choice

i believe in choice more than i believe in anything else. ANYTHING. it isn't the society around us that creates who we are...it is the society we choose to put around us that creates who we are. we choose whether to turn on FOX NEWS or CNN or none at all. We choose the people we hang out with, we choose our roommates, we choose whether or not to drink that extra shot of tequila. we choose to have sex with that girl or not, or at least we choose to put ourselves in a position to have sex with them. you choose the books you read, you choose the shows you watch.

so that creates a scary idea. you choose who you become.

and the traveling stops...boo...

--MANHATTAN to WICHITA

--WICHITA to DALLAS

--DALLAS to LINCOLN, KS

--LINCOLN, KS to MANHATTAN

--MANHATTAN to WICHITA

--WICHITA to MANHATTAN

I think my summer traveling has ended. Manhattan, I choose you. (for one more year)

goals and gravitas...

goal number 1: everyday i want to walk into a gas station and purchase a USA Today or some other newspaper magazine along with an Arizona Green Tea. the main reason for this is to establish a morning tradition so that i'm not waking up 15 minutes before i'm supposed to be at work. also, i think i'll enjoy reading the newspaper everyday. plus, Arizona Green Tea is good.

goal number 2: fearlessness. i'd like to have a little more gallant, and a little less worried about what others think. i wanted to say gravitas because i thought it meant ballsiness. but apparently it means seriousness or sobriety. i'm officially changing the meaning of gravitas to mean ballsiness.

goal number 3: don't let this guy turn me into an agnostic. i don't think he is, but he claims a lot of stuff. including telling me that he's allowing LOST to determine his theological basis. (my friend is in your hands damon lindelof....dont' fail me)

goal number 4: stop making goals and to do lists and not accomplishing them.

goal number 5: make my own food. invite you, and you, and you, and you and all of you over to eat it.

"so how was your summer?" "(insert rehearsed answer here)"

summer is over and you know what that means...internet access once again!! i will once again be back onto the blogger/twitter/facebook scene. expect writings to come out daily.

--marion this is for you: i want to start writing a book. i have the ideas but i don't have the inspiration or motivation. can you help me?

--there's something noble about working a 40 hour week doing manual labor. problem is...nobility is not enough for me to do it for the rest of my life. not a chance...

--lake this weekend. reunion of the pact crew. you bet!

--i'm going to be getting the question, "how was your summer?" so i thought i'd give the long version here:

my summer was a mixture of lousy and terrible with a few shimmers of goodness in between. i spent the summer in wichita living with my parents which SUCKED. don't get me wrong i love the family, but it led to having multiple conversations with mom and dad about what i want to do with my life. a scary topic...and one to be discussed later. i could have been in alaska this summer...i regret not going.

sucky summer things:
1) poison ivy...on my manparts,
2) poison ivy a month later all over my legs,
3) a breakout of a common childhood disease that caused me to miss work for a week...aka shingles...
4) burned this shit out of my hand on my last day of mowing work,
5) i mowed most of the summer,
6) being at home somehow slows my ability to get things done,
7) i'm only a little closer to figuring out what career i want to do.

awesome summer things:
1) multiple lake weekends,
2) a lot of tedder/jacob/dunham/crandall time,
3) feeling productive again once i made it to the farm,
4) cousins wedding,
5) met some new and very cool people (missy, molly, saturday night college group),
6) became reaquainted with my bicycle,
7) learned to appreciate coffee shops.

conclusion...i haven't decided if my summer was good or not. so final answer to "how was your summer, Kevin?" answer: "it was alright."