the name game

let's do "chuck"... chuck, chuck, bo buck...

Ever hate your parents for your name? Be glad you're not one of these kids.

backtrack

allow myself to introduce... myself

Okay, so it wasn't a HORRIBLE Christmas. It just really wasn't what I had in mind as to how I was going to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I didn't get to go visit my mother in Ohio, but I DID get to attend the 2:00 Christmas Eve service at my church. I was excited about this because I put in a lot of work on the service and wasn't going to get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. So it would've been pretty much like last year. A lot of people were surprised and happy to see me at the service. In fact, a few people even invited me to join them on Christmas Day so I wouldn't have to be alone. So I spent most of my time alone, but it wasn't horrible. And tonight I headed down to Nashville, TN, to get ready for the EDGE conferences in North Carolina this week. When I arrived, Ben, Craig, and Craig's wife - Brittany went to the "chop suey joint" for dinner. When I walked in, I felt like it was "A Christmas Story"... Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

So, even though I didn't get to be with my family for Christmas, I survived. You could almost say I just about "skipped Christmas" altogether.

Tis the season

fa ra ra ra ra

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year, may your season be blessed with family, friends, fun, and safe travel.

worst christmas ever

yep, it's official

Well, Christmas 2004 will be henchforth known as the "bad year" for me. Due to weather conditions northward, it will be impossible for me to see my family for the holidays. This is the first time ever that I will not get to be with anyone during this time of year. As my mom stated, "I always knew some year you wouldn't be able to make it, but I always thought it would be because of a girlfriend."

So here I am, and here I'll be. No family, no friends, no cheer, no eggnog, no wrestling with the little cousins, no getting to see the face of people opening the present I gave them; just me, a TV, a bag of chips, and my computer... [sigh].

I must be getting punished for something.

Christmas alone?

mother nature has it in for me

It looks like for the first time since I've been alive, I might have to spend Christmas alone. If the weather has anything to say about it, anyway. It's looking like I won't be able to spend Christmas with my family, this year. Which really sucks. I like my alone time as much as anyone, but not around the holidays... that's the worst. And to top it off, I've just moved into a new place, so it feels even weirder being alone in a place that's not really home, yet.

Is this cause to be unhappy? I think so.

quote of the moment

i'll be your huckleberry

Jack Johnson: Why you do it?
Doc Holliday: Wyatt Earp is my friend.
Jack Johnson: Hell, I got lots of friends.
Doc Holliday: I don't.

- from "Tombstone"

words

the simplest phrase can touch the soul

A friend of mine named Mike Tuttle has said some amazingly kind words in reference to me... I would like to repeat them here. They've patched a little piece of my soul.

"Scotty loves life and he loves the little things. Everyone should have a Scott Glascock. If you don't, you can borrow mine."
- Mike Tuttle

Y'know... I just think it's wonderful that the words and sentiments that you seem to need but don't know you need, come your way when you really need them to.

3000 miles away

I need to get back to You

This post is really geared toward the people who know me best, but also to anyone who knows me well enough to understand what I'm talking about.

Over the past month (or maybe more, I don't really know) I have been acting strangely toward people, and I have not really been acting my normal "happy, energizer-bunny style, zesty, excited about life and living and the small things", self.

I'm the kind of person that doesn't realize I'm doing something until someone brings it to my attention - and when it's brought into the foreground of my mind, I'm able to at least recognize I'm doing it, although I may not know or understand why. Once I'm able to recognize, I then move into trying to figure out why I'm doing, saying, or acting the things or ways that I am. I have come to one general conclusion for the moment.

I'm not happy.

I realize that the basis of my happiness is and has always been God. And the reason for my unhappiness is that I'm so far away from God right now, and I just feel like I'm struggling to hang on to where I am and trying to get back to Him.

To my friends: I know I have not been the friend to you that I normally am or should be, and I apologize. I don't have that many friends, so I cherish, treasure, and appreciate every one of you.

If you don't hear from me before then, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and an exciting and fun (yet safe) New Year.

Parting Shot (ala Mike Tuttle):

"Your absence changes me and everything seems so wrong;
but with no sense of irony I write you this sweet love song;
Distance is my tutor - so well he's teaching me
in the education of appreciation - and I got my Ph.D.;
Take me home to that face - 3000 miles away."
- 3000 Miles Away by Daily Planet

Quote of the Moment

inspired by Mike Tuttle

I want pancakes! Yo quiero pancake! Click click, bloody CLICK - PANCAKE!!!!

-Stewie, Family Guy

moving

pull the truck around back, boys!

Don't worry, my blog isn't moving. I am. Physically. For the record, I really dislike moving. I don't like packing up and taking all my stuff from one place to another. I don't like finally getting set up or settled in somewhere and then having to do it all over again.

Well, that's what I'm doing all this week. And what makes it worse is that my stuff is going to go to three different places. Storage, my mother's, and my new place. So I'm slowly moving some of the small stuff to my new place and storage as I can with my car. Saturday, hopefully, will be the BIG move day. At least that'll be the day to get all the furniture out and in... and in.

Ah well. This too shall pass.

weekend update

live from New York, it's Saturday Night!

Enough with the blatent rip-offs - I had one of the best weekends I've had in a long while. (Take it however you want) Aside from the poor and slow start (see previous post) it was really great.

Saturday
Woke up and picked up one of my best friends to goto a rehearsal in Frankfort. Little did I know that the day would take off from there. Rehearsal went well and fairly quickly. My friend and I then went to take in a matinee. Y'know, I really think matinee's are a wonderful gift to us. Whoever first thought up the idea of showing a movie in the afternoon at a lower than normal price should be hailed as a king. But, let's get back on track; And speaking of tracks, the movie we went to see was Polar Express. It has already become one of my favorite holiday movies. I can see it becoming a tradition for me around the holidays. After the movie, we did a little bit of Christmas shopping. Now, I don't usually shop in the prime shopping hours, especially on weekends. I generally like to shop a bit more leisurely in the early or late hours of the morning/evening. Traffic was really rediculous in the Hamburg Pavillion shopping center. After shopping we were supposed to meet some friends for dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. Have you ever eaten bison? I'd like to rave about it - but really it doens't taste much different than beef to me. It was really good though. I liked it, but it's more expensive than beef, and for the same taste, I don't feel it's worth it. After dinner we went to our friend's home to play some games and hang out some more (with a brief detour to the liquor store). We ended up playing Catch Phrase with more of a catch than usual... we turned it into a drinking game.

Sunday
Sunday found itself starting out with a stop-off at my friend's house to pick her up to go to church. It was very interesting for me, it's been a while since I have been in town and not been running lights for the services, so I was actually sitting in the congration. My church is running a really awesome series this holiday season which has gotten a LOT of press and response - both good and bad. This year, we're skipping Christmas. Check out the website they've set up. And before you jump up and down, scream and shout, and yell at me things like, "How Dare You?", "Where's your Christmas Spirit?" and "You are a cultist organization that's going to heck!" READ WHAT IT'S ABOUT!

After church I had another rehearsal for "A KY Christmas Carol" being performed at Liberty Hall in Frankfort this weekend. Focus was a little off for many of us, but that's mostly only on account of us not being in the actual space that we'll be performing in.

After that I spent the evening helping my friend put together a wine rack she purchased the day before, we watched "A Muppet Christmas Carol" (one of my new favorite holiday traditions), baked cookies, ordered a pizza for dinner, and then just watched some TV before I left to go home and crash.

It was a very low-stress, VERY fun weekend. And that's how I really feel.

now THAT's what I call fun

wait, no... it's sad

friday night:
1 can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup
4 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 2)
3 episodes of Smallville (season 2)
30 minutes of playing Halo in multiplayer mode (by myself)
2 small bags of Doritos Cool Ranch chips
3/4 large bag of Ruffles (with ridges)
1/2 jar of ranch dip
and 1 bottle of champagne

yep... pretty much par for a friday night.

attack!

weapons for today's warrior

Eat your heart out 007. I've got some gadgets of my own.

Halo 2

something oddly satisfying about sneaking up on an alien and clocking him with the butt of your rifle

I don't know or remember if I've ever mentioned the fact that I own an Xbox video game system on this blog before. Guess what? I do. Now that we have that out of the way, on to the post:

HALO
Halo has been acclaimed as one of the best video games to come out in recent history. It was the first game that I bought when I bought my Xbox, and I tend to agree with the reviews. It revolutionized first-person shooters by leaps and bounds, not to mention the multiplayer facet of the genre.

Now Bungie has out done even itself with the sequel, Halo 2. I had the opportunity to play the second installment of the game via renting it from Hasting's. Alas the few days I had it in my possession left me feeling nostalgic, and, realizing I had never actually beaten the first Halo, I broke it out and finished the game.

There's something oddly satisfying about beating a video game. It has a sense of relief and freedom and accomplishment... but then emptiness. You think "YES I BEAT IT... ... but now what?"

Luckily for me, I'll be getting HALO 2 for Christmas.

quote of the moment

more words and wisdom to live by

"In life, the road to darkness is a journey, not a lightswitch."
-Lex Luthor, Smallville

HOLY CRAP!!!

"swimmers" be warned

This article speaks for itself... let's just say... I'm scared.

quote

words to live by

Truth only hurts when it suddenly slaps you in the face.

hello caller

would YOU want to ring the doorbell?


click to make it bigger



and.... GO!

revolving door life

and other things

The saying goes that for every door closed, another one will open. This can be true for many aspects of life; If that's true... then why does life feel like a revolving door? The door never really opens or closes, it just goes around in circles. Does a revolving door just make it easier for things to come and go?

On a more tangible tangent, the past two days have been absolutely WONDERFUL outside. Yesterday was really incredible with the temperature getting up to the high 60's. Today, the scenery is just as beautiful, but the temp is a little bit more chilly.

Mmmm... chili.

dreams - part two

still not a sex dream... although a bit closer

Mike Tuttle mentioned my last post in his blog... check him out - he has some interesting things to say about dreams.

Okay so the second dream I had goes a little something like this:

I'm standing somewhere. It's outdoors, looks like it might be a favorite spot of mine at Jacobson Park, but it really could be anywhere. I'm talking to a girl (I don't know her, or at least I don't think I do) and she's very attractive and I get up the nerve to ask her out or ask for her phone number so I can call her to ask her out. The funny thing is, in the dream, I'm not at all nervous to ask her - it felt very natural. The surprising thing to me (in my waking state) is that she seemed to be very responsive to the idea of going out with me). As I start to ask her out, a person I haven't seen in a while and don't particularly have any good or ill feelings towards shows up and takes a picture to capture the scene as a historic moment in my life.

So that's the second dream. I'll write more as it happens.

dreams - part one

Spoiler: not a sex dream

Like (or maybe unlike) a lot of people, I don't remember my dreams most of the time... which sometimes leads me to believe that I don't dream most nights, but I can't really prove or disprove that. Now on to the "meat and potatoes" of the post:

I haven't been sleeping well at night the previous week or so, so I've been sleeping on the hide-a-bed. The past two nights I've remembered my dreams fairly vividly, only to have them fade away as my mind shrugs off it's drowsiness. What I do remember is this:

A female friend of mine and I are in a play together - we're sitting down on my hide-a-bed and running lines for the show. At some point, I had to leave and went and talked to my roommate and the only thing I said to him was "Man you have GOT to remember to turn off your alarm before you leave in the mornings." As I left his girlfriend, in comfy bedtime clothes, walked past and said, "HI". I went back to the previous room and found my friend asleep, but she was sprawled all across the bed, leaving not even a corner for me to curl up in. I tried to stir her to move over and at that time she looked at me and said, "shhh, [cat] is asleep". She pulled back the covers and there was her cat (actual cat) asleep in the bed. I gently scooched him over and went to sleep... and I woke up (actual waking up) to the sound of my roommates alarm going off - he had forgot to turn it off before he left.

To be continued...

time for a change

I was getting a little tired (just a little) of the last template I was using. So I traded it in for a variation. Welcome.

reminisce

those were the days...

The gallery for my new website is WELL underway. I have a few albums set up for my lighting design portfolio and another album dedicated to my personal life... just some random photos of my friends and I.

Enjoy

rejoice

turn your mourning to singing

I am now hosting my blog at skipthehero.com/blog/. You can go there and start reading it now... I will eventually try to integrate it into my website.

If you keep trying to read about my adventures here, you'll be VERY dissappointed. To keep visiting my blog goto: skipthehero.com/blog/ or skipthehero.com and click on "blog".

Nothing has changed, other than that.

coming soon

it has begun

Run in terror - my presence online is becoming more solidified as we speak.

Saturday evening I registered my own domain name - www.skipthehero.com.

Check it out - Not much yet... but it will be.

Poll

answer honestly

Okay, I just took a look at my sidebar and the Archive section is getting REALLY long. Do you think I should switch it to archive on a MONTHLY basis or leave it archived in WEEKLY sections as it is now?

GO!

irony

nature is not without a sense

Preface: On my way home from my mom's after a nice Thanksgiving weekend, I had a conversation that pretty much sank all of my organs into my stomach.

When I started out from my mother's house, the sun was shining, there were very few clouds in the sky, and it was a decent temperature outside. As I crossed into Kentucky from Ohio, the sun seemed to go behind a cloud, and I could see toward the southern horizon the sky was looking quite a bit more grey than the previous two hours of my trip. The closer I came to home, the darker the clouds, and the more time the sun spent dodging the open cloud holes. About 30 minutes to my destination, the clouds are dark as could be and they decided to open up with a down-pour to rival a monsoon. My windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the torent. Luckily, it only lasted about 10 minutes and it returned to just a hard rain, then a steady rain into a drizzle. Finally it faded into just a misting, and the roads ahead were dry, but the clouds were still dark. It seemed the storm was yet to be over.

Last words: I apologize.

wishlist

dear santa claus...

Okay, if you're reading this and are planning on getting me something for christmas, but just can't figure out what to get the guy who seems to have everything, here's a little help:

Gift Certificates with iTunes Music store:
Click Here

Something nice from Amazon.com:
My Wishlist

I'll post more if I think of it... but really between the iTunes gift card and the wishlist on Amazon, there's a lot to choose from.

got google?

i don't know, but it sounds dirty

Several months ago a friend of mine posted an entry about being "Googled". It seemed fairly interesting, so I thought I'd do the same to myself. I did NOT find a bunch of porn sites as I had thought I would... here's what I DID find:

What I have done:
- I do have this blog @ blogspot (http://skipthehero.blogspot.com)
- I have created a webpage many years ago called Scotty's Corner.
- I have and do earn money for my opinions on epinions.com

That's the most interesting of the HAVE's.

What I have NOT done:
- I am not the author of any books about anything.
- I am not LTC Scott Glascock, Armor Enlisted Branch Chief .
- I have not played any part in the "Depford Players" production of MacBeth.
- Nor have I appeared in "Romantic Entanglements" by American Playwrights Theatre.

I've also tried the "I'm feeling Lucky" google option... mine just came up to my bio page for the blog.

So... google yourself (or a friend) and see what you get - post any interesting results on the comment section!

a little bragging

look ma' i'm famous!

I was just surfing the internet when I stumbled upon the webpage of Jenny Wiley Theatre. On the front page they have a picture of one of the highlights of the show "Legend of Jenny Wiley" which I light designed this summer there. I'm really proud of the show and the fact that they chose one of my favorite moments to post on their front page. So check it out and tell me what you think!

Jenny Wiley Theatre

Thankful

More than you can imagine

Just a few things I'm thankful for:

Jesus Christ for dying on a cross so that I may truly live.
My mother.
My best friend, Stephanie.
My other best friend, Dustin.
My "Big Brother", Kelly 'bubba' Cox.
All of my family. - most of the time. ;)
My health and happiness.
All my friends, both near and far
- Ben, Katie, Jon, Erin, Michelle, Casey, just to name a few.
All my church family and friends.
All of my theatre friends, where ever you are.
And everyone who has ever encouraged me, lifted me up, held me when I've cried, given me advice, and just listened when I needed it.

I am so thankful for all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

better late than never

Wanted to give a belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there.

My day was really good. I slept in until about 11:30am got up, cleaned up and headed over to my aunt and uncle's house for our bi-annual gorge-fest of ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, stuffing, rolls, and various veggies.

I have a large extended family... so I have a lot of "little" cousins, which are turning out to be not quite so little anymore. I almost didn't recognize a couple of them since it's been almost a year (about 11 months) since I've seen most of them. Four of my older "little" cousins are really interesting to talk with now. I feel like I can relate to them a little bit more now, than the past couple of years. When they were all younger, we would play around and I would wrestle with them and stuff... even with four or five of them on me, they couldn't take me down. But now that they're older... they're a LOT bigger. My cousin A.J. alone is tough to take... and he's the second oldest.

It's always a lot of fun to see my family at this time of year, and kind of catch up on what's been going on. My oldest "little" cousin, Samantha, is getting her first job at a Marble Slab Creamery. She seems pretty excited about it. I've learned that Alison (her younger sister) plays hockey for school. Yep, she's a jock. A.J. and Josh (brothers to each other, but not to Sam and Ali) are growing up, too... A.J.'s talking about girlfriends and all that sort, and Josh is about to grow taller than his big brother. Of course then you have the plethora of smaller cousins, some of which aren't walking yet, and still love to be held, then the ones who are starting to travel on their own power and love to play, and then you've got the ones who are in that phase where they just don't want to be messed with at all, and kind of run away from you when you hold out your arms for a hug.

Family is the best thing about Thanksgiving. I just wish I could spend it with ALL of my family... and by that I mean the family that you get to choose, like your closest friends. I really wish it would be possible to have everyone I love and care for in the same room for Thanksgiving. That would be the best Thanksgiving ever.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. To all my family. The ones I get "stuck" with, the ones I've chosen, and the ones who have chosen me. I'm thankful for all of you.

a "super" show

smallville

My friend Dustin got me hooked on a show called Smallville back about a year ago when we were roommates. He had the first season on DVD and it was awesome. Now he has let me borrow season two, and I'm SO invested in these people, I actually talked to the TV last night... I couldn't help but laugh at myself. I'm almost half of the way through season two and I'm getting to the point where I want to slow down a little bit because I don't exactly know when season three comes out and I'm running out of DVD's to watch (by the way, I don't have cable TV) and that's after watching all 8 seasons of Friends and the latest three seasons of Stargate:SG-1 (5, 6 & 7) that are on DVD. And NOW what's worse is I've become addicted to the stupid show Buffy the Vampire Slayer... unfortunately it happened in season 7!!! which happens to be the final season.

If I ever met Kristin Kreuk... I wonder if she'd go out with me...?

back ordered

no time like later...

One of these days I'll actually post some pictures of my latest adventures... my problem is all my photos are on my external hard-drive and I don't bring that with me to LiveWire... and I always forget to put a few on my C drive to upload.


So... tough it out a little while longer.

Moment to relax

okay, time's up!

Well, I'm back from my gig in Prestonsburg, KY. Today I'm home... tomorrow, I'm gone again. Sometimes it's nice to be busy, unless it keeps you from spending time with the people you care about and who care about you. (Fortunately for me, there's no such people. - KIDDING)

A Christmas Story had a packed house for the three matinees and both evening performances were sold out. It was very well recieved and the audiences seemed to really enjoy the show. It's a very easy show for people in my generation and older to relate to... younger generations can enjoy it... but I don't think they can really appreciate it or connect with it. Kids these days have too many things to hinder their imaginations. I remember playing Atari and Sega and Nintendo and watching TV... but none of these things could capture or stimulate my mind as much as my own adventures in my imagination. Young 'ens today are almost spoon fed everything by TV and Movies and the types of toys that are out. And it makes me sad.

I am vowing here and now that when (or at the moment if) I beome a father - that I will encourage the imagination of my child... and not let her/him be desensitized early on by too much TV or too many movies. I will encourage READING and hope that they take on their own adventures in their minds much like I did when I was a kid.

Now that my tangent is over... let me set this image upon your mind:

Circus midgets dancing the tango.

update from p-burg

live from the middle of nowhere

Sitting here in the Floyd County Public library. My only viable source of internet access. I've been hard at work during my down-time in Prestonsburg, working on my website and working on a new template that will be revealed when I return to Richmond after this gig.

On another note... if you've ever seen the movie "AntiTrust" with Ryan Phillipe, Claire Forlani, Rachel Leigh Cook, and Tim (blanked on the last name) - then do you remember the part where Phillipe is in the kids area working on the computer? Yeah? Well, that's kind of what I feel like right now. I'm typing on a Winnie the Pooh keyboard, it's bright and multi-colored, and the mouse is an Elmo mouse. It's actually kind of freaking me out a bit to have these characters staring at me while I'm typing. Check out the photoblog to the right to see the keyboard. I'll post it here in a minute or two.

That's all for now. Happy surfing!

don't try this at home

what's that all aboot, eh?

Naked Plane Riding... the hard way.

outta here

country roads

Well folks, have a great two weeks. I'm heading off to Prestonsburg, KY, tomorrow morning for the "A Christmas Story" gig. If I get a chance to, I'll drop a quick post here or there. I'll be seeing you. Take care.

Scott Patrick Glascock

design collage

click to enlarge


For all those that didn't get to come see Legend of Jenny Wiley this summer, here's a collage of the show created by a friend of mine. Lighting design by Scott P. Glascock, Scenic Design by David Utley.

rising excitement

peaking too early?

For the two or three people I've talked to in the past couple of days, you already know what I'm starting to get excited about. This post is for the rest of you.

As the rest of you may or may not know. A really good friend of mine (Dustin McClain) is getting married in June 2005, and he's asked me to be his best man. Now, i've been working on a really fun bachelor type event. And partially thanks to another friend of mine and a suggestion from Dustin himself, I came up with renting a chalet in Gatlinburg for a weekend. So far the plans are going really well, and I'm super excited about the event. The place we're staying is awesome. It has a jacuzzi, a hottub, a game room with foosball, airhockey, and a pool table, a nice kitchen, a grill, and more. I just wanted to share this with everyone... go check out the place we'll be staying! Mountain Lodge cabin from Cavin Fever Vacations. It is too sweet.

Jealous yet?

election day - unfair

petty, petty, petty

Okay, did everyone that voted yesterday get a sticker but me?! I hung out with some friends of mine at livewire yesterday afternoon (they were off due to election day) and they all had their stickers. I then began to look around the establishment, and noticed many other I VOTED TODAY stickers.

I guess the place that I vote were filled with senile old people who just forgot... or I looked like a terrorist and they threw out my vote so I really DIDN'T vote yesterday.

... and they say every vote counts. They sure don't make you feel like it.

quick update

now it's time for... the lightning round

- Election day today. Voted. Felt good.
- Leave for Prestonsburg on Thursday. Packing is coming along well.
- Plans for skipthehero.com are coming along nicely. Found inexpensive host thanks to Ben Stewart.
- Planning bachelor trip for friend... going well and very much looking forward to it.
- iTunes updated itself today... anything new, good, better? Tell you when I know.
- whew.

later

weekend update

everybody's workin' for the weekend

Saturday I setup and ran lights for the weekend services at my church. I didn't feel very well starting in the afternoon... but I stopped by a friends house for a few minutes to hang out. I left shortly after I arrived, went home and snuggled up to the toilet for about an hour, then went to bed.

Sunday was wonderful - an extra hour of sleep! Unfortunately it had to be interrupted by my alarm. Ran lights at church again, and afterwards Stephanie and I went to see Woodford County's production of DRACULA! It was incredible. There was no weakspot in the production of this show. All of the actors were talented, the set design was incredible and allowed the show to flow well, and the lighting design was amazing. So many times I go to see a community theatre project and come away from it being able to pick apart at least one or two actors - but not this time.

At the show we ran into some friends of ours and went to a restaurant/bar called Sweet Potatoes and talked for a couple of hours.

It was a really nice weekend. One of the better ones I've had in a while.

this just in

sitting at ground zero

I got a call today around noon from a good friend of mine. He told me that he possibly had kidney stones, that he had been in a lot of pain last night and had a difficult time sleeping and went to the doctor and they ran a couple tests. He got a call later, about 30 minutes ago, asking him to come in for some more tests... they said it is one of two things... kidney stones - or - his appendix.

Lots of prayers, please.

quote of the moment

more wisdom than you can handle

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."
- -- Eleanor Roosevelt

insomnia

nights seem to last forever when you can't sleep

I was up most of the night last night. Unfortunately, some old memories and suppressed thoughts crept up in my mind and wouldn't let me relax. Burdens on the mind and heart really suck.

a picture is worth a thousand words

small update

Like the title says, "a picture is worth a thousand words". So I've changed my bio picture that used to be one of me just out of bed hair all a mess with my headshot. Much nicer looking pic of me. Enjoy the new eye candy!

out of sync

"here's to today!

Something I was just thinking about and looking back on the past few years of my life was the fact the it's really impressive when you catch me and all my friends on the same end of life. One of us may be extremely content and happy and drama free, while another one is just starting on the mend, another is on the way down, and another is deep in despair. It'd be nice for one day for all of us to be on the same page... preferably all on the good side at the same time. I have some really strong friendships... but I don't know if all of them could take us ALL being on the down end at the same time.

Many prayers go out to those who are heading or are in the down swing. Much joy and thanks to those who are in the upswing! And a lot of love to you all!

scott farkas takes it on the chin

I've been hired by Jenny Wiley Theatre to play Scott Farkas in the new stage version of the popular holiday movie "A Christmas Story". For those of you who don't know the movie title by name... it's the one with the Red Rider BB Gun, and "You'll shoot your eye out". Scott Farkas is the red-headed bully who picks on Ralphie and, in the end, gets the snot beat out of him. Some would say the similarities are a bit uncanny... although I've never been a bully, nor have I had the snot beat out of me... I am red-headed. I guess that's really where the similarities end, though. Anyway, the show will be produced by Jenny Wiley Theatre and the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, KY, in late November. See it, dream it, believe it.

it's good to be back

Ah. You can't imagine how much more normal it feels to be able to communicate with the world again. Without Cable or Internet, my inflow of information basically ceased. Right now, I'm chilling out at LiveWire using their free network to catch up on events in the world. Ah... it's good to be back.

ding, dong, the witch is... alive?

Rejoice!

The whole reason for this post is the celebration of the return of my computer. Since May of 2004... my computer has been out of commission. To make a long story short - 2 istallation CDs, 3 hard drives, and 11 phone calls to Dell Tech Support later I have my life-line - my connection to the outside world - back. No actual thanks to Dell.

Some may be glad due to the finally ceasing complaining. Some may be happy that they have another place to kill five minutes while on the internet. Others may want to slit their proverbial wrists at the mere thought that my presence on the net has returned. Well, thanks to all of you.

Seriously.

quote of the moment

What lies behind us and what lies before us are
tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
- -- William Morrow

happy birthday jack!

Okay, so I've actually backdated this post since I wasn't near a computer on the actual anniversary of my blog. Right now, I'm in Atlanta, GA, working with a couple of friends of mine. It's been really neat to hang out with them and getting to do some work at the same time. When I get the chance, I'll go into a little bit greater detail and update the blog a bit better.

On another note.. I'd like to welcome Stephanie back to the blogging world. She's been absent for a while and we've missed her.

just around the corner

jack of all trades turns 1!

That's right in just a couple of weeks the blog that began with a simple whine has turned into something ... else. [dryly] I don't know about you, but I can hardly contain myself.

good news

Something to look forward to.

I received a call from my good friend ben stewart last night. He works for a kind of touring ministry [Inlightened Ministries] based out of Nashville, TN. There are a couple of conferences that they are gearing up for coming up in December and January. They've offered to have come in as their "lighting guy". I just can't wait! It's the best of so many worlds... i get to work with my friend, use my skills for worship, and i get to travel! One of the events is in North Carolina (i believe) and the other is in Gatlinburg, TN. I'm super psyched about it. I just hope I have work until then. :S

return of the ... me

I am now back in Richmond. Hooray. I guess. I seem to have a slight feeling of emptiness. I'm glad to see some familiar faces again... especially that of my best friend. But something about this place suddenly feels.... unfullfilling.

I don't really feel like I have too much to look forward to right now. My room in the apartment is a mess - as is the living room from where one of my good friends moved out during the summer. No, the living room isn't a mess, it's just un-inviting and cold-feeling.

I ran around paying bills and making appointments today to see get myself on track here. Maybe when stuff starts happening, I'll feel better.

I really look forward to visiting some friends in New York, right now, though.

... do I belong here?

another foot in the digital era

I finally took the next step into the digital era, I ordered an iPod! I can't wait to start using it... of course, my computer is still out of commission... so I'm not too sure HOW I'll get songs onto it.

another day ... another post

It's been a couple weeks since my last post. I've had my ups and downs, but mostly I've had some good times. The tour - "Schoolhouse Rock Live, Too" is going great. We had our third performance today and it went really well. In case you don't know what's going on... I'm on a school tour with this show. We travel around to elementary and middle schools performing this show usually twice a day. On some days we'll have a question and answer session with the kids.

The people I'm touring with are super talented and extremely fun and nice to be around.

I've been given notice that a couple of my friends are going to get to come see the tour when we make it around to my hometown.

On another note... I've been given a proposition of sorts... and it's one that I'm pretty excited about - at least after more thought. There is a posibility that I could be making the journey to the Big Apple for an extended stay. That's right... it's a possibility that I'm going to try to make it in New York. A friend of mine (not sure if I'm supposed to say anything right now that's why the name has been withheld) asked me if I wanted to go. I realized that after this summer, I'm going to have a lot of friends that live in the city... some that I've met this summer, some that I've met previous years, and some that I've known for a while and are making the move themselves.

Other than that, life is well - minus a girlfriend, still, but I'm moderately okay with that for now.

God bless.

winding down and gearing up

Winding Down.

Well - the summer here at JWT is beginning to wind down. We only have a week and a half of shows left.

Mixed Feelings.

On one side I'll be very happy to be getting back to all my friends and my church and having access to the little things in my life that make going through the daily grind bareable.

On the other - I'll miss the nice paycheck and working in the field that I plan on basing my life/career on.

Gearing Up.

On the upside - I have the opportunity to work onstage again at the end of the summer like I did at the end of last summer. I'll be performing in "School House Rock Live Too". It's a small touring show that performs for schools around the area. There's a possibility that we'll even make it as far as Lexington for a couple of performances. I'm fairly excited about this show. We begin music rehearsals for it next week.

For now - signing off...

400th post!!!!

Today is a day of celebration! Today marks my 400th Post. It also marks the end of the build at Jenny Wiley Theatre! All of our shows are up and running. We opened Legend of Jenny Wiley last night to a huge house. And it was very well received. My first paid lighting design looks amazing... even I'm impressed with myself, and people have been fairly encouraging. One person commented that it is the best the show has ever looked. I'm very proud of that design.

Well, it's not much of a post... but it's the 400th... isn't that swell?

Keep checkin' in... who knows... maybe there'll be 400 more.

updates and opinions

1) it sucks when people you care for just don't seem to "get" you

2) loneliness is more bitter when it's not shared

3) all work and no play really does suck

4) blowing stuff up is cool and exciting

5) i'm doomed to a single life

on a lighter side... Into The Woods opens tomorrow night and then I switch roles from Master Electrician to Lighting Designer and my job becomes ten times easier - ten times harder - and I get paid more for it.

Man - I hope I don't F#@$ it up.

pyro

Probably THE coolest thing that I've done so far [at Jenny Wiley] is to create flash pots and other pyro effect delivery devices, and design and build the firing mechanisms for said devices.

More on this later... if you're lucky.

soundtrack to my life - issue 1

Summer Nights - from Grease!Key Lyrics:
Summer loving had me a blast
Summer loving happened so fast
...
Summer dreams ripped a the seams
But oh those summer nights

The Luckiest - Ben FoldsKey Lyrics:
And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

getting high

Another quick post from JWT...

Today I helped rig up the flying track and mechanism to make Peter Pan and company fly for our production of Peter Pan. It's another great resume builder experience. When we were finished the "Fly Guy" - the man from whom we're renting the gear and who's teaching the flymen and actors how to do everything thing - asked me if I wanted to fly. Of course I said yes, and I flew like Peter Pan, Wendy, John and Michael. It was really cool and a lot of fun, I was basically the guinea pig for the guys learning the ropes before the actors came in. I guess I'm more expendable than the actors are or something ;). Anyway, I'm having a blast when I can... my part of putting up the shows is almost over (at least the tough part). A lot of late nights are happening right now, but in the end, it'll be worth it.

Love to all!

not dead

To those of you that want to know. I'm not dead. :)

Sorry to those of you who wish I was... looks like luck's on my side today!

working... hold please

I've been in Prestonsburg a little over a week, now. I'm getting all buff and tan and sweaty. We're doing a lot of great things and everyone's working really hard. Here's a quick run-down of some of the highlights:

- arrived and it felt like a family reunion (the good kind)
- cleaned 150 lighting instruments and uncoiled over 5000 feet of cable
- hung a pipe grid and created a makeshift truss
- played basketball
- played ultimate frisbee
- ate lots of good food (5 meals a day)
- had lots of laughs with new and old friends

That pretty much sums it up for the moment, folks, except for some specific stories that I don't have the time to go into right now. I hope everyone that reads this is enjoying their summer to some extent. I know I am... I mean what's better than doing something you absolutely love - AND getting paid for it!?

over and out

congratulations

Congratulations to my Big Brother - Kelly (Bub) Cox, and his BRAND NEW WIFE - Jamie!!!

I wish you two all the best!

seeing the light

I'm beginning to see the side of those people who oppose the smoking bans in certain cities around the country. I don't think the government should have ANY control over business owners. They shouldn't have to worry about making a building safe for people to enter the premises. After all, it's their choice if they want to step inside a condemned building. I definitely think that health inspectors should stay OUT of kitchens in restaurants. Who cares if there are a couple of rats running around the kitchen... it doesn't bother me if an employee doesn't wash his/her hands after using the bathroom and then handling my food. What's a couple of hairs in food between total strangers, right?

The government regulates all kinds of things, things that we take for granted every day, things that we wouldn't think of changing... all for public health and safety.

If you're a smoker. That's fine, I'm not telling you not to smoke, just don't smoke around me. An hour in a restaurant WON'T kill you to be without a cigarette.

Second-to-Last thought: I think an exception to the ban should have been made in the fact that if someone wanted to open an establishment especially for smokers (aka - a smoking bar or a cigar bar) that should be allowed.

Last thought: Being a person who has been VERY affected by the horrors of cancer and other diseases due to smoking, I totally agree with the ban. NOT going through with the ban is like sentencing everyone to a slow and ugly death. If you disagree with me, feel free to take it up with my father - wait, you can't - he died from lung cancer caused by smoking almost 13 years ago.

procrastination

I hate packing. Therefore I'm not doing it. I leave tomorrow and I'm only about 1/4 packed. Packing is the worst part of taking a trip or moving... I mean, UNpacking is even better than packing. It's more fun. Almost seems like a treasure that you've just discovered!

Anyway. I'm procrastinating. I guess I should go make another attempt to pack SOMEthing at least.

never before

I'm very overwhelmed by the people from my church. As many of you know, I'm leaving on Wednesday for Jenny Wiley Theatre to work for the summer. Now, I've worked there for four years, now, and each time I've left, I have just had a friend or two say goodbye to or to "see me off". Tonight people are actually getting together to have kind of a send off get-together for me. Never has anyone ever done that for me, and it just really makes me feel like part of a really awesome family. I'm really going to miss a lot of the people from my church, and especially people from my small group. I suppose I've gotten by before, but I'm just a little bit sader to leave this year, even though I know I'll have a good time in Prestonsburg.

On another note, Blogger just launched it's new site and they've got a blue zillion new templates, so I figured I'd try one out. They've also got a whole slew of new features to try out. Too bad I won't have a lot of time to actually play around with them before I leave. Oh well.

Thanks to all my friends and "family" for your presence in my life.

another update

Since april 19th I've been having issues with my computer. I call Dell Tech Support and they fix one problem, and then another pops up. I have wanted to change my template for a while now, and prior to the unfortunate state of my laptop, I was working on one. Now, I've switched back to one of the lame template presets that you can get from blogger (they're nice and all, but I'm just not content with them anymore) until I can upload my new page. I just got tired of looking at the other one, really.

On another note, I leave for Prestonsburg, KY, in 5 days. Podunkville, USA, as I affectionately call it sometimes. It's a really beautiful place, but I miss everything about a larger city when I'm gone. The blog will probably be put on haitus (sp?) for a couple months since I may not have access to the internet. I know all three of you who read my blog will be distraught and heart-broken (yeah, right) but it can't be avoided.

Please pray for patience, sanity, health, and safety for me while I'm away. Thanks. :)

fritz update

After an hour on the phone with DELL, the determination was that my hard drive has errors on it. They're sending me a new one and it'll arrive in two days. Until then, thanks to my roommate (Dustin) for the use of his computer.

And now a moment of silence for all the programs lost due to my fallen hard drive.

Oh yeah... and let's not foget all the porn. (j/k)

tip(s) of the day

I know a few people who have the very popular iPod made by Apple. I also plan on purchasing one in the next couple months. I recently read an article that gave some tips to maximize the life of your battery for not only the iPod but any other device that uses Li-Ion (lithium ion) batteries for power such as laptop computers.

Tip #1: Leave some gas in the tank.
Letting a Li-Ion batter run all the way down is a bad idea. It reduces the overall life of the battery and can trigger a protective cut-off circuit that may prevent the battery from being recharged at all. It is ideal to discharge 80% of the battery's capacity before re-charging and to recharge frequently.

Tip #2: Store at 40%.
Never store fully charged Li-Ion batteries for any length of time. The self-discharge of lithium-ion is about 5% per month. Once the charge level, cut-off circuitry kicks in, and the batter goes to sleep and quite often cannot be woken up unless you have special equipment.
For Notebook computers - it's recommended that the user removes the battery from the system anytime the machine draws power from the wall socket, other wise the battery stays in a less-than-ideal 100% charged condition at all times. Only top off the batter before you go on trips, when you know you'll need the extra juice.

Tip #3: Keep your cool.
Hot temperatures can significantly reduce the lifespan of a Li-Ion battery, and exceedingly hot temperatures can cause the battery to leak or even explode. Keep your battery packs or iPods in a cool place (59' F or lower) when ever possible. [note from Scott: so don't leave them in your car on a hot day, after all they're made to be extremely small and portable, and chances are that your pocket or purse will be much cooler than inside your car] For products with removable batteries, take the battery out whenever possible when using them on AC power to avoid heat and over-charging issues that can reduce the lifespan of the batteries.

Tip #4: Beware of old age.
Because of their chemical makeup, Li-Ion batteries deteriorate as time passes, and there is nothing that can be done to prevent this process. Over a period of 18 months to three years, the capacity of the battery slowly diminishes until finally it won't accept a charge, at which point there is no way to resuscitate it.

Tip #5: A couple of solutions.
- 1) If still under warranty AppleCare only charges $29.95 for shipping and handling. Out of warranty: Apple's Battery Service costs $99 plus a $6.95 S&H (total of $105.95).

- 2) iPod ResQ - cost $79. Service: ship a padded box to customer via overnight with prepaid overnight shipping back to the company, technicians switch out the battery that day and box it and send it back to the customer via overnight.

- 3) Two others to check out: PDA Smart.com and iPod Battery.com.

The Article Recommends: Use Apple or iPodResQ


Websites to check out for further research and information:
iPod's Dirty Secret
CE Tips.com
Cadex Electronics
Battery University

Hope this is useful to everyone. Send feedback!

update

I'm home from NY, but my computer is still on the fritz... so you'll just have to wait for the whole story. Sorry.

A bite out of The Apple - Update

Yeah, I haven't had the chance to do an update everyday. I've been going and going and going, and then I get "home" and I crash... hard.

When I return home, I'll make sure I post a bunch of pictures for your enjoyment. Until then, I post pics in my PhotoBlog in the sidebar, and you can click on the images to see larger images, so go there until I return!

Exploring a new place is tough work.

A bite out of The Apple - Day 1

Okay, so I've had my first official day in New York. What a beautiful city! Today, I visited Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and saw CBS and NBC Studios. Pretty cool. I don't really feel like writing too heavily in the blog for the next few days or so, but I will be taking pictures and posting them to my PhotoBlog, so make sure you check it out to see what I'm up to on kind of a day-to-day basis while I'm away. And look forward to a really big post when I get back with better photos of my time in New York.

Miss you all... well, not really.

... end transmission.

great stories

I have some really great stories and pictures to share with everyone from this past weekend... unfortunately, my computer doesn't like me right now, and I can't do anything with it. I'm on my roommate's computer right now, just so I can check my e-mail and give this quick update. By the time I have my computer back in working order, I'll hopefully have even more great tales to retell. Here's some things to look forward to:

- Hiking/Rock Climbing Trip to Red River Gorge
- Holocaust Remberance Day (this one's a bit tricky)
- Trip to NY for a Wedding and Site-seeing

Hopefully DELL will be able to help me get up and running quickly.

insomnia and early mornings

Yep. It's 3:30am. I'm up, and awake... unfortunately. All attempts at sleep have failed at this point. Normally, I wouldn't mind AS much, except my small group is going hiking/climbing tomorrow... or correction - today. I have to be awake in three hours in order to make it to church by 8:00am. I just wish my body would work with me here. I've been getting up fairly early to try to impede the progressively later and later nights. I've stopped drinking a lot of caffine, and I exercise during the day. I just don't understand.

inside the matrix?

Josh Wilhoit... Then - actor/singer/musician. Now - Agent Smith.

This kind of thing almost makes you wonder if we really are inside the matrix or not. And if Josh actually is an agent or not. Could that explain some things?

video

I found this link on Dave Barry's blog... check it out, it's a japanese commercial.

I sure would love to know what they're advertising... any guesses?

show me the funny

10 seconds of awkwardness... with Mr. T.

...

...

... Genius.

tequila sunrise - sans card night

As some of you may know, pretty much every Wednesday night, my roommates and I have a few friends over to play cards, hang out, watch a movie, or whatever else makes us happy. Yesterday was a good friend of mine's last card night. Alas, she (Rose) and her husband (Josh) are moving to L.A. in about a week. There were very few of us there last night (in fact, just me, one (out of two) of my roommates and our friend. So we decide to make it a tequila night. Now I realize that this may be a side of me most people don't know about... but I actually like the taste of tequila. It's definitely my liquor of choice (on the occassion that I drink). So we have a couple of shots of some crappy tequila to finish that bottle off, and then decide to walk to the liquor store right down the road from my apartment to get (duh duh duuuuh) the good stuff, Jose Cuervo.

A few more shots later and her husband was finally able to come over, and we watched this REALLY weird Anime movie called Wicked City. Now, I like anime, I'm not hardcore into it or anything, but I've seen my fair share. Vampire Hunter D, Akira, and most of the series that's been played on Cartoon Network's [adult swim]. I don't know if it was just that I was tipsy or what, but that movie was one of the wierdest movies i've ever watched... it was also difficult to follow since I probably zonked out once or twice.

I'm going to miss them. Rose is a good tequila drinkin' buddy.

cursed computer

I just realized what time it is. I kind of got sidetracked experimenting with some CSS... working on making a webpage totally out of it, and I kind of lost track of time. I'm going to bed now...

I must sleep.

skipthehero

Hey gang. I just wanted to give everyone a quick heads up. I've got an almost completed webpage up and running that runs alongside this blog and this blog has been integrated into. Feel free to check it out - there are navigation links to it at the bottom of the blog posts. Feel free to send me some feedback on the pages and all that jazz.

Enjoy! - [ skipthehero.com ]

link of the day

if you do nothing else today - goto: www.homestarrunner.com.

It's a website made entirely with Flash and Flash Animation and it gets updated pretty regularly, usually once a week. I suggest you start out by clicking on the button that says "First Time Here" and then go directly to the Strong Bad E-mails. Some of the best to start out with are the ones titled: sibbie; dragon; guitar; lures & jigs; i love you; and trevor the vampire.

Make sure you have sound on the computer you're viewing it - otherwise it looks kinda silly... y'know... like little characters just kinda bouncing around on the screen... and stuff.

So.. Check it out. I mean... y'know, I like it.

the onion statshot

A Look at the trends that shape your world.


image from theonion.com

there are worse things

As I see it at this moment; the only thing worse than coming home and seeing everyone all happy and cuddled up with someone - is coming home to an empty apartment ... on a Saturday night ... at 7:30pm.

This blows.

no fools

Well, April 1st has come and gone - alas this year I did not pull any pranks. The only ones I kept coming up were really mean, and could be quite a bit distasteful. So instead, I watched the 14 hour marathon of MXC on Spike TV. A couple of the "pranks" I thought about were:

- calling someone and telling them their refrigerator was running, then hang up.

- call someone and tell them I was from the clinic and that their test came back positive... then later when they were getting worried, double check what their name was - when I found out - I would apologize and tell them to have a nice day.

- call someone I know - have a normal conversation with them (while sitting in my car). Then at one point I would yell out something like, "Oh My God", or "Oh Shit"... fumble the phone around a second and then hang up like I was in an accident.

There were others, but I'm not up to writing them down right now, and plus, they really just got meaner from there.

from the ground up - a jack of all trades

Question: What do you get when you cross two parts insomnia, one part thirst for knowledge of CSS/HTML, a dash of experimentation with Adobe Photoshop Elements, and basted in boredom?

Answer: You get the newly designed (from the ground up) blog.

No more blogger templates for me. No sir. Thanks to some sleepless nights, the fact that I have no girlfriend, my friend Ben Stewart, and my insatiable thirst to be better at something than I already am, I've made a variation on a theme, the basic layout and the information is all still here, it's all just formatted differently.

This is actually the first step in creating a whole website. Phase one - initiate new design into blog! I'm still working on the actual website, and you'll hear it here, first when it's launched!

Anyway, kick back, grab a cold one (whatever that may be) and let your eyes feast on some candy.

I say "Thank Gawd" for the SPIKE network and all those japanese contestants on Takashi's Castle (or whatever it's actually called in Japan) for giving us the glorious gift of mXc - Most eXtreme elemination Challenge. I have seen some of those episodes at least five times, and I cannot help but laugh at the pain and suffering of those people as they attempt some really crazy obstacle course like games and contests. It always seems to brighten my Thursday night.

So once again, I say Thank Gawd!

Inspired Quote

We've all heard the saying "What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger", right? Well, if you haven't... you have now. The others of you, perhaps you use it as a daily reminder that nothing too tough can happen. Or maybe you've heard it, but just think it's a big joke.

This is one of my favorite sayings. I just received an e-mail from a friend of mine, and I came up with another use for this quote - in friendships. I'm pretty sure that most of us at one time or another has been involved in a friendship that you thought was really great, but sometimes you had really bad fights or arguments... but you came out of those arguments even better friends than before, because you learned something from those arguments. Or perhaps you've just lost touch with a friend over time or distance and got the chance to reconnect with them.

Well, that's my new use for that phrase - "what doesn't kill a friendship can only make it stronger". Sometimes it just seems that no matter what you do, a friendship is destined to be. Sometimes friendships take some work, on both sides, but if it's meant to be - you will always be able to work through whatever problem(s) or issue(s) you have. Or you will always find a way to reconnect to that "long lost friend". And I'd say that nine times out of ten, that long lost person and you will have a stronger friendship for it down the road.

Challenge: Call someone you haven't talked to in a while. Someone you may have lost touch with. Or just call a friend and let them know that you haven't forgotten them. Or call a current friend and remind them that you care.

A Life More Contented

After doing some thinking about my life and when I've been happy and when I've been sad or depressed... I realize that there are three things in my life that whenever at least one of them is around, I am truly happy. Number One - God. And when I say God, I mean Him and the church and everyone I've met through there, everyone tries to help build each and every person up and help them to realize the greatness that, with your help, they can do. Number Two - my best friend, Stephanie. She is the most amazing person I've ever met. She is funny, warm, intellegent, kind, and has one of the biggest hearts one person would ever hope to have. Number Three - the theatre. I always feel at home in a theatre.

Thank you theatre. For giving me a creative outlet and letting me get paid for something I actually enjoy! Thanks for shoving me down into the deepest dark pit of my soul so I realized I couldn't live without God. And thanks for introducing me to the greatest friend I've ever known.

Thank you Stephanie. For all your encouragement - in our friendship; in my faith and journey; and in that crazy theatre world.

Thank You God for those three things. It's thanks to You that I'm alive. Thank You that through You my friendship with Stephanie grows stronger everyday, and thank You for my creative gifts and for allowing me the ability to share them with You and the world.


[Disclaimer - this is the second time I've written this out. The first time - blogger messed up on me and it didn't post and I lost the whole thing. Sorry if this doesn't sound very eloquent or flow very well, I tried to reconstruct it the best I could. All the sentiments are there, I just hope all the heart is still there, too.]

Complicated Lives

Life can be really complicated sometimes. One day everything is going great - the next, you feel like you've been crapped on. And on those wonderful occassions, you get both those wonderful feelings wrapped up into the great package of one day. Those are the days when you don't know if you'll make it out alive. Y'know the days I'm talking about - they're the ones where you wake up feeling great, you look outside and it's an absolutely beautiful day outside. Then you get a phone call, or an e-mail, or a letter (or you DON'T get that phone call, or that email, or that letter)... and your heart sinks. Then maybe later, you hear your favorite song on the radio, or you get a phone call from a close friend, or an e-mail from someone you haven't spoken with in a while. Then later that day, something again, may cause the sun to not look-so-shiney, the sky to look not-so-blue, and the day to look not-so-great. Life is full of disappointments, of sorrows... but it's also full of joys, excitements, and wonder. I think sometimes it's all who we look to for support... when we look inward or to the wrong people, we stumble, fall, and fail. When we look up to the heavens and embrace the One, the Almighty, the Creator, the Father... we realize that nothing matters but how we treat people around us, and that we live our lives to the fullest, without regret, without anger, without bitterness... with compassion, kindness, caring, friendship, and love.

... it's amazing how the word of God will change everything in a heart-beat.

I've realize that I have slightly more interesting posts if I don't try to post just for posting's sake. Then I don't post: "I scratched my big toe today, because it itched." I know you will all be saddened by not being able to keep up on every single detail of my little life... but you'll get over it. :)

:::: Warning: This post is about disappointment, so some of you out there might find it depressing or a "downer". Sorry, if you don't like it, don't read it. At least it's something meaningful. ::::


On the way home from a botched attempt at celebrating St. Patrick's Day, I did some thinking.

I've decided that my energy doesn't work well with planning things, or work well on it's own. My excitement needs to feed off of someone else's in order for it to be effective. I can be excited about something on my own, but eventually I run out of juice if no one else is excited with me. Such was tonight. Plus the fact that the plans slowly were falling apart around me. The original plan was to go with about 7 or 8 people, and one-by-one they petered out or changed their mind at the last minute or had made other plans or had conflicts. It's kind of a shot to the old self esteem. I keep telling myself, "this one's going to work out!" and then it doesn't. I would just love to plan something and it be fun, and everyone have a great time (or at the very least - show up).

I think that's another reason why my friend Stephanie is so important to me... we can feed off of each other's excitement (and sometimes she can jump-start mine when there isn't much there to begin with).

Oh well - such is life. Just a string of disappointments until you get lucky and something works out for you.

I can't wait for it to finally work out for me.

PS - I'll get over it, don't worry about me. I'd just like something like this to go well for me for once.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Well, it's all for me grog, me jolly, jolly grog...
It's all for me beer and tobacco...
For I spent all o' me tin, with the ladies drinkin' gin...
and across the western ocean I must wander."

That song is off a Traditional Irish group's CD called MOLLY'S REVENGE. I bought that CD two years ago on Saint Patrick's day out in California while visiting Stephanie on my spring break. Since then we've kept up the tradition by going to an Irish Pub on St. Patty's day. Sadly, this year may be different as she may not get to go.

One a lighter note - I got to see a really awesome Irish Band out of Canada called Slainte Mhath (pronounced Slawncha Va) yesterday on campus. Check out the photoblog on the sidebar to see 'em. They blend traditional Irish music with modern beats and songs. The actually played, "That's the way I like it" yesterday... it was too cool. And of course, there's a girl in the band, and she was HOT. She plays the fiddle and this traditional Irish-type drum - it kind of looks like an oversized tamborine without the little cymbals all around it.

I think I'm destined to be with someone who - on the lowest level - really enjoys music a lot, or - to the hightest level - plays an instrument, sings like an angel, or totally gets wrapped up in the emotion of a song and sees the things in music that I do. Instruments and voices for girls just really turns me on, I guess.

Past Weeks :: Part 3 - A New View of the World - (pt II)

So, I was diagnosed with an eye infection and given some antibiotic drops to put in my eye four times a day for the next week. What a pain in the butt. This was also the day I decided to get my eye glass prescription updated. I went down to eye glass world... BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!!

Awesome!

The only thing is that I've never bought new frames without having someone there to help me and look and tell me if they looked good/bad on me or not. Well, I didn't have that this time. I was left to the mercy of one of the sales associates, I tried on about 15 different pairs of frames, but I couldn't really tell how I looked in them because I didn't have contacts in, and the frames just had clear glass in them. I was totally at his mercy. He helped me pick out two sets of frames, and I decided to make one of them a pair of sunglasses. They'd be ready for pickup the next day. (fortunately and unfortunately - I would be in Nashville the next two days).

As the time to pick up my glasses drew nearer, I became very nervous about how they would actually look on me. One friend said I was being silly. Which I probably sounded like... but it was a lot of money gone down the drain if I didn't like them... and since I hadn't ACTUALLY seen what they looked like on me, it was a big worry.

When I got back in town, I went and picked up my glasses. I put the sunglass pair on first... BAM! I could see amazingly well... I looked in the small mirror on the counter and was amazed at how great the frames looked on me! I set that pair down and went for the regular ones, BAM! once again I could see perfectly! I looked in the mirror and thought WOW! I look AWESOME! Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I'm pretty modest when it comes to my looks, and my own self image isn't always the best either, so when I say that I look TOO sexy in these glasses, you'd know what a big deal that is. With these glasses added to my cool hair cut (thanks again, Stephanie), I'm one step closer to being a babe magnet.

I've always been told that I'd make a great boyfriend and that I have an awesome personality, I just need to hook someone with the "look factor" so they have the chance to see the charming, chivilrous, loyal, I'd do anything for you, senstive, loving, with a hard-candy shell - me. That and I need advertising! Help guys!

Past Weeks :: Part 3 - A New View of the World - (pt I)

Sunday Night (March 7, 2004), I was hanging out at my friend Steph's house... the usual - watching TV, talking, writing angry e-mails, y'know... what we do every time we're hanging out (well, everything but that last bit). She has a two cats and I normally play with and pet them. I used to be severely allergic to cats, just being around them would make my eyes water and begin to swell, and my nose would run like a faucet. As I grew up, I grew out of it to an extent... I could pet them, just as long as I didn't rub my eyes with my hands afterwards, and I had no problem being around them... but sometimes I get absent minded and do something stupid. SO while I was writing an e-mail, my eyes began to water and itch a little bit. I figured it was probably my allergies and just suffered through it. When I got home I looked in the mirror and realized that it may be more than allergies when my entire right eye was blood red. Taking my contact out was a bit scary as the fear of a detached retina came screaming through my head. I went to sleep that night and woke up with my eye glued shut from eye-boogers (or eye crispies). My eye watered a bit when I woke up and they disolved enough for me to open my eye and clear off the rest from my lashes. I went to the eye doctor (after donning my old glasses) to see what was up.

(to be continued)

Well, life must be back to normal for me - I can't sleep.

Check out some of the graphics I've created for the page. Tell me what you think about them.

(por ejemplo: the title banner and the post it note) - more will be coming soon. I just don't want to add graphics just to add graphics.. i want them to blend in and compliment the blog.

Past Weeks :: Part 2 - Road Trip to Nashville

Well, as you may have read, my Spring Break didn't start off too well. It just so happened that I chatted with friend of mine the next day and we both decided I should go down and hang out with him in Nashville for a couple days. So my Spring Break wasn't going to be a total lack of some sort of adventure, after all. Anyway, he moved to Nashville several months ago and began working with a traveling youth ministry called Inlightened Ministries. I know he runs sound for them and that he handles a lot of their web site and graphics and technical aspect of their ministry, I'm sure he helps out in other ways, too - he's a pretty handy guy - but I haven't learned what else that is, yet.

Anyway, I jaunted down to Nash-Vegas (as Ben calls it... oh by the way, his name is Ben Stewart - he's far right in the photo above), which is a solid four hour drive. I listened to Butterfly Boucher (whose CD I had bought at the Barenaked Ladies Concert) twice going both ways plus some other CDs of mine. Anyway, I get down there and we hang out and do some sight-seeing. Unfortunately if you're not too into Country music, there's not a whole lot of sight-seeing to do. We ate at a couple of cool places, hung out at a Starbucks for a while, drove around downtown, and just chewed the fat and enjoyed each others company. Oh, and thanks to him and my best friend Stephanie, I'm totally craving Sushi about 3 or 4 days of the week.

While I was down there we ate at two kind of unconventional buffet restaurants. The first was a sushi buffet. We stuffed ourselves SO much. The buffet only cost us $10, and we had two full plates of sushi each, some clear onion soup, a salad, drinks, and some hibachi chicken. WHAT A DEAL! So sushi buffet? Okay, yeah, I can see that... not much different that a Chinese buffet, right? Okay. So the second buffet, I was a little leary about... it's REALLY not the kind of thing you would really think about going through a buffet line for... MEXICAN. Like burritos and chimichangas and quesadillas. It was some of the best Mexican food I've ever eaten.

And like I said, we drove around downtown a little bit, and I grabbed a bite to eat and a T-shirt (and one for a friend) from the Hard Rock Cafe there.

Later the next afternoon, after hanging out and just talking for a while, I hit the road to come home, where I had a meeting to get to and then a bed to attend to.

Hey everybody! (Hi Doctor Nick!)

Okay, now that we're done with that, I just wanted to say I did a couple of quick edits to the page so that it will look basically the same no matter who views it. The proportions will all be the same for anybody. People with higher screen resolutions will just see more blue to the right side of the sidebar than others. Hope you enjoy reading every now and then, keep coming back, you make it all worthwhile.

I'll get more Past Weeks events posted soon.

Past Weeks :: Part 1 - Barenaked Ladies

On March 5, 2004 - five (plus two makes seven) people journeyed to the far reaches of Lexington, KY, to Rupp Arena. There they saw an amazing, live, upbeat performance by some of the greatest musicians around... Barenaked Ladies!

This concert was incredible. It started off with this girl (Butterfly Boucher) playing guitar and singing... she was awesome, and she had an accent. Talking with one of my friends, I said that the fact that she's holding a guitar, and has an accent makes her 50 times more attractive than most girls.

Up next was Howie Day... he was pretty good too. I remember liking his music, but I can't - for the life of me - remember any of the songs he played or what kind of sound he had... I guess I was still thinking about Butterfly Boucher, or maybe I was distracted by other goings-on... who knows.

And then the creme de la creme, the band we were waiting for arrived onstage. Those guys are so energetic, lively, and quick-wits abound. A couple of my favorite moments from the concert were (moment 1:) when they did an adlib song about Lexington, KY, and Steve talked about how KFC was changing it's name to Kitchen Fresh Chicken (which is dumb)... and that apparently we now lived in Lexington, Kitchen. And then to begin his adlib, Ed busted out "You lost the chicken, but you still got the bourbon." Moment 2: They have a song called Shopping, which talks about... gasp.... shopping. They did some shopping-cart-ography for this song and the screens switched to an overhead camera view and the guys were doing faux synchronized swimming... it was awesome! Moment 3: The guys did an acoustic set which included the hit song One Week, and a song called Roadrunner (which IS about THE famous roadrunner and coyote).

And I wouldn't be a very good person if I didn't mention that the LIGHTING for the concert was incredible! Everything fit with the songs, and it really added to the experience.

Not one disappointing moment for me from this concert... well, I can think of one, but it wasn't about the bands.

But one of the best parts of the whole event is who I got to share it with. And I'll never trade these memories for anything.

A lot of stuff has happened over the past week, and I've been WAY too busy to jot it down as I went... and I'm crashing now, so look for updates coming up this week.

Another late night up, and another let down.

What I wouldn't do to take away her burden.

Copy cat? - Yeah, maybe, but who cares... it's cool.

Check out the new stuff on my sidebar - I figured out how to send photos to the internet and display them on my blog... cool, huh?

Conversation revisited...

[03-27-03]
Oh Happy Day!!!!
(Oh Happy Daaayy!!)
When Jesus washed...
(When Jesus washed...)
He washed my sins away...
Oh Happy Day!!

I hope you had a good day at class.
I don't like you always having rehearsal every night.
I liked hanging out with you all the time

Sing with me now....
Oh Happy Day...

starting off right

Had my last classes before Spring Break today. Came home, chatted to a couple people, made a couple phone calls, went to work for about an hour, came home and have done jack-squat since. Kinda depressing way to start of my Spring Break.

A friendly smile

I get a tip-of-the-day kind of thing in my e-mail. Here's what I got today:

"In a recent study, people who had at least one close friend appeared to have as much as a 30 percent lower risk of periodontitis, a dental disorder that can lead to tooth loss. Researchers speculate that the connection may be due to the stress-reduction benefits that friends offer; stress is associated with poor oral hygiene."

Thanks friend, for doing things neither of us realized. :)

Response to comment on last post:

No real details. Just through my life, that's the way it's been. Even if I've asked a girl out, it's been the same story, just a different line. But somehow girls that I don't have ANY desire to get to know any better are the ones that seem to "throw themselves" at me. Maybe it's a matter of the amount of energy you put into someone. But I look at other relationships, and that seems to work on some girls but not on others. I've tried different things. And not to get down on myself, but the only thing I see differently between me and the guys that girls seem to go for is the looks. I guess I just don't have "it"... whatever the heck "it" is.

Why do I seem to attract all the girls I DON'T want, am not interested in, or would not be good for me, but don't attract the girls I DO want, am interested in, or would be good for me?

I'm having some long-time internal struggles... God, please give me a sign. I give it up to you.

Love, your servant,
Scott

Cycles

I believe that everyone goes through cycles, some people's are more pronounced than others. Women go through a very noticable cycle every 28 days for much of their life. Men go through cycles, too... just maybe not as noticable. Through my life, I've gone through cycles. My emotions are definitely on a cycle, not necessarily on a monthly cycle, but they are on one at any rate. Early on in life the ups and downs were about even, I had just as many "down" days as "up" days. They were mixed in together pretty well and they changed gradually. As life went on, the "up" days out numbered the "down" days. Sometimes I would hit a down day and flop right back up the next day, others would take me a day or two. Now in my life, I'm noticing that the down days are feeling even fewer and farther between. There are certain issues that I still struggle with, but I'm not down in general. I've also noticed that it's gotten easier for me to come out of down times. Sometimes I make myself, some times someone else will snap me out of it, other times it just happens.

Well, it "just happened" today. About two and a half hours ago, actually. I just found myself laughing and smiling and cutting up like normal, and I just felt GREAT! It happened where it usually happens... at church. I can't tell you how great of a feeling it was to just feel like I snapped out of it.

In retrospect, I think a lot of my down days are because I try too often to put on an air of happiness even when I'm not... so suddenly I'm unable to keep it up any more and my mood just breaks down. Sometimes we need a down day or two for no reason... and sometimes they help us to really appreciate things better.

All I can say is that I really needed tonight.

Versus

Is it worse to have to censor yourself or have someone else censor you?

For those of you who watch what you eat. Here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

3. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

4. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like.

Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Have you ever just felt incredibly grateful for knowing someone? I have... and I do.

I made my first attempt at making a new dish tonight. Chili. I kept it pretty simple so that I had some basis to go off of for next time I make it... so it wasn't too hot... just hot enough. It actually could've been a little bit spicier. But it tasted great, and it turns out that it can be made pretty quickly, too. (took me about 45 minutes, but that's because I didn't exactly know what I was doing, plus I made cornbread and waited for that to be done). I actually made it with ground turkey instead of ground beef, and it was great. I can't wait to make some again sometime!

I would like to thank the following people for introducing me to - and encouraging my love for - chili...

Jon Adams
Erin Adams
Amber Henry

That is all. Thank you.

Last night a friend of mine was baptised. I'm extremely proud of her. After that service, she and a bunch of our friends went out to eat. Now, I haven't been eating out or doing a lot of stuff because money is REALLY tight for me right now. I went to eat with everyone but I was just going to have water and just go and hang out. My friend and her new roommate conspired and bought me food without my knowledge. Now, it was actually the roommate (who I barely know) that I later found out actually bought my meal. I had tried to keep it low key so as not to attract any special attention or anything... I didn't want (and I didn't want anyone else) to make a big deal out of it. I thanked her greatly. On the way home, my eyes actually watered up a little bit. No one has ever shown me that brand of kindness and caring before. I barely knew her, and she paid for my dinner without a thought. I guess what I've been brought up thinking really is true... God will provide. She was just an instrument.

Thanks God, and thanks to my friend and her roommate. Bless you both.

Small fish in a small pond... etc. [UPDATE] --- (the update has been updated) --

I feel a LOT better after today's services, I got a lot of compliments. Lisa Moss, the head of the lighting team, came up to the booth after the first service this morning and told me that I did an excellent job and that I did some really neat things for the service and during the songs. She praised me pretty highly, and I must say that I was extremely pleased with the end product. I was able to fix a couple things this morning before the services and it made life so much easier.

I had a great day, except that one person who I really would've like to have been there... wasn't.

I understand that I'm not the center of this person's world, and understand that they have a life, though... and I'm not mad, and my day wasn't ruined. It just would've been nicer for that person to have been there.

Small fish in a small pond to small fish in a BIG pond...

Setup and Ran lights for the first time for what had been called by some "big church", in other words, the regular weekend services (when TheWell was still around). The setup seemed a lot better or more organized, or maybe there were just more people there to help... but after the setup, I felt very helpless and very nervous. I feel like it was the worst job I've ever done running a light board, and yet, I still got compliments... I don't know what I was doing. I wasn't even this nervous when I ran lights the first time for TheWell. I guess for TheWell, I had a lot more free reign. There are more constraints on what you can, can't, should, and shouldn't do for the regular services... maybe that got me all flustered, who knows. Hopefully tomorrow morning will go better. Please, God.

What happened to the friends who were ready to do anything at just a whim? Where are you guys? Am I the only one left?

Irrational Fears

Most of you who read my blog know what kind of business I'm in, but in case you don't, here goes:

I'm a Lighting Technician/Designer for stage productions. I've worked professionally for three summers at Jenny Wiley Theatre; worked for money, credit, and for the pleasure of it at EKU Theatre; worked at Studio Players for the experience (free); worked for minimum wage and free food at the Center for Rural and Economic development in Somerset, KY; and give back to the One who has given me these wonderful gifts, talents, and tools by giving my time to Crossroads Christian Church. I've had to work in different conditions and environments. I've dangled by a harness from over 35 feet in the air, I've kept myself from falling from such heights as well with just the use of one hand. I have NEVER been afraid of the heights I have worked in. Growing up, I was fairly phobic of high places, but overcame that through working in theatres.

This semester, I've been working in the theatre department as part of a work study program (financial aid). I was working today, and I had to go up to an area of the theatre called the grid. It's usually the highest point of the theatre, directly above the stage where all the pipes (batons) are hanging from. All the lights were out on the grid, and I had to grab some cable from up there. I climbed over 90 feet to the grid, and when I got up there, my heart started pounding wildly, my pulse raced, my mouth became dry, and I felt a little light-headed (which isn't good at heights). I made my way back down to the ground and just laughed at myself... fear is so irrational. There was no point to my fear. I was perfectly safe, there was very little chance of my falling over 90 feet to the stage floor. The steel slats were spaced apart just wide enough that your foot WON'T fit through it. There are a couple of larger spaces that only someone half as skinny as myself would fit through, and even then, it'd be VERY difficult to fall through them. Nonetheless, I was frightened. I told my boss/professor about it, and he went up, and y'know... everything looks different when you put in working light bulbs and everything is lit up.

I was able to go back up and complete my job without any anxiety. Proving to myself that it was a VERY irrational fear. And I remain undaunted.

I shouldn't be allowed around people.

Before and After

I haven't had a haircut in almost three months (a lot longer than I usually wait) and my hair was getting a bit long. Here I am [on the left] before the hair cut (photo is right after a shower)... and yes, I am completely naked at time of photo.

And thanks to my good friend, Stephanie, I was introduced to Johnny at Studio V in Lexington. I resisted the new hairstyle at first, but eventually I got used to it, and eventually even really liked it. I went back to Johnny on Tuesday, and got another great hair cut, and he's a pretty cool guy to talk with too. So here's the "now" shot [on the right]:

It's hard not to feel happy when you see a peaceful, bubbling fountain.

It's hard not to pee, too.

Actually, it's hard not to feel happy when you pee.



Feel happy. Pee.

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.
- T.S. Eliot

"What the hell is wrong with me?
Don't fit in with anybody
How did this happend to me?
Wide awake I'm bored and
I can't fall asleep
and every night is
the worst night ever

"I'm just a kid and life is
a nightmare
I'm just a kid I know
that it's not fair
Nobody cares 'cuz
I'm alone and the world is
having more fun than me
tonight."

"I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan

Today, I want to put my foot through the TV. But since I don't have the money to replace it... I'll just turn it off instead.

"All You Need is Love" - The Beatles

Well... that's all I'm asking for. I want love. I want intamacy. I want closeness. I want love.

Move over Karaoke... here comes Movieoke.

To alcohol... The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. -- Homer Simpson

Friday night blues

It's been a while since I've been home on a friday night... even longer since I've been alone on one. Now before I get the "it's okay to be home" and "it's okay to spend time by yourself", I do that during the week plenty, it's not about being alone for only 5 minutes with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company. At any rate Friday nights alone suck. Maybe it's just this one, since Valentine's day is tomorrow, and I hate even the thought of that holiday... of love, of people being sweet to each other, of couples looking into their partner's eyes and knowing they are safe.

So it's just me, the TV, Doc Otis, and an empty apartment... except for me.

Here's to friday night's alone.