12.25.2008

Hope you're doing great!

This is how God showed His love among us; He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through HIm.
1john 4;9 (niv)

12.23.2008

came across this today

since I have time now, this evening, i will fill this out.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?.......whatever will do the job
2. Real tree or Artificial? .................. I love that smell; real all the way
3. When do you put up the tree? ......before christmas
4. When do you take the tree down? .......before New Years
5. Do you like eggnog? ................nope, it tastes and feels like a loogie
6. Favorite gift received as a child? .............bow and arrow
7. Hardest person to buy for? .............any girl
8. Easiest person to buy for? ...........my dad
9. Do you have a nativity scene? ........not personally
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? .........make it and mail it
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ....no such thing
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? .....dont have one
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? ............shop or make it a few weeks before, sometimes months, depends on the gift.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? once. never again
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? ........fondue
16. Lights on the tree? .....of course
17. Favorite Christmas song? ...... have yourself a merry little xmas and sleigh ride-relient K
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? ........... where ever the best is
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? .....nope
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? .....Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? .............one christmas eve, the rest on xmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? .........that busy, rushed feeling is so distracting
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? .............penguin snow globe because it is fun and peaceful.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? .......prime rib
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? ....... "home"
26. Who is most likely to respond to this?

12.01.2008

hmmm 2day...

-beach foam might be the strangest thing ever. Waves must be "macking" to look like that (pic).
-the US is officially in a recession
-what would a depression look like in the 21st century? what are we dependent on? looks like it will be more of a moral depression than economic.
-according to msnbc, video game sales are booming because they are a form of low cost entertainment. I'm not a "gamer" but I know some games are messed up. I wonder if there will be more "couch potato" violence in this country now? media- saturated and low brain development is not a good combination!
- yesterdays message at church summed up my last 3.74 years in one sentence..."Do I really belong to God or do I just believe Him?"
- what about that verse, "Let your gentleness be evident to all" (Philippians 4:5),
-when I know the structure, the goal or how something works, I do much better
-Today is a great day!
-art is fun
-I am really going to miss CA this Christmas
-love it when it rains and its sunny. Today its just rainy.
- my dog just "latte barfed" again. He eats everything then throws up.
"Stop throwing up! learn!".
Dry heave-choke-to a foamy outcome, this has been going on sporadically, since last spring. Looks bad for the little guy. Well, "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" (newtons 3rd law of motion) ............on a larger scale, am I so different about things?

11.27.2008

thanks?


These guys are...
Not having a soccer game…
Not playing rugby with the neiborhood…
Not going to baseball practice…
Not stealing their sisters’ hair bands and shooting them on the ceiling so they get stuck.
What is there to be thankful for anyway?

That God is big and good!
Thats why I believe in God. He saw me living with no life and could not handle it, so he took my place and still doesn't force anything on me, but waits and helps me to get it. So much love. easily over looked, but visible when I slow down and stare at it.

11.11.2008

Veterans


you are very special

10.22.2008

part of My story

I know I'm bad at writing. I took it a while ago, I need to take it again, so I am. This is a paper I had to write. It had to be about an experience in my life, descriptive writing I think.
Let me know how to write well, that would help.


Eric Lopez
Writing 121
CRN:43546
Prof. Sears
10/8/08
‘Silent Killer’

There is a silent killer that can strike anyone at any moment. Sometimes there are symptoms; most of the time there aren’t. People drop suddenly because they are not able to walk, breathe, or see. This condition happens to soldiers, athletes who go through head trauma, and the everyday person just going through their day. It is called Traumatic Brain Injury (T.B.I.).
On April 3rd 2005 I moved from Kimball, Nebraska to Redondo Beach, California when it happened to me. Seven days later on the evening of April 10th, I was in Downtown Los Angeles “doing my thing” when all of a sudden my head starts throbbing and burning, like it was screaming from the inside and pounding, similar to a jack hammer but with a saw blade, pounding and ripping the inside of my head apart. Later I learned I was having a brain aneurism, An Arterio-Venous Malformation (A.V.M.) aneurism, to be exact that happened in the cerebellum part of my brain. It wasn’t a hereditary thing, just a random thing. As it happened I immediately collapsed, partly due to the pain in my head and partly because I lost the ability to stand. A friend helped get me onto a bench and off the ground in order to see if I was all right. I started throwing up at that point. My friend noticed that I couldn’t speak right or see and I needed medical attention immediately. With only minutes passing so far, there was time to get to the nearby hospital, this was an emergency and there was a Good Samaritan Hospital a few blocks away on Wilshire Blvd. The hospital I was taken to happened to have one of the best brain surgeons in the country working that night, and he quickly got to the root of my symptoms. I passed out while in the ER before the surgeon had a chance to look at me. I have no memory of what happened the next few weeks.

I awoke about a month later with the strongest coherency that doctors had seen in me. I was immediately put on the rehabilitation roster. Physical, Occupational and Speech therapists then worked to challenge me with basic exercises to further this progress, since there was no telling how far progress would go. I was constantly told, “The brain is amazing at recovery when it is triggered to do so”. The next months were full of therapy sessions, two kinds of wheel chairs and walkers, swallowing solid food and liquid, brushing teeth, combing hair, basic things that I’ve been doing since birth, twenty-three years ago, but all I wanted to do was sleep deeply. Thankfully, I was not on any medication, but I did acquire a side effect from brain surgery known as insatiable thirst, leaving me constantly thirsty. Three months later, after I showed enough progress, I was off to an assisted living rehabilitation center for further improving or until my health insurance ran out. My mental capacity at that point was that of a small child and improved with more exposure to physical and mental activities. Like a chalkboard, my mind had twenty-three years of experiences and muscle memory that were instantly erased, but they’re still in my brain somewhere waiting to be triggered, hopefully. The goal of rehabilitation was not to get me back to how I used to be, but to get me capable.
Casa Colina Rehabilitation Center was my home for the next few months. When I first arrived, I was incredibly disoriented, and the place seemed very strange to me. It was one hour east from where I had lived in Redondo Beach and the recovery hospital in San Pedro, California. Pomona (where Casa Colina is), is hot and dry in summer. I remember it was a big house, a short distance from the main hospital, hard wood floors, Spanish style architecture, and a court yard, all surrounded by walls. No Doctors or Nurses just Therapists and patients and sheets that did not smell like a hospital. I have never been much of a family man, but seeing such warm smiles and genuine care during this whole ordeal was a very life changing experience. My perspective of family was being changed. I never realized how beautiful family is.
My time at Casa Colina was awkward. We had free time, meal times, and outings, but I didn’t know what to do other than practice my exercises almost non-stop. I did not want to be there. I got a lot of, “what are you doing, it’s lunch time, take a break”, but every moment was an opportunity to improve. Eventually I got to the point where I could handle a pass to leave for the day on Saturday or Sunday, I remember getting back from my day with family or friends, slowly getting up the ramp to the front door on a Saturday night, stopping to admire how dark and quiet it was, time for more rehabilitation. I wanted out, I didn’t want to be in that position, but what can you do? It was like a job that never ended and there was nothing I could do about it except, do it. Day after day, I saw how incapable I was: my limbs were not doing what they used to. That was discouraging and really getting to me, I kept thinking, “why is this taking so long?” However, once I discovered I had access to the unlimited supply of yogurt, cold Sparklets water, juice, cereal and fruit, the place wasn’t so bad. Unfortunately, I realized this just before I was discharged. The place was actually becoming all right to live in now. Wow, I was settling there. I also had a great roommate towards the end of my stay. In mid September I was discharged from living there and began outpatient day treatment at my father’s home, fifteen minutes away, for continued therapies.
This was the first year of my Brain surgery experience. It has been a very educational one, not a good one at all, but I have learned to take nothing for granted and I thought I had control of things, I don’t. I never knew how to trust; now I have a picture of what trust looks like. I never thought about change, now I do. I try not to take things like walking on grass, drinking water or how special family is for granted any more. Come to think of it, this experience has made things ‘sweeter’.

8.02.2008

lots of CA

I've been in CA since June, and just got back on wed. Heres some things that went on.
- 1 wedding
- made it to 12 cities
- MANY miles
- beach x 3
- in-n-out x 4
- learned masking on photoshop
- few days of chipping/sanding/painting trim on a house
- 2 amtrak trains
- 1 detour due to a fire (goleta)
- 1 earthquake (chino hills)
- 1 broken down amtrak train
- many car rides
- 1 car trouble
- 1 week of camping
- hiking
- fishing
- lots of amazing views and "kodak moments"
- 5 cut down "bush trees"
- 1 bottle of banana ketchup the honey mooners brought back for me.
- 1 almost finished book
- now i need to fix my mac so no pics yet
- being with family and friends .... PRICELESS



Marls broke its leg last week, now im helping take care of the dog.

6.24.2008

what up wifi at the airport

so im at my gate an 1.5 hours early. (being early for me - not often) but time flys by when im using internet at my gate. Another perk of brain surgery, I get to pre board and get the best seat up front. theres huge down sides to TBI but there are some sweet things too!
Usually I love packing but not this time. My friend and I have a contest to see who can pack the least. this time i know i lost. the next month i will be trying to see as many people in a 150 mile radious with no car. not looking forward to having no solid schedule. I dont know whats going to happen. I have to board l*s

5.12.2008

wanted

my class needs alot of books by thursday for this next project we are making. hundreds of books (old, manuals,text books, coffee and hotpocket stained ones) . Any kind, doesnt matter. its an instalation for the school we will be attaching to a wall. if you have some or know how I could get some, let me know. they will stay there for ever, until they knock the wall down.

One of the best

******HAPPY NURSE DAY!***
Nat you are the best nurse I have ever met! your patients are fortunate to have you take care of them, so am I for being your brother

food 4 thought








1)One thing I learned in my art class this term. Art changes space. We were at P.A.M. a few weeks ago. I had to ask (I’m like the annoying Kid that questions everything) "How is this art? It would take 5 mins to make.” It was two steel squares with a gap in the middle and a cyliner in the middle with 1 weld at the top holding it all together. I'm aware that art can be ridiculous. I joke about that- if you don’t know what to major in, do art. Anything can be art.
But this to me was crossing the line.
Then my teacher said, “look, its like a wall, or a barracade,and you have to walk around it. It changes space. It interrupts you and literally makes you have a different view.”
I love that! Art isn’t just directing your eyes through linear recession, focal points, colors, layouts, using negative space… and provoking/controlling/manipulating someone to think a certain way. or try to. It changes space! We as people are art. (read genesis and creation) We should change the space we occupy.

If its right its not lame. Remember what art and all media can do and the hostile deciever that uses it. "artistic integrity" will kick your butt if youre not on top of it.


2)I like old movies! I get to see what life was like back then. Its a picture of the basics. shelter, water and food. It was physically harder then. But God was valuable.
Now post age of industrialization and dependence on other things, we’re doing it. We control, we’ve got it.
Back in the day people had a better sense of “I have no control” and didnt depend on them selves.
Inventions are great and helpful for living and the economy…, but forgetting that God is in control = we lose. Matthew 6:19-20
We don’t need God in a tangible way now. So its even harder to recognize him.

- this is how I see it. How do you see it?


5.09.2008

It's one of those days

Does honesty still exist? OR /world, whats up? Romans 14 was my dig this morning. So good! The most valuable thing i've ever learned....God loves us......but he actually likes us!

bought my plane ticket to CA last night. looks like I'll be down there for 1/3 of the summer.

4.27.2008

"verbiage"

My favorite word is:

preponderate (prĭ-pŏn'də-rāt')

-To be greater in #, power etc... (oxford mini dict. and thesaurus)

  1. -To exceed something else in weight.
  2. -To be greater than something else, as in power, force, quantity, or importance; predominate
  3. - To pass in influence or power. Also: To sink downward -weigh more heavily (http://www.answers.com/topic/preponderate)

-To be greater than something else as in, power, weight or importance (american heritage dict)

1.to exceed something else in weight; be the heavier.
2.to incline downward or descend, as one scale or end of a balance, because of greater weight; be weighed down.
3.to be superior in power, force, influence, number, amount, etc.; predominate:
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/preponderate)

whats yours?

4.23.2008

4.13.2008

gr8 point cane




This afternoon was one of those times that I am gr8ful for. I met an 80-something year old lady that walked with a 4 point cane that amazed me.....
My mom knew of a lady in the community that needed help. Mom, being the type of person that will do something about it, persisted on getting me. Bad attitude was happening. I was hesitant to help today. The plan was to lawn mow this ladies big 2 lot yard, that a very small house sits on. We tracked down a mower, it all worked out. today was the best day to do it......so we start and this lady gets off her cane and wants to help. She starts showing me she could do it too, and takes it over for a bit. I let her for a minute. my experience with canes...etc is that dependency can be confining (unless its on God) also challenges and grace CAN let us do things that we didn't think we could do. No one thought we could.
wha...her body can't keep up with her "heart". She had such a drive to get involved, with everything we were doing for her. But physically things don't look so good.
Thank God for the opporunity to meet such a person. The facade wasn't there, just actions that speak louder than words. I wasn't able to communicate very well, but it didn't matter. she liked to smile.
She had a garden with one daffodil flower in it.


Is serving contagious? I'm convinced it is.

4.10.2008

3 isn't free


3 years ago today, my life radically changed . Its confusing to look at the “horizon” now. 3 years of letting anger get me through stuff, does things. Now I see how destructive it is. Numbs feeling, but actually it does more damage. Never realized it, but It can be a drug for the person that doesn’t do drugs when taken to this extent.
tack that on to my brain surgery of a cerebelum that had an anuerism and the side effects i already had - cant walk, barley speak, little cognitive response, no control of eyes, little coordination (so re-learn everything even swallowing- sucks when you have insatiable thirst), very sensitive to light, noise, stimulus, tunnel vision, no perception of periphreal vision, easily distracted, insatiable thirst, very impulsive, alot of disability all around, dont know what happened or why im there because i remember a different life, was out for a month when all the bad stuff happened/impaired cognition. anger was such a good friend but God is much gr8er. Prayer does miracles.
So after 3years, I’m deciding to make this a real effort:
-not “ride” anger into or out of a situation. Or put it under the surface.
-see blessing in all this
-not hold onto stuff. Get it out before it turns into a big monster that eats everything. Being dependant on God is a gr8 thing. People are gr8 and are worth putting “chips” in. God gives more “chips” so its all good. Trust is probably the most intense game there is.
-let Gods peace guard my heart and mind (Philippians 4:7) and not bitterness.
- not wait until tomorrow, or be impulsive.
-no stinking thinking
-trust
-it could be worse, it could have stayed that way. there could be no hope or no joy.
-build something on the lot i've been given.
-down more slupeez
P.S. define person? not a fan of the dictionary definition. It's too general. - a human being 09or the personality of a human being
or...Person is an individual substance of rational nature.- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 10 Apr. 2008. http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Person
I like how the Bible defines people. made in Gods image (Genesis 1:26). Crave life (Ecclesiastes 3:11 ), full of sin (Romans 3:23) but so loved! (Romans 8:39)


April 10th is a weird day for me.

4.08.2008

Its that gr8!

For who is God besides the LORD ? And who is the Rock except our God?- Psalm 18:31

Hello reminder. I've been VERY into this the last couple weeks.

4.03.2008

Shave FaceSunny days are so good! has nothing to do with this guy thats shaving his face. i just wanted to see if it would work. Walking Garbage Can





3.27.2008

3.26.2008

couldn't help it


There are more plastic flamingos than real ones in the united states. Designed by Don Featherstone, more than 20 million plastic pink flamingos have been sold since 1957.
'So Now You Know... A Compendium Of Completely Useless Information" -Harry Bright & Harlan Briscoe

3.24.2008

what up dog... cat....


My dog hops when it runs and chews on its foot. My cat dips its paw in water, then licks its paw to drink that water. I play hide and seek with the dog.
we're not normal. here's a frog