Beach House 2.0

Hello again friends, I decided to do my writeup from Friday while I had some free time. I'm gonna start with the new updated list that I played at FNM to put the rest of the week and the new awesomeness in perspective. So without any delay I present:

Beach House v.2.0
BWG:
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Dauntless Escort
3 Kor Hookmaster
4 Emeria Angel
4 Baneslayer Angel

4 Honor of the Pure
4Maelstrom Pulse
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Behemoth Sledge
4 Day of Judgment
1 Path to Exile

4 Swamp
4 Forest
6 Plains
4 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Sunpetal Grove

SB:
3 Relic of Progenitus
4 Celestial Purge
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Lapse of Certainty


The revamped sideboard was put together about 10 minutes before starting time, and it had a lot of goodness. I didn't want to use the prevention effects like Harm's Way and Brave the Elements in this deck because now it's playing like a control deck and the creature count is way down. It's better for me to spend that slot on removal and deal with their creatures until I can get one to stick.

One obvious strange quirk is the singleton Path in the mainboard. It was basically crunch time and I had already committed to playing Journey to Nowhere since it does the same thing without rewarding my opponent. I forgot that the list was 61 cards, or else I probably would have cut this, but hey, maybe I'll leave it in.

Mainboard DoJ and Baneslayer won lots of games in testing so I felt pretty good.

Round 1: Finest Hour Bant

Game one is strange game. He drops Hierarch, passes, then he drop Hierarch and a Bird of Paradise. He then proceeds to play finest hour turn 3 and swing with the Bird for 9. Holy crap that's some bird damage! I am able to Journey the bird and run out sacrificial creatures until he gets another bird. I go to 1 life and topdeck the Baneslayer nutsface. 30 dollar card steals the game.

Game two he gets Rafiq, then after I kill it plays Rafiq, then after I kill it gets a Rafiq to stick. The eventual topdecked Baneslayer shuts him down again.

Round 2: Mono Red Burn
Playing against Kyle's mono-red concoction. He gets early damage in with burn and hasty elementals. Tidehollow Sculler is tech when he runs out of burn and Maelstrom Pulse makes sure that his enchantment to get a 7/1 with haste never gets online.

Second game I am able to keep myself above 10 life for the whole game and an eventual 7/7 Baneslayer off of dual Honor of the Pure is good enough to kill most people.

Round 3: Black Control
Playing against Rob, I'm pretty sure he was mana screwed the first game. Duress was painful but I got the removal when I needed it. He Haunting Echoes my graveyard to get rid of some good stuff, but no Baneslayers or DoJ's. Some creatures pushed through and I barely got there.

Game two I get two Tidehollows online and that shuts things down fairly well. Timing is good from my cards and Hookmasters tempo out the few creatures he is able to get down after the hand disruption.

Round 4: Soldiers
I played against Adam and we couldn't draw because it was going to 5 rounds and there were several undefeated people. I really don't remember how this match went, but we decided that we would split the winnings from the night regardless of how things turned out.

Either he won the first and I won two in a row or he won the middle game, I can't remember. I do remember that he had to mull down to 5 in the last game and still couldn't find the mana he needed, so tough breaks for the solders.

Round 5: Soldiers
I love playing against soldiers! Given the amount of complaining I did when Kithkin were around, my absolute hatred for these white guys is probably unmatched. I get ready for a tough game, Isaiah is the pilot.

The defining moment for this match was game three when I was freaking out because he had about 8 guys on the board, and I had 2 Tidehollow Scullers and a Dauntless Escort. I draw a DoJ, wipe his side, equip a Behemoth Sledge and turn the tide. Next card is another Sledge and soon its ridiculous. It was all luck and topdeck at that point, but hey DoJ is totally worth it.

1st place 5-0, I was on top of the world. I really needed this, I was really feeling down about MTG after the PTQ and evaluating my financial status. We went to Dennys afterwords and shenanigans were had. And our first server was creepy.

So my question to you is this: should I take out the maindeck path? Should I put Path back in? Also any commentary on other cards is appreciated.

The New Doran

Hello there internet,

Sorry for not updating the past couple weeks. Since I last wrote, there was a format rotation, and lots of crazy things have happened in the Magic world. I ran some crazy decks, including a grixis unearth aggro deck that I actually went 3-1 with, and some weeks were less stellar at 2-2.

Tim K. pointed out that I stopped blogging about Magic soon after I faced his Faerie monstrosity. This thing was crazy- classic Fae shenanigans with white for Baneslayer! I was shocked and quickly murdered in round 2 in back to back weeks by this deck, only to be saved by Faerie rotation. Sorry Tim, and I won't let it happen again next time!

Last week I was going to play Vampires but grabbed one of Kyle's decks about an hour beforehand and fell in love. I don't know what else to call this deck, it's BGW landfall/goodstuff. Kyle wanted to call it "The New Beach House Aggro", but I don't know if it's quite ready for that title yet. Here's the list I played Friday:

BWG:
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Dauntless Escort
3 Kor Hookmaster
4 Emeria Angel

4 Honor of the Pure
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Behemoth Sledge
3 Harm's Way
4 Path to Exile

4 Swamp
4 Forest
6 Plains
4 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Sunpetal Grove

SB:
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Day of Judgment
3 Baneslayer Angel
3 Brave the Elements
3 Kor Sanctifiers

The SB has last minute changes that I made, namely adding a 4th Day of Judgment and the Baneslayers. Kyle didn't have any Baneslayers so he didn't have them in the original list.

I ended up 3-1, I don't remember matches anymore since it's been almost a week and there was a PTQ messing up my memory from Sunday. I'll keep track this week and write it up.

What I do remember from Friday is sideboarding and card choices. I sided Baneslayer and Day of Judgment in for every matchup. Both of these cards belong in the mainboard for sure. I sided Knight of the White Orchid and Harm's Way out in all but one. Why? Double white mana is a bitch to get on turn 2 consistently in this deck and the card is not very good when you're on the draw. Harm's way didn't really do anything except shock my opponent one game.

The secret MVP's of this deck are the Kor Hookmaster and Dauntless Escort. Hookmaster is an excellent tempo card that people have really overlooked in Zendikar. In a format where everyone wants to turn guys sideways, this guy is so nuts on the play if you've got a 1 or 2 drop online. While he is not a permanent removal option, he buys you an extra turn or two to get control/flying dudes. Dauntless protects the most important part of the deck: the flying guys.

Emeria Angel is almost always best to play on turn 5. Emeria, play fetch, fetch land, 5 power flying for 4. If I get the Honor of the Pure down before this, 8 power for 4. At one point on Friday I had a 7/7 Baneslayer. Take that red decks! At the very least I want to try this deck again next week without Harm's Way and the Knight and with Baneslayer and DoJ.

If anyone has thoughts on this deck or improvements feel free to leave feedback in the coments.

Until next time

FNM Again

I wanted to start this post with a thought I had at Magic this week :

My decks don't want me to take first place.

After the last month I began to wonder if my decks conspire against me when I'm not around.

I played Classic 5cc this week, (I also played it last week but didn't bother with a writeup) and I was pretty confident with my chances for a top spot. I used Charles Gindy's list from nationals as the base and then made changes for my meta (ie lots of creatures/no faeries). I'll post the list up here later as an update.

First Round: U/W Angels

My first opponent is Aaron, and I know his deck from previous weeks. I do what my deck does, counter or kill his early drops and cast Cruel and Broodmate for the win. His angels come down too late to make a difference, although he had my life down in one game because my first removal was Hallowed at 5 mana.

Second Round: Treefolk

I'm paired against Nelson running Treefolk. He beat me with this deck two weeks ago, so I was looking for some sweet revenge.

I let him play a bunch of dudes in the first game, letting Leaf Crowned Elder come in and kinship the next turn so I can hallowed burial all of them and gain board advantage.

The second game is depressing for him when he keeps a two land hand and I proceed to counter every card he plays that produces or searches for mana. I win keeping him down and casting Cruel.

Third Round: Red Burn

Mike is my opponent thIs round with a ton of hasty damage. I'm able to keep his damage down with Essense Scatter vs Ball Lightning. He starts drawing into land, allowing me to Cryptic-fog until I find an answer.

Game two Ajani goes the distance with good timing and counterspell backup. I Cruel a few times after Ajani goes ultimate and get the W.

By this point I was 6-0 on game wins and feeling good. It was going to be Tim and me in the finals battling it out for first, and I was feeling positive about the kithkn matchup.

Fourth Round: Kithkin

I know that Tim has lapse of certainty in the sideboard to mess me up after the first game, so winning is crucial here.

I get stuck on 4 lands with one Hallowed and one Broodmate in hand. He runs me over when I have no answer to super pumped Figure of Destiny.

Game two I get stuck on 5 mana when he plays back-to-back Lapse of Certainty on Hallowed Burial and I die.

I'm pretty bummed at this point because kithkin has been my bane for about a month, no matter what I bring out against it. Sigh

If anyone has any new ideas feel free to post them in the comments or on FB. I really like the deck but I'm tired of banging my head against the X-1 door.

The Tim Trainwreck Special

This week I want to discuss a new deck that my friend Tim built recently. Tim is one of those people that is a genius at deckbuilding and always plays strong lists that have innovation and power.

I playtested with Tim piloting it against all of my other decks: Calderaquin, Merfolk, and Warp World. All of these are solid, if not strong, so it seemed like a decent challenge. I got blown out. It was a slaughter, with the exception that if I could Warp in time I could steal a win once in a while.

After playtesting, I decided to try out the Tim special for myself the list is as follows:

4 Putrid Leech
4 Rhox War Monk
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Chameleon Colossus
1 Lord of Extinction

2 Path to Exile
4 Doom Blade
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Captured Sunlight
2 Behemoth Sledge
3 Garruk Wildspeaker

The land base for this deck looks like a typical 5 color control deck, so I don't think I'll post it. After testing the deck all afternoon, we started FNM feeling good

Round One:
I lose the roll and keep a hand that is a bit removal heavy, but has good mana and a Leech. My opponent drops Island and passes.

I drop the Leech next turn and swing a few until he hits 5 mana and Traumatizes me. That's about it, Leech literally gets in for 20 damage.

Game two was more interesting. My opponent gets Traumatize into Haunting Echoes and gets every card except one Path, two Lords of Extinction, and 7 lands. I still get the win with Lord and the Finks from the previous turn since he fails to draw mill.

Round Two;
I get blown out by Treefolk of all things! He gets unanswered Leaf Crowned Elder both games and I lose to kinship triggers firing every turn. Crazy matchup where I'm probably favored, but lack removal. This is important later on in the night.

Round Three:
I'm playing against my friend Kyle who was 2-0 at this point. My tiebreaks must be amazing.

I know his deck well, 4 color blood. This is very winnable for me because my lifegain is superior and some of his cards are less effective against me.
He gets there in game one after I draw 5 straight lands, and I get him in game two after he draw 5 straight lands. Strange times in magicville.

Game three takes forever. I play something, he answers. He plays something, I answer. We finally get close to time and I pull ahead off of Captured Sunlight into Putrid Leech. We go to 5 turns, and just as it looks like I might get the win, he topdecks Finks to gain life and block. I was dissappointed since I probably could have taken it eventually, but oh well.

Standing at 1-1-1 was not optimal.

Round Four:
Paired against one of my best friends Adam. I don't have much trouble as he gets mana screwed to hell and dies. Fin

I talk to Tim at this point and find that he's gone 4-0, beating the treefolk deck in the finals. I was a little bummed that I didn't perform as well, but I was glad the deck took first anyway. It's a potent little burrito and I look forward to playing more with it soon.

Comments on the list welcome!

- Ken

Hello again internet,

Ken here again motivated and ready to post some content relevant to whats going on with me so here we go:

I went to our Friday Night Magic tournament this week with a deck that has been doing well since the US Nationals: Makeshift Mannequin Redux is what I have been calling it. One of the first decks I played when I first started taking Magic seriously was the original Mannequin deck that revolved around evoke and controlling the board with blue bounce cards, counterspells, and unfair advantage generated by the interaction. This new deck uses red for control instead of the old blue and plays similarly, if not better. I had pretty good testing matches and read a ton about the deck before I built it.

Last week was the first time I tried it out, and I took it to a 3-0-1 finish, which was high enough to net me second place out of a number in the high twenties, so I figured I would play it this week.

I felt good about the matchups in my meta, which are generally aggro decks, with a few strange (and powerful) control decks trying to keep everyone in check. About 32 people show up and we have to put up extra tables. This is always a great start: more rounds equals more fun!

1st Round:
I'm paired up against someone who looks like he's about 10? Definitely on the younger side, but I've learned in the past to never underestimate a younger player after getting blown out once by a youngling playing an excellent red/black deck.

I keep a decent hand, 2 Fallouts, 2 Shriekmaws, 2 Lands and a Putrid Leech. I'm gonna control the first couple turns for sure, and hopefully he's playing something fast and aggro-ish. 25 lands in the deck so one more should not be hard to draw.

He wins the roll: drops turn one Goldmeadow Stalwart. Excellent, I think. This should be one of the better matchups for me, and I'm packing 2 Fallouts in hand. I draw and Exotic Orchard, play a Vivid, and pass.

I drop my Forest, a Leech, and pass it over. At this point I realize that between the lands in play and my hand, I have one red mana producer. Sad face. He drops Spectral Procession. Sadder face.

I draw a couple turns and get another Vivid, which doesn't go the distance when he drops Ajani.

I go to the sideboard and put in Deathmark. Excellent card in the matchup and I can take out the Anathamancer! Dead cards for good cards seems good.

Game two I make a horrific error: I decide to Maelstrom Pulse his Spirit tokens because he had double Honor of the Pure out and 9 damage next turn. This is a failure because chances are with my deck, I can get a Fallout or Caldera Hellion out more often than I can Pulse. I die when he plays Cloudgoat Ranger and the Fallout I draw is now a dead card.

I take a couple minutes after this match and realize I am an idiot. I've lost the first round against a good matchup by failing to play well. But there's always the next match...

2nd Round:
My opponent plays 2 cards during this entire match: Akrasan Squire and Stoic Angel. I run this dude over (aparently mana screwed) with Bloodbraid Elf. Yeehaw.

3rd Round:
My opponent opens with the Merfolk dual land. I think this may be a good thing for me since I love to kill everything. I soon find out that my deck hates me terribly, drawing into 3 lands and then another Anathamancer that can hit him for... one damage? He gets Soverigns, I get no Pulse, and thats all she wrote for that one.

Second game can be summed up in two words: Harm's Way. This card is a headache and a half. He redirects damage by playing TWO Harm's Way in a turn to redirect Putrid Leech damage back to me. Thats a 6 point life swing back to myself.

After killing myself with my own Leech, I took a minute to think about life. Things were looking grim to me. My deck should be punishing people, but instead I'm punishing myself with play mistakes and terrible luck all rolled into one. I've gotta stay focused and give my deck a pep talk at this point.

4th Round:
This match was pretty good overall for me but I did have one moment where things looked grim: he played 3 Battlegrace Angels. Without a Pulse or a tricky two-for-one, I was gonna be out of it. A timely topdecked Cloudthresher fixed this problem when coupled with a Fallout. Score one for the alliance.

5th Round:
This round was definitely a blowout. Its funny how I remember very little from the rounds like this. My deck played the curve like it should, and I was rewarded with the big W. He played blue/white and the hardest decision this game was whether to Fallout or Pulse at one point. Whenever I find myself in this position, it seems the best decision is always wait for the Pulse.

*end games*
3-2 Record and some disappointment from misplaying a great deck.

I rip a couple packs of Alara Reborn because M10 is sold out everwhere. A Deathbringer Thoctor and a Fight to the Death. "This is a bummer day" I think to myself and push back the rare to reveal..... a Foil Uril the Miststalker! This card is not Standard playable, but is one of my favorite Generals in Elder Dragon Highlander! So my general has been upgraded to Foil!

This made me smile, and even though I really didn't gain much from the day (except for the time when I thought about how terribly I played) it was overall a positive experience.

Thanks to everyone who made this Friday a great day and hope to see as many people or more next week!

~Ken

Hey there Internet user...

I don't know where you've come from to get to this point, I don't know if I know you or not, but I want you to know what has been given to me.

I have some great friends. To say great friends is actually kind of an understatement. I have had the best friends that a person could ask for. People who would keep me on a path of goodness, people who always challenge me to succeed and to see what truly takes place in my life. I don't know who else to thank but God. No matter what position I am in, these people minister to me with their lives and with what is most important to people in our culture.

Not to be vague, but I am most thankful for those who have really ministered to me with their life stories, their theology, and their philosophy. Even if none of the people who have given to me read this post, hopefully they will know that I keep them in my deepest prayers. All those who have ministered to me give me the greatest hope. They keep me on the path to knowing that there is a higher power than me, and that this power is all encompassing love. Even though we may need faith and hope in this mortal life, the love that others has shown me has led me to this point.

I want to express my sincerest gratitude to all those who have kept me in their hopes and prayers. Although I am a sinner, I am graced to have such powerful intercession. I know that I don't deserve the caliber of friends that God has given to me.

I love all of you so much and would give what little I have learned in this life back to you as best as I can. I pray that my life from here foreword will glorify the God that has given me these people to strengthen me and assuage my doubts. I will be always in debt because of the great things He has done in my life.

Thank you to the Sorrowful Mother's ministry who took me in like family without even a moment's hesitation. I don't deserve the graces that visiting your beautiful home has bestowed on me. I feel that the deep conviction that I felt on your blessed grounds resonates deep within me. I don't know if I can ever repay your kindness. The little time I spent with you strengthened me deeply.

To my parents: you are awesome! From your everyday encouragement, I realize what it truly is to love. You have selflessly promoted me throughout your lives. You not only fulfill my daily needs, but encourage me to be a better person. You always challenge me to live the life I should be living, and I love you so much!

To Mel: You have been with me through thick and thin. Even when I am a terrible brother, or when I forget who I am, I can always remember who I want to be when I am with you. You have been a great sister, and I pray that our relationship will only strengthen through the coming years. I guess sometimes I takes a great distance to know how much of a great thing you are missing. I miss you smile and enthusiasm for sharing your love of God in all aspects of life. Your tenacity of doing God's will when it is hard is such a beacon of hope to me. You are very selfless and I know that you are doing God's will with your children in PSR, your workers at Target, and with everyone you meet. People don't easily forget you because everyone who truly knows you knows how much you love your faith. Thank you! I don't know how much you have shaped my life and personal faith experience, but I can safely say that without you my life would be pretty darn boring!

To the friends at home: You encourage me with your acts of faith. Some have been with me through some very tough times. I have always been able to count on you to pull me through and tell me that everything will be all right. God has blessed me in his infinite wisdom to place reminders of who I am and what I want to be throughout my life. Without you I would still be very lost. Thank you.

This whole thing might seem rather abrupt, but it is only in certain times that I relize how blessed I am. I will pray for all of you thoughout my semester and I hope that you will keep me in your prayers too. May God always show His plans through the little things in life!

The Home Times

So I successfully made it home to St. Louis. This last semester was pretty amazing, and I really had a blast with all of my friends, but there's always something nice about coming home. I called up Bob's and they told me to come on in, so I started working on Friday. It looks more and more like I'm not gonna get another job this summer, but I'm gonna keep applying to other places.

I still haven't been feeling that great. I had some Flu or something two Fridays ago and my body hasn't been the same since. I hope that I make it through work today, I'm not looking forward to having to deal with all the old people today, but hey, it's a Monday, so it should at least be slow.

Peace

So things at school have been good- getting good grades and balancing my social life and friends. My household is moving to a new dorm next semester, St. Louis hall. We're all pretty excited, the new dorm is much nicer as far as living conditions go (air conditioning!!!) and we all want a change of scene at this point.

I'm kinda hungry right now- we had early Mass this morning because my household has a Ultimate Frisbee game tonight. It was really rough waking up early on the only day that I usually get to sleep in on.

There's a woot-off going on at woot.com , which is always really exciting. Still nothing that I would want yet, but there's always hope!

I'm off to play some music, peace up!~

The Updates

So I added a little bar in the right upper corner where I can post what I'm doing without formally posting a blog entry. Sometimes its just quicker to fire off a short message, and I can include links, files, and pictures in it too, which is pretty cool.


I'm back at Franciscan now, but I'm doing Computer Science instead of Theology. It's quite a change for me, but I know it's for the best. It has been a little overwhelming going back to math after the past couple of years.

More to come on the morrow, or really later today, whichever you prefer.

Another one Down

So the semester is almost at a close- only 2 more classes to go. This has been an odd time for me, and a very strange semester. I guess it has been good to be at home and work some, but I'm just ready to see my friends. I miss everyone at FUS so much- I didn't realize how much I rely on them. Not only have my friendships become strained, but my life in general as well.

Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing. I have such a limited life here at home- go to school, go to work, sleep, eat, rinse and repeat. Even the things I do in my free time are somewhat fulfilling- video games only take me so far without friends. Music is good as always, but just feel trapped here.

Christmas is just around the corner, and I need to do some shopping. My favorite jeans are ripped up beyond recognition, and I have unofficially retired them. I might still wear them once or twice, but I really need to go get some new jeans. I wanted to go shopping this weekend, but unforeseen events led to a lack of shopping. Soon!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Another post

I'm sooooooo far behind in my blogging that it's not even funny. I think I need a big sign to remind me to go on here- I'm online so much, and yet I never can remember to do it! Not that there's a whole lot of traffic on here anyway, but that's besides the point. I'm trying to jumpstart something on the other site, anotherpwn, but I still lack direction. I always seem to lack direction whenever making something new- that's why I need to team up with someone. I'm good at making ideas, but my actual artistic ability and drive is much less without someone else. Oh well.

Only a couple more weeks (7 I think) until the semester ends. I am trying to get back to FUS, so hopefully that happens!

I'm taking a trip with one of my friends to Truman this weekend. I'm really excited to see my friends who I havn't seen in months. I've been meaning to take this trip for a long time, and I'm so glad that I finally can! I'm not excited, however, about having to ask off work! I know it will be ok.

By the way, the last post was original poetry, just in case there was any confusion. I was kind of depressed (no really!) but I think I'm mostly better/ok now. Things have progressed in my life to a point where I'm at least comfortable with my position. Being single is kind of weird, and it's my first time significantly single in 4 years. I think it has been good time to consider what I want out of life, and what life wants out of me.

Peace and love!

Powered by ScribeFire.

And now for something completely different

Torn
Into the pieces from form
Unrecognizable, even from self
Twisted and broken into new

Tired
Dark and deepening
Lower to rest not coming
Even sleep is robbed

Hunger
Insatiable like desire
Still waiting for recourse
Undying but unfulfilled

Life
Painful still, but soon reminding
Everything is for Your Glory
Can this journey be accomplished
Will strength come and visit me
If I give my last remaining part

Of my broken self

Powered by ScribeFire.

Happy Day of Labor

Happy Labor Day to everyone. I enjoyed my day off with my father and family. I finally got to see Rush Hour 3, which was just about how I expected it to be- good Chan action, a couple of laughs thrown in for good measure. Then it was Chinese food for dinner (Sesame Chicken w/fried rice) and now relaxing and watching some TV. I have to do some reading eventually for class tomorrow, but for now, it's good to take a break.

Steubenville in 4 days, birthday in a week. It's an exciting time for me, and that's just about all I can say. My dad started watching Firefly, and he liked it too. It makes me wish that my other favorite tv shows would just come back on already. Prison Break isn't for another 2 weeks I think, and everything else is after that. Soon enough though, soon enough.

Peace

Powered by ScribeFire.

Teh Hax

So it's been quite a week. Classes were good, even work was pretty good. I read some Walt Whitman, which was pretty eye-opening. Even though I don't believe in his view of religion and spirituality, I really got a lot out the symbolism and power of his poetry. It's kind of refreshing to branch out with my reading- I've been reading too much Crichton this summer and not enough variety. I enjoyed reading the sum of Crichton's works, but he tends to write the same book over and over, with only the local, characters, and fine details changing. It's not a terrible thing, but I realized that I needed a bit of variety.

I'm going to Ohio to visit Steubie on Friday, which is AMAZING! I've been looking forward to this for some time now, and I really miss everyone at school. I got a jacket this week that is totally sweet- a TMNT track jacket. I wanted to get one last year, but had no money to do so. Awesome.

I fix computers, for anyone who needs repairs. And I work pretty cheap. So yeah.

More on this and else later!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tiredness

So the funny thing about staying up to late is that no matter what you do, you have to deal with the lack of sleep when you wake up. This is particularly disgruntling since I must mow the lawn upon waking, followed by homework and class. Sometimes you just wish that you had some more time to sleep.

I spent at least 2 hours trying to figure out why my Xbox couldn't connect to the internet anymore. I do a thing where I connect it to my laptop, then use the laptop's wireless to connect to the internet. Complicated, but cheaper than buying the 90 dollar adapter that they sell for it. I've been using this method for the last year, but after updating my windows software, it suddenly stopped working. Apparently Microsoft doesn't think that connection sharing is important anymore, but I must beg to differ. This is all problematic because Andrew just gave me a birthday present- a 13 month subscription to Xbox Live, which I was just itching to get started on. Alas, it will have to wait until I can figure something out.

So now I'm trying to do a system restore, to find out what happened so that gameplay can resume as normal. Urg.

School has been interesting. Doing Math again after not having Math for 3 years is kind of weird. Most of it I remember, but I'm definitely rusty in practice. I'm glad that I'm doing something different, and even though it's not easy, I know it's good for the long run.

Mom has been asking me about making her website, so I guess I need to learn about html and web hosting. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm trying.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll do even more posting soon!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Whatnot

Hey Andrew, here you go.

Summer has been good for me so far- lots of work, but it's worth it for the money. I've been catching up on my usual 3 movies from the library a week, so that's fun. Last week's winner was Corpse Bride, which I loved. This week, I was excited to find Little Miss Sunshine, a movie that I had wanted to see, but never managed to see when it was out in theaters. I'll be watching it sometime that isn't tonight, cause it's kind of late.

Thanks to everyone who clicks my links- I'm halfway there! With your help and another 80 clicks or so, I'll actually make money from running the blog. I know I usually don't have anything interesting to say about my life these days, but I figure if I post a little snippit about my life, and then link to some of my news from the day, maybe I'll do it more often.

This video makes Daft Punk look like a bunch of noobs- Stevie Wonder

So that's it for today- tune in next time for more good stuff, and don't forget to keep on clicking.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Stuff- and things!

So it's been a while again since I did this updating thing. It's hard when I don't feel like much is going on in my life, but in reality so much has happened. I've been working 40 hour weeks at Bob's, which is nice for the hours, but kind of rough on everything else. My schedule is not conducive to seeing family much nor friends. I try to keep up with everything, but find myself failing to see everyone.

I can't wait for Laura to come home- only one week left!  Woo hoo!

Not much else to report- been playing lots of cards in my free time with my dad and Andrew. I see my adviser for classes this week, so that's good too. My classes are all going to be very basic, so hopefully it will be an easy semester, and I'm going to keep working too.

May God Bless ya all!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Have you ever heard the song Peace of Mind by Boston? Cause that's the only song that's been running through my head the last couple days. Well, that and the other million Boston songs that I've heard.

Things have been ok, even though I guess today has just been an off day for me. I feel kind of distant today- I probably need to get more sleep. Sleep is good. Clearly, since its almost 5 and I'm still awake, I am not going to get enough sleep tonight. I watched 2 movies tonight, Flight of the Phoenix and Blue Streak. The first was a dud, and the second one was enjoyable. I wore my new shoes today, which was pretty exciting for me. Ah, the small pleasures of life.

Lt. Dan Riordan, who was a rolemodel and leader of mine, died in Iraq recently. The loss of his life has really brought it home to me in a way I hadn't understood before. I pray for the safety of all servicemen, that they will return home to their families. We will all miss Dan's enthusiasm for giving everything for his country.

I'm so confused from the snow- this was during Easter Break.

Well, I moved the blog back to kenflipkick after a while for a couple reasons, and so here it is again. My blog program just changed recently, so thats why my last post was a little messy before I cleaned it up a bit. Technology is quite a lovely thing, but sometimes it can be frustrating.

I have the finals coming up soon, even though I'm still trying to deny it to myself. All of my projects except for one are turned in, so it's almost smooth sailing. It's hard to believe that the semester is done already, but I am more glad than I have ever been before for school to be over. This has been by far the hardest and most stress filled semester I have experienced.

I found Firefly (a tv show) a little while back, and I have to say that it is truly one of the best shows I've ever seen. Unfortunately, FOX had aired the episodes out of order and subsequently cancelled the show after one season- another reason why it is one of my least favorite stations. The only thing they really have for me any more is Prison Break, and its showing signs of its length. I like shows that develop characters and relations, but sometimes its best not to run a show into the ground just to keep it going.

I had a lovely time with some friends tonight, bringing some joy to the workers of the Taco Bell in Steubenville. I think the lady at the window was smiling for a while after we left, she thought it was pretty funny I guess. Good times.

Ever since I've found Ruckus (free music for college students) i've been expanding my music listening habits. Currently I'm listening to some Bowling for Soup, which brings back some High School memories that I am quite fond of. Here's looking at you, carpool.

Love ya all, peace.

Powered by ScribeFire.