CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Hello team and may I say Well Done! This is the 100th post in this fabulous blog called "Stuff I Ponder". I feel very proud to have made it to this point, especially considering that I've done so in less than two years which means that, on average, I have somehow posted more than twice every week.

Given the enormous gaps I've had between some of these posts, I think that's pretty impressive. Plus, it means I must have an awful lot to say for myself :S

So, there's not really a lot I have to say on this post, I'm not pondering anything in particular, certainly. I guess it was just Happy Birthday. Maybe I'll put up some random quotes from the best of "Stuff". Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. So here we go. I'll put 2012 on this post and 213 and 2014 on the next post (post no. 101):

• you can just erect (laugh if you must) a "bitchin' yurt" - 1st April 2012
•  "Excuse me sir! In the Onesie! You look Excellent!" and my friend Adele yelling "Like a sexy baby grow!!" - 18th April 2012
• I have discovered the Tabernacle. It is like the mother of all tents; bigger than a yurt and without the yaks. - 18th April 2012
• (especially when I shouted "You sir, you look like a man who likes a cuddle!" at an Emo) - 18th April 2012
• Shove a Crout inside him (confusingly) (Emily) - 30th April 2012
• Hollow him out and use him as a canoe (Liz) - 30th April 2012
• My ponderances since I last write have been minimal, although my working-ness has been much - 17th June 2012
• I really am very, very sad. I thought to myself, as I cleaned my saxophone, wearing a shirt with a colourful message about Jesus after finishing playing music nobody had listened to and thinking about Scouts. Yes, I am about six walking stereotypes. - 17th June 2012
•  So basically, I have decided that I really don't want to be a Cub Leader! - 27th June 2012
• Team Saxophone, for those of you who don't know, is a group of seven "epic" people, who all play the saxophone in Concert Band (probably as a punishment for something bad they did in a former life...) - 17th July 2012
• Peter Hurrell should not, NOT be allowed to wear a mankini. Ever. - 27th July 2012
• Eventually, somewhere in the midst of the eighties, Jeff Lynne got bored and left, after writing a song about it (as you do). - 2nd August 2012
• Gabi and Markus, our German friends (from Germany, because they're just totally awesome like that) - 19th September 2012
• The only reason we should care if Kate gets pregnant is if the baby ends up ginger. And they should totally call it Emma if it's a girl. Just saying. - 21st September 2012
•  Like every other musical activity I do, this is the highlight of my week. - 6th November 2012
• Welcome back, Internet Dwellers, to my cave of mystery. My name is Plato (not really) and I have many wonderful things to discuss with you. Or not. At all. - 11th November 2012
• If you do it wrong, you die. Then you're dead. Forever. - 11th November 2012

Jesus Camp (Spring Harvest) 2012

My pondering for the last week has pretty much all been about "Jesus Camp", which is what we nicknamed Spring Harvest. For those of you who have never heard of Jesus Camp, it's a gathering of roughly 7000 Christians, all together at Butlin's for one fun filled week. They run four of these throughout the Easter Holidays, three at Minehead and one at Skegness, so I was at the Skegness one, which was EPIC.

I have many things to say about this. Firstly, ONESIE!!!!!!!! This guy was a God. He wore the most AMAZING Onesie on several days of Jesus Camp, which led me to leaning out of our window of our apartment and shouting "Excuse me sir! In the Onesie! You look Excellent!" and my friend Adele yelling "Like a sexy baby grow!!" We thought, as any normal person would, that this would make him incredibly embarrassed and that he'd think we were freaks. But NO! This was Jesus Camp, therefore, we became friends with Onesie (who's actually called Will), who said we had actually helped him convince his friends that the Onesie (which wasn't his) had been a good idea. What a nice man...

Secondly, the amazing feeling that you got from the whole experience; everyone there was Christian (obviously) , which meant that you could talk openly about your faith and ask questions that my parents would complain about me asking at home, such as "What does a religious Experience actually feel like?" It also meant that you could trust everyone; if you left your bag somewhere, you could be pretty certain that it would still be there, complete with contents, when you returned. The other religious aspect of this was personal; I was able to truly find and know God through group prayer and other activities. I'm sorry for those of you who are non-believers, but I have come back from Skegness believing more strongly than ever that, even if the Bible isn't quite right all the time, there has to be a God who loves us and, in some way, created us and this Universe.

As many of you know, I have a thing for tents. Over the last week at Jesus Camp, I have discovered the Tabernacle. It is like the mother of all tents; bigger than a yurt and without the yaks. There are about six chapters of the book of Exodus designated to giving Moses the exact measurements and design for this tent of worship, including what the lamps should be made of and the size of the offertory box.

Finally, there are so many stories of Ice Cream men, Power Balls, Crazy Golf, hats, Ant and Dec and beehives that I can't even begin to tell you. Although I will quickly mention the Free Hugs, with which we somehow managed to raise more than £50 for children in Haiti. this was an excellent scheme and we made everyone feel better for it (especially when I shouted "You sir, you look like a man who likes a cuddle!" at an Emo). For anyone Christian who hasn't yet had this wonderful experience, or for those of you who are curious agnostics, I highly recommend, in fact I almost demand, that you go to Spring Harvest / Jesus Camp next year! It's a beautiful thing :)