Transition

Well, 2010 is almost over, and I have nothing witty to say about it. The only thing I could say is what you could say every year, and that is that the transition time is confusing. For the first half of the new year you write the previous year by mistake (usually in pen). After that you get really confused and don't know what to write. At that point I try to think of something witty, which is usually along the lines of Cruella De Vil's lines: "You wretched, wretched pen!!!"

Anyway, I already put this banner up with my last post but it is sort of a transition. I hope to work on different banners for each month. However, they probably all won't be done until 2011, I mean 2012. Darn year change. Man, this is going to be a long year transition. Happy New Year Everyugly! I mean, Everybody. Haha *gulp* Wretched Pen!

Stocking vs. Stalking

I think I made it clear last year, you know, the horrors of Santa Claus? Does "he sees you when your sleeping, he knows when you're awake" ring a bell? No? Well just turn around, he's there.

As if it wasn't creepy enough that he stalks you, then he has to go and break into your home; and through the chimney of all places! Couldn't he at least occupy the decency not to be creepy while he stalks us? But maybe I should give Santa the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he comes through the chimney to put out that fire you forgot to so that your house doesn't catch on fire. Or perhaps he doesn't want to walk around with muddy boots in your house. But if he came through the fireplace, wouldn't that make his boots all the dirtier? Everything about this just doesn't make sense. Saint my eye glasses! Get away from me you creeper!

Well, one thing I forgot to talk about last year are the horrors of Christmas Music. Take the 12 Days of Christmas for example: all those birds and leaping men! True love my eye glasses! Couldn't you have just stopped with the five golden rings? That's all I really want out of those things.

Do you see what I see? Um, this is a song, I can't see what you're talking about. Do you hear what I hear? Well, I might if you'd shut up and stop asking me these rhetorical questions. RE-pum-pum-pum-petitive. It would be a Silent Night if all these animals would stop talking, drummer boys would stop playing, and Bing Crosby would stop singing. And these are some of the best of the bizarre songs. Who came up with those reindeer and snowmen? Probably some prankster uncle teaching his nieces and nephews annoying songs that they ccould bug their mom and dad. Either him or K-Mart. Both are ridiculous to start traditions. However, that's probably how most traditions start.

But most Christmas songs are really good. Especially those who talk about one of the most incredible events ever to take place on the face of the earth. Thankfully, people still sing those songs too... right up next to Rudy and Bing. It is too bad they just sing it and don't know the truth. Just another Christmas song my eye glasses!

Not where I was planning on going with this post, but it happens. Haha. Merry Christmas!

Three Years

This may just be the nerdiest thing I've ever done, but here it is. This is the third birthday of my blog. Nerdy yes. But if you're still reading my blog, you already know nerdy.

You don't need to think of me like this; you know, nerdy. Think of me like a three year old...as in the not nerdy but little, chubby, and 90s bowl cut part. ? Ok, maybe not that part. But at least if you think of me like a toddler, you won't complain when I put up drawings like this one. ...yeah I'm lazy, and three... But not nerdy!

Recap

If you were wondering why my blog hasn't had any drawings on it for awhile; this is the reason. But it is finally done!!! I checked the properties after finishing it this afternoon so I would know just how long it has taken me to color this thing. The small dates on the bottom are the coloring dates beginning to end. The "much else" I said I wasn't doing...well, this is it. I put this one with the other one on its original post so that way you could see all the changes I've made. I hope to to color all my drawings, so you should really check back to my blog in the year 2057 to see how it went...well go? ...I don't know.

I started coloring this when the weather got really strange. First it would rain for two days, then be really hot, then be overcast, rain, overcast, a week of really hot, and rain some more. It was overcast, hot, then rained all in one last week. We were on the overcast rotation with small showers this past week. This weather is so strange, that perhaps with the holidays coming up, snow will even clock in for a shift.

The other day (or month) I reached for the floss and poked it between my pearly whites as usual. What was unusual was that about half way through I noticed something different. "What's different," I thought as I licked the string, "...flavor! It has flavor! Mint flavor; of sorts." Apparently after my last experience, Target fired that wise guy that forgot to put flavor on all the floss I ever purchased from any of their stores. I knew something was wrong with that last batch. The only problem now is that when you have flavor, you sacrifice the ability to hold on the floss. I guess they literally do wax up the floss with mint flavor, but now I can't hold it. Target was smart however, because now that I can't hold it once it touches any sort of saliva, I have to get a new piece. (Not to mention they made it really weak so it come apart into little individual strings if it even sees a tooth.) The more pieces I have to go through, the faster I go through that whole little box, and the faster I have to buy more. Hey, he really was a wise guy.

Significance

Today is December 7, 2010. On December 7, 1941, the U.S. was attacked by Japanese on a seemingly normal military harbor in Hawaii. Today this harbor, Pearl Harbor, is famous because of the attack. This was the final push that moved the United States to join World War II. But this seemingly insignificant harbor is probably one of the most known harbors in the United States. Pearl Harbor stands as a monument for the lives that were lost in World War II, as well as its eventual victory.

Recently my home-school group and I had the privilege to go to a little, insignificant section of John Wayne airport where there are kept planes and other vehicles from WWII. All the old cars, motorcycles, and airplanes are still kept up, and still make drives and flights. However, the most interesting part of this small museum are the docents that work there. Most, if not all of them, are pilots that flew (and occasionally still fly) these planes in WWII and the Korean war. Most of these guys are in their 90s, who were in the war in their teens. If I was to pass these men on the street, I wouldn't even think twice. Each of these men (aside from looking in great health for their ages) would seem insignificant; just like passing anyone on the street, but the stories these men can tell is extraordinary. Two of the docents were shot down in air by enemy planes. One of these men was the only one in his plane to survive, and that was after it exploded. This man was taken in by the enemy, and had to wait out in captivity until the Germans surrendered. He said is forearm became as thin as his wrist because of the lack of food. He was shot down on only his seventh mission. My group's docent was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked.

These few, seemingly normal men, all had their war stories some similar, and some very different than his.

This field trip may have been more interesting to me in stage of my life than earlier; not just because I am older, but because I was just reading about the wars of the United States before going. Before this year, this may have just seemed like another insignificant field trip. Perhaps I just need to be looking for significance, and I will find it in everything I see. Perhaps all those insignificant people I pass on the street have their extraordinary stories as well. Perhaps life itself is very significant, and I have just taken it for granted. Perhaps now that I can look to that seemingly insignificant harbor and see significant lives that were lost. Today is a reminder to look to the significant Pearl Harbor.

All this reminds me of the cross. A seemingly insignificant man, lead away to an insignificant hill, about to die a death insignificant to that time in Roman history. Yet, what this seemingly insignificant man accomplished on the cross is very significant. I have the privilege everyday to look to the cross and see significant life, and significant life bringing. Fact, it was the only thing in the history of the earth that brought life. And life is very significant.

Thankfulness is a battle

Return, O my soul, to your rest;

for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

Psalm 116:7

Recently I have really been struggling with self pity which, as all sin, is the worship of self instead of worshiping God. I am not perfect, and the victory seems far away; yet God in his kindness planned it into the heart of the writers of his word, and the people who made the reading plan I am going through to have me read through Psalm 116, and John 16:16-33, along with others. These two sections were particularly helpful in the struggle. Psalm 116:7 really stood out to me as a defense against listening to such lies. Thankfulness is the anti-self pity. Haven't I received everything to be thankful for?

Well, I couldn't end a Thanksgiving post without talking mentioning my annual football ritual. So, it happened again this year. There I mentioned it. Happy Thanksgiving everynutty!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hey, today is my mom's actual birthday! I only say that for those of you who looked at my mom's facebook and saw that she put her birthday down on a different day than her actual birthday. So, just to clarify, Happy Actual Birthday Mom.

What's not to love about Halloween?

Halloween has got to be the best holiday this country has ever chosen to celebrate that doesn't involve getting school off for. Think about it, there are hardly any downsides! If you don't believe me, I'll list off a few of the reasons why I believe this. If you do believe me, then the rest of this post won't show up on your computer screen. Enjoy the Holiday!

Ok, here are just a few of the reasons why Halloween is so great:

• You get to come up with really bad, or interesting costume ideas throughout the year. So, it saves from boredom.
• You get to try to find the ingredients to the interesting costume pie you've created, which (if you're like me) is usually way too complicated, and over priced to make anyway.
• So, you get to come up with a new, realistic idea whenever you figure out that your old idea is too hard to make. Again, more creativity.

If you are like me, you have probably followed all these steps in years past, so:

• You get to make your terrible costume five minutes before you leave your house to the Harvest Party or Trick-Or-Treat fest. This teaches working under pressure, and not to be perfectionists (cuz either way the costume is gonna suck, sorry kids).

Halloween also teaches kids in other ways, like...

• which houses not to go to... so long as they have a good memory.

Once you get to your Harvest/Trick fest you get to:

• Laugh at all the other kids' terrible costumes.

And not to mention all the other obvious ones like free candy from absolute strangers, staying up late eating candy (dressed in your terrible pie costume), and did I mention laughing at your friend's costumes? The only real downsides to Halloween are getting terrible candy, and being laughed at for your terrible costume.

But the goods of Halloween out way the minor bads to Halloween. And besides, bad candy should be expected, you got it from a stranger. *Is this thing on?* You willingly took candy from a stranger, people! Another great thing about Halloween is

• That it is the one day that little line about candy and strangers in those cheesy safety VHS tapes totally gets blown out the window by you and your parents!

Speaking of parents, this is a great holiday for them too! Not only can they send the kinds away for a few hours to walk around with a bunch of creepy people in creepy costumes so that the parents get some peace and quiet, but if the kids say a word before Thanksgiving, the adults can shove the candy in their little mouths to make 'em shut-up. Are you starting to see the benefits of Halloween yet?

Also on the practical side of Halloween is the opportunity to try out a new hair style and not get ridiculed for it (unless it's as bad as the pie costume you made).1 No really, say you want to try a new dew, so you get your hair cut before the Treat-Fest. If it is bad people will say, "Nice Costume," if the dew is a gew, I mean go, they'll say "Nice Haircut." Bingo. You're in. But you have got to know who to show yourself off to in advance, and who's opinion you can actually trust. In other words, don't go up to your grandma and point your new styled head in her direction. Grandmas typically love everything their grandchildren do, and often have less than 20/20 vision. "Hey grandma! It's me; like my haircut?" "Me who? ...Oh, what a nice horse mackerel you've got sitting on your head dear." Again, just don't go to your grandma.

Halloween is great; new treats, new tricks, new cruddy costumes, and horrible hair styles! So can you see now why this ween night is the most "Hallo" out of the holidays? Hey, if nothing else, it got me to work on another drawing on Photoshop.2 Which I know brings delight to all your faces.

Well, I'm gonna' say "bye-bye" to all of you non-believers, and say "Hallo" to the best holiday celebrated in this country that you do not get to have school off for! That's right, Presidents' Day! No; Halloween! Oh yeah, and did I mention that you can laugh at all your friends' costumes?

1 Note: You may actually be ridiculed whether your hair looks good or not.

2 The pumpkin was originally in the shape of a heart. It still kind of looks like one if you look at the outline and minus the green, stemmy party.

Haven't been doing much else...

Yeah, sad to say this is all I got to post. Hope you enjoy it though, 'cuz I did makin' it...bro.

Hark!

Hey! My bro and I are back to making videos. Since photoshop takes me a long time, this is all I have to post for awhile.

COLOR!!!

This is a momentous occasion. If you have been around reading my blog since I started it, or are some crazy person who went back and read all of my heroically bad grammared posts, then this is the first time that you have seen one of my drawings done in Photoshop color. Hallelujah. I have actually had Photoshop for awhile, but I hadn't the slightest idea of how to use it until recently. There you have it fellow losers, I mean, bloggers: color. Now, I probably should have followed some sort of color scheme so that the colors kind of fit together, but I need to leave room for improvement, right? The drawing looks a little better than it did last time at least.

I would probably have more to say about this drawing if I was able to post it back when the Vancouver Olympics was actually happening. I can barely remember what happened that year. But one thing is for certain, it is obvious that Shawn White with snowboarding was the only interesting thing about it anyway.

Oh yeah, and if you are some crazy person who actually wanted to look at the journal I took while on the road trip-tacular, you can check out my other blog, which I have devoted solely to travel time-type stuff.

Well, I hope to get all the drawings I have posted in color at some point. Until then, that's all I got.

Back in the st'eh'ts.

Entry 12 of my travel journal. No need for you all to read every single one of these, but I figure when the zombie uprising occurs, the sane people will have something to laugh about while their flesh is devoured.

August 11, 2010, Day 12:

Watch out, the Davis family is on the road again, and we are armed and dangerous with Burger King and Costco under our belts. Don’t ask me how we fit the two buildings in our pants; I’m still not quite sure myself.

As it was for most our nights up north, we got rained on. Last night was no exception. It looked a little strange to have our tent set up in the back of the Burger King parking lot to dry while we ate lunch, but even stranger were the looks we got because of our drying method. One man got out of his camper and asked us if that was the only place we found to camp. We came up with a witty remark much later, as most witty remarks come, and said, “Looks pretty good to us, we’re from LA.”

We left our campsite in Jasper around eight this morning and finally got out of Canada at about four. It would have taken half as long had we gone the fast way, and there hadn’t been a line the exact length of Rhode Island to get across the border.

While still in Canada we saw mountain goats running up and a steep hill, fields of purple flowers, and yet more stinkin’ waterfalls.

We entered into Idaho and made our way to Washington State. I have never been in Washington before and Joey made the comment that northern Idaho and eastern Washington look exactly the same as south western Alberta; he was right of course.

On the drive, the temperature has changed as often as the time. Apparently we are driving on the thin line between Mountain Time and Pacific Time. Right as I wish I had the last hour of my life back -poof- it’s there! If I want time to pass by a little quicker –poof- it happens! -Even though we aren’t an hour more down the road.

I am now getting a little tired, it has been about 12 hours in the car so far and there are many more to come, (especially if we cross back into Mountain Time). I think the best way for me to knock out and sleep right now is to get a whiff from my wide selection of footwear; Righty and Lefty. I just can’t hold my shoes to nose level or everyone else will droop off too, including the driver.

With power at my toe-tips, Ben.

Entry 11

August 10, Day 11:

I have taken so many pictures of so many things that I don’t even remember what the things are anymore. With all the pictures I have taken I may as well have had my view finder stapled to my face, documenting everything on the trip. A glue stick might have worked, but I didn’t have one lying around. We saw more waterfalls, similar to the ones we saw yesterday, one of which I call the Water Slide of Death. Not sure what it’s really called, but mine is more accurate and easier to pronounce I’m sure. One waterfall that I took a billion and twelve pictures of had a rainbow in its mist. Ah… many a memory of viral videos on the web.

We didn’t end up going on the glacier tour, but we went on the most awesome hike to a glacier and a lake with large ice chunks floating about inside. On the way to get there we saw many more vast glaciers, and a black bear. There might have been more, but that’s as much as I could tell with a camera stapled to my eye.

To get to the hike, we had to drive up a very windy road, and the irony was that the two people who don’t get motion sick were to two in the front seats; namely, my dad and I.

The hike was gorgeous with an amazing view 300 and 60 degrees around us. The scale of everything seemed to grow the closer we got. Waterfalls that seemed ten feet were actually more like 200 feet. Perhaps I could be more exact if I used meters like Canada and the rest of the world, but I am a rebellious American. Boo Yanks!

We switched seats on the way back and just now got all choked up about dinner; mostly because we ate in a smoky room with an old oven. The smoke turned the ceiling brown while the rest of the place was white washed wood. We will be leaving Canada early tomorrow, and let me tell ya’, I’m gonna’ miss the place. With its beautiful Rockies, funny accents, and no paper toilet seat covers in their “washrooms” (which around here at least don’t have running water), who’d want to leave? Well, I’ll see ya’ll back in the U-S-eh, that is if I get these staples out of my face.

When are these going to be over?

Below are entries 8 and 9 to my travel journal, enjoy.

"August 8, 2010, Day 8, I mean 9:

We continued our stay in the beautiful place of Banff, Canada, driving around the park because of the off and on rain showers. We saw many gorgeous lakes, marvelous mountains, cataracts, a big horn sheep right by our car, and glaciers! It’s funny that in our whole stay in Glacier National Park we really only saw one glacier. Now we are seeing many wondrous glaciers on glorious mountain sides. YAY Canada!

Today while we were on a small hike to look at a place where there was an active coal mine, I was thinking about the people’s lives that lived and worked there. It got me thinking about eternity, and the saints we will meet who lived at that time. God cares about each one individually throughout all times.

The one time I forgot to bring my camera was on another hike which just happens to be one of the best, most beautiful, amazing hikes of the trip. Both upper and lower falls were fantastic, but at lower falls there was a lady who was laying on a rock at the top of the falls. It would have ruined all my pictures had I brought my camera. Perhaps it was more of God’s providence.

I am trying to hold myself back from taking pictures of everything, because the camera is starting to get full, and this is only the 8^th I mean 9^th day of travel; two more weeks of the trip to go.

I think I’ve covered all that has happened, except maybe my dad’s photo taking obsession. Oh yeah, Zac found two four leaf clovers so far on this trip. I don’t think I have ever found one; talk about overkill. Zac says that he has found too many to count in his life, but if he had to put a number on it he would have to say around 50. I’d say closer to 49, but I digress. I think he’ll find more before the remainder of the trip is over…maybe.

August 9, 2010, (8/9/10), Day 10:

As if the trip couldn’t get any worse, Zac found 16 four leaf clovers just today, and 5 five leaf clovers! Five leaf clovers? I didn’t even know they existed. Perhaps the leprechaun wouldn’t have found so many had he helped more with the tent take-down this morning. No, I’m just kidding, he probably helped more than I did, because I was looking for the lucky clovers, with no luck. If Zac just looked down he’d see three more, so I taped the back of his head to his shoulder blades and glued his eyelids shut. I said, because of his luck, that I’d undo it all when we came to the next Canadian Lotto place, which I figured we’d find sooner than I would ever find a four leaf clover.

Well, we went on the wrong freeway for a while, but right before we noticed we saw a ton of people stopped by the road. Pulling over we saw a huge grizzly out in the distance. Three steps better than any old speck, we stayed for a few minutes watching the bear walk on the train tracks. I still don’t quite know the end of the story, but the bear was still trudging along after we turned around and went back the other direction in Yoho, British Columbia. Once we got going the right way we saw a black bear right by the gutter, and later a mom and two or three cubs trailing behind.

Still in Banff, we experienced some of the most picturesque sight of the entire trip with huge glaciers all over the place! Look right, then left, beauty all around.

We are now in Jasper, enjoying the many glaciers and are planning on walking around one on a three hour tour. I am a little wary however because we all know what happened on another three hour tour. Especially with the possibility of the glacier suddenly breaking, separating, or the possibility of falling down and getting lost in a deep dark crevasse with little hope of survival and rescue…It is now getting late, sweet dreams! "

To read day one of this crazy long thing, click here.

Eh?

Below is entry 8 for my road trip journal. Click here for day one... 'case you wanted to catch up.

August 7, Day 8:

Yesterday’s sarcastic one didn’t go over so well with the fam, so I’ll stick purely to the facts. Haha, eh hem.

The day picked up quickly, with a citation just after breakfast. We committed the felony in the campsite right around the corner from ours where the former tenants left, nice, fresh wood sitting in their fire pit. My dad looked both ways, and didn’t look back. They probably left the logs for the people who would be staying in that campsite next, but we didn’t care, and quickly exited the crime scene. After we entered Canada we realized that we weren’t supposed to bring wood across the border. It might have taken us longer to figure it out except for the fact that there was a huge sign that said, “No firewood in case of Dutch Elms Disease.” But the border patrolman didn’t ask, so we didn’t care. We got out just desserts however because we are now staying at a campsite where you cannot have fires. I’m now wondering how we are going to burn off all the Dutch Elms disease we brought over.

As if stealing firewood wasn’t enough, almost immediately after the huge sign, there was a pullout with a restroom. The men’s and the women’s sides were separate, but since each had a pit toilet, where the stuff went down into for both sides was connected. My dad thought that my mom was still in the women’s and when he heard a long trickle of wee coming from the other, he yelled through, “I hear someone a’ pee’n in there!” But, that was not my mom weeing. Hello Canada, here come the Davis Family!

After this we went to the Bison Paddock, which unless I spelled it wrong sounded promising to us. At least all 7 buffalo that were way in the back corner looked majestic.

To change the subject, right as we crossed into Canada we noticed all their road signs are a lot more pictorial. It makes the signs much more enjoyable, so much in fact that drivers might actually look at them. Not that I could understand the signs if they did have words, because half of it would be written in Quebec-ian French. I actually think that is why they use pictures because it is more universal; that way they don’t have to write it in English as well as French.

Since we missed the US so much, we went to a KFC/Taco Bell combo for lunch. How much more American can you get?

Now we are at a campground in Banff (which is surprisingly difficult to say), and with each stop we get faster at setting up the tent, with the exception of making a lean-to out of the tarp in case of rain. We told Joey to hold it down so that when the wind starts blowing he’ll have a nice Para shoot ride into the trees. Eh hem…well, it is nice to be clean, I hadn’t had a shower since the RVish Park. This shower had a button, so you can’t control the temperature, and the water kept shutting itself off every 10 seconds. I’m not complaining or anything (or being sarcastic), I’m just stating the facts. Oh yeah, I am calling the mosquitoes, “Mass-quitoes” because of their great numbers up here. My dad says that since it gets so cold, they only have a few months to attack. That’s why they are so vicious. Who knows…just hand me the hair, I mean bug spray, lady.

Having a wonderful time.

August 6, Day 7ish:

Today, after a long, hot, crowded bus ride, we went for a long, hot, hilly, humid, sweaty, bug infested hike with dead trees and no rest areas. We had a great time, seeing great views like the one we saw while stopped by construction the other day. To sum up everything we saw on the extended trail today would be waterfalls and deer. Though the two made the trip exciting for the first turn or so, it got well frankly, boring. If someone was up ahead and said, “Look,” I’d say, “Let me guess, a small waterfall, or a deer perhaps?”

“Yes,” they’d say, “how’d you know?”

“The last bend.” I’d say.

I am now starting to think about mosquitoes here, and those back home. The difference, I suppose, aside from the Alamo type fighting numbers up here, is the smog down in So Cal keeps the creeps small, slow, and stupid. The ones down in my backyard hardly would make a mark when they would bite you, but the mosquitoes here are nasty, with bites that double the size of your arm. My legs are a small scale model of the mountains here in Glacier, complete with snow and wild mountain goats bouncing about. Each bite steals a little of my pigment. The ones that I am getting now turn white and look surprisingly like a skin disease, or an allergic reaction. Though I am not quite sure they are mosquito bites, I assume they are, since there is nothing else around here except poison oak.

The more people I see, often in long, crowded bus rides, I see the contrast to the people here and those in the California region. Unlike the bugs down south, the people in OC stick to themselves and aren’t super friendly (with the exception of the people in my church). Now the great sights and the fact that these people are on vacation could be factors in their kindness, but partially I think it is because where I live is on-your-toes-busy; fast paced. Taking things slow is a nice way to go, especially when there are waterfalls and deer on every around every turn.

Days 5 and 6

Here are days five and six of the journal I took on the summer trip. To read day one, click here.

Aug. 4, 2010, Day 5:

We are now camping at Glacier National Park in Montana. We’ve been in four National Parks in the five days we’ve been gone. Also today we go to see Jeremiah in his natural habitat, working by the road on an animal crossing over pass. The slow day of driving was a nice break seeing the Saoon Saloon, Taco John’s and various specks that we thought were animals. Chillin’ back at Glacier, we went down to Lake Macdonald, and on this lake we went on a raft. I always did like spinning in circles. We also attended a ranger-talk slideshow time, which looked as though no one in the campground was going to go to. Obligated by guilt, we went, and had a pleasant time looking at animals dangling over cliffs about to fall to their deaths. And actually a lot of people we; my conscience feels alright now.

Well it is getting dark. The family has a fire going, just waiting for it to finally get dark. Zac is still hoping to see the aurora, and I will show off my excellent constellation finding skills pointing out the Seven Sisters tonight. Oh yeah, I’m good. I can’t wait to see the glaciers, and soap in the bathrooms. C’mon, how hard is it to put some soap in all 50 of the restrooms, and restock them when they’re empty? I mean really? I’m an American, I want ease and comfort! What do they think I’m doing, camping?

Aug. 5, Day 6:

Glacier National Park is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Wide open places with snowy mountains, and deep gorges. The landscape, apparently, was carved out a lot by moving glaciers from many years past that have later melted away. The view is like a thanksgiving banquet for your eyes; the turkey being Heaven’s Peak, with snowy mashed potatoes and gravy, smothered up and down giving your pupils the heart burn plate of beauty.

Well, as we found out today, Glacier’s signs are easily misinterpreted. We decided to ride the bus, so we thought we would stand around waiting for a couple of minutes until it arrived. But when we read the sign that said that busses come every couple of minutes, it really meant a couple of hours. At least the view was interesting…for a couple of minutes. I was looking forward to the bus ride back when it finally did come, so I could complain to the second bus driver about the first one’s absence. But we had the same bus driver both ways, which hit me like a 5 year old Twinkie, interrupting the thanksgiving feast in my bowels.

Along with the inside of crammed buses, I saw mountain goats, big horn sheep, an aggressive granny, deer, and a sign in the bathroom stall which said, “Please flush twice.” The people who made the bus signs could learn from that sign; short, blunt, and short. Though I’m not quite sure why they have a sign that says that. Is it for the courtesy of others, or the janitor? Either case, the sign can’t really be misinterpreted. And just incase it was too direct, it even says, “please.”

We are now on the other side of Glacier, at a nice little campground. And trust me, after a full day of thanksgiving feasting, the bathroom is the first place I want to stop at. One…two…this is for you, janitor.

Three s'things

Continuation of the journal I took on my Epic Annual Family Summer Road Trip-Tacular.

Aug. 3, 2010, Day 4:

The day has now been completed, consisting of three words that all begin with the letter “s”; Staring, Sustenance, and Jeremiah.

Most, if not every activity, applied the use of Staring today. I am surprised that so quickly in the trip I have nearly perfected the art of Staring. Staring, as defined by me, is the act of using one’s eyes to see everything but the back of one’s eyelids. Similar to the Look, Gaze, Glance, and Observation, the Stare usually first appears when one first wakes up, and terminates when they go to sleep.

Today I occupied the Stare while on the drive. My mom got her Bachelors in Observation and quickly graduated with a Doctorate in the Stare on the section where I was at the wheel. Not only did my parents give me the hardest part to drive, with construction on hilly roads, big semis, and passing lanes were present, but also some of the most beautiful drives to torture me as I attempted to attend the community college of Stare looking at the pavement.

To continue the trend of fast food on road trips, I filled up with this Sustenance. And how full I am! While my dad and I worked our Stare at Pizza Hut (which was a $6 buffet), we realized that living in California had made us accustom to different sorts of peoples and ethnic groups. We felt like the minority when only caucasion people present. Not to mention we were the only two sitting at the longest table in the entire restaurant, and we were the skinniest people in there; probably by 200 pounds. That’s including the children. We also ate at 5 Guys. In combination of both places I have eaten, I have been stinkin’ up everywhere I go. Thank the red meats!

And last but not least, Jeremiah. A friend I haven’t seen in a whole week! Now that he has a job here in Montana, we decided to come and visit him. After showing us around Missoula, he, the fam. and I went to go see an aurora, which supposedly was/is happening tonight. Well, at most that was a waste of time. And at least I got to work on my Stare, looking at absolutely nothing.

Well, bed is looking tasty. Oh yeah, we decided that we would overstay our welcome at Jeremiah’s and spend the night. It is now twelve’ two. Happy Wednesday! Alright, Tuesday is over - shut up.

Oh give me a home...

Here is Day 3 of the journal I took on the trip. And you can find the first two by just scrolling down or clicking here and here.

Aug. 2, 2010, Day 3:

What did the buffalo say to his kid going off to college? “Bi-son.” Well, that’s the word of the day, bison,…or tired. Unlike my previous visit to Yellowstone where we saw buffalo at a distance, and that only on the last day, this time we have been within 15 feet of bison, and have seen them in several places. I love buffalo, so majestic, so wooly, so fat headed. Nothing beats a buffalo, literally, they are massive, and yet so gentle looking. Amazing.

Along with bison we saw plenty of Elk, deer, antelope, geysers, waterfalls, and people stopped to look at a speck which they claimed was a bear. I guess they must have seen out license plate and rallied their cousins and uncles to pull a fast one on us. Silly hicks, tricks are for kids!

Although I didn’t think it possible, we had more stops today than we had yesterday. Seeing geysers and mud pots, and geysers and waterfalls, and geysers and geysers, in and out, and in and out of the car made me tired. Not to mention standing around waiting for Old Faithful to blow. Speaking of tricks, that guy-zer faked us out more than any uncle, looking like it was going to blow a dozen times. It made the camera run out of batteries, but thankfully it’s my mom’s camera, not mine. Again, ‘Ol Faithy must’ve seen the license plate.

We are now right outside of Yellowstone, at a KOAish R.V. Park, which Zac observed isn’t park like “grass and field,” but like “park your car.” RV, duh.

Well, I gotta’ go shower now, even though I have been bathing in bug spray, sunscreen, and sulfur mist all day. Not to mention sweat.

I am now convinced that the invention of bug spray was some guy who was going mad from the heat lathered himself with his wife’s hairspray, and noticed that the bugs didn’t bite him as much as his prankster uncle. Now they use the left over hairspray at the factories and replace the original label with one that says, “Bug Spray.”

I am also convinced that the spray does absolutely nothing, with the exception of annoying us all. Maybe it is another trick. The only thing mosquitoes are warded off by is the smell of the stuff, consequently so is the rest of the world. Funny how the one place we don’t put the old hairspray nowadays is our hair. Perhaps going mad from the heat is how most entrepreneurs start. Perhaps like the inventor of sunscreen.

Still Trippin'

Below is the next part of the journal that I made on my family's long summer road trip. You can read the first day's entry here.

Now on with the show!

August 1, 2010, Day 2:

Today is the first day of camping. Driving today, we passed through three states, two national parks, and what seems like 300 visitor centers from various places. The worst one was in Utah about the Oregon Trail. Half of it was paintings made for the museum, the other half was quilts. Quilts. Quilts? Who cares about quilts?! They may have been interesting had they actually been made by people traveling to Oregon, but they were made just to fill the other half of the visitor center.

The third half didn’t even have its lights on, even though that looked like the most interesting part. I guess they decided no to pay the electric bill on Sunday mornings because everyone in Utah a Mormon. So there are plenty of crew cuts, bicycles, and carefully planned brick communities around their tabernacles (which everyone would be at on Sunday mornings).

The rest of the drive was way more exciting consisting of beautiful forests, open plains, and The Tetons. And what Grand Tetons they were; spectacular mountains we spent most of the day looking at.

Following twisty, barfy roads, we found our way to Yellowstone. After our recovery, we ate dinner. Thankfully it was my mom’s cooking so we only got a little sick from eating the meal. We went to the lake to see some bugs, and we ended up seeing some geysers as well. We went to a spot we went to the last time we were here, and the mosquito bites hurt then too.

Coming back to the campsite we saw some Elk. It doesn’t take one long here to realize that you can’t see stuff from the road, all you have to do is to look for people stopped by the side of the road acting like they are pointing and taking pictures. Joey finally saw something.

Now I am writing by the light of the flashlight, I hope we have enough batteries. A few moments ago I saw a bat, or a big bird, or a small bird depending on how big you think a bat is.

Alright, I need to go to sleep, but here is my Yellowstone song, sung to the tune of the Hawaii Chair commercial, “Yellowstone, it’s a great place, don’t ya’ know! Saw some geysers like ‘Ol Faithful. You really outta’ go!”

Oh yeah! I had my first heart attack of the trip today when Matt nearly stepped on a snack and I was standing right behind him. Until tomorrow, if the mosquitoes allow. Good Night.

Day 1

This is the first journal entry of the trip. I am hoping to put all of them up here eventually while I work on learning Photoshop. I usually wrote each entry any time from late afternoon to midnight, and that usually by the light of a flashlight or while we were eating dinner, so I didn't spend a whole lot of time on any of the entries; just free writing. In typing it up I tried to fix most of the mistakes, but left a few in their for its vintage quality.

And just so you guys would have no idea what we did on the trip, I was sure to fill each time I wrote in the journal with inside jokes that were made on the trip, and sarcastic extremities. If you didn't know me, you might say I didn't like the trip, but that's why I am putting this on the internet, where anyone can see, people who have no idea who I am, who could totally misinterpret what I say... Um well, here you go:

July 31, 2010,

Epic Annual Family Summer Road Trip-tacular Day 1:

Today we started out epic trip north similar to birds in summer. My family and I, a couple of bird-brains, are questing on another summer travel. But if you are reading this you probably know all that already.

We didn’t leave too early this morning which was kind of a bummer because then none of us got any sleep in the car. The drive today was smooth with just a few 30 foot potholes, 30 billion pit stops, small fights, cliffs, rocks, and the occasional thunder storm. Yeah, it’s going pretty smooth. Today is the longest day of driving, or so my parents make me believe, but thankfully video games saved the day. And I actually won a few times on Mario Kart. We saw many exciting sights today such as Kolob Canyons (a part of Zion National Park), which was beautiful, sunsets, double rainbows, and Joey didn’t see any cows. We stopped and ate lunch today in a Carl’s Jr., in a gas station, in Las Vegas…yeah triple sketch.

Seems like a long time since we waved goodbye to Mark, Tawnie, and The Cimino, since we have gone through four states today. And yet after all that traveling I still can’t sleep because my body is on Pacific Time, while reality is in Mountain Time.

Well, I will try to keep these things short since not only am I penning down this even with journal and comic, but Matt is documenting via video, Zac through facebook, and Joey is doing absolutely nothing. (Sorry for all the disses Joey.) So the trip should be well remembered.

Shutter Shades in the Shadows, Ben.

Well, I'm Back

A long, fun, filling, and tiring three week Epic Annual Family Summer Road Trip-tacular has finally come to the end. I kept a journal of just about everyday of the trip, so hopefully soon I will get those up here. And keep hoping, I'm hittn' the showers!

Dandy, Pandy, Wandy, that's all he ever talks about

Yay! Panda! I wanted to draw another Panda, so this is all you get. I don't really have anything to say about it except that your guess is as good as mine as to what is in his hands.

Well, I'm going to be gone to my family's annual Super Vacation Trip-tacular for this summer. And as an added downside, this year it will be more time in the car and less out! But you know how road trips go, it's not about where you're going, but the fast food and soft drinks on the way. YAY America! -I decided I would talk about this now, since it directly relates to Panda Bears.

Summer Time Pests

Another great thing I forgot to mention about Summer in Sunny Southern CA, are the bugs that well, bug me. And flies are the worst. I set out to solve this fly problem by making a flip book on the subject. I found that the only thing you need to solve your bug problem is a gun!

Unlike my last animation video, this whole thing took me about 2 hours all together. And scanning all the little flip book pages into the computer took the longest of all the steps.

If you couldn't tell I have done more posts this month than I have for a long time. The desire to post more has not only come from having more time, but also because I am going to be on a long vacation next month and won't be on here for awhile.

So, hope you enjoyed the video. I usually like to put these kind of things on here before I put them on facebook, but this time I got it up there first. The downside to putting them up other places first is less comments over here. 'Cuz who seriously checks their facebook, right? Facebook is a summer time pest!! Where's my Assault rifle?!!

"Hey, it's your buddy John!" -John, Wall-E

My good buddy John Fisher is quite the artist, and he gives me some masterpieces from his vast collection of sermon-time drawings. Picking out some of the ones that looked like they had some great interpretations I decided to do my own.

Look at the first one. Now, I don't know if you see exactly like what you see, but here's what I got: A dinosaur (that's obvious), in a boxish-looking thing, with a caveman with a hammer on top of the box. Oh yeah, and a flying, hairy fart ball...don't forget about that.

So looking at all these things I asked myself, What could all these things mean? Figuring John had some deep meaning behind the art, that he didn't tell me, I knew I needed to find out what it was. The final conclusion I came to was The Best Dinosaur Trap Ever! It's so obvious! Once I came to this marvelous understanding, it was easy to create my own depiction of the scene.

There you have it! Dead dinosaur, caveman, trap, but WHAT'S THIS?? I guess I forgot about the flying hairy fart ball!! Oh well, I replaced it for a spear instead I suppose.

If you couldn't tell John loves dinosaurs, so following a similar pattern to the last one, I came up with my own version of what I call Krogasaur! Notice the head that contrasts with its disconnected, slug like body. The eyebrow, the twiggy arms...I am just beginning to realize this kid's genius!

I hope you enjoyed this month's John and Ben combo art! Tune in next month for another installment! Maybe!

Gotta' love those Severed Heads

If I had tags on my blog, the subject that would probably appear most often would be Severed heads. Of course I couldn't resist keeping the tradition.

Despite the common trend, I almost named this post Me Four, for a reason you may not have expected. This may be a shock to all of you, especially since my drawings don't exactly support the theory, but giraffes have extremely long necks. Typically their necks are about 6 feet tall. Similarly, my neck and the necks of the people in my family are averagely 5-6 feet long. Well, sorta... Ok, not exactly true, but we do have long necks compared to most humans. It is the one thing that you could tell that we aren't actually who we say we are, and come from a distant planet. I mean, we're normal people-sort of like you, except we're normal. Well, most of us anyway.

Starting in 2008, my alie-I mean regular family had passes to the San Diego Zoo. During that time we would get a magazine that is published by the zoo that has some amazing pictures of the animals. Thankfully my mom gave one to me awhile back and I kept it. So all of these are altered versions of the pictures in the magazine. Including the Ben looking one. The zoo claimed that they had captured an alien, but I told them that was foolish, it would have a long neck. -Not to mention just having a neck.

Netherlands vs. Spain

On the way to the pool yesterday, my mom told me about a story she read on the internet that morning. Here is the story, as I understand it, in short: Octopus Paul, an octopus (duh) who for every two flags of the teams playing in the World Cup, note: not every game was placed in front of him, picked in advance the team that would pull ahead by climbing into the container with a flag on it. For the final game tomorrow, he has chosen the one with Spain on it.

Mani is a parakeet who has done similarly, picking the flag of the winning team before they've even played, but he has chosen the Netherlands to take the trophy.

Only one animal can be correct... Which will it be?

Now I have to say, who picked such random animals to put countries flags in front of to see how good they would do? And who would have guessed an octopus and a parakeet would have guessed so well? Obviously people have way too much time on their hands. And even more, the guy who did a drawing of the random animals and their predictions.

Follow the link here for the whole story about Octopus Paul and Mani the parakeet.

I have a whole bunch more drawings I want to put on here! Even some I did before my other World Cup post. But most the art I have been doing recently has been painting my room, which I just got pretty much done today. Looking at my painting skills, it kind of made me want to re-think my trying to become an artist as a profession. Hahaha, we'll see. Man, taking wallpaper off is nooo fun, but the deed is done. And I just rhymed...See ya' next time'd.

"But what comes from the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles a person." -Matt. 15:18

One more thought from the Together 2010 conference, and I hope there are more posts to come about it.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," -Eph. 2:4-6

"Whatever we value, we will grow to be like." This was one of the first statements spoken by Dr. Bruce Ware at the conference, but though it stuck with me, it didn't hold the same weight at the beginning of Together 2010 as it does a whole day after the conference's termination.

Joyfully anticipating the conference, I had missed the areas of indwelling sin that were alive and active in my heart.

The following day, after hearing that Dr. Ware speak that statement, during the corporate worship time a short video was played, which was done to a powerful song written by some of our Church family in the Pasadena. I had seen the video several times, and as it began was unmoved by the depictions of the areas of sin I had chosen to follow - until there was a picture of the prodigal child embracing her sin in the form of a demonic being. "Have I been doing this?" I thought. And after reviewing my notes from the first sermon I looked on, "Whatever we value, we will grow to be like."

In the first session, Dr. Ware went over a powerful passage in Isaiah 6, where in Isaiah is before and beholding the power and glory of God. Bruce Ware talked about how we must understand and know God as transcendent- That he is exclusively God. As Mr. Ware intricately and effectively showed the awe of this seen in Isaiah, I felt as though I was in Isaiah's shoes. I was standing before his throne, beholding His glory. And I believe similarly as Isaiah did not recognize his own sin until he was beholding the glory of God, so too did God work in me. As God spoke through Mr. Ware, He spoke into my heart, and I could see that I was embracing my sin, myself, and making myself God.

And like Isaiah, I thought "Woe is me, for I am lost."

"The only thing God owes us," said Dr. Ware, "is eternal condemnation."

"But," he continued, "we must know God as imminent." ...And "the story doesn't end there." God initiated Isaiah's forgiveness. And Mr. Ware reminded us of the words from Ephesians 2, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."

Through this conference, Together 2010, I believe God has challenged me to grow in my understanding and knowledge of Him, and my value of him. Because, "whatever we value, we will grow to be like." -I thank God that he is at work in me, and that through His Spirit I could behold a glimpse of Him this weekend.

T10

Just got back from a conference held by the western churches of Sovereign Grace Ministries, which is called Together 2010. It was a great time of gathering as just a fraction of the body to worship God together, and sit under his word, which was graciously given by Dr. Bruce Ware. And I thank God for his Spirit which was at work in Dr. Ware as he was preparing, as he gave the message, and His work in me through what he spoke through Mr. Ware. I also thank him for continually for his Spirit in each of my family members and friends, and his work in them. It was encouraging also to fellowship with friends spread from various places of California and Arizona.

Gathering with his people is always up building, and being together specifically to worship corporately really is a heavenly like experience. I cannot wait till this preview is over and the ultimate gathering of the undeserving before the Holy God is forever. So we pray, your kingdom come!

I have so much more to say about this conference that I probably won't get around to all of it, but I hope to have another post soon covering a fraction of what God did in me.

Goodbabymanship

Soccer is the only professional sport I know of where the players are encouraged to be wimps. Not that Soccer players are wimpy, but when it is an advantage for them to pretend they're hurt, they'll take it.

Makes sense I guess, point fingers and get a penalty kick right in front of the goal... Just doesn't seem very sportsman like. So, I've decided to call this whining, Goodbabymanship. The definition being "a form of bad sportsmanship in which one pretends to be a baby to the referee in order to gain a better standing in a game." In other terms, you are Good at being a baby man.

But no matter what I have said, I've enjoyed watching the World Cup this year, and I suppose it does add another element to the game. It also helps round out the players. Their coaches must have had them take up acting lessons or something, and why not let them use their new found skills in the game, right?

Gotta' be hard for the refs. though. How can you tell when the babies are faking or not? You'd think the refs. would get it when they see the player get up, kick the penalty kick, and play the rest of the game.

Not to practice goodbabymanship myself, I'm not really feeling the pressure the referees are. And that's another thing about Soccer, why do they have all those high speed cameras pointing at so many angles when the refs just blow them all away and decide the call they thought they saw. That's ridiculous! One of two things needs to happen. One, the refs. actually look and see if they judged play correctly (and catch these babymen). Or Two, they need to have less cameras so the fans just blissfully believe the refs calls. If they did one (or both) of these I think there would be a whole lot less riots...in my house.

I don't want to throw any stones; Just pass the babe-chow, baby-man, I'm gonna point my chubby, infant finger at someone else for my problems!

Well, I was thinking I was going to have to be more of a baby in this post considering I was voting for Spain to win at the beginning of the World Cup this year, because I thought they were really good. Well, they weren't. At least at the beginning. Finally they are coming back! But the other teams they would be going up against are teams like Brazil and Argentina. My family was doing sort of a Fantasy Soccer rally this year, so I'll be a good sportsman until then.

I was really disappointed when the US finally lost to Ghana, but my brother had some humorous words about it. "Think about it this way," he said, "If Ghana wins it will make 6 million people are happy, if the US wins, only about three people will be happy." No one watches Soccer here.

Last Sunday my church had a park day, and in honor of the FIFA we played Soccer. (The spectators were as numerous as the people who watch Soccer in the United States.) Man, I wish I was in better shape, or had taken those acting lessons...I was sore. But I'm not sure how acting lessons would have cured the pain.

Oh well, I have said my 5 bits on Soccer. Let's hope I don't have to do it again. Or else I might practice Goodbabymanship.

Sorry about all the negative space in the drawing. And yes, that probably is the worst Soccer ball I have ever drawn.

Toy Story 3

Hey Ya'll! Earlier today I watched my long awaited Toy Story 3 for Father's Day. I have been counting down the days until it came out, and two days ago Toy Story 3 came to theaters and I...couldn't watch it. But, I saw it today! And in 3-D!

As I said in my last post I had family from Texas here this past week (that's why I started my post with "Ya'll"), and we had a great time. We got to go to Disneyland all day long on Monday, and my little cousins were such troopers and stuck it out the whole time. I was amazed by their stamina, and good senses of humor. One of my youngest cousins, Jacob, got the irony of the signs on all the trash bins which says, "Waste Please." A great time was had by all, or me anyway.

A couple of days before that, my brother and I watched the World of Color show in California Adventure. It was an amazing show! Unfortunately we didn't get these vague ticket'er things so we could see it from the front. But even from the back it was definitely the best show I have seen at Disneyland in the two years that I have had a pass there. Sadly, two days after that all day'er at Disney with the family, my brother and my's passes expired. So, I guess I will have to wait until I get another pass to see exactly what the show is like.

But I forgot what I was talking about...Watch Toy Story 3! It and the short before it were great!