Camping. It's an Adventure.

Okay, only after I wrote that title down did it sound so hokey.  Whatevs, it's official now kids.

That was quite a few days.  I got sick.  Sore throat, stuff/runny nose, pressure headaches, the whole business.  Then I got Rachael sick.  Then we came home, still a little sick, and we have a meeting tomorrow afternoon.

From another angle, I got to spend an incredible amount of time with my nephew.  He's rapidly approaching two years old, and on top of his incredible athletic skill (like kicking a ball straighter than adult) that I've mentioned before, he's got a burgeoning vocabulary.  I think it's fascinating.  For the most part he sounds, in my dad's words, like he's speaking an Eastern European language. He says "Mommy" when he really wants someone to help him with something.  Something it goes where please should go, or help me, or "Grandpa," "Grandma," or other names.  "Bye" is both "See you later," and "I'm back!"  And with all those weirdnesses, he has some really solid phrases down, like "I'm goin' campin'," "This is round," and others.  I've said on multiple occasions how smart he think he is.  But a developing child is a lot less straightforward than a computer.  Smarter, slower, faster, more obtuse, more nuanced.  All of it.

Also, they get to wear cuter shirts.  Giraffes with shades man, giraffes with shades.

Camping is a to-do.  You take a lot more crap than you'd think you need, and without it you starve or freeze or roast.  Your tent gets wet no matter what you do.  You poop and shower in public buildings of various repair.  And you sleep in view of the Mackinac Bridge and across the way the moon sprays orange-cream light over Lake Huron.

Screw the internet, the last few days were awesome.

Screw face punches too.  It wasn't laziness that kept me from blogging.  It was wilderness.  Wilderness and Mackinac Island Fudge.  Blueberry.

Writhe in your jealousy.  Writhe.

Fireworks and Five Dollars

So here I am, sitting on the bed in my good friends' guest room with a soreness in my throat making me some kind of miserable, and I'm thinking about why celebrations have to be such loud, bright affairs, especially momentous ones like the day everyone in America remembers as the one we declared independence from the English Crown.  I'm not complaining, just thinking about it.

It was one of those long days made long especially by all the packing and driving involved in it.  There are more long days ahead, mostly of the "we're out camping" variety, and I can almost guarantee you then that I won't be blogging out something after today.  This is my last chance.

I'm tired.  I don't really feel like I'm allowed to be tired because it's the Fourth of July and you're supposed to stay up late, or something, but I just want to peel out my contacts and bury my face in a pillow.

Actually, what I want is a cough drop.  So that's that.

I hope, whether you're a USian or not you've had a good day.

By the way, this is the first year in the history of my life that the big stuff has been legal in Michigan, fireworks-wise.  So this is one of the first times I've seen that sort of thing up close(ish).

It's another one of those days that I don't have a lot I want to blog about.  Life is good.  I'm tired.  God bless.

Ciao.

Day of Rest

Today was definitely a break from the action.  There really wasn't anything pressing to do (though I did go shopping and mail out a copy of Ashes of Silver, so don't think I turned into a potato today) so it was mostly just hanging out.

There was a giant bug in the living room and the girls had me remove it from the house lest it be squished.  Maybe it was a cockroach.  I dunno.  It was big.  I got it out.  There's that.

Tomorrow we hit the road again, and it's even less likely I'll get a blog in for the next couple days, but we'll see how it goes.  There's really nothing else to say.  I'll catch you later.

Ciao.

Too Tired For Face Punches

Chicago.  Aquarium.  Sharks, Jellies, Dolphins.  Rainforest Cafe.  Filled up, hit the road.  Long drive, super tired.  Arrived home after midnight.  Vacation, exhausting.

Sore feet.

Transcribed From a Blue Notebook

I blog differently than I journal.  The variance is self-explanatory:  no one else is going to read my journal entries.  If you can believe it, I'm more serous with myself than with others.  Any humor I use against myself is really dry.  My journal also predictably consists of deep thoughts about internal issues, like my walk with the Lord, my struggle with sexual purity in my thought life, and logistics of job-getting, time management, and wedding plans (before I got married).  There's also a lot of writing plans, impromptu poems, and analysis of the themes of my own writing.

Sometimes I write letters to myself, in a meta sort of self-address that can be useful for jarring myself back into a mindset that's healthier.  To be honest, that's part of why I talk about my issues on a public blog.  It helps me stop being an idiot, which if you know me at all you know I need sometimes.

There's another reason I'll admit my flaws on a blog like this:  I don't want to be the kind of person who has something to hide.  Secrets, as I have been told, can fester.  So yes, I have sexually impure thoughts, and some strong prejudicial tendencies, both of which I strive to turn on their heads.  But I'm also the writer you've been reading for however long you've been reading this blog.  And by the way, thank you for that.  I appreciate it.  My dream to write and be heard and appreciated has been lifelong, and the dozen or so folks who take the time to read my words are a blessed first step.

I'm writing this blog on paper first, in case you skipped over the title.  That's because I'm in a car on the way to Chicago.  Family vacation has begun.  This means I might not get a blog in every day a week or so.  This post itself might be late.
I think my brain works differently when I'm hardly on the computer all day.  My macbook hasn't been on yet today (at the moment I'm writing this (but now I'm transcribing it so it have)).  I still caught Homestuck updates and played a Facebook game, but that's largely because my family got home quite a bit later than expected.

What I really want for these long car rides is a new book or two to read.  The trouble with that is the money, specifically, the me not having any to spare.  So I need to make money.

But I'm on a vacation with family.  Kinda hard to drive around applying for jobs on vacation.  Oh well, I'm going to enjoy this week for what it is.

In that vein, I'm gonna go.  Enjoy your first day of July, even if it's come and gone for you.

Ciao.