College Timewarp?

Hi.  Guess what? I'm in college now!  And this is gonna sound really strange, but I've only been here a week, and it seems like at least a month.  Days go by at a normal pace, but they seem stretched out like an acordian.  Just a giant pool of things have happened every day and they all seem to blend together.  It's nuts.  Literally nuts; there's black squirrels all over campus that fight each other for the buckeyes.

Driving Blues

Yeah, it's been a while.  Well, this failed.  I'll try again, though.  This has seriously been the first time in months I've had the ambition to type and time to actually do it.  Honors Language Arts is controlling my life, people!

A lot of really emotionally distressing things are going on in my life right now.  As I mentioned before, I'm a senior in high school.  The year is starting to wind down now, and I've had to make a lot of really big decisions.  The biggest tow being where I'm going to college in the fall and learning to drive.  Yep, you read that last one right.

Driving terrifies me, which is why I put it off this long.  It's not really memorizing all the rules, though I still can't remember them all, or not having any skill.  I've made it all the way through an  industrial parkway near our house without hitting anything; I can turn, back out, and stop for stop signs fairly accurately.  But I have no confidence in my ability, not to mention I'm a complete perfectionist.  I can't stand it when I don't do something perfectly, especially something as dangerous as piloting 2-odd tons of steel.  With my mind, one time losing my focus could end someones life.

But enough negativity.  I've thought it over, and I'll be staying in the industrial parkway until I am confident that my skills will not hurt anyone.  I have till August.  Wish me luck

Poem I enjoyed writing (written in a black mood about a behavior I abhor)

Senator

You walk in at the end of the night with your secretaries

On your arms, smiling and nodding at everything you say.

You stroll down to the end of the hallway, shake hand with the other execs,

Smile.  Eat the pizza. 

Leave. 

You did your part.  It all went down smoothly;

Even more smoothly for you when you didn’t have to see

The people that smell of cigarette smoke and drive rusty cars

And thank us as we fill their trunks and backseats with their Christmas dinners

While you were home eating and wrapping expensive gifts.

Because in the end, you don’t care about them.  You said it, once, but

Saying it means nothing if your actions betray you,

As was said to an equally arrogant prince by the heroine.

I’m no heroine, though. 

So, as I watch you smile and wave to your adoring public,

I let you keep the thought that seems to guide your actions:

Why does it matter that others do the work and the worry, starve and strive and act human,

As long as I get the attention I deserve? 

For you, we doesn't matter

And never will. 

Keep up the good work, sir.  See you in Washington. 

I’ll be the one on the other side of the picket line.  

Hi, I'm the Phantom

Hello, my darlings!

My name is Kristen, and I am a self-proclaimed phantom.  This means, as incredible as some people may think it, I try very hard to be an objective observer, storing everything I see and hear up for later use.  I really prefer to be in the background, but because of this (and my wonderfully insane friends), I've seen and heard a lot in my 17 years on earth.  And I've got an opinion on just about all of it.

Humanity itself drives me insane.  I just don't understand how, if we are all born with brains, we are incapable of using them.  It seems like every day on the news, without fail, there is a story about some guy getting himself or other people maimed or even killed, because he was doing something that he wasn't supposed to be doing.  Some of it seems silly and harmless, and some of it escalates into an international war. If people would just think before they act, I mean really think about the consequences, these things might not happen.  Whole wars could be avoided by a simple application of common sense.

But enough of that.  This was supposed to be a lighthearted introduction.

There's not really much you need to know about me, other than I am a high school senior, an aspiring fiction author, and in my own opinion a decent person.  I try to do good with everything, but that doesn't mean it always works out.  I guess I'm a little hard on myself, but I have a right to demand my best in everything.  I try to act as brave and as strong as I can in every situation, no matter how scared I am.  And I refuse to let other people tell me how to live.  It's my life.  If you don't like me, then just stay away.  Again, common sense.

My favorite things in the world are stories (in any form, including my own), music, other cultures and languages, animals, chocolate, and people.  Yes, even after my above scathing review, I still find humans utterly fascinating.  You just never quite know what they'll do next.  I also like to travel, and can't wait to be old enough (and have enough of my own money) to see everything the world has to offer.  I'm actually going to Europe this summer, can't wait!

As for what I'll post on here, I'm not quite sure.  All I know for sure is I will post every Sunday, if I can, and post whatever comes to mind from the past week.  I don't truly expect many people to read this, but if you do choose to, I hope you get something out of it.  I truly do.

A quick word on comments: In leaving this blog open to the entire Web, I understand that there are people out there who are going to disagree strongly with what I have to say.  It's just a fact of life.  However, I am leaving the option to comment on my posts up on faith.  You are of course entitled to your own opinion, but please be polite about it.  If your comment is inappropriate or a complete flame, I will delete it.  End of discussion.

That's all for now.  I'll leave you with this: The world may seem like a dark and terrible place, but there really is more good in it then bad.  The bad just yells louder.