The first 9 weeks

School at Christopher Dock Mennonite High begins on Tuesday, August 29, in 3 days. I am going into 12th grade, the senior year, the final grade in grade school. I am not the least bit excited. Yes, I know it's my senior year, and everyone in my class will be excited about that the first year. But's it's still another year, another 2 semisters, another 4 quarters, another 36 weeks, another 180 days. So I still have to put up with the crap I hate at school: another commericial Christmas, another show-off couple Valentine's Day, another skipping of Arts Day and all-school social and another overrated Banquet. Plus, I got to take harder classes this year. So to me, it's still another school year. Ask me again during 4th quarter if I'm excited, then we'll see. So Monday is my last day of the summer break (and I plan to enjoy every minute of it, not thinking about school at all), then I go back to school. Waking up at 6 AM, getting the bus at 6:50, starting classes at 7:50, ending classes 2:45 PM, getting home at 3:30 PM. Between 7:50 and 2:45, I go through the 8-period cycle (except on block days, ugh) that goes something like this:

1. Statistics I - Mr. Mast
2. Basic Music - Mrs. Rittenhouse
3. Chapel/Activity (Advisor: Mr. Yoder)
4. Rec Games - Mr. Moyer
5. Family Living - Mrs. Musselman
6. Lunch (Longacre Commons, NOT the cafeteria)
7. Kingdom Living - Mr. Hertzler
8. Senior English - Mrs. McTavish
9. Economics - Mr. Jeff Hackman

Speaking of Senior English, I hope everybody has read their summer required reading and have done (or at least in the process of their book report). For mine....well....Rome wasn't built in a day. The paper is suppose to be 550-600 words, and broken into three parts. The first part is to be a short summary, the second part a scene from the book that was my favorite, and the third part is discovering the message the author was trying to communicate to the reader. The first time I did it, I started at the beginning part, the "short" summary. Well, halfway through writing the summary I checked it out how many words I had and it was 550! I never was able to summarize shortly. So I am trying again, starting with the second part. It was 400 words. That means the other two parts I have to do between 150-200 words. I think that seems more logical. Once again, I aim to finish it by tomorrow, so I don't have to focus on school work for that last day of summer vacation on Monday.

CEF Summer 2006

Well, 3 comments came a little late, but as I promised. This year I worked as a CEF missionary for my second year. I had 13 5-Day Clubs and 1 Good News Camp. I roughly taught over 200 children. This was much more than I had last year. I had clubs in the city and in rural areas, even one in an apartment community. They were in Pottstown, Phoenixville, Spring City, Royersford, Barto, Bechtelsville, Boyertown, Exeter and even Conshehocken. This year was different in so many ways, and some (possibly most) are not good. I think I could've (and should've) seen this coming, during the first week of training when I felt like the "neglected missionary" at training camp. I had 3 lessons done and ready, and yet neither Bill or Sheila had the time to do this.

During the training camp, we learned a bit about Urban City ministries. Montgomery County was one of the counties that needed Urban ministry. We were told if we reach the children in the city, we reach the world. As I was listening to this, and as Bill asked Montgomery County to stand up, I realized I was one of the few missionaries stepping into this territory. What the presentation failed to, is make me realize how different the kids are. The kids are different, no doubt about it. They had no respect for the teachers. Rules were constantly broken. They didn't seem to care whether you were teaching. They were constantly moving around, having off topic conversations with their neighbors, shouting out answers, watching other things, etc. They were pick and chose what they wanted to participate in. This became harder when the number of kids reached the 20s, and an age difference from 4-16. Then it didn't help when my "helpers", Deavona and Shatona, decided to join in on that. Deavona and Shatona were promoting the bad behavior that I was trying to discipline. It made it harder to correct those kids when my own teachers couldn't do it. I felt like there should have been rules competition should between the kids and the helpers. They also wouldn't participate in what should have, like singing the songs, but participated in what they are not suppose to, like saying the memory verse, or playing the games. I kindly asked them stop giving the kids answers, but they said, "We're just giving hints." A hint is saying it begins with a letter, or telling other things he did, not whispering the answer. And they refused to sing, always with a different excuse. I think part of it had to do with the fact we had teenagers at some of the club. Even though they probably won't admit it, I think since they saw peers at the club, they had a standard of "being cool" to keep, and if they were participating in any of the "childish" 5-Day Club stuff, they wouldn't reach that standard. Once again, this could have been foretold in training camp, when the twins only two evaulations done, and one of them was the wordless book. I swear, the discipline class that was taught during training, none of those girls paid attention because the things I remember Naomi taught, those girls would do what she said not to, and wouldn't do her good suggestions. Chante was good, but only when the other girls weren't around. Once again, I would argue it's the peer pressure factor. Poorly behaved kids + immature helpers = unhappy Graham.

Then the camp, oh the camp!I think the icing of the cake was the camp. When Tuesday came, I noticed I had a bit less control over the girls. At that point I realized that by Friday, that last day, I would lose total control of those girls, if not sooner. Sure enough, I was right. By Thursday afternoon, I had lost them. I always had to searching for those girls when I needed them. Half of them would be in the couch room, and the other half in the nursery with the twins. Oh, and that's another thing! What were those girls doing up there? Babysitting THEIR OWN siblings, nephews and nieces! They could have done that at home! There was no reason for them to be there. And they would only come down to eat the church's food at lunch and snack. And, of, course, once again the kids at the camp saw this as a great way to escape from the stuff they didn't want to do, in my group as well as the others. I'll say it again, there was no reason for them to be there, and their presence only cause problems. As much as we planned, there was no order for the kids. Kids did as they pleased. The best example is this: we told them not to run in the church, but they still did. We tell them to run around in recreation, and all they want to do is sit in the shade. I surely do think it is a question of respect. I asked some of the kids on the clean team at camp who they liked better: Miss Nadia who was the leader Monday to Thursday, or Miss Chante who was only on Friday. They chose Miss Chante. With the complaints Nadia had about the kids, Chante never had a problem. Chante straightened out the kids, and made them listen to her. Trust me, that is a hard thing to do. None of the others could do that. Meghan constantly lost her voice yelling at the kids. Jenn said she had to walk around the church 3 times to cool off from the kids. A few times I walked in the couch room, laid down on a coach for half an hour, yelling into a pillow. My kids were so horrible, by Friday, Aaron, the mature girl, didn't want to be in my group. Constantly she'd be in tears. I told her it was OK for her to sit separate from the group. When one of the church helpers noticed that, she asked me, "Is Aaron being punished?" I replied, "I'd be punishing her if I made her sit with those girls longer than a minute." Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I do believe I am a good Christian, and I've met some big jerks in my life, but this time was the time I was the tempted the hardest to either hit one of my girls, or yell a cuss word at them, something I haven't done since before I was saved. The temptation was so strong because I did have to yell at the girls to get them to listen to me. If I didn't yell, they'd ignore me. Once I kindly told them not to leave the the room, yet they still did every time. They would constantly lie to me, too. Yelling was the only way. And every time I did, I had conflicting emotions. I felt bad when I had to yell at them, re-arrange their seating, or have to subtract points, but I knew I had to do it to be fair to those behaving and it was the only way to keep control. Control. Something we seem to lost as the week progressed....or perhaps we never had. It seemed to take a great drop when Bill left. Would things been different with Bill? Hard to tell. I did have a lot of campers asking me where Bill was. I don't know if "He's gone to Pittsburg" made them feel like they didn't have to behave. But it could've been the cause alone. No one had control, especially the helpers. Nadia said she could never get her kids to sit down and do devotions. When I tried to have devotions, on average, I had 5 kids from all other teams come into my room. Then I would lose the girls' attentions. That, I almost want to also blame on the helpers, but I feel like they were trying, and most of the problems were the kids. It's like our Woofi missionary, Mrs. Geiss, said. Every child told us they were saved, but few were acting like it. That's why on my last devotional time, I stressed on how as born again Christians, we need to live a different life, obedient and submissive. I told you that sometimes I thought I had the younger kids. You mistook what I was saying, thinking what I said was literal, and kept reassuring I had the oldest group. I was saying that in a figurative sense. I had the oldest group, but they acted like the kids I had in preschool 5-Day Clubs. Actually, I sometimes thought that the clean team was acting better than my girls. I asked for the oldest group, thinking I would have well behaved kids who I could have intellectual spiritual conversation. Both presumtions were wrong. I did not like doing this camp, just as much as the Pottstown 5-Day Clubs. I was suprised when the kids asked if we would be back, most of the helpers said, "I hope so." If they would asked me that, I would have said, "Don't count on it."

Yes, there was much testing of me. I hope, in God's eyes, that I have perservered. I had many temptations this summer. Thoughts, words, and actions that wouldn't exactly please God. I don't think I can do that again, even for one more week. That would have tipped me over.

But there were some great moments I had. In one of my Pottstown Clubs, I had the same kids I did in the Royersford Club. Yet they were still excited to hear the stories. One of my favorites is when we were playing the mystery word game. After 1 minute of one of these playing around they go DENRUT. They were like, "DENRUT! It's DENRUT! Is DENRUT a word?" If any of you have caught on, DENRUT backward is TURNED, the real mystery word. Chante and I were trying to surpress our laughter. It's been a while, and I was running out of time, so I dropped a small by humming the theme song, "Turned around." Someone actually caught on, and turned the letters around. Another group of kids was the kids at the 5-Day Club in 3rd Street of Pottstown. These kids were great. We had one troublemaker, but his sister was embarrassed by it, so she'd take care of it. But this one girl stuck out to me. Never really heard from her. She pretty much only sung the songs. Outside that, we got two review questions from her: "Who loves you the most?" (God) and "Who died for you?" (Jesus). Two weeks later, I see the same kids at the camp. They were so excited to be there, and see me again. Now this little girl, who was completely silent, smiled every time she saw me. She would come up to me, say perky and quick, "Hi!" and walk away. Every time our paths crossed, she would do that. And she was in the youngest group, and I was leader of the oldest group. It's amazing how some kids are so happy to see the missionaries. In the Conshohocken club, all the kids clinged to Deborah, not really me...except one. She was a 12-year old girl, who almost appreciated me a bit too much. It always seemed that she was always next to me. And she would always compliment me. "You're a good teacher," "You're my favorite teacher," and stuff like that. She always wanted a hug before I left. One of them was from behind, totally unexpected and a suprise. Another girl was the one I had at my last 5-Day Club. She really liked Chante, even more than me, but she would never forget me. To my suprise, the following Sunday, she was at my church. As I walked into the sanctuary a little, in the middle of praise and worship, she yelled out, "Hi Mr. Graham!" and as she left for children's church, she yelled "Bye Mr. Graham!" Isn't wasn't just the girls I remember, there was a very close boy. He was in Phoenixville, and he was 5 years old, but he always felt like he had to act 14. He listened to rap, talked ghetto, and claimed he had a girlfriend (who was 14 years old). He got saved early that week. He was the only kid for 3 of the days, but his growth was important, so we kept working with h I'm glad the Holy Spirit has allowed me to impact these kids so much. Unfortuneately, most of this was overshadowed by the majority of the bad kids.

Being a CEF Summer missionary was a bit rough this year, but I got through, and was able to enjoy some parts of it. I plan to go it again next summer. I can have the same amount of clubs, but can only work during July. And probably no Urban city areas. But as long as there are children who need the gospel, I pray the Lord will lead me to lead them back to Him.

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO SAY WHAT YOU HATE ABOUT ME!

Ok, I haven't been able to update this as much as I would like to. On top of that, I don't get many comments from you guys, making this feel a bit wasteful of my time. So I here is a game to get you to post more comments. I've seen this on a few Xangas, so now I'll try it.

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO SAY WHAT YOU HATE ABOUT ME!

anybody can play this game.. whether I talk to you or not, no matter how well I know you or you know me, whether we are friends, aquaintaces, or enemies, you can tell me anything, and everything that you hate about me, and I won't say anything to you (or at least try not to). And if you don't hate anything (which I doubt) tell me that, I guess. HAVE A BLAST, I want everyone that comes to my blog to do it.

If I see at least 3 comments, I'll promise a better, thorough entry within the week. Promise

25 Things: My blog's Grand RE-opening

Well, working hard in the Pottstown Library, I went into my Xanga website. I took a crash course on some JavaScript programming. One hour later, I found out how to redirect a website. Now if you go to my Xanga, you'll end up here! That's saves me a hassel. So now I should see more comments. :) So, to celebrate, this blog went under a Extreme Makeover: Website Edition. It's almost like it is a new blog. Got that new blog smell. So we'll start with a new blog entry. I've seen this go around the blogs, quite a few people did this. It's called 25 Things I Want to Do Before I Die.

And yes, of course the first half have to do with quizzing. Then the rest are beyound quizzing, just to prove that maybe there is something to me beside quizzing. And without further ado...

25 Things I Want to Do Before I Died

1. Finish as 1 of the Top 5 quizzers for the upcoming 2007 quizzing season
2. Be a perfect quizzer in 1 of the last 3 years of my quizzer career.
3. Quiz for the "all-star quizzers" in the fun match
4. Win the ACC Season Championship
5. Win the Invitational (double-elimination bracket, of course)
6. Become a quiz coach at the age of 21
7. Coach a team to win the ACC Season Championship
8. Coach a team to win the ACC Tournament
9. Coach a team to win the Invitational (both the single and double elimination bracket)
10. Coach a perfect quizzer
11. As a coach, quiz for the "All-star coaches" in the fun match
12. Be a quizmaster, a quizmaster who knows the quizzers
13. As a quizmaster, quiz for the "All-Star Staff" in the fun match
14. Graduate from Dock, and never return for anything, and never donate a penny
15. Get a doctrate in Biblical Studies (masters at a Christian school, doctrate at Ivy league?)
16. Become a powerful voice in religion/theology/Christianity
17. Write and publish my very own book
18. Get a DeLorean
19. Go watch the X Games
20. Visit Great Britain, where I will:
    a. Go visit Stonehenge and a Medieval Castle
    b. Walk across Abbey Road
    c. Drive on the opposite side of the road
    d. Go around waving like the Queen
    e. Watch Monty Python in its home country
    f. Find at least 5 other guys by the name of "Graham"
21. Visit Israel, where I will:
    a. Not get killed by a suicide bomber
    b. Wail at the Western/Wailing Wall
    c. Attempt to get into the Dome of the Rock
    d. See both guessed tombs of Christ's temporary burial, and decide myself which is correct
    e. Stand in Meggido AKA Armagedden Valley
    f. Bathe in the Jordan River and float in the Dead Sea
22. Meet someone who is always estastic to see me and visit me
23. Only if it is the Lord's Will, have a girlfriend who will become a wife (ONLY if the Lord allows, and if not, I will be satisfied in Him choosing for me to be single).
24. If #23 is true, have children. The first son I will name after myself. They will all become little "quizzer extrodinaires."
25. In my will, plan, fund, and build the building of the "Graham Holcomb Bible Quizzing Museum and Hall of Fame" where I will be buried.

"I think setting a goal, getting a visual image of what it is you want. You've got to see what it is you want to achieve before you can pursue it." -Chuck Norris

So I take pride in my quizzing accomplishments...

Some of you are really unaware of how much pride I have when I accomplish a goal in quizzing. I mean beyond the bragging and trash talk. When I do go, I show it off.




Yes, my shoes tell everyone what my favorite activity is: Quizzing. And since my favorite activity is quizzing, it tells you what I am: Quizzer. It is also my two favorite colors: orange and black. Now they will go with most of my clothing, especially the orange and black suit. But it doesn't stop there. The 12 isn't the size (they are size 10.5). It represents the place I finish on the Top 50 Quizzers List.

Speaking of the Top 50 Quizzers List, I never did believe those quizzers on the Top 50 Quizzers List get enough recongition. Winning teams get trophies, but winning individuals get an envelope. Yeah, it has a money amount, but that is quickly spent. They should get a certificate, a medal, or something like what I did....

Yes, I got a plaque. It has the Top 50 Quizzers List, and the envelope (Without the money!), and a small plate that says "ACC Bible Quizzing, 2006 Top 5o Quizzers List, Graham Holcomb, 12th place" And here is a picture of me receieving the plaque...from me...made by me. Okay, maybe it is not as official as I would like it to be, but it is a good way to perserve the memory. And it was worth all $67.

In sadder news today, Penelope: The Duct Tape Trojan Elephant is no more. Penelope was in bad condition. Her legs could no longer support her body, her neck could no longer support the head, and her facial features were falling off. It was torture for her to live like this any longer. Penelope was laid in a garbage can casket, buried in the dump.

Rest in peace.


Peace Out,
Graham


P.S. Does anyone know how to set up a website to re-direct itself to another site? I wanna try to do that, so when anyone goes on my Xanga, they will be re-directed to here. So if you do, send me further instructions on how to do so. ThanX!

another year, another month, another week, another day

Today, while driving in the car, I had a lot of time to think. I thought about how much people fret over birthdays. The big comotion. The trouble and chaos their family and friends go through to give them celebrations and presents. The idea of superior treatment and attention. The image to Stacy Shilling screaming at the top of her lungs, "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" is still haunting me. In my eyes, I have to ask, "What's the big deal?"

Seriously folks, this isn't the dark ages. I could see why they celebrate birthdays back then; living to being 5 was considering a miracle. But in today's modern age, we have up-to-date medicines and life-saving technology. While there is a percent that will still not make it, it is a small fraction of a percent, and a majority still will. And I bet even most of those cases are not because of health and disease. The point is that the average human can make it up 76 to 78 years, therefore can expect 76 to78 birthdays. Living another year isn't as big as a miracle as it was 600 years ago.

Even if you were to treat it that way, as a miracle of a new year, then why shouldn't we have birthdays every day? Every new day is a gift from God, allowing us to live. The next day could be our last, and He's not gonna wait for us to complete the year. We should be thankful for every day of our life, not just a certain day of the year.

So a birthday comes one a year. But like I said, you'll have about 76 to 78 birthdays. So why make a comotion for one? And while we may enjoy them in our child and teen years, think about after that. Think about how our parents' generation considers birthday. They avoid it! It's another sign of getting older. So what's all the comotion about being happy about the same day we'll dread in the future!

Think about it this way. Answer the question: "When does the New Year begin?" Most people in the world we'll tell you January 1. But the Chinese will tell you it is early April. The Jews will say the New Year is in September. See, it's all according to your view. I heard of an ophanage that when it picks up its children, it doesn't knew its day of birth. So what they do is they choose one day to celebrate everyone being born. And I think they have the right idea.

You were born, so what?! Everyone else on the earth was also born. while it may seem unique to you, there are othere who also share the same exact day to be born. I know I just met my "twin" a few days ago! When we were children, we liked the parties because we got presents. Even in our youth, things haven't changed. Every year, we want the biggest present: one day of being the center of the world. I think having birthdays like that snap us away from reality, giving us a false reality, making harder to go back. And it puts our friends under a stress that a true friend really wouldn't put you in. Your friends get you these small, cheap trinkets for your birthday because they feel this obligation of getting you something.

Birthdays get more recognition than the person.

Change over from vacation to first week of training

Vacation, for the most part, was fun. Between my sister and I, every ride was ridden. It was kinda funny that my sister would do roller coasters, but not straight drop, and I would do straight drop, but not roller coasters. Did you guys hear about tropical storm Alberto. Yeah, we experienced it. Universal was a once in a lifetime experience, so we weren't gonna let the tropical storm ruin (even though for the most part it did). We went around the park in ponchos: 2 red and 2 yellow. My sister described it the best: ketchup and mustard.

However, on the last day, the weather was great with the exception a few raindrops here and there. That was the day we went to the Holy Land Experience. It was very informative and accurate. It had an accurate reproduction of the tabernacle, the temple, the Dead Sea Caverns, the empty tomb, a small-scale version of Jerusalem in 66 AD and a museum with the history of Biblical writings. Throughout the day, there were presenations and shows. The man who played Jesus played the role well. He interacted with the audience, especially the children, like Jesus was preaching to us.

Then started our drive back. On the way, we visited two possible College choices. The first was Liberty University. It was very big, and quite new in most aspects. However, I felt the college was a bit to Baptist for me, in the sense politics is treated as strong as religion. The next day we went to Eastern Mennonite University. After seeing the campus of Liberty, it was a little poor in quality, comparing the two. I did get to talk to a Bible profressor, who was excited to know I was looking for Biblical studies. But some factors pointed against it. Only 3% of the (roughly) 1,000 student campus was in the same major as me. Also that for the last incoming class, the percent of students from Dock was about 20 - 25%. Another turn-off for me. Right now, these two colleges are at the bottom of my list. If I had to pick from the two, I'd say......(oooh, this is tough)....EMU (by a small margin).

Now I'm home, but only for 12 hours. Tomorrow at 7:30 AM, I leave for the Sylvan Christian Camp near State College, PA for the first week of CEF training. I've done this before, so I'm hoping it will go along faster, and I won't fall behind.

Oh yeah, when I was in Orlando, I got a flippin' sweet new ride. Admit it, you're jealous. :)

Hello. Farewell.

First of all, I like to thank all those who took the time to leave comments conerning my junior senate speech. I will say it again, if you want to leave your opinion, leave your name and a way to contact you. So far, I have given a proper, mature reply to everyone who has done so. Anonymous names will not get any attention, since they are too embarrassed to leave their name with their feelings.

June 9, at 11:20 AM, I finished my American Lit final, finishing yet another year at Christopher Dock. It felt like I wouldn't never come, but it did, and it felt good. Just 180 more days, then....nevermore.

And at noon the same day, I left home with my family in a rented 2006 Camry (yes, it is very nice) towards Orlando, Florida. Right now, coming to you live from the Holiday Inn in Kingston, Georgia, it's Graham on his Xanga! This is hotel number two. The last hotel was the Sleep Inn. Both have come with supplied internet access, allowing me to get on Xanga. So you might here from me on your Xanga this week.

Yes, this is the last you'll hear from me in a while, perhaps. I am going to Universe until Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, I'll be going to the Holy Land Experience, which is near Orlando. Then we'll be heading back home, with some college visits on the way. On Thursday is Liberty College in Lynchburg, VA (I'll see if I can find Aubrey), and on Friday is Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA. We should be getting back late night on Friday. Then it is empty out this week suitcase, fill the next one for next week vacation, then Saturday Morning I head to Sylvan Christian camp near State College, PA for the first seven days of CEF Summer Missionary training. Then after that, I head off the second week of training in Bucks county. Frankly, I don't think I'll be home at all for the rest of June. Try again in July!

You know the drill. Leave comments.

The evil B-word (and it's not bitch)

Okay, I'm sick of it! Just sick of it! You upper classmen...you've been acting as mature as the under classmen. I have come with a divine revelation.....THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN BANQUET!

It's been going on since early February. It started with among the show-off couples. Then it infected through the popular kids. When Arts Day finished, and the Preppy/Smart and Artistic clique kids had nothing to do, they then became occupied - oh, excuse me, better word - OBSESSED with banquet, as well! Before you know it, the whole social sphere of our school is Banquet. Banquet banquet banquet! It's like there is nothing else. Who's going with who, how you are arriving, what you're are wearing, what after party you're going to. This is all the talk I hear about. Can you guys ever look beyond it?

Let me tell you something, your craze over banquet is destructive! It is destroying the fellowship among Christians. Once again, you have ruined this school once again. As a Mennonite school, we have the oppurtunity to be a witness to the dark world of secularism by being set apart as different for the Lord. But no! We must conform just like all the other schools. Even though banquet is still the dumb-down Mennonite version of the prom, you guys, with your after dance and party, make us just like the rest. Romans 12:2- "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will"

All of you put way too much effort into this banquet. You all want it to be perfect, and spend all your time worrying about if everything will go right. Why? You want to look good among your peers. You want to stand out. Heck, this is a big social gathering, you got to be at your best looking, or who knows what will happen? Once again, Banquet has caused you to error in the eyes of your Lord! Read Luke 12:22-28-

"22Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

Yes, there is no mention about Banquet, but it does mention what you are wearing, which seems to be like a big factor in banquet. Still not convinced? I'm pretty sure if there was banquet/prom in the time of Jesus he would have said something like this:

"And do not worry about your social life. Who your friends are or who is going out with who, it is not worth worrying about. Just look at the fish in the sea. They neither hold nor go to parties. They do not undergo a dating process. Neither do they have a prom or a banquet. Yet the Lord gives them the socializing they need. The fish swim in schools, and every year they manage to reproduce and have kids. So if God has given this all to fish, whose lives are only a fraction of what you humans live, will he not also give it to you?"

After that is when the scripture you know will continue, Luke 12:29 & 30- "29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink (or on banquet); do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things"

We are called to be God's children, not pagans. If we take time on worrying about frivilous things, we lose faith that God will provide, and that is a sin. And there is so much more wrong about banquet than that. Like I said, it destroys fellowship among Christians. It lowers those who are not going to banquet by leaving them out and excluding them. Further, those couples, the ones who have the first among the planners, will lower those at banquet without a date. How can you all this, when the Lord looks at all his children equally?!

Personally, I will not be going to banquet. First of all, to make it clear, it has nothing to do with or without having a date! Even if I had a girlfriend, I would not go! A relationship should be personally between a couple, not a show-off tool to your peers! I would not want my friends, my classmates or anyone else in the school to feel lowly beecause they not going to banquet. Do to others have you would want done to you! Remember that part of the verse I bolded above? It says, "And how much more valuable are you than birds!" In a song about this, the ApologetiX sing, "I am worth more than I think" which means the same thing as that verse. Who cares what the human thinks about you? God loves you. And that means you are a great worth, greater than any worldly possession!

As for me, that Saturday night I will be going to a Reading Phillies ball game, with a friend or two. Whoever it is, it will be someone who like me for who I am, with or without girlfriend. And all my friends will are like that. But before that, that Saturday afternoon, I will cry for my generation. I will cry unto the Lord for mercy for the transgressions of our generation. I am embarrassed for the wrong of our generations. I beg you all not to do any wrongs after the banquet. Remember that the Lord calls you to be pure and holy. Hear my words, and heed my warning. Last verse of the post:

"29As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here." Luke 11:29-32

Ode to Spring City quizzers

Ever see one of those posts when peeps put down descriptions of their friends, and you have to guess who they are talking about? Let's put a twist to it. Tomorrow is my great secret sponser reveal. If it is anything like last year, the quizzer will have to sit in front of everyone and get showered with blessings. So I've combined them. The below paragraphs are each descriptions of quizzers. See if you can guess which quizzer I'm talking about.

I have so many memories of you, and not one is how you performed in quizzing. You may believe that because you didn't score a lot you weren't contributing to the team. Bull. You had a big job in carrying the spirit and morale of the team. When we were tense, you loosened things up. When you weren't there, the team was down and did poorly. We always needed you to cheer us up. And remember, there were many other rookies who scored the same as you, and some even less. Heck, I know some second year quizzers who have only scored 20 points! But you were always a good friend, and that's worth more than a million points. You were always fun to be around, and that may even just have been to bug you. You have no idea how much fun it is to watch you eat! :-) And it was weird how you always had some kind of fetish attraction to all my quizzing buddies...but nothing you ever did was suprising to me by the end of the year. In the beginning you were so quiet, and we thought we'd had to get it out of you. That was no problem by the end of the year. Because of your craziness, we discovered that there were new words in the text! I think half of the excitement and craziness this year was caused by you. Congrats, that definitely makes you a quizzer. (Bekah Gibson)

With the way you performed, I sometimes forgot you were a rookie! You scored over a 150 points, plus quizzed out 2 times in the regular season, and once in the Ohio Tournament! I still can't believe it. Sometimes you did have me worried when you started randomly bleeding, or needed to take tons of medication to get rid of a small headache or other sickness, but you always pulled through. I think that you could have possibly done better if you weren't so attached to your cell, or some older guy, and would've taken that time to practice. But you always contributed to team bonus, which was a big help. But your cowboy pictures were no help to me. Sorry. I really hope you can quiz again next year. If you did that well for your first year, I can't wait to see how you would do next year! I just have a bit of advice for you. First, make sure you don't get a few slight mistake, like saying "tax payers" instead of "tax collectors" or saying "sheep" instead of "pigs" (although you made those mistakes, it is still much less than some other quizzer on our team). Oh yeah, and change those ringtones. I was getting pretty sick of Kelly Clarkson and that other guy. Remember MiB II!! (Jai Bodor)

Good friends, good times. Even thinking about you makes me laugh. I don't know how many times I have done something just because you said "All the cool people are doing it." I can withstand any peer pressure...except you. This year you suprisingly made up even more stupid answers. And I can't remember the amount of times you answered "Temple Obligations" even though we told you so many times over that it was is in last year's material, not this year (cuz he's still preoccupied...in quizzing 2005). I'd have to say my most favorite memory of you this year was when you were taking so long in the E-Town bathroom, so Bruce and I decided to go in and pretend we were using it as well, and pretend to talk poorly about you, like you weren't there. I was just washing my hands, but Bruce went all-out flushing toliets, turning on water faucets and activating the hand drier. It was funny. You deserved it, no one spends over 20 minutes in the bathroom. Because of you, my new favorite activities is hot sauce shots and playing Risk. And you play the most convicing homo I've ever seen. LONG LIVE THE FLAMING AMISH! I knew you would do better this year, but not as well as to make in the Top 60. You were definitely a threat to my personal score and gave some fun in-team competition. That really helped me put me into place, and told me how much more to study. Hey, maybe next year we'll see you in the Top 50! Anyway, you performed your best, and you had fun doing away. And I think one day, you'll get a girl because you are a very likeable person. Indubitably. And everyone else concurs. (Mike Schwager)

You've been with me every step of my quizzing journey. You were on my team every year, even when we changed church teams. We been together through thick and thin, good times and bad times. This year was another year to add to the memories. In previous years, you scored no more than 40 points in a year. I told you that because this year we lost Brandon and Aubrey, you'd have to step up to be Spring City's 3rd best quizzer. You stepped up to the challenge and took it. Your performanced was outstanding. You scored over 150 points, probably more than your the points of every year combined. And you got your first quiz out, too. I have never felt so proud of you. I know the end of the year was a bit hard for you, but it was great to see you be happily socializing with them. I sometimes saw a side of you I didn't know of. And thouse walks around the parking lot were fun, even though sometimes it seemed I didn't want to do it. You gave us team bonus when we were in need of it, and when you gave it, we suceeded to win. Thanx for the help. The team really was glad you was there, and we really appreciated you. (" height="523" width="499">Christine Dragan)



Thank you guys for another great year. Every year is unique, and this year was an especially unique year. The memories are several, and I will never forget you individually and as a team. For being a wide spread of personalities, we somehow were able to get along. We worked and cooperated as a team inside and outside of matches. You guys were great.

Back from my venture

Well, I'm back from everything I said.

Spamalot was the bomb! It was incredibly hilariously. In some places it was funnier than the original movie. The first act was better than the second act. The second part was just like King Arthur said, "Imagine, in a thousand years, this will all be....still controversal." It's true. Sir Lancelot was gay, and at one time was called a fairy. In the end, he marries Prince Herbert. Sir Robin tells Arthur he couldn't survive to broadway because he has no Jews. In the end, we learn Patsy is a Jew, but that's something he didn't want to tell a heavily armed Christian. It was still funny. They did a good way of creating things to distract the audience they could do special effects like cutting off body parts. I see why it won the Tony for best oscar.

Social Issues trip sucked. I paid between 1 and 2 thousand dollars to go to the NYLC and it was worth every penny. A year at Dock costs around $10,500 and the Social Issues trip was uninformative and boring. I got less out of this. I realized some of my teachers lack understanding of directions and can be confused just as much as students. I would have liked to serve more and heard less from that guy. Heartburn killed me over the trip. And on top of that, I was there with classmates who I didn't want there. At least I have done all my homework and my papers for the trip. All I need to finish is the journal.

Gone another weekend

Ever since the beginning of the year, it seems like I can't stay put in one place for the weekend. Even excluding quizzing, March and April were pretty busy. This week is not an exception. On Saturday, I will be going to NYC to see the broadway hit SPAMALOT! Saturday will be exciting, but Sunday, Monday and Tuesday will not be. That will be the field trip for Social Issues class. We will have to leave at 5:40 AM Sunday morning to head down to Washington, D.C. in time to make church service. For the rest of the trip, I will be seeing the sights, working in soup kitchens, and experience the issues of social life in our nation's capital. Not the fun you'd think it would be, especially since this will be the second time there in 7 months. I have to do 5 assignments during the trip, each about a page long and a 3-page journal. Yuk. It figures to leave it to Dock to take the fun out of field trips.

Hey, quizzing friends! Miss you all greatly. Nothing important is happening the afternoon and evening of Saturday, May 13. Since quizzing has ended, I have been bored and lonley out of my crazy mind! So if you want to do anything me, no matter how fun, crazy, or stupid it is, just leave suggestions and I'll consider it.

Graham vs. Moss family

In the "Graham vs. Moss quizzers" series*:

Graham vs. Josh Moss
Graham wins series 1-0

Graham vs. Jake Moss
Graham leads(/wins?) series 1-0

Graham vs. Becky Moss
Graham leads series 1-0

* A series is defined as when Graham's team and the team of a Moss are faced together in a match. The winner of the series is the one who quizzes out first. In all cases, the winner is the only one who quizzed out, the loser unable to quiz out.

3 down, 1 Tim to go. Next year, just wait. He's going down, too. Then the only thing left to do is build a time machine, go back in time, and take down Debbie, too. :)

Report Card on 2006 Quizzing

Two days ago was my second Wednesday without practice. On Sunday will be my second Sunday without official quizmatchces. I am sooo booorrreeeddd. This is when the post quizzing depression begins to set in. You can only run so much on past memories. So to help relive those past memories, I'm gonna keep them alive by rating how we did during the quiz year. I will evaluate both my individual and the team's performance, then give it a grade.

Individual Performance

8 Week Season
Every year I have shown improvement. This year was no exception. This so far was my best year. The only really "bad" thing was not being perfect quizzer for a while or my "incident" (still not calling it by the real name!). In 18 matches, I had quizzed out 15 times. In the 3 matches I didn't quiz, I got 20 points. There were no matches where I scored 0 points or 10 points; either 35 or 20 points. All together, I scored 585 points. This is 75 points higher than the 510 scored last year, making this my recorded high score. I also performed this great feat: I quizzed out on question 3, all on buzzes. It was my first match of the year, too. There were 3 other incidents where I was close to doing it again, but I couldn't get in on question 3. I also was able to quiz out against 2 Mosses this year: Becky and Jake. I also like doing that. 3rd Moss I quizzed out before. You're next Tim...

Every year I set a goal to aim for personally. Sometimes the goal is broken down into parts. Last year's goal was 5 parts. This year's goal was 3 parts. They were:

• Be on the Top 50 Quizzers List every week
• Be a perfect quizzer for at least the first 3 weeks
• Beat my personal quizout record of 12 quizouts

I was able to stay on the Top 50 Quizzers List every week this year. The lowest ever was after week 1 at 34th place, ironically the place I finished in 2005. Every week I got higher. The highest was after week 6 when I reached 5th place with 5 other quizzers! After some turbulance at Hopewell Elverson, I dropped slightly. I finished with an average 32.5 point average, and placing in 12th place. I was unable to be a perfect quizzer for 3 weeks. Heck, I couldn't be a perfect quizzer for 1 week! Stupid "downfall." To break my quiz out record, I would need to get at least 13 quizouts. I quizzed out 15 times! I broke my record. Of the three parts of the goal, I completed the first and third, only the second I was unable. So according to the two-thirds rule, I completed my goal for the year.

I also was able to do something else. I was less worriful of how I would perform. It allowed me to relax more, both before and during matches. I was able to socialize more often in free time. I was able to eat and drink, something I couldn't do before. I conquered my fear of doing and poorly, and through that was able to performed better.

Grade on Season: A

ACC Tournament
We had six matches during the Tournament. I quizzed out 5 of the 6 matches. The only match I did not quiz out was against Byerland, one of the hardest teams. I was only able to score ten points, the lowest all year. But my quiz outs were good quiz outs. My answers were clear and precise. I errored little. I also tried to help encourage my team as best I could. At least one of my right questions was a buzz in, making it possible for our team to get team bonus. I tried my hardest to carry the team single handedly.

Grade on ACC Tournament: A

Invitational at Central Christian in Kidron, OH
I was able to quiz out every match. On that last match, I couldn't quiz out until question 13, a little later than I hoped. But they were a tough team. The correct questions were mostly buzz in with a few bonuses here and there. I did cause errors, but not too many to hinder us. I think I did good, and would have liked to see how I would have done if I had a few more matches.

Grade on Invitational: A

2006 INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANC GRADE: A

Team Performance

8 Week Season
We had a team of 5 quizzers. 2 of the 5 were rookies. 1 of them had quizzed for 7 years, but every year had scored no more than 40 points. I think coach Dave used the best phrase to describe how the team looked before the year start: "building year." They were no Brandon or Aubrey. To expect what we saw the previous year (6th place season, ACC Tournament Champs) would be expecting a lot. Just as the phrase "building year" suggests, we had to start over with our team and build up a good quiz team. We taught them the rules of quizzing and helped them study as we went along. We just hoped for the best. I told Christine and Mike that they had to both step up their game. Their role was now important because they had to lead the team. I had to take a slight step up to reach Brandon's level of performance, but Mike had to take a big step up to match my last year's performance, and Christine a HUGE step up. I set my mind to just accept whatever I got, which I had already planted in my mind to be very little.

So can you imagine how much of a surprise the first half of our season was. After our first 4 matches in 2 weeks, 3 of them we got team bonus and both Mike & I quizzed out. We won those 3 matches, scoring over 100 points: two matches 120 and one match 13o, the most we scored in any match, both season and tournaments. Our point average shot up to 100 point per match. That average moved Spring City up to 4th place, the highest I had ever been on a team. The next week stunned me even more. The next week continued to amaze me. We won the next 3 matches. The best one was our first. We won against Reading 2 105 to 25. We had 3 quizouts in one match: me, Mike and Jai! Jai continued to perform well as she quizzed out her second match ever in the same day! Pretty good for a rookie. Despite winning all 3 that week, our average dropped to 95 points per match. Still we remained in 4th place. We continued to win the next two matches. Halfway through the matches, we had an average of 94.4 with a win-loss record of 8-1. Magnificient for a "building team" to only have lost 1 of 9 matches.

Then we began to decline. It may have been the year getting harder as it progressed. It may have been being comfortable with previous wins, creating a feeling of invincibility. Maybe it was the lessen in practice (mainly self-practice). Maybe emotions effect quizzing. Whatever it was, our performance was as high as the first half of the year. We only got team bonus once. Only one time did we score over 100 points. In that match, it was three quiz outs: me, Mike and Christine (her first quizout!). Our average dropped and dropped. In the second half of the year, our win-loss record was 3-6. Not up to our first-half standards.

The year finished with a total of 18 matches. In those matches, we scored a total of 1520 points, finishing with an average of 84.4 points. Our final record was 11-7. We finished in 8th place in League A, 16th place of all quiz teams. Christine got the first quiz out of her career, and Jai got two quizouts in her rookie year. Sometimes we forgot that Jai was a rookie. Bekah did a good job for a rookie her age and picked up 2 bonuses, 20 points. Mike finished within the Top 60 Quizzers, and that was the first time the Top 60 were honored. For a building team, we built well and fast.

Team Grade on Season: B+

ACC Tournament
We started off with two losses. I still believe we shouldn't have lost to those two teams. They were the easiest teams we had all day. One of the teams only had three people as well! After two losses, we knew that we needed to win our next matches. We did, winning our next two. The next was against Byerland, and they blew us away. We won our last match of the day, making us 3-3. There were a lot of facotrs that could have changed our standing. Twice Goods 2 should have been fouled for talking during judge's decisions. Then we would've never gone into overtime and won the match. If we won, and everything else would've been the same, there would've been a three-way tie with Spring City, Goods 2, and Byerland for first place in our group with a 4-2 record.

But let's not consider the possible fouls, and look at it from controlling our own destiny. We still could have won. First we were down a quizzer who we really needed, but wasn't there because she believed she "wasn't a part of the team." Bull. She was a good encouragement, raised team spirits, and was there when we needed her. Team morale was down during the ACC tournament. And to get team bonus, everyone the team needs to get a correct buzz in. 2 of our 5 quizzers were not there for week 8 material, and when questions got to them, they were clueless, and there were a lot of week 8 questions. We only had 22 errors, and Mike caused half of them. He errored out twice. Jai was too caught up in her cell phone and Brad (ugh) to concentrate on quizzing. Too many questions heard and studied during practice and previous matches were still not known, learned or understood, and ended up being marked wrong. That should never happen. If we would have practiced a bit more, and learned from our mistakes, and possibly slowed down our buzzing, the playoffs would've been in reach. This is what led me to deter the grade on our team's performance for this tournament.

Team Grade on ACC Tournamnet: B-

Invitational at Central Christian in Kidron, OH
Compared to the local tournament, we did better. But it still wasn't up to par to what we performed in the season. But in a sense, the progression of the tournament was just like the season. We started out great, but every match after, the performance detered. Our first match we won 155-0. We scored in the triple digits, allowing zero points for the other team. We got 3 quiz outs, and Christine was one away from getting a fourth quiz out. That was the most we scored all year, plus the biggest point margin ever, too. Our next match was good, but not as good. I quizzed out and we got team bouns. That was the last time we got team bonus in Ohio. Just like the season, in the first half, team bonus was regular. The second half, we came close to team bonus, but no cigar. We won our next match, but only because after I quizzed out and Petra 2's best quizzer quizzed out, the match slowed down, Petra 2 errored too many times and lost points. We didn't pick up too many of those bonuses, but them losing points helped us. That was our last win. We lost against Neffsville by 5 points (something anyone could have gotten in on) despite Jai and I quizzing out. Then we lost again to a hard team, New Hope. Number 1 in their league, they were fast. They got team bonus quickly and we needed the same to win. Excuse for repeating myself, but no team bonus, no win. We were out. There were slight mistakes that could have been corrected, but most from last week were. Bekah was a great encouragement. Mike errored less and never errored out. The studying paid off and we did the best we could. Not as good as the season, but better than the PA tournament.

Team Grade on Invitational: B

2006 TEAM PERFORMANCE GRADE: B

Good job Spring City for another good year! Not only did we do what we could, but we had fun doing it. I hope we can do this again next year, and maybe perform even better!

You may now all be jealous

Well, now that quizzing is over, I got to figure out other ways to keep entertained. So last night I got a good one. Because of how well my mother was working, she earned 4 tickets to a Philadelphia Soul Game (Arena Football). But before that, we got to spend some time in the VIP lounge. There, I met some new friends-





Ron Jaworski
Retired Quarterback for Philadelphia Eagles
Commentator for ESPN and ETV (Eagles Television Network)
President of Philadelphia Soul




Jon Bon Jovi
Singer
Owner of Philadelphia Soul


Oh yeah, and there was some football game there. The kicker you see is Todd France. This is the guy who the Eagles picked up after David Akers got injured. If you don't remember him.... let's just say that is was better when Linebacker Mark Simoneau was kicking. He couldn't kick long. He did better in the arena bowl game, but he missed an important field goal. In the first quarter, they were winning 21-6, but then Austin (Theon other team) made a comeback, and the Soul lost 43-38. It was just like some other Philadelphia football game I watched live...

2006 Invitational

Just got back from the Invitational...well, it was about two days ago, but it is today where I have gotten under control the homework situation. That Thursday at school my teachers have pounded me with a lot of homework. I was assigned to read a 100 page novel, 4 worksheets, 35 math problems, and when I returned, I needed to take 3 quizzes. Ugh. But I got it done....sorta (SparkNotes sorta counts for reading a book, right?)

Thursday afternoon, the last minute, is when I started packing. I went mad searching for everything I wanted. At the same time, I was trying to print out everything I needed: schedule, brackets, homework, a puppet outline (I'll explain later), etc. When I finished packing, I had 4 bags: a suitcase, a bag for my sleeping bag and pillow, my laptop case (I had to bring my laptop to Ohio to do homework) and a bookbag. All I needed was the kitchen sink, and I would be ready (lol). I finally was all packed to go. I took a shower, ate dinner, and headed to the Deitricks.

At the Deitricks, we started out with practice quizzing. We had 4 matches. After the matches, I said goodbye to the buzzer system, especially my buzzer, Black Thunder. Then we had some free time. We ate snacks, drank Kool-Aid and played games. Michael brought the board game Risk: The World Domination Game. It was my first time playing it, but I did good. Mike won the whole thing (most likely because he was the only one who knew how to play), but I survived to be second. We did get to bed by 1 AM (usually during the invitational, we don't sleep until 3 AM). I feel asleep listening to the quizzing material on my mp3 player.

We had to wake up at the early hours of 5:45 in the morning to get to the buses on time. We left the Deitrick house around 6:30 to get to the busses on time. The busses were parked at Dutch Wonderland, a little farther down than LMH. It took a while for us to get the overstuffed church van unloaded and on to the busses. There was a lot of luggage, so much...let's just say Mike packed the least with 3 bags. We loaded the luggage onto the bus, then loaded ourselves onto the bus. Then a little after 8:30 we left for Ohio.

We were on the bus with the 3 Slate Hill quiz teams, Zion and Conestoga 3. I didn't know Slate Hill, but I became quick friends with them. They all knew me and treated me and my team with high respects. And if they like us, I like them. In the beginning, it was kinda slow. Everyone was just doing homework. But in the middle of the ride we all started to open up and socialize. 19 of us played Mafia 6 times. 3 times I was the mafia, 2 times the dectective, 1 time the doctor. After that the Spring City team played some scum. Near the end of the trip, most of us began to study. Slate Hill teams were told to study by their coaches. Luckily, it got Jai to study more. I promised Bekah that I would play Rummy with her if she had some quality practice, so she studied hard too.

Along the way, we had two rest stops. The first was in Pennsylvania (Somerset), the second one in Ohio. Each was an hour 15 minutes long. Previously, before the trip, Morgen (quizzing friend from Reading) and I planned to do some fun things at the rest stops. We planned to cause some "pranks" to drive the fast food places nuts. Our ultimate one was to walk thru the drive thruat one of the restaurants as if we were in an invisible car. Morgen didn't help me as planned, so the ultimate "prank" we didn't do. But I had my own "prank" fun by sending the workers into mass confusion. The first restaurant we stopped at was Wendy's.Wendy's was a long line, so they had someone take orders ahead of time. So went I went up to her, I asked for a Kids Meal Cheeseburger without any onions, mustand or cheese. She said, "That's a hamburger" and checked off hamburger. I then asked for it to be a Biggie Size. She ignored it, gave me the slip, and moved on to the next person. In Ohio I ate at Burger King. After a long line, I was prepared. The one taking the orders was a guy a bit older than me. I ordered "a Big Kids Meal double cheeseburger without any mustard, onions, or cheese, I wanted onion rings instead of fries, no drink, King Size. I also asked for two hats." Once again, he said, "A cheesebuger without cheese is a hamburger." I insisted that I wanted a cheeseburger without cheese, like it was totally different. He gave me a weird look, but pressed something in anyway. I think he just pressed double hamburger. He said that you can't get onion rings in Big Kids Meal. Then he realized I said to King Size it. He's like "You can't King Size a Big Kids Meal!" So he decided to put in the Big Kids Meal Order an King Fries. When the order was done, money given, and changed received, I tipped him 2 pennies. He looked ticked. When I got my order, the woman who put it together just saw the "Big Kids Meal" part and gave me a regular Big Kids Meal. I decided not complain and just enjoy the food.

We arrived at Kidron, OH at around 7:30 PM, just as it began to snow. Each coach got off the bus and waited for their host family to arrive. A little after 15 minutes, after seeing 2 teams getting off, our coach got on and called us off to load our stuff into the host family's car. It was an older retired couple. They lived about 5 minutes from the school. Their house looked small on the outside, but bigger on the inside. The house was very nice. It had 3 spare bedrooms, meant for when the couple's children and grandchildren visit. The boys slept in one room, the girls in another, the coaches in the third. Bekah slept in the walk-in closet in the girls room. We had some practice rounds of questions, then we went to start another game of Risk.

Ever since we were on the second half of the bus ride, Christine started to get a little itchy. It got worse and worse. By the middle of the night, she was very pink, rashes and hives everywhere. The coaches and host family believe she should be taken to a doctor. So she went to the hospital. She was given two different pills (one a antihistamine, the other a steroid) and an anti-itch cream. It provided temporarily relief.

Saturday morning came, with little sleep for the Deitricks and Christine. The host family made us a breakfast casserole. I'm not one for eating breakfast, but since they went through the trouble, I took a little. Then they drove us off to the quizzing at Central School. After a quick explanation of the rules and directions, the quizzing began. During this time, I popped out my brown bag puppet - SKINNY BONE JONES!!!

I'ts a long story, but I'll try to make it short. Last invitational, when Josh was still quizzing, he drew a figure of a skeleton on a brown bag. He named it Skinny Bone Jones. He also gave a theme song, which the lyrics could go with any type of music. He sung it over and over and over and over. Everyone was getting sick of it. Christine's rage grew so much, that she ripped him up and threw it away. Mike wanted to show he also disapproved, so he ate some of it! A brown bag in the trash went into his stomach! The next day he got stomach sick (we said it was the revenge of Skinny Bone Jones) and was in the bathroom for 20 minutes. So with that memory in my mind for the year, I decided that Skinny Bone Jones would "come back alive" for his revenge. The coaches got a laugh, but Mike and Bruce looked disgusted.

The first match I went to see was Oak Grove 2 (West Liberty, OH) vs. St. John's (Northwest OH). The loser would play us. It was an exciting match. At the last question, St. John's went into extra questions. After 3 extra questions, still a tie. That led up to a sudden death question. A kid on St. John's buzzed in and got it right. It seems like they won, but then they realized he had already quizzed out. He was fouled 5 points and a bonus went to the other team. They got it right. It didn't matter though, even with it wrong they would have won because of the foul. So we were going to face St. John's in our next match.

When the time came to play St.John's, we were ready. For my quizzing buddy, I had Skinny Bone Jones and the Furby I got from my Kids Meal. That match was a blow away. We got team bonus. Mike, Jai, and I quizzed out, totalling 3 quizouts. Christine was one away from being the fourth quiz out. The final score was 115-0.

Then I went to go watch other matches. I saw my friends at Reading 2 lose their second placement match. Then I saw Reading 1 win their second placement match against Maple Grove 1, the once threat. Still a while until our next match, I went back to copy the present brackets. Then I saw Reading 2's third placement match. The match began as normal, and Reading 2 took a good lead. Then both coaches realized that these were the last set's questions! They had to start the match all over again. Reading 2 couldn't handle these questions, and lost. They were going to be in the single-elimation bracket instead of the double elimation brakcet.

Finally our second match came. It was against Akron 3. The team once again got team bonus. I took an early lead for our team and quizzed out. We won. Our next match was the set directly after the last one. So we had to hurry off to the next room. The next match was against Petra 2. Once again, they use to be a threat, but were no longer any more. Our coaches were familiar to some of the quizzers. I sat across from their best quizzer. Between him and me, it was a fast start to the match. By question 6, both of us had quizzed out, tying the score at 35 each. After that the match slowed down. Even so, Petra 2 continued to error. They errored so much they lost points. We ended up winning again.

With a few sets before our next match, we went to watch our friends in Reading 1 quiz against Slate Hill 1. The score was ridiculous. Reading lost points because of errors. Slate Hill was winning by just picking up bonuses. Slate Hill 1 was victorius, and Reading 1 lost with only 15 points. If I remember correctly, Reading 1 collected 8 errors. Then we had lunch consisting of BBQ chicken and sides. I only had applesauce. Their lemonade looked dull and weak, so I decided to drink a Mountain Dew Code Red instead.

Now our match was ready. It was against a team we knew from the ACC - Neffsville 2. They finished 23rd in their league, and never were known much as a threat. It should have been an easy win. We were leading at the end of question 14. At question 15, one of their quizzers quizzed out on the last question. We lost by 5. It was a tough loss to face up to, but we had to throw it off our shoulders and move on. Sadly, we couldn't. It still loomed over us in our next match. Our oppenents were New Hope, the first place team in Northwest OH. They were a strong oppenent. They got team bonus on question 6. By the end of question 13, we were losing badly. We needed a quiz and a team bonus to tie it up. I got us the quiz out, but we couldn't get the team bonus. We lost our second match, knocking us out of the double elimination tournament.

When our host family came around to drop off Christine's medications, they wanted to watch a few of our matches. Sadly, we told them we were out. They were sorry and offered to drive us around town if we wanted to sight see. We were grateful for the offer, but declined, wanting to see how the matches turned out. We found out that there were 3 inner-church showdowns at the same time. Goods 1 vs. Goods 2; Petra 5 vs. Petra 6; Reading 1 vs. Reading 2. Since I had friends on both Reading teams, I went to go and watch them battle it out. I predicted a few contests and a close battle to the finish. always wanted to know what it feels like to be against someone from your own church. I have a hard time thinking about it. How many times must they have done it in practice, just for practice and fun, goofing around, laughing, and having a good time. Then in comes to a real match, where you have to be dead serious, and everything is on the line. Talk about a tight situation.I found it funny that the contest and rebuddal on question 14 was coming from the 2 biggest contesters from Reading, who were originally from the same team! (And if the staff allowed more conversation on it, the 3rd biggest Morgen probably would have thrown something in.)But I had fun that match. Both sides wanted me to cheer for them, and I didn't want to take sides, so I made numbers up. One time I cheered for Reading 9 (1+2 squared), then I cheered for Reading 3 (each team had members previously on Reading 3), followed by cheering for Reading 8 1/2, then Reading pi (3.1415...), Reading -27 (-3 cubed), and last Reading infinity. Jai thought I sounded stupid, but I had fun. In the end, Reading 1 was victorius.

Zion had previously fallen out, so I decided to watch and see if Reading 1 would make it all the way. They continued to make it past Petra 1, but then they struggled against another Petra. It was Petra 2, the team we beat before. It was a close match, but Reading 1 lost by 5 points in the last two questions. It was tough for them to deal with not going on to the final match of the single-elimination tournament, but they eventually got over it. I went to see the final match of the single-elimination bracket. Petra 2 won against Byerland 115 to 45. Petra 2 got a plaque recognizing their accomplishment.

There were a few more matches after that. My new friends from Slate Hill also fell out, too. But the end of the night, three teams remained: E-Town 3 (ACC), Sand Ridge (NW Ohio), and Hope Community (Wayne County). We had some pictures taken and then went back to our guest home. Mike and I finished our game of risk, I changed my mp3 player from the text to music, and went to sleep.

We got up to another pleasant breakfast again. Christine was getting up a little better. The host family made us another nice breakfast. At the end of breakfast, we gave them a gift for thanks. To our suprise, they gave us a gift back! His retirement job was in wood carvings and personalizing engravings in wood. So we got a lot of wood crafts. The best one was a pen with our names engraved in it! I loved that pen. After a few pictures of us, they drove us back to Central Christian with our luggage.

At Central Christian we saw the last quiz matches. First Sand Ridge beat E-Town 3, knocking them out. The last two teams standing were Sand Ridge (NW Ohio) and Hope Community (Wayne County). Hope Community had not lost a match, and Sand Ridge had only lost 1. Hope Community had beat Sand Ridge before, so it was expected for them to win. But things happened differently than expected. Hope Community took an early lead, but near the end, Sand Ridge starting catching up, despite having four errors. They were still in the lead after question 14, but on question 15 Sand Ridge got the question "What are few?" correct (the answer is "The Workers") and won the match. Each team now had one loss. So they had to face each other again. After that loss, Hope Community couldn't get it back together. They got four errors the next match. The final score was Sand Ridge - 90, Hope Community - 55. Sand Ridge was victorius in the match, and was victorious in winning the Invitational Double Elimination tournament. This is how the double elimination finished:

1st place: Sand Ridge (Northwest Ohio)
2nd place: Hope Community (Wayne County)
3rd place: E-Town 3 (ACC)
4th place: Bethel 1 (West Liberty) (Not Awarded)

The matches followed by a praise and worship, led by a new youth praise band. They were good for being new. Then we got a short sermon from the local youth pastor. He was funny and good. He brought truth back to quizzing. It ended with the beginning of the next quizzing year. Quizzing 2007 was to be on Luke 16-24 and Acts 1-8. The Invitational would be held in West Liberty, Ohio. Then we used the bathrooms and mass herded back on the busses.

The trip was almost the same as the way up. This time we were with Akron, Blainsport and Hinkletown. They didn't like us, so the team mostly played and socialized with others on the team. We found it quite boring (and our coaches later apologized for that). But the rest stops were fun because we all were there. I did my usual restaurant pain in the neck stuff. The first stop home, I once again went to Burger King. It was a new person, but I wanted to keeep changing up the order, so I asked for an eight piece chicken fries and mozzerella sticks, extra crispy. She said, "Chicken fries only are in 6 and 9." So hearing the old story on a forward email that said a fast food resturant once wouldn't give him half dozen chicken nuggets because they only offered them in 6, 9, and 20 pieces. So I tried that, but she comprehended tha half dozen = 6, so I got the 6 chicken strips, along with the not-extra-crispy mozzerella sticks. Later, Morgen ordered me to go back and get her a second hat (which she didn't wear). So reluctantly, I went back. When I did, there was someone different. It was the same kid from the first BK visit! I said, "Don't worry, I just want a 99 cent drink and a hat." He still had the ticked look, but did it. Also at that same stop, I went to flea market open on weekends, and did a little shopping. I got fuzy dice from my car. At the flea market, I saw someone selling a giant bottle of Tabasco sauce. Next to him was a guy selling shot glasses. Put the two together. I got on the bus and said, "Mike! We're having a Tabasco shots competiton! The second Mrs. Deitrick heard, she was like "NO! I FORBID YOU! AT NO TIME WHATSOEVER!" That killed our fun. When Mike did go back into the bathroom, she said, "You didn't give him any Tabasco sauce, did you?!" I said, "No! I swear!" Despite no Tabasco sauce, he was in the bathroom for a good 10 minutes. The second stop was at Somerset once again. Still dead on ideas, so I decided once again to order 8 chicken nuggets. She said, "You mean 6 or 10?" I gave her a blank stare, like I was seriously thinking, "No, 8 chicken nuggets." So she said, "There are no 8 piece, only 6 or 10." Once again, tried the half dozen trick. She wasn't stupid and knew that meant six pieces. Then I tried the last trick up my sleeve. I ordered a "quadruple-thick milkshake" (instead of the advertized triple-thick). She just ignored that, and checked off milkshake. After the rest stop, we began our last stretch towards Lancaster, PA.

We arrived in Lancaster at 8:45 PM. Early for the team nearby, but much later for us, who still had to drive another 90 minutes. We were all tired and pooped. We got back to the Deitricks at 10:15 and my parents picked me aroun 10:35, and I got home at 11 PM. Exhausted, I didn't go to school the next day. Despite not getting far, I enjoyed myself and had a good time. I was sad to see most of my friends go because I knew I may not seem them again until next year. I thank all of you who were able to come to matches. Even if you couldn't I thank you for your prayers and support for afar. It was a great season.

LAST QUIZZING QUESTION OF THE POST:
Who took pitty...?

LAST QUIZZING JOKE?
Q: What religious group would make good quizmasters?
A: Pharisees and teachers of law, because they beseiged Jesus with questions

One last time for the year

Sadly enough, the quizzing season is coming to an end. But there is still one more tournamnet to go. Every team is guanteed 4 last matches. So what will happen? Will the team fall out or end up finishing on the top? Only the tournaments will tell. But for now we got this:

Take My Quiz - on - QuizYourFriends.com! Quizmatch on Luke 1-15!

Countdown to Ohio Tournament:
1 day, 13 hours, 25 minutes

New ISP acting brokeback...screwey....bad

Okay, I'm no longer able to be on Xanga. DE Jazzd, my new ISP, blocks it with their filter. This is why I was told they did so:

"Some Xanga websites have nudity and porn, some have hate propaganda, some have racism. Hackers and stalkers have also used Xanga to steal personal and security information. Therefore, DE Jazzd has block Xanga."

In short, Xanga has been blocked due to the rights the First Amendment in our Constitution gives us. So from now on, all posts are on Blogger. I have the comments set up so that you don't need to be a member to post comments. Just leave a name and comment.

So come to this blog and leave comments!!

Sorry about no new post for the longest. I got a lot of homework, papers and projects I had to do the first half of the week. Then, when it finally cleared up, my dad got the time to install DSL into my computer. Great, right? Wrong! First the DSL card wouldn't work, so that had to be fixed. Then my email wouldn't send, so some settings had to be changed around, then when I tried to get on my Xanga the nex ISP blocked my Xanga because it had "adult content" (has anyone ever seen adult content on this site??!!). So to sum it all up: my computer's actin' really brokeback on me. So right now, I'm on my sister's computer (which is still on dial-up with the old ISP). I really don't want to spend the whole night in her room, so I'll abbrieviate what's up in quizzing as best I can.

Last Sunday I had two matches. Those two matches were the second to worse match I had all year. In each match I scored only 20 points with 2 errors. And later on, my coaches told me that the quizmasters and judges were being very generous with their rulings on my answers because my answers were "dancing around" what they were looking for and nowhere near direct text. Team didn't do much better. We lost both matches, to Hope Community 3 90-65, and to Rockville 1 70-65. Our average dropped to 86, but we miraculously stayed in 7th place. The individual standings were not the best, either. The only one who really did well was Michael. Mike quizzed out both matches. This week they didn't post the individual standings (not exactly sure why, but I believe it has something to do with keeping the final list a suprise) but I have a feeling that I dropped a bit. Mike most likely stayed the same, but there's a small chance they he might have gone up since some Top 50 Quizzers were absent last Sunday.

There's only one thing I can conclude to: Hopewell Elverson is cursed for Ark quizzers of past or future. That's on a semi-serious note. Even though of the advantage of the close location, every time Ark quizzed at Hopewell Elverson, we could never get our act together. We lost most of our matches there. I heard that Tim Moss errored out in one of his matches, keeping up with tradition that a Moss has errored out there every time (It's gonna be Becky next year!). On a more serious note, I like to say I really don't believe in quizzing superstition. It's funny, of course, but I take it to heart. Therefore, I conclude that my bad performance had nothing to do with Penelope the Duct Tape Trojan Elephant, it had nothing to do with staring at the picture that Jai gave me of the cowboy (who Jai assured me was hot) or the picture Morgen gave me of those 2 adorable children (and they were really adorable), it had nothing to do Brandon watching me (as well as the other fans we had there), none of that had a role. Then what did cause my downfall? I personally like two believe two things lead to my success: practing well and studying hard and constantly or the blessing, generousity and favor of our Lord. Most of the time I like to believe both of them at the same time. So we can conclude that why I did the way I did was either the Lord did not see it fit for his plan to have me quiz out twice, or I did not take enough time to get to know the material. Whatever the reason, I have learned to be content with what I got.

Tomorrow is the last match of the regular season . Spring City has one last match. It is against Reading 1, which consists of 4 rookies + 1 legend. They are in 16th with 1200 points. While I have never seen one of their matches, I have heard they have scored triple digits against below average teams. This a team not to be taken lightly. We must perform to our fullest against them. To make things interesting, we will not have Mike or Jai this week. So it's clear what we have to do: have 3 quizouts. Easy, right? Wrong again! It's a little more complicated because one of those quizouts is from a rookiewho has a total of 10 points from today. She's gonna need A LOT of motivation, so please come and cheer for her! This last season match is against Reading 1, who Christine knows better as "Jake's team." Every year Jake tries to retire, but he always is dragged back in. I want to sit across from him this next match. This may be the last time I can. I aim to quiz out before he does. If not, I'll settle for Tyler Willman. This is also the day we will see what team is the 2006 ACC Quizzing Season Champion.

Quizzing Question of the Post:
Why did the Father and the older son have to be glad and celebrate?

Quizzing Joke:
Q: Who is the hottest person in the book of Luke?
A: Herod, because Jesus calls him a "fox" (Luke 13:32)

Week 6: Weaverland

Quizzing started as normal. I arrived at 12:15 PM. I got my secret sponser gift, the biggest one yet. I had my usual lunch of Soup-at-Hand and an energy drink. This week's energy drink was MDX, Mountain Dew Energy Soda. Some of you may know it by its ad slogan which has the song "I Wear My Sungleasses at Night." Bruce does and was singing it all day and night. Mrs. Deitrick pointed out that it had some vegetable oil in it and I could sometimes swear you could taste it. When I was eating, some kid took my foam finger, ripped off the finger sticking up, and ran off with it. Needless to say, there is no more foam finger. But to some of you, that may be a blessing.

We had 4 practice matches. I was able to quiz out in all of them. Bekah's column on the score sheet is usually empty, so Mike raised the stakes to encouraged Bekah to try more. Mike told her if she could quiz out by question 10 anytime, he would buy her a jar of jam. (This comes from Bekah's "Jar of Jam" answer in a practice match). I never seen Bekah try so hard to quiz out. And when she didn't, she got so down about it. I thought it was a little crazy, but hey, if it works, it works!!

We arrived at Weaverland at 6 PM. I didn't recognize the place at first, but once we got in the building, I realized that I quizzed there before. Like I said last post, we had the first, middle and last match. So we jumped right into quizzing. Our first match was against Neffsville 1. We performed just I wanted us to. I was first to quiz out. Mike then followed. During review, Christine quizzed out! For the first time in her 7 year quizzing career, Christine finally quizzed out!! The awesomeness. Those 3 quiz outs led us to win against Neffsville 1 with the score 105-45.

We had to wait two matches until our middle match. The next match we went to watch was Petra 3 vs. Conestoga 3 since we had to quiz both teams later that night. It was a close match in the beginning, but then Petra 3 took off and won. We knew it would be a hard match upcoming. Then we went to go support our friends on Zion 2. Mike and I decided that the room was too quiet, so we raised the volume for cheering. They had a hard match, too. Mel didn't do too pretty.

Our middle match came up. It was our hardest match today, possibly second hardest all season. It was against 3rd place Petra 3. And they showed they deserved 3rd. They were fast at the buzzer. After 11 questions, I had 2 correct and 1 error. Not pretty. Three questions later and still nothing from me. So being the 15th question, and having only one error and really wanting the quiz out, I decided just to go for it (despite hating review). I buzzed in on "How many loaves...?" I figured to go with the obvious and answered "Five." I was correct. I got my second quiz out. Unfortuneately, my team lost 105 to 55. That 55 would hurt our average.

Between the middle and last match, we watched Good Shepherd 1 vs. Weaverland 2. They were the top two teams in our league. It was a low-scoring match, but a good one. Each team slowed down the other. There was an error out in it. In the end, the number 1 team came out #1. Good Shepherd won over Weaverland 2, 75 to 50. But I think both of them lost in the sense they were much under average score.

We were the last match of the night. It was against Conestoga 3. It was one of the lower teams, but they were a challenge. The first one to quiz out was on Conestoga 3. I quizzed out further into the match. We got team bonus, something our team hadn't gotten in a long time, and needed. The final score was 95-65, in our favor. While I was hoping to score in the triple digits again, 95 is close.

That night was awesome. I got 3 quiz outs, the best I could do, and it did so much for me. I got a total of 14 quiz outs, breaking my previous personal quiz out record of 12 quiz outs. It gave me a year total of 510 individual points, tying my personal all-time high score. With scoring 510, I have CLINCHED the Top 50 Quizzers List! No matter what I score in the next 3 matches, I end up on the Top 50 Quizzers List. But I plan to do better than that. Once again, so cool to see Christine quiz out for her first time, especially since this may be her last year. Mike wasn't so lucky. I calculated he needed 4 quiz outs to end up on the Top 50 Quizzers List the end of the season. He only got one. It may be possible to still do it, but a very small probability. People above him would need to do worse than him, plus he would need to quiz out both times next week.

Another awesome thing about this night was I got 4 opportunities to be on the quizzing video this year! The first time is when I, along with the rest of my team, cheered wildly for Zion 2. The second time is when the team did the wave. The third time is when I posed with my quizzing buddy, a lawn gnome. The fourth time I led a bunch of other quizzers across the balcony doing the horse galloping (without coconuts) from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. With all that, I hope that I can get somewhere on the 2006 quizzing movie!

Quizzing Question of the Post:
What perched on the musterd tree's branches?