March 8th, 2010 by Neal
I was watching home videos with my parents when I realized they were thirty-five during the filming. I am not slowing in my progression toward that age, and I felt quite old.
Then I thought about how my dad must feel sometimes to have a kid that’s closing in on 30.
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Life, Me Stuff | 10 views | No Comments »
December 15th, 2009 by Neal

Every now and then, I see people crying and wish I could live that hard.
To live that in-the-moment such that emotions can grab control and really, really let you live. To free you from the self-evaluation and self-awareness that limits you to acceptable behaviour. This, to me, is to live.
I’ve had a few of these moments, albeit few and far between and usually involved hurt quite deep, and usually a ridiculous physical activity, such as punching my car, or walking 4 miles at 1am, and usually involving a girl. But in those rare moments, I truly feel alive.
The rest of the time is spent just avoiding life because it might sting.
[ image yoinked from http://www.paperheart.org/imtoosad/ ]
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Life, Me Stuff, Theology | 34 views | No Comments »
June 29th, 2009 by Neal
Ref last post for an expository on my morning mournings.
However, it is now a new day and I have survived the one month under-intensive-review period. I feel accomplished. I have mastered the mediocre art of not sleeping in. I win.
I can again slack.
Just kidding.
Posted in Editorials, Life, Me Stuff | 41 views | No Comments »
February 10th, 2009 by Neal

Your friends will find other friends. They will from time to time prefer to hang out with other people. You will be the odd man out. You shifted in, you’ll shift out. It might hurt.
Does that mean we shouldn’t invest in our friends?
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Life, Me Stuff, Theology | 39 views | 2 Comments »
January 19th, 2009 by Neal
Also:
it’s surprisingly hard to properly care about somebody when you have a crush on them.
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Life, Me Stuff | 25 views | No Comments »
December 20th, 2007 by Neal
Life can plod on uneventfully sometimes, can’t it. Bleh. BORING. It’s 12:45 and I’m required to sleep, but my day feels unfilled.

[this is me being awesome]
IBM has launched a new campaign to promote the IDP:

The IDP (or Individual Development Plan, for those non-acronym savvy) is merely a sheet of paper that outlines your personal development goals (like “win an emmy”) and how you plan on doing that (like “make a tv show”). Usually, these only get filled out by managerial request (requirement). But the new campaign makes me feel all blue and fuzzy inside to fill out my IDP!
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Life | 55 views | No Comments »
August 1st, 2007 by Neal
[don't gasp]
We’re finding out as a culture that all of our sexual ‘liberty’ is not necessarily making us happier or more progressive. Turns out we’re just getting more distant, less satisfied, and more depressed.
Men less hungry for real sex due to pr0n.
“Not Tonight, Honey. I’m Logging On.”
What better argument can you make? God knew what he was doing when he set up the moral principles we know and [as a society] seem to despise occassionally.
On the slightly more humorous side, Smarter kids do it less. If I remember right, it’s these kids who wish they were dumb enough to indulge. Or, again proof of the Idiocracy principle.
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Life, Nerd stuff, Theology | 45 views | No Comments »
July 5th, 2007 by Neal
Another reason to love Subaru. Short version: they reuse all their waste at the Indiana plant. No trash in 3 years.
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Motors | 50 views | 1 Comment »
July 5th, 2007 by Neal
How to deal with religious people if you are an athiest.
From the standpoint of a non-athiest, it makes an interesting read. If you’re trying to be impactful in your community and truly make the lives of those around you better, it’s good to know how you are viewed and how you can be viewed, and how to try to break through that to establish respectful conversation on any topic. Obviously, from the religious standpoint, we feel a pressure to save those who do not believe from the hell we believe is imminent in their future, but you cannot ever discount the thought process many people have gone through to arrive where they believe. Heh and most of these tips can be used the other way as well, “How to deal with athiests when you are a religious people.”
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Life | 37 views | No Comments »
June 27th, 2007 by Neal

I just got done doing one of my favorite summertime activities, which is play bass for any group of kids. Particularly the group from Casas and a couple other churches. So much fun. Here’s pics:
http://flickr.com/photos/8771853@N04/sets/72157600463957949/
Highlights:
- Going so crazy nuts playing the bass I busted my glasses. Dumb, but fun.
- Hanging out with Heather a bit. She’s been a friend of the band since the first year and is always a good time
- Chillin’ with the band. We don’t hang out enough.
- Beach. Cold water. Catching hermit and blue crabs with Matthew. Getting my butt handed to me by big stinking waves.
- Dodgeball with hideous uniforms.
This is probably our last year, unless we get lucky. Which would be awesome.
Posted in Editorials, Journal, Life | 44 views | No Comments »