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Caught Red Handed

reese — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 20:35:49 +0000

That is Joe’s hand on fire. NOTE: Never light a hand on fire dowsed in 91% rubbing alcohol. It burns too hot to handle. Even with the catastrophe (or maybe because of it), James, Will, Joe, and I enjoyed a great pre-Easter meal. It was so good that we haven’t touched the dishes. Related posts:Spurgeon “Growth in Grace” Shadows prove the Light Blindside… Related posts:

Pedernales Falls

reese — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 05:04:23 +0000

For those of you who live close to Austin and have never visited Pedernales Falls… shame on you! You need to call Brittany Seay and ask her to plan your trip, immediately. Yes, Brittany did an excellent job arranging our trip, and she has now completely erased my idea that only guys should plan camping trips. We had 11 people, most of who did not know each other, piled into 4 cars at 3 different times to drive 2 different ways to 1 location. To complicate it, my car’s right caliper locked, causing a nasty swerve as we left the REI in Austin (c’mon, how can you not take a stop there!?). Praise God there was an NTB right off the side of the highway! No, honestly, praise God. He answered our request for a safe travel (and He really did make the ‘hiccups’ a stinkin’ blast). It’s weird to say this, but it was kinda nice having the car breakdown at that exact moment. The caliper was going to go out at some point, and I’m glad it chose the time that I had a Linear Programming sample test to work on while I waited. Once, I got back on the road (minus 3 passengers and a lot of gear), I arrived at Pedernales falls about 9pm. This allowed for a good hour stroll to camp under a 3/4 full moon. It was a nice walk.

The next morning, I woke up early so I could explore the river, nestled below the bluffs we slept atop. After an hour or so, I returned to find 10 sleeping beauties and no sign of breakfast. Not quite the same group as we had on Spring Break. Both very fun, both very different. But breakfast was made, and it was mighty fine indeed… pancakes and bacon! Mmmm. We later adventured out to the main attraction of the park… PEDERNALES FALLS. Along the way, I walked and talked with Joy. Those conversations are always some of my very favorite. Once at the falls, we had a blast exploring and pretending like we weren’t getting in the water (a $500 fine). The best moment was crawling through this hole notched into the side of the bluff. Sadly, the good times had to end, and I had to drive on to Austin to get ready for the triathlon. But within 6 hours of being home, I’ve already seen 2 of my new friends up in the BMEN/IE lab in Zachry. Go figure.

Recap of last weekend

reese — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 05:01:27 +0000

This past weekend was hands down the most fun weekend of the semester. Spring Break was wonderful, but that’s in a separate league. So what made this weekend so special? Well, anytime you take a camping trip with Brittany, Joy, Brain, and add 7 other cool people. Add competing in a triathlon with your dad and some other friends from A&M, and I’d say that’s equals one mighty fine weekend.

So many details, but I know of y’all hate reading so here are the highlights:

Friday:
Drove to REI in Austin
Bought a tarp to experiment as an alternate to using a tent
Car broke down on Hwy 1 (Mopack) right next to NTB (truly a blessing from God)
I stay with my broken Explorer while Brittnay, Houston, and Caleb load into other cars
Eventually arrive to Pedernales Falls, surprised to see the Ranger Station open
Hike 2 miles into camp under moonlight (so wonderful)

Saturday:
Woke up early, Explored, Pancakes, Explored the Falls, Drove to Austin, met Mom and Dad, checked bikes for Sunday’s triathlon, ate at the Olive Garden, slept like a rock

Sunday:
Woke up, too nervous to even eat, drove to triathlon, waited, waited, waited, waited, HORN, inhaled water, biked, and ran, saw a 100 million Aggies cheering for me (such a delightful surprise), saw my dad be a hero and finish 12 minutes faster than he ever imagined (this after only 2 WEEKS of training), drove home, ate with Scott, and got ready for Linear Programming test on Tuesday.

For those who like to read, I intend to write out the full adventures later.

Family Visit

reese — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 18:36:26 +0000

Yesterday my parents came into town to see the 1st Lady and to meet the housemates. It’s the first time in about two years that my mom has been down. They couldn’t have picked a better day, too. Ohhh, if they came 24 hours earlier!!! We had missing furniture (3 couches, 1 futon, and a chair), an unsanitary bathroom, a porch covered in camping gear, and a floor so dirty you couldn’t even apply the 3 second rule because it was impossible to find what you dropped in all the filth.

The best part was that in 6 hours they met everyone but Travis. Amazing. Usually I go 6 days and only see Travis and Cal. We even saw Joe at the baseball game, which the Ags won 5-1 against Tech. Whoop! But they are gone as soon as they arrived. They’re off to visit Uncle Bill in Coldspring. Still, it’s just nice to have my family meet my home away from home.

Awkward Silence

reese — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 05:16:34 +0000

I’ll have to admit these new iPods are really quite nifty. If I didn’t have this stubbornness about refusing doing the same thing everyone else does and didn’t own Dell’s knockoff iPod, then I’d be trying to buy one, too. But with the increasing availability of music, there is certainly a tragic loss of silence. I hear the question now, “What’s the point? Silence is awkward”. Well, to the American, maybe. Ask a Chinese a serious question, and he would stop to think about it, resulting in a long conversation-less pause. It’s difficult enough to talk to say hi to a friend you see walking on campus when he’s deaf to your existence because of an MP3 player. Perhaps, I’m only a bitter old man… most likely, but the problem, to me, is much larger than a mere downgrade in conversation.

Gone are the days when we spend time in quiet reflection. Gone are the days when we stop, and ask ourselves what we’re doing, where we’re going, and how to get there. How do you know yourself if there’s never periods of extended silence? And what of knowing God?

I guess this brings me to the main point: I LOVE our front porch. Even when the weather is not so pleasant, it’s shaded from the elements. Quite nice during this past week of rain and even more so when summer approaches. In general, it is so peaceful. Even with the occasional car motoring down the street, it is not comparable to the noise of the fans, refrigerator, and CPUs buzzing. It’s in silent moments like these that peace has a way of creeping in. It’s a small whispering voice of peace that I would not trade for any new Top 10 single, even if it’s newest acoustic worship smash mega-hit.

But maybe I’m just bitter for not owning an iPod…