The Chronicles of Blake – Volume XCI

Well Hey There and Howdy Doody All My Newsletter Frens!!!

Yes, it has been awhile, and people are rioting for their Newsletters. And I had better start out by saying that the reason I haven’t sent out a Newsletter in the past 3 weeks is NOT because I am now dating! The reason is very simply that… well, you will see when you read on.

Quote: I must start out by giving a quote from Andy Korb, one of my roommates from last year. He had just received my Birthday Newsletter, then the next day he passed me by the GGG while he was on a cell phone. I waved to him and smiled a big smile, and he put the phone to the side for a second and told me,
“There’s something about you that makes me laugh very very hard.” Then he said, “Elephant jokes…. What….?” And walked on. So apparently my elephant jokes were much appreciated.

Was That Really Necessary? – So I saw Andy on my way over to the Post Office to pic up a package. I had ordered a memory card from Amazon.com, and it was about time that it came in. So I got the package there, and it was a box that was about 8 inches by 10 inches, and about 4 inches thick. I was like, “OK…” I started unpacking it and found that there was a lot of air-wrap filling the whole box, a receipt, and the actual card in case, which was actually only about 1 inch by 1.5 inches. And I was confused.

Free Chicken and Coke – Speaking of things in the mail, this year is Chick-Fil-A’s 40th Birthday (for all ye northerners, it’s a rather large chicken restaurant place with decent food down here), and they had a deal on freechickenandcoke.com that the first 1 million people to request it, they would send coupons for a free chicken sandwich and medium pop. So mine came in this week, and I plan to use them. Mmmmm…

So anyhow…

The Rest of My Birthday – So the last Newsletter I sent out was on my Birthday… early in the morning. I went on as usual throughout the day, then after work I planned to meet Erika and Nikki and Clayton at Fastbreak at the DFH (Field House). So they eventually came along, and we enjoyed Pizza and Pop and scrumdidliumptious ice cream candy bars. And my Birthday Present? (something I have been seeking after for some time…) SCRUBS!!! They are wonderful! In fact, I am wearing them right now as I type this letter. My new ensemble consists of a black top and orange pants with a lime green stripe going down the sides and a green drawstring. SWEET! They are very comfortable and cool. In fact, every guy on my hall is jealous except for Seth Martin, who told me that he wishes to never see me in them again. Then I went to a campus leadership seminar with Clayton then we all played a crazy game of Life, followed with a little time with Erika. We didn’t have any homework for the next day (well I didn’t), since it was the Day of Prayer. It was a very happy Birthday.

Then that night the Collegian staff prepared to celebrate my birthday with a party in the Collegian office. Only… I never came in. So as my friend Dan related the situation to me, “Yeah, we just sat there eating food and thought ‘I hope Blake is having a good birthday.’”

Then I got packages from home, Grandma and Keith, and the Glendennings. So now I have a great supply of many things, especially Twizzlers, nuts, Reese’s products, and much more wonderful food!

FIRE!!! – One night there was a fire drill in my dorm (Graves). So, of course, I quickly got into my scrubs and a beanie. Then I grabbed the essentials: my rubber chicken, a picture of Erika, Twizzlers, and the “Cuddly Dudley” book that Kaylee sent me but told me that I have to give it back to her when I am done with it. So, I didn’t want THAT to be ruined in the fire. So of course, I made a video of the whole event… again. Just watch. If there is ever an actual fire drill, I am going to be making a video of that too!

Convenience – I have found a newer and more convenient way of doing my laundry. All these years I have been doing it on Saturday, but for some reason this year the laundry rooms have been extra packed on Saturdays. So… I decided to do my laundry on Tuesdays! So I put my clothes in the washer during the 10:00 hour, then head over to chapel at the end of the hour and put them in the dryer on the way over. Then I go to chapel and on the way back pick up my laundry. It is a good deal, unless you are also trying to carry your grab-n-go lunch with you. Then it is acrobatics. But I made it all the way back to Graves from Johnson without spilling anything. Now I just eat it before I take it over. Problem solved.

You Just May NOT Believe This! – On the 2nd of October they came again… the VAMPIRES! They came in on their vehicles cleverly disguised as busses and called “Blood Vessels.” The BLOOD CONNECTION! AAAAA!!! So Erika got really excited. Not that she could have the chance to give blood (because she cannot), but because it was another chance for ME to give blood. For some strange reason she sees this as attractive or something. So I walked past those busses with dread and never went on them, but on Tuesday I went in after work (and before supper) and let them poke away and steal my blood! Well, this time wasn’t nearly as bad as last time. I never once looked at my arm and never felt faint or queasy. The closest I felt this was when they started poking the arm of a girl sitting across from me. They weren’t sticking a needle in, just poking it with their fingers looking for a spot to stick the needle, but it made me a bit queasy. But no fainting, no ice packs, no smelling salts stuck beneath my nose… All I did was drink Dr. Pepper and eat Little Debbies. (you know, have you ever thought about how cannibalistic that sounds?) Then I walked outside and Erika (who was supposed to meet me at dinner) was waiting outside for me. This all took place on our 8-month dating anniversary, October 3rd. She was very impressed (a pretty good motivator on top of the shirt and the food :) Then we ate supper.

A Major Theme – I have been noticing something this semester. I mentioned earlier that I am working on a sermon on Romans 3:21-26, and am totally enjoying it! But I have been noticing this theme of the Cross over and over again. I don’t know if it really is coming up more or if my ears just perk up when I hear anything about it. But recently I heard another really good sermon on the cross from Dr. Olinger. It is really transforming my life and making me look at so many things in a different light. I am just so humbled every time I think that God sees me as righteous, even though I am not, because I am in Christ. God sees Christ instead of me. This doesn’t mean that I should sin all the time because I can, but rather, it humbles me and hurts me to know that my sins put Christ on the cross. I don’t completely understand everything that was involved in Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, and I never will, but I am eternally grateful to God for His awesome plan!

I Caught A Big One! – Tim, my roommate, works night custodial. So one night I set a trap for him reminiscent of the traps I set for Micah my freshman year: I leaned a chair against the door so that it was about to tip over, then I put many loose objects right underneath it that make a large noise when they fall. So I fell asleep and Tim eventually comes CRASHING IN RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! It was so rude of him to make all that noise and wake us all up! I couldn’t believe the nerve he had in doing so. So I opened my blanket and told him to be a bit quieter next time he came in the room. He has been quieter since.

They Still Recognize Me – These past 2 weeks I have been seeing a few of my campers from this summer again! I have already seen Michael Vicas in the academy around, but the past few weeks I saw Matt Cahill on the GGG (I thought I recognized him at first, but wasn’t sure, then we both gave each other a double take and sure enough we were), Paul Nifenecker while he was on a backstage tour at Rodeheaver and he observed me “working.” I caught up with both of them later (Erika and I even did dinner with Paul). Then at a meal I saw John Naselli, another one of my great campers from this summer. It was pretty cool to see that they would still associate with me after all I put them through.

NEWSLETTER AWARD – This week’s Oohiateoomaniwing Award goes to my roommate Woody for eating 100 chicken wings (spicy and regular) at a local restaurant. It was great fun to see him stretched out on the floor groaning from the fullness and laughing about his accomplishment. This truly is a feat that I have never seen before, but he accomplished it and reaped its consequences for the next few hours. In order to win this award, the accomplishee should do something totally random and/or spectacular. Woody did both. Congratulations Woody, enjoy the Oohiateoomaniwing Award. Spend all the prize money on something besides chicken.

Speaking of Woody, one night during room prayer group Tim and I were in the room and starting when we noticed Woody was nowhere in sight so we started looking in the hall, talked about where he could have been, talked about him (in a good way), etc. I started to share something I had learned in my devotions for about a minute or two, when I looked 1 foot above Tim’s head and saw WOODY! He had been sound asleep the whole time in his bed on the top of the double. Funny, that was the one place we failed to look. Uhhh… yeah.

Dating Outing Prep – I was EXTREMELY busy the past few weeks because of the upcoming dating outing on the 6th. I was in charge of 2 major things: A Stonehenge replica for pictures and the t-shirts. Here is a snippet about the interesting events that surrounded them both:

Stonehenge – I had this sweet idea in my mind that I wanted to see in a Stonehenge. I will prevent myself from describing it all to you (but you can see a pic of it in one of the pictures), but I had one problem… no money for it. Not that it wasn’t allowed, but I wanted to see if I could do it. So I whipped out my McGyver skills and set to work. Ken Apple helped out the first night when I cut the large pieces of cardboard (courtesy of the dining common) into the correct shapes and I folded and duct-taped large crinkled pieces of paper on a few of them. The next night I had two great helpers, David and Eric. These are 2 deaf guys from my society, and are a lot of fun. I did not know sign language, but we got the job done quickly and efficiently. Those guys are awesome. Then I spray-painted the Stonehenges (I did buy the paint), and stapled them to scrap wood from stage for stability. And VOILA! STONEHENGES! They were a big hit at the outing and now they reside as decoration in my room.

Totally Sweet Shirts – SO I have been working on the shirts for quite some time, and was SUPER excited to get them in. On Thursday they were delivered and I loved how they turned out! Then on Friday night… I had to fold them all. BUT not just fold them, SORT them by couple! We had no time planned for t-shirt distribution planned at the outing, so we had to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible. We had 58 couples going, and I just started working on it at 11:00 PM. Woody walked into the room and saw me on the floor with 130 t-shirts all around me, observed me looking at the list, picking out the correct size and gender type of each shirt, folding them, rolling them together, putting a rubber band on them, and putting the last name of the guy on them. He asked, “How long have you been doing that?” I said, “About 10 minutes.” He looked at the 5 rolls in the box and said, “Oh Blake! That’s too much to do in one hour!... I’ll be right back.” So he went into the hall and came back with 2 guys. Woody quickly organized a system where he would read the list and pick out the shirts, give them to the 2 guys who would fold them and roll them together, giving them to another guy who would rubber band and tag them and put them in the box. With this ingenious system we got the shirts ALL done in 40 minutes! Thank you Billy, Caleb, and Woody for all your help. I couldn’t have done it without your selfless help! They all get a 2nd Newsletter Award… The Helpnabrutherout Award.

The Actual Dating Outing – The dating outing went REALLY well! We had it all: a fresh-roasted pig, a great meal, authentic Highland Celtic music, a wet waterballoon (and HAND-HOLDING game :), a caber tossing contest (log throw) (date against date), a paint-a-pig-crest game thing, a stone toss competition (date against date), pictures with Stonehenge, T-Shirts, a great humorous dialogue by Robbie May, etc. Only I enjoyed something more than anyone else: I had the cutest date there! (this is where all the girls say “awwwww….” and all the guys say “give me a break”) Needless to say, I had a great time, the weather was perfect despite a prediction of showers, and it was a great dating outing to call my last! And I think Erika had a good time too. She wasn’t too thrilled about my kilt, though. (just kidding… I did not wear a kilt despite the celtic theme)

After the Outing – After we got back from the dating outing, Erika and I went to dinner with the Alexanders (Ediee, Emily, Hanna) and the wannabe Alexander (Danielle). Dinner with them is always fun and we don’t do it enough. We came to a startling realization that the last time we did a dinner together was when Erika and I came back from the dating outing last year! Strange…. I don’t remember if anything TOTALLY strange stood out this time…. It will prolly come later. And… Emily didn’t eat cake.

Speaking of… - TWO of those Alexanders returned later for a crazy encounter! I was in the nice quiet painting lab, enjoying the little thinner-scented world I was in, when suddenly Emily and Hannah Alexander and Cynthia and Alyssa Gomez (the Gomi) appeared in the room (a dangerous combo). I don’t even think I remember them walking in. They just appeared. So I gave them a little tour of my paintings and they were... how can I understate this?... psycho!... In a happy way. They stuck around for a little while, made me laugh, and disappeared. The room was quiet again and I was glad that nothing was broken. :D

Gaston Spirit Week – This was also Gaston Spirit Week, and I participated whole heartedly! The theme was (get this) “Getto Gaston Girl.” This title was made to improve the image of the girls in that dorm, or something. So anyhow, Erika got me a pin. (oh, and Erika thought it was kinda strange… well, I’ll give her that) So Wednesday was “Bring Your Stuffed Animal To Class Day.” So I brought Snuggles the Puppy and Erika brought Edwin the Penguin. It were fun. I had a few people question why I was participating in Spirit Week for a girls’ dorm, and my answer? Well, I didn’t have a really good answer “WHY.” But so goes my life.

Graves 220 Quote of the Week - “Check it out… My mousse looks like a fat lazy penguin!” - Blake

PICTURES!!!



1) This is a picture of me with Erin and Stephen Jones at a party at their house. Dr. Jones said… Ummm… actually I forgot what he told me.



2) MY SCRUBS!!! This is a picture of me Scrubbin' after I returned from the fire drill with all my valuables. My head looks kinda swollen or something because I was moving when the picture was being taken.



3) This is Erika at the dating outing with my Stonehenge in the background. If it weren’t for the trees in the background, it is almost like the real thing! :)



4) This is Erika and me making cookies at Tim and Ashley’s house a week or 2 ago. They were yummy and I enjoyed eating them as much as I enjoyed making them. I love going to Tim and Ashley’s house. It is so much fun and relaxing, and they are great hosts and chaps!

OK, 1 more to go!

One FUN Concert! – Nikki and Erika have a teacher that also happens to be in a faculty wind band. It also just so happens that this teacher offered extra credit to any of her students who went to the concert on Friday. It also just so happens that the whole class did really bad on a test she gave. So Erika called me up after my last class on Friday and proclaimed that we were going to the concert. So we shifted plans a little and went. They were pretty good, but I got a little distracted. There, sitting on my lap was… the back of the program, a blank sheet of paper that needed filling. So I started drawing random objects and wrote mini-stories about them. In the end I had a wonderful stream-of-consciousness synopsis of the concert that makes almost no sense, but sums up pretty well what flows through my head at any given time. It is now posted on my door for all to read – a masterpiece in its own right. (and the Collegian editor rejected it as a submission to concert reviews :) So yeah, it was fun!

Well, there is much more that I would have liked to cover, but I do realize that you all (and I) have lives apart from the Newsletter. So I won’t keep you longer. Good Bye till next time!

That’s it.

Maybe be on the lookout for another "Lord of the Rings - Two Towers" themed Newsletter coming up in the future. Maybe. I kind of left everyone on the edge of a cliff on the last one.

-Blake “The Worn-Out Typist” Meyer
bjunewsletter.com
I Thess 5:16-18 "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks..."