Cool Stuff

Yes, it's true. There has been some cool stuff happening over the last couple of weeks. To start out with, a bunch of my friends and I all climbed this mountain behind the school a few weeks ago. Max (a friend of mine) asked me if I wanted to join him and some other people for a walk up the hill to the Painter's Shack. This is a 20 minute walk to a little hut on the top of a hill that has a pretty cool view of the campus, valley, etc. What ended up happening was that Max, inspired by the fact that it was the feast of the Transfiguration, decided that we should keep on climbing higher and higher, just as the Lord climbed the mountain, and before we knew it we were on an all-out scramble to get to the top of the mountain! I had worn my little capris and a short-sleeved shirt, so by the time we had finished tearing our way through the prickles, trees, and dense brush of all descriptions that literally covered the whole mountain, I had incurred scratches all over my arms and legs, and was bleeding from about 10 different places. But it was totally worth it for the amazing view from the top of the summit. The campus looked miniscule down below, and Santa Paula, Ventura, the ocean, and some islands off shore were all visible. Lots of pictures were taken; maybe I'll put some up on here sometime in the near future. All in all, it was a very good afternoon, and the perfect finish to it was getting back just in time for a party with cheeseburgers for dinner and home-made desserts!

This last weekend has been pretty cool as well, all told. I got a couple of packages on Friday, one from my parents and one from my grandparents, which contained birthday presents, as tomorrow is the big day. My favorite gift was a new digital camera, with 7.1 megapixels and a gigabyte memory card. *sigh of happiness* I also received a quantity of chocolate which it was a wonder to behold. Saturday my other grandparents, who were in the area, came by and took me out to a steak place for dinner. It was really good (much better than what they served at the college, I'm sure). And on Sunday evening we were given a special showing of a new movie that will be coming out this summer, on August 15, called "Bella". It was made by a newly formed Catholic film company called Metanoia Films, and won the Toronto Film Festival's "People's Choice Award," which I gather is a very prestigious award. Basically the message is all pro-life, but I won't spoil the plot in case any one wants to go and see it when it comes out. But it was a really touching movie. I liked it a lot. :) The *really* cool thing was that the film's producer, as well as the starring actor, came to the college and gave a presentation after the film was over. Their names are slipping my mind right now, but I'm sure if you looked up the movie online you'd be able to find out all that info. I am informed that the guy who played the main role is "the Brad Pitt of Latin America," and was extremely popular in that area until he converted to Catholicism a few years back and gave up all of the fame and prestige in order to make good movies and try to change the movie-making industry for the better. After the presentation a bunch of people, including me, got to meet him personally, shake his hand, talk to him for a few minutes, etc. It was pretty cool. :) So yeah, when "Bella" comes to your area, go and see it and support a really good pro-life Catholic movie.

Well, there is a line forming for the computers, so I had better scoot and boot. God Bless!