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Ok, big news here…I have a cell phone!! Please don’t fall out of your chairs…I know I must have been the last person without one, but I finally conformed and got one. Mostly, I was just tired of not being able to communicate with people when I’m out somewhere. Anyway, I’m not going to post the number here, but anyone who wants it, email me or send me a message on Facebook.

So yeah, I went to T-Mobile today and picked one up and it’s awesome. I’m still playing around with it. Also went to Wal-Mart and picked out a bunch of cooking ware and plates, cups, etc. I’m going to have a kitchen this year, so figured I needed all my supplies(I feel like Sam Gamgee, with all his pots and pans)

In other news, looking forward to beaching it tomorrow with Dream and Laura! Haven’t been to the beach in at least a month and I haven’t seen Laura for at least 3 months! So pretty much, tomorrow is going to be sweet. And now, going to get some sleep. Peace out!

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Less than two weeks before I’m back in Gainesville! Wow, I cannot believe the summer’s flown by so fast. It feels like I’ve barely gotten out of school and now it’s going to start up again. But I can’t say I’m not looking forward to being in Gainesville again – I miss seeing people too much!

I’ve been having a pretty good couple of days lately; I haven’t been working too much, so been hanging out with family a lot. Played mini-golf on Friday with family and somehow I didn’t win a single game…hmm, my skills are slipping. Saturday I got called in to work early, so I ended up working almost 10 hours. Wait, so I guess I have been working sort of a lot…anyway, that was a long day. And Sunday I got to just relax at home watching golf(Tiger won, of course – by 8 strokes) and reading. That night, went to the church youth group for the first time in forever! Since I usually work Sundays, I don’t get to go. Anyways, it was much fun, despite me being older than everyone by at least 4 years. We made homemade pizza and played football in the field…which got me really excited for intramurals coming up this fall!

Today I went out shopping and I spent over $100 on clothes and such…I felt like such a girl, spending that much. No offense to any of you ladies out there, of course. But still, I only bought a shirt, dress loafers and a new belt…and somehow that came out to $102 dollars. Well, I guess I’m working for a reason…

Tonight we(Mom and Maryanne and Laura and I) watched the second half of Fellowship of the Ring with ice cream…fun times, since my mom has never seen it before, so we had fun explaining all the little details to her. Now, I’m thinking I should probably get some sleep, since I had a pretty bad headache earlier. I took Tylenol and a nap, so I’m feeling a little better now.

Anyways, hope this update is sufficient for now. Good night, all!

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Well, not a lot has been going on lately…except I’ve finished HP7…the last Harry Potter book. And it was AMAZING. It’s interesting because I haven’t been involved with HP the whole time like some people…my first exposure was watching the 4th movie. After that, I read the whole series thus far and realized what I was missing…so this was my first time reading the book as soon as it came out. I just have to give props to JKR for such a storytelling masterpiece. I’m not going to say HP is “great literature”, but you know what? I love it anyway. Most “great literature” is depressing and contains much I’d rather not read about anyway.
So part of the reason I loved this book so much was that it DID have a happy ending…Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all lived…and the ending, with all of them married and with children was SO happy and awesome, that I was very pleased. I just have to say, her whole series was a beautifully crafted tale that while not on the level of Crime and Punishment maybe, is sure a whole lot more fun to read. And I must admit, as Voldemort killed himself and the wand flew into Harry’s hand at the end…I almost got teary-eyed. Almost. And believe me, that NEVER happens to me…especially not when reading. So I have to give credit to JKR for that.
I’m just very pleased and satisfied with HP7 and must say that it is, hands down, my favorite of the series, with Half-Blood Prince close behind. If anyone hasn’t read any of the series yet, give it a try. I did, and her amazingly created characters and alternate world made me sorry I’d missed it for so long. My sister’s reading it now, but I can’t wait until they’re done with it so I can read it again…

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So yes, this is a little earlier in the day than I normally write entries, but I’m awake so I figured I might as well. Got up at about 5:15 this morning to go with my mom to take my dad and Katharyn to the airport. They’re off to Iowa for about 2 weeks to visit relatives…I was going to come back and sleep, but once we reached the airport, my dad realized he forgot his briefcase, so we had to rush back and get it and then go back to the airport AGAIN. So by the time I got back here, I was definitely not going to be able to fall asleep again. Well, at least now I have lots of time to do something before I go to work at one. For one, I could write my poem that I’ve been thinking about…yet I don’t feel in the proper mood. For some reason, my best thoughts always come late at night.

Anyway, not too much has gone on since my last entry. I finally got a day off from work yesterday after working seven straight days, so it was nice to relax. I went to Best Buy to pick up some cables for our computers here, and while there stopped at Lifeway and got a couple CDs – they had the new Relient K and Switchfoot albums on sale for $10 each, so it made me happy to pick both of them up. I’ve only listened to the Relient K one so far, and it was pretty good. Definitely a little more serious than their previous albums, but I still enjoyed it.

Well, I think I’ll eat breakfast; I’m sort of hungry now.

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Ok, I must write this poem…I feel so bad, not having written ANYTHING creative for the past few months, and now, the past few days, lines have kept popping into my head. I got to use them for my facebook status updates, but I must put them into some kind of poem…we’ll see how it turns out.

The green hands slowly parted
allowing
He touched the silver doorbell.
An envoy from the deep green sky.
He dived into the blue inescapable.
And

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It is now July. Wooo! And I’m feeling pretty tired right now. Actually, it’s probably because I’m getting sick. No fun at work tonight – hard to feel cheerful when you’re sick. Ah well. If I can just take enough vitamins to head this off at the pass, that’d be nice. Anyway, I’m sure no one wants to hear about me being sick, but it’s really hard to think of anything else that has been going on lately. All that I’ve been doing is working and hanging out at home, mostly. Looking forward to Gville this fall!

And I really wanted to write a poem tonight, but I don’t think I’m in the proper mood(too tired/sick). So I shall leave you with one line(as a reminder to myself, too)…

And he touched the silver doorbell

Goodnight all!

James HoganLeave a comment

So, was working at Sweetbay tonight and had a very interesting time. The power went out, smoke was pouring out of the liquor store, the whole store was evacuated, and six fire engines showed up before it was all over. Don’t worry, I’m still alive.

Actually, it wasn’t as bad as all that… Around 9:30 or so, the power went out and it was dark for about five seconds before the backup generators kicked in. All the lights outside were still dark, but we had power to our registers and dim lights overhead, so business went on as usual. I joked with the customers about finding their way around the store, but everything seemed to be all right. Around 10, I saw fire trucks pulling up to the store and one of the service leaders told me we would be evacuating. It was hilarious though because the customers didn’t want to leave and kept coming up to the registers to be rung up. I rung up one more person and then we made the customers leave before we did, as the firefighters came in the store. We stood outside for about half an hour, keeping our eyes on the propane tanks and wondering what in the world was going on.

Well, we found out that when the power went out, an AC unit in the liquor store blew and eventually started smoking(we could smell it from outside). And that was the whole story…it must have been pretty bad because when we went back in the store, there was lots of smoke in the liquor store. But no fire. So the fire trucks went home, the store stayed closed…and we got to clean up. Oh joy. So, no exciting ten-feet tall flames or anything like that. Still, I got to stand around doing nothing for an hour. And while I was there, some of my neighbors came by and called my parents, since they knew I’d be working then. So my dad came over to make sure I wasn’t dead(since they had told him, “There are firetrucks everywhere but we don’t see James at all!”

So there’s the story of the Great Sweetbay Fire of ’07. Except it wasn’t so great. And it wasn’t really a fire. Meh, that sounds too cool though.

Ok, work tomorrow, so goodnight!

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Having an absolutely awesome day. And by that, I mean I feel totally relaxed and free. I really do love summertime…I don’t work until 7 tonight, so am just enjoying being with my family and watching the US Open with my dad. Tiger’s tied for the lead right now – hopefully he can pull out the win. I was just thinking about a couple months ago when I was in school, and how Sunday would always be a horribly busy day full of studying and homework – now I can enjoy relaxing on a Sunday afternoon, not even having the thought of homework looming overhead.

Wrote the previous paragraph a few hours ago – now feeling very satisfied after a great shrimp and salad dinner for Father’s Day. Still watching the US Open and hoping Tiger can come back to win it. Going to work pretty soon, but wanted to write about how amazing yesterday was.

It was Steven and Liz’s wedding day!! Andrew, Dream and I went up to Gainesville together – pretty uneventful drive. We got there early because Andrew was the official photographer and had to take all the prep pictures. So I saw Rob and others and hung out at Creekside until it was time to start the ceremony. And what a beautiful ceremony it was…weddings are such happy joyous occasions – Liz was radiant; Steven was smiling non-stop…I’m just so happy for them!! Pastor Parker did the ceremony and he did a great job. Rob was a groomsman and Katie was the maid of honor.

Afterwards, the reception was in the fellowship hall and it was just as much fun as the ceremony! We started off with snack-type foods while the wedding party got photographed, then Steven and Liz came in(“Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy!”) and we had the main meal…lots of meat, salad, pasta shells, green beans, potatoes…mmm, so delicious. I was at a table with Dream, Andrew, Rob, Mary, and others. When it came time for toasts, Steven’s brother gave one, along with Katie and Rob. Rob’s was awesome because it was dedicated to God and how He is the one that brought Steven and Liz together. So true(afterward, Liz also thanked God and gave all glory to Him!). Well, then there was a slideshow of Steven and Liz’s lives…great fun seeing them as children and as they grew up. After the reception, they ran through clouds of bubbles to their car as they went off to Colorado…I’ll see them next in the fall. It was great seeing other people that I haven’t seen for a while, like the Lebos, Rob’s family and relatives, Mary, Lisa and Shawn, and others.

Well, this is a pretty long post already, but basically wanted to write all this to commemorate what a fantastic day yesterday was. Going to watch some more golf now. Hope everyone’s summer is going great!

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Just got my first paycheck from Sweetbay…Hurrah! Finally my bank account balance will be going up again. Today I don’t have work, so just doing some chores around the house and spending time with my sisters…anyway, now to the real reason I started this entry:

Stolen from Becca:

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn’t make sense.
NO CHEATING!

How do you feel today?
Keiji(means careful or cautious in Japanese)
Ooshima Michiru

Whats your outlook on life?
Departure of the Fellowship
Howard Shore

What does your family think of you?
Hammer to Fall
Queen

What do your friends think of you?
Think of Me(HAHAHA…I found that amusing)
Andrew Lloyd Webber

What do strangers think of you?
Arrius’ Party
Ben Hur soundtrack

What do your exes think of you?
Dammit(hmm..)
Blink-182

How has your love life been so far?
The Temple of Doom(Hahaha)
John Williams

How will your love life be in the future?
Sailor Stars Song(If it’s as fun as this song, I’ll be happy)
Kae Hanazaya

Will you get married?
The Training of a Jedi Knight/The Magic Tree
John Williams

Will you have kids?
I Can’t Take my Eyes off of You(can’t believe this is on here)
High School Musical soundtrack

Were you good in school?
Never Surrender
Marty O’Donnell(Halo Soundtrack)

Will you be successful in life?
1812 Overture
Tchaikovsky

What song should they play on your birthday?
King for a Day(Haha, good one)
Green Day

What song should they play at your funeral?
Yoda and the Younglings
John Williams

Soundtrack of Your Life:
He Trusted in God 🙂
Handel’s Messiah

You and your best friend are:
Feeling Good
Muse

Happy times:
The Long and Winding Road
Beatles

Sad Times:
Bring Me to Life
Evenescence

Every day:
Easy Way Out
Charlotte Church

For tomorrow:
The Wrong Company
Flogging Molly

Your Intimate Life:
I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo
BBC Big Band

How are you going to live your life?:
Your Name is Holy
Skillet

Is anyone going to repost this?:
Muscle Museum
Muse

Fun times..some of those were almost on target!

James HoganLeave a comment

Hmm, been a while since I posted in here. Lots of things have happened since then…I turned twenty, for one. And I am now officially a working man again. Well, at least part-time. Working at Sweetbay isn’t too bad, because the people there are pretty cool and I’m getting the hang of manning the register.

Anyway, I really can’t think of what else to write here – not sure why I started this entry! I actually have to go bed fairly early these days because work starts at eight. Ok, ok, that isn’t that early. But compared to having a 12:50 first class back in the spring semester, eight seems REAL early.

Hmm, maybe I shall write a poem. Nope, don’t feel in the mood. 16 days until Steven and Liz’s wedding! That’s going to be so exciting – can’t wait! And now, think I will get ready for bed. Too bad this entry isn’t that substantial, but since I’ve already written it, I might as well post it. Good night, all!