Apple Tree

I think it is safe to say, that as of yet, this has been, by far, the most life-changing year of my life. I feel almost like I have been renewed as a person and that maybe, just maybe, things will start falling together as they should. I have been inexplicably happy these past several weeks with bad days happening less and less. Things don't bother me quite as much as they used to and I seem to be finding joy in the little things now, like I used to when I was little, and I've just been much better about staying in tune with what I want and need out of life and am actually being proactive about making sure this stuff happens.

I feel that everyone should read the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I'm definitely going to be looking to read his other books. It was recommended to me by Hilary and she's right in saying that it can definitely be life changing. Reading this book certainly hasn't been the reason why I've been so happy this year and whatnot, but it's a good way of coming into some realizations, especially when coupled with the fantastic therapy that is "Danger Group." I've been able to go twice, while Hilary had a car available unto her, and that was pretty sweet. But now we don't really have a way of getting there anymore and that can be rather unfortunate. Anyway, here is a good quote that I rather enjoy from his chapter titled "Alone: Fifty-Three Years in Space" (it does hold much true afterall, and I can relate):

"I was in Love once. I think Love is a bit of heaven. When I was in Love I thought about that girl so much I felt like I was going to die and it was beautiful, and she loved me too, or at least she said she did, and we were not about ourselves, we were about each other, and that is what I mean when I say being in Love is a bit of heaven. When I was in Love I hardly thought of myself; I thought of her and how beautiful she looked and whether or not she was cold and how I could make her laugh. It was wonderful because I forgot my problems. I owned her problems instead, and her problems seemed romantic and beautiful. When I was in love there was somebody in the world who was more important than me, and that, given all that happened at the fall of man, is a miracle, like something God forgot to curse."

That, my friends, is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard and it really touches me. As does the fact that Hilary got me a Happy Book. It's a fantastic concept and beautiful because she made it.

This week is rather stressful and probably one of the worst so far this semester, and yet it's still not all around a very bad week, so I find that pretty fantastic. This stupid Western Class "What is Human Nature" is going to kill me. Stick spoons in my eyes and toothpicks through my alveolus while slowly being force-fed llama excrement and sour cream.

I don't really like sour cream.

Also...You all should be listening to my radio show.

**A User's Guide to Sherpa's**
Mondays @ 8pm EST
www.redhawkradio.com (new and improved!)
or
Cable Channel 63 if you're lucky enough to live on Miami's Campus in Oxford, OH
(picture coming soon...hopefully)

And with that, I don't think I have much else to say. I probably actually do, but it must not be all that important.

Many Smiles,
Brandon Michael

Listening to: My "Almost Ultimate" Mix feat. songs by The Decemberists, Shout Out Louds, Muppets, They Might be Giants, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and much much more happiness.