Time well'nt spent

Made up a new word: welln't. It's like didn't, but welln't. well+not. This morning isn't going to well. I have a free first period so after water polo morning practice, I come home and relax until 9:30. I spent the good part of an hour watching ESPN and reading SI when I got to thinking "Man, I feel so lazy. Isn't there something better I could be doing right now?" It bothered me alot, but I was too comfortable to get off the couch, so I didn't move. Finally I gathered the energy to get up and walk over to my room to write this post. It annoys me that I have this free time, and I'm too tired or lazy to use it for something productive. I'm proud that this is my second post of today though! But seriously,javascript:void(0) when I don't have homework or something I could be learning something useful, like french knotting, or playing the bagpipes, or something. Anyone got ideas?

Birthday Wishes

So it's a real good friend of mine's birthday today, and it got me thinking about birthday wishes. Everybody knows that when it's your birthday, you close your eyes and make a wish before you blow out the candles. I was thinking, you get one wish when you blow all of the candles out at once, right? So would it work if you made a wish and then blew out each candle individually, making a wish every time? Or is it like all the candles at once is one awesome wish, and each individual candle is one mediocre wish? Tricky stuff. There's some food for thought. Happy birthday Akshay (Kush)

Brotherhood

Brotherhood, as defined by the free online dictionary, is either the state or relationship of being brothers, fellowship, an association of men united for the same purpose, or all the members of a professional trade. By word meaning, free online dictionary got it absolutely correct. But brotherhood isn't something defined by words. It's a feeling. I know it's kind of weird to say this, but for me, it's a feeling feel in my bones. It's what Crystal Young Men is all about. Basically everybody knows something to an extent about the awkwardness and difficulties a guy goes through when their voices change, but what many don't realize is that it's far more awkward and irritating when you're in choir at the same time. Your range fluctuates, you crack constantly, and your confidence is at an all time low. Overall it's a pretty embarrassing period of time. In the Young Men we all understand what our newcomers are going through. I mean it's happened to all of us so we can definitely empathize with their situation. I remember when it happened to me it was crazy awkward. But the older guys didn't make fun of me, they didn't laugh at me. It was completely the opposite. They'd help me out, give me support, encouragement, and friendship. I thought those guys were the coolest guys ever and I wanted to grow up to be just like them. In choir, we're all really good friends. But I feel that the bonds we develop in young men goes even beyond that. We're all brothers. There's honestly no other way to say it. The very principles the group was formed from and grew from are trust, care, and love. Sometimes people can't understand how we're all such good friends for people who only see each other once a week. I understand their situation. If I wasn't in Young Men, I wouldn't understand either. It's a really great and unique experience, and I feel so appreciative that I have the opportunity to participate in it. We look out for each other, are here for each other, goof around with each other, face voice changes with each other, voice cracks and all. We're the Young Men.

It's Back!

This past weekend was one of the best weekends of my entire life. Not only did I spend 2 days at General music camp leading a pack of mini-choristers, but after we got back, we piled into a car and went to... The First Choir Rehearsal of the 2009-2010 season! I was exhausted on the way back from music camp, but on the ride to rehearsal, I could not have been more excited. I was basically hopping with anticipation. When we finally got there, I bounded out the door and raced to rehearsal. Honestly, it felt like I was 5 years old. It was hard to control myself. I got to the rehearsal room where everybody was waiting. I broke out into a huge beaming smile, I just couldn't help myself. I was so glad to be back around the people that I considered my family. As rehearsal progressed and singing commenced, the smile remained plastered to my face. It was no fickle sensation. True love. Break time was great, even more fun that rehearsal. It'd been so long since we'd all seen each other, there was too much catching up to do. Another round of rehearsing, and sadly it was time to go already. It was way too short. It comforted me that I had next Sunday's rehearsal to look forward to, and the one after that, and the one after that, for a long time. I smiled with content. Hey ya'll, choirboy's back. Life had never been better.

'You Belong with Me'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw9QMSl9Xic
Story of my life with choir

(:
Eric

General Music Camp '09

General Music Camp was one of the most unique experiences in my entire life. It was absurd. It was such a strange mixture of fun and stress and exhaustion that I'm not quite sure there's another experience like it. Honestly, at first I was slightly skeptical of the whole deal. I'm not really the best with small children and spending a whole weekend leading a whole troop of them sounded like a disaster. After the first couple of hours at camp, my skepticism seemed like it was legit. It'd sometimes be hard to get my boys to listen to me, and I was already pretty exhausted. They never agreed on anything, or had any interest in participating in anything, whether it be group activities, rehearsals, or cleaning up after mealtime. Overall, it was pretty frustrating. At the same time, getting all this attention from my group members was overwhelming. Small children are pretty much open books, pure unfettered emotion. They don't have much to hide. I could see that to them, I was a an 'older cool guy,' a role model, an influence. It was pretty cool, but at the same time kind of staggering, knowing that anything I did could possibly influence their behavior in the future. As the day went on, it got better and better. My skill in lanyard making increased dramatically, as demonstrated by my construction of a pink acorn. After that was the campfire. It was fun, despite my group complete failure of a skit. We did a couple dances after all the skits were done, which we tons of fun. It was a good time just to be myself and not care what anyone thought.

I also really enjoyed bonding with and getting to know my fellow cabin leaders better. Our pow-wow at night was simple, but still fun and filled with laughs. I introduced the game 'Gorilla' to everyone and we had a great time making animal noises and 'bings' while laughing to the point of an ab workout. Then we reviewed our forgotten dances and listened to the teacher's excellent serenade. Overall it was a great time.

The next morning, it was a bustle of ceremonies, performances, and dances. Basically the fruits of our work at camp. After that we had play time for about half an hour. When it finally all came to an end, I kind of surprised myself. I was sad to leave. Through all of the stress, frustration, and exhaustion, I guess a part of me really felt it was a worthwhile experience all along. Well, hindsight is 20/20. And you know what? It was.

Hoping to come back next year,
Eric

Mr. Herberich

We had a substitute teacher who was really a character. His name was Mr. Herberich. He said it like it was. He told us how our teacher had a great lesson planned for us, which he also said would be wasted on our teenage minds. He talked about how Spanish is not an accepted language for a science major, and how he hated rubrics. It all seemed pretty trivial. He was a funny guy, who went against the typical teacher mold. He was entertaining, so we listened. Then he gave us a piece of advice gold. He launched into a story about his daughter who was applying to a prestigious college. She was smart, smart enough to get an interview with a drafting officer who would decide if she got in or not. She had lunch with the woman, a big English buff. It just so happened that his daughter had taken a great interest to a specific English topic, one that the woman happened to be in love with. The drafting officer was so surprised that his daughter could carry on a highly intelligent conversation about English for so long that on that alone, she got in. And so, concluded Mr. Herberich, always pay attention. You never know what in the future might help you out, so make sure you know it all. I thought that was really interesting, and it really did motivate me to pay attention more, to know as much as I could. After all, there was no way that his daughter could have known in high school that her interest in English would have helped her get into college 2 years later. It inspired me not to take knowledge for granted and to realize that anyone, anywhere can teach me something. Sometimes I feel we take knowledge for granted. We even complain about it. And yet without it we'd be completely lost in the dark. I also feel sometimes people aren't open minded enough, thinking that they are older, wiser, or superior, and therefore don't stand to gain anything from those who are 'inferior' to them. It's absolutely true that anyone can learn something from anything. Just got to have an open mind.

HAOP
(Have an Open Mind)
Eric

I like..

I read the blog of a close friend, one of whom's posts had a list of what he liked, and at the end, he put in a little encouragement for the rest of us to write a page, so that he might take them back to college and put them up on his wall. I am one of the many who made one for him, so I thought I might as well post it here too.

I like

layering up and huddling together on a cold winter day

hangin’ with friends at the crack of dawn

deep whispered conversations in the dead of night

crawling into bed after a good day of hard work

sitting in a quiet spot to just think

facebook notifications

open windows in a moving car

butt warmers in a cold car

knowing I influenced someone

knowing I made a difference

a nice hot shower after a cold day

looking a stranger in the eye and drawing a grin

learning something from the most unlikely sources, or people

stargazing

making wishes, knowing that it could be all for naught, while secretly hoping they could be real

looking up at the night sky and wondering what could be out there

overcoming adversary, doing things people say I’m not capable of, standing up for myself, my beliefs, and my principles.

inspirational quotes and stories that make you stop and think a bit

the way warm sand feels under your feet

how beautiful views take your breath away and leave you momentarily speechless

to spend a day with a friend, or a couple, and just hang out and talk, do basically nothing. No movies, no games, no shopping, no sports, just old fashioned talking
I like…

listening to and making great music, the kind that gives you chills

singing in the shower (shower acoustics are the best)

harmonizing with a friend, a classmate, a stranger

the feeling of accomplishment after a grueling task

leaping into a refreshing pool on a hot day

working out until exhaustion

taking strolls with friends

to take a moment and appreciate all that I’ve done, all that I have, and all that will come


Most of all, I like…

My family

AND

My friends


Now you know what I like, I wholeheartedly encourage you to take a moment and think about what you like too! And make me a page for me wall, lol :P I wouldn't mind that.

Got your back

Recently I had a phone conversation with a close friend in which I attempted to derive the source of my recent loss of passion and fire for water polo. As we talked about it, I started saying how it wasn't fun for me anymore, practicing with varsity because I was always beat by older, more experienced, bigger, more skilled varsity guys, and maybe that was the reason I'd lost my fire. After listening intently to me, my friend came up with up with a simple answer, just six words, that made everything clear to me. 'Maybe you need to work harder.'His simple answer really made me realize, I'd really been slacking off alot. I hadn't been working hard at all, and I'd basically let that become the norm for me.

I am so grateful that I have such great people like my friend looking out for me; people like him inspire me, humble me, and most of all set an example for me that I try to follow. It's important that we look after each other. If I got your back, you got his back, he got her back and she's got my back, we're a big lovin' family. Just remember, I got your back.