1) How do you like to express yourself? (words, actions, writing, song?)
music and drawing. i have a band [it's called Sleeves on Sunburns] and i write and play all the music and everything, and i draw a webcomic [called i'm here to see if you can fly with broken wings] and i draw that.

2) What songs/ music inspires you?
usually when i'm writing music, i want it to sound like Elliott Smith or Bright Eyes. also, i often have one specific song that fills me with energy and makes me want to do things. i don't know what that song is currently, but a week ago it was "Very Loud" by Shout Out Louds. that one's on the Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist soundtrack. in the past, my one song has been "Land Locked Blues" by Bright Eyes, "Punchlines" by Mates of State, and i don't remember what else. it changes a lot.

3) Do you like museums?
yeah. we have a natural history museum here in town, but i haven't been to it in ages. last summer, though, i went to the La Brea Tar Pits/museum in California with my grandparents. it was pretty awesome. i've always loved that place. also, we went to the California ScienCenter, and i hadn't been there in a long time. it was lots of fun, and we all learned a lot.

4) What is your favorite color(s)?
blue, maybe green, but definitely blue.

5) What kind of art or décor do you have at home?
lame kind. we have a lot of framed photographs of family, and we have a window frame with dried flowers on it hanging on our wall [that one's cool] but most of the stuff is boring. also, the walls are all like a pale blue. i'm not the biggest fan of the house i live in. in my room, though, i have the walls almost completely covered in a collage of things from my life, like concert tickets, photographs, drawings, posters, etc.

1) What do you think is beautiful about the Earth?
pretty much everything, especially things not involving very many people.

2) What animal(s) do you think are beautiful?
tigers, foxes, hummingbirds.

3) What are your favorite flowers?
i don't really know. i don't know many flowers.

4) Do you like to watch sunset or sunrise?
hecks yeah! they remind me of The Little Prince. One day, he saw the sunset forty-four times! You know, one loves the sunset when one is so sad...

5) What makes your life more beautiful?
music. it's always easier for me to appreciate the beauty in everything when i'm listening to music.

well, my favourite bands are Mates of State, Say Anything, The Rocket Summer, Elliott Smith, Regina Spektor, Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens, The Mountain Goats and Daniel Johnston.

i don't know what music has made the biggest difference in my life, though. probably i'd have to say my brother has made the biggest musical difference in my life. i used to listen to old music [like from the sixties and maybe the seventies] and modern [and not very good] pop music, but then he introduced me to indie and emo music. and that music has made a huge difference in my life - it's helped me express my emotions, feel new ones, and relate to those of others.

the music i listen to now has also inspired my music a lot. if not for the bands/musicians i've listed above, the songs i write [if i wrote songs at all] would probably be really poppy and i don't think i [the way i am now] would like them very much. i don't think they'd be very high quality songs. but in all reality, i don't think i'd write any music if not for my favourite musicians and all of the bands my brother and other people with similar musical tastes to him have introduced me to.

so yeah, i guess that's my answer.

definitely Jesus. i think there are a lot of things about him that people today don't understand, and i think meeting him would be a good way to clear some of those things up.

also, right now, i'm currently reading Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller [he also wrote Blue Like Jazz, which is a completely amazing book] and in it, he talks about how people have wrong perceptions of God and Jesus, and how lots of people seem to view God as being very similar to santa: if we're good, we get gifts. if we're bad, we may not get gifts, but no matter what, he comes once a year and we don't really ever see him. i dunno, he explains it a lot better in the book.

but Donald MIller has some really good points, and i'm really excited for reading more of the book.

also, Jesus was, even if you don't believe that he was God, an amazing teacher, and his teachings were all about love, and i'd absolutely love to learn from him in person.

i don't really know, i've never thought about it. some sort of animal [or, i guess, an animal other than a human], because i'm already experiencing the human life, and it's all about the new experience.

i think it would be fun to be a rabbit, or some sort of big cat, or a wolf. i've always liked those animals a lot.

but i don't know what i'd come back as, not getting to choose. that's a tough one that i don't currently have the answer to.

here's two that i haven't done yet.

1)  Are you a romantic?
oh totally, yeah.

2)  Where did you go on your best date?
that's a good question. in the past, i haven't really been a 'go on dates' person. in high school, i was the shy, introverted kid who never had a girlfriend.

last year, though, i took five girls to prom, and that was cool. each one dressed as a specific colour of the rainbow and i dressed as a cloud [with blues, greys and whites and a really puffy shirt] and so i was the cloud and they were my rainbow. that was lots of fun. beforehand, we sat out on the quad at ISU and had a picnic with cookies, peanut butter and jelly sangwiches and apple juice. that was fun.

3)  Do you like red lacy paper hearts and Valentine’s swag?
hecks yeah. i'm a sucker for romantic, cheesy stuff like that. i'm always right alongside all the girls in the area saying 'aww!' when something cute or romantic happens.

4)  How do you show friends love? (Hugs? Thanks? Smoochies? Gifts?)
hugs, mostly.

5)  Do you like chocolate?
kind of, but only if it's not too rich or in too large of a quantity.



1) What made you smile today?
i've been playing pokemon yellow a lot today, and my pokemon are champions. also, my pikachu [his name is Spiro, like Spiro Turnstiles from Frank Espinosa's Rocketo comics] is super cute. when he's really happy, it shows this awesome animation where he lifts his little pikachu arms over his head and there are little hearts. it's incredible and i love it.

2) What's the weather like where you are?
it's cold, but not too cold. i like it, because it's good for walking around in, and one) i love walking, and two) i have no car, so walking is often the most plausible mode of transportation for me. also, i'm a fan of coldness.

3) Who did you talk to today? (you can tell us one or more)
mostly my brother. thursdays are my home-alone days. i also talked to my dad a little bit and my sister a tiny smidgen.

4) Are you hungry, thirsty or content right now?
i'm kind of thirsty. i just ate a slice of pizza and now i think i might go get some milk in a minute.

5) What are you thankful for in this moment?
pretty much everything. at church, we've been talking about how God is amazing and we should always be praising Him, and i've been really taking it to heart.

1) What have you bought recently?
some avatars from the mc; pokemon valentine cards; lunch.

2) Which special object(s) hold meaning for you?
ummm... i dunno. my sticker chair, i guess. whenever i get a sticker, i put it on this chair i have, so it's full of all kinds of memories. also, i have a lot of papers and photographs that i'm very sentimental about hanging on my bedroom walls. i dunno. i attach large amounts of sentimental value to A LOT of things.

3) What was the last present you gave?
i handed out pokemon valentines to some people on sunday [i know, i know, i was a little late]... i plan on giving a couple books and a funny card game to my friend wilson in the near future [it was going to be a Christmas present, but i haven't seen him at all recently]... also, i gave my friend michaelmartin a birthday present this year, i'm pretty sure, but i don't remember what it was right now.

4) What little things make your life easier?
i don't know. i keep all kinds of 'little things' in my messenger bag specifically for the purpose of making life easier, but i don't know how much i use any of them. i have a tape measure, some matches, nail clippers, writing utensils, a french to english dictionary, a copy of the Constitution, a copy of Proverbs, Psalms and the New Testament, some stamps, a little notebook, and i don't know what else. it's like my utility belt.

5) Do you like to throw things away?
sometimes, yeah. throwing things away can be a very cathartic sort of cleansing.