so all the cool kids will be at

old fort park tonight

around 7

bring something (chips/cookies)

and/or

$2-3 for pizza

it's gonna rock out, hos.

so over the course of the week i spent tucked away in the middle of nowhere, tn, with a bunch of other memphis freshmen i have discovered a few very important things:

1. the word "hungry" does not exist in their dialect. if you are in need of food, you are "HON-gray." always.

2. if you see a group of black people running . . . you should probably run, too.

3. my grammar skills are worthless against their sheer numbers. after only one week i sound different. imagine a semester. o_O

i also mastered several dance moves, even progressing far enough in my skills to be allowed to join a group of dancing black people.

i am going to be sooooo ghetto . . .

I think that everyone has a little piece of God in them; everyone has some aspect of His character that they are meant to present to you in your life.

Some people are joy. When they enter the room you can’t help but to return their smiles.

Some people are peace. With their arms around you the world disappears and everything is at rest.

Some people are strength. They will lend you a shoulder or carry you for as long as you need.

Some people are love. There is nothing that you can do to make them stop loving you.

Everyone is different, but I think that sometimes you will find that their gifts are the same . . . and we often surround ourselves with those who emanate the qualities that we have the greatest need for.

We’re all hopelessly interconnected.

So while I am gone this week I want you to look for the pieces of God in the people around you. Who is wisdom? Forgiveness? Love?

Who am I?

Who are you?

i've been thinking about funerals a lot lately. particularly my own.

as morbid as it sounds, have you ever thought about that? if you got to watch your own funeral, what would it look like? who would be there? what would people say?

i have a t-shirt that says, "live your life so that the preacher won't have to lie at your funeral."

will the preacher have to lie at yours?

i wonder about mine.

i'm going to do better, though. i promise.

lastly, i have a few requests for my funeral. so just to put these out there:

#1. i want to be buried in white. i also want everyone who comes to wear white instead of black.

#2. i want the songs "i'll fly away" and "swing low, sweet chariot" sung. not some modernized or saddened version. i want them in all their gospel splendor.

#3. i want to be buried in tennessee. i don't care where i end up in life, tennessee is home and always will be. i'm proud of my state and her history and i want my body to end up where it began.

i hope this post wasn't too depressing for you. just some stuff that's been on my mind.

i love you.

do you have any specific funeral requests?

do you believe in fairy tales?

do you believe in knights on white horses, damsels in distress, prince charming, or maidens locked away in tall towers?

do you believe in dragons and fairies?

do you believe in happy endings?

do you believe in love at first sight?

do you believe in purity, virtue, and self-sacrifice?

do you believe in helping those who need it, putting others before yourself, and the power of love?

do you believe in love at all?

do you believe in angels, demons, or the devil?

do you believe in the bible and the saints?

do you believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the dead, and one holy Church?

do you believe in God?

santa claus?

the tooth fairy?

maybe children aren't so innocent,

maybe the innocent aren't so naive,

and maybe the naive are the wisest of all.

shave it?

-or-

keep it?

ah, cheers at public universities in the city of memphis . . . there's nothing like them.

i love that city.

it's got more life, energy, and feeling than anywhere else that i have ever been in my life . . .

3 out of every 5 radio stations play only rap. with maybe a little bit of hip-hop.

and the best part?

as of right now, i have NO roommate. you know what that means . . .

there will (most likely) be a free bed for you when you come to visit me in my ghetto-fabulous city.

holla!

off to memphis for orientation.

i'll be back late tuesday, so i'll see you kids on wednesday.

don't have too much fun without me.

*edit*

on a side note, i hate stupid people and radicals (on either end of the spectrum).

brian: "look! the eiffel tower!"

cameron: "look! shanties!"

xavier: "no, cameron, it's france . . . they're shantés!"

---

xavier: "what? you don't play with wet napkins?"

---

movie: "someone was hiding in the closet . . . but why?"

kelly: "well, why are most people in the closet?"

*shaban and i turn and stare*

kelly: "yeah. i just went there."

---

*movie paused with shot of hula dancer's butt*

shaban: "no touchie!"

---

cameron: "we just toasted a nudist colony . . ."

---

*sparkling grape juice shoots out of my nose*

---

me: "cameron! stop going through my drawers!"

---

and that's really all that i can remember . . . anyone else got some?

so the only reason i used that title is because it meant that i could use a c with the cedilla on the bottom. woopt. but yeah . . .

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY!!!

what a great holiday . . . the french actually won a battle! of course, they were fighting themselves . . . but still. you have to give them some credit.

*waves a small french flag while humming "la marseillaise"*

*ahem*

VIVE LA FRANCE!!!

[go france!!!]

*EDIT*

okay, so we lost. i think i was the only person in the world who wanted france to win. oh well. we can always wait 4 years . . . maybe brazil will stay in it then.

zidane was a jerk . . . i was happy that the coach didn't let him out of the lockerroom to get his little medal.

italians we approve of: mauro camaronesi and gennaro gattuso.

i might start following soccer now . . .

every so often

who you are

has to fight with

who you were

to find out

who you will be

and usually

the blood must run

until you find out

that it's all really

your own.

it's coming.

pirates of the caribbean 2: dead man's chest.

and really bad eggs . . .

drink up, me hearties, yo ho!

yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for meeee . . .

savvy?

well, this is my first 4th of july without either of my grandfathers.

i miss both of them, but they did leave me something:

their stories.

i remember stories about getting seasick on a transport across the south pacific, being one of the first troops to land in japan, and crying at the sight of an utterly demolished hiroshima.

i remember stories about pulling unconcious shipmates from the inside of a burning ship . . . and going back inside 4 more times to look for more.

i remember stories about giant killer mosquitos, mail call, and air raids.

and i remember the story of a best friend being shot down over vietnam.

and do you know what?

i'm proud.

of my grandfathers, my family, and my country.

and i hope you're proud, too.

have a wonderful 4th of july.

and, if you still have your grandfathers, give them a big hug (for me).

so . . .

if you found a lamp . . .

rubbed it . . .

and a genie popped out . . .

what would your three wishes be?

i have freakin' mono.

i would just like to fall over dead, now.

and right before potc2, too . . .

maybe i'll get better . . . SOON.

(you should pray for me)

yesterday was 30 hours long for me. no joke. stupid time zones.

and my first words back on US soil?

"grande mocha frappuccino, please."

three cheers for the starbucks in the cincinnati airport.

and now that i'm here? yeah, i'm sick. REALLY sick. as in, the doctor told me i should go to the hospital sick. but i really don't want to go to the hospital, so i don't have to go if i feel better by tomorrow.

i really hope i feel better.

but yeah, i had a great time across the pond and i have a few pictures on a cd somewhere (i haven't unpacked yet . . . ha), so i'll tell you all about it as soon as i get off my death bed.

ciao for now,

the brian