This past summer, I volunteered at a church camp in High Hill, Missouri. I’d like to say that hanging out with preteens and enjoying some Jesus time were my main reasons for going, but I don’t think you’re supposed to lie, especially about things like Jesus and church camp.

I really went up there to hang out with my 8 year old nephew and my brother because they live outside St. Louis and I don’t get to see them often.

My nephew’s name is Rance and my brother and his wife adopted him from a Ukraine couple several Christmases ago. My brother, Matt, was speaking at the camp and doing his children’s minister thing. I just wanted to hang out with Rance and do the Blob.

I think my depression is starting to get worse. I’ve lost interest in most of my video games and I lack energy. I’m even on 300 mg of Bupropion, which is half as much as I used to take.

The interesting part is that I have anxiety problems and depression — and so does my girlfriend. I didn’t know that until just recently.

Yay, college. Today marks the first day of my last semester on what will probably prove to be a largely useless degree. I am not, however, bitter.

Why, one might ask, would a person not be bitter about a degree that has minimal job prospects and is mostly good for getting the next college to accept credits without a fight?

Well, the second one is a fairly good reason. Transferable credits are nothing to sneeze at. But mostly, it’s the growing gap in higher education.

On last Saturday, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced that they have reached an agreement with Serge Ibaka for four years, equalling $48 million dollars. Of course this raises questions with Thunder fans who wonder if this move will harm the possibility of keeping the talented sixth-man, James Harden.

If I am a Thunder fan, I am getting a little worried that Harden departing is becoming more likely each and everyday. Harden is a coveted player around the NBA. He is a scorer, but has the rare ability to also make inferior teammates better. Harden hurt his chances to get a huge contract due to his utter collapse in the ‘12 Finals. The Thunder have followed the Spurs philosophy; that they refuse to reach or even get close to a luxury tax. If Harden asks for what experts think he will, the Thunder will be getting close.

It’s been a while since I last talked at you and things are still largely the same.

My grandfather’s passing was one of the differences, as well as stopping playing D3.

To be fair though, I’ve stopped playing most online games and have been concentrating on console games — especially the older ones to be honest.

Of all the things my mother did for us kids, I have to admit that homeschooling us was one of her braver and more brilliant moves. Not because I think homeschoolers are the future gods of mankind, as my mother does (hint: she’s biased;) but because the current system of public education is downright awful.

Children aren’t passing on their own merits, both because it would hurt their “self-esteem” and the schools funding. I know a couple kids that graduated to high school without being able to read past a first-grade level. And not because of learning disabilities, but because they hadn’t been forced to learn how.

A full quarter of the American population never finished high school. Think about that for a moment. That’s not some little number, that’s a huge friggin’ chunk of people. And the hilarious thing? Whenever standards are raised, there’s an uproar. There was a push here in Oklahoma to require kids graduating high school to take a standardized exam similar to the GED in order to receive a diploma. Instant screaming from parents, teachers, and the kids themselves. Why?

Continuing my never ending adventure to piss off as many people as possible using only my keyboard as a weapon, let’s talk religion today, boys and girls!

All y’all out there that ran away thinking this was a “mine’s better than yours” rant should be ashamed of yourselves. The awesomeness of my religion has nothing to do with anything. No, this post just happens to be about the wonders of religious thinking as related on an inverse scale to cognitive self-discipline.

For those who didn’t follow that, it’s: people using religion as a placeholder for actually thinking about stuff.

Hello my fellow basketball nerds, sorry I have been gone so long but I have just been sitting back waiting for a topic controversial enough to dissect. 

Earlier in the week, Kobe Bryant said he thinks the current 2012 USA Basketball Team could defeat the legendary “Dream Team” from 1992.

Some thought this was a blasphemous statement because the Dream Team is considered the greatest team ever assembled.  Of course this could never happen but for the sake of fun, why not break down this mythical matchup.

On this, the day of my triumphant escape from my mother’s womb, I’ve decided to mellow out a bit on the ranting, and share a thought with y’all. Nothing wild or earth shattering, just something to consider.

I’m 24 today, and I remember.

I remember gasoline that was less than two dollars, and children’s toys being purchased for children, instead of internet resale. I remember modems, for heaven’s sake, and landlines that you had to plug them into.

Grampa keeps pulling the picc line out of his arm, which is starting to severely piss off my mother. It could kill him, and he doesn’t know it because of the confusion he’s having.

He’s going to a skilled nursing center near my house, which is awesome. I can go visit him whenever I want now. If only we could get him to leave that damn line alone.

In gaming news, I’ve not done much in video games lately, but I’ve been playing a lot of “Magic: The Gathering.”