The Tragedy

Cold, so cold... The wetness of my clothes clung to my body as if gravity itself was pulling them to me. The wind, the rain... The car was now starting to lose its grasp on the pavement below. The water had risen to its windows, the current was just too strong. Shivers of terror, shivers of coldness... The car was overtaken by the unruly water. Helpless, hopeless, powerless... what could be done? All I could do is watch as the car disappeared from sight, as the darkness enveloped it.

We had been coming home through the torrential rain from a late evening engagement in a town outside of Marble Falls. We had just stopped to refuel our car, and I was drenched with water during the process. My mom was struggling to see the road, when she saw what looked to be two sets of brake lights in the distance. When we came closer, we saw that two 18-wheelers had stopped in the middle of the road. We weren't sure why until we saw the raging flood water that was only 10 feet in front of them. It was about 4 feet over the road and there was a car that was stuck in the middle of the water. An ambulance came to help, but soon left after realizing it was no match for the monster of swirling debris and currents that challenged their rescue mission.

Can you imagine the despair and discouragement of seeing what you think will save you, but only to find that it's left you to fend for yourself? ...

So that's the story that's been on my mind. In the end, I don't know if they were ever rescued. Indubitably, it's a tragedy.

I'll try write a happier story, soon. Until then...

Brent the Magnificent

The Dilemma

Okay, I haven't written anything in nearly a month. I'm such a bad blogger. haha! Sorry.

Yesterday, I was driving back from taking my mom and sister a Band Aid to help sooth a blister they had acquired while walking their 7 mile route. As I was driving, I noticed a car parked on the side of the road. Typically, that wouldn't be worth writing a blog about, but this car had its dome light on!!!! *gasp* I kept driving, thinking that they'll be more responsible next time. For some reason, this really didn't remove my feeling of needing to go tell someone. I pictured them trying to jump start their car at midnight when they're leaving their friends' house. Why would they have to be jumping their car? Because I didn't help them. At this point, I felt way too guilty to keep driving. I turned the car around and went back to the house. I got out of the car and went to the door. I knocked on the leaded glass. It seemed like an eternity before someone answered, but sure enough, I soon saw an obscured figure coming to answer my knock. It was a lady in her mid 40's. I told her that I had noticed the dome light having been left on. She exclaimed, "Oh, God bless you! That is sooooo kind of you. We would have been out there, late tonight, trying to jump it." This made me feel like it was all worth it. I single handedly saved the world from utter chaos. No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job.

So the next time you see someone's lights left on, remember: "Only you can prevent dead batteries."

Brent the Magnificent

I'm 17, a Junior, and proud of it!

I'm back! Life kidnapped me and just now released me to resume my normal activities.

Besides getting sick over the weekend, not too much exciting is happening. That's my problem! Just about every person I know is graduating this year. I'm glad for them, but since I look older than what I am (or so I'm told), everyone is puzzled when I tell them I'm "only" a Junior, this year. They usually follow that by asking how many grades I've been held back. Good grief! The nerve! Even in my place of refuge--my bedroom-- while listening to the radio, the DJ was like, "I remember back in August of '89 when I was holding my newborn niece in my arms, and now she's a Freshman in college..." AHHHH! They won't stop! It's like I'm the only 17-year-old Junior in the world. (And I haven't been held back any grades!) Having said this, I'm proud to announce that I AM 17-years-old, and I AM graduating in 2008. Thank you!!! Your support is overwhelming.

Stepping down from my soap-box, it's been a pretty good week. School is almost finished, and my summer is almost here! Before I enjoy Texas' 110-degree summer weather, I have to take the SAT twice. :-( Talk about a bummer. haha

I hope the rest of the week brings you much happiness.

Brent the Magnificent

I Won Something!!!!

Yesterday morning, I opened my inbox and watched as several emails rolled in. One of the emails had a subject that said "CONGRATULATIONS." I immediately brought my mouse to the delete button, but before I clicked it, something caught my eye. I don't even know why. Maybe it was the curiosity of what I "won" this time. Would it be a car, the lottery, a vacation to Maui, or perhaps a lower mortgage rate? As I browsed over the letter, I saw "Clear Channel Broadcasting." That was something that isn't in your run-of-the-mill junk mail. Come to find out, they were notifying me that I had won a radio station give-away for tickets to the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Majestic Theatre. I was thrilled. Yeah, I would have preferred to when a Ferrari, but you have to start somewhere, right? Funny thing is, I joined the station's loyal listeners' club, like six years ago. I haven't listened to them in years! Haha!

When I was young, I was the kid who could speed-dial all the radio station's contest phone lines. I always tried, but I never won anything. Winning this prize, proves I'm not a loser anymore! It proves that dreams really do come true. It proves that there is still hope for this year's American Idol contestants... okay, it might not prove that much. :-) Anyway, it made my day.

Have a great Good Friday and Easter weekend!

Brent the Magnificent

Pay It Forward

There it was again! Staring up at me, were a set of frightened eyes. I had noticed them the day before, as I carelessly tossed some papers into the trash can in my bedroom. There, at the bottom of a dauntingly tall litter receptacle was a small spider. Unlike my arachnophobic friend, I don't mind spiders so long as they don't bite me. So I really didn't ponder the sighting of the eight-legged, eight-eyed creature for much time. Now, I realized it had been there for at least two days. Call me a softy, but I felt sorry for it. I imagined, one moment, it was looking at a captivatingly white cylinder and the next moment, it found itself stuck in a hole, possibly for the rest of its life. Didn't you ever feel that way as a kid, or maybe even now? You're just exploring the backyard, and then you get lost in the woods; you're just looking at that toy at the store for a few more seconds, and next thing you know, your mom is gone; you just want to try shaving once, and you get tied to it for the rest of your life. Is this ringing a bell for anyone else? My point is: we've all done things that we later regretted. Sometimes they're stupid, and sometimes they're inappropriate, but other times, our curiosity just gets the better of us. Like peeking at Christmas presents and feeling guilty all winter long, or secretly eating all the cookies, then realizing there's no one else to blame, or saying what was really on your mind. I've done it all.

However, I've been shown grace, repeatedly. I've received so many second chances (most notably the price paid by the cross), that I know I have no choice but to pay it forward. Even to something as insignificant as a tiny spider. With this in mind, I turned the trash on its side and gave it the freedom of which it dreamed. Thank you to everyone who's done the same for me. :-)

Have a GREAT week!

Brent the Magnificent

My Spring Break

I've never really gone "Spring Breaking" or wondered what others did during Spring Break, but I found out this week. My mom and I made the three-hour-long drive to Mustang Island last Friday. We went there to work at a friend's uncle's BBQ restaurant for the week. We had a great time, but sleeping was made difficult by the seemingly endless shouts, screams, air horns, and singing outside our door during the evening. Let me go on record as saying that there are some really, really stupid people out there. What got me was that some of the parents were just as bad! Of course, these were just the people at the hotel. Our restaurant clientele was pretty bad, too. For example, lets use the twenty-something-year-old blond who asked the difference between brisket and pork. I answered that one used to be a pig and the other a cow. Don't even get me started on the lack of respect shown to a clean, well maintained salad bar. There were even carrots in the vanilla pudding at one point. AHHH! What a nightmare! The person could have at least dipped the carrots out of there, but heaven forbid they clean up their own mess. haha On the bright side, those messes kept me employed, so I guess I'm kind of indebted to all the slobs in the world. So, thank you, slobs. You inadvertently put a smile on my face and a dollar in my pocket as I watched you ruin my carefully organized table-sets of BBQ sauces, and as I cleaned your sand off our seats and floors, your finger prints off our glass doors, your dirty dishes off our tables, and your germs off my hands. haha All joking aside, we did have a good time, and enjoyed seeing a brief glimpse behind the kitchen door at what really happens at restaurants.

While we were down there, my friend's mom died. It greatly saddened me to hear of the loss of Mrs. Blanton. I know that she will be greatly missed by the countless kids she helped and the entire community of Boerne. I pray God will be with their entire family through the next couple of miles in their lives.

Also, while we were down there, I learned that my friend got engaged. Congratulations to the soon-to-be Mrs. Aimee J. Wheeler Moore. We're all so happy for you. May your relationship grow to be stronger than the foundation of that Great Wall on which he proposed. We look forward to your return home!

Well, I have to get busy with my weekend to do list. I hope you have a great weekend.

Brent the Magnificent

Kinda Smells Funny, But Tastes Real Good

"You open a package of Ramen noodles and put it in a cereal bowl. Fill it with water, and disregard any that sloshes over the side while on your way to the microwave. Put the bowl in there, and set the timer for 9 minutes and 11 seconds (like the phone number). When done, take out and enjoy. Don't worry, it kinda smells funny, but it tastes real good." According to my six-year-old brother, Peter, this is the process of making noodles that he taught me last night. Fortunately, I was there with a paper towel to clean the spilled water, and stop the microwave after 5 minutes.

I remember being his age and trying to make different things. My mom was a good cook, so I'd try to do what she did. Heck, I even salted and peppered my dad's pancake batter one time. Just because my mom said that those two spices made everything taste better. My dad couldn't believe I had done that, but we ate our fiesta spiced breakfast anyway.

Of course, that isn't the worse thing that's happened in our kitchen. A lot of people enjoy the food that comes out of this house, but let me tell you, practice makes perfect. The specimens of our practice usually get hidden away in a trash can or given to dogs who seem to have no taste buds. Among our kitchen experiments, we've had scrambled eggs made with baking soda (It should have made them fluffy, instead, they turned green.), waffle irons filled to the brim with batter (The batter rising from the soda wasn't taken into consideration. This glued itself shut and made a huge mess everywhere.), biscuits trying to be baked in a toaster (Not a toaster oven, just a regular toaster.), five silver-dollar pancakes being microwaved for 30 minutes (This caught the microwave on fire and prompted my dad to throw it out the front door.), baby food being warmed in the microwave with the metal lid still on the jar (This melted some of the plastic on the new microwave.), popcorn being cooked wrong-side-up (The hot oil ruined the remaining plastic in the interior of the new microwave.), and countless occasions of "masharoni and cheese" (Super-saturated macaroni with cheese.). Only some of the things listed were my fault, but in the end no one got hurt. So that's good. I'm happy to say that we've had the same microwave for quite some time now.

So, if you're ever invited over for dinner, don't sweat it, just come prepared to enjoy the meal. After all, what you don't know, can't hurt you, right? haha!

I've got to go. Sorry this isn't my best blog. Life's been pretty mundane, but I thought I'd post something. :-)

Brent the Magnificent

Birthday Wishes

February 24, 1994 was the day my younger brother, Bryan, was born. That makes today his birthday! So, to one of the toughest kids I know (As a baby, he could be dropped on concrete and not cry--I would know, I dropped him... unintentionally!--, he's broken more bones than anyone in the family, and he's training to be an X-games champion on his bike.), HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope you're richly blessed this next year.

That's it from Magnificent Man's Mega-Mansion. I have to go to bed...

Brent the Magnificent

Drop Dead Awful

I have trouble finding things about which to write that won't offend anyone who could possibly read my blog. A lot of funny stuff happens to me, but I have to be selective as to what I can blog about that didn't involve a possible reader who'd be offended. This being stated, something happened today that was funny, and I think it's safe to share.

During our somewhat long history of being musicians for churches, parties, weddings, and funerals, we've seen a lot of things that have brought smiles to our faces and laughter to our hearts, but the call my sister received today, topped it all. It was a lady who is coordinating an event for which we are playing in November. Her husband has been sick for a while and his health had declined. She asked for us to play several songs at the funeral on Monday. When my sister was telling us about the call, we were sad to hear of the lady's loss. We asked my sister what time the funeral was, but she didn't know. She said that the lady's husband hadn't died yet. The lady was doing the rest of the planning for the funeral and would decide on the time later!

Forgive me if you don't think this is funny, but I can't believe someone would set a date for a funeral without there being a deceased in the casket. How morbid! Choosing the date for any living person's funeral, much less your spouse's is just wrong. We laughed at seeing the unimaginable organization of this kind lady, but if my wife ever does such a thing, I won't be laughing. It's a crazy world!

Of course, my siblings and I don't help it to be any less crazy. For instance, there's my little brother, Peter. He's proud of the vacancy in his mouth from the two teeth he has lost in the past month. We went to the dentist on Friday, and Pete got his teeth cleaned and sealed. When he lost his second tooth on Saturday, I kidded him that his tooth was probably sad that it didn't get to spend more time with its clean, nicely sealed neighbor teeth. On Sunday, after church, I mentioned to someone that he had lost another tooth, and asked Pete to open his mouth so they could see. When he did, the person and I were shocked to see only one tooth missing from his smile. It puzzled me. I knew he'd lost another tooth, and I thought it was one of the front ones, but I guessed I was wrong. All the sudden something fell from his mouth and hit the floor. Much to my embarrassment, and to the confusion of the poor person, it was his tooth. He hadn't wanted it to be sad while missing its neighbors, so he put it back in his mouth and went about business as normal. Mom, Dad, and I informed him that it isn't right to put your teeth back in your mouth when they fall out. I guess I'll reconsider that when I grow older. haha

Well, I thought that was funny. Not much else has happened that's interesting around here... Sorry it takes me so long to blog. I hope to find a source of motivation soon.

Brent the Magnificent :-)

Happy Dogs, Bloody Shirts

So, if you read my sister's blog (http://for-the-sake-of-the-call.blogspot.com/), I'm sure you've heard that we have a couple new pets around the house. I'm referring to her beloved puppy, Moaner Lisa, and the puppy's mother, Maggie. Now, I'll tell you up front, I'm not one of those, "Let's go hug a pet!" people, but I don't flat out hate the things, either. So long as our lives don't interact in a negative way, we get along great. Let me tell you, this is rarely the case; today, was no exception...

There I was playing the piano, minding my own business, when all of the sudden I get hit by a huge whip-like feeling object. After imagining myself being the next Steve Irwin, I saw that it was only the tail of the huge, but still growing, mother Great Dane, Maggie. Then I got this terrible feeling. I remembered two things: 1.) I had put on one of my favorite shirts this morning. Consisting of a delicate balance of cotton and rayon, I have managed to keep its sateen material stain free, and otherwise flawless, longer than most of my other shirts. You can also pull it out of a pile of laundry on the floor, and it still looks relatively fresh, clean, and wrinkle free. 2.) Maggie has been a little too happy lately, which has been accompanied by self-inflicted, bodily harm. She has been wagging her tail so hard that it has hit a myriad of things in its way, and caused her tail to start bleeding. This isn't good at all, but we really don't know how to help her. Should we put her on some sort of tranquilizer? I'm clueless. All I know is our hallway looks like a set from a horror movie. Her bloody tail has left marks on the walls that look like someone was clawing for their life as we dragged them to our dark cellar to stay with our other unsuspecting victims. Ooh ha ha ha! I digress... Anyway, after hitting me with her tail, I realized that my favorite shirt was her latest victim. Isn't this great. Now we have clothes to match the crime scene with my DNA all in the collar! However, after lots of soap, water, and time, my shirt is now in therapy and well on its way to looking just like new. (By therapy, I mean the washing machine.)

So, there's my sob-story for the day. Feel free to donate towards "Brent's Drug the Great Dane" fund. I happily accept Paypal. :-)

That's it from my neck of the woods. I hope to have a peaceful weekend from here on out, if only those stupid captives in our cellar would shut up! Anyway, I hope you have a blessed one, too.

Brent the Magnificent

I Have No Clue What I'm Doing!

In keeping with my competitive nature, I've decided to start a blog after seeing the success that my sister has had with her own. By success, I mean, according to the statistics provided by Blogger, at least one person has stopped by to see her blog. If I were to find myself in the same place, I would consider this a compliment, but surely not a success. Popularity is not something I feel a need for, but knowing I can "stick to something" is. Therefore, I hold the key to my own triumph. We'll see how it goes.

Having said that, I should warn you that this is my first time to do something like this. So if my page looks weird for a while, you'll have to forgive me until I figure everything out. (Is there a Blogging for Dummies?)

I'll start writing soon. Until then-
Brent the Magnificent