Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 30 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 30 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
1. As a kid I used to climb up into trees and bend the branches to make a bed, then I would take afternoon naps up there.
2. The most frequently asked question directed towards me is "How tall are you?" And I'm tired of hearing it! I'm 6'6" and yes, I know I'm tall, but I did nothing to earn it; that's the way I am. I don't go around asking how short people are. I guess I like the attention, but it just gets really old after awhile, you know?
3. The second most frequently asked question directed towards me is "Do you play basketball?" And my answer is "I played in high school, but it's not really my favorite sport." This is usually met with a polite nod from the questioner and a cessation of the conversation since they no longer find me interesting to talk to since I’m not the star basketball player they hoped I was. You might think I have a complex about my height, but I'm merely being observant about situations I find myself in frequently.
4. The hardest question for me to answer is "Where's home?"
5. When I was a kid, I found an injured baby pigeon in my yard and took care of it until it was better. I named it Tweety, and after I let it go, if I stood under a particular tree and did a bird call it would call back to me. Sometimes it would just fly onto my shoulder or head when it saw me outside.
6. To this day, I am convinced that I have some of Crocodile Dundee's skill in communicating with animals, and on the occasion will attempt to strike up conversations with squirrels that I encounter. I promise, I'm not crazy. ;)
7. I day dream a lot, and often get caught up in my own world. My dad used to send me to the local park with an exercise list for me to do in preparation for football season. When I was out there doing my exercises I would spend my breaks trying to figure out the different calls of the field birds. When I played soccer, I usually played defender, and so had many times when I wasn't directly involved in the action. I would usually start daydreaming about the princess in the latest fantasy book I was reading. Then when she was kidnapped in the story, I would get angry and vow to play the soccer game for her…many shins were kicked. It gave me extra energy…like a sort of berserk mode.
8. One of my favorite pastimes as a kid was to catch butterflies with a handmade net and put them in glass jars with breathing holes. But when they all started dying, I felt badly about it and buried them. From then on I would only keep them in jars for a few minutes so I could show my mom, then I would let them go.
9. I also went through a frog collecting phase and at one point had at least 30 frogs in my bathtub.
10. When I was one or two (my parents aren't immediately at hand for consultation to verify my age), when I had not yet learned how to walk, my black lab named Nero ran away from home, and I followed him, crawling out of the yard and around the neighborhood. My parents tell me they finally found me on my way to crawling onto a busy road. We never found Nero. =/
11. I have played tug-o-war with a lion cub and a stick. It's amazing how strong they are!
12. I have had very mixed experiences with horses. My first experience was when I was little. My dad was riding a horse with me holding on behind him. He started galloping and I fell off right into a big puddle of mud! Bad start to horses. Then, in first grade we would have show-and-tell by bringing something in a bag and choosing someone to put their hand in the bag to feel and guess what the object was. For my show-and-tell, I borrowed my sister's Barbie horse and chose the girl that I liked as my guesser - she loved horses! Later, in music class, she rewarded my efforts by pulling me into her lap and kissing me. =D I once went on a horse-back safari and we trotted along with a herd of zebra. We got quite close to a rhino, but luckily there were no mishaps that time. Then there was the time that I got tick fever after riding a horse, and was sick in bed for a week straight. And the latest incident with horses was on a horse-back tour in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa. Our tour guide was leading the way along a narrow path near the edge of a cliff when she suddenly decided it'd be a good idea to start galloping. My sister's horse bolted after the tour guide's, and my horse also decided to race off to catch up. Now, English saddles do not have pommels like American saddles, and I had no idea how to ride a horse in a gallop. I saw my sister's horse stop up ahead and my sister fall off the saddle next to the horse. Then I was thrown over my horse's head onto the ground in front of it and watched it jump over me. Thankfully it didn't step on me. In spite of the incredible back pain and nasty bruise from the fall, along with my other experiences, one day I would like to become a fairly proficient equestrian.
13. I once got second in a spelling bee…and the word I misspelled was….'stallion'!!!! GRRRRRRR, those darn horses!
14. My first grade field trip was prematurely interrupted by a family of rhinoceros. We had to abandon our lunch on the picnic tables and then the monkeys came and stole everything before we could come back for it.
15. The late Vice President of Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomo, once kissed my hand when I met him.
16. I have played the following sports for at least one season: American Football, Rugby, Soccer, Field Hockey, Basketball, long-distance running, swimming. Out of these I'd say my favorite is Rugby...followed closely by hacky sack ;D. I have never been seriously injured from any of these sports, though I'd say I have more scars from three years of rugby scrapes than from all of the other sports combined.
17. I have played guitar since I was 14, but it has not been consistent and my skills are still very mediocre. Nevertheless, I love playing!
18. In elementary school in America I once brought a bag of dried worms from Africa to class and tried to make money off of my classmates by charging them to see me eat the worms. Unfortunately the other guys in my class weren't grossed out enough by the idea and ate some themselves…no profit was made =/
19. In middle school and intermittently during high school, I would style my hair into individual spikes that covered my head. It would take me up to 30 minutes every morning for me to be satisfied that every spike was perfectly in place, and I missed the bus for school several times because of this vanity. Not proud of this fact, but I did get many compliments on my hair!
20. I am a perfectionist and I have a very critical eye for most things. However, I have come a long way in toning down my obsessive nature.
21. I eat absolutely anything and can't really think of anything I would flat out refuse. There are foods I don't enjoy very much, but I could still eat them. Although, despite my attempts at becoming Japanese, natto is just not very appealing. =/
22. Nicknames I've had over the years: Scooby, Shaggy, Jordie, Stone Cold, JC, George, Yank(ee), Big Friendly Giant (BFG), Schecter, Justin (>_<), Daniel (I don't know how they got that one), Zulu Missile, Silent Pimp (SP) <--- don't ask! ;P
23. I looooooooovvvvvvveeeeeeee reading! I love stories in any shape or form: books, video games, song lyrics, oral, paintings, whathaveyou. My favorite genre is sci-fi/fantasy. Classics and epic poetry are also tasty...
24. I want to be a writer - not just the next Tolkien and Lewis, but something different. I want my writing to be practical as well as imaginative. I want it to connect fantasy to reality so that people don't just want to live in my created world, but they want to go out into the real world and do something to change the way things are so that it might be just a bit closer to paradise. I am currently working on my first novel - naturally, a sci-fi/fantasy epic.
25. I've been in a music video - Demon Hunter's "Fading Away." It was awesome.
26. My sense of humor is very dry and quite often jokes are discovered only through convoluted and stream-of-thought reasoning, so no one but myself finds the joke funny. I am, however, quite capable of appreciating most all other types of humor; I'm just not good at making the jokes myself.
27. I am descended from Vikings, but I was born and grew up in Africa, my citizenship is American, and I secretly believe I am Asian inside.
28. Weird talents include: flipping my eyelids inside-out, double-jointed in almost all fingers, flapping my scapulae like wings. As a kid when I first figured out how to cross my eyes, I would go around claiming that I had the ability to see through objects, and I honestly believed I could…it was much later that I realized I was only seeing through an image of the object, not the object itself!
29. I have lived in 5 different countries (soon to be 6), and have gone to 9 different school systems (soon to be 10). Despite my veteran status at it, moving is still not easy for me.
30. I'm horrible at small talk because I mostly only speak to gather information or give it out. Usually I am too caught up in thinking about things and about what other people have said to think about what I should say. I guess this makes my skills of listening and observation pretty good, which helps me as a writer…I love a good description.
- This was easier than I thought it would be…brought back a lot of memories…but I only had 30 slots and embellished too much, so I'm finishing here.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Saturday, January 7, 2006
| Ah, God is so good! Yesterday started rather poorly...I was woken up quite early by my dad who said that he wanted me to run some errands in town...the very day after getting my license! It was quite frustrating...I went to get an ink cartridge, 'cause my mom had to print something that morning...but they didn't have it, so they said they'd refill one of ours and it'd be ready Monday, several days later...so my mom was quite upset about that...but what could I do? Then I went to get some bolts for making shelves in the storage room...and then dropped off the electric sander at my dad's office at Ascot...and when I got home finished the shelves...hmmm, you know in retrospect, it doesn't sound like a very bad day...just a bit busy...but anyway, I know that I was quite upset with my dad for waking me up so early...but I guess it was a bit selfish....ANYWAY!!! That's over...the rest of the day was pretty cool...Kuns came over and we played guitar a bit...he had a stash of pedals...quite sweet...and he gave one of them to me! 'Metal Factory' it's called....ah...sweet distortion...mmm...yeah, then Shungu called...hadn't talked to him for over a year...and invited us to his get-together at his place...so around 5 or so we drove over there...and everyone was there! Like so many guys...Rob and Tracy, Jess, Tarryn, Sam, Nick Simpson, T.K., Alvero, obviously Shungu...ah...lots of guys...and Ryan even brough Mdu...which was really cool...great to see him there. I'm not sure if he's a Christian...but it's great that Ryan's reaching out. Yessss...and someone pushed Kuns into the pool in his clothes...got all wet...and I have leather seats in my car, man! But he dried up pretty well...sat on a towel and stuff, so everything was cool...we had a time of sharing after the socializing...just saying what God had done in our lives in 2005...it was quite cool, really...yeah...and there's so many guys leaving the country...it's weird...makes me wonder who's gonna still be at the church...but I'm sure there's gonna be plenty...it's just gonna be different tho...but I can tell that others are being trained up...there will be new musicians...new leaders...it'll be fine. Yes, so the day actually went pretty well...and I thank God for such great friends...even though I didn't do all that much while I was here...there were always people to go to for talking...I think their personal witness did more for me than any church sermons I heard during my stay here. It's just so encouraging what God can do in a heart that's surrendered to Him....mmm...well, I got stuff to do...packing and stuff, so adieu! |
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Thursday, January 5, 2006
Driver's License Part II
Well, I finally got my driver's license today! And I'm only 19, whoohoo!...*note the sarcasm* Well, at least I've got it now, and my sister got it just a few hours after me...and she's only 17. But, hey that doesn't matter. I got it and I never have to go back to the stupid Zimbabwe Vehicle Inspection Depot ever again!!! Praise God, I'm so relieved! Hmmm...what else did I do today? I got an ink cartridge for my Mom (the first errand I was sent on with my newly acquired license). Oh, I almost got stung by a wasp in the eye - not very fun. I'm just glad my eye lashes stopped it from getting in. I couldn't imagine a sting in the eye - yuck! That happened as I was helping my dad put shelves up in the storage room...which took a long time...till sundown, and we were all sweaty, and the pool looked so inviting...so we took a dunk - very refreshing. Played with Toby, torturing his impressionable mind, hah, it was a pretty good day! Tomorrow I should be able to have a guitar jam session with Kuns before he goes back to the UK...gonna be sweet, can't wait. Yessss...well, don't know what else to say, but I guess posting something which isn't overly exciting is better than not posting anything at all? Yeah,well, see ya!
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Driver's License
Well, I'm busy working on getting my driver's license, and I must say that it is one of the most stressful things I've ever tried to do! Doing anything that involves the government in this country is so incredibly inefficient and frustrating! I've wasted so many days just waiting in queues and waiting for them to be on time for things. But it needs to be done...I need my license before I get to the States, cause I don't wanna be a burden to my g-ma. I'm 19 anyway! I could have had my license 3 years ago! Yeah...oh, yes, yes, I'm going back to the States. Jan. 26 is the date and Tulsa, Oklahoma the place. I'm gonna live with my grandma and find a job to earn and save money until university in August/September. No, I'm not sure which one just yet. Stanford didn't accept me...which is disappointing. I mean, yeah it's like one of the best unis in the US...it just would have been great to have known that I could have gone there...but my rest has been in knowing that if I was meant to go there, then I would have been accepted...so obviously God has other plans for me. The other four universities I'm waiting on for replies...I don't expect them until February/March next year. Yeah...I've been going through all of my stuff...sorting out what I'm gonna take to the US...what I'm gonna leave behind...throw away...sell...and the memories come flooding back as I see the objects of my past. My heart aches with it...and I know it's gonna be hard...I don't think I'm going to hold on to very much stuff...my life does not lie in physical objects...and I can't dwell on memories and could-have-beens...I am being given another chance to start over...to begin afresh and build myself up from the ground. I feel the call to grow up...to really become mature in my relationship with God. And it's been a long time in coming...but perfect timing for God. It's just all in His hands...all of it...
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Computer Crash
Well my computer crashed yesterday...lost a lot of my stuff...stuff that can't be replaced. I know it sounds really stupid but it hurt to lose those things...because I had spent so much time working on them...and for it to all just go...man, it's hard to take. I lost some of my music...but I can always buy CDs again...I lost all of my archived emails, some of which were 5 years old...huge text files...very sentimental...gone. My poetry...I don't know if I lost anything that isn't somewhere else...because I take the paper copy and type it up, then throw away the paper...I'm just glad I posted the majority of it on here so at least I still have that stuff. I lost all my games...which I suppose isn't a major loss...you can always download them again or buy them...although it takes a lot of time on a 56k modem to regain several gigabytes of info. I also lost a lot of pictures: of friends, of the moon, of me, pictures of bands I like (a lot of them), but I guess the biggest loss of all is time. I've spent so much time organizing and arranging my stuff, and using it; for that work to go just feels like a lot of my time was stolen from me...and I guess it all goes to that Bible verse: "do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where thieves break in and the moth destroys" (and where computers crash!)...I guess it's in Matthew, but I don't know. So I think the best thing to do is let the stuff go...it's gone...and not make things more important than they should be in the future...also to back up my stuff! But really, honestly...if our house burnt to the ground and I lost everything...I would really hurt...even though God would still be there for me. He's the one thing that the world can't take away...so if everything is taken from me and I feel bitter about it...does that mean that I'm wrong? Deep inside I feel that it means I've not made God everything to me...even though I sing it and pray it..."God be everything to me" it's just not happened yet...but God promised that He would finish the work he began in me, so I'll hold on to that promise, and even though I'm not sinless and selfless yet, I trust that one day I will be. That's all I have to hope in...and if it's not true then what is the point in Christ dying? Surely He died to set us free, and if it's an incomplete freedom, is it freedom at all. So then Christ has set us free and so we are free indeed. I am free from sin...it will just take some time to remove it's effects completely from my life. But in the spiritual realm I am free already...God I won't give up...cause when everything is gone...You aren't...You're always here for me and I know You won't leave me alone.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Leaver's Dance...and Love
Well, I'm debating with myself whether or not to go to my Leaver's Dance (like the Prom). The thing is that it could very likely be a big flop and I'd be wasting my time. I went to the Valentine's Day dance earlier in the year and it wasn't all that great...but if my friends go to the Leaver's then maybe it'll be ok...I could at least talk to them...or else just hang with the wall, you know like:
A love for God. I feel it a lot...mostly in worship, but I'm never satisfied unless I'm constantly worshipping, and that's not really practical. Yeah, worshipping is not just music. It's a lifestyle. But I'm not perfect yet, so I can't always worship with my lifestyle. And even though I know that God is with me in my loneliness, it still fails to console me...there's an aching in my heart for someone to love. I know it was put there by God, so surely He can fill that need. There must have been a reason why God still made Eve for Adam, even though Adam and He had the closest relationship man has ever had (sin was not there) with God. Yet, wouldn't a relationship with another human detract from the relationship with God? After all, Paul wasn't married, and he was one of the greatest apostles of all time...part of me wants that, but the rest of me just can't remain alone.
The other hindrance is the thought that I could only ever love someone for this lifetime. This brief life...then we die and go to Heaven. But there's no marriage in Heaven (so says the Bible) and so we would no longer have that type of relationship anymore. I suppose when we get to that point God will be all that we want and He would take away any desire that we previously had for anything other than Him. Yet there's a sense of tragedy in that lost love...I can't be at peace about it. To love someone then lose them. Would we actually gain them as well as everybody else forever? If the church becomes the Bride of Christ, then are we all to become one spirit and then marry God? Will my spirit be mixed and lost with all the other billions of spirits from eternity to become one consciousness that loves God? Or would it be more like everyone is still individual, but we all love each other and God? It seems weird...I guess it's just the whole idea of a gender-free spirit that I can't fathom. Is the spirit of a man and a woman exactly the same? Even though we seem so different (more than just the physical)...maybe we're all just the same, which makes me feel unoriginal and not special.
Whatever...all I know is there is a desire in my heart for love...to give my heart to someone...without a doubt I know that I must do such to God, but is there someone else too? Where are you my love? Come soon...
Jordan: What's hangin' man?Heh, well anyway, the other thing is if I should go with someone or not. I already paid for the single ticket, but I suppose I could just pay the extra if I do ask someone...but I really don't think I will. The other guys probably think I'm crazy to go to a leaver's dance without a date, but I'd rather not get involved right now...I won't be here much longer, and it'd only make leaving hard, and I don't wanna go though all that over again. I just can't bring myself to pursue a relationship which I know will be temporary. I want the first one to be The One...so I'm saving myself for her...if indeed God wants me to get married.
Wall: Nothin'...no new pictures or plaques lately...
Jordan: Aww, too bad bro...
Wall: Yeah, I know and I'm pretty flat about it.
'It's not good for man to be alone,' says the Bible.And that was even when man was still in fellowship with God; before sin entered the picture. Yet I feel that I should be able to be satisfied completely with God. I'm trying to be satisfied in Him, and make Him my best friend, my most intimate companion, but it's so hard. I sometimes think girls have it easier than guys. God is a father figure, right? So...that's male...and it's just weird trying to love a male when I' one myself...yeah, it's not the same, but the idea is. God has no gender...He's a spirit, so our spirits should blend. It's just so hard to grasp, because it's a love that mankind does not understand...agape love.
A love for God. I feel it a lot...mostly in worship, but I'm never satisfied unless I'm constantly worshipping, and that's not really practical. Yeah, worshipping is not just music. It's a lifestyle. But I'm not perfect yet, so I can't always worship with my lifestyle. And even though I know that God is with me in my loneliness, it still fails to console me...there's an aching in my heart for someone to love. I know it was put there by God, so surely He can fill that need. There must have been a reason why God still made Eve for Adam, even though Adam and He had the closest relationship man has ever had (sin was not there) with God. Yet, wouldn't a relationship with another human detract from the relationship with God? After all, Paul wasn't married, and he was one of the greatest apostles of all time...part of me wants that, but the rest of me just can't remain alone.
The other hindrance is the thought that I could only ever love someone for this lifetime. This brief life...then we die and go to Heaven. But there's no marriage in Heaven (so says the Bible) and so we would no longer have that type of relationship anymore. I suppose when we get to that point God will be all that we want and He would take away any desire that we previously had for anything other than Him. Yet there's a sense of tragedy in that lost love...I can't be at peace about it. To love someone then lose them. Would we actually gain them as well as everybody else forever? If the church becomes the Bride of Christ, then are we all to become one spirit and then marry God? Will my spirit be mixed and lost with all the other billions of spirits from eternity to become one consciousness that loves God? Or would it be more like everyone is still individual, but we all love each other and God? It seems weird...I guess it's just the whole idea of a gender-free spirit that I can't fathom. Is the spirit of a man and a woman exactly the same? Even though we seem so different (more than just the physical)...maybe we're all just the same, which makes me feel unoriginal and not special.
Whatever...all I know is there is a desire in my heart for love...to give my heart to someone...without a doubt I know that I must do such to God, but is there someone else too? Where are you my love? Come soon...
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