Sunday, November 13, 2005 - Here is an email that Yuoo wrote to his family. He forwarded a copy of it to me.
Dear Everybeast, As I type this right now, I'm surrounded by several heavy duty fans and dehumidifiers. Today, they took out all of the carpet in the house, as well as much as the baseboard. Underneath the carpet was a layer of fine dust with a greenish tint. I swept up what I could with my mechanical sweeper, but the house seems to be saturated with it right now. Everything from the keyboard I'm typing on to the dishes in the kitchen is covered with a fine layer of dust. I helped out with the carpet removal as much as I could to speed things up and to be helpful. After that, I left the house and went to the mall, where I watched two movies. I've decided to stay out of the house as much as possible for the next few days. I have a tent setup in the backyard, and I put a small mattress and plenty of blankets inside the tent, so I'll be comfortable in there. It will be less dusty and certainly less noisy. Anyway, I also decided not to use the dishes for a while, so I went to Wal-Mart and bought a lot of juice drinks, as well as several bottles of Liquid Lembas(tm). I also bought a pair of safety goggles to keep out the dust, as well as a couple of fancy dust masks. I'm wearing a dust mask, some goggles, and earplugs at this moment. (Okay, the dust and noise isn't that bad, but I'm having fun wearing them, and it might save me a case of the sniffles.) Anyway, on Monday I will make an appointment with the plumber to have the plastic pipes replaced, and then I will make another appointment with the carpet people to put in new carpet, to de-mold the walks, to replace the rotten sink cabinets, and to fix the holes in the walls. The creatures at Mortar Abbey are away at a retreat. I usually find another church to go to when they do that, but tomorrow I think I need to head straight to the computer lab on campus and work on my homework assignments. Well, I'm about to take a shower now, then I'll go into the tent in the backyard for the night. (I was in the tent last night too. It was nice and comfy.) Good night. Sincerely, Darth Yuoo **makes funny breathing noises through mask**
You see, Yuoo's house had a water leak in it. He had noticed the problem a few times over the past year or so, but by the time he found out that it was an actual plumbing problem (and not a carelessly placed shower curtain) the water had ruined the carpet and some of the walls. So, somebeast is going to come in and pretty much redo the house.
Interestingly enough, Yuoo did go to church this morning. Not only that, but he sang in the choir! :-) I think Aslan was thinking, "You're not going to church today, Yuoo? We'll see about that. ;)" It turns out that the computer lab that Yuoo was going to work in didn't open until noon, so Yuoo decided to pick a church to visit in the meantime, and he chose to visit the Pine Martens. The Martens' Abbey was very plain, and the music was old-fashioned, but the creatures there were very friendly. Yuoo arrived there early, and the choir director asked him if he wanted to sing during the choir before Communion, so before he knew it, Yuoo was both a first-time-visitor and a choir member! The sermon was given by an elderly Pine Marten, named Luther.
Monday, November 14, 2005 - Yuoo tried to study on his homework yesterday, but it didn't go very well because he wasn't feeling very good. After visiting the Martens yesterday, he went to the Dungeon (the computer lab at school where he usually works). Well, Yuoo was feeling kind of exhausted to begin with, but also the air conditioning was broken that day, and the lab was full of some really noisy parakeets and finches, so Yuoo didn't even get started. He went home and went to bed early. (in the tent in the backyard) Even though he rested well, his mind was agitated, and he was tired of being hopeful. He told me he knows that he can't sit around feeling sorry for himself, but I suppose just a little bit now and then is okay.
This morning, after making an appointment with the plumber, Yuoo drove out to the Loblolly Landfill and Recycling Center, on the very edge of town. You might find this strange, but it makes Yuoo feel good every time he visits there. When you watch the garbage truck come to your house and collect your trash, do you ever stop and think about where they take it. Before he visited the landfill for the first time, Yuoo envisioned this big, stinky, festering place, a blighted spot on the earth created by creatures' habits of over-consumption. However, Yuoo discovered that it's really a clean, well-kept place. If anything, the place smells of disinfectant. It has a place where creatures bring old tires and metal appliances, which are compacted and recycled. Yuoo dropped off a lamp and a couple of old microwave ovens to the recycling center, and he talked to a packrat that was working there.
If anything, places like these help ease Yuoo's mind and restore his faith in goodbeasts. This place wasn't exactly a pristine forest, but it wasn't a dirty, ugly place either. Despite all the ugliness that Yuoo sees in the world, it makes him happy to see creatures being responsible and cleaning up after themselves.
November 20, 2005
"I believe that all creatures are born with the same essence. Individual creatures may have different gifts and talents, but all in all, one creature has the same potential to achieve something as any other creature. Some say that moles are born only to dig, eagles are born only to fly, and otters are born only to swim. But I am here to tell you that moles are born to dig, fly, and swim. Eagles are born to dig, fly, and swim. Otters are born to dig, fly, and swim. Every species has the same skill, the same potential, the same ability, and the same goodness." -- Yuoo F. Fox
November 24, 2005 - Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I've decided to try adding cartoon sketches in this diary. I was inspired by Auryanne, one of the artists who works for Neopets. She keeps a furrie journal about her life, as I do, except that hers is a comic strip. (It's wonderfully well done.) Anyway, I've decided to try doing the same. I probably won't update as frequently as she does, and it won't be as nearly as good as drawings, but I think it's a good idea. :-) Here's my first one:
Image keywords: thanksgiving 2005
Today, Yuoo celebrated Thanksgiving by going to an event called "Thanksgiving Loblolly." Volunteers were serving free Thanksgiving meals to anybeast who wanted one. Many poor and homeless creatures showed up, as well as creatures who, like Yuoo himself, can not be with their families this year. The event was held at a restaurant nearby Lake She. Yuoo was surprised at how much support the community was putting into this event. There were more than enough volunteers helping out, and Yuoo was given faster, kinder, and better service than any restaurant he's eaten at. (Yuoo guesses that there were probably some church groups helping out.) Several radio stations and one news station were there, and there was a band playing jazz for the crowd. The atmosphere was similar to a Fourth of July celebration, except that it was less boisterous and more interpersonal. They had a stand where they would let you telephone your relatives for free, and Yuoo saw several homeless creatures making calls there. The food was tasty, but the kindness and goodwill among all the creatures was even better.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Image keywords: thanksgiving 2005
Breakfast of Champions
Today, Yuoo went to Mortar Abbey for worship, but he realized that everybeast was out of town for Thanksgiving. So, he went to the belltower, which is his favorite place to meditate. To his surprise, Yuoo found a grey-quilled hedgehog there, so the two of them spent the morning together. They sang songs together and prayed together. As Aslan says, "Where two or more are gathered." :-)
This whole week, Yuoo has been attempting to work on a homework assignment. He feels bad about it because it was actually due last Monday, but Yuoo's teacher was very understanding about Yuoo's house situation, so Yuoo was told to just finish it when he can. At the beginning of this week, Yuoo decided to knuckle down and finish his project. Well, hours turned into days, and now Yuoo is at the point where he's saying, "If only I'd gone to the teacher's office hours." Yuoo is a little bit scared because he knows that he can't graduate unless he passes these classes. Well, just do the best you can, Yuoo. Don't worry. Just do the best you can.
Oh, and he did have peanutbutter waffles for breakfast this morning. The only problem is that he made too many of them, and now they also served as his lunch today and probably his breakfast tomorrow.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Image keywords: graduate school homework meteor
It's true! Yuoo is on his way to becoming a Grad-Monkey. :-3 He just has to make sure that he passes his current classes.
Also, it was very rainy today. Yuoo rode his bicycle, but he didn't mind because he was wearing his rain slicker.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - Recently, Yuoo has spent most of his time in his room doing homework, and it's left him feeling tired and lonely. Yuoo sent an email to his father describing how he has been feeling, and Yuoo's father (a Red Tailed hawk, remember), sent him this encouraging email in reply:
Just 22 shopping days until Christmas, but in your case, only about 14 study days left. Hang in there. Take small breaks between, and keep score on your progress. I know that you are getting tired, but you are so close to success after a long wait. We will be there in a few days. Tomorrow I pick up your Graduation Gift. It is something I bought a long time ago, but had to have it mounted. -- Elessar Oronar
This has both encouraged Yuoo and aroused his curiosity. What sort of present could he get that would require mounting?
Image keywords: singing fish achy breaky heart
Could it be one of those singing fish they sell at Wal-Mart?
