Happy Days

Finally an Update

2006-02-15T06:24:00.000-08:00

I figured that if I still want people to come to my blogsite I ought to put up a post before everyone gets completely discouraged from coming anymore.
I didn't imagine that the semester without my thesis would be my busier semester, but it is and it'll only get more active as the clock ticks towards graduation.

Starting March 6 I'll be coaching a tennis team! It's like a dream come true - getting paid to do something that I love doing AND having my own team to coach. The situation is not perfect, but I'm still happy about it. It sounds like I'll have all the same kids that were on the team last year, when they won 0 out of 10 matches. My #1 kid on the team is evidently an 8th grader. It may take some work, but I'm certain I can help them bump their wins up to 1 out of 10 this year. The only problem is this; since there is no girls tennis in the fall, the school is required to make the spring season coed. I wouldn't worry about it if there were 4 or 5 girls on the team, but as it is it's looking like I might have just 1 girl. This will throw off the whole dynamic of the team. First of all, I won't be able to push them as hard simply because of this girl. Second of all, we all knows what happens to high school guys when a girl is around; they don't act as much like themselves and they either do one of two things; get shy or act stupid. I don't want this - I want a tight knit team. We'll just have to see how it turns out, though. I'll still be happy either way!

And now I've wasted all the time I had talking about the upcoming tennis season. I'm sure I'll be more vigilant about posting in the future, though.

Thinking About my Future in the Work Force

2006-01-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

It's because of guys like the ones above that I think working at camp for the rest of my life would be the ideal job. Just look at those kids. If you look closely at the last couple of frames you can see the sincere pleasure the guys are getting out of me falling off a building for them. I still can't decide if they're getting their pleasure because of the fact that they enjoyed seeing me fall off the roof or because they realized I was doing it for them.

A job like that is non-stop action; getting to bed every night at 11 after tucking in the guys and then hanging out with fellow counselors on the porch, waking up early enough to see the sunrise every morning, occassionally waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of "Larry, I just threw up" and hoping to God that the sound would go away, doing all sorts of fun stuff during the day, and eating more food than I've ever eaten before because it all burns off during the days activities. That was the life.

Missing Largen

2006-01-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

Leaving Rome.
Chasing squirrels in the park. (Yes, those are Krispy Kream Donut hats on our heads)

The bottom line is I'd rather lose my left arm for a semester than Justin for a semester. My right arm is just too valuable to give up - I wouldn't be able to write, play ultimate, swing dance, get on my bunk bed without falling off, drive my brothers miata, or do the things that really matter (like tennis). It's unnatural for the 3 magi to be split up (a label given to Dittert, Justin, and me by Madame Barone).
I was getting all excited yesterday about going back to school and making the most of the last semester (which translates to being childish while at the same time being studious and responsible). Then I realized that one of the primary factors in my equation of fun will be missing.
No worries, though. Dittert and I are going to go to Roanoke as soon as possible and kidnap Justin and bring him back to campus with us. I got this nifty little tranquilizer gun for Christmas and I'm dying to try it out on something other than the neighbors dog. Or how about this - all I want for my birthday is a surprise party that includes Justin. Maybe that will get him here. And I'm totally kidding about the dog thing. I'd only ever shoot a cat.

Call Me a Complainer....

2005-12-31T08:38:00.000-08:00

Paperhand Puppet Intervention
It seems as if the Californians are invading North Carolina, causing NC to do some things that just don't make no sense.

This year we have the goddess Rhea leading our New Years Day Parade in downtown Raleigh, made by the Paperhand Puppet guys. The picture above gives a representation of the kind of things they create; the goddess is going to be even larger, though, her face being taller than I am. Rhea is meant to celebrate the wildness of Carolina, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the awesome coast. I never even witnessed anything like this in California - maybe I'll go for the experience. Maybe I'll go to laugh at people. Maybe I'll throw things at them. Maybe I'll burn some styrofoam cups to tick of the environmentalists. Mmmm....

Anyway, to top things off, North Carolina is wishing all of its residents a Happy New Years by hiking up the gas tax by 15%! While most states are lowering their gas taxes, NC thought it fit to raise them.

The Man

2005-12-30T14:52:00.000-08:00

I was reading through one of the several essays I've written on Pius XII while at Christendom and realized how much this guy's the man...even more than the real fonz, more than John Wayne, more than the Dirty Dozen combined, more than Justin Largen (hard to beat), and right up there with our current pope.

My Grandma gave my mom what was, in my opinion, the best gift that anyone received in our family. She gave my mom a rosary blessed by Pope Pius XII in 1957 when she and my grandpa were visiting Italy. Priceless. I hope that people continue to pray for his sainthood!

Dorm Wrestling

2005-12-26T09:58:00.000-08:00

Click here to watch 'St. Joe's #1 Dorm Wrestling'

Kyle Breaking Furniture

This is what the guys spend their time doing in the dorms when they aren't having meaningful conversation. You'll notice that the wrestling almost always involves Kyle because he's a good sport. (For those of you who don't know, Kyle is the one who always seems to be singled out when we wrestle in the video. The only reason we single him out is because he's a farmer.) The timing is a little off, but I didn't think it was necessary to make a high quality video out of wrestling.

The Inspiration

2005-12-25T17:31:00.000-08:00

There were a number of things that led me to be inspired to make a new blogsite and don a new name. It's not because I'm egotistacle like the Fonz from Happy Days - any ego I had has been beaten out of me by all the wonderful women I know. Actually, I don't even recall having ever seen Happy Days. All I know is that two good things came out of the show; Ron Howard, who is in my opinion the best director of our time, and the snap, which the Fonz used to get certain peoples attention. It's still debatable if the second good thing is really a good thing at all, though.

Part of the inspiration came from the Contra Dance Formal that took place about a month ago. We were all sitting around a nice cozy fireplace, which probably would have been even cozier if we actually had a fire in the fireplace. The gentlemen were being nice by sitting around having good conversation and the ladies were being nicer by grabbing plates of cookies and offering them to the gentlemen. I ate my first cookie and enjoyed it thoroughly, so I decided that I wanted another. A particular sophomore named Amy was holding a plateful of the cookies I wanted was conveniently standing directly across from me about five paces away. I quickly made eye contact with her and made a snap of my fingers. Her reaction was priceless; I don't know if I've ever seen a more pleasant, scandalized look in my life. Her features were perfect. If her features were purely pleasant in reaction to the snap, then I probably would have been a little wierded out. Likewise, if her features showed that she was purely scandalized, I might have been afraid for my own well-being. The men took on an odd mix of chagrin and satisfaction at this sight. Amy's look gave me incentive to see how other girls would react.

Another part of the inspiration, then, was the various looks girls would give me after a guy would whisper, "Hey Larry, snap your finger and see what she does." I didn't feel like I was being "used" by the guys for their own pleasure when they told me to do this because I got a great deal of pleasure from it too. I simply understand that some guys don't have the guts it takes to receive a death glare from a girl for a simple snap of the finger. Now that I think about it, though, guys probably shouldn't have the guts that it takes to do something like that.

The last part of the inspiration came Christmas Eve when opening presents from the family (presents from Santa Clause get opened Christmas morning). I had tried on a leather coat once and absolutely hated the way it looked on me, so naturally I thought I wouldn't look good in any leather coats. I got a leather coat for Christmas and really really liked it, which did a couple of things. First, it made me realize that I now looked like the Fonz and therefore can play the role of the Fonz much easier. Second, it gave me an idea for a blog and user name. And hence, a new blog.