Old Yeller, Marley and Me..Now It's My Turn.

We all love to hate movies like Old Yeller or Marley and Me. Heck, even Air Bud got me to tear up, and the dog didn't even die! These movies tug at our heartstrings so cleverly and evilly. Drawing us in with cute puppy faces, then laughing and smiling at every doggy bath time escape, and upturned trash can scene. 

The fact is, everyone at some point has the 'it' dog in their life. This time around I had the 'it' dog. When I was in the second grade I begged and pleaded with my parents to have a dog. They caved and I got to pick out a golden retriever. At the young age I was, I had a big hero (still do), and I couldn't think of any better way to honor my hero than naming my new found best friend after him. So my puppy was rightly named "DJ". If anyone knows my favorite team, they'll deduce that he was named after the Yankee's rockstar shortstop Derek Jeter. 

Throughout the years of growing up together, DJ and I had many hours spent in the backyard playing soccer and football together. As he grew up, he got bigger than I did, and as he tried to tackle me, he just bit my sleeve, and pulled me to the ground. He's the dog that would go to the beach with me on family trips, and run miles along the coast line in the sand during football season when I needed to stay fit. In the house, he'd always be right be me, in ANY room I was at. 

He was always a dog that never peed in the house, or got into trash. Dj was intelligent. He knew the rights and wrongs to things. He really was awesome. Always greeted me at the door or gate when I got home. Had a near panic attack when I would leave for a few days. Dj loved me to death. I loved him. He was everything anyone could ask for in a dog. 

By now, the past tense verbs and adjectives I've been using, you can guess that he's not here anymore. 

We had to put him to sleep yesterday. After a night in LA with my family, girlfriend and friends, I slept in a little bit. 9:00am rolls around, and I'm woken up to my bed shaking. I roll over to see what's going on, and DJ's halfway under the bed, moving pretty vehemently. Running on his side, almost. I figured he was either trying to get something, or something was wrong. After trying to get his attention, and not getting it, I saw that something was wrong. After a few seconds of waiting it out, DJ crawls out a bit and comes to his senses for a sec. I let him sit there and get my mom to see if she can tell any difference with him. He had peed in the room, and when we came back into the room, he was hiding behind the door with this wildly dazed look in his eyes. I could just see the fear behind them because he never does that in the house, and he knew it too. He just didn't realize how he did it. 

About an hour later I'm in the room next to him, and I hear something stirring up again. I walk over to check on him, and he's 'running' again. I yell at my mom to get in there, and he's seizing for the second time. We hold him and just like a human, make sure he doesn't hurt himself by moving so much. At this point we're both a complete wreck, because we realize how this is coming down. 

To spare even more of a lengthy post than this already is, within the two hours (9:00am to 11:00am) he had anywhere from 10-15 seizures. I was a complete wreck, knowing that my childhood best friend is slipping away from who he used to be. We get to the vet, and doctors tell us that it's neurological, and would cost more to save him and not even have strong results back, than to just have him go to sleep for good. I swear to you, that was so hard for me to just get the words "alright, let's have him sleep" out. Seeing him laying on that table in the back room at the vet, petting his hair one last time, rubbing him right behind his ears, I couldn't even get a tail wag out of him. All I could say to him was "Come on D, we gotta go back to the beach one more time. Just get better. Just stay fixed. We gotta go run one more time." That's all I could keep saying, and he couldn't even look up at me, he was that far gone already. I walked out of the room at that point and sat out in the parking lot. I have his one and only collar from the years I had him, and now a small part of him is going to be riding with me in the car, as it's hanging on my rearview mirror. It hurts to come home and not see him, but just like time, I have to make myself move on. He'll always be my Big Red Dj. 

Me and DJ two Christmases ago. 

Life in the Fast Lane

Man life has been insane lately. After D23 Last weekend, I got home, did stuff around the house Sunday, and then once Monday landed, I hit the ground running and haven't stopped much, if at all since. So here's a re-cap of the week for me:

Monday: Woke up, drove to Taft, picked up my books, drove to work, had work from 9-2, then back out to Taft for the first college classes of the semester. Had classes from 3-8, drove home, worked on homework until 12:30, and crashed around 1am.

Tuesday: Worked a long shift, scared one of my co-workers by standing in front of a door with a small window. All I did was crouch at the window so all she saw was from my nose to the top of my head, and as she rounded the corner to walk through the door, she totally freaked out. Had the rest of my co-workers in stitches from the little prank.

Wednesday - Work and School. nothing really exciting.

Thursday - Was supposed to have the day off from work, but ended up covering a shift for someone. Didn't really mind, because it means more money for me.

Friday - Great day! Worked from 12-5, and then had Karaoke with my co-workers later that night. After I got off my shift, I ran over and killed two hours before the work party, and saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Thought it was good, but a bit slow. Granted, it's understandable, considering it has to explain how the apes become intelligent. Overall, it was just 'alright' for me. Not a movie I'd pay to see again at the Box Office, but would consider renting a few times.

And now for the high light of the week.

After the movie I ran over to Starbucks, grabbed an iced coffee and drove over to the restaurant. I pull up to the restaurant, grab my button up shirt from the backseat, and let my car run so I can still listen to music as I button up my shirt standing outside my car. WELL, this is literally something you can't write. As I get my arms through the shirt, I happen to RE-LOCK my car door. You also must know that my car door is really stupid and closes on its own. as I get my shirt buttoned up...the door shuts.

I turn around to open my door again, assuming its still unlocked.


I now realize that it's locked.


And running.

With my stereo blasting my friday night party playlist.


So, I run inside the restaurant, ask my manager for her phone, call my parents (who were cross-town at a fantasy football draft), and tell them. My mom just starts laughing on the other end of the line.

Well, everyone inside at this point knows what is going on, and Megan and Destin, two of my co-workers who I'm good friends with come out and wait with me. (major thanks to them for waiting outside with me. It was still a good 85-90 degrees outside at 8:30pm)

My parents come over, we get AAA to unlock the car, and I proceed with my night. But geez, it was definitely one of the dumbest things I've ever done, and I'm humbly posting this, because there was a lot of text messages I was getting friday night asking if it really happened.

And now on Sunday, I'm polishing up my first week of college homework, and trying to figure out what to do for dinner. My life is never a dull moment, and I love every minute of it. 

Technologic: What's Happened?

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail - upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag and drop it, zip - unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, call it, find it,
View it, code it, jam - unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pause it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, switch - update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax - rename it,
Touch it, bring it, Pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, start - format it.


I think these lyrics define the day to day life of anyone anymore. Everything is *insert verb* it. 


My question is this, what happened to us? We're so entwined in so many things today, that I think people really forget how things were in the past sometimes. Kids younger than me are unable to recognize things that were around when I was their age today, and I'm only eighteen! I don't know what caused this blog post. Maybe it was the old photos I found of my family, and I started to reminisce. 

But the question is, where have things gone? It's insane to think about how fast we've progressed. From the time I was born (1992) to now, we have seen the birth of the internet, the rise of the cell phone to mass and global production, computers are thinner and faster than the bricks we used to have, and cars can now parallel park FOR YOU. Not to mention CD's are slowly but surely dying, and wireless everything is rising by the day. 


With all of this, it makes things much easier for day to day living. We can now surf the internet ON our phones. We have 'apps' which gives us anything from coupons to music identification in mere seconds. But no, why stop there? Why not do what was once a film fantasy in Back to the Future, and have a FACE to FACE phone call with anyone in the world? Just not with your boss who calls you chicken, McFly.

I guess what I'm saying is this: Why are we so caught up with the tech? This might come as a shock to those close to me, because everyone knows me as the tech guy who loves the newest toy on the block. But right now as I type this and look back, I remember going to grandma's house for Christmas and not having everyone check Thanksgiving day movie showtimes on their Android or iPhone, but actually pull out the thin sheeted NEWSPAPER, and see what was playing. I remember actually writing down things, and not touch-screen-pressing a note on my phone. Meeting people involved setting up a time to get lunch or dinner together, and not just a friend request. Not to mention, it was a bit more uncommon to know someone around the world unless you actually met them first. But now I've got friends all over the place because of social networking. 500+ followers on Twitter, and I only know about 150 of them in real life. 490 friends on facebook, and I know about 60-70% of them in real life. 


We can't go back to the past. But at least remember it while we can. It was great when we had it. We're going to have to move on with the future as it comes by the seconds, and things are only going to move faster, stronger and sleeker. Change is inevitable, and I welcome it. But at the same time, it is sad to see how amazingly simple our past was with the lack of severe technology in our lives. Shoot, even the bullies back in the day were actually a threat. Now anyone can sit behind these screens and literally kill people without even touching them. How sad is that? 

FormSprung

Well, some have been begging me to re-open my formspring account. Not going to happen. I don't have a problem overall with the anonymous button, but when people use it to push the limits, that's when I draw the line. It's supposed to be fun, not all out debates on heavy topics all the time. Heck, it even cost a good friendship with me. I don't want that to happen again.

Thing is, people ask questions, then I give them my honest answer, they don't like it, and then go on a rage spree. If you don't like what I answered, deal with it. You're the one that asked in the first place, which means there's a 50/50 chance of getting an answer you like or not.

In regards to friendships and acquaintances, I really don't want to lose any more because of the site. It caused me enough grief as it is, and because of differing views on some heavy topics, people didn't want to be my friend, which they have the right to be or not, but I would hope that we could at least put the differences we DO have aside, and be friends on the things we agree on/have in common.

At the end of all this, I've discontinued my formspring. If you DO wish to know more of my thoughts on something, leave a comment on here, send me an e-mail at mainstreetjake@yahoo.com, or tweet at me (@mainstreetjake). Oh, and I just now have google+, so if you want to add me on there, feel free! Just look for "Jacob W." or try this link...not sure if it'll work or not. https://plus.google.com/u/0/113649361118023616139/posts

Enter Some Old Latin Saying Here. Congrats, Grad.

Well, high school is coming to a close. My friend's at BCHS are graduating tomorrow, and due to economic reasons, I'll be there in the audience clapping along with my friend's parents. But I'm not going to be a downer about that. Instead, I'm going to take the time to post about a lot of the fun times I had with people in the two and a half years I was there. This is more personal posting about some past memories there, so if you don't want to read through, go for it. But if you want to read some of my stories of high school, get comfy. Grab a drink. Put on some music, and I hope you enjoy reading the stories as much as I do writing them.

First girlfriend in high school

lunchtime. 

Sophomore year was the first time I had a girlfriend in high school. I had dated another girl the summer before my freshman year, but this was the first girl in high school. I remember asking her out right before Christmas break in the gym. There was big group of us sitting on the bleachers just hanging out, and the entire week before I kept noticing her watching me. I'd make eye contact, and she'd look away. Finally the Friday before we left for Christmas break, on the bleachers in the gym, I asked Kristin out. My best friend had asked her best friend out, and we all decided to go see Marley and Me a week from Saturday. Our first date was the movies, held hands and all that cutesy stuff. Over the next three months we went to formal, slow danced to "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, and spent the rest of the night eating pizza and playing the wii at her place with our group of friends.

I was so lame..nervous as all get out that night. 

Towards late February, early March everything kind of stalled. She broke up with me to focus on school, and I let her. It hurt, because I really liked her, but in relationships, and especially at an age like that, it's better to let go.

Football Games

The first two years of high school I played football. At first I loved playing. It was something relatively new to me, and it was a lot of fun to do. Coach put me in as a defensive end, and offensive lineman on frosh-soph. I can still remember the first time I got a sack. We were playing against Tehachapi High at their home field, and their lineman left a gap open so I darted through, and as I got closer, the Quarterback saw me, and started to run, but I grabbed his jersey and kinda just threw him to the ground. It wasn't a hard hit, or even pretty, but it got the job done. 

What sucked was 'hell week', and the Bakersfield heat we had to practice and play in from July to September. On top of that, there was one time it was a 110 degrees, and there was a fire in Santa Barbara that was drifting it's intense and thick smoke up and into the valley. Where Bakersfield is, it's surrounded by mountains. So what does that smoke do? It sits in the valley. We had a game against Garces High, in the middle of that fire. The sky was literally brownish orange at sunset. We couldn't see the sun, but the sky was what seemed to be apocalyptic. And we ran, and tackled, passed and blocked throughout all of that. Seriously insane stuff. 

Off the field, it was always a party in the stands with friends. We never watched the game, but ended up stealing each others hats and hiding them on the visitors stands for whoever we stole it from to go find it. It was one of the stupidest games we played, but it was entertaining at the time.

Hume Lake

Where to even start with this one?! BCHS takes the entire school up to Hume Lake for a week right after school starts in August/September. This will be a combo of all three years I went. My gosh, there was some seriously great times up in those mountains. From playing poker (yes, Christian school kids playing poker. Kind of ironic, no?) all night the last night of camp, to the dye wars (entire school wearing white throwing dyed water at each other for the heck of it), it's just a great time to get together as a core body and learning more about God and the Bible with our peers. 

The football players had practice during free time, which sucked because it took up most of the time. But we still got to go through a high ropes course, and play some paintball (on that note, it hurts getting shot point blank in the back by one of those things! Stupid freshman. He was even on my team...). 

Classes

Mr. Horner and some classmates

I'm pretty sure my teachers are some of the most patient people I've ever met. My friends and I put them through a lot. From using a pointer laser in the back of biology class to mess with our Science teacher, to Stealing the dean's golf cart to drive around campus after school, we did a lot of stupid stuff that gave them every right to give us detention until we graduated COLLEGE. But they usually let us off the hook because we were, according to their words, so lovable. 

Pranks 

BCHS has always had a 'rumor' that the roof of the Gym had a pool on top that is exclusive to only the senior class. No one really believed it, but I figured I'd take the rumor to new heights and see if I could get away with it. So I took a google map image of the gym, and a google map photo of the pool center in town, and put it on the roof. It's not the *best* photoshop creation I've done (15 minutes before 4th period ended was all the time I had), but it got me some cash from the freshman. I sold them fake elevator passes to the so called pool. It was the only time I ever did it, and boy did the deans not like me for this one. They were more surprised that I actually got away with it than mad that the freshman were complaining they lost $10 (rich dairy kids...God bless 'em.). 

End of The Semester

There's A LOT more memories I've had with people from BCHS. This is just the tip of the ice berg. I may do a part two, or leave it at this, and just make a slideshow of photos/video. But I gotta say, through all the crappy drama, through all the people gossiping about who did what, and who hooked up with who, I still love a lot of people from the school. I may not be there to graduate with my friends, but I'm at least going to be there tomorrow night in the stands cheering them on as they get their diplomas, and start the rest of their lives as they walk off the stage. 

graduate gratulatione. tua merita.

Mice Banned

The more and more I think about this, the more pathetic and lame it sounds. But none the less, you're probably here to find out why I'm now a 'banned user' on MiceChat.

Well, I'll let you know!


But first, let me explain my thoughts on MiceChat. Originally, the site used to be great. Full of happy people all congregating to talk about Disney, and if there was a difference of opinion, people simply agreed to disagree, and moved on.

But now, there's cliques. There's sides to arguments. There's debates over the stupidest stuff. Main Street Paint Schemes, for example. (P.S that's what got me suspended from the site a long time ago) Go ahead. Read that article, and tell me how absurd people are. Granted, I was in the wrong on some wording, and probably should have let sleeping dogs lie, but geez, a guy trying to help out and show that it's absurd to talk about such a thing gets a LOT of flack for stepping in. There was even an argument that the new Triton statue on the new Little Mermaid attraction was exactly ONE CENTIMETER off from being in line with the railings inside Paradise Park.

The site went negative. It turned to the Dark Side like Anakin Skywalker. And this time, there is no cookies here. And if they are, they're those bland and dry cookies your aunt always makes for the family get togethers. The ones no one wants to touch. That's what happened to MiceChat. It became the cookie people never wanted to touch.

So what does this have to do with me? Well, I tried to be a part of the group that tried to change MiceChat back on course to what it was. There's still people on the site fighting the good fight. But I couldn't take it anymore, so I decided to go out with a bang. Do something not many would expect from the guy that's the All American. The good guy who tries to do no wrong. I sockpuppetted, and legitimately trolled the site.

I created the icanhasfoam account, and went to the site and had a little fun with it, as you can see:

Photo Courtesy of @boy33 on twitter.

 This was 1) Over MiceChat being stupid and leaking inside photos of the newly redesigned Star Tours attraction, and 2) just in general to mess with people, and potentially provide some entertainment to an otherwise DEAD and GONE forum.

Am I sorry I did it? Not really. The people need to wake up and realize that there is more to life than sitting at home all the time on your computer and complaining about things they have ZERO control over. And ontop of that, I wanted out, and when I decide to leave, I with with my own style.

There ARE some nice people I have met on the site, I will give them that. There ARE normal people. BUT they are few and far between. Thankfully a lot of those normal people are on my twitter and facebook accounts.

MiceChat will more than likely continue to go on with their usual complaints and banter about how the Corn Dog Castle's new design isn't period appropriate, and how ECV's need to be out of the park because one broke a fireplace on Main Street.

And what am I going to be doing? I'll be over here blogging about not only Disney, but my life (because all four of you love to know what I'm doing), sports, surfing, movies, and whatever else is fun to talk about. But not all the time. There's never a set post schedule to my site. Because y'know, I actually have a life outside of cyberspace. That, and I gotta go to class. College doesn't wait for anyone you know..

so with that, let's all bid a fairwell to the FoamTards of MiceChat, and welcome in a new chapter of life.






EDIT:


oh, and a final note: their MiceEars Crew Members...don't play by the rules. Check out the personal attack...but not really. Yea...you're not gonna find it now. They deleted it.

Internal Combustion

Have you ever had those days you just break down, and completely lose it? Not just "oh crap this day really sucks", but "I've been holding up everything that's gone wrong, and my own personal World War III is about to begin" days. Yesterday was that day.

I've been holding up a lot of things, and yesterday was that final breaking point. The straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. To sum it up: I got in trouble for having a friend out at the Man Cave when my parents weren't home, I've been mad about some friends not being reliable, or simply courteous, and the big thing I've been dealing with is this so-called new 'stardom' I've achieved online. It's all been on my mind, and I've internalized it all, and never got to really figure things out until I self-imploded.

Friday night the parents weren't home, and I was bored. So what do I do when I'm bored? Call up a friend and see if they want to hang out. Since I didn't have a ride, I called someone who could come out to my place. Well my friend came out, we hung out in the kitchen (seriously, how do the kitchens always end up as the hangout spot for people?), then watched Phantom of the Opera, since I've never seen it. We didn't do anything stupid, or reckless. Simple, laid back fun. Usually the house rule is no one out at the house when the parents aren't home, but I decided to break it, and hang out with my friend at the house. I figured "Hey, I'm 18, my friend's 19, we're able to handle things if something goes wrong. Not that big of a deal." Since I was breaking a house rule, I asked my sister to keep it on the down low from the parents. Kind of that sibling "next time you do something you shouldn't, I'll have your back" kind of thing.

But Monday morning, I get into an argument with my sister. She threatens to tell mom and dad. Well, after time in the argument, she did. I got busted, and I'm now without a phone or iPod for Lord knows how long. Thanks a lot sis. Next time you stay up past curfew talking to your best friend, I'll be sure to let the authorities know.

I guess that got me to break down with everything else. Considering I've had a lot on my mind already, my emotions took hold and I shut down. I didn't talk to anyone, I sat in my room and stared out the window. Just thinking about what I did, where I went wrong, and everything else that's gone on. It was a low for me. I usually don't break rules, because I'd rather just be in good graces and get to do whatever I want. Well, this time I thought I could do whatever I wanted, and it came back to bite me in the butt.

Because of this breakdown, I talked things out with my mom after I calmed down, and figured out some stuff.

With my friends, and even people in general, I have a hard time with people saying they'll help out, or show up, and then totally bailing. I know it's an inevitable fact of life, and I'm learning to just remember that people will be flakes, and that's on their conscience if they want to bail. But before this, I could not stand it when people would say they'd come to an event, or help out, then bail. I'm a very "if you sign up for something, you better do it, even if you don't want to anymore" kind of guy. It's just the respectable thing to do because you've already committed to showing up. Unless your mom died, or you're going to the hospital because your kidneys are failing, you better show up. Not showing up because your girlfriend's kitty died, or because Aunt Ida needs your help knitting a blanket, is really lame.

And this is a big thing right now for me. This will sound self-centered to some, but I do not mean it in any way like that. I'm just calling it like it is. But over a period of about a year, I've gotten more popular. Because I've posted a lot on Micechat, and started blogging more, I've been gaining more twitter followers, the blog has seen record numbers (last month the blog reached it's all time high of 3,060 hits). There was even a dude that found me in Disneyland back in November, and asked to take a photo with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the popularity, and I guess 'fanbase', but I'm still trying to figure out how to handle random people coming up asking "hey, aren't you MainStreetJake?" At times, I've gotten arrogant, and I really need to keep that in check, because I'm just another person like anyone else. It's really cool that people like what I have to say on topics, and I'm definitely going to continue to keep blogging and tweeting because it's something I really love doing. But I just need to learn how to always keep a level head, and stay 100% humble about everything. And as always, I need to keep God the center of my life, and make sure I stay true to what I stand for, and what I represent.

With all this said, I'm going to finish my Grande IC with a shot of V, with added 2SPL, and B creme, and go back home to watch TRON: Legacy. The Grid on Blu-Ray's going to look so awesome.

(I'll mail out a small Disney Prize to whoever gets my drink order right.)

Shaka.

> Jake

Learning School, But Not Life.

As a guy that's been in public, private, and homeschooling, I've been able to get around and see different styles of how things operate and run. The inner gears that make a style of school tick and run. In short, the politics of it all. I might blog later about public and private school, but right now, I want to focus on homeschooling. For those that know, I'm not a huge fan of school right now, because I'm at home, with free time when I'd rather be out at a school, cramming to get essays and homework turned in, with little to no free time, but God dealed me these cards, and I make the best of it.

Thankfully I get invited to parties and school functions by my friends back at BCHS. In fact, next Friday night I'll be at the powderpuff game supporting my girlfriend and then we'll be hitting up the Sadie Hawkins dance after the game. But what I find entertaining is making fun of this whole homeschooling deal. I'm a part of some organization that gets homeschooled kids together to science labs, or creative writing, and...

...wait for it...

...Proms and Homecomings.


I got an e-mail the other day with an invite to go to the annual Formal dance party the organization puts together. Now to keep other people out of this, I've blocked out names addresses and such, but this is what I got in my e-mail.
My comments on this e-mail are in green.

FORMAL TIME FOR 9th-12th GRADE HOMESCHOOLERS

Hi everyone, it is that time of year again. Formal Time!

This year will be a little different. We are going back to an era when ladies were ladies and gentlemen were real gentlemen and they both acted like it!

It's

Dancing Under the Stars 40's Style

Get out your best ,most conservative evening wear, your dance card and come have a blast.

(dance card will be provided)

What's a dance card? Do I have to apply for it before dancing?

Do I show my dance card to the girl I wish to dance with? And if she accepts my dance card, is there a transaction of some sort? punch a hole in it? Scan it? gold sticker it?

What happens if I get denied?

We will be serving a sit-down dinner under the stars and enjoying a night of food, friends and fun.

Our most important guest will be our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We will have an ice breaker with an appetizer.

 Then we will praise and honor the One who gave

us the freedom to join together. The night will keep moving

40's style with a fun game, then dinner will be served. While dinner is being served, we will enjoy a

fun video of days gone by and not-so-gone-by!

not so gone by...does that mean we're celebrating today?

To keep the night moving, there will be give-aways (used erector set? deck of cards from the 'field trip' to the Grand Canyon?), prizes, games, ping-pong, air hockey, basketball, billiards, volleyball and dance-card dancing. (again with the dance card dancing! I swear this sounds like a Fall Out Boy song title.)

1- 5x7 photo will be provided with each paid attendee

(this means they're using up the extra rolls of film from the grand canyon field trip)

It will be held at the XXXXXX's house 

 Saturday May 21, 2011 

Considering the fact that the party will be held at the XXXXXX's home, there are a few things everyone should be aware of:

First and foremost our house is the Lord's, and everything we do here we try to do to honor our Savior.

That said, here are the rules.........which we feel will help us honor God with all our soul, mind, strength and heart.

There will be NO:

foul language

dirty dancing

public display of affection

mini skirts

strapless or skinny straps on dresses (unless covered with a wrap that is worn AT ALL TIMES)

overly tight clothes

under garments showing

backless clothing

cleavage

vulgar words or pictures on clothing

rudeness

over-all disrespect for each other

(needless to say, if Charlie Sheen and his girlfriends do it, you can't.)

There WILL be:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control, along with a H-U-G-E amount of fun!

(I'm calling them out. Plagiarism on the Bible!) 

I am sure there will be some who think these guidelines are a bit over the to (a bit? I'm a pretty modest guy, but dang...); if that is your view, then this formal IS NOT for you.

Don't waste your time or ours.  If you still want to attend and do not follow the guidelines our family has in place, you will

be asked to spend the rest of the night inside (give me a deck of cards and a glass full of water, and I'll show you a better time inside doing card tricks than the whole party will have combined.), will be asked to wear a t-shirt over your outfit, or told to leave.

This is not a joke, and shouldn't be taken lightly. All who know us are aware of the high standard we

have when it comes to functions at our (the Lord's) house. We are not perfect, but we are to be like Christ more and more each day.

If you have doubts about an outfit.......don't wear it. Or you may send a picture of yourself in the outfit to me and I will either "ok" it or give "thumbs down"(can you say 'hot or not'?).

This goes for any person who accompanies you. We encourage no boy friend/ girl friend relationships here, but if you do bring your "friend"(just a hunch here, but I think they're not big on teen relationships.) he or she will be required to follow ALL of the above rules. It will be your responsibility (the home schooler) to inform your friend of the guidelines.

If you are interested in attending, email me and I will send you the acknowledgement form. You can send the paperwork back along with your check.

The cost will be $45.00 per person. (Remember, that is a meal, 5x7 photo, snacks and attendance to the formal)

 There will be no ticket sales at the door.  All tickets must be bought in advance by May 14th.

Sorry, no refunds.

Parents, I would like to have chaperones for the whole night (even if you can only help part of the time).

 If you are willing to handle this job I will need to have 6-8 parents who will agree to chaperone at a certain station and refrain from congregating with other adult chaperones. (this is what got me. You want parents to help out...with homeschool kids. Who are stereotypically undeniably antisocial...and yet you want them to REFRAIN from CONGREGATION with other adults. You're asking them to come watch a collection of socially awkward boys and girls, for a full night, without talking to other parents encompassing the rest of the dance floor. That is insane. No thanks.)

Dinner will be provided for your service.

 Please RSVP ASAP so I can pass on that info to the other families. If you are willing to help, email

me and I will send you the list of stations and times that I will need covered.

This will be a blessed night that could provide godly, uplifting memories. Please come and join us.

I'm a Christian, but I'm not strict like this. I think families like this fail to realize that Jesus hung out with the non Christians who swore, had PDA, and excessive skin showing. And that's what I base my life off of. I hang out with everyone. I don't care what you believe. If we can find a common ground on sports, movies, music, whatever it may be, we're good. I'm not gonna judge because it's not my place. If you want to live your life one way, go for it. It's your life, not mine.

But this not only gives off a bad image, it just makes Christians look really pious and uppity. I can't help but make fun of it because it's so absurd. I think Christians really need to realize that we can't be Bible thumpers who damn people to hell because they don't believe in what we do. Not everyone is going to believe the same thing. If they did, then we'd have a utopia, and that's never going to happen.

And as a final note, I think homeschoolers miss out on life at times, because some don't really get out. To live in the world, you don't need to be of it, but at least see what's out there.

It's funny how some miss the boat on things.

Having it all, and losing it.

DISCLAIMER: This is a very lengthy post. Read if you wish. 

Ever have those moments you just want to scream? Where you had things that you loved and wanted to keep working at, but get it yanked out from underneath you, and forces you to work with a lot less? I do, and still do.

I’m homeschooled. Not by choice. I went to Bakersfield Christian High. Basically the best school in town. Tuition costs more (now) than Cal State Bakersfield. It’s insane, but the education is worth it. Mac desktops with programs that give you wonderful amounts of access to information, teachers that take time before, during lunch, and after school to sit down with you and talk you through a problem, thesis, or even just to chat about the school sports. I was never top of my class, but I was a good student. I got relatively good grades, and some bad grades (almost didn’t pass Spanish ), but I did ok. I played baseball and football. I helped out with theater when they needed it. I loved it. I loved being at a school where I could be my average self in a crowd of kids that have been raised with silver spoons in their mouths. I had a lot of friends from various 'cliques', and was pretty well rounded overall. I was doing great until December of 2010.

Last year I was signed out of BCHS halfway through my Junior year. It sucked. It hurt like none other to have to take that final walk out of the parking lot, leaving behind numerous good friends, and teachers I really loved spending time with inside and out of the classroom. I had to leave because the economy fell flat and my dad’s company went bankrupt. I can remember pretty clearly that the school handed me a box full of Christmas dinner items. A turkey, stuffing, canned cranberry sauce, etc., And not but an hour earlier I was in a conversation with friends hearing how one was flying to Paris for break, and another was going to New York to see a few Broadway shows. Question came around to me. Not 'what are you going to do on break?' but 'WHERE are you going on break?' I had no answer. I wasn't going anywhere but back to my house thirty minutes from campus. This was one of the lowest points I've had in my life. My family has never been rich, but we've been stable. Enough to live comfortable, but never extravagantly. But walking away from the school, holding that box of Christmas dinner items, I felt worlds away from those kids. I felt defeated, and severely hurt. I was on financial aid trying to stay at the school, but we couldn't even afford it then. I lost.

I’m now home every day. Some say that’s awesome, and at times it is nice to be able to go do whatever you want whenever you want. But that’s not me. I hate not having the 45 minute class periods where I know that I only have 45 minutes of class time to learn what I need to learn. Where I have to get in, listen and study, get out and move on. It may be crazy to some, maybe even most, but I don’t like having the leisure time to learn. It can be great, because you can go in depth with topics for as long as you want, but I miss the tight schedule. I miss it, because I get too loose. If I know I have a lot of time to work on things, I procrastinate. I check Facebook continuously, tweet frequently, text excessively. It’s undeniably hard to focus when I’m here, because I know I’ve got time. I want to have no time, and I want the ‘crunch time’ back.

It hurts. I miss that school like none other, and I’m cringing at the thought that I won’t be up there with my friends this year on stage graduating with them. I’ll be in the audience, and cheering along with everyone else when their names get called and their diplomas handed to them. But it’s going to hurt.

 A big thing with my family is Disney. I've grown up with watching their movies, going to the parks, reading the stories, and playing with the toys. Ever since the second grade, I've wanted to work for them, creating magic, and more importantly, memories for families to remember for years. It's been a part of me for as long as I can remember. As I've gotten older I've learned more, and started to talk more with people in the company. I've had lunch with Dave Smith, the then head archivist for the company. I spent two hours chatting with Steve Davison, the VP of parades and spectaculars about World of Color, how he started with the company, and just life in general at the public premier of World of Color.

I know many cast members, and enjoy talking to them on a frequent basis. I'm starting to find ways to start a career there in the near future. But with all those times talking to the cast members, I try to frequent the parks as often as possible. My family loves going down there to spend a day, or even just a night at the parks riding a few rides, getting dinner, and just enjoying the time together. Some say I go too much, but my answer to that is 'well, you go to the dunes on the weekend to ride quads right? (or whatever frequent activity they do) That's the same thing for me, only with Disney.'

But this year, We're probably not going to renew our annual passes. Why? Because money is tight, and people love to watch and complain about what we do. It may seem a juvenile reason with the family, but it is really hard when you get brow beaten about everything you do. Not even with Disney, but literally EVERYTHING.

The biggest reason I'm posting this, is that I've been struggling on how to cope with some things. First thing is manipulation. I can't stand it when people tweak things to their advantage. If someone gets lucky, and gets something cool handed their way, that's awesome. Good stroke of luck. But to demand the uses of others to force your own 'success' and well being is flat out wrong. I feel like I've been cheated out of things because people close (not emotionally, but unfortunately literally) put a strain on things and drains everything from us. I lost BCHS, and I'm going to probably lose my pass to one of the few earthly things I live for, all because of the manipulation of others.

 Another thing is prying into other people's business. See, I'm a pretty transparent man. I feel that I will let others know the majority of things on my own time. But when people start to poke and prod at me for info, I turn into a snail. If you poke me, I will hide in my shell until you leave, and you won't get anything out of me. It's like my family and I have no privacy anymore. I know we have our family blog, and I have this site, but at least we can moderate what we want readers to know about us.

It's incredibly frustrating when you live in a bubble, and you're forced to put a smile on and deal with other people's stupidity that surrounds you. I wish I could tell these people off in person, but it won't work. All that will happen is they'll think I'm attacking them. Hopefully they see through this post, in simple black and white letters that I won't take their crap anymore.

Things will get better though, I'm sure.  College is this fall, and I’ll be able to do things on my own a bit more freely, and create my schedule that works for me. I'm going to be so busy that I won't have to be around the people that bring us down as much, and if they want to be nosy, well they can see what I do. AFTER I do it, and AFTER I post it online. Otherwise, they'll have no clue, and that's going to feel so great. Knowing they know nothing about me, and have no room to complain and nit pick at my life.

Now its time to count down the days to when I can spread these cramped wings and fly.