The Amazing Spiderman

July 6, 2012

For as long as I can remember people have had to debate of what could be done with a single wish. One wish and all the difference on earth could be made. Some might wish for world peace and others might wish for money beyond their wildest imaginations. Imagine this though, instead of bathing in money and buying the house of your dreams, you spend your days and nights spinning webs as you dive through skyscrapers. The walls of New York welcome you as artistically perfected webs are spun to create your own personal Tarzan adventure. Imagine if instead of wishing for selfish riches and money, that instead you spent that same wish on something that could change lives.  With a single granted wish you could spend your nights as a masked vigilante protecting the streets from crime while millions of adoring fans praise your name. The most beautiful girl in your life would sit at home and do anything for you, including risking her own life against the relentless villains who use her as bait. Yes as of today July 6^th my one wish, pending it is granted, would be to live every day as Spiderman. Having been inspired by the recent film “The Amazing Spiderman,” I am now thoroughly convinced that a life as Spiderman would be extremely difficult but most certainly worthwhile. The thrill of being blessed with the abilities to stop crime would be out of this universe. I have thought over and over again to myself of anything that could replace this and I can find none. Being Spiderman himself would be a dream come to life in a magical fashion. Like hitting a brick wall I have come full circle and realized that this dream will spend its days as a mere hope and splendor of thought. However, if for some reason Aladdin wants to lend me his genie, I will ready to fight crime.

Family Reunion

5 July 2012

There is a lot that can be said about family reunions. They are notorious for some of the most outrageous and crazy events and relatives that can be found. My family reunion is no different. This is the first time that we have attended a family reunion in over 12 years. I can honestly say that it is pretty much everything that the stereotypes would hold it to be. From the kids playing zombie hunter on their laptops, to the Wildman uncle who cannot get enough alcohol it simply lives up to every single stereotype. Surprisingly though I am having a pretty good time and have enjoyed playing in the river and meeting some of my less wild long lost relatives. It also helps to have my grandparents with me by my side who I love dearly. Today was the first day of the reunion and a lot of the day was spent simply getting to know one another. Lots of different people have come from lots of different places to be a part of this get together and it is pretty exciting. More exciting than the people could possibly be the weather. I left my comfy home in Springfield Missouri to journey out here to California. The 100 degree temperature in the show-me state does is not as lovely as the cool seventy degrees that make their home in northern California and southern Oregon. Not to mention that at night a sweatshirt, two blankets and a sleeping bag barely keep you warm in the cool tents. Overall though I cannot be more pleased with how things have gone as of now and due to the requirement of having a daily blog post you can be sure that as a reader you will be hearing more of the reunion situation in the very near future. I hope that everyone had a safe Fourth of July. Sadly mine did not include fireworks due to the strict rules of our family reunions campground. It was the first Fourth that I had spent in a long time without fireworks. It’s just one of the many things that we do for our family right?

Kevin Durant

 4 July 2012
Most days as I sit down to write my three hundred words worth of journal entry I am quick to figure out what I want to write about and the words come with ease. Today I struggled for a little bit to figure out exactly what I wanted to share with my audience. I figured since I have mentioned him a couple times already that I should explain more my love for the professional basketball player Kevin Durant. For those of you who do not know he is a basketball player for the NBA team The Oklahoma City Thunder. They are a recently developed team that formed from the Seattle Supersonics when the team decided to relocate. I honestly have no real reason that can back up why I like him so much but I can also not find a reason that I would not like him. He is extremely talented and unlike a lot of athletes is also very humble. He plays with his team and is not selfish but still managed to lead the NBA in scoring for three straight years. This year the Thunder made it to the NBA finals and were on fire but Lebron James throttled them in five games in the championship series. It was rather disappointing but with a very young and talented Kevin Durant and an average team age of only 24, they looked poised to develop and form into a championship caliber team in years to come. As i think about it I probably should have wrote about the Fourth of July and all of that stuff in this post but oh well. I do love this country but I guess today Kevin Durant was the guy that stood in the forefront of my mind. Anyways, happy Fourth of July to everyone and I hope that you have a safe holiday.

This I Belive-Credo

Impossible is Nothing. Some may see this as three simple words but when put together this statement can drive groups of individuals to do great things. Where would the world be if individuals simply gave up when a challenging time arose? Would we still be a racially segregated nation, would we have cars and trucks to drive around? Many of the world’s greatest inventions have come about because individuals chose to grab their inner strength and refuse to accept anything less than their best. The outstanding track and field athlete Steve Prefontaine once said, "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." We have all been blessed with unique talents and with them we can truly do the impossible. Another common creed that drives a lot of Christian faiths that I would like to tie into my own is, "I can do all things through God who strengthens me." Most of us believe in God and I believe that the main reason that we as individuals can push the limits and do things that we would never have imagined being able to do is because we have strength from another world. I cannot claim the statement 'Impossible is Nothing' as my credo or Adidas might come hunt me down. But my credo does follow in the same lines because I believe that we have all been blessed, and with these blessings we would be wasteful not to push ourselves to our maximum potential.

The Amazing iPhone

3 July 2012
It's sad to say that one of the most important things of my life that I feel completely empty without, is my phone. About four months ago I finally convinced my parents to get me an iPhone. It had been a challenging and very difficult debate but finally I convinced them it was time to upgrade from the phone that my fifty year old neighbor also had. I had my iPhone for no less than a couple months when a tragey struck. I was out lifeguarding at the neighborhood pool, the clock hit the top of the hour and I went inside for my ten minute break. It took no more than a couple seconds to realize that my prized iPhone was gone. After frantic searching and scrambling it was clear that someone had stole my most prized possession. I called my parents who then called the phone company and we came to the saddening conclusion that there was nothing that could be done to replace the stolen iPhone. My heart sank and I knew that the only way I would be able to get another is if I dug deep, and I mean very deep, into my own pocket. Three hundred dollars later I now have an iPhone again and you better believe that it is under much better protection now. It is sad that I felt it necessary to need this phone and that I could not live with a much simpler and less expensive one. However, I challenge anyone who has had an iPhone to try and switch to a non-smart phone. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook practically define us as individuals and sadly many of us spend hours in our day updating statuses and posting pictures. The iPhone is a miraculous invention and it truly has changed technology as we know it. Be warned however that once you get one, there's no going back.

Fear

2 July 2012
Being an eighteen year old recent high school graduate I think many people could take a stab in the dark about what my biggest fear is. Some may guess snakes, others spiders and the most common answer would probably be heights. Surprisingly I fear none of these and my real fear lurks within the saltwater oceans around the world. These creatures that I fear are massive beasts of prey with flesh shredding teeth and a dagger like fin. They spend their lives making dinner of baby seals and poor little children. If you have not guessed by now then you may be surprised to find out that my biggest fear is sharks. There is no detour or way around this fact.Whether it is a Lemon, Hammerhead, or even the monstrous Great White I hate them and fear them with all my heart. I absolutely am terrified of sharks and if I was to vacation to a coastal city, chances are that I would not go into the ocean or sea water past my knees. These creatures scare me to death and even though I am completely aware that dying of lightning is thirty times more common than being attacked by a shark, I would way rather walk through an open field during a thunderstorm. Whenever I think of the ocean I can never enjoy the peace or beauty because what contaminates my mind are the vivid pictures of blood and gore as a man eating great white makes dinner of hunky surfer guys. So please, friends and readers, go enjoy your time out in the ocean and sea waters. But when you have to spend the rest of your life clapping with a nub instead of an arm, or running with an artificial leg, do not come crying to me. So have fun and enjoy the beautiful California beach, but I am staying right here on the sand.

Walking Among Giants

1 July 2012

One of the first things that people say to me upon first appearance usually has a correlation to my height in some way. Whether it is the typical, "Wow you never stop growing do you" or my favorite, "I can't believe that someone so tall could look so handsome as well." Yes you caught me, the first one I hardly ever get, and the second is much more common. The actual premise of this post is not about my good looks and height but about something else that lives as a giant in others eyes. Today I was blessed with the opportunity to see some of the giant redwoods that make home in the beautiful state of California. The peace of the woods cannot be described by any nature of words. I truly felt close to myself and to things I hold close to my heart as I walked around and beheld the majesty of these creations from God. The beauty was something of another world and I would recommend that anyone who gets the opportunity readily accept. To be able to experience this with my family was truly amazing and I love being out in the open with such amazing spectacles. These giants were truly spectacular and I have spent most of my day in awe of the opportunity I had to experience such peace and beauty. To put it into a real life sense for the readers, at some points I could not even see the top of these trees because they reached so high up into the sky and the sun began to block out their highest points.  Some of these beasts were reaching hundreds of feet into the air and it took almost five of my family members linked arm to arm to wrap around their bases. The trails that wove in and out of the trees were walks of much recollection and thought. I felt like a monk with all of the peace and positive energy that I felt circulating through me. Overall this was a great way to start my vacation and an even better way to spend my Sunday. I have never felt so much satisfaction as I did today walking among these giants.