Elf Owl

The elf owl is up there on my list of cutest animals on the planet.

Its an owl, because owls are awesome. They are the ninjas of the bird world. 

But this owl is the size of a sparrow. 

I think it's a different kind of cute, though. That elf owl up there means serious business.

Unlike puppies, for example, I don't think an elf owl embraces its cute. After all, it eats scorpions.

And that just makes it all the cuter.

Awwwww!

Semester's End

I'm not going to come up with anything clever about it, but I felt obligated to make a post about the fact that I just finished my first semester of college.

It was tough.
It was worth it.
I'm incredibly happy about being here, and all that other stuff you could probably infer.

So yeah, December 15th, 2011 at 6:00 pm I was done with semester 1.
That's pretty much it.

Science!

So I finished co-authoring my first science paper.
It was called "The Constitutive Chemical Defense of Ornamental Pear Trees (Pyrus calleryana)"
Doesn't it sound so intriguing?!

If you are an insomniac, I highly recommend you read this.
It will make you fall asleep faster than "Red Badge of Courage".
Granted, I was just a young lad when I read that, I might give it another chance someday.

There are so many other books I want to read first though....

• "Hyperspace" and "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku
• "Jesus Among Other Gods" by Ravi Zacharias
• "Darwin's Cathedral" by David Sloan Wilson
• "Carnage and Culture" by Victor Davis Hanson
• "Who Moved the Stone?" by Frank Morison

What is wrong with me?! Someone get this kid a novel!!!

Holiday Season

I'm sort of a scrooge. Seriously.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and all that it stands for.
It's the way that it's celebrated that I can't stand.
The carols, the decorations, oh and don't even get me started on that "Happy Holidays" thing.
I honestly dislike most of it.
Also, though green and I have started to get over our feud, I still have issues with red.
I know I am a hypocrite for this because I love complimentary color schemes (blue and orange forever!), but red and green should never associate.

The only Christmas song I can get behind would have to be the one about Mr. Grinch.
It has some excellent insults:

"Your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of rubbish imaginable, mangled up in tangled up knots!"

I'm going to find a way to work that into my daily conversation.

I usually soften up around the week of Christmas, but I still don't enjoy A Christmas Carol.

Note from the Future!: Given that Christmas is only one week away, I have softened up just as predicted.

Cute Little Mikey

Who is that strapping young lad?
Why, it is me of course! At the age of 3.
And now you're asking yourself, because I'm asking you to ask yourself this:
"What did a handsome young gentleman like that want to do with his life?"
To which I will reply to you, in turn:
"What a fantastic question! How did you ever come up with that? In any case, that fine little fellow wanted to be an ambulance driver."
"What a noble goal! So young and already pondering how he can help mankind. He truly is a fine little fellow, just as you said. Indubitably." you will reply.
Oh, but I will retort, "No, no! He just wanted to run red lights."
And we would all have a mighty good laugh.

I've only changed my career choice one time since then.
I'm that kid who was right about wanting to be a doctor, though I have a good reason.
How do I stay motivated (other than the fact that it's absolutely my goal, no doubt about it)?

Well, Just look at that face!




And now, you get another photo.

That's me, on the right. Looking like a baby model. 

I'm surrounded by 3 cousins.

The gorgeous young lady is my sister.

And the guy up front is my brother.

Yes. We are in a wheelbarrow.

That's just how we...roll.

Sleep (or rather, lack of)

So, I went to bed around 11 last night, then spent the next hour and a half thinking of terrible one liners about myself.

Some Gems include:

• I'm so cool, that I don't need a freezer
• I'm so fly, that birds are jealous.
• I'm so hip, that I don't need a replacement

Then I tossed and turned a lot, and now here I am at 6:20 am.

I never fell asleep, though I tried, really I did.

Probably not good. 

Probably.

ALSO! Chemistry exam in an hour and 40 minutes.

I got this.

Things to Do When Sick

I've been sick.

These are the things I've done over the past day and a half:

1. Sleep
2. Listen to Music
3. Facebook
4. Sleep
5. Watch NBC comedy
6. Not do schoolwork
7. Did I mention sleep?

I guess I did eat once....I decided it probably wasn't in my best interest to not eat for over 24 hours.

The food tasted like sick.

Complex Simplicity

I wrote this a little while ago when I was thinking about the definition of beauty.
Didn't originally mean for it to become a poem, but when I realized that I could sum up my thoughts in very few words, it became one. Sort of an accident, really.

What is beauty? 
Simplicity.
A field of grain, a pastoral scene.
Windswept, swaying in unison. 
Points of gold, shadowed by a green ridge.
Simple. Beautiful.
Examined further; 
A symphony of intricate natural processes.
Complex. Beautiful.


Our God.
Peace that surpasses understanding.
Exalted in His power.
Yet, simple.
God is Love.
Beautiful.




Edit from the future!
Forgot to add the obligatory "my poetry is terrible" thing. Silly me.

Bands

Bands I'm currently obsessed with:

The Black Keys:

Foster the People:

Sanctus Real (more of a rediscovery, really):

Luminate: 

Special mention goes to The Killers, who will always hold a special place in my playlist (and my heart).

1950's

Why was everything about the 1950's amazing?

The Tragedy of Time

      The tragedy of time is mundanity. When we are young and everything is new, the world is a

novel place. As we grow, things become mundane. Leaves became leaves, and grass was simply grass. But as children, each leaf and each blade of grass was unique; each had its own shape, its own story. Eventually, however, the tragedy of time made these things uninteresting, dull.

       The tragedy of time is mundanity. When we were young in Christ, His love was novel.

Last night I realized that the story of Christ’s sacrifice had become mundane, commonplace. I reverted my mind, told myself the story as if I had never heard, as if I were yet a child in Him.

My heart ached; my eyes welled with tears. I felt the lashes of the whip; the spear in my side.

I felt the nails pounded through my hands. I felt the amazement at the discovery of an empty tomb. I was awed by his ascension; transfixed by Christ’s transcendence.

"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  ~Matthew 18:3

Introduction

Greetings!

My name is Michael, or Mike, or even Mikey if you prefer.

I am a 19 year-old pre-medical student.
Thats enough background information, yes?
Ok then!

Why did I make this "blog"?
To post arbitrarily of course!

So my dear reader, I don’t know how you got here, but enjoy the content (or lack thereof) anyway.

~Mikey