Shorts

For the past 10-12 years of my life, I have worn Cargo shorts.

Cool, stylish, and great for carrying lots of candy; cargo shorts always helped me out when needed. From formal, khaki cargoes to informal navy blue cargoes, I always had a pair that was ready to go, any time.

This past semester has been rough on every pair of shorts I own however. As time goes on, I grow taller, and naturally, my waistline starts to grow (in perfect proportion to my height)a bit. This has made my cargo shorts worn down, and at the end of the semester I noticed that every pair was either missing a button, or had a hole directly in the crotch from where my thighs rubbed through the shorts. (I have extremely large thighs.)

In addition to these disturbing happenings, I was informed a few months ago by my roommates that cargo shorts are no longer "cool" or "hip". They said that a fraternity had gone so far to ban this type of outerwear (article on cargo-ban)John said that I looked like a "pocketed idiot". Jackson cackled softly, and Sam broke it to me gently that cargo shorts were out, perhaps permanently. So now, three months later, I have done something about it.

I was sick of wearing shorts with holes in the crotch. I was sick of not having buttons, and my fly always coming undone. I was also sick of being the butt of everyone's cargo-jokes. So I went shopping the other night. With a J.C. Penny coupon in hand, and determination in my heart, I went shorts shopping. And I ended up with the bad boys you see in this blog. Salmon. Un-cargoed. A size above what I wear, so I have a bit more room in the waist in case of growth. Broish.

I hope your happy world/willard. You've broken my cargo-spirit. I now will wear these normal, unblemished shorts as long as possible. If cargo shorts ever do come back in style though, I will be ready and waiting to sew up a few crotches, attach a few buttons, and pull those pocketed dreams back up where they belong.

I hope this is the last time I have to say some of my clothes have gone out of style. I mean what's next, I can't wear my trucker hat anymore?

<3's
James C. Harris III

Summah 2011

It's been over 2 weeks since anyone has made a post to the blog. This I believe is due to a mix of apathy and being away from each other, but I see it as my responsibility to go ahead and liven things up with a classic plans blog. I will now give you http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifa brief synopsis of what is happening with all the guys this Summer break.

Jer "The Bear" Mateyk
After spending the last semester racing formula one cars for the Virginia Tech Formula One Team, Jeremy will stop this work for the Summer and finally do what he really loves- baby lotion. Yes, yes Jeremy will be working for Johnson and Johnson this Summer. Here's a link to their website... I recommend going there, there's a picture of a really cute baby on the home page (surprise!). Jeremy will also be spending time with his brother James (great name) and fulfilling a multitude of Northern stereotypes that I allude to frequently.

Sam Bowman
Returning home for a few days before heading off to work in Blacksburg, this young man filled up with some of Nancy's fine cooking in his brief hiatus from the burg. Sam will be conducting research on the brain this summer, as he hopes to someday be a neuro-surgeon. Working with one of the top neurologists in the world, it is likely that Sam will in fact be able to hold a human brain in his hands, while it is still connected to someone. He will be assisting in multiple surgeries, and possibly performing some.

Jackson Strawn
Jackson's in Michigan this Summer, a place only a northerner (Jeremy..) could love. There he will be working with sound equipment and stuff, hanging out with Miles, and wearing lots of tye-dye, as it is required to be worn a few days a week (hippies). Jackson misses the Willard house dearly, and I am writing this prediction blog on his request.

Joe "Daddy" Danehower
Joe Daddy will also be spending the Summer in Blacksburg with SamBow. When asked for his plans for the Summer, Joe replied, "Working out... oh other than that? Hmm... Working at a Church, Grilling, Tanning, and visiting Claire. Oh and possibly Yoga, but most likely not." Well, there you have it, straight from the daddy's mouth.

John "no-longer-angry birds" Carr
This Summer John will be traveling to "Hatteras" where he will have a "job" working in a "skate-park". If you wish to know more about John's plans for the Summer, look at the blog directly before this one, where he states in excruciating detail his plans for the summer. It's not really that detailed, but you'll get a good idea what he's doing.

Evan "Environment" Underwood
Evan will not be staying the Summer in Staunton, but rather in the ghastly location of Charlottesville, VA. Here, he will be seeing the sights and also working for a construction company working on dormitories. Evan is no day laborer though, no sir. He will be helping with pretty much whatever they want of him, from working directly, to supervising, to planning. Some would call it an internship. I know I would. Evan will be staying at 316 in the Ville I think. Possibly not though, there is a chance that he will make the short commute from Staunton everyday. I really need more information...

Doug "Beard" Clelland
Hiking.

James "Good-looking" Harris
I'm back in Chesapeake, where I've been hanging with my mom a lot, and also with the guys that live at the Orphanage. No work really yet, I ended up not getting an internship that I wanted, and now am working at the Y again, which is cool. Unfortunately, summer camp doesn't start till June 20th, because the small ones don't get out of school till then. Cool.

Well my friends, that is all. I hope you enjoyed reading it more than I enjoyed writing it. Till next time.

<3's
James C. Harris III

Ministry plans and petition for prayer for the Outer Banks this summer:

I will be moving down to Frisco, NC on Hatteras island (just past buxton, the town with the black and white spiraled lighthouse you always see) this summer with two other guys, PJ Terranova and Charlie Blakeley. PJ and Charlie both graduated from Norfolk Academy and were discipled by Josh Shaw. PJ goes to UNCW and Charlie goes to UGA, both are rising sophomores and a year younger than me. The three of us will be living in a warehouse, above 316 Skatepark. The vision for the warehouse is for it to become the hub for youth ministry on Hatteras Island. Currently however, the warehouse consists of a skatepark, a meeting room upstairs where a house-church meets, and two semi-finished bedrooms upstairs where PJ, Charlie, and I will be staying. The three of us will be working alongside a guy named Doyle, who is the fruit of the ministry Shaw began on the island almost 10 years ago. Doyle grew up on the island, graduated from Appalachian State a few years ago, and has since moved back with a heart and a vision for the lost kids down there.

The house church that meets in the warehouse, spurred on by Doyle, will essentially be sponsoring our stay down there for the summer, providing us with a free place to stay in exchange for opening and running the skate park four nights a week. PJ, Charlie, and I will attend the house church and meet with (and hopefully be discipled by!) the elders. The three of us also plan on working part-time jobs to make some sort of money this summer (we are college students after all) and also be available to kids by not working full time. I'll be making a trip back to Blacksburg for our camp trip to Rockbridge in July, staying in touch with Blacksburg High School guys that I'm running after, and also making sure guys from Blacksburg and Chesapeake make it down during several trips for a couple days throughout the summer

We will be entering the Hatteras community with the heart, goal, and vision to love lost teenagers for the sake of Christ. According to Shaw, the Buxton/Frisco area is the epitome of small town life. Everyone knows everyone and what they are about. This is both a little scary and also encouraging. This means, for the three of us, that we will be doing "full-time" ministry in a very real way. Within a few weeks the entire community will know who we are and why we came down for the summer. Everywhere we go, from grocery shopping to surfing, and even at our jobs, we will be given the opportunity to actively live out the Gospel. We will essentially be doing Young Life style ministry, though no one down there knows anything about Young Life (I have the most YL experience, although PJ and Charlie were a part of Young Life in high school and Doyle took Hatteras kids to Shaw's Tidewater Independent Schools Young Life Winter Weekend) The three of us, partnered with Doyle as well as the local house church, will go forth into darkness meeting kids where they're at, earning the right to be heard, and hoping and praying for a chance to share with them the story of Grace. We will be using our knowledge of and passion for the skateboarding and surfing scene as a medium for reaching teenage kids, gaining credibility in their eyes simply by being present in the surf line-up and at the skatepark.


Specific prayer requests for this summer/future of ministry on Hatteras Island:
-that PJ, Charlie, and I would go all out for the sake of Christ
-that we would be provided with jobs that set us up well
-that the warehouse and 316 Skatepark become a vibrant image of Christ centered community and the hub of ministry on the island
-that projects, including a finished kitchen, guest room, game room, movie room, and refinished skate ramps, would be funded and completed
-and especially, that leaders from all over our region who plan on taking discipleship trips down to 316 Skatepark would feel loved, welcomed, and most importantly be a window into authentic fellowship and the grandeur of Christ for local kids who have limited perspective on Christian community


Thanks so much,
For our King,
John Carr

Math 1016

It is finished.

I am done with math.

Forever.

Today I took my last math class for the rest of my life (hopefully). Math 1016 Calculus is an course required for liberal arts majors at Virginia Tech. It is taught in the emporium, which I will describe soon. I hated every minute of it. After a brief description of the emporium, I will describe some of the things math has taught me, that I will never use.

The Virginia Tech Math Emporium is a dimly-lit former warehouse in the University Mall. Located off campus, parking is always a hassle at the emporium, what with there being thousands of students enrolled in the same classes, all with deadlines on the same day. You can usually expect a line to get into the math emporium (over an hour was the longest I have waited) and once you get in you are greeted by two girls drinking slurpees and playing computer solitaire who snatch your Hokie ID, scan it, and grumpily ask if you need a computer. These employees always act as if I am ruining their day by checking in, when in reality I'm consigning myself to hours of torture and their getting paid $8.50 an hour to sit in a comfy chair and move their arm up and down once a minute. Once you get pass these wenches, you move onto your assigned computer, usually next to an extremely tan girl talking very loudly on her phone, or an engineer snoring and his pod next to you. You log in and then slowly read the poorly worded explanations of problems, and look at the examples which are nothing like the actual quizzes. You have the option of putting up a red solo cup to request help, but that process can mean a thirty minute wait in between answers. The employee/student ratio is roughly 1/1,000. You are not allowed to have food or drink in the emporium.

This is where I have been enrolled in my math class. Calculus. I'm not bad at calculus to be honest, and I took pretty much this exact course my junior year of high school. But when I know that I'm going to have to go to the emporium to do work, something inside me dies a little every time. Especially because of the negative mindset I have about calculus in general. It is completely pointless for me to know. Am I an engineer? no. Am I an architect? no. Am I a history major? yes. Here are some examples of what I worked on this semester.

Deriving Functions- As a history major it is imperative that I know how to figure out at what point a tangent line touches a parabola.

Rate of Change- Everyone knows snowmen melt. But why not have the ability to figure out how fast the snowman is melting?! Well an imaginary snowman, unless you want to get a ruler and go out in the snow to discover the original size.

Derivative Graphs- If knowing the how to figure out what point the lines were touching at wasn't enough, it is now time to be able to graph said lines.

That's it pretty much. The entire course was more and more advanced derivatives with tons of signs that I don't care about (ln, e, sine, cosine, secant, cosecant, tangent,cotangent, log, a^x etc...). In other words stuff I am never going to use.

So here's to you pointless mathematics course, I will never use any of the methods I learned. But thank you for the patience I built while waiting in that line.

Sorry for the extreme cynicism throughout this article. Now it is time for me to study much more relevant things, like Alexander the Great.