GYRAD

So there is this tradition at Biola called a GYRAD...or Get Your Roommate A Date (oh yes, we are so creative here!) The idea being that the entire floor of a dorm goes out on a group date and you get your roommate a date for it. All very casual (just to clarify...for any concerned Fathers who may be feeling the urge to get out their gun collections...hehe)

Well, said tradition took place Friday night to the enjoyment and excitement of all. So I got Kaitlyn a date with Jon, a guy we know from film classes, and she got me a date with Nathan, a guy I know through Torrey. Chelsea went with Barak, another Torrey guy who is in the picture. (Just a side note, I feel I need to take a moment to say how incredible the guys in Torrey are. A bunch of the girls on our floor had dates who backed out either one or two days before the GYRAD and just left them hanging. They were left without any idea of what to do...since they had already paid to go...so, thanks to phone calls from Irene and Chelsea, the Torrey guys stepped in at the last minute so these girls would not be left without dates. It was quite kind of them, since most of them had other things they could have been doing. So yeah, Torrey guys are awesome!)

Anyways...back to the GYRAD. Our theme was "Unbeleiveable" so couples were encouraged to dress up. Nathan and I went as hippies and he drove me and "Mary Poppins" and "her dear chimney sweep" in his old bug that was actually from the 70's. We went to Ripley's Believe It or Not and did a scavenger hunt....well, some groups did scavenger hunts...and others were geeks who went around reading all the signs. :)

The Museum was quite interesting....not too much that was really all that unbelievable, but put in context of the early 1900's I can see how a lot of the African tribal stuff would seem really extraordinary. I guess that with all the cultural awareness, the novelty of things like that has faded. But I learned a lot of random trivia facts...and had fun Chels and Nathan and Barak.

So for dinner we drove to In-N-Out, sat at a table across from the Greek gods (aka. Irene and Charlie...yes they actually wore bedsheets and bathrobes and looked quite godlike if i do say so myself). After that we went back to campus and watched Big Fish. I actually really liked that movie...it was an interesting way of looking at mythic truth. Except that the actor who played the dad looked a lot like my grandpa who spun tall tales and it was hard to watch him die at the end...it kinda brought that whole experience back, so I just didn't watch.

After that Nathan and I went over to the game night Milton was hosting and I played Halo with the guys for a while (Bryant said my cool points went up just for playing...even though i got slaughtered). Then Nathan left for word as some of the girls I knew showed up, so I hung out with them for a while. Went on a musical walk around campus with Brian and Bethany...and finally went to bed. All in all...a good day was had.

I've Been Practicing Photography Lately...

...and thought I would share some of them here. I'll try to give some background to them to update you all on what's been going on and who I'm getting to know down here.

This is Brian chilling in Emerson (one of the dorms). I took this during Torrey Bible Conference, where the entire school cancels classes for three days and and brings in speakers to focus on the spiritual part of our lives. It was such a refreshing and convicting time...I prayed for God to really convict me there...and let me tell you...He has. Please keep me in your prayers if you think of it, as I'm trying to re-order my life.
Another pic at Emerson [same day].


Okay so, honestly, who can pass up a beautiful brick wall. My friends were very patient with me. I asked Becky to model for me and she willingly obliged. :)


Another of my brick wall victims. Blake is another PK from NorCal. His parents lead a Vineyard-like church up near Redding . He and I have been planning Movie Nights for some of our friends down here [including one night when we stayed up till 4am watching Gladiator and Braveheart]. You gotta love weekends :D Chelsea in "Frequency". I already posted about that, so no need to tell you more, but I did get a plug from Felicia [one of the girls who worked on the film] at the film society on campus and ended up getting a job as an extras co-ordinator on a music video for an indie group called Sometimes Y that was filming on campus!
Turell and Blake at one our trips to Disneyland. Turell lives in my floor and is one of the sweetest girls I know here.

No worries, it's only a nerf gun! While walking to the park one day [Chelsea got about 20 of us to go walk to the park and play on this amazing playground...people looked at us strangely, then, when they realized we were really just going to play at the park thought we were very cute] Barak and Christian asked me to take this picture for them. It turned out pretty well.


My mom actually figured out how to take this picture. this is actually my necklace in front of the lens and not a shadow. I can't tell you how many people ask me if I'm Jewish down here becasue I wear this everyday. I tell them I'm part, but want to learn more about the traditions. I actually met a girl who is the head of the Jews for Jesus group down here and as soon as I get a chance I want to start getting to know her better. She's offered to take me to a messianic synagogue sometime during the next year. So that should be exciting :)

So that's about it. Right now I'm bogged down in writing a paper...and being sick. :( bleh, i don't like being sick, except that it gives me a good excuse to blog :)

Praying for all of you back home and can't wait to see you when I get home for Thanksgiving!!