The Grand Tetons

They're called "Grand" for a reason, I suppose.

Parthenon Sky

The Slaying a la Trogdor

A crusader slaying the dragon.


*Sworded*

"It's over!"

Chasing Butterflies...

Sunset

From Phil's apartment.

I love Chicago.

At this Very Moment

Right now
I do not care
That in the morning
When I wake up
I will have to pack a lunch
For the first time in four years

Right now
I do not care
That in the afternoon
When I get out of class
I will be going to a new course
For the first race of the week

Right now
I do not care
That before I go to bed I will have to collect the trash and take it all out to the curb
For the only time this week

Right now
I only really care
That I got my essay turned in
On time
To Dr. Keegan
And that it was in a Blue Examination Book
Which is required
For his tests

Tomorrow

Tomorrow
When I wake up
I want to be sick.
I want to wake up sick even if it's still today when I wake up.

Because I just really feel like being sick for some reason.
And having an excuse to not live life to the fullest, even for a day.
And just kick back
And skip cross country legitimately.
And be sick.

I don't want to stay home, really.
Because I don't like it here.
I want to just stay in bed.
Or on my roof.
Or sleeping somewhere else.
Like school or Mason's car or Mason's house in the middle of nowhere.

Or I could go to school
And talk to Mrs. Palizzi
And maybe the lady at Wellness
And then sleep in the Nurse's Office
All day.
All freaking day long.
Except lunch.
I'll wake up for C lunch and go to Dr. G's room and look up the thing in the book.
Which makes me wonder --which book?
Because there are really three books.
There's the Michelangelo book I gave him, Art for Dummies, and How to Make Good Pictures.
And he just said "It's in the book."
And the way he said it, it was like there was this conviction in there like I should know exactly what he was talking about.

And strangely enough
I do believe I do

It's raining outside, coincidentally...

She never slows down
She doesn't know why but she knows that
When she's all alone it feels like its all coming down

She won't turn around
The shadows grow long and she fears
If she cries that first tear, the tears will not stop raining down

So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it’s all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain

She won't make a sound
Alone in this fight with herself
And the fears whispering if she stands she'll fall down

She wants to be found
The only way out is through everything
She's running from, wants to give up and lie down

So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain


Stand in the Rain, Superchic[k]

Welcome to Thursday, September 14.

So today I get called down to my guidance counselor's office.
Twenty minutes before the end of school.
And when I get there, there was someone in there, so I had to sit around for a few minutes.
And then I get back there.
And we talk about a bunch of crap and Honors Society and stuff.
Then I look at the clock and realize that it's three, so I'd better start giving her my life story for the past few months.

Amazingly, it worked.
In about five minutes.
She was caught up.

But then, I was out of it at the beginning of cross country and just wanted to go curl up somewhere and cry.
Which I never want to do.
Well.
Okay, every once and a while.

But today I really wanted to.
I guess I wanted to wallow in self-pity or something, but who cares.
I wanted to.
I guess maybe I needed to.
But I didn't.

That's what my roof is for, I guess.


Anyway.

After practice, I cleaned up Mr. Nic's room for him. It was pretty great, actually. And when he was actually in there, I got to talk to him for the first time in a while. Which was pretty great. I told him a bunch of stuff and how basically everyone in my family is depressed and I'm pretty sure I am, too and, to be honest, he seemed pretty shocked. Even though pretty much everyone I know is on antidepressants.

What is the world coming to?
Equal medication for everyone, or something?
If it is, I freaking want my share.
And then some.

My sister's streetlight.

And airplane.

I really wasn't.

"Oh, when the day is blue
I'll sit here wondering about you
And how the pollen fell
All around your face in strange yellow patterns

But, I wasn't prepared for this
Oh, I wasn't prepared for this

When the morning came
The bees flew down and
Wrapped themselves around me
And that's when I spoke the word
To have them trace your face for me in pollen

But, I wasn't prepared for this
Oh, I wasn't prepared for this

Come, come back to me, my, my darling
Come, come back to me, my, my darling

I wasn't prepared for this
Oh, I wasn't prepared for this

When the day is blue
I'll sit here wondering about you"

I Wasn't Prepared, Eisley

The Final Question --Do I really want him out of my dreams?

A few nights ago I had a crazy night.
A very crazy night.

In my dreams, there were four of the teachers from my school.
All in the same night.
It's quite normal for me to have teachers in my dreams, since I spend basically all of my time with them, in school and all. But that many in one night? It was, and remains to this day, insane.

The one part I remember the most vividly, of course, featured the infamous "Dr. G." My mom and I were in a Target for some reason, trying to get milk that we had pre-ordered (keep in mind that all of my dreams are abstract. No high ceilings and Target advertisements in this dreamland), and we go around a bend into a freezer section. These freezers were in a "U" shape with another freezer section coming in the middle, kindof like this --]
Pretend you see it, okay?
Thanks.
So, like I was saying, I'm following my mom around the bend into this freezer thing and Dr. G is there, within a foot of me, walking towards the direction I came from. For a split second I didn't recognize him because of the black Seaford wrestling jacket that identified him as "Coach Morris" (Seaford's Cross Country coach) in white stitching. Since this would have been the first time we encountered each other outside of school, I waited for him to acknowledge me.

I waited.
But he never looked at me.

Then I follow my mom around the --] of the freezer area, and I see another one of these jackets, worn by a woman I assume to be the Doctor's wife. Since I am supposedly Mrs. G's "new hero," I expected him to acknowledge me, for her sake.
As my mom got something out of the freezer, I stood at the edge of the --] and observed Mrs. G take frozen pizzas out of the frosty worlds behind those doors. Without much of a warning at all, Dr. G is standing next to me, wordlessly sliding boxes across my head onto a shelf behind me. Bending my knees slightly, I was low enough to avoid the boxes on my head as I remarked to him "That extra half a foot really helps now, doesn't it?" (It doesn't make much sense at all in the dream context, but I know that this was supposed to be some sort of quoting comeback for me) This warranted a Dr. G smile/smirk.

But he never looked at me.
Which unnerved me a little bit.

Never in the entire dream did he look at me.

The day after this crazy night, I had to pass through the Commons Area during C lunch to get my bus pass, and I, of course, encountered Dr. G. I walked within a foot of him and he didn't look at me.
He just waved.

But he never looked at me.
Which unnerved me a little bit.

I just kinda felt like putting some pictures up.

I do hope you don't mind.

And these are pretty much the only ones I have on Kristy's computer.

Though I have basically all of my pictures upstairs on that cd Dr. G burned for me....


And I'm too lazy to fix that stupid white square thing.
I might do that eventually.
Psyche.

The "Infamous Roman Fountain"

One of many infamous fountains, I'm sure. This one is particularly scandalous.

Those Romans were particularly scandalous, though.

Hmm....

Coincidence?

Perhaps.

Some great reading I got to do for AC...

From "Indian Education" by Sherman Alexie.
It's all from my textbook, the ninth edition of The Bedford Reader.
Since I'd hate to plagarize or anything...

Seventh Grade

I leaned through the basement window of the HUD* house and kissed the white girl who would be later raped by her foster-parent father, who was also white. They both lived on the reservation, though, and when the headlines and stories filled the papers later, not one word was said about their color.

Just Indians being Indians, someone must have said somewhere and they were wrong.

But on the day I leaned through the basement window of the HUD house and kissed the white girl, I felt the good-byes I was saying to my entire tribe. I held my lips tight against her lips, a dry, clumsy, and ultimately stupid kiss.

But I was saying good-bye to my tribe, to all the Indian girls and women I might have loved, to all the Indian men who might have called me cousin, even brother.

I kissed that white girl and when I opened my eyes, she was gone from the reservation, and when I opened my eyes, I was gone from the reservation, living in a farm town where a beautiful white girl asked my name.

"Junior Polatkin," I said, and she laughed.

After that, no one spoke to me for another five hundred years.

(*HUD = Housing and Urban Development, a US government department)

The Great Late-Night AIMs

So yes.
As you may notice as you scroll down, there are some conversations between myself and two people in my carpentry class who had just realized that Mason and I are dating.
Read on to see that hillarium ensues as they take on their roles as my parents.

Tyler --the father

TyPow07: joy
TyPow07: why didnt u ask ur parents..
LewaANDGali3: what?
LewaANDGali3: oooh
LewaANDGali3: right
LewaANDGali3: sorry
LewaANDGali3: im a rebel teenager, what can i say?
LewaANDGali3: hefke was right about me
TyPow07: im gonna have a talk with mason on tuesday
LewaANDGali3: oh gosh
LewaANDGali3: have fun with that
TyPow07: and see if hes right for my daughter
TyPow07: and jill will have a talk with you
TyPow07: then im sure jessica
LewaANDGali3: oh great
LewaANDGali3: thanks for the warning
TyPow07: and erk
TyPow07: then cooper
TyPow07: then king
TyPow07: then clif
TyPow07: the .. jake
TyPow07: hes gonna b the worst
LewaANDGali3: pretty much so
LewaANDGali3: well thanks for the warning
TyPow07: ur welcome
LewaANDGali3: i'm going to give mason the heads up about that talk....
TyPow07: .......
TyPow07: HEADS UP!!!!1
TyPow07: joy u btr not be doing anything with this boy!!!!!!!!
LewaANDGali3: of course not....
LewaANDGali3: nope.....
LewaANDGali3: we're not going anywhere after cross country practice tomorrow or anything..... LewaANDGali3: nope
TyPow07: JOY!!!!!!!
LewaANDGali3: wouldn't dream of it....
TyPow07: just wait till i talk to ur mother
TyPow07: u dont even have skittles!!!!
LewaANDGali3: sorry
TyPow07: just wait till i talk to your mother
LewaANDGali3: i'd wait
LewaANDGali3: but my computer is kindof dying
TyPow07: fine joy
TyPow07: go to bed then
TyPow07: but dont dream about mason!!!!
LewaANDGali3: no guarantees
TyPow07: dream about boats
LewaANDGali3: okay
LewaANDGali3: i'll dream about mason buying my a boat
LewaANDGali3: or something...
TyPow07: NO
LewaANDGali3: pleeeaaaassseee???
TyPow07: no joy
TyPow07: not until we get u some skitles
TyPow07: and not until we talk to him
LewaANDGali3: fine
LewaANDGali3: i'll just sneak out and go off with him
LewaANDGali3: and make him take me to Rita's
LewaANDGali3: without you knowing it!
TyPow07: ill lock ur doors and windows and put u up in a high tower!!!
LewaANDGali3: oh dear
LewaANDGali3: can i at least call him?
TyPow07: no
LewaANDGali3: what?!?!?
LewaANDGali3: you're such an unreasonable father!!!
TyPow07: u can txt him
LewaANDGali3: i hate you!
LewaANDGali3: oh okay
LewaANDGali3: i don't hate you anymore
LewaANDGali3: yaaay!
LewaANDGali3: oh look!
LewaANDGali3: i just found some skittles.....
LewaANDGali3: i guess i can go see mason now!
LewaANDGali3: byes!
TyPow07: NO U CANT
TyPow07: they dont go into effect that quick
TyPow07: ok u can stop now
TyPow07: ur mother and i dont wana hear about u and ur bf and what you do
LewaANDGali3: okay
LewaANDGali3: then i won't tell you
TyPow07: good
TyPow07: bye
LewaANDGali3: i won't ever tell you when i get pregnant
LewaANDGali3: or anything!
TyPow07: ill pull it out with a coat hanger jill
TyPow07: i mean jill will
TyPow07: lol
LewaANDGali3: i'll just get fatter and fatter and then drop out of school to have my baby TyPow07: good ruin ur life to live with a hippy and see what he gets u....
TyPow07: HOOKED ON POTT
LewaANDGali3: what?
TyPow07: POT
LewaANDGali3: mason is most definitely NOT a hippy
LewaANDGali3: he's a farm boy!
TyPow07: hes in inviromental!!!!!!!!
TyPow07: LKOSER!!!!!
LewaANDGali3: don't be hatin!
LewaANDGali3: my husband is in that tech area!
TyPow07: o i already a
TyPow07: m
TyPow07: LOSER !!!!!!!!1
LewaANDGali3: well actually, you CAN bust on my husband
LewaANDGali3: it's not a very healthy relationship
LewaANDGali3: we don't talk to each other anymore
TyPow07: lol
LewaANDGali3: i'm thinking i need to get him to sign the papers so mason and i can run off LewaANDGali3: on our boat
LewaANDGali3: and then i won't have levin coming after me and trying to beat up my boyfriend for stealing his wife
TyPow07: yeah
LewaANDGali3: so
LewaANDGali3: i should go
TyPow07: ok
TyPow07: BYE
LewaANDGali3: and wait for the skittles to take effect....
LewaANDGali3: and text mason
LewaANDGali3: and run away from my husband
TyPow07: ok it takes 2 weeks
LewaANDGali3: only two weeks?
LewaANDGali3: are you sure?
TyPow07: yes mam
LewaANDGali3: okay
LewaANDGali3: well i'm taking your word for it
TyPow07: u should read the pamphlet
TyPow07: lol
LewaANDGali3: okay i will

Jill --the mother

JILLBETH007: hey
LewaANDGali3: heya playa
JILLBETH007: i heard you go out with a certain newark
JILLBETH007: lol
LewaANDGali3: yeah
LewaANDGali3: melanie
JILLBETH007: awwww
LewaANDGali3: heck yes!
LewaANDGali3: psyche
JILLBETH007: haha
LewaANDGali3: yeah mason and i have been goin out for like, three months, man
JILLBETH007: mason is in my spanish class....
JILLBETH007: really
JILLBETH007: i didnt know
LewaANDGali3: where've ya been?
JILLBETH007: i should have been the first one you told!!!
LewaANDGali3: who was the first person i told?
JILLBETH007: as one of your carpentry parents, I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS
LewaANDGali3: oh dang i can't remember...
LewaANDGali3: i thought all of you guys would figure it out
JILLBETH007: yeah umm come on carpenters are cool, but you gotta admit not always the quickest
LewaANDGali3: true
LewaANDGali3: it took jen a few days of seeing us holding hads at lunch, and jessica just figured it out last week
LewaANDGali3: im surprised ty pow didnt fill you in
JILLBETH007: well tyler toldme he figured it out yesterday
LewaANDGali3: when he finally found out
LewaANDGali3: wow
JILLBETH007: from the bulletin u sent out
JILLBETH007: lol'
LewaANDGali3: what was that?
LewaANDGali3: man i can't remember anything
JILLBETH007: lol
JILLBETH007: he is about to im you
JILLBETH007: lol
JILLBETH007: double teaming joy!!
LewaANDGali3: oooh that one
LewaANDGali3: oh jeeze
LewaANDGali3: im gonna get all sandwiched with you two...
JILLBETH007: poor thing
JILLBETH007: lol
LewaANDGali3: i am a poor thing
JILLBETH007: lol
JILLBETH007: nice one
LewaANDGali3: heck yes
LewaANDGali3: so yeah
LewaANDGali3: basically
LewaANDGali3: hate to change the subject on ya
LewaANDGali3: but
LewaANDGali3: yup
LewaANDGali3: mason and i are basically the new in couple at school
LewaANDGali3: ya know
JILLBETH007: lol
LewaANDGali3: we're so in, we have to act like we don't go out so that we don't get swarmed on the way to class and everything
JILLBETH007: YOU REBEL
JILLBETH007: lol
LewaANDGali3: you got that right, fool!
JILLBETH007: yeah i knew it allalong
LewaANDGali3: okay well since the computer just kinda shut down i should probably go
JILLBETH007: lol
JILLBETH007: aight
JILLBETH007: peace see you on tuesday

Dr. Golacinski...

Is amazing.

Absolutely amazing.

I'm not really sure how to explain it anymore.

But he is awesome and I absolutely love him to death.

Because he is amazingly awesome.



"Uncle Don has to go coach football."

English 110 --Initial Assignment

The Power of "If"

Whenever you happen to find a book that begins with the word “if” you can be certain that you’re in for an interesting adventure. Laura Joffe Numeroff’s classic children’s story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is no exception to these expectations. As one of the first books I can remember ever reading, it sparked my long enjoyment of reading that has definitely impacted the person I am today.

Other than just introducing me to books, this story instilled important information into my brain –that you always need to eat a cookie with a glass of milk. What could possibly be more relevant to a little kid than having an adult author give you expert cookie-consuming tips? Absolutely nothing could even come close. Just ask the kids.

This book is a very, very special book since it is able to communicate several important ideas with the readers. A second such idea is that little things can make a big difference. In the story, a little boy is nice enough to give one of his cookies to a passing mouse. After the mouse began to eat the cookie, it realized that it was thirsty, so he asked the boy for a glass of milk. Instead of ignoring the mouse, the boy gave him a glass of milk, complete with a straw. Again and again the boy does whatever the mouse asks him to do, even make him a bed out of a powder box and bandanna. By never refusing to do what the mouse asked of him, the boy set a good example for young readers to follow. Additionally, these small acts of hospitality ended up forming a great friendship between the book’s two only characters.

Arguably the best thing that this book taught me was the big “if” word and concept in a way that a preschooler can understand. Without even realizing what I was learning, I was taught the theory of how one action triggers another series of events. For example, after the mouse looks in the mirror to check for a milk moustache, “he’ll start sweeping. He might get carried away and sweep every room in the house. He may even end up washing the floors as well!” This subtle mechanism (which is probably either some type of propaganda or subliminal messaging) seemed to work, and the “if” concept has been pretty clear to me ever since.

Additionally, this book is a perfect cycle. It begins with the mouse asking for a cookie and a glass of milk, and ends with him having a glass of milk and asking for a cookie.

Overall, the tiny pieces of wisdom shared with my young mind all those years ago when I first read this book have stayed engraved in my mind as a way to live life to the fullest, or, at least be able to enjoy a cookie the proper way, with a glass of milk.

"Strongly disagree"

Read the sign I stole from Mr. Nicoletti's wall at the end of cross country practice and taped to my shirt. And I do. I strongly disagree with life. Because it sucks. And is stupid.

So a few weeks ago, my mom tells me "I think we're losing your father."
My initial response --"Finally."

Because I cannot stand him.
Every time I see him I just get sick.
And I know it's so horrible to "lash out" at my father now that he's all disabled and crap but no one in my family has any idea of how long this has been happening. Becasue they're all ignorant idiots who wish we had a perfect family.
And they need to fucking get over it because we aren't.
And we won't be.

Ever.


Your welcome.