The Goal:
My original goal was to post three good things that happen each day, with the intent of raising personal satisfaction with life and encouraging anybody who might read. I have not succeeded in posting so often, and when I did I felt as if the quality of my posts was rather diminished, and hence I am trying to be less consistent, posting more when I feel like something is worth mentioning, as opposed to forcing three good things per day.
Three Good Things - Home
Who Am I?
I am Robbie Parks, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, red-bearded 21-year-old who loves life.
Laughing and smiling are my primary occupations. American Comedy has been my favorite course in college.
I think positively, believe that life is too short to work it away, love hanging out, going camping, hiking, biking, enjoying the outdoors, laughing, and playing board and card games, like Settlers of Catan, but I never want to do any of these things alone. Girls fascinate me, but I have never had a girlfriend, though several girls, especially one, have taken my heart.
Peanut butter is the nectar of the gods, and when you combine it with grape jelly on potato bread with bananas and American cheese, my taste buds go haywire with delight. (Ask for the appropriate recipe and I shall gladly explain it!) Blueberries, strawberries, apples, bananas, grapes, peaches, and pears are my favorite fruits; blueberry tort and apple pie my favorite desserts. Vanilla ice cream is the best flavor, with mint chocolate chip and strawberry right behind. Mints are delicious.
Sleeping thrills me, and I love my dreams; I am interested in pursuing lucid dreaming and polyphasic sleep, despite the latter's decrease in total sleep time.
Literature and languages fascinate me: in middle and high schools I studied, and performed well in, Spanish, and since have greatly enjoyed English classes. Editing papers is fun, so let me know if you'd like my help! Last semester I studied Ancient Greek, which I found easy but time-consuming, and unfortunately had to drop due to its impact on physics courses. I am a stickler for grammar and punctuation; I mean no ill will towards those who do not use proper language skills, but I consider it an offense against the beauty of language, an insult.
Reading is a favored hobby, especially of fantasy novels such as C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia and J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I often find myself spending lots of time online reading the news, usually from Drudge Report and News.com, or looking up random topics ranging from the origin of the Dvorak keyboard to making an ocarina to the psychology of color.
A devoted, supposed-to-be-evangelical, Christian, I strive to read the Bible on a regular basis, a goal at which I usually fail, and I constantly think about God and His impact on my life. I lead a Bible study of fellow students at school and another at home, where I learn at least as much as those who I strive lead. I'm a huge hypocrite, but I try not to be. My faults range from procrastination to pride, lack of discipline to argumentativeness, and physical weakness to extensive shyness to excessive talkativeness.
My political persuasions are very socially conservative and highly in favor of a strong military, and hence I vote Republican, despite my disagreements with many of the current actions of the Republican party.
Music fills my world, through Napster, Pandora.com, or my Creative Zen Vision:M, though I avoid walking around with headphones on and cutting out the world. I accompany my favorite songs as often as possible, though my voice is nothing to brag about. I have a high voice for a guy, with a range from about A2 to A5, though I commonly sing on the higher end when playing guitar. Friday nights find me at the Penn State Navigators meeting, where I enjoy singing songs to God. If no external music is provided, my mind will invariably be producing its own music which may come out as whistling, humming, or singing. Christmas songs are to be sung year-round.
From fourth grade to date, I have played trumpet, though I haven't played much since high school. Marching band was incredible fun.
My musical tastes include virtually everything, though I can't bear more than a song or two of rap or very heavy/death metal. Girls have gotten me hopelessly interested in country music. I also enjoy, to name a few, Dragonforce (speed metal), Paul Coleman Trio (soft rock), Audio Adrenaline (rock), Weird Al Yankovic (parody), Bill Cosby (comedy), Keith Urban (country), Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Istanbul by They Might Be Giants, Steve Taylor, The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, Yes (classic rock), eurodance, techno, j-pop, surf rock, swing, jazz, big band, pop, and Celtic music.
Dancing is a thrill that I have recently begun to explore, particularly swing and now ballroom dancing. I know basic Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, Two Step, Texas Two Step, and Rhumba.
The biggest thrills of my life have been the various missions trips I have taken with my church's high school youth group, to Nassau, Bahamas; Atlanta, Georgia; Chester, Pennsylvania; San Ignacio, Belize; and New Orleans, Louisiana (twice). Nothing has made me happier than them.
I attend Penn State University as a physics major and am proficient in computer programming via Visual Basic and C++. I work for the National Forestry Service each summer as a computer programmer and software tester.