With the recent subtraction of my bike, I now have the pleasure of walking to school. Some days it takes me 15 min, others 30 - either way I sweat and am thirsty when I get there. Which brings up a strange fact - I can run, and I can jog, but walking makes me tired. I suspect its the little steps I take, but who knows?
Anyways, today I tried walking on the north side of Floyd street because it looked shadyer (a. no I dont know how that is spelled, b. shade here is measure in amount of sunlight being blocked, not amount of seedy people/areas in view)
Somewhere around Lombardy, there is a house that has a bunch of signs outside of it. The signs all had verses on them about peace and what Jesus was here to bring and what would happen when he came back. So that is one persons belief in a savior.
A block down there was a flag of the United Nations. Another persons view of a savior.
Not mutually exclusive, but not always the same either.
d
Friday, September 28, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
A lot of dairy.
So I have this friend who desires to remain unnamed.
His name is Dave Ryan.
So he went to Wendys tonight and decided that he wanted to try the new "Twisted Frosty." Because it was such a long drive to get there said he didnt want to risk not liking it, so he decided to get it, as well as get the frosty that he knew he would like. Needless to say when he picked me up there was an empty Twisted frosty cup, and he was working on #2. This was great for me, because I was hungry, and his car smelled like fries, and because he was so sick from the frostys, I got a medium fry and nuggets for free.
Oh, and his story to tell me all of this started off like this, "So you want to hear something funny...that you will prob blog about..."
And it ended with me saying, " I will blog about that."
Thats about all. Bills are higher than we thought, rent is due this week. Life goes on as usual. You can expect my thoughts on Jonah later this week once I iron out the "sermon" I am writing.
d
His name is Dave Ryan.
So he went to Wendys tonight and decided that he wanted to try the new "Twisted Frosty." Because it was such a long drive to get there said he didnt want to risk not liking it, so he decided to get it, as well as get the frosty that he knew he would like. Needless to say when he picked me up there was an empty Twisted frosty cup, and he was working on #2. This was great for me, because I was hungry, and his car smelled like fries, and because he was so sick from the frostys, I got a medium fry and nuggets for free.
Oh, and his story to tell me all of this started off like this, "So you want to hear something funny...that you will prob blog about..."
And it ended with me saying, " I will blog about that."
Thats about all. Bills are higher than we thought, rent is due this week. Life goes on as usual. You can expect my thoughts on Jonah later this week once I iron out the "sermon" I am writing.
d
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Apples.
Today I went on a picnic. I had some apples, the red kind, and I didnt eat all of them. I ended up having two left over. I couldnt really think of whether or not I was hungry, and seeing as the birds started to literally poop all around me - one pooped on the blanket, then one on my shoulder - I decided it was time to go.
On the way to the mall to pick up a really needed new pair of shoes we saw a man in need of some change. I called to him out of the window and asked if he wanted an apple.
"Yea man...I like apples..."
"Ok well I dont have any change, but you can have it."
As he backed away I realized I should give him the second one as well. So I offered and he took it.
No new shoes, just a new appreciation for the fact that God provides, enough to help provide for others.
On the way to the mall to pick up a really needed new pair of shoes we saw a man in need of some change. I called to him out of the window and asked if he wanted an apple.
"Yea man...I like apples..."
"Ok well I dont have any change, but you can have it."
As he backed away I realized I should give him the second one as well. So I offered and he took it.
No new shoes, just a new appreciation for the fact that God provides, enough to help provide for others.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
songs and sayings from childhood
One of my more dedicated readers told me today that I had not posted in a while. I have been lazy, and comments were low (as in 0) on my last post, so I was down.
Well guess what - here I am. Whoa freakin whooooo....
Clearly very tired, and I just spent an hour on the porch with a couple guys that were walking by looking for cigs so we sat and talked for over an hour. They were from W+M and were down in richmond picking up a DVD of 40 min of footage (condensed down from 26 hours) from their AIDS awareness teaching in Tanzania. Cool eh? So I asked myself, and prayed to God that I could share the Gospel with them. It became very evident that I should give them one of the dvds I made from the Ukraine trip, so I did. Who knows what will come of that. Praise God for the Handy Mart being closed.
--------
My mom used to say a few things when I was young that still come back to me -
Be patient, be patient, dont be in such a hurry
When you are impatient you only start to worry
Remember, Remember, that God is patient too
And think of all the times that other had to wait on you
- that was a song she sang me. And I have a sneaking suspicion that I spelled patient wrong (or like a doctors client) but meh, I cant spell. MEH thats right.
Here is another classic -
Where are we going?
Crazy
Ok who doesnt hate that? Case closed.
Eh those are really the only two I can think of. So this is a big crappy blog to bring them back.
Well guess what - here I am. Whoa freakin whooooo....
Clearly very tired, and I just spent an hour on the porch with a couple guys that were walking by looking for cigs so we sat and talked for over an hour. They were from W+M and were down in richmond picking up a DVD of 40 min of footage (condensed down from 26 hours) from their AIDS awareness teaching in Tanzania. Cool eh? So I asked myself, and prayed to God that I could share the Gospel with them. It became very evident that I should give them one of the dvds I made from the Ukraine trip, so I did. Who knows what will come of that. Praise God for the Handy Mart being closed.
--------
My mom used to say a few things when I was young that still come back to me -
Be patient, be patient, dont be in such a hurry
When you are impatient you only start to worry
Remember, Remember, that God is patient too
And think of all the times that other had to wait on you
- that was a song she sang me. And I have a sneaking suspicion that I spelled patient wrong (or like a doctors client) but meh, I cant spell. MEH thats right.
Here is another classic -
Where are we going?
Crazy
Ok who doesnt hate that? Case closed.
Eh those are really the only two I can think of. So this is a big crappy blog to bring them back.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Flinch
Today it became very apparent to me that all I do now as I wander the universe is look for things to blog about.
Example - I keep track of the things that Ryan Burns says that makes me laugh - i.e. advice such as "well you should punch him in the face..."
- I keep track of little things that are out of place - i.e. Ryan Burns picking me up on the wrong side of the street
- My thoughts on life in a larger scale - i.e. What does it mean to pack up a family and move? (see The Burns)
- The fact that I keep typing Ryan Burns, hoping that magically Ryan Burns will suddenly turn into one of those fancy hyperlinks that teleports you to his blog, but it doesnt work.
-----
As we rode home today a Police SUV sped up behind us. As the lights got closer and closer the siren slowly just screemed, "BloooOOOooooggggg BBBBlllllooooOOOOoooooGGGGgggg." (again see the scene in Lord of War when the gun shots turn into cash register noises). To my great dismay the lights passed.
When I told Ryan Burns (see, still no hyperlink) this, he mused (a nice word for sarcastically mocked me) about the fact that I wanted him to get a ticket for the sake of my blog.
-------
Fast forward a few miles to Cary and Boulevard. This is where the joke was on me. Earlier that day Ryan shot me with a rubber band and I decided now would be a good time to shoot him back. So I shot him in the hand. Nothing happened, and honestly I was kind of dissapointed. I turned to my right, and threw my gum out of the window into a huge bush where I felt like it wouldnt bother anything.
As I turned back I saw Ryan's hand. In terror I threw up my left arm to block a punch the the arm/chest/face etc. I flinched. BAD.
Ryan, who coincedentally was reaching for the steering wheel, started laughing immediately. He is one of the people that really laughs. Ashley, Mac, Sarah, Mr. Thurston, Dave Ryan, Big Tom (my dad), Little Debbie (my mom) and all the Jen or Jenns I know also fit that description.
"So we both just got a blog entry at my expense didnt we?"
d
Example - I keep track of the things that Ryan Burns says that makes me laugh - i.e. advice such as "well you should punch him in the face..."
- I keep track of little things that are out of place - i.e. Ryan Burns picking me up on the wrong side of the street
- My thoughts on life in a larger scale - i.e. What does it mean to pack up a family and move? (see The Burns)
- The fact that I keep typing Ryan Burns, hoping that magically Ryan Burns will suddenly turn into one of those fancy hyperlinks that teleports you to his blog, but it doesnt work.
-----
As we rode home today a Police SUV sped up behind us. As the lights got closer and closer the siren slowly just screemed, "BloooOOOooooggggg BBBBlllllooooOOOOoooooGGGGgggg." (again see the scene in Lord of War when the gun shots turn into cash register noises). To my great dismay the lights passed.
When I told Ryan Burns (see, still no hyperlink) this, he mused (a nice word for sarcastically mocked me) about the fact that I wanted him to get a ticket for the sake of my blog.
-------
Fast forward a few miles to Cary and Boulevard. This is where the joke was on me. Earlier that day Ryan shot me with a rubber band and I decided now would be a good time to shoot him back. So I shot him in the hand. Nothing happened, and honestly I was kind of dissapointed. I turned to my right, and threw my gum out of the window into a huge bush where I felt like it wouldnt bother anything.
As I turned back I saw Ryan's hand. In terror I threw up my left arm to block a punch the the arm/chest/face etc. I flinched. BAD.
Ryan, who coincedentally was reaching for the steering wheel, started laughing immediately. He is one of the people that really laughs. Ashley, Mac, Sarah, Mr. Thurston, Dave Ryan, Big Tom (my dad), Little Debbie (my mom) and all the Jen or Jenns I know also fit that description.
"So we both just got a blog entry at my expense didnt we?"
d
Monday, September 10, 2007
Its either really late, or almost time for a pop tart
So my computer tells me it is 3:03, and clearly I am awake. A little over an hour ago I got a call from a really good friend of mine named Mac out in Seattle. We actually talked about blogs for a little while and he gave strong disapproval that I had started my own.
"I dont do blogs, it is 2 dimentional reality."
I made fun of him for having a myspace and still feeling that way and he replied, "Here is my thing with blogs, they are often times way too personal and I cant do anything about that. I read that some guy says, "I tried to kill myself last week" and I think to myself - thats terrible, I want to do something. But I cant. And whats worse, if he is puting it on the internet, no one AROUND him is doing anythin for him either."
Anyways, we talked about a lot of things. For the first time we talked about me changing my mind at the last second and not coming out there. We talked about preaching, and money, and work, and women. He wants to start a church that reaches the deaf community in ways that we currently dont. He said that they are not identified as a people group, but if they were they would be the largest unreached people in the world.
----------------
I started to type a bunch of the rest of our conversation, but it means to much to just post the whole thing up here.
----------
much love, and congrats to the people that got the sleep that i didnt tonight. though you can have it, because i havent seen 3:16 a.m. in a long time.
d
-----
Drew - 177
Colin - 174
"I dont do blogs, it is 2 dimentional reality."
I made fun of him for having a myspace and still feeling that way and he replied, "Here is my thing with blogs, they are often times way too personal and I cant do anything about that. I read that some guy says, "I tried to kill myself last week" and I think to myself - thats terrible, I want to do something. But I cant. And whats worse, if he is puting it on the internet, no one AROUND him is doing anythin for him either."
Anyways, we talked about a lot of things. For the first time we talked about me changing my mind at the last second and not coming out there. We talked about preaching, and money, and work, and women. He wants to start a church that reaches the deaf community in ways that we currently dont. He said that they are not identified as a people group, but if they were they would be the largest unreached people in the world.
----------------
I started to type a bunch of the rest of our conversation, but it means to much to just post the whole thing up here.
----------
much love, and congrats to the people that got the sleep that i didnt tonight. though you can have it, because i havent seen 3:16 a.m. in a long time.
d
-----
Drew - 177
Colin - 174
Saturday, September 8, 2007
USA
No, I am not writing a post on the well known United States of America. Instead I am writing about the United Secular Alliance. Last night I had the pleasure of going to their (I guess "our" seeing as I am on the active members list) meeting. I mostly just sat for 2 hours or so and did my best to listen and not come across as some crazy wack job that wanted their souls. After about the first 45 min we got through the administrative things, and got on to our discussion of the night - the separation of church and state. I loved getting to sit in on and be a part of this. I know that as a child the first thought I had when I heard athiest was, "O God hates them." It is so crazy to me that after years of fighting that kind of thing, it STILL SHOWS! I had to fight the whole night to not be what they, and even I, are fighting against
(THIS IS A REALLY STRANGE THING To think that we are both fighting on some issues against the same incorrect or incomplete gospel. Now of course we wouldnt agree on this, but I tried to make it clear that God DID NOT come to give us a set of moral codes. Without going into detail because that wouldnt be cool to just say things other people say in confidence on the internet, and because you should go to the meetings yourself, I told them that the Bible does not leave the option of being a good teaching book. If all the Bible does is teach nice stories, then it is a load of crap. Because just as someone pointed out, it could be seen as "teaching some very bad things." So A. The Bible is NOT meant to only teach us things. From their I tried to take it to a larger scale and say lets assume that the Bible is on a bigger, more meta scale. It is just trying to teach principles about life - WRONG. B. The Bible is NOT only meant to teach about principles. THE BIBLE IS ABOUT JESUS. If we dont grasp that, and the fact that that INCLUDES morality/principles/specifics/the story of our attempt to have God love us based on our attempts to have God love us/sin/love/condemnation/mercy/grace/forgiveness/lots of bloodshed/lots of miracles/a virgin birth/a death on a cross/a bird being set free in the blood of another/talking donkeys/you/me/Atheist/Jew/Gentile. IT IS JESUS, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN JESUS. HIM AND HIM CRUCIFIED.)
Please. For the LOVE OF GOD - pray that you will understand the love of God.
I did not want to go in there swinging an axe and just have a "bath of blood" (Lord of War, really interesting movie). Granted statistically I was 1/12 in favor of non-christians. So I was rather alone for most of the night, until a rather cute young lady came and sat in on the end of the meeting.
Here were the discussions headlines - Evolution taught in schools, Gay rights, Alabama court house 10 commandments thing, and a few other less talked about subjects.
There was one thing said that people should know about the moment of silence.
Essentially he said that the moment of silence was a completely Christian thing. I areed, but thought it would be hard to really prove on anything other than the, "Lets just say it, and hope everyone agrees" scale. I was so wrong. He said that the instructions have such a clear bias, and the do!
1. You may stay silent.
2.You may pray
3. You must stay in your seat.
He explained that Jewish people pray standing up, and Muslims pray on their knees.
Unfortunately there was a yelling outbreak and a lot of people missed that. Anyways I thought it was great.
More thoughts later.
d
(THIS IS A REALLY STRANGE THING To think that we are both fighting on some issues against the same incorrect or incomplete gospel. Now of course we wouldnt agree on this, but I tried to make it clear that God DID NOT come to give us a set of moral codes. Without going into detail because that wouldnt be cool to just say things other people say in confidence on the internet, and because you should go to the meetings yourself, I told them that the Bible does not leave the option of being a good teaching book. If all the Bible does is teach nice stories, then it is a load of crap. Because just as someone pointed out, it could be seen as "teaching some very bad things." So A. The Bible is NOT meant to only teach us things. From their I tried to take it to a larger scale and say lets assume that the Bible is on a bigger, more meta scale. It is just trying to teach principles about life - WRONG. B. The Bible is NOT only meant to teach about principles. THE BIBLE IS ABOUT JESUS. If we dont grasp that, and the fact that that INCLUDES morality/principles/specifics/the story of our attempt to have God love us based on our attempts to have God love us/sin/love/condemnation/mercy/grace/forgiveness/lots of bloodshed/lots of miracles/a virgin birth/a death on a cross/a bird being set free in the blood of another/talking donkeys/you/me/Atheist/Jew/Gentile. IT IS JESUS, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN JESUS. HIM AND HIM CRUCIFIED.)
Please. For the LOVE OF GOD - pray that you will understand the love of God.
I did not want to go in there swinging an axe and just have a "bath of blood" (Lord of War, really interesting movie). Granted statistically I was 1/12 in favor of non-christians. So I was rather alone for most of the night, until a rather cute young lady came and sat in on the end of the meeting.
Here were the discussions headlines - Evolution taught in schools, Gay rights, Alabama court house 10 commandments thing, and a few other less talked about subjects.
There was one thing said that people should know about the moment of silence.
Essentially he said that the moment of silence was a completely Christian thing. I areed, but thought it would be hard to really prove on anything other than the, "Lets just say it, and hope everyone agrees" scale. I was so wrong. He said that the instructions have such a clear bias, and the do!
1. You may stay silent.
2.You may pray
3. You must stay in your seat.
He explained that Jewish people pray standing up, and Muslims pray on their knees.
Unfortunately there was a yelling outbreak and a lot of people missed that. Anyways I thought it was great.
More thoughts later.
d
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
The Gym and International Relations
In case it isnt paintfully obvious, I enjoy writing titles to blogs that say, "This and That." The reason I do that is because I would like to have people lean back in the chair and say, "WOW he is profound." I realize that if I wanted to truly be profound I would do it with the post itself, but honestly the title is just easier. So hopefully everyone feels that way. If not, I just...dont...like...you.
Alright - the Gym.
So here is the quick rundown on the life and times of Drew Cowles in terms of the scale. The first time weight ever really "officially" got in the way of me doing things is when I tried to play football. I played one season in grade school. I can still close my eyes and see the look of the coach and the room when he said that because of my weight I would have to play with guys my age. I am pretty sure I was in the 4th grade, and he told me I was looking at playing with 8th or even high school kids. Great. That will be just awsome to get creamed by a bunch of post-puberty guys that can actually dictate where they want their limbs to go. They told me that I had to drop weight, and gave me suggestions as to how that would happen. Shorty after that meeting you could have found me in my shower wearing a trash bag on thinking that I was going to die. Fast forward a little to middle school. I can distinctly remember graduating the 8th grade at 225 lbs. I can remember getting out of Blakes car and telling his Dad what I was ringing in at and his response was, "Wow you are a big boy." (Note that the titles of the blog are not trying to elicit that response) Needless to say, I was quickly snatched up by the football coaches at Annandale High, and did that for two years. Football/Baseball, and a natural weight loss left me around 200 lbs at the end of my freshman year. Over the summer I lost some more and was about 185. After my second season of football I was pushing about 175. Christmas time brought about some difficult times and I internalized a bunch of things, and decided eating was dumb. So for about a month I tried not doing that, and lost another 10 which placed me at 165. In less than 20 months I lost 60 pounds (I dont know if that is fast or slow). I remember getting into the car one day and my mom saying, "Baby you are so handsome, but you dont look good. You look like you are on drugs." So life (and time) have brought some of that back on. In fact I had about an 100 lb weight loss/gain/loss/gain/loss shift in the last four years.
If you are still reading after all that crap, you should either be congradulated or smacked.
So recently I have decided (for numerous reasons) to try and keep weight off/be healthy. And today I went to the gym. I ran for a little while, did some arm and back stuff, and then ran/jogged home. I was glad to find that is a good 1.3 miles so its nice.
Thats really all there is to say about that.
----------------
The Decemberists are singing about people running around killing people, in their usual way, which is putting me to sleep - which means the next song on the album will keep me awake, but then I am going to sleep for sure - so I will try to make this fast.
Today in international relations we talked about Political Realism, and there were some things said that really interested me. "Basically he( Hans Morgenthau) feels that because each nation state is made up of individuals, individuals that all want a little bit more, state will always make moves towards power." Apparently we live in a Zero Sum System. Who knew? Anyways, with Power (simple measure of material capability) being a fixed sum, this means that the world doesnt just create power. Everytime one state gets a plus, another one gets a minus. So there is that....
"How do you know if a country is powerful? ITS OBVIOUS! If they have enough missles to blow you up, and then enough money to buy whats left, they are more powerful than you."
The Decemberists are on to the crane wife, which is making me sleepy.
Night everyone.
d
Colin - 174.4
Drew-176.6
Alright - the Gym.
So here is the quick rundown on the life and times of Drew Cowles in terms of the scale. The first time weight ever really "officially" got in the way of me doing things is when I tried to play football. I played one season in grade school. I can still close my eyes and see the look of the coach and the room when he said that because of my weight I would have to play with guys my age. I am pretty sure I was in the 4th grade, and he told me I was looking at playing with 8th or even high school kids. Great. That will be just awsome to get creamed by a bunch of post-puberty guys that can actually dictate where they want their limbs to go. They told me that I had to drop weight, and gave me suggestions as to how that would happen. Shorty after that meeting you could have found me in my shower wearing a trash bag on thinking that I was going to die. Fast forward a little to middle school. I can distinctly remember graduating the 8th grade at 225 lbs. I can remember getting out of Blakes car and telling his Dad what I was ringing in at and his response was, "Wow you are a big boy." (Note that the titles of the blog are not trying to elicit that response) Needless to say, I was quickly snatched up by the football coaches at Annandale High, and did that for two years. Football/Baseball, and a natural weight loss left me around 200 lbs at the end of my freshman year. Over the summer I lost some more and was about 185. After my second season of football I was pushing about 175. Christmas time brought about some difficult times and I internalized a bunch of things, and decided eating was dumb. So for about a month I tried not doing that, and lost another 10 which placed me at 165. In less than 20 months I lost 60 pounds (I dont know if that is fast or slow). I remember getting into the car one day and my mom saying, "Baby you are so handsome, but you dont look good. You look like you are on drugs." So life (and time) have brought some of that back on. In fact I had about an 100 lb weight loss/gain/loss/gain/loss shift in the last four years.
If you are still reading after all that crap, you should either be congradulated or smacked.
So recently I have decided (for numerous reasons) to try and keep weight off/be healthy. And today I went to the gym. I ran for a little while, did some arm and back stuff, and then ran/jogged home. I was glad to find that is a good 1.3 miles so its nice.
Thats really all there is to say about that.
----------------
The Decemberists are singing about people running around killing people, in their usual way, which is putting me to sleep - which means the next song on the album will keep me awake, but then I am going to sleep for sure - so I will try to make this fast.
Today in international relations we talked about Political Realism, and there were some things said that really interested me. "Basically he( Hans Morgenthau) feels that because each nation state is made up of individuals, individuals that all want a little bit more, state will always make moves towards power." Apparently we live in a Zero Sum System. Who knew? Anyways, with Power (simple measure of material capability) being a fixed sum, this means that the world doesnt just create power. Everytime one state gets a plus, another one gets a minus. So there is that....
"How do you know if a country is powerful? ITS OBVIOUS! If they have enough missles to blow you up, and then enough money to buy whats left, they are more powerful than you."
The Decemberists are on to the crane wife, which is making me sleepy.
Night everyone.
d
Colin - 174.4
Drew-176.6
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Funny
Listen to the wise words of Mr. Asher Charles Burns. I was complaining after work before we had some amazing pizza at his house, "Hey Asher, you know what?" He set down either his Shark and/or Tiger Car to listen intently. "I am really tired of looking at colonoscopies." With that perfect untrained little kid timing he looks at me and says, "I am tired of bedtimes." As I roll on the floor laughing he gets a huge smile and says, "Im just kiiiiiiiiddddding."
---------------------------------
Colin - 174.2
Drew - 177.8
d
---------------------------------
Colin - 174.2
Drew - 177.8
d
Monday, September 3, 2007
The Competition
After recent trips to the scale, the fellas at the robinson house have been quite shocked at the results. Namely myself and Colin are much closer in weight that we thought. This naturally brings up the fact that we all assumed Colin would be the skinniest in the house. In fact, he turned to me the other day and said, " Drew, I just don't want you to be the skinniest in the house. I want to be." Of course this has now turned into a competition as to when I will drop below Colins weight. I just thought it would be a nice little feature to add to the bottom of the blog daily in case any of the readers would like to keep up/place bets/cheer or jeer/ etc.
Official weight on 9/4/07
Drew - 177.2
Colin - 172.8
d
Official weight on 9/4/07
Drew - 177.2
Colin - 172.8
d
Sunday, September 2, 2007
A gift to Ryan
There is only one point to this post.
Ryan Burns, listen to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmcmTE7NIAY
Ryan Burns, listen to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmcmTE7NIAY
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
