Christmas concert

I went to the overture center to see the Christmas Spectacular concert. It was the first time I saw Kyle Ketelsen and other things. My sister was exited and I was waiting for the cold tablets to kick in.

We got the nosebleed section, much to my love of heights. The music was professionally done and my favorite part was when they replayed a very pretty song. I never heard gospel singers live, and they will perform at my school later on.

Afterwards, we stopped at my Dad's office, which is always fun. My sister did not like doing so for reasons I could not understand. At least it was quieter.

Climbing Higher

My favorite moment in Civil Air Patrol is when my group went to Boulders Climbing Gym in Madison. I had different partners each time, few of them reached the top of a climbing wall. I reached the top of every climbing wall I was on, except for one that did not have ropes that I was able to get a grip on long enough for a potential photo. It was there that I learned how to climb a rope, putting one foot under the rope and one foot over it.

It was there that I learned phrases like, "On belay, belay on, climbing, climb on, tension, tension on, lower me, lowering," and other terms. most of the time I tried to get the cinematic, but not so hard fall, but I was too slender to get the right effect. I still got it to work. Most of my friends there were impressed at what I was able to do, but I did not get the opportunity to climb walls that had no pulleys or belays and had to be tethered by figure-8 knots. Most others seemed to be afraid of heights, but I felt like I did not get too may opportunities. It was still fun.

A lesson for fairy tale stepmothers

In German class we are studying German fairy tales, like Show White (Schneewittchen). They are good and better than Disney, but even some of the original characters and places are often one-dimensional and that is not really a bad thing. That was the norm in those days.
Here's some advice for anyone studying to be a fairy tale villain(ess):

1.Do not get angry over someone is prettier than you, unless he/she is a potential threat to you winning the fashion show. Just ask for advice from the prettier one, especially if the one in question is your stepdaughter.
2.Make sure the hunter you sent after someone is doing his job by overseeing him/her and threatening to hunt him/her if he doesn't do his job.
3.Make sure the fugitive you're after has nowhere to run that has dwarfs, if anything.
4.Use a poison that stays in the body and not one that leaves when the poison source is removed.

Now I have one piece of advice for damsels in distress: If you fell for a trick more than once, take the hint next time!

Most of these character quirks are forgivable because it was the norm of children stories in the Grimm Brothers era.

Learning the ropes

Over the weekend I was at a camp where we got the chance to go on high ropes (which were 40 feet off the ground). We had extensive safety measures and harnesses that took a minute to put on. I had to travel with two others when I wanted to go alone. My partners got the hang of it after I got the hang of it at first try. I guess I move faster alone.

Later, we went onto a climbing wall. I had little success on my first try and I later tried again with another pair of shoes and made it. I learned the new meaning of foot-binding.

Housecoming Windowpaint

Along with my high school's German club I was painting the local bike shop's windows for homecoming. We painted a cardinal with blue Lederhosen, Belgian flag instead of the German flag, and black boots. He was frying a bratwurst with a Purple Knight's helmet on it and letters saying, "Roasting the (Knight)wurst" with "brat" crossed off. Everyone had doughnuts for the hard work in the cold.

Airborn of CAP

I went on an O-Flight (Orientation flight) from Civil Air Patrol and flew a small light plane. I could get to a favorite national park in ten minutes on that plane. only trouble is that it feels like my brother's car.

Bargain Branded

During many garage sales that I visited I found some interesting things that could be useful for me. Over time, I noticed that the people running the sale randomly let me get for free, despite me asking them if it is a good idea. Some of them say that it is because I am a good boy preparing for life, that it is useful for me to have, and other things along those lines. It does not feel fair.

If there is something being sold that looks good, consider why they (The sellers) are trying to get rid of it. It may only work for a short time, long enough to demonstrate, or they just want to get it off their hands.

There have also been times when the way things that are being sold are wasteful, like buying an iMac and ditching a perfectly good monitor that could be useful, or a perfectly good iPhone 3 for an iPhone 4. That is what most Apple users are like, trying to get the best technology, whereas I am the kind who would use what ever is at hand and use it to its best. It saves money and I know better to just buy a better object than what I already have for a newer model. I sometimes tell people who are selling those sorts of things that it would be better if they kept it because it is still useful. By the way, the person selling the iPhone is the wife of a co-worker of mine in the school district office tech department, so we both are fond of computers.

The day I bought an Xbox 360 secondhand that smelt like cigarettes was the same day I bought six more desktops that I could repair and donate. Why not keep what is working fine and fix what doesn't work and not be so quick to buy a new model for the sake of being up to date? It is like the old saying, "If it is not broken, why fix it?" As I would say, "If it is working well, why replace it?"