George Gershwin

shakes head

2006-08-11T20:09:21Z

I know it's been a long time...yadee yadee yada....

The catalyst for this entry was an article I saw today online:

Activists Protest Military Ban on Gays
By PATRICK CONDON
Associated Press Writer

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - On paper, Haven Herrin seems to be an ideal candidate for military recruiters.

She can easily run five miles and was valedictorian of her college class. "Frankly, I'm exactly the kind of person the military says it wants," she said.

But when Herrin tried recently to sign up for the Minnesota National Guard, she was turned down because she told the recruiter she is a lesbian - a revelation that tripped the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay service members.

Her admission was the opening round of a nationwide campaign against the 13-year-old policy by a group of young activists. In the next few months, gay men and women in their late teens and early 20s will attempt to enlist at recruiting offices in 30 cities. They will also disclose their sexual orientation.

If they are rebuffed, the activists plan to stage sit-ins at the offices, hoping to attract media coverage and support from a public they believe increasingly opposes the ban.

Organizers have dubbed the campaign Right to Serve. It was conceived by Herrin and Jacob Reitan, the 24-year-old young adult coordinator for the Virginia-based gay rights group called Soulforce.

The Pentagon's policy on gays is "as clear-cut an example of discrimination that you could find," Reitan said. "No one can deny it, and it's happening every day."

Don't ask, don't tell dates to 1993, during the first days of Bill Clinton's presidency. While running for the White House, Clinton vowed to overturn the military's long-standing ban on gays.

But, amid pressure from religious groups and concern from military leaders, he endorsed don't ask, don't tell. As passed by Congress and signed by Clinton, the policy requires gay service members to keep their homosexuality hidden and refrain from same-sex sexual conduct.

The military is prohibited from asking recruits about their sexual orientation, and commanders are limited in their ability to investigate rumors or allegations of homosexuality in the ranks.

Since the policy was adopted, more than 11,000 gay service members have been discharged, according to the Service Members Legal Defense Network, which is opposed to the policy. Critics argue that in many cases military officials have violated its spirit, pursuing service members based on rumors or innuendo.

"Even service members who try to keep their end of the deal - who 'don't tell' - are being routinely subjected to malicious outings and investigations," said Steve Ralls, spokesman for the network. "The American people have a perception of don't ask, don't tell being true to its name, and in reality that's just not the case."

Even its supporters acknowledge that don't ask, don't tell isn't perfect.

"It's like what Churchill said about democracy - it's the worst system possible, except for all the other ones," said Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University who helped craft the policy and coined the phrase "don't ask, don't tell."

But, Moskos said, allowing openly gay service members would hurt the morale of the military rank-and-file and make many recruits uncomfortable.

"There are few situations in life where you're forced to live in intimate circumstances not of your choosing," Moskos said. "It just won't work. You will find people who feel their privacy rights are being violated. The gay advocates say it will cause enlistment to go up, but I think you'd find it dropping rather than rising."

The Right to Serve activists know they are in for a lengthy battle. President Bush supports don't ask, don't tell, and legislation in Congress to overturn it has few sponsors from the Republican majority.

All of the gay activists who try to enlist in the next few months are ready to serve, Reitan said. In many cases, they have wanted to join the military for years, but were unwilling to conceal their sexual orientation.

Shane Bagwell, a Philadelphia teen, took part in one of Right to Serve's first efforts to enlist gays. He was refused his lifelong goal of joining the Air Force.

Bagwell's grandfathers served in the Air Force and the Navy. He also has an uncle in the Navy and another who works at the Pentagon. His great-uncle served in World War I. "It's such an important part of my family," he said.

The gay activists hope such stories will attract public support.

"People need to know, these are their kids," Herrin said. "These are strong leaders who are intelligent, who have ethics and morals, who have nothing amiss with their lives. And they want to serve their country."
------------------------------------------------------------------

Pretty exciting, huh? *sigh*

Hmmmmm....

2006-05-05T22:47:27Z

2 TOUGH QUESTIONS

Question 1:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids
already, three who were deaf, two who were blind,
one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would
you recommend that she have an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the
response for this one.

Question 2:
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only
your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three
candidates.

Candidate A.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults
with astrologist. He's had two mistresses. He also
chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until
noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of
whiskey every evening.

Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian,
doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never
cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be our choice?
Decide first... no peeking, then scroll down for the
response.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion
question: If you said YES, you just killed
Beethoven.

Pretty interesting isn't it? Makes a person think
before judging someone.
Wait till you see the end of this note! Keep
reading..

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember: Amateurs...built the ark.
Professionals...built the Titanic

And Finally, can you imagine working for a company
that has a little more than 500 employees and has
the following statistics:
* 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
* 7 have been arrested for fraud
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at
least 2 businesses
* 3 have done time for assault
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
* 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the
last year...

Can you guess which organization this is?

Give up yet?

It's the 535 members of the United States Congress.
The same group that crank out hundreds of new laws each year
designed to keep the rest of us in line.

You gotta pass this on....

Woo hoo!

2006-04-07T16:26:46Z

My recital is going to be Monday, April 10 at 8:00 p.m. in BLC 210. It's final!

In other news, Hilary and I decided a couple weeks ago to finally just call it off. There are some things that God has to work on in both of us (that won't be listed here), assuming that we are meant to be married. If not, then God still has to work in both of us, it'll just be so that we can make other people happy. I miss dating her terribly, and sincerely hope that we are meant to be, but she has been telling me not to cry because it's over, but smile because it happened.

She's auditioning to get into Westminster Choir College today. She eventually wants to get her masters in organ performance, but has to start out in the church music program (the music for the performance audition would have been impossible to get ready in the three weeks she had, and since this was the last available date for next semester, it had to be today).

It looks like I may not be able to go on the Poland trip with the Chorale. I have to talk with my parents about it, but the apartment I'm living in has caused a serious financial problem, and my insurance bill just came in. On top of that, for some reason (I'm calling them today to find out what it is), they send me a bill every other month, and then charge me a late fee and threaten to cancel my policy for missing the bill the month before. Weird, huh? It's especially weird when they obviously have my new address.

Ok, I'm off to eat something.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2006-03-31T23:21:05Z

More chalk drawings from Julian Beever. Scroll down slowly and stop at each new frame. Julian Beever is an English artist who's famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium . Beever gives to his drawings an amazing 3D illusion.

People are actually avoiding walking in the "hole"

Which is the real guy &which beer is real?

The image below has been taken from a wrong angle:

Remember, both his feet in reality are flat on the pavement

Politicians Meeting Their End

This drawing of a Rescue was to be viewed using an inverting mirror

girl on a beach mat.

Make Poverty History drawing from the side(40 ft long)

Spiderman to the rescue

Batman and Robin to the rescue(SO COOL)

in order to repost, click reply to poster, and copy all the codes and stuff to a NEW bulletin

Senior recital

2005-11-22T22:55:25Z

Tentative senior recital date is now April 10.

shrugs

2005-10-23T19:40:22Z

You are a Kind lover! You have such a sweet sense
of caring and tend to take more part in holding
hands and warm hugs than kissing. You are the
kind of person who is easy to fall for, but be
warned, you just might give someone the wrong
impression of you if you are just being
friendly to them.

What Kind Of Love Do You Show?(With Pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm probably more of a mix of a kind and passionate lover, but given recent experiences, my answers were a little different than they might have been. But oh well...I can't expect them to be 100% accurate.

musicwriter @ 2005-10-23T15:15:00

2005-10-23T19:29:09Z

Actually, I'm moving to another place in NJ (sorry L). The name of the town is Oxford. It's near the intersection of Rt. 57 and Rt 31 N. I'm not exactly sure where the house is yet, though.

I walked the 2.5 miles from my apt. to campus today to talk some things out with God. I'm just really frustrated right now because I don't like to wait for something I know is coming, and that's what I have to do right now. I have to wait for God to do the work in both our lives that He needs/wants to do, and I can't stand it. I think I've cried more in the past week than I have in my entire life.

And, if for whatever reason we're not meant to be (I know that's contradicting what I just said, but I don't care), two years is the longest relationship I've ever had, and it's hard for me to see anyone being more perfect for me than her. But, of course my imagination is limited, and God has a plan.

*crying again* I just wish I didn't hurt so much. I wish I didn't feel like I can't go further in life without her. I wish that my heart would realize He is my hope in life, He is the reason I can go on, and He is the one who will never leave me, and never break my heart (unless it's to draw it back to Him). But the message is slow in getting there. Maybe things will change when I graduate and don't see her every day (IF I graduate).

Right now I don't feel like I'm going to pass my pre-recital hearing, and they're going to move the recital back to next semester (and I have to have a senior recital to graduate, it's part of the degree requirements....I can still get my Bible degree, though). It's hard to concentrate on practicing because of this whole thing that's going on. Walking up here today, I found myself musing how fortunate it would be if I got hit by one of those cars cutting the corner too close (if I hadn't been walking on the grass, I would've; this one guy was completely on the shoulder, and there's no way he would've seen me in time to avoid me). Obviously, I wasn't hit by a car, and I wish I wasn't so depressed right now, but I am, and I need prayer.

hmm...

2005-10-22T15:45:58Z

Well, it's been a while since I've updated anywhere, and this being my first online journal ever in life, I figured I'd start with this one.

Hilary and I have been spending a lot of time together lately, all of it good, but some of it challenging. Please pray for us.

My senior recital got moved back to December 7 (now that day really will live in infamy). I don't get to play Prokofiev (the program was too long with it in). I'm glad, because that piece is too hard for me right now, but at the same time, I really wanted to play it! Oh well...I can keep practicing it, and play it some other time.

We've started packing (we sold our house a few weeks ago, and are hoping to move either next weekend or the weekend after, my new info will be e-mailed to those who want it, just comment and tell me).

I don't really know what else to say. Hopefully, I'll update a little more often.

torn....

2005-09-08T14:49:05Z

As of today, it has been 8 days since Hil broke up with me for the second time. That is why, instead of a joyous two year anniversary post, I am typing this.

I was doing great with the whole thing until today. The other night, her and I were talking, and I had mentioned my plan to propose to her today, and how I might have done it. I didn't see the harm in it, since it wasn't going to happen anyway. However, she told me this morning that it was unfair of me to talk about becoming engaged to her after we had broken up. She mentioned that she remembered me telling her that I have a tendency to be manipulative. Which I do. But for crying out loud! We had dated for nearly two years, and for the past week or so, all I've been stressing has been honesty. How hypocritical would it be if I just decided to try and manipulate her back into dating me?!?!

I am sorry, my closest friend, for causing you to doubt my intentions. I was just really proud of the little scheme I'd sorta come up with to propose to you. I am sorry that I hurt you. Please forgive me.

Until later,
Me

woo hoo!

2005-08-17T06:45:36Z

Happy Anniversary to mom and dad! Yesterday was their 25th!!!!

This is how distracted I've been...

2005-08-15T10:31:48Z

...so much so, that I forgot to mention the tenth anniversary of Mickey Mantle's death. He died on August 13, 1995 from cancer. Sorry Mick, it's a little late, but here's a moment of silence............

Oh boy...

2005-08-15T05:14:34Z

So after only a week or so of having Ernesta (or Death by Orange, pick your name) back in full working order, I go to start her from my other security site yesterday and she's blowing white smoke out her tailpipe like their's no tomorrow. *sigh* I'm going to call the mechanic who sold her to me tomorrow. I am going to see if he'll take her back and give me back my money. If he will, I'm most likely going to take it and put a used trans in Sugah. Sure, there's a chance the rear axle could go in two weeks or less, but she's already had a rebuilt transmission put in, so I'm not necessarily too worried about it. She's shown herself to be a very faithful companion so far. (by the way, here's a little random thing I noticed on the ten minute trip from my house to this site: number of Fords in gas stations, presumably for repairs, 8. Number of Dodges...1)

If the mechanic won't give me my money back, I'll see if he'll fix Ernesta for cheap.

With all this vehicle stuff, and then with the realization that my senior recital is less than three months away, on top of the fact that my choir is going to have a hard time being ready (not to mention me on the piano) for said recital, I've just been really stressed lately. Hence, I've been crabby as well, which also means I've been having trouble seeing the good in life lately. This senior recital thing has been especially stressful. At most, I have six pages of music left to memorize, and I haven't been able to do it because my music is in PA (I'm getting it next week). That, plus I just never feel like I'm ready to perform. I always feel like I could have prepared more. I suppose that's my own fault for not doing enough in the first place, but that's the thing. I never know how much prep I need, so I never know if I'm ready.

For those of you who made it to this point, congratulations. I thank you for spending so much of your time listening to me complain. With that, I'll sign off, and see you later.

Is this really me?????

2005-08-11T05:19:56Z

You Are Ed Wood From "Ed Wood."

You definitely have your name in history, although probably not for the reason you believe. Yet you are very accepting, non-judgemental, and optimistic almost to a fault. You also have a thing for angora sweaters. How could anyone not like you?

Take The Johnny Depp Quiz!

he he he....

2005-08-11T05:16:08Z

Your Seduction Style: The Natural

You don't really try to seduce people... it just seems to happen.
Fun loving and free spirited, you bring out the inner child in people.
You are spontaneous, sincere, and unpretentious - a hard combo to find!
People drop their guard around you, and find themselves falling fast.

What Is Your Seduction Style?

Yay!

2005-08-06T18:55:07Z

I got my wheels back! At a cost of only $396.00! *sigh*...the fuel pump by itself was $200. Oh well...I have my vehicle, and my independence, and now it is in better working order than it was before. That's all...oh! One more thing....

I LOVE MY GIRLFRIEND.

Bye!

AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

2005-08-03T17:18:33Z

*sigh*....

Yesterday stunk. My new vehicle (I got a 1991 Ford Explorer Sport...manual, two door, 200,000, "runs like it has 50,000")wouldn't start, so I couldn't get to work. Dad and I rolled it down the hill to the STS last night. So I lost at least $80 there. The STS guy called this morning saying that it would be anywhere from 400 to 565 to fix the fuel pump. $400 if just the fuel pump needs replacing, and $565 if they have to add a new gas tank as well. AAAAGH! All of yesterday I just felt like banging my head against something...or driving anywhere, but without a vehicle, that was impossible.

This last month has just really stunk. I left my music in PA, so I couldn't learn any of the last five pages of music that I have left before all of my senior recital music is learned and memorized. The stuff I do remember is a little slippery because I was concentrating so hard on getting this vehicle thing worked out. *sigh*

On the plus side, my manager for Securitas called and asked me if I could do a 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. shift for the next two weeks. Including the two overnight shifts I already work, it would be about 56 hours a week. The extra money will be useful.

I trimmed my head this morning. It was a little long, so *buzzzzzzzzz*. I figure if I just do it the first week of every month, that'll be good.

Movie

2005-07-21T18:01:28Z

Movie review! (actually it's more like a reaction than a review, but whatever)

My bro, two of his friends, and myself went to see "Wedding Crashers" last night. Some parts were funny, and there was a minimal amount of nudity (female, of course), but the overall premise of the movie was that women are objects. These men went in with a plan of attack, got what they wanted, and got out. I didn't like that at all, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to bother any other guy in the theater (excluding my brother...he and I talked about the movie on the way home).

That's one of the things I hate about our culture. What's even worse is that I feel like I'm the only one who misses the days where you had to ask a girl's father for permission to even WRITE to her. Nowadays, you'd be lucky to find a guy to ask permission to date a girl, much less call or write her. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the independence of the women, but I am questioning the intentions of the men, which is why men went through the father for permission. The dad is kind of a filter (if he's a good father in the first place).

Another thing that bothered me about the movie was that it disregarded the sanctity of marriage. In the opening scene, Vaughn and Wilson are mediators between a couple who is apparently going through a divorce and are trying to figure out who gets what. Vaughn goes through this whole speech about how the institution of marriage is the thing to blame for all their problems, because IT won't let the husband cheat on his wife, and IT doesn't give the wife to explore her options either. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

You freakin' idiots!!!! That is NOT what marriage is about. Marriage was instituted because it is not good for man to be alone. But those two individuals become ONE after marriage, and there's a reason for that. There's probably a couple, but I'm going to mention one. It's so that the husband and the wife have the confidence and trust in one another that they'll need to make it through the hard times in the marriage. Yes, marriage is hard. SUCK IT UP AND DEAL!! That's why we have marriage counselors, and even pre-marital counseling. Just in case you weren't open enough with each other during the dating and engagement periods, and there are things coming out that you weren't ready for, you can go to a marriage counselor (or a pastor) and WORK IT OUT. In case you haven't noticed, marriage requires work. That's the whole point of it not being easy. Working through the hard times in a relationship builds trust and confidence in one another. It lets both of you know that you're both committed to it.

It helps also if both partners are believers. That way, there's Someone else that will be there to support you both. I don't mean to throw God in as a last resort here, that's not what I'm doing. I'm putting it here because I had to calm myself down first. ;-) God has to be first in the marriage. You can't love your spouse the way they deserve if you don't love God more than him or her. You can't be dedicated to them the way you should be if you're not dedicated to Him first. It won't make the marriage any easier, but it will put the house on a rock, so that the storms can be weathered.

Grace and peace to all.

sorry...

2005-07-14T01:37:16Z

Sorry it's been such a long time since I've updated. Been a little busy.

Just got a job at McDonald's...yes, ladies and gentlemen, McDonald's. *sigh*...it's fun, though, plus I get to work with some of my friends. Woo hoo!

Sugah's in the shop. Her tranny went a couple weeks ago. I applied for a loan so that I can have the 3K it'll take to replace it, so we'll see if the bank will be gracious enough to lend me the dough. I thought about maybe getting another vehicle, but there are some disadvantages to doing that. One is that the vehicle I need at the moment is a truck, and any trucks I find for under 3K are toing to be pieces of crap anyway. At least with Sugah, I know that I'm getting an amazing truck for the money I'm putting into it. Secondly, if I managed to find a good truck, it would probably be more than $3,000, so not only would I have the monthly payments to repay the loan, but I'd also have the monthly payments on the remaining balance of the vehicle. So for right now, I'm just gonna have a new transmission put into Sugah, and start saving up while she lasts for another vehicle. If anyone has any other ideas, I'd be happy to consider them.

On the Joe and Hilary front, things are going swimmingly. She found a job as a counselor at a summer camp. Her and I decided to take this summer and refocus ourselves on God. I was a little hesitant at first because it meant basically no communication with her for the whole summer, but I am starting to really enjoy it. Sure I miss my g/f, and I wish that we could talk, but then it hits me. How many times during our relationship have I put God on the side because He wasn't physically present? How often have I flat out ignored Him, just because I didn't feel like talking/spending time with Him? WHAT A FREAKIN JERK! But now I can make a really shabby attempt at fixing that. I say shabby, because I owe Him my life and everything I have, but I still lack the strength to trust and have faith in Him more times than I'd like to admit. I've been trying really hard with this whole Sugah thing, and there are a lot of old struggles that are rearing their ugly heads again. Please pray for me. I need His strength so much.

"My soul finds rest in God alone
My salvation comes from Him..."
Ps. 62:1 (NIV)

Grace and peace to all until next time.

hmmm....

2005-05-06T15:25:15Z

Which Incredibles Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Woo hoo!

2005-05-06T15:15:40Z

My semester is finally over!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, God has allowed me to survive another semester, and for whatever reason, seems to think that it's a good idea that I stay for one more, just so I can actually get my two degrees.

I finally saw the new apartment yesterday. It is really nice, and it even smelled of fresh paint. We have a kitchen with working appliances (except for a minor difficulty with the dish washer, but that was taken care of), a living room and a dining room. On the SECOND floor are all the bedrooms. Three in all, one master and two smaller ones. Both bathrooms are also upstairs. Also, the living room has two sliding glass doors that lead onto a concrete patio. Very cool.

Saw "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on Wednesday. It was a little odd, but overall I enjoyed the movie ("he and I share three of the same mothers"). Hil and I spent Wednesday together, just getting away from everyone and everything having to do with school. We saw the movie, went bowling, ate Chinese food, and bought a book (actually, she bought it, but y'know...we're kind of a "we" anyway). It was one of those days that I wish had never ended...

That's it for now. Really hungry. Gonna go get some eats...

Musical!

2005-04-08T15:35:08Z

I went and saw opening night of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" last night in the chapel. I must say that it was one of the smoothest opening nights I have seen. Mir and Ryan were amazing! Congrats to all the rest of the cast, too!

In other news, I have to finish "Democracy in America" by de Tocqueville and write a 2500 word CRITICAL essay on it by Monday. This means that I actually have to pay attention to what I'm reading. Blast.

That's about it. Tim and Steph got here last night, and Tim, Jon and I watched "The Incredibles". Good times. I'm looking forward to lunch later with the group. he he he he.

See you guys later!

ooh!

2005-04-07T13:29:10Z

Joseph Anthony Tamburro's Aliases

Your movie star name: Reeses Pieces John

Your fashion designer name is Joseph London

Your socialite name is Joe New York

Your fly girl / guy name is J Tam

Your detective name is Cat Morris Hills

Your barfly name is Sno Caps Beer

Your soap opera name is Anthony Glenn Terrace

Your rock star name is Swedish Fish Rockets

Your star wars name is Josmuf Tamhil

Your punk rock band name is The Happy Space Station

The Amazing Meganame Generator

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...that's all I have to say about that...

whew!

2005-04-07T13:28:27Z

Sorry...I kind of left you guys hanging.

Hilary and I did not break up. The past few weeks have been amazing. I have actually started working hard at practicing again, and (surprise surprise) it's paying off. Dr. Hsu said that he was impressed with my playing on Monday. I played what I could remember of Prokofiev's "Toccata" for him. Incidentally, this "Toccata" is infamous for being one of the hardest piano pieces ever written. Come to my senior recital next semester and find out why. he he he.

I played the second movement of C.P.E. Bach's "Sonata 4" in a recital on Tuesday. It went really well, and was undoubtedly the best performance I have yet done in a recital. For one thing, I didn't make up the ending (like I did in my second recital). I did make one mistake, but apparently no one noticed it. YES!!!!!!

shrugs

2005-03-18T21:18:53Z

So it turns out that there is no reason for me to be letting go of anything. After some conversation and some God-sent common sense, things that were wrinkled have been ironed out. All I can do is thank Him for what He has done with the both of us, and pray that He will continue to show us His love to us so that we can love each other better. It goes without saying that I've screwed up, and but for His grace and her patience, we never would have gotten as far as we have, and I am thankful that He has given us another opportunity to appreciate the love we have. I pray that He continues to bless us in the ways that He has.

love...

2005-03-18T04:42:53Z

is sacrifice...
is knowing when to let go...
is nothing until it is returned...

George Gershwin

*shakes head*

Hmmmmm....

Woo hoo!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Senior recital

*shrugs*

musicwriter @ 2005-10-23T15:15:00

hmm...

torn....

woo hoo!

This is how distracted I've been...

Oh boy...

Is this really me?????

he he he....

Yay!

AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Movie

sorry...

hmmm....

Woo hoo!

Musical!

ooh!

Joseph Anthony Tamburro's Aliases

whew!

*shrugs*

love...

shakes head

shrugs

shrugs