The Life of a Tree

B. Bailey, this one is for you.

What once was a child's castle of disillusionment

Only remains to be used as the whimsical wonderings

Of a lonely young boy with a solitary pair of slicing scissors.

Now with the easily frustrated fragility of a child,

It is taken from its torn tower of grandeur.

Left empty, unfulfilled in its fullness it remembers

A tortuous time of Homer and Shakespeare.

It strengthened steadily through Roosevelt's Reformation.

It gave guilty witness to Kennedy's Killing,

Trading its tricky secrets with Truman's Temple.

It once was an infrastructure of naturally created Complexity,

Lying in careless, crumpled abandon on the floor.

But Daddy, its only a piece of paper

I scream, You scream

Ireland has consumed my mind entirely.

Spring 2011 be ready, because here I come.

Quick Shout Out

It's not my style to do this, but I feel compelled to tell you while sitting three feet away from you that you matter. You too McDouble.

I've felt dead inside for a while now, years in fact, and I've been with the two of you for 15 hours now, had some uhhhhmazing food, and even better conversation, and I suddenly realize again what it means to be alive. Something about you stirs up my passion. Passion to talk, to breathe, to love, to live.

I know that I'll most likely revert back to the same feelings not long after returning to Flag, but this, us, all of us right now; it's the chicken noodle soup to my soul.

Thank you is not enough.

Flowers are good for the soul

I received these flowers 5 days ago. From a boy. I don't really know how I feel about this boy, but I do know that these are the most beautiful flowers I have ever been given. Does that make me a sell-out? Maybe just a little bit? I don't know. All I do know is that I'm sitting here trying to work on a take-home test and I get a whiff of these flowers (particularly the Lilies) every few minutes or so, and it's so intoxicating. I smile without really knowing why. Don't tell me it's the boy, because it's not. He confuses me. Who am I kidding, I confuse me. But what I have decided is that flowers do wonders for your mood. Ahhh...I just got another whiff, and I feel like I could accomplish almost anything right now.

Boys = Confusing

Myself = Suchhh a confusing shit show.

Flowers = FANTASTIC

Take it from the dogs.

Why is it that when we enter any given emotional state we have a tendency to feed that emotion? Especially the negative ones.

We feed the dog that is with us whether it be anger, sadness or happiness...

So I guess you should try and take care of the dog you feed, because the one you feed the most is the one that will remain the most loyal to you.

Trust me.

Why Not?

There's so much controversy today about whether Obama should have or shouldn't have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Well, he did and what I ask is "Why not?"

Here, finally, was an American President--a Christian, but with a Muslim name, from a Muslim family--willing to speak in a Muslim country in order to both acknowledge injustices done to them and demand a higher moral standard in their behavior towards Israel and the West.

Yes, the United States is still waging war in two Muslim countries and with the return of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and the willingness of Iran to use Palestinian terror groups as proxies for their agenda, peace in Israel seems as distant as ever.

But Obama's speech--Obama's election itself--marked an end to days in which average Muslims could embrace a Manichean vision of Muslims inexorably opposed to the United States.

No wonder that extremists--American conservatives and the Taliban--are immediately reacting violently to the announcement that President Obama is the newest Nobel Laureate. They need each other. They need the conflict. No wonder they hate Obama--a guy whose life is dedicated to lowering the temperature.

Conservatives are already sneering that Obama shares the prize with President Woodrow Wilson, a notorious idealist. They forget that Obama also shares the prize with Henry Kissinger, a notorious realist. Obama represents the best of both of those traditions: idealist in his dreams and aspirations for the world, pragmatic and realistic in his actions and his goals.

Obama is a President who seeks to end our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but has been more aggressive in the use of Predator drones to hunt down and kill terrorists than the previous administration. There's no contradiction there.

The Nobel Committee's decision is a statement: the future belongs to the dreamers of pragmatic dreams.

The future belongs to us.

Where's that tunnel?

Okay blog. I've danced around for far too long now, but enough is enough. It's time to get down to business. I want to try my hardest to write to you every day for the next month, but let's face it; I'd be ecstatic for once a week.

Here goes:

Who's there?

Not me, I'm sure. I don't remember the last time I was. And I know that the people around me notice. For so long now I've asked myself, "Well what's wrong with being in a rut? What's the big deal if I'm just being?" Those used to be justifications. Now they just scare me. Worry me.

How long will it be this time? The last was about 5 months.

Right now: 2 weeks and counting.

Well hello Blog! Oh how I've missed you! I've toyed with the idea of parading my friends around one by one, but frankly, I just don't have that kind of time on my hands. Plan B is much better in my opinion anyways. A string of photos. Nothing more. Let your minds wander. I assure you nothing you will come with will be as grand as the stories that actually accompany these photos :)

Enjoy!

...fotos de mi familia coming soon!

Remembrance

One year ago today was the day I found out that my world had lost yet another soul. I felt like I lost an aunt, a friend. I will always remember those dune trips that she'd help me with my homework, and I will never forget all the stories I got to hear from her. And the way she told them! In that blunt way of hers, it was my favorite, and I miss it terribly. 

It was bad enough losing Kristin at all but to suicide? Something I'm all too familiar with... It breaks my heart. It breaks my heart that it happened, and I think my heart hurts most for her daughter, Alex. I'm not too close with her, but I wish I was. I wish that, because I would love to be able to tell her what a wonderful job her mother did on her. She's such a smart, beautiful and unbelievably talented young woman. Anyone would be proud to call her their daughter. If I were Alex, I would be a shipwreck, one big hot mess. But she's pushing through, day by day. And I really feel the need to sit here and give her the proper credit that she deserves. I don't feel like she's told it enough, not from the one person she should be hearing this from, anyways. That person would be her father. Alex used to be his whole world. What about now you ask? Well, he has this whole new life. A new love interest who has kids of her own, and Alex might as well be tossed out into the dark. After losing her mother wouldn't you think, wouldn't you expect that a father step in and be there for his daughter? In every capacity he possibly could be? I thought that too.  

So today, I think of you, Alex. And I hope that you keep fighting in spite of what you're still up against. I  know if I were you, I couldn't handle this, any of it. I'm so sorry.  

I love you. 

RIP Kristin Jones 

Introduction

I figured I would kick things off (finally) with a little something about myself. Yep, that's me up there in all my pride and glory. I love where I go to school and what better way of showing it than dressing up in a cow suit and being in the Homecoming parade? No suggestions? That's what I thought. 

I'm just a simple girl, really. An often impatient, book and tea loving, orange starburst hating girl who also loves to drive. Sometimes. 

Friends always see me as the realistic one, but I'm just a dreamer.  

Dreamer. Yeah, I'm okay with that. 

A Europe-less Summer

Last summer: Europe. 

This summer: Zip, Zero, Nada. aka; summer school and being a one woman taxi service for the family. Oh joy. 

Let me introduce you to the above photo. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Abbey Road! Over a thousand pictures and this one photo alone conjures the most vivid memories and emotions from that entire trip. I stare at this photo for ungodly amounts of time, dreading the day that my dreams seem less real. 

I want that summer back.