My backyard

This morning while cleaning a bowl to eat my delectable Cap'n Crunch out of, I happened to gaze out my kitchen window.

I was admiring my back yard, and how it looked like a brisk fall day.

THEN, every single tree seemed to come alive with movement. Birds en masse my friends, tons and tons of birds.

They were flying everywhere.

I was like, "Oh, that's nice. Look at the little birdies." I mean I hate birds, I think they're terrifying. But on this occasion, with them being outside and me inside, they were ok.

THEN, I notice this squirrel hoping down my apple tree. Yes, hopping. Apparently squirrels hop everywhere, or at least this one did. (side note: I also hate squirrels.)

At this point in time I wondered where the hidden Disney princess was. I half expected one to waltz on out, and start enchanting all the little animals with song and dance. Then, said animals would invade my house and clean it.

That's all folks.

No, no small animals are cleaning my house.

On a serious note...

I don't normally write about too many serious things, but this is one issue that truly breaks my heart. Human trafficking.

What sparked this post was an article I just read yesterday about a major sex-ring bust right here in our very on U.S. of A.

For me it happened mainly in my own backyard. The Everett-Seattle-Tacoma area had the largest number of children rescued. 23 of the 69 child prostitutes were from this area.

Kind of scary to think about isn't it?

Up until about a year ago I didn't even know what human trafficking was. I thought it was smuggling people to be honest. Which is part of it, but not the whole story.

During my time in the Movement, down in LA, we'd get a variety of speakers coming to talk to us about random things. Sometimes it'd be ministries inside the Dream Center, or people coming to encourage us. The one that stuck with me the most was a lady from Oregon who talked to us about raising people's awareness of human trafficking.

There are five types of human trafficking:

1. Prostitution: by far the most wide spread, and well known.

2. Forced labor: kind of self explanatory, normally people come to the US looking for a better life, and are forced to "work off" the cost of the trip which was paid for by their employer. But the work never ends, they usually sleep, eat, and live all in the same place. They aren't usually allowed to leave, they're slaves basically.

3. Child soldiers: completely self explanatory.

4. Organ theft: by far one of the most elusive forms of human trafficking is the black market for stolen organs. Either the people are promised a large sum of money for their organ (usually a kidney), and are paid very little. OR they just take your organs by force if you either refuse the offer, or try to back out at the last minute.

5. Forced begging: think "Slumdog Millionaire." You know the scene where they're blinding the children. It's very sad, but very true. In many foreign countries this does happen.

Well, that's a little bit of a downer isn't it. I feel like it's good to know the facts. It's heartbreaking but it happens.

Now you're probably thinking what can I do about this? I know when I heard all this for the first time, I was couldn't help thinking, "Why have I never heard about this before?"

I was outraged, and sick to my stomach. I wanted to find a way to help, a way to make a difference.

Here's some people making differences. I encourage you to check out these websites, and see what people are doing to put an end to this horrible crime, and see about ways that you can get involved.

Stop the Traffik: http://www.stopthetraffik.org/

Not for Sale: http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

A21 Campaign: http://www.thea21campaign.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=132&Itemid=305&lang=en

Coffee Drinkers Unite!!! anyone... anyone???

This all started yesterday. I was talking to one of my friends, and she was telling me how lovely non-fat white mochas are. I told her that "Non-fat tastes like crap." She said "No it doesn't, it's just thinner milk."

I mean who knew that that was how they made non-fat drinks? I didn't know that they just used non-fat milk.

Back to my saga.

I decided that I had to try one of these. Just to see if she was really right. Purely for science of course...

So, this morning I had to drive my mother to work because I need the car so I can go to work.

Whilst I was driving back home, I thought to myself, "Self, there is a Starbucks on the way home. Let's do it!" And operation non-fat white mocha was born.

First of all getting into the jankey (for those of you who don't know the meaning of jankey, it's like saying something sucks, or is sketchy (for those of you who don't know what sketchy is, well there is no hope...)) little Starbucks parking lot is hard enough, but I did it. I was now parked. One step closer to coffee-dom.

I walk into the door foolishly expecting no one to be there. I mean for crying out loud it's almost 9:45. Don't these people have money to be making? Jobs to be doing? Bosses to be sucking up to?

I take my place in line. One step closer to coffee-dom.

I order. Almost there.

I pay. Even CLOSER!

The baristas are joking, laughing, having a great time. This always makes any coffee experience more enjoyable.

It seems like everyone in here is a regular. It makes me want to be a regular...

Anyway! On with the story!

So, one step left, just waiting for my drink. Muahahaha!

Well, it took them several minutes to make it, which is ok by me. I had plenty of time to people watch.

I have never seen so many wedge-shaped, clunky-heeled boots and shoes since the 90's! I mean come on now people.

As I look around it's an interesting mix of people. Lots of business professionals, some older ladies in their sweat-suits out doing their morning errands, and best of all this guy standing behind me who looked just like Bill Murray.

So, I finally get my drink. Mission SUCCESS!!!

Thank the Lord. Because by now I'm starting to feel very, very under-dressed.

I had just rolled out of bed. My hair is crazy, I'm in basketball shorts (thank God I shaved a day or two ago!), a nasty old sweatshirt, and Converse. I looked pretty glorious.

But I'm assuming, that everyone else assumed that I was just a UPS student. Hee hee...

My non-fat white mocha is delicious.

And thus concludes my story. Have a lovely day all.

Mmmm...

First and foremost, I would like to say that I love water. I think it is by far the most delightful liquid.

Well, when you're drinking it. I don't much care for swimming in it, or being caught out in the rain.

Now that that has been said. I have decided to run the Sound to Narrows this coming year. June 11, 2011. Here I come!

When you have double words (like the "that that" grouping in the previous statement) it really throws me off.

My parents are watching some show on Discovery Channel about bugs, but the cool part is that it is narrated by Oprah Winfrey. She has a very soothing narrating voice I must say. But now they have turned it off because they don't much care for her narrating voice...

Run, run, run

I have found a new addiction in life. Running.

I mean I have two real addictions here: Jesus and running... Well and this on again off again thing with playing my guitar.

I quite enjoy it. The feeling of your pulse pounding as your feet are pounding the pavement.

Feels good.

I've decided I want to run a marathon in the next year. Which sounds a little crazy to me when I sit and think about it.

Which is exactly why I can't sit and think about it. I must.

Like Yoda says to Luke, "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." (yes, I had to look it up to make sure I quoted it right... I'd hate to have a million little Star Wars nerds bustin' down my door...)

I feel that's the way most things in life are, or at least the most worthwhile ones.

Either you do it or you don't.

You may fall on your face. You may not. You never know if you don't do it.

But all this to say, I'm going to run a marathon. Heaven help us all. ;)

Fau-kets, and other such nonsense

Fau-ket: a fake pocket, usually seen in dress pants and some jackets. (term coined by a co-worker of mine).

I find these things to sincerely annoying. I usually rip them open because I try one too many times to stick my hand inside the non-existent pocket.

Or how about this a sestina. You may be wondering what exactly a sestina is. Well here I'll tell you.

In a traditional Sestina:

1. The lines are grouped into six sestets and a concluding tercet. Thus a Sestina has 39 lines.

2. Lines may be of any length. Their length is usually consistent in a single poem.

3. The six words that end each of the lines of the first stanza are repeated in a different order at the end of lines in each of the subsequent five stanzas. (This kind of recurrent pattern is "lexical repetition".)

4. The repeated words are unrhymed.

5. The first line of each sestet after the first ends with the same word as the one that ended the last line of the sestet before it.

6. In the closing tercet, each of the six words are used, with one in the middle of each line and one at the end.

I mean really, some bored poetry buff had nothing better to do with his time but sit around and think of these things. Now, I am forced to memorize this and be able to recognize it should it appear on my test. Well, I dare you to try and say "six six-line stanzas" five times fast. (The phrase "six six-line stanzas" being the only way I can remember what a sestina is.)

In other interesting news, I was at a Bible study tonight (don't hate, it's legit), we're doing the Beth Moore study "Breaking Free.'' Now, I think she was talking about family reunions or something. But that is not the point I wish to bring up. She was watching Oprah, and they were doing a world record breakers show. There was this lady who could fold herself into a suitcase AND zip herself inside in NINE SECONDS FLAT! Now that is impressive. Why or how you would ever want do that, I don't know.

Well folks that is all the random stuff that I had learned in the past week. Hope y'all feel enlightened.

Charity

Charity:

• a foundation created to promote the public good (not for assistance to any particular individuals)
• a kindly and lenient attitude toward people
• an activity or gift that benefits the public at large
• an institution set up to provide help to the needy wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• In modern usage, the practice of charity means the giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_(practice)

I feel like charities/charitable acts have been in the spotlight for the past couple of years. Down in LA I swear everyone owned at least one pair of TOMS, and drank out of eco-friendly metal water bottles. Everyone wants to end world hunger, fight AIDS/HIV in Africa, rebuild Haiti, and a multitude of other things. Now, please don't misunderstand me, I am all for all of these things. I think it's great that America's young people want to stand up and fight for something. I think it's great that businesses are getting involved. I am all for it. Going green (I own a cool eco-friendly metal water bottle), helping orphans, feeding the hungry.

But, what happens when it's no longer trendy? What is really motivating people's generosity? I don't mean to question every single person's motives, but is it really the want to do good and spread love that spurs us on. Or is it simply the cool thing to do?

I personally want to be involved in charitable organizations, and love the idea of them. But that's my heart. I love to help people. Yes, my awareness of what is going on in the world around me was in fact started by this fad. But I'm not going to fade out with the fad. It's not about doing what's cool or in, it's about doing what is right.

So, just think about it. Give yourself a little heart check. Will you fade out when it's not the cool thing anymore? Or has your heart been touched, and this is what you feel is right?

WOW

Ok, it really has been forever. To which I apologize.

I am home from LA.

Now I'm working on what comes next.

Anyway I'm really going to start blogging more often because well I'm nerdy like that.

I really like the enter key (it helps me feel organized in my thinking). In fact, I think that if you were to somehow split my brain open and see all my thoughts, they would be organized in nice little lines. All uniform and such.

That is just how it is.

Been a while...

First of all I would like to say I'm sorry that my posting has pretty much been non-existent. You see, all forms of blogging websites are blocked by the internet where I live, and I don't get out much to where I have internet that is unrestricted lol.
So there you go.
Hmm random things that have happened. Well, I have about two months left here in LA. I come home in August, but I'm hoping to come back for another year in September.
I have discovered a new love for oatmeal. It's kind of addicting, but the texture is so weird. But it fills me up so that is all that really matters.
It's been nice and sunny here. Ironically enough I haven't been to the beach once since the weather has been nice. I have been out in the sun though, and am sporting a lovely farmer's tan. Hopefully I can get rid of that sometime.
I drank chocolate milk the yesterday. You know since I played chocolate milk pong it just isn't the same.
I don't know what else to say.
Oh, I have given in to the twitter trend. If you really wish to know what I am doing and my thoughts on life follow me at @jensen182. Don't expect too much. Most people tell me I'm funny though.

Chocr olate Milk Pong

Probably one of the worst ideas ever. About a week or two ago I played chocolate milk pong with a group of people.... I drank a lot. I drank for other people, and then me and my partner lost so I drank some more... Moral of the story is I ended up throwing it all up.
Just don't do it my friends. Just don't do it.

About time...

It's about time I sat down and posted again.
So... Yesterday was the Oscar's. Me and some friends went drving around Hollywood in the hopes of seeing celebs but no such luck. Go figure, they had all the streets blocked off. Oh, well though it was something to do.
Then we went and drove around Beverly Hills. It's pretty nice up there you know.
What else to write about??
I'm officially half way done with the Movement. We had our mid-term last week. Basically you get tested over 100 scriptures. I passed with a 96.4%. Which is good seeing as failing is below 95%.
Man nothing else is really new.
Peace...

o.O

It's been a while, this I know. I've tried to find some internet to blog three times now, but sadly all three times it hasn't worked. Until now that is!
For some uknown reason the stupid computer is running so slow. It's updating itself, and decided that it needed to run SUPER slow. We're talking like snail mail slow here people.
I'm trying to think of what I have been up to. AAB yesterday was a lot of fun. There was this huge group from Cottonwood Church (I have no idea where it is). Their youth pastor was from Australia, like he's been here for only a couple of weeks. Anyway they came with our normal group to go pray for this lady. She has some lung diesease, and is bed-ridden. It was really cool becuase one of my fellow Movement students, Jessica, opened it up, and then opened it up for anyone who felt led to pray to pray. One of the Cottonwood kids was the first one to jump on that. What was so cool about it was I had heard him a few minutes before telling his friend how he didn't like knocking on the doors asking random people if they needed prayer because it threw him way out of his comfort zone. But there he was standing in this woman's living room praying for her healing.
Something I realized recently was how many homeless people you see wandering the streets. What really brought it to my attention was a comment my roommate's mom had made. She said, "Don't you ever wonder how so many people could have lost where they are going in life, and end up living on the street corners?" That got me to thinking, how do all these people end up like that? I mean I've noticed all the homeless, but it's never really hit home. They all have stories, they are all there for one reason or another. It's kind of heart-breaking driving around seeing all of them.
Me and two of my roommates went to Hollywood the other night. We went to this mall on the Walk of Fame, and there were all these strangely dressed kids. We found out that there was an Alice in Wonderland party thing, and if you dressed up you could go into Hot Topic and get free posters. I felt so at home with these kids. They were all emo/goth kids. It was pretty funny. I turned to my roommates and was like, "Now these be my people."
Random story, we took the Metro subway thing to Hollywood. My roomie only had a $20, and it's a $1.25 for a ticket. The stupid machine gave her $19 in change. Litteraly change, it was one dollar coins.
Those are about all the random stories that I can think of.

Doing something more....

http://www.therebelution.com/blog/
Here is a blog started by a couple of teenage boys when they were 16 or 17. I think they're 19 now. Regardless, they got sick of living the average teenage life, and decided that they wanted to try and make a difference in the world. They started this blog with the idea of writing about issues teenagers deal with, and having teenagers comment on them. These kids have done some amazing things. They helped run a political campaign, they have written a book, and now they go around holding conferences trying to inspire young people to do something.
I give mad props to these young men. Check them out. It kind of makes one envious thinking about what they have been able to accomplish. But then if you really stop to think about it, we all could be doing something like this. Most of us are just too lazy...

Mmm... Coffee...

Sorry about the random incomplete-ness of the last blog. I was at the place called Stories, and then my laptop died. Sadly there were no plug ins for my charger. I know story of my life... Just kidding...

Hmmm... So what has been going on with my life.

My roommate did some of my laundry yesterday. Then I did the rest of my laundry. Which was a super good thing; I had about three weeks of laundry backed up. Which was mostly my fault, but I was busy and one week the power was out. Washers and dryers do not work without power :(

Never fear the power is back on, and that is all behind us.

Now I'm sitting here, the coffee is gone, and I'm surfin' te web. It's pretty and sunny today. I love it. I keep trying to find a video of what we did at Pastor's school, or of the video promo for the Movement. But I can't find anything which is making me a little angry...

Oh well, it just keeps freezing my computer... so toodles for now

Stories...

I am at a coffee shop called Stories... It's pretty legit, I quite enjoy hanging out in coffee shops. Anyway I'm exhausted. We got back from Pastor's School this morning at around 5. I didn't get out of bed till one. Pastor's School for those of you who are wondering is this huge pastor's conference down at Tommy Barnett's church in Phoenix. It was so much fun.

Time... Where are you?

I'm currently at the library because that is one of the few places you can find free internet that works these days. I feel as if this month has completely flown by. Between classes, practices, and everything else. We have Pastor's School coming up in February, which is this huge pastor convention thing down in Phoenix. Which yes, that does mean I get to ride on a lovely cramped bus all the way there. Anyway the Movement puts on performences there, and I'm part of the rifle team. It's pretty legit... Hmmm what else... I miss home. It was rainy here for like a week straight. Reminded me of drizzly Washington. It's pretty after it rains though, you can see everything... Well I think my time is up and my friends are waiting to go...

Fundraiser

Hey everyone it's Pastor Matthew's 36 birthday. In honor of his birthday he is asking that anyone and everyone who can should donate $36 to the Dream Center. To pledge $36 you can text bday 36 to 27138. It won't come out of your cell phone bill. You will get three calls and you'll pay with your credit card. You can also e-mail the donations by going on to www.dreamcenter.org. You can also donate $10 by texting DREAM to 85944. That one will come out of your cell phone bill just so y'all know.
If you want to learn more about the dream center check out the promo video on YouTube. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh7RsZi1nRE
BTW I haven't posted in forever cuz lovely Blogger is blocked here now :(