Wow, it was loud in our house last night. We went from one ear-splitting discussion to the next. And Trevin would just stand on the couch and sort of mimic the chaos around him by loudly shouting gibberish. We discussed an apple cider-making, school-related controversy. We talked of wedding bands, church philosophies, church disciplines, and accountability. I really worked myself up over accountability. And I can still see dad, sitting in his rocking chair, with this bemused smile on his face as he listened to his family (his two eldest sons, mostly) have at it.

Accountability. This is one of the most important things in church life. And it’s something that is exciting and depressing to me. Exciting because it’s such an opportunity for growth and closeness between people, but depressing because I need to do so much more in this area. Brotherhood is a good word, but sometimes it may be a substitute for “getting personal” with others. This doesn’t mean prying into the lives of people who don’t want it, but it does mean appropriately sharing yourself with them and sharing concerns about their lives--if need be--in a loving, respectful, Godly manner. This is Biblical.

I didn’t do much today. Slept in, did some homework, washed my car (imagine that). I'm going out to eat with some friends and then it’s off to a barbershop show, one in which Tom’s quartet is singing.

It’s always interesting when my thoughts converge with the thoughts of someone who is completely unaffiliated with me. Case in point: in the Daily Barometer, the OSU Student Newspaper, a columnist recently wrote about materialism/posturing. He pointed out that for the vast majority of young people (college students, for instance), their overriding goal is to impress persons of the opposite sex. The clothes they wear, the way they act, even their drive to make money and have nice things, it’s ultimately just posturing, showing their stuff to attract that "perfect" person.

And what do you know, I’ve been thinking about this same phenomenon. When a person is walking down a university street, you meet a whole lot of people in passing. Invariably, if it’s a group of girls they’ll be talking about guys (you just hear a snippet of conversation like, “and can you believe what he said last night…”). If you meet a couple of guys, it’s just the opposite (“Yeah, I see her in class all the time and…”). And then there are the “perchance” guy-girl meetings on the streetcorner. What this columnist (his name is Jim Smith I think) says is absolutely true for people at large. He’s dead on.

What was his solution? I can’t even remember. Nothing worth remembering, I don’t think. But guys, girls, everyone, there is a solution, you can be sure of that. Hint: the key is Who you're living for.

If I’m a security guard and seeking copyright permission is my domain to protect, I made another round today. This time for school music. Some of the work was pretty straightforward, some of it was sort of frustrating. I think it’ll work out. I had music classes this morning, and they went well. I’m going to enjoy it.

No college today. It’s really nice to have Friday’s off. I’d like to read some Dickens, but I just haven’t had time. And the scary thing is, I’ve done a paltry amount of homework so far. The first week is usually light as far as work goes; it's just going to get busier.

I like Dickens, he’s a good writer. I think his politics in regards to slavery and nasty imperialism were sort of bad, though.

Yesterday, I was going to write that my mouth was wracked with canker sores. It would have been true then. But they're not so bad at the present.

Lesson for today: encourage others. You never know what it might mean to people. I was encouraged twice yesterday. They weren’t elaborate things, but they lifted my spirits. They blessed me, maybe without the blesser even knowing it.

Here’s a funny thing at school. You hear how political correctness is taking over. Not so fast, conspiritorialists. There are these two guys I have a class with. One is from the U.S., the other is from the Middle East (a Saudi, I think). Do you know what they call each other? White Boy and Camel Jockey, respectively. And they love it, they think it’s funny, and they like hanging out with each other.

This is amazing. I was reading in my SPC (Statistical Process Control) textbook and the first chapter has an overview of the history of SPC methods. One of the names mentioned in passing was Frank Gilbreth, of Cheaper By the Dozen fame. Frank Gilbreth! I couldn’t believe it. So here he was, truly one of the innovators in time-studies and manufacturing efficiency. And I thought it was just a funnty book.

Prayer Meeting was so good last night. Russell Gerig is a great teacher. He’s going through Philippians and in the fourth chapter it says, in essence, that we aren’t supposed to worry at all, just give whatever it is to God, and He’ll give you more peace than you can imagine. That speaks to me, to my situation.

AHQ rehearsed again last night after prayer meeting. We weren’t worth much as far as recording goes. Actually, I wasn’t worth much. But then, I didn’t think a couple of others were worth much either. But they’d probably say different. It’s funny, we’ve rehearsed at Tom’s house for years and we would invariably congregate in the sewing room that doubles as our rehearsal space. But now we just chug upstairs to Tom’s room. I feel really comfortable there. On Tuesday I came and since he wasn’t home yet I just started up his computer, got online, and checked my e-mail. He acted mad, but I’m sure deep down he really liked it.

I currently have two music-related obsessions. The first I recently acquired because of one of our “Hit the Mark” takes. We’ve got to cut-off phrases together. I know, I know, it’s pretty basic, but in defense of us it gets sort of complicated when you have a principal lead-person who cuts out and starts a line almost independent of the others. That makes it imperative for the others to stop at the same time.

The second is one that has developed over a period of maybe a year. I have a passion for reverb. I want to drown in it, completely submerge our sound in the wonders of this incredible special effect. No, I’m really not that over-the-top about it, but I’m a huge proponent, at any rate.

I like people that laugh at their own jokes. I guess maybe that’s why I like me. I have this professor for Engineering Economy who does that. He’s an older guy, really good lecturer, knows his stuff. And he says stuff periodically that he chuckles at. And another thing he does that’s funny is when someone asks a question he’ll quickly say, yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. Then he’ll answer what he thinks they mean and then he’ll say, I’m not sure if that’s what you meant, and look to them to see if that’s what they meant. Usually it’s not.

Here are two things that have changed since I've gone to school.

First, I move around a lot more, overall. I tried to stay in shape during the summer by running and curling barbells, but I spent quite a lot of time sitting around. At school, I still spend quite a lot of time sitting in class or at a computer or studying, but I also spend at least 30 minutes most school days just walking to class, to my car, wherever.

Secondly, it's a lot more challenging to sit down and have quality communication with God. It's not like I was just tearing this area up during the summer, but now it's a lot harder, because my life has a lot less excess time in it. It makes it all the more important that I connect to Christians here at school and dedicate myself to "practicing the presence of God" throughout the day.

I wonder where the term "work out" came from. I mean, "work out," "work in," "work down," "work up." When you work out, a person is not "working" in the traditional sense of the word at all. And I have no idea where the "out" idea comes from. But forget it, I'm confusing myself.

Surprisingly to me, I have recently come across several substantial companies in Iowa. I guess I don't usually think of it as a manufacturing hotbed. But they're the home of Quaker Oats, John Deere, and a farm toy company. I have a chance at interning at the latter two.

Well, scratch what I said about Materials Science. I dropped it because I found out I can take another Industrial Engineering class instead, which is better for me. I'll have to pick up the Materials class later, but that's no big deal.

One of my IE classes is Production Planning and Control. That's what I'm talking about! It's all about demand forecasting and using that information to determine if a facility has the capacity to meet the demand, then scheduling and planning the logistics of production. It's hardcore IE and it's pretty cool.

I'm making a concerted effort to plug in to a Christian group here one campus. One such group had a booth outside the MU and I stopped and talked with them. The guy there made an excellent point, which is that since school is the primary place I can be an influence to non-believers, it's very important that I get connected on campus. So that's what I'm endeavoring to do. I met a classmate of mine who is a leader in the local Campus Crusade chapter. This was a guy who became a Christian during his freshman year here at OSU, a guy that went to Campus Crusade and looked around and saw how satisfied everyone was and said "I want that." Awesome.

I wonder if I've changed mindsets since I've gone to school. I have a lot less time to just think up really weird things. I'm still thinking, but it's a lot more focused on tasks at hand. That probably squelches my creativity a little bit. We'll see. I love to write songs, and the last month or so of work I did very little of it.

Today is my first day of teaching music and aiding in the Math 20 class. Oh, I quake with fervent fear as I think about the daunting task laid out before me. To impart knowledge to those who may not even desire it? How can I? Do I have within me the capacity to complete this daunting task?

Ok, so it's not that bad.

Woo-hoo!

Here I am, in the Industrial Engineering Computer Lab at OSU.

Went to my first class, Materials Science, this morning. It's taught by an Italian lady with a thick accent. My first impression of her is good though. It should be an interesting class. We'll be studying metals primarily, but we'll also delve into polymers (don't know what those are yet) and ceramics (glass and porcelain for instance). We start at the micro level, examining the atomic structure of materials and work from there. We'll be using math, physics, and chemistry as we study these materials.

I tend to be quiet when I'm at school. You're just suddenly surrounded by so many new, strange people, and that situation does not bring out my outgoing side. Put me in an environment that I'm comfortable--church for instance--and I'll talk to new people. But one where I'm not, it's a lot harder for me to try and make friends.

I'm not in a quirky state of mind. In fact, think completely sedate, anti-quirky, and you've pigeon-holed me at the moment.

But Sharon's praying for me. That's beautiful.