Inchworm

So, it has been a long time!!

Well, I made all A's in my first semester of college. Woohoo! Now if I can keep the same rate up for the next semester. On the board is Environmental Biology, Spanish II, English II, Algebra, and Political Ideologies. It's gonna be an awesome semester, considering that I did basically all of the biology stuff in middle school (yay for homeschoolers), and the Algebra is one step down from where I *should* be. So hopefully this will give me a chance to step up my spanish. *groan*.

Apparently the FBI is starting a huge drive for agents and specialists, yay for me. Hopefully they'll keep it up over the next 5 years or so for me. :P But I'm still not quite sure what career I want to go into. I think International Relations would be really good for me to go into college... but beyond that I have no idea.

Actually though, right now I am BORED out of my SKULL. I can't wait for school to start, but I still have three weeks of free time *cough torture* left. I still haven't finished a book (but I'm working on it). I suppose the highlights of break have been my grades, the successful and drama-less holidays with family, and I got a chance to decorate my room by hanging a bunch of pictures and other things up. I'd been waiting to do that forever, and finally I got to it.

The church bought a new piano, a Mason and Hamlin... it is GORGEOUS. I'm going to try to find time to go in and play on it. The key touch is really perfect... light in the upper register, just hard enough to make an impact in the lower register. I don't really feel like performing though. I'd much rather sing than play, though it seems like the church already has the singing area covered. We met some new friends though, who are actually spanish speaking, so perhaps later on I can bum some spanish-speaking opportunities out of them. They're such sweet people.

I did realize this morning that I actually don't have that many friends. Or maybe it's just that the friends that I do have are really busy right now, or are going through family issues that I don't really want to be a part of. I'm not going to abandon them, but it just seems like right now I have nobody to "get together" with.

There's a new program on PBS called "The Story of India"... I LOVE it!! It's all the history in India that I never understood- and glazed over- in World History. Plus it's in HD, and after buying our new 52" screen, it's utterly amazing. I can't take my eyes off it. I guess it's a great substitute for actually traveling over there and getting some strange disease, or malaria, hahaha. I suppose that won't keep me from traveling to South America though, or Mexico.

Anyhow, nothing more to report really, the dogs have been systematically pulling their Achilles' tendons... stupid doberman traits. I've been employing my horse-bandaging knowledge and redneck veterinary techniques (say, sanitary pads, diapers, ductape, neosporin, and vetrap) to keep everybody healthy. Hopefully it will make an effect. The vets want to suck all the money out of us for expensive surgeries and treatments, but I think she'd be just fine the way she is.

Anyways. That's all for now, Adios!
~Inchworm

Alright so a comment that my friend made to me got me thinking: What is the normal load?

Aside from the 12 credit rule, the amount of college classes you want to take is up to how much academic torture you want to sustain. Seriously. but that's not the only thing I'm considering. What, if any, other activities should I factor in? This last semester has not allowed me to do much else than a few community service projects on the side and an occasional get together with friends. And I'm only taking 13 credits.
Either it's me not participating in things or adjusting to the load (still!), I'm not sure how much harder it will be to take on 16 credits instead of 13. And they're hard credits:
Spanish 102
English 102
Math 101
Political Ideologies
Physical Anthropology/Archaeology

I mean... now it's spanish, english, international relations, world history and yoga. not too bad. Perhaps if I work hard enough to be independently driving then I can participate in more on-campus activities. here's hopin'.

Anyways. That's my muse these days... I tend to procrastinate by looking at colleges, at classes, or at potential professors. Very peculiar. Then again procrastination is procrastination, and my papers aren't writing themselves!! yikes!

okay, off I go... I'm writing a paper on the Roma/Sinti discrimination in Germany, and presenting a policy brief to change it in my International Relations class! way cool. Oh yeah and I'm seriously looking at Goucher College, I really like it... let's hope the money is okay in these times.
All for now,
~Robin

Hola!

    College has definitely been treating me well. I see a lot of people I know almost every day, and my classes are great. English is pretty boring right now, it's all grammar and elementary writing that I excel way past, but I guess it's better than having a super-difficult class. Int'l Relations is really interesting and I love my professor. She's a real Georgia girl, but she's also fluent in German... it's so funny to see her switch from the Georgia drawl to the rough guttural sound of German haha.
    History has been interesting too... my professor is pretty much all threats sometimes though. I guess she's had a lot of bad students or something, because she's always threatening like "if you don't do this assignment you'll seriously hurt your grade and suck" or something like that. But she's a real gem once you get past that. Very liberal haha, I can't wait to totally counter something liberal with a great conservative stab. On one of the quizzes she put as a bonus question "what was the headline of the Washington Post that mentioned 'crisis increases'?" and I was like... umm... I don't READ the Washington Post. LOL. I didn't write that though. I just left it blank. I aced the rest of the quiz so it didn't matter. :P
    Yoga is pretty good too... it's hard to fit in the little assignments around all the rest of my assignments but the exercise is wonderful. Makes me quite stretchy and strong!
    However my favorite class out of all of these, as you can see by my title, is Spanish. I mean, you wouldn't think it but mi profesora is very talented. She makes class so fun and yet serious at the same time. Lots of different approaches, (flashcards, music, group/pair discussions) and she speaks most of the class in Spanish. Which is really nice, since you get to hear it and have to decipher it actively (unlike when you hear it on the street and you don't really care what the people are saying). Anyhow that's just one reason I like the class.
    Another one that I've discovered is that I'm just fascinated with Spanish culture!! I mean I guess almost all of my classes are internationally oriented but I'm the most fascinated with South America and such. I hope in the near future I'll get a chance to really immerse myself in it, by going on exchange trips and such. That would be so amazing.
    Anyways that's college at the moment... driving is going well too, I'm very comfortable with it now and so is Mom, so that means that I can start REALLY driving, instead of Mom faltering every time I ask. Yay!

Okay I think I'm out of things to say.
        Todos por el momento,
            ~Inchworm

So this boarder at the barn I ride at is a pain in the butt. She is the essential definition of a Potomac Princess... prissy, thinks she's the best, and disrespects and puts down everyone around her, regardless of their authority and knowledge. I had her for a week as a camper in horseback riding camp, and she was awful. According to the head instructor, it was the worst week they'd had there all summer because of her.

Yesterday was my last day as a junior counselor at camp, and a few days before I had found this girl's bridle sitting on the fencepost on the outdoor ring. Fully exposed to the elements, this beautiful expensive red leather bridle. I was a little miffed. How disrespectful, her parents spend their hard-earned money on a beautiful bridle for a beautiful horse, and this girl just leaves it outside? So anyhow. On my last day, I run into the girl riding out in the field (and open un-fenced field, mind you) bareback in a halter and lead rope. I walk up to her and got on her about leaving her bridle out. I didn't say it very nicely, I do admit, but I was taught very harshly that equipment like that is NOT to be mistreated. So I told her where her bridle was and walked away. Apparently, she got extremely upset at me and talked to her daddy, who of course, wanting everything perfect for his "angelic" little baby, talked to one of the directors of the farm. Oh jeez.

So the director (Chief) pulled me aside for a full ten minutes and reemed me out about "bullying" this girl. It has really made me think about how damn difficult being a christian is.
I mean, this girl has been nothing but mean and disrespectful and ridiculing of me, and then as soon as I slip and give her some of her own medicine, I get in trouble. It sucks! And I know I was off-base, but man it hurts. This is a boarder, so basically because she's paying money to keep her horse there, and that money goes to support the farm, I can't do shit! Even if this girl makes me feel like a lump of turd she's stepping on.

I've worked so hard for all my horse knowledge, and this girl just throws it away. This whole incident has made me also think about how I was brought up in the horse world. My horseback riding instructor was a HARD ASS. I mean, if I left so much as a crop out, I would have gotten yelled at exactly the way I talked to this girl, and even worse. How is it that I got out okay with an extreme appreciation of horses and the effort that goes into taking care of them, and nobody was ever reemed out for that? I didn't go running to my mother, because my mother agreed with it! But does that mean that my riding instructor was a bully?

Is the way to teach a large amount of respect and common-horse-sense by small amounts of bullying? How effective, really, is extreme niceness? Does it really teach the girl what it means to respect things, or does it just ameliorate her and her board-paying father?

My big problem is that because this was the way I was raised into the horse world, how am I going to supress it in this sensitive and delicate situation? What happens if I slip again, and reem someone out? Will I get kicked out? And finally, why is it that my people skills are so bad!!

I really don't have any excuses, and making them will only make my situation worse. But right now it's an open wound, and I wish I could fix it.

Okay, so I know I haven't posted here in a while. Things have been going so great that I haven't had anything to write about. However. This comic cracked me up today. For the longest time, I've hated Ernest Hemingway's writing, as well as F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Zelda Fitzgerald is one of my favorite authors though) I always thought that the two of them (they were great friends) thought their writing was amazing simply because they never stopped drinking. So lately, Pearls Before Swine has been making fun of Ernest Hemingway through its characters... this one had me laughing SO hard.

Here's a link to a better quality picture- http://community.livejournal.com/pearlswine/382257.html

So things have been going pretty well lately. I am definitely living for the weekend though... calleva is alot of constant work and when I get home, I really do crash. Weekends are much more relaxing though... for the last couple the weather has been great, and I've had the chance to truly chill.

Other than that, I'm really conflicted... I dread when summer is over and I lose touch with the new friends I've made, and yet I'm SO excited for my next term of college.

It's been interesting seeing how I'm handling having new friends, that know me and only me- not my mom/dad/brother as well. They judge me for me, and even though that is really really nice... it's hard. It puts more pressure on me to be good. Especially when I have a particular *interest* as one of my new friends, and I wonder how I'm doing with that. Am I acting properly? Am I going too far? I don't want to be pushy or clingy, but I crave the attention, the time that I get to talk to him. It's difficult to carry on with kids for most of the day- you can't be too obvious, and you have to censor alot of things. Then I wonder if my other (girl) friend, who is friends with him, has the same interests as I do. Is he just paying me due attention and then is truly thinking about her? I feel so silly for all this... after my first relationship, I can recognize all the signs of stupidity. But it is certainly a confusing situation. I'm really good friends with this girl, and I would absolutely hate to lose a friendship with her to gain more attention from him.
Anyhow.
That's my big issue- that's what's been on my mind lately. I suppose it's pretty bad when he appears in your dreams on a relatively restless-sleep night.

Other than that, I feel pretty happy. I ordered a laptop, and I cannot WAIT until that comes!!! It has been shipped, so now it's the waiting game for me. When I get it, I'm immediately going to watch the Bones episodes that I WANT. Not sneaking around my mom and dad to watch them on the big tv. They HATE it when I watch it, and I don't understand. It's like reading a book a few times... you know what's coming, but you read it because you just love how it happens! Problem is, neither of my parents understand that. They never read books twice, lol. That's what I get for being a liberal-arts person in a household of scientist-people.

Piano is going well- I'm in love with Scarlatti. I usually don't prefer baroque (to be honest, I usually avoid it like the plague) but for some reason, scarlatti appeals to me. I suppose that the way he wrote the music put lots of emotion in to a relatively emotion-less type of music. So it's just very relaxing. Simple theory, no huge interpretations required... just play the music, baby.

Anyhow that's all from me for now. Here's to life!!
~Inchworm

Well I just sent off my brother to travel the country for 8 weeks... he'll be doing stuff similar to habitat for humanity. But it got me thinking.

Once we all graduate from college and get our lives started (well, unless I go to law school... which I would be studying my ass off for that then LOL) how are we all going to keep in touch? My brother said he really would like to live in the Carolinas... whereas I have no idea where I'd want to live. I haven't honestly been to many places. That's one of my big goals... I really want to travel. See where I would possibly want to live. But anyways, I wondered what it would be like if we were far away from each other. I'd have to get used to the idea of picking up a phone, writing an email. I've always been the type in my family that wants to move away, get my own life, be independent and not so tied to one place. But now that my own brother has done that (go away) I feel like it's very strange. Very saddening. I'll get a taste of how it's going to be like when he gets his own place.

So that's my tidbit for the evening. It's only 8 weeks, and we'll be able to keep in touch with each other, but I think this summer will be the most amazing one yet. It'll be different, alright.

~Inchworm

This chapter of my year is almost over!

My Sociology final is on Monday (I have yet to study for it, lol) and the rest of my classes are pretty much finished. I have one more literature class, and then that's IT.

So what to do now? Dive into my job! I've been out twice to the barn there, and it's been great. I think I've finally found all the horse people like me that I've been searching for so desperately all these years. All they want to do is to have a grand good time with every kind of horse, and to help others learn to love horses as well. They love the outdoors, and are open to all kinds of riding. They're open to all kinds of riding philosophies as well, apparently- which has created a few rubs here and there. My horse training past has been so wide and varied that I come to it with a very broad perspective. The nice thing is that they understand that, and they truly appreciate the talents that I have because of it. WONDERFUL.

Other than that... hmmm... I've fallen in love with this Rachmaninoff piece, but the problem is I can't find the music on Youtube for it. Weird. Usually I can find any piano piece in my piano books there. I mean... I have a really old book from 1939 but I still find the majority of the music online. Funny thing is, apparently there are several  Romances... I wonder if there's a book of them. I've had almost no luck with playing Rachmaninoff though... I tried Prelude in C Sharp Minor, but didn't get very far. But this piece just sort of popped out at me, and after I had begun playing it, I realized it was by Rachmaninoff. Huh. Anyhow I'm really excited about playing it... I just wonder what exactly it sounds like. Rachmaninoff had quite a few audio recordings, since he was at the tail-end of the generation of great pianists... So it would be amazing to listen to his own interpretation of his music, and then to play it as close to that as I can. I have a bit of a knack for that sort of thing... I dunno. With Claude Debussy's Girl With The Flaxen Hair, I listened to Jasha Heifetz's recording of the song- despite it being in violin. Personally, I wish I had learned to play the violin. In my family, violin is much more prevalent than piano. My great-grandfather (actually I think it was my great-great-uncle, but I'm not sure) played violin with Heifetz himself. He also played second violin in one of the orchestras... I forget. Someday I really have to get all this info down. It's amazing stuff. Apparently my grandparents have recordings of him playing with his other quartet buddies.
When I found all this out, I realized why I have this odd affinity for minor keyed pieces... lol. Two words- clesmer music!!
Anyways. Where was I. Oh yeah. Violin. My uncle was gifted with the violin, but he gave it up due to a bunch of reasons (many which I don't feel comfortable talking about here.). My grandparents eventually sold the violin- I wish I could've had it. Oh well.
But anyhow I'm excited to start this new music. I seem to be going through MUSIC DOLDRUMS..... Everything is just boring or too hard, unless it's like, "the ONE" piece that really clicks with me. *shrug*

Okay so, I have to go to bed. I have an early day tomorrow, going out to the barn again for horse program training! yay! Hopefully I won't kill myself, considering this icky cold I've come down with in the last couple days. The last few times I rode horses when I was sick I had relapses which were worse than the initial sickness lol... Wish me luck. haha!

All for now,
~Inchworm

Well, this week is turning out to be a very happy one for me.

Despite all the homework and papers due (germany and brazil and china, oh my!) I've jumped the hurdle and now I get the medal. Several, actually.

I applied for this job at a summer camp, (got it) and went out on a limb and asked if I could come out a couple weeks before it started and help out with the horse program- and now the horse program people have JUMPED on it and are like "Yeah, we love you already!!"  I've already gotten three emails, and now they want me to come out and help clear trails, work the horses, clean the barn, and... get this... pet the horses, talk to the horses. AKA, go off into horselover-lala land!!!!!!!!!!!
These are the first horse people I've ever met that have actually wanted me to do that. Wow.

So like I said, this week is amazing. I am sooo damn happy.
I'm really seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and for the first time, I can't wait until school's over so I can get started with this thing. Last summer was the most boring thing EVER. I had almost no activities, and I basically just sat around the house like a lazy bum. I didn't even read that many books. It ends up like, I have only a few things to do, so I procrastinate on them and ignore them until they don't get done, and then I feel like... a lazy no-good bum! So I was determined this year to get a job, get outside and work with the horses. And now it's paid off. I'm so excited.

I got this big research paper done on Germany, Brazil and China and their economies.. it was really hard, but finally it's over. And now I feel so knowledgable about the subject. Later on today I have to do a presentation on it... I'm just gonna get up there and talk from an outline. It's the easiest thing to do, especially for me with all my public-speaking experience.

Driving is going well... as long as Mom isn't the one in the passenger seat hahaha. Dad is a really good teacher and he doesn't freak out- Mom, on the other hand, is sooooo bad. I went out driving once on one of the back country roads near us.. that was scary, since it was a 1 1/2 lane road. We had everything but horses... a farm tractor, a family on foot, a dually pickup truck (eek!), multiple cars... it was interesting. After the first half-hour though it got better. I can't wait until it starts to become subconcious though. That must be nice.

I'm doing really well in my classes, keeping my grades up into a high A in college... the other classes are doing well too. I'm a solid B student in Math, which is an enormous accomplishment for me. I feel so much different. I used to despise math like the plague, but now it's pretty enjoyable. Not super-easy, but enjoyable. My teacher is so good, and she's made me look at it in a different way. The material is coming to me easier because I've gotten rid of my awful mental block.

So yeah. Classes are starting to end, the weather is GORGEOUS!!! All the trees are blooming. At my college we have this enormous weeping cherry that has just fully opened, and I swear... I want to get married under one of those. It's like, my little pet dream. XD

What else... oh yeah. I don't have my full leather chaps or helmet anymore, so I have to go buy a good helmet cover for my show helmet, and a pair of half-chaps. Oh joy. With my weirdly-measured calves. For some reason I have really short calves, but I'm not extremely short. lol. How wonderful for me.
Anyhow. That means I have to wear light jeans (which I also have to stock up on) or riding pants... oh god... I hadn't thought about that. Time to lose the badonkadonk butt. XDDD

So that's what's goin' on for me. My skin is slowly tanning to it's nice summer shade, the callouses on my feet are slowly growing, and I simply CANNOT wait for summer to come. I think it's going to be one of the best ones yet.

All for now,
~Inchworm

After Barack Obama winning so well with the younger generation, and with the older generation as well, I was utterly appalled when Geraldine Ferraro mentioned that stupid comment about him. Not that I support Barack, I'm more of a McCain girl. But, aside from that, doesn't ANYBODY from the older generation realize the ENORMOUS turn in racial "discrimination"?! I have NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER seen white against black discrimination in my peers. Neither have I seen blacks getting ahead because white people "let" them just for the sake of racial equality. In fact, in my peers, all that I've EVER seen is black against white discrimination!!!

Of course this election is crazy stupid sometimes. But this, I think, tops it. Miss Geraldine should seriously consider what right she has to say what she said: she wouldn't be anywhere near the office that she's in 40 or 50 years ago. In fact, some might say that she is where she is because she's a woman.

On another note, increasingly, it looks like Hillary's campaign is going down the drain fairly quickly... first with this over-reported issue of Spitzer and his prostitution scandal (the press showed a long clip of Spitzer and Hillary walking together, all nice and happy), and now Geral-discrimination talking so hypocritically about minorities, I'm starting to root for Barack because I'm just TIRED of this political back scratching. Hillary has chosen the old side of politics with a wonderful facade of "hope" and "change". What was she thinking?!!

My ultimate question is, how long will it take the older generation to realize that black discrimination is nearly a thing of the past? What's going to happen when a black man says that whites are getting by because of their color? Better yet... what will happen when a Latino politician discriminates against whites? I wish we'd just get over this whole black/white thing. There are more pressing issues these days than skin color.

~Inchworm

So I have a question.

After reading in National Geographic's article on human and animal intelligence, I got to thinking.
How is it that humans, starting out as apes learning how to stick twigs in holes to get ants, got to our modern society? How did we suddenly have the idea that each and every hour of our day had to be spent doing something... even now as I work through college, I have to be studying, or taking a nap, or eating a meal, or reading a book, or browsing around on the internet. Did all those Greek philosophers have a point- pondering the questions of the world is a sufficient occupation? Do we really have to be working all the time?

Aside from everyday life of a 20 something, or a 30 something, (or even a 16-something) how did we all get the idea that our lives had to be spent "working" until we reached "retirement" when we could... well.. just sit around the house watching the flora and fauna bustling around us? Is sitting at a table enjoying a simple cup of cocoa or tea a waste of time when there are more "important" things to do?

I wonder about this as I'm studying my BUTT off preparing to go to college. If my dream is to be an FBI agent, and I get into it, and I decide that I don't want to do that, what am I to do? If I become a lawyer and hit the same wall, what am I to do then? Is it "acceptable" to be a young person who really doesn't want to work in the traditional sense?

But see, this all confuses me, because I'm not a nerdy unsocialized, unsocial person. I'm a people person, and I love the outdoors and I love cities too... I suppose I've just never had the chance to get tired of any of these situations.

Sometimes I don't understand what kind of person I'll become. What will life be like when I'm on my own? What am I to say when I drive to see my own parents and they don't know about everything I'm doing? How am I to handle myself when most of the conversations I have will not include my family? It's not like I have a sibling similar to me to compare this to, mine is completely different from me.

Most of all, how will I handle rejection and hardships when I don't have my mom there to counsel me and help me understand the knots of everyday life and drama?

Maybe I'm too attached... maybe I'm not attached enough.

But seriously, wouldn't it just be awesome if we could all go around eating berries and poking twigs into ant's nests to see if we could get some? If we could eat grass and mate and weather the environment like horses? Fly on the gusts of wind, feel the power of a thunderhead and see the world from a different angle like birds? Wouldn't life have so much more quality than working a 9-5 job until you can settle down in the sterilized suburbs with three kids and a few years of retirement?
What is there to look for if you already have it planned?

Yeah, I wanna put on a pair of sneakers and walk around the world. Yeah I wanna help kids, I wanna help people I'm not accustomed to, learn new languages, laugh around campfires in the wilderness of who-knows-where. Seems like this is better than planning for retirement. Why can't we plan for retirement into the happiness of the world? The raw, base moments where we feel we don't have to create abstract thoughts and advanced theories to handle ourselves... we can just be what we are. And that is what would make me happy.

All my thoughts for now.
~Inchworm

Tonight is the night!!! Mwahaha.
I have these images of The Four Questions.

"Why is it that on this night, unlike all other nights, we sit on the sofa instead of sitting on the computer?"
"Why is it that on this night, unlike all other nights, we turn on the TV and not open a book?"
"Why is it that on this night, unlike all other nights, we listen to sarcasm and witticisms instead of producing them ourselves?"
"Why is it that on this night, unlike all other nights, we watch House M.D. instead of The Unit??"

I suppose you would only understand what I'm talking about if you had experienced a passover meal as the littlest, youngest member of an entire Jewish family. Any way you look at it, I'll be watching House M.D. tonight... quite happily!
~Inchworm

This is hilarious. I've been investigating the gun control stances for the presidential candidates and this just got a big laugh out of me.

"There are 700,000 physicians in the US and the number of accidental deaths caused by them per year is 120,000, making the accidental death rate per physician 17%. Using the same logic, there are about 80 million gun owners, and the number of accidental gun deaths per year among all age groups is 1,500. The same calculation reveals the number of accidental deaths per gun owner to be 0.00188%. In other words, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 more times more dangerous than gun owners. Yet, I hear no one suggesting we ban doctors."

So true, so true...

    I'm sinking into the Red Hot Chili Peppers because everything makes sense now. People decide to just lead you on, play you, then you hear that they just turned around and did the opposite of what you were led to believe. Why does that happen? Perhaps it's just a minor annoyance and a bit more than a pinch of melodrama, but it really hurt me. I didn't expect it out of the two people I have really come to like. And I was under the impression that those two people had decided to end whatever it was between them and then whoops no, I suppose not. Whatever. These kind of people don't deserve my heart. I was foolish to intend to give it in the first place.

    Is this what music is intended for? I don't think anybody, even those who live and breathe music, and die if deprived from it, truly understand what music is for. Like CS Lewis says, Music and Silence are created by God- Noise is Satan's sound. Even the nastiest music is better than noise. But is music noise or silence? Is it like life, both divine and evil?

I just saw this quote... this definitely made my day. I'm in the process of writing a research paper on Bipolar Disorder. Even though I have absolutely no trouble with writing of any kind, and I love it dearly, (do you think I would be keeping this journal if I hated it? haha) this still made me laugh. Hurrah for sarcasm!!
Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. -Gene Fowler

Hilarious.

    As I was snarfing down my daily meal of political blogs, I found this short article and picture. And for this one picture, it shows me that in all this terrorism and death, there truly is hope. As I've been taught, and by this, has been proven to me, the educated people are the bringers of change.

    After all the democrats rail and scream about how we've ruined this area, apparently our many years of trials, tribulations and triumph have put a healing influence upon the young people of Iran. Here's to many more discoveries of the beneficial lessons that the U.S. has learned. We are the teacher to these countries.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2007/12/019236.php

I wonder- does life really become different as the ages go on? The trees still grow and die through the seasons, leaves still fall in varying, vivid colors. People walk through woods with the same awe and silence that overcomes us all. An enormous tree that has fallen by the viciousness of a bolt of lightning still scares each one of us when we imagine what it must have been like at the time.

Dogs still run through the crunching, fluttering leaves, and dig up little animals and other interesting-smelling things. And at the end of the daylight, they're called in to a warm, lit house, glowing like a lantern of comfort and security.

How different have things changed? Is our society losing the appreciation of the beautiful woods? The multi-colored leaves and grey-brown branches that give up their fight with gravity? The many trails and deer-paths through the woods that fade and grow out with disuse? Whether it be a delicate deer's cloven hoof or a horse's round plodding, animals trod lightly. The question is, do we want the feet of humans to trod heavily?

It's a hard decision to make, for we're all human. This must be such a hard thing for environmentalists to ponder. Where do we draw the line between enjoyment and invasion? Between preservation and inhibition?

Are we ready to say goodbye to certain environment? A certain scene? When did God say that everything that he created had to stay the same forever?

~Inchworm

Today is so crazy!!

I have stuff to do but only one thing has a distinct deadline. The others are like, well, do them but no rush.
So I feel lost!!! haha. What an amusing situation.

I feel a little lost in the realm of Piano as well... some of the pieces I love are... well... dying. I really need to practice on a real acoustic. Perhaps I'll go to church and practice on their piano. It's out of tune but HECK it's alot better than the Roland advanced electric that I have. I mean, it's great, with weighted keys, high tech and everything but it STILL doesn't beat the real thing.
Ah well.
Life goes so!

I'm excited to go to Nationa 4-H Congress at the end of the month- I have to go shopping for it (such a huge burden!!!! lol) and I have like, four people wanting to go shopping with me. AHHHH! Helpppp...

My shooting coach just gave me a new air pistol to try... I like it alot but unfortunately it has a leak somewhere and that needs to be fixed. My brother has decided he doesn't like it and I should get another one but I'm hesitant. My dad, of course, is diplomatic and sees all sides. haha, I love my dad. Now I know where I get it from.
So I'm waiting to see what else comes up on the 'net.

anyhow I'm a whirling dervish right now and I can't stop, so all for now!
~Inchworm

I've written a new poem!

Autumn Melancholies

Rain and autumn
Watch the leaves
    fall
        fall down

Wet colors run
into thoughts
    run
        run through

Where is the sun?
No Sun
Moonlight is the one
    moon
        mysterious moon

The winding spires of tea
Disappear into psyche
    muses
        long muses

Soft, cold rain
Wind and soul combines
    forming
        forming sadness

Frédéric's melancholies
So delicate- so heart-breaking
    know
        the notes know

Death is dying
    expressively

---------------------------

I love it, personally. But hey, all my poems are sort of like children. I still love them, no matter how awful or wonderful they are.

Autmn is such an interesting time... when the weather started changing, my mind started changing as well, and moulding itself into a "school" sense of mind. I love it! I love having my classes, doing essays and listening to lectures, walking with my backpack and stepping inbetween and on wet colorful leaves. I am so strange but I love it so!

Anyhow that's all for now.
~Inchworm

Alright. Call me weird, but I am sort of furious at my teachers for not giving me much homework!! I feel soooo bored with my school.
I talked this over with Mom... when I went into this semester I had the intentions of my classes being the classes I wanted... not the classes that I needed for credits. I made sure that I got my Government class, the Mock Trial class, the Psychology class and the Literature Seminar. But man, in ALL of these classes I've had either minimal or no homework.

How is it that I am the only person I know that actually enjoys most homework? For most teenagers in this world, the simple uttered words can spawn groans and complaints... I suppose I'm that dorky kid who asks "IS THERE HOMEWORK FOR THIS WEEK?" hahaha.
Who knows how many classmates I've annoyed with that.

Last year I had a tough semester... My geography and chemistry classes required a ton of homework time out of the week, and my english class required some definite mind discipline when I had to write papers.
I miss writing papers. XD

So is this just a reflection of the fact that I'm really good at the subjects I've chosed to study this year? Does this mean that I should simply take more of them? And how does this particular observation relate to what I want to look for in a career?

Sometimes I think I need a math class for the simple challenge of it, but then I think auuuughh math. I mean... it's a big decision for me, whether I want to take a college (Montgomery College) math course in the spring or whether I should wait another year for the next fall semester. Problem is, if I do badly in it this spring, not only does it take away from my other classes but it goes on my permanent college transcript rather than my high school one.

augh. This is all so confusing. Hindsight is 20:20 but foresight is quite blurry! Not to mention my extreme nearsightedness LOL!!

Anyhow.
Just some topics that have been sittin' around on top of my brain.

On other subjects!!

I finished the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley... wow what an amazing book. It really shows some insights into how neglected our appreciation of the human relationship is. If this world didn't have all the social and personal relationships that we see as common, there really wouldn't be any purpose in this life. As the monster sees, he wishes that he could have had the childhood and the families that we all take for granted. And eventually, it poisins his mind so that he becomes a violent murderer.
Jeez.. how many times do we see this with modern criminals?
In addition to this it shows the flaws in Victor Frankenstein's character that he creates this awful, overpowering creature. Humankind really cannot play God. So many of us don't learn that soon enough.
One insight that I really got from this book was that the pain and the suffering that the Bible talks about in how God gave his only son to save us from our sins. As I was reading part of Mary Shelley's book it just hit me... how awful it must be for God to have to witness people killing each other. How horrid that his love for both of them is equal. In Frankenstein, both characters, V. Frankenstein and the monster, are respected as well as flawed. And yet they both hurt each other. It was actually painful to read parts of it as that reality hit me.

anyhoo.

I found this awesome personality test site... it's called personal dna... you can find it on facebook, but the link is here:
http://apps.facebook.com/personaldna/
http://www.personaldna.com/

I took the test and I am a Genuine Creator.
It's SO TRUE!!
I couldn't believe it. Most personality tests are kind of general, not all that accurate, etc etc... this one is right on.
I recommend taking it... it take a little while but I think it's worth it.

Anyways that's all I have to write about right now, until something else hits me.
I'll go settle down with The Gulag Archipelago.... it's a great book so far.
All for now,
~Inchworm