Inspiration

It's late. I've been moody batooty all day (even if I haven't shown it except to Mom--thanks Mom for dealing with me) and I think I'm realizing why as the night turns into morning. You see, I'm upset because I can't remember the last time someone was truly proud of me. I know people always say "oh you did so good!" or "oh you make me so proud" but that just doesn't do it for me. Ever since I can remember, from playing little league baseball "oh I'm so proud of you!" to playing music in high school "oh that sounded so spectacular" it's just hard to come by someone being truly proud of me nowadays. I know these are sentiments, and very sweet ones at that, but I feel like they are mere words and they don't compare to my feelings and emotions when I find myself proud of someone else. I know that, whenever I am wholeheartedly proud of someone, I let them know it and I could only hope to evoke emotion over them as some have done for me when uplifting me. The closest thing to it more recently was a compliment from one of my very dearest friends who is actually my only follower/reader whatever you want to call it of this blog I keep. Carolyn told me something very special that I have cried about because it made me feel so warm and comforted on the inside, like someone is proud of me. This is the same unexplainable emotion that I get one I feel proud of someone, almost like a mutual emotion. Another time was when I was receiving letters from family member's doing a period of transformation in my life (can't talk much about that program because it's a secret to some possible readers who haven't experienced it themselves!) and I got a late-letter apart from the others that I was expecting to get previously but didn't. When I found out it was waiting for me after the conclusion, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it, it's all I could think about. It was the letter from my Nana and Poppop, basically explaining how proud they were of me. Although most letters made me feel special and happy and loved, this one took it to a dimension of gratification that words cannot begin to depict. I think I'll find that letter right now, in fact, and re-read it.

Forget everything I've said. I'll write about the title of this post sometime else. Love you.

Oh my heavens!

Hello, stranger danger! Just kidding, but really, it has been forever, like over a month, since I've even gotten close to posting a blog. Whoops. Smack me now *smack* ouch. Ok, we're even.

I know what you're thinking... "How does he call this being BOLD?" Well, I'll tell you. I've been busy being BOLD and haven't had a single second to post on here. Sorry folks. That's all I got for you there, but here, I've got a whole special super awesome post of spectacular... things. In other words, I'm gonna write a really long blog.

Let's start with my good friend, John Heald, the cruise guy that I follow like a GPS. He's doing... alright. Let's just say that on Monday morning, his ship, the Carnival Splendor, had a small engine fire (ok, a BIG one) and they were stranded out in the middle of the ocean (not in the middle, but far enough to make a difference) and to give you a cliche, they were up a creek without a paddle. For about two days they didn't have cold running water or flushing toilets. You can read more about the whole situation on www.carnival-news.com it's more official and I'm lazy and don't feel like typing it all out here. John wasn't able to post until today which was sad but I know he had things to be doing and they didn't have internet or phones or anything so instead of John posting we just got updates. Today, though, he relived all of his readers with a short update promising lots of postings on the way about everything that happened and with a firm reiteration that everyone is perfectly fine, no one got a scratch on them, and everything is being taken care of. I know it's kind of sad, but after following John for quite a while I've grown to love him and care about him, I was truly worried whenever I heard about the Splendor and I felt so bad for him and everyone else on the ship. It's all I could think about for a while, but it's all good now, just waiting for him to get some internet back on the ship and get back to posting, I miss it so!

Our next topic... Ms. Emilee Bannister! For those of you who don't know, she is my trusty, loving, caring, sweet, beautiful, (put simply) amazing girlfriend that as of last Thursday, has been my trusty, loving, caring, sweet, beautiful, (put simply) amazing girlfriend for exactly one year! Crazy! Time has flown by like a Space Mountain ride and it seems like just a couple of weeks ago I was asking her out to homecoming over BANDoGRAM. Please, don't remind me, I know I'm good :P I can't wait for the next year and whatever time to come with Emilee and I love her more than Cruise Ships... yes, I just admitted that, bahahha. In all seriousness, I love you Emilee! Also notable was her 19th (COUGAR!) birthday on Monday, so Happy Birthday! Speaking of birthdays, I'll go ahead and mention Austin's birthday and Ms. Tracee's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! November is a Bannister Birthday month, lemme tell ya! Another note, November 20th is my half-way-birthday, so whoohoo to me, only 6 more months till the big ONE-EIGHT.

Usually in my blogs, I don't tell everyday stories, but today I think I will. For those of you who love Owl City, I'd suggest you put on one of my favorites, Dental Care, to get a full experience out of this one :D Yes, that's right, I went to the Dentist today, my second time at this one. I don't know why, but I have never stayed at the same dentist for very long. We usually switch with each cleaning. I don't know why, but we do... Mom probably has some secret reason, and I'm sure it's a good one. I honestly don't mind because I like going to each different one and seeing what different equipment they use. I think that's a little weird because most people despise the dentist, but I truly don't mind it, so long as I've got a good numbing of the mouth. Well my story begins with waking up from a nap. I have to be at dentist in ten minutes (it's 15 minutes away, whoops) and so I freshen up (this is code word for doing absolutely nothing, by the way) and head out. I get there and sign in after waiting an extra three minutes because some hispanic family was complaining that they charged too much. I didn't put hispanic there for any reason, I just realized that they were speaking Espanol and not Castillan so I thought I'd add in the descriptor, no connotation at all. None. At all. Anyways, they buggered off (John Heald's british lexicon is getting to me...) and I signed in. About ten minutes later, after sitting and watching a Disney Channel show that I didn't recognize because I haven't watched Disney Channel since I wore whitey-tighties, I get called into the room. Take a right, take a left, go straight into the room. Turn TV on. "You can change the channel, I don't think you want to watch Soap Operas..." She was right, I didn't. I struggle to change the channel because the remote controller receiver thingy was behind me and it seemed to only work within a about a half inch radial space suspended randomly midair and would only, ONLY work if it was in that exact position. It was Bright House Networks programming (what the beep, who even has Bright House any more?) so I didn't know what channels I was on, getting close to, or going to get to. I finally stopped at HLN which I'm not a fan of because 1. It's the News and 2. It's an affiliate of CNN. Blech. Whatever, it was better than Soap Operas or Tyra. I leave it on and start to drift off. The one thing I don't like about this particular dentist is that I spend a majority of my time sitting in the chair pretending to enjoy the television. Last time I fell asleep in the chair waiting for someone to come and clean my teeth for 40 whoppin minutes. This time it was only about 15 minutes, but it still took forever, and I still felt dreary, thinking as I did before that they must have sleepy gas in the rooms to make patients fall asleep and they leave you there so it has time to take effect then they come back in and work on you. If this is the case, I resisted both times and stayed awake, minus a few drifts into the land of ZZZs. Finally, Dr. India (ok, that's not her name, but she's apparently from India and I don't know her name so Dr. India will work) came in, said hello, and inquired if I liked the News. I said sometimes, and she appropriately rebutted with my obvious true feelings "When you're bored..." I merely laughed and she began working. "Open." I always have a problem with this. My mouth is small and I hate dry mouth. I here the same thing over and over again like the sound of my many alarms attempting to wake me in the morning, failing just as the dentist does. "Open Wider." "Can you open a bit wider for me?" "KEEP YOUR MOUTH OPEN OR I'M GOING TO LOSE MY PATIENTS!" Get it? Patients? HAHAH ok that last one I made up, but that's probably what Dr. India was thinking. She numbed my back teeth and said she wouldn't worry about numbing my front teeth. Great. And so I waited another ten minutes. She did some drilling which actually hurt more where she numbed (hurt like POOP actually) in the back and I didn't feel a thing on the front teeth where she didn't do a bit of numbing. The interesting thing about all of this was that while I was getting my teeth worked on, HLN started shouting about The Carnival Splendor being stuck out in the ocean and being tugged back in. Well of course she had to comment on this one. Even though I was struggling to swallow, had cotton balls here there and everywhere in my mouth, and had metal pain machines operating at full blast in my mouth, I explained the whole thing to her because I knew everything about it and, although it probably sounded like a bunch of BLAHGHAGDAHGBLAHGAGBLAHGBLAHG to her, in the end she said "Oh well I will think about going on a cruise then." Yes, I think you will, Dr. India, and you will experience the greatest thing in your life, better than causing pain to people's teeth that you've numbed and still cause pain to. Grr. I finished up in there and went home to nap again. That's the end of that story. I know it was so compelling, and if you were looping Dental Care by Owl City like I said you should, you've probably listened to it 6 times by now, sorry.

On the subject of school, it's going GREAT. It's easy. It's kinda fun. It's fast. It's educative. It's school. And that, is that.

Church is splendid! I had a speaking to do a couple of weeks ago and it went superb! I had to do it in front of the whole church, which I'm terrible at public speaking and even when I read in class it's a mess of me reading like this... "The Cow HUUHUHUH jumped HUHUHUH over the HUHUHUH Moon." Those HUHs are breaths of air that always find a way of alluding me in these trying times of reading in front of the class. Somehow, though, I pulled off my whole speaking while being natural, smooth, and no huge gasps of air necessary. The little prayer to God beforehand couldn't have hurt the situation, for I know God gives me strength and courage and security, which I can't thank Him enough for. Other than that speaking, bible study is going great and so is youth group. OH YEAH! I'm apart of the Christmas play again this year with the little kiddies. It's called Good News, Christmas Cruise (by far, the best concept for a show EVER) and guess who is the Captain of the ship? Charles Zachary Powell. Yeah, that's right, I'm the El Capitan! Bahahah, it's going great so far and the kids are having fun and worshipping, which is what counts! I'll letcha know how this goes in December.

Band. Band. Oh my goodness gracious, Band. I was asked today at Bible Study where I feel like I'm most accepted, where I most fit in, and where I feel like I can be myself. The only singular word I could think of was Band. It truly is the blood to my heart and ocean to my cruise ship. Everyday single day I live it, learn it, do it, and since my last posting, so much has happened with band. Besides competitions, games, alumni night, parties, middle school band night, concert, and even a visit to a middle school, one night stands out like a McDonalds at the health convention, except not in a completely horrible way. Our last and final game of the season, aka, My last FootBall game. What a kick in the rump. It really wasn't all that bad until Allgair split up the band and had the Seniors come talk with him. That's when I started thinking "Poop, here comes my emotional side." And what a tear jerker that Jason Allgair can be! He made all of us feel so special, needed, loved, significant, spirited, and joyous to be a part of what he has created into a special part of mine, and my fellow members lives. From that moment, I couldn't stop thinking about how this would be the last time I perform on that field, the last time I get to dance in the stands, the last time I get a third quarter break and have to run back to make it back in time, the last time I warm up on the track, the last time I go meetandgreet with the other school's leadership, the last time I get to walk in the a line from the band room to the field and back, the last time I get to say YESSIR in dismissal after a fun time in the stands and get chills up my spine from it. It's all so sad, really, and I can't believe that over the last four years, I have spent more than 52 Friday in the stands - dancing, playing, talking, laughing, cheering, booing, screaming, watching, joking, jiggalowing, smiling - doing what I love the most, with the most amazing people on Planet Earth. That's a year's worth of Fridays, if you were wondering. The stands was what got me hooked on Marching Band from middle school band night, and my first experience from middle school band night, even though I didn't know it, was just the crack of the egg. Like I said, the last game was a significant day for me, and it is one that I won't forget. With this last game, and the coming of our final competition, I'm beginning to realize more and more how simply fantastic my bandmates are, and realize how people are growing up and how much I don't want to. This is most apparent in the Freshman/Rookies/Noobies that I got to work with for the first two weeks of band. Jaw-dropping is how I can put it, because the little kiddies that I got to see break out of their shell have grown into Eagles that are soaring like no other, which I hope is as exuberant as my soaring is. I just want to hug each of them and tell them my first impressions of them and how proud and impressed of all of them I am and how I've grown to love, adore, and look up to each and every one of them, seeing myself in them. They make me want to go back and do it all again, be the kid that I know I am, and make me never ever want to grow up and just stick around with them. Garsh. Enough mushy gushy. Basically, I LOVE YOU ALL and expect something at the end of the year.

Wowza, did I say this was gonna be a long blog post or what? I hope you enjoyed it, because I need to go to bed so I can wake up bright and early on Veteran's Day and do a parade for some very special people of this great nation: the people that fought to keep us free. I hope you are being bold as I try to be myself, and I will hopefully be posting soon to update you on anything I didn't touch on tonight like my friend that I'd like to be better friends with and other things.

I Love You, Jesus Loves You, and I hope to be typing to you soon! Go Bold! :)

Where's the Love?

Tonight, I have nothing to do really in the morning to wake up early for, so I thought I'd blog. I haven't in a while and I really do enjoy it so... BAM here we go. First, I'll give an update on mysterious-want-to-be-good-friends-with-kid. Yeah, made a leap of progress since my last bloggings, and I think I need to really take it further soon. A work in progress indeed. Also, a lot of other new friends that I really want to become better friends with. I love friends :)

My question to you is this: Where is the Love? More like, WHERE THE HECK IS THE LOVE? Yeah, tonight was just a big slap in the face to me. Everything I do, everything I work for, is an effort to make people smile, be happy, glisten, and in turn that will turn my frown upside down. But like I said, tonight was just a slap in the face, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it and I don't know when I will be able to stop. It's like Robot Unicorn Attack, it never really ends. Basically, a group of people were talking about their own group of people in band, which mostly included vets talking about newer people. Can you say old school and so yesterday? I thought we had eradicated all of this pure crap. That's all it is, crap. Shut your trap about other people, especially at a public place where the people you are talking about are there. If you don't have much nice to say, don't say much at all. OK OK if you don't like someone or are upset with someone, spit it out I don't care, but end it there. Redirect your stupid crappy negative energy to be happy, maybe in a sense of MAKING THE "CRAPPY" PEOPLE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT BETTER SO YOU DON'T TALK CRAP ABOUT THEM AND MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF. FOR ALL YOU KNOW, THEY COULD BE LISTENING AND CRYING AND WANTING TO KILL THEMSELVES. Jerk. I'm completely serious. Why do I say that? Because if you're reading this and you're laughing, you're probably one of the fat jerks. As my great girlfriend would say... if I could cuss, I would. Ughh. People just anger me. If there any place in this world where I can get away from all this negative thoughts and energy and this pursuit of disgrace? If you ask me, it's on a cruise ship. I love cruise ships :)

Cruise ships are just amazing. They are solid, free, beautiful, memorable, splendid, miraculous, pure joy to me. To everyone that steps foot on them. They are what I want to call home someday, and I can only hope that there is no negative energy on the ship throughout the crew. Though this is highly unlikely, it's a dream, like many others, and I'd like t0 see it come true. I love dreams :)

Dreams are. That's just it! They just... are! When I dream, it doesn't necessarily have to be while I'm sleeping, but those are still good. Some of the best dreams are conjured and lived out while listening music, being on a cruise ship, pooping, long-car-rides, and other settings. I can dream about true love, the future, the past (woah now...) and even nothing. I love it, and I will do it forever. Woah, another thing I love, Forever :)

I love forever because I know that I am going to live a life eternal with my savior Jesus Christ and the Lord my God! Now that is gonna be that place to go... heaven, where everyone is happy and positive and no negative and no stupids (LOL). If you are asking the question, like the Black Eyed Peas, Where's the Love?, then Jesus is your destination. I am going to head to bed with these great thoughts of cruise ships, dreams, God, and stupidfatjerks (the lesser effort of thinking being put into the latter.) I hope you have a wondrous time living your life, and please, please make an effort to be positive as much as you can. If you must be negative, do it by yourself or with maybe one other person and compliment it by being happier longer than you are angered or sad. I love sleep :)

Sleep is where I'm headed, with a pillow under headed. Jesus loves you. I love you :)

I love this!

OK OK STOP THE PRESSES WE'VE GOT SOME VERY IMPORTANT NEWS. Haha I got that form Mr. Harris, what a great teacher, can't believe that was two years ago. I love this!

Anyways, news? What is it? I WAS SUPER BOLD. Yeahhhh! Let's just say this friend that I want to be better friends with, well, we conversed and it was good conversing! Bahaha I'm so vague. It's probably sounding like I'm crushing on someone, and that's totally not the case! For one thing, it's a guy, and for another, well, the first one should explain everything enough lol. Anyways, we did have a bit of a conversation, and although it is a very, VERY small step, as in, microscopic step, it is a step forward and that is better than a step back. I love this!

Next up? John Heald! Yeah, the cruise director guy that blogs and I follow it religiously. You can find it HERE and if you go to today's post (September 2) then you can see a question that I posted about a month ago... AND HE REPLIED TO IT! I love when things like that happen. He said I was a great writer and that I should start my own blog (ha!) and also said he would interview a person on the ship that deals with computers and let me know all about him! That is just so cool! Ahh! I love this!

Last but not least, band. Yes, MARCHING BAND. It's what makes up most of my life, and tomorrow is like, one of our first big days. First, we have a pep rally, which is exciting. Second, we have our first game, which is ALWAYS super awesome fun whoohoo! Bahaha it's an away game (which in some ways is worse, but in more ways is so much better lol) and I can't wait! I love this!

I hope you are living life like nothing matters, because in the end, nothing really matters except you and your relationship with God. Get it? Got it? Good. Now, back onto the subject of you, if you're reading this blog, than that probably means I could write a whole paragraph about you, like the ones above, and it would probably end with a certain sentence like the next one in this paragraph. I love this!

A super busy weekend ahead, HAPPY FRIDAY, and I can't wait because I've got parties and outings and anniversaries and DISNEY and sleepovers (ruh-roh!) and everything in between. I LOVE THIS!

God loves you, and so do I! Remember this: the more you lower your head, the higher you can raise it.

SuperPower? To The Sky!

If I could have one superpower, any choice, it would most undoubtedly be the ability to Fly, and boy would I fly high. Just the thought of ascending, descending, gliding through the sky, it's simply unreal. The feeling of flight, to me, can only be conjured in my dreams, which unfortunately I can't control. But those flying dreams, ah! They always do the trick! Tonight, I will long to have a flight dream, and only in the morning will my memory remind me if I had one or not, regardless if I had one or not. Amazing, our minds.

Anywho, this was sparked by a new song by Owl City called To The Sky. It was made for the new movie coming out called Legends Of The Guardians, which, if you ask me, looks pretty decent. Regardless of the quality of motion picture, one thing is for sure, and that's the fact that Owl City's song for it, To The Sky, is so flighty and whimsical and pure wonder. I love it.

Today was a decent day. I got everything done EARLY. I got a Beta Point. I helped a friend. New (and rather awesome) Apple stuff came out today. And finally, something special happened. It deals with a certain friend that I'm not completely close with but I'd love to be. Maybe I'll elaborate more someday. I most certainly want too, but I'll keep you on your toes (UP-ON-RELEVAE-IN-FOUR!) till I let you know. I must admit, it has been one of my big boldness-thingies and boy, have I been bold. I yearn to be good friends with this person. I mean, I share this feeling with many people, but some people it's just like BAM yes! If you didn't notice, my friends are one of the most important things to me. My friends make me smile. My friends make me feel all gushy inside. My friends make me feel better about my quirkiness by sharing it with me. My friends make me cry tears of pure golden joy. My friends... make me. I love each and every one of them, and every day I live to make more friends, only expanding myself in the whole spectrum of things. Ahh, it's amazing, friendship. Just makes me giggle.

Anyways, I must still be bold! Like I said, I've been bold, and it's certainly payed off, but I've still got sooo far to go! Right now, I'm going to be bold and go to bed semi-early.

I love you. Jesus loves you. Smile, cause' you're my friend :) and I hope we share the rest of our lives together splitting an eternal smile.

You know, I'm not always happy.

Look at Zack. He's so happy. His life is so perfect. He's always smiling. He's never mad or angry.

Wrong.

I hate when people think I'm perfect and I've been innocent from the day I was born. Growing up in an... unreserved family of sorts, I've come to know a lot of things. See things. Hear things. Experience things that your normal average day kid/teen/youngin' experiences. I have experienced so many impure things that I hate it, but I have, and I'm only stronger because of it. Yeah, I look at things a lot differently than the average kid might, but maybe with this greater understanding, I can see it in a different, better way.

Sorry. I don't mean to ramble on or make anyone feel like I'm better than them because I've experienced more. That's not true at all, if anything, it probably makes me a much worse person than you. It's just, I hate when people ask me if I've experienced something, which chances are I have, and it's not the cleanest, brightest, most innocent thing on earth, and then they tear that thing up, from my past, and throw it in my face like the person I am today was the cause for me doing that. SHUT UP. My past is my past, and while there are loads of beautiful gracious moments that I will precious forever, there's a fair share of dark, ugly experiences, and a lot of those I won't mind bringing up, but I certainly do not want to go onto vivid detail about them. So just zip it. Don't ask me more. If I want you to know, I'll letcha. It's that simple.

I love you. God loves you. Smile, and be happy. Don't dwell in the dark alone, you'll get lost and may never find your way out. Always bring a light. Always bring the light of God with you. It shines as bright and everlasting as the Sun. And remember, the light of God isn't always what you think it is.

Goodnight, bright people.

Quick, for realz this time

Alright, first day of school, whoohoo! Classes are dullish, I mean, it'll be an easy year, but some people in classes are just... UGH. I've been using that expression often of late. Anywho, this is quick so I will get to the quickness, quickly, now!

Three Main Goals for this school year.

1. Ready. Basically, I don't need to procrastinate, I need to be ready, not slack in a sense of time, and have everything done when it needs to be done. I also need to remember many things to be prepared for whatever question may come about! Not doing so hot on this one, as seen in my procrastination of Summer Reading.

2. Healthy. I need to eat healthier, that's that. I suck at eating bad, and I've suffered more recently because of it (high blood pressure) and I've also witnessed, very expressively, the pain associated with bad eating habits. I'm doing pretty good on this one, preparing a healthy lunch for myself the first two days of school GO ME!

3. Aware. I need to be in contact with everyone as much as I can, as we all know I suffer from this anyways. I absolutely SUCK at getting back to people on a short-hand basis. Recently, however, I have been doing great at talking to relatives on Sundays as they are an easy going day on most people so it makes for good calling time. Still working on the short-term responsiveness.

These goals will only work towards my status of BOLD. Whoohoo! With all of these things being said, I close with this: Mind, Body, and Spirit are three key parts to mastering life, but mastering them can only come when all have equal attention at a supreme level. When one lacks, the others lack in compensation for the prime lacker.

Wow, my wisdom is bad when it comes to spark of the moment thoughts. Oh well, works for me!

So long, fair well, until we meet again!

Short and Sweet

I need to be in bed. That's ok. I need to vent, I have you! Yeah, one follower, I know, but that's how I like it. I used to have Twitter, but now everyone follows it and it's just not as personal. This is personal.

Anyways, I was just thinking, that, if I would want to change anyones life in any way, it would be a change in a person that brings out themselves, that breaks their shell, that frees them from pressure, stress, views, hardships, constraints, lies, jealousy, embarrassment, and a lack of boldness. I could just say I want to make people bolder, but even I have to work to do there. I just hate that people are so held back by all those things, and it sucks to know that when I talk to someone, I know there is so much more behind a person then what they're giving me. Argh. It truly breaks my heart to see this. I have been through it myself, and I feel practically enlightened now that I am free, care-free, and high on life. I see so many youngin's that struggle with this, and I just want to help so bad. I (unwillingly) got put on the noobster team for band camp, and though I wasn't looking forward to it in the beginning (heck, I'd practically planned half of brasses STUFF) I am so glad that I am on it now. I almost want to give a speech tomorrow explaining how much I love and look up to each and every one of them and how they remind me of myself which is sad because it's my last year but at the same time glorifying to know that they have so far to go and so much to experience in the coming years, just as I have (and I am, for one more year at least). Last night, I balled in bed listening to some orchestral music just thinking about life, how far I've come, and how far I've got to go. Unfortunately, it leant towards the how far I've come side, and it was my first "senior" moment just knowing that all of this is ending, all this freedom, immaturity, crazy good times, and just the kid inside of me. But that is one thing I will never give up, that I am a kid on the inside. No one will ever, EVER hold back the kid in me. I am an emotional, crazy, care-free, and bouncing individual that happens to be dancing right this moment, and I love it. It's one of the greatest feelings ever, and it can't be changed. When I get to heaven, God will be saying, "Hey, Kid!" as I say to many people this day. You are out there, those of you who I have described perfectly in this blog, and I can't thank you enough for being apart of my life, for being as kiddy as me, silly as me, and free as me. My smile grows wider every time you enter my life, each new soul, and even though you might be hiding behind something, you should be pleased to know that each and every person on earth has been described in this blog, just most of us are captive, and yearn for freedom. I've met so many kind, hilarious, caring, and silly kids these past two weeks and it sets my soul even freer to know that they will experience this transformation, this Chrysalis if you will, in the coming years.

I Love You. God Loves You. Stay True. Be Free.

Keep Smiling :)

Hello, You :) It's been a while, as it always has been. I just thought I would blog about how happy I am.

Everything is. Does that make sense? Basically, God has got me here, doing what I do, and even when things are going wrong, I've found that it's going to go that way, so you might as well keep smiling and be happy because there isn't going to be a positive turn around from a negative solution, only a positive turn around from a positive solution, which in my case, involves smiling. I strive to live my life by many adjectives: splendid, wondrous, magical, happy, joyous, and many, many others, these just being ones that revolve around positive attitude. Want to know another bit of information? It works. Positive attitude has done more for me than sliced bread, and I can be a testimony to it in saying that it works!

OK, so I am going on about a bunch of NONSENSE. I understand, it really makes no sense when you put it all together. You can only get it when... you get it. Why am I even blogging about being happy? Well for starters, I am happy and it's only more positive reinforcement (ahh, another thing I believe in, but another blog will find it keeping those words of mine). Why else? Well today I overheard some people just talking about how "Zack can never be mad at anyone!" and "He's always just a happy guy!" Whilst I wish these statements were true, they are about as false as my Aunt Mable's teeth. However, I love hearing things like this, because I know that these people can come to me when they are down, find me when they can't find themselves, see a dim light in the deepest, darkest of caves. Among other things that I love, helping people on a personal level is one of the things I love the most! I love being that beacon of light to people, leading by example and showing people that, while there isn't a correct way to get through the river of life, you can paddle a certain way to make the journey smoother. Another reason I love being looked up upon is the fact that I look up to so few people, and admire them so tremendously, that I feel the people that look up to me must have the same feelings.

Wow, I must sound conceited. I'M NOT! I may be selfish in a sense that I love the feeling of helping others and by doing so I am, in turn, helping myself. But, I only make these remarks to admit that it is only making me a happier person, and that is my goal, to be

the happiest I can be, and to spread it all around like Swine Flu.

I love you. I hope you are doing just peachy! I hope you are happy, and if you aren't, I beg you to seek me out. I wouldn't dare dwell on the doubt that I couldn't seek you out, and I love such a feeling, knowing that someone, like you, is waiting for me. Ahh, the great ways God just makes everyone for everyone else. We are all a perfect 6.6 billion piece puzzle waiting to be put together in a picture of peace and happiness.

If you are ever feeling down, even the slightest bit or to the most extremes, just remember there is always something you can do... always.

Cover your ears from the noise with happy tunes (Owl City, anyone?)

Seek out that lighthouse of a friend.

Keep Smiling :)

Did anyone catch the bold words? Wasn't planned really, I just did it after. I'm not that good! Anyways, put the bold words together. Make sense of it :P

Come Sail Away With Me!

Hiya Pal. Yes, you! I know, we haven't talked in a while, but I'm on vacation! Evermore reason I should be blogging and summer reading and FLVSing and everything else. But, nevermind those matters, I have a much more topical... topic... to the topic... that I'm blogging about. Yes.

Sky Sailing. It's Adam Young, but softer, smoother, and breathtaking. Don't get me wrong, Owl City is a happening place... err.. band. I love Owl City. But Sky Sailing is new (old really, but new at this point in time to us) and it's fresh, just what I needed for the next ingredient in life. Sky Sailing is pure bliss. Sky Sailing is music that I would go through the trouble of myspace (gross) streaming to listen to the music since it isn't coming out till later this week. Sky Sailing... is.

Take Me Somewhere Nice. Yes, that is a name of a song by Sky Sailing, and it's just what I want people to do for me. A Little Opera Goes A Long Way. Again, a name of a song (can't you tell by the bold?) and it's the truth. It's also a phenomenally chilling song. It makes me want to become famous, then save the world after I retire from fame. It conjures emotions that bring me back to myself, that fill me with pleasure in nothingness. Alone? No problem. Sky Sailing has got you covered. Adam Young cooked up this music at one of the lowest points of his life. Though I'm not at this point in my life (and hopefully never will be), I can still breathe in the music only to exhale ease in life.

Alright, enough explaining about the music, let's relate this to BOLD. yeahhhhh. Sky Sailing's music is making me a bold person because it makes me want to share the music with everybody. It's not as poppy and completely HAPPY as Owl City is so I think people will take Sky Sailing easier than Owl City, where I let people listen to Owl City and they just think the wrong things. Sky Sailing is a chance for me to relate with others and be more willing to share my music because I believe it is more acceptable and warm and arms-open than the average musical track. Give it a chance, will ya?

In other news, I'm in Kentucky, already been to Ohio. I love it up here. Ohio was beautiful and peaceful as always. Kentucky is wild and crazy, and somewhat peaceful, as always. I love travel. I love Sky Sailing. I love you. So please, Come Sail Away With Me.

Side Note!!! If you put all the bold words together, they make a really bad, grammatical incorrect sentence.

Hiya Pal Yes Sky Sailing Is Take Me Somewhere Nice A Little Opera Goes A Long Way Bold Alone No Problem Alright Bold Will Ya I Love it I Love You Come Saily Away With Me. OK ok that was really bad. I just thought it'd be cool to do AFTER the fact that I did the writing and bolding. So maybe next time I'll take the time to make a real sentence. Wouldn't that just be nifty? Just like wristbands. Goodnight.

Wow. I'm lazy. But, I've been bold!

Ok, ok, so I haven't posted in 12 days. It's not like there's anyone really reading this... except for you Carolyn :D So, this one goes out to you! haha, along with all the others. Maybe someday, I'll be a famous, explosive, dynamic, and quipping blogger. Someday :) Anyways, I have been lazy about blogging, but maybe it's just because I've been being BOLD! Haha. I meant to blog on my birthday, and make it special, but I didn't. I was too busy being bold, like calling people back, sticking to plans, and just being BOLD. I can already feel a change.

But change can come only so quickly. Even though I have been being more bold, I am still coming up short. Very, very short. Which is what I expected... I'm going to have to work into this BOLD thing. Examples of shortcomings? I didn't call my friend Megan back about her party. I didn't talk to some kids at church that usually don't come to youth group events about coming to one. I haven't blogged since my last blog (a long time). Bahaha. It stinks to look back on your negatives, but it is necessary.

One thing I really focused on this week, in my life, is that timing is everything. It really hit me on Friday, right before school was out, and I tweeted it because it was just that important, bahaha lol. But really, timing is everything! I'll have to blog about it one day, I'll give it it's own title and everything, but that's another day.

My birthday went swell, I got a bazillion Facebook wall post saying happy birthday from people I had spoken to that day, and others who I hadn't spoken to for years. Some people I didn't even know! lol scary. Anyways, I would like to comment on my boldness in the sense that I not only commented EVERYONE back on there (along with getting back to anyone who sent me greetings) but I started talking to some old friends again that wished me happy birthday. Talking to old, goooood friends is so warming, I truly get butterflies thinking about my old friends and all the things we used to do and achieve and get in trouble for and how much I miss it all, which brings me to my next point... I'm getting old.

That's right, me, Zack Powell: I'm getting old. I'm 17! What's up with that!?! That means in 1 year, if I so choose, I can play the lottery, buy cigarettes, drive anytime I want, and I can make phone calls to infomercials! AHHH! That's so scary! So much responsibility! And, I really don't want to grow up. The other day (I also tweeted about this), I was getting really deep into thinking and about how much I am going to miss my childhood, how much it's going to suck leaving it, and how much I want to be a kid forever. I don't want to grow up, and though I may never truly grow up, I have to at some point. Why do I speak of this? Because I am very wary and feeling a premonition that I am going to have to grow up soon, whether I like it or not, and I am very afraid of it.

Anyways, on a happier note, I get this coming Monday off, and I'm going to DISNEY with Emilee and her family, and it shall be awesome. But it means I'll have to work on my research paper later, which deserves it's own blog posting as well. It's such a splendorful project. Also, it means that I can stay up late Sunday night, which I LOVE staying up late. Staying up late deserves it's own blog post too, someday! I'll have to be BOLD and make sure I write about all of these things.

I hope tomorrow I will wake up at a decent time BEFORE church, not right as it is starting. Yes, that's right, I woke up last Sunday at the time that church started. Whoops :P I still went, and actually had a great car ride listening to worship there, it was spectacular. Also, while on the note of waking up late, I should add that to being bold: waking up early/on time!

SNOOZE!

Farewell, my readers, and don't forget to turn off the lights when you leave the room you're not going to be in. Be bold and save electricity! Bahahaha.

Procrastination is my Vacation!

Realizing that I haven't taken a legit vacation in a very, very long while, I also realized that procrastination is a fair excuse for a vacation. A vacation from homework. A vacation from stress and worries. A vacation from the biggest task of all: LIFE, and it's available anytime you'd like. Yes, it's bad for us, and it's a bad trait to have, but I am a proud sponsor anyways. To any college who is reading this, it's all a lie as far as you know! You should still accept me into your college! Bahaha, for any normal readers, just pretend the last two sentences don't exist :D.
What do I do to procrastinate? I typically turn on some jams like Owl City (or his newer project, SkySailing), take a sit down wherever is most convenient (like the chair, the floor, or a stack of unread encyclopedias), and just drift away into dreams and nothingness. I find myself doing it right this very second, writing about basically nothing, and not doing the motherload of homework my bookpack (what I call a bookbag or backpack, just the two words combined) is containing. So, I'll explain how this applies to being bold.

On my 17th birthday, as you know, I have goals to become more bold. One of the biggest steps to take in this, for me anyway, is to eradicate any and all procrastination that I have in my life. This ranges from homework, practicing trombone, projects, shopping for celebration gifts (birthday, Christmas), calling people on special occasions (I'm really bad about this) and even simple task like texting and calling people back. I feel so bad about procrastinating with all of this (and more) and I truly believe that if I can knock off the procrastination in myself, I will exemplify much more BOLDness, as this is a big factor hindering my boldness.

With the coming of my birthday, hopefully I will start reversing my old ways and personal cliches that people have unfortunately become accustomed to and I can begin a new, BOLD me.

Would you agree?

Days Till' Birthday: 1 more day! OHMYGOODNESS I can't wait! Holy Poop!

P.S. Shoutout to Carolyn! She found (or I more or less showed her) my blog! Finally, a reader :P

Lalala I love Baths.

I have to admit something to you... I love taking baths. It's a rare occasion, but just stepping and laying down into fresh hot water just makes everything chill. Its like the the early morning sun stepping into the horizon, it's something one must behold.
Today we had Jesus Christ Superstar rehearsal... IT WAS BAD bahaha Mr. Warren was being the devil, or just being himself during a much needed intense rehearsal, but I am still a fan of lightening the most serious situations up. Which brings me to a serious situation, or conversation I should say: The whole point of this blog. Sure, an outlet for me to express myself and just have a dandy time writing about my life to look back at 48 years from now and just saying "wow, I was [insert term for cool 48 years from now]." But the focal point of this blog is for me to become a much more bold person. Some might say I'm already BOLD, but I disagree. Sure I'm outgoing, but that's only a fraction of being bold. Hopefully I can elaborate more on my concept in the near future. It'll be like the reason for getting an iPad, you understand in time :D.

Anyways, my birthday is coming right around the corner, which also means Cher's birthday, Christopher Columbus's Deathday (is that what you call it?) and Jesus Christ Superstar's opening night! So much to worry about, but if things get out of hand, I can just submerge in a hot bath, and float away to a problem-free, wide open ocean, all of this via hot bathtub :D.

Carry on! Don't drag, lift up and press forward! Be bold! Goodbye!

Days Till' Birthday: 2!!! That rhymes with poo! Haha

It's been a while...

It's been a while since we've talked. Yes, you: the cyber oblivion that I write to. I have decided not to give away the blog page until my birthday, where I will be making quite a few announcements. The past couple of days (what has it been 6 or 7 days? Yeah that's about right) have been great, awesome, horrible, dreary, lugubrious, spectacular, and everything in between. For starters, the marching show for next year was announced, and although I DID know about it because I got to make the video for the show, I am excited about it and most everyone else is too; the music is crazy, the theme is epic, and I truly can't listen to it without jamming :D. It's great! That sad part is that I will not be conducting it as Drum Major :( Sad face, I know, but it's all good. I am the sole band captain this year, and although leadership panned out pretty variously and unexpectedly, it will be an awesome year! Ben Judkins will be conducting our way to a great season this year, and while I am still disappointed in myself for not trying harder and being lazy and confused on the thoughts of the judging panel, I am wholly supportive of their decision and I am proud to say that their decisions were in conscience. I am so excited for the coming Marching season! My friend, Carolyn Thornton, got me into this blogging thing, and she is the one trying to find the blog at the moment. I love her to death, and she just happened to get Director's assistant which I am excited about too! I can't get over how awesome of a year it's going to be!

Moving right along, Nana and Poppop came in, as they always do for band banquets, and they enjoyed themselves. Saturday, midday, we went out to eat at Moe's and shared lots of memories and thoughts and I love talking with them, they are so wise, hilarious, and sweet. I can't wait to be old! Anyways, they also got to see me and Emilee take off to Prom, along with about 20 other people at Emilee's house! Haha pictures were crazy, trying to look at camera's and keeping my lips licked :D. Prom was great, it was Emilee's prom (her Senior year) and although we couldn't find parking to save our lives at the location, we spent most of our time with Kristen and Ernie who followed us around to the Cheesecake Factory (delicious shrimp! Too bad I left our leftovers in the car trunk, whoops), to the actual prom, and to a friends house where we watched Mean Girls with a bunch of other band geeks that went to prom. What a great time!

On a short note, I love when my friends that were previous PCs get Macs... I love showing them around and helping them, I love it! Just thought I'd fill you in on that...

I am going to find myself a parachute and land in the land (that's redundant) of sleep. Goodnight nobody!

Days Till' Birthday: 3!! wahoooo!

Lots about Owls. Owls. Owls.

Hello Hello! It has been a while since my last post, but get used to it, I'm lazy :D Anyways, it has been a great weekend, super busy, but got little done of what I was suppose to get done. However, there was much excitement. Happy Mother's day for one! I love my Mom dearly, I get my crazy from her and a lot of my work ethic, along with my sense of direction, looks (haha to my Dad lol), and dexterity. Moms are great! Anyways, got to see Owl City in concert again today! bahah yeah I did but it was over a broadcast from London, still pretty awesome though. Missed a lot of it and it's coming on again here in a little bit as a re-run. I NEED TO GET TO WORK! I've got a busy week ahead of me, Band Banquet on Friday (whoohoo for Drum Major announcements), Prom on Saturday, and before the weekend I've got 2 AP test, meetings to attend, grades to bring up, and a whallahoo (just made that word up) of work to do. How will I survive? Owl City, Emilee (my girlfriend), Church (Monday Night Bible Study, Wednesday night kids celebration! woot so stoked), and last but not least, MY IPAD will help me out tremendously! Oh yeah, iMovie is gonna be a big helper too, but I can tell you why :D What am I listening to? Owl City with one of my favorites: Sunburn. Why? Well it came on, and it reminded me that I am sunburn, and it sucks! I'll get over it eventually, but I hate getting sunburned. argh! Oh yes, on the note of Owl City, he (Adam Young, the guy who.. uhh... IS Owl City in it's entirety lol) released a music video for Umbrella Beach, one of my favorite songs from him, and it blows ones mind, almost makes me cry. On another note about Owls, I really like them as an animal, and would really appreciate it if someone got me an Owl silly band. I have a couple of friends working on it (LOL thanks T!) (T is short for Tiffany, one of my dearly beloved friends), and I'm not crazy about silly bands but I would love to have an Owl! In other news, Summer is around the corner, along with my birthday, and I can't wait to be Seventeen Years Bold!

Days Till' Birthday: 11 (practically 10 lol)

Flying Away With Me!

Hey again. It's Zack. I'm listening to Owl City, flying away with myself, and it provoked me to tell you more about me. I love my life for one, as shaky, crazy, annoying, and ridiculous it may get, I always look up. I love Owl City, I love classical music, and any kind of music that gives me chills, aka Eric Whitacre (a composer for you non-bandies) among others whose music just let's my fly away in my own world. I dream, literally, of going on a cruise and having the time of my life, as I have before, but haven't in a very long time and love the idea of cruising so much that I am highly considering working on one after graduating college. School? I'm a good kid, make decent grades enough to get into NHS and Beta club what not, but I find myself becoming very lazy as I progress in my high school career. I dream of attending New York University, but with my financial status I'll probably end up attending a Florida school since I get practically free college with bright futures scholarship. I love computers of any sort, but I do favor Apple products. I can help with problems if you need, and I really kinda enjoy it so have at it lol. I play Trombone in band (my new one is coming in tomorrow!!) and I am decent at playing, nothing more, nothing less. I am a proud and excited leader and hopefully I will get Drum Major next year for marching season. Once again, for non-bandies, drum major is the guy who waving his hand like he's casting spells at the band when really he's keeping them together bahaha. I am a JESUS FREAK haha I go to Church and spend a large portion of my life, 4 days a week, doing something with the church, and if you ever want to talk religion or JESUS, hit me up! I am happily dating (NO, not married lol) the beautiful, charming, and (extremely) intelligent Emilee Bannister, a senior heading off to USF for college and set to live a spectacular life. We actually just celebrated 6 months of dating! Ok, it's half a year and we aren't big on the OHMYGOSHWE'VEBEENDATINGFOR6MONTHSWEARESOFREAKINGAWESOME thing, but 6 months is quite the stepping stone. Uhh, I think that's where I'll leave you tonight, I know you're so desperate to know more. I'll fill you in later on the roller coaster ride of a life that I live and my coming birthday where I will be turning 17 Years Bold!

Days till Birthday: 15

16 Years HOLD ON A SECOND.

Heya, it's Zack. Yeah, I'm not 17 yet, but heck this could be a preface to the blog ehh? Yes I think I'll do that. I'm currently typing on my 3.5 day old iPad (of spectacularness) (yes, spectacularness is now a word, even if my iPad doesn't recognize it xD). I'm currently listening to my iPod on shuffle and All Time Low (haha, I accidentally typed "slow" there instead of low. Guess you had to be here) just happens to be playing. Oh and that's over now, I've moved on to Narnia soundtrack. Heh... I'm a loser :D. Wow, that whole last 7 seconds of your reading (unless you speed read) was a waste of your life, I'll try to keep it interesting starting... now. I'm 16 years old at the moment and will be turning an ever-rearing age of 17 on May 20. Whoopee, the age I get to become a senior in high school, search and hopefully be accepted into a college (still dreaming for NYU... Pffffft xD), and according to law, I can drive until 1AM instead of 11PM... Bahaha as if I follow that rule anyway ^_^

Well the blog will officially start on my birthday but I'll let you learn about me in the coming days until then, and the prelude to my age of 17 Years Bold.

Days till' Birthday: 17 (do I smell irony? No, just a shear coincidence.)