Our first serious thing probably ever

This sums it all up for me/us.



I mean, Jesse McCartney playing Zuko?! No way can he pull off the emotional depth needed for the role. On this, certainly we all can agree. Also, I agree with everything this video says and I plan on sending in a letter as soon as I can.
Power to the people!

How do we make this guy delicious?

Okay guys, with Jared and I now out here and settling in a question arises in our minds. Not how do we make this guy delicious, though there are a few cannibal junctions out here, but how do we stay Caravan despite not being able to uphold the rules?

As you can see from our lovely sidebar, the Caravan by laws state that a majority of members must meet at least once a week and further more, if a member misses more than three such meetings in a row they are removed from the roster. As Jared and I are no longer able to fulfill this requirement unless we intend to rack up large amounts of frequent flier miles it seems we have a problem.

Do we simply let ourselves part ways, least officially, or do we come up with a more Caravan style solution? We could reinvent our chats from the Dark Ages and say that it counts as a gathering, but that feels like a cop out. What say we all?

Oh, and Nine Tails and Raven say hi.

Who would you marry?

The other night on Boston Legal Denny and Alan got married. To each other. They're both heterosexual, but that didn't bother them.

So in recognition of Adam and Kate's nuptials, my question, who would you marry if you were going to marry someone of the same sex given there was no sexual aspect to it at all? If it was strict platonic and always would be, who'd you tie the knot with?

The Old Boss

I was wrong about Obama taking three weeks to turn into the old boss. It appears to have taken him six. I feel much better about things now. A president who wants to change things could just get messy. Better someone who'll only promise to do things. It's the American way I hear.

Also, for those of you who haven't spoken to either Kate or myself in the last two days, we got married the other night. Hipster and Jared were going to be leaving for the great unknown of Seattle the next morning, perhaps only to return for sporadic holiday visits so on a whim we decided to go get married so he could serve as a best man of sorts. We had a deal in that regard.
I had mom there too. It was nice to see her so happy.

So, yeah. That happened. Cas, commence the screaming and flailing.

Kids Today?

Well everyone, by the power invested in me by the Gallant Fraternity, I'm proclaiming us all official adults. Cas and I have a three month old, Rich and Alice are unexpectedly expecting, Jared and Hipster are moving to Seattle in but a week or so, and Nate's....well, Nate. We've all grown up considerably in the last three years. We're adults.

And now that we're here, I find myself asking a question. What was the big deal?

This isn't as bad as we're lead to believe when we're teens and under. All those ads and tv shows about how growing up and older is some scary terrible experience don't seem to be panning out for me. I'm okay with this. Why is there so much emphasis on staying young and hip? If I don't know all the latest bands what does it really matter? My Metallica cds sound just as good to me as they did when I first bought them over ten years ago. If some sixteen year old kid who doesn't have to shave yet thinks I'm old and boring because of this should I care?

I think not. I think we're adults and I think it's totally cool. I'm not as young as I used to be, but that's fine by me. If my knees aren't as durable as they were, why should that bother me? What's my rush anyway?

I'm married, I have a daughter, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. I'm okay with growing old. How about you?

They want to do what?!

So it seems there is talk of now trying to bailout the auto industry. I can't believe this. Since when does the government think about doing this sort of thing? It was bad enough with the banks, and I can perhaps see the reasoning behind that, but the car makers!? Their cars aren't any good, how is that a tax payer problem? If they all go under will the people not be able to find new jobs? They might have some issues, yes, but again how is that a tax payer problem?

My dad and I have people work for us, if we hit hard times can we ask for government assistance because it will upset the income of our workers? How many people have to work for us before we can get help? This is ridiculous. What's even more disappointing is that it's probably going to go through.

I shoulda voted for Foamy. He wouldn't have put up with this crap.

Well?

President Obama.

Lines are open. Tell me what you think.

Hipster rambles about people, god, and....LIl' Wayne

Nate showed me this song this morning. In typical rapper fashion Lil' Wayne is talking about something completely different from the rest of the song, but that's as inevitable as the sun rise. It's sad that rappers barely talk about anything other than themselves anymore.

What's even more interesting is that if you really look at the lyrics and think about them you realize this is a pseudo christian rock song that is trying to tell us to remove ourselves from our worldly possessions and remember what's it like to live without the unnecessary constraints we put on ourselves and thus "Let It Rock". Then of course Lil' Wayne goes on about how much he enjoys the constraints he puts on himself and chasing needless dollars is cool with him.



Verse 1 : Kevin Rudolph)
I see your dirty face
High behind your collar
What is done in vain
Truth is hard to swallow
So you pray to God
To justify the way you live a lie, live a lie, live a lie
And you take your time
And you do your crime
Well you made your bed
I'm in mine

(Chorus)
Because when I arrive
I, I bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What is this, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock

(Verse 2: Kevin Rudolph)
Now the son's disgraced
He, who knew his father
When he cursed his name
Turned, and chased the dollar
But it broke his heart
So he stuck his middle finger
To the world
To the world
To the world
And you take your time
And you stand in line
Well you'll get what's yours
I got mine

(Chorus)
Because when I arrive
I, I bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What is this, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock

(Chorus)
(x2)
Because when I arrive
I, I bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What is this, forgot?
I must now remind you
Just Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock

(Kevin Rudolph)
I wish I could be
As cool as you
And I wish I could say
The things you do
But I can't and I won't live a lie
No not this time

---
The world needs more of these type of songs. The other really good examples of this type of thing is the Mute Math album. Songs that are inspired by some sort of connection with a god, but not over done enough that listeners just brush them off as preaching. The world needs more subtlety. Everyone's got it into their heads the last few decades that shouting can save the world and accomplish something. As if if you deafen your opponent they'll agree with you.

The world has slipped into Us vs. Them with the lines of of who Us and who Them is being constantly redrawn with everyone being forcibly shoved onto a side before they get to stop and consider where they want to be or why they should even be there.

No one can be at ease being themselves anymore. Everyone's lost with no sense of connection, to each other, or god, or anything. Everyone feels like they're living a lie. No one really feels they can let it rock anymore.

Me...Ow!

Scene-9:00am at House of Burning Lightning. Rich is eating breakfast on couch, Nate is waking up, and Snowy is in comfy chair sleeping. Nate comes out of bedroom and Snowy sees him and gets up to say hi.

Rich-Morning. (munch, munch)
Nate-Mmmmmhhmmm. (Nate's not a morning person, surprise, surprise)
Rich-You've got today off right?
Nate-Mmmmm. (Snowy meows and jumps off chair)....Rich?
Rich-Yeah?
Nate-Why is the total tomcat limping?
Rich-Dunno....(They watch as Snowy limps across livingroom to say hi to Nate)
Nate-Today is going to be expensive isn't it?
Rich-sigh...yeah.

After a quick preliminary exam, where one of us rubs his chin and the other looks over his paw we realized that his paw he's not walking on is a bit swollen and there's a small spot of blood on it. We noticed the spot last night, but didn't think much of it. We thought he just gave it to some unfortunate mousie and the blood got on him too, but now it looks like he's got some small cut that is probably infected.
I have a doctor's appointment myself this morning to say to my primary and ask why the room is spinning more and more each day. We have money saved in case of emergencies, but we were hoping it wouldn't be needed so early into the season. Also, while Snowy is the coolest cat ever, part of us is wondering if he'll get better all by himself. I mean, cats lived for millions of years without vet check-ups right? They must be doing something right on their own right?
Snowy went out briefly for about forty minutes then we brought him back in to sleep and rest in his chair. Hopefully, during that time he took care of all his needs that we don't want to clean up. Rich is on today so later I'll probably take him to the vet later.
On the good side, this means he officially part of our house as he's acquired our luck. Welcome to the team Snowy!

Meow

First off happy birthday Shawn. It's about time you got to twenty six like the rest of us.

Now, as you all may be aware Nate and I have semi-adopted the local stray cat. He's all white and sounds off like he's got a pair. What should we call him? I want to name him Xehanort, after the leader of the Organization 13 from Kingdom Hearts 2. Nate wants to call him Snowy and Alice wants to call him Whitestar, leader of GreenClan.

Well? What should it be?

Productive day

We finally today at our weekly gathering at Nate and Rich's place did some minor updating to our profiles and the site. As you can see aside from Nate and Kate we all have brand new profile pics! As we don't make any income off anything here and aside from some of our parents no one ever comes here we should be fine in terms of copyright laws. There's plenty of other people everywhich where to get first who do this sort of thing.
We also are going to start putting our pictures at the top of our posts like I've done with mine on this post. Before you had to scroll to the bottom I think. Now you can know right away who's posting. This just looks better and we seem more mature and professional. Or we will until you notice our avatars come from Nickelodeon cartoons or video games.

Nate and Rich can't clean worth anything. I guess all those lessons I gave went in one ear and out the other. Tragic, but expected. bye-bye!

What would Sylar do?

Sylar is easily the new mascot and hero of team Burning Lightning. After the events of Monday's episode we're glad to see that he'll be getting more screen time and it's quickly becoming clear that he's more of an interesting character than anyone else. By comparison everyone else is just sorta boring. Both Peters aren't all that intelligent, Hiro and Ando, while funny, don't seem to have the same spark anymore, and Nathan and Claire are getting repetitive. Sylar is continually stealing the show.
Seeing him and Noah working together was funny as Noah is used to being the smart thinking one of any group and Sylar quickly out thought him in every scene.
My bet, as far as theories go, is that Mrs. Patrelli does the same thing that Sylar does, but she never went as he has. She said she can do the dream the future, but she always does a suggestion hypno type thing to people. In the episode last year when she was talking to Nathan's wife she kept tugging and adjusting her clothes and hair and she did the same thing to Sylar when was trying to convince him to go along with her. My guess is that this will come out half way through the season and that at some point Sylar is going to kill and brain drain her.

Enjoy the Silence

Well everyone in accordance with our Caravan heritage we will be performing-or rather not performing-another Caravan rite. We will not be speaking out loud as much as possible. This idea mostly came from Nate. He got tried of talking the other day so he went around nodding and pointing as much as he could. He later explained it was nice and we should all give it a try. So we're going to. Kate and Cassandra doubt anyone will be able to tell the difference with Adam.
Shawn and Cassandra will be talking as much as ever though as little Martina needs all the stimuli her nerve bundles can handle. We can respect that.
We don't know how long we will be doing this. Nate's been getting angry recently because his words are getting a bit more garbled than usual so he might do it longer than the rest of us. Also, he's down in the Caravan Rite count. It's nearly October and he hasn't done any this year. I've done my fill, but I won't be talking either.
We're hoping that not talking will push us to write and blog more, which as you may have noticed is really falling behind.
We start tomorrow! Nod at ya soon!

We promise

We'll post something soon. We promise.

Rich and I have bought our first ever piece of non-inherited furniture. Should we ever move apart we don't know who'll keep it. This new couch and the cat are probably going to be the closest things to children I ever have. If Rich ever leaves it's going to be a messy divorce.

Hello

Hello everyone, Headmaster here. Despite what you may be starting to think or believe we are all still alive, even Nate. We're hoping to begin posting at our regular rate soon, but it might be a couple weeks before we can pick up the pace again. Shawn and Cassandra are awaiting their first born, which should be along nearly any day now, Hipster is out in Seattle for another week visiting his family, and Rich and Nate are preparing to move into their new place, the House of Burning Lightning.
Nate and Rich also have started their separate journal, named Burning Lightning of course. With these things all going on none of us have had the time or urge to commit seriously to this site. Currently Rich is living in a tent pitched in Shawn and Cas's back yard and spends his time either working or with Alice.
Kate and I haven't felt the urge to blog take as us as of late. We'll be back and running at full capacity by early or mid September. Scouts' honor.

Anxious much?

Two nights ago I had a dream where I was walking around the debris area of an alien crash landing. There were people searching and helicopters beaming down searchlights and one hits me and I realize I'm completely naked. I run into the trees then soon wake up.
Last night I dream I'm in the shower and my entire freshmen German class is in the bathroom with me and we each have to introduce ourselves and the shower curtain gets pulled back and everyone is staring at me being naked.
I wake up this morning and remember that being naked in a dream is a metaphor for feeling under prepared. I try to think up what I'm feeling anxious about then the misses walks into the room with her basketball sized stomach and I realize the answer.
This whole thing seemed so less scarier seven months ago.

A repeat question?

Rich asked this last March, but I'll ask it a simpler way. Do you think people can ever really change? If a person is set in a way of living are they always going to be like that no matter how hard they try to change or can they turn themselves into something else?

On average about every ten years

Well everyone Avatar:the Last Airbender ended it's run Saturday night with a spectacular two hour finale. It was really cool. I'm going to miss new episodes of that show. I think we'll all miss seeing our favorite character saying new funny lines or kicking new asses. I myself was a Sokka fan and would have liked to see more of the Sokka and Zuko "bromance". Both characters had spent most of the series surrounded by girls or guys outside of their age group that when they got to hang out they seemed to enjoy each other's company. It would have been fun to see more.

But it's over. The last time I felt like this was when Babylon 5 ended ten years ago. I guess something this good can only exist in the world every ten years. You think if it came more often it wouldn't be as appreciated?

They'll make great uncles

This afternoon I had to run up town to do a couple work chores. Nate is over and I ask if he and Hipster want to tag along. We head up into North Conway and I stop at the first place I need to go. I tell the two of them I'll be about ten or twenty minutes. Hipster spots the park and the kids' playground and says he'll be over there. Nate says it's been a good while since he's had some good swinging so he says he'll be there too.
I'm in talking to the guy for maybe fifteen minutes and when I come out I head to the playground to get them. Nate is on the swings being watched by a group of kids that don't come up to my waist and explaining that to get really high on the swing you have to keep your legs straight and put your stomach muscles into it. Then he starts explaining which ones he means by patting his stomach between kicks.
Hipster is over at the other end up the playground completely drenched and soaked from the water hoses coming up from the ground and seems to be organizing half the playground into a game of freeze tag.
I call for them and they both slump their shoulders and after waving goodbye to everyone follow me back to the truck. The rest of the time in the truck they spend complaining about how they don't make playgrounds like they used to. Back in their day that place had a "totally bitchin' merry-go-round".

Watch it!

Monday night the final episodes of Avatar start. There will be a episode on every night. The big two hour finale is Saturday on Nick. You will watch it. You will like it. later.

Have you forgotten our quest?

You know guys, these last few months haven't really been our best. Or rather they have been and that's part of the trouble. I don't know about you, but I work better when I'm slightly angry about something. Being mildly annoyed or pissed about being pissed gives you a certain focus and purpose that being happy and content doesn't.

And this is where we're falling down! In the last six months Nate has had a girlfriend, broken up with her, and gone on Vicodin. Shawn and Cassandra are having the kid they've always wanted. Kate and Adam have moved in together and are having a stable, long term relationship. Hipster is looking forward to going out to Seattle in a few weeks so he can hang out with his sister and brother. I have matured out of video games!!!!

We're all happy.

And it sucks....

We don't get anything done when we're happy. We don't get so pissed about something we have to run to the nearest computer and blog about it. We don't get fired up to write short stories where our characters die at the end. We don't feel the burning need to share our rage with the world.

We're just happy to be happy....

We need to be angry again! We need to feel our world is crumbling around us and we're the only ones that can fight back. Or we at least need to feel. Currently, boys and girls...we suck.

Things Rich would like to declare

1.Moving when you have no place to move into can be a real hassle.

2.Age of Empires 2 isn't all that great.

3.In fact it almost sucks.

4.Dragonrane, while we love her, is even more grumpy when six months pregnant.

5.Things fall apart.

6.Things really fall apart when you plan them with Nate Knox.

7.Camping isn't as much fun as you may think.

Freedom

Freedom
by George Michael

I won't let you down
I will not give you up
Gotta have some faith in the sound
It's the one good thing that I've got
I won't let you down
So please don't give me up
Because I would really, really love to stick around

Heaven knows I was just a young boy
Didn't know what I wanted to be
I was every little hungry schoolgirl's pride and joy
And I guess it was enough for me
To win the race? A prettier face!
Brand new clothes and a big fat place
On your rock and roll TV
But today the way I play the game is not the same
No way
Think I'm gonna get me some happy

I think there's something you should know
I think it's time I told you so
There's something deep inside of me
There's someone else I've got to be
Take back your picture in a frame
Take back your singing in the rain
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take

Heaven knows we sure had some fun boy
What a kick just a buddy and me
We had every big shot good-time band on the run boy
We were living in a fantasy
We won the race
Got out of the place
I went back home got a brand new face
For the boys on MTV
But today the way I play the game has got to change
Oh yeah
Now I'm gonna get myself happy

I think there's something you should know
I think it's time I stopped the show
There's something deep inside of me
There's someone I forgot to be
Take back your picture in a frame
Don't think that I'll be back again
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take

Well it looks like the road to heaven
But it feels like the road to hell
When I knew which side my bread was buttered
I took the knife as well
Posing for another picture
Everybody's got to sell
But when you shake your ass
They notice fast
And some mistakes were built to last

That's what you get

I say that's what you get

That's what you get for changing your mind

And after all this time
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes
Do not make the man

I'll hold on to my freedom
May not be what you want from me
Just the way it's got to be
Lose the face now
I've got to live

--
You know when you really read and look at these lyrics you realize how it was his way of telling people he was gay and he would rather have been free to be himself than to be rich, famous, and faking someone else. You think people fake being someone else for others a lot? If so, why? Why would they be someone they're not? As my fan base knows I have been the best me I can be since day one. Being not me on purpose is completely foreign to me. Please explain.

Girls Rule

Congratulations to our very own Alisha, aka Ivory Girl, for making the front page of our local paper! She is a senior at Kennett this year and is graduating next week. She is this year's Salutatorian! Way to go Alisha! We're all proud. Granted aside from Nate none of us have ever met you in person and I don't think I've ever emailed you at all, but you're still an official Caravan member so good work! You should be proud!

Good luck with college in the fall and congratulations on getting out of Kennett.

This is good

I heard a clip of Ryan Secrest on the radio talking to Madonna where Madonna was saying how Ryan reminds her of this song. I checked it out on Youtube. I want to share. This girl is cool.

Good news everyone!

The other day I was looking through things and going over some files. We have been doing official Caravan related activities (or lack there of) for over ten years. We may have mentioned this from time to time. Anyway, my point that I'm trying to make is that we're getting older. Or have gotten older as much as some of us may hate to admit it. In fact one of us is even on Medicare. Seriously.

We're not kids anymore. We've gotten organs, and gotten married, and been to weddings, and met younger brothers and new fathers, and matured, and even gotten pregnant on purpose! So as of this moment I am proclaiming us all full fledged adults! No way around it I'm afraid. I'm as shocked and disappointed as you, but there it is. We're adults. I guess we should start acting like it.

Or are we already? Damn it! I thought I had some good childish years left in me! Where's my Ps2?!

Inevitable

Everyone's either moving or helping someone else move this week so we'll have an easy question that doesn't take much thought. It's the question you should have all been expecting long, long ago, but I held off.

We don't want to know until it's born so give us your boy name top three and your girl name top three. Thanks!

And just remember if your picks don't get selected there's always other children. You could even have one if you wanted.

The Pearl's Core

Alright so I was sitting here rereading some of our posts-as is my want-and I came to last week's question and comments. Nate said that growing up is like being a pearl with new experiences being constantly laid down and wrapped around around mind and personality. As you grow and mature the surface of you changes and you yourself notice changes in the way you behave. The way you used to behave is still there, but it slowly gets buried as you gain new experiences.

Makes a certain amount of sense huh? Clever guy Nate, you should read his book some time. It's rather good.

Anyway, what I got thinking about is what about the core of the pearl of your mind? I've conducted many hours of informal study on personality in general and the ways people tend to follow certain patterns and fall into categories. One could easily say, and I believe rightly so, that this is because of the social conditioning that one under goes from birth and that what we see and interact with is merely the outer most layers of the person.

But what about the pearl's core? When you strip away all the layers that have been laid down over the years what's there? Are people born a certain way? Is that antisocial misfit you work with at the office that way because they were born that way or because they were layered that way? Does that bubbly and helpful girl act that way because she has an innate born instinct to be helpful and kind or did her parents simply teach her since birth?

Can a person overcome and completely bury what's in their core or will it always shine through no matter how hard they try to cover it up? Are we slaves to our cores or are we the masters?

This sucks don't you think?

Starcraft 2 is going to be coming out some time this year. As long time Caravan fans may recall Starcraft came out ten years ago when we were all sixteen. We are now all twenty six, give or take a couple of us. Before I was obsessed about this game, but now not so much. I've grown and matured and I hate it. I want to be sitting outside stores waiting for this game, but I have better things to do. I need to go to work and pay bills and help people move things and have them help me move things. I miss the days when I could be free to be an immature, self-centered teenager. Does anyone else?

So my question for the week is this, does growing up mean you have to give up on things you once enjoyed or does it mean you don't feel the same need to do those things the way you did before?

I want to want my Starcraft damn it!

Are you happy now?

Recently while I was updating our myspace page I was describing Adam and how he hardly ever smiles and when he speaks it's usually some truthful fact that no one wants to hear. It got me thinking about the Truth in general. In our modern times it seems with media spin doctors, talking heads, and politicians constantly talking at us the Truth is hard to find.

But does Truth even exist? What is Truth? We each may have Truths. Are mine the same as yours? Could Truth be something the human mind invented to make it feel safe? Is there such a thing as Truth in the world or is everything we think of as Truth merely a lie we all agreed to?

We're back

Hi everybody, we're back. Nate had to come back after a week and a half to break up with his girlfriend, but the rest of us made the distance. Rich is frothing over the new Avatar preview. He'll probably be posting something tomorrow.

On baby news, what about the name Tyler? It's a boy and girl name. We like the sound. How about you?

In the words of Marvel Comics

See you in thirty! We once again are going to be going without the internet for an entire month! I don't know how we did this last time, but we've decided to do it yet again. The big question is how are we going to keep ourselves occupied. Hipster got himself a book from the Redwall series to read. Nate and I plan on writing and working on our strength training. Adam is going to be doing whatever the hell it is he does all day. The others are going to be working and wondering why we're freaking out. They don't use the internet much anyway.

So, I guess we'll see you all in thirty days. Ta-ta!

No, thank you Alanis

Searching through youtube I found this one. I wanted to share.



Alanis was always one of my favorite artists. I love her stuff. I thought this was hilarious when I saw it. I think she's crying for the defunct women's movement.

If Ignorance is Bliss

If ignorance is bliss does that mean that intelligence is misery? Think about it. Ignorance can be blissful because you don't know or can't necessarily imagine things that could go wrong. You're happy because as far as you can foresee everything is golden. However, if you're smart enough to see what can go wrong then you're not going to be happy about it or anything in general.

Thoughts?

I've always liked Gwen

Hi Everybody! How ya all been? It's been a while since I posted. Baby production takes it out of ya. It doesn't look like we've had many good talks since I went on unofficial hiatus. Boys are so silly aren't they? Without someone who knows what they're doing they just sit around playing and talking about video games. Anyway, on with the post!

My two favorite silent headaches, Nate and Adam last summer had a informal contest on who was the most like Prince Zuko from the Nickelodeon show Avatar. For those who don't watch the show, Prince Zuko is the shows bad boy anti-hero who had a seriously messed up childhood and is less than emotionally stable. Nate managed to win the contest of sorts after a few weeks of well...stepping up his "Nate" game. I'm at this exact moment being told by my husband that Nate clinched it by walking up a mountain during a thunderstorm. Now at this exact moment I am typing with one head as the other is massaging my head.

Anyway, it seems that the two of them think of Zuko as a role model of sorts. The other boys like Zuko enough, but don't have the same fervor and zeal that Nate and Adam do. Nate dressed up and dyed his hair to be Zuko for Halloween and as you may know his avatar here is a still clip of Zuko. They love Zuko and want to be Zuko. One of the more three dimensionally messed up characters I've seen over the years and they want to be just like him.

Now while it may be obvious that they love him so much because they feel they can identify with him so much what I'd like to know and discuss is why they would want to have him as a role model. Surely, if they feel as angry and sad as Zuko does on the show they would want to have a role model that's happy and content as emulating that person could perhaps give them themselves some degree of the same.

Do we choose to be like someone who is just like us? Or do we choose our role models because they remind us of ourselves? And if we choose them because they remind us of ourselves then why bother at all if they don't inspire us to change?

We are so clever it's scary

Ten years ago Nate and I would rent games at Home Vision video. Although once we forgot to return a game for a full week and racked up quite the late fees. So we never went back. Last week we finally did and they didn't know us! We got to rent this cool Avatar game without having to pay our old late fees! All we had to do was wait ten years! We are so smart sometimes it's scary.

We'll be back to the weekly questions soon. We're still recovering from Seattle. Well, that and playing Avatar games.

Does this make us wrong?

We all just watched Crank. Ever seen it? We highly recommend it. We couldn't stop laughing. We're fairly sure it was supposed to be a comedy. Of sorts. This is post 101 by the way. Having come along around post seventy something I probably shouldn't take the credit, but I still feel proud. The others tell me I should be too. Go me.

Imperfection for Girls

Lindsay Lohan has recently posed nude recreating a Marilyn Monroe photo shoot. If you'd like to see feel free. It's okay, you can look.

Upon looking at these pictures my first guy reaction was that she looked kinda chubby and rounder than I would have expected. Although as I looked at other pictures I realized that I thought she looked that way because I, like pretty much the rest of the world's population, have been trained to think girls are supposed to be perfectly flawless thin stick figures with large chests. When I see someone that looks like a real girl my training kicks in and I think she's supposed to be thinner.

While Lindsay is quite good looking in those pictures she doesn't have that artificial look to her. Her stomach isn't ripped with muscles, her skin has freckles and marks, and while her breasts are large they don't have that gravity defying perk to them. Also her hips, god forbid, have flesh over them.

I say good for Lindsay. Being trained too, most likely more so as a Hollywood girl, she must feel the constant pressure to be thinner, perkier, and all around more boringly "perfect". Letting these pictures of her body go out is a step in the right direction for the world being untrained. As I find myself saying a lot imperfection is so much more interesting. If I want a Barbie I'll go visit Nate at KB and buy one.

Hi folks!

A full update after a good night's sleep. Nate seems very happy to see us.

God, I'm bored

They've taken off for the week, but I stayed behind. With the weather Hipster, Kate, and Rich went out Sunday morning before the next storm hit so they could be sure they didn't stuck here all week. Dragonrane, Adam, and Shawn left this morning.

So here I am, alone, sitting in my basement by the lackluster fire in Albany NH for the next week. Mandy's car is broken again and she has doctors appointments anyway so I probably won't even get to see her. God, this is going to be boring. I was at Shaws today and a Backstreet Boys came on and I instinctively turned thinking I was going to see Hipster starting to dance, but no. I went to Music for Less and found the next season of Full Metal Alchemist and was all excited that me and Rich would have something to watch, but then I remembered. I still bought the Full Metal of course, but I'll have to watch it alone now. I don't even have to go to work at all.

This sucks.

Give us a week

We're heading out Monday to my mother's wedding. While we can do this from anywhere, we'll be taking a break from it for the Seattle fun. We'll be back next week. See ya's then!

Still

For the record, Final Fantasy 6 is still the best game ever. I've played a few more games since I said this statement a couple years ago, but FF6 is still the top. Just wanted to mention.

Oh you didn't know? You better call somebody!

I want to share this. I felt the need.

cuz this is thriller!

On Jan 19, 2008 8:24 AM, James Quinn <hipsterjq@gmail.com> wrote:

Alright guys! My mom's wedding is Feb 14th and I say we learn how to dance thriller! Who's with me? Adam, your dance skills will be greatly needed! We need to show those west coast people how we roll up in north conway. Who's with me?!

-Golden Sun

so, let me get this straight, not only am i going to spend the next three weeks learning how to dance like michael jackson, but then i'm going to have to fly to seattle and dance in front of a large group of people i've never met.

whatever, where do i sign?

-K

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I don't plan on flying to Seattle, but I'll dance during rehearsals for fun. I'm sure you'd pull me in even if I said I wouldn't so I might as well go with the flow on this.

-Darkened Prism

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The west coast won't know what hit them. Can I get the back though? I suck at dancing.

-Rain of Lightning

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I think the Mrs. and I are going to sit this one out. She's not in the mood for dance numbers and I'm working these days a lot. sorry man. But if you need any help with anything I'd have expertise on you just say the word.

-Shawn

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Rich and Nate have two left feet and Thriller isn't the shortest number we could learn in three weeks. We better start practicing...yeah.

-Truthful Shadow

What's your theme for the year?

Now that we're a week into 2008 and we've had time to get over 2007, what do you plan on doing this year? Or perhaps, we plan on doing nothing. It will be the special kind of nothing though that we excell at so much won't it? So whatever we plan or don't plan what will the song that sets the tone for the year for the each of us? Mine



I'm setting my sights on a calm relaxed tone this year. Getting all angry at life is getting tiresome for me. While I'm sure I'll still get pissed now and then I'm going to try to just chill.
I'm in no big rush. I just want to relax.

A surprise phone call

I was woken up this morning at Caravan House by the phone ringing. It was 11 and everyone else was gone doing chores or at work so I had to wake myself up and get it. Of all people it was my semi long lost sister. Seems my mother's boyfriend proposed to her new years. She said yes, so my sister and I are going to have a step father. Susanna (sister) also informed me that the guy was married before and has a nine year old son named Ben. We get a new brother too.

Once I had woken up more and it sunk in that I'm going to have the little brother I've always wanted I got thinking about what makes family family. I think of my fellow Caravan-ers as brothers and sisters. Are family whoever you feel close to or is it only who the state has papers saying you're family? Should we tell Ben that you guys are his brothers and sisters too or should it just be me and Sue? If I consider you guys my brothers and we have no blood relation why shouldn't he consider you brothers too?

I mean what only child ten year old in his right mind wouldn't want to wake up one morning and suddenly have eight super cool older brothers and sisters?