It was pretty obvious.

So its has been a while since I updated, so here it is. I am going great. I love my job, hard. Driving around is amazing. Hanging out and helping my staffs is really exciting and keeps me on my toes. I am watching "Love Actually" and loved the funeral at the beginning so I thought that I should ensure my funeral is equally awesome.

• These are my wishes
1. Regardless of how old I am "Only the good die young" should be played. 
2. Everyone should cry once, but be happy most of the time
3. I want to be cremated. 
4. Tanner Smith, Chuck Geary, and Chris Corbin are currently in charge of arrangements, (this is subject to change as I will probably outlive most of them).
5. God be with you till we meet again should be played. 

Kudos to Keri Smith and my Mommy who are the only people to have sent me mail so far. Get on it people. 

Regarding last night.

Week two has been pretty good to me and had a little bit more active chaplaining. I was finishing up my route, but Wednesday I had to switch it up to shoot back to the top of my circuit. One of my staffers had to go home for the summer to be with their family and grandfather, and it was just a stressful week on the staff. I wanted to make it up here to see the staffer off, but I was late. Fortunately, they called me on my way and we had a convo. They had been struggling with this for a while and were confident in their decision. I got here to see the staff and talk to a few of the staffers and the liaison that came in to take the open spot. All said, I lost one of my favorite staffers and liaison’s in one swoop. The liaison went to a staff I am serving, but she is not tech on support staff anymore, the point is she won’t be at our crazy support parties. It is a lot of fun to come to a staff where I feel like I can help. I brought stress-free toys, bubbles, puppy coloring books and silly putty (thanks Keri and Pam for guidance) for them to play with and get de-stressed. All in all I have confidence that they will come out the other side looking like champs.

Next week is the first week of making my own schedule, which is daunting. What if I make the wrong decision and go to a site that needs me less than another site? I will have to take my Internship supervisor at his word that “no one is going to live or die because a Chaplain did or did not visit.” Well… maybe this is not a direct quote but it sums up my experience at GMC. Still my job is to help and support staffers and I would like to do that well. So scheduling and prioritizing staff visits is somewhat of a intimidating task.

Tomorrow I am heading to the Breaks Interstate Park. It seems to be a pretty important ASP tradition. Most the staff will be there and everyone is really excited. I don’t know what to expect... but I think that I am excited.( I wrote this before I went). The breaks were cool but awkward considering I only know my staffs names so we had more people than I actually know there. The sunset was pretty and I got to swim. So win.

My new iPod arrived, this is good news because cd’s are annoying and I can now expand beyond what my staffs gave me (even though those mixes are great). My mommy ordered me some overalls, which means I will be even lazier when dressing and also fit in with my “overall wearing” staffers.

Days without showering 7

Projected days till next shower 3-4

My air-matterss is starting to feel like a real bed.

The Devo I am using for my first county visit. (I will give this devo 10 times)

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

 ¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.  ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
 ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
 ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Now you are probably wondering why I am reading the story of Christmas in June. It is becuase I think that the story of Christ's birth parallels what you are doing here in Appalachia. When God picked the location of his son's birth, of the realization of a promise made to Israel, he picked a backwoods town. Bethlehem was a minor blip on the map, the small town to Jerusalem's big city. Just like this town here in the middle of no where Kentucky (or Virginia if I am in Keokee). God has chosen this town as a place where his promise will come into the world. And that promise will come through you. God is using to to make his love and his promise real  to the volunteers, group leaders, fellow staffers, and families that you serve. God's promise and love are revealed through your work, and the work you lead groups to do.

In Celtic theology there is a vision of a veil that separates the divine realm from the earthly realm. In some places that veil is thinner and the separation of God and Man is nonexistent. In these places God is heavily felt. Part of what you are doing here is chiseling away at that veil, thinning it out and making the presence of God a palpable experience through your work. It is possible that some of your families haven't felt God ever, or ever felt that anyone cared for them. You are changing that, you are making God's love and promise a tangible reality.

This is a terrifying thought. What we learn from the shepherds is that that is ok. There is a reason that when angels appear in the bible the first words out of their mouths are "do not be afraid." Getting something from God is terrifying. And there will be days where this job seems incredibly daunting, when you have a volunteer group that isn't getting it, a Group leader who always seems to have a problem, or when the staff are just driving you insane this job will seem impossible, and that is terrifying.

Fortunately there will be days when you feel more like the shepherds at the end of the story, when you have seen the promise fulfilled, when a family gets work finished on their house, when a volunteer group leaves feeling like they accomplished something, when you close out a project that has taken weeks to finish. And you will walk away glorifying God and you will feel so filled up.

Regardless of where you are on the spectrum, terrified or fulfilled you are bringing the promise to these people. God is working through you. Remind yourself of that fact every day, God is using you to make the promise real. This is amazing, wake up everyday and remember that, becuase of you these people will see and feel God's promise and love. Knowing that you will be able to push yourself through terrifying days and understand the days of promise.

Muddy Boots and Sweat

These first few days have been interesting. I have been at the Harlan center helping them get ready for groups. The Harlan center is an abandoned school that has not been occupied for 4 years, so it needed some work. Andy (one of the Staff Liasons) and I have been helping out with a lot of the cleaning and non- job specific stuff, which has entailed a lot of moving things and mopping. I wish I had before and after pictures to show, becuase this place was straight out of a horror movie on Thursday. We had to move about 200 bags of packing Styrofoam beads and about 100 desks out of the gym. It took two+ moppings of the gym in order to tell that the color of the floor was beige. Today we constructed a bank of showers in what used to be the schools coal room, and I now consider myself proficient in PVC plumbing.

It has been a hard three days, but on the eve of groups we have it livable and ready. I can see how people coming in might be shocked by the conditions, but it looks amazing compared to what it was and while still a little rough (no ac's and suspect plumbing) it is ready.

Tomorrow I will be heading out of Harlan and to Magoffin County's center in Salyersville, Ky. While I love the Harlan county center and staff it will be nice to be on the road moving towards AC, showers, and laundry. It will also be nice to start doing more chaplaincy than menial labour, though sometimes menial labour is a part of chaplaincy. I think my willingness to do this kind of stuff earned me some cred with the Harlan county staff.

This next week marks my first week on a circuit, this week I will be in Magoffin, Breathitt, Knott, Jeff, and Chavies. Five counties in five days. I am starting at the top of my counties and working my way back down, the week after I will hit my other 5 counties. It is gonna be Mountain Methodist Madness.

Dear Friends,

I enjoy mail, as some of you are probably aware. So here is my address, send me things. If I sent you a post card last summer I know who you are.

ASP Perry Co. Center- Chavies
Jonathan Gaylord
P.O. Box 324
Chavies, KY 41727

I enjoy gummy candies.

Owl City cannot ruin Fireflies.

I am in Maggie Valley, North Carolina spending time with my friend Pam (and Keri who left today). It is really pretty, but still something of a culture shock. North Carolina has survived post-timber/ coal boom by turning to tourism that never traveled up to eastern Tennessee, West Virginia, western Virginia, and eastern Kentucky. While it still has its own issues they are covered over by relocated retirees, tourists, ski/ mountain resorts and national park traffic. It is definitely different, it is fun. 

These last few days have been a whirlwind of work and relaxation. Friday was load up day in Johnston City, the chaplains were posted loading administrative material into the vans (as far away from the tools as possible). We loaded 28 vans over 3 hours. It was a model of efficiency. Plus we found a million and a half old staff t-shirts that one of the admin said we could take them. So... free t-shirts. Yesterday everyone left for counties so half of support staff went to Middelboro, Ky to see X-Men: First Class. It was great to relax with some support staff, but the movie was terrible. It was like someone saw "Electra" or "Daredevil" and said "I can make a worse comic book movie." This is not a overstatement, it is quite simply a waste of time. However I only paid 3 dollars, so it was worth the money to sit in the air conditioning. 

Tomorrow Pam and I are going to venture to the World Heritage Methodist Museum at Lake Junaluska and possibly hit up some Blue Ridge PKWY. It will be a Methodist Mountain day.

Observations from the Porch

These last few days have been really relaxed punctuated by an hour every now and then running around with my head cut off. The Chaplains, and support staff in general, really don't have a whole lot to do right now. We sit around talking to each other while the "traditional" staff is in construction training and the like, while we could sit in on these sessions it seems best we not. The Chaplains are never going to be asked to step in and supervise construction and they Admin team seems to want to firmly define our role as one of spiritual support and not allow us the temptation of being distracted by construction.  This comes from hiring past summer staffers to be Chaplains, as opposed to seminary students. Scott, Jeremy and I don't have any ASP or construction background so we have to focus on the spiritual well being of the staff. In all honesty, that is completely fine with us.

It does lead to a lot of during the day down time. For the last few days we were planning a worship service and a session on the summers theme. But we did the theme session yesterday and the worship service today. Both went really well, I was surprised at how well the Worship service came together. I picked the songs based on what the staff already knew and songs that would be easy to learn and only glanced at content, but they lined up perfectly as to where they fell in the readings and in relationship to Scott's sermon.

But now that 2/3 of our timed responsibilities are done we don't have anything to plan till next Saturday, so we nap and surf the internet and wait for the staff to have free time so we can talk with them. All in all its been really fun.

A couple days ago the Chaplains got bored so we went into the bustling metropolis of Jonesville, Va for lunch... only to find out Jonesville has .5 restaurants. This number includes 2 gas station delis and a subway attached to a gas station. We wound up driving out a little ways to the tiniest pizza buffet ever. But in between we did discover that Jonesville has 5 salons. I think that salons are the only business that can survive with out incorporating something else into it. Most gas stations double as delis or coffee shops. One called Papa Bear's is a Gas Station, Pizza Parlor, Deli, and Video Rental Shop, but it has a cool name, so redemption points there.

The First Years and Returning Staff don't know what counties they will be in yet. The Center Directors just found out their staffs last night, so they have been going around messing with the rest of the staff making jokes like "man it will be so great to have a guitar player on my staff" or "with you and me we will have the prettiest staff" and the like. Its interesting, There is a lot of importance placed on county staffs, because that is who they will work with, so everyone is really excited. Its like waiting for Support at Warren Willis to come check off your cabin and tell you what team you are on... only this team is all summer and Support doesn't (usually) draw out the tension (for long). Its a ASP culture thing.  The rest of staff finds out where they will be serving tonight at some big reveal.... mostly its also a cook out and I am excited about the food, but I can see the excitement in everyone about finding out staffs. After they find out where they will be training becomes more staff centric and more about their roles at their sites.

I have known my counties since before I got here. Then I got here and Jeremy asked if he and I could switch so he can be closer to home and as such his wife, I was more than happy to do so... so now My counties are all in Kentucky and one Virginia. I will be serving the staffs in Breathitt, Clay, Magoffin, Knott, Perry: Chaivs, Leslie, Knox (KY), Harlan, and Perry: Jeff in Kentucky and Lee: Keoke in Virginia.  If you want to look it up Harlan county has several songs about it including the oft covered "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." Apparently Harlan earned its nickname Bloody Harlan County thanks to a series of Coal strike/ riots in the 20's and 70's. It may be my best bet to find moonshine.


I have been given an unofficial list of topics not to broach with locals, it includes coal and timber. I don't want to see what happens if I talk about this with the wrong person. I assume Obama-care, and racial diversity are also topics to skillfully dance around.

All in all its shaping up to be an awesome summer.

Friday the 13th

So here I am sitting in a Boeing 737-800, seat 25D on flight 413. There is something mildly strange about flying on Friday the 13th, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Also I am writing this between while I let Community buffer and the short bursts of watching it Delta internet allows me.

New Haven and New York where great. As expected Chris took us to some great New Haven eateries, ice creameries, and book stores. It was great to get to hang out with Tanner, Chris, and Chuck together again. We don't really get to see each other to often, so when we do it is a grand reunion. It hasn't been just the four of us sans girls since we all stopped being on Team together.

We stayed with Chris (Yale Divinity Student) in New Haven Tuesday and Wednesday night, and with Tanner's cousin Jeff in New York Thursday.  New Haven was quaint and very much what I pictured a New England town to look like. New York was crowded and kinda dirty, it was fun to visit and if I had to live their for a couple of years i would, but the entire time I lived in New York I would be looking for jobs in the south.

Thursday night Jeff took us out for dinner and drinks, he picked up our tab for the whole night, it was awesome. When I have a big boy job I will do the same for my siblings and friends. We got NY Pizza at John's Pizza which was delicious. Stopped in for a drink at some crazy theme bar, the theme was getting killed on an adventure. There were robot skeletons and dinosaur skulls that came alive and read the appetizer menu, its not as cool as it sounds. Then we went to a bar near Jeff's and hung out till 1 just talking, it was a good time. When our waitress came over around 12:30 to tell us she was going off the floor, but that the bar was open till 4, I don't think I have ever seen Tanner looks so amazed/confused. Bars open past 2 are a novelty to small towners like us.

We did not do a whole lot in the city, but I was really insistent we do something that was quintessentially New York. This eventually just became be asking when we were going to Central Park, every chance I got. The boys caved and we went to the park Friday morning before Tanner and I had to catch out flight back (road to subway there so I guess that's two New York things). We walked around, Tanner complained about carrying his bag, we found the bridge that is in every movie ever, climbed some sort of castle thing, and then Chuck and I unsuccessfully looked for a geocache, all in all it was a great time.

And now I am on a plane, watching 2-4 minutes of Community at a time. For the money I paid for this stupid connection I expected a whole lot more. But it is Friday the 13th. By the way I watched Friday the 13th (only 24 horror movies left), and I must say after watching it I can respect a cliche a whole lot more. I think half the horror movie cliches that we take for granted today, were actually effective devices of terror prior to the 80's. Let us not be quick to judge, unless we are judging airline internet connections. Those suck.

Morals from my last post.

These are the abriged morals and lessons from my trip.

We met a thru-hiker named Grasshopper who was probably in his 60's. On a rather long uphill on Wednesday he passed us and Keri said "I don't know how those guys do it, without taking breaks." He said "Oh they take breaks, you just don't see them, but you gotta hike your own hike." "Gotta Hike your Hike" became our catch phrase for the trip, and will probably be something I say for the rest of my life.

Some people hike to get places, see things, or feel the accomplishment of doing it. While those are sub-goals, I hike to feel the relief of taking off my pack. Taking off my pack at overlooks, halfway up a mountain, and at a shelter. That relief puts everything into perspective. Its like being done with a paper, or taking off a suit at the end of a long day. No trial lasts forever.

I like to take breaks and hike slow, it helps me to forget about the shelter or town coming up. Its about the journey, not the destination. As a wise man once said "Gotta hike your hike."

Blisters Suck.

Granola/ cereal bars that don't have over 100 calories are useless.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be awesome to hang out with for the following reasons...

1. Unlimited supply of pizza
2. Chance to learn the secret art of Ninja
3. Zaney catch phrases
4. They are girl magnets, but they can't date these girls
5. People will think I am very accepting
6. Hanging out in sewers and abandoned subway stations is probably really cool

What I did this week.

This past week I spent four days on the trail with an Adult trip out of Warren Willis Camp. It was amazing. When I first moved to Atlanta I thought I would do a lot of backpacking, since Emory is only about 2 hours away from the A.T. trailhead. Then school happened and I was lucky if I could make it to Stone Mt.

So when I realized finals would be over in time for me to make this trip I jumped on it. It was a little stressful, I had my History of Christian Thought final on monday at 9, and as soon as that was over had to jump in my car to pick up my friend Keri in Athens, so we could drive to her aunts house to drop off my car and meet the group as they drove through from Florida.

When we met up with the group we went to ReCreation experiences to stay the night and do one last gear check. On Tuesday morning one of the Directors of ReCreation drove us to a put in point at Davenport Gap. Thus began one of the longest days of my life.

The hike from Davenport Gap to our first Shelter at Groundhog Creek, was around 10 miles. Seven of those miles went straight up the side of a mountain. I started off fine, Keri and I quickly found a place in the middle of the pack, the speed hikers of the group being 30 min ahead and the first time hikers 30 minutes behind. We hit the trail at 10 in the morning and around 2 my thighs started cramping. Then my right calf decided that I was not taking my thighs seriously and gave out on me... three times. The second of which caused me to swing my walking stick at a tree in frustration and break it into three pieces. While this was not ideal the walking stick served its purpose, it made me feel strong in a time of weakness. The third time my calf gave out I wound up sitting on the side of the trial, by myself since Keri didn't realize I had stopped to stretch until she was over a ridge, until the slower hikers caught up. This helped since it gave me a good 30-45 minuets to let my legs recover.

By the time they last third of our group had caught up to us I was still sore, but able to hike again. Unfortunately the weather had caught up to us, our first summit at Snowbird Mt should have been an amazing view, but we were in a cloud, so it mostly looked like a scene from The Hound of the Baskervilles. After that it started to rain, and continued to rain after we got to the shelter and set up camp. Joel, Keri, and I stood around my hammock (under a tarp that was set up for just this occasion) until 8:30 talking. We didn't want to go to bed any earlier because, well it was only 8:30. That night I slept well, and from what I could gather the next morning wound up being the driest member of out group.

The rain let up sometime between Tuesday becoming Wednesday. We packed up our damp gear (I managed to bust the zipper on my sleeping bag in the process) and headed out for a short 8.9 mile day over varied terrain. If Tuesday was enough to make me question why anyone would ever backpack, Wednesday made me question why more people didn't. It was a beautiful and clear day, the rain had brought in a cold front that made hiking a cool and pleasant experience, until we got to the top of Max Patch. Max Patch is a bald, which means there are no trees or high plants, imagine the opening scene of Sound of Music only put her hill at the top of the mountains and you have Max Patch. It was a beautiful 360 degree view, the only problem was it was windy and cold. I made Keri spend 30 min on top becuase I wanted to take my pack off and enjoy it. Eventually we hiked down and into our shelter a couple miles away at Roaring Fork.

The cold really set in that night, and I decided to hang my hammock in the shelter for the extra wind protection. It got down to bellow freezing. Now I had this crazy idea that it was May everywhere, but apparently it is still late February in the mountains, so all I had was a fleece, beanie, and thin gloves in addition to a few very breathable shirts and hiking shorts. The break in my sleeping bags zipper worked to my advantage as I got to use it as a blanket and wrap in around my self, with the mummy bag back covering my head. So staying warm wasn't a problem, but before I got into it I was miserable. Waking up in the morning and getting out of my warm cocoon was even worse, but I did and then the sun came, and it was perfect again.

At Roaring Fork we first met Driftwood, Oatmeal,  Reese and a couple on the second half of their honeymoon whose names I can't remember but they had a tiny white dog named Charlie with them (Driftwood and Oatmeal are their trail names) who are all attempting to thru-hike the trail (go from Georgia to Maine in one season). These guys must be the most laid back hikers ever, but since it was so cold we didn't really talk to them until the next shelter.

The thing about it being cold is you don't want to take off your socks. The thing about hiking is that your feet are really important and sometimes blister. This is the quandary I found myself in, and so began the story of the five blisters on my feet. When I was hiking I could ignore it, there were more important things to worry about, like scenic vistas and staying hydrated, but when I stopped my blisters got cold and made starting again miserable.

Thursday was a great day, my legs were doing fine, the weather was perfect, and we had two beautiful summits. This was our longest day, from Roaring Fork to our shelter at Deer Park Mt it was a 14 mile hike. The Hike knocked out two of our hikers around mile 11, and they caught a ride at a crossroad into Hot Springs. Two of our guys, Asa and Kyle, got to the shelter, dropped their packs, and hiked the 3.4 miles back to the Gap where they were going to help those two carry their gear on to the shelter. They did get there in time to watch the other two drive away and run the 3.4 miles back with Joel. They made the hike in an hour, pulling in 20 minutes before the sunset.

That night was ideal, we got to sit around a camp fire and talk to the other people camping at the shelter. I learned some fun facts, mostly about the number of calories in any type of food, 280 in a snickers bar, and 120 in a tablespoon of Olive Oil are the ones that stuck out. Thru-hikers won't carry a food bar unless it has over 100 calories, which makes sense as they are concerned about weight and consuming as many calories as possible. I burn around 800 calories per hour of hiking, and thru-hikers hike for more hours than I was, so they need 3x the calories as I needed. Charlie the dog warmed up to me and sat next to me and allowed me to scratch him. Also Charlie the dog had a full body mohawk, he is awesome.

Friday we woke up and hiked down into Hot Springs, a whole 3.2 miles. When we got to Hot Springs we picked up the two who came in early and headed over to the Hot Springs Spa. An hour in the hot tubs, all my muscles felt amazing. Keri and I got dropped off in Spartanburg where we spent the afternoon at her Aunt's. I watched the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie with her cousin Phillip. Aunt Holly made us an amazing dinner, and we eagerly returned to Athens and Atlanta where real beds awaited.

I spent today sleeping, letting my blisters heal, and making a trip to REI to look at new boots. All in all its been a good week. I love backpacking.

Summer Goals Established.

Well friends I have established two amazing goals for the summer.

Goal One. 
Maintain this blog. I want to share with you my trials and tribulations as a modern day circuit rider with the Appalachian Service Project.

Goal Two (and this is important)
Educate myself on the genre of horror. This will include watching the top 25 horror movies of all times, as established by the 2010 IGN movies list. Starting at the bottom of the list and working my way from 25 to 1.

The List.
25- Friday the 13th (1980)
24-Scream
23- Dracula (1931)
22- The Haunting
21- The Blair Witch Project
20- Suspria
19- Let the right one in
18- An American werewolf in London
17- Dawn of the Dead (1978)
16- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
15- The Thing
14- The Fly
13- Poltergeist
12- The Ring
11- Halloween
10- Night of the Living Dead
9- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
8- Rosemary's Baby
7- Bride of Frankenstein
6- The Shining
5- Silence of the Lambs
4- Alien
3- Jaws
2- Psycho
1- The Exorcist

Sadly, I have only seen The Ring and Jaws, so I have my work cut out for me. This was brought on by a recent finals week viewing of the two Paranormal Activity movies. Hopefully I come back a little bit wiser, a whole lot stronger, and able to sleep in rooms alone. Since I do not fully know how ASP will play out I am giving myself until the end of August to complete this list. This means Candler friends be prepared to watch some horror movies with me.

I am still accepting sub-goals. I have many books to read, I paid for them and I might as well.

Brothers and Sisters, Pray for me that I might better understand the Scriptures.

Coming Attractions Summer 2011

The time is now fast upon us. The Summer of 2011! This summer I will be working for Appalachian Service Project as a staff chaplain, I will be working with 10 different sites throughout the western Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky area. My main responsibility is to make sure the staffs are not going crazy, are taking care of themselves, and are spiritually healthy. This job involves many hours of driving between sites (keep this in mind as it will be important later).

So this is my blog, a log of my thoughts and actions for the Summer of 2011, a summer of bear attacks, a summer of hunting down moonshine that has been filtered through the radiator, a summer of eating BBQ at backwoods shacks, a summer of life.

Now last summer I set for myself a goal. It was a simple goal, to watch all the seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." I am pleased to say I succeeded. Now the summer of 2011 is upon me and I feel the need to continue this tradition. So I am reaching out to you, the Internet, for help. Keep in mind if I could achieve this goal while driving that would be amazing, and watching seasons of tv seasons is out, been there done that and now I have a firm grasp of a late 90's tv series.

Here are some things my friends have already suggested...

Learn a Language

Learn Klingon

Get a short story published

Master Mandolin or banjo

Learn to whittle

Quadruple my existing knowledge of knots

Do my own audio book of the bible

Listen to the complete audio book series of Sherlock Holmes

Suggestions? May the best man or woman win!

A BLOG! WHAT! HE MUST BE AWSOME! LETS FOLLOW!

I wanted the domain name. So here is my blog. More to follow.