Chapel.  That word alone on this campus holds many connotations and can leave different tastes in everyone’s mouth.  The great and late comedian Mitch Hedberg once said, “You can’t please everyone all the time…and last night, all those people were at my show.”  That’s kind of how every Tuesday and Thursday chapel at 10 o’clock is here at AU.  You can’t please everyone all the time.  When you have 2700 people gather together, you get all kinds of different mixes.  Some are Christians, some are not.  Some have different beliefs, some don’t even know what they believe.  Some prefer contemporary worship, some prefer the spoons.  Some prefer reverence, others prefer the buddy Jesus image from Dogma.

So yesterday was an intro to Vision Revision for Chapel next week (duh duh duh!).  We have a couple themed weeks during the year and they are usually very good.  Students even come to evening services by choice!  I know that may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it says a lot.  Anyway, it’s been the talk lately around campus.  It started off with Matthew West making a random appearance and singing a few songs.  Then the theme was introduced of waking up and being in awe of God and everything around us that He has created; so they edited some clips from movies like Hook, Elizabethtown and Lord of the Rings.  Only one word could summarize that part-bangerang!  Then came the really cool part…you ready for this?  One of our students, Anna Long, wrote an INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL piece of music that was played by a full set of violins, basses, electric bases, four different guitars, grand piano, keyboard, drums, another set of drum beats, a choir and other instruments that I don’t even know about.  I mean, she’s like the female version of August Rush.  She’s Augustina Rush!  Anyway, the whole thing was put together by a lot of people but headed up by Anna’s sister, Ally and it was beautiful.  It was a great chapel experience that a lot of people enjoyed and were impacted by.  That’s all I got here, feel free to shoot me a line anytime!

-Jon

Yea…it’s been kinda like that lately for me.   Are you having trouble sleeping?  Do find it hard to make yourself go to class?  Do you feel like doing nothing but playing video games all day?  Are you  letting your personal hygiene slip a bit because not showering allows you to sleep an extra 15 minutes?  Do you just feel stressed out about everything?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you probably suffer from Ihaventhadabreakinawhileandneedtogetawayfromschoolforaweek disorder.  Statistics show that this disorder is very common in college students in the later weeks of February.  97% of students at AU suffer from this condition, so don’t feel alone.  While I cannot prescribe any form of medication I do have a remedy for you…its called SPRING BREAK.

I know we are all looking forward to it.  Whether you’re going south to the beach, north to the colder weather, or just going home to chill, you are most likely counting down the days to Spring Break…9 days…7 school days…I find that many people take different approaches in anticipating spring break.. There are some who count down the minutes and seconds until their last class, there are some who know its coming but really don’t even know when, and then there are those who don’t have any idea when it is and usually are really surprised when they realize they are the only ones left on campus, and then my favorite are the people who quit everything and just sit in their rooms and stare at the walls for 3 weeks straight waiting for the break to come.

I really do understand right now that school can be really stressful these few weeks proceeding SB, but I do have one piece of advice to help you get through.  In the 3 weeks that precede SB I have always found that there is one of those weeks in which it feels like you have a thousand tests, and two billion papers to write.  In order to maintain sanity, pick out that week in your mind and tell yourself that if you get through that week you will make it to SB.  My week was last week, and in particular there were two days that just killed me, but I got through them and there is nothing that can stop me now!  So try to pick out a week, call it “your week” and punch it in the mouth!

Good luck,

Mr. Gray

     Maybe this Valentines day Hallmark-inspired holiday can better be described with a black veil and the words, “Singles Awareness Day.”  I know, I know, that probably comes off as love sick and anti-romantic.  To be honest, I am a hopeless romantic at heart.  However, before this year I had never had a Valentine!  True story.  However, this being the first year, I was all excited about doing something amazing, stupendous, incredible, surprising and would make her oow and ahh….needless to say I set a high bar for myself and I had nothing, until the afternoon on Valentines day haha.  One thing that you have to know is that this is not some sort of convenient relationship as far as location is concerned.  I can’t just come up with an idea the day off, walk across campus or drive two hours and pull it up.  No, I go to AU in Anderson, IN…she goes to West Palm Beach Atlantic in Palm Beach, Florida.  For those of you who may be reading this and are somewhat geographically challenged, that’s half of the US!  So, there’s a bit of a distance thing there ha.     So I call her friend and explain the whole idea and she agrees to help me pull it off.  While my girl is off enjoying the company of her friends and watching a movie, her friend sneaks into her room and begins to set the scene.  She lead a trail of Hershey’s kisses from her door to her bedroom where the entire floor was covered with kisses and a note that said, “Now that I kiss the ground you walk on, will you be my Valentine?”  I KNOW, it’s cheesy ha.  Very cheesy!  She liked it though and that is what made it important to me ha.

So…if you have read any of my blogs from last semester, you well know that my roommate and I were addicted to the show Heroes.   Really though, addicted doesn’t accurately describe our craze, it was like catnip for college kids.  We stayed up into the wee hours of the night watching episode after episode from the season 1 dvd.  Well, we have now seen every episode from the 2 seasons, but because of the writers’ strike we haven’t seen a new episode for months now…Luckily, for Christmas my grandparents got me something else that I could hooked on.  I had never heard of it until I opened it, but the Planet Earth dvd set is probably the coolest thing I have ever seen.

If you don’t know, Planet Earth was a BBC Emmy-Award Winning TV series that demonstrates the greatest parts of the earth and wildlife that many of us never see.   Let me tell you, it is UN-BE-LIEVABLE.  I swear I wasn’t even interested in nature that much, but this dvd has really changed that for me.  There are 11 episodes in the set which take you from the North Pole to vast plains, to the depths of caves to the heights of the highest mountains, and even takes you in to the ocean.  The footage in this dvd is amazing.  You all really should see it sometime.  Some of the rarest, most amazing animals are caught on video in their natural habitat, and it rocks my world.

We watched an episode about every night until we were done with them all, and I am not ashamed to say I plan on watching them again.   It hasn’t really taken over my life like Heroes did, but that really is a good thing.

I really encourage you to catch an episode if you can!  I know here on campus a group is getting together to watch it, if you can you should join them!!

And hey, what better way to celebrate man month than a little bit of nature!

So grow a beard and get outside…and if you don’t feel up for spelunking just rent the dvd!

Enjoy life.

Thanks,

Zachary

          First Dates.  To some this term may bring feelings of great joy, but to what I would assume to be the majority of us, that term brings about a sense of anxiety, only equally matched by the ever awkward…first kiss. Of course, once you get past that real-life game of battleship, its smooth sailing and clear skies.  But until such a time, it is all about first impressions and everything’s on the line.  What questions do ask?  Am I talking too much?  Is she talking too much?  Do I have food on my face?  Or the ever popular plead, “Dear God, please don’t let me say anything ridiculous tonight….or fart.”  Believe me, we’ve all been there in a catatonic state of absolute perspiration.  But with a little guts, a ton of deodorant, and a well-stashed cubby of Tic Tacs, the night has the elements for the ever illusive second date.

          That’s kind of what a blog is when you get right down to it.  You get one chance to woo and captivate your audience, with a little help from attemptive cleverness and a dash of sarcastic humor, one might get a chance for that illustrious second date…or in this case, a second chance to intrigue you with my unpredictable and at times corky life.  That said, it is customary for first dates to be a somewhat interview process, a quiet survey, and a secretive game of 20 questions.  To be honest, I prefer the more blunt approach ha.

          So aside from what’s in my bio, here is a bit about myself.  My favorite color is blue, I used to drive a woody (that’s an ‘88 station wagon with wood panels for the lay man), I like working out and playing ultimate Frisbee.  I’m an eclectic and easily persuaded music listener and a movie connoisseur.  LOST is the only addiction I know of and Mel Gibson is the most masculine man alive (in my opinion…but don’t tell Chuck Norris).  I’ve had a crush on Hilary Duff since high school, been to seven countries, I’m in a long distance relationship and I used to watch Boy Meets World like it was my job (‘cause I was unemployed at the time)!  So now that you know a little more about me, hopefully you’ll check in again soon to see what’s new in my life at AU!

  Brrrrrr….it is soooo cold! I really am getting tired of this freezing cold weather! I don’t know about you but I don’t like having my nose freeze off on the way to class each day! So just a couple of weeks ago (yea I know I should have posted on the topic sooner, but hey I have been busy) AU had its first on campus dance EVER. Now…before you go and think that we are really uncool, just understand that we have been having dances for AU students for a long time, they just were never allowed on campus. Those headlines in the local newspapers that say “First AU Dance Ever”…well just know that it really wasn’t our first dance. BUT, it was our first on campus which made it a pretty sweet event! Tons of people came to dance (sorry I don’t have any official numbers…hundreds though!) and we all had a great time! I would post some photos but I didn’t take my camera with me because I didn’t really think the girls would dig that. Also at the dance there was a nice little lounge upstairs (the dance was in the gym) where they served cupcakes and coffee and smoothies for free!!! I kinda thought of the upstairs area as a little VIP lounge…only everyone could go there. It was great standing uptop and looking down on the dance floor and watching people act a fool out there! (kinda creepy that I was watching, but really fun to watch those people who tried so hard to dance, but well…you know, couldn’t - dont worry I am one of thsoe people).

Well it was a great time and I look forward to many more in the future!

Peace and love.

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