Man, I've been thinking lately about all the cool people that God has put in my life. It's really amazing when you start to list their names...there's a ton! So here's a list of AWESOME PEOPLE in my life.

BonnieJean: BJ is one of the most awesome-ist people around. She smart, spiritually minded, kind, productive, focused and just all round a blast. She's great to be serious with, and great to be silly with.

Mama: Mom probably shares the number one spot with BJ. It's hard to discribe how awesome Mom is. I love talking to her, on any subject. You'd think that after almost nineteen years, we'd run out of new things to say...no way! Mom has got interesting thoughts on just about everything.

David C: David is amazing. An amazing juggler, an amazing performer, an amazing mentor...just generally amazing. He's been a huge blessing.

JC: Wow, were do you start with JC? My first really good friend outside of my family, JC and I learned a ton together. He'll always listen to you when you have problems, but he doesn't always side with you...which can be good.

Mr. Murry: When you look up "humility" in the dictionary, there is a picture of Mr. Murry. I'm telling you, they don't come any cooler than him. An amazing instructor, an amazing Christian, an amazing martial artist, he's just awesome. Let me tell you a short story. Last year Mr. Murry was promoted from 3rd degree black belt to 5th degree. Now, if I was promoted to 5th degree, I would have jumped into my car right then and driven at highly illegal speeds to the hardware store and purchased the tape for putting those stripes on my belt. I would have run up and down the store, yelling at the top of my voice "I'm a 5th degree! YEA! I'm a 5th degree!" What did Mr. Murry do? Nothing. He didn't even get around to putting those extra stripes on his belt for two weeks!

Mrs. Murry: Man, hate to think how our dojo would run without Mrs. Murry. She is the lady behind the man. She's creative, fun and just generally cool.

Jen: I don't really know Jen all that well (a great loss for me, I know) but she still makes my awesome people list just because she's so cool. She's wacky and crazy and spiritual and thoughtful and a blast and I love her blogger.

Alicia: Another person I don't really know all that well, but she's awesome too. She's fun to hang around with, always ready to help you learn and a good teacher. And girls who enjoy sparring are always cool.

Chera: Another super cool person who I don't know all that well. Chera has an awesome blog and she's a dear.

Sneff: Sneff has got to be one of the coolest people I've ever known. In the last couple years she's really back slidden in her faith and I don't have much contact with her anymore, but I still treasure all those whacky times we had together.

Tammy: Tammy is the lady who trained me at work. She's so cool it's hard to describe. She's been through alot and has an amazing testimony of God giving you the power to forgive. She's an amazing teacher, both gymnastics and how to teach gymnastics. BTW, her daughter, Erin, is also really cool: she's the junior high level 9 gymnastics champion. Just watching her practice is amazing.

Samantha: One of my students, I call her my "Smilely Girl", 'cause she's always got such a huge grin on her face. She's a blast to teach.

Shelby: Another student, Shelby is my tumbler...she loves to tumble and stays a few minutes after each class so I can work with her on something. I love students who love learning!

Alison: Probably the cutest little student I have. She's 7 years old and the tinyist little thing around. She doesn't do gymnastics: she attacks it! Whenever she comes to the bar (which is were I end up working with her, most of the time) she has a hungry look in her eye: she's just waiting to get on that thing and show it who's boss. She's a blast!

Here's an some interesting things y'all might enjoy.



He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room temperature prime English beef.

He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.

The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.

The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze. (gross!)

John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.

Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center.

Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake.

Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph

The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.

She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.

The red brick wall was the colour of a brick-red crayon.

Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do. (that's a bad metaphor?)

He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck either, but real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from "I Can'tBelieve It's Not Butter."

She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

It came down the stairs looking very much like something no one had ever seen before.

The dandelion swayed in the gentle breeze like an oscillating electric fan set on medium.

It was a working class tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with their power tools.

He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a trash truck in reverse.

Her voice had that tense, grating quality, like a first-generation thermal paper fax machine that needed a band tightened.

Well, hello there. And how are you doing on this fine Tuesday afternoon?

I'm doing very well. I had poison ivy on my right arm, but I got so sick of it that Saturday night I took a rag and just scrubbed the skin off. Yes, I know that sounds gross, but seriously, it feels much better. Pain, to a certain extent, can be ignored and lived with. Itching cannot. I would much rather have a moderate pain than a moderate itch.

Saturday we went to the G's for Brittany's graduation reception (the same Brittany of the previous post). We had a real good time and ended up staying a good deal longer than planned.

This Saturday is going to be very busy. First is the CHEF graduation at ORU (I've got four friends who will be graduating there...no wait...five or six). Then we'll be going to a wedding that afternoon. And then we'll be going to a graduation reception for another friend that night. So it will be an interesting day for us.

I'll probably be getting my driving licence in early June. That will be really cool. I'm still looking for work. It's supprising how many people are not hiring for the summer. As soon as I graduate (sometime in the next couple weeks) I'll be able to re-apply at Centralift, were I would REALLY like to work.

I'm not going to be able to go to college this fall. I simply don't have the money for it. So I'll be spending the next year working as much as I can re-apply for some of the academic scholarship that I didn't get this time. I'll probably start taking some CLEP test as well, so hopefully I can get a few hours of my general credits out of the way.

When I first came to that discision (put off college for at least a year) I was feeling pretty despressed about it. Until I realized that I'm not actually behind the curve: I'm simply taking the curve backwards! Most people go to college and then work to pay for it. I'm going to be working to pay for it and then going to college. So I'm not such a total failure after all! :)

In fact I'm starting to really look forward to this next year. I'll get to do a bunch of stuff that I've been wanting to do. I'll be able to make some of those short films I've been wanting to do for years. I'll be able to spend a lot of time working on my karate. Hopefully I'll start going into to Mr. Burnets class on Tuesday, in addition to the Monday night class. I'll probably be able to work at Gymnastics City for another year, something I'm really happy about, 'cause I've got several students who I feel are going to go far, and I want to be there to help them. I'm also really looking forward to summer camps this year, 'cause I've got several level 3's that I'm wanting to bring up to level 4 for next year.

I wrote the following to give to all my friend who are graduating, along with three butterfingers. I thought y'all might enjoy it.

Dear Friends,
So you�re graduating. You�ve probably had lots of people talk about how great that is, and you may even be somewhat excited. Don�t you believe them for a minute. It�s only downhill from here.
First off, graduation is a sign of your growing age. Face it: it�s only a few years until you�ll be needing that walker. While you were in high school you could ignore it, but now you must realize that you�re almost half-way to Over The Hill.
With your age come the health problems. And rest assured that the prices for your drugs will only go up. I recommend that you begin laying plans to rob a bank sometime soon, before you�re too decrepit to do it.
Of course you couldn�t be graduating at a worse time, either. Any job you try to get has either been outsourced, or already taken by an illegal alien. You might want to go ahead and get some of those unemployment forms and start filling them out.
With this step toward independence (and don�t even get me started on independence!) comes the pressure towards marriage. Everyone expects it of you, and they will bug you about it until you give in. I suggest that you just resign yourself to the inevitable and pick a random name out of the phone book.
Lots of you will be going to college soon. Man, it�s really going to get bad for you guys. You might as well start practicing for it now. Eat only one small meal a day. Stay up until 3:00 am every night staring at something written in Greek (that�s about how much sense your textbooks are going to make). Now write a 400 page essay on it. Or maybe it�d be faster if you just went ahead and shot yourself in the head.
The 21st century is probably the worst one you could be alive in. It won�t be long before the ice caps melt, leaving only 40 square feet of ground above water for the Earth�s 6 billion people. Of course if you want to look at the bright side, at least your job won�t be outsourced anymore.
In recognition of your achievement I�ve given you three Butterfingers in a plastic sack. This is highly symbolic. Butterfingers represent the fact that you will be fighting cavities for the rest of your unhappy life. The plastic bag represents the fact that everything is now bio-degradable, except for things you want to go away, like liberals. They�re here to stay. And the number three represents the fact that I am too cheap to buy you four.
Dejectedly yours,
Samuel