Kooza is Awesome! LOVE the Trickster!!!

Well. It has been very little time since i last posted, and have i got a LOT to tell you people. Well, it was Thanksgiving this Thursday and guess what we had for dinner?? POPCORN, SODA, and A PRETZEL. Very original aren't we? Yeah, see, my friend was having a last sleepover with me (she moved Friday! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!) anyways, we stayed up like ALL night (we slept for two hours, 2am to 4am ish) and in the morning, we had pancakes! After that we dropped my friend off and then we went to the movies. Okaasan and Ani went and watched Bolt while me and Otousan went and saw Twilight! (me for the second time, him for the first) Ya gotta love that movie!!!! After that, we went to the Harbor where a giant tent was set up. Guess what?? We went and saw Kooza, a Cirque Du Soleil show! And, one of its best to me! ^^ Hm... Cirque Du Soleil..., a thing of wonder and magic, with breath-taking, heart-stopping moments. May it always bring joy and amazement to those who watch it. And yes, i wrote that! Anyways, Kooza is about this "Innocent" who is pulled into an amazing world by the "Trickster" (who by the way, is my FAVORITE CHARACTER, like, EVER). On this journey, the Innocent sees many wonderous things. The Trickster supposedly controls this world with his wand, but even after the wand is stolen, the Trickster is in control. However, this entire journey is about the Innocent's soul, so in all reality, the Innocent is the one with control. Some of the acts in this thing was such as the Contortionists and the Wheel of Death. Now, while i am sure (and hope) that Ani (that's you Bro!) will explain the Wheel in more full detail, i can give a rough basis. See, Ani would be better at explaining this though, because, as he has said many times, it is all physics (i am only in 8th grade here people!!). So, the Contortionists. o.o Now there are some girls who can move their bodies in ways thought impossible. One of these girls, sat on her head (head was on the ground) she was lying on her stomach, and her legs went up over her head (basically, her spine bent backwards, reach toward your heels not your toes!) and then she ran around her head O.O. seriously. The Wheel of Death is basically two giant circles attached to each other (i looked it up, it weighs 1,600 lb.) and these two guys, run inside them and it goes around and around. and they do tricks in them while its spinning. And then they ran on the outside of the circle. and jumped rope. and it was still spinning. and i am going to let Ani explain this, because apparentally i can't. Another act was the balancing on chairs. This guy, stacked chair after chair on top of eachother and climbed up on them and like balanced on one hand on them, these chairs were like 23 feet in the air (once again, looked it up). Kooza was just really, really, cool. AND I LOVE THE TRICKSTER! *cough*i'mcrazyiknow*cough* Anyways..., not much else happened so... Sayonara! ........................................~AnimeTink-chan This is the Wheel of Death (points above) Kinda scary isn't it? Can you imagine doing tricks on that? on the outside of the wheel? The Trickster! Like i said, i LOVE him! Meet the Innocent (points to person on left) and, in the red white and yellow stripes, the Trickster again! To be honest i like this costume a lot more than the other one. But they are both awesome costumes! W-o-w. Meet the Contortionists. This is one of the simpler poses they do too... I can't even imagine bending backwards, and they do it like it's nothing! Truly Amazing.... Sayonara!

First in a while, yay?

Konnichiwa. Hm...it has been a while since i posted o.O since a lot of us have posted... where to begin? well, there is the beginning but...12 years is a lot to describe in a blog. Oh what the heck, let's see, Nov. 9 is the last posting date, it is Nov. 25... well, first thing i can remember is that we went on a field trip! Yeah, we went to a play and saw 5 'short' shows including: The Telltale Heart (by Edgar Allen Poe, if you haven't read it, you better!), Sleepy Hollow (most people should know this one, Headless horseman! ^^), the Monkey's Paw (this one creeped me out the most, only because i have a very VIVID imagination), The Necklace (irony is bitter sweet.) and the Leapin' Frog (the point of this play was...? to be honest, this one was just messed up, and it wasn't even a horror play and it scared me the most o.O). I liked the first three the most, the last two were kinda weird... Afterthat, lets see that was on the fourteenth...? hmm.... Turned in my Español project, i thought it turned out kinda cool, we had to make it 3-D-ish and textured so that our Spanish teacher, Señora Craig, could feel it, since she is blind. She said she really liked mine and that she loved my ideas. My country was El Salvador. Um...today was Greek day! We painted urns (sp?) (yeah...would have been fun if i hadn't arrived at the art room late and did a two min. job, it actually turned out really nice though!) and then we did a chariot race, where one person was in a wagon, another was pulling in front and a third was running after holding onto the back of the wagon. I just watched like a lot of people, a lot of the 'chariots' crashed though... after that we tried some Greek foods like humnus (yuck), Feta Cheese (goooooooddd....), pita bread (also gooooddd), some type of greek dessert (sugary yum! ^^), this some kinda shell i think...? with spinach in it, (that was pretty good too!), and can't forget the grapes and olives! (didn't have the olives, just the grapes). And we did a bunch of other fun stuff too such as how we all wore togas made out of bed sheets, which was really cool! I actually used a blue sheet, but some people had power rangers and the incredible hulk on.... weird. Geometry is going okay, i am understanding it for the most part. I have a science project due tomorrow and (i'm going to say i haven't started, wait for it...) I'm Done!! (oh..that wasn't expected...i'm no fun, i know). So, yeah, i can only remember like, three things from this previous what, 15 days? Oh yeah, Dad is home, got home Sunday and i am having random moments when talking to my spanish teacher, i want to answer her in Japanese. i can imagine THAT conversation.... i catch myself in time but...one of these times i am going to messup... glad dad is home though!! he was gone a while on this previous trip. Hm... i can't think of anything else to type at the moment so... Sayonara! . ............................. -AnimeTink-chan

............K

Sorry I skipped a week...I know that you all missed me :). Happenings within the family... well my Dad is on another trip, my sister is feeling a decent bit under the weather, Mommy is putting on a strong face, and I am pretty much in the same frame of mind that has persisted for the last little bit: TIRED! No matter how much I sleep or veg or whatever my mind is always running at many miles a minute and it just wears me out. I have all my eggs in the Stanford basket, but I also have prepared myself for the likely "we regret" letter. My academic team lost its match on Thursday, 155 to 150, not my fault. ... ... ... ... *pause to consider words* I miss Disneyworld/land. I know that you all know that, but I feel inclined to repeat it. Oh yeah, Tuesday. I was an election page, which for some meant handing out "I VOTED" stickers, but for me meant directing traffic. In our precinct we had a bajillion people wanting to vote, and it was my job to get them through this itty-bitty cafeteria door and into lines based on last name. Too many people had last names between G-M, and they were P!$$3D. (I wrote it funny because that is how mad the people were @ times.) I was jumping on chairs, telling people to push in just a little bit tighter, and a whole slew of other things. All the grief, and all i got was a t-shirt. And to end the day I took my NOVA math midterm, which I don't even want to know the results of. I then got to come home just in time to turn on Fox News to watch Barack Obama win the presidency. YiPeE?! I reserve the right to hold judgment until the man has the chance to do something real. I think he is a very liberal idealist, but I am going to wait and see what he does when faced with sitting in a chair that demands a realist. A lot of people see this as some miraculous life/history altering election that will forever rid the world of problems, and others see this as evidence of the world going to a very hot four letter word. I choose to keep a level head, and I'm kind of getting some heat from my classmates. If you ask me, their politics are the last thing that I need. I know I'm ranting, but this is the best place for me to do this, no? In GEMS, my gifted class, we're starting Metaphysics. Basically we are trying to answer the question "What is 'is'?" Talking about identity and logic why's and what's. Already this is much more fun then aesthetics. If we change the world, I'll let you know! What else is there... ... ... ... ... Nope can't think of anything. If I do, I'll post it when it comes to me. ---All the best K P.S. Jungle Cruise One Liner: "Now, as you're leaving the boat, if you find your shoes rapidly filling with water, you've gotten out on the wrong side! "

Sorry I couldn't post last week, well here i am now!

Konnichiwa! Hm.. Well whaddya know. Okaa-san said that she was the first to post last week. We were all so preoccupied that she was the only one. Oops. I was really tired last week... still am. I go to bed around 11 or at least that is when i fall asleep and i get up at around 5... Doesn't help that i have gotten sick recently... still am, Ani is too, as much as he hates to admit it. Though Okaa-san agrees that he isn't as bad as me... Got a spanish project due in 11 days, it is on El Salvador. No one kill me, but i haven't started it... this week is going to be fun. We babysitted Benson, a little boy of some friends on Friday and yesterday, Kaa-san and Ani will probably go into more detail. I have to finish up a math project that is due tomorrow... it is actually just 26 math problems, but they are long ones and you have to show Every SINGLE BIT of work. It is being graded like the Cambridge Test thingy or whatever... meaning that if you don't have your work but the correct answer, your grade is not going to be high. but if you have the wrong answer but all your work, you are still going to get credit for that question. Anyways, there isn't much that happened this week... let's see, oh well, my friend Hannah dyed her hair blond. It looks really cute. Anything else? Hm... Hannah slept over on Monday to Tuesday, we had Tuesday off because it was election day. Obama won. Whoopdedoo. I really don't care, but ya know. We had a fun time, went to see High School Musical 3. It was pretty cool. Not much happened the rest of the week from my memory, but sometimes my memory sucks so... especially when i can't concentrate because my head is pounding and my eyes wanna close. I guess i will finish up, Otou-san left on Friday, he will be gone a while this time... Until next week, Sayonara, AnimeTink-chan

The Old Man Speaks

• Okay, first off, let me apologize...I really had intended/desired/hoped to make up my missed Post last week, and here it is this week. What happened? Life happened, I suppose, but that is no excuse...I just didn't make it happen. Sooooo, I guess I will just do this week and beg forgiveness for last week. Without further ado...
• I am currently sitting in my hotel room in Bucharest, Romania (please reference the "Where's family" clocks), which, being that we are 7 hours ahead of D.C. time, explains the hour associated with this post. We are here to work with the Romanian Open Skies folks to give them a better understand of the way that WE at least do business to fulfill our obligations and rights under the Treaty on Open Skies. Next week (as in Monday, 17 Nov) we will accompany the Romanians on their newly certified AN-30 aircraft into Moscow do conduct an Active Mission over Russia. (“Certified” means that all the countries that are signatories on the Treaty have signed off on it agreeing that the plane, and all its associated sensors (cameras), comply with the dictates of the Treaty.) Today is a day off to at least TRY to overcome a bit of our jetlag. The fact that I started this Post at 10:30am local time and the Blog thinks that I started it at 3:30 in the middle of the night illustrates the need for this. I think we are going to go look around downtown in an hour or so.
• On the home front, things are pretty all right, I think. The kids are staying in line (mostly), my lovely bride is behaving (mostly), work is not OVERLY frustrating (mostly), I am getting comfortable in my new Calling (mostly) and I am fairly happy (mostly).
• I mentioned in my last real Post that I am one year out from my PRD (projected rotation date). Being that I am over 20 [years of service], I have a myriad of choices…
• I can get out or stay in;
• I can get out and not move or I can get out and move;
• I can stay in and not move or I can stay in and move;
• I can get out and not move and work for the government
• I can get out and not move and work for some company/contractor
• I can get out and move and work for the government
• I can get out and move and work for some company/contractor
• I can stay in and not move and work for the DTRA
• I can stay in and not move and work for some other Command
• I can stay in and move and work for the DTRA
• I can stay in and move and work for some other Command
• …and the choices keep branching off from there again, and again, and again.
• The miracle of the Internet really is…well…miraculous. To be living in a time when I can be sitting in a hotel room in Romania, some 4992.7 miles from my home (according to Google Earth, as the crow flies…give or take 10-12 yards) and look through a “virtual window” into that home to watch my family, and talk to them, and see that they are well…that is a blessing that would have been considered complete fantasy 50 years ago, and something for only the extremely rich and/or powerful and governments a mere 20 years ago. Proof once again that today’s science fact was once yesterday’s science fiction, and much of today’s science fiction will soon be tomorrow’s science fact. And this is happening at an ever increasing rate! I may have to write more on this subject in the near future…if I remember.
• Well, this is all I am going to write on this particular day. Perhaps you will get more out of me somewhat soon…perhaps not. We will just have to see…
• More later…???

Gee, I'm first.......

Gee, I get to post first this week. Actually Kieran is doing homework and Brenna is taking a nap. Scott is doing I don't know what in the basement. Well Halloween has come and gone. Of course, I held on to my Trunk or Treat title as best decorated trunk. It was a fun evening. Scott made some mean chili, and anyone who was brave to eat it, thought it was delicious. It was good. Brenna had a sleepover that night. Molly and Hannah spent Halloween night and the next morning Scott made them french toast for breakfast. The french toast was truly delicious. Then Brenna had her hair cut. It looks really cute. She had about 10 inches taken off total. Well it's Monday. We all went to bed early yesterday. We were all pretty tired. Brenna even had taken a nap earlier in the afternoon. Scott and Kieran went to home teach a family from church. It was really a quiet Sunday. Kieran had his first academic meet. His team won both matches. A very challenging thing to watch. The matches this week are at Forest Park. Kieran takes his vector calculus midterm this week. He took the SAT on Saturday. He thinks he did better than the last time. He feels good about it anyway. School is going alright for both kids. School and homework is pretty much how things are going. Scott leaves on Friday for Romania. I'll have to fix the clock. This should be the last trip for this year. YEA!!! Nothing spectacular planned for this weekend. Pretty quiet, especially with him gone. Orion and Tchai have vet appointments this week. Shot time. Tchai is still enjoying watching Six. Scott and I can't figure out if Six is actually eating any of the crickets. I mean we know some drown, but we figure as long as Six is still alive, he is getting nourishment. Kieran and I are working the Polls on Tuesday. He's at Graham Park Middle school in Dumphries and I'm at the community center in Quantico Town. First time for me to working at a polling place for an election. This could be interesting. I'll let you all know how it went next weekend. Kieran will probably mention it as well. So until the next time I write, hugs to everyone. Love you all Me

The Old Man Speaks...an invitation and an observation

Gentle Readers, - First, comments to our various post are not only welcome, but encouraged. - Second, I noticed that my somewhat out of order late posting has caused some of the posts to be, well, out of order. If you want to ensure that you have "seen it all" you may want to do a quick scroll down (not that any post you might have missed could possibly be earth-shattering, since there has yet to be any earth-shattering posts). Thats all...more later...

K's Stream of Conciousness

So my government class, my teacher remains impartial as always, but my class of 30 has pretty much decided that we are going to have a black president, and a commuter vice-president. We keeping crunching the numbers and as long as voters continue to be invigorated like they are now, then this race is pretty much done. We realize of course that this election, complete with a high amount of registration, relies heavily on people actually voting. So basically what I'm saying is that this election is over in like 156ish hours, and things are going to be weird all they way through. That consumed a lot space didn't it? What else is going on. I got the Questbridge scholarship, provided that I get accepted at Stanford. Cross your fingers please. I got a 750 on my Math II SAT, and a 750 on my Literature SAT. I have a shirt that has a cartoon ghost and the phrase "be afraid, be very afraid" on it, and that is my costume. Well that and my mom is spraying my hair black with sparkles. Sparkles, despite misconceptions can be very frightening and very masculine. Don't anybody think otherwise. Work is going good; tis the season for crazy people, and I've had my fair share, and I only work 5 or 6 hours a week. Can't imagine the kind of asylum escapees that the rest of the store deals with. We are starting Cantebury tales in English...and this reminds me of something I have yet to vent:

There is a girl named Nicole in my English class. She thinks that she knows everything. She does know a lot of various things, and isn't afraid to flaunt it. She however is not the one that the majority of the english class looks to for answers. That honor is reseved for me, as egomanically egotistical as that sounds. She claims to have autographs from a variety of famous people, and I, making a joke, say that I have Mickey Mouse's autograph. Upon conclusion of this statment she launched into a long list of different kinds of Mickey autogrpahs she has. One of which is Mickey's autograph upside down. Now forgive me if I'm wrong, but if you hand someone your autograph book upside down, when they sign it and you turn it right side up, isn't the signature upside down?

Now that I got that out of my system, (and experimented with the funny blockquote button) I was talking about Cantebury Tales. I am acutally enjoying english again. Chaucer has quite the satirical mind, and I absolutely love satire. My first Academic Team meet was cancelled, so we'll try again this thursday, and I'm going to ask one of my teammates (a teammate of the fairer persuasion, in the words of my father) to get some sort of "victory dance"/"defeat consolation" desert afterwards. But that's what is new and interesting. Please email me if you my fans absolutely need to know what's happening in my life. I always have time for the little people. (I can say that now that I'm 6'1") Love, K P.S. I MISS DISNEYWORLD/DISNEYLAND...definitely going through withdrawls...

The Old Man Speaks...

Let's see, for this entry perhaps just a list of what is on my mind would be good. It might increase the chance of at least SOMEthing getting posted by me.

• I've been given a firm date for my eye surgery: 04 Dec 2008 @ 0730. SCARY!!!
• I am now less than 12 months from the end of my DTRA tour (if I don't, or can't, extend). SCARY!!!
• My son drives...everywhere...all the time...and he likes it. SCARY!!!
• My daughter is going to be an actual teenager in only a few days over three months. SCARY!!!
• Kieran has (We have) been filling out reams and reams of college application and financial assistance paperwork. SCARY!!!
• My Thrift Savings Plan has lost a nearly 37% of its value since 31 Dec 2007. SCARY!!!
• The weather is getting cold, fast...they say this is going to be an especially harsh winter. SCARY!!!
• I have my annual Russian language tests coming up in a few weeks. SCARY!!!
• People at Church keep assuming I know what I am doing, just because I am in the Bishopric. SCARY!!!
• The Church trusts me to handle and account for the Lord's funds. SCARY!!!
• Angelina is going to kill me if I don't publish something to our blog this week. SCARY!!!
• I am preparing for my next trip...going to Romania, going to visit Dracula's castle. SCARY!!!

There are at least another seven things that are really scary to me right now, but I think I will perhaps keep them to myself for the time being. There IS something known as TMI, particularly in such a public forum. That will have to be all for now... More later...

Okay....so it's Monday......

Sunday was a busy day at our house. Scott got home from church around 2, which is kinda early really. We had lunch, then we watched a little of our recorded television while we ate. The kids then had to get working on their homework. Saturday was a wash for them doing it, because Kieran had to work and Brenna was with her friend Molly all day. Brenna ran a mile run on Saturday. She did it in 9 m 30 s. Which is not bad for her. She was happy with it. The corn maze youth event that they were going to do for church was canceled because it was raining. So they played glow in the dark volleyball at the chapel. Any who, both kids had to finish their homework on Sunday. Brenna had a political poster to do and Kieran had to finish his essays for his college applications. By the way, Kieran is a Questbridge finalist. This means he is in the running for a full ride scholarship to his Questbridge college selection, which is Stanford. He'll know in about 6 weeks if he is selected. Kieran's academic meet was canceled last week, rescheduled for this Thursday at a different high school. He's ready to get started. Brenna had a good week at school. She had a field trip to the Air and Space museum on Thursday. She liked the trip. Scott conducted at church for the first time yesterday. He was a little nervous. He says he wasn't, but he was. He really didn't do to bad. He'll get better the more he does it, though. Our family history teacher was not at church yesterday, so we just visited. I was working on the new program that Scott got me. It's called Legacy. It's really cool, but I really could use a manuel. They are mailing it to me, so I have to wait. In the meantime I did something stupid. I deleted me. Yes there is no Angelina Rebecca Castillo in my family line. I'll just have to add me I think. I'll figure it out. The rest of the family is fine. Orion is enjoying the fall leaves blowing around. He loves chasing them in the back yard. Tchai is totally enjoying watching Six. He is fascinating to watch. A snake really wouldn't be the number one pet on my list, but he is interesting. As long as he remains in the terrarium. Well I guess I'll sign off for now. Happy Halloween Everyone. We'll be at the church for Halloween, you know Trunk or Treat. And I'm determined to win the best decorated car for a second year. Again we miss all of you. Hugs to everyone..........

Well... Hello.

Hey world, another week by, another week i post. This past week, i will admit, was pretty cool. My english teacher called home (no i wasn't in trouble no matter how bad you want me to be!) it was a good thing. yes, a good thing. she was calling about good things i have done in the past week, like actually taking time to memorize one of the poems she posted online, and things like that. and i am getting good grades in math.. and i just realized i left my math folder at graham park... i need it at potomac... crap. Anyways! Now it is Monday... yeah, it took me an entire day to write a sentence -_-' . Well, thank goodness I didn't need that folder. I had a busy day on Saturday. In the morning I ran a mile with my friend Molly and her little brothers Hank and Ernie (well... Henry and Ernest... but hey.) In the rain! It was fun! and oh my gosh, the last person to finish the mile, was this little boy, he was around 5 maybe 6 years old, and he was using a walker! He was surrounded with like 20 marines that were running with him... it was such a touching moment! Then, that evening we went and played games at the church instead of doing the corn maze because of the rain. It was SO MUCH FUN, we played volleyball and two different types of tag in the Dark, the only way you could see other people is because we all had a glow stick on our wrist! and then me, Deena, Molly and Jared got REALLY REALLY HYPER!!!!!!!! It was awesome! And Jared climbed out a window, it was a small one too... Anyways, On Thursday we went to the Air and Space Museum for a field trip, that was fun ^.^ I better go and do my hw... Okaasan will get mad if i don't.... She is picking up Otousan right now. Ani is on his way home... and the Inu (dog) just threw up... >_< give me one second... alright. I just had to pick that mess up... So yes. I got to go. Until Next week! ~AnimeTink-chan

The Old Man Speaks...

Another seven days, and what do I get, Another week older and deeper in debt, St Peter don't call, 'cause I can't go... I owe Peter, who I borrowed from to pay Paul, And I owe Paul for the money he lent me to pay Mary... (I am talking sleep debt…I am going to go narcoleptic soon!!) I have yet to feel like I am even starting to get ready to begin to maybe think about possibly returning to this time zone, even though I have now been back as long as I was gone. I go to bed at a decent time each night, and though I occasionally take a few minutes to turn off my brain, in general I am in bed/asleep the proper amount of time. But I have not woken up feeling refreshed, or that I got enough sleep for…well…forever. I usually don’t have a lot of trouble (if any) getting up to go to work, I just do so in somewhat of a fog.. I admit that Sunday are going to be a bit hard. I don't begrudge the Lord, or his Church, my time, talent and efforts, I just am going to miss the family time that really only happens on Sunday. Every other day is filled with school, and homework, and chores, and this, and that, and the other thing. Sunday mornings are going to be fun...I had to be a Church before 6:00am this morning...and I found out that I will have to be at Church before 6:00am every Sunday...and it was WAY hard to get out of bed when my body knew, somehow just KNEW that is was Sunday, and not a weekday, and to make matters worse... - First, it was COLD this morning...I haven't switched on the central heat yet. - Second, I just could NOT fall asleep last night. - Third, I woke up more than once during the less than five hours I was actually “asleep”. I know, “Waaaaah!” - I woke up SO tired! Unfortunately this is becoming my theme song as of late. Okay, so that is all for this post... Sorry it is so short. More later...

There's a chill in the air....

Hello Everyone....yes there is definitely a chill in the air today. I had to borrow my son's suit jacket at church because the building was so cold. We're going to have to put the blankets on the beds soon. I really don't like the cold. But then we live in Virginia and it does get cold here. It was a not so busy week on some things. We went to "Touch Base" at Kieran's school on Friday. All the teachers just thought Kieran was "an awesome kid", "wonderful", "I want a classroom full", "Great Kid". Him being well liked by teachers has never been a problem, but we have discovered that the boy has a definite problem getting assignments turned in. He does the work, he takes it to class, but then fails to turn it in. I have to admit he is getting better about turning it in, but there is still a small amount of "not handed in" or "NHI" as they are commonly referred to. Brenna played her flute at Forest Park High School on Friday. Graham Park Middle School played with the High School band at the beginning of the game and then they stayed and watched them perform at half time. She may want to join band next year after all. She's still not sure yet. But if she joins band, there is a huge time committment. Not only from her, but from the parents too. Both kids are doing well in school. Kieran's first meet for the academic team is Thursday. I'll let you know how it went. Brenna has "doodle club" this week. Kieran has a field trip to the National Art Museum. And we need to finish the financial application portion of Kieran's Stanford application. Boy is that time consuming. I'll share next week, how it went. Tchai, Orion and Six are all doing well. Enjoying life. Everyone enjoy your up coming week. We miss you all and you are always in our prayers. Till next time we chat......Me

Mickey For President (Or K's thoughts for this week)

"Islands in the stream" of consciousness "that is what we are". (The song that is currently running through my head, and I don't even particularly care for country music.) The past week was not majorly game-changing. My parents had an opportunity to talk to my teachers on Friday; the thing about having a name like "Kieran" is that as soon as my parents say it, teachers know exactly who they are talking about. The other frightening thing is the fact that several teachers recongize, RECOGNIZE, my parents before they even introduce themselves! This in and of itself is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand my teachers look out for me, and on the other they look specifically for me. (hopefully that makes sense) Fall is fast approaching, and it is the time of year for sweaters. What else is there....Oh yeah, the siginificance of the title. I watched the final debate this week, and I continue my position as an Independent believer that neither party is currently representing my 17 year old opinions, which I would like to believe are slightly more mature than most 17 year old opinions. Anyway, I googled "Mickey for President" recently, and there acutally is a reasonably strong following for voting "none of the above" this year. (Side note...a fair percentage of Thai voters acutally vote this way) The idea is that if enough people vote Mickey Mouse for president, then it would have to be reported, and it would, hopefully, have a sobering effect on whichever candidate did win. I can't vote for president until 2012, and I can' acutally fix things until 2028. Such is life. I am going to attempt (again) to ask out a girl at school, this time being up front about the totally platonic nature of the question. There is a corn maze activity on saturday, and it should be a good opportunity. Readers, please wish me luck. I figure that after the first successful "ask her- she says yes- she comes- she enjoys- we have a goodtime" chain of events, then subsequent attempts at asking others will come slightly easier. And just to put some academic zip-a-dee-do-dah into this blog:

• Physics=Electricity and Circuits (Actually somewhat fun)
• Government= Federalism (as fun as history can be)
• English= Cantebury Tales (TBD)
• Engineering Drawing=Reverse Engineering (Harder than it seems!)
• Multimedia= Flash (always a joy)
• Seminars= Aestetics (heavy stuff defining art and beauty)

LOL (Lots of Love) {How Cheezy} K

Hey World. I'm back (i know, you just missed me terribly)

Hey Everyone. Well, today hasn't been my day... not only did okaasan and i have a major argument (over something really minor) that somehow ended up with me in tears, we were also rushing to get to church for my orchestra practice, to find out my flute wouldn't play! so i sat there doing nothing... really sucks. So as i ponder the wonders of the world. Just wasn't the best day for most of us i think. Halloween is coming up... I really have no idea what to type right now though.. Isn't much to tell. Although we did go on a flying trip yesterday on some of those really small, four seater planes. That was FUN, like, incredibly. Not only that, i got to fly the plane!! for like three to five minutes!!! it was amazing. and no, i did not crash (how the heck would i be typing this if i crashed?!?) I had to keep reasurring my bff that i wasn't going to crash. and my other bff (she didn't have headphones on, there was only one pair back there) didn't even know i was flying until later!! it was so cool. I wish i could do it again, and just like keep flying in one direction forever. That would be awesome. I thought of a quote i made earlier. I think i made it a while back but it just really came to mind today. here it is- "Time keeps us going, Love makes us stop. Stopping is never a bad thing." It is true. To me at least. I mean, life is short. That much is true. So, we rush through things so that we can say we did that in our life time. However, when you find that one special person (not like i have yet, but, this is in my opinion of what i think would happen) You actually take the time to examine the world. You realize true beauty and find hope in things you do. Stopping never is a bad thing. The world may keep going, but contrary to many beliefs, you don't have to keep up with it. I say, let the world go two generations ahead of you. Let everyone else say, you are way out of date. Because at least you can reply, At least i know i am fully enjoying my life and finding joy in many more things than you. Hey, just my thoughts. Got to go, Sayonara! ~AnimeTink-chan

Kombowa! AnimeTink-chan here!

Konnichiwa once again to those who have decided to take time reading this (Arigatou all). Well, Okaasan (okaasan means mother, i am in a Japanese mood today :D) told everyone i had a bad day, so i guess i will say why. We are doing this project on the presidential candidates okay? and most people are either doing Barack or John (Obama or McCain, whatever) well, my luck of the draw, i became one of (or the only one) doin third party, aka Ralph Nader. If that isn't bad enough, on Thursday we were supposed to turn in the outline of our papers and (i hate outlines -_-') i had a question on my conclusion for my outline. Since this was the case, i did everything on my outline except my conclusion. This was because the conclusion had to have whether and why you supported or was against your candidate, well, i don't give a dang. I say we throw all the candidates in a trashcan and get some new ones! or vote for mickey mouse... either or. so on Thursday i asked my teacher what i was supposed to do and she told me. Well, when i asked if i could turn it in the next day so i could finish my conclusion, she said the highest score i could get was a 76 C! and well, i had to turn it in the next day... tells you what i got on my outline (at most) T_T. Not to mention i missed half of lunch working on said outline before class, had to finish my history hw during history class, etc etc... (basically, very bad day.) so i will say it again, I HATE OUTLINES. You know what i don't like? Messed up teachers. Take my english teacher for example. She can be telling you that you will get a C on a (stinkin, rottin) outline, and be perfectly nice about it! She can be an awesome teacher and still be giving you bad grades in such a way that you don't even realize it until you are out of the classroom! Or my science teacher, oh my goodness he scares me! (though i think i scare him more...) That teacher can be joking and smiling at one kid and at the EXACT SAME TIME, be yelling his head off at another. Silly... scares... me.... i try not to get on his bad side. Otherwise, i am doing fine. Basketball is fun, not my favorite sport (don't think i have one...) but it is fun to play with my friends (Especially since this isn't at school...) i am rambling again... there is so much more i could talk about but... i will another day (maybe...) Otousan (father) is finally home! i am so glad... ya think i would be used to this by now.. i guess i am but still... Ani (older brother) helps me when chichi (another way to say father) is gone so... do you know haha is another way to say mother in japanese? I realize that now that Ani is 17, and that he can drive, i am now (i always have been) the kodomo (child) of the kazuko (family) anyways, Sayonara! ~Anime Tink-chan

The Old Man Speaks...

My first real Sunday in the Bishopric - - Today I sat on the Stand as a full member of the Quantico Bishopric. It was Fast and Testimony Meeting since last week was General Conference. I found out that my Sunday mornings are supposed to start at 0600 each week, not 0700 as I thought (and the time I arrived at the Chapel this morning). The members already treat me like I have been in the position for ages...either they trust the position or they trust the man (maybe a little bit of both?). I accepted gray envelopes, did Recommend interviews, assisted in a setting apart...all as if I had the slightest clue what I was doing! My first full day back after my trip - - I returned from my 'round the world in 8 days whirlwind yesterday. Doing all 25 time zones in 8 days is not, I repeat NOT something I am itching to do again any time soon. I moved 4 hours to the west last Friday; I moved another 6 hours (7 time zones) further west on Sunday morning, and a further 2 Monday afternoon. Wednesday moved us another 2 in the same direction and Friday moved us another 6. And finally, yesterday (Saturday) we returned home, 4 additional time zones westward. I have absolutely NO idea where my body THINKS it is right now. - The time warp wasn't the only thing tiring about this trip. When we landed at Novosibirsk on Wednesday, the Maintainers discovered a bent part in the starboard flap mechanism, downing the plane. A LOT of phone calls and coordination later, we were still unsure how long it would be before a replacement part could be delivered and installed; we feared it could have been 3-4 days before the part, which was sitting in Offutt, NE, would make it out to the middle of Siberia. Fortunately "the system" kicked into high gear and the part was hand-delivered Friday morning at 0500 and we were fixed and off the ground by 1100. My twenty-first Anniversary - - It is hard to believe that yesterday marked 21 years since Angelina and I ran off to a small, out of the way chapel on the shores of Lake Tahoe to get married. Who would have thunk that we would have lasted this long?! And of course that means MORE than 21 years in the Navy. Ten duty stations and major schools, two children and a few pets later and here we are. I am not always sure where "here" is...but that IS, in any case, where I am. Okay, that is all for now... More later....

World of K

-->We live in a world that gives Saturday Night Live way too much ammunition. The fact that SNL commentary on the election has permeated my government class is proof enough of this fact. My posts on this blog are definitely stream of consciousness. So, I went to homecoming stag, and it turned out all right. Evidently I was born in the wrong decade, though, because the way that teenagers dance is not dancing IMHO (in my honest opinion). Whatever my personal thoughts are, it is the consensus of the student body that these dances are too controlled by teachers and security. I have half a mind (I've lost the other half, please send it express if you find it) to file a complaint with the administration on behalf of my peers, and they've offered me support. I don't know how well it will go, but we'll see. -->A lot of girls that I want to ask out seem to think that it is virtually impossible for a guy and girl to have a platonic relationship. What I've been having a hard time getting across is this: When I "ask you out" I am simply asking one of my friends if they want to hang out, the fact that you are a girl is secondary. That isn't to say that I'm not going to treat you accordingly, but it means that I don't have ulterior motives. And I'm also having a big problem with the feminist movement. I have girls jumping down my throat for common courtesy things like opening doors. So I've resigned to a "if it bothers you, I won't do it" mentality. I don't know if its right, but hey...such is the way of things. -->And that train took entirely too long. For all those who weren't aware, I ended up on CSPAN the other day. My AP Gov class took a trip to DC to participate in a show that comments on the state of politics. The topic was the presidential debate, and I was able to ask the last question. I asked about whether there should be more questions about the personality of the man getting elected, as opposed to the oft-rehearshed rhetoric of their policies. -->That last one wasn't too bad, huh? Verbosity (fun word) is a phase with me, and you seem to have found me in one. Otherwise, things are pretty good. My Disneyphilia continues, so at least one thing is right in the world. I have two more field trips coming up, details to be posted. The Disney Store is taking pre-orders for WALL-E, and as soon as I get behind the register again, I've made a goal of selling at leat 3 a day. That should catch everybody up thus far. I close with the word's of Walt Disney, and my new axiom: "Why be a governor or a senator when you can be king of Disneyland?" -K

Another Sunday.....by Me

Hello Everyone! Another Sunday had come and gone. Scott got home late yesterday. He looked so tired. The kids and I went to the commissary before we went to pick him up. We bought a pumpkin. And it was only $4.50. Which for here isn't a bad price. Next door at the pumpkin patch next to the exchange they were selling them for $12.00. Pricey buggers. Anyway, we picked up Scott and just hung out the rest of the evening. Kieran went to his homecoming dance. He looked very sharp in his suit. He wore a blue shirt, which brought out the blue in his eyes. Very handsome. Said he had a good time. But I guess you might be reading about it from him. The week was busy. Kieran had a field trip on Thursday to the Newseum. His class got to participate in a program called Up Close on CSpan. Kieran even had the opportunity to ask a question. The last one as a matter of fact. It was interesting watching the kids ask the panel questions about the debates. They are very informed students. Kieran had a couple of Academic Team practices. They have a meet in a couple of weeks. School is going okay for Kieran. Brenna had one particularly bad day. Things just weren't going her way. But she recovered okay. She is playing on the church basketball team. I'm glad that she is having fun. She's not the best shot, but she does give it a 100 percent. Her Drawing club met for the first time. She loves it. Not too much instruction, but it gives everyone the opportunity to draw and visit with other kids. Kieran calls in the doodling club. School is going okay for Brenna too. As for me, did a lot of picking up of the house. I promised Scott that I would pick up the mess in the dining room. It's been covered with all my projects for about 10 months now. It's not like we use it, but I did promise. Now there is only one project out at a time. And currently it has the pictures and pins for our disney wall. Also there is a Mickey puzzle on the floor that needs to be fixed because Tchai had a blast sliding all over it and thus dismantling it. Needless to say, I was perturbed. Oh well, I did want an active cat. He's sleeping on Orion's pillow right now. Scott has been home from church for a few minutes. I'm not liking this calling he has to much right now. Not only has it changed his schedule, but it pretty much missed up my life and schedule. It's funny, I normally handle change very well, heck the Navy moves us every 3 or 4 years. But this church calling of his has totally put my life into chaos. I guess I need time to adjust. A lot more time. We got a busy week. Kieran has to work on his Stanford application, he has a field trip too. Brenna has her first meeting of the yearbook club this week. The kids have a youth temple trip on Tuesday. The first Touch Base of the school year is on Friday. The high school gives parents the opportunity to visit all their students teachers and check on how they are doing. Scott and I like the chance to meet Kieran's teachers. This week, I'll be the first to post. Everyone have a great week. We love you all and we miss you guys too. Till next time......

The Old Man Speaks...

Here is a random entry of random thoughts that I may or may not get to post in a timely manner. It is Wednesday morning, 08 Oct 2008, 0515 in the morning, Ulan Ude, Russia time (Greenwich +9 hrs).

Does this make our blog worldly?

To give you an idea of what this job can do to you physically and psychologically, allow me to share a taste of the time line of this Mission for you. This trip started Friday morning (03 Oct) and will end Sunday afternoon (12 Oct). In those 10 days I will have traveled around the world, though all 25 time zones (yes, there are 25, if you don’t know why, Google it). Anyway, just to give you an idea of what is happening to our circadian rhythms, since Ulan Ude (next to Lake Baikal) is 13 hours ahead (later) than my home, if normal sleeping hours for Monday night in Ulan Ude were 11pm to 6am, that would be going to bed at 10am and getting up at 5pm Washington, D.C. time. My body absolutely refuses to adjust that fast. So… I am missing my family terribly. I have gotten used to being away, but at the same time will never, could never, get used to leaving. Such is the life a Sailor.

I love the Navy, but sometimes the Navy is a demanding master.

As has been mentioned, I was called to be Second Counselor in the Quantico Ward Bishopric. The timing is rather complicated…, being called just days before leaving for this trip. There was/is MUCH to be done, and I am not there to do any of it. I hope this does not become just one more thing for me to fail at. I’d like to think that the Lord would not set me up for failure, but I know He sets us up regularly to “grow”. If a tree grows properly it will be strong, yet flexible; if it does not, it will fall or snap during the first storm, at the slightest adversity.

…I really don’t want to end up as driftwood.

I continue to be SO proud of my children. They both have extremely full schedules, in and out of the schoolhouse, and are thus far keeping on top of their lives quite well. I know that it seems to them that all they ever do is go to school, do homework and attend Church activities, but they are taking it all in stride and keeping a good attitude. I just wish I were around more to support them and encourage them and wrap my arms around them. As Kieran is fond of reminding me…

“If life were easy, it wouldn’t be hard”

Angelina seems to have most things at home well in hand…as she usually does. Operating in single parent mode is hard enough without having to switch it on and off a dozen times a year. She is amazing. I love her and appreciate her in countless ways (which is not to say she isn’t a pain in the derrière on a regular basis, as well…but that is another post…although I must admit publicly that I am probably more of pain to her than she is to me…probably). Unfortunately, that is going to be it for this rambling…perhaps I will be able to write more at some point… More later….