Sunday, December 27

Slap Happy.

Another trip home comes to an end in less than five hours. So why am I awake at 4:28am? Well...for one of the best parties of the year: The St. Martin Brown's St. Stephen's Day Party. I'll leave it up for all of you to look up the meaning behind St. Stephen's Day, but I will tell you why it is so great. Friendship. A bunch of people - most of whom I only see on this night - gather to play games and talk and catch up and laugh together. It feels like one of the few aspects of my life that remains the same while the rest spins and changes. We repeat stories and laugh about years gone by. These are people that I truly love and appreciate. Whose smiles and jokes stick with me for days. People who I've looked to in time of need and discomfort, friends from high school or youth groups. People who have remained as others passed away. They are friends and family. And maybe this is the end of a long day and night talking, but I love those people and I already look forward to next year's St. Stephen's Day.
I hope all of you have had a holiday filled with laughter and joy. That you've experienced the good in life and remember what it feels like to breath because those are the most precious things out there.
Tomorrow I leave home again, and many of the faces that I care for. I hope all of them know what they mean to me and what they've done for me in past years. And I wish them - as well my readers - a great year filled with all of these and more so that next year we come back with more stories and laughter to share.

Sunday, December 20

...One Day.

I have a journal that i write in. I try to do so regularly but sometimes time passes and pages don't move. I'll open it and gasp at how long it's been and shake my head because I have a lot of catching up to do.

This book isn't anything grand. You'd find a lot of entries that scream what these posts merely echo and ideas, plans, that are only hinted at here.

I write about girls. Girls I'd like to sleep with. Or kiss. Or hold hands with. Or at least look into their eyes, but mostly sleep with (which never comes to fruition due to reasons mentioned in previous posts. Exhibit A & B). There are names that come go. Next month I'll have a set of two or three more names and then an entry saying that those feelings have fled from one of the parties. That entry will end with my declaration of independence only to be followed by a name or description of a girl I saw on campus or at a coffee shop. There are only a few who will be remembered. At least two. And in years to come I'll have to scratch my head to remember even their faces.

I ask G-d what He thinks of my life. I question its meaning and whether it will amount to anything. I express fears of wasted time or missed opportunities and injustices done to me by way of my own faults. I complain a lot.

And thru all of this I try to sound like Jack Keroauc. I wrote someone a letter the other day. I would call her "friend" but I'm not sure if she would appreciate me calling her that. But regardless, I wrote her. And in it I slipped into what I imagine Jack sounded like whenever he wrote. Or at least when he wrote Dean Moriarty's lines from On The Road. Bursts of energy and short sentences filled with eccentric inflections where he answered his own questions and wrote whatever hit his brain; thoughts that contradict each other.

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That really bothers me actually. I always try to write a thought but then see the other side. So I wear myself out thinking of every single alternate point or argument that could be presented, as if I expect to say that I've seen it from every angle. Or perhaps I'm just trying to point out which perspectives I have seen to prove that I did actually think about what I'm trying to say. But few people care to read one line that has 10 to every A. As if, "For this to be true, consider A, B, C..." or "I say this having taken these into account." A letter from me is much like an erratic scientist's notes meant only for himself. But nevertheless, I love to write. Ironically, reading isn't my favorite. But I'm trying. I've been buy books and asking for books and trying to read. I see the importance, much like flossing. When I do it, I feel better, my teeth are cleaner, I've learned something. But taking the time to actually get the thread and wrap around my fingers just seems foreign.

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I'm trying a lot of things. I'm trying to write more. I've been deep in the caves of writer's block but have recently poked my head out. I've yawned and grabbed my coffee and my pen is in hand. I'm begin as soon as I'm done with the crossword puzzle or daily sudoku. I'm trying to be healthier so as to not look at myself with disgust each morning. To put myself out and pull the blanket of security off and take risks. I'm trying to live life and find happiness that I deserve but deprive myself of still.

But I've written about these goals for months and complained for even longer. That's what we do. We say, "Oh, if only I had the time" or "One day..." I'm tired of one day. Because one day turns into yesterday and yesterday turns into last week, and then I'm lying here in bed at my parent's home a few days before Christmas wondering where the last few months have gone. My soul is dry and it needs enrichment and I'm determined to find it...

Monday, December 14

A Diamond & A Tether.

This is a cover of a song by Death Cab For Cutie. Enjoy.

Friday, December 4

Love Is A Lesson.

Commitment is a big word. Well, it is. I suppose the bigger problem, however, is not an inability to commit but rather the ability to find someone who is worth committing too. I've been in committed relationships before and I understand how that works. That's not to say that it is always easy. But I get it. I see the imperative value that it has within a relationship.
Compatibility. That's a big word. So big that at times I have to take a breath halfway thru saying it. So much stock is put in relationships and I'll admit that I'm frustrated by my lack of involvement. There's all that crap that everyone would think are the parts that I miss: holding hands, kisses...you know. All of that. And I'd be a liar to say that I don't miss those parts - I crave those parts. But you know what I long for? Being able to trust and explain myself to someone. I miss being open and honest.
There's a wall between me and most everyone I know that prevents me from saying a lot of what I really wish I could say. And it never bothered me before because there was an outlet for those things. I feel sort of like a bottle that's been closed up for too long so that all of this pressure is building on the other side of the cork. So my logical fear is that when someone does decide to open it they'll be standing there drenched with their mouth gaping at me.
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Actually, there's a lot of fear in me regarding relationships. I have a fear of the past repeating itself and that pain isn't something I wish to experience again or put another thru. I've wasted time and energy on people - great people - but it never blooms. Age, proximity, Time. All of these have stood in the way. For all I know, if I'd have said hello to the girl in the library who caught my eye then maybe I wouldn't be sitting here writing this. It's those risks...
And I do fear commitment. I feel pretty comfortable in this sad hole I've made for myself. I like doing what I want to do and answering to nobody - even if it is damaging at times. I don't want to spend more time in something that doesn't come to pass. To wake up and find that what I've held onto has vanished.
I fear the risk. I went thru a phase giving and getting numbers. I felt on top of some game. But a lack of fruit kills game and soon the players begin to question whether sports are really for them. After all. I am pretty good at solitaire.
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I don't think love is what I thought it was. I think I had some things wrong and that I still do. And what love is by my standards is something that I don't have in me. It's nothing I can give.
Love isn't something I'll create on a page but sort of a seed we'll nurture and grow together.
- Kevin Wilson.