By Popular Demand...Ok Just One Person

So I'm back in the bloging world, only now on wordpress. nickcooper.wordpress.com is the place to be check it out!!

Earth of Now... Earth of Noah

I have come to be disgusted with what the world is today. The band Linkin Park has come out with a new single called 'What I've Done', it refers to all the evil that has come from the selfish, pleasure seeking, totally deprived beings with no consideration for others. The video sent chills down my spine as i watched it, showing a starving man in Africa before the American man eating a sandwich big enough to feed Africa itself; showing the testing of the a-bomb and it's use on other countries; the battle of race from the KKK to Hitler to abortion; all this evil that surrounds us every day that we live with. We are unmoved and should be outraged by these things. I think back to when God flooded the earth because he was angered by what His creation had become, a selfish, pleasure seeking, totally deprived group of beings that had no consideration for others. How will God intervene this time?

Well...Well...Well...

I haven't posted in a very long time and after I stopped I was wondering if it would be worth getting back into or if I should just leave and start reading and commenting more. If you still read or check every once and a while leave a comment and maybe I'll try to start posting more.

Promised Poems...Enjoy

I prayed for a light,

God gave me the moon,

That shines just as bright

As your eyes do at noon.

I prayed for great wealth,

God gave me the gold,

That gleams from your hair

In the snow fall and cold.

I prayed for beauty,

And God gave me you,

That no earthly thing

Could ever compare to.

Our love is like a fairy tale,

As Perfect and Serene,

If evil armies do prevail,

You will remain my Queen.

I will be your protective knight,

From all the evil things,

I will love you with all my might,

For with you my heart sings.

Cinderella cannot compare,

To you in any way,

I love your brown eyes and gold hair,

I love you night and day.

Unicorns and all the rainbows,

Have not seen a color,

That can compare, God only knows,

My love as no other.

My love floats, just like a feather,

Without any master,

We’ll live happily together,

And Forever After.

More to come on Valentines Day!

Refocus...Being Bi-polar

I'm sitting in Chemistry right now realizing how much I hate engineering (sorry Jon). I'm wondering why I ever wanted to be an engineer and I think of the money. I am doing my budget to see what I need if I were to live on my own and I found that I can live off of what I make now and still have money to spend on the things I want. So why then do I want the money that is so associated with engineers. Because it's not enough. The flesh side of me wants to never have to worry about money, to always have everything I want, and that by achieving these things I'll aways be happy. The spiritual side of me wants to trust God in his plan (but first discovering what that plan is), never rely on my own means to survive, and serve him with out a lust for 'things'. Every Christian must have this bi-polar reaction to wanting what they don't have. I wish I had the guts and the knowledge to move into the woods with a tent and some tools and live for the rest of my life only going to town to buy clothes and more tools. This life is so full of unnecessary things that we don't need. Why do we need (not want) plasma screen TV's, 3 story houses for 4 people, one car for the summer and one for the winter, cell phones that play music and show pictures, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, shampoo that makes your hair curly or straight, cloning research, abortion, wars against people we don't even know, and cars that park themselves (I'm sorry but that has to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard of). I will never be able to understand this world or God's purpose for granting us free will until I am able to look at it from his view.

Why...Cooper's Psalms

Why is everything so blurry
Almost invisible
Why am I in such a hurry
To achieve things so slow.

Why have you planned
What is not yet revealed
Why do I long to be informed
On things that are concealed

Why are these spiritual things
So difficult to grasp
Why can't we find the wings
To put things in the past

Why are they who I knew so well
Now so far away
Kept inside their perishing shell
Oh, the things I want to say

Why do I strive to love them more
Yet never see the time
I pray you'll never close the door
Make a forgiving heart of mine

To be loved, love
To be forgiven, forgive
To be a friend, befriend

Scary Movies...What a Rush

I don't know why I like scary movies. No one likes to be scared, caught off guard, or be paranoid but for some odd reason I enjoy it. I compare it to a drug I guess, though I have never been high, drunk, or intoxicated by anything other than morphine. When you are drunk (or high for this matter) you cannot control yourself, you vomit, and you don't remember any of the embarrassing things that will happen, things any normal conscious person would rather not have happen to them. This normally goes the same with other feelings that are unpleasant. Though there is always the person who actually likes these feelings (everyone at UK) and I seem to be one of those people when it comes to this. I blame Fox Mulder for raising me in this way, his passion for the unexplainable and supernatural has dwelled in me since I was little. Sneaking to get a peak of the X-files, that my parents wouldn't let me watch in fear that I would wake them in the middle of the night and want to sleep in their bed. Is this callous a bad thing though, or should I have some kind of fear towards the 'masks of Halloween express'?

I Always Feel Like...Somebody's Watchin' Me

Sorry if you’re not a Toby Mac fan then you probably didn’t get the title.  Anyways, have you ever just sat and watched people’s actions and judgments based on their facial expressions and body language?  I did today and it was really funny in a way.  On the infamous LexTran bus system there is usually a great number of people on the bus and everyone fights to sit down. Once seated and moving the bus goes silent except for the occasional friends that don’t care about peoples opinions of their crazy weekend of sinful enjoyment.  So today I sit next to this really oddly dressed guy.  Purple plaid pants, a black sports coat with patches and bumper stickers attached, and a pirate bandanna.  Not odd?  Re-evaluate.  As I turn to take a look around to see if I knew anyone on the bus, a sudden noise becomes present that was hidden by the rush before…. bagpipes.  This struck me as odd and yet again from the same guy.  

Just as I heard it and discovered the source this girl in front of me turns around and looks at him straight in the face, he (being the kind that cares not what anyone thinks right now) simply smiles and waves queerly at her.  She turns back around with a sigh and rolls her eyes with the intent of letting him know she was annoyed… he couldn’t hear her.  

Moments later the girl sitting next to this girl (bear with me) gets up and walks/jogs off the bus as if skipping to a Barney song.  I laugh inside, but the girl in front of me looks at her with a sigh and rolls her eyes with the intent of letting her know she was annoyed… she couldn’t see her.  

The thing that interested me about this girl is the fact that I see her every morning, with a friend and her coffee mug so happy and joyful.  She is the loudest and most obnoxious person on the bus.  Not to mention it is 8:30am.  Her and her friend may not get a seat together but they will still carry on a conversation about what ever they feel like talking about or just make noises back and forth to each other followed by laughs as if speaking in code.  

Are you ever conscious that the things that you do are the same things that annoy you about other people?

To Whom it May Concern...Long Time No See

So I haven't had time to write anything for...well whenever the last time I posted was. But something has been irritating me today that I need to write on 'the wall that no one reads'. A lot of my Christian friends that I don't see very much anymore have been making themselves very distant from me and others but blame others for this distance. When people are talking to me, I try to give them my full attention and a sincere response rather than half-heartedly listening to them until they shut up and then apologize to my 'better' friends for the time I lost with them while listening to just another fellow Christians.

I think life at PMBC has just started do get back to normal a few soldiers smaller than before, but when at war you always lose a few. Some I am glad are gone, some I want to see really bad, and some I am waiting on. I had friends that left for their reasons (good or bad, I don’t know so it doesn’t matter) and I am now wishing them good luck in whatever God has them and want to know what God has been doing in there lives. This urge was recently set off by flipping through the channels and seeing Dave leading worship and I just felt like I had missed out on what God has been doing. So if this is you, someone whom I haven’t talked to in a while, let me cut the distance and find out what’s going on in your life. If you want to say something privately Pacnac73@aol.com is always being checked and if not just leave a comment telling me how God is working in your life.

UK 101...My First Day

First class in college just got over and it wasn’t too bad. I just don’t remember much about my high school chemistry class. Apparently I got the easiest teacher on staff so that should help out. Tolly-Ho could quite possibly beat out any other restaurant in the category of greasiest food and greatest menu. They have all the great American foods known to man…and Ale-8. You can’t beat it. The whole campus is wireless so I took my laptop to keep me busy until lunch and am now writing a post in the middle of a courtyard. Oh yeah and I just saw John Wiley, Kelli Barnhart, and Chandler Snyder. The campus is huge and it took me about 20 min. to walk to my class in sandals. Commonwealth is the worst parking spot in the world because it’s next to nothing. My weight training class will be easy to get to from there but all of my other classes are on the complete opposite side of campus. Oh well, I need the exercise and I need to find out where everything is.

Casting Crowns...Metaphorical Meanings

Has anyone ever heard the song 'Here I Go' by Casting Crowns? The message is so true to all of us at times. Throughout a routine day how many people would you say you see that you will never see again? How many people do you see that you have seen everyday? How many people have you shared the gospel with and of which of the two groups are they?

So many times we forget the reason we're alive, to spread the good news and give glory and praise to God. How do you know you will ever see those people again? Maybe you're the only Christian they know. We talk to strangers about the weather and other things that don't even matter, like the price of gas, it changes so much that there's no point in talking about it. But God never changes and neither does his message.

FAITH is starting up and I want to encourage all to take the class. This will be my first time attending the class and I'm excited to see how it changes my perspective and my conversations with strangers and other lost friends.

The Mall on Sunday...Sales, Food, and Albino People

Going to the mall on Sunday should be against the law. People go to eat, look at things they can't afford, and make fun of people for their nationality (which I'm going to start marking as other because of the confusion of my skin tone and natural hair color).

Today I went to Chao Cajun, greatest place in the mall. They have two combos where you can either pick two things for $6 or three things for $8. This guy says he wants the pick two; picks two meats, an egg roll, and rice (count 'em). He gets to the cashier and the guy charges him for the pick three. The man says "I got the pick two!?"... (He got 4 things) he was furious, "That's not what I asked for!" so the cashier took the plate to the trash and said "Do you want egg roll?" "YES!" the hungry man says, so the guy dumps the Bourbon chicken off the plate and walks back, holds the plate up and the guy says "It's empty!?" (He now has 2 things and rice). The cashier then holds the plate in the air and counts for this ignorant business man "One...Two...and Rice, do you want drink?" Then the guy just walked off.

Today I went to American eagle, gayest place in the mall (behind Abercrombie and Hollister). They have clothes that you can't buy but can try on because they are too expensive. They also have random rich families that can afford the whole store but have no common sense at all. This little boy is staring at me when I walk by him, then we turn round to leave and now his sister is to. As we pass them she says to him "Maybe he's just half albino."..............Are you serious?!?! A) I'm NOT albino- My skin is actually slightly darker than Jennifer’s arm.
B) Albino's have red eyes- Has no one seen the Princess Bride??
C) There is no such thing as half albino- How can something be in between pale with white hair and red eyes, and white with hair and eyes??

I hate the mall!

Arlen Griffis...Custodial Specialist Extraordinaire

This guy I work with thinks he’s a professional janitor…which is true because his profession is, well, a janitor. Anyways this guy thinks he’s the real deal. The only thing he does is take out trash and tells you what he thinks you should be doing and how to do it. He inspects everything, and usually never misses anything. As we were setting up for Todd and Jenn’s wedding, we walked past the front foyer and he noticed one of the lights outside was broken. Suddenly his attention was caught and set on one thing, getting someone else to fix it. (The next quote deserves to be on Taylor’s wall of quotes) he looked out side and yelled in his redneck accent “Oh my goodness, an act of vandalism!?!? Oh man, I’m gonna have to tell Dale about this! Oh man!” (Dale is in Atlanta at this time) He props the door open with a table (I’m standing right inside the door as he does this) and proceeds to run to the scene of the crime. Turns out some one (a tree limb) had run into it and it fell out of its fixture. Good times.

Wally World...The Life of the Legend

So yesterday was Wally’s 36th B-day.  Tell him happy Birthday next time you see him.

Cave Run Lake... Untold by T.W.

Something Taylor didn’t hit on about the camping trip was that I bought a bb gun at Wally World jus before we left. We got there and decided we’d see how accurate and powerful this thing was (750 fps with a scope that needed no adjustments). We were putting holes through pieces of tree bark before hank rolled by as I hid it in the back of the jeep. Later Dustin, Sok, and I decided we would try to hit a marshmallow off of a stick, with a backstop made of the holy, holey tree bark. As I positioned myself to take the first shot Dustin says your not going to shot from that close are you…so I backed up, when Sok says you can’t hit it from there…so I stayed. I was confident that this scope could not have changed. I took aim, waited for it, and shot. The next thing I heard was natural, the pop of the gun, but after that there was a snap of a tree branch (I didn’t aim at) followed by a loud pop. As we stood there stunned, a light came out of a tent about 50 yards in the forest shining in our direction. We quickly ran and hid the weapon. Apparently the tip of the gun had been bent upwards when I put it in the jeep, oops.

Wally World...The Life of a Legend

Wally loves soft drinks (along with his daily KFC, BK, and Lays Chips), Coke or Pepsi in particular. A few days ago I told him he should start drinking water because Coke is bad for him. He stopped, looked at me and simply said “Nothing wrong with me.” Then the next day he came in with diet coke. I said “Wally, why do you have diet today.” he said, “better for me”, chuckled, and continued to direct the radio as it sang 80’s music.

Wally World...The Life of a Legend

This is an intro to my new addition to The Cracker Barrel, this will be a weekly maybe daily post on my good friend and fellow employee... Wally. This man is hilarious, intelligent, and probably the most athletic person I know (he could probably beat Travis in any sport). He does things throughout the day that crack me up, amaze me and put my abilities to shame each and every day. Post a comment telling some story of Wally that you thing is funny or just amazing and I'll be the judge of appropriateness.

Poor Man...Kill The Pride/ Be Thankful

Have you ever been driving down the road or walking down the street and seen a homeless man (sorry all you female activists but I've never seen a homeless woman, although I'm sure they exist)?

A) Poor Man- I saw a homeless man today, and it broke my heart as always. I've heard so many stories about how you are not supposed to give them money because they'll go and waste it on what ever made them lose all their money in the first place. I have come to one conclusion. Read the sign. If it says they want food, give them food. McDonald's 'Arch cards are great. I think the card is free and you can put money on them and then give them to someone like this. If it says money... well it kind of comes to a debate. How do you show someone the love of Christ yet help their addiction (I realize that not all homeless people have an addiction)? A New Testament will not provide them lunch but is probably the best thing you can do for them besides adopt them into your family. I challenge you all to stock up on arch cards and NT's, and hand them out to the next homeless people you see, they really need it.

B) Killing The Pride- We will never know what it's like to have nothing. The husbands job in the family is usually to provide the money for the family. It is a pride thing, to try make more money than your neighbor, or to be the one that your family depends on. When this money is not earnable and your family begins to suffer, it kills your pride. These men stand out in the street with a sign that basically says 'I have nothing'. Every person that drives by looks at them with judgment, taking for granted everything that they have. When they see him, their empty gas tank does not amount to the emptiness in his life. As I drove by listening to my $300 iPod, driving my $3,000 car, talking on my $100 cell phone, with $3 worth of gas left in my tank, I could only sit there and think about all that I have. How ironic that the one time I needed it the most, I had no cash. This man was holding the sign in front of his face to keep whatever piece of pride he held onto. He did not want to be seen doing this but who would hire such a man.
We have so much pride in the things we have that we aren't satisfied with what we have. We are constantly upgrading and renovating. My neighborhood is notorious for renovating, you cannot drive down the street without seeing a truck that is moving in furniture, landscaping, or building on to the house. My challenge on this point is to just thank your parents for what they do for you, and thank God for blessing your family.

Gangstaz On Da Streetz...At 3 in the Morn.

So my last post told about my window and how I have kept it attached to my car for he past 2 months. Well it finally caught up with me. This morning my parents walk in my room and wake me up with the words every driver wants to hear, 'Your car has been robbed!' both dazed and confused not realizing if it was a dream or a reality, I just sat there in my bed trying to decided whether or not I should pinch myself. I rubbed my eyes instead and realized it was all too real. I went outside to find my entire radio ($170), my iPod ($250) with 850 songs on it ($45-purchased songs), and my FM transmitter ($80) are all gone!?!?!? Wow so we can say I was a little upset, and tired and grumpy al in the same morning. Needless to say we tried everything to get my window fixed as soon as possible, (tomorrow). Lesson learned-The world hates everything and has nothing good to contribute to anything, it looks for wrong things to do. The guy/girl that did this has probably walked by my car every week and was just waiting for me to unroutinely leave all of that stuff in there together, it worked. Lesson 2- Hire a security guard or 2 (so 1 can sleep) my very was parked under a street light (seriously... directly under one). Lesson 3- 'Watchful Neighborhood' signs are lying.

Rain, Rain Go Away...'Be Still' (And Listen to God)

Ok so tonight I was at a graduation party at Kara York's house and it started pouring. I wasn't thinking about it in the rush to go close windows that my window was closed but yet has many holes and is rather useless. When I went to leave, my interior was soaked. I was extremely angry and did not know any way to solve my dilemma. I quote Jeff Foxworthy in saying 'duct tape fixes anything'...EXCEPT FOR IN THE RAIN!! My window has been covered in duct tape for about a month now and it is starting to melt away. I went into Jennifer's house to get a towel and...yes duct tape (it takes faith) to try and fix the problem on my own...apparently God did not want that. As I began to dry and cover the spots, the tape decides it wants to run out...there's not any there except for what covers the cardboard circle...INFURIATING!! So I go in to try and use one of Duckt's brothers...Masking, and he's not a heavy duty guy. As soon as I stepped out the door to go finish the job, it begins to rain profusely, cats and dogs, MONSOON. I run back inside with my nerves about to explode and decide I'll just go home anyways. I get in the car and it dawns on me...pray. Oh yeah I remember that thing, it's worth a try. So I did, I prayed that the rain would stop, hey he's done it before on an ocean why can't he now, and it didn't stop. So I prayed at least don't let it damage anything in my car, he answered that one I think. So I decide to do a little praise and worship with myself and the first song to be played on my iPod was 'Praise You in this Storm'?!?!?!?!?!? WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I wasn't listening to that song. Anyways I quote the song 'Once again, I say Amen,(finish praying) and it's still raining' hmmmm was there some reason those words stuck out...maybe it's because I JUST DID THAT. 'And as the thunder rolls, I barely hear you whisper through the rain, 'I'm with you' Pray...Then listen ~peace