It's quite dark outside, and it appears we are about to be hit by a massive storm of some sort.  I do hate it very much when it's dark outside during the daytime.  I realize we need this "rain" nonsense in order for the environment to flourish but it would be nice if it could come in a cheerier form.  Like, what if it rained Skittles like on those old commercials?  That would be sweet. 

I don't know why it's raining so much now.  It was so sunny for the longest time with just the occasional afternoon downpour.  Now it seems like it rains every freaking day.  I certainly hope that improves before next week because...

...I"M GOING TO WARPED TOUR ON MONDAY!!!  I'm so excited, I've been looking forward to this for months.  If it rains on me during Warped I'm probably going to go on some sort of homicidal rampage...and no one wants that.  Then I might get to go to yet another concert the following week, depending on whether or not one of my friends is able to drive.  I've recently delved into the PlayRadioPlay! collection and thoroughly enjoy it.  I am kind of worried about how good they'll be live since they use a lot of synthesizers, and also about how they probably won't play very long in comparison with some of the other bands, but I do enjoy road trips and I do enjoy live music so it's a chance I'm willing to take.

Depressing thought of the day:  There's only about a month of summer left.  Where is it all going?

Bye everyone,

"Captain" Derek Norton

"it takes a lot to phase me.  i'm pretty stable, i'm pretty sane, but..."

When we last left off, I mentioned how the longer we wait in between these things the more I have to say.  Well maybe that wasn't true.  I guess you can write more about an eventful five minutes than you can about an uneventful five days, but hey, let's give it a shot.

You may remember that I was pretty excited about the impending barn dance, but that it turned out to be a pretty huge letdown.  There was NO ONE I knew there.  It's pretty difficult to enter a scene like a barn dance and have a good time when you're not at least acquainted with someone there.  You won't have a dance partner and you won't have anyone to act stupid with you during the novelty dances.  I spent a record-low ten minutes at the dance before I took off, prompting me to give it my seal of disapproval.  I instead went to my dorm and watched PS I Love You.  Yeah, that's right, I decided to go to my room and watch a chick flick by myself.  I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO YOU!!!  It was actually pretty good though.  I don't know that it would actually be possible for someone to do what he did in the movie, but it was a nice thought.  I actually had no idea what it was about when the movie started, so I was understandably shocked when Gerard Butler's character was dead within the first 15 minutes.  It was definitely better than Juno though...that movie was pretty cute but somewhat overrated.  Anyway...

My sunburn is gone!  Sure, there are now small, dead pieces of me laying in every chair that I've sat in during the past week, but it's over now.  I was pretty tired of having so many blisters on my skin that I felt like a basketball.  Now the only thing I have to deal with is the four shades of brown that my skin is right now, which I will be taking care of shortly.  Now that the pool is open and we have rec passes, I can go there for free whenever I want.  Will I use sunscreen?  I'm debating.  Wouldn't want to admit I was wrong, you know.

We also got paid (finally) on Friday, and I was able to go buy some clothes.  I went to the mall on Friday night following another canceled softball game that I showed up for.  It was pretty cool to have some new stuff to wear to the aforementioned lame barn dance and to my high school's graduation.  Too bad the only things you can find in the mall are polo shirts and t-shirts that have advertising plastered all over them.  Maybe I should shop online more.

Mmmmkay, it's time for me to get out of here...must run down to the gym before they randomly close it up.  Enjoy the weather!

...bye,

Derek "Oil Man" Norton

"I'm not giving up quite yet, I've got too much to lose."

Remember all of that umpiring I was supposed to be doing this week?  Turns out I've only gotten to do it once.  I was supposed to go to a sports banquet on Wednesday that one of the softball coaches invited me to, but that got rained out so it was moved to Thursday.  Then, since it was moved to Thursday, I had to cancel my Thursday game.  After I got home from the banquet, I got a voicemail saying that my Friday game had also been cancelled.  I was also pulled off my Saturday game for some unknown reason.  Fannnnntastic. 

The sports banquet was pretty entertaining though.  I'm always a fan of free food, and I got to go on The Blob for the first time.  My friend Julian, who outweighs me by 30-40 pounds, did the honors.  I landed flat on my back and it was quite painful, I must say.  The awards ceremony began after we ate, and I was thanked for announcing in a very memorable fashion.  Coach thanked me both for announcing and "providing additional entertainment."  Feel free to insert your own joke here.  After everyone began laughing because he essentially said I was a stripper, he was like "no, he just turned the music up and down."  So if you're scoring at home, my thanks for three years of announcing was a stripper joke and a minimization.  Good thing my reason for announcing wasn't recognition, because if it was I probably wouldn't find this nearly as funny. 

Lastly, I was wondering if there was something you folks could help me with.  I don't do this often, but I was wondering if you guys could pray for me.  I always thought that God would always have something more important to do than to deal with me, and I still do believe that to an extent.  I'm not starving or near-death or anything, so at times I would feel like a jerk for asking God for something or asking others to ask God to help me.  However, I've been dealing with a personal problem for quite some time and I feel like I'm going to need help to get through it because it affects me every day.  Thanks so much

Good day to you all,

Derek "Chappy" Norton

"What you ignore is priceless to me."