Pioneers! O Pioneers!

Come my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths,
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted?
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the
seas?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing,
Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We primeval forests felling,
We the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines
within,
We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Colorado men are we,
From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high
plateaus,
From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,
Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental
blood intervein'd,
All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the
Northern,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless restless race!
O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!
O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress,
Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress,
(bend your heads all,)
Raise the fang'd and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon'd
mistress,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

See my children, resolute children,
By those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter,
Ages back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

On and on the compact ranks,
With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly
fill'd,
Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O to die advancing on!
Are there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come?
Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill'd.
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the pulses of the world,
Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat,
Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Life's involv'd and varied pageants,
All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work,
All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the hapless silent lovers,
All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

I too with my soul and body,
We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way,
Through these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions
pressing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Lo, the darting bowling orb!
Lo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets,
All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

These are of us, they are with us,
All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait
behind,
We to-day's procession heading, we the route for travel clearing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you daughters of the West!
O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!
Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Minstrels latent on the prairies!
(Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your
work,)
Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Not for delectations sweet,
Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious,
Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Do the feasters gluttonous feast?
Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock'd and bolted doors?
Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Has the night descended?
Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding
on our way?
Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Till with sound of trumpet,
Far, far off the daybreak call-hark! how loud and clear I hear it
wind,
Swift! to the head of the army!-swift! spring to your places,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

-Walt Whitman

this is nauseating!

...however, intriguing.

2009: The Year of Adventure, halfway point

So, it's June. How the year has flown by! I thought my readers might be interested in an update of how the year has been progressing, adventure-wise. I believe more things will be added as the summer continues, and there have already been a few additions in the past few months! again, X'd items have been done, O'd items have plans, and, as always, if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate!

-Roadtrip to Boston X
-Drop everything and leave town X
-Visit the West Coast X
-Buy a new car X
-Take up a new sport XX
-Dance all night X/O
-Explore more of PA X/O
-Visit the South X/O
-Make 2+ trips to NYC X/O
-explore Philly X/O
-Get Injured X/O
-Go camping one week-end
-Go to a shooting range
-Live a Sufjan Stevens song
-More Rockclimbing, always.
-go to a Celtic festival
-Hike PA
-Go Whitewater Rafting

Details in the Fabric

courtesy of Jason Mraz

"Calm down
Deep breaths
And get yourself dressed instead
Of running around
And pulling all your threads saying
Breaking yourself up

If it's a broken part, replace it
But, if it's a broken heart then brace it
If it's a broken heart then face it

And hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way
Hold your own
Know your own name
And go your own way

And everything will be fine
Everything will be fine
Mmmhmm

Hang on
Help is on the way
Stay strong
I'm doing everything

Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way
Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way

And everything, everything will be fine
Everything

Are the details in the fabric
Are the things that make you panic
Are your thoughts results of static cling?

Are the things that make you blow
Hell, no reason, go on and scream
If you're shocked it's just the fault
Of faulty manufacturing.

Yeah everything will be fine
Everything in no time at all
Everything

Hold your own
And know your name
And go your own way

Are the details in the fabric (Hold your own, know your name)
Are the things that make you panic
Are your thoughts results of static cling? (Go your own way)

Are the details in the fabric (Hold your own, know your name)
Are the things that make you panic (Go your own way)
Is it Mother Nature's sewing machine?

Are the things that make you blow (Hold your own, know your name)
Hell no reason go on and scream
If you're shocked it's just the fault (Go your own way)
Of faulty manufacturing

Everything will be fine
Everything in no time at all
Hearts will hold."

Ray LaMontagne

Ray is an artist that I started listening to a few years ago, and I thought I'd share a song that I've had on repeat for the past few days. It is good.

Be Here Now

Don't let your mind get weary and confused
Your will be still, don't try
Don't let your heart get heavy child
Inside you there's a strength that lies

Don't let your soul get lonely child
It's only time, it will go by
Don't look for love in faces, places
It's in you, that's where you'll find kindness

Be here now, here now
Be here now, here now

Don't lose your faith in me
And I will try not to lose faith in you
Don't put your trust in walls
'Cause walls will only crush you when they fall

Be here now, here now
Be here now, here now

The "Non-Asian Italian Flush"

Many of you have noticed (if you haven't, you're an idiot) that my siblings and I turn quite red in the face after consuming alcohol. I don't know if this article has uncovered why this happened or not, but it is enough to freak me out a little.

Kensington

These guys are doing some cool work...I may not agree with everything the say, but you have to admit, Kensington is desperate.

Unprepared.

I confess that I keep thinking that I will reach a point of preparedness, where I won't be surprised by things, by people.

This is twice this week where things have come up in counseling sessions where I have an internal monologue that goes something like this:

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!"

followed by this:

"My training did not prepare me for this!"

This feeling of unpreparedness, of not knowing what to do, or of what the next step should be--of how I can be helpful, or of what the Lord has up his sleeve--has caught me off-guard yet again. It is not a nice feeling, and leaves me somewhat paralyzed. I'd like to think that at some point (God knows when) I will have seen enough of the world and of the sin in it to not be shocked by it. Someone older and wiser than me (probably Terry Traylor) told me once that if I ever reach that point, to let him know how I got there. This is just another instance of the Lord humbling me to see that He is the only one who understands people fully, and that we need to trust Him for guidance and care...but my heart cries out that this is not good enough for me. I want to be superman. I confess.

2009: the Year of Adventure

I have decided that this year, my first out of school, will be a year of adventure. Perhaps it is because, for the first time, my week-ends and vacations are actually my own. Perhaps it is because I have a steady full-time income. Perhaps it is because I have a few adventurous friends who appreciate and encourage spontaneity. Perhaps it is because now that I am out of school, my life is pretty predictable and boring--no new classes or challenges. Who knows? Anyways, this is a list of a few things I would like to do (or have already done) this year, in no particular order. Items with an "X" have already been done, items with an "O" have plans made already. If you have comments, suggestions, or would like to join in--let me know!

-Roadtrip to Boston X
-Explore more of PA X/O
-Visit the West Coast O
-Go camping one week-end
-Buy a new car X
-Go to a shooting range
-Visit the South O
-Go back to Europe
-Live a Sufjan Stevens song
-Make 2+ trips to NYC O
-More Rockclimbing, always.
-go to a Celtic festival
-explore Philly X/O
-drop everything and leave town
-Visit the MidWest with Lizzy
-Hike PA