Thoughts from the Night
I know, it's late, but I've wanted to update my blog for a few days and I can't stand to wait until later today to do it. (Ha, I wanted to say tomorrow... but it is already today... wow)
The last few days have been, wow. Sometimes really good, sometimes really hard. Through it all I've felt God has especially blessed with His presence. Even though I have it very good, I feel I would be very miserable without Him.
Some things I did over spring break... I saw a cool Chinese exhibit in Dallas. China allowed a bunch of stuff from the Forbidden City to come to Chicago and Dallas. It was a number of artifacts from the time of China's last great emperor, which was the latter 1700's. This fellow was Emperor Queenlong. Geoff, David and I got to see his royal clothes, his spears, his throne, his shrines, his eating utensils, all kinds of stuff. It was highly ornate and some of it was flat-out amazing.
Bah, my feet are cold. It's SOCK TIME.
Much better. Where was I. As yes, Mister Queenlong.
The man was a genius. He ruled 300 million people, he wrote poetry, he had a deep understanding of politics, he was a skilled hunter and martial artist, and spoke 4 languages. He intentionally cut his reign short and named a successor after 60 years of rule, out of respect for his grandfather, who had reigned 60 years.
He married his childhood sweetheart at the age of 17 (she was 15). Later in life, he had 40 wives, but she was always his first love. When Queenlong's mother died, he got essentially all the gold in China at the time, which wasn't much apparently, and had it used for a shrine on his mother's grave. Talk about a kingly gift.
So anyway, that's your history lesson for the day. It was a way cool exhibit.
I already mentioned Phantom of the Opera. I wanna see it again. I played the soundtrack earlier this evening and if my roomies weren't so used to me singing all the time, they'd think it was weird I was singing this stuff while I cleaned the room. :D
All through break, I was dying to know if I had gotten that Heritage Foundation internship. Quick review for those who don't know what that is: the Heritage Foundation is basically a conservative think tank. They have researchers and statisticians and all kinds of people who help make policy and are basically a resource for Republicans at the Capitol.
Well, they said they'd make the decision about summer internships on March 15, and let you know the decision no later than a week after that. So all of spring break I was hopping up and down on one foot impatiently waiting on the response. I checked my cell phone and e-mail multiple times every day (even more than normal) and my CPO as often as I could, when I was at school.
Finally, on Tuesday night, I had still heard nothing via phone or e-mail. I should've gotten something at least by the day before, so I was all bummed. The fact that I'd heard nothing until late in the week did not bode well for me. Geoff tried to comfort me as I took out my frustration.
"Ah dude... when will those freaking people ever call me. Surely they didn't just lose my application?"
"I'm real sorry man. You should've gotten something by now?"
"Yeah. This stinks."
"Did you check your CPO today?"
I stared blankly at him for a few seconds, astounded that I had been stupid enough not to check my mailbox for the last few days.
"Oh. Yeah."
So I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door without bothering to even put on shoes. I was somehow more and more confident as I walked that there would be a letter there, just waiting while I had banged my head on the wall in my room for 3 days.
I approached my mailbox somehow already sure that I hadn't gotten the internship. That suspicion had been growing for a while, and so before even looking in my mailbx, I leaned my head on the wall, closed my eyes and prayed "Lord, I want to give my summer to you. I don't think I got this internship, but that doesn't matter if that's not what You want. Help me to be at peace with whatever You have for me."
I opened the box, and there were two envelopes. One contained this...
[abridged slightly]
The Heritage Foundation, Leadership for America
March 15, 2005
Mr. Joshua Jones,
Thank you for applying for an internship with The Heritage Foundation. Unfortunately, we will be unable to offer you an internship position with us this summer. This year, we received over 400 applications for 60 slots. Due to the large number of applications, we were unable to accept many well-qualified applicants.
We wish you the best as you continue to seek summer learning opportunities.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Williams
Intern Coordinator
I nodded. Well, that was more or less expected.
The other envelope was a very sweet card from my mom, basically thanking me for helping procure some pictures for my sister's graduation. I won't reprint it here, but it was just what I needed -- and thanks Mom. :-)
So after all that, my summer is very available for... whatever! Let the search begin. Ha! :D
In other news... I think the cat is out of the bag on this one. Courtney Lemmond got this crazy idea to take Dr. Johnson to a Rangers vs. Red Sox baseball game in late April, so she invited the whole historical society if anyone was interested. I thought why not, so we got tickets. Should be much fun. Dr. Johnson is a true blue Texan, but for some reason I've forgotten, he has intense Red Sox loyalties. I'll be sure and wear my Texas Rangers baseball cap. :D
I finally sat down tonight and looked at my academic schedule. I'm in the maddening position of having too many classes for an early graduation, but not quite enough classes to truly hold me here for a total of 4 years.
I could graduate in 3.5 years (yes, even after that "wasteful" first year as a mechanical engineer) if I do something academic with my summers.
I have many questions for my academic advisor tomorrow, as you can tell. :D Dr. Johnson is my advisor by the way... will have to poke fun at the Red Sox when I go in...
What after LeTourneau? No idea yet. One possible option? This would be kinda cool.
Well... it's 4 AM. Should probably go to bed soonish. Short week this week. Means more time to do all that homework right? Mmmmmm. ;-)
The last few days have been, wow. Sometimes really good, sometimes really hard. Through it all I've felt God has especially blessed with His presence. Even though I have it very good, I feel I would be very miserable without Him.
Some things I did over spring break... I saw a cool Chinese exhibit in Dallas. China allowed a bunch of stuff from the Forbidden City to come to Chicago and Dallas. It was a number of artifacts from the time of China's last great emperor, which was the latter 1700's. This fellow was Emperor Queenlong. Geoff, David and I got to see his royal clothes, his spears, his throne, his shrines, his eating utensils, all kinds of stuff. It was highly ornate and some of it was flat-out amazing.
Bah, my feet are cold. It's SOCK TIME.
Much better. Where was I. As yes, Mister Queenlong.
The man was a genius. He ruled 300 million people, he wrote poetry, he had a deep understanding of politics, he was a skilled hunter and martial artist, and spoke 4 languages. He intentionally cut his reign short and named a successor after 60 years of rule, out of respect for his grandfather, who had reigned 60 years.
He married his childhood sweetheart at the age of 17 (she was 15). Later in life, he had 40 wives, but she was always his first love. When Queenlong's mother died, he got essentially all the gold in China at the time, which wasn't much apparently, and had it used for a shrine on his mother's grave. Talk about a kingly gift.
So anyway, that's your history lesson for the day. It was a way cool exhibit.
I already mentioned Phantom of the Opera. I wanna see it again. I played the soundtrack earlier this evening and if my roomies weren't so used to me singing all the time, they'd think it was weird I was singing this stuff while I cleaned the room. :D
All through break, I was dying to know if I had gotten that Heritage Foundation internship. Quick review for those who don't know what that is: the Heritage Foundation is basically a conservative think tank. They have researchers and statisticians and all kinds of people who help make policy and are basically a resource for Republicans at the Capitol.
Well, they said they'd make the decision about summer internships on March 15, and let you know the decision no later than a week after that. So all of spring break I was hopping up and down on one foot impatiently waiting on the response. I checked my cell phone and e-mail multiple times every day (even more than normal) and my CPO as often as I could, when I was at school.
Finally, on Tuesday night, I had still heard nothing via phone or e-mail. I should've gotten something at least by the day before, so I was all bummed. The fact that I'd heard nothing until late in the week did not bode well for me. Geoff tried to comfort me as I took out my frustration.
"Ah dude... when will those freaking people ever call me. Surely they didn't just lose my application?"
"I'm real sorry man. You should've gotten something by now?"
"Yeah. This stinks."
"Did you check your CPO today?"
I stared blankly at him for a few seconds, astounded that I had been stupid enough not to check my mailbox for the last few days.
"Oh. Yeah."
So I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door without bothering to even put on shoes. I was somehow more and more confident as I walked that there would be a letter there, just waiting while I had banged my head on the wall in my room for 3 days.
I approached my mailbox somehow already sure that I hadn't gotten the internship. That suspicion had been growing for a while, and so before even looking in my mailbx, I leaned my head on the wall, closed my eyes and prayed "Lord, I want to give my summer to you. I don't think I got this internship, but that doesn't matter if that's not what You want. Help me to be at peace with whatever You have for me."
I opened the box, and there were two envelopes. One contained this...
[abridged slightly]
The Heritage Foundation, Leadership for America
March 15, 2005
Mr. Joshua Jones,
Thank you for applying for an internship with The Heritage Foundation. Unfortunately, we will be unable to offer you an internship position with us this summer. This year, we received over 400 applications for 60 slots. Due to the large number of applications, we were unable to accept many well-qualified applicants.
We wish you the best as you continue to seek summer learning opportunities.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Williams
Intern Coordinator
I nodded. Well, that was more or less expected.
The other envelope was a very sweet card from my mom, basically thanking me for helping procure some pictures for my sister's graduation. I won't reprint it here, but it was just what I needed -- and thanks Mom. :-)
So after all that, my summer is very available for... whatever! Let the search begin. Ha! :D
In other news... I think the cat is out of the bag on this one. Courtney Lemmond got this crazy idea to take Dr. Johnson to a Rangers vs. Red Sox baseball game in late April, so she invited the whole historical society if anyone was interested. I thought why not, so we got tickets. Should be much fun. Dr. Johnson is a true blue Texan, but for some reason I've forgotten, he has intense Red Sox loyalties. I'll be sure and wear my Texas Rangers baseball cap. :D
I finally sat down tonight and looked at my academic schedule. I'm in the maddening position of having too many classes for an early graduation, but not quite enough classes to truly hold me here for a total of 4 years.
I could graduate in 3.5 years (yes, even after that "wasteful" first year as a mechanical engineer) if I do something academic with my summers.
I have many questions for my academic advisor tomorrow, as you can tell. :D Dr. Johnson is my advisor by the way... will have to poke fun at the Red Sox when I go in...
What after LeTourneau? No idea yet. One possible option? This would be kinda cool.
Well... it's 4 AM. Should probably go to bed soonish. Short week this week. Means more time to do all that homework right? Mmmmmm. ;-)
I wish I could write like you dude. Or maybe I just need a life...
That so totaly rocks about Señor Queenlong, makes me wish I was taking more than english and fundamental skills classes next semester (then again, if I could register at all right now that'd be pretty good!). Keep up the good bloging and next time we oughta get togeather to see PTO live. Mmmm, broadway.
You should totally consider NZ...it rocks there :-P
hehe.
(Psss: don't listen to abbey, josh, nz's tooooo far away.)