Watch "Darius Goes West"

Park 'N' Read

There is a spot just out front of the Barnes and Noble parking lot where the palm trees make a canopy of shade and the landscape terrace rises just high enough from the ground to serve as a seat.  And this is where I sit now, enjoying a soft, cool breeze and the steady hum  of traffic on the busy street in front of me.  The earbuds connecting my ears to the laptop are mostly covered up by the hoodie this breeze requires I wear. 

Even if it were warm, my shaved head couldn't take it.  Last time I studied outside, I paid for it:  my head molted like a snake for a week, and it seems that everyone could not resist the urge to comment. 

Not that care about the comments.  It's just that I when I see someone with a bad sunburn, I figure that they are perfectly aware of it. Even if for some reason they aren't, someone else is bound to mention it.  But somehow those moments are like a reverse of the normal crowd phenomenon.  You know, that human nature thing where a person is more likely to receive help when they are being robbed if only a few  people witness it versus an entire crowd?  For whatever reason (hence the "phenomenon"), people in a crowd feel less responsible to help because they figure someone else will.  I just figured the same would go for sunburn victims as robbery victims.  Nope.  Or maybe it's like a spinach-between-your-front-teeth or an "XYZ" kind of thing.  I suppose if you sunburn your head it's because you weren't paying attention, and perhaps people figured I still am not.  In that case, thank you, everyone.

(Hah. Okay, so maybe I do care about the comments.)

Last week went somewhat slower due to a lack of exams.  An entire week without an exam! So I grabbed the new Don Miller book I'd received for Christmas (Thanks again, Dad and Mom), and let a few chapters of "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" have the last half hour of each day.  

Yesterday I swung by the mechanic's to have him take a look at the Buick.  It was having "engine spasms" as I like to call it, lightly jerking the car every now and then, like your calves can do after a hearty run.  I brought the book to utilize time (I agree with the dog from Phantom Tollbooth in that we vehemently oppose the "killing" of any time).  By the time Dan (aka car surgeon) came out to tell me the Buick was going to make it, I was so enraptured in the book that I read it while driving home.

Just kidding. But I did grab it again as soon as I pulled the car into the driveway and shifted to "Park."  It was raining heavily, and I didn't want to get wet, so why not keep reading? 

An hour went by, and nature was calling big time.  I ran inside, took my potty break, then decided that the rainy-day-car-reading was quite nice.  So I changed into some jeans and actually went back out to the car to read some more.  Too soon, the pages ran out, and though the rain had long ago stopped, my vision was rather misty.  Don has a gift with being simple and concise, yet still getting right into parts of your human experience that you always thought was something only you felt or thought or did.  Woven together with stories whose truths sneak up on you, this book might make you more tender, too.

The Florida sun just crept back behind some Florida clouds, and this palm tree canopy is working against me now, as it has grown considerably more chilly.  I'll take a cue from the sun and say so long for a while.

I hope wherever you are, whatever you're doing, that you will take a moment or three and find a new place to be for a while.  For rainy days I recommend parked cars.  And for sunny days, look for a terrace seat.

List-maker/Procrastinator, At Your Service

After an entire semester of forgetting, I finally went to Lowes.

My "anti-gravity" chair (reclining lawn chair) had been broken for a good while.  A little metal bar came out of one of the support bars, so every time I sat in the chair, it tilted me leftward like a pirate with a ping-pong paddle as a peg leg.  All semester I would try to remember to bring the chair into Lowes. Ah, and finally last week, I did.  A lady named Samantha helped me find a cotter pin small enough yet strong enough to replace the missing bar.

So now I happily sit on my dock as I am writing this, no longer feeling like my brain is falling out of my left ear. 

Maybe not that exciting of a story for some of you, but I'm sure you've had those kinds of little victories (Do you like the photo for this blog entry?), those small, stupid tasks that kept getting forgotten or put off for another day.  Then when it occurs to you that today is that other day, you complete them, and it feels like there had been compounding interest or something, because crossing it off your "to do" list just felt sooooooo good.  Man, for me, things like that are on there so long they can seem permanent, like I can almost add them to the title of the list: "To Do List: Lowes." 

Okay, moving on.  I realize only a select group of people with the combination of "list maker" and "procrastinator" in their blood will empathize with me at all in this.  So the rest of you can come on back and finish reading this blog entry now.


Besides Lowes, my week went well.  Still no exams yet.  Next week, though!  Pharm2 quiz on Monday, followed by Patho exam Wednesday, and Geriatrics exam Friday.  Cardiology has been the topic du jour in most of my classes so far.  I've decided that I want to master, to as-utterly-as-I-can master the art of reading ECG's (a.k.a. EKG's).  Mostly because right now I am about the opposite, feeling like it is utterly mastering me.  It's like the Genie says in Aladdin after Magic Carpet makes a chess move against him: "I can't believe it.  I'm losing to a rug."  How can a page full of squiggly lines be so confusing?  Better still, how can they be so meaningful and telling about a patient's cardiovascular system?  Incredible!  I must learn this.  I must conquer this!

Speaking of cardiovascular things, I only ran once last week, and once this week.  4 miles each time, though. It's pretty good, but mostly bad, because that lets me feel less guilty about not running the other days, as if running far enough one day can somehow free me from exercise for another while, at least until I start feeling guilty or lazy again.  Oh, but I did spend an hour of the MLK Jr. Day off playing with my new soccer ball (Christmas gift) at the nearby park.  Mae's "The Everglow" proved a decent soundtrack for scraping rust off of my soccer skills.  Though, it's been nearly a week, and my right hip adductor group still reminds me that I didn't give them much warning.  Gah! I knew I should've started with half-distance corner kicks!  But, hey, I put a few of them right in the goal, so what now, huh, huh? Heh.

Sorry for the long-ish paragraphs. 

I'll try to be better about that.

They can be less enticing for readers.

At least, that's what they do to me. 

Even my own paragraphs.

Last night, David, Jared, and I had a guys' night.  We hope to do this more often, probably a lot of Friday nights.  We played Wii MarioKart, and I impressed them with my one-handed driving skills (I had designated the other as my "reach into the Chex mix and nothing else because its greasy now" hand).  Then we went to Taco Bell (it's been yeeeeeeeeeeears for me) and got a few dollars worth of a lot of bad-for-you food (Sorry, my body).  We had some good conversation while eating, then eventually got back to the Wii, this time for Super Smash Bros. (Kirby all the way!).  David kicked our butts almost every time.  We never ganged up on him, though, and I have no idea why I didn't think of that until right now.  Next Friday, it's on!

Without any good transition sentence.....BLS (CPR +AED) recertification class was this morning.  100% on both the pre-test and the post-test.  Oh, if only my other tests this semester turn out so well! 

Devos on the dock just now.  Reading through Luke.  The beginning of chapter 9 talks about Jesus sending out "The Twelve" to cast out demons, heal diseases, and preach the Kingdom of God.  So they did, without any money, bread, bag, staff, or extra tunic (Thankfully, they did have the first tunic. Whew!  Now, that might have worked to draw attention if the miracles for whatever reason didn't! Kidding, kidding). 
 I like this passage, because it helped me realize that we are called to be like them, extensions of Christ, reaching out to people, using the power and authority we have been given.  Essentially, we all are called to be physician assistants, The Great Physician's assistants.  Not that He needs our help, but He asks for it nonetheless.

Raise your hand with me.  Yes, even you list-maker/procrastinators.
Here we are! Send us!  !To Lowes and beyond!


Worship well this week.
Peace to you,
Andrew