Well here we are. Where to begin?
I've had an interesting summer. I've been too busy, or too lazy, to write anything in a while.
A few months ago I was at IHOP with my roommates. We met a nice young man named Mikhail. As it turned out, he was here in the states from Russia with three of his friends - Alexi, Victor, and Artem. We have had the honor of showing these guys a good time this whole summer.
A few weeks ago, Mikhail caught a bus to New York and grabbed the next flight back to mother Russia. And last Saturday I had the grim duty of taking Victor to get another bus, so he could go home as well. And then there were two.
Alexi and Artem will be leaving in October back to their homeland. They will be missed dearly.
About a month ago I went to Louisville, Kentucky to audition for American Idol. I hit the road with my mom and brother, waited in a line for ten hours with twenty thousand people to sing for ten seconds. Well at least I can say I did that now. Go me. It was a great time, I got to spend some much needed time with my family. I love both of them. Very much.
When I got back, my friend James almost tore off my little toe nail with his shoe, by accident. This was mere days before I was to head off to Mexico for about nine days. When I got to Mexico, I got sick. Very sick. Despite my illness, Mexico was amazing. I got to spend a little time with some old friends, and I got to lead worship in Spanish with some locals.
I was sick for four days after I got back to the states. About two weeks in total.
When I got back to my house in Oklahoma City I re-injured an old knee injury - hyper-extending my LCL and ACL.
Imagine blinding, nightmare pain. Like blinding white light.
So, there I was on my crutches, in my knee immobilizer, juiced up on twenty-four hundred milligrams of pain killers a day, when I lost my keys.
Things just kept getting better.
So then I found out I couldn't go back to Hillsdale, my college, this semester due to financial and other reasons, so I decided to go to the local community college for my tenth semester toward a bachelor's degree. I'm taking a second victory lap. In the long run it's a good move because I will be able to knock out the gen-ed courses that I've been putting off for a long time.
My friend Sonja agrees to give me a lift to the school so I can get enrolled. The day we were supposed to go, her back left tire is destroyed.
If anyone is noticing a pattern here, let me know, because I have yet to figure it out.
And here I am, a week after I finally got up there, and I'm still fighting through the endless web of red tape keeping me from moving forward with anything productive in my life. I'm just now to the point where I might be able to get back to work - standing on this leg is harder than I let on.
So there you go. That's the what's what with Dan. I sort of lied when I said I hadn't figured it out yet. I'm beginning to. Someone is testing me. I'm trying to endure. You know me, I'm looking for the lesson to be learned, but this one is proving to be most elusive.
I'm slowly becoming the man I want to be. The one I need to be.
This has been one of those summers. I couldn't have predicted it. I couldn't have planned it. It just happened. Relationships started. Relationships ended. I recorded new songs. Deas Vail and Coin Laundry Loser played in my dining room. These are the days you live for. Each one of them.
My hot summer blood comes in floods and in waves.
I want to inspire people. With music. With acting. I want to be strong enough to shoulder the burden of my friends lives on my back - although I will always need people to support me. I'm learning that.
Ok, that's all I have to say right now.
If you haven't seen The Dark Knight yet, do that tomorrow. I don't think I put anything on here about Heath Ledger when he died, I was busy grieving. I saw a biography about him recently. I have truly been inspired. I want to take some things more seriously.
If I ever leave this world alive, I'll take on all the sadness that I left behind.
