2 dollars and 2 hours in Vegas

Last night around eight, four of us started out on a journey I will never forget. Justin, Autumn, Ashley, and I decided that we needed to make a drive straight for Vegas. Las Vegas is about 4 hours away from Justin and Autumn. After we got through traffic it ended up being about a 6 hour drive. We parked in the parking lot of the Bellagio and headed for a trip out on the strip. We really only had two and half hours in Vegas because Justin needed to be at work by nine this morning. Justin said it well when he said "Hurry up, and enjoy Vegas! Vegas Baby!!" I spent one dollar in the Bellagio, and one dollar in the Paris casino. We safely arrived back at Justin and Autumns apartment around eight this morning. On the way home we saw the sun rise over the Nevada desert. It still feels like a dream.....

Wardrobes and Tiki Bars

Today was yet another great day here in L.A./Pasadena/Glendale. I went to work with Autumn and hung out....and then it hit me! "I could go clothes shopping for my new job so I don't have to when I get back." SO I ended up buying a bunch of dress clothes for work.

Later on this evening. Justin came home from work and their friend Ashley came over. A good time was had by all. We ate tacos for dinner and then we went to this Tiki bar/restaurant that was amazing. The whole restaurant is supposed to look like a sunken ship, so they put fish tanks all over the restaurant. It's great because any drink you order, alcoholic or not, you can get it on fire. Tonight I drank something called a "sharks tooth" and they handed it to me aflame. After the Bahooka's (the tiki place) we played a great game of Disney Scene-It in which the boys came out victorious. (the picture on the right is from the restaurant)

P.S. I just realized I have been spelling restaurant wrong my entire life. WOW

This is where the magic happens....

Today I fulfilled one of my "make-a-wish" wishes. Today I worked with my cousin Justin on a stop-motion animation film that the company he works for is working on. (Bix Pix). I will actually be able to watch the movie and say "Hey there's something that I helped on" so I'm pretty pumped about that. I guess the movie will be showing on T.V. around Christmas time. I guess tomorrow I will probably hang out with Autumn in the town she works in. (Maybe go to In and Out burger for lunch!!!!!) There is this great 80's style arcade that I could hang out in as well. Everyday is an adventure......

P.S. mom and dad I've decided that I'm moving out here. Just kidding.

Aaardvark's and Poo-Bahs

Today I walked to the thrift store I talked about yesterday, and a record store called Poo-Bahs. I ended up buying a sweeter than sweet Disneyland sweatshirt. They also had some pretty awesome vintage clothes, but unfortunately they knew the price tags they should have on vintage stuff like that. They spell Aardvark with an extra A. Isn't that peculiar?

The record store was also a good time. It was called Poo-Bahs. It reminded me of a punk record store taken right out of a 80's John Cusack movie.

Tiki Torches and Princesses

Another grand day out in California! Today we went to disneyland all day. Seriously all day. It was awesome. We went on probably my all time favorite ride, pirates of the carribean. They actually added a few new robots to fit better with the recent movies. I think it was tried to be done in good taste, but it is hard to see a great old ride change with the times. The picture on the right was taken from the ride Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster. You can tell one thing from the picture. I need to focus way more on trying to get points and a lot less on talking. Justin is kicking my butt. Today was a great day.
I think tomorrow I'm going to walk to a cool record shop down the street as well as a huge thrift store called Aardvark. Just what I need, more T-shirts!

Plane rides and Palm Trees

Well I have officially arrived in California! The air is nice and smoggy. Justin and Autumn are great! I think tomorrow we are going to try and go to Disneyland. BOO YAH.

"The Man" has snatched me up

I was offered the job at Dain Rauscher! I'm quite excited to actually have a permanent job. The past year I have had to look/switch jobs at least every 3 months. So the prospect of having one for a while kind of excites me! I start the job October 3rd (the day after I get back from California)

OH YEAH! I'm leaving for California tomorrow and staying for a week! I'm sooo pumped. I'm visiting my cousin Justin and his wife Autumn. I went out there about a year ago and it was a complete blast.

Waterfalls and Escalators

I had my interview today. It seemed to have gone pretty well. I think they liked me. I was definitely whisked away it world buzzing with activity. I interviewed at a company called RBC Dain Rauscher. They are located directly downtown in three different buildings. People were running around all over the place and they had waterfalls that ran along side the escalators. It was all quite over-the-top.

This evening some of us went to help an orginization called "Feed My Starving Children". They pack dehydrated food that is shipped all over the world. Tonights shipment was being shipped to Haiti. We were able to pack over 7,000 meals tonight. It was pretty cool.

Interviews are gateway drugs to jobs

I have an interview tomorrow! Let's hope I win them over with my charm!

I thought selling out would feel different than this

Since the ending of the perfect summer job (mosquito control), I started looking for yet another career path. I think the one that interested me the most was a campus recruiter for Cargill. It seems like it would be a fun job. It would pretty much entail trying to get people my age to work at cargill.

I have sort of felt that I am selling out and just trying to find a corporate job. Not that my friends that have corporate jobs have already sold out, but just for me it's something that I have been avoiding.


I'm yet again listening to mewithoutYou, and still reading irristable revolution. that book is a post waiting to happen.

Community is the cats meow

My church has decided that in order to really experience life and community with each other, we need to start spending more time together. We are officially doing something we have started to call LTS (Life Together Sundays). LTS is going be an all day event every Sunday where people of the church can go and hang out with each.

I go to a very small house church (about 25 people) and church is at someone else's house every Sunday. Whoever's house it is at that particular Sunday will host LTS. LTS will be a time where we can spend Sunday doing our normal routine just with the people of the church. We will share meals together, do puzzles (I hope), clean together, read the paper, watch football, and ultimately share our lives with each other. I'm pretty pumped about how LTS is going to work!

a mind lost

So I may or may not be losing my mind. Today I'm pretty sure I brushed my teeth quite a few times.
This morning I totally forgot to brush my teeth and then throughout the day I was trying to convince myself that I hadn't brushed my teeth yet, and so every time I went to the bathroom I brushed my teeth just make sure. I think it's OCD settling in quite nicely.

I can't believe I just posted about brushing my teeth. This posting every day is starting to get to me


Umm, I've been listening to Missy Higgins a lot.

PEACE

Played Frisbee Golf

It was windy

Little Miss Sunshine

Today:

1. Saw Little Miss Sunshine ( the movie was quite heart warming and hilarious)
2. Had my last day at mosquito control
3. Laid around during the afternoon
4. Listening to Damien Rice

Endless Summer Ending

Well my stint at mosquito control is wrapping up. Tomorrow is my official last day. I had a good summer there. Here are the top 5 best things of the summer at mosquito control. (I could probably come up with a better list, but this is just off the top of my head)

5. Laughing with Pete while driving around
4. Drinking giant mountain dew 79 cent slurpees with Tyler
3. Falling in the river and my chest waiters completely filling with water. (that happened in june, my waiters are still wet)
2. Loading the Helicopter
1. Tomorrow Pete and I are going put armor-all on our seats so the next person to use our trucks will slip right off.

The mind being renewed

I started reading the book irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Man oh Man I really enjoy that book. It seems that so many of his ideas are things that have been dreams of mine, but I thought they were too outrageous to actually accomplish. He speaks so much about community and our call as Christians to take care of everyone as if they were Jesus themselves.

Today I was at my garden and it was the first time I picture Leigh (the older lady that smokes a lot of pot) as if she was Jesus. Wow it made me want to do anything to make her feel good, take away her hunger, and really show her the love of God. It was awesome!

He also writes a lot about mother Teresa. I NEEEED to read some of her writings.

Here is a clip of what he writes

"I truly believe that when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end."

"Few people are interested in a religion that has nothing to say to the world and offers them only life after death, when what people are really wondering is whether there is life before death."

"And the kingdom that Jesus speaks so much about is not just something we hope for after we die but is something we are to incarnate now"


I suppose that's enough for tonight

PEACE,
Dave

Time is so overrated

So here's the deal. You know at the beginning of the month of september I set a goal to pray for an hour everyday. Lately I have felt a little convicted about it.

Last thursday, spurred this feeling of conviction. The time was 6:20pm and I shut myself in my room and was determined to pray for exactly one hour. I sat in my room like a child being banished after bad behavior. People were over at the apartment and I wanted to be hanging out with them. My heart was not in the prayer time at all. Of course that wasn't totally a wasted hour, but at the same time I realized prayer times are not to be times of counting the minutes on my clock. (By the way, I used my roommates clock, because it was a minute faster than the first clock I looked at. How pathetic is that?) I realized that my prayer time did not need to be about how long I spent with God, it was about the quality time I spent with Him and what my heart condition was.

some things to share

today I....

1. ate all you can eat shrimp at Red Lobster (good stuff)

2. worked with my 69 year old partner "chemical Pete"

3. bought a t-shirt at savers

4. wasted my free time playing dicewars. Just type in dicewars on google.com. (get ready to be addicted

As if I didn't get enough books......

soo feeling like 15 books (scratch that 16 Matt and Chloe bought me Walden) I felt that I NEEDED to get two more. So today I purchased V for Vendetta. It is a graphic novel (aka big long comic book) which the movie was based on. I really loved the movie, so I figured why not read the book. Which so far the comic looks pretty sweet. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of the art but we will see. I also purchased irresistible revolution by Shane Clairborne. I think that one is about living the christian life in community (of course it would be about community of Christians! that's kind of my big thing.)

I've been listening a lot to mewithoutYou.(pictured to the right) I love that band. AND my new guilty pleasure The Goo Goo Dolls

(September 9th) Birthdays and Garage Sales

So today we went and did some serious garage saling. I'm talking 8:00-2:30. It was a pretty big day. After the garage sales we came home, ate pizza, and now we are watching the Twins play some good baseball. The best deals of the day were all the books I purchased. here's a good list

A treasury of Short Stories: featuring Hemingway, and tolstoy
Adventures of Hukleberry Finn: Mark Twain
Burmese Days: George Orwell
The Lincoln Reader (just a bunch of stories/speeches by good old Abe
Treasury of American Folklore
The Laurel Poetry Series: Whitman
The House of the Seven Gables: Nathaniel Hawthorne
King Lear: Shakespeare
Selected Poems of Robert Frost
Abventures of Tom Sawyer: Mark Twain
Brave New World: Aldous Huxley
A Journey to the Center of the Earth: Jules Verne
Autobiography and Other Writings: Benjamin Franklin
Leatherbound Webster's Dictionary (1966)


that's enough tonight I'm pretty tuckered out

September 8th ( A celebration)

Well tonight my immediate family got together and celebrated my brother's and I birthdays. Mine is tomorrow and his is the 15th. Tomorrow is the most excited day because we as a family are doing a bit of garage salin'. It's this huge garage sale that takes up most of the morning and a little in the afternoon. I might try and find a lamp with a clock in it. That is kind of the goal, AND some old cat stevens records, because that is what I'm listening to right now.

September 7th ( A Thursday)

Not much to post today.

I did however work with loading the helicopter at mosquito control today.
Here's a tasty pic of me after we loaded it.

September 6th (A Wednesday)

I guess I don't have anything ground breaking to share this evening. EXCEPT that I actually came home from work and stayed home. It was glorious. I think it was the first time in for sure a week possibly two.

Work wasn't too busy today. I didn't finish the crossword ( I like attempting it everyday). -Sidenote- I was amazed to find out that my grandfather has never done a crossword puzzle before! I think I might get him a crossword puzzle book for Christmas. - I also prayed during work. I think I'm going to try until the end of the week, but I just can't seem to focus long enough to actually have good communication with God.

I'm listening to Coheed and Cambria "The Light and the Glass" which is a freakin' sweet epic of a song.

I didn't read Why I am not a pacifist last night, but I have slated it for the agenda this evening.

September 5th ( A Tuesday)

aaah Day 2 of blogging. Already I can feel my fingers getting excited about future blogs. My knuckles cracking with anticipation.

Let's see first I'll address my goal of praying every day. Today I prayed for an hour at work. I don't know if that counts, but I'm totally counting it. You see the college students have all left mosquito control and returned to there various educational institutions. With the college students being gone my crew is down to 4 people instead of 6. All this said I worked all by myself today. Working out in the middle of fields makes it easy to pray out loud.

Today was the first day that I arrived at my garden with a bucket. Not for watering, but to gather in my harvest. It was quite glorious. I picked 2 butternut squash, 3 large tomatoes (but later found one of them to be rotten), 3 grape tomatoes, and 1 smaller cucumber. This whole gardening is quite enjoyable. I'm still waiting on my over-the-top large pumpkin, but it has to come in sometime. I think I'm going to have to sleep over at my garden one night, just like they did in that Peanuts cartoon ( I can't remember the name of it.)

aaah yes. I also had accountability group with some guys from the church. It was a good time. We always meet at panera and the conversation always always ends up being very encouraging. It's an encouragement to talk to people that are trying to figure out how to be more and more like Jesus everyday. (not that I don't talk to people like that outside of accountability group....you get the drift)

I'm currently listening to Leeland. My roommate introduced them to me. I guess they kind of sound like a Christian happy Coldplay/Copeland/Sleeping at Last.

I'm about to read an essay by C.S. Lewis entitled "why I am not a pacifist" that should challenge my thinking I'm sure. I'll blog about it tomorrow.

I sure do have to get to my reading.......

Dave

The Memoirs of a September

So here's the deal. I've decided my September is going to be one of audacious goals.

Here they are:

1. I'm going to blog everyday of the month of September (well I will blog for one month rather. Starting today and going until October 5th) Now Now some of you may remember when I attempted to blog every day for a week. (It didn't pan out, but I'm stronger and I have more will power now!! I hope.) This daily blogging will pretty much be filled with some basic things (what I did, what music was hot on dave's top 100 that day, what book I'm reading, maybe some garden updates, and how things are going at my church)


2. I don't pray nearly enough. Praying is such a huge part of the Christian faith, but it falls to the wayside so easily. So starting tomorrow I will be praying for an hour every day. This will be a good stretch for me, but a much needed one. You see, I've needed a time to block out sometime during my day. I think I'm going to do it from 3:15-4:15, but it might turn into a 9:00-10:00 kind of deal.

I'll keep you posted.


Oh yeah,
September 4th ( A Monday)
today I came back from my Aunt and Uncle's Cabin (which was a blast), and I went to a house church soiree.
I finished reading "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. That guy is a fantastic writer. The book made me think quite a bit about capital punishment.

Well It's bedtime. I'll write more tomorrow

PEACE,
Dave