the road goes ever on and on

Its been a long two weeks. I had several speeches, two huge writing assignments, two all-nighters because of them, a car accident (thankfully not my fault) that will likely result in my car being totaled, and a few mental breakdowns here and there because of all the aforementioned tolls on my cardiac muscles and brain synapses.

I could go on and on (seriously, I am an excellent complainer) and talk about how crappy the week was in detail, but I won't, because there were good times (some transcendental) amidst the flood of insanity.

My car accident was on Thursday night, the day before Good Friday, and I spent all night after the accident doing one of my assignments. I didn't sleep at all. Obviously, I had much to moan about on Friday. And that's basically all I did for the whole day, until I finally realized that Jesus was up all night praying and sweating blood in his earnestness and didn't just have to go to school and work the next day. He had to save the freakin' world (us) from itself and its inherent stupidity. He didn't complain, even though he could have. He didn't stop it, even though he could have. He had a job to do, and he did it.

I was at work when I finally understood my absolute selfishness. I asked to take a break, and locked myself in the bathroom and contemplated how easy it had become for the things of this world to discourage me. I was sad for a few minutes, but quickly converted to an attitude of thankfulness and forgiveness, and spent the rest of my shift relishing in the company my fellow coworkers. I no longer hated my teacher for giving me that assignment. I was thankful that I was still alive after my accident. But most of all, I was thankful that I, instead of being whipped to shreds, pierced with nails, and hung on a cross to die, only had 4 classes to go to (one of which I chose to dose off in) and five hours of work in the afternoon. Hardly a reverberation to be had in comparison to that of Jesus' day of Crucifixion.

That evening I chose to sit down and watch The Passion of the Christ. I had been avoiding doing this on Good Friday that past few years because I thought it was a bit cliche to do so. But after watching it, it was anything but. I've seen it about 4 times now, but the movie is still as powerful as the first time I saw it several years ago. The scene where Mary runs to Jesus and He says "See, Mother, I make all things new" and then stands up and embraces the Cross...that is the most powerful scene in the movie for me. Mel Gibson rightly calls it the "hero shot". It is a beautiful harmony of sight, sound, and context that represents His valour in completing his task (for my benefit) as given to him by the Father. It is unequivocally beautiful.

I slept for 13 hours that night, did some homework on Saturday, and went to the theater to see TMNT (there is an explanation for this travesty, later though) and The Lookout. Easter was a highlight. After an early morning, outdoor service, I went out to my aunt and uncle's place in Corona, ate some delicious food and spent the afternoon playing Phase 10, hiding eggs, and perusing the addictive archives of Youtube with my cousin. Hilarity ensued, as usual, and I went home with some stronger abs due to laughing. See? Youtube is healthy!

The week that followed, this past week, was busy, but nice. The new episode of Lost was magnificent and aggravating at the same time. The ending sent me into a tizzy fit for a few hours. I was duped, I admit, and now I'm pissed. Also, I basically quit my job. Starting in two weeks, I will only be working 5 hours a week as opposed to the 30 that I am working now. I did this for several reasons. One, I will have some time to study for finals when they come around. Two, if a job opportunity arises in which they need someone immediately, I can take it. And three, if I don't have a different job by summer, I can start working full time again at the one I have now. I hope number three never comes to pass though.

And last night, I went to see Blades of Glory. And I saw Grindhouse a few hours ago.

A long two weeks, but a rewarding two.