enochperson's Xanga

written on 06/22/2008

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:47:59 GMT

OK. So we arrived a week ago yesterday. Mitch and Johally picked us up from the airport. No wait, we left a week ago today. We awoke at 6A and our plane left the ground at 7:15A. After 4.6667 hours of traveling we arrived in San Diego at 9:55A. Mitch and Johally picked us up from the airport and transported us immediately to In-N-Out Burger. Then they took us to our apartment. The airport is in the center of San Diego, so we had an immediate view of the ocean, the massive navy boats, and downtown San Diego. We are sharing our 2 bedroom and 2 bath apartment with Mitch and Johally.

After getting settled, the van filled with most of the team came and picked us up for dinner. We had dinner with the team and a lot of the staff at this guy’s house. His name is Brett and he sort of runs the base here in San Diego. Nothing makes you feel welcome quite like hamburgers in somebody’s backyard. The weather here gets a little hot and a little cold. During the week we spent a lot of time getting to know each other and the center and the organization Youth With A Mission. I’m trying not to call it a base, because, uh, apparently Al Qaeda means base, and we are not a military organization. Eh, maybe I’ll just call it a base. There are four bases, of which San Diego is the administrative center. The other bases are in Tijuana, Tecate, and Ensenada, Mexico. The staff here are really diverse. There are people here from the USA, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji, Guatemala, Norway, England, and uh, other places. It really is an international organization. Most of their pursuits are directed towards improving people’s lives directly. Homes of Hope is one of the programs they have here where they build houses for families in Mexico. They said this week that ownership of a house will remove a family from poverty in the course of one generation. So anyway I feel like stuff is getting done with this organization. People are getting help and they get to experience something like God’s love for them.

On Friday we all... oh wait. After we were done on the first day Monday, and after dinner, we drove out to Ocean Beach. It was great the waves were crashing, there were bonfires dotting the beach and the moon was full. SeaWorld had their nightly fireworks, which we could barely see. I wrote Lindsay and my names in the sand, and the ocean moved my flip flops. Luckily we found them, but then they broke a few days later.

OK, then Friday, we took the afternoon off and went to the bay and rode a jet ski. It was sweet action. We played in the sand and flirted with the sun. Don’t worry, Lindsay and I protected ourselves moderately well. Oh, ack, and Thursday night we had another community night and they rented a taco stand and guy and we had for real tacos. And uh last night we walked around Littly Italy. So the sights are many, but I’m glad to say we aren’t spending much money to take it all in. This week we’ll have more of a regular schedule. We’ll have work duties and service work and other things to do. Lindsay and I are still tailoring our schedule, but I think we should have it down soon. We hope to get to know the rest of the team better. Our apartments are really close to the offices, but the singles’ apartments are some blocks away. So we have to put more effort into spending time with them. Living situation is an obstacle, I think we can work through it. We went to a church today, and Suzette Runyon from KU was there so that was neat. Oh i was going to say that the plant life here is just plain silly. There’s so many different kinds and they all have peculiarities. Not much like Kansas. Lindsay's got pictures on her site.

We're Dancing for the Restless and the Broken-hearted

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:29:50 GMT

You may be surprised to find that this song is for you. The lyrics are pretty ridiculous and the energy is addictive. It is called "What it Means to be Young" by the band Fire Inc., who, according to my reading, only made a couple songs for the movie Streets of Fire, in 1984. I like this song:

This is the band we saw in Montreal with Xiu Xiu. The band is called Thao & the Get Down, Stay Down:

Sitting in Winfield, acting like it's summer break. Lindsay says I should put subjects in more of my sentences, so actually, I'M sitting in Winfield, acting like it's summer break. Lots of stuff to do. We are getting lots of rain every night, I really like it. I don't have much to write, maybe i'll try the journal or something.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Thu, 22 May 2008 00:11:33 GMT

To quote Coolio,

"I'm twenty-three now will I live to see twenty-fo'?
The way things are goin I don't know."

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:38:41 GMT

Super Music Post!

This is music I have been listening to lately. I hope you listen and enjoy. This means you Caleb, Aurora, Shiloh, Tom, Talitha, and others.

This is, like, my new favorite song right now, by MGMT

This is the first track from the new M83 album

This is a song I missed when I was in the 80's, by Tom Tom Club

This is a song I missed when I was in the 80's, by Rick Astley

Lastly, this is a song I missed when I was in the 80's, by Zapp. It is in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. AURORA, note how Chromeo probably idolizes this band. Did you know about them? I didn't.

That is all. More posts to come.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:24:28 GMT

MGMT - Time to Pretend click here for video

This pack mule is carrying hundreds of pounds.

Human Exoskeleton

Monday, April 14, 2008

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:41:05 GMT

***

Lindsay and I will be leaving Lawrence soon. I will miss the place. We are planning on doing humanitarian work with Youth With a Mission for the summer. There are a lot of preparations. I am also preparing for graduate school. I hope that you have a good day.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:09:14 GMT

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:38:49 GMT

Hello. Still here. Still in Montreal. Things are good. It's wet and cold and slick, but it's cool. We've been all around this town and there's stuff we won't get to. We saw Regine from The Arcade Fire walking down the street. We've walked through Chinatown, Old Montreal, Downtown, the Plateau, Little Italy, Mile End. Didn't do the Latin Quarter or the Old Port... haven't yet done the art museums or the olympic park or Mount Royal. We missed Justice but randomly decided to see A Fine Frenzy (was not good) and tonight we saw Xiu Xiu, and it was very good. I'll provide more details later bye.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:53:27 GMT

All these old people around me talking about retirement.
When is the best time to retire?
How much more time 'til retirement?
Well guess what.
I don't believe in retirement. Why do you get to stop working just cause your old? Makes no sense. Why do these people hate their jobs so much?
I have come to the conclusion that nobody wants to work, but everybody has to. So you'd better find a way to make that acceptable to yourself. Best way is to find something that you like to do. Really, I'm planning on working until I am dead.
I don't believe in retirement.
All this is very helpful for me. Because, for me, retirement doesn't exist. I don't know what that social security withdrawal from my paycheck is, I'm never going to see that money again. I would love if there were a way that I could opt out of the social security system. Stop taking my money when you know damn well that you aren't going to give it back to me.
It's a good thing I don't believe in retirement.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 14:27:44 GMT

Well we got both our passports in the mail, so it's really happening. a week from tomorrow.