ViKings Pictures

So here is a picture of Keegan with his Panda Backpack. He was quit entertaining.
The top picture is Ryan who I helped Brew an All grain batch when we finished the house work.
Then the Picture of Keegan and I . I had to babysit him for 20 minutes.Dad drove off in the car to get a wheel barrel and he saw dad leave and started crying. He ran to me and I picked him up. Luckily he only cried the first two minutes and then he was quit happy being held. Then for dinner Ryan treated, Kristi, Michelle and me to German food. We got the two German Platters. It was awesome. The food was really good. There was a Kaiser dressed up walking around and down stairs they had a polka band. Then went to the Vikings game with Uncle Dew. The Vikings beat the Cardinals. It was great being in the loud stadium. The half time show was the all Minnesota Mascots vs a kids football team. The kids totally kicked there butts. It was funny when Vikotr the Viking handed the ball to Crunch which is the Timberwolves mascot and it took about 5 kids to jump on him to take him down.It was nice because I saw the sun for two days. Nice weather. I get back to Milwaukee and it is cloudy and rainy again. I need to put together the book shelves for the library. Adios

Plenty of Rain

Well last Saturday I felt normal again. Five of us went to the cabin on Lake Winnebago which means “Stinky Water” in the Winnebago language. It was a fun weekend for us to hang out and get to know each other more. When we got there the sun was going down so we busted out the shakers, rattles and drums. We drummed until the sun went down. The neighbors poked there head out in curiosity to what is going on. Who went this weekend was Carl from phoenix, Ronny from Haiti, Marcel from Nigeria, and Octavio from Mexico. So we had quit a diverse group. Rony did some singing around the fire while a few of us pounded on the drums and dances. We went to the local grocery store up there. Remember this is a small town in Wisconsin. Octaivo whispered to me, “There is only white people in here”. I started laughing. Which of course he is right. Well that night we played this game which I can’t remember what it is called. There is a question that everyone had to answer. So you write your answer down and give it to the person who is going to try and guess everyone’s else’s answer. For example the question was, “If you had to get rid of a dead body? How would you do it? SO I wrote down I would chop the body into many pieces and fed it to pigs. Another person wrote down that they would put the body in a wood chipper. Of course all the questions were really out there which is what made it so fun. If felt I got to really understand the guys a lot more. After a while you can start to figure out who wrote what. But then again there was a person that surprised me everytime. We had a lot of laughs that night. Well our drumming that night brought the rain. Because it rained the whole time for the next two days. Marcel, Octavio and I went to High Cliffs state park and hiked around. The rain actually held off for 2 hours. It was nice to hike around and check out the Indian mounds s that is there. .

I just got assigned a 9-10 page paper on Socrates. . I think this is the hardest assignment I have received yet. Socrates at least to me always seems to change his mind. He will say the Soul never changes it has always existed and will always exist. Then you will read another one of his stories and the soul is changing because that is the only way we can better ourselves. That is why we do good acts to improve our soul thus the soul would change. I feel he is hard to write about because he is constantly contradicting himself. I feel the way he argues is circular. You just go round and round without ever getting a real descriptive answer.

Well I had a fast weekend in Minnesota. I took the Mega bus on Friday. I helped my friend Ryan destroy his deck and then do grout work in his basement, then tore down siding. He just bought a house. It needs work and I was there to help. He then treated me to a good German meal at Gasthaus for the work I did. Then next morning I met uncle Dew at Town hall brewery and we went to the Vikings vs. the Arizona Cardinals game. Vikings defense looked good. AP looked really good too. Ponder looked awful though. It was a fun game and atmosphere to be in. I love the noise inside the stadium and the Purple Viking jerseys everywhere. Many creative outfits with of course Helga horns on their heads. .Then after the game jump back on the Mega Bus back to Milwaukee. It was a fun weekend but now I have to get crackin on my philosophy paper.

Sick

Well on thursday I started not feeling well. There has been a cold going around. Numerous people offered me medicine but I quickly turned them down. I said, "I ahve a strong immune system. I never get sick". Well i was wrong. Then on friend others suggested I take medicine again and I denied saying I will tough it out. Well by friday night I really wasn't feeling well. I spent the second half of the day in bed. I finally took some medicine that night. I spent most of saturday and sunday curled up in bed. I'm slowly recovering now. Still don't feel great. It has been mid 40's and very cloudy. Very depressing weather up here. I wish I was in Tucson now. I could really soak up some warm sun.
Classes are going well. It is interesting going through scripture. For instance there is 2 stories of creations Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. How did I neve realize there are two stories. Then in Exodus Moses telling pharoh what 8 times to let his people go out of Egypt and Pharaoh wouldn't let them go and there was Plague, locusts, frogs falling fromt he sky, animals dying, river turning to blood etc. etc. Why does Pharoh have such a hardened Heart? Why did God give him a Hardened heart. Then how come there is no evidence in Egyptian writing with these plagues. You think this was a big deal and egypt would have written about it. From what I know we only have the Bible to go off of the story of Moses. Then when he leads them out of Egypt it took 40 years. Why did he take the most inconvient longest route way from Egypt. He could ahve taken the people on a much shorter way to Israel. Maybe he wanted to test the faith of the people. Then we read about King David and how he conquered everyone in the land of Israel. All these stories are very interesting but there all legend. I'm sorry if this upsets people. But I don't think we have any other proof than the Bible that Moses existed or King David. There stories. There legends. We had a disccusion class about King David is probably a mdae up person. This really upset some individuals in the class room. Religion is faith. There is no concrete proof, that is why its faith. I might be going off the deep end here but I have enjoyed the stories. I enjoyed reading Isaiah. There are good lessons to learn. I think thats why they are writen. Just as lessons to live by during the time of the people. I can relate some of the readings of the Bible to stuff happening in the world today. That is one itneresting thing about the Bible how it still effects us today. One good say it is a living book becasue the lessons can or will always effect us and what the world is going through.
Ancient Philosophy is going well. Were reading Plato's Phaedo. At first I thought all these Philosophers were stupid but they were actually pretty smart back then. I am starting to see how philosophy plays a huge role in religon.
Interpersonal communication we are reading about how to fight fair. I feel this entire book should be for married couples or couples who are about to get married. Of course it is good for everyone who interacts with people.Conflict is enevitable. It's ok were always going to get in a conflict with someone at some point and that is ok. Lot's of time in the arguement it seems that one person always feels more important than the other persons needs. Of course both peoples needs are important. In society we always have to win the arguement. Just watching the debate Romney and Obama ALWAYS had to ahve the last word. In a conflict why can't we both win. Can't we settle a conflict where both needs are met. Of course as far as Romney and Obama there can only be one president so I guess it can't. But I believe both sides can win in most situations. Maybe I'm just nieve.
I have also been playing catch with a baseball from a guy from Venezuela who leaves in a week which is a bummer. I'm trying to set up pick up soccer games on wednesday. The good thing is I got on an indoor soccer team that starts the end of October.
Well I just want to get healthy and I want the sun to come out. People in Tucson please enjoy the 350 days of sun we get down there.
The best part of the weekend. Watched the GodFather. The Vikings won and the Packers lost.
Sorry no pictures this week, was in bed for most of it.

Visitors

I had a busy week. I went to a society of Nuclear Medicine conference on Saturday in Chicago. The most interesting topic was the first speaker who talked about how the change in the health care system is going to effect the nuclear medicine reimburse rate. Sounds like our best bet is if the bundling program occurs. That is when a patient comes into the hospital the doctor is only allowed for example $10,000 worth of tests for each patient. This forces the doctor to only order the necessary tests. This is to get away from the defenssive medicine. The money that doesn't get used on the patient gets kicked back to the doctor in a cover your ass fund for if someone does decide to sue them. If the patient needs more than the $10,000 worth of testing then they are SOL. It sounds like a good idea but there is some problems.
I then met with old friends from my internship in Evanston with Giordano's pizza. My favorite. Then I headed to mass at St. Peter's in downtown Chicago for celebrating St.Mary's University 100 yr celebration. After that I picked up my friend Leonard from Nigeria. I met him in Tanzania in morogoro. He went to Jordan college University. Leonard is interested in joining the Salvatorians in America. As a gift he brought me a traditional Nigerian clothing. He told me that what were wearing is for royalty.
My parents then drove over from Minnesota to visit for two days. I showed them around Milwaukee and then I took them to my school where they had a cultural fair that day. We tasted many different foods from all over the world. The picture of Milwaukee is from the top floor of the US Bank building which is the tallest building in Milwaukee 42 floors. That day was called open Milwaukee where all the buildings are open to the public for people to explore. We had a wonderful dinner on the Harbour then we checked out the beach and I got a picture of my mom with  a full moon in the background.
The sunrise picture is from Racine Wisconsin at the Siena Center. All of us Candidates had a weekend retreat there. The topic was called transition. It was all about the transition from where we came from to where we are now and what to expect and what feelings one might go through.
Fall is here. This is the street that I live on in Milwaukee. Lots of reds, oranges, and yellows right now. The trees are already starting to shed.  I am going to try enjoy the fall colors as long as they last.

Sacred Heart University and Room

These aren't that great of pictures but it should give you an idea. The first picture is a typical classroom here. Old school chalk board and tables and chairs. It is simple here. the second picture is the outside of the chapel at Sacred Heart University. The next two pictures are of my room. Fairly simple. Classes this week went well. In liturgical class were still learning about antiphons, the common, the proper, psalms and canticles. There terms for the prayer books that we use everyday. Its learning about eh history and where do they come from and why we do it. Interpersonal communication was all about Active listening when someone is talking to you. A lot of it is if your body language portraying what you are saying. Are you rolling your eyes as your talking or crossing your arms and legs when you are listening. A neat fact they said in the book was 7% of communication is verbal.  Then we also got into the different "Hidden Agendas" that we all do when we are speaking to people. Its really a defensive mechanism. Some examples, "I'm good and you're not". so tearing someone down to build yhourself up. "You're good and I'm not" Its like false humilty. "Im helpless" poor me syndrome is what I call it. "I'm blameless" they make excusses for everything, no repsonsibility. "I'm fragile" i'm weak don't put too much on me. "I'm tough" nothing ever phases me. "I know it all" basically unwilling to let others know that you might not actually know something. I know I have encountered all these types in my life at one time or another.
Anyways Ancient Philosophy was my big thing this week with a 6 page writing exam. I first wrote about Heraclitus who wrote, "upon those who step into the same rivers, different and again different waters flow" which is everytime you step in the river the water is different. Then ,"Even the posset separates if it is not being stirred" posset is a drink mixed with barley wine and cheese. I guess when there mixed they taste good but when it settles they separate and it tastes gross.. Then "Changing, it rest" Which is like the glass of the posset settling and changing. So to Heraclitus Change is the only constant. That is what make sup the world= change. Then there is Zeno who says Nothing ever changes. Which I wrote about his philosophy then wrote about Democritus with his philosophy is everything changes by atoms and void. Then the final person was Empedocles who wrote that everything is made up of earth,wind, fire, and water. Everything is this universe is made up of a mixture of these things. What cause the mixture of these things is love and strife. He claim love attracts things together and when you have this knowledge you can live for ever and be immortal. That is the mixture will be held together tighter and tighter by love and the body won't turn to strife or repulsion which the body would then fall apart so love makes one immortal.
Well enough boring you all. Scripture we read the book of Samuel.
Things are going well. Class kept me busy this week as well as painting in the house and chapel of where I live. We are getting ready for a neighborhood block party in a week. I hope all is well. with everyone. Have a good weekend.

Highland games, Lake Winnebago

Things are starting to pick up. In Liturgy class were learning about the breviary or liturgy of the hours book. It is a book of prayer that people pray for different hours of the day. In Ancient Philosophy were into Parmenides who basically says nothing ever changes. Change is impossible. In Interpersonnal communication we are working on how to express yourself. In society today most of our messages are partial and not clear when talking to people. When your are talking to someone of something important in your response should include your observation, thought , feeling , and your need.  For example If a person says, "I see you're getting uptight again". Of course they say this in an annoyed voice maybe covering up hurt feelings. Then you get the 30 minutes of silence after the person has been home. Instead it should be a whole message , "You haven't said anything since I got home, and I assume you're angry. When you withdraw like that I gt angry too. I'd rather talk about it than do this?"
Boy it is going to be a long semester.
Then in scripture we went through the entire book of Genesis in one class.
I will get pictures of the school next time.
The pictures above is me AX throwing at Highland games. Then Patrick and I using the knights weapons. Then the knight on the horse.
The guy Sailing is Tom. He is a retired neighbor next door at the Salvatorian cabin at lake Winnebago. It was great, I went fishing every morning but no luck. Then we took the pontoon boat out and went tubing. Carl was scared because he found out there is prehistoric fish called sturgeon in the lake. Carl is from Phoenix.
Tom took me sailing. We even had enough wind at one point to push out on the floats and the wind held me up. The last picture is Indian Summer. It was neat seeing the Pow wow and I got to enjoy a drumming circle. Lots of beautiful native American goods too. Well that is it for now. Time for bed. 

Weekend wedding

Well the last two weekends I was in Minnesota. The first one was up in Brainard at Gull lake for Noah's Bachelor Party. The top picture we rented a pontoon boat and cruised around for the day. It was a very pretty lake. Then the following weekend was Noah's wedding up in Grand Superior. Which is 11 miles north of two harbors. The picture of me golfing at Lakeview national in two harbors. It is hard to see but lake superior in the background at a distance. We then stopped by Split rock light house which is a historic state park in Minnesota. Lots of ship wrecks had occurred up there before it was built in 1905. Then the outdoor wedding ceremony began. It was a very nice wedding. The weather passed. It was raining about an hour before the wedding. The wedding picture is of Noah, mike helm, and Noah's brother Aaron waiting for the ceremony to begin. The next picture is Emily's grandmother and me. I had the pleasure of walking her down the aisle at the beginning of the ceremony. The next picture is of Lake superior just behind the lodge. I took a morning dip. It was 62 degrees so not to cold this time of year. Then the last picture is of Noah and Myself. I was a great time and a beautiful wedding. Then I drove over 7 hours back to Milwaukee through the heart of Wisconsin passing through a lot of the small towns and lakes.
Classes have begun. They are easing us into it. Some people it has been over 40 yrs since they have been back in school. So the homework load hasn't been bad at all so far. They have me taking
 Liturgical music and worship, which the first chapter was about the changes in the church from 1962.
Ancient Philosophy- the first chapter was Thales and he said, "Everything is water" and bunch of other people said he was really smart. I guess Thales is considered the first philosopher from that one statement.
Interpersonal Communication skills- I haven't read the first chapter but I will do that next. It sounds like it is a class that is going to teach me how to listen.
Intro to scripture- Which were some how going to go through the entire bible in a semester. Not sure how that is going to work.
I'm glad classes have finally begun. I have already gained weight eating breakfast and lunches in the school cafeteria. The food is very good and they have some variety. I guess my saving grace is a couple of us have started the insanity workout. It is very difficult. I can't keep up with the guy on the video. We are in are third week of that. Right now I am working on getting onto a soccer team and there trying to find a ministry for my to volunteer at on Wednesdays because I have no class that day. It sounds like I might do hospital chaplaincy, youth ministry, soup kitchen or prison ministry. I'm leaning towards prison ministry because that is something I haven't done before.  I hope everyone is well.