Did you know that 23 is my favorite number? Well, now you are aware, and seeing as it is the 23rd I have decided what better date than today to delve a little deeper into my psyche and the exciting plans I have for my future. Just to forewarn you, after reading this post you will be jealous of my movie star-esque lifestyle and wish desperately to lead a life one-eighth as interesting as mine. (Well, in all actuality, you might be vaguely entertained and have dedicated a few solid minutes to procrastinating on whatever you have going on in your meager existence)

Anywho, "I'm shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world," as George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life so emphatically phrased my exact feelings. Don't worry, I won't require a near death experience to make me realize that the town I'm leaving isn't that crummy. But the second half rings true. I am going to see the world.

On a larger scale, I dream of traversing the globe until I croak at the ripe age of 98. While I still have my original hips, I aim to sight-see all over Europe as I backpack there one summer in the near future. Also, I want to set foot on every continent at least for a little bit. My parents definitely passed down to me their love for travel and adventure.

As far as a permanent residence, I am pretty much open to living anywhere in America or any English speaking countries. I hope to have someone to share it with, but I am content in my current single state. Looks like I have spent a majority of this blog discussing travel options and not one bit of it delving into my ever so interesting psyche. So to make up for lost time here is a list (23 items on it of course) of things you, the random reader, should know about me:

1. I LOVE three things: Dr. Pepper, Los Angeles Lakers, and Duke Blue Devils

2. House of Heroes is one of my favorite bands

3. Favorite Disney movie: TIE between Sleeping Beauty/Robin Hood (the fox version)

4. I have 1 tattoo of a cross on my right hip

5. Johnny Depp is my favorite actor

6. Burping, I'm good at it (ask my mom she's not a big fan)

7. Reading is one of my top hobbies

8. Killian's Irish Red is the BEST beer in my humble opinion

9. Favorite joke: What did the zero (0) say to the eight (8)?

NICE BELT

10. Albert Einstein is one of my heroes

11. Skinny jeans are the greatest invention in all of fashion

12. Photography is something I would love to be great at and I'm always practicing

13. Insecurities: Few, but one is being open and vulnerable around people. Lots of people know my goofy exterior, but very few know me well.

14. Bones broken: 1 toe (prolly shouldn't count, but it healed crooked and it's funny looking)

15. I write a lot of poetry

16. Secret Addiction (though not so secret any longer): Wizards of Waverly Place on Disney

17. Favorite sounds to fall asleep to: Rain and sneakers on a gym floor

18. Last time I peed my pants: 7th grade on the way home from a church trip, ask me to tell you the story sometime

19. Favorite Bible verse: James 2:26 (NIV version)

20. "Blackbird" is my all-time favorite Beatles' song

21. Best concert I've been at: Memphis in May 2009 w/ Shinedown winning of all the artists there

22. I have a number "thing" where I dislike certain numbers and can only turn the volume on my tv to the numbers I like. 22 is a number I dislike. It is gross.

23. Favorite quote: "Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything." -Mother Teresa

Life's Little Joys

So, I have been watching "Life" on the Discovery Channel since 6pm tonight (it's now nearly 11pm) and I am completely mesmerized. I am quickly hooked on any show that revolves around or highlights how and why things work. I can't resist a good knowledge session every now and again. I was addicted to the show "Earth" last year and watching "Life" tonight got me thinking about why I am so intrigued by these types of shows. I've decided it is because each system within a particular species is extremely intricate and largely instinctive.

"Life" highlights the idiosyncrasies among insects, primates, sea creatures, and even plants. Ants are the original architects. Their infrastructures below their hills are designed to create direct paths to main living chambers with smaller chambers off to the side for living area. They also have a ventilation system that expels carbon dioxide and draws in oxygen using food waste. Scientists recently poured concrete into an abandoned ant colony and found that the colony went 26 feet deep into the earth. A creation this large is comparative to a group of humans building the Great Wall of China and colonies like this exist all over the globe.

Another episode focused on a tree that was able to thrive on an island, even though it spent 6 hours a day beneath high tide. Salt water is deadly for any tree and by law of nature this tree should be dead. However, it has adapted and has pores on its roots that take in as much oxygen as possible during low tide and filter 99% of the salt water out during high tide. The little salt that seeps through this barrier is directed into a few sacrificial leaves which wither and die. A tree with no brain or thought is able to thrive when it should be dead.

Incredible stories like that of the tree and ants inspire me. They also highlight how reflective nature is of man and man of nature. When groupthink is in place and humans work together for the greater good of their "colony" they are able to create amazing feats just as the ants do on a daily basis. Watching their selfless existence causes me to really question my attitude towards my fellow man. Adaptiveness is another great quality that cause man, or tree, to thrive. Our ability to react to a situation and work with the surroundings or tools we've been given benefits us much more than being irritated that life doesn't work the way we want it to or refusing to change does.

As useful as the parallels are with what they can teach us on a survival and physical standpoint, they are all the more important on a spiritual level. I can't watch an episode of any of the aforementioned programs without being in awe of our creator. Every detail only further magnifies how breathtaking are the details of every living organism. Nothing is in place that doesn't serve a purpose. Knowing that, how can anyone not believe in a god of some sort? "I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in," George Washington Carver illustrates this concept so simply.

Fall is a season filled with beautiful scenes in nature. You wouldn't think twice about trees covered in yellow, red, and orange leaves, yet there is a specific reason that the phenomenon occurs (beyond the aesthetic it creates) every year. As the temperature drops, trees begin to suck the nutrients from their leaves into their trunks, this includes chlorophyll which gives leaves their green color, and seal off the veins that connect branch and leaf. The trees do this so they can survive during the winter.

Look inward, if the tree wasn't astounding enough, to any of your various systems. The minute details surrounding something as basic as typing this sentence requires the collaboration of many different parts of our bodies. I have to think that 1) I want to type and 2) what I want to type. Next, the information from my brain has to flow from my nerves through synapses all the way to my fingers and then back so my brain is aware that the message was received. This happens for every single letter typed.

I guess I enjoy shows like "Life" and "Earth" because of their relevancy. Information on the shows is about creatures and plants I encounter on a regular basis. It is neat to understand why they function they way they do and that such care was taken into creating every thing on earth. I can only feel loved and in awe when I think of the time and effort God has taken and continues to take with each new creation. The parallels between them and I are no accident and the Discovery Channel provides programs that enlighten and inspire me due to their simultaneous depth and simplicity. I'll end with a quote from Albert Einstein, "Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

Insomnia

I am living up my bouts with insomnia for a while longer until I have to become an adult and get a real bedtime. But until that day arrives, I will entertain myself (and hopefully you) with my late night creative streak.

Often I go through phases of obsessing over one hobby or another. I had a scrapbooking phase which didn't result in the masterpieces I had anticipated; instead my designs came out more like a 3rd grade school project than anything else. There was also those few years that I wrote tons of poems. Edgar Allen Poe eat your heart out. I wrote across the spectrum of emotions and rhyme schemes. I am actually proud of several of them, but most are just jokey or angst filled. Painting is another hobby that had me trekking to Walmart at 4am to grab supplies for the project that could not wait for daylight. Usually once the sun rose I realized it could have waited and regretted inhaling all those paint fumes for naught.

I divulge all this information to bring you to my next point: books. Reading is the one hobby that has never waned. Possibly because it requires no skill and is essentially free. The love affair started in the early days of Kindergarten where I first discovered the enticing lure of books. Ever since then I have been reading continuously. Nancy Drew was my first beloved series and what turned me onto murder mysteries, where I eventually matured into being a Mary Higgins Clark fan. Biographies, Science Fiction, Sports, Novels, etc.; there isn't a genre I haven't delved in, even if only for a little bit.

Brian Jacques and Margaret Weis are my Science Fiction boos. I own every book in the Dragonlance Chronicles and Redwall series. The age old battle between good and evil is only made more interesting by their choice of using animals and mythical creatures to depict the conflict. Don't judge me.

Books are such a wonderful escape from the mundaneness of day-to-day life. I love their rich smell, the crisp feel of their pages between my fingers, the blanket and comfortable chair that most always accompany them, staying up all night or being late to something because I literally "couldn't put it down," the common thread I share with everyone else who has ever read the same story, but mostly the chance to view the world from someone else's perspective.

For some reason Fall is my favorite time to curl up with a good book. I guess the crisp pages and crinkling leaves remind me of one another. I cherish those moments outside as the breeze tickles my shoulder blades and my imagination runs wild with each turn of the page. As Fall inches around the corner, I will leave you with some of my favorite books from childhood to the present:

The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Redwall by Brian Jacques

City of Thieves by David Benioff

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Dragonlance Legends series by Margaret Weis

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne

When that next round of insomnia hits you, do as I do, open a good book and get carried away on your own adventure!