[Small]

Originally Posted by Rachael

I totally abused my powers today. Because I am on student council, I have a key to the (very small) used book store that we run as service to students. I ran into a friend today who was looking for a book, but the store was closed. She needed the book for a directed studies course that she is already behind in, so I let her in and sold her the book. Never before have I felt so badass just for doing some one a favour.

I wish I had powers to abuse like that. *sigh*

My name is Rachael Elizabeth Barksdale. My dad had that name picked out for me long before I was born -- in fact, before he was even married. He liked the name, Rachael Elizabeth, but he also liked that the initials spell 'REB', as in 'rebel'. He was from Virginia and was also a bit of a Civil War buff.

Now I know some of you are probably thinking, well, won't that all change when you get married? But don't worry, my parents also thought of this. That's why they gave me a second middle name -- 'Birchall'. Now I know you are wondering, 'What in the heck is Birchall?' It's my grandma's maiden name. So, my name is Rachael Elizabeth Birchall Barksdale, and I will always be 'REBB' -- always a rebel.

Actually, although I like to wear black and have this funky haircut, I've never really been much of a rebel. And, although I love Jesus and grew up as pator's kid, I have also never been much of an evangelist. It's probably because the one time I mustered up enough courage to tell two complete strangers about Jesus and the gospel, it ended horrifically -- and, turned out to be my most embarrassing story.

My senior year of high school (grade 12) I went to a Christian youth conference in Portland, Oregon. We stayed in two hotels where there were also a number of young men who were waiting to fly out to go to various boot camps -- they were military men. Between meetings at my conference, I kept bumping into two of them -- Mike and Zach. I talked to them as much as possible, trying every time to include Jesus somehow, but the conversation never really got very far.

Then one day I saw them eating at the restaurant in the lobby, so I walked up to their table and began conversation (again). I found out that Mike was going to be flying out for boot camp the next day. In my head I thought, "Oh no! This is my last chance!" Outwardly I put on a sad face and said, "Oh, how sad... I'll never see you again." Zach chimed in and said, "Well, you could write him." Of course he said w-r-i-t-e, as in write a letter, but unfortunately, because we were in a hotel and these were Marines, I heard r-i-d-e, "you can ride him".

Trying to hide my embarrassment, my response was the same as any young pastor's daughter's would be, "No thanks, I'm saving myself for marriage."

They tried to hide their awkward laughter and Zach said, "You can't write to him because you are saving yourself for marriage?!" Realizing my mistake, I instantly turned red from head to toe and fled -- speed walking until I was out of sight, and then I'm pretty sure I ran. Needless to say, I never got another chance to tell Mike and Zach about Jesus.

From then on I decided I would take a more relational approach to evangelism. Now I prefer to invest in people -- step into their world and take the time to understand where they are coming from and what they believe. Then I can share what I believe in an environment of trust.

Also, ever since that day, I have neve been afraid to ask, "What did you just say?"

Oh my heavens. Of all the stories I've read/heard where it's sort of funny, but you can't bring yourself to laugh, because of the sheer enormity of the embarrassment, that's one of the larger ones. Wow.

[Pre-Ex-Girlfriend]

Originally Posted by Small

Oh my heavens. Of all the stories I've read/heard where it's sort of funny, but you can't bring yourself to laugh, because of the sheer enormity of the embarrassment, that's one of the larger ones. Wow.

Oh, feel free to laugh away.

Today I saw the roommate of the friend who allegedly had lice. I asked her if she indeed does have the tiny vermin breeding on her scalp. The answer is no, which is good news.

I am still waiting to find out if I get to keep my job. I sent the appeal one week ago and haven't heard back yet. It's pretty frustrating because the longer they wait to decide, the longer I wait to get paid. That's assuming they let me keep working. But I don't know what they will do if they don't keep me around. Will they find some one to do my job? And will they pay me for the work I've already done so far this semester? I don't think anyone knows the answer to those quesitons. In the meantime, I just keep working, and I am enjoying it. Yay!

Swing dancing is so much fun! I love learning new stuff like that. I just tried to type "nuw" like three times in a row. Yikes.

[ICTHUS]

Originally Posted by Emo_Rachael

Oh, feel free to laugh away.

Today I saw the roommate of the friend who allegedly had lice. I asked her if she indeed does have the tiny vermin breeding on her scalp. The answer is no, which is good news.

I am still waiting to find out if I get to keep my job. I sent the appeal one week ago and haven't heard back yet. It's pretty frustrating because the longer they wait to decide, the longer I wait to get paid. That's assuming they let me keep working. But I don't know what they will do if they don't keep me around. Will they find some one to do my job? And will they pay me for the work I've already done so far this semester? I don't think anyone knows the answer to those quesitons. In the meantime, I just keep working, and I am enjoying it. Yay!

Swing dancing is so much fun! I love learning new stuff like that. I just tried to type "nuw" like three times in a row. Yikes.

Hello, Rachael.

I realize I have never formally introduced myself. Skeeter and I have interacted briefly a few times, but it's always good to know a few Lower Mainlanders (even though Langley/TWU is a heckuvalongway from where I live, Port Moody).

I'm Ryan. Andyes. I have a blogger. You should check it out.

[Pre-Ex-Girlfriend]

Hello, Ryan. Good to meet you. Welcome to my blog. I guess I have to post today since you made that comment in Skeeter's...

Today at our official student council meeting the president announced that I am technically not a member right now because I didn't meet the gpa requirement. I felt very small, and if I wasn't such a composed person, I just might have cried. Now everyone knows my gpa was suck-all last semester. Which may not turn out to be such a bad thing; it might be nice to have more people to help keep me accountable to doing well in school this semester. But now I feel like the entire campus is going to know, which is does not sound like fun.

Anyway, what will be fun is tomorrow night. A bunch of us are going to kidnap our friend Amanda and take her to Castle Fun Park for her birthday. She has no idea that tomorrow at 5:45 three guys in masks will bust into her room, handcuff and blindfold her, and then throw her in the back of a truck. Hee hee hee. The rest of us will meet them there. It's a pretty fun place, too. It's got mini-golf, bumper cars, batting cages, arcade games, skee ball, and much, much more. It should be tons of fun, but mostly I am looking forward to just hanging out with everybody.

[ICTHUS]

Originally Posted by Emo_Rachael

Today at our official student council meeting the president announced that I am technically not a member right now because I didn't meet the gpa requirement. I felt very small, and if I wasn't such a composed person, I just might have cried. Now everyone knows my gpa was suck-all last semester. Which may not turn out to be such a bad thing; it might be nice to have more people to help keep me accountable to doing well in school this semester. But now I feel like the entire campus is going to know, which is does not sound like fun.

Ouch. And...he announced this in front of the entire student council? That's got to be a little harsh!

Anyway, what will be fun is tomorrow night. A bunch of us are going to kidnap our friend Amanda and take her to Castle Fun Park for her birthday. She has no idea that tomorrow at 5:45 three guys in masks will bust into her room, handcuff and blindfold her, and then throw her in the back of a truck. Hee hee hee. The rest of us will meet them there. It's a pretty fun place, too. It's got mini-golf, bumper cars, batting cages, arcade games, skee ball, and much, much more. It should be tons of fun, but mostly I am looking forward to just hanging out with everybody.

Oh.my. I hope it's a comfortable truck. You wouldn't want to add insult to injury.

Is she the kind of person who is easily excitable/given a heart attack/made to pee her pants out of fright?

[Small]

Originally Posted by Rachael

Anyway, what will be fun is tomorrow night. A bunch of us are going to kidnap our friend Amanda and take her to Castle Fun Park for her birthday. She has no idea that tomorrow at 5:45 three guys in masks will bust into her room, handcuff and blindfold her, and then throw her in the back of a truck. Hee hee hee. The rest of us will meet them there. It's a pretty fun place, too. It's got mini-golf, bumper cars, batting cages, arcade games, skee ball, and much, much more. It should be tons of fun, but mostly I am looking forward to just hanging out with everybody.

My sympathy to your temporary (right?) dismissal from student council. That's gotta suck.

And also, I wish I could do things like that to my friends, actually, I've decided sometime when one of my friends is at a wedding reception, where basically no one knows me, I shall get two other guys, we will all dress in black and then we will burst in and rip the attending friend out of his chair with loud cries of rage and carry him away, leaving the guests horrified and trembling.

[ICTHUS]

Rachael, has anyone else taken you up on your valentine offer?

Hey, do you consider Fall Out Boy to be Emo? I don't, but I like them nevertheless.

[Skeeter]

Rachael isn't as emo as everyone thinks she is.

Fall Out Boy could probably be tossed into the emo category, simply because it seems like everything is thrown in there, but I would classify them more as pop-punk/power-pop. I just can't stand his voice though...

[Small]

Originally Posted by Skeeter

Fall Out Boy could probably be tossed into the emo category, simply because it seems like everything is thrown in there, but I would classify them more as pop-punk/power-pop. I just can't stand his voice though...

I'm not certain, but I think any artist who's depressed, and writes about it at length is emo.

[Pre-Ex-Girlfriend]

Well, Amanda is not the kind of person who is prone to pants-peeing, so last night's kidnapping was actually very easy. She came quite peacefully, and she seemed glad to be missing her night class. We had muy fun at Castle Fun Park. Daniel go the best mini golf score (was is 4 or 6 under par?) and I got the second best (2 over). It was definitely not my best game. I didn't really care that I was playing like crap, though, because I was having so much fun -- yay for my competitiveness not getting in the way of my fun! I didn't really play very many arcade games. Just skee ball, which is my favourite. I took lots of pictures of my friends playing games, though. Maybe I will post some at a later date. I need to learn how to better use my friend's camera, though. A lot of my photos were focused on the background because of the auto focus. I'll learn eventually.

I would agree with Daniel about the whole Fall Out Boy / Emo discussion. And I really am not al that emo -- It was a nick name given to me first year. I also agree with Small -- it seems any music with depressing lyrics and music gets labeled as emo. So, all I really know is that I don't not like Fall Out Boy, but I can't really say I'm a fan of theirs.

Today I woke up early at 9:00 to hang a big ol' banner advertising the Can-Am game. This event is driving me insane. I've been getting some flack from a few students about not starting advertising early enough. One guy even asked me if we had the ice rink booked yet. That was funny to me because we've had it booked since early November. The most frustrating thing is that people have been commenting about how this event seems unorganized when in reality we are not any less (or more) organized than we have been for any of the other big events this year. I don't like that people only care to give their input when it comes to this event. It has been so hard for me to resond to these skeptics in a nice manner. I seriously had the thought to respond to their emails with a simple "F%#$ YOU!!!" Of course I said something more along the lines of "Thank you for your input. I always enjoy receiving constructive feedback about events."

The most frustrating part of all, however, is that I'm actually working "off the clock" right now. My dismissal from council is (hopefully) temporary. Apparently I have to have a meeting with the Senate. I don't know, I am very confused about this whole process. I just want to do my job knowing that it actually is my job. Is that too much to ask?

Another sad thing is that only one person (you, Ryan) has responded to my valentine offer. What am I supposed to do with all these emo valentines?! I want to give them away! It would make me so very happy, but no one seems to want one. I'm not a stalker or anything, and I will delete the PMs with the addresses once the valentines are sent. And I won't use the address for anything other than sending the valentine, but I guess people might not trust me? Or maybe no one really cares about Valentine's Day all that much. Whatever -- I'll give away all the cards one way or another.

I want to say something happy now, since this has been a kind of depressing post so far, but I really don't have much else to say. I have flowers on my desk right now. They smell pleasant. That is happy.

[Small]

Originally Posted by Rachael

Well, Amanda is not the kind of person who is prone to pants-peeing, so last night's kidnapping was actually very easy. She came quite peacefully, and she seemed glad to be missing her night class. We had muy fun at Castle Fun Park. Daniel go the best mini golf score (was is 4 or 6 under par?) and I got the second best (2 over). It was definitely not my best game. I didn't really care that I was playing like crap, though, because I was having so much fun -- yay for my competitiveness not getting in the way of my fun! I didn't really play very many arcade games. Just skee ball, which is my favourite. I took lots of pictures of my friends playing games, though. Maybe I will post some at a later date. I need to learn how to better use my friend's camera, though. A lot of my photos were focused on the background because of the auto focus. I'll learn eventually.

Does she find crazy boys? Because that would be ironically entertaining.
And yes, you should post pictures. Or change your avatars, (you and Skeeterdan) that would work, too.

Today I woke up early at 9:00 to hang a big ol' banner advertising the Can-Am game. This event is driving me insane. I've been getting some flack from a few students about not starting advertising early enough. One guy even asked me if we had the ice rink booked yet. That was funny to me because we've had it booked since early November. The most frustrating thing is that people have been commenting about how this event seems unorganized when in reality we are not any less (or more) organized than we have been for any of the other big events this year. I don't like that people only care to give their input when it comes to this event. It has been so hard for me to resond to these skeptics in a nice manner. I seriously had the thought to respond to their emails with a simple "F%#$ YOU!!!" Of course I said something more along the lines of "Thank you for your input. I always enjoy receiving constructive feedback about events."

I was there in spirit. Although I can see how responding to people in that manner might be a touch on the con side of your re-instatement onto student council.

Originally Posted by Rachael

Another sad thing is that only one person (you, Ryan) has responded to my valentine offer. What am I supposed to do with all these emo valentines?! I want to give them away! It would make me so very happy, but no one seems to want one. I'm not a stalker or anything, and I will delete the PMs with the addresses once the valentines are sent. And I won't use the address for anything other than sending the valentine, but I guess people might not trust me? Or maybe no one really cares about Valentine's Day all that much. Whatever -- I'll give away all the cards one way or another.

Hold that thought.

[Pre-Ex-Girlfriend]

I'm not sure I know what you are asking... "find crazy boys"? Um, no.

So the Seahawks lost, but I won! I was hoping Seattle would win, but I bet on Pittsburg and I won $12! Not bad. But Daniel acutally put my $2 into the pool for me, so I decided I have to spend it on a date or something for the two of us.

We went swing dancing tonight. I like it more and more every time. That's probably because I get better each time. Yay for improvement!

I created a xanga blogring today. So if you are on xanga then you should totally join. It's called "Blogrings are silly" and is in the "Issues and Causes" section of "Society and Culture", although the easiest way to get there is probably by clicking on it from my xanga site (www.xanga.com/Emo_Rachael) If you think blogrings are dumb and pointless, then join the protest!

[Pre-Ex-Girlfriend]

Ok, some pictures for you of our trip to Castle Fun Park (in addition to the ones I posted in Recent Pics).

1. Daniel 'kidnaps' Amanda while Sarah watches. Like I said, she came rather peacefully.

2. Daniel and David playing Gauntlet... very intense.

3. Jules and Amanda like to play shooting games.

4. Jules, Sarah, and Amanda. This one creeps me out because the screen is just white, yet they simply stare. Given my semi-hatred of technology, I find this picture disturbing, actually.

5. We played mini golf! Although not Jungle Golf, but rather Coral Sea Golf, which is a much more fun course. On one hole the ball travels down through a bunch of bumpers like a Plinko chip.

[Small]

Originally Posted by Rachael

4. Jules, Sarah, and Amanda. This one creeps me out because the screen is just white, yet they simply stare. Given my semi-hatred of technology, I find this picture disturbing, actually.

I dunno. It's, well, it's good to know they're not out of place with our culture.

3. Jules and Amanda like to play shooting games.

And yet, you kidnapped this person.

I'm not sure I know what you are asking... "find crazy boys"? Um, no.

Pin Your Wings, by Copeland.

We went swing dancing tonight. I like it more and more every time. That's probably because I get better each time. Yay for improvement!

Indeed, yay for improvement.

[ICTHUS]

Originally Posted by Emo_Rachael

Another sad thing is that only one person (you, Ryan) has responded to my valentine offer. What am I supposed to do with all these emo valentines?! I want to give them away! It would make me so very happy, but no one seems to want one. I'm not a stalker or anything, and I will delete the PMs with the addresses once the valentines are sent. And I won't use the address for anything other than sending the valentine, but I guess people might not trust me? Or maybe no one really cares about Valentine's Day all that much. Whatever -- I'll give away all the cards one way or another.

Rachael, I feel special that I'm the only person who responded to your Emo Valentine offer.

*edit* I see that there were two others. I don't feel quite as special anymore.

Hey, how many other CGR'ers live in Vancouver-ish? Do you think we could organize a citywide gathering?