Cat Stevens - Oh Very Young

In Life We Have Some Trouble, When You Worry You Make It Double

Summer has been going to beautifully. I feel inspired and just truly content with life. I want to write songs and I am going to. The only issue with Summer is the pesky sunlight glaring through my windows at 6 AM cause my shades suck. Seriously sun? Couldn't you wait at least a couple of hours? Gawwwwd!!!! Anyway, in terms of the love life, she is still around but we are friends for now. I am fine with this I think...but then again I just want to grab her and kiss her sometimes and the whole friendship thing makes that difficult. But we still enjoy each others' company and we are on very good terms so I suppose it will all work out. Just like that song "Somehow I know it will all turn out, you'll make me work so we can work to work it out, and I promise you kid I'll give so much more than I get, than I get than I get than I get!!!!" haha freaking love that song. I may post the link if I'm not to lazy.

Totally Immature I Know

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/chat-conversation/238-names-vaginas-197006.html Go here, read them all and laugh your ass off.

jon stewart on crossfire

Jon Stewart you are a god

The Gypsy Rover

james taylor - Steamroller Blues - Live

I'm a Steamroller Baby

I have been having such a wonderful week. Metroarts Camp is the best thing I've done all summer. You really can't beat helping cute little kids learn how to do things that you love (acting and making music mainly). I am eternally grateful to her for turning me on to it. The only difficulty has been trying to cram lifeguarding (my paying job) and Metroarts into the same week. Its exhausting but totally worth it. Pounding the pavement in Downtown Portland is giving me shin splints but I really don't care. Thats easily remedied with Advil. My caffeine addiction has reared its ugly head again, but I think its only to make up for lack of sleep. I get to hang out with all the coolest drama people in Portland at camp, well almost all. Its so much fun!!! And I can feel my inspiration returning. The artistic juices are flowing in my brain again after a long draught. It is such a great feeling. Its liberating. I can express myself again. I'm gonna milk this inspiration for all its worth so expect to see some songs, poems, or scripts very soon :)

Trouble

Its amazing how a tiny little detail can darken what was originally a fantastic evening. I went over to her house yesterday and we talked and watched movies and ate pie and laughed our asses off and stuff on my computer. Also, and forgive me if you totally don't approve of this, we had one beer each. This was the mistake. Or rather leaving the caps behind for her mother to find was the mistake. Finding out this morning that she had gotten in trouble threw a huge wrench into the spokes of last night's wonderfulness. I mean, I still know we had a wonderful time and really we didn't do anything all that bad. But still, I hate getting people in trouble with their parents. I guess I should know better cause I'm all old and shit but in reality I guess I'm still just a dumb kid sometimes. At least neither of my parents are mad at me at present. In fact, my mom may read this or I might tell her and still I won't be in "trouble". I don't think I have been in "trouble" with my parents since I was like ten or eleven. We just kind of reached an understanding and I never really did anything all that terrible. I was just honest with my mom about stuff and that worked out fine. Now that I'm an ""adult"" (double quotes, I really don't feel like one) she really doesn't care what stupid shit I do because its really all on my head now.

Mantastic Evening

Today after working six hours I met up with my buds Nathan and Noah. We worked out for a while, attempted to play basketball (never felt whiter in my life, I was wearing boat shoes), then went back to Nathan's to watch Jarhead. This is a very good film depicting the gulf war in brutal honesty. Nathan is one of the manliest dudes I know. He has a full on punching bag in his room that is ridiculously fun to hit. I actually want one now, thats how cool it is. Overall it was a mantastic evening and I didn't get in until around Midnight. I am very ready to sleep at this point. Not all that much more to say. I think I will make this post dark green in keeping with the manliness of the evening.

Raspberry Ride

This afternoon I decided to get some exercise. My brilliant plan was to ride my bike to the library in Hillsdale and check out some books. Unfortunately the best road to use, Multnomah Boulevard was under heavy construction so I decided to ride in the opposite direction to Burgerville! There I helped myself to a fresh raspberry milkshake which was WONDERFUL!! Totally defeated the purpose of the exercise but I regret nothing! Haha I'd do it again to! Afternoon well spent I'd say. Now I'm kicking back and watching the Big Lebowski. Also I am quite excited because next week I will be helping out at the same camp she works at downtown. Its called MetroArts kids camp and tons of people I know work there. I am thoroughly thrilled to be able to do some artsy stuff next week. I have no idea what to expect but I've only heard good things! The director of the whole camp is Clara Hillier who has directed and costumed Wilson shows in the past. I texted her and asked if she needed anymore help with camp and she does!! YAY!!

Acoustic Cover of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserable

I Dreamed a Dream

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. I found an acoustic version of the music online so I sight read it and recorded. Don't judge, I didn't have much practice :) That is if anyone ever reads this blog lol.

Emergency

For the most part lifeguarding is a fairly boring task. You stare at the pool, drink a ton of water and tell kids what to do. However, there is a reason they prepare us for emergency situations. They do happen. All of us guards working the one to six shift yesterday learned this first hand. It was just like any other day. We got through open swim from one to three forty five just fine and moved into lessons. Guarding during lessons is usually quite easy. You watch the instructors teach their kids so its like there are two levels of protection on the children. I was guarding the leisure pool when I heard the long whistle behind me (behind me is the lap pool which my friend Dana is guarding). I turned around and saw it. There was a kid having a seizure in a swim instructors arms. Dana had jumped in (this is what a long whistle communicates, guard entering the water) and taken control of the convulsing child. He sounded a second long whistle to indicate a major emergency and within seconds another guard rushed out to get a backboard in the water (the preferred method for getting guests out of the water quickly) and they slid the kid straight out of the water. He stopped convulsing once they got him out of the water and thankfully he was conscious. They gave him oxygen and waited for the paramedics which showed up quite swiftly. Thankfully the only part of this situation that affected me is that I had to keep watching the same pool with no rotation for almost 2 hours. This only sucked cause I had to pee. But really I have no right to complain because I am not Dana or Emma (the swim instructor who's kid it was). They were both thoroughly freaked out and had to finish their shifts early. They both acted truly heroically though and I'd really like to congratulate them.

Good Vibrations

Today has been a rather good day so far. Woke up, showered, had a Quesadilla and watched the Simpsons (a show that never fails to make me laugh). Last night went well, we watched a movie and had a lot of fun. Today she is at camp again and I am left to find stuff to do around the house. This is totally fine because I have plenty of stuff to do but I really wish that I was also helping with this camp. Its and arts camp!!! I freaking love the arts and I'm pretty good with kids. I texted the director of the camp to see if there is any chance that I can help out in any way before the camp is over. If she says yes then I may have a very fun non-paying activity to go along with the paying job I already have (Lifeguarding). I definitely need some artsy stuff in my life right now. I've been trying to fill the void by reading and seeing plays (currently reading Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand) but it doesn't seem to be quite enough haha. Hopefully this camp thing works out. If not I will just have to compensate by spending my whole summer budget on live theatre and used copies of plays. Of course, I do have a complete works of Shakespeare that I could start chipping away at. Well no matter what happens, I am sure to have a wonderful summer. You know why? Cause I said so!

Every 10 Seconds

I feel like I am at a crossroads in my summer/life. At this point I may have completely ruined things with her but I am not sure. Things can go one of two ways now, either we get back on good terms, continue dating and go back to being happy or we continue to fight until we get fed up with each other and split. I certainly hope it is the former, because I really do like her. I just have a habit of saying stupid things. I heard somewhere once that every 10 seconds a man says something stupid that a woman punishes him for. I think this is very true and I am probably part of the reason this occurrence is so common on planet earth (and probably other planets). The filter between my brain and my mouth needs some maintenance I think haha. Any who, I am trying to see her tonight. Will tonight hold the moment in which I finally know which road I am destined to go down? That is yet to be determined.

New Day

I am feeling much better today. I got up early for a lifeguard inservice from 7 to 9 and I have an actual shift later from 1 to 6. I feel a lot healthier today mentally and physically. I am a little tired cause I only got five or six hours of sleep last night but other than that I am good! I haven't yet heard from her yet today which leads me to believe she is probably busy with the camp she works at. I really hope I get to see her today after work. That would be most lovely. Feeling quite hopeful today. A quote that keeps coming to mind that I rather enjoy is "Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift and thats why they call it the present". Its very true even if sometimes I forget that. She does a very good job of reminding me of this fact. I'll probably go downstairs soon and have a relaxing lunch before I hop in the shower and try to wake up a bit before my shift starts. Lifeguarding is not a terrible job even if sometimes it can be nerve-racking and monotonous. Money is money and I am in dire need of it for school and for life. However, my goal in life is not to be wealthy. It is simply to be happy :)

Apathetic

Today the only word that can describe how I have been feeling is apathy. Nothing has seemed all that interesting or exciting to me and I've just kind of been loafing around in a funk since I finished The Importance of Being Earnest. The problem with being in a funk is other people people try to blame themselves for your sour mood. That only makes matters worse honestly. I really wish there was a way I could have just put up a big DO NOT DISTURB sign on my forehead that would make sure no one did. Unfortunately that is purely impossible without hurt feelings. Good lord today just needs to end.

I Love Oscar Wilde

Just finished reading "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde. Also, I have decided that I love Oscar Wilde. His writing has such a wonderful wit to it that is very rare in modern comedy. There are some seriously great quotes in this play.

Examples:

-"The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she is pretty and to someone else if she is plain" (Act I, p. 51)

-"Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone" (Act I, p.45)

-"The truth is rarely pure and never simple" (Act I)

Probably what I enjoyed most about reading this play is that it made me think. There were many lines that I had to reread in order to decipher the incredibly sophisticated comedy within. This is definitely one of my favorite plays.

Morning

Just woke up with a pounding headache, possibly caused by all the chirping birds and bright lights that accompany waking up nearly half way through the day or maybe all the garbage trucks clunking around on account of its garbage day. Also, there is the possibility that my own brain is just pissed at itself and thus feels it needs to play stop hitting yourself with an invisible hammer. I had a fight with that girl I have been talking about last night. We made up but I still feel shitty about it. I can't even for the life of me remember why we were fighting, only that it was terrible. I really don't feel like doing anything today. I have to pick my brother up from summer school in about 15 minutes but other than that I think I'm just going to stay in my house and either read or melt my brain with television. I guess it just depends where my intellectual lethargy stands in relation to my physical lethargy. *Sigh* well I guess its time to go face the day, or whats left of it. I really hope this headache goes away.

Algebra Tutor

Today I am helping my brother with his summer school math homework. Its pretty basic algebra but I have found that explaining things that seem simple to me to my younger brother can be quite challenging. I really want him to do well...plus my mom is paying me to tutor him $$$$. This in addition to my lifeguard money is gonna be sweet. Although most of it is going towards college I am still excited about it. Went to a family gathering this morning for my Aunt Wendy's birthday. Well technically she is not really my aunt. She is my dad's cousin's sister (its much simpler to refer to her as my "aunt"). Aunt Wendy recently had a stroke and hasn't been in very good condition. It was wonderful to see her chatting with people and being sociable. She seems to be on the mend. This is wonderful news to our whole family. I also got to see my grandparents and my 2nd cousin Haley who is pretty awesome. There were many other wonderful family members there and the whole occasion was quite delightful. There was also a pretty good potluck buffet. Now we are back at home and grinding away at Alex's math. He is doing pretty good and I have a ton of faith in him.

Scary Scary Bitch

Sarah Palin you scare the living shit out of me. The fact that you have the support you do is mind boggling. How can someone with so few brain cells have supporters? Oh yeah, because there are so many freaking stupid people in this country. How very depressing. I really hope Obama gets some shit done in the next couple of years to turn the country around or it is going to be Republican USA again and we will go back to terrible decisions and idiocracy (great movie btw). Rich people, ignorant people, and rich ignorant people are the reason the conservatives thrive. Its a major problem.

First Post

This is my first blog post. I decided to start a blog for a couple of reasons: its summer and I'm bored, I need another outlet to express myself, and facebook is becoming quite old and stale. Hopefully some wise words will come of this blog, hopefully some creative ones as well. I suppose that we shall see. I guess there are some things you should know about me. My name is Karl, I enjoy the arts (specifically theatre but many others as well), and I enjoy looking at stars. I love the sky. At night it is quite romantic and during the day it can still be quite beautiful. I just graduated high school in Portland, OR and this fall I am headed off to Eugene to start college at the University of Oregon. Thats all for now :)