a book review: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Read this over break. It's an excellent and exciting story, and the movie adaptation is just as good; perhaps better. Velociraptors are to be feared as a pack of leopards who have been imbued with the agility of mongoose, the ferocity of a wolverine, and the diabolical intelligence of a chimp.

You lose details and some character development when you translate a book into a movie, just because everything has to be done with visuals and dialogue, but in some ways the movie version smooths out flaws in Crichton's story. Crichton builds things up tremendously well until the tipping point where the fat guy starts making trouble and the visitors break down right next to the T-rex enclosure, who can now get out because the electrical fences are out. But then his story starts breaking down.

He is able to keep you interested enough to keep reading, but it is like he tries too hard to do so. After the kids and Dr. Grant get stuck out in the woods with no choice but to walk back through dangerous dinosaur-island, and everything else starts going to crap, there begins weak danger-at-every-turn writing. They have so many near misses with the Tyrannosaur that it becomes cheesy.

In this way the film takes the upper hand. The movie is exciting and you feel the danger, but it doesn't break down into cheap action-film writing. (At least not as bad as the book does.) A small detail that I find irksome in the book is that it is specifically listed the 15 dinosaur species that the island's geneticists re-engineer, and then later a 16th species is running around. It is like the author just wanted filler, to take the place of squirrels as mild, chittering creatures, and forgot the rules of his own story.

All in all, my favorite character in the story is Ian Malcolm: the brilliant chaos theory mathematician who wears all black and has the cynical (and he turns out correct) view that the very concept of the park teeters on the brink of disaster. The story of a Dinosaur Park, and the way it falls apart because of the problem with attempting something within the scope of scientific possibility but beyond the scope of what humans can or should try to control, is an exciting and enjoyable one.

It should be noted that in the movie Mr. Hammond (the old rich guy who starts the park) is portrayed as a lively, happy old man. In the book where we get more insight into his character, it is seen that he is a foolish old man who tries to overstep what should be done just because it can be done so as to bring dinosaurs back from extinction. Then his idea is to keep them under control in his park so that he can make billions on the novelty. His pride and desire for riches get the better of him, and in the end his dinosaurs eat him.

Christmas Break Update

Ah, Christmas.

As the season winds down and we realize that in less than a week a new year will be upon us, I'm sure eager blog readers everywhere are asking themselves, what are those Willard boys up to?

Well my friends, let me provide some much needed info for your curious hearts.

John Carr received gifts from friends and family the other morning, then spent his afternoon in a local pawn shop selling all of them for what meager prices he could manage, in order to fight the felony case against him in the sorry state of North Carolina for driving too fast. John has a warrant out in North Cackalacky for going 80 in a 55. However, if any young bounty hunters are looking for a easy catch, be wary, John can be hardcore.

Sam is enjoying a quiet Christmas in the mountains of Fishersville, VA. Bruce and Nancy Bowman are pleased to have their only son home, and are sure to participate in many heartwarming family activities with Sam such as, but not limited to, hunting, cooking, cleaning, singing, dancing, hiking, coloring, talking, playing monopoly, healing sick animals, doing work for the city of Staunton, and taking family photos.

Jeremy doesn't celebrate Christmas, in the North, they have rallies where they burn Christmas trees, wrapping papers, and Santa Claus effigies. Yankees...

During the break, Doug will most likely spend the holidays preparing himself for the long trail ahead of him on the Appalachain trail. Additionally, Doug will be honing up on his math skills for his future profession as a high school math teacher. For Christmas, Doug asked for inspirational posters with cats and other animals on them for his classroom. These posters have phrases like "Hang in there!" with cats doing a pull up, or "come out of your shell!" with turtles rolling around on the ground. They're great.

Evan is out hunting a deer right now in order to feed the men of Willard on their trip to New York. He also may be dabbling in building green eco-friendly igloos in the snow.

Jackson is laying on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean right now probably, with his brother Tyler Strawn rubbing lotion on his back, reading a library book picked out by his mother, Susan Strawn. Jackson has been cruisin around on the ocean and stopping in tropical lands such as Jamaica, Barbados, and Florida.

Joe "DADDY" Danehower, is Broin it out in Chantilly, Virginia. kickin it old school with Josh and Jamie Danehower, the J-Danes (as they're affectionately called around the neighborhood.) are hanging out with their tiny Russian friend who visits them at Christmas. Her name is Elaina I believe, but no one has met her yet. I expect to be introduced when the Willard boys visit on December 30th, 2010.

Myself? I been chillin out ya dig? worked at the Y one day, took a trip from San Antonio to Chesapeake, spent a night at the Orphanage with JT, Ba, ScottyCam, and Josh last night. Now I'm plannin on chillin out till I leave for NY in two days.

well my friends, its been real and its been good, and its been real good.

<3's
James Crockett Harris III

white christmas anyone?

Merry CHRISTmas everone!

D. thinks:

about death a lot. Sure, life is good. But it isn't good enough to really satisfy. What I really want is beyond this. What I really want is Jesus.

I have dreams. I want to hike the Appalachian Trail, and be a high school math teacher one day. I want to live in Colorado. I want to marry a woman, and love her. I'd like to have children with her, and love them. But I'm not holding onto these dreams. When my God says to me "Come here, now", I won't look back. There won't be anything to look back to.

So please, my friends, don't live your life for this life. There is nothing here.

To hell with the American Dream. The only retirement I am saving for is the great Sabbath rest at the end of all things. And I am trying to get 6 solid days of work in 'till then.

Yes, I love life. But God is way better than life. I love him more.

Break.

family, friends, and foes,

on the behalf of the willard house we would like to wish you a happy holiday season. you are probably thinking, oh thats sweet jackson, we hope you have a happy holiday season as well, what all are you going to be doing over break? well since you asked, ill tell...



currently over break, to be honest, i have not done much. i had gotten a call from honey baked ham a week ago asking me to report for the holiday season, however, when they found out that their loyal employee would not be able to work on christmas eve they thought it was only fair not to give me any hours. yes i am bitter. with that being said, continue to buy there hams, they are delicious. after realizing that i would not be working i had to find something to do all day rather than just be a bum around the house. and i have struggled with that. my days have consisted of reading, watching tv, and yea thats it. not that im complaining, but i would like to find something to do. and no i promise i will not be doing this all break long. for years my mom has dreamed of spending christmas on a cruise ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean. after years of begging, we are finally doing just that. on wednesday morning at 5am my family and i will drive to richmond to board an airplane to fly to flo-rida where we will hop in the ship. ironically the movie titanic was on the other night and i caught myself watching it. it doesnt help that my name is jack as well. we will be cruising for 5 days in which one of those days we will be in the bahamas and another day in jamaica. i have never been on a cruise before so im pretty unsure on what people actually do. one would assume there is fun stuff to do on a cruise ship. i often view cruises for old people or small children. maybe i will have a taste of both of those lives this week. speaking of old people...



im not that big if fan of the show survivor but i often catch myself watching the 2 hour finale they have at the end of the season. the whole concept of the show is intriguing. however, im skeptical on how much they endure the harsh reality of living in the wild. someone once told me that wherever they stay there is always like a resort on the other side of the "uncharted island". with that being said, the theme of this season was old people vs young people. one of the old people on the show was jimmy johnson who is an ex nfl coach and player. he is 67 years old. now why would a 67 year old dude what to be on survivor? your guess is as good as mine. but i was reading this book the other day that said, "youth is not a period of time. it is a state of mind." with a majority of us being in college we face the reality of "growing up" everyday we wake up (ex. doug just graduated and john turned 20 today). and i would argue that like peter pan we dont have to grow older if we dont want to. just like jimmy j wanted to compete against people under half his age for a million bucks he didnt need. as most of us spend this holiday season at home, or on a cruise, and act as if christmas isnt cool anymore, lets allow ourselves to change and become like little children and have some fun. i love you all and will hopefully have pictures from the cruise to share.

final note:
"you will remain young as long as you are open to what is beautiful, good, and great; receptive to the messages of other men and women, of nature and God."

announcement:
the willard house will be going to new york city to ring in the new year. if you dont have any plans and would love to come hop on the bandwagon. dont ask questions, just come. and yes snooki will be there inside the ball and mike "the situation" and dj pauly d will be there leading us in setting the world record for most people fist pumping at once in one location.

love,
jackson

Winter Break

I apologize for the break between posts, four days, my goodness. That's unacceptable. In fact, it's so unacceptable that I highly recommend you send hate emails and facebook messages to my roommates. I understand the error of my ways, but they need reinforcement so a break like this never happens again.

Everybody finished up their first semester exams today, and are considering heading home for the holidays. The Lebaron doesn't like snow however, so tomorrow, John Carr, myself and my cousin Conner will hit the long road back to Chesapeake.

It's a quiet evening at the Willard house tonight, we're all feeling pretty exhausted after a hard week of studying, so we're kickin' back playing supersmash and having light hearted discussions over a cup of tea.

Or are we?

What was a quiet evening at home with a couple freshmen bros quickly turned into some wild and willard activity here at the house. Let's take a look at what all the individuals did tonight...

Before the evening started, all of the residents except for Evan, Sam and Joe went to PK's to attempt winning some free pizza. I (James) always call the shots (literally) during the Tijuana Toss. THis is a game where after you eat pizzas a quarter is tossed for each one individually, if you guess the correct side, you get the pizza FOR FREE. I went a dismal 1/3 tonight, but I blame it on the girl tossing, who after I won the first toss, dropped the quarter on the floor. This threw off my groove and is what I consider dirty playing on PKS.

John and Jeremy- After sitting watching some vids on youtube, these two hooligans were persuaded by Renee, Rachel, and ASF to go sled illegally on the golf course with Craig Sweeny "Todd". John did this because he indulges in "stickin it to the man" and Jeremy did it in hopes of seeing what fun was, something that does not exist in the blasphemous north.

Doug is off at the residence of Dehart, playing Settlers of Cataan, a board game I'm sure you are all familiar with. Probably winning by this time, Doug is known for his hardnosed playing style and slight of hand tricks that keep all other Canaan contestants on their toes.

Sam and Joe are spending time with their girlfriends, Eliza and Claire respectively, at their apartment in Pheasant Run, I believe the girls cooked them spaghetti for dinner. Though details remain unconfirmed.

Evan is meandering around the house, reading and enjoying his newfound freedom from the harsh demands of mother academia, who has kept her heel hard on his windpipe all semester.

Jackson and myself had adventures.


Well my friends, this concludes another blog of the Willard home, I wish you a Merry Christmas Season. Check back soon for Christmas break updates from each of the guys individually. And to all a goodnight.

<3's
James Crockett Harris III

Date Night.

here at the willard house 5 out of the 8 roommates currently have girlfriends. however, the other three, doug, jeremy, and myself are single. tonight, three of the willard men went on dates so i figured it was only appropriate to blog about this occurrence.

first on the ballot is single man himself jeremy aaron mateyk. this 19 year old sophomore was recently part of the "white elephant" game played at our final young life leadership of the semester. jeremy however was not a participant, but a gift. this gift included a night out on the town with this handsome stud. the winner of this gift happened to be 20 year old rachel allison myers who resides at the hassel house. jeremy picked rachel up at approximately 7:05 pm (fashionably late) in a white subaru which happens to be even underwood's. jeremy and rachel went to macados, a local restaurant that is known for its amazing cuisine. after a wonderful dinner, jeremy dropped rachel back off at hassel before returning to the willard complex. when questioned how the date went, jeremy simply replied, "it was fun, we got to know each other." successful date number one.

next up on the ballot is samuel jacob bowman. samuel has been dating eliza craymer who resides in pheasant run for almost a year now. sam often woos eliza with spectacular dates out on the town. sam is very creative. with that being said, sam decided to keep it simple tonight with a little trip to the christiansburg cold stone. they figured ice cream was a perfect choice on this nippy december evening. little did they know that jeremy and i had decided to spy on their date. jeremy and i followed sam to pheasant run where he picked up eliza and two mystery characters. while on the highway jeremy and i identified one of these mystery characters as claire pendelton waldrop. jeremy and i decided to wait outside cold stone in evans car while the four went into cold stone. soon enough the other mystery character was identified as kylie gaylen. they were actually going to visit katy campbell, who is a friend of all of ours. while in the car jeremy and i dodged alex caporale and sam ross, they almost noticed us. when finally exiting the creamery sam, eliza, kylie, and claire noticed us. a couple words were exchanged before jeremy and i made the haul back to blacksburg.

on the final ballot is james crockett harris the third. james and his new girlfriend allie golden who resides in "new res", an on campus establishment. they have been baking cookies in the kitchen while i sit in the lodge writing this blog. awkward? i think not. they are now exchanging gifts in the family room. james just admitted to finding one of the christmas gifts allie had gotten for him in her room weeks ago. what a heart throb. allie also just got james overalls. i approve. is it weird that im giving a minute by minute update on their christmas exchange? maybe. but im ok with it.

the end is near

My college experience is in her death throes. Two final gasps and she'll be dead.
I have loved parts, but I will not mourn her departure. It's about time.

Good luck on finals everyone.

Studying.

Yesterday was reading day. Unfortunately, I am still reading about European Civilization after 1500. If you have never had to study this abominable subject, heed this warning. Do not ever study this. It sucks. My apologies to any avid European history fans reading this current blog.

I am not studying in Willard tonight, but rather on the second floor of New Res. My friend Phillip Pollman is across from me eating rice(he's half asian)and Allie is next to me acting like she's studying.

In an effort to avoid studying, I have decided to take guesses on what the other members of the Willard household are doing at this moment at 2:03 a.m.

Doug- probable sleeper. Early to bed, early to rise, makes this man bearded, rested, and wise.

John Carr- Talking to Stef on the phone? Stef doesn't need to sleep at night, because she is a fan of taking spontaneous naps during the day. Plus, Kansas is a few hours behind the rest of the world, so it's only one oclock there. An hour ago they were a day behind. Think about it.

Samuel Bowman- Sitting on the front porch.

Evan- probable sleeper number 2. Evan got worn out today by dressing up in a full Santa outfit for high schoolers. Strange.

Jackson Strawn- Last known whereabouts were in our fashionable study (formerly my own room) watching videos of some dude in plaid dress up in different costumes and talk about world regions. Great use of study time.

Jeremy Mateyk- Sleep possible. Could be watching Top Gear, which I believe is a British Show like mythbusters with cars. Most probable however, is that Jeremy is in his room creating plans to plunge the South into an economic depression. Jeremy is from the North and has a hatred for the South that is hard for most to comprehend. The anger he has at them for being the kind, loving people they are is frightening at times. Therefore, he came to school in the south to spy on our superior culture in hopes of undermining it to raise the North to its inappropriate place of glory.

Joe Danehower- Yesterday, Joe set the current Willard record for going 36 hours without sleep, and then playing basketball in Christiansburg. We're still unsure why Joe achieved this goal, but we rooted him on anyway. Because of this lack of sleep, there is a slight chance, however unlikely, that he is currently asleep. More likely however is that he is 1. hanging out with Claire "Claudia" Waldrop or 2. Honing his skills in the N64 smash hit game "Super Smash Bros." in hopes that he will be able to defeat me one day.

I hope that this has sated your appetite for a Willard update, however I would not put too much reliance on my guesses. There is a good chance that they are all completely, totally, wrong.

Evan Thomas.

Well, the much anticipated post by Sam has come. It has taken me quite a while to find a topic worthy of my first post... and I am still not sure if this will entirely live up to the expectations I hope to attain. I want to talk about my first meetings with everyone in the house and my relationships with them now. I am going to do this in a series of 7 posts, and hope that you all await with abated breath for each subsequent one.
I will start from the first and journey to the last.

First and Foremost.

Evan Thomas Underwood. E-dawg (as i affectionately refer to him from time to time) and I met as young punks at Stuarts Draft Middle School... a glorious time in my life filled with cussing, inappropriate humor, and skateboarding.... kinda similar to me at this moment now that I think about it. For the reader's enjoyment I wanedt to show you a video of Evan and I from our freshman year of high school... there are like 15 but unfortunately they are mostly inappropriate. If you'd like to see them, just ask :)


Anyways, Evan and I have been through it all together. Laughter, from when I was caught mooning him in 7th grade Pre-algebra to late nights at She-sha. Pain, from the time his dad backed over my foot with his car to the time we went backpacking and Evan chipped his tooth... hilarious. (See Photo Below)
But Evan and I's relationship goes past those times of late-night laughs and hilarity. We were together when one of our best friends died in a car accident junior year. We have witnessed each others lives changed from freshman punks to men who love the Lord as sophomores in college.
Evan is a man I respect incredibly. He is one of my deepest, truest, and most valuable friends. He will always support me, will always push me, and always love me.
Many of you may not know Evan, so I will give you a little breakdown. Evan is a lover of the outdoors. He loves to hunt, fish, snowboard, and skateboard. He loves the solace of the wilderness. The solidarity of the woods. Evan is one who isn't afraid to walk his own path. He is fine with a weekend by himself, sometimes, he prefers it. He reads. He writes. When he thinks something is really funny he laughs, closes his eyes, and kicks his feet. When he sleeps he flicks his foot, and is VERY hard to wake up. He is deep. A well of wisdom and a yearning for learning more. He is a hard worker, someone who doesn't stop until he does the best that he can. He is a giver. The definition of it. He is a man I can walk to in any mood and know that I will be appreciated, loved, and delighted in. He is a man that, if I called his name for help, he would destroy any and all barriers in his way to come to my side. And he is man that I would die for.
There is something incredible about being so close to a friend that he is a brother. Not only is Evan my brother in Christ, but he is my brother in a different sense. He is not "one of my friends from high school" or "one of my college bros". Evan is the one, and only, man that will have been evident and present in both those stages of my life. We will share a bond that I cannot share with anyone else. Evan knows where I came from. He knows my roots. He has seen me at the height of my anger (one of the only people to see that) and he has seen me in the pits of grief when Evanne died. He has seen me dead, before I met Christ, and he has seen me alive, a follower of Christ. Many people define friends as "gold", or college friends, and "silver", high school friends. Evan surpasses that. Evan is a "diamond"; infinitely valuable. Evan will, and forever will be, my best friend.

Shenanigans

an update on the game shenanigans...

- evan underwood stated last night at approximately 9:30 pm that he was going to buy me 15 boxes of captain crunch berries (he had eaten my entire box while i was away for the weekend). with no choice, i shouted shenanigans at the top of my lungs. evan then took off for the nearest kroger where he was only able to buy 4 boxes because the employees of this certain food mart would only sell him that many. while bagging the cereal the casheer told him, "enjoy your lifetime supply of captain crunch berries." and indeed i will. love ya evan.

Weekend Update

It's a blistery, wintry day to not have heat.

Here in the Willard home, we are being consigned to wear hats and beanies inside. sweatshirts and jackets are becoming the norm. What am I wearing? Wool socks and long johns, also known as thermal underwear. Simply Toasty. well actually, my toes are a bit frosted, but that is besides the point. Anyway, we're struggling in the house to survive this bitter blizzard, and hope that help comes soon, in the form of the handy man our lovely landlord Mike Powell is sending to us. Come soon handy man. Come soon.

In other Willard news, Jackson has made it safely back from Rockbridge this weekend, after a snowy time at camp, he retired to the bosom of the house where he was feelin pretty schmungry. Then he had the nerve to come and ask to borrow my car. Some lame excuse about how his battery was dead and he was hungry. I say if you're that hungry you can walk yourself to owens and not complain. Being the giver I am though, after much griping I relented and handed him the keys to a practically brand new, 1992 Chrysler LeBaron.

Doug is currently making popcorn garlands for our two trees, while dancing in the kitchen. This takes massive amounts of skill, because he is working with a needle while doing the one, two step.

Joe is with his wonderful girlfriend Claire. I think...

Evan just finished writing his first blog after two hours of work. I'm sure it is hilarious.

Sam is trapped in the snow somewhere in Rockbridge, whereabouts unknown. We may send out a search party, but we trust Sam's hunting and tracking skills enough that he will be able to find his way back to Blacksburg, with highschoolers in tow.

John is wandering around the house grumbling about how cold it is and that fact that he is a wanted criminal in the not so speedy state of North Carolina.

Jeremy is enjoying the snow. NOT. He's studying parabolas and other mathematical nuisances.

Me? I am writing this blog and pissing KT Surratt off, because we are supposed to have started planning campaigners about twenty six minutes ago. So I must conclude
the writing now, in order to save myself physical pain.

<3's

James C. Harris III

A Couple Succesful Harvests...

Hello all,

Evan here to fill you in on some of the recent occurrences in the Willard community at large. The writer of this blog has long been a lover of the natural world and of the sports, and thus, engages in various outdoors activities including but not limited to hunting and fishing. Naturally, the writer wished for his college experience to include these said activities, and fortunately for the writer (and as the reader will soon learn, the Willard community as a whole), Mike Powell, Willard Landlord, has graciously welcomed us onto his land outside of Blacksburg to hunt and to fish.

Over the past couple of months, the writer, and various other members of the Willard community have been making trips out to Mike's property to, of course, engage in fishing, camping, and firing weaponry, but also with the hopes of seeing and perhaps harvesting game. Alex Norton and the writer have spent the last few months making two trips a week, usually early in the morning, with hopes of making deer and or turkey harvests. The season started off a bit slow for us, we were seeing mostly squirrels and happened to see a fox, but the deer and turkey of the land managed to allude our sights. It was not till the second Saturday of muzzle-loading season (the first two weeks before regular riffle season opens) that the we were able to claim our first deer. Alex Norton calls the writer at approximately 815 on that morning, after the reader heard Alex shoot 4 times, claiming that he thinks he hit a buck! After some stressful tracking, the group did indeed come to learn that Alex Norton had taken down a 7 point buck. The writer feels it necessary to mention that this was only Alex's 2nd time hunting in his life, and to harvest a nice buck this soon in ones hunting career is kind of a big deal. Congratulations Norton.

However, the season was, and still is, far from over. A few more hunting trips were made, all the while wildlife being seen, but no additional harvests were able to be made. Leland Pearson, John Leonard, and Josh Moehrle made it out to the property to enjoy the outdoors, fire weaponry and to catch trout. And eventually, we were able to claim victory once again. The final day of riffle season was upon us, and Adam Underwood and Kyle Lamers traveled out to the property with us. The morning was terribly windy and the wildlife did not seem to be moving, so Norton and the writer chose to try and move deer around by walking through the woods. It was decided that Norton would try and walk through an area know to be holding deer, in hopes of pushing the deer out for the writer to perhaps get a shot at. However, in the process of doing so, Norton, once again calling the writer on his radio soon after shots fired, claimed to have shot another deer. Alex Norton would now be the happy harvester of 2 deer in his premier season.

Unfortunately, and with regret, the reader has not yet been able to make a harvest on the season. However, the writer must say that he has been extremely thankful for the opportunity to be out in the woods with good friends sharing good times that are certainly irreplaceable. There is something to be said about being able to be out there where everything else seems to stop and nature takes over. There is something to be said about waking up with the animals and being out there, free and alive.

May we all come to see what is around us with new eyes and hear with new ears. May we enjoy the simplicity of watching and listening to all that is. May we appreciate life and the beauty of a cold Saturday morning in a tree-stand.

Peace,
Evan

These are pictures of Norton's harvests (perhaps he should be giving the writer lessons?)

Pictures from the season

Today, Joe "Daddy" Dane, Jeremy "North" Mateyk, and James "Good Lookin" Harris, and John "Angry Bird" Carr, woke up and had a lovely breakfast of pancakes cooked by Joe this morning (well afternoon, we all woke up post 12oclock) After this lovely breakfast, we decided to go Christmas Tree shopping in the local Blacksburg Community. After haggling fiercely for prices, we strapped our newly acquired seven foot tree on the roof of the Lebaron, and made our way to shop for decorations. Again haggling with the Walmart employees for prices, we were able to get some simply delightful decorations and take the fresh pine back home where we spent the afternoon decorating and playfully running throw the snow. Tis the season to decorate for Christmas. Currently, the Men are sitting around the fire, some reading, some on their laptops, others just enjoying the warmth of the season and the relaxation that comes with a long day of errands. Oh and Jeremy's asleep alone in his cold room. He hates warmth and Christmas decorations, because he's from the North.

<3
James Crockett Harris III

p.s. I know this blog sucked, it is mainly just for the use of presenting pictures of the season.

a criminal among us

The following is a public service announcement:

It has recently been brought to the attention of the community of the Willard House that member John Carr is facing criminal charges in the state of North Carolina, and has till present escaped condemnation by those living closest to him. This villainous villain can be identified by the beanies he often wears high on his head because the cold especially gets to him, and has recently been spotted most often working hard on the large amount of assignments currently hanging over his head or playing smash bros. to avoid said assignments. If you have any contributions to make to this case of justice, they would be wholeheartedly appreciated by all.

Thank you, and we will be returning at this time to our regularly scheduled program.

(John was driving significantly over the speed limit coming back from the Outer Banks over break and got caught doing it. This infraction in NC merits both a hefty fine and possibly a criminal charge of 'intent to endanger' which could have more serious implications than a fine. We are all hoping that the law system will be gracious to him.)

Free Throws

I missed the boat on writing a blog yesterday, but I take no blame myself. There are seven other members of this house equally able to write a blog, because they all have their own personal pcs. Except Doug. And he still managed to write one on Tuesday. There is no excuse for this madness. Oh well, life goes on.

Tonight, Jeremy Mateyk, resident of the last room on the left, the master with the personal bath, Had no work to do. He was blissfully free from college school work because he has taken three tests already this week. And he did good. Congratulations Jeremy, we are all very proud of you. At least I am, which is why I am writing this.

The other day, Sam logged into his Xenga account from 2005. I am not sure if you know what Xenga is, but here is a brief history. Xenga is the precursor to Myspace, which was the precursor to Facebook. Thankfully, Xenga is now blissfully defunct. However, Xenga is a bloggish myspace mixture, and therefore Sam would write about his thoughts on such world changing topics as mowing the grass, or school work. However, in one particular entry Sam wrote about the friend he had made at soccer camp, a boy named JACKSON STRAWN.

I know. Mind blowing. These two hooligans met so many years ago, and now live in the same house. weird. ironic. small world? yes. But I digress, this entry is not about the strange fact that they have known each other going on six years now. This entry is about what was in said Xenga entry. Sam apparently thought highly of Jackson because he said, and I quote, "lace up your kicks, ladies, we're going to ball." Classic. Hilarious? I don't think so. But prepubescent Sam thought so. I find that hilarious. Even more so, that Sam then started using that as his signature on Xenga.

In other Willard news, I attended the Purdue-Tech Basketball game tonight. For those of you lucky enough not to have viewed this idiocracy, we lost. We don't run plays on offense. I hate this. So that's my dig on Virginia Tech basketball for the day.

Oh, and Happy 20th Birthday Rebecca Fitzgerald.

<3's
James Crockett Harris III, esquire.

D. thinks:

Cooking is more of an art than a science. (Though baking at times can be an exception.) A cook learns flavors the way a painter learns colors and both use their corresponding medium to try and create something beautiful.

Before you think I am going off the deep end, consider it this way. There is a common misconception that cooking is defined by recipes and that good cooks are able to execute them well. It is often forgotten that, though you might go along with it, someone just made that recipe up. There was some trial and error involved to get things exact perhaps (not necessarily), but someone made up that tasty dish either by luck or artistic insight.
To cook by executing recipes is like paint-by-numbers. If you paint where the numbers tell you to, you'll probably get a good picture. But it was probably a real artist that made the picture that was broken into small areas with numbers so you, the novice, could mimic it. Paint-by-numbers might be a good way to learn to paint, but real painting is more free and heartfelt than that. So is real cooking.

So be set free; you don't have to do it the way you've always thought you had to. Real life, like cooking, is more of an art than a science.

gotcha

I am in class and watching James (who is sitting in front of me) write a blog on his computer during the lecture, so I'm going to beat him to it. He sneakily took a picture of Jackson sitting behind him in class and it appears as if he intends to use it in this in-class blog entry

John's hat is too tall.

John Carr, Jackson Strawn, and myself are all enrolled in REL 1044, Religious Ethics, with Professor Jeremy Carter. Also in attendance in this lecture period, are KT Surrat, TMac, and Greg Mackey. The main reason I'm writing this blog is 1. Because I'm bored. 2. Because John loves cruising the internet and is bound to come across this by the end of the period. and 3. Because I enjoy writing blogs about my roommates.

If you didn't notice the title, or the picture, John Carr is wearing a tall hat. Or knit cap, or beanie if you will. And I trust that you will. If you pay very close attention, you will notice that the girl behind John can't see over his hat. This explains why she has a perturbed look on her face, and is leaning slightly to the left, in order to see around John's huge, obtrusive, slightly-hipster hat. I don't know her name, no one does. This is because she always gets stuck behind John and his outrageous headgear, and therefore never can answer any questions, or contribute to discussions. John has singlehandedly made her receive a probable zero on her class participation grade. But in all honesty, its her own fault. She should've moved, John's ears need to stay warm. This is a known fact.

In other Willard news, Jackson's old room/my new room is coming along quite nicely. We've yet to have pillow talk but I eagerly await the day when that can happen. He is a strong sleeper, I have come in while he has been asleep twice now without him waking up. Last night he tricked me. I walked in, his arms stretched up, and he cracked all his knuckles before turning to his right and his arm falling limply off the bed, as he continued in on his slumber. I've never witnessed this before. I was slightly amazed and flabbergasted. The only problem with rooming together so far has been that whenever Jackson moves on his old, wooden lofted bed during the night, it makes me think I am in an earthquake. Oh, and last night I woke up and thought I was in a log cabin before I remembered my bed was moved and I was in actuality, in my house.

Sam and Jeremy are pretty stressed right now, they have three days of solid school work. You should send them encouraging texts.

<3>

James Crockett Harris III

Jackson

Jackson Strawn.

Lanky.

Tall.

Wily.

Smiley.

Housemate.

Roommate.

Friend.

Beanie Wearing.

Study Buddy.

Tonight, Jackson and I made moves within the willard household. In his own room previously, our room currently, my bed is now caddy cornered under his lofted masterpiece, and his desk now sits against the wall to my right in my old room. It was a long time coming to happen, mainly because I had done all my laundry before break, then decided I didn't want to fold or put away any of it before I left for Thanksgiving. One of the top thirty worst deciscions I've ever made. But after much hanging, folding, complaining and griping, my room was clean enough to start moving things around. The dream of a reading nook has now passed, we don't want the space to be cramped. However, we do have space to lay out on the floor and do work on our stomachs which, as everyone knows, is the best way to do work. The picture above is one from tonight, our first night together, working as brothers on our studies. His, summer internship applications. Mine- facebook chatting and the such. Ah. BFFS. and Now, BFWST,F. Best Friends Who Study Together, Forever.

Everyone is heading back to blacksburg tonight to be at the VT vs UVA game, I won't be headed back until Sunday, like I said I'm not that stoked on football haha. I'm giving my ticket to an awesome friend of ours, quinton, who unfortunately goes to UVA. This thanksgiving break has been awesome though, my girlfriend stef (who is from lawrence f-ing kansas) flew into roanoke a week ago and was with my family and I down in hatteras. She is a wonderful person. She is beautiful and subtle and joyful and loving. She points me to Christ in a real way, I cant describe to you the encouragement she is to me. I havent gotten to see many of my friends from chesapeake but time with family has been awesome. stef and I did get to spend time with justin and libby ryder though and it was great. justin is my best friend and his wife libby (www.libbyryder.blogspot.com literally life changing) is also very dear to me, she was recently diagnosed with cancer and it has been so hard being away from them while they go through this season of their life. It was so encouraging for stef and I to sit and talk with them about life and what it looks like to love your spouse and what cancer has taught them about the urgency and truth of the gospel. justin shared with us some incredible insight, he basically told us that jesus is real and that life doesnt actually have that much to offer, its a lie to think life gives us fulfillment, it doesnt, only Jesus does. speaking of Jesus I've been reading through Luke lately and I read Luke 12 today and it wrecked me. its a wonderful chapter where Jesus is so real, gosh it the most charismatic chapter of the Bible I've ever read, you should check it out. Anyways, I'm rambling. I basically started writing this to explain to y'all how much the Willard guys are like brothers to me. I literally find myself talking about the house or the guys living there all the time. I have texted everyone multiple times and am reminded of them around every corner. "Jeremy would love this" "I gotta tell Sam about smoking with my cousin" "I bet Doug would pick me up on Sunday" and the list goes on. I am so grateful and thankful for the community of brothers I have in blacksburg. I cannot wait to get back and stuff ourselves at family dinner, I cannot wait to share with everyone about my break, the good stuff and the shitty stuff, I cannot wait to hear about their breaks and most of all I cannot wait to see what God has planned for us in the upcomng weeks

peace, love, and leftover turkey

Quietness

coming from my hometown of fredericksburg the drive to blacksburg is around 3 and a half hours, depending on traffic. i make this drive by myself and i always ask myself the question, what am i going to do the entire drive? its impossible to listen to my ipod because i dont have a car jack and finding a radio station every 2 minutes can really get annoying. so i often resort to sitting in silence. this may sound weird to most, but why is silence weird? and i have no answer. is it because we are afraid to be alone and silence is pretty lonesome? maybe. is it because we are afraid we are missing out on something else going on? maybe. is it because we are afraid what we are going to think about during this time of silence? maybe. or maybe it is because we are afraid to listen? when we are not talking then we are listening. truly listening to what someone has to say is one of the hardest skills in our world to day to master. the world around us is always so busy it seems like we never have time to listen. our minds are often racing thinking about what we are going to do next, who is talking about who, and i wonder what they think of me. its hard to find time to just sit down and take a break. when i arrived in blacksburg i was greeted with more silence. the willard house was completely dark and no one else was home. the funny thing is, instead of enjoying the silence i decided to fill the quietness by writing this blog about silence. i guess thats a little irony. my challenge though for all of us is to find time this week or next week or this month just to sit down and enjoy some silence. it can go a long way.

ps. i apologize for the creepy picture of the baby. i just found out how to add images.

The Men over Break

It is tough to write a blog about the Willard men's interactions when the Willard men are not together. But from what I've pieced together from everyone about their time during thanksgiving break this is what I have gotten...

Joe "Daddy" Danehower is spending a lovely holiday at his home in Chantilly, Virginia. Finally back with family and friends, Joe and his brothers are sure to play some quick basketball games in their driveway on thanksgiving morning, followed by a gourmet smorgesboard of food served by Mrs. Danehower. After dinner, its a gurantee that the real Daddy Danehower will gather everyone around a fire to sing Christmas Carols. An American Family.

John Carr spends his time at the beach, as we all know. He and his family have traveled down to the always tropical beaches of north carolina, where john has been surfing for 22 out of the 24 hours in a day. Boy, he loves to surf!

Sam's been spending time with Nancy and Bruce back in Fishersville, most likely riding his chopper, reading Eragon/HarryPotter, and hunting. Also, he may have planned a visit to see his girlfriend Eliza, but who really knows with this mystery man.

Doug is still on his journey home for thanksgiving. A wilderness man at heart, Doug is hiking the 400 miles back to Maryland. Even as I type this, Doug is probably fighting off one of the creatures native to the wilderness known as Baltimore. Possibly an Oriole. No need to worry though, the Orioles are pretty easy to beat.

Evan is hunting.

Jeremy has traveled back to the desolation known as the North. This yankee doesn't eat turkey for thanksgiving, no one in the north does. They don't celebrate thanksgiving in the north. They celebrate beating the south in the civil war. Just can't let it go can you Jeremy?

Jackson has had an interesting break so far. His long time friend and house keeper passed away, so he attended her funeral at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. It was quite the event apparently. Her life was celebrated however, which is awesome. He also has been sneaking out onto his front porch late at night when his family is asleep....

What have I been doing? working like a dog. Not really though, I did some work this weekend for my aunt and gramma, and then Monday drove the four hour drive ( I made it in three) to Vienna, Virginia to visit Allie. We walked around Alexandria, saw artists, ate lasagna and stargazed. So it was pretty amazing, especially if you have never had Mrs. Golden's lasagna before. Now i'm going to eat lunch with long time friend, James Thomas Tetsuo Lopaka Tworek.. And yes, that is his full name.

Thanksgiving

To my pleasant surprise, last night was Thanksgiving dinner at D2. Here's a quick update on what I ate, and since I eat vegetarian it might be more or less interesting than you expect:

Veggie Rice: boring, but still a staple of the Olives line at D2, thought I'd try it

Butternut Squash Lasagna: awesome, went back for more

Fingerling Potatoes: the best kind of potato (that's debatable)

Tropical Fruit: I think D2 bought this from Edible Creations, a local food-art catering place, because I don't think anyone who works at D2 can carve melons and such that way, maybe I'm wrong though

Iceberry Blue drink: yeah I know, it's a drink but still, if you haven't tried the fruit drink machines at D2 you should branch from the sodas

That's all actually. Like I said I was surprised by the special D2 event, I thought I was signing up for a regular D2 experience when Craig invited me, so I didn't prepare to stuff myself like usual at Thanksgiving dinners. I'm not a fan of that style anyway though, so moral of the story: I left satisfied and Butternut Squash Lasagna is choice.

D. thinks:

Welcome to this segment of the blog where Doug tells you what he thinks about some random topic.

I think that the universe that exists demands that it was made by Someone. Obviously me saying that doesn't convince you, but it is what I have concluded over the years. With that said, if everything was made by a Creator, I don't think he would waste his energy creating something that was just filler. Or in other words, even the filler would be poetic. Any good story teller is like that, and of what I know of our Story Teller he's a good one.

Therefore I think that we can look at anything that exists and see something about God. For example, we can look at space and see that God is big. Or we can look at space and see nothing but space. Of course I'm not saying that we can find godliness in anything, because some things are evil. But we can also learn about light by knowing darkness. And we can know wholeness on a much deeper level because we are intimately acquainted with brokenness.

Changes...Tupac Style

as i sit in my psychology class next to taylor macdonald (t-mac) i decide to blog about some of the changes that are about to occur in the willard house within the next couple of weeks. last night at approximately 3 am as i lie awake in my warm cozy bed the realization came to me that i wanted a roommate. as i weighed my options between the two remaining roommates without "roommates" i had to decide between jeremy and james. when it came to jeremy all i could think of was his boyish laugh and his ability to to grow a quality stache. when it came to james all i could think of was his loud snoring and unsanitrary personal hygiene. i went with james. i approached him at approimately 3:02am after a long mental debate between him and jeremy. james, as i expected, accepted the idea with open arms. james will be moving into my room after thanksgiving break. we will turn james' room into a "study" with a reading nook in the corner. when i told john this morning of the breaking news he simply replied, "that's hilarious." we are both excited about the move and look forward to spending quality time together. the only downfall is i have to clean my room for the first time and i wont be able to play my GREAT music at night. on another note, the willard house would like to give a birthday shout out to our main man mike schrieber. we are going to celebrate by going to d2 for the tgiving feast at 530pm. if you read this in time you are more than welcome to come. mike is a great friend of all of us. and he is the roommate of lil mike. lil mike left his bike over at our house a few months ago and i have been riding it ever since. my bike was stolen during the willard house robbery of 2010. thanks lil mike for the bike.

I didn't realize there was a spot for a title...

So far so good.

Every day since this blog was created, at least one of my brothers that I live with has contributed a thought- deep, funny, true, humble ( or three out of the four in my case. You can choose which three.) And it's been great. I have a sense of excitement about being able to use this blog as a way to share our fellowship and love to people who know us, and to people who accidentally come on this page when they are looking for the adventures of another house. I'm glad that the first few blogs didn't suck, and therefore now some of you are hopefully addicted to our blogging expertise.

This is the first blog I'm trying to go deep in and lets hope it goes well. I'm not the most articulate guy ever, I usually try to write with humor and not seriousness. But there are times that call for both, and my mood now is joyful to the point of seriousness if that makes sense. So I write the following with all seriousness.

Everyday when I come home, I experience a sense of pure happiness. My 7 best friends live in the Willard house. I'm able to experience love whenever I walk in the house. I'm crying as I write this, filled with love for my brothers, because that's what they are. I don't have any biological brothers, and never was able to experience what having another man my age, who cared about me, that live with me was like,and now that I have it is indescribable. As John says, Jesus holds us together, and what a glorious bond it is. I would die for any of the men I live with, and if you have never had that feeling before, I assure you it is not one pride, or being a "good christian" (I strongly hold to the point that there is no such thing as a good christian,) but of the greatest of all things, love. I love them. I look at Jackson and see someone who has a joyful heart, who quests after the Lord. I look at Doug and see a spiritual father, a man. Joe is my best friend, no matter what I screw up, we'll be able to sit together late at night, eat pb and j's and talk about what we go through. Jeremy is a gentle giant, with love in his eyes. John can be harsh, but out of love. I used to not see that. I used to think John judged me. But that's not the case. John is filled with glorious love for everyone, he has a spirit of power, not of timidity, and his love flows through. I have learned the most about John this year, and I can't imagine him not being in my life now. Sam is joyous and free. Free, Free, Free. Wild at Heart as Johnny E. would say. Evan is my brother. We know each other's hearts, we're there through the good times and the bad. I sit here at my computer, tears rolling down my face, and ask the Father why He has blessed me in this. That he is with me everyday in the lives of my amazing brothers. Brothers. God has given me brothers.

Earlier this year, I went through a tough time. It seems petty but I broke up with a girl that I thought I had been in love with. I had hurt another person, and had to walk away. It was one of the hardest things I had ever done. So I drove home, not able to see past my tears ( I do do things other than cry, I'm not a complete wuss,) and walked into my front door. Noone was there so I went and laid on my bed, bawling. Thinking that I would never find someone who could care about me again, noone who could put up with my moods, where I fall short. I thought I was alone. Then I heard Jeremy come in the house. I walked out of my room, he saw me and held me. He got the other guys, we went into my room and as I sat on the bed crying and thinking I was dying inside, they showed me life. They showed me love. They didn't talk at first, just sat there with me, through the hard stuff. Through the stuff I didn't want them to see. Through the stuff I didn't want to feel. And they loved me. We talked at the end, not much, it wasn't really needed. I think sometimes you can learn more about relationships through silence than you can with words. God tells us this, to be still and know Him. He wants our relationships to mimic ours with his, but so often I find myself talking to fill silence. I'm afraid of silence. What the other person will think. But when you can truly be still with another person, silent... You learn alot. You learn that you are brothers not just when someone is being funny, or nice, or listening, but when you can be in each others presence and know that you both feel Christ's love for each other. It's powerful. I know I'm babbling on, and what I've written may not make sense, but if I could sum up all is said with a few words it would be....

You learn about love in silence.

God shows His love for me through my brothers. And has taught me so much about Himself through them, from which I am eternally thankful.

family dinners

hey friends. jackson here. this is my first time "blogging" so dont hate on my lack of skill. for those who dont know me im known as the funny guy around the willard house. i have also been called a hood rat from time to time because of the attire that i often sport. i am currently sitting in the lodge awaiting sams arrival from elizas and i figured i would talk about something we call family dinner here at the willard house. we decided to have family dinners because in todays society they are non-existent. growing up i was lucky to have a family dinner and it was usually on a special occasion. we made a promise to one another at the beginning of the year that we would sit down and have a meal once a week to have fellowship and to just spend quality time with one another. every sunday at approximately 730pm one of the house mates will prepare a meal to feed all 8 of us. thats right all 8. it is up to the preparer of the meal on what he is going to fix. for example, when i made a meal i made grilled cheese and soup, because who doesnt love that delicious combo. well tonight for dinner doug made jumbalia or however you spell it. to this minute im still uncertain on what i actually ate but it tasted good and i guess thats all that really matters. during the meal we usually converse and chuckle about our daily trials and tribulations. this often resorts to us crying in laughter because someone did or said something stupid. after the meal is over we take time to go around the table and talk about our lives. we often talk about the highlights of our weeks but also the struggles of the daily grind. this is a great opportunity to really catch up and learn about each other. we all enjoy this time because as we look around the table we know we are all brothers and will have each others backs no matter what. without this time there would be no intentional time set aside for encouragement in our daily walks. we hold this time very dear to us and it really is something special.

Lazy Sunday

Wake up in the late afternoon

Call up Tmac just to see how he's doing

Yo what up Tay

Hey Jamesy whats happening?

You thinkin what I'm thinkin?

D2!

Yeah it's happenin'

Hop in the Baron

Get to Brunch fast

Don't bring my money, cause I don't need no cash

Swipe, Swipe goes the card,

$1.11 left

Mateyk and I hit the breakfast line stat

Big Guys Club eatin all the best food

D2 is for us, other dining halls lose.

Cause it's the De

what?

trick dining hall

cause it's the De

what?

trick dining hall, hall, hall.

The best part about Sundays would have to be dietrick dining hall. Part of the fabled tradition that is Virginia Tech food, D2 contains the best specimens of edibles from all around campus. After becoming a staple of Sunday food for Taylor and Myself last year, we were pleased to discover that Jeremiah loved it as well. This contributed to the formation of The Big Guy's Club,

or TBGC. TBGC has a few requirements, you must be over 6 feet tall, and weigh more than two hundred pounds. Requirement after that point gets a little shady, but one thing is for sure, you must love D2. Off the subject of TBGC, but nonetheless relevant to the glory that is D2, after beating UNC in football, there's nothing better the chowin down at D2 brunch. Mm Mm Good.

Together

So I’m John Carr and this is my attempt at writing an entry. As I type this we’re watching the Tech vs UNC game and currently crammed into the darkroom (our stadium style seating TV lounge of sorts that is located in the basement.) I’m not really into football, what can I say? but I’m learning how to yell things at football games, Jeremy usually feeds me lines to scream, most of which I butcher, or yell incorrectly on purpose. Anyways I’m writing because the idea of a Willard blog is sweet and I give props to James for making moves. Also, I should clarify that I don’t actually have plans to become a pro surfer, nor am I a hipster… however I can act as a mediator between hipster culture and the rest of the world. Living at Willard this year has been awesome and quite honestly the only reason I’m back at tech this year.

A friend of mine and I got breakfast one morning earlier this semester. We talked about who we were, as individuals and how God was in everything. He said that God was in the two of us, in our coffee, in the morning sun, that He was invading the hot sauce. He asked me how I viewed the world, and I had a difficult time answering him, I mean that question is vague as crap. He told me he thought that it was one of the most important questions we could ask ourselves. I thought about it a while and said “I guess I see the world as beautiful, sort of like poetry.” My friend told me if I see the world that way then I should do beautiful things, I should write poetry, build the mini ramp in our back yard, make art, ride my bike fast, and do it all excellently and for the glory of God. I like that idea a lot. The guys who live here at Willard are striving to make that idea a reality. We built a mini ramp, I sit around the fire with everyone and write things, we had a Willard Halloween Party (Hoedownween I think we called it, or maybe Hollowillard) we laughed, and dressed up, and square danced, and it was beautiful. We have family dinners every Sunday and make it a priority to be together for a meal and afterwards talk about struggles, about God, about girlfriends, about school, and about life. It’s hard sometimes cause its so raw and real, but its good. I need that time, I need these dudes cause I can’t do life alone, and I don’t think we’re meant to.

When I try to describe the dudes living here to people back home I usually explain that none of us have anything in common, besides Jesus. Now that’s not entirely true, Sam and I have pretty similar personalities, Evan and I both love music, Jackson and I laugh a lot, I surf and James pretends to surf, a bunch of us played soccer, Joe reminds me of my dad, a bunch of us lead YoungLife… so there’s some stuff going on, but for the most part we’re all radically different people. Somehow over the course of this year Jeremy and I have gotten really tight and I know that it’s only because of Jesus. We are funny together, I’m 5’9 and barely 150 pounds he’s like 6’3 and 215. We’re currently working together on a street art project, with the goal of showing Grace to people on campus, though art… or vandalism, whatever you prefer to call it. We at the Willard House are all very excited for the next two and a half years. We have already been through a ton together… we’ve been robbed together, met the neighbors together, had parties together, broken and/or burned lots of things together, crashed our bikes together, screamed our lungs out together, built a mini ramp together, broke a trampoline together, skated the mini ramp together, sang songs together, prayed together, and cried together. Together, because we weren't meant to do life alone.

I love the parts of the Bible where Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven. He says that the Kingdom is here and now, that we are called to bring heaven crashing into earth. There’s a quote by a lovely old nun from Philly named Sister Margaret that says:

“We are a broken people who need each other and God, for we have come to recognize the mess that we have created of our world and how deeply we suffer from that mess. Now we are working together to give birth to a new society within the shell of the old. Another world is possible. Another world is necessary. Another world is already here.”

I wrote this quote on wall at the end of the hall in big black letters because I think it describes all of us in the house and what we’re running after. It’s a beautiful thought. If there’s one thing I could share with you about our adventures and what is happening in Blacksburg, I’d tell you this: God is doing beautiful things at the Willard House through those of us who live here.

Doug here...

The Willard House is of great importance to me. I love what we've got goin' on here. School is almost over for me, and I am trying very hard to finish well (which includes actually passing a class that I am dangerously close to failing...).

James mentioned the Lodge in his previous post. I think it would be appropriate, after telling you about the character of its residents to describe to you the design of the house. First, on the way in you'll find one of John's old surfboard's hanging over the spot on the porch where we have spent a lot of time. It's getting cold now, though. Entering the front door you find on your left said Lodge, full of pieces of dead things, ways to make more dead things, and (on most evenings) a handful of not-so-dead things sitting by a fire. The lodge is painted forest-green. Straight ahead is our kitchen, where we keep the giant kitchen table Jackson's parents let us have.
On your right you'll find the picture room where we have hung the house pictures from the men of the past and the present, as well as a wall papered with random other photos. We don't use it for squat, but I appreciate having an open space. Makes me feel like I have room to breathe, don't know why though.
Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms (speaking of which, if anyone w/ the law asks, only 4 people live here). First on the left is James', painted a sort of sea-foam green which goes with all of the surfing decorations his mom got him.
First on the right is Jackson's, painted some other sort of green; a cool guy sleeps in there. Next on the right there is John and Evan's, painted a color that reminds me of sand or wood. Back in the left corner is Jeremy. His room hasn't been painted a funny color, but he's got a bathroom. Between Jeremy's and James' room there is a bathroom across from the stairs. Somehow I have never had to wait more than a minute for a shower, even living with 8 dudes. Maybe the fact that we are dudes contributes heavily to that, but I still find it sweet.
Down the steps you'll find on your left the room where Joe, Sam, and I sleep. We painted it purple. I don't know why, but I love it. It is a big room that used to be used for nothing but a place to put a ping-pong table that never got used. Much better as a bedroom, and I think we could fit at least another person down there with no trouble.
On your right you'll find a blue room with no windows which has been committed to the watching of movies & TV and playing video juegos. Our house favorite is Super Smash Bros. 64 (my best character is Mario, but have recently picked up DK), though there has been plenty of FIFA '09 thrown down there too.
Next is the study, a.k.a. the Golden room since it is painted yellow and shines brightly in the morning sun. I don't know what I would do without this room.
Passing through the back of the coat closet you'll come to Narnia, which might be more appropriately titled Lantern Waste as all that it is back there is a storage area and a passage to the real goodness: the Bosom. The Bosom is a dwelling of manliness within the dwelling of manliness that is 402 Willard, our heart of hearts perhaps. The Bosom is painted red and has been pasted with a picture of C.S. Lewis enjoying some tobacco and a message of radical collisions. If you'll look closely, you might find some other things pasted about...

This marks my second attempt at writing the Willard Blog, I know I am starting off strong, but as with most other strange hobbies I've attempted I'm sure it will tail off into a once weekly, monthly, or dare I say it yearly affair. Though yearly might be too long. I have been thinking about what a blog means the past well, day or so, and have come to the conclusion that the purpose of a blog is to transport the reader into the daily life of the writer. Normally this is a menial process, made bearable through funny anecdotes and witty remarks. However, I have the admirable task of chronicling the lives of 8 strapping young men, and that means it is not a menial process. Well sometimes it might be menial, but for the most part, it promises to be an exciting and stimulating affair.

Have you ever heard of the game Shenanigans? I have. It's a thrilling experience to say the least. Shenanigans is a game in which when a person makes an outlandish statement, such as, but not limited to "I'll wear the shirt for a week if you give it to me to." and before another word is said, some passerby yells "Shenanigans!" At this point the game gives you two options. You can A. Follow through with the statement (wear a shirt for a week straight) or B. Get slapped in the face by the shenanigans caller. This game is slowly becoming a staple of Willard house life. About ten days ago, John Carr was wearing a ridiculously large shirt on him (a large) and walked into the lodge ( a quick note on the Lodge of Willard, most visitors favorite room of the house, and definitely mine, the Lodge is the hub of Willard life, with a fire place, two lazy-boys, close proximity to food, and a hearty decor of dead animals and woodland scenes, the Lodge fulfills our goal of "more manly, less sanitary.") of Willard when Jeremy and I were lounging discussing deep questions of life. John started to think out loud ( a normal occurance) that the shirt was far too big for him, and it needed a new, larger body to fill out it's good looks. Jeremiah and I both immediately vied for the shirt, when I made the fatal mistake of saying, "Johnathan, if you give me that shirt, I will wear it for a week straight." and so Shenanigans started. Since Sunday, November 7th I have been wearing a red and black flannel shirt, with no undershirt. I have slept in the shirt, I have gone to class in this shirt, I have lived life in this shirt. Today is day 6.

The first thing most people say is "ew" or "gross" or "James that is disgusting" but I say no. Sure it may smell funny, and I nearly choke myself with cologne in the morning. Sure, the kids at the high school may not talk to me because of said smell. But, when I say I'm gonna do something, I do it. I'm not afraid of the slap to the face, no, it's not about that pain. I do what I do because I'm a man. Additionally, it has really cut down on laundry costs, which is a plus.

Be prepared for future segments of the blog such as "A Day in The Life:____" where I will stalk a fellow member of the house, "Joe Knows" guest editorials by Willard's very own Daddy Dane, and many more tantalizing tidbits.

This Blog is a test of my responsibility and dedication. I have decided to start a blog to update everyone on the ongoing adventures of the men currently residing at 402 Willard. As this is the first of what I'm sure will be many blogs to come, I would like to give you a quick rundown of the inhabitants of Willard, starting with the oldest, and most likely wisest, Doug "Fuzz" Clelland.

Doug Clelland is a bearded 22 year old who is currently finishing up his degree in Engineering this semester at Tech. A Willard Veteran, this is Doug's second year in the house, after previously residing in the Willard apartments. Doug works as a cook at Boudreaux's where he gets to hone skills necessary for his upcoming adventure, traversing the Appalachian trail after graduation. Doug sleeps on a floor mat in the basement.

The next oldest member of the house goes by the name of Joe "Dad" Danehower. Joe is a blonde, jacked, 20 year old man who enjoys lifting weights, avoiding class, and asking confirmation questions. His preferred character in the N64 hit game Super Smash Bros. is Captain Falcon, one of the worst possible choices. Joe is an engineering major as well as Doug, but doesn't like it nearly as much as far as we can tell, judging by the amount of skipped classes. Well-versed in Old Testament Scripture, we sometimes question the validity of his Christian Faith, and are suspicious that we have a Jew impostor in the house. Joe lives in the big basement room with Doug, but he has a bed. I've slept in it before, and must say it is quite comfortable.

John "Angry Bird" Carr is the next oldest member. A self-proclaimed bridge between hipsters and Christians, John tricks everyone into thinking he actually is a hipster, by listening to hip tunes, wearing hip clothes, and doing hip things. He dreams of riding a fixie to class. Growing up in Chesapeake for his high school years, John enjoys the art of surfing, and hopes one day to go pro. However, his lung capacity has diminished while residing in the house, which is detrimental to his pro surfing career. John is known for his frequent trips to Kansas, to visit his "Girlfriend" named Stef, who is a narcoleptic and cataleptic soccer player for the Washburn Whales. Oh and he's a history major.

I don't know who the next oldest member of the house is, so we'll talk a bit about Jeremy "Big" Mateyk, the only true northerner who we allowed to reside in the house. Blessed with a beautiful smile and boyish good looks, Jeremy has dabbled in modeling in pictures taken by John's girlfriend Stef. During the Summer, Jeremy volunteered at Rockbridge, a younglife camp in Goshen, VA. There he acquired a taste for mountain biking, after riding ten miles a day, and losing fifteen pounds. Jeremy goes to class a helluvalot more than Joe, and continues to show his stroke of genius by acing Statics tests, which apparently are hard or something. Jeremy resides in the master bedroom, and his a personal toilet, which we all are jealous of and therefore use constantly.

Evan "Chipper" Underwood, born on March 8, 1991, resides in the last room on the right, and rooms with house hipster John Carr (described above) Evan enjoys hunting, fishing, gardening, reading, writing, building construction, driving, and having people smiling at him ( as shown by his license plate "smile4ev") 19 years old and going strong, he weighs in at a nimble 115 pounds, of pure muscle and bone. Best friends with Sam Bowman in high school, they attended Wilson Memorial High School, where he played soccer and did some other stuff not important enough to mention. Evan owns guns.

Samuel Bowman, whose nickname can sadly not grace this blog due to a multitude of reasons, is one of the residents of the basement along with Doug and Joe, and sleeps on a bed like Joe. His bed isn't nearly as comfortable as Joe's though- it's a twin and Joe's bed is queen sized. Well maybe both beds are of equal comfort, but I'm a bigger guy so I like the queen more. Anyway, I digress, Sam Bowman is a biology major here at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. A champion wrestler in high school, Sam routinely wrestles the other members of the house, in order to keep us humble. Son of Nancy and Bruce Bowman, Sam enjoys riding motorcycles, shooting stuff, and learning about genetics. He also enjoys dating Eliza Craymer, and sitting on the front porch of the house about 2-3 times a day.

Jackson Strawn may be the skinniest member of the house hold in comparison to his height. At 6 feet tall and 100 pounds, high schoolers have given him the nickname "Mr. Tall" which has caught on quickly among the residents here. The son of a librarian and a principal, Jackson has been groomed for college since an early age, reading great novels at the feet of his loving mother, Susan Strawn. His older brother Tyler also attends Tech and is currently a senior- Tyler used to play DandD alot, and loved it so much that he got a tattoo of a twenty-sided dice on his shoulder, which is unfortunate, since he does not play anymore. Jackson likes to play soccer and supersmashbros, hes ok at playin the soccer, but sucks at playin the Nintendo. Jackson doesn't have any really manly interests, he's friends with a guy named Miles, and wears casual khakis to class everyday. Oh, and he can't sleep unless he listens to bad music with the volume on high.

And now for the writer of this blog, James "Smokey Bear" Harris. James is a good looking 19 year old, who's height fits his weight very well. With broad shoulders that he could hold the world with, James enjoys a multitude of hobbies, such as playing basketball, reading, playing as Samus on SuperSmash, doing well in school, and being kind to everyone he encounters. This Intramural Soccer MVP also enjoys writing blogs apparently, as he has had much fun in dabbling in this one so far. A native of Chesapeake, James did not know John in high school but now they're bffs. James lives in the tastefully decorated first room on the left across from the stairwell- formerly the prayer room. Well who are we kidding, it still could be considered the prayer room. James spent many nights last year enjoying late night DX with Joe, and walking to class every morning with Jackson. You're likely to find this stud at Hokie Grill on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10:45 and 11:30 eating delicious Chick-fil-a Sandwiches with Jackson. James likes to ride jetskis.

I hope that this brief synapsis of the Willard Men can bring you one step closer to feeling like you know them, if you don't, and bring you closer to understanding them if you do luckily know us already. We will be residing in this house for another two and a half years, so there will be many blogs to come. Thanks for starting this journey with us. We appreciate it. Catch ya on the flip side.