The Heroes and Christ

About two thousand years ago, there was this radical dude who was born in Bethlehem. He was prophesied hundreds of years prior to be the Messiah, the one to save Israel, God's chosen people. His coming followed a period that served to insure nobody expected it to happen anytime soon: The 400 Silent Years. God had not spoken a word for centuries before he took on flesh to enter the world.

You know of this guy, there's no denying that. A few of you might even know him. His name's Jesus, and out of anybody ever, he's taken the most sh*t. Most commonly misconceived character in history. People tend to think think of him as a mellow guy with a friendly, trust-mongering beard, shining eyes, a somber halo, and white robes. That's just not the case. We're talking more about a Jason Bourne, a Jack Bauer.

Recorded instances of epicosity:

- Remember that scene in The Bourne Ultimatum where the stupid journalist gets shot in the neck? If only he could have disappeared into the crowd like the Christ. We forget that Jesus was always being hunted, either by the Pharisees who didn't like what he had to say or by his massive flock of followers that just couldn't get enough. Funnily, the Gospel of John captures scenes over and over again where Jesus suddenly vanishes right as the bad guys are closing in on him.

In the fifth chapter of John, Jesus heals a cripple. Sounds typical Jesus, wishy-washy healy-a-body, there you go. A lot of people like to stop there. Read on a little ways and you find out that the Jewish officials were at the same time hunting him down so that they could kill him. Remember this is before due process and everything -- Jesus performed a healing on Saturday, he needed to die.

Hot in pursuit, the Pharisees catch the guy whom Jesus had healed. Jewish interrogation leaves a little to be desired, then they find out they don't know where the hell Jesus is -- because he just slipped off into a moving crowd. Assassin's Creed, anyone?

- We all like to watch the action heroes improvise. They stumble into enemy territory, rip a pipe off the wall in Commando's case, then beat a guy to death with their favorite unconventional weapon of the day. Jesus is kind of the same way.

On his way back from a party where he had turned all the water into wine (his first miracle, by the way) to get the party on and show the world how awesome he was, he came across the temple. Actually, let's momentarily retrogress. Did we just hear that Jesus' first miracle got the party on? Then, instead of preaching a sermon on alcohol prohibiton, he made more wine? Twenty to thirty GALLONS of wine?! 

This is only the second chapter of John.. that escalated quickly.

So okay, keep going. Thanks, me! Anyway, Jesus goes totally Rambo in this next scene. He stumbles across a temple, sees that it's being used for a profit, then decides that the businessmen need to eat it. He finds some cords, brandishes up his own whip (yeah, like Frederick Douglass whip), then Bauertopples their tables and tells them to GTFO.

Also, he introduced the concept of "Come at me, bro!" in this same scene. The Jewish officials asked why in the world he was causing all this destruction, what granted him the authority to do so, he gestures to his body and says, "Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days."

John 2:19

Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead, it only makes him angry.

- What do Gladiator, Braveheart, and The Crucible all have in common? The hero dies in a most honorable fashion, sacrificing himself in the name of some great cause. The salvation of Rome, the FREEEEEEDOMM of Scotland, morality itself. The Gospel joins the ranks there. Jesus died for the eternal destiny of each member of humanity, that rather than face an eternity of tormented anguish that they might live happily ever after. You've all heard the story of where Jesus, perhaps the most famous criminal of all time, laid down his life for the salvation of the world.

The Last Words of Heroes:

"Quintus! Release my men. Senator Gracchus is to be reinstated. There was a dream that was Rome. It shall be realized. These are the wishes of Marcus Aurelius."

- Maximus Decimus Meridius

"FREEEEEEDOMMM!"

- William Wallace

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

 "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise."

 "Dear woman, here is your son. "

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

"I am thirsty."

"It is finished!"

"Father, I entrust my Spirit into your hands."

- Jesus Christ

he·ro/ˈhi(ə)rō/

Noun:	A person, typically a man, who is admired for courage or noble qualities. The chief male character in a book, play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities.
Synonyms:	character

More info »Wikipedia - Dictionary.com - Answers.com - Merriam-Webster 

Featured Disjointed Side Note

What impressed crowds most about Jesus?

It was the authority with which he spoke. Modern heroes share this same quality. Bauer talk is a musical genre all its own, everything Jason Bourne says displays his expertise, nobody can say "the tribe has spoken" quite like Jeff Probst. Jesus spoke that same language. He always had the right words to say, even when confronted by some of the most powerful identities of the time. He was fearless, authoritative, and maintained a confidence that he still encourages us to take part in.

My Chinese Notebook

Where has this been for the last two months?

Where have I been over the last two months?

The answers might be wild: China, Switzerland, Home, and The Black Hole.

Prepare to be bombarded.

A Commentary To

Selected Excepts from My Chinese Notebook

(Which is soon to be donated the New York Public Library)

The first thing (and perhaps the most important thin) an American learns about China is how lucky he is NOT to live there. China is a wonderful place to go and an atrocious place to live, as any honest visit will tell. The following is a a compilation of things I learned over the course of a month living in the Northeast of the People's Republic of China.

God Bless America!

3. The Good Samaritan Law? Forget about it. They've got the opposite; after all, why else apart from guild does a benefactor act?

My uncle drew my attention to a video that went viral on the internet a while before I came to China. It depicts a scene where a baby girl is run over by two cars and lies neglected by many Chinese bystanders. This law is likely connected to their inaction.

http://www.foxcrawl.com/2011/10/18/shocking-video-chinese-girl-hit-by-2-cars-sparks-outrage-across-internet/

4. Like in America, the less weight they have, the more they want to lose.

There was a girl in one of the Chinese classes I attended that was my age and likely weighed less than one hundred pounds. When asked if she could (word of the day) "resolve" to change one thing about herself, she said without hesitation that she wanted to be lighter. I used to think that that was only the newest version of the American dream.

5. If you're an American in China, trust no one. The paparazzi are everywhere.

Another girl in that class took my picture upon entrance, most likely because I was a new white face..

6. Nowhere else in the world can you cross the street from your favorite restaurant and still have the menu entirely memorized.

7. Washing your hands is overrated.

13. "You must unlearn what you have learned."

- Yoda on learning Chinese table manners

17. It might just be more difficult to escape a home or apartment complex in China than it is a Chinese prison or ... Alcatraz.

18. Chinese wildlife is plenty wild but hardly alive. Since i arrived in Shenyang, the only animal we've seen was a very sick-looking mouse.

It was probably just rabid.

20. In America, you should probably look both ways before you cross any two-way street. In China, it's mostly just the sidewalks you have to look out for.

21. Personal space does not exist; consider each man or woman you see here an imminent cuddle buddy.

22. RoysBon could be the next RayBan if it continues to look the same [and] sell for less.

Have you seen my sunglasses yet?

24. Baijiu is little more than [alcoholic] nail polish remover, vicious to the throat, and an experience you cannot miss.

25. Tattoos sting a little.

I figured I'd take a little test run on that Philli Cuatro Trece idea. It wasn't bad!

28. Come hungry or you might confuse hospitality with hostility.

29. Just try getting a taxi [here] between three and four, I dare you!

31. The American must be extraordinarily careful not to confuse his celebrity-alien-oddity roles.

If you feel a little too common in your day-to-day life, China is the place for you!

34. This ain't too bad a place if you can regularly overlook the cruelty.

Try to discern a pet shop from a restaurant. Try to enjoy your time at an actual pet store. Stop in the theme park right below the Great Wall. Watch that video from three again.

35. Upon two historical occasions has a sixteen year old virgin held the power to decimate an English army.

I can only hope to one day join the former as a saint.

39. Not all restaurants have pictures in their menus.

The Original List -- Beijjing Edition

Always look both ways -- even on a one way.

All it takes to get down two scorpions, some stinky tofu, a sea snake, a sheep testicle, and a half a baby shark is a Yanjing beer, a gut of steel, and friendly assorted foreigners.

History is no longer important to the Chinese.

If it is, it needs to be rewritten.

It's okay to starve baby sun bears if that means you're raking in tourist quai.

The best way to get down from the Great Wall is through the theme park's rollercoaster, which is plenty dirty, plenty smelly, and plenty bumpy.

Common sense is not so common -- even America doesn't teach that this strong.

The emperors played basketball, ran races, and didn't mind soccer.

One thing to beat a good beer is a fresh breath. Unfortunately the latter has been far less common.

Watch your mouth in Tianmen Square. [Officially, nothing happened in 1989.]

The best view in Beijjing is at the top of the Imperial Palace [the Forbidden City} and belongs to a ginormous Buddha statue.

I pondered in China a little too.
\/ \/ \/ \/
In the tears of sacrifice, hope is born. For what greater love is there than a man that should lie his life down for his friends? 
Such is the way with things: light shining brightest in the dark, love shown strongest in sacrifice.
Why it is so, can one rightly know? For sometimes beauty is found in simplicity.
These things we do not know nor experiences enrich those that we do. While life is short, it is sweet. When life is limited, it is rich.
Let us treasure each moment of life. Hardly one is more valuable than the last, but upon occasion there come the few that put themselves to great glory or shame.
Men can speak of wisom and understand nothing. Others can speak of knowledge and yet know nothing. It is those who speak least that are the wisest. Those that boast least know most.

Why it is so, can one rightly know?

The FBI Academy

There is one and one reason only as to why I would not become involved in a government agency: lack of nobility. My greatest fear is that this corruption would fall in place of inactivity, in other words, that I would have nothing to do. I don't want to press pens for a living, and such findings are commonly reported by common people. There have been a number of terrorist plots against our nation, a list can be found here that might (it is wikipedia, I maintain (admittedly lessened) doubts) suggest a greater availability of meaningful opportunity in our agencies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States

There also exists a destination to look forward to if I would like to become involved with the scene, making it even more viable: The FBI Academy. Official website: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/training/national-academy.

After gaining positive experience and making an impact in the scene of fire-fighting (which would also enable the possibility of starting a family.. although I'm not sure of the academy's requirements), I could move on to local, preferably higher-demanding, police work. After making a positive impact there and developing a solid reputation, I could easily attain a nomination from the chief of my police department and enroll at The FBI Academy, promising to serve at least three years in the Bureau. That gets me in!

Then I could go on.. maybe transfer from the FBI to the CIA, elsewhere, end up really enjoying the FBI and staying there a long time.. who knows? Politics? George Bush was the Director of the CIA for about a year.

Just ideas.  

A (Too) Late Night Thought

Well, I'm up and I definitely shouldn't be.. feeling atrocious, sweating like a pig, coughing like a.. I don't know.

Some of my best thoughts have been accomplished too late at night, and this one might be another. You guys know the Shaytards? They've got a pretty awesome thing going that's been alive for several years, documenting their family things, designed to "inspire hope that families can last together.. forever." They're a strong Christian (Mormon, actually.. but remember that no edit deal?) family although they're definitely not obnoxious about it in their vlogs, which serves all the better to convey their message. Pretty inspirational, very funny, just a pleasure to watch. It's like home videos taken to the extreme, combined to accomplish something pretty important.

Say I don't live the fantastic life of solitude abroad.. say I do settle down and raise a family. I'm promising that hypothetical and future wife right now, actually formally a while back (to myself.. but stored.. whatever, it's written now) that we'll stick together forever, because that's really what marriage is all about. Lifelong commitment to a relationship independent of happiness, with a foundation in unconditional love, and a sense of accountability to the other before God to cooperatively lead a synchronized life -- as one. The flesh combined.. you get the verse I'm getting towards.. I just want my marriage to be how God would want it to be. That's not how the church has traditionally described it -- because we're not even parting at death. Because of the greatest sacrifice and gift of all time, we get to enjoy one another forever. And that's pretty cool.

Buutt back to my point -- videorecording home life is a brilliant idea. I'd love it.
One of those things that would be really, really fun to look back on whenever..
One of those things that would be great to enjoy with my wife, with my kids, and with my family.
One of those awesome, too late at night, ideas.

Citation due.. this'll have to do:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SHAYTARDS?feature=g-all-s

And would you look at that, it rhymed!

Anticipation

"I don't always watch TV, but when I do, I prefer ABC."

- The Second Most Interesting Man in the World

Think about it.. they keep coming out with the best shows. There's only been a couple of series I've watched through of anything on television.. let me try to list what I've watched.

- Heroes by NBC (overall one you had to finish, even if it did get out of control corny) - 6.5/10

- Prison Break by Fox (really good actually.. got hit hard by the strike) - 8.5/10

- Day Break by ABC (short, fun to watch, intriguing) - 7/10

- 24 by Fox (pretty sure it's the best of the bunch.. -.5 for liberalizing) - 9.5/10

- Lost by ABC (first three seasons were great.. the scifi ruined the rest) - 8/10

- Kick Buttowski (watched whatever was on Netflix with Cado Potato.. real good =p) - 9/10 in a way not better than Prison Break's 8.5

- Revenge by ABC (loving it so far) 9/10

And that might be it for the shows I've watched start to finish. Not counting miniseries, which are more like enhanced movies, these shows have all struck my fancy for one reason or another. The funniest thing about Revenge right now is that it's trailer would have scared me away from ever starting it. I'm really grateful I watched the two-minute YouTube promo instead, which did it much better justice than the teenybopper thirty-second one ABC shows during commercial breaks. It's deep and philosophical, emotional and thrilling, and that guilty pleasure most won't admit to watching. It's got some really good things going for it though.

Now, I feel it important to address that the Second Most Interesting Man in the World was originally intended to be me.. but after a bit of research and discovery that it was ACTUALLY FOX to make 24, it struck me that it must be somebody else.. I'm more like the first-and-a-half most interesting man in the world. I'm falling in love with Revenge though, and if it doesn't stop, continues for eight seasons, and does it all with the class and style of 24.. I don't know, I might reconsider my favorites.

There's a part of me that wants to become Jack Porter just as much as he wants to become Jack Bauer.

You know what I've said about being the most impressionable man in the world? Every time I really get into the cast of a show or movie, it makes me want to join the bandwagon and move to Los Angeles after high school and.. maybe.. Costa Rica.

I'm a talented actor. I get what a script intends and what an audience wants. I can get to the point at which the character becomes me, and Stevie LaFerriere as you know him no longer exists. One thing I can't do, though, is sing. That means no Broadway, but I'm not talking theater, I'm talking film. Theater people are weird. So are actors.. but in a classier way, I think. Then there are the actors and actresses that do theater. They're cool.. but theater people.. that could never be me.

I'm in a weird state of mind right now.. maybe that's what you get when you stay at home sick for a day and a half. Boredom and inactivity gets to me.. kills me haha.

I don't know what I wanna do besides feel pathetic haha.

It did make me pretty happy when I noticed I had a spinoff.. it's called What Am I Doing? 

You might want to check it out, because if it came from one of my fans, it might appeal to the rest of my fans. Here's a link.. hold up.

doingamiwhat.blogspot.com

and this is me!

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/revenge/bios/jack-porter

or.. 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Jack_Bauer.jpg

I don't know.. time will tell.

Maybe I'll just be a writer like John Steinbeck.

Or.. this gentleman: (who's strikingly similar to me in regards to thought on sociology and writing)

 http://static.wetpaint.me/revenge/ROOT/photos/460_340/MasonTreadwellRogerBart--582439475816456570.jpg

Whatever.. I just want the season finale to show up already.

I'm loving the way Bill Buchanan's on the show.. as "The White-Haired Man"

It was good to see Jack's "Don't Fight It" maneuver coming around again =).

Have I mentioned the episode titles of Revenge? I like them a lot.. because I used to plan on titling every entry of this journal that way.

Pilot (how original =p)

Trust

Betrayal

Duplicity

Guilt

Intrigue

Charade

Treachery

Suspicion

Loyalty

Infamy

Commitment

Perception

Chaos

Scandal

Doubt

Justice

Absolution

Legacy

Grief

Reckoning

Looking forward to Reckoning.. and next season's supposed to start off with a marriage. Also, wrapping up this season will let me find a new show to get addicted to. I don't know if it'll be quite as good, though.

Can always go back to rewatching 24 =).


(Forgotten List -- since I forgot these two, the list might be even longer:)
- Northern Exposure 8/10
- Freaks and Geeks 9/10

A Simpler Happily Ever After

You know, it's a pretty unnatural thing to look down at our feet. We walk looking straight down the path ahead, we drive looking much further, and when we get to the summit of a mountain we look into the vast beyond. There is so much in the world and so many places to go, so many options for the future, that we often forget about the decisions in the present. Not the kind, "what will I eat for dinner tonight?" but of the assortment "left foot, right foot." The steps we take, the ones which get us where we are going, can easily slip into the subconscious, and nearly always do. Unfortunately, if you translate this illustration analogically, you will discover life is prone to demand an opposite manner of us.

Now, I've got absolutely no idea where I'm going. This uncertainty is appealing to me, however, because it has so many horrible and wonderful potential outcomes. I might be a dreamer, but I've always considered myself more an individual of action. I like to do as much as I possibly can, I like to be as great in the well-rounded manner, magnificent in the big picture, that it's sometimes the details that slip me by. It's true for English grade and it's true for my life in general.

Returning to the walk I lead, these activities can best be compared to the contents of a backpack. The more I have, the slower I walk. The more I have, the more prepared I am for the class I'm going to. Am I always in a hallway then? Am I always heading somewhere, but never getting anywhere? Is that the life we all lead? Is that the right way to go?

Returning once again to the contents of a backpack, we might consider what must be done should it have been chose what I should have done should junior graduation have remained an option. I would have taken things out of my backpack in order to walk faster. I would have needed to drop football with hopes of coming back to pick it up later. I would have needed to consider dropping the ability to sleep in until 7:20 and make it school on time. These things would have allowed me to walk faster to my class, my destination, junior graduation.

So that's basically where I'm at right now. Two hands clinched. It was funny this morning, actually, Mrs. Levy said she has been reading me as a kind of intense guy, while I've never thought that way of myself at all (should you drop the fact that one of my career possibilities is strikingly similar to Jack Bauer). That reminded me that certain people in our lives only see us at particular moments, in certain moods, or acting out a requisite but alternative persona. It's mildly depressing to me, that certain people I've had this kind of impression on in initial relationship might never know me proper. People I knew strictly through baseball, people I knew while at SUMMA, and now the people solely involved in the planning of this junior graduation. However, these things have granted me a unique understanding of other people, even if at the cost of a missing one for myself.

When you adopt an alternative persona, you're essentially an actor without the security of a stage. People will actually respond in an uncontrollably honest manner, no longer a dependent of the progression of life. This allows for a totally operational sociology lab, one which can hardly be found anywhere, anyhow else. While maintaining suit, you can plant certain stimuli you could never believably deliver anywhere else. Such experimentation, while coming at a certain cost, has certainly taught me essential lessons on human behavior which I've been able to use in a positive and constructive manner elsewhere. What has given me additional advantage is the extra people I've had the privilege to come across, growing up around the nation.

One youthful lesson I've abandoned at times, even if temporarily, is that of being yourself. Which has come at its cost.

I've got no idea how this story ends. There a thousand things that could happen with my life, as I've said before, but this is one idea that has only truly struck me today.

Living with or without a college degree, teaching English in Costa Rica until I've worked enough money to open a crab shack or surf shop, and living forever after totally, inherently, and permanently simply.

The simple life -- if happiness is a price I'm willing to pay.
How does that sound?

Why does it always end up in the future? Why can't my eyes stay grounded at my feet? Why don't I write about the present? It's not because it sucks, I love it, but it's because it really is unnatural. There are other parts to a walk though -- sitting on a bench (with a friend and) looking how far you've come, taking a minute to take the pebbles out of your sock, five to eat, ten to relax, or a night back home. It doesn't always end at the peak. It doesn't always start at the base. Even while climbing, we're not always moving up.

Legacy and Romance

There is a typical life in this world and there is an atypical one.

Nearly everybody believes they lead the atypical life and, for the most part, they're not wrong. However, nearly everybody believes nearly everybody else leads the typical life, and for the most part, I have a thousand more questions. But that's not really what I want to talk about. I do believe my life is atypical, which, I'll admit up front, must be a typical assumption.

Two things really stand out in my priorities, aims, and aspirations for my life in this world. You've seen them in the title and they mean a lot to me. One of them captures what others think and will think of me, the others what I fancy myself to operate by. The romance of the adventures of the twists and turns of life, the marching to the beat of one's own drum, and living a life that reads like a storybook is something I've found particular draw to in recent years. I want distinction and I want a legacy worthy of remembrance. I don't want to be forgotten and I want to be special.

Whether this means on the small-scale level of friends, family, and acquaintances or of national and global occurrence, I don't presently care or select. I do think of how the "Personal Life" section of my future past-tense Wikipedia page will look, though, quite often. This is a bit of a joke between me and myself, and maybe Andrew Collins now, but it's something to look forward to. I'm writing my autobiography right now, baby! Filling it up with some decent content, making my life an adventure to be followed. Journaling might help, and, although it stings me to say it, being done with online Philosophy might really help me out there. I simply haven't had a ton of time to keep this updated, and I've been leaning towards the rustic romance of handwritten entries, but I still feel a sense of publicity is a necessary evil.. those silly historians one day might need some permanent availability of research into my early life.. from my eyes!

I started The Great Gatsby today.. just so y'all know.

Let me tell you a bit about the distinctions I'd like (or have liked) to make for myself.

- I've wanted to graduate early for a long time.. graduating at the end of junior year is no longer an option, (quite unfortunately, I'm a little pissed at Mr Robertson right now but since he's an adult he probably made the right choice.. and okay, I don't actually believe that right now because I'm not supposed to.. this is one of those things that you look back on when you're like, thirty, and say 'I was such a stupid kid back then! That was one of the greatest things anyone ever did for me!' but as for right now.. I have to be mildly pissed and disappointed.) but that says nothing about the end of first semester, senior year!

- I want to be somewhat nomadic like my Uncle Will.. but for likely different reasons. I want to touch lives, I want to make an impact small-scale and/or large-scale, I want to see the world almost as much as I want it to see me!

- If we get into fun stuff.. I wouldn't mind being a mid-senior-year high school drop out.. take a look at these no-namers who dropped out of formal education: William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer!!), Sean Connery and Jim Carrey, Robert DeNiro! ... almost every musician you can name! Albert Einstein! The Wright Brothers! Evita Peron! Yogi Berra!
http://www.school-survival.net/successful_dropouts.php

- I want to be one of those cool poly-glot types.. English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, German, Farsi. -- all on my list of ideas.

- How about an informal gap-year "I-spent-a-year-in-Costa-Rica-partying-working-my-ass-off" kind of guy?

- A SUMMA grad gone high school drop out.. has such a thing ever occurred in the history of mankind?

- I never want to own much.. maybe have a lot of money to use, but never own stuff. I love that idea of the Spartan lifestyle where you could pack everything you own into a backpack, head out the door, and give your renter a call.. of your tiny shower-in-the-kitchen Chinatown apartment. Also, charity organizations would be a great place to store all that money.. you never get much back from them!

- Don't think I don't want to work. Job possibilities for me could be
I) military -> government agency (CIA, FBI, Homeland, etc.) -> diplomacy
II) joint firefighter/youth pastor -> firefighter/police officer -> FBI -> ...
III) full-term traveling missionary.. living life in the field all over the world
IV) foreign service/ministry organization founder
V) full-time writer like John Steinbeck

In other words, expect something crazy over here. I'm not settling for less. Night-night time!