Time for something a little different…

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Stolen from Kady…and I also didn’t want to try and list 30 bands so I’m also using last.fm for my 30…we’ll see how this turns out, since I’m not as big a music person as some people….hehehe.

List your 30 favorite bands/musicians (in no particular order) without looking at the questions, and then answer the questions using your list.

01. John Williams
02. Relient K
03. The Beatles
04. Trans-Siberian Orchestra
05. Hans Zimmer
06. Green Day
07. Muse
08. Blue Man Group
09. Howard Shore
10. Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori
11. Queen
12. They Might Be Giants
13. Switchfoot
14. Flogging Molly
15. Dropkick Murphys
16. BBC Big Band
17. Keith Green
18. Stratovarius
19. Blink-182
20. Lost Prophets
21. Kelly Clarkson
22. The Postal Service
23. Rhapsody
24. Nightwish
25. Jeremy Soule
26. The Royal Philharmonic
27. Coldplay
28. The Doors
29. Frank Klepacki
30. Apocalyptica

1. How did you get into 29 (Frank Klepacki)?
Haha, actually I think I deleted all of his songs(command and conquer soundtrack music) a little while ago…but I started listening because I got the soundtrack music from my friend Andrew. But on one of my random iTunes cleaning binges…he went bye-bye.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22 (The Postal Service)?
No idea…probably The District Sleeps tonight…but I heard them before I ever had their music, so not sure.

3. How many albums by 12 (They Might Be Giants) do you own?
Hm, well I don’t actually own any of their albums…but I have four albums on my computer.

4. What is your favourite song by 5 (Hans Zimmer)?
Probably the beginning battle music in Gladiator. Either that or the Pirates of the Caribbean theme music.

5. What is your favorite song by 15 (Dropkick Murphys)?
Hm, good question. Either “Do or Die”, “Heroes from our Past”, or “Amazing Grace”. All great songs.

6. Is there a song by 6 (Green Day) that makes you happy?
Haha, lots of Green Day’s songs makes me happy…but I’d have to say “Time of our Lives” simply because it brings back great memories of high school….

7. What is your favourite song by 10 (Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)?
Seeing as they’re the Halo soundtrack composers…probably the main Halo theme. It’s pure awesomeness.

8. What is a good memory you have involving 30 (Apocalyptica)?
Hmm…just any time I’ve watched youtube videos of them and seeing my friends’ reactions to a metal cellist band…people get quite confused, hehehe.

9. Is there a song by 19 (Blink-182) that makes you happy?
“First Date”…so light and care-free and happy and awesome!

10. How many times have you seen 23 (Rhapsody) live?
Never. But…they would be one of the bands on my list I’d most want to see live. So that would be sweet if I ever could!!

11. What is the first song you ever heard by 26 (The Royal Philharmonic)?
Probably “1812 Overture” or something…I was actually sorta surprised they made it on the list…

12. What is your favourite album by 11 (Queen)?
A Night at the Opera. Definitely my favorite sound of theirs by far…

13. Who is your favourite member of 1 (John Williams)?
John Williams(Hehehehe…)

14. Have you ever seen 14 (Flogging Molly) live?
No, but it would be sweet!!

15. What is a good memory involving 27 (Coldplay)?
Writing my finance paper the day it was due listening to them the whole time…great fuel for the mind. That was also the day I first discovered their greatness.

16. What is your favourite song by 16 (BBC Big Band)?
“I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo”…very fun song!!

17. What is your favourite album by 18 (Stratovarius)?
Had to look up their albums on my itunes for this one…but definitely Dreamspace. Some of my favorite songs are on there..

18. What is your favorite song by 21 (Kelly Clarkson)?
Hmm…I don’t know if I have a favorite…probably either “Addicted” or “Behind those Hazel Eyes”…and yes, Kelly Clarkson is on my top 30. Nothing wrong with that!

19. What is the first song you ever heard by 25 (Jeremy Soule)?
He’s the composer of the Knights of the Old Republic soundtrack…so I guess the theme song from that game? Yeah, sounds about right.

20. What is your favourite album by 2 (Relient K)?
Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right…But Three Do. Great great album with tons of solid songs. Mmhmm is pretty awesome too.

21. What is your favourite song by 3 (The Beatles)?
“Here Comes the Sun”. Don’t think I’ve ever had another favorite!

22. What is your favourite song by 8 (Blue Man Group)?
Probably either “White Rabbit”, “Drumbone”, or “I Feel Love”. Yummy songs all!

23. How many times have you seen 17 (Keith Green) live?
Never…I think he died before I was born. 😦

24. What is the worst song by 12 (They Might be Giants)?
Umm…I can’t think of any of their songs I dislike!!

25. What was the first song you ever heard by 28 (The Doors)?
Um, not sure…but the one I always liked the most when I first heard them was “Riders on the Storm”. And I still do love that song…

26. What is your favourite album by 7 (Muse)?
Black Holes and Revelations. This also happens to be my favorite album of all time, ever…so…yeah. Awesomeness.

Fun survey time! Now maybe I should actually get something done….

James HoganLeave a comment

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Might we always worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with this spirit of awe and adoration!! Think on this glorious thought: To save us from all our trespasses against Him, God was born a man on this very earth…inconceivable. Amen and Amen!!

James HoganLeave a comment

Hmm…I just realized I haven’t posted in here since I was in Gainesville!! Well, I most certainly am not going to say I’ll post every day for a week again, because clearly I’m incapable of remembering to do so! I can’t even blame business, because all I’ve been doing for the past few days is relaxing and having fun with the fam!! Today is Christmas Eve, so I finally got all my presents wrapped(ok, I actually started wrapping them today…) as I rocked out to TSO. I like TSO almost anytime, but it’s even better when it actually is Christmas time!!

Today has been pretty relaxing besides the Christmas wrapping(ok, ok, I guess that was relaxing too)…I woke up early to take Laura to work at Wright’s, then had a nice relaxing morning with my coffee and reading. Now I’m listening to beautiful Tallis Fantasia as I type this, waiting for the yummy dinner of steak and fettucine, mmm…and speaking of yummy, I just made the salad for tonight and I just could not resist eating the lettuce as I went. The steaks are almost done and it’s almost time for dinner! And since I didn’t post all of my poems last week, here’s another one, written on December 10th, 2008 as I sat on campus enjoying an absolutely marvelous day:

The water ripples
before the unseen breeze
and the leaves come
floating down.
And the campus quiets.
The clouds swirl in
awe and wonder
and the leaves come
tumbling down.
And the campus stills.
The grass quivers
in joy and light
and the leaves come
dancing down.
And the campus bows.
To our King!

And that is the end of my recent poetry spree – most of it was pretty spontaneous so I hope you weren’t expecting anything of technical genius, but writing them encouraged my heart. And now, dinner time!! Merry Christmas Eve to all!

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, I’m now making my last bacon and coffee breakfast of the year here in Gainesville! Around 2 today, I’m off to Tampa!!! And again, I know I was supposed to post in here every night…but I forgot. And was sorta busy. So I thought I’d post now while I’m getting breakfast ready. I can already smell the bacon frying, mmm….

The last few days have been super sweet!! Not much better than chilling in Gainesville with no cares in the world!! Yesterday I slept in and had a nice relaxing morning before running some errands on campus…then last night consisted of awesome times at the Lebos’ house!! Much ping-pong was played and many good times were had by all!! Liz and Steven were there too and Becca is back from college(up at PCC), so it was so much fun just hanging out like old times! No better way to end the semester…I’m truly grateful for all the sweet times we’ve had there! And after that, me and Rob and Galan came back to our place…Rob still has to finish his paper(actually, he’s writing it right now while I write this), so while he wrote that last night, I kept him company by playing some classic Battle For Middle Earth…brought back old memories indeed!

And now the bacon is about done, but I still need to post the poem for today(or I guess it’s technically last night’s poem)…this is a very free-form one…one that I enjoyed writing a lot:

In the end
when there’s nothing left
but me and you
and the armies of darkness
I will fight
and throw myself down
for me and you
and for the banner of light
in the black
when there is no sight
just me and you
just our undying love.

James HoganLeave a comment

Ok well, I know I promised to write in here every night this week…but let’s just say last night was spent studying madly for my circuits exam which was 7:30 AM. Ugh. Terrible. And the exam was actually not that bad…because out of four questions, I know I got at least 2 right!!! (For circuits, for me…that’s very impressive. I may pull out a B after all!) Anyways, after that, Katie, Corey, Trisha, Rachel(all peeps from class) needed to just forget circuits…so we went to Einsteins and got breakfast and then ate it in the stadium in the beautiful early-morning Florida weather!! It was sooo fun…and also sorta sad because today was Katie’s last exam EVER!! She graduates on Saturday. I’m gonna miss her…

But off that subject, after that I picked up my voucher for my ticket to the BCS TITLE GAME IN MIAMI THIS JANUARY WHICH I AM GOING TO. And yes, that deserved all-caps. Florida vs. Oklahoma, winner take all! I CAN’T WAIT!!!!

Anyways, back to today…following my ticket pick-up, had a sweet disc-golfing adventure with Deanna, Shari and Jamie…such awesomeness!!! It was the perfect follow-up to terrible circuits…just walking around on the beautiful course at Northside Park. Yes. Incidentally, I also had one of my best rounds ever. Not that I’m bragging or anything….ok, maybe I am a little. But hey, I’m allowed to do it. On my own journal!

Again, coming back from off-topicness…once we got back from disc golf, Mr. Lebo and George came over for our epic Finals Week Risk Tournament Extravaganza. And yes, it was quite epic. We started the game around 2:30 and didn’t finish until 10. PM. Ridiculous. We did take a break for dinner(me and Rob made chicken parmesan, which was DELICIOUS…we made two whole pans and we still ate all of it). The game(LotR Risk) was awesome but as always, I ended up getting bored and just going on a rampage of which the end result was me being the first to be eliminated. Ah well. Rob got out next(serves him right for killing my best armies!) and Galan eventually ended up winning…

And now, I’m quite tired. But it is time for the next poem in this week’s series. Enjoy.

The lake, it beckons to me.
Darker than night,
devoid of light,
the lake, it whispers to me.
Unbroken glass,
forgotten past,
the lake, it croons to me.
Burning with fire,
lighting my pyre,
the lake it dances for me.
Oh, I want it!
Oh, I need it!
And I stare into the lake.
For all it wants is to take
my soul.
No!

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, right now I’m at Marston with Shari and Deanna…and I just finished studying for my finance final which is going to get underway in less than two hours. It’s going to be in the Physics Building, my old nemesis…but I shall go and reclaim my lands as I dominate finance!! Or at least, I hope so. It seems I’m getting all my updating done in libraries lately…apparently that’s where I have the most free time? Hmm…that shouldn’t be the case…anyways, I’m going to start what I am calling “Final Exam Poetrifcation Week”…which is a rather brilliant name, if I say so myself. Or maybe not, but anyway, I have a bunch of random poems I have written down in my notebooks that aren’t on here, so I’m going to post one in here every night. And y’all are going to love it, I so decree! Here is the first one, written September 18th, 2008:

A word of gold
A word of grace
A word of truth
That perfect face!

Why do we turn
our face away?
Why do we cause
our God dismay?

Our hearts are dim
Our hearts are lost
Our hearts are dead
But look! The cross.

And now, off to get dinner…and then…

…it’s battle time.

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, right now I’m at Library West, just finished studying for my circuits quiz which starts in an hour. I’m hopefully ready..but we shall see!! All I can say is that I can’t wait for Wednesday night!!! These next three days are ridiculous…simulations project due today(which is DONE now and I am so exited…that project has cost me so many hours of sleep lately), circuits quiz today, supply chain exam tomorrow(which I start studying for tonight), myth exam Wednesday(which I start studying for tomorrow night) and then our simulations project presentation on Wednesday as well. SO MUCH TO DO! And so little time….

Of course, part of the reason for the little time is all the awesome things that I’ve been doing lately! Friday, a bunch of us(Amy, Deanna, Shari, Jamie, Galan, Cath, Rob, me) got to relax after our long week by going to Las Margaritas for dinner…most satisfactory food, I must say! Good times just chatting and enjoying the utter LACK of school! Saturday was busy…but awesome. I got up relatively early for a Saturday and made Christmas cookies! Classic chocolate mint cookies…which turned out not too shabby, if I say so myself! Then I went over to Katie’s place to watch the SEC title game vs. Alabama!! One of the most nerve-wracking games all year, but we pulled out a victory, 31-20 so we are SEC CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!

And even better…we are now going to another TITLE GAME!!!! We’re going to play Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship game in Miami. I’ll try to get tickets…that would be so incredibly sweet if a bunch of us ended up going!!!!!!! I have to say, this will be the fourth title game in four years…we are quite spoiled. Honestly.

Anyways, after the jumping up and down and celebrating, I left Katie’s and went over Dream’s place for her annual Christmas party…good times dancin’ and singin’ and eating’ and just having fun!!!! I’m so gonna miss these times when I move ever so far away next year!

Moving on, Sunday was sort of a crazy day, too. Trying to work on my simulations project…going early to church to do the camera-work for the service. Decorating wine-glasses for APM…and then the best part of the day, Shari’s Danza show!!!! It was incredibly super sweeeeet!!! I’m not a huge dance fan, I must admit…but when Shari’s on, I love it!!! She was in quite a few dances and even had some sweet solo parts!! Best part of the day, by far!! Afterwards we celebrated her rocking performance by partying at the Gelato Company! We also found out that she’d jammed her toe in the very beginning but still danced the whole time…and NONE of us could tell anything was wrong. Hardcore.

Well after that, I had to work on simulations project more and ended up staying awake until almost 3. Ugh. Woke up at 8 to study for my circuits quiz today, so I am still quite tired now. When I was on the bus, started getting dizzy and I realized I hadn’t eaten anything substantial since around 5 yesterday! So I got some Subway and ate it outside Anderson Hall…such BEAUTIFUL weather we’ve been having!!! And now I am cooped inside the library, but I am done studying for and will now dominate this circuits quiz.

Hope this update has filled y’all in on what I’ve been up to lately…I’ve been a bit stressed with all I have going on…but God has given me the strength to keep on keepin’ on. What a mighty God we serve!

James HoganLeave a comment

Last night in Tampa…ah, I’m gonna miss my family.

But tomorrow, the grand expedition to Tallahassee will begin!!! Going to be at the Gators/Noles game with Dream and Chris and it will be domination time!!

But I need to be up at 7am tomorrow(nothing like starting a journey…early. Ugh.) and so I am now off to bed after a fun night of watching Sergeant York with the fam and eating delicious Laura-made cake. G’night!!

James HoganLeave a comment

I am ever so thankful!

I’m back in Tampa right now and have had an absolutely lovely couple of days with the family, relaxing and enjoying being with the parents and sisters…such good times!!! I’ve had to do a little work on the side(oh, finance lectures!), but mostly I’ve just been resting here at home!! And today was ever so fun, waking up late(hey, 9am is pretty late for me now..) and then going over to Steve and Vickie’s for our Thanksgiving dinner!! We all miss Katharyn a lot(but at least we got to talk to her on the phone for a while!), but being with the parents and Steve and Vickie and Maryanne and Laura…joyous times indeed! From eating(turkey, potatoes, stuffing, olives, asparagus, cranberries, cherry pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie….mmm) to talking about important matters while enjoying yummy coffee with dessert to playing games(Maryanne and Laura’s and mine homemade Star Wars game…YES) to singing the Hallelujah chorus in their driveway…God is so good to us!! And after we came home, did we go to bed? Nah, me and mom and Laura and Maryanne sang the Hallelujah chorus some more while Esther stood around and stared at us in amazement. Yeah, you had to be there.

I am ever so blessed!!

And then as I think about all that God has done for me the past four years and all that He provides me with now…my family AND all the amazing friends He’s given me…what would I do without Him?? So I am so thankful to Him and also to all of you that stick beside me no matter what and encourage me constantly…y’all are awesome. And that is truth.

And now as I need to go and get some good sleep(well, I may read a little of my Wheel of Time book first…hehehe)…I say farewell. Goodbye and goodnight!!