I Bet That Horse is Tired of Bagpipes

Death Gardens for Anheuser

So I disappeared again, sorry. You're in luck though! I have two reviews today! One will be for the Death Cab for Cutie Concert I went to on Thursday night and the other will be for Busch Gardens, Williamsburg's Howl-O-Scream Halloween events.

So who the heck is Death Cab For Cutie? :: Well, the easy answer is that they are a band. The longer answer would be that that are a remarkably interesting, unique, independently made band that is gaining more and more attention by the hour. If you haven't heard of them before, you may also heard of The Postal Service, an electronic group that shares it's lead singer with Death Cab. After the smashing success of the album "Give Up" by The Postal Service, Death Cab signed on to Atlantic records, ending their era of indy. Doesn't bother me though, because their new album "Plans" doesn't show any signs of weakness...in fact, it's great.

Caroline and I got to the "Disco Rodeo" in Raleigh early. It was freezing but we had to wait in line for 45 minutes amidst the gaggles of 15 year old "I'm going to talk so loud everyone can hear me because I'm 15 and I'm retarded" kids. It's unfortunate that Disco Rodeo doesn't at least draw the line at 18...sigh. Once we got in the door, we b-lined for the t-shirt counter and while buying these AWESOME green shirts, Devin's (my roommate's) girlfriend found us and told us where to go. Which happened to be where Devin was standing. Which happened to be about 15 feet from the stage. It was cramped and this annoying old guy kept breathing heavily onto the top of my head, but it was well worth it to be that close.

The opening band "Stars" surprised me by being relatively decent. I won't be traipsing out to buy their cd, as my roommate will, but I enjoyed them nevertheless.

As it got closer to the time for Death Cab to come on, I found myself moving further and further to the back rail as countless drooling emo kids poured into the sides of the front section. I only moved a little though and with Caroline's camera, was able to get some sweet photos which I hope to have up here soon. In the mean time you can check out Devin's Photos. They may have come out better and he was standing virtually in the same spot I was.

Death Cab ended up running though all of their most popular songs and then surprisingly, picking out about 10 songs I'd never heard before, meaning they were from before Transatlanticism. Though it wasn't as spectacular as the Coldplay concert, I do love their music and being up in front was awesome. Give them a listen.

-------------------------------

Imagine my excitement as the day after the concert, I'm heading home for my family. Mom, Dad, Melissa, Jeffery, Elizabeth, Craig, Caroline and myself all headed out to Busch Gardens Saturday where we hoped to be spooked by their Howl-O-Scream events. It was a bit of a disappointment when we realized that the events that might have actually scared us, were ruined by the thousands of people that poured into the park at 5 PM. Some of the 17+ "haunted houses" would have really been spooky had their been fewer people going through them at the same time as us. As it stood, the night was long lines and cold weather, (about 33 degrees.) There were moments of, what the crap...this stinks, but they were brought on by the fact that some of us liked to ride rides, other didn't, and the fact that we were all freezing.

Craig brought Caroline, Elizabeth, and I back on Sunday for rides. They caught Alpengeist and Apollo's Chariot but sadly, Big Bad Wolf was dead almost the entire weekend. All in all, I made some good memories and enjoyed getting to spend a lot of time with Craig and Elizabeth...but more careful planning will be needed if we make any future trips there.

Bread me in corn flour, fry me on a stick, and sell me for $4 why don't you!

National Shin Kick Day!

Dorm Set
Originally uploaded by The Sloan.

Two weeks in 10 paragraphs or less...

Sorry, once again, for my leave of absence. Though I know no one out there actually lost any sleep over my virtual nonexistence for the past few weeks, it does bother me a great deal to know that I have so much to talk about and I'm either too busy or too lazy to write about any of it for such a long period of time. If I'm not careful, I could eventually end up updating as often as my cousin David (or roughly every couple of months.) Ha! I kid, of course dear cousin! In any case, here I sit writing, unashamedly in an attempt to avoid doing any of the actual work I had planned for the day, and I wonder where to begin. Ah yes! I seem to remember life 2 weeks ago, like I said...very busy...

((Imagine the rippling dream sequence effect right about now))

Fall break wasn't long enough. The Monday after it was over I had a big Old Testament exam and then a Mid-term in Silent film. Both of them had been looming over me the whole weekend, but thankfully they passed without much ado. By that I mean, of course, I failed them easily. Nothing else of any note happened the entire week. The weekend was almost as uneventful but we did pop in on a random Baptist church last Sunday and to our surprise, it was homecoming! It just so happened that we also picked the side of the sanctuary that was closest to the door to where the food was. Long story short, we were done eating while the members were still in line. Man, I still feel bad about that one, but the pastor told us not to leave so what are ya gonna do you know?

Last week I gave one of the most beautiful displays of slackdom ever to grace a college campus. After the wave of midterms before and after fall break, there was a little lull in due dates for me. I still had quite a bit of study to do but when I got the free time, rather than play "get prepared" for this coming week, I decided to play "read ghost stories" and "drool in cup" which worked out quite well for me then. Now I'm hating it.

So what was the big news of last week? BIRTHDAYS
Three to be exact:
My mother's on Monday, Oct. 17
My girlfriend's on Friday, Oct. 21
and also on the 21, Yam's

Want to hear a funny story? At the first of the week, Caroline's friend IMs me and tells me she's planning a surprise party for her at a restaurant, and asks me to be there. On Tuseday Yam tells me he's having a get together in Wilmington for dinner, forgetting the first obligation I agree to be there as well. The day I'm supposed to be at both of these birthday parties, I get an invitation from CCF to go to a third, that very night, at the same time as Yam's.

I went to all of them

How???

Oh, that's easy, they were ALL AT CHILIS!!! I don't know what it is about the place that screams "birthday get-together" but apparently, on the night of Thursday, Oct. 20...there was a calling and I was stuck in the middle of all of them. Under any other circumstances I would have been annoyed to spend roughly 3 hours in Chilis, but with such good friends, how can you go wrong? The food was tasty and I even got to eat my favorite dessert, a Molten. Mmmmmmmm!

So to all who had Birthdays last week...I wish you very well.

And especially to Yam, who gets special mention and to whom this post is affectionately dedicated to, because, well. He reads my blog and I SAY SO.

This weekend I went home to take the lovely Caroline to the State Fair. I thought my dear sister would be joining us but apparently the allure of her boyfriend in a speedo was too great and she opted out. That’s ok because the three of us (Dad being the third) really enjoyed the fair anyway. While there Caroline discovered she likes Italian Sausage, we all discovered that funnel cakes are still insanly delicious, and I personally discovered that I never want to drive to and from the fair agian in my life...EVER.

I also went home this weekend to get some stuff for my speech Thursday. Excuse me, make that Black Thursday. Why is it called such? Because I have a test at 8 AM in Italian, a test at 12:30 in Biology, and a speech for public speaking at 3:30. All of which I have done little preparation for. After I'm done with my speech around 4, I have to jump right into a vehicle for the 1 hour 45 minute trip to Raleigh where I'll be seeing Death Cab in concert! Then, sadly, it's all the way back to Wilmington so Caroline and I don't miss our dearly needed Friday classes before we go home THAT AFTERNOON again just in time for Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens. Busy Busy Busy, but I LOVE it. Well, except for the whole test part. After this weekend I'm pretty sure there is no let up until after preregistration which would, yes, mean Thanksgiving.

Speaking of preregistration, I'd like to know what monkey the university has picking numbers out of a hat to determine who gets to register first. I always seem, no matter what, to get the last possible day, meaning I don't get the classes I need and instead end up in Wood Chipping 105.

If ever meet that monkey...bless his soul...bless his soul.

Music is Nothing

Sorry, but every ounce of my creativity that I normally use to write these posts is being sapped by classes, lack of sleep, and other creative endeavors. Please be patient...and I'll start writing like a real boy soon, I promise!

Love,
Nathan

Devil's Food Cake vs. Angel's Food Cake!

Dino Pillow
Originally uploaded by link5001.

A world of Poo...

Ah! Public restrooms. You may try hard to avoid them but sooner or later they're going to catch up with you. I really don't know why I'm writing this short post on bathrooms, other than perhaps it's because I have to use one every single day. Now, what exactly do I have to say about them? Not much, just that I've isolated 5 things that ALL public restrooms must have to be inducted into the Union of Public Restrooms...a fictitious organization that, while not real...could exist.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

5. Obnoxius fan and/or air freshening system.
In the dark ages, public restrooms used to be known for their unbearable stench. While in many, this is still the case, most have implemented some form of air alleviation. Usually a fan that's conveniently just loud and rattly enough to mask your escaping gas. In Schwartz's case, we have a little spritzy air spray that goes of just in time to scare the crap out of you...which is a good thing in some instances.

4. Horrible/No Mirror
The mirror may be riddled with some strange brown dots...it may be mounted too low, too high, or on the wrong wall entirely. Heck there can even not be a mirror at all!

3. At Least One Dysfunctional Toilet
You know, broken toilet seat...never ending flush...no flush at all...just general crappyness of a toilet. In extreme circumstances, a prefect functioning toilet that looks absolutely hideous will be considered.

2. Stall With Token Swastica
Maybe there aren't that many Nazis left in the world, I hope not, but somewhere in the rest room (preferably a stall wall or door) there needs to be a crudely marked swastika.

1. Resident Stall Door Gremlin
This little gremlin is necessary to come in and break any stall door latches that happen to be in proper operating order.

There you have it. Make sure your public restroom meets these requirements and it's in!

Mineral water is pure garbage.

Wooden Rooster Holds Our Keys

God Bless Reflectors!

I wasn't going to post today...probably because I'm filthy stinking filthy...slept 'til 1....and am FILTHY. But then I changed my mind because I remembered how LUCKY I am to be alive. I left school Wednesday night at 6:45. It was pouring rain. You know the little reflector thingies that they put between the dots on the interstate. I used to hate those things...I mean, come on, how lame are they? They just sit there between the BRIGHT YELLOW lines and attempt to make the middle of the road more visible...but who needs them? They just make an annoying bump under your car when you change lanes.

I'm oh so happy for them now.

I'm thoroughly convinced that, in that torrent of rain I was in, had it not been for the reflector thingies I'd be either dead, or lodged in the fence on either side of the interstate, momentarily wishing I was dead.

Yesterday I spent the day with Matt. Some of you may remember the post I did on his Master Chief suit. Things didn't work out with the Master Chief...but they could reemerge later. Right now he is putting together a comic style Batman suit...in the vein of the "Hush" series. To start things off he very impressively sculpted his own cowel (otherwise known as a mask) and had a cast made of it from which he now makes latex copies. The man...is brilliant.

Other than that life is the same here in Four Oaks. I have a lot of reading and studying to do so I better get back to that. Some break, huh?

Life would really suck if you were haunted by Jimmy Fallon's ghost...think about it...

One Old, Leering Sea Dog at a Time

Top Tarts
Originally uploaded by link5001.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

So that's the question that I (and most college students) have been dealing with for the past few years. The answer is, I'm on track to be a film studies major and I don't foresee changing that soon.
What does that mean for after I graduate? I don't know...but let's look at what I'd still like to do/be.

I'd LIKE to graduate with a film studies...AND creative writing degree. My chances of using my degree is better if I have two right? Then I'd like to be a Rock Star. Yeah, that's right...a real one. Go on tour and rock the country. But even if I'm not a rock star, I'd like to tour the country after I graduate.

But I should still be a rock star.

Then, after touring/rocking hard I write a book(s) and get them published. I then make money to live off of. Then I write more and more until I have a pretty good little name for myself, then I take seminary classes and get a degree in that....maybe at night. JUST BECAUSE...I want to know stuff. After that, my writings become popular enough for me to write my own indie script...and raise fundage for it. I cast talented no names in it and it's a big hit for a small film. More films, of course, follow. By this point I'm no older than 28. I go back to college for my MFA in Film and soon hunt for the job security of teaching as a professor at a university. In my spare time I still write, make movies, and rock hard in my band...

Something tells me this is going to be a really hilariously depressing post in 10 years.

No, I wouldn't pawn your fillings if you died in the house...I promise.

Stratford upon Your Face

Motivation
Originally uploaded by link5001.

Welcome fall!

Ah, the winds of change. I love it when I can feel the coming of fall in the air. It first greeted me at the park during the hurricane break, but then again this past weekend at the lake. Now, walking outside today, there is no doubt that fall is here and will only be getting stronger. Until, of course, it stops being fall and then it's winter. Which is annoying.

So why do I like the fall so much? I don't know, maybe it's the fact that the weather brings with it on it's cool, damp winds an air of all those sweet things that have come to pass in the months leading up to it. Maybe it's something simple, like the idea of the state fair and remnants of my childhood excitement for Halloween. There is the chance that it's the promises of family time together when we'll enjoy each other's company and reminisce on times spent with those long gone.

Yes, I think the reason I like fall the most is because it, unlike other seasons, doesn't bring with it a sense of some theme or personality. Instead it seems content at serving as but an enhancement to time already spent and memories already made. A time of quiet reflection in the twilight of another year. Indeed, fall is the punctuation to the sentences in the stories of our lives.

The lizard always gets his bug. Just like you always get tired and go to bed. DON’T ACT LIKE YOU DON’T!!!!

The Crunch is Where It's At

Lakeside
Originally uploaded by link5001.

Destination: Middle of Nowhere

This weekend was the weekend of CCF's (Campus Christian Fellowship) annual fall retreat. Luckily for me, I got my money in right on time and was able to go. Now, I'll be honest. As with all campy trips, I wasn't quite feeling up to it when I was getting ready to go. I had just finished a stressful test study/taking period. I have 2 big test things coming up this week, a lot of little side project garbage I keep putting off (like getting those stickers to the anniversary winners...sorry!) and so when the time actually came to pack up to go I definitely had on my Whiny McWhinerson shoes. I was, to put it more concisely, poop tired and shortsighted.
Friday I threw all my stuff in a big bag (or almost all as you'll see later) and headed to Cape Fear Christian Church where Joe and the whole "gang" was waiting in the token big hoopty church van. After tossing in my deluxe travel luggage (a laundry bag) and The Dino Pillow I had but to hop in the navigator's seat and enjoy the glorious 4 hour trip to Park Springs Christian Center.
The travel was brisk as Joe took great pleasure in exploiting the Dodge Van's engine. The conversation kept me distracted from the endless miles of road. Before I knew it I was in the middle of nowhere staring at goats on a road that went to the camp's muti-purpose room. The sun had set so there wasn't much to see but the slight gleam of light on water in the distance. The first nights service went well and was probably my favorite service of the weekend, but the other three were good too as they revolved around the theme of preparedness for evangelism.
Ok, so then I went to the cabin which I consider a magic cabin because it is basically a plywood box that blocks out all light. You could be in there at high noon and wake up and think it was 3 AM. Without an alarm you'd sleep all day, no problem. After stacking the two pee pee protected foam mattresses on my plywood bed, I was able to get some shuteye, and wake up the next morning surprisingly refreshed.
What an awesome surprise awaited me in the morning! A beautiful little camp with a high hiking trail over a nifty lake. I always love having quiet times in nature and that morning was very cool because of that. Then tragedy struck as the first in a line of "oops I forgot..." moments started to occur. Frist I realized I forgot shower shoes. Some people have no problem walking around on whatever. Call me a sissy girly boy but I feel all dirty walking barefoot in a public shower, but you know I got over it. Then I realized I forgot some bath supplies. Nothing too important, the main this was some shampoo, which someone graciously lent me. The third and biggest idiot mistake I realized, much later than realizing the others, was that I hadn't brought my towely. Now, I know at such a place someone, SOMEONE would have been kind enough to lend me an extra towel, or maybe give me some nice expensive brand paper towels, but I, at this point, was so exasperated with my own forgetfulness, that I decided to punish myself by not seeking a towel at all. After all, what if I'm in the jungle sometime and don't have a towel? I'll need to know how to take a shower then right? So what replacement did my brilliant mind come up with?

A pair or shorts.

The rest of the weekend went swell. God was defiantly in that place (and every place) and I got to know the kind folks in CCF much better. The music was quite sa-weet (nice job Glen and gang) and Kit made some interesting points in his speeches. I even was surprised to meet fellow Caswell '05 staffer, Courtnay Nixon down there. Everyone was, as all CCFers have been to me so far, very nice
...at least until a game of carpet ball breaks out, then there can be some bitter rivalry (I'll soon claim my rightful championship title back!!!) In fact, the only bad thing going out of it was a sore shoulder on my carpet balling arm due to my mad skillful technique. Though I was slow to jump on the bandwagon mentally, I'm now so VERY happy that I had the good experience with those folks that I did. So the moral of the story is always keep a good attitude...
...even when drying off with scratchy shorts.

So uh....what happens when your cassette adaptor runs out of tape?

Disco Clown, is Driving me Mad, He's Driving me Craaaazy!

Common Ground
Originally uploaded by link5001.

All the pretty pictures!

Just a quick not to say that I've got some cool black and white pictures up on Flickr that I took of campus last year and just got developed last week. Click the above photo to be taken to my album, or search through my links. If you feel the need, which is doubtful as apparently no one else ever really does, please feel free to leave comments on any of my pictures.

Wait, I lied. There is something else I want to write about. That is the apparent rise of what I call "retard handlebars." It seems that sometime in the last few years a large group of college students decided that vintage bikes with huge retarded handlebars were suddenly cool again. Of course they are all HORRIBLY mistaken.
Aside from looking utterly miserable and successfully transforming my personal image of the rider from Normal American to Failed Circus Artist they are remarkably annoying on the bike rack. I wish I had a dime...
nay a PENNY for every time someone chained their bozo mobile next to my bike and tangled their huge handlebars into my brake lines or my bike lock. While they're in class daydreaming about how hip they are I'm outside the building pitted in mortal battle with their bikes antlers.
Bottom line is, it's not necessary, just get a real bike. THANKS!

If stickers make you happy why doesn't super gluing you to the cable van?

Takashi: Gunships From the Motherland

Living water

Last week I gave up soft drinks, of all varieties, and yes, even the dearest of all to me, sweet tea. Why, you may ask? To save dear Caroline from the evils of diet sodas. I used to be so proud of her, drinking tons and tons of waa waa. Now, due to the influences she encountered during the summer, she drinks too much diet. Well, she did anyway.
So I told her to stop. Of course, as well she should have, she laughed at me and said no. Then we struck up a deal. She'd give up soft drinks of all kinds if I would. Actually give up ANY kind of drink, except for the following:
-100% juice
-Coffee (sweetened with sugar or Splenda ONLY)
-Milk
-and of course, Water.

For those of you that don't know, I detest water. The only time I comfortably drink water is when I'm REALLY thirsty, like at the gym or something (yes I actually go to the gym, STOP SNICKERING!!!) When we first started last Wednesday, I made this involuntary face of disgust with every swallow I took. It was interesting that while I would normally go though 2 glasses of sweet tea with my meal, I only drank half a glass of water. Since then, however, the taste of water has grown on me. It's strange. I chug the stuff already. Like dear old Stewart said, after a while of drinking water, soft drinks begin to lose their appeal. They won't taste as good because you know how bad they are for you.
Now, I've not even been on this stuff for a week, so I could probably go back to Coke with no problem, but the fact that I can already tell the difference is encouraging. I expect that if I do try this for long enough I will reach a point where I don't really want soft drinks at all anymore. What's hard isn't enjoying the water, it's just hard to break away from the bad habit.

That's the way I feel about seeking radical faith too. A lot of times I think that Christians look at other Christians who are, by most people's standards, radically into their faith, and they tend to put them in the crazy box of sorts. They do this as a natural defense for the way they are comfortable living. I know I do, all the time. The idea of jumping into "radical" devotion seems worrisome because it means giving up so many comforts of the day. Some things which are sinful and openly bad, others just comforts that seem innocent, but may really be keeping you from being the person you know you need to be. There is comfort in sameness, so if you are used to the bad stuff...moving to the good stuff is extremely difficult.
Like a bad caffeine headache when you start on water, doing what is right feels so wrong. The question keeps arising, will I find a joy in this that I once found in the other? Doubt can be a powerful persuader and before you know it your suckling at the Pepsi fountain again. Then you realize you've spent the majority of your life in a constant struggle between the Soda bottle and the water fountain. If only we had never been given the first sip of sweet Tea, we wouldn't have a problem, but by the same token, would we appreciate the benefits of the water as much? So many questions but regardless, we know...

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." ~John 7:38