Spending at large.

Christmas is the time of gifts, and giving, and receiving, blah blah blah and spending.

I'm not here to be all "shun spending" though, I encourage it. Why? Because, all year long we trade from thinking about ourselves, to sometimes thinking about others, and then back to ourselves . (Face it, humans are selfish). Then we hit thanksgiving, and we're all..

"aww man, look at all my great stuff, I'm so glad I have it + family"

"Hold that thought!" Says Christmas spirit and Ernie.
Since you have all your nice stuff, and you're thankful, lets think about others for a change (point: Christmas is about others). Don't worry about overspending on Christmas (I do not condone getting into debt), relax a little, buy some nice gifts for your loved ones. Make them if you have to, and if you're going to do that, really put some time and effort into it, make something :awesome:

Why am I saying this? Because everyone likes getting big gifts, I like it, you like it, your best friend likes it. It never mattered how many you got, if you got that one super awesome really cool and really big present, you were good.

Man, where am I going with this? Sometimes I don't even...

The point is, Christmas IS about others, so don't be afraid to treat them nicely, as the good Lord said: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (or something like that, don't quote me).

- Yay Christmas Spirit.
- Ernie

Toxic Breath.

I found out the other day, that amalgum fillings release mercury vapor.
I also found out that Mercury vapor is highly toxic (duhh).
We all know toxic things mean bad business for your body.

Thanks to the two amalgum fillings in my mouth, I (in proportion) have enough mercury vapor to cause a factory to be evacuated.

nice.

- Withholding the truth is like killing innocent people. it's wrong.
- Ernie.

P.S. Lets hope my babies don't come out mutants.

Stuffing Humans.

A Thanksgiving review.

Wake up, play video games, lose, play different video games, win.
Dad comes home, puts something on TV that i don't remember, I clean the house.
Find socks, Iron my shirt, teach myself how to tie a tie (took a half hour).
Go to Nana's house, eat loads of food, hide the pie (no one notices??).
Walk in the freezing cold with my aunt and the family friend to rent a movie.
Rent a lame movie.
Get a free big screen TV and park it in my Nana's garage.
Sing Glee songs.
Watch the lame movie. then watch lame comedy.
Go home. write a blog.. and here I am.

It was a nice Thanksgiving, smaller than the usual ones we have. We hung out at my Nana's house, ate a simple Thanksgiving dinner, and spent the rest of the night laughing.
You know, my family's been through hell and back, if i took the time to explain why i say that, you'd be here for hours. Instead, just take my word for it that we didn't always like each other. With that, I am thankful to see that, despite everything, we're still able to get together, in love, and have a happy Thanksgiving.

- There's a big screen TV outside, calling your name.

- Ernie

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope it's filled with food and family, I know mine will be good, what about yours?

- Ernie.

I was thinking..

Do you guys remember, a long time ago, when those Native Americans blessed me? They brought me a blanket, with a wolf on it, and told me that in their culture, the wolf was seen as a blessing, because it would bring back the lost children to their village. They said God was calling me to be the wolf, and to bring back all his lost children.

I just made the connection between me becoming a youth leader, and that word.

Interesante.

- Ernie.

Turkeys and Hams.

What am I thankful for this year?

You know, Thanksgiving used to be food to me, food and giving your mom the standard answer of "my house, my family, and my friends" when she asked you what you were thankful for.

Of course, that's changed. So what am I actually thankful for this year?
Well, to start, This summer I got an internship working at my church. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to get to know students from my role as a leader, as well as  being able to share my experiences with them, and learn from them as much as they've learned from me.
With that, I'm thankful to have been able to become closer to my sister Ciara, work with her, and gain a better understanding of who she is and what her likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses are.
I'm thankful to have gotten closer to my Auntie Sarah, gain patience and someone i know won't be afraid to ask me to do something.
I'm thankful for the opportunity to have worked with my sister Lindsey, to learn about myself, gain an understanding of why I do things, and also, just to have time well spent.

I'm thankful for the freedom to travel the nation, to see half of America up close and personal. I'm thankful for the new friends I made, and the family I made from some of them. I'm thankful to have been able to do things I may never be able to do again. I'm thankful for the wonder that is God's creation, and having the liberty to explore some of it's natural wonders.
I'm thankful to have been able to experience all that with my family, with little annoyance.

I am not thankful for Nebraska.

I'm thankful that people know they can rely on me, and ask me for help when they need someone to do something others don't want to do.

I'm thankful for my wonderful friends, who stick with me no matter what.

I'm thankful for my Amazing art teacher Vicki, for giving me opportunities to expand all my knowledge and skills, for showing me the extent (and potential) of my own talents, and being a generally fun person to be around. I'm also thankful for my other art teacher Miss Breanna, for making me check my angles.

I'm thankful for the Google team i was a part of during the beginning of this year, we may have lost the challenge, but it was a blast while it lasted.

I'm thankful for my teacher, for being understanding and not owning me.

I am thankful for my LIFE.

- "I own the key to the cave of wonders"

- Ernie.

Old men and roses.

I found out today (yesterday, now, because I'm posting this late) that my Tata's best friend passed away.
Chapo, I started thinking about him, we were never close, we never talked, he was just that guy that would sit next to my Tata, in the garage, watching nothing but the air. "Say hi to Chapo" my Tata would tell me, and I would, he was family.
He always wore slacks, a pair of dress shoes, a short sleeve button up shirt (the top 2-3 button were never buttoned) and his huge glasses, which, if you looked at him right, it'd seem as though Chapo had huge bug eyes.

Chapo had somewhat of a garden, or a flower bed at least. Roses grew, beautiful ones. I remember one occasion, when myself and my Tia lili (two and a half years older than myself) were playng hide and seek within the houses immediately surrounding my Nana and Tata's house. I'm not sure who we were hiding from, as it was just us two, perhaps we were on a secret mission?
Anyway, we continued playing throughout Elburg street, we noticed the wide range of flowers growing among the houses, and decided we should pick some for our mothers. We picked a few poppies, some other flowers which I don't remember, and set our eyes on Chapo's roses.

We were good kids ok? So we asked nicely at his doorstep if we could have some of his roses for our mother's, to our surprise, he said yes. He came out, cut us a few roses, and sent us on our way.
Chapo, I've realized, was that guy that would shake my hand, tell my Tata I was getting big, tease me, fix my scooter, and pull a coin straight out of my ear. He'll always hold a place in my childhood, that's for sure.

- "aie mijo, comoestas?" -Chapo

- Ernie

her lipstick was acid, my fingerprints were glowing.

Jess' dad told me that his daughter's lipstick was acid, that he'd scan her dress with infra red to pick out my finger prints, and that he'd cut my... ok.

Anyway, point taken Mr. T. point taken.

Last night I went to Homecoming with my friend Jess. It was fun :) and I still have my... so you know I didn't do anything bad.
Since I didn't know anyone there, i sat with a bunch of people I didn't know.. and Jess. Funny people, 3 other couples. Vivian and.. her date (i forgot his name, sorry guy!). Stacy? was it? and.. Daniel. i think. Then Shannon and Peter... i think.

Anyway. When we first got there, pulling up in the infamous 'Adventure Van', i realized this would be my first 'date', for lack of a better term. The few hours before had been filled with getting ready, waiting anxiously in her dad's man-cave watching a football game while she got ready (you'd think we were getting married or something), and most of all, pictures. I walked up to the entrance, emptied my pockets as requested (I worry about my friends in public school, seeing as his is mandatory), and proceeded (after getting through admission) to buy our pictures. For some reason, the group in front of us had the hardest time just BUYING THEIR FRIGGIN PICTURES.

It took 'em a whole 20 minutes, then they still had to be photographed, whatever.

We took our pictures, yay! I had a bit of fun with the photographer, learned something new. Then we found some seats, with the people i listed above. They were fun, a funny group. We all spilled water at least once, the girls had fun complaining about their dates while they were gone bringing them food.

The question I got asked most was: "did you guys dance?"

Well what's the point of going to a dance and not dancing? Yes, we danced, no, there was no slow dance [insert disappointed expression here]. There was just fast music, which we tried, and half succeeded at, dancing to.

Honestly, i had never seen so many people grinding on each other, as a girl at our table quoted it: "I see teens mating on the dance floor".
Well said.

With that, we were a bit weary of the dance floor. And mainly spent our time hanging out at the table, which was fine.

It was a good night, I have no regrets, and i got to take a beautiful girl (yeah i said it) to a dance.

- "Let me call all my cop friends and let 'em know where this place is" -Mr.T.
- Ernie.

HandSlap.

I was thinking the other day, about this book i had started reading earlier this year.

"The same stuff as stars"

I never finished it, and as far as i knew.. it was in my room. Well, I decided I wanted to start reading it again.. but then I couldn't find it. I searched high, i searched low, i searched through the mess that is my room, and not a single trace of it anywhere.
Anyway, half of that book belongs to Ian, so i better find it. In the meantime I'm reading a Starwars book, because deep down inside, I'm a big nerd, and I love Sci-Fi.

This is the truth people, and you must deal with it. Ernie Macias is a nerd who loves starwars, just like Izzy, so there.

But really, where is that book? It was getting really good, and then we went on our amazing road trip, and I haven't seen it since.

- it's always fun till you lose a really good book
- Ernie.

FacePunch

Sanity, the social norm of the world.
The social norm, being average.
Insanity, socially irregular.
Minor insanity, the mark of a person with a potential to be great.

This is my belief, based on the actions of great thinkers, leaders, and activists throughout history.
Without a minor sense of insanity, you are incapable of thinking 'outside the box', because sanity means uniformity between the average thinkers of the world. Disunity means to break free from the world, beak free from what other people would think, and become truly great.

Sanity leads to uniformity, uniformity leads to the loss of the self. That, my friends, marks the end of the Human spirit.

- Ernie

- I blame 1984

3:35am

3:35am says the digital  clock next to the tv. I've nearly reached the flash point, that point where your body decides it'll just skip tonights sleep and stay awake. Why am I up so late?
Well, to be honest, i have a crap load of homework that's due in the morning, much more than I can physically do in one night.
how did this happen? You can do anything right?
Right, because God is my father, however, you can't run after you've tied your shoe laces together.

I got distracted, lost my focus, and here I am. I'm not sure what distracted me this week.. I can think back and I don't immediately understand what it was.
Maybe it was nothing, it could very well have just been myself, who knows.

3:49am-  Flash.

4:06am-
It's cold now.. the floor is cold and it's seeping through my 'army hero' pajama pants, freezing my thighs. No one's around, and by 'around' i mean online. This is understandable, seeing as most of my friends have school.. in 3 hours.
It still is lonely though.

4:26am-
My nose feels frozen.. I can't wait to dive under my blankets and go to sleep.

4:45am-
"no one is available to chat"
I want  a fighter jet. Preferably an F22, however, an F4 wouldn't be so bad, the only problem with the F4 is that it wasn't designed with guns.
Upon beating my favorite video game "Ace combat 5, the Unsung war", I thought to myself "I am the best video game fighter pilot in the world".

5:13am-
I have to make it to 6am now..
The hours are so long though...

5:36am-
Just finished my essay.. at least i have something to show :P
also Tock.

6:45am-
sleep

What's in a name?

Ernesto, Leonel, Macias, the Third.

Ernesto, meaning earnest, sincere.
Leonel, meaning Lion.
Macias... now, Macias is a tough one.. buuuut, I've heard it could have derived from the Spanish word 'messias'. which is Messiah.

SOOOOOO, in that, I give you this self translation of my name: Earnest and sincere Lion of the Messiah.
WHAT NAO!?
Don't play with the Lion of the Messiah, I mean it, sincerely :)

Our names hold significance to who we are, in this, i do believe. God named people in the bible, or instructed their parents to give them certain names. I still believe God gave us our names for a reason, because we'e his children, and if someone messed up our name, he renames us.

With that said, it's late and I'm tired.

- Ernie.

BronzeGrl

"I must disagree with you, although I can understand your mentality (being a young person). For some reason, people think they can skip the in between and go straight to the top and although this can and does happen, the concepts and wisdom you learn in between can be invaluable and hold you together in the future.

Even in the Bible Jesus told the disciples to follow him and he would make them fishers of men. They had to have training, observe Jesus and understand what he wanted of them. Ernie, do not be in a rush to get to the top, take your time and learn from those with wisdom and experience. Peter could not have walked on water if he had not already learned some valuable things from Jesus. It is not AZ, it is A through Z. Learn the in between. You sound like a nice young man and I wish you all the best"

Thank you for sharing your criticism, first I'd like to say I respect you views and ideas, and I thank you for leaving this comment. In that, I have this to say..

My beliefs, views, and thoughts are not concepts, they come from the wisdom bestowed upon me by God and my parents. If you thought i was saying I could graduate high-school and become CEO of a company, you are mistaken, and I'm sorry you misunderstood. I do have plenty of wisdom, and if you don't believe this, so be it. A person's life will always take time, what I'm saying is that people don't have to waste time trudging around looking for that 'golden opportunity' of theirs. As far as I can tell, Jesus took care of all of us by dying on the cross, so why do we waste time moping around?

My Dad created the universe, why should i expect anything less then excellence in my life? 

Of course, I've had many disappointments in my life, but I still expect the most, in myself, and in my life. If my God loves me enough to die for me, I believe he also loves me enough to give me the best. 

Jesus told his disciples to follow him, and they did, there weren't any applications, they didn't have to pass any tests. They simply followed him, and he took care of them. Did David need to train before he went to fight Goliath? No, because our strength doesn't come from the world, it comes from God. Just as everything we ever need comes from God. You're right, life isn't AZ, it's A through living to the fullest you can for God.

Luke 9:1-6 says: "1.Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. 2.And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. 3.And he said unto them, Take nothing for [your] journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. 4.And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. 5.And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. 6.And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where."

We are all Jesus' disciples, he gave us power and authority over all evil and sickness, and yet you think we shouldn't expect the best? 

Matthew 7:8 "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

No ifs, ands, or buts. I think that lay's it out pretty clear. 

if not...

John 15:16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."

Not only do we receive fruit, we give it. And I don't know about you, but I've never seen fruit grow in some sorry looking dirt.

John 16: 23-24 "23.And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you. 24.Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

Full joy, see that? That's what I seek.

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Jesus overcame the world, so whatever the world says is normal, I don't have to live by. 

James 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

I prayed for wisdom, unwavering, for about a year straight. Go ahead and contradict what I've said, but know this: God has given me wisdom for a reason, he's placed me in a position to be a leader, to achieve, and to be great. God created us in his image, the same image as the God who created the very fabric that keeps your body from exploding and being torn to shreds  each time your neurons send messages through your brain. Sure, we're not perfect, but we strive to be, and my perfect doesn't include waiting around wasting my time not being great.

I am an example of God, not an example of a human. God calls us to follow him and to be like him, he does not call us to be like the world. My life is a leap of faith, on that, you can count.

- Ernie Macias.

P.S. My mentality has nothing to do with being young, it has everything to do with my God being the one keeping your heart and my heart beating. 

Round House Kick!

it's sunny, I'm wearing pants and a shirt, and I'm cold. srsly, what the fridge?

I've come across a belief in the world, that many people share. I'm not many people, I'd just like to state that.
The belief is that in order to be anything, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. Well, that doesn't float with me, because I like to live, and me living does not include wasting time 'working my way up'. I'f I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it.
Lets take a few examples.

#1. My first real art classes took place at Biola University, for free.
#2. I should have failed my permit test, but I didn't, because people like me.
#3. My first job wasn't flipping burgers at McDonald's, It was making up games and being a leader. I got paid to do nothing, basically.
#4. Now when I go to camp, I go as a counselor. I was the youngest camp Counselor YFC Spin sumer camp ever had (besides my fellow intern, who's my age).

So here's my belief: You don't HAVE to start at the bottom and work your way up. George Washington didn't do it, he was just a plain badass. Argue with me, I don't care. You'll never hit the 100 if you're shooting at the 50.

Call it overconfidence, say I have high expectations, and you know what? I agree with you. Because the God that takes care of me, is the same God that's holding the whole Universe together. Peter didn't walk on water by 'working his way up', he walked on water by believing he could, by believing in  the power of God. What happened when he started doubting? He sank, and Jesus had to come pull his butt out of the water. The faith of a mustard seed can move a mountain, you don't have to move it yourself, you just tell it 'move over there' and it would do so.

So why do we, as Christians, pretend like we have to do all this hard work? Does God not say that even the birds will always be fed, and how much more he would do for us? Your belief in having to do all this hard work in order to be something, comes from a lack of belief itself, and why?
Because you're scared, you're scared it won't happen.

So was Jonah.

- Fear is the greatest thing that we can destroy ourselves with.

- Ernie

So it's been a while.

To be honest, I can't tell you much about my trip because there's way too much. I climbed a few rocks ('climbed' and 'rocks' are understatements) saw a few things ('a few' and 'things' are also understatements). The trip was fantastic, I'm not sure how I'll ever trump it. I realize, through this trip, that not only is the world huge with lots to see, Cali itself is huge with lots to see.

Side Note: California is the best state ever, I've seen about half our states, and i do find myself qualified to make this decision.

There's so much to do in life, so much to enjoy, so many people to enjoy. We take it for granted, "oh, it's just a big hole in the ground"- No. it's the frugging GRAND CANYON. There's no time to worry, not time to play everything safe. Take a risk, step out on a ledge, look over the edge, and stand in awe of what you see. So maybe you fall, get back up, and carry on. Don't whine about how boring your life is, you can find something to do.

I've learned a lot this summer, a lot about myself, my family, the world I live in. I've also learned a lot about love and how to love. I'm not talking about loving only one person, I'm talking about real life love, loving people, loving myself, loving my church, and loving my world.

Side note: Love is a very broad idea.

Subject change: I spent yesterday at Soak City, pretty awesome. It was myself, Jess, Sarah, and 3 other's whose name's escape me. They didn't like the slides to much, so Jess and I were the ones owning the park. :awesome day:

Subject change: I leave for camp tonight.. again.. smh. This time I'll be leading a group of teenage dudes, some christian, most not. It should be something new.

Subject change: I was reading up on Jess' blog, she posted some of her 'favorite stuff' and I figured I should do the same, since I know you're all dying to know my 'favorite stuff'.

Color: purple
Month: December
Socks: black.. matching not required
Flower: white
Shoes: black high-top Converse (all start tyvm)
Number: 5
Sketch book: they new one
Bro: Ian G.
Person to invite besides Ian: Jess
Thing to do: hang out
Food: Cheeseburger con todos
Movie: Star Wars EP:V <-- lolface
Game: CN(comp) Ace combat 5 (PS2) CoD MW:2 (PS3) Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
Song: Give it all- Rise against.
Place: anyplace with either of the two people above.
Person: God (is God a person?.......) Jesus!
Word: awkward.
Quote: (changes often) "They be doin max extras"- Cici.

- Learn to love, and you'll find yourself living.

- Ernie

BRB Roadtrip (tick)

The gist of it is: Cali to Ohio to New York to Tennessee back to Cali, oh yeah, and everything in-between.

Why? Because I can. And i like to be driving straight at the sun for a matter of days.

I'll be gone for something like two weeks, two weeks of heat, summer, and lots of America. I plan on making everyone in America jealous of us people that live in Cali.

- Tick

- Ernie

God Bless Long Beach.

I'm standing under the hot sun, the grass of Ramona park beneath my feet. Two young girls approach me, one of them had been following me around all day. "Hi Ernie" says the older one with a smile. "Hey", a simple response, to show I was uninterested in them. "I bet you don't know my name" The Girl was right, i had no idea who she was, in that, i told the truth "I bet I don't." She was apt on getting me to talk to her "I'll tell you and you're gonna laugh, ok?" "okay..".

She waited a second, then told me her "name".

"Marrajawanna"

To be honest, I did laugh, only at the sheer stupidity. "It's true, I even wrote it on my bag. She showed me her bag, "Marijuana" was written in large bold letters across the back of it. I said nothing. "se habla espanol?"

me: "no habla"

her: "yeah you do!"

me: "yo no hablas."

her: "quieres marijuana?"

At that point, I decided it was best to walk away and not look back. "no." I said as I turned to escape her, she followed me for a couple yards, insisting that i wanted some weed.

Now, I'm sitting on the warm sidewalk, watching the children as they play on the playground. There are 4 light and life kids on the playground, including sam and liberty. There are about 7 local kids on the playground, including the one Alpha female with the attitude. As the birds sing, and the dandelions dance, the local kids start picking on two light and life kids. "Sam" I called him over to me "what are those kid's names?" I knew I'd have to call them by name when things got rough, to let the local kids know that they were my responsibility. Things escalated quickly, as i imagined they would, to the point where the two light and life kids were about to get an old school Long Beach pounding.

I made my way over to a position where i could easily see all 7 of the local kids. "Hey!" I shouted as I grew my ego exponentially, letting everyone know that I was in charge now. "if ANYONE touches those two kids, I'm gonna.." A million thoughts ran through my mind on how to finish that sentence, it ended up with "be PISSED!".

Everyone shut up and shrank, as i was hoping for. Everyone except the Alpha female. "well he punched my sister!".

There's a point where I doubt myself, and other points where I simply deny everything anyone else says.

"Bullcrap" I said, rejecting her false sense of reality "I was sitting right there watching the whole damn thing."

"well I don't let anyone hurt my family" She said, looking away.

"Good, and you better believe that anyone that touches my family is gonna get messed up, and these kids are MY family"

She muttered some sense of nonsense to which I ignored.

I called the children by name, and took them off of the playground, pissed that anyone would try to hurt them, and ready to break a few faces if i needed to. Adrenaline pumping through my veins.

I wonder to myself, why I was so protective over a few little kids I didn't even know, and why was I ready to fight for them rather then just pull them off the playground and leave? Because they were from my church? I realized then, that my church is my family, and I care for them as that. I don't simply have friends, I have one big family of people, all of which I care for as that.
That said, don't mess with my family, or im gonna be PISSED.

- There are 'those' days, and then there are days like mine.
- Ernie

Responsibility. Money. And doing what needs to be done.

since the beginning of last month, I've been a paid, working, intern for my church. I work with the youth, as a leader, I also work around the church in general. Doing odd jobs. The only real difference between what I do now, and what i did before, is that i'm more involved in planning Fusion, I get paid, and i show up earlier.

The other night, on Sunday, people were kneeling down at the altar and praying, then today, a woman came in asking about "the lady for the food". She was looking for Sarah and the compassion closet (a closet of necessities for people in need). Sarah wasn't around, so the receptionist just sent her to the ministry center.
I realized, upon listening to the woman ask me about Sarah and the compassion closet, as well as seeing the people at the altar, that it's my job to help these people, even if i'm just a youth leader. I led the woman to the compassion closet myself, turned on the light for her, grabbed her a bag, and told her to grab whatever she needed. Then, I turned around and dared everyone to give her a dirty look, no one did. Ciara prayed for her (she's more like that, i just set people up), and we sent her on her way with a smile.
Back to the people praying, I ended up praying for everyone there, awkwardly a bit.

That's why I work, that's what I'm supposed to be doing. I don't necessarily like going up in front of a church and praying for others, nor do I particularly enjoy helping random women that i don't know.
What i do like, is loving people, and thus, I do what God tells me needs to be done in order to make them feel loved.

I have no idea where I'm going with any of this. it's almost 1AM and I'm bum tired from an awesome day.

The fact of the matter is. I like loving people. In a nice way.. not like. romantically.. much. anyway.

I'm reading this cool book called "the same stuff as stars" it's boring and i like it.

This guy came to visit Fusion, and was being an annoying pest. He came from Big Bear, and was acting like he was better then us LB kids, he even started trying to act all "gangster". Whatever dude. Go back to big bear and take your ego with you.

Fusion was awesome. Both Jess and Ian were there, we had amazing water wars, I soaked everyone, including Jess and Ian. With water balloons, and my water gun, which i accidentally forgot there.

- Im tired, and i wont sleep.

- Ernie

Old friends and new songs.

Gunnar, one of my child hood friends, is 17 now, like myself. I saw him last night, he sells cutco knives. I realized, we're old, we have jobs, and we'll never be as young as we were. The world is transitioning now, in a few years it'll belong to me, and I'll join the average life of the American worker.

YEAH RIGHT! Screw that crap.

If you know anything about me, you'll know that I don't follow the paved path, I create my own and see what happens. That'll be my mark on history, history isn't made by doing the same thing as the last guy, history is made through change. I plan on being that change. I plan on taking your average plans, and tearing them to shreds, because I can.
I'm not going to sell cutco knives, I'm not going to be another average teen with an average job and an average paycheck. I'm going to take over the whole friggin world, watch me.

"You know, if you believe in yourself, you can do whatever you want and no one can stop you." - Mema.

Mema is right, nothing in this world wasn't achieved by hard work and self belief. Do you think if George Washington didn't believe he could win the war, he would have? no.
Some people fail to realize how easy it is to do something, if you want to do something, do it. That's how simple it is. That's how simple I'll make it.

-Because I can.
- Ernie.

P.S. WATCH ME.

Camp.

I was going to leave for summer camp tomorrow morning, today i found out it was cancelled. I was bummed to say the least. Winter camp got cancelled, now summer camp, and Kidder Creek looks hopeless because of our family road trip.
Uncle Calvin is in the hospital with Kidney failure and an enlarged heart. I know what Kidney failure is, but WTF is an enlarged heart? I honestly have no idea. This entire week has been non-stop something, I have something to do every single day, it's a hindrance.
My art show was alright. I guess.
I spent the rest of yesterday hanging out with Ian and Jess. We watched the fireworks at Lakewood mall, spectacular. One of the best finale's I've ever seen.

It was cold.
I'm now 'that guy' simply because i wear two sweaters. and also.. a few other reasons. But who cares? Testosterone does funny things. I'll leave it at that.

I spent the night at Ian's house the other day (no, i cannot recall what day it was). We strapped an LED to a battery, made an on/off button, and stuck the whole device to my sunglasses. It's a bright LED that makes for blinding people well. I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew this summer, If I'm not working, I'm at a friends house. If I'm not at a friends house, I'm doing chores at home. Awesome. I know.

My overall consensus is that I'm bummed, Winter camp got cancelled, summer camp is cancelled, and I won't be able to make Kidder Creek.

Did i mention Sajasabie failed to move onto phase 2 of moonbots?

- Sometimes, stuff doesn't work out, so you grab your cup of tea and carry on.
- Ernie

The peak.

I love that feeling of reaching the highest peak of something. Myself and Fusion scaled a mountain today, it was more of a hike, but it felt like we scaled it. The whole way up was steep, hot, and dusty. Half my 3/4 of my water went to someone other than myself.
I found myself thinking "why is it so hard for everyone except me?", the world may never know. Jessica came along, she's a trooper, never complained. Kayla, Cici, Ana, and Beth were our whiner babies, Evi just kept trotting. Our fearless leaders were great as usual. Tj and Lindsey.
We all signed a book that was left at the top, with out name and a quote. Mine went something like this...

"Well, I'm all out of water, sounds like a fun day. - Ernie. p.s. It's so hot."

The other's... I don't know what they wrote.

That being said, after we finished writing our quotes, I achieved Tock.

"what the... is "tock"?"

Well my friends, Tock is completion, at the beginning of the day, we have tick, once our day is complete, or we are satisfied, we achieve Tock (and hence, tick tock).
Upon reaching the peak, tock was achieved for myself. Upon eating lunch, I achieved over-tock. and now, as I get ready to spend the night at Ian's house, I will achieve re-tock.

- Well, I'm all out of water, sounds like a fun day.
- Ernie

war, a love story.

It took me hours just to find President George W. Bush's declaration of war against Iraq, sure i could have used Wikipedia, but i kind of wanted something more viable. I grabbed it off CNN.
Lets get a few things straight.

I do believe that we (The United States of America) invaded Iraq to give their people freedom and well-being.

"Oh that's not true, we just wanted their oil"

Well then, i guess we just decided to blow up the twin towers as well, and guess what, there's also a place called Area 51 where the Government holds Aliens.
Stop being ignorant and look at the picture here. I believe it was March 19 2003 when we (The United States of America) declared war against Iraq. U.S. Troops have been there for seven years, two months, and some days.
Agreed?
Agreed.

Alright then, next stop, September eleventh 2001.
19 terrorists hijacked 4 civilian planes, two of the planes were flown into the Twin Towers, killing not only those on board, but thousands more inside the buildings and on the ground. The third plane was flown into the pentagon, also killing innocent Americans. The fourth plane was found in a field, upside down, the Americans on the plane managed to fight for their freedom, and gain control of the plane. Sadly, they too perished.
That day marked an attack on America's freedom, it attacked the freedom of being able to go outside, and know you were safe. Imagine if that were every day of our easy American lives, imagine if we lived under the rule of a violent, murderous, dictator.
America saw that in Iraq, we saw that people were living with the fear and terror we experienced on September 11th.
Saddam Hussien was threatening the freedom, and peace, of the world. He did this by oppressing his people, using fear and violence to rule Iraq, and the world was watching him do it. The moment America stops standing up for freedom, is the moment the world turns black and reeks of the countless lives that have been lost fighting for the right to live freely.
We declared war on Iraq, not for oil, but to save the world from people like Saddam Hussien, like the 19 terrorists that attacked America, to show them, and everyone like them, that we are not afraid to bring the fight to them. America wasn't afraid to invade another country with freedom as an objective.
If America wanted oil, we would have taken it and pulled out of Iraq by now, we wouldn't have stayed seven years, nurturing and baby-sitting a newly reformed nation, still fighting terrorists and spending countless dollars, just to get our hands on some crummy oil.
You use common sense for once, look at the big picture, the world isn't about you and how you think your Government is so greedy. There are worse problems in the world.

"My fellow citizens, at this hour American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign.

More than 35 countries are giving crucial support, from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense.

To all of the men and women of the United States armed forces now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people now depend on you.

That trust is well placed.

The enemies you confront will come to know your skill and bravery. The people you liberate will witness the honorable and decent spirit of the American military.

In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for conventions of war or rules of morality. Saddam Hussein has placed Iraqi troops and equipment in civilian areas, attempting to use innocent men, women and children as shields for his own military; a final atrocity against his people.

I want Americans and all the world to know that coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm. A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment.

We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people.

I know that the families of our military are praying that all those who serve will return safely and soon.

Million of Americans are praying with you for the safety of your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent.

For your sacrifice, you have the gratitude and respect of the American people and you can know that our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done.

Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly, yet our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder.

We will meet that threat now with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of firefighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities.

Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures and we will accept no outcome but victory.

My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others. And we will prevail.

May God bless our country and all who defend her." - President George W. Bush.

So. that was unexpected.

Well... not the day i was hoping for. i got to play two half games of paintball, both of which only had only 11 players. 5 on one team, 6 on the other. We were playing on a CQC field, it has rows of buildings on two sides, and cars/busses down the middle. My team was comprised of: Myself, my little brother, my dad, my dad's friend, and two random dudes.
First game, my dad and his friend take left (the zipper, closest range combat in the whole field) the two guys take the right (buildings and open range) myself and sam go up the middle. About 30 seconds into the game, sam gets popped right on his pods and is out, seeing as i was right next to him, i was able to spot the enemy. I ran into the nearest building that had a window facing the guy who shot Sam, i crept up, keeping out of sight, popped out and snapped off three shots, two of which smashed into the guy's face mask.

pwnd.

AT this point, i was at the threshold of "behind enemy lines" so i was keeping an eye around every corner for any dudes that stayed behind. Well, i got bored, so i camped at one spot trying to listen for gunfire, one of my team mates comes up behind me, and we decide to move up.
Now we ARE behind enemy lines, and we have NO idea where the enemy is, so naturally, we go a-huntin. he takes middle left, i take middle right.
snap snap snap.

snap snap.

I see a guy behind a bus, then i see three paintballs fly over and one hit my right over my head.
That was my first game, rather uneventful and boring, the second game was worse. I shot some guy and he wiped the paint off like an idiot, so my dad shot him three more times.
See what happens? Jerk.

After that i had to leave for art class :D

Can't wait for the next time we go, i want to ACTUALLY play.

- i want a coat, with a big collar, but not too big like a vampire.

- Ernie

This, Is, War.

It's war time, time for me to do what men do, fight. It's what we've always done, we fight to see who's better, who's stronger, who's greater.

"WHat are you talking about!?!"

I'm talking about paintball! one of the greatest games ever created! You run, you jump, you dive and crawl, there's shooting and yelling and pain. yes, it's only a little, but there's pain.
I love playing paintball, someone asked me "how do you play? what's your style?"
I put it this way: I don't join the front line, i make the front line.
Why not!? it's a game, what's the point if you're not getting shot at and making guys pee their pants because they've never seen a player as psychotic as you? I like the feeling of running up to a spot, and realizing, the only people in front of you are the ones you want to shoot, where's the rest of your team? hiding in some bunker behind you, that's a real fight.
If you don't walk down that hall, with a gigantic splatter all over your mask or hopper, you weren't fighting hard enough.

Which brings me to this: I got a set of plain Artist trading cards!

"what does that have to do with paintball?"

nothing!

Artist trading Cards, artists make them, and trade them... like every other kind of trading cards, except you make them yourself.
I'm excited to make them, and trade them with other artists.
Which brings me to other news!

I'm going to be in an art show!
I'll post details when i get them, but it's going to be sweet, my very first art show! yay!
I'm a happy man.

- war, without it, would men ever have peace?

- Ernie

And who might you be?

Mysterious Formspring'er that keeps asking me wonderful questions, look at you, I know you're reading this, so i figured I'd say thank you. Thank you for asking real questions and not being retarded :)

Now. to business. I've been thinking hard about decisions lately, decisions about friends, relationships, what i should do in the future, what I shouldn't do. I realized, there are so many decisions! I can't go around thinking each one through, it's not in me, it's not my nature.
I do things, sometimes without any thought at all. Sure, it can get me into trouble, but other times it just leads me on my little adventure called Life.
People say that I should think about my decisions, i should think about the consequences. Well, bad news, sometimes i just can't do that. Sorry.

I will jump without checking the depth sometimes.
I will run without knowing where I'm going sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, and I can't stress this enough, I do try to think, and I am trying harder to be smart with my decisions.

(where am i going with this i don't even....)

Anyways. I'm tired and it's 12:30AM. GoodNight Drones!

- to make sense is to have someone associate with the nonsense you call communication.

- Ernie

The FP is back.

Upon recent events, i decided it was time to Dig up the Ernie of old. Spaz, The Flamingo Prince, is back. Get ready world, because I'm a bit mad, bored, and i have $20.

"what does $20 have to do with anything?"

It has to do with EVERYTHING. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I CAN ACCOMPLISH WITH $20!?
I'm spending twenty bucks, on bleach.. for my hair.

"Then what?"

THEN IM PWNING MOONBOTS WITH NAI! (the pineapple king)

"oh.. okay.."

Darn straight. Because I'll do what i wanna, when i wanna, where i wanna. No more waiting around for people, this is a "keep pace with me or get left behind" deal. (not "kinda deal", just "deal." period.)

"And why are you doing this?"

Because.. For too long I've fallen into this emotional, dependent, depressed, and boring, Ernie. And it's time to come out. It's time to get back to ME.

It's time to be SpAz! The guy that rolled your Car in yarn and laughed while you tried to unravel it. The one that PWNS you with a SPECTACULAAARRRR comeback when you try to make fun of him. The guy that embarrasses you by picking you up and running around with you when.. when you give me a reason to do that.
The Flamingo Prince! Who got excited for the yearly kidnappings of Jr. Highers. The guy who snuck around leaving Flamingos in the front yards of complete strangers. The guy that said "Lets go one bigger! Lets leave em a dirty matress!". The guy that carried a log named George around camp! JUST BECAUSE HE LIKED IT!

There's so much I've been letting myself miss out on, I've stopped biking (mostly because dad broke my bike.. but still), I've stopped waging war on the kiddos because I'm bored, it's sad but... I even stopped drawing what's in my head.

I KNOW! IT'S TERRIBLE!

Oh well, I'll draw most of it tomorrow... and never show it to you guys, because I'm lazy and i don't feel like photographing all of it.. then posting it in a blog and.... yep. lazy.

The bottom line is, don;t mess with me anymore, because I AM NOT in the mood ;D

- Have a nice day!

- Ernie, Spaz *FP*

......

you know when you just feel like

JHW^IUYWD*(W&D*W&%^TW%$D$W#DWBDNWMDWNTD^W$DW$#@%@D.

yeah. i hate that.

- yup.

- Ernie

Someone once said...

"Everyone will hurt you"

I didn't used to believe it.

But now I do.

- wake up, tie your shoes, and get on with it.

- Ernie

A state of mental Retardation.

"have you ever had your heart broken? and if so are you over them ye?"

"do you still have feelings for an ex?"

"R u smart"

"Y did u spell hi wrong"

Listen retards, First, don't think just because I can't see your name doesn't mean i can't figure who you are. Secondly, you guys are retarded. lol.

If you think you're going to stir me up to get all mad and do something I'm going to regret, you're wrong. 

Now, lets get to the good stuff!

"Y did u spell hi wrong" this made me lol. I didn't spell hi wrong you idiot. I'm sure you're smart enough to know that people like to spell certain things differently (as seen by your poor excuse of the written english language). here are some examples of "hi" that don't really look like the word "hi".

There's the infamous "Hai".

There's "hey", which is just a different variation of "hi".

There's "yo" which looks nothing like "hi" but means pretty much the same thing. 

Then there's my personal favorite, "hye" which is like the word "hey" only the second and third letters ( 'e' and 'y') are swapped. If you follow basic english and correct word structuring, you'll find that "hye" and "hi" have the same pronunciation. 

NEXT!

"R u smart". I like this one, obviously it came from the same person that asked why i spelled "hi wrong". Seeing as they actually took the time to capitalize the first letter in the sentence, "R". (by 'R' they meant to say "Are") However their grammar and correct usage of, again, the english language fell apart from there. We see incorrect usage of the letter 'u' as apposed to the correct form of the word "you", then the sentence simply ends without correct punctuation. The correct punctuation mark for this sentence should be a question mark (?) seeing as it's obviously a question. 

NEXT!

"do you still have feelings for an ex?" Not many people know that i actually have an Ex, only my closest friends, the Ex herself, and the Ex's friends/boyfriend that she cheated on me with (lol). This question is well composed, contains proper grammar (for the most part, the 'd' in "do" wasn't capitalized) and sentence structure. This also makes it easier to see who asked what. the same person most likely asked the following questions as well:

"have you ever had your heart broken? and if so are you over them ye?" Obviously I've had my heart broken, this question was written by someone who A) had a lot of friends over and wanted to bug me, or B) likes to see themselves talk/wants attention. The missing 't' at the end of the question tells me that it was written fast, excitedly, and sent without it having been looked over. 

"are you looking for someone right now?" This is a stupid question, everyone is looking for someone.

Those three questions (and a few more) seem to have been written all by the same person.

You know who you are, and I know you're reading my Blog. Go away now, and try to work on your grammar usage and mechanics (there's classes for that). 

- people, sometimes they don't know when enough is enough.

- Ernie

Formspring

I've had one for a while, but no one asks me questions.

http://www.formspring.me/Erniemacias

Go. Ask.

EDIT: apparently it's broken, cause every time i answer a question, it won't post them.
lame

edit edit: wow, took em a million years lol

That time always comes....

The time where you have to make a decision, the people before you were fine, but still. Every part of your body is screaming at you not to do it.

"what if something goes wrong?"

"what if i miss and hit the rocks?"

"what if i drown?"

Your feet seem to plant themselves in the rock, unwilling to move. Your body tenses up, all you can think about is what you have to do, what you've been taught. You jump, the adrenaline rushes through your body, you've just denied everything that keeps you alive. Your thoughts are simple, hands to your sides or crossed, keep your legs straight.

You hear cheers, a crash, the low drone of water rushing around your ears is calming.

there's no bottom, you start flailing your arms, reaching for the surface and the precious oxygen you need to breathe. Once you hit the surface, you take that breath, you swim faster than you've ever swam or else the current will take you into nothing.

You've done it, and now you can say you've done it.

- Because saying "i jumped off a cliff" is just plain boring.

- Ernie

from: The kids. To: The parents

Dear mom and dad, it's come to our attention that there are a few things we should explain, to make both our lives easier.
First thing first, us kids seriously hate it when you say "you know what it's like" because frankly, you don't. You know what it's like to be a kid, sure, but you don't know what it's like to be US, "us" as in this Generation, you thought YOU had problems as a kid, with every problem one generation has, a new one comes up with the next generation. So no, you don't know what it's like to be us. WHat can you do about it? Nothing really, we'll explain it to you in our own time.
Secondly, you have to understand that we won't always tell you everything, you won't know all our secrets, and you won't know why we do some of the things we do. The reason we don't tell you is complicated. leave it at that.
Also, we hate it when you question our decisions. Sure, we're immature, but you were too once, and how did you mature? You did it by making stupid choices, we can't learn from your mistakes, and we know you just want to protect us, but please, let us mature. We can't spend our lives not making mistakes, we wouldn't learn anything. So let us make decisions, if you've raised us right, then we'll try to make good decisions, if you've done a lousy job, then it's on you.
Love, Love is a touchy topic for us kids and you parents, you guys remember what it was like to want to be in love. For those parents who think that you're all your kids need. stop. that's a load of batcrap, Growing up, the only people we needed to love us were our parents, then we got a tad older, and we needed our friends to love us, then, we hit this horrible spot where we want to be "In love". You were there, you do know what that feels like, otherwise, we wouldn't really be here... Anyways, it's up to you parents to support us in our boyfriends or girlfriends, don't shun us for wanting to love someone, that's mean.
Rules, we've made a rhyme for you guys to remember, it goes like this:

"The more rules you make, the more rules we'll break"

Don't set us up to fail and get in trouble, that's retarded and we hate it. Obviously we're going to break a rule like "no talking to your friends anymore", we see it as cruel and unusual punishment, and seeing as we're all independent Americans, we won't follow rules we don't like. So here's some advice, let us make CHOICES. We'd much rather have a CHOICE than a rule, choices have consequences, and we're more willing to accept the consequences of our own choices than your rules.

"well breaking our rules would be a choice, and it does have consequences"

Don't get smart with us, we can do the same thing. You know what we mean.

How to love us: We act like we don't want you guys in our lives, but the truth is, we do.. to a point. We can't have you guys smothering us, we can't have you jumping in our Kool-aid and not bringing any sugar. A hug when we're feeling down does the trick, or taking us out to ice cream every now and then, don't be afraid to ask us how our day was. Other than that, I'm sure you know how to love us effectively.
Dads: If you're wondering how you connect with your sons, playing video games is a nice outlet, or picking up some other type of father/son hobby.
Moms: if you're wondering how to connect with your daughters, try taking them out shopping, having them give you a makeover, you'd be surprised how much style has changed over the years.
Asking questions: If you want to know about our lives, don't interrogate us, we don't like it and when you start doing that we shut down and close you off.

Interrogation = not a good thing. (ya dig?)

Instead, try TALKING with us, you'd be amazed at the stuff we have to say. And if we seem like we don't want to talk, we probably don't, so just give us time and we'll open up to you later.
(We secretly like talking to you guys)
School, our education IS something we take for granted, that's just a fact. Stop smothering us with crap like "You need all A's", it's stressful and works against us. When we do get A's, be happy, if we get a bad grade, don't shun us, ground us, disown us, or ground us again. It's rather unfair, because we don't TRY to get bad grades, grades are given to us, and half of the time we just need help in the subject.
And lets face it, you shouldn't be mad at us for doing bad in a subject you don't even remember how to do.

"When I grow up"
remember when we were little tiny kids, and we said stuff like "When i grow up i want to be a monkey trainer"? remember how you would say stuff like "a monkey trainer!? that's an excellent job!"

Since when did you decide to make what we want to be your business? If we still want to be a monkey trainer, let us be a fruggin monkey trainer! It makes us feel bad when you say stuff like "how would you live being a monkey trainer? you know you'll have bills to pay!" or "You can't support a family doing that". Should i remind you that we're in America? and there's always a way to make money doing what you love.
With that said, we love you most of the time, even if it seems we don't, and we just want you to love us and support us. We have to start learning how to be an adult after all, and we can't do that unless you let us start taking control over our lives.

- The Kids.

P.S. we're serious about the ice cream.

Screw Destiny.

Since my birthday (In January), my friends and I have been planning a trip to Disney, well, it got pushed back to march, whatever, that's fine I guess. THEN, it gets pushed back to April, alright, a tad annoying. THEN, it gets cancelled and pushed farther back into April. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the time is near for us to actually go.
You thought that was it, it isn't.
Cobb ends up having to cancel, because he wouldn't be able to renew his pass in time. Incredigey. At this point, I'm pretty bummed, what's Disney without Cobb? I'll get to hang out awkwardly with Crystal and her friends. FINE, I'll do it, only because I'M FRUGGIN TIRED of rescheduling, and I WANT TO GO to Disneyland.
It's 2 days before we're going, and I get the wonderful news that Crystal is sick. BUT, maybe she'll be better by the time we need to go.
Later, i find out that my parents are going out that night, so I have to find a ride home. No Big deal.. except that I still don't know what time Blue (Crystal) and her friends are leaving. Sunday rolls around (we're going monday), and I still don't have the times of when to show up, and when they're leaving.
I send Blue a text, no response, i send Cobb a text, he responds 15 minutes later. I ask him if he's heard from Blue, he disses me for his band.
This is where i interject and say "Screw your band".
Fianally, at 9:30pm, i get ahold of Blue, and she cancels.
I don't care if you think it's "destiny" (cobb), I'm mad that I didn't get to go.

Since I'm on Destiny, I might as well talk about that too. Destiny is an odd idea, can one control it? I would think you can't, since your destiny would be set. Or, can you control it? by making your own decisions every day. I'll tell you what's real, life, your choices, and your feelings.
So who gives a crap whether or not destiny is real, what's real is right now, here, this second. I'm not saying you shouldn't think about the future, I'm saying you should stop being to fruggin paranoid about what your destiny is.

"I must fulfill my destiny"
"that isn't part of my destiny"
"it is, my destiny"

You don't know your destiny. Where ever you end up, is where you're gonna end up, whether you call it God's plan for your life, or destiny, even fate, it's the same. You're going to end up dead. That's our destiny. We live, we die, and that's the end of us for this world.
My point is, the only reason "destiny" exists is because people have this need for purpose, they must feel that they mean something, that they're a part of something bigger. We made destiny, we created it, so does it really exist?

Lame.

- lame stuff happens.

- Ernie

how many miles?

I've had the same pair of black high top all stars for over a year now, they've walked countless miles, they've hiked, climbed, jumped from heights big and small, they've been through rapids, down waterfalls, through nasty lake weed,  up cliff faces, down cliff faces. They've traveled to northern Cali and back, twice, they've seen my first girlfriend, they've seen my first break up. They've stepped on grass, asphalt, fire, rocks, sand, and dirt. They've carried me through wonderful games of paintball, football, soccer, basketball, and baseball.
They've done a whole lot, and i still wear them, with or without socks.

Written on the outside, you'll find "WIll you" and "Carry me far".
Most will only take the time to look at one shoe, and ask either "Why do your shoes say "Will you"?" or "why does it say "Carry me far"?".
Well dummy, if you look at both shoes you'll see that each one has half of the phrase.
Now you're asking why it says that.
Explanation: Most of us don't think about the relationship we have with our shoes, but my shoes remind me of everything I've been through, everything they've carried me through. There is nothing as faithful as a shoe. So when i make new friend's, or meet new people, i ask myself "Will this person carry me far?".
Yup, I'm selfish, and i don't want to invest in someone who's just going to hurt me, trick me, lie to me, steal my Ipod... you know.

So the next time you see me wearing my crappy shoes, and you wonder why they say "Will you" or "Carry me far", ask yourself, "Who's going to carry ME far?".

P.S. relationships.

- walk in my shoes? no, only i do that.

- Ernie

screw you and your hotdogs.

Actually, no, let me buy one... or rather, let my dad buy one for me.
I went to the DMV a few weeks ago, Oh the DMV, i love it.

It's gray walls.
It's slouchers that slouch behind their dull desks.
It's crowds.
It's long uneventful lines.

Yeah. Love it.
So anyways, I was there trying to get my California Drivers learning permit, oooooh, legit, i know. (count how many commas i use, it's fun). After waiting through like... 40 bajillion people before me, it was finally my turn. yay!
my turn to START the paper work and crap just to get my written test.... dang.
Well, the guy behind the desk was... a mix between Igor, Sloth... and Oscar the grouch. Fun times, we finished that (whatever "that" was, it's not like i payed attention), and moved on to the place where i actually get my test.
now THAT guy was cool, what can i say? me and Black dudes are like.. chocolate on.. graham crackers.. totally awesome.
I get my test, im walkin to the testing area, oh yeah, im so cool, im getting my permit, hah, yeaahhhhh.
Dang, bloody nose. After spending 10 bajillion hours in a bathroom with no paper towels tending to my nose, I'm FINALLY ready to take the test.
Blah blah blah, answer answer answer.
There's like 50 questions on that test... and that was 48 too many, thank you very much.

All in all, i passed, yay me.
ALL, IN, ALL. I PASSED OK!?

Once i passed, i went outside and hung around with dad for a little while, as his car was getting smogged. Dad bought me gummy worms (well deserved) and.... we pretty much just stood around in the hot sun for a few more hours.
it was a good day.

- DMV. the best place to catch up on homework.
- Ernie

Mr. Responsible.

I went with Ian and a few friends to the movies recently. down at the pike. We bought our tickets, and proceeded INTO THE THEATER!
The guy tore our tickets, harasses Ian about his Birthday presents (asking him if it was food... it was, a friend of his baked him brownies, but he didn't knwo that), then as we're heading nicely to our theater.
"excuse me... exuse me!"
I turned around, saw the security guard guy, asking us who was the leader of our Group.

Teens have a funny way of being incredibly indecisive, within those two seconds of "we better find a leader before he gets mad", no one wanted to go.
Fine, let the homeschooled Kid do it, I know my rights, and i figured i was the oldest anyways.
I go up to him "you the leader?". i answered with confidence "sure am" (I was. no doubt.)

Now, if you're going to ask a bunch of Kids who their leader is, don't doubt the person who say's they're the leader. If they're willing to say it, they mean it. <- period

"What makes you the leader?" He REALLY asked me what made me the leader, perhaps the fact that i was brave enough to not just ignore him and keep walking?
"Well, I'm the oldest of the bunch" I wanted to say: "well no one was coming, so I did".
"How old are you?" Uhg, enough with the questions already! get to the point.
"I'm 17" "17!? but he just turned 17"
Dude. i hate it when people state the obvious and use it as a statement against what i just said.
"yeah, but I turned 17 in January, so i have a few months on him" ya dig?
The guy just sighed and shook his head "man, 17?"
Smile and nod people, smile and nod.
"alright, here's the thing, when you guys go in there you can't make any noise, alright?"
Yeah, whatever, we're a bunch of good kids anyways so that's what we were planning.
"Now, the city of Long beach has 10 'o clock Curfew"
Ok... it's only 8 and we're going to be late for the movie, so can you hurry up?
"So technically you have to be 18 or over to watch this movie, because when it's over it'll be past 10pm"
FINALLY! we're getting somewhere.
"ok thanks, I didn't know that" Because I live in lakewood and we don't have any stupid curfew's that show how much the city doesn't trust Teenagers.
"yeah well, now you do, so be really quiet."
Blah Blah Blah, he went on to say how when we come out we could either get a warning, or a ticket. Nice, thanks man, thanks Long Beach, thanks world for not trusting us.

Anyways, i felt all responsible and whatnot, and you can bet we didn't get in trouble :D even an hour past curfew.
Me and Ian even walked by a few raves, and no one said anything, totally felt Legit.

- Responsability is the choice that no one wants to make
- Ernie

Insomnia anyone?

Well, I haven't slept almost all week, and that suucks. I was talking to Jacob and he was like "wth, y?" and i was like "idk, allergies?" and he was like "r u sure ur not stressed? maybe skool? gurls? fam?".
Thanks Cobb, now i feel like it could be each of those, how wonderfully overwhelming. To top it all off, my jaw hurts like.... like i don't know what.
and WHAT THE HECK!? every SINGLE song that plays on Pandora right now is SOOO FRIGGIN depressing. How many times can i click the "I don't like this song" button? jeeze. today is not my day.

I got into a fight the other day.. so correction* this is not my week.
The Kid had a mental breakdown on me, I don't blame him, where i handle the crap of the world through art and sarcasm, others might handle it differently. Unfortunately, he decided to handle it by flipping out on me. At church of all places.
I'm glad he flipped out on me and not someone else, someone else might'v taken it differently.
What can i say? I'm used to it, I'm used to people being stupid, I'm used to crap happening, and I'm used to crappy weeks, crappy years.
How bad could it get?

Anyways, i'm sitting here eating Sweethearts left over from Valentines day, I think they're supposed to be eaten with someone special.. because they don't make any sense. "Ask me" ask me what? Who's me?
"True love"? what's true love anyways? so many ideas, not enough facts.
"Miss you" meh.
"First kiss" ....

So yeah, I like the yellow ones, those are bomb. My current yellow ones say "Yes dear", "Love her", and "miss you". . . Oddly, i don't think the universe is trying to tell me anything. it's all just "sweet talk" (im so punny right?).

You know I've been writing this Blog for over two hours?
nice.

- When crap hits the fan, duck.
- Ernie

PICS SON!

left to right: Brotha1, cobb, amber, brotha2the colored people clique :D

Cobb, Kayla, Amber.


everyone, Dan, everyone else.

The Random chick with the hat is Sher... Blogger seems to have beaten me.. and i couldn't insert her name next to her pic.

PICS SON!
- Ernie

Oh, so about that one thing.

Anyways, I guess i should catch you all up on my totally crazy and busy life...... dont mock.
Went to a winter "semi-Formal" a few weeks ago (like.. 2?), got all dressed up and spiffed out. I walk in and what do i see? like 20 cliques spread about the whole room, what the heck? what's a guy who knows no one there supossed to do? Naturally, i went up to the only colored woman (she was black ok? but for the love of God and equality, I'll say colored) and i asked "uhm... am i overdressed?" Oh the look on her face was priceless, she gave a scan around the room at all the kids who weren't dressed 'as nice' as myself and replied "Oh no, you look great, let me get my nephew"
After a bit of yelling, her Nephew and son came. And there you have it, 'The Colored people clique', yes, i am more comfortable around random black guys than i am around random white guys. Of course, the down side of being the only darker guys at the dance is... the parents, yes, simply because we're dark means we're up to something... racists... not really.
After a whole long while of wondering where Cobb was (I assumed he was stuck at Disneyland.. ha), he finally showed up and introduced me to his friends. Kayla, Amber, and Sher (pronounced 'Share'). we floated around.. We must not have done anything, because i don't remember doing much. After a while, the slow dance came up, it was me, one of the brothers, Jacob, Kayla, amber, and Sher. Jacob and Amber went for a dance, The Brother took Sher, and i was left standing awkwardly with Kayla...
soo.. I asked her if she wanted to dance. and we did, and it was a bit awkward for the following reasons:

A. I'm like a foot taller than her
B. We barely knew eachother
C. I got a crash course in slow dancing from mom earlier that day
You get the point, overall not bad though.... not that i have anything to compare..

Moving on, this next part happened after the slow dance, nearish the end of the night.

THE 'GIRL YOU DONT WANT TO TALK TO BECAUSE SHE'LL EAT YOU'

There's a worse name for her, rhymes with... bo.. and mo, jo, flo, glow. you get the point right? Anyways, Jacob, as well as his partner in crime Kayla, told me to stay away from this particular girl (I wont say her name... for her safety.. i mean, mine). Alright, whatever, I'll stay away from her. HOLY SHATNER!
She pops up right next to me "want to dance with me?" she asked, oh her sweet face was ever so tempting.. but alas, I WOULD NOT! "uhmm" i racked my brain for a valid excuse, "I can't dance to this music" really Ernie? that was the best you could come up with? horrible, i know.
"awww, are you sure?" she dared bring out the puppy eyes on me.
"yeahh... sorry" NOW PLEASEEEE please please go away, meanwhile, Cobb was laughing at my demise.
"well... will you stand on the dance floor with me?" (ok, that's just weird)
"uhhhh.... " in my head, i couldn't think of anything other than "I DONT WANT YOU TO EAT ME!" except, what came out was, "allright".
So, i gave her a head start, that way i could turn around and give Jacob the "OH MY GOD! SAVE ME!" face.... he didn't.
I was stuck standing with this girl on the dance floor, while she got her groove on, awkwardly. Finally, a guy came by that had been checking her out all night (trust me, i know things). So i was like "oh hey! you can dance, show me how" blahblahblah, i got him to kinda start dancing with her, then, the gates of heaven opened and in came Kayla.
"Ernie! Jacob said he needs you" YES! i left the dance floor without a word.
By Far, one of the scariest times of my life.

"I always get like, 20 chicks asking me to dance"

Coming from Paul, a guy i was introduced to by Frankie, His Formula went something like this:
pt.1 Grab a chair
pt.2 take it to the middle of the dance floor
pt.3 sit and wait for chicks to ask you to dance.
Paul, Frankie and I sat.... and sat... and Paul's plan failed, good work Paul, we effectively looked like idiots :D

At the end of the night, there came....

THE DANCE OFF.

all the girls on one side, all the guys on the other. I broke in somewhat late with the good 'ol Macias 'shower'. and then some girl came up to me and was like "oh hey, you're that guy that did that awesome thing in the dance off" Wow, her vagueness was shocking. "uhh.. i did?" apparently, i did, and it was awesome, and I let her believe that it was me.

I could blab on and on about the night, but, It's gotta end sometime. All in All, it was a really fun night.

- sometimes you just gotta make your own fun

- Ernie
(I'll post pics later)

Good Lord

I haven't written a decent blog in forever.