Just Another Update

If you've been expecting blood and tears posts, sorry I just haven't been able to provide them lately.

Right now I'm listening to The Fray's CD, How to Save a Life. Until about 2 hours ago, I was going to see them in Nashville on Monday, April 10. But I got a call from Jennifer last night, and she said that Mae and Yellowcard were coming to Norman on Thursday, April 14, so I got to thinking and I thought maybe I could make it to both shows, or maybe I'll just go to Mae and Yellowcard. So I couldn't decide pretty much. Then tonight I decided that I wasn't going to go to either show, then right after I told my roommate and Chris, Ben called me and told me that Mae was coming to Memphis on Tuesday, April 11. Then I started thinking, and then I decided that I was going to see Mae in Memphis. So I called a ticket vendor and got tickets for me, Ben, and Arbuckle. Having the show in Memphis is so nice because instead of a 4.5 hour drive to Nashville or a 5.5 hour drive to Oklahoma City, we have an hour and a half drive to Memphis.

So I pretty much have a killer week next week. Monday, I have a Bible quiz, and a 20-minute Macroeconomics group presentation. Tuesday I have an Art Appreciation test. Wednesday I have a Western Civ test. Thursday I have an Algebra section due and a 20-minute Bible group presentation. Like I said, killer. I've been stressing pretty bad, but I got a sigh of relief tonight. Half of my Macro group met tonight, and my part of the presentation won't be hard, it will just be me giving me testimony if you will on why I prefer Apple computers and mp3 players. Then my Bible presentation is pretty much the last thing to get done so I'll have more time to put into that. I usually dominate the Art tests too, so I should be alright there. I want to get my Western Civ study guide done this weekend somehow.

I just got the Keane-Strangers DVD in the mail. I haven't been able to watch it all the way through yet. I might have to wait until after my huge next week to dive into it. But I watched a few of the live performances and they are really good. They should have a new album out around the end of May. I'm very excited to get it.

I wish had more to say right now, but I don't...

...Hodges

An Update

As requested by anonymous, here's an update. I'm back at Harding now. It feels good to be back. I missed the dorms a lot while I was at home. Living at home with no siblings can be boring because I'm so used to having people so close, and everyone just hanging out in my room.

I had a really good break though. I kept myself occupied for a lot of time. Usually on the breaks I spend most of my time sitting around my house not doing much of anything. On Monday and Tuesday I worked for Austin Sharp's mom, doing her garden. It was fun, and pretty easy because it took her longer to decide what she wanted me to do than for me to actually do it. Wednesday me and Eric hit up some thrift stores and the mall and stuff, it was fun. Thursday Ryan, J.C., Jennifer, Allison and I went down to Turner Falls to go camping. Then Jenny, Karen, Chase, Tim, Trey, Patrick, and Robbie caught up with us a little bit later in the afternoon. I brought Austin's 2-bedroom huge tent that sleeps 8, except no instructions came with it. So me and Ryan just winged it, and with a help of a couple others we jammed some rods in the ground and somehow we got it stay for the night. The downfall to the whole camping trip was that there was a burn ban, so we couldn't have a fire, so we just sat by a lantern at night, and then we couldn't stay the night on Friday because it rained. So we came back and then we planned on staying the night at Jennifer's but it ended up only being Karen, Jenny, Jennifer and me sleeping over.

It's March Madness. My favorite time of the year. I haven't been able to keep with college basketball as much as I would have liked to this year. The cable connection in my dorm room is really fuzzy so I get a headache when I watch TV. Therefore I couldn't watch games very often. My bracket is doing alright right now though. I still have my Final Four intact after the first two rounds, which hasn't happened in the past 5 years. I have Duke, UConn, Gonzaga, and Boston College, and Duke beating UConn in the championship. I'm feeling pretty good about my picks, but i doubt I get 2 of my Final Four picks right.

My favorite CD right now is Everything in Transit by Jack's Mannequin. It took me a while to give them a chance, but they have a really neat sound. The lead singer is the same lead singer from Something Corporate.

I guess that's all I really have to say for the moment...

...Hodges

Keane and TNT

"She Has No Time" by Keane. I love this song. I can relate to it. Maybe it's just me being overdramatic or me over-analyzing things, but I see the words of this song reflected in my life. Not so much the words "she can hardly breathe without you" but more like "she has no time for you now." Sometimes it just seems that I put myself out there for a girl and make an effort, but the girl doesn't have the time for me. It's frustrating, and it's happened to me multiple times in my life. I don't know how to else to expand on this...

I can't get away from TNT. For a while I tried to stop hanging out with or meeting new people in TNT, but it's inevitable. I've pretty much met nearly every member of TNT. Tonight I ate dinner with Kyle Chandler and Jody Caruthers, both former members of TNT and Jeff Fowler and Ilex Pounders were visiting and they ate with us too. It was just another example of the many different connections I have to TNT. I'm probably going to end up going to the TNT Canoe trip with Kelly. I mean, it's just become a part of my life to be friends with pretty much everyone in TNT. I don't really mind it though. I still love Knights, and I love Knights more than TNT. There is no way I'm jumping clubs, and I'm still very glad that I'm in Knights.

More random thoughts to come this spring break...

...Hodges

Late Night Contemplations

Well I'm up contemplating life tonight. Hopefully I can string together some random thoughts.

I can't remember my dreams anymore. I honestly can tell you what my last dream was. It's kind of frustrating, because I'm sure I have some crazy thoughts going through my head right before I go to bed. And I just always hear people telling stories about how funny their dreams were the last night and stuff, and I wish I had something cool to say with them. I'm not sure not remembering your dreams is some sign that you're getting a good sleep, but I want to have a little adventure in my life.

Having a roommate is a very healthy thing in my mind. Having a roommate you are good friends with is even better. Last semester, me and my roommate never talked. I mean, never. He would always be on the phone with his girlfriend back home and I would always have my earbuds in listening to music. Plus, we just didn't connect. We had some of the same interests, but it was still just awkward to talk to him. It didn't help that I didn't have as many friends in Harbin as I know do in Armstrong. But now I have a great roommate. We trust each other, and we tell each other nearly everything (at least I do....). But it's been really nice to chat just for a few minutes before I go to bed each night. And just thinking about more, I think God wants us to share a room with someone. Sorry, this probably won't make sense, but it's making sense in my head. In marriage, partners share a bed each night. There's a scripture that says "Don't let the sun go down on your anger." It will probably be hard to lay in bed next to someone if you're holding a grudge against them. It's kind of the same with a roommate. If you're mad at your roommate then it's probably gonna be hard to share a room with him.

I hate stereotypes. Every kind of stereotype. I will admit that I do stereotype people sometimes. I hate doing it, and I try my best to avoid it. It's inevitable that people are going to stereotype, but I just wish it didn't happen at all. Ever since pledge week the atmosphere of Harding has changed. I remember first semester when we had a group of people meet in the student center every day after chapel. It was just understood. Meet at this table, and we'll fellowship for a few minutes before class. Then pledge week happened and the table was split. Some people stand in a certain area and others stay with their group. If you go to Harding you know how the student center is sort of sectioned off by clubs. It's just frustrating because I question what changed that now some people can't talk to another group of people. Who decides that someone can't hang out with TNT guys or some girl can't talk to a girl in Regina. I know I've already wrote about this, but it's something that I see everyday. There are some times when I wish I didn't do a club. Times when I feel like people are talking behind my back, questioning the people that I'm spending time with, what club I'm spending my time with. And making fun of clubs, that's ridiculous. The way I look at it is this: every person that joined a club put a lot of time and effort into it, so don't bash it. It's like if you spent 3 weeks non-stop writing a book, and then you come and ask me to read it, and I just blow it off because it's not my style of book. Being in a club is something each person should be proud of, and you don't have to earn that pride by downing another club. All you have to do to be proud of the club you're in is to enjoy it. Just love the people in it and enjoy the time spent at functions and meetings. Another thing about me wishing I didn't join a club is that I'm glad I did join a club because it gave me the oppurtunity to meet some amazing people. There are so many people that I absolutely love spending time with that I probably would have never met if I didn't do the social club process or Knights. I just realized that this paragraph that I meant to set aside to talk about stereotypes ended up only talking about clubs, but I think I'm alright with that.

I think that's all I have to this evening. Have a blessed day...

...Hodges

God's love

I'm taking a quick break from some intense studying for a Western Civ test to bring you another piece of my mind. I really don't have much to say, but if I didn't do it right now, I'm not sure it would be said.

After looking at Arbuckle's blog I wanted to put up a verse under where it says "It's Just Hodges". I wasn't sure what to put up at first. I thought about putting up my favorite verse, Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." But I wasn't really feeling that, so I wanted to put a verse that would show God's love the most. So I looked at a few verses, and I wanted to avoid a really obvious verse, but I couldn't help but look at John 3:16. I read it once, and it didn't really do anything for me. Then I read it again, and thought about it a little more, and I had to use this verse on my blog. Just to think about how much I love my friends and if I lost one of them, it breaks my heart. I can't imagine how much God hurt when he sent to Son to live a perfect life on lowly earth, only to be executed by prideful humans.

That's all I really have...

...Hodges

A few good ideas

Some of you may know that today was Ash Wednesday, which means the beginning of Lent. I'm not Catholic, but I believe that going through Lent is a very healthy thing to do. (If you don't know what Lent is, it's when one gives up something for the 40 days between Fat Tuesday and Easter). I think that everyone should go through Lent, just because it's a way to better yourself. I've never done Lent before because I've always forgot about it, then I realize I missed Lent on Easter Sunday. So this year, I'm giving up Facebook. It's very do-able for me. I won't lie to you though, I'm on Facebook more than I should be. I'm not addicted, but there are so many times that I facebook message someone instead of giving them a call or talking to them in person. I'm hoping that dropping Facebook for 40 days will allow me to communicate with people better and build closer, more personal relationships. So if you want to find me, or drop me a line, leave me an email or a phone call or whatever you want.

This a totally random idea. It just came to me while I was brushing my teeth. Give me some feedback on whether this is a good idea for a date. A man and a woman each go and buy their favorite magazine then go to a park, or wherever and read them. But not just read them and not talk to each other, but read what they find interesting, or what they think the other might think is interesting.

Not necessarily a good idea of mine, but I just got done helping shave Ben Woods, Kelly Woodcock, and Kris Kelley heads. It was pretty hilarious. Kelly had pretty long hair, and now he is always asking if he looks like Brad Pitt now. But now Kris and Kelly have a bathroom covered in hair and no broom to sweep it up.

I'm gonna try to be better about supplying you with a new post everyday...

...Hodges