Total Randomness

Thankfully, this week has been much more relaxed than last week. Instead of three tests, normal reading and homework levels, and a major project (our final report was 50 pages long), all I've had this week is a short group presentation and three canceled classes. Needless to say, I'm in a much better mood. Exams are next week (and a little the week after), but I exempt one, some are papers, and others are non-comprehensive, so I'm not stressing too much.

As I was paging back through my blog, I realized that people may have completely the wrong impression of me. Hymns and The God Delusion are not the only two things I think about or spend time on. There is so much more to this blogger than what is involved here on these posts. So, to give you a little taste, a little window into the complex labyrinth that is Andrew Shank, here are some of my other pursuits.

My favorite website of all time is the hilarious, ridiculous, classic, and infamous (?) HomeStar Runner. Specifically, the Strong Bad e-mails slay me. Some of the best are Virus, Kids' Book, and from way way back, Guitar. Marzipan's answering machine is worth checking out, as well as the numerous toons, shorts, and music videos. So much of my humor comes from this website. Seriously (sewiouswy), if you're planning on spending any length of time in my presence, familiarize yourself with this glorious website.

I play the guitar. Much of the time I spend playing is spent in worship (leading at RUF, back-up at church, and privately in my room), but I do enjoy finger-picking every once and again. Iron and Wine is one of my new favorite bands, and quite a few of their songs are very playable. Check out some of their music: it's on the chill side, and great for falling asleep to on a warm Spring afternoon. Not that it's boring. It just puts you in that kind of mood. I play a Takamine G10, and it sounds just as beautiful as it looks.

The house that we started over Spring Break (check this out, if you need a refresher) is coming along quite nicely. (I told you this would be random.) There have been lots of teams working on it, and it's looking great. Fuller progress is on Lagniappe's website (check-out the side bar for a link), but here's a update all the same. Also, one of the graduating RUFers is going to be interning there this summer. Yay Allison! Good luck, and drink plenty of water.

In addition to my philosophizing, harmonizing, and time-wasting on HSR, I am also a nerd. I am well versed in both Middle-Earth and Star Wars lore. I am a fan of 'dorky board games' such as Risk, Go, and the less-well-known, Settlers of Catan and A Game of Thrones (the last is also a book series I thoroughly enjoy). Real-time strategy games (RTS for short) are awesome, my favorite being Starcraft. Along those lines, I have been very excited about the pending release of Starcraft II: I've waited for almost 10 years, and it's finally come.

I feel like that's enough for now. I did do some good reading in The God Delusion this week (lots of free time, remember?), so there might be an update on that in the next couple days. There is one thing in this post that, to many of you, will be conspicuous by its absence: Camp. That's right, with a capital 'C'. I'm missing it and looking forward to it, but I know that plenty of my posts this summer will deal with days and people at camp, so I'll save that topic for a time when I can do it more justice.

For Further Reading...

As many of you know, my brother is in Guatemela for another month and a half or so (he's been there about a month). You may not know, however, that he has a blog that he updates from time to time with the work that is being done there and his thoughts and observations about the impact God is having on the community and others through and in spite of him. And I don't think it's too far to say that he's an excellent writer. So. If you're up for some more Shank musings, shuffle on over to www.lifeinguate.blogspot.com and poke around.

Meanwhile, back in the states...

We finished up our last day of work about two hours ago, ate, cleaned the kitchen, finished our 'where yat sign', and showered (we had a lovely Christmas carol sing-a-long). It's been fun, hot, sweaty, dirty, and exhausting, but, as some of us were reflecting earlier, I can't imagine a better Spring Break. With that said, expect pictures and stories within the next couple days, and hopefully progress pictures over the next weeks and months as the work continues. But, there's a concert here tonight and we have a 14 hour drive in front of us tomorrow, so it'll have to wait until later.

The Left Foot

So, we're supposed to start things off on the right foot, right? Well, I don't know what the right foot is, at least not for this little slice of cyber-space, but I'm guessing that it isn't what follows. Some might ridicule me for making the inaugural posting on this site one of such unimportant drivel as what will follow, but I stand by my decision. (In all fairness, I'm saying it's the left foot.) For those of you that are still reading (why?), hang onto your hats.

Not 15 minutes ago, I was in my living room, playing my housemate in the greatest game ever invented. By humans. It goes by a little name of Super Smash Brothers. And yes, the 64 edition. I don't need those hyped up GameCube graphics. 64-bit puts food on the table. Anyway. I am Samus. Not 'I play as Samus' or 'I'm really good as Samus.' No no, I am Samus. And my housemate plays Fox. We're playing at the Donkey Kong place (you know, the one with the barrel on the bottom) and he is winning. Computer Jigglypuff was gone ages ago, and Computer Donkey Kong is hanging on by a thread. I pick up the Home Run Bat, and Housemate Fox falls into the barrel. At the bottom right of the platform, CDK is standing at the bottom of the ramp, and I, glorious Samus, am up the slope from him.

I tap towards + A. The anticipation builds. A shining star appears at the sweet spot on the Home Run Bat. A tingle runs down my spine. Donkey Kong raises his hands in the air for a gorilla-style ground-beating. Breath catches in my throat. The barrel (containing Housemate Fox) squishes in anticipation of firing as it slides to the right. I begin to swing forward. DK's hands are at eye level. Fox's head appears from the barrel.

Time slows down.

I connect! Donkey Kong's arms never reach the ground. Fox never gets a chance to land. All that is left on our 8-foot diagonal projection screen is Samus, magnificently performing the perfect follow through, two diminishing trails of smoke leading off the screen and into the heavens. I, Samus, rock.