First of all, let me say, that I am hesitant to even write this blog post, lest in doing so, I defeat one of the stated goals of this experiment by making a big deal of it; namely, to prove that teens are not addicted to social media, and it is not a big deal to give it up for a month.
Also, on that point, I have had people say “Ha! You picked February because it is the shortest month of the year.” *Cough, Brandon, Cough* While I admit that it was a fortunate coincidence, this was not a large part of my original reasoning for picking the month of February. February was simply a month that it did not appear (though I was later proved wrong) there would be much happening. I knew I would miss the Super Bowl (since I'm a huge sports fan anyway) and Valentines Day. Big Deal. But, to solve this little quandary I decided to extend my “Anti-Social Month” experiment to include the first several days in March.
So, what did I learn?
First, different people have varying opinions on teenagers and social networking There were some that said “Wow, you're doing THAT! Why?!”. There were others that said “Yeah, I don't get on my [Facebook] very often, so it's not a big deal.” But, by far, the biggest response I got was “Yeah, I need to do that too.”
Second, for me at least, doing this for a month was not really hard. Now, I know for some of my friends, an experiment like this would have been a harder proposition, living in a dorm room, or at home with internet access. We only have dial-up at my house, and I get on my Facebook page most of the time at the library, so it wasn't there staring me in the face all the time. There were times during the month when I felt “out of the loop”, or wished I could post about this or that, but altogether it was not particularly hard..
Third, during the past month, I began writing letters again, after about three months during which I had slacked off. It was refreshing to use an older (though not antiquated), more personal and meaningful form of communication. I did not get as many letter written as I had wished, but hope to continue this habit, of letter writing ,into the coming months and years.
Fourth, it was amazing how much could actually happen, unexpectedly, during one short month. The entire Middle East and North Africa erupted in protests. Apple released iPad 2 and the new MacBook Pros. Principal photography began on “The Hobbit” movie. The lead guitarist for Skillet, Ben Kasica, left the band to pursue other business ventures, and the possibility of another Narnia movie was announced, among other things.
So, in conclusion, the “Anti-social Month” experiment taught me a lot. It was good to take a break from the continuous stream of information, but I did occasionally miss the information and being able to add to the stream.
With that being said, over next several weeks, be watching for tweets with the #TDASM tag, which stands for: Thoughts During Anti-Social Month. I will be tweeting my thoughts on the various events which occurred during the past month, interspersed with my regular tweets.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Anti-Social Month
For the month of February I will be going anti-social. Now before anyone gets excited, let me explain what this means.
What it is:
During the month of February I will not be using any social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter.
What it isn’t:
This is not an attack on social media. I think social media is a very useful tool for communication. Also, this is not a complete withdraw from all screens, or even from the internet. I will be using a computer, and I will be on the internet this month, I will just not be using social networking sites.
Reasons (These are several in number):
First… I have heard a lot of people (adults especially) comment on how teenagers seem inseparably linked to technology and social media. While I agree that this might be the case with a portion of teenagers, I know it is not the case with all. This experiment is partially intended to prove to myself and other people that it is possible for a teenager to “cut the cord” so to speak, if only for a limited amount of time. ☺
Second… I want to prove that I can do this, before my parents decide that it would be a good idea to make me. ☺
Third… In the last couple of months, I have drifted away from letter writing, which is something I enjoy very much, and is a good release. I want to use this month to revive that practice. Again, this is something that most adults couldn’t ever imagine a teenager doing.
Plus, February is the shortest month of the year. If I’m going to go without, I should at least be able to do it during February!
I would encourage any of my friends, that find this interesting, to join me in this month-long experiment. It’s only 28 days, you can do it!
What it is:
During the month of February I will not be using any social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter.
What it isn’t:
This is not an attack on social media. I think social media is a very useful tool for communication. Also, this is not a complete withdraw from all screens, or even from the internet. I will be using a computer, and I will be on the internet this month, I will just not be using social networking sites.
Reasons (These are several in number):
First… I have heard a lot of people (adults especially) comment on how teenagers seem inseparably linked to technology and social media. While I agree that this might be the case with a portion of teenagers, I know it is not the case with all. This experiment is partially intended to prove to myself and other people that it is possible for a teenager to “cut the cord” so to speak, if only for a limited amount of time. ☺
Second… I want to prove that I can do this, before my parents decide that it would be a good idea to make me. ☺
Third… In the last couple of months, I have drifted away from letter writing, which is something I enjoy very much, and is a good release. I want to use this month to revive that practice. Again, this is something that most adults couldn’t ever imagine a teenager doing.
Plus, February is the shortest month of the year. If I’m going to go without, I should at least be able to do it during February!
I would encourage any of my friends, that find this interesting, to join me in this month-long experiment. It’s only 28 days, you can do it!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Savor the Summer
As the summer of 2010 draws to a close
When we’ll have another like this, no one knows
It was a summer that we so wished would last,
Because while it was here, we were having a blast
We had the Thompsons and the college students, life was all good!
We tried to act as if they weren’t leaving,
Even though we knew, eventually, they would
It was a summer of adventure, and growing, and fun
And it ended just as quickly as it had begun
First there was Fuge, way out in Kentucky
Where you might not burst into flames, if you were lucky
In Williamsburg, we put our faith into action
Trying to help people, regardless of their situation
We met the Thompsons in the airport, with many hugs and smiles
We were happy to have them back, even if only for a while
Then came VBS, after which we’d stay at church and talk
And during which Victoria earned the nickname: “laughing hawk”
Then came the Romania missions trip
An amazing experience for all who went
We played soccer, ate liver, and shared God’s love
And showed people the hope that only comes from above
We argued over whether Borsec or Dorna was best
An argument that was never put to rest
We tried to reason out what “dolphin trainer” meant
And tried to figure out why water was dripping out the AC vent
We played UNO, and sang “Two Lei”
And got to know new people every day
We taught the translators how to say, “ain’t”, “ya’ll”, and “down yonder”
Then Evan taught them “booger”, which gave them something to ponder
It was sad to have to say goodbye
But back to the USA we had to fly
Back to work, to school, to real life
Back to the mundane, back to the strife
Summer was winding down,
And the signs of change began to abound
One by one, students left for college
Presumably in the pursuit of knowledge
The Thompsons flew back to the Middle East
Well, three of them at least
Youth group started back again
And school was there, just like it’s always been
But, it was obvious that this summer had changed us all
A fact that’s obvious as we head towards fall
My world got a lot bigger
But my town seems a bit emptier
My friends are now scattered across the state, the country, and the globe
But I wish they could all be here in my abode
When we look back, I hope we won’t think “Wow, what a bummer.”
I hope we all remember to “Savor the Summer”.
When we’ll have another like this, no one knows
It was a summer that we so wished would last,
Because while it was here, we were having a blast
We had the Thompsons and the college students, life was all good!
We tried to act as if they weren’t leaving,
Even though we knew, eventually, they would
It was a summer of adventure, and growing, and fun
And it ended just as quickly as it had begun
First there was Fuge, way out in Kentucky
Where you might not burst into flames, if you were lucky
In Williamsburg, we put our faith into action
Trying to help people, regardless of their situation
We met the Thompsons in the airport, with many hugs and smiles
We were happy to have them back, even if only for a while
Then came VBS, after which we’d stay at church and talk
And during which Victoria earned the nickname: “laughing hawk”
Then came the Romania missions trip
An amazing experience for all who went
We played soccer, ate liver, and shared God’s love
And showed people the hope that only comes from above
We argued over whether Borsec or Dorna was best
An argument that was never put to rest
We tried to reason out what “dolphin trainer” meant
And tried to figure out why water was dripping out the AC vent
We played UNO, and sang “Two Lei”
And got to know new people every day
We taught the translators how to say, “ain’t”, “ya’ll”, and “down yonder”
Then Evan taught them “booger”, which gave them something to ponder
It was sad to have to say goodbye
But back to the USA we had to fly
Back to work, to school, to real life
Back to the mundane, back to the strife
Summer was winding down,
And the signs of change began to abound
One by one, students left for college
Presumably in the pursuit of knowledge
The Thompsons flew back to the Middle East
Well, three of them at least
Youth group started back again
And school was there, just like it’s always been
But, it was obvious that this summer had changed us all
A fact that’s obvious as we head towards fall
My world got a lot bigger
But my town seems a bit emptier
My friends are now scattered across the state, the country, and the globe
But I wish they could all be here in my abode
When we look back, I hope we won’t think “Wow, what a bummer.”
I hope we all remember to “Savor the Summer”.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
My new favorite shirt!!
____________________________________________________________
Obama Urges Homeowners to Refinance
If you owe under $729k you probably qualify for Obama's Refi Program
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4c76a4eb82dc0caa14m05duc
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Last Day in Romania
Well, today is our last day in Romania. Today was our tourism day. We went to the mall, a flea market type place, and a Romania restaurant where we ate pizza.
First I will start out with a praise. After much prayer and work, the bus doors were finally opened, and Autumn was able to retrieve her guitar that was being “held hostage by the bus”. We had prayed several times that the doors would be opened and they finally were. Talk about an answer to MUCH prayer! We ended up working with two electricians, one who was trying to fix the doors but ended up fixing the air condition on the bus, and one who finally fixed the doors (you don't know how many times I wished we had Alex Valade here with us this week). At one point we even discussed prying the door open. There were enough rednecks here that we probably could have managed.
The first thing we did this morning was take the Lord's supper. We were blessed to have three of our Romania translators who were taking the supper for their first time. Here in Romania, the Christians are not allowed to take the Lord's supper until they have been baptized. Several of our translators had just been baptized, so this was their first time taking the supper.
After that we went to the mall. First we had to exchange our American dollars for Romanian leu. After that we went to the most logical place Americans in Romanian mall would go: McDonalds! I will tell you, a milk shake back home is way better than a milk shake here in Romania. Jamie Venning informed us that the double cheeseburger was about the same, Tom said there wasn't enough salt on the fries, and Ryan Taylor complained about the sea of mayonnaise on his Royal Deluxe hamburger. Tyler also informed that if you get a Happy Meal (which he obviously did) you get to pick your toy. But, it was good to have something close to American food instead of the chicken livers we had just a day earlier. After we ate, we continued on through the mall visiting stores such as Reebok, Nike, and Adidas (can you tell I was with a group of soccer players?). One time when I was leading our group, we somehow ended up in an electronics store. I don't know how that happened. :-) I got a couple of cable connecters which were a little less expensive than it was here. I also went shopping with Justin Krehbiel for sugar free juice. Yeah, right. Not only could we not speak Romanian to ask someone for help, but when we started reading the ingredients, we couldn't find a single bottle without sugar.
Next, we went to a flea market. This was a bunch of vendors lined up on the edge of a busy road. Sometimes it felt like you were playing “Frogger” just crossing the road. Most of these vendors sold about the same things: souvenir plates, table cloths, and woven baskets. I ended up buying one wooden spoon. Yeah!
We then went to an overlook where we could see the entire city of Cluj. And lastly, we went to a place that served amazing pizza, and drinks that were 0.2 liters big. No refills.
On the way back to the hotel, there was a massive thunderstorm which poured the rain. We quickly learned that the streets in Cluj have no drainage. Water was pooled up in the streets four and five inches deep in places. Crazy. Daniel also informed us that the runway at the Cluj airport floods when it rains very hard (like it did tonight). He said the last team out of here flew out a day late, had to stay two days in Germany, had to fly to Spain, and one other airport before crossing the Atlantic to get to America. All because of flooding at the Cluj airport. I checked the weather yesterday and it said “partly cloudy with a chance of rain”. I checked it just now, and it said “Sunny”. Let's just hope.... and pray.
First I will start out with a praise. After much prayer and work, the bus doors were finally opened, and Autumn was able to retrieve her guitar that was being “held hostage by the bus”. We had prayed several times that the doors would be opened and they finally were. Talk about an answer to MUCH prayer! We ended up working with two electricians, one who was trying to fix the doors but ended up fixing the air condition on the bus, and one who finally fixed the doors (you don't know how many times I wished we had Alex Valade here with us this week). At one point we even discussed prying the door open. There were enough rednecks here that we probably could have managed.
The first thing we did this morning was take the Lord's supper. We were blessed to have three of our Romania translators who were taking the supper for their first time. Here in Romania, the Christians are not allowed to take the Lord's supper until they have been baptized. Several of our translators had just been baptized, so this was their first time taking the supper.
After that we went to the mall. First we had to exchange our American dollars for Romanian leu. After that we went to the most logical place Americans in Romanian mall would go: McDonalds! I will tell you, a milk shake back home is way better than a milk shake here in Romania. Jamie Venning informed us that the double cheeseburger was about the same, Tom said there wasn't enough salt on the fries, and Ryan Taylor complained about the sea of mayonnaise on his Royal Deluxe hamburger. Tyler also informed that if you get a Happy Meal (which he obviously did) you get to pick your toy. But, it was good to have something close to American food instead of the chicken livers we had just a day earlier. After we ate, we continued on through the mall visiting stores such as Reebok, Nike, and Adidas (can you tell I was with a group of soccer players?). One time when I was leading our group, we somehow ended up in an electronics store. I don't know how that happened. :-) I got a couple of cable connecters which were a little less expensive than it was here. I also went shopping with Justin Krehbiel for sugar free juice. Yeah, right. Not only could we not speak Romanian to ask someone for help, but when we started reading the ingredients, we couldn't find a single bottle without sugar.
Next, we went to a flea market. This was a bunch of vendors lined up on the edge of a busy road. Sometimes it felt like you were playing “Frogger” just crossing the road. Most of these vendors sold about the same things: souvenir plates, table cloths, and woven baskets. I ended up buying one wooden spoon. Yeah!
We then went to an overlook where we could see the entire city of Cluj. And lastly, we went to a place that served amazing pizza, and drinks that were 0.2 liters big. No refills.
On the way back to the hotel, there was a massive thunderstorm which poured the rain. We quickly learned that the streets in Cluj have no drainage. Water was pooled up in the streets four and five inches deep in places. Crazy. Daniel also informed us that the runway at the Cluj airport floods when it rains very hard (like it did tonight). He said the last team out of here flew out a day late, had to stay two days in Germany, had to fly to Spain, and one other airport before crossing the Atlantic to get to America. All because of flooding at the Cluj airport. I checked the weather yesterday and it said “partly cloudy with a chance of rain”. I checked it just now, and it said “Sunny”. Let's just hope.... and pray.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Thunderstorms Electricity and Bus Doors
Well, another day, another blog post.
First things first. Last night Zchuck lived up to his name after a bout with the chicken liver. We got back to the hotel, and I just couldn't stand it. So yes, Zchuck did throw up on this trip, but I have a VERY good reason. That liver was nasty.
This morning I woke up to a HUGE thunderstorm. I kind of preferred the rooster from the first day. Especially when I found out that the storm had knocked our power out. I thought “Oh, no. This is going to be bad. We think it's bad in Franklin County when the power gets knocked out and is out for several days. In a foreign country it will probably be several days before we get power back.” I sat and watched the storm for a while along with the various things that were happening in our hotel/restaurant/gas station that were byproducts of the electricity being out. There were customers just standing at the gas pumps either waiting to pay or waiting to pump. There was even some speculation on whether or not they were going to be able to fix our breakfast. Ryan was hoping that Frata had lost power so that they couldn't fix us our “special” dinner today. He said “God answers prayer!!!” But then, after giving it some thought he said “Actually, that wouldn't slow them down much. They would just cook it over a fire. Make you a nice rotisserie chicken.” But, about an hour after the power went off, I heard a motor start and the power kicked on. I think the hotel has a generator. Thankfully.
So far, we have had some fun teaching the translators some “new” American words such as “y'all”, “down yonder”, and “ain't”. Evan Layman was also kind enough to teach them the word “booger”. And explain EXACTLY what it meant.
I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but our bus broke down one day this week. We were not even sure if we were going to be able to go to the village that day or not. Miraculously the bus was fixed with one small problem remaining: the storage compartment doors that are opened by hydraulics won't open now. The bad news is that we have some equipment under there... including Autumn's guitar. So you can just imagine how much Autumn is freaking out. We have two more days to get those doors open or Autumn will be leaving her guitar in Romania. So that is one prayer request, for Autumn's sanity and ours: “Get those doors open!”
Also in other exciting news, we had several more people accept Christ this morning during the ministry time at the village. We even thought we might be getting to see some baptisms this evening, but that didn't end up working out. So far, the number of people who have accepted Christ stands near 40! Out of those 40, I have personally gotten to pray with 7 of them as they prayed to receive Christ!
The second morning we were awakened by someone trying to start their truck in the parking lot. He tried once, he tried twice, he tried three times. He tried for literally 20 minutes before it finally came to life and he limped it out of the parking lot, after which he was promptly passed by a horse and wagon.
This evening, at the village, we were served cabbage rolls. I managed to put down two, but had to leave the other two on the plate. Not feeling the greatest right now. Update Later.
First things first. Last night Zchuck lived up to his name after a bout with the chicken liver. We got back to the hotel, and I just couldn't stand it. So yes, Zchuck did throw up on this trip, but I have a VERY good reason. That liver was nasty.
This morning I woke up to a HUGE thunderstorm. I kind of preferred the rooster from the first day. Especially when I found out that the storm had knocked our power out. I thought “Oh, no. This is going to be bad. We think it's bad in Franklin County when the power gets knocked out and is out for several days. In a foreign country it will probably be several days before we get power back.” I sat and watched the storm for a while along with the various things that were happening in our hotel/restaurant/gas station that were byproducts of the electricity being out. There were customers just standing at the gas pumps either waiting to pay or waiting to pump. There was even some speculation on whether or not they were going to be able to fix our breakfast. Ryan was hoping that Frata had lost power so that they couldn't fix us our “special” dinner today. He said “God answers prayer!!!” But then, after giving it some thought he said “Actually, that wouldn't slow them down much. They would just cook it over a fire. Make you a nice rotisserie chicken.” But, about an hour after the power went off, I heard a motor start and the power kicked on. I think the hotel has a generator. Thankfully.
So far, we have had some fun teaching the translators some “new” American words such as “y'all”, “down yonder”, and “ain't”. Evan Layman was also kind enough to teach them the word “booger”. And explain EXACTLY what it meant.
I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but our bus broke down one day this week. We were not even sure if we were going to be able to go to the village that day or not. Miraculously the bus was fixed with one small problem remaining: the storage compartment doors that are opened by hydraulics won't open now. The bad news is that we have some equipment under there... including Autumn's guitar. So you can just imagine how much Autumn is freaking out. We have two more days to get those doors open or Autumn will be leaving her guitar in Romania. So that is one prayer request, for Autumn's sanity and ours: “Get those doors open!”
Also in other exciting news, we had several more people accept Christ this morning during the ministry time at the village. We even thought we might be getting to see some baptisms this evening, but that didn't end up working out. So far, the number of people who have accepted Christ stands near 40! Out of those 40, I have personally gotten to pray with 7 of them as they prayed to receive Christ!
The second morning we were awakened by someone trying to start their truck in the parking lot. He tried once, he tried twice, he tried three times. He tried for literally 20 minutes before it finally came to life and he limped it out of the parking lot, after which he was promptly passed by a horse and wagon.
This evening, at the village, we were served cabbage rolls. I managed to put down two, but had to leave the other two on the plate. Not feeling the greatest right now. Update Later.
Futball Maggots and Chicken Liver
Greetings from Romania.
We have had an awesome last couple of days.
Yesterday, we went to Frata village and played soccer (futball) again. I was the goalie. After I allowed seven goals, we decided the game was over. Every time the Romanians scored on me they would laugh, point at me, and yell “Americano Ha-ha”. And for some reason they kept yelling “Watcha de Tom! Watcha de Tom!” After the game was over, we decided to talk to them for a few minutes. Tom, Story, and Hunter Layman shared their testimonies first. Then Ray Woolson explained the gospel along with a vivid description of hell that included fire, worms, and maggots. As Evan Layman said later “Turn or burn, baby. Turn or burn.” After that, we asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ right then. Five people raised their hands, and I was able to lead them in a prayer to accept Christ. That day also included Evan Layman yelling over some other people “Do you want Jesus or not?”.
Then we found out that the ladies of the village were kind enough to fix us “dinner”. “Dinner” turned out to be ground up chicken liver and potatoes. I looked at Tom, and we both said “This is not good”. We knew these ladies had worked hard preparing and cooking and even bringing tables from their houses for us to eat on. So we knew we would have to eat it. Tom said “Why do they have to be so nice?” So Tom and I decided that we would take it like men and just stomach as much as we could handle. Some of us were not as brave. Exhibit A: Evan Layman, who scraped everything off his plate into Alton's backpack so he wouldn't have to eat it. Exhibit B: Ryan Taylor, who had the nerve to go inside and ask for a plate of JUST mashed potatoes, which he got and ate every bit of. We knew that these ladies were feeding us on Wednesday night, but they sprung this on us as a surprise on Tuesday night. I told pastor Stan “I didn't have time to prepare”. He said “I know, I didn't either” By prepare, I meant lining my backpack with a plastic bag, so that I could do the same thing as Evan. I told Pastor Stan my idea, and he said “Well, if you do that, just make sure you sit next to me.” Ha-ha. We actually had lunch in the village today fixed by the same ladies, but today it was really good. Grilled chicken and potatoes. Yum. I didn't even have to use my “prepared” backpack. We still have dinner tonight to eat at the village so I'm a little concerned, I think I'll leave my backpack “prepared”.
We have had an awesome last couple of days.
Yesterday, we went to Frata village and played soccer (futball) again. I was the goalie. After I allowed seven goals, we decided the game was over. Every time the Romanians scored on me they would laugh, point at me, and yell “Americano Ha-ha”. And for some reason they kept yelling “Watcha de Tom! Watcha de Tom!” After the game was over, we decided to talk to them for a few minutes. Tom, Story, and Hunter Layman shared their testimonies first. Then Ray Woolson explained the gospel along with a vivid description of hell that included fire, worms, and maggots. As Evan Layman said later “Turn or burn, baby. Turn or burn.” After that, we asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ right then. Five people raised their hands, and I was able to lead them in a prayer to accept Christ. That day also included Evan Layman yelling over some other people “Do you want Jesus or not?”.
Then we found out that the ladies of the village were kind enough to fix us “dinner”. “Dinner” turned out to be ground up chicken liver and potatoes. I looked at Tom, and we both said “This is not good”. We knew these ladies had worked hard preparing and cooking and even bringing tables from their houses for us to eat on. So we knew we would have to eat it. Tom said “Why do they have to be so nice?” So Tom and I decided that we would take it like men and just stomach as much as we could handle. Some of us were not as brave. Exhibit A: Evan Layman, who scraped everything off his plate into Alton's backpack so he wouldn't have to eat it. Exhibit B: Ryan Taylor, who had the nerve to go inside and ask for a plate of JUST mashed potatoes, which he got and ate every bit of. We knew that these ladies were feeding us on Wednesday night, but they sprung this on us as a surprise on Tuesday night. I told pastor Stan “I didn't have time to prepare”. He said “I know, I didn't either” By prepare, I meant lining my backpack with a plastic bag, so that I could do the same thing as Evan. I told Pastor Stan my idea, and he said “Well, if you do that, just make sure you sit next to me.” Ha-ha. We actually had lunch in the village today fixed by the same ladies, but today it was really good. Grilled chicken and potatoes. Yum. I didn't even have to use my “prepared” backpack. We still have dinner tonight to eat at the village so I'm a little concerned, I think I'll leave my backpack “prepared”.
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