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| so last week i had a HORRIBLE start to the week. i didn't write about it because there was no need to. but now here's my situation. i've got about a month to turn 2 F's and a D into C' and above. i have NO CLUE how i got grades like that, but i've never in my life had grades like those. the good part about midterms was that i did get an A and 2 C's. i gotta maintain those while drastically changing my other grades. on top of grades i had massive problems on the homefront, but things are good now. it just took a full week of being away from people for everyone to calm down. i think that the bottom line is that i should avoid going home for long periods of time. weekends are fine, but then mom and pops and i start getting on each others nerves and then all of a sudden we're all snappin on one another. as far as the school situation ive set myself apart from doing extracurricular activities and sticking to my guns with school and getting a decent routine down. so let me tell you guys about something cool that happened to me these past couple weeks. i ordered some cds from canadian merch company My Merch Table. when i got my order, it wasn't complete. it didn't come with everything it was supposed to. i had waited almost a week and a half for this package, being international shipping and all that jazz. i call the company up, and they give me a call back later that day saying that they were sorry for the trouble and that they were sending the rest of my order out with some extra things in it. i said thanks, and honestly thought that they were saying that just to get me off their back. i figured being in the states and all they wouldn't do another international ship. (even though canada is right above us, its still international shipping which is gay.) anyhoo, i got my package today and it had a moneen cd/dvd in it with city and colour stickers. i was excited because it was like at least $10 worth of free materials all for just a bonus item missing off of my first order. i emailed them back and told them about the service and how good it was and how much i appreciated it. around 5ish i got a reply that said i had made everyones day there at My Merch Table. i just felt the need to tell them about the good job they were doing as far as customer service went. you don't really see that too often nowadays. the places i've applied for an internship at are in the process of going over applications. i'm really nervous because i've only heard back from two possible internship opportunities. i'm really hoping for the TWLOHA internship in florida, but a paid internship would be tight here in the 757. i think the TWLOHA internship would be the sickest because it would give me some kind of orgization background for when i get out of school. i still say that i just need to start doing relationship and marraige counseling when i get out because i do that now with all my friends in relationships now, and i'm pretty good at it. this weekend im gearing up to go stay with joe snow at his house in bath. its going to be cool to see him but i really hope josh is there too. i haven't seen him since september and i miss that kid to death. i miss joe too but he came and visited in january when we got back from break. i'm taking a bunch of my guns down there and we are going to shoot tvs and old electronic materials. it. is. going. to. rule. hahahahahaha. i mean, if smashing tvs and computer monitors is fun, SHOOTING them has to be the greatest thing ever. hahahaha. alot of things are happening with the music in my life. the no downloading thing is still going strong and it's honestly not hard at all. this paper i'm writing about illegally downloading music is just fueling my arguement for stealing music. hahaha. april and may are big months for shows and releases. the 17th of april four year strong and bayside come to town on the starting line's farewell tour. that show is going to be tight. speaking of farewell, they will be playing club relevant a week earlier and i will be there to check them out. april 29th is the saves the day tour, and on the glorious day of saturday, may 3rd, thrice comes to richmond for their headlining tour. this will be after the new ep's drop so this will also be amazing. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW AMAZING CITY AND COLOUR'S NEW CD IS. this is honestly some of the best music i've ever heard in my life. the new album "bring me your love," is golden. i've been slaying all of dallas green's cd's but that one in particular. "confessions" and "waiting.." are the best tracks in my opinion. go check it out. i promise you guys won't be disappointed if you make the purchase. i've got 3 weeks of laundry in the laundry room right now. i need to tend to that before bed. that is all. im out. | | |
| Wow, twice in one week. Who would have thunk it? So break is here pretty much. Financial aid chapel and Abnormal Psych stand in the way of that. I had two mid terms this week. One I think I aced. The other one I left so many blanks, the best I could have gotten was a 75%. I just really hope I pass the one I did horrible on. Just a simple 70%. Thats all I'm asking for. I know I've got decent grades this semester, but they could be better. When I come back from break, it will be on like Donkey Kong. 2 research papers, a communication audit, and a strategic planning project. It's going to be hellacious on me. No more Rock Band or Guitar Hero. I gotta get on the grind once break is over. Joey asked me to get up and talk about evangelism at his lock in tomorrow. He told me to use Matthew 9:35-38 (the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.) See, I'm all for this and I'm actually really flattered that he asked me to get up and talk about it, but I just feel like such a douche bag because I hate speaking about things that I'm not doing in my own life. I have no idea how I'm evangelizing to the world and how I'm doing my part in the Great Commission. What makes me any different than the kids I'm talking to, ya know? I just hate getting up and speaking on an area of spirituality that I'm slacking in because it makes me feel like a shmuck. If were on a subject like grace or helping a fellow brother or sister in Christ, I would bust it out. I just hate talking about something even I don't have right in my own life. I mean I know that those kids probablly would never guess it by looking at me, but it's just a concience thing, especially in my own head. At the beginning of the semester I sent off to many organizations and companies about internships. After almost two months of not hearing from most of them, I decided to go to plan B and look for internships that my friends and family could hook me up with. Well, this week I recieved an email back from To Write Love On Her Arms saying that if I was still interested in an internship to email this particular guy. I emailed him, and he sent me and intern application. I really, really, really hope I get accepted to this one. Out of all the organizations I sent emails to, this is the one I'd like to work with the most. I just enjoy what they do as an organization. Plus, their main office is located in Cocoa, FL, which is an hour north of Vero Beach where my Aunt and Uncle live. So I would have some contact info if something were to happen. The only down side is that the internship wouldn't be paid and their estimated cost for living down there is $1,000 a month. Which means I would be hitting massive places up for raising money. But I know that if I got this internship it would be an amazing experience and more over, I know I would work real hard at it, being at an organization I really wanted to be at. For now, I'm just praying that this falls in line for me. The show on Tuesday was AMAZING. Protest The Hero was ok. They didn't have much crowd participation. Everyone just kind of watched them and didn't dance or anything. They would have been better if they played more songs off of Kezia, their first album, but they just released a new album called Fortress, so it's understandable why they didn't. Devil Wears Prada were by far the worst band that played. I went outside during their set. I'm just not all about that crazy metalcore synthesizer music. It was tight that they gave a shout out about being Christians and all, I just didn't like their set. Silverstein played last, but were not the best at all. Although they do put on an amazing live show, and even played songs from their first album they haven't played in two or three tours, A Day To Remember stole the show. I've never seen The Norva one giant mosh pit. I was like that for two or three songs during A Day To Remember. They honestly put on one of the best shows I've seen. Right up there with Thrice and Rise Against. Kids were going crazy before they even started playing. Their album is real tight, but it's a whole new experience seeing them live. In other music news, I got a sampler at the show with The Audition and Secret Lives! of the Freemasons on it. I've always liked The Audition, but Secret Lives! really suprised me. They are hella good. They might even be the next album I pick up. Today my giant package from Vagrant came in. I got the new City and Colour cd, A Cursive Memory's debut album, Rocket From the Crypt's farewell live show, and the Take Action Tour 2008 compilation, since The Bled is on that tour. I got massive stickers and posters from a bunch of bands, so if anyone wants them let me know. Sometime this week I will be doing something really cool involving the City and Colour stuff, so if anyone out there in Xanga land likes them (who wouldn't), I would stay posted to my away messages this upcoming week. If you don't have my screen name it's iAMfireBreather (exactly like that). If you have no idea who City and Colour is, you should check them out. For fans of acoustic and folky sounding music. If you like the band Alexisonfire, you'll probablly dig City and Colour. Dallas Green, the lead singer for Alexisonfire, decided to do a side project and then came City and Colour. He's probablly one of my favorite songwriters and an amazing musician. So yeah, I would check them out. www.myspace.com/dallasgreen. I believe that's all I have for tonight. Happy Spring Break people. I'm out. | | |
| I've been here at RBC for the weekend with no Xbox 360 or roomate so it has been a boring weekend. Hence the update. Gentleman, start your engines. Life has been ok. Not great. Not horrible. Just ok. Last weekend I took my cousin out who was in from Seattle and we had a blast. I also took my friends out who had been hooking me up for the past year because I have no job and had dinner and what nots with them. I enjoy paying people back and picking up the tabs at places for people. When they refused, I told them they better let me do it because I NEVER have any money, and I had some that weekend. This weekend was nothing like the last. Bryce came down which was cool, but for Thursday night and most of Friday, I had no Xbox 360 which was killin me because I couldn't even watch a movie, and Guitar Hero was out so I didn't get my fix in. When Bryce got down we hooked up Xbox Live and schooled some fools in Call of Duty and Halo. I bought the special edition version of American Gangster (which is officially my favorite movie now). It is hella tight. Hahaha. Tommy, Bryce and I watched that with Curt and Melissa on Friday. Good times were had by all during those 3 hours. The extent of the fun Saturday night was Rock Band in the lobby with Jess, Rachel and Amanda. Joe Keefe came down on Saturday as well, but he left after only chilling for like two hours. I love that kid to death, but I would never drive an hour just to chill for two, then drive another hour back home. I guess he digs the drive. I'm doing my bed laundry today because last night when I laid down I could actually smell my pillow cases and blanket. In my 21 years of life I can honestly say that has never happened to me. I cleaned most of the room and all I have left to do is get this dishes. Crazy things happen when you're bored right? I'm going to a lock in with Joey Balsamo's church in Camden on Friday and I'm looking forward to it. Last time Joe and I went and we had a blast. This time Joey said more kids are gonna be there and he's got alot planned so it's not just kids runnin around crazy like. Mike, Kevin and Mark got back from Launch last night and they said Jason Bidell did a horrible job speaking. I just cannot ever see that happening. I've know Jason since I was 14 and I've always thought he did a great job speaking and preaching the word. School is going accordingly. I've got midterms this week which I need to study for. I'm not failing anything, but i have a D in Abnormal Psych because of a bombed test and I don't know which quizzes I've done. I spent all last week in the library and sitting at my computer doing work. I think this week is going to be the same as last week. The new major classes are going good. I'm getting on top of my game with the exception of the communication audit I'm doing with Franklin. We were originally going to work with the YMCA here in town, and I did massive work for that, but that fell through and now we're doing soemthing with the area churches. Anyway, that's going to get taken care of this week. I'm actually enjoying Personal Evangelism too. I thought i was going to slit my wrists in that class, but the material we're going over and the textbook is on point. English Comp 2 with Mrs. Guthrie is a blast. I haven't done anything in that class yet besides get some library loans and I know this paper is going to creep up on me like a champ if I continue with this pattern. Good semester so far, hopefully I can finish with this optimism. O yeah, if anyone knows of any buisness administartion internships going on over the summer, PLEASE HOLLER AT ME. I need to find one asap. I'm behind on that too. I've put my application in at four or five different places, I just haven't heard anything from them yet. Spank you very much. I haven't had any beef with anyone lately besides one person, but that's over with and I'm probablly never going to see him again. Doneskis. It's been a good year so far and I aim to keep it this way. Gettin weak with my boys in the dorm and my boys at home. Chillin around playing video games. Getting real with people in deep conversation. That's pretty much been the extent of Neil's 2008 so far. In the music area of my life, it's been really scattered latley. No one set genre. The frequently played list goes as followed: Four Year Strong, A Cursive Memory, Taking Back Sunday, New Found Glory, A Day To Remember, Protest The Hero, Rise Against, Midtown, City And Colour, Coheed And Cambria, and Bayside. Some pop punk, some metal, some acoustic, etc. I mean, I'm banging Saves The Day because I've just been off the radar with music lately. Right now, "Everything" by A Cursive Memory is at the top of my top 25 played with 19 plays. That song is catchy as piss. Good pop punk. I'm going to see Protest the Hero on Tuesday with A Day To Remember and Silverstein. It's going to be tight. Silverstein puts on a great show and the new Protest album is amazing. If you're down with metal go pick it up right now. The Bled are coming in March with August Burns Red. It's the Take Action Tour and honestly they are the only two good bands playing. Hahaha. Every Time I Die is headlining and they are bad. Just bad. Not good bad, but just bad. Saves The Day will be at the Norva in April and I'm beyond excited for that. They put one of the best live shows ever. They're coming with Armor for Sleep and Set Your Goals. I've been ready for a Saves The Day full band tour for a while. The last tow times I've heard any Saves The Day live it's been acoustic. Which wasn't bad, they just rock the house when they do it full band style. I'm done now. | | |
| i have been so swamped with stuff over the past month that im beginning to become a chris woolard updater. hahaha. you know, only updates once every 3 months. so without further adeu (sp?), here it goes. LIFE life for little old neil has been up and down in the past month. i have been going through so many different moods regarding school that i have come to the conclusion im just going to get the undergrad degree. straight up. even if i wanna run to the farthest ends of the earth away from colllege, im going to suck everything up and do it. i will thank myself later on. ha. i guess earlier this semester i was feeling so great and school was killing my buzz. maybe thats why it took me until after fall break to get motivated hardcore about classes and all that jazz. fall break just might have been the best week i've had in a long time. it was pure fun. hanging out all day, playin video games, smashing tv's. hahahaha. that was good stuff. hunted all weekend. fished a couple days during the week. it was all just a blast and it made me want christmas break even more. but with all that being said, im now settled in to a routine, after mid term. right now i have 4 B's and 2 D's. the D's are in developmental psych. and christian evidences. i feel confident about the christian evidences class in that i could probablly bring that up to a B before the end of the semester, but in my opinion i will be lucky if i get a C in developmental psych. we've already had 2 tests and i failed oth of them. even after studying. the only reason i have a passing grade in that class is the papers and the reading ive stayed on top of. hopefully those two classes will be taken care of come december. i found out around the first of the month that my dad has cancer in his esauphogus. its not from smoking. its from acid reflux and the problems he's had with that over the years. of course, it doesnt help that he's been an OG smoker since he was 14, but yeah both doctors told him it was solely from acid reflux. either way, this was a huge blow to the family and me. i balled my eyes out when i heard about it. i mean, when someone hears cancer, their like, "Eff." the good news is the doctors caught it so soon that its treatable not through chemotherapy, but through surgery. he said its a little dot about the size of a pinky nail. theyre going to operate on him nov. 6th. im really confident that everything will go smoothly. hes had 4 other test done since they found it and all the tests have shown the cancer has stayed in the one area and not spread at all. its so relieving to know that even with something as deadly as cancer modern medicine can still take care of the problem. my brother and i have been getting along like we should have been all these years. hes been chillin with me alot more and its like we're best friends now and i really enjoy it. its cool having a little brother like him around. i dont know why we beefed so much back in the day. for real, bryce is annoying as piss somethimes, but thats my boy. haha. like i said before, i miss that kid more than i miss my parents when im down here at school. hes a funny kid that makes me laugh. and he's one of three packers fans i know, so its all good in the hood with that too. SPIRITUALITY not much has changed here. i continue to be amazed every day about what God has done. being in a class that deals with the book of Romans helps out alot too. everyday im reminded of how awesome and amazing God's grace is. doing the two grace papers and reading what other people have say on the subject of grace has broadned my understanding of the idea of grace far beyond what i thought i'd ever be at this summer. i struggled with the idea of grace this summer, and now, its never been more clear in my mind. i enjoy it because understanding grace gives you such more appreciation for the Lord and everything He's done for us. its simply amazing. i recently watched an online movie called Zeitgeist. its pretty much one of those conspiracy movies that crazies put out, but this one has SOME credibility to it. the first part, however, does not have any credibility what so ever. the movie relates Christ to MANY pagan gods that were popular during ancient history. it says the the sun god of egypt, horace, is the most likely canidate for Jesus' "charachter" in the bible. it talks about the similarities of the two and how the writers of the new testament just stole the egyptian story and made it fit their own. it also pretty much said that Jesus was just a metaphor for the actual sun, and that the end times are based on the pagan zodiac calendar, and that there will be no armageddon, but a switching of ages between the zodiac signs. watching that video just really made me realize the lengths people will go to to deny the existance of the one true God, just so they dont have to answer to anyone higher than themselves. i mean, the video actually denied the existance of a man named Jesus in the 1st century AD. how ridiculous is that? seriously. there are more than enough historical proofs and writers that wrote about him and his ministry. all this just so people can go living their lives according to how they feel. why are people so afraid of answering to a higher power? i dont understand how people can just think that religion is slavery and its not freedom. especially Christianity. when one thinks in a logical way he has the most freedom he can possibly ever have. Christianity is by far the most logically sound religion in the world today. i just dont get how people can dismiss it as a great lie. SPORTS im gonna do a little section on this too, because my boys, the Colorado Rockies are in the world series for the first time ever, and i couldn't be more hyped. they lost last night 13-1 to the Boston Red Sox. it was embarassing, yes. but i did say that if the sox were gonna wina game, it would be with Josh Beckett on the mound. that man without a doubt is getting the cy young award this year. hes a MEAST (man beast). tonight brings hope though for my boys, because we are done with our first world series game ever, and now we face Curt Schilling. we've rocked him before and i hope we can do it again. we've got the talent and the squad to get a championship ring, but its deinately not going to be easy with the red sox as our opponents. the Green Bay Packers are one of the two best teams in the nfc this year. i have been exstatic over this as well. sundays are a new favorite day with me and my brother as we head up to aj gators to watch the games this year. we need a running game, and in due time Deshaun Wynn and Brandon Jackson will step their games up to fill the void. right now, our defense has been doin the best job since that championship in 1996. Farve has gotten back to his regular self, becoming (statistically) the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. this year he has shattered Marino's records. the pack are definatley playoff bound, but i dont think ANYONE is going to stop the Patriots. as much as it hurts me to say it, im a reasonable fan who knows his limitations. and the Patriots are just the championship team this year, flat out. VAGRANT the street team has been plugging away accordingly. new albums that have come out on vagrant are the new thrice and saves the day. both albums are amazing. thrice's water ep is better in my opinion than the heavy fire album. saves the days new album is the second installment in a three album series talking about finding one's self. im going to buy sound the alarm now so i can listen to the first part of the trilogy. new stickers and posters arrive every day, so if you guys want anything, let me know. stickers i have include: saves the day, senses fail, thrice, dashboard confessional, the bled, emanuel, john ralston. i have posters for all the same bands except for thrice. those are all gone. i got an email from the office out there saying that they've been hearing about me doing a great job out here on the east coast. i was flattered. i didnt know i was doing that good of a job. who knows, maybe this will open up some career opportunities for me. it would be sick nasty amazing to work for a record label. especially vagrant. their roster is tight. i would enjoy that gig every step of the way. alexisonfire is coming to the norva on halloween. its going to rule. i've never seen them live. i love watch out! one of my favortie albums of all time. then on nov. 30th, thrice invades the norva with brand new. im REALLY EXCITED to hear the new stuff live. like i said, water is flat out amazing. night diving and the whaler are my favorite tracks off their newest release. night diving is an instrumental track, and the whaler tells the story of a man who whales for a living and how he leaves his family to go to work for weeks at time. its so good. hey thanks for playing along with me this long. i know its was long, but i felt the need to update. im out. | | |
| 10 bands I've been listening to lately
01: Taking Back Sunday
02: Alexisonfire
03: Brand New
04: Thrice
05: As I Lay Dying
06: Senses Fail
07: T.I.
08: Dustin Kensrue
09: Saves The Day
10: Soulja Boy
09 things I look forward to
01: the weekends
02: my Halo 3 360
03: Guitar Hero 3 for Wii
04: Thrice's new album
05: the Brand New/Thrice tour
06: Alexisonfire tour (w/ Norma Jean and Saosin...not cool)
07: this entire semester at school
08: Saves The Day's new album and acoustic tour
09: getting weak on 3FS
08 things I like to wear
01: my band tees
02: my headband
03: my BALLIN' aviators (now in 2 designs)
04: astro turf flip flops
05: my hoodies
06: camo shorts
07: my bass pro shop mesh hat
08: my realtree camoflauge (its just hype to get dressed out and go hunt early in the a.m.)
07 things that annoy me
01: people who are haters (as in all they do is hate hate hate hate hate)
02: people who have no compassion for others
03: people who use others
04: people who attend high school
05: people who are too competitive
06: people who talk too much junk
07: people who cant drive (im talkin bout dem der females)
06 things I love
01: God
02: my friends
03: music
04: listening to peoples problems
05: my family
06: getting weak
05 things I do everyday
01: listen to music
02: take a nap
03: chill
04: go to class
05: again, get weak
04 people I want to spend more time with
01: caitlin (my homegirl just went through some wild stuff)
02: josh (youre my boy blue)
03: chris conley (waddup cuz)
04: ...(im just going to put this because if you know me, you know who goes here)
03 movies i could watch over and over again
01: transformers
02: man on fire
03: all the rocky's except for #5 (tommy gun)
02 of my favorite songs at the moment
01: Senses Fail - You're Cute When You Scream
02: Taking Back Sunday - Great Romances of the 20th Century | | |
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