Have I lost my sense of humor?

Those of you who know me know that I used to laugh a lot. In fact, I did it so much, people thought I was stoned. When I was left to my own devices, 95% of the time, I'd think back to some memory that happened years ago, and if it was funny, I'd laugh. In fact, I've been laughing for years at something my sixth grade science teacher said. However, I haven't been able to laugh recently. I've been able to make others laugh, but while watching shows I used to find hilarious, I just don't laugh at them like I used to. I don't know what it is; I've heard about people with A.S. not being able to find jokes funny, but I used to laugh my head off at classic and Disney sitcoms.
A similar thing has taken place in the past four years: I haven't been able to shed tears. The last time I did that was back in 2004, and that was after someone treated me like dirt. Even after being upset over something (such as the deaths of my good friend and my grandmother) the tears just wouldn't come. In fact, my eyes didn't even get heavy, which they have done before. Am I becoming emotionless?
I have no idea what's going on with me. Someone wanna help me out?

Let's hear it for people with crushes!

As someone who has had countless crushes throughout his lifetime, I can tell you that having a crush on someone (whether they be celebrity or just someone you know) is completely fine. If having them wasn't, do you think I would still be crushing on Anne, Ashley, Emma, Carly, Katija, Anna, Krystal, and Danielle, plus my real-life crushes, whose names I will not reveal, since this blog is public? Crushing is fun, and sometimes, it can lead to a relationship.
Now, let me explain something here. If I had to choose between dating a Christian girl I already know or dating Anne Hathaway, I would choose the Christian girl. Seriously, I don't agree with Anne's lifestyle. There are some movies of hers that I wouldn't watch for all the money in the world, because (IMO) watching them would be a sin. Plus, I've read about some of the stuff she did with her now ex-boyfriend, which is so disgusting I'd rather not describe it here. (In a nutshell, they should have only done that if they were married and alone in their bedroom.) I still do like Anne Hathaway--I mean, she makes a great desktop girl--but she is not living the Christian life, so I refuse to date her, unless she makes a turn for the better. The same thing applies to every celebrity crush I have.
As you can expect, I have been teased for my dedication to the celebrities. However, I don't see how anyone with a Y chromosome could not find at least some of my crushes--that is, celebrity and real-life--attractive. I mean, I know for a fact that the vast majority of guys at my high school found my junior English teacher attractive. (Those who didn't had problems.) It's the same thing with Anne and friends: they're young, female, and cute. What guy wouldn't like that?

A Problem Addictions Cause

As I've mentioned before, my life consists of a series of addictions, some of which are quite different from one another. Some of them, I don't even like to talk about anymore. However, my addictions have caused a problem that still affects me to this day. What would that be? Flashbacks.
I'm sure you've probably heard of people who used to "get high" off drugs and have flashbacks later on in their lives. Well, while I've never done anything harmful involving drugs, I have had addictions that were like drugs. When I was addicted to my shows, I couldn't get enough of them. If I wasn't watching them, then I was writing about them, researching them, talking about them, thinking about them, imagining myself with the characters, singing the theme songs, etc. The same thing applies to any of my previous addictions, whether they were computer games, bands/artists, whatever.
The thing was, when I was into those things, I didn't take them seriously. A perfect example of that is the 80's sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. While I adored that show when I was in middle school, I now hate it with a passion. After obsessing over it for nearly a year, I started to realize that the acting was terrible and the show was just stupid. While I haven't seen any episodes of it since giving up on it, I still have flashbacks. In fact, just last week, I thought about a moment from the show, and said, "That was funny." Then, I realized what I was saying, and felt like an idiot.
It's that way with all of my addictions, though. I didn't take any of them seriously; I thought they were "just a TV show [or computer/video game, or book, or famous person, or whatever.]" Now, after having flashbacks of all my life's previous addictions in the past year, I realize that I did go too far, and maybe I shouldn't have spent so much time thinking about them.
As I said in a previous post, I have no idea what I'm addicted to right now. If I had to guess, I would say my past. It seems to be my favorite topic of discussion; in fact, probably 70% or more of my notes on Facebook went into detail about stories from high school or before. However, instead of this addiction causing flashbacks, it actually consists of them. I just wonder what the long-term effects of this one will be. I'll probably find out no earlier than 2010.
Any comments?

Yard Sale

So, next Saturday (August 23, 2008) my mom, my stepdad and I are having a yard sale. I'm not totally sure what my family members are selling, but here's what I'm selling:
• Several DVDs, including Contact, The Fifth Element, The One, The Second Chance (with a bonus music video DVD,) Family Feud (complete with everything you need to play,) Jumanji, and War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise version).
• A few VHS tapes, including three separate dc talk tapes, (Rap, Rock & Soul, Narrow is the Road, and dc talk Video Singles) plus The Pagemaster.
• A bunch of books, including three Star Wars novels, the first eleven volumes in the Left Behind series, a bunch more by Jerry Jenkins, two by James Patterson, an old copy of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, plus maybe a couple other miscellaneous titles.
• One or two issues each of CCM, Nintendo Power, and Archie Comics.
• Several different electronics, including speakers for your computer, a fiber-optic light, a night-light you have to see to believe, a book light, plus possibly more.
If any of my friends (that means only people who know me, not random people who have never seen me before) who are reading this see something they want to buy, please let me know and I will sell it to you.
Any comments?

Conservative Vs. Liberal

No, this isn't about politics. Rather, this is about Christians (which I am not against, since I am one) and how, at least to myself, I seem quite a bit more conservative than others I know. I was raised in the church, and was quite shocked at what some people there (including not just kids, but adults as well) did; it was stuff I would never allow myself to do. Sometimes, I feel like the most conservative Christian in the world, which is not to call into question anyone else's faith; it's just the way I feel.
Want some proof how conservative I am? Answer these questions:

1. Have you ever willingly watched a movie that is or should be rated R?
2. Have you played more than one M-rated game?
3. Do you currently own any albums that have a "Parental Advisory" sticker on them, or that would be if they weren't "edited"?
4. Do you think Christian girls shouldn't have to dress modestly?
5. Do you never change the channel and/or turn the TV off when you see a sex scene on there?
6. Have you ever regularly tuned into a show that was always or mostly rated "TV-14" or "TV-MA"?
7. Do you never bother with "content reviews" of films?
8. Have you ever downloaded an immodest photo of a female celebrity?

If you answered "yes" to any of them, then you are less conservative than I am.
I'm not condemning anyone here; it's up to God to decide their destiny. However, based on the values I was taught when I was young, I'm not going to do those things. You can argue with me about why it's okay, but it's not going to do any good. I'll stick to my family films and shows and clean music, download only modest photos of my celebrity crushes, read my content reviews, and stick to my notion about Christian girls dressing modestly (even though I expect many won't.) Here's how I back it up:
• "I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar." -- Psalm 101:3 (NLT)
• "Stay away from every kind of evil." -- 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (NLT)
• "I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety…" 1 Timothy 2:9 (NIV)
The Bible commands it, so I do it. You can interpret those verses however you want. I'm not saying my interpretation is right, nor am I saying it's the only possible one. However, that's how I interpret them. Maybe I'm wrong about what those Scriptures mean, but if I am, God will hold me accountable for that at the end of time.
Any comments?

Songs that mean something.

Everyone has at least one song that means something to them. It may bring back a memory; it may echo a person's own thoughts about something or someone; or it may do something else. While I have been a fan of Christian music since I was eleven, for some reason, most of it doesn't really connect with me. I mean, most of the time, I agree with what the lyrics are saying, but the song doesn't profoundly affect me like some secular songs do. So, in this post, I will talk about some secular songs that are on my playlist and really mean something to me.
First off is a song I heard for years, but didn't really connect with me until I was older. "Love Changes Everything" was on more than one of my mom's Andrew Lloyd Webber albums, but it wasn't until I started falling in love myself that I understood its meaning. The song says, "Love makes fools of everyone." Well, it definitely made a fool of me. The final line of the track says, "Love will never, never let you be the same!" Well, my friendships with the three girls I professed my love to are not the same anymore. While I never dated any of them, things changed between us.
Some of my favorite secular tunes are breakup songs. As someone who has been turned down by three different girls, I can understand the meaning of the lyrics. Some examples are, "I tried so hard, and got so far; in the end, it doesn't even matter!", "There will be no white flag above my door. I'm in love, and always will be," "Once upon a time, I was falling in love; now I'm only falling apart. Nothing I can say; a total eclipse of the heart," and "If you're not the one, then why does my hand fit yours?" I understand those words totally; I've lived them.
Now, for my final example. A few months ago, right at the start of my church's door-knocking campaign, I was upset over a problem I'd recently had, and after talking with someone about it, I got over it. When I heard a certain song, despite the fact that's it's sung by a teenage girl, I felt like God was speaking to me through that song. The song was "Leave It All to Me" by Miranda Cosgrove, and the part that spoke to me was, "I will make you change your mind. These things happen all the time. So wake up the members of my nation; it's your time to be. There's no chance unless you take one.…Some things are meant to be, so give me your best and leave the rest to me." It may sound odd that God would speak through a Nickelodeon theme song, but He does work in mysterious ways!
Any comments?

A History of Crushes

In my last post, I posted pictures of my celebrity crushes so that you all could see them. They're a diverse bunch, from the infamous Anne to the nearly unknown Katija. Still, no matter how well-known they are, you can't deny how good they look. Anyway, in this post, I will delve into my past and talk about my crushes in general, including not just famous people, but people I actually know.
My first crushes were not on celebrities; they were people I actually knew. One was around my age, and is currently engaged. (No, that wasn't heartbreaking to hear; I've been over her for years.) The other one was one of my older sister's friends, but she's married now. It wasn't until around second grade that I had my first celebrity crush, which was actually more of a character than an actress. Who was it? It was the pink Power Ranger. (This was back in the mid-90's when that kind of thing was popular.)
In third grade, not only did I have a crush on my teacher (who I was too dumb to realize was a schmo, but that's another subject for another blog) but I also liked Teri Hatcher. While most of you probably know her from Desperate Housewives, the role I'll always remember her for is Lois Lane in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. That show was great, and so was she.
After getting into Scooby Doo and Mork and Mindy, I had two new crushes. One was Pam Dawber, who played Mindy. The other was, well…not a real person. In fact, as one of my friends said, I "like[d] a drawing." Yes, I had a crush on Daphne. Later cartoon crushes were Sora from Digimon and Misty from Pokémon.
In sixth grade, I had a crush on a girl in my homeroom. I'm not sure what it was that I liked about her; maybe it was just the fact that she was my friend. Nothing came out of it, and I haven't seen that girl in years.
When I first started high school, I was into the show Growing Pains. I said before that there was a "resurgence" of my interest in that show, and with that resurgence came crushes, which weren't there before. Specifically, I liked Tracey Gold (who played Carol) and Chelsea Noble (who played Kate, one of Mike's girlfriends). I also had a thing for the CCM singer Rebecca St. James. After a while of thinking, I came up with something: "Golden, Saintly and Noble." That was the name of my hard drive for a while, and I had an icon and a desktop image to go with it. (If you think that's bad, keep reading.)
Around November of my freshman year, I got into Disney Channel because of Hilary Duff. Later on, I got into people such as Christy Romano, Anneliese van der Pol, and Lalaine. So, I needed a new name for my hard drive. Finally, I came up with one: "Off Your Duff and In the Van!" (Yes, I had an icon to go with that, too.)
That summer, I met the girl of my dreams, or so I thought. She was from Cooper City, FL, and she came and visited my church for the summer. Before she left, she gave me her e-mail address so we could talk online. Some time later, I realized that I liked her. So, I sent her an e-mail telling her that. Her reply was pretty much, "Let's just be friends." That was pretty heartbreaking, as you might expect. I got over it pretty quickly, though.
About halfway through my junior year of high school, I was getting tired of Hilary. I needed someone new, but I didn't know who to go for…until I saw the movie Ella Enchanted with Anne Hathaway. That's what started me on my current crush. Not very long after that was when Suite Life premiered, and so I then got into Ashley Tisdale as well.
Throughout most of my senior year, I had a crush that I never saw coming. While I won't give out her name, it was a brainy, yet cute girl who went to high school with me. (The reason I never saw it coming was because, before meeting her, I thought she was a loser.) Of course, that didn't work out, nor did a crush that I had just a few months ago.
Everyone has had crushes throughout their lifetime. I may have had more than others, but that's okay, because no one can honestly say they've never had one.
Any comments?

Why I Like Disney

I know there are some people out there who hate Disney. Say what you will about the company being "corrupt"; the bottom line is, they're making more family movies than any other label right now. I'll tell you right now that I don't like everything Disney. While I like some of their recent live-action films, such as Sky High and George of the Jungle, I am not a big fan of most of their animated movies (except for certain Pixar films) nor do I like their old flicks very much. In fact, I think you can attribute my love for Disney to the young, beautiful actresses they have in their productions.
Now, hold on just a minute before you start assuming things. While I do like stars such as Anne Hathaway, Ashley Tisdale and Danielle Panabaker, and even have them on my desktop, I am not a fan of younger stars such as Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and (especially) Miley Cyrus. I like the ones I like because they're at least somewhat close to me in age. Probably as young as my celebrity crushes get is Nickelodeon's Emma Roberts, who is exactly three years younger than me, down to the day. (See, me and her have something in common. Aren't you jealous? :p)
I don't own very many Disney DVDs and videos. While my family does have quite a few, some of them I haven't watched in years, simply because I haven't wanted to. My DVD collection consists of TV shows (including one Britcom), superhero movies, both Star Wars trilogies, a few other sci-fi films (Star Trek: Nemesis being one of them), and, yes, a few Disney productions. Still, if I see a Disney movie at the library, I'm more likely to pick it up. It may not be quality, but at least I can be pretty sure it isn't going to be shocking or raunchy, both of which are not my thing.
Any comments?

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Now playing: Aly & A.J. - Potential Breakup Song
via FoxyTunes