Dolly Reaches Us...

The rain poured ALL day today... and last night. It probably started last night at about 9 o'clock, and it really hasn't stopped since. This is really becoming annoying... oh, and before you wonder, NO it was not a sunny rain... I didn't see the sun all day.

This morning we rose early as I was recovering from the movie last night and Will recovering from White Sands with his cousins. At about 11 we went to the mall and Will used a coupon and some money that had been burning a hole in his pocket to buy some toys that he just "had to have". After that, we went to the movie theater at the mall, Mom and Will wanted to finally get a piece of "Dark Knight" that I had been playing up for so long. And truly, I wont lie, I did not mind one bit seeing it for a third time... its worth it.

Of course, everyone enjoyed it... even Mom, who doesn't like comic book movies, or Batman for that matter. Then, we went to Fudruckers for a late lunch at about 3. The food was very good, and very good for us, I'm sure... haha.

Then, we went to Clint to see our cousins. Uncle Nick had caught a quick flight out to avoid the weather. So, we just hung out and chatted and at about 7, all 5 kids came to Horizon. We are gonna stay up all night watching movies and playing games, probably. But hey, movies and good times are what weekends are for, right? ahaha.

So, I won't get too theological on this one, but know that sometimes an easy, fun weekend is necessary to keep us from pulling our hair out. As even my Grandfather put it today as he mumbled back to me when I told him about hanging at the movies yesterday, "Don't worry so much, Zach. Have a good time..."

Zach

Disturbing...

Do you ever find yourself bothered by just how distracted society continues to get? Are you ever bothered by your peer's priorities, their sense of humor? Today was one of those days for me... believe it...

It started with my Spanish Class... there we had to write two truths and one lie about ourselves, then have the class guess on what was the lie. Anyway, we got to kids who have had some very difficult lives, and who really don't get what is so sad about them... Take this one girl, her three were:

1. I have 4 tattoos
2. I have a 'gangsta' boyfriend
3. I am pregnant, due in December

Wait... what? She is 15, pregnant and has 4 illegal tattoos... oh, but its okay because she dumped the "gangsta" after he got her pregnant... I wanted to scream...

Next, we get to this guy that has three like 1) I am satanic 2) I try black magic and 3) I have two brothers... well guess what, he is an only child. Through the black clothes and the spiked piercing on his chin, there is still a good person... so what went wrong?

I'll summarize the others, basically there is a girl that lives alone because her mom left and her dad is a trucker and is gone for weeks... but its cool because she doesn't have a curfew. Another guy was in an accident while road racing... another guy was stabbed... on TWO occasions...

The world is a place where people's minds are simply distorted... take tonight, I went to go see the 'Dark Knight' again with some friends from school... I love that movie yes, and I don't want to give away anything. But when terribly psychotic moments arise and the bloodshed comes, why do people laugh? Yes, the Joker plays the part in an amusing way... but why do people talk about death as a funny thing an hour later?

The world needs to change, and to be honest, I don't know how to change it... people MUST come together and realize that things aren't always as bleak as they seem...

I hope the movie is right, maybe "The night is darkest just before the dawn..." or could it be closer to another view, that of the good Alfred when he states: "Some men just want to watch the world burn." Decide for yourselves.... pray only for a better tomorrow.

Zach

The Lost Dog

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a lost dog? Seriously, what it would be like to wonder on in places that you have never been in before, hungry and alone. What if your owners just left you out in the desert somewhere? What if you weren't wanted?

The reason I ponder on this subject, is because today, driving around my Grandpa's farm, Lex, Kate and I found a lost dog; completely out of place. She was wandering around, nice collar on her neck, beautiful golden fur across her body. Her teeth were white, like a home-dog, and she was VERY tame. She would come and let us pet her often. But, by looking just a little farther back, one would easily notice that she was starving, malnourished. Her stomach was like a balloon that just deflated, she hadn't eaten in a very long time.

Poor, poor pup... all of the adults concurred that she could not come home with anyone... not even for the night to take her to the NO-KILL-SHELTER tomorrow... we kids wanted to grab picket signs and go on strike. How can we just let her die?

Will she live long? I doubt it... and I know that sometimes it is wrong to doubt the Lord, to just doubt the good-nature of humanity, but when I looked into that sad, beautiful animal's tired eyes, I felt like she was abandoned by the world.

We all must remember, at all times in our lives, that we, as Christians and even as people together have a DUTY to protect one another... perhaps God gave us this poor animal so that we would learn NEVER to let one of our own, a person become so lost that they cannot be found.

Zach

Message in the rain...

Man... I just finished my homework and everything and it is 11:00 here (by the way, why is the blog clock wrong?)! So, I am goin crazy; I mean, I knew that these courses were gonna be difficult, but its the fourth day of school and I worked for about 4 and a half hours! This year is gonna be wack...

So, not only did I have crazy work, because of that, I was not able to see my cousins... oh well, they will be here for a while. I'll have plenty of time to hang out with them.

Yes, the day was full of work, yes, it got a little stressful, however, I thought it was really not that bad. I had a great time seeing friends again, hung out on a new bus and around horizon with Andrew and Janean... had a lot of fun. Then, I came home a little after 5 o'clock, and it started to pour rain! If that isn't odd enough for here, it was a sunny rain! The sun was bright shining the whole time... very weird. I tried to get some good photos of it to post, but the lighting only made it weird looking... oh well, just visualize it. haha.

But really, seeing the rain pour and the sun still shine, I thought about life, and about today. I think that God was sending me a message with the weather... The message is this: yes, we get stressed, yes, we can be bothered by obsolete, albeit bad, events, but GOOD can always shine through it all. One can find happiness in the darkest of situations. To see it embodied in that way really, really made me feel more determined... and that glimmer of hope shined through.

Zach

TEXT BOOKS!!!! AHHH!!!!

Yes... You can see the picture corectly... these are my textbooks for the year! I'm gonna go crazy! AHHHH! I am taking AP Stats (College Freshman Class), AP World History (College Freshman Class) which I really still need the college board book for, P/AP Chem, P/AP Algebra 2, and P/AP English 2! Then I've got Student Council, Golf, and Spanish... but, man... I've got some heavy courses this year... so, I should probably go do the homework!

Cousins here from Virginia cont. and more....

I'll try and continue where I left off...


These, we call the twins... Will, my 6th grade brother, and Lauren, my 5th grade cousin. They do EVERYTHING together when they are around each other. They even have their own "penguin language"... oh yes, it IS scary.




These kids can sure brighten up any bad day, as they have done for me several times when I needed it most.

Mongerr! I have to show you my dogs before I go further! This is Chelsea, my $350 mutt... haha, she was supposed to be a chihuahua, but, she wasn't.

She poses for pictures, haha....

And, chester... my other chichuahua, only this one is REAL. He actually is what he was bought for. He is gettin up in age, 6 or 42 depending on how you look at it.


He is a good dog to just keep with you, as he rarely moves around... cough LAZY cough cough...





And, this is Kate... my middle cousin. She will be a Freshman this year and she is very eager to have a good talk with anyone. She holds her family and friends VERY close.... she has a lil of the teenage drama syndrome, but who doesn't now a days?

Alexis, the eldest of the three, is much more like me when it comes to talking and thinking. She and I have gotten in many an argument, believe me... but I think that finally, we have gotten past that stage of competitiveness... hopefully.

She is 15, born 5 weeks and 3 days before me.

Cousins here from Virginia

Last Tuesday, my cousins from Virginia (on my dad's side) got into the Desert City. Since then, we've been up to no good having fun all around town...

Pictured here are Aunt Linda (dad's only sibling), Katie (my middle cousin on this side), Grandpa, Me (The shirt & tie was for church reading), and Uncle Nick.

Uncle Nick was teaching me all of these holds they used to use on inmates when he worked on the prisoner's dental stuff... of course, these would've only been used in the case of self-defense. This one is one that eventually you twist the wrist around and use very little tork to inflict pain shooting up the arm. Eventually, it would snap... It HURT.

Well, I gotta go catch the bus to school, I'll see if I can't finish this one later. And check back when you can, I plan to post SOMETHING at least once a day every day...

Zach

"Dark Knight" Thrills

I went to see "The Dark Knight" on Friday with some good friends; we got to the theater at 4:30 and didn't get into a movie until 7:00! I was stunned with the wait time alone! However, the movie was easily worth the wait! I am telling EVERYONE,my friends and family, to go and see this movie! Even if you aren't a fan of Batman, this movie is VERY enjoyable! I am recommending it to all of you!


The Joker... man is he a sociopath... this guy is CRAZY... but the way Ledger played the part, its stunning! A great role! The Joker will live as one of the great movie villains from now on.


So, no choice in the matter... GO see it! 4 stars USA Today, 4 stars People, 4 stars Entertainment Weekly, 4 Stars Roger Ebert! It has broken the records for single day and weekend opening at the box office! Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart... this film HAS the acting aspect.

In fact, go read this review... http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/REVIEWS/55996637 right now... it embodies the fact that with this film, the story is no longer really a comic book... written by Roger Ebert.

Best movie this year! And I am not hinting at anything here, but it is currently #1 on IMDB's all time list.... user reviewed... look if you dont believe me.


Zach

THE START

So, this is the beginning of my blog... I wonder how it will work. I hope well. I hope to make this all that any of you might hope for it to be. I hope to let all of you know exactly whats going on in my life day by day. I'll be leaving stuff on anything that I might have done that day or just feel like telling to you.

GOO COLTS!

Zach