After February’s four part short story (which you can start here if you haven’t checked it out yet) and last week’s more thoughtful post, I’d say it’s due time for some good old fashioned banter! And what would this blog be if I didn’t tell you about my major life events? That’s why I want to tell you, dear reader, that next month I’m going to Nashville, Tennessee for four days! And it’s all thanks to Phi Theta Kappa (PTK).

If you’ve checked out the About Ben page here on my website, you might know that I’m active in Phi Theta Kappa, which is an international honors society for students attending two-year colleges and universities. Within the organization, I’m Vice President in my local chapter and VP of Communication in my chapter’s region. Basically: I like to fill any spare time I might ever have! But, seriously, being part of Phi Theta Kappa has been one of the best and most fulfilling experiences in my life thus far — from the relationships I’ve forged to the impact the teams I’ve been in have made. Every year we do projects like info booths on Nestlé in the Columbia Gorge, our Clean Campus Initiative, our Humans of CGCC social media project, and high school dropout rate research. Additionally, the regional team of the Rocky Mountain Cascade Region has produced and held several successful events and conferences.

And now: Nashville! Every year PTK has a big international conference. Last year (my first year with the chapter team) the conference was in Washington, D.C. This year we’re headed to the Music City, Nashville, TN, and I want to share this with you for a lot of reasons. Here are just a few:

• I want to update everyone on my experiences afterward, including hearing a speech from one of my nerd heroes, Jamie Hyneman of Mythbusters fame.
• PTK has been a part of me for a while and at a pivotal time as I developed who I am as an independant person.
• Nashville has been a dream destination for me for a long time because of its rich musical history, and music is something that flows through all of us as humans — something that could unify us in today’s trying times.

I head to Nashville the first week of April, and I’ll let you all know how it goes!

In other news: I saw Logan, and it made me cry. It’s a beautiful movie and what Wolverine should always be.

Moses, my dog, is doing wonderfully. Here’s a picture of him wondering why I’m in his bedroom:

Solomon, my beta fish, is doing well after recovering from a virus, but he wouldn’t pose for a picture. He’s such a dramaking.

Finally, I plan on releasing the official cover art and title for my next novel, right here on my blog, by the end of April. Stay tuned for that! I’ve been drinking lots of coffee and working really hard (with my friend Mat, who helps me a lot on cover details) to get it done. Sidenote: if you’ve purchased the We Are Humans Collection, you might already know a little bit about my next book — wink, nudge. (:

Thanks for reading and supporting my blog! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.

For more info on Phi Theta Kappa, click here.

Here’s this week’s weekly writing prompt for you all (don’t forget that you can email your results to me at benjaminlawbooks@gmail.com if you’d like it to possibly get shared on my blog):

A tea drinker accidentally drinks coffee. You’ll never guess what happens next…