I'm not sure what's been going on lately...perhaps it's the fact that I'm at home and only able to talk to people online; stressed about returning to school and still not sure how to study; or just general ennui...but I've been so reactive lately. It's gotten me worried--usually I'm not that reactive of a person. If anything I used to be completely unreactive. But now it seems that things that used to annoy me and then fade away tie me up in knots...literally for weeks.
I dunno...I think AIM can be sort of a curse. It enables you to talk to people but without any form of expression save emoticons, and no vocal inflection or tone whatsoever. And now I'm starting to see where that can lead to trouble, especially with touchy emotional subjects.
So here's hoping I can do things to bring my life in order before I return to school. Regular gym attendance, some sort of study routine, and some way to repair old friendships that I feel are in jeopardy. God knows I'm not perfect, and I can't save everything I love...but if something fails I want it to be because of something external to me.

To all my fellow conservatives out there (namely K and Laura from AZ, though I'm sure there are probably a few others who frequent this blog), you might be interested in these pieces by Jack Kelly, Joel Mowbray, and Michael Graham. Since there's really no way for conservative editorials and views to get out save through the largely unregulated and unregulatable Internet, it seems only fair that I do my part to get this stuff out in the open.

"To seek, to strive, and not to yield." --Tennyson

Apparently this story has been making the rounds of the Blogosphere, so I figured I'd join the rising tide. Pretty freaky stuff...it's almost enough to make me *gasp* xenophobic. As if we weren't already, whether or not we admit it. If Swedes had hijacked the planes that hit the WTC, I'd be suspicious of tall blond men named Sven who got on a one-way flight to New York.
For some other, better, news, I have pictures here from our summer party back in June. There's a picture of me playing the guitar in there somewhere. Actually, playing is too kind a word. It's the perogative of the subject of the photo to hate it, and I see this picture and think God, I look horrible. I had been jamming with my brother Jamie and his fiddle player Rollin, and to tell the truth I was terribly lost. I couldn't tell what chords they were playing and at one point I stopped strumming and watched my brother to try to figure out what the fark he was playing. Which is when my dad decided to take the picture. So just to confirm the scattered ramblings you've seen on this blog for almost a year now (geez, that long) you have this lovely picture of me.
Enjoy the rest of them--the pictures of my niece Geneva are quite adorable. Aren't I a lucky uncle? (For the first time in my life, I feel like one--the age difference between us is enough that I actually make an effective uncle. So naturally I dote on her.)

GHOSTS  by Horslips
 
I lived alone without you
Shadows on my wall
Ghosts in my looking glass
Voices in the hall
At first I didn’t understand
I had nothing left to sell
And although I played with fire
My life was cold as hell...
 
There came a knocking on my door
The landlord dressed in black
He said, "Pack your bags and move on out,
We don't ever want you back"
And who was I to question
The logic of his schemes?
When they proved there can be hope
Wherever there are dreams...
 
Mine was just a foolish heart
Couldn't fake a smile
Thought I'd find deliverance
Down another mile
And I remember being in love
So long ago it seems
The love that drives me ever on
Is the love I find in dreams,
The love I find in dreams...

I feel a little guilty for not putting up any posts more often...but really, there's been nothing really to talk about. My job involves building a passive solar house out in Schuyler, VA. We've finished putting up the rafters and are getting ready to wrap up putting the 2x4's over top of them before sheeting the whole damn mess with half-inch plywood. That's going to be fun. Except not. Plywood is the devil when you have to lift sheet after sheet of it two or three stories.
But that's basically it. Since the house is passive solar and it's summertime we're under the blazing Virginia sun pretty much all the time we're there. Only on overcast or cloudy days do we get any respite. And usually then it rains so we have to pack up it anyway.
As for the girl situation...well...there may be something developing. Usually I end up jumping the gun so I'm trying desperately not to get my hopes up. But all I've been able to do for so long is hope--it's hard to break the habit.
So that's my summer in a nutshell, so far. Enough to make me wish for school to start again. As if I wasn't already.