Below are the 11 most recent journal entries recorded in drewed's LiveJournal:

Thursday, June 30th, 2005
10:44 pm	MIT-tastic (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 24th, 2005
8:11 am	Quick, pre-church Geek moment Wow, I just had a geek moment. I was on the computer checking on my torrents when I realized that I have yet to find my other black shoe. Then it immediately occured to me that I should run a system search of my room to locate it. Again, wow. I'm chalking it up to 3 hrs sleep last night (totally by choice (don't pity me)). Yeah, that was weird. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 9th, 2005
11:49 pm	Church Retreat, a message on mercy This weekend was excellent for me. It was held at Camp Mihaska in Bourbon, MO. About 20 of our church members attended, which is pretty good considering we have an average Sunday attendance of 80 or so. The speaker for the retreat was a visiting Vineyard pastor from IL. His is an excellent testimony, but I believe his teaching was even better. His instruction Saturday morning was the most relevant for me. It dealt with an issue that comes up when I receive constructive criticism from those who are or have been the closest to me. Being Merciful rather than judgemental. I always thought of mercy in broad strokes as it's often presented in services, as this aspect of God that allows for his immediate judgment and condemnation of sin (which He has every right to) to be replaced by forgiveness and restoration. This pastor presented it as something that needed to be applied in his life. He told of his relationship with his wife that was struggling because his acerbic wit and undermining criticism (which he honed in college) were tearing her apart emotionally. When I heard that, I could easily put myself in his shoes. I've been super critical of those with whom I've had close relationships. In disagreements, I often put my intellectual victory first rather than being sensitive to where the other person is emotionally. The speaker said that showing mercy was SO much more effective at turning the hearts of... well anyone, than debating point after point until they relinquish. It's this sort of personally tailored instruction that comes as an answer to prayer. I know that if I can apply just this one message, I can make myself that much more ready to take on the responsibility of a wife and family God willing. Current Music: Better is One Day (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 1st, 2005
9:47 am	infrequent blogging and why I like the military I've had a few musings which I think are well suited to blogging. 1) Is it really worth it to have a livejournal account if I only post once every three months or so. I'm sure this from of self expression comes more naturally to those who kept a diary when growing up. I had one, but only wrote in it when feeling overwhelmed (negatively) about the opposite sex. It was my way of venting. One of the more memorable entries is from my sophomore year of high school. I asked the super shy oboist (whom I had known since 6th grade) if she would go to the homecoming dance with me. She said something about non-descript prior plans. Asking a girl to a dance/date/whatever is one of the hardest things for guys emotionally. The guy is out on a limb and the girl is holding the axe. Whoever thinks that men have the control in romantic settings (or any mixed gender social occasion) is full of it. and now for something completely different 2) I've been thinking critically about why I admire the armed services as much as I do when they are merely an arm of a government. I distrust our government less than any other, but they still wield power that is so apt to abuse. Anyway, back to the military. Discipline. That, in one word is why I admire our armed servicemen and women. This strict conformation of the body to suit the purposes of the unit are awe-inspiring. One sees this type of discipline in marching bands, guard (that's for you, C10), or stage productions. It's the unity of action and neatness of form that I find beautiful. Sacrifice. Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for a friend. Jn 15:13 This sacrifice of oneself for others is honorable praiseworthy. This becomes less true however for 'humanitarian wars' than actual wars of self defense. It is very unlibertarian of me to admire the armed forces and to feel pride in being a member of this country (patriotism or nationalism, depending on who you are), but I do believe that there are some admirable characteristics to both. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2004
9:58 am	Guilty Pleasures People talk about their guilty pleasures ofen on, and I believe I've just found mine. Dawson's Creek. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118300/ Yes, the soap for teens. The sappy, clever, bumpy life of 15 year-olds. The sad thing is that I understand all the reasons why I shouldn't be enjoying it, but I can't help myself. And they are as follows Reasons I shouldn't like it: 1)It's made for people who are ASPIRING to teendom (not those who have survived it). 2)The characters are fairly stock. Good guy/big heart, shy innocent who secretly wants the guy she grew up with, more permiscuous party girl who's just searching for fullfilment. But they're still wonderful. 3)I like being on the cutting edge, and this earns the New label just about as much as Buffy. I guess I like all the candid convos. The characters talk about anything and everything. Especially subjects that I daren't even breech. Or maybe I like that they come to wholesome decisions and think about their actions before jumping in. Or maybe it's because those highschoolers took risks I never did, even though I don't regret one of them. Ooo! Dawson's talking with Joey right now. Gotta go! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 18th, 2004
11:17 am	States where I've been create your own personalized map of the USA or write about it on the open travel guide I visited misscapitalista's blog and found this wonderful map of where she's been. I Had to try it out. It looks like I'm much more of a savvy traveler than I really am. It's just when my family travels, we do it on the open road. For instance, we did one trip starting out at home (62948), then to Ft Worth, TX for a cousin's wedding(76133). From there we went to a Youth conference in Atlanta, GA (30303) since my dad was a youth pastor at the time, and back home. That trip alone covered many of Southeast states. Hm, it seems that besides WI, MI, PA, and that pesky IL, all the states I've visited helped to reelect the President. Coincidence?......i think not Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: mingus band (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 2nd, 2004
1:49 am	I'm an emotional wreck Wow, after my first day of classes, I rewarded myself with an impulse buy of a brand new CD RW drive($5 after rebates). After installing it and not being able to sleep, I turned on the tv, which just happened to be on CMT, that's Country Music Television for those of you in Rio Linda. :) Just a few songs later, there are tears coming to my eye. Sheesh, country music is So Darn Emotional! One song called American Soldier had be broken down. Now, just about any song that starts off with a slow guitar strum and a title (like Come Home Soon) and I'm on the brink again. I'm not usually much of a crier, but tonight is definitely the exception. Oh, and that tribute to Ronald Reagan at the Rep Natl Convention had me in tears too. Wonder how long this will last... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 31st, 2004
4:45 pm	The affects of underclassmen I just got back from being on campus for the first time this school year. I had to do some business with the on-campus bank and get my disbursement check from my student loans. Besides the beautiful weather, the thing that really picked up my spirits were all the upbeat underclassmen. Despite my best efforts to see past their masks, they truly looked happy to be back to school. Baffling. Sure, I remember looking at upperclassmen when I was a wide eyed freshman. They were stoic, poorly dressed, underfed, and hadn't had a haircut nor a shave in about 3 weeks. Today I realized that I am that senior. How did this happen? I had warning. I knew what to look out for. Keep well dressed and look pleasant and I could avoid that fate-worse-than-death, being one of the undead, er... I mean ungraduated. I now believe that it is a natural process, like the turn of the seasons. Freshmen enter in the spring. Their wings are spreading, they have big dreams and no idea of what to major in. The world is their oyster. Winter is when the students tire from school, when its novelty is completely worn. Time to move on. I am one of the (all too common) breed that has not migrated during the winter to look for greener pastures. (Wow, the analogy is getting pretty thick, no?) I am the supersenior, emerging ravaged from seven previous semesters worrying about my loan burden and (the ultimate goal) just getting that nifty square hat. In all my dreariness and dread(locks, that is), I can still see the joy that is university life in all those naive newcomers. All those freshmen are downright inspiring. I love you guys. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 28th, 2004
1:24 am	all about my keys Today I spent more time recovering my keys than I ever have before. This morning was an early one because my roommate had to prepare for an phone interview. He also preferred that I give him some time alone so that he could have his mind on the task at hand. I decided to use the time to recover my keys from misscapitalista's apartment in time to help a move Vic's bed to the new owner. I left them there a few days prior and asked her to leave my keys on the stoop. So, I walked about 2 miles at midday only to find out that they were still locked safe inside. Vic graciously offered to drive me to misscap's work and pick up the key to get my key to help her move, whew! (Wow, I don't have a talent for prose) So we surprised misscap at work and everything else went off without a hitch. Also, I volunteered some time (8pm to midnight) to my church http://www.stlvineyard.com/ to send out a mailing to all the campus boxes at Wash U, SLU, Fontbonne, and one other school that doesn't come to mind. We are sending out 8,000 total which is quite a bit for just a handful of guys to do in a few days. We'll see how that goes. Tomorrow I plan to help Dina move to her on-campus apartment, which will be an all day affair. The guy who she was going to have do it backed out at the last moment. It's funny how my owning a truck places me at the front of anyones mind who is getting ready to move. I guess it's natural, and I don't really mind helping out friends, but it does get tiring this time of year. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, August 23rd, 2004
10:50 pm	Okay, this isn't just about gun rights I don't have enough material to talk about how I feel about gun control every day of the year. As a result, it will turn into the typical, "interesting things that happened today." Most interesting thing that happened today, I met an Austrian guy by the name of Jonathan playing Catan online. I opened an icq account to continue our conversation after the game. Three hours later, we were still talking. Topics covered: movies, family members and their occupations, education, dreams, relationships, morality, religion, presidential politics, terrorism, bias in the media, and michael moore. Jonathan was an interesting character who conversed in english amazingly well for a second language. I hadn't IMed a perfect stranger in such a long time, so it was especially fun meeting someone new who lives a life very different than my own. He is a son of a doctor, atheist/materialist, just starting college, dislikes Bush, and one who saw right through Fahrenheit 911. To sum up, overlooking the last one, he is the perfect Wash U student. Some questions he asked through me off guard, and got me thinking. After hearing my father is a pastor and that I'm a Christian, he asked what moral code I lived by. Most Americans would just ask what denomination I was and assume the rest. He, however, wanted to know how my belief affected the way I lived. My answer can be boiled down to, honor God and love your neighbor. He said that he tries to follow the 10 commandments, minus the parts about God. After asking him to name as many as he could just for fun, he came up with 4: no murder, lying, stealing, adultery. I came up with 3 more: No idols over God, no coveting, and keep the Sabbath holy. to be continued (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 22nd, 2004
11:53 pm	Guns C10sneak just urged me to open my own live journal account after I said that her fit to organic foods would be just as fitting as I would be to a gun shop. Yes, I am passionate about the gun debate and the relevance of the 2nd Amendment to the constitution. To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, here are a few of my favorite gun sites: www.a-human-right.com This is an amazingly powerful site that will have the Sarah "Brady Bunch" rethinking their biases. www.nranews.com This is a talk show every weekday that outlines gun issues. This is in response to the McCain-Feingold Bill which Prohibits Political Speech(!) in the months leading up the election. News agencies are exempt, so the NRA made itself a news agency. www.auctionarms.com A gun auction site. The first firearm I ever bought was from here. 100% legal U.S. firearms marketplace. www.gclastl.org A local gun rights club of which I'm a member. Their efforts helped pass the License to Carry (LTC) concealed firearms in Missouri. Now only 4 states in the union prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons under all circumstances. www.packing.org A site devoted to the Carrying of Concealed Weapons(CCW). An excellent source for current gun laws from state to state. Enjoy, and hopefully this is the first in a progression of many pro-freedom posts. (Comment on this)