Lions and Ligers and Lears Oh My!

Here's a little video I made. A few friends and I are working on a series of these videos. Let me know what you think-

Donnie

_Down_To Go

Today was the first day of 2009. I can't help but feel relieved at the ending of 2008, a year that has been pretty brutal. The dynamic of my family changed, I faced bitter reality at every corner. I have learned what it means to work hard and attain nothing, and I've also learned that when risk and sacrifice do pay off, it makes the times when they didn't, seem a little more bearable. I feel like I've grown a considerable amount emotionally, and I also feel like after a deep struggle within myself that I'm starting to trust in God again.

2009 is going to be my year. A year for success, for happiness, for self discovery. I can feel my future knocking on the door asking my present to make way for bigger better things. And hope has found a way to charge through the Berlin Wall I've been building between my heart and everything in this world that has the possibility of making me happy, because often things that can bring joy also carry with them a probability to cause pain. But among the lessons learned in 2008, is the one which states that nothing great comes without risk, or sacrifice.

A friend died a week ago. He was young. He was good. He made some bad decisions. I didn't know him as well as I would have liked. But I do feel his absence. His passing has shaken me. I was much like him at stages in my life and could have easily been in his shoes. My mother thanked me for not letting my rebelliousness take me as far as this boy's did. I thought to myself, don't thank me, thank God. It was an act of God that snapped me out of that life, and I have never needed or wanted to look back to it. I thank God that I'm alive, sober, and hopeful.

My sister and her son Oliver, who is just over a year old, came to my mom's house just after Christmas to spend a few days with us. He has developed so much personality. He laughs, he says uh oh, and throws his hands up in the air. He loves to hold hands, and go for runs across the living room. He loves instruments, every chance he got he was running for the piano or guitar. And he received some lessons in vocal sound effects from Uncle Donnie. As they were leaving I started to cry because I realized that visiting with him and seeing his innocence and his simplicity made me happier than I had been in years. And I realized that even though our family doesn't have much to hold onto right now, at least we have this one treasure, this angel sent to us by God. And we can all draw happiness from his spirit. I think part of the magic is that it hasn't been long at all since he was in God's presence, and some of that light shines on us as we care for him.

I hope 2009 gives you the things your heart dreams of. I feel like special things are on their way. Thanks for reading,
Donnie

And Who'll Be Standin There Lookin Like Fred Astaire

OK so contrary to popular belief, I'm not dead. I'm very much alive. And what's more, I finally have some motivation to write!!! So without further hesitation, here are a few notes to catch you up on my life. I've been working at a lawn treatment company for the past several months. I've been kicked out of a home, swam a lot, formed a band, broke my computer screen (my laptop is currently hooked up to a tv) I've fallen for a girl, had my heart broken, made friends, heard great music, seen great films, been homeless, grown hair, began and abandoned the same film twice (the third attempt begins this Friday) freelance edited video, faced the potential of a writing internship, BBQ'd, written, discovered community radio, missed friends, and family, abandoned all hope, hoped with more intensity than ever in my life, discovered that my most recent "love interest" has the same color eyes as "The one that got away," realized that my most recent "Love Interest," will most likely be "The Other One That Got Away," I've skateboarded, read wonderful books, house hunted, discovered Band of Brothers, kept and missed appointments, played Tetris, needed home, missed God, Loved God, worn short shorts, Loved unconditionally, and many more wonderful things, and I've done it all while being tremendously poor and in what most would consider a small amount of debt, though the amount to me seems impossible. Life is full at least with all it's shortcomings, and I'm simultaneously joyful and miserable. Anyway, Thanks for reading.

Go watch Son Of Rambo, it's one of the best movies I've seen in ages!!!

Memphis

I have a new friend. Memphis. She's hilarious. She came and hung out with me at open-mic the other night, marking the first truly enjoyable-open mic I've been to since I moved back up here in January. She indulges me when I go off about wanting to ride in gondolas and fly kites. She loves animals. Our dog Kona liked her from minute one. She told me yesterday that one of her strongest dislike is when people talk about their "Pet peves," if you don't get why that's funny I love you for being simple-minded. We make funny noises and hand gestures together, and it would be quite a game to count how many times we say hmmm in high pitched tones to each other in a day. She texts me random lyrics and expects me to send her the next line, sometimes I don't know them so I cheat and look it up. But yesterday she text me lyrics from The Beatles' Her Majesty, which inspired me to learn to play it. Random entertaining things always happen when we're hanging out, I.E. yesterday it sounded as though there was a monkey in our laundry room eeking every seven or eight minutes. Just when we would forget he was there he would make his odd noise as if to say, "hey I'm still in here!" Turns out it wasn't a monkey in the laundry room at all but a pheasant in the corn field behind our house. He was the same color as the dirt though so he kept disappearing and reappearing like the Weasley twins when they could finally apparate legally. I wonder where he learned to throw his voice. Anyway I like her, she's weird in the most thrilling and endearing ways.

Once On This Island

I saw a musical the other night called Once On This Island, at the high school I work at. I went with Smitty, She was basically the only saving grace of the night. It was a weird musical. I think I would have liked it more if all of the many Black characters were played by black people, but as we're in Utah, all of the black characters were played by middle class white kids, and they didn't even try to make them seem black, which kinda bothered me and bummed me out. I wonder if they were worried about offending any black people that may attend. If I was black I'd be offended that they tried to play it off like the characters are all white. Oh well, what can you do. It still would have been weird with black people. I think it should be made into an animated film and sold in a box set with furn gully and the little mermaid 2.

Solitaire

I'm sitting at my landlord Justin's computer, and I just opened up a game of solitaire, it's a new version, must be a vista thing, but every time you move a card it actually makes the sound of a card, it's not realistic at all, it's actually really cheesy sounding, but I really love it. I think I would like to listen to it at least once daily.

Rational

"your heart has a mustache right now, you should too."
Jeremy Thompson