The past three days have been absolutely exhausting and exhilarating … we took our entire sixth grade class out to PVM for a three day camp experience. Even though it rained the first two days, the teachers, kids, and parent volunteers were absolutely amazing, traipsing around the grounds and participating in everything we planned with enthusiasm and wonder. It was fantastic, and I can’t wait to see how the whole experience resonates in the hearts and minds of these kids.

I took a lot of photos out there but decided to narrow it down to only forty to upload to Flickr … if you’d like, you can either see the slideshow or look at the photo set. Enjoy!

For some reason, I’ve dealt with quite a few bullying situations this year in school. Sometimes it makes me want to roll my eyes and say something like “just walk it off” or “rub some dirt on it” … but usually, it just makes my heart grow. I was picked on a lot when I was little, and it’s undeniable that this is simply a tough time of life.

There is one thing that I love about it, though … most children in junior high haven’t yet learned how to internalize and ignore their pain and emotion. How I wish that it could stay that way for them!

[original photo]

Me: “Man, this blister on my thumb hurts!”
Caitlin (6th grade): “It’s camp, Mr. Webel.”
Sydney (6th grade): “Yeah, suck it up.”

Well, I’m out at Pleasant Vineyard with our entire sixth grade class. It’s been a blast … but after sixteen hours and 22,582 steps (yes, I’m wearing a pedometer) I’m absolutely exhausted.

I’m uploading photos and doing a mini-blog-type-thing for the parents while we’re out here … check it out by clicking here. I mean, if you want to, that is. If you’re not interested, then you can ignore that command.

Peace in the Middle East.

One of the most innovative summer camp programs at Pleasant Vineyard Ministries is the Gorilla Garage program. Throughout the course of a week of overnight camp, professional welders and mechanics help a group of kids create a mechanical masterpiece (a la Monster Garage).

In this time lapse video (to “Bucket Seats”, by Cake), the 2004 Gorilla Garage campers convert an old Plymouth Voyager minivan into a paintball tank in 5 days of hard work. They remove the interior, replace the windows with cages, cut a hole in the roof for a rotating paintball gun turret, install a kill switch for the motor, and drive their new paintball tank outside for a menacing paint job. In the grand finale, the gorilla garage campers drove their creation to the paintball field for a showdown with the paintball campers on the last day of camp!

My 1998 Dodge Caravan, Geri, was converted to a paintball tank on an earlier week of camp, but I didn’t capture that transformation on video. Too bad.

I just found the following note on the floor after a sixth grade class (the names are changed to “protect the innocent”):

Dear Bobby,

I wish I didn’t have to say this, well you & Susie are still going out, which means you have 2 girl friends. I’m so sorry I love you so much. You and Susie have gone out longer. I really want to go out but we can’t, I’m sorry I have to do this no matter how bad it hurts me. I love you with all my heart.

Love ♥♥♥♥
Sally

Man … these 11-year-olds have more romantic drama in their lives than I do. And I can’t figure out if that’s funny or sad!

I don’t understand why America is so interested in promoting “democracy” in foreign countries, especially those on the other side of the globe, when our form of democracy is so incredibly ineffective and stagnant.

Just hear me out here.

Nobody votes in this country. And it isn’t because they don’t care … it’s because our system absolutely sucks. Moreover, I believe that its current design intentionally cripples the American people, stripping them of their voice and power in our government and society.

First thing’s first. We have no real way of tracking who is who. Some people have social security cards, some have driver’s licenses, some have birth certificates. But the only way to “ensure” that each person gets one vote is to force them to “register” then come and sign a paper. Can someone remind me why we don’t have a Citizen Identification of some sort? Even China gets this right.

Then there’s registration … it is absolutely unnecessary. Registration is an extra hurdle thrown into our democratic process to purposefully make it more difficult for real people to vote. It is very hard to find information about how to register … and if you screw up and don’t do it on time, you lose your right. So why, in the world’s most advanced nation, do we have to rely on the initiative of millions of individual people to jump through this unneeded hurdle? I don’t get it … if you’re a citizen in the right age group, you should by definition be qualified.

Next comes the voting itself … it’s designed to be as difficult as possible. They schedule it during a non-holiday weekday … and not a Friday or Monday either, but a Tuesday (because in 1845, when the day was established, people didn’t want to miss church for their overnight buggy trip to the county seat). They then force people to “vote” during business hours then tell you that you have to go to some remote and usually difficult-to-find location (like a church or elementary school). The only people that actually get there, every time, are those who were predictable … the retired ones and such. And don’t even try to tell me that nobody has thought that this scheduling isn’t convenient … it’s clearly a way to control and predict how many votes will come in from each “district” (and don’t even get me started on how those “districts” are drawn by our politicians).

But assuming that Joe Citizen does successfully make it to his polling station at the right time … what will he find? Well, that’s easy … he’ll find a system in place that is ridiculously antiquated. Old ladies handing out cards? Punching holes in paper? Is there a big IBM mainframe in a gym somewhere that can input these timecards and do complex addition problems with them or something? Give me a break … this is the 21st century. We’re pouring trillions into blowing people up but can’t come up with a way to record votes?

Finally, of course, is the fact that our votes don’t actually count. You do know, my friend, that we don’t really live in a democracy … we live in a representative democracy. We don’t elect a president … we take a fancy poll. Then, later, a guy called an “elector” goes into a room and does the actual voting … and in reality, he can choose whomever he wants to choose. That man, who I have never met nor chosen to represent me, is the one who votes for the next president. It’s not like the olden days, when we needed guys like this to ride their horses from our hometowns to the capitol of the country to deliver our votes because we had to stay home and take care of the farm … so why do we have it?

Now I’m no political scientist. And I don’t know that I have the answer … though I think that a Citizen’s ID, online voting, and the demolition of unnecessary representation are obvious components of the solution. I do know, however, that the reason why it isn’t changing is quite simple: Control.

Making voting more smooth, easy, and equal would only make the results more unpredictable. It would encourage those who aren’t involved to get involved, it would eliminate trillions of dollars in waste and bureaucratic spider-webs, and it would give a voice to millions of people who are currently so [conveniently] quiet.

Here’s what I say … if we’re not going to change the way things work, we should re-institute the Pony Express. At least that was one antiquated and irrelevant system that was really sweet.

If someone asked you, “How is America?”, what would you say?

This music video was produced in the middle of the 2005 summer camp season at PVM. Shot, edited, and produced in four days, this video shows the fun and personal environment of camp through clips of campers in the drama, rock climbing, paintball, rez camp, horseback riding, leadership, and gorilla garage programs. It also features the song “Come and Remain” by This Holiday Life, a then-independent band (now signed) from San Diego.

I was always happy with the way this video turned out … the pacing, synchronization, effects, shot selection, and storyline all seemed to come together into a nice little package. And it’s rare that something like that happens on such a short schedule with limited resources!

One piece of trivia … that summer we had a baby alligator escape on the grounds. It was missing for a couple of weeks (yikes!), but we found it during this week of camp. If you look closely, you can see it somewhere in this video … can you spot it?

This is why I don’t take naps.

I’m not gonna explain this one.

Ever get stuck going shopping with a friend or spouse when you’d just rather stay at home? Want a sure-fire way to ensure that you never have to return?

Then check out this letter supposedly sent to a Kmart customer in Reno, Nevada. It’s fake (think about it … security cameras catching him humming? misspelled manager name? European date format? made in Paint?) … but it’s still hilarious. I kinda like the September 14th idea … might have to try that sometime!

Alternately, here’s a list from 1998 with a few more ideas items.

[via digg]

My beloved Cleveland Browns just absolutely laid the smack down on the Cincinnati Bengals … 51-45, 554 yards of total offense, 216 rushing yards by Jamal Lewis, 5 touchdown passes by Derek Anderson (a franchise record), no sacks allowed by the offensive line, and pure heart demonstrated by the whole team.

I’ve been bragging for years (sarcastically, usually) about how the Browns’ time time has come … and this past week, I really stepped up the rhetoric, claiming that they were going to start their Super Bowl run by stomping the local favorite here in Cincinnati. But I didn’t expect to actually see it happen.

I guess this’ll be a fun week!