Post-Nothing

The title is in reference to a personal favorite album of mine, because I couldn't think of a creative one-word title that centered around late summer. Also because it's not the end of summer yet so this isn't really a post-anything post. This made a lot more sense when I started than it does right now.

Since I last wrote, I finished up my time this summer at Sacred Heart's summer camp, have visited Detroit and Atlanta (and I'm still in Atlanta), watched a lot of movies (good and bad), listened to several new certified #HITZ (the new Miley Cyrus song obviously counts), and have generally been a lot busier than I honestly anticipated. Because of this, I'm breaking my promise to not write until my summer ended, because there are several things that friends of mine (AKA my grandfather, who faithfully reads this and will greatly enjoy his shoutout in this post) may want to know about the last few weeks of my summer.

I'm saving any longform I have left for my end of summer post, which may be gigantic (this is your advance warning), so while this is shorter and I may not touch on everything I'll touch on stuff that I likely wouldn't have covered in a post-summer post. (The word post is so useful, guys.)

• Biases aside, one of my favorite moments of the summer was a spur-of-the-moment road trip to Detroit and the surrounding area, where around a third of my family resides. This time, I got to see and experience the most important parts of Detroit I hadn't been able to experience previously. I drove down some of Detroit's roughest streets and neighborhoods with my father, which I've wanted to do forever to see the "real" Detroit (the bankrupt Detroit, essentially) (you can see lots of these streets here). I went to Canada, which was my first experience outside the US. It cost $9.50 total and it wasn't worth it, because Windsor is a place devoid of happiness. I had endless Detroit Coney Island dogs, which are the greatest hot dogs one can have - sorry, Chicago. There were many more things I could delve into, but these are the highlights.
• Atlanta is decent, but I can't see how anyone could live here for an extended period. Traffic in the suburbs is unbearable and the city's even worse. I haven't been to NYC, but this is the worst I've seen. I've been to Atlanta several times before and have come away unimpressed each time. However, Midtown is perhaps its one redeeming quality - a part of downtown that feels like a complete different city, not dirty at all and with several inviting points of interest, Piedmont Park the true highlight.
• Somewhat expected, but I miss Young Folks Summer Camp a lot. I met a lot of great people this summer, kids and counselors included, and I have a lot of stories to share at some point in the near future. I love my job.
• Fruitvale Station is described as "a cinematic force" by Rolling Stone Magazine, and that's the best way I can describe it. I haven't felt as emotionally involved in or affected by a film in a very long time, which is a very nice way of saying I failed miserably at holding back tears at the film's climax and finish. (There's around a 90% chance you will, too. Everyone in my theater was weeping openly despite most of us knowing the ending beforehand.) I don't often recommend new movies to everyone because I don't think there's one movie that's exactly for everyone, but this is as close as I can come to doing so. Recent events have caused this to become, in my opinion, the single most important movie you will see this year. Go see Fruitvale Station anywhere you can; you won't regret it.
• Other movies I've seen recently, from 2013 and not from 2013 (I'm really sorry for doing this. I like to make other people listen to my opinions sometimes and it runs over. You can skip this if you want):
• 2013
• Monsters University, 7/10
• The Kings of Summer, 8/10
• Upstream Color, 8/10
• Man of Steel, 6/10
• Not 2013
• Pulp Fiction (1994), 10/10
• Ghost World (2001), 8/10
• Bottle Rocket (1996), 8/10 (a strong challenger for the "most rewatchable film ever" title)
• Before Sunset (2004), 9/10
• Daredevil (2003), 3/10 (sadly, this is just as bad as I remembered)
• George Washington (2000), 9/10
• The Big Lebowski (1998), 10/10
• Unstoppable (2010), 4/10
• Paycheck (2003), 5/10
• Promised Land (2012), 6/10 

• Will's Favorite Songs To Ride Through Ohio (And Kentucky) To:
• John Mellencamp, "Small Town" (The John Mellencamp Pandora station made the four-hour Kentucky nightmare bearable. That state is where happiness goes to die, save for Louisville.)
• Midlake, "Roscoe"
• JAY Z, "Picasso Baby"
• Modest Mouse, "Dramamine"
• The Microphones, "I Want Wind to Blow/The Glow, Pt. 2"
• Texas Is the Reason, "If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours" (Midwest emo is best enjoyed in the Midwest. Who knew?)
• 2 Chainz, "Feds Watching"
• Iron and Wine, "Naked As We Came"
• Grizzly Bear, "While You Wait For The Others"
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, "Even the Losers"
• Today, in Atlanta, I went to the fourth or fifth most important food festival ever: the ICE CREAM FESTIVAL (look, any food festival deserves ALL CAPS. Just wait until next year's HOT CHICKEN FESTIVAL commences in Nashville.) in Midtown. It wasn't actually that great ($3.50 for one scoop of ice cream?), but it's in Piedmont Park, which I've already mentioned to be my favorite part of Atlanta, so hey.
• Meal of the month: probably something I had at Soccer Taco in Knoxville. You should all visit Soccer Taco more often than you currently do.
• Because we're both in transitional periods and are both very busy, JL and I will not be releasing a mixtape in the near future. With any luck we'll try and have one for you soon...maybe around September or October?
• I'm two weeks away from moving back to Knoxville for my third year at Tennessee. I'm even more excited than expected, although I'm becoming more nervous as I get closer to the semester actually starting - this semester I'll be taking 17 hours while working at Sacred Heart and I'll be having my interview with the Education department at UT to get into the Secondary Education program. While all of this is going on I'll be leading a Bible study with Cru in Clement Hall and juggling other things that will inevitably pop up. It's going to be a busy semester, but I'm still excited for it because I know it'll never be dull. 
• I moved out of Neverland two weeks ago. More on that later, because that house deserves more than two sentences.

Go Tigers,

Will

July

I've realized recently I have an extreme love/hate relationship with the summer season. Because I like the feeling of pants and warm flannel shirts far more than I do shorts and tank tops, I hate wearing summer clothes, although the fact I can wear Chacos every day is nice. (The amount of Chaco tan compliments I have received is too many, and I'm a little embarrassed when I get them now.) The heat is ridiculous, the Heat are ridiculous, and I really don't like either of the two. It's too sunny and the amount of sunburns I've received in my life before this summer are too many (I'm at one for this year, which is remarkable for me). The few physical upsides of summer are that it's cherry season (if you've ever had Michigan cherries, and you have if you've ever had a Trader Joe's cherry pie or many other varieties, you understand), driving with your windows down is neat, and being near any form of water instantly becomes high entertainment. However, when it comes to actual important concerns, summer is a massive opportunity for growth, both spiritually and mentally.

There are many summer-inspired verses I thought about sharing (especially Revelation 7:16: "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat." I promise I don't totally hate summer, friends.), but for this post I wanted to write a little about Colossians 1:10, which says this: "...so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." This sets out a pretty great plan for our summers. No matter what we're doing or where we're going, summer is a three-month season in which we should walk with the Lord in a manner that honors Him and pleases Him, in turn bearing fruit in our jobs, our interactions, and all that we do, all the while growing in our faith. In attempting to do this, I have felt the Lord bless me in unbelievable ways through Sacred Heart and through new friendships in summer Cru this year. I feel like I have utilized this summer in a much more pleasing way than I did last year, and I feel satisfied and faithful in the Lord in this.

I don't have much more I can put into longform and I could use some rest, so I'll throw bullet points out instead. (I apologize again.)

• After dropping it for a while, I've picked up the bad habit of playing lots of basketball again. Two or three times a week, Hunter, Gage, Sam, myself, and others will get together and ball our hearts out...or to better describe it, play until we feel like we can't take another step, which doesn't take too long these days. Through this we've been able to have an absolute blast doing what's really been our only consistent activity this summer due to our full schedules and we met a Lady Vol last week. She's a baller AND follows/interacts with us on Twitter. She also called me a good passer, which is the first time I've been called that ever, so yeah.
• My last week of Young Folks Summer Camp begins tomorrow. While I'm excited to be able to go home for three-plus weeks to see my family, which I haven't been able to do since mid-May, I'm going to miss these kids while I'm gone. Here's a picture of us going to see Monsters University. I love this group.
• I bought a car this week, finally.
• There have been many super exciting moments this summer, but an underrated one is Jay-Z releasing a new album on Independence Day. If that isn't incredible...well, sorry. It's only his fourth or fifth best album, but it smacks Yeezus out of the ballpark.
• Another underrated moment of this summer is people learning that I really enjoy rap through the game Family, where the only entries I have put in have all been mid-2000s rappers that everyone forgot about. Or the time on America Day that I said I was thankful for Three 6 Mafia.
• Last one, but this is a real thing, and all of you should sign up so there's a higher chance of one of us winning a free burrito every week for 20 years.
• The Official List of Songs (in no order) That Will Really Liked Lately:
• Jay-Z, "Tom Ford" (language warning)
• Youth Lagoon, "17" (this plays at the end of "The Kings of Summer", a fantastic little movie with Nick Offerman and three young actors who know their stuff. Go see it. Now.)
• The Shins, "Kissing the Lipless" (seriously, the Shins' first three albums are outstanding. One of the best 1-2-3 punches by any active band.)
• Iron Horse, "New Slang (Bluegrass Cover)" (if this doesn't make you smile at least a little, get it together)
• Polaris, "Hey Sandy" (the intro to one of the greatest kids' shows ever, The Adventures of Pete and Pete)
• Thursday, "Understanding in a Car Crash" (there are occasional periods of my week or month or whenever in which I fall into wanting to listen to nothing but what I really liked in middle school. Maybe it's because I work with middle schoolers. Anyway, this song still kicks tail.)
• Kanye West, "Touch the Sky" (I tweeted about this already, but yes, I do dance to this a lot. I dance by myself a lot more than I should probably admit.)
• I move out of the house known as Neverland a week from today. No comment.

140 characters in these streets,

Will

Futures

I wrote this at 2 AM while listening to 90s Jay-Z to keep myself awake so I have no idea how coherent this is or if it makes any sense, but I wanted to get my thoughts out in word form. I decided to write something somewhat substantial along with doing a few short updates due to the fact it's been over ten days since my last post.

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the future. Few things scare me as much as open-ended answers (I was the absolute worst at doing those essay questions in high school and now). The future is one large essay question with an incredibly open-ended answer. We all have a general idea of what we want to do (most of us, I believe), but the steps to get there are wildly varied, can change at any time, and can be scary.

However, something that's comforted me a lot about my own future (along with Jeremiah 29:11) is the a thought that crossed my mind Thursday afternoon. We were returning from yet another swimming pool visit for summer camp and I realized something: lately, even more than myself, I've been thinking about/praying for/caring a lot about the futures of the kids I work with at Sacred Heart and that I encounter every day.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized my own future anxiety was brought upon by the fact that above all else, I want to positively affect the futures of the kids I encounter through teaching and the job I currently hold. I truly enjoy getting to see and interact with the group at Sacred Heart every day and getting to know a group of thirty or so strange, unique, and challenging middle schoolers this past school year may honestly be the best experience I've had in my entire life.

I can't really put it any other way than this: I love these kids. There are days indeed when I don't exactly look forward to going to my job, but they always do something to make me realize how blessed I am to have a job as awesome as the one I hold and to show me why I'm doing what I'm doing. Regardless of what my future holds, I've been hoping and praying that this feeling is one of foreshadowing, whether my future entails a teaching job in Knoxville or somewhere else. These recent developments have also helped reassure and comfort me in knowing that God has placed me at UT as an English major with an education minor as part of His plan for me and that worrying about myself kinda defeats the purpose of thinking of God as all-knowing, supreme, and loving. I suppose the main message of this is that I love what I'm doing and it's helping me to worry less about my own future and focus more on others, an idea I want to continue to apply to other areas of my life.

Serious time over for now, more or less. Here are a few updates:

• I talked recently about how my love for film has been rekindled. For the first time in a while I've begun to really enjoy taking two hours out of my day to watch a movie of some sort. With this, I found an instant contender for my favorite film of all-time: Rushmore, which I am embarrassed to admit I just watched for the first time. Wes Anderson is a personal favorite and this is his best work (yes, even better than Moonrise Kingdom). Max Fischer is also my leading contender for a true throwback Halloween 2013 outfit.
• I refuse to comment on Kanye West's new album. Instead, I will comment on the fact his child is named North West. Two things: 1. Northwest Airlines was only the sixth-largest airline when it existed (I know this solely because we used to fly NWA to Detroit). Come on, 'Ye. 2. I'm really hoping North is the middle name with Pacific being the first. Seattle needs more respect.
• The mixtape JL and I have been working in is nearing completion. We're confident it will be released before July 1. (We can't make Jay-Z compete with us, you know.) I don't remember if I mentioned it last time but it's titled A Day in the Life. We're trying to recreate this for the cover art.
• Songs of the week - five of them!
• People Get Ready, "Windy Cindy"
• The Mowgli's, "San Francisco"
• Pharrell, "Happy" (for the second straight week!)
• Cayucas, "High School Lover"
• Lord Huron, "She Lit A Fire"
• Two more good stories from summer camp in quick succession: 1. I got pushed into a swimming pool by a middle schooler last week. It wasn't too bad. Also, it was a bucket list item, so yeah. 2. These happened and they were AWESOME.
• I have three weeks left in the house known as Neverland. In terms of unique experiences, I'm never going to see something like it again. It's been fun.

Ain't no love in the heart of the city,

Will

June

I am terrible at introductions, which is to say I tried to write the first sentence of this post around twenty times and then quit. Therefore, you have this, plus a short story about how terrible I am at introductions. I'm sorry. Anyway, it's been nearly three weeks since I last posted on here, and I need to be more responsible/more consistent with how I post on here. Also, a lot of cool things happened in the last three weeks that maybe deserve to be written about, or not.

• Catholic school summer camp is the coolest thing ever. My coworkers are incredible people (especially the ones I've just met since camp started) and the kids are way too much fun to be around. I have a cool story or two to share, starting with:
• Bryson, this shy, quiet, and awesome little kindergarten kid who has large glasses and may or may not be Will in training. On the second day of summer camp, we went to a rollerskating rink (the first time I've been in such a thing since middle school, and yes, it was terrifying), and while essentially everyone had rollerskated at some point in the recent past, Bryson never had. He gave it a shot on his own but fell down pretty quickly and grew discouraged. After prodding him (for thirty minutes...literally me at five years old), he finally agreed to go around the rink with me a few times, as long as I held his hand and made sure he didn't fall. We did this for over an hour, and after we finished, he hugged me and said "that was fun." My boss told me that when he left that day, he told his mom that he loved rollerskating. This was the best moment of my May. God is blessing me in incredible ways through this job and it's amazing.
• The day before, I was assigned to watch the kindergarten class and I met this sweet little kindergarten girl named Isabelle. She was terrified to meet anyone and spent most of the first hour of the time we knew each other asking me when she could be with her sister (a first grader) again. She started to cry, and while I'm usually pretty terrible at the whole "consoling" thing, the varied and spectacularly embarrassing stories of my youth seem to connect well with people at work. I told her about how I walked into the girl's bathroom my first day of first grade at a new school and we laughed about that and other stories for quite some time. She has several friends now at camp and she gives me hugs most days. Again, my job is awesome.
• We went bowling last week and I was verbally abused by four second-grade girls, one of whom I have dubbed Sassy Sarah. (She has given me the name Weird Will. It fits.)
• Last summer camp story: I came up one day short of five full months into 2013 before I had to buy sunscreen. Yes, I'm embarrassed.
• If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen an uptick in movie-related tweets as of late. That's because thanks to the following wonderful people (hat tips to Hunter, Matt M, and friends), I have seen around twenty movies in the last ten or so days. Therefore, I present to you one of my finest achievements that isn't an achievement at all, Will's Official List of Decent or Better Movies Seen Recently:
• "Elephant" (2003) - 10/10
• "Stand By Me" (1986) - 9/10
• "Badlands" (1973) - 8/10
• "Raising Arizona" (1987) - 8/10
• "The Departed" (2006) - 9/10
• "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) - 10/10
• "Machete" (2010) - 6/10
• "Fargo" (1996) - 9/10
• "Good Will Hunting" (1997) - 9/10
• "Almost Famous" (2000) - 9/10
• Dishonorable Mention: "The Purge" (2013) - 0.5/10 

• The only redeeming quality of "The Purge", other than an absolutely hilarious scene late in the movie, is the fact that of all places featured in the opening scene which shows different shots of crimes around the country during the "purge", the one and only Murfreesboro, Tennessee is featured. This is less than two minutes into the movie. Unfortunately, 83 minutes of pure suck follows.
• Some of you may know that my friend, JL, and I, are making a summer rap mixtape. I have been asked two questions about it very frequently. The answers are yes, it is very real, and with any luck, it will be out by the end of June.
• 1 Peter is incredible. I read it for the first time after senior year of high school and it hit hard then, but I'm revisiting it now and it's still just as great of a read and study.
• This is your song of the summer.
• Tennessee Lady Vols softball forever.

Our first single is called "Am I Black Now?",

Will

McMinnville

Note: This one may get a little personal for me, because I hold strong opinions of and towards the town and the area I grew up in for nearly 18 years. I apologize in advance if there's something that confuses you or that seems a little too striking. In writing this and in writing anything with the slightest hint of Americana, I am inspired by a couple of other writings that you should read: Sufjan Stevens' Michigan essay, which I have linked before, along with A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn. EDIT: I forgot to include this post's main musical inspiration, Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen.

The other day, a friend described McMinnville, Tennessee to me as "the middle of the middle of nowhere." While I wouldn't go as far as stating that explicitly, this represents a good portion of the view I grew up with, becoming more and more jealous of those in cities representing actual progress with things to do, places to see, and people to meet. Nashville had the Predators, hot chicken, and an incredible buzz; McMinnville, less than 90 minutes away, had the Pioneers (who, as of this writing, have still never had a winning football season in my lifetime), Applebee's, and the look of a town far past its prime, if it even had one.

Because I spent my entire life pre-college here, McMinnville represents a lot of things to me. There are an unmeasurable amount of positive and negative feelings/moments/happenings I have been able to experience in my time in what's lauded by town officials and others as "the Nursery Capital of the World." There are a lot of ways to describe this place that almost isn't describable in words, if that makes sense; the things I've seen here are almost hard to write down with the memories and feelings towards them that are still attached, even after years of indifference.

McMinnville is the old, dirty pickup truck long ignored by its owner, desperately in need of attention and care, but facing indifference from its driver who feels deep down it drives like it did twenty or even thirty years ago, and he's accepting the consequences. The high school kid at the Super Wal-Mart has come here not to shop, but to hang out with his friends, whether in groups, cliques, or both, and to waste time while laughing at the elderly gentleman in jean shorts and a tattered farm cap from decades past, because his entertainment options have become this limited.

The hard-nosed local politician believes that hope never runs dry, but his wallet, and the town's wallet, has. Welcome to "The Upper Peninsula" by Sufjan Stevens, where "the window is broken out and the interstate is far." Warren County High School, the place I drive by on occasion to produce memories, ranging from the hurt I still feel deep down from when I was verbally bullied by the popular kids for being fat and dressing differently and the depression and anger I would feel afterwards to the happiness I felt when I was commended by teachers who I knew were successful or the time I got back at one of the popular kids in a way neither of us will ever forget, is here, and it is something.

The single mother at a local Redbox rents two movies for her kids. She does this because their latest report card was outstanding, but she was laid off last month and this is one of the few remaining ways she can show appreciation for their efforts, because "I love you" only goes so far for the immature middle schooler. The weird smell of the metal manufacturing plant permeates the air around downtown. Speaking of downtown, its three-year renovation resulted in nothing more than a really bumpy street, a few new trees, and a budget crisis.

Look through the cracks, and you will see local pride; a group of residents are here, standing in the face of uncertainty and finding whatever courage and hope is left to remain here another day. They'll tell you just how proud they are of former residents, including a former MLB pitcher and Dinah Shore, but there's a certain word here that makes that stand out: former. This is where I turn my car onto Highway 55, the National playing "American Mary" in the background, and the lyrics connecting with what I see and what I feel: "there is nothing you can say to ever make me want you."

There's the kid who spends his free time on a computer looking at cars he can't afford, then staring longingly at the used Ford, where most of his savings from his work at a local grocery store were spent on a new paint job. Look around; you'll see the rural Southern teenagers who are almost the Gummo of their area, looking for something, anything that constitutes entertainment, whether it's people watching at Wal-Mart, spray painting houses, or setting fire to long abandoned barns deep in the unexplored lands of Warren County.

Say hello to the capital of the four-wheeler and the only place I've ever heard the term "mudding." Friday night is Pioneer football night, the local truck pull Saturday, and church Sunday morning. Go to the grocery store next to Hardee's; if you are so lucky, this guy will be your bagger.

Small-town religious legalism has come to life, turning away the younger generation one day at a time from the promise of a renewed and re-purposed life in Jesus by inserting and forcing a works-based philosophy. Feel the nauseous Southern accent - not the lovable one, but the one where you know, deep in your soul, they've been here their whole life and are willingly waking up every day doing the same thing they've done for the last five decades in the same place in the same house with the same people. Change is the villain, and progress is met with uneasiness.

No turn can be made without hearing the newest popular country song blaring out of a large and in-charge truck with a driver decked out in all-camouflage, his latest girlfriend in the passenger seat. See the out-of-place kid who knows he doesn't belong here, but tries his hardest to fit in, and suffers because of it. Look at the kid who moves away and gets to do and see greater things, while you wait for an opportunity such as this for yourself. Here's a 1970s philosophy in a 2013 world. The 70s were, indeed, good, but it's been a long time.

However: McMinnville is, incredibly, not Grundy County, and thank God for that. McMinnville is home to what I always considered to be the most under-appreciated attraction in the region, Cumberland Caverns, where I'll still spend some time taking yet another tour, continuing to notice aspects of the cave I've never noticed before, and leaving in awe and satisfaction of how the Creator outdid Himself yet again.

Take a step back in time. Welcome to the real-life Mayberry, and darn it if Andy and Barney aren't around here somewhere. This is Pawnee, Indiana, and they're still looking for a Leslie Knope; turn in an application at City Hall if you're up for the challenge. Everything stops in time for an hour or longer each Sunday morning. The scores of Mexican restaurants will never come close to authenticity, but they'll give you a meal you can't forget. Find the best meat-and-three in Middle Tennessee at Wilma Jean's Kitchen. It's a never-changing skyline, and one of distinct familiarity and a kind of warmth, until a downtown building burns down again. It's high school football, where the entire community comes out to support a program that had their last winning season in 1991, but hope's still there, and it always will be - no renaissance needed.

McMinnville is McMinnville, and that's all it will be. For better or worse, it's what I can say about myself, too.

Updates

It's been a while since I've written something for this blog and I know I need to put something out with regularity, so instead of a longform post you'll be getting some loosely tied together updates of the last two or so weeks. Sorry. I'm used to disappointment so this is nothing new. Go Lions. (I'll do longform again eventually...give me a week or so.) This is in random order and not entirely in order of importance, so do what you must to get through it.

• My job at the Catholic school summer camp starts in six days. I'm incredibly excited and blessed to have an opportunity such as this for summer 2013 to be able to have a fun outdoor job with kids I love being around. Can't wait, you guys.
• This past semester, I realized for the first time that I have a legitimate struggle with anxiety, both socially and personally. I fret and stress over such miniscule things that it's been affecting negatively my walk with God as of recent. If possible, I'd love to have prayer for that.
• However, I've been seeing God work in more ways than I ever have before, through struggles with anxiety and in other aspects. I learn more and more every day about his deep love for me, no matter how hard I fall or how far I walk away or how often I fail. Ocean of grace, indeed.
• I like music lots. I also get asked about what I'm listening to a lot. I was asked the other day about a top five albums list for 2013 so far. I'll post it on here too because I like typing or something. 2013's top six, because I couldn't pick five:
• 6. Daft Punk, "Random Access Memories"
• 5. The National, "Trouble Will Find Me"
• 4. Justin Timberlake, "The 20/20 Experience"
• 3. Youth Lagoon, "Wondrous Bughouse"
• 2. Local Natives, "Hummingbird"
• 1. Vampire Weekend, "Modern Vampires of the City"
• Grizzlies.
• Watch the NHL playoffs. They're really good. 
• Pray for Oklahoma.
• If you're a youth league baseball parent, I'm sorry, but there's a high chance you might be a terrible person. I don't remember attending any other rec league sporting events that featured as much vitriol as a baseball game involving ten-year-olds.
• Food of the week: baked chicken soup at Demos' in Murfreesboro, TN. Excellent meal, large portions, and our waiter looked like a pudgier Carlton Banks. Also, a gentleman in a cutoff t-shirt and jean shorts was at a table nearby so it's still got great Mid-Tenn flavor.
• Film of the week: Life of Pi. Not the best movie from 2012 but really fantastic if you've got 2+ hours to waste. Colorful, fun, and dream-filled.
• Event of the week: I saw the newest Star Trek a few nights ago. It's an average movie, but that's not the point. A few minutes before the previews began, a gentleman two rows down looked up at the row in front of us and loudly exclaimed to another the greatest thing I've ever heard at a movie theater, and in an excessive Southern accent to boot: "HEY! I know you! WE'RE FRIENDS ON THE FACEBOOK!" This five-second exchange was better than anything I saw during the 2.5 hour film.
• Song that I ran through a brick wall to: The National, "Mr. November". Language warning, but my goodness is this a song and a half. Get your rage on.
• Song I'm embarrassed to love: Boy, "Little Numbers". Catchiest song of the year and a personal favorite. Also sung by an all-female German duo and about exchanging phone numbers. Well...
• Verse of the week: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." - John 14:27

Until next time,

Will

Introduction

I'm not really sure how you start a first post. Do I tell funny stories? Do I talk about things I really enjoy? Or is this an outlet for things too long for Twitter and too real for Facebook? Whatever it is, it's an outlet of some sort to write about my life and things I'll be doing this summer and in the near future.

For starters, my name is Will. I'm from a small town in middle Tennessee named McMinnville, where the top employer is Wal-Mart, the most important time of the week is Sunday morning, and sweet tea isn't a drink, it's a way of life. However (perhaps unfortunately, for some reading), I grew up on none of that. A Michigan father and a mother who worked in Detroit during my second and third grade years brought a Midwestern flair to a historically Southern family, and I've never been the same since.

I did grow up on Wal-Mart, but every other store knocks it out of the park, unless you're going for people watching - a real sport in Middle Tennessee. I didn't start attending church with regularity of any kind until middle school, so until then, Sunday was just another day to me. And I'm sorry, but sweet tea kinda sucks, although Dr. Pepper can't be beat. For the longest time I felt more than a little out of place in a town of 12,000 in the middle of nowhere (AKA, what I always understood to be the Bermuda Triangle of interstates). Until I realized the ways that I could be used by the Lord in Knoxville and even my hometown, I struggled with the idea of spending much more time in Tennessee.

There's no real easy way to segue into this, but this next bit is essential to really be able to understand where I'm coming from and why I do what I do. I'm a Christian. I didn't grow up one, although the efforts of my grandmother early in my life and from middle school on can't be ignored. The church I went to from the time I was born to around junior year of high school had a weekly congregation of about 40 people, of whom I was the youngest. While I can support any church's efforts as long as they're doing what they do for the Lord and not for self-benefit, tiny Southern churches simply aren't very conducive to a younger person's spiritual growth, especially when you're literally the only attendee under 50. During that point in time, I didn't really get church and I hated going most Sundays, unless it was the rare Sunday of the season where they had free lunches.

I spoke a little earlier on my grandmother, who I want to relate to a little more in this. During my junior year we decided to try a different, larger church, with an actual youth group. She was hesitant at first but was willing to support me in whatever I did, and I'm incredibly thankful for that. She's the only person outside of college I've ever regularly attended church with, and I love her. Once we made this switch, I began to feel an actual growth in wanting to worship and serve more than I had ever experienced at any point previously. This progressed throughout the end of high school and the summer after. Two days before I left to start a new part of my life at the University of Tennessee, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. It was the best ending to the best summer of my life and I've been growing in faith ever since.

With all of that said, I still struggle with old habits often. I battled mild depression during high school from time to time and it's still an occasional issue. I continue to struggle to this day with social anxiety. I place my confidence somewhere other than Jesus way more than I would like to admit. I swear. (It comes with the Midwestern flair part.) I get frustrated and discouraged easily. I'm a bit self-conscious, although I'm glad that Fat Will is a thing of the past (that's an entire other post). However, even with all of this, I have something to be confident in through the darkness and through the battles: my faith in a Lord greater than myself and greater than anything this world can offer.  

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:8-10

I've typed too much already. I tend to do that often. It's not that I like overstating things, but I have an inability to efficiently express my feelings in a short summary. It is what it is. Because of this I'm forcing myself to go PowerPoint style and use bullet points to get out some other things that don't really belong in a larger paragraph. Here's a list of facts/explanations/other things that can help one understand me, at least a little bit:

• Unfortunately, I've never gone by Will (or William) the First. In high school I joked around with one of my closest friends about how ridiculous the idea of going by (insert name) the Third or Fourth or what-have-you was. So we came up with the idea of going by (insert name) the First. It didn't stick, but I still enjoy its usage.
• Despite the fact that I go to the University of Tennessee, have wanted to go there since I was young, and grew up a Vols fan, the influence of my father has caused me with the irreversible decision to be a Michigan Wolverines supporter. I support Tennessee in everything, but I do the same for Michigan, since 2002. It's just what I do.
• The title of this blog comes from the best description of my adopted state I've ever seen, in an essay by musician Sufjan Stevens (who is phenomenal, by the way). My selected quote is in the fifth paragraph. http://churchofsufjan.org/wiki/Michigan_Essay
• I like food a lot. That's why I was fat once. There will be lots of posts about food on this blog if I can help myself.
• I am, admittedly, a different person. I do some really strange things and write some really strange things. I don't feel the need to apologize for this.
• In high school I was a bit obsessed with sports. I still enjoy them a lot but they aren't life-important anymore. However, if you need to know, I do support a few non-collegiate teams: the Nashville Predators, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Detroit Tigers, and the Detroit Lions.
• This summer, I will be living in Knoxville, eating lots of food and working at a Catholic school summer camp. There will be lots of adventures about that on here, with any luck.
• Lastly, I am an English major and a Secondary Education minor at UT. I'm hoping to be a middle or high school English teacher after graduation. I have no idea what I'm doing either. It's okay.

I'll try and keep this updated with some form of regularity. I hope it doesn't suck.

All heart, grit, grind,

Will