The most important find of my fifth semester in college is this little green bouncing ball (like a Sky Bounce or whatever they're called at regional supermarkets, but older and smaller) I dug out of a storage compartment a month ago. This ball has become the Swiss Army knife of my room. It can be tossed into the air, viciously thrown at a wall post-stressful event, or bounced off the ceiling to see how fast your reaction time is. (I also think I'm realizing that I'm very easily entertained.) It's really useful in the most idiotic ways possible and I love it.
I remember hearing around a year ago in a CRU or Crossroad talk (at this point, they're starting to run together for me, because life is nuts) that God is a lot like a Swiss Army knife. The Swiss Army knife is just one tool, but it does so much more than we can imagine. There are so many functions that God has that are absolutely mind-blowing and I've seen a lot of that this semester. I continue to set records for stress levels seemingly each week and I had to admit to myself that I really wasn't enjoying junior year. However, I can see God using all these things going on in my life to draw me closer to Him and to realize that He is all I have.
I have a little over a week left in semester five of eight. That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever typed because it feels as if college just started yesterday. These 2.5 years have flown by faster than I could have ever imagined. I've made the best friends that I'll ever make and have been blessed to be part of an incredible community in CRU. God has taught me critical lessons through everyday experiences. It's been fun and I'm already getting apprehensive and nervous about it ending. Good thing I've got three more of these to finish.
Bullet points:
- I have a good story that some people may have already heard about my Alabama-Auburn experience from this weekend (it cannot be shared on this blog for obvious reasons), but here's another one. Without realizing it sometimes, I deal with stress by excessively chewing gum. The only way I can explain it is that it's like chain-smoking but with chewing gum and I'm kind of embarrassed by it. During the Alabama-Auburn game on Saturday, CBS ran a short in-game segment on Auburn coach Gus Malzahn's gum-chewing habits. The guy goes through approximately 25 pieces of Dubble Bubble per game! (For people like me who care too much, that's one piece every 8.4 minutes, assuming the game is 3.5 hours. Removing halftime, it's one piece every 7.6 minutes.) Way to hold the game down on a national scale for the gum addicts out there, Gus.
- The 30 Best Songs Released in 2013:
- No one releases music in December anyway and I've seen three end-of-year lists this week. Whatever. New releases only; songs previously released in 2012 or earlier don't count.
- ------------> Spotify playlist HERE. <------------------
- 30. Cass McCombs, "There Can Be Only One"
- 29. Waxahatchee, "Swan Dive"
- 28. Johnnyswim, "Heart Beats"
- 27. Lorde, "Royals"
- 26. Rhye, "Open"
- 25. Neko Case, "Man"
- 24. Daft Punk ft. Panda Bear, "Doin' It Right"
- 23. JAY Z, "Picasso Baby" (language)
- 22. The Head and the Heart, "Another Story"
- 21. Mikal Cronin, "Weight"
- 20. Bibio, "À tout à l'heure"
- Full disclosure: no one else knows who Bibio is except as the guy who did the one song in an Amazon commercial, but I'd go to war (figuratively; there are very few things I would actually go to war for, including, but not limited to, Popeye's Chicken and almost any Wes Anderson movie) for the guy. For a long time I considered him the best at what he does at least from his region (the UK; he does have more "great" albums than Radiohead can claim). I have no idea if this is a letter of recommendation, but yeah.
- 19. Arcade Fire, "Reflektor"
- 18. The National, "Graceless"
- 17. Kanye West, "Bound 2" (language)
- 16. Pharrell, "Happy"
- Was there a greater match of song and screen this year than this and Despicable Me 2?
- 15. Chance the Rapper, "Juice" (language)
- 14. Vampire Weekend, "Hannah Hunt"
- 13. CHVRCHES, "The Mother We Share"
- 12. 2 Chainz ft. Pharrell, "Feds Watching" (language)
- 11. Mayer Hawthorne, "Back Seat Lover"
- 10. Toro y Moi, "So Many Details"
- 9. The National, "Sea of Love"
- 1. Video of the year. Easily. 2. That little kid!!
- 8. Chance the Rapper ft. Vic Mensa and Twista, "Cocoa Butter Kisses" (language)
- 7. Run the Jewels ft. Big Boi, "Banana Clipper" (language)
- 6. Disclosure, "When a Fire Starts to Burn"
- 5. Pusha T ft. Kendrick Lamar, "Nosetalgia" (language)
- 4. HAIM, "The Wire"
- 3. Vampire Weekend, "Step"
- 2. Youth Lagoon, "Mute"
- 1. Kanye West, "Black Skinhead" (language)
- In all honesty, like Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City in 2012, Yeezus (like it or not) is the 2013 rap album we'll still be talking about in twenty years.
- I post this during every finals week, but for all my friends, please keep Colossians 3:23 in mind. Remember who you're working for.
- Detroit Lions, NFC North champions. Book it.
- Ten Songs I Liked in November:
- Because I didn't post enough for you to be forced to listen to earlier.
- Sun Kil Moon, "Carry Me Ohio"
- St. Lucia, "Elevate"
- Owen, "The Sad Waltzes of Pietro Crispi"
- Bright Eyes, "We Are Nowhere and It's Now"
- Wiretree, "Get Up"
- Mayer Hawthorne, "Her Favorite Song" (shouts to Highland Park)
- Caroline Smith, "Calliope"
- CHVRCHES, "Gun"
- City Calm Down, "Sense of Self"
- Childish Gambino, "3005" (language)
- My greatest idea of 2013 (if you've just met me and are reading this I promise that I literally never do this and am not the worst person ever) is the one I had while sitting at Dairy Queen on Wednesday. I don't see how this can fail: a TNT courtroom drama starring 2 Chainz as defense attorney, Rob Lowe as rival lawyer, Jason Lee as 2's sidekick, and Aziz Ansari in some role somewhere as comic relief. Ludacris guest stars on occasion.
- Best Twitter follow of the month: @PoliticalData, which posts assorted political charts related to "polling, demographics, public opinions," etc. If you're a sucker for charts of any kind (AKA, me), it's worth a look.
- Good luck on finals, don't die, etc.
Will
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