Oh Mr. Rogers...

"I believe that appreciation is a holy thing, that when we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does; so in appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred."

“Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”

“In the external scheme of things, shining moments are as brief as the twinkle of an eye, yet such twinkling’s are what eternity is made of – moments when we human beings can say "I love you," "I’m proud of you," "I forgive you," "I’m grateful for you.” That’s what eternity is made of: invisible, imperishable good stuff."

“People have said, "don’t cry" to other people for years and years, and all it has ever meant is, “I’m too uncomfortable when you show your feelings. Don’t cry." I’d rather have them say, “Go ahead and cry. I’m here to be with you."

“When you love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is: the lovely with the unlovely, the strong along with the fearful, the true mixed in with the facade, and of course, the only way we can do it is accepting ourselves that way.”

"Confronting our feelings and giving them appropriate expression always takes strength, not weakness. It takes strength to acknowledge our anger, and sometimes more strength yet to curb the aggressive urges anger may bring and to channel them into nonviolent outlets. It takes strength to face our sadness and to grieve and to let our grief and our anger flow in tears when they need to. It takes strength to talk about our feelings and to reach out for help and comfort when we need it."

“I hope you’re proud of yourself for the times you said “yes,” when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful to someone else."

"When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed."

---

There are so many more! But I'll save those for another day.

I think I'm done.

I'm retiring from fish. It has been made evident today that I would not make a very good father... at least to a fish.

So Clive, you were wonderful. We had some really good times. I will respect your wishes and remember you as my one and only fish.

Just an update on Clive Staples...

He's definitely dead. Rexosaurus is taking advantage of this moment and has decided to eat him.

Okedoke........ now you know.

C.S. Lewis is brain dead.

He won't eat, he won't speak, and won't swim straight.

I've poisoned him... And he will never recover fully... :( I'm devastated.

My Truman Show

I saw The Truman Show when I was 11 years old. I loved the movie, and it quickly got to my head. The more I thought about it, the more I began believing that I too was being followed by thousands of tiny cameras capturing every detail and moment of my life!

The clues were everywhere.

I would have just finished my sandwich on a Saturday afternoon, then five minutes later receive a call from my "friend" Stephan asking me how my lunch was and if I wanted to come over. What?! How could he know I was eating lunch just moments earlier?

When returning home from school, my mother would tell me that I needed to finish my math homework before I could hang out with Kyle down the street. WHHAT??! How did she know I had math homework!? THE CAMERAS!

Of course I didn't want the world to be disappointed with my life, so I began talking to the mirror in the morning, doing dances on my way to the kitchen, and telling funny jokes to the dog. Luckily, that idea slowly wore off, and I returned to a normal childhood soon after. Now, I'm not gonna lie, this thought still enters my head every so often. Though I don't do a weird dance on the way to the caf or talk to the mirror, I do wonder what people would think about my life if I had my own "Truman Show."

They would be bored. Really, really bored. And here's why.

I can't stop smiling. I can't stop thinking about this girl. So if you were going to tune into The Bryan Show, you'd have to be OK watching hour after hour of a boy sitting in his room, who can't wait for the next time he gets to see her... And I'm totally OK with that.

I know this girl...

... and I like to have breakfast with her. We eat eggs. Sometimes we eat them scrambled, sometimes we eat them chunky. It depends on the day.

We're on a date right now.

This was a good week.

Really.