Could've made soup...
My family's house is situated on a creek. Well, realtors call it a creek. It made the transition from natural creek to drainage ditch when the city of Plano decided to fill it in with concrete.
However, a creek's a creek. And with creeks comes the perfect habitat for a wide variety of critters. Commonly seen animals include owls, bats, ducks, the occasional coyote, and
possums.
Possums are perhaps the most disgusting rodent put on this earth. Our neighborhood is full of them. Before moving into this home, it was my understanding that possums were mostly nocternal. I believed that until I started seeing possums as big as cats frantically crossing the streets in broad daylight, with their 18" tails dragging behind them.
All this to say, I had quite an adventure last night. I got home at about 1AM and proceded to walk through the living room when I heard the sound of our blindes rustling against the window. My thought was "man, that's got to be a massive bug to be making all that noise".
I flipped on the light, and this is what I saw:
Please forgive the resolution. My cellphone posesses the Hubble Telescope of phone cameras. Regardless, that possum was in my house and had climbed half way up the blindes. I was ticked.
My mom has one of those telescopic reach'n'grab arms that pinch when you squeeze them. I used it to pinch the sucker around the middle. I think he figured the game was up--there was no playing dead, just spitting and hissing. I took him out back and threw him over the fence (he almost cleared it...his head nailed in iron bar on the way over) He didn't move upon landing, so I figured he was either trying to play dead or pretending death wasn't necessary. Unfortunately, he wasn't there this morning when I left the house.
Nasty little critter. This is MY house.
Samuel Jackson's not desperate!
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale--a tale of a fateful trip
that started from this local airport, aboard this 747 airship.
The lead was a mighty actin' man, the director, stinks he might.
168 passengers set sail that day, for a three hour flight, a three hour flight………
The producers started getting board , the tiny script was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the budget would be lost, the budget would be lost.
The film took ground on the production line with this uncharted company, with Samuel, David Ellis too, the Screenwriter and his gal; John Hefferman, the Director and Terry Chen, here on
SNAKES ON A PLANE!!
Unbelievable.When
Mike Hankins first told me about Samuel Jackson's new feature film, "Snakes On A Plane", I laughed for such a long time that my nose nearly started bleeding.
I never dreamed that this film would A. Be taken seriously B. Capture the attention of any kind of cast, producer, or director who'd actually want their names affiliated with it.
Little did I know that production was in the works. I nearly wet myself watching the trailor. Here's the back"story":
"On board a flight over the Pacific Ocean, an assassin, bent on killing a passenger who witnessed a crime, lets loose a crate full of deadly snakes." 
......Can you hear the crickets chirping? Unfortunately, no, because there's mass hysteria in pop culture waiting for the release of this movie. Heck, I almost feel sorry for the production team...I might have to see it as well---but I'm not paying $8.50 for it.....ever.
What's funny to me is that the script is reaching so hard to be taken seriously. It's going to be one of those films that Sci-fi loves to air on weekday mornings--complete with cheesy effects, an unknown supporting cast, and a beautiful woman who's most likely scantily dressed in order to make the film "worth watching".
The director, David Ellis, has made his living coordinating stunts for Disney movies. This will be his fifth film as director. His directing portfolio also includes the films "Cellular" and "Final Destination 2".
The screenwriters are John Heffernan and Sebastian Gutierrez. Gutierrez is obsessed with cheesy thrillers, and is reknown for his writing/directing of
Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature. For Heffernan, this will be his first time to work on a film directly. Wait, that's a lie...he designed the website for "Game Day". As you can see, both of these gentlemen have blossoming careers.
I'm only making fun of this film because it's so stinking funny. I mean, come on. If they would only concede and say "yeah, we're trying to have fun making weak thrillers", they would have audiences rolling on the floor, laughing
with them. Unfortunately, they view this kind of thing as good media, and as a result, I laugh
at them.
Do you remember when big production films were about delivering art, a story, a message, an idea, to their audience--and not about how much money they reaped in the process?
Me neither.
In the words of Jackson, Enough is enough--I've had it with the snakes. Sammy's never spoken truer words.
...and they're off.
It is amazing to me how days can seem full, yet in retrospect, feel completely unproductive.
This morning started with a Psych unit final. I woke up early (er) to get some extra cram soup on board. The test went well. My professor emailed me my grade later this afternoon...I ended up with an 88 on the test, leaving me with an overall grade of 88 as well. The test grade was the first time (and last opportunity, for that matter) this semester that I "beat" Allie! However, her final grade was a 90, giving her a shiny A and a platter full of bragging rights.
However! The curtain won't close until after I take an optional final, meaning that I can replace my lowest test grade. If I get a 90 on this final, I should get an A in the class as well. So, it's bottom of the ninth with two outs, and Allie's up by 3. Can I bust the grand slam? See tomorrow's Box Scores.
Outpatient therapy for my thumb offically began today. I am happy to say that they've got me in a much smaller splint than before. This one allows more movement and flexability, so I'm hoping progress will advance quickly. Needless to say, I'm an idiot who is now suffering the consequences. Please feel free to laugh, but DO NOT give me any sympathy.
After all these years with a clean driving record, the gavel nailed me in the face today. I got pulled over on my transit between the clinic and church. My inspection sticker was expired (Apr. 30th) and I didn't have a front-mounted license plate. After working at the office for a couple of hours, I drove by and got my inspection taken care of. Tomorrow I've got to go down to The Man's office at city hall and pay the $10 fine. I'm contemplating paying it in dimes....Gotta stick it to the Man!
Rangers won 6-4.
It Starts...
Well, my plans for mission bloggage revamp have begun. To me, the page looks pretty bare at the moment, but there's lots of stuff I have planned in the works. Keep checking back! I'm trying to prove something, remember?
When Steve saw that I had updated and that I was planning on actual keeping up with my blog, his comment was "It'll be a summer blog....".
Although I've never heard the term before, I knew
exactly what he meant. It's funny to me how much blogs have become a part of our culture. Steve thinks I'm going to date my blog for three months before a climatic breakup right as we go our different ways for college. Well, time will tell. All I can think about are the songs from Grease, though.
I'm excited about this Sunday. The Wildlife Worship band (WLW) is leading worship at the Baptism ceremony. The team worked hard at practice to choose a variety of songs that would be well known and relevant for the evening. This will be their first time to play in front of a larger group, especially a group that consists of adults. I think this opportunity is a great way to end the semester.
The next two weeks contain a whole lot of things that demand my full attention, including school, Baptism, the Luau, and Mission Festivus. I'm excited about all these things (well, as excited as I can be about school)...but I have a tendency to fall into a day-by-day mode when stress increases. Your prayers are greatly appreciated...I know that many of you are equally as stressed with school and work as well, so please let me know how I can be praying for you.
I'm particularly worried about my five finals beginning Monday. This past week, I took two brutal tests for a class that greatly affects my odds at getting into the program I'm going for. The final (on Thursday) will be a huge determinant of my grade. This is absolutely crucial in my mind, and so the priority is extremely high. I just hope I'll be enabled to reach all my goals and surpass my responsibilites to school and church without settling for mediocre.
That's all I got.
...Believe it!
Oh yes. This is an update. If you'd like to hear an absolutely ridiculous version of the Hallelujah Chorus in MIDI format,
click here.
You may be pondering what brings me back to a seemlingly abandoned blog. Well, if it wasn't for the support of my faithful readers, I'd..yada yada ya....
No, really. In order to tell you
why I've returned in a somewhat Prodigal Son fashion, I must first tell you a few main reasons (not excuses) as to why it's been a while.
- When I first began posting on the Training Grounds, I didn't really have a good concept concerning what a blog was really for. I feel like I totally burned myself out trying to produce something, as opposed using this site as a forum for my actual self.
- Because of this burn out, priorities were altered. I started pouring my spare blogging time into the Wildlife's worship team site (which, in all modesty, I'm proud of)
So, in sum, I basically caused myself to lose a desire in moderating this site due to my lack of knowledge regarding what it was actual for.
For the past couple of months, I have become a blog roadie of sorts. I like to check out the blogs of Steve, Mike, and Eric a whole lot. I've gained tons of insight as to how to utilize this forum to represent my thoughts, whether deep, random, stupid, funny, etc. I'm excited now about the new possibilities that I have.
Which leads to this: The total revamp of Training Grounds. I am currently working on a new face for this blog, including aspects such as asthetics, styles, and guaranteed updates!
I know what you're thinking..."I'll believe it when I see it". That's cool, and totally your right. I haven't exactly proven myself otherwise. However, if that is truly your mindset, then it is my goal to prove to you otherwise. The gauntlet has been set!
Believe it!
Please forgive the resolution. My cellphone posesses the Hubble Telescope of phone cameras. Regardless, that possum was in my house and had climbed half way up the blindes. I was ticked.
