows with the wind, bending again and again, colored a deep ingrained green by the dreams of your future self.

Dreams
Inside your head, they are blurry visions of your past, present, and future, all in one, quick sense of ethereality seen through a misty fog. Dreams never start at a prepared spot, and they never end when you wish them to. But what of when you don't dream? Where do the visions go? Lost in an alternate dimension void of color? Perhaps outside, to the real world.

Outside
There you are again. Back in the long, flowing grass. But you're not in their midst. You're hovering above the ground in an almost surreal sense of wonder, floating on a cloud, toned pink by the sun's dying rays as it dips behind the mountains.

The rays
Touching you, but unreachable. Why does the sky mock you so? Leaving yourself, you prepare to touch the atmosphere. But you can't. It is forbidden.

Preparation
A vague sense of accomplishment before you have even begun. An achievement for the sights in your soul. But after the preparation comes your real challenge.

The soul
As you wonder, you morph. And your mind leaves your body, floating away with no control of speed or direction. Is it just your imagination?

Imagination
It's all in your head. But why must it stay there? Give it a chance! Bring those dragonflies away from the mountain tops to dwell in the cave of spirits and live to do your bidding. Send the comets on gas giants who so proudly orbit, and make them obtainable. Send your mind back to your body.

And here you are again
Back. Seeing out of your own eyes instead of a misty haze, gazing on everything. Walking on your own legs instead of drifting in the breeze. Feeling. Smelling. Hearing.

But thinking?
No. It's all the same.

Or maybe I'm just dreaming...

The Saltwater Room

I opened my eyes last night, and saw you in the low light. Walking down by the bay on the shore, staring up at the stars that aren't there anymore. I was feeling the night grow old, and you were looking so cold. So like an introvert, I drew my over shirt around my arms and began to shiver violently before you happened to look and see the tunnels all around me running into the dark underground.

All of the subways around create a great sound.

To my emotion fatigue, farewell. With your ear to a seashell you can hear the waves in underwater caves, as if you actually were inside a saltwater room.

Our time together is just never quite enough. When you and I are alone, I've never felt so at home. What will it take to make or break these ends of love? Only time.

Can you believe that the crew has gone and they wouldn't let me sign on? All my islands have sunk in the deep, and I can hardly relax, or even oversleep. But I feel warm with your hand in mine when we walk along the shoreline. I guess I'll never know why sparrows love the snow. We'll turn off all of these lights and set this ballroom aglow.

So tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love? All the time.

Our time together is just never quite enough. When you and I are alone I've never felt so at home. What will it take to make or break these ends of love? Only time.

When we're apart, whatever are you thinking of? If this is what I call home, why does it feel so alone?

So tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love? All the time.

All the time.

Just Wondering...

Are blogs supposed to be about experiences that I've had? Are blogs supposed to be about writing down my feelings? I know I've had a blog for about a year and a half now, but I just have to ask, am I doing this right? Not that it matters. I like posting random things. Keeps you on your toes... But still. It seems as though I'm, shall we say, different?

Good :) Let's keep it that way. But ya know...

I was just wondering...

The Near Future According to Trevor

It'll all start with cheese...

It always starts with cheese, right? Well this time will be no exception.

As we all know, there are many different types of cheese. Pepper jack, cheddar, american, goat, etc. But as we may NOT all know, cheese forms out of either a) plants, or b) pre-mature baby animals. Today, the cheese incident happened because of b. That's right. Pre-mature baby animals. In a black hole.

4.6 Billion times the size of the sun

So for everybody to fully understand the mind boggling numbers, let me just compare Earth to the Sun. How many Earths do you think can fit inside the sun? Well, according to something I heard yesterday, approximately 1.4 million Earths could fit inside the Sun. Or something like that... So anyway, this is the size of our Sun. Recently scientists have discovered that there is this black hole 56 million light years away from our puny planet. So how large is 4.6 BILLION? Well, let me put it this way. You could fit 4.6 BILLION SUNS INSIDE OF THIS BLACK HOLE. Now, 56 million light years seems very vast and far away. But in universal terms, this black hole is basically right in Earth's backyard. So, are we going to die? The answer is obvious.

Duh!

But most likely not by getting sucked into this black hole. Odds are you'll probably die either by a truck, or an ominous looking cliff, or maybe even a rabid panda bear (although sightings of these pandas are rare).

But I'm getting off of the point. We were talking about pre-mature baby animals creating cheese, yes? Right. So pre-mature baby animals all start in a black hole (as we also all know). And these pre-mature baby animals that are developed in black holes create what we Americans like to call, Cheddar cheese. BUT! Unbeknown to man, this black hole 56 million light years away from us, which is 4.6 BILLION TIMES THE SIZE OF THE SUN is mass producing pre-mature baby animals like polygamist rabbits. So by the time we get this Cheddar cheese from this enormous black hole, scientists predict that one block is bound to be the size of western Canada.

Unfortunately, Canadians don't like dabbling in American science, and like keeping to themselves. Therefore these Canadians will have no idea where this ginormous cheese block came from, and they will be forced to blame China. Because who else mass produces cheese the size of western Canada? Before long, GIANT CHEESE BLOCKS WILL BE FALLING TO THE EARTH LIKE METEORS COMING TO DESTROY THE WORLD. Many people will assume that the Mayans were correct after all and will run around in circles, screaming at the top of their lungs.

China, however, will not be fooled because, even though Canada has convinced the world that those Chinese are up to a conspiracy to destroy the world by cheese, China knows that they are not mass producing these destructive blocks of orange food. So China will soon send up super cool and extremely Asian ninjas up to the Hubble telescope and they will take control of it. Soon they will figure out that there is a big mass of NOTHING in the middle of NOWHERE (don't ask me how anybody figures out where a black hole is. I'm only predicting the future here, not answering sciencey questions). The Chinese will immediately believe that this big mass of NOTHING must be mass producing huge pre-mature baby animals, thus creating ginormous blocks of cheese coming to destroy the Earth.

The Chinese will then construct a battleship as large as India so that they can launch it into space to destroy this black hole by launching enough material into this big NOTHING so that it becomes a SOMETHING, thus preventing any more production of giant cheese blocks and ultimately saving the Earth. Unfortunately, the rest of the world will still think that China is behind this, so China will be forced to build this battle ship all underground. Since China has so many resources though, they will be able to build this battle ship as large as India in under 3 months. The launch date will be 5 hours after completion of this ship, and they will name it "驅逐艦無中生有," which translated means, "Destroyer of Nothing."

The Chinese will launch the Destroyer into the atmosphere, miraculously dodging all of the falling cheese blocks that are as large as the ship (just cause they're Asian). Because of the immense thrusters on the ship it will take less than .05 seconds to leave the atmosphere of Earth, and only 6 days to reach the black hole 56 million light years away.

Unfortunately, the Chinese will put their whole population onto the Destroyer. And because black holes are immensely powerful, (not to mention all of the pre-mature baby animals inside) it will only take .1095928485 seconds for the Destroyer to be sucked inside. Thus causing an immediate extinction of all Chinese life forms.

While back at planet Earth...

Everybody will still be screaming and running in circles, while the houses and cottages will all be crushed by giant blocks of cheese and random fires will sprout from the most random places like in the middle of the ocean or on a cloud somewhere over eastern Turkey. Then everything will seem like it freezes in mid-movement and somebody in South Carolina will shout, "Hey everybody! What about those French people? Don't they like cheese?" And everybody around the world will be able to hear AND UNDERSTAND this South Carolinian. Then everything will go back to its normal speed, but the Americans will use one of their fancy telescopes and check on France, and sure enough, it'll be the only place in the ENTIRE WORLD that isn't covered in cheese.

So with time, large cranes and immense space ships will be built to transport all of the cheese blocks to France, where the French will devour all of the cheese instantly. Unfortunately, without the Chinese, progress in building these immense space ships and large cranes will slow considerably, but they will get done eventually.

Thank you for listening. Now do not be scared by the immense accuracy of my predictions. That is why they call me a predictor. So that people will not be frightened nor surprised by what is about to happen.

Brace yourself.

Top 10 Things - Captions

Top 10 Things

Great animal pictures that are just begging for captions

1. "Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all day! And night! Actually, thinking about it, I'll be here the rest of my life! And now the next thing I'd like to sing..."

2. "Are my pupils dilated enough now? Or should I stare into that camera light a little longer? Oh, what's that? Shift my pose? Ok... This good?"

3. Left: "Hey, Jack! Look at what I found! It's... I don't know. Oh wow... We sure are high up..." Right: "I can't believe we were classified as cats..."

4. "Hey you two! Get down from there! Especially you Jack, don't make me tell your mom! I know how dangerous your daydreaming can get!"

5. Top: "Mmmm... Your hand smells good, mate. But how come Joey here gets all the food? Blimey! He doesn't even want it!" Bottom: "I can't believe we weren't classified as cats..."

6. Left: "How did we get ourselves into this mess? Well, we can try jumping right? What's that thing the humans always say? Cats always land on their feet right?" Right: "That's only when they're looking. For some reason we never can do it when they're not looking... Man I hate being a cat."

7. "How's it lookin', doc? Anything wrong with my throat? No? Whew! What, what's that you say? Lions aren't supposed to have white fur? No! My parents just said I was special!"

8. ~Grunt~ "Paparazzis..."

9. "I knew I shouldn't have gone for that pre-killed meat on a suspicious looking string attached to a hook. But hey! On the upside, I now have all the time I need to wonder about how the heck I got classified as a cat..."

10. Top: "Dog pile!!" Third to bottom: "WE GOT HIM BOYS!" Second to top: ". . ." Second to Bottom: "Ugh... Who thought that... this was... a good... idea?" Bottom: "Great teamwork guys. Can I finish that fly casserole you guys so rudely interrupted me while eating by ambushing me all of a sudden?"

Dawn Of A New Day

You're probably going to want to turn off the music from playlist

The dark, navy blue sky feels oily as you run your fingers through its misty substance. The mountains you're on are rough and jagged like your grandmother's dentures, but the solidity of them gives you the sense that nothing can ever bring you down. The world hasn't even begun to wake up from its deep and nauseated sleep yet, but you're up.

Why are you up?

Is it because you've been up all night at your Aunt Phanny's New Years Eve party? Is it because you couldn't go back to bed after getting up and chugging that creamy white milk? Or maybe it's because you just wanted to witness the spectacular sight that you're about to gaze upon with those large, glossy eyes. Maybe that's why you have been up for the past hour and a half.

Yesterday night you were deeply troubled. Scared. Saddened. All of the above. What caused this? You know what it was. It was the phobia of never being able to see the next sunrise. Never being able to take in the next fresh, frosty breath of oxygen you've so been so fortunate to have been given each day. But why did the fear of death frighten you especially that night?

The truth is, you're secretly worried about it each day of your life. Not the actual process you go through to die. No. Just the fact that you believe that if you don't embrace your life while you have it now, you may never get a second chance.

You know it's coming. The moment you've been anticipating for two hours now, as you trudge along up the winding canyon trails to the top of the peak. Better get a good view. You look around and see a bench on the trail. The bench is old, paint long since peeled. It's a wooden bench. Erected there long ago by tired, grumpy park rangers. There's moss growing to one side of the bench, and a few small cracks here and there, but right now it looks beautiful. You sit down and position yourself in such a way that the two pine trees in front of you make a V-shape, and right in between those two trees, you see it. The sunrise. The dawn of a new day. It's beautiful, a bright pink mixed with golden yellow, dulled slightly by thin mountain mist that's still lingering in the air. You take in a deep breath and slowly exhale.

But why aren't you satisfied?

It confuses you. The sunrise was beautiful. The scenery was priceless, yet it didn't match up to what you wanted. You slowly hike back down the trail to where you parked your old 1986 Ford. As you hike back down, you keep trying to embrace all of this. It's beautiful! Why can't you enjoy it as you'd like? It's just not what you wanted for some reason.

About a half a year later, and with many more similar disappointments such as the first, there comes a knock at your door at about 6:00 or 7:00 P.M. You can't remember. You open the door and see two young looking boys in white shirts and ties with name tags. You're slightly curious, although you're pretty sure they're solicitors. They greet you and introduce themselves as missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Whew. Long name. They quickly explain about a strange looking book they're both holding, The Book of Mormon. You're curiosity is growing, and so you invite them in. The young boys look overjoyed.

Six months later, you love these young boys. You love everybody. You love that mysterious book they showed you, and most of all, you love your life, because now you know that you don't have to be afraid anymore. Because these young missionaries taught you of a wonderful fact; that there is life after death. When they had told you this, you had immediately embraced the fact and wanted to be baptized into their church immediately. And now, two months after your conversion and baptism, you make the same hike you did nearly a year ago. Except this time, you're not troubled. You're not scared, and most of all, you're not afraid. Because you know that just like sun rising in front of you between the two pines, you will rise again. Just as your Savior Jesus Christ did so that you could live again. You take in a deep breath, and slowly exhale. Completely void of all depression, because the best thing you've ever experienced came your way, that fateful day six months ago.

The Dawn of a new Day

Dawn Of A New Day by Tikah

Top 10 Things - Camping

Top 10 Things
To do while camping

1. Fires!!!! (Given. I didn't even need to try to get creative on that one)
2. Tent-poleing
3. Rock skipping races down the river/lake. Whoever gets farthest OR has the most skips wins
4. Playing pranks on the campground ranger (Example: pretend you saw a bear near your tent. When he goes away to investigate, get into that insanely realistic bear costume you just happened to bring along with you and go around terrorizing everyone else in the campsite while he's away)
5. Eat everyone else's food before your own. Then when people start getting angry that their food is somehow disappearing, blame it on the bear you "saw"
6. If you are on a backpacking trip, when you take a rest stop, swap out Bill's backpack for rocks instead of all those first aid kits. Who needs those?
7. When Bill realizes that he had rocks in his pack the whole time and starts accusing everybody, refill his pack with those first aid kits.
8. If you have a fishing pole with you, try to use it as a grappling hook and climb the tallest tree. The fishing line is supposed to be strong, right?
9. Zip tie everybody's tent zippers together at night when their sleeping so in the morning they can't get out. Except for one tent. Leave that tent alone and zip tie your own. Trust me. It's fool proof.
10. If by some crazy happenstance the campmates suspect you, blame the bear
    

EHS - First Assignment

So this summer my mom has my signed up for EHS. It's an online schooling thing and I'm taking Health so that I have an extra period during school to do something I actually WANT to do. So anyway I started it today and I was compelled to do my first assignment.

Great.

So the assignment was on decision making. At first it was hard. But then as it progressed, I found that doing these assignments could be kinda fun (as you'll soon see). So in my teacher's eyes right now, I'm probably a punk kid who never takes anything seriously. But in my eyes? Well, I'm me. :)

The Assignment
(These are my exact words)

1. Identify the question
Should I go to college?

2. Gather information
What kind of jobs do people who went to college get compared to those who got a job after high school?

3. Brainstorm alternatives
a) Have my parents pay for college
Positive
I. I wouldn't need to worry about it
II. I could spend my time that would have been spent earning money doing something that I'd rather do
Negative
I. My parents might get angry at me for being "lazy"
II. I might start expecting my parents to fund everything I do

b) Pay for college myself
Positive
I. It would "build good character"
II. I would learn how to work
Negative
I. I would have to spend all of my free time working
II. I would miss out on a lot of fun activities my friends might be doing

c) Get a job after high school
Positive
I. No more school!
II. I could start earning money right away
Negative
I. After a while I would be earning a lot less than I could have been earning had I gone to college
II. I probably wouldn't be as happy

d) Drop out of high school
Positive
I. Again, no more school!
II. Get a jump start on the money earning. More hours with less school!
Negative
I. Everybody would know you as "that one kid who couldn't last through a few years of school"
II. My parents would kill me

e) Live on the streets of NYC playing the harmonica with a jar for tips
Positive
I. Harmonicas are cool!
II. I would be able to grow a beard without anybody caring
Negative
I. Let's face it. Who really even tips harmonica players?
II. I'd probably get mugged and all of that hard earned money of the day would be gone

4. Forgotten aspects
Do I really want to spend a whole another six years in school?

5. Your choice
I've decided that I will go to college, because I figure that it's definitely worth it. Plus some things are fun to learn

6. Action plan
I plan to save up as much as I can, and earn as many scholarships as I can so that I can pay for most of my schooling

7. Evaluate
I feel confident in my choice

House of Glory, House of God - Choir Tour

Wow! Well, as some of you might know, I disappeared for a whole week. Where did I go? Well, brace yourself, 'cause you're about to get the whole rundown (not super detailed though, because you would be reading a novel if I did). Oh yes, this post will be quite long, so you might just want to pour yourself another glass of milk and get cozy if you're sane enough to read all of this.

June 11, 2011

Bus day! That's right, a whole 14 hours on our tour busses. (Le Bus was the bus company we had, and we had two of them) So we had to be at the American Herritage school by 5:45 AM. After saying goodbye to my dear mother, we departed at 7:00. About 3 hours into our drive, the bus in front of my bus suddenly got a surprise tailgater. That's right, a police car, lights and everything! Heh heh. They were speeding. The funny thing was that my bus was going the same speed, but I suppose they were first so, bummer. We arrived in Redding, CA at 9:20 PM local time. Longest ride of my life. Oh my gosh. To make it worse I only got about half an hour of sleep!






June 12, 2011

The host family I stayed at were the Cobabes. And it happened to be one of their 5 sons' birthday today! His name was Ben, and he was a bacon fanatic. So we had that for dinner! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Their church was at 11:00 so that's when we went. After church we played games like UNO and such. At 5:30 we were back at the church to get ready for our fireside that started at 6:30. Unfortunately, not everything exactly "flowed smoothly." Although, it did flow smoothly out of my nose! That's right. Another one of my famous bloody noses a half hour before our fireside that night. So I hurried to the bathroom and stopped it, but unfortunately the blood got all over my shirt, tie and jacket. Fortunately my jacket was dark enough to conceal the blood so that it wasn't visible, and the jacket covered up the blood on my shirt, but my tie was another story. Good thing Mr. Swenson (choir director) allowed me to use his tie for that night! He just grabbed somebody elses. Then about halfway through the fireside, a kid standing right in front of me passed out. No joke. He swayed, and then just fell over! He got up after about 10 seconds, but sat for the rest of the fireside. It was scary and funny at the same time. After the fireside, the Cobabes took us to see the Sundail Bridge in Redding. It's a foot bridge that has a sundail on it! But it's only accurate on June 21. Bummer, I know.

June 13, 2011

We went to the Jelly Belly factory! Woot woot! Haha the bus drive from Redding took about 3 hours until we got there. When we did get there, we went on a tour inside the factory and found out all about how they made their jelly beans. It was... an experience. Too bad that they didn't let us take any pictures on the tour! Another disappointing thing was that the factory was in its annual 2 week check up. So there were no machines running. We just watched semi-lame videos instead of the actual real deal. But I found out another cool thing! Jelly Belly makes candy corn and a bunch of other candy too! Fun fact. After our tour we had deli sandwiches in front of the factory, then we got on the bus again and rode another couple hours to a secluded beach where we got off and streched. Then we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge! It was really neat actually. When we got to the hotel that night, we went with our excursion groups to find a place to eat. Our group wandered a long time, finding nothing decent. It was starting to get dark, so we just walked into a place that looked good enough. The moment we walked in, we realized that this was probably a bad place to be, but the bar attendant had already spotted us and was walking to greet us. So we stayed at the sports bar & grill for dinner that night! Wow...

June 14, 2011

I woke up with a very satisfied tummy. The dinner last night had actually turned out to be pretty dang good, and as far as I could tell nothing was spiked. But anyway we drove down to Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco and wandered around there for 4 hours. It was quite fun! We first went to Pier 39 which was pretty much an outdoor mall on the side of the sea. After Pier 39 we went exploring a little bit more and found a submarine and a huge, HUGE battleship, or something! It looked like a battleship. Right next to these was an old fashoned arcade that we went into. They had an old photo booth, a hammer/bell thing, and an arm wrestling machine! Just to name a few. After Fisherman's Wharf we went to a chapel next to the Oakland Temple and performed there.

(And oh yes. The new Owl City album came out today. Gosh dang it I had to wait until I got back to listen to it!)

June 15, 2011

We woke up a whole hour early, thanks to Walker. He had set his alarm according to Utah time, not California time. After waking up an hour LATER, we got all dressed and about half of our choir went to the Oakland Temple and performed baptisms for the dead. The temple was so pretty! After baptisms we went back to the hotel and grabbed everyone else, and headed back to the temple to take a group picture. After our picture we had lunch on the temple grounds, and went into the visitor center and stuff. We later departed to our next fireside location and sang. After our fireside, the host family we would be staying with that night picked us up and we went to their house. And from 9:00 - 10:00 we watched "Through the Wormhole - With Morgan Freeman." And may I just say, this is my new Wednesday show. Not that I have regular shows on any given day, but this is my Wednesday show. Mostly just cause it has Morgan Freeman.

June 16, 2011

We woke up, packed a sack lunch for the day, then headed out on the busses to Old Sacramento. The first place we went to when we got there was the Railroad/Train Museum. And I didn't know that train museums could be interesting, but alas! This one was awesome! They had life sized trains and everything! Well, except the toddler area with the Thomas the Train sets. But it was cool! After the museum we had our sack lunch, then explored the rest of Old Sacramento. The town looked like one of those towns you see in old western movies. Eventually we came across a school house. With a pump organ! And a rope that rings the bell on top of the school! I pulled it. It was quite fun. After Old Sacramento we departed for the stake center and got picked up by our host families about an hour after we arrived. Our host family this time was the Kartchners, and they had a REALLY nice house! They even had a pool! So guess what Steven (my bunking buddy for the night) and I did for 45 minutes? Yep. You got it. Fed the homeless.

. . .

Hahaha no I'm kidding we swam. It was quite... hmmm how do you say it... AWESOME! Yep. That's the word. After all that we went back to the stake center for our fireside, sang, and came back to sleep.

June 17, 2011

So after waking up we packed our sack lunch for that day, and drove to the Sacramento Temple. We soon came to find out that Mr. Swenson got married there! It was also a really pretty temple. After the temple we went to a rest home for seniors. And we sang 5 songs from our program to them! It was surprisingly spiritual for not being in a chapel. I think I might have actually felt the spirit stronger there than I had at any of our firesides prior! Strange. But definitely a great experience! After the rest home we went to a cemetary and had lunch, and wiped off and weeded around the tombstones. When we finished with that we went inside a building next to the cemetary, but was still part of it, and went into a moseleum where we sang two of our songs acapella. Since the room was practically all marble, the acoustics were amazing! When we finished singing, we went into a chapel inside the building and had a testimony meeting for an hour, and THAT was amazing! Talk about spiritual! Wow. That was what our tour was all about. For our fireside that night, we performed in Sparks, Nevada. And wanna know the neat thing? A youth conference was going on, so we where supposed to perform for them, and their youth conference theme was temples. Just like our choir tour theme. Without any planning between the choir and the Sparks stake. And I'm sure that this was more than just a convinient coincidence. Anyway, after that fireside, (which was probably our best one in my opinion) there was a stake dance happening! So we went to that and boogied!

June 18, 2011

Oh boy. The bus ride home! Well, there really wasn't anything exciting that happened this day. Just another 10 hour drive home. (It wasn't 14 hours this time cause our departure location was Sparks, not Redding) But nonetheless, we still got back at 9:00 PM. Anyway, all in all, a great tour! Amazing spirit, and great friendships. I'm so grateful that I got the opportunity to go. It was awesome!

So, if anybody read all of that word for word, give yourself a pat on the back from me. 'Cause that was no lite reading! Anyway, 'till next time!

-Trevor

Top 10 Things - Moon

The Top 10 Things

To do on the moon

1. Have a jumping contest with that other guy you're with. Long Jump: Choose a starting point. Whoever can jump to your rocket ship in the least number of jumps wins. High Jump: Whoever jumps the highest wins. If you jump higher than your ship, you get bonus points. If you jump out of orbit, double bouns points.


2. Flipping contest! No special effects or talent needed.


3. Try to brush your teeth without any special tools. Just you, your toothbrush, and your toothpaste.


4. Try to brush your teeth without using your hands!


5. Puppet shows! No strings needed. For even more fun, film it and broadcast it back to Earth.


6. Dissassemble your rocket ship. Now put it back together. Careful! That screw might be important. Don't let it float away.


7. Do it blindfolded.


8. Juggle. Best to start easy in low gravity! Boost your self esteem by juggling heavy things like boulders you find. Boost it even more by juggling 5 or 6 boulders.
   


9. Try to gargle water. I dare you.


10. Talk back to Houston with witty comments like, "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" Or, "I'd like to see you try to do this!"

Biology

Biology

Behold the class
Where evil resides
Where school grades crash
Where doom seems to hide

Stare through the glass
In the window beside
You may try to pass
But the others have died

What makes the sound
Echo inside?
I could say I've found
But I would have lied

The blackness blankets you
The darkness drapes
Do you think you can make it?
'Cause you can't escape

The tattered old books
Laugh in your face
The bone-splinting looks
Slowly dim without trace

The deafening silence
Is the only thing here
Interesting science
Has now turned to fear

Marked by the sleep
Shown heavily in bags
Counting the sheep
Cease after being tagged

The blue marker squeaks
Hope long since sailed
Students' face bleak
Scratch onwards to fail

So what can you do
To escape this demise?
To bid this adieu
And grasp at the skies?

Heed my last words
And do all that you can
'Cause the best thing I've learned
Is stay away from that man

~ Trevor Howell