today was a party...
I'm enjoying my last days at school. Today my grade was practicing the graduation song... all by our selves. ;) yeah man lets party!!! :) The song is really clickin with us. We got one of the girls to sing a solo while we hum and it sounds like magic. Our goal is to make at least a few people cry. lol
my cockatiels have six eggs now... so that makes me excited.
This is a verse that sorta popped into my head... to be continued??? who knows. it definitely needs alot more than just this.

The whisper of the wind as it dances in the trees
The song of the meadow as it trembles in the breeze.
The twinkle of a star in a clear summer sky.
The secret in the wings of the birds as they fly...

k i needa go put pea wire up...
ttyl,
conrad

my mourning dove

fantail pigeon i raised.... DROP DEAD GEORGEOUS!!!

more gettysburg pics

wax museum

mafia

shonny boy

brother mannie cheesin up

good ole chrit... whatta guy! :)

red barn where picketts charge took place

angel with a sword on a memorial

general whats-his-face

my class... sry about the lousy quality (i didnt take it)


I got kinda bored cuz we always heard the same thing... this happened then, this dude died here, this general was really cool... etc. I learned alot, something I try to avoid on a school trip.
Then we played mafia the way home, so that was kinda neat.
I enjoyed it alot.

My cockatiels have four eggs by now... so cool

ttyl,
conrad

these guys are all blind (except for the piano drums and bass) they call themselves The Blind Boys of Alabama. its TOTALLY my style... enjoy B-)



school trip tomorrow... to gettysburg... hope to post some pictures soon... I'm pumped :)

oh AND MY TIELS LAID ANOTHER EGG!!!!

till later,
conrad

A Defense of the Theory of Evolution

this is the rough draft

i learned something... if you wanna make a report sound really classy, look up a bunch of words in the thesaurus and pick out the clumsiest synonym. ok... who knows what provenance means? no clue, but it sounds really cool. :)

The formulation of the theory of evolution is one of the greatest scientific achievements of the modern age. Through it, light has been shed on the origin of matter, the provenance of life, and the creation of man. It has opened up the world of science to us like nothing else before has. Though this theory is accepted as truth by many, there are those who would question the truth of it. It is to those that I address this defense.

The primary reason for my rejection of the theory of creationism is simple: there is no proof. The entire philosophy is based off of an account given in a book which was written thousands of years ago that has no certification of authenticity. A scientific theory should not be based upon mere "say-so" of one book.

The field of astronomy is proof of the universe being created over a period of millions of years. The Andromeda galaxy is 2.3 million light years away. If the earth was created about 6,000 years ago in a period of 7 days, this galaxy should not yet be visible, because its light rays would still be billions of miles away from the earth's surface. Creation of the world in so short a time and so recently cannot be possible.

Through comparative anatomy, many scientists have developed the speculation that humans have evolved from apes. A chemist by the name of Doctor R. Topper states this, "Our DNA is almost EXACTLY the same as gorilla DNA, and is even closer to DNA obtained from fossils of ancient ancestors of human beings." This fact in itself is proof for an evolution of man from a lower form of life into the creature he is today.

Many animals today are living testimony to the authenticity of the evolutionary theory. The modern whale has a hipbone that it never uses, probably due to the fact that it evolved from a mammal that did walk. The Archaeopteryx is a fossil that has teeth, the skeleton of a dinosaur, but the feathers of a bird, indicating that both dinosaur and bird came from the same ancestors. Bats and birds both have similar wing patterns- an ulna, a humerus, metacarpals, and digits, indicating that they too came from common ancestors.

I have concluded that the only logical explanation for the origin of matter, the provenance of life, and the creation of man is the theory of spontaneous generation and an evolution of life into more complex and intelligent forms through natural selection. This philosophy is, though not completely proven, remains the most logical and solidly verified theory of the origins.

ok this is the exact opposite of what i believe, but it helped me alot to see how they think.... wow.

until later,
conrad

My cockatiels are laying eggs again... three by now
Something that just sends the chills up and down my spine: Yesterday I snuck up into a tree and came under a dove nest without it hearing me. Then I pretended I was its chick. and i was there stroking it for a long long time... wow. They are very trusting.
Today I went into a different bird. It saw me and I touched it, but it hit me with its wing so I decided to back off... I think she is hatching young. Incredible.
The school trip is on Thursday. We're going to Gettysburg for the day. Its gonna be my last school trip so I wanna make the most of it. and we are gonna rake it up. PAAAARY TIIIIME!!! oh yeah. :)
I am writing a report defending evolution. This is gonna be so much fun because i get to defend something I stand against. I am forcing myself to come up with a defense for something I try to tear down, if that makes sense. Then I am gonna write report defending creation. so we''ll see what i come up with... maybe I'll post it.

If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man.-Seattle 1736-1866

later,
conrad

I wrote this report for a man (harold dean) who believes that "Bach and Rock" are both equally evil. He asked me to write it for himso i gave what he asked for.... wow.
I really tried to rub in the thing about how instrumental music is not all bad, cuz thatsa point we vehemently disagree on.

Purpose
The purpose of my experiment was to test the effects of rock and classical music on the brain and to prove my opinion that instrumental music is in not evil. I went about to prove my hypothesis in this way.
Procedure
First I went to the pet store and bought fifteen mice which I divided into three groups: rock mice, classical mice, and control group mice. I stored them all in separate cages for about a week, being careful to monitor the temperature, amount of food, and the amount of sunlight. After the week was up I started playing music to the mice. I played 106 FM to the rock group and George Fredrick Handel's Messiah to the classical group. I was careful to ensure that both groups received the same kind of treatment. After two weeks I tested the mice by running them through a very simple maze. I repeated the test several times, averaged the results, and gathered the following statistics.
Statistics (rounded to the nearest 5 seconds)
Rock mice: 2 min., 30 sec.
Classical mice: 1 min., 15 sec.
No-music mice: 1 min., 30 sec.

Then I reversed the music. As I had predicted, the results also reversed. The once-rock mice immediately began to improve their time, and the once-classical mice began to degress so drastically that after several weeks they had eaten each other.

Conclusions
1. Rock music does indeed have a negative effect on the brain.
2. Classical music improves mental agility.
3. Instrumental music of the right sort should never be classified as evil, soul-destructive, or detrimental to the brain

ok this is not a nice pic but these are some of the morning dove squabs I am watching. Oh. and I found another nest today.

My cockatiel laid another egg. and get this: the girl's name is tommi, and the guy's name is ella.... weird, i know.
My homing pigeons are laying on two eggs. They should hatch any time.
enough about the birds.
mery christmas everybody,
conrad

ok this bird is GORGEOUS!! I am watching about five dove nests right now... this one's egg's just hatched. if you look closely enough down on the right side of the bird you can see the tips of their wings. Click on the pic to enlarge it. This one is very trusting and i got within one yard of it.... amazing!!

Dare to dream of crossing oceans.
Smash the cage of broken dreams.
Live to die for what you’re seeking.
Die to live for what it means.

Dare to break the chains of mercy.
Kill the life of empty fears.
Hope to live, to live forever.
Water roses with your tears.

ok i dont think much of the pic its just a tribute to birds or something like that. (notice the sparrow down in the right hand corner. i dint see that till after i had the pic on the computer)
obtw. my cockatiels ARE LAYING EGGS!! i have been waiting on this for years. an I'm terribly excited. wow

crazy dogs... gotta love em :)

Like a glimpse of snow-bound landscape
Like a canvas still unspread
Like the flowers in a graveyard
Hiding worlds of rotting dead.

Like a mask of smiling angels
Made to hide my falling tears
Like a "fearlessness" amidst a storm
That wakes your deepest fears.

Whisper softly while the rain falls
Let your deepest secrets free.
Dare to take your darkened mask off
So your blinded eyes can see

another great day...
this week at school is called Big Brother/Big Sister Week. like your assigned to one or two of the younger guys and then you do all kinds of stuff with each other... like today I helped them do flashcards. In the words of my teacher, the purpose of the week was to "promote healthy relationships between the younger students and the older students." anyway, i got like the two ronchiest guys, Lester and Josiah but there alot of fun.
my teacher put me in charge of finding a song for my class to sing at the program. the girls thought that i should write one, but then again they also think that i should write an encyclopedia (seriously) so i dont know if i am gonna take their advice or not. i'm still waitnig on a reply from my teacher on the last song i wrote, so we'll see.
I'm trying to enjoy the last few days of school. cuz i'm soon gonna be out and then i'll probably wish i was back in school. why is life that way? cuz that really stinks!

enjoy life,
conrad

this is rusty cage by johnny cash (actually i think a band called soundgarden wrote it) i love it.

random pics

ok something is wrong with this pic or something cuz the sky doesnt look nice. muust be blogger cuz it wasnt yusually like that

there is a time one half hour before sunset when the lighting is simply phenominal.

have a great day everyone,
conrad

Tonight we went for pupusas... wow. and our car started leaking green guts, but i wont go into details because it would be boring. just to say that it was an adventure and it took forever to get home. and THANK HEAVENS FOR NICE PUPUSA DUDES THAT HELP YOU FIX CARS!!
so i wrote my first version of a song. i think i'm gonna see how many i can write and then pick out the best one.
by the way. i think the reason god made pupusas and fried plantans and chocolate covered coffee beans and johnny cash and hot cups of coffee is because he wanted us to know a little bit what heaven is like. :)

You wired me awake
And hit me with a hand of broken nails
You tied my lead and pulled my chain
To watch my blood begin to boil
But I'm gonna break I'm gonna break my I'm gonna break my rusty cage
and run

Hits like a Phillips head
Into my brain
It's gonna be too dark
To sleep again
Cutting my teeth on bars
And rusty chains,
I'm gonna break my Rusty cage
and run

When the forest burns
Along the road
Like God's eyes
In my headlights
When the dogs are looking
For their bones
And it's raining icepicks
On your steel shore
I'm gonna break my rusty cage
and run
-johnny cash


stuff like this i can just sit and look at and think... amazing.

until next time,
conrad

Ok This is crazy.

So Conrad walks into the classroom this morning and starts writing in the day's assignments. Then my teacher pops up and says, "Hey Conrad, I have an assignment for you." So I walk up to his desk and he shows me this scrap of paper with "Conrad- write a song for the program." written on it. wowy. ok. so i catch my breath and stagger back to my seat. I'm dazed. So I'll do my best. This is gonna be weird. I'm scared sorta and I dont want other people to know who wrote the song. at least not till the program. Everybody is just gonna totally flip out. and they do that enough of that about me the way it is.

This is another weird story.

So it was a busy morning and Conrad is supposed to bike to school. So he hurrys around like crazy and is finally ready to go to school. Conrad is nicely biking along when he decides to change to another gear. and it jams. bummer. its happened before so he just gets off of his bike and starts fiddling around with his bike. but the thing is very stuck. so he is trying to fix his bike but he doesnt have any tools except a couple mudballs and a rock he found in the field. now Conrad is really frustrated. nobody's around. Does he want to walk home, or does he wanna stay and fix his bike. neither sounded very good. so he prays. and hes told god something about not being able to fix his bike without some help. so he kinda keeps praying as he tries to unjam his chain with stone-age tools. and a couple of vehicles pass. then this brown van passes and Conrad says to God,"Man, God, that would be kinda cool if that van would for some reason turn around and help me out." so Conrad keeps hacking away at his bike. all of a sudden, he looks over his shoulder and here comes the brown van again. And he couldnt believe his eyes. It was slowing down. So the guy hops out an Conrad says to God, "DUDE THIS GUY IS SAM FISHER!!!" and then he told God thanks right away, cuz Conrad thought that was a pretty awsome little miracle He pulled off. So Sam offers to take Conrad to school. So he loads up his bike and gets to school in easy time. now if that ain't sweet!! it was really awsome.

until next time,
conrad

A Bird came down the Walk.
(He did not know I saw.)
He bit an Angleworm in half
And ate the fellow, raw.

We looked at this poem by Emily Dickinson in speech class. My teacher thought it was about a lovely robin walking in the lawn hunting for worms. I almost shouted. Bird is capitalized, as is Walk and Angleworm, implying that the poem is not about birds and worms, but about people. I think there is tremendous subtext in this poem... I could hardly my thoughts to myself, but I did because when I let the whole world know what I think, it gets me in trouble. I kept it to myself.

We have a history final tomorrow. To study, or not to study? That is the question. So I’ll probably end up just flipping an eraser to see which one I should choose. "Conrad, Conrad, sometimes I worry about you…" :)

ttyl,
Conrad.

drawing is like poetry... somehow

whatta weekend...
last night me and zinny and caleb and thomas went to juniata county for shade mountain's school program. It was awsome.
then we stayed at our uncles house for the night and stayed up till like 4:30 with our cousin. and i still dont no why i did it, only that none of us wanted to go to bed in case we missed something. so we kept each other awake until the wee hours of the morning-- pathetic. :)

i was so thrilled
i was watching mourning doves on their nests today. i found like four nests with eggs in today and the doves sitting on them. they are so trusting. i crawled up the opposite side of the tree and i actually touched the bird WITHOUT MAKING IT FLY!!!
ok that is so amazing it makes the shivers go down my back. and yeah, i know i'm nuts about birds but who cares... they're perfect. :)

enya is great... check it out

If you really want to,
you can hear me say
Only if you want to
will you find a way.
If you really want to
You can seize the day.

Only if you want to will you fly away.
When there's a journey,you follow a star.
When there's an ocean,you sail from afar.
And for the broken heart,there is the sky.
And for tomorrow are thosewho can fly.

this is an essay i was assigned to write for reading class. I was to write on the reasons mennonites struggle with pursuing education beyond grade school. The art of writing is phenominal. you can write things between the lines that you would never dream of saying out loud... wow. :)

The Struggle for Education

The pursuit of education is a noble quest that is too often neglected and even discouraged among our Mennonite/Beachey/Amish circles. This dearth of learning continues to be a weak spot in our rich heritage for several reasons that I will explain.
It seems as if there is very little encouragement from the parents and/or elders of the church to pursue a higher education than grade school. I believe that part of the reason for their hesitancy in encouraging high school and college is because they feel their authority is threatened when those younger than them exceed them in learning. Our Amish heritage has emphasized a hard-core manual work ethic (a very good thing in itself) at the expense of the mental work ethic; this may be one of the chief reasons for a deadened desire for pursuing knowledge. When youth learn to think and are educated, they naturally question things in our way of life that seem to them to be contradictory to our beliefs or flat out ridiculous. Because of a lack of experience and common sense, the scholar can quickly become proud. Though this attitude is a very dangerous one, if it is handled correctly, it can be turned into a deep respect for what we believe, and the seemingly arrogant questioner is transformed into an ardent defender of the faith. Because too many leaders do not have the ability to see through the arrogance of a “proud scholar” and help him to keep a good perspective, the educated often appear to them as being high-minded, disrespectful college graduates. When this happens, many people blame the attitude problem on too much education and fail to reckon with the real problem.
Another reason why many of our youth fail to pursue a better education is because they dislike studying. This attitude, I believe, is often masked with the claim for a desire to find a job and make money. The excuse, "While you are pushing pencils all day at your desk, I can be out working and making money" is an all too common one, and those who find themselves using it should seriously check their perspective in life.
This lack of interest in education has crippled our witness of Christ to the world and has destroyed a very valuable part of our culture. I believe we should pursue a high level of education so that we are prepared to meet circumstances in life with maximum courage and capability so that we can serve our Master to the fullest degree.

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. (Hosea 4:6)


until next time,
conrad