[tmlfan123]

I realized that this might be something I'd like to do yesterday and I have the time today so here I am.

Well, where to start? My name is Nathan, I'm a homeschooled student in Ontario, Canada in my final year at home(hopefully) before I head off to university. I will be writing two SAT subject tests in physics and chemistry on May 2nd, which will more or less determine my acceptance to university. Right now I'm feeling horribly overwhelmed by the chemistry part, as I never enjoyed chemistry and never understood it very well. Prayers on that score would be great.

My main interests would have to be sports of all kinds and music. I enjoy almost every sport there is with the notable exceptions of the triathlon and soccer. I had to make a decision between soccer and baseball at age seven and chose baseball. I've never regretted the decision. My season starts in the middle of May this year... I'm so excited. Since hockey finished I've been having a sports withdrawal. And without my Leafs in the NHL playoffs it's been hard picking a team to go for. Pittsburgh is going to have to be it. Sidney Crosby is truly amazing, although my favourite player is still Matt Stajan of my Leafs. I watched him play in the OHL as a Belleville Bull and now I watch him with the Leafs. 55 points this year! I knew he had the talent...

As for music, I started playing piano years ago and completed my Grade 7 three years ago. Then I had to switch instruments because my little sister, who's three years younger than me, passed me. The male ego does not take kindly to being surpassed, especially by little siblings, so I took up guitar, and now I play guitar more than anything. I have attempted(emphasis on attempted) to play drums and play for my church praise team sometimes now, but I've never had formal training and I'm sure it sounds like mere banging to real drummers. I took voice lessons for the first time this year and that was a blast. I learned so much. And I've been a part of a performing arts group put on by our local YFC chapter for four years, and this past season I got the lead role in the musical Godspell. Playing the character of Jesus was certainly intimidating, but it was a fantastic opportunity to do what I love while reaching out to the unsaved.

Wow, I definitely just wrote a book. I guess that's plenty for now

[tmlfan123]

Oh my life.

University acceptance is nightmarish. I'm writing tests for this one, writing a letter about why I want to be an engineer for another, calling admissions officers... the list doesn't end.

Those tests are a huge pain in the butt. My current practice test scores have me on the borderline for acceptance, and that scares the crap out of me. School has never been hard for me, but now I'm looking at not making the cut at the university of my choice...

However, because I'm homeschooled, once I'm done those tests, I'm done school for the summer. I start work in one week and I'm pumped to be outside instead of poring over chemistry books.

[Thrash]

Good luck!! I will be praying for you!!

[tmlfan123]

Well the SAT's are over and that's a huge relief. There's nothing I can do anymore and that feels remarkably good. Of course if I find out I didn't get the score I need in one or both of them I'll feel worse than ever...

I start baseball on Saturday, and I'm pumped. I can't wait to finetune my curve and change, and I'm shooting for a .500 batting average. It sounds ridiculous, but it's not for the league I play in.

I started work this week and it feels great to be making money while my peers are all still in school I rub it in every chance I get.

[tmlfan123]

Baseball has started(at least the practices) and it feels great to be throwing and hitting again.

I learn the results of my SAT scores on Thursday and it's taking forever for the days to get there. Please God help me to have made the cutoff...

I went to see Wolverine with four girls tonight, a good night by any teenage guy's standards Which brings me to another topic...
How can you let a girl down quickly and easily, especially if you're actually interested in her? Maybe I should provide some background. My parents don't want me dating until I'm ready, or nearly ready, to think about marriage and supporting a family. I completely agree with this point of view, however my emotions don't always agree with my brain. When a good-looking, intelligent, mature Christian girl is after me, it's not exactly the easiest thing to say no(this has happened to me multiple times in the past year or so). Any tips? Somebody out there has been through these situations before. I guess that might be a topic for Advice or something but I'd feel like I was wasting people's time writing it there.

The NHL playoffs are in full swing and I'm pulling for Pittsburgh all the way now, although Detroit looks like they're as good as ever.

I'll be putting up some really really rough recordings of some of my songs in Songwriting pretty soon, so if you're bored and you want to listen to crappy music, take a look sometime

[tmlfan123]

Baseball practice was good last night. Jacked one in BP, threw well from the rubber. Unfortunately I found out I'm going to be on a horrible team. The league I play in is houseleague, and my local city is going to have two teams because of the number of players signed up. The coach in charge stacked his team and fed me to the crap team to make himself feel better. I'll be the No. 1 starter and top hitter, but the guys I'll be playing with haven't a clue how to field, throw, hit, or pitch. Just makes me mad. Not to mention, all the friends I've made playing ball over the past however many years will be on the other team...

Got my SAT scores today! 670 in chem and 690 in physics - should be good enough for UOIT! I'm so pumped... God has been good to me lately.

Playing paintball on Saturday - can't wait. It's a completely unique sport that everyone should try at least once in their lifetime. My mom doesn't understand why I like going out to get welts all over me but I think it's a blast.

[tmlfan123]

Paintball was predictably good. I was on fire all day, only got out twice. There's nothing like waiting out in the woods and then hearing someone coming and knowing you've got the drop on them.

Baseball's heating up - practice yesterday was excellent, hit three more homers in batting practice. I have practice tomorrow night and the first game of the year on Tuesday. Can't wait.

I was introduced to the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" on Saturday - why have I never seen this before? It's absolutely hilarious, minus the sketchy parts. My friends and I watched almost half of the first season last night.

And one more thing - another one of my girl friends has let me know she's interested. As if it isn't hard enough to decide what I want to do with my life without having attractive girls after me. I guess it's better than the alternative but still...

Well I didn't sleep much this weekend and work starts again tomorrow for another week so I'll shut it down now.

[tmlfan123]

Played the first game of the season last night... and got massacred. I think it was 15-0 or so. I pitched the first four innings(in my league pitchers can only pitch four innings before they have to be taken out), allowing five runs, which isn't bad for my league. Then they hung ten runs on the bullpen. My team had three total hits - I had two of them. A bunt single in the first and an opposite-field double in the fourth. I only had two at-bats, batting second in the lineup. How brutal is that? I can't blame it on the guys I'm with, they're trying hard. They just don't have the ability to play at this level. If the teams had been evenly split, either of our two teams could have beat that team into the ground.

Anyways, getting away from sports, I'm singing later on today with a guy I know and a few of his friends. He's putting together a band for an event at his school and he wants me to sing. We're playing some Rise Against, Theory of a Deadman, and Sum 41. I think it'll be a lot of fun.

[tmlfan123]

Just got back from practicing with the band... it was fantastic. Our cover of "Better Off" by Theory of a Deadman was nothing short of ☺☺☺☺ today. We've got five songs so far:

Better Off - Theory of a Deadman
All or Nothing - Theory of a Deadman
Audience of One - Rise Against
Pieces - Sum 41
Dear Maria - All Time Low

We're hoping to add a few more before Wednesday, which is our first "gig". A local Tim Hortons is holding a fundraiser for kids camp and we're the entertainment. We're not ready by any means, but it'll be fun nonetheless.

I put up the super rough recordings of my best songs in Songwriting - check it out if you're bored(which you must be if you're reading this).

Gotta get some sleep - I've got ball practice tomorrow @ 10. God knows my teams needs it...

[tmlfan123]

Better Off - Theory of a Deadman
All or Nothing - Theory of a Deadman
Audience of One - Rise Against
Give It All - Rise Against
Pieces - Sum 41
Dear Maria - All Time Low
Check Yes Juliet - We The Kings
Hero - Nickelback
Gunslinger - Avenged Sevenfold

I can't wait for Wednesday

In the meantime, my baseball game tomorrow will have to suffice for entertainment. I'm starting on the mound again. Hopefully we can get some run support this time.

[tmlfan123]

Baseball was terrible. I started, gave up six runs in the first inning, got them 1-2-3 in the second, allowed one run in the fifth, and then my defense fell apart in the fourth and I gave up another six. I had two outs and two strikes on the batter at least four times in the fourth and every time they'd dribble one under someone's glove or someone would drop a fly ball. We came back to lead 9-6 after two innings, but then we fell apart in the field, on the mound, and at bat. It was absolutely brutal.

In other news, my first gig ever with the band at the fundraiser at Tim Horton's went swimmingly. Gunslinger was ☺☺☺☺. There were lots of girls. All in all a good experience.

I'm going to my friend's production of "The Laramie Project" at his high school tomorrow. It's a play about a gay man who was killed because of his homosexuality. I'm curious to see how it's presented.

[rockr2010]

OOOh you should tell me how that play turns out

So any girls that caught your eye? OH and if you have any, you should post pics from the performance I <3 shows

[tmlfan123]

Originally Posted by rockr2010

OOOh you should tell me how that play turns out

So any girls that caught your eye? OH and if you have any, you should post pics from the performance I <3 shows

The play was very well done, the arts department at this high school is great and always does a good job of their performances. It didn't truly express an opinion on homosexuality, it stuck with what people from the town thought and said in the aftermath of the killing of Matthew Sheppard. It was informative, alternately funny and incredibly powerful, and sprinkled with f-bombs for further emphasis...

Haha well it seems the ones that catch my eye have already been taken but I'm 17 and I've got a long way to go before I need to think about a wife. I wish I had pictures to post but I was kind of singing and all the pictures were taken by people I don't know or don't have on facebook so I don't have any

I watched "The Pink Panther" with a friend today, the newer one with Steve Martin. I absolutely love that movie, it makes me laugh so hard every time. "Yuri the trainer who trains"...

I have ball practice tomorrow morning, so I'm gonna call it a night. Maybe the coach will let me coach batting practice - I'm 3-for-4 with a walk in the first two games with two doubles. If we could get some hitting we wouldn't be a terrible team. Although some fielding skill would be nice as well... and it would help if someone could pitch...

[tmlfan123]

Grrrrrr Pens lost tonight... and they didn't even play badly until Detroit was up 3-0. They had serious discipline problems, but the refs were terrible once again. The problem with "letting them go", as many announcers put it, is that when you do call something, it's an exact replica of seven previous offences that went uncalled.

Ball practice this morning was to the point. BP, BP, and more BP. We needed it but we need some coaching too. We won't get better just by taking hundreds of terrible swings. We have three games this week - Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday. I have to start and pitch four innings on both Tuesday and Friday, but oddly enough I'm excited. I want to see how I throw when I've already thrown a game that week.

Thought of the day - I've been wondering what kind of "swearing" is appropriate or inappropriate for a Christian. I know the Bible warns against crude talk, but if neither me or my friend are offended by a particular word, should we still not say that word? Obviously the Bible says to not take the Lord's name in vain, and so I never say "oh my god" or "jesus" or any of those. But to be honest with you, the f-word offends me a lot less than someone taking the Lord's name in vain.

Well it's 12:30 - time to go to bed so I don't fall asleep in church tomorrow.

[tmlfan123]

Working is good and all, but when the alarm goes off it's terribly hard to get out of bed. Somedays I'd rather sleep than make money, and today was one of them. Guess that's just Monday morning syndrome.

I went to a united worship event last night. United is where teens from dozens of area churches all "unite" at one place for a service. It was excellent, definitely one of the things I will miss about my area when I move off to university.

I wrote a little poem/song/something on Saturday night/Sunday morning after I wrote the post above. I guess I'll share it here:

A broken boy
Drinks alone
He meets new people
He thinks they're friends
He can't see past their faces
To see what they have planned

Maybe it's his fault
And maybe it's theirs
But when the first blow lands
He realizes the truth
He swings twice
Then begs for mercy
But the gun keeps descending
Holding on to a pinpoint of light
He fights to live
Even as his wrists are tied

A broken body
Tied to a fence
Glazed eyes
Search the skies
His search for meaning
Wasn't meant to end this way

But why does this surprise us?
Is this really so unexpected?
His death is just a symptom
Of a broken world

Broken are his choices
Broken are theirs
Broken is his body
But also
Broken is his species

It's about the play I watched on Thursday - about the case of Matthew Sheppard.

Thought of the day:

What is the appropriate amount of sadness we should feel over change in our lives? Some of my friends in grade 12 are sobbing their eyes out over last day of school, last days spent with childhood friends, but I don't really feel it. I figure, the friends who are close to me, I'll probably keep, and the ones who aren't I will probably lose touch with, but re-connect every once in a while. Meanwhile, I'll be making new friends at a new place. I tried to explain this to one of my friends who was terribly distraught about all this, but I think I came across as unfeeling. I know I'll lose some people and some good times, but personally I'm excited about this new step in my life.