i third-handedly stumbled upon a cool website today. i was on my friend's/ex-roomate's webpage today, and a friend of his posted on his comments section about it. i spied. i found out. Some of the entries are obscene or even scary, some of the entries are very funny, and some of the entries are very uplifting and excellent. Though i don't often recognize it, i often feel like i am too scared to listen to and accept the bad stuff about people; their secrets, their bad memories, their fears. If i don't do this, i guess there is no way of knowing how people really feel nor of finding out how to help them or to fix things. i am sure we all have strange/neurotic/sick/crazy/psycho thoughts sometimes, but we also have the best/kind/gentle/loving/caring/uplifting/giving/helping/soft/
sensitive/worshipful/empathic/wonderful thoughts that human beings are capable of. i believe that the latter ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS has the power to outweigh the former if we let it. If we have the courage to reach down inside ourselves and LISTEN. Read the next bit if you want--if you don't, that's fine to. Thanks for listening. -AC-
Taken from http://postsecret.blogspot.com
The question I am asked most often is,"which secret is your favorite?" My favorite postcard is one I have never seen. In fact, it was never mailed to me. I learned about it recently from an email I received.
"...I was very excited because I too had a secret I wanted to post. I thought long and hard about how I wanted to word my secret and I searched for the perfect postcard to display it on. After I had created my postcard I stepped back to admire my handiwork. Instead of feeling relieved that I had finally got my secret out, I felt terrible instead. It was right then that I decided that I didn't want to be the person with that secret any longer. I ripped up my postcard and I decided to start making some changes in my life..."
If someday I find an envelope in my mailbox with the pieces of that ripped-up secret, I will be sure to share it here.
-Frank
21 June 2005
16 June 2005
Eager Seas
Hey there folks (or rather, basically no one because apparently nobody reads my blog if i don't send out a mass e-mail).
So as you can see by my rather wry greeting that i am feeling a little strange. Being tired is definitely a huge part of it--at least physically. i am also tired in other ways--tired of being in Europe, tired of not talking with my friends, (especially my old roommates, both of whom haven't got back to my e-mails or calls) and most of all, tired of being away from Kirsten.
There is something great though stirring inside me nonetheless. i have come to realize some things about myself whilst i have been abroad and have more or less narrowed down a major. i have also acquired competence in a third language, not that i am anywhere near being a master. Eager Seas. Eager Seas has a few meanings for me right now. First off, Eager Seas is a band which has formed from the remnants of Watashi Wa, one of my favorites, and always a very uplifting band. You can check them out here. Secondly, i am eager to cross over seas, namely the Atlantic Ocean, to get back to the one i love. Thirdly, i am eager to steer a course for new seas in my music, take new direction, see what happens.
Some of you may know, others may not, but i have semi-recently been replaced as a member of Kindred Fall during my absence. Ed and i had discussed this option before i even left, so i was sort of half expecting it, but it still came a little suddenly and strangely. i don't know where i am going as a musician, but i still am one and i still plan on being one, wherever God chooses to use me. My performances as a street musician have been all but placed at a standstill due to the strict rules which Munich imposes on street performers, namely you have to buy a permit for a specific day of the week (5 EURO) and you are only allowed to play within a certain time on that day and then now more for the whole week. Boo. Anyway, i think i am going to buy my second one tomorrow so i can get some cashola. i am slowly adding songs to my repertoire... So yeah. That's me as music. i miss my friends though. A lot.
Munich has been treating me right, even though this class i am taking is pretty demanding: 3 hours of German per day, plus any lessons that our professor decides to give us afterward, daily journals, cultural activities pretty much every day (including weekends), and then this special category of other which i just made up. Basically what "other" entails is speaking German with my host family, hanging out with friends, grocery shopping/making sure that i eat, trying to fit in phone conversations with Kirsten, my folks, and my friends back home. i play my guitar too. Munich is very beautiful at this time of year and it is supposed to stop the random overcastness/rain which has been happening for a bit here. This weekend i am going to Grillen an der Isar and also a Hochzeitsfeier von ein Paar bekannten meiner Gaestfamilie. (aka a barbecue and a wedding reception of some friends of my guest family) Should be excellent. i am really looking forward to Saturday which will be the first day that i have slept in past 7:30 am for three weeks.
This blog is getting long already, but i have one more side note to make and that is that Erin's blog has some quite wonderful posts, not the least of which is an exquisite story told through computer Paint sketches of her and Aro's road trip out to Wisconsin. Also! California has surpassed Wisconsin in cheese quality and production for several years now, (not that Wisconsin's cheese have gone bad or anything!)
Munich has a stereotype as being the beer capital of the world for some reason...
For some reason i like links at the moment.
ich muss nach Hause...
Servus!
-Sepp-
So as you can see by my rather wry greeting that i am feeling a little strange. Being tired is definitely a huge part of it--at least physically. i am also tired in other ways--tired of being in Europe, tired of not talking with my friends, (especially my old roommates, both of whom haven't got back to my e-mails or calls) and most of all, tired of being away from Kirsten.
There is something great though stirring inside me nonetheless. i have come to realize some things about myself whilst i have been abroad and have more or less narrowed down a major. i have also acquired competence in a third language, not that i am anywhere near being a master. Eager Seas. Eager Seas has a few meanings for me right now. First off, Eager Seas is a band which has formed from the remnants of Watashi Wa, one of my favorites, and always a very uplifting band. You can check them out here. Secondly, i am eager to cross over seas, namely the Atlantic Ocean, to get back to the one i love. Thirdly, i am eager to steer a course for new seas in my music, take new direction, see what happens.
Some of you may know, others may not, but i have semi-recently been replaced as a member of Kindred Fall during my absence. Ed and i had discussed this option before i even left, so i was sort of half expecting it, but it still came a little suddenly and strangely. i don't know where i am going as a musician, but i still am one and i still plan on being one, wherever God chooses to use me. My performances as a street musician have been all but placed at a standstill due to the strict rules which Munich imposes on street performers, namely you have to buy a permit for a specific day of the week (5 EURO) and you are only allowed to play within a certain time on that day and then now more for the whole week. Boo. Anyway, i think i am going to buy my second one tomorrow so i can get some cashola. i am slowly adding songs to my repertoire... So yeah. That's me as music. i miss my friends though. A lot.
Munich has been treating me right, even though this class i am taking is pretty demanding: 3 hours of German per day, plus any lessons that our professor decides to give us afterward, daily journals, cultural activities pretty much every day (including weekends), and then this special category of other which i just made up. Basically what "other" entails is speaking German with my host family, hanging out with friends, grocery shopping/making sure that i eat, trying to fit in phone conversations with Kirsten, my folks, and my friends back home. i play my guitar too. Munich is very beautiful at this time of year and it is supposed to stop the random overcastness/rain which has been happening for a bit here. This weekend i am going to Grillen an der Isar and also a Hochzeitsfeier von ein Paar bekannten meiner Gaestfamilie. (aka a barbecue and a wedding reception of some friends of my guest family) Should be excellent. i am really looking forward to Saturday which will be the first day that i have slept in past 7:30 am for three weeks.
This blog is getting long already, but i have one more side note to make and that is that Erin's blog has some quite wonderful posts, not the least of which is an exquisite story told through computer Paint sketches of her and Aro's road trip out to Wisconsin. Also! California has surpassed Wisconsin in cheese quality and production for several years now, (not that Wisconsin's cheese have gone bad or anything!)
Munich has a stereotype as being the beer capital of the world for some reason...
For some reason i like links at the moment.
ich muss nach Hause...
Servus!
-Sepp-
10 June 2005
Bars und Blödsinn
i hate bars. They are smoky and loud. Clubs i like though, sometimes. Nonetheless i had fun. i am going to play music with some Germans next Tuesday! Sweet! They have a bass too, so i am looking forward to playing that for the first time in a while...
Tomorrow: Five-hour hike between two lakes; Schliersee zum Tegernsee.
Sunday: Schloss Neuschwanstein, the famous Bavarian castle, which, according to John James, was contructed by "ol' Crazy von Ludwig." At any rate, i hear it is large and crazy and sweet. The castle at Disneyland is a small scale model of it...
Thirdly, i met a German guy who, like me, doesn't drink alcohol. Let me say that again: i met a German guy who doesn't drink alcohol. Sweet! The next few weeks are going to be fun.
love, aaron von choate
Tomorrow: Five-hour hike between two lakes; Schliersee zum Tegernsee.
Sunday: Schloss Neuschwanstein, the famous Bavarian castle, which, according to John James, was contructed by "ol' Crazy von Ludwig." At any rate, i hear it is large and crazy and sweet. The castle at Disneyland is a small scale model of it...
Thirdly, i met a German guy who, like me, doesn't drink alcohol. Let me say that again: i met a German guy who doesn't drink alcohol. Sweet! The next few weeks are going to be fun.
love, aaron von choate
02 June 2005
Single Variable Calculus (Fifth edition)
This blog is entitled as such simply because it appeared in the drop-down menu when i went to put a title on it. It is the textbook that i had to buy and use for my Calculus class i took at Chapman freshman year--that was a long time ago...
ANYWAY-- i just wanted to tell a short story before i go off to do my homework. Today i got in touch with my natural self in the middle of a sprawling metropolis:
After a long, tired, semi-stressful day, i took the U-Bahn to the Englischer Garten, a large garden in downtown Munich. The Germans love nature, so fortunately they incorporate it into their large cities wherever possible. Gotta love it. We had been there with the group already on Saturday, when Kirsten was still here before she flew home. We had seen some surfers surfing on this wave thing near a bridge in the fast-moving river that runs through the park and also lots of naked people sun-bathing, as well as other fun or relaxation seekers. Nature aficionados perhaps. i had come dressed in my swim trunks, and i set my backpack and shoes in the bushes, walked upstream to where the surfers were (there were there again today) and after a little watching, i jumped in! The current was swift and the water was very cold, but refreshing, and gave me a little thrill. i found my way back to the place where i had stashed my stuff and then walked through the park with my shoes off. It hurt sometimes! i am not used to having my shoes off. i eventually found my way to the nude area we had seen on Saturday, but this time there were a bunch of people playing soccer, a few people relaxing on the grass, and a few walking around, all clothed. There was one man who was naked though, and he was dancing to the beat of the hand-drums which some people were playing in the distance. There are always people there playing hand-drums i guess. Anyway, feeling a little disappointed because i found out that there weren't enough naked people around for me to feel normal taking my clothes off, i found a private grove and sat down for a while and dried off. i stripped down anyway and sat for a while by myself on my beach towel. Afterward, i got dressed again and went for a nice walk in the park feeling pretty good about life. Munich is great and i am glad that i am taking this class.
Servus!
-Sepp-
(Aaron)
ANYWAY-- i just wanted to tell a short story before i go off to do my homework. Today i got in touch with my natural self in the middle of a sprawling metropolis:
After a long, tired, semi-stressful day, i took the U-Bahn to the Englischer Garten, a large garden in downtown Munich. The Germans love nature, so fortunately they incorporate it into their large cities wherever possible. Gotta love it. We had been there with the group already on Saturday, when Kirsten was still here before she flew home. We had seen some surfers surfing on this wave thing near a bridge in the fast-moving river that runs through the park and also lots of naked people sun-bathing, as well as other fun or relaxation seekers. Nature aficionados perhaps. i had come dressed in my swim trunks, and i set my backpack and shoes in the bushes, walked upstream to where the surfers were (there were there again today) and after a little watching, i jumped in! The current was swift and the water was very cold, but refreshing, and gave me a little thrill. i found my way back to the place where i had stashed my stuff and then walked through the park with my shoes off. It hurt sometimes! i am not used to having my shoes off. i eventually found my way to the nude area we had seen on Saturday, but this time there were a bunch of people playing soccer, a few people relaxing on the grass, and a few walking around, all clothed. There was one man who was naked though, and he was dancing to the beat of the hand-drums which some people were playing in the distance. There are always people there playing hand-drums i guess. Anyway, feeling a little disappointed because i found out that there weren't enough naked people around for me to feel normal taking my clothes off, i found a private grove and sat down for a while and dried off. i stripped down anyway and sat for a while by myself on my beach towel. Afterward, i got dressed again and went for a nice walk in the park feeling pretty good about life. Munich is great and i am glad that i am taking this class.
Servus!
-Sepp-
(Aaron)
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