Review for March 27, 2007

On Wednasday I read my quality writing from The Scarlet Letter. We had a subsitute that day who gave us a writing test to doin one hour which we finished with no problem, then we read for the rest of class.

The Scarlet Letter by: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Discerning the impraticale state of the poor culprit's mind, the elder clergyman, who had carefully prepared himself for the occassion, addressed to the multiude a discourse on sin, in all it's branches, but with continual reference to the ignominious letter. So forcibly did he dwell upon this symbol, for the hour or more during which his periods were rolling over the poeple's heads, that is assumed new terrors in their imagination, and seemed to derive it's scar;et hue from the flames of the infernal pit. Hester Prynne, meanwhile, kept her place upon the pedestal of shame, with glazed eyes, and an air of weary indifference. She had borne, that morning, all that nature could endure; and as her temperment was not of the order that escapes from to intense suffering by a swoon, ehr spirit could only shelter itself beneth a stony crust of insensibility, while the facilities of animal life remained entire. In this state, the voice of the preacher thundered remorselessly, but unavailingly, upon her ears. The infant, during the wailings and screams; she strove to hush it, mechanically, but seemed scarcely to sympathize with it's trouble. With the sae hard demeanor, she was led back to prison, and vanished from the public gaze within it's iron clamped portal. It was whispered, by those who peered after her that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior.

European Drill Comp 2007

We placed third at competition. It wasn't a complete letdown though, our team was young and we had a lot of complications leading up to comp. So, we arrived at Lakenheath AB at around 4 AM on Friday morning and relaxed the entire day. By the way, our high school is sooooo much better than Lakenheath, sanitary wise. Anyway, curfew was 11 pm so we just relaxed the entire time. We were up at 600 am the next day for competition. Tori Sullivan and her family were there! Anyway... we were the first team to open for the comp, starting with inspection. After that we performed color guard 1, regulation drill, armed exhibition, color guard 2, unarmed duo, armed duo, and unarmed exhibition. Finally, we fell in for individual drill down (IDR) where all the cadets from every school fall in. Gary Vogt placed 5th overall. Closing ceremonies started around 6 pm, a full 12 hours of drill.......... =\. Here are the results:
Inspection: --
Regulation: 3rd
Color guard: 3rd
Unarmed duo: 1st (Boney, Morales)
Armed duo: 2nd (Meade, Gonzales)
Unarmed Exhibition: 3rd
Armed Exhibition: 3rd

Overall:
Ramstein: 1st
Weisbaden: 2nd
Aviano: 3rd

Review for Friday

On friday, March 23, the size of the class was smaller than usual due to sporting and ROTC events. Ms. Hillestad was gone as well so Ms. Hill was our sub. After the class got over the fact that Ms. Hillestad's snack shop was completely empty, class began. We took the third poetry test, which took all of the period. So in other words, we really did nothing but just sit there looking at a piece of literature, which was followed by some questions, and acted like we knew what we, and the questions were talking about.

Forgiveness by Sherry-lynne Mitchell

Forgiveness is a conscious choice
It must begin first in your head
In an aware and planned way
Sometime change engenders dread

Sincerity involves the heart
Need to realize time to let go
Monsters live and thrive in the dark
Pain involved in having to grow

Prison caused by anger and hurt
Trust is not something that is free
Forgiveness is a conscious decision
Trust is destroyed for you and me

Will never be okay, never
Forgiving does not mean to say
What was done then, is now okay
Wasn't right when it was done

Forever it will not be right
Forgiveness does not change the past
Does not erase what was done then
The years are passing too fast

No consent for enabling
Time to move on with living
Thoughts are ever turning backward
Have been thinking of forgiving

When I have it all worked out
I shall write for you a letter
Leaving it for you to read
When I am gone, this is better

Review: March 19

We started off with my passage from Dave Barry's: Money Secrets, which I thought would help relieve some of the stresses that many of us are encountering frequently with the whole college process thing. The class which topics to the play, and we talked about that for about 10 minutes; we also mentioned other plays like the famous We Will Rock You and Lion King. Ms. Hillestad talked about a place called Leicester Square, wherein you can get half price tickets, because Dom is going to London during Spring Break and is too poor to afford real tickets. Ivan mentioned his vegetarian idea for his walkabout, and Ms. Hillestad agreed that it was a good idea. We then moved on to the discussion of Brave New World, and talked about sexual play in young children, and if they're not conditioned, they will continue to do what pleasures them. There are 10 world controllers, and Cheri asked about the different races in the book. Ms. Hillestad explained that there are many different races, but the people in the book don't discriminate over race, but by the caste system. We then talked about soma, which is a "happy pill". We then proceeded to talk about how many people are actually on anti-depressants, and Ms. Hillestad named off about 50 of them. Ms. Hillestad said that the next pandemic will be worldwide, because of travel, like airplanes. The hose with the many streams was the next topic; a hose with twenty holes with weaker than one hole with a very strong stream. This represents the many people in the book who are connected with each other, but none feel strongly about someone else. Therefore, there is no connection or love between people. Ms. Hillestad was then very philosophical as she stated: "You don't have to have a brain to have an erection," when were discussing epsilons having sex. Finally, we talked about the solidarity service, and it was just like worshiping. The whole thing, we decided, was pretty freaky. That ended the period and we were supposed to read to some place that I can't remember right now. But I think I read to it. Hopefully.

Dave Barry: Providing for your children's college educations

1. Length of the college name: The longer the name, the more mediocre and reasonably priced the college is likely to be. Thus you want to aviod colleges with names like "Smith" or "Brown," and look instead at colleges with names like "The Earl T. Bunderson Greater Tri-City Area Community College of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Pharmaceutical Arts and Applied Dental Hygiene and Waste Management Sciences." You should also beware of colleges with lengthy applications that ask suspicious questions like where your child went to high school, and what his or her grades were. You're looking for a college with a one-page application devoted almost entirely to explaining how you can pay by major credit card.

2. Mascot: The good college mascot names were taken long ago by old established schools, which tend to have higher tuitions. To find a school in your price range, look for a mascot along the lines of "The Fighting Sphincters."

3. Parking: Parking is the single biggest crisis facing American higher education today. Despite the fact that colleges are, theoretically, institutions of higher learning, it apparently has never occured to the geniuses who run them that anybody would be arriving by car. The result is that most colleges have approx. one parking space per 150 students, which means that many students spend their entire college careers cruising around looking for a legal spot. Many students are forced to park illegally and receive parking tickets, which at your top Ivy League schools can cost $5,000 per violation. So when you and your child interview at a prospective college, be sure to ask the interviewer probing questions such as: "How many parking spaces does this college have?" "Where do you park?" "Can my child park in your space when you're not conducting interviews?"

4. Social life: College is not just about parking. College is also a place where young people make the transition form immaturity to adulthood via a process of forming long-term social bonds with other young people and then, later in the evening, getting drunk and possibly dropping large objects such as pianos off the roofs of tall buildings. This process occurs most readily at colleges with an active fraternity and sorority system. To determine whether a specific college has an active Greek system, visit the campus on a Saturday night and look for badly maintained buildings with large Greek letters painted on them and young men urinating out the windows.

Review for Friday 16

On Friday I read my piece of quality writing from the song I Live and Breathe from the play Moby Dick the Musical which everyone should go and see because it’s really great. Then Lindsey did her review.
Then we talked about A Brave New World. We focused mainly on the chapters dealing with the conditioning of children and how they would shock the lower caste kids for touching books and flowers. We also talked about the erotic play that the kids do. This led to a discussion on how kids today are brought up being told that it’s not okay to touch themselves in public. We are supposed to have read up to Ch. 7 by today.

I Live and Breathe

I Live and Breathe

I recall the signs and wonders
Of the sea charts wet and pale
And the ghostly mists of morning
Form perches touching sail
I remember feeling happy
In the great downpour of rain
And I want my feet to wrinkle
Like a raisin once again

I live and breathe forbidden seas
Where the floodgates of a wonder world
Swing open wide
And a thousand newborn feelings
Roll up with the tide
Oh, there’s magic in the waters
And the magic draws us all
From the land down stream and river
To the nearest harbor wall

With a bag cut out of carpet
And a spring inside my fate
I journey like a poet
In and out of heavens gate

We live and breathe
Forbidden seas
Oh, there’s magic in the water
And the magic draws us down
From the land upstream an driver
My dream can well deliver
Down to Nantucket, Nantucket town

March 14 Review

When we came into class on Wednesday I read my quality piece of writing which was song lyrics relating to us seniors and graduation. Then Meghan reviewed Mondays class period. Following Meghans review we put our Myers Briggs papers into our portfolios. Then we all went outside into the beautiful day and talked about graduation and who we want speaking at OUR graduation and Ms. Hillestad informed us that Josh and Kim WILLLLLL be speaking!!! Ms. Hillestad also told us her "P-NESS" story, which was pretty much hilarious!!! After all the laughs we finally got into our book discussion which consisted of talking about the different "classes" again and how the things happening in the book relate to our own lives. Before we knew it class was over and so was our sun-bathing! That was the extent of AP Lit. on Wed. March 14th!

Review for Monday, March 12

Well.. class began with me reading my extremely long and twice typed blog from Damnation Street. Divina followed with her review. Then we moved on to the enigma that is Brave New World...

This book gives a warning about automation. 1932 was when Henry Ford came out with the Model T and the assembly line, and Huxley is warning against letting machines do all our work. We got off on a tangent about breast feeding and C-sections, about how when the process first came out, people used them because science said to. It's like people get carried away with doing things scientifically, just because they can. We talked about the Hatchery & Conditioning Center, and the different processes that developed the babies, and how different chemicals and conditions were applied to different embryos to condition them for different castes. Some vocab questions came up, mainly free martins (which is an actual word) meaning a female who can't reproduce. Pneumatic in this story is a compliment, but also refers to something being full of air, again a reference to Ford (tires). The last thing we talked about was the different castes of the people in the story. The one that raises the most questions is the Beta caste, because we're not sure who they are by what they wear. The Alphas wear grey. We also established that Alphas and Betas do not undergo the Bokanovsky process. Back to the color-coding system, Gammas wear green, Deltas wear khaki, and Epsilons wear black.

That was basically it for class. We need to have our re-typed Meyers-Briggs profile for today. And now we venture onward...

Baz Luhrmann- Everybody's Free (To Where Sunscreen)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of "2007" If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…

Damnation Street by Andrew Klavan

I sat in the puke green Hyundai and watched them through the rain-streaked windshield as they came. I knew I was supposed to get out and challenge them, but it didn’t look like a very good idea. Instead, I tried to convince myself that they might not be who they obviously were, might not be the enforcers Weiss had warned me about. Perhaps they were just customers of the local establishments, said I to my inner man. Perhaps they were just two jolly companions out for a harmless spree among the ladies of the evening. How can one tell, I inquired philosophically, who is a mere reveler and who is a murderous thug come to beat the living daylights out of one’s friend?
This is how intellectuals stay out of fistfights. They convince themselves the situation is complex. It’s much safer than acknowledging the simple right and wrong of the thing, the need for immediate action.
It’s safer, but it’s not admirable. And as I was there to become admirable, and as there was no room for me to become any less admirable than I already was, I somehow forced myself to push my way out of the car, to step in front of the porch of the House of Dreams and to plant my tremulous body between these two charging gorillas and the front door they were charging at.
I won’t discourse at length upon my fear. Suffice to say there was a lot of it. My muscles felt gelatinous. My aforementioned inner man had suddenly assumed the stature of a crap-assed, squalling three-year-old. Still, I tried to bolster my confidence. I told myself all was not lost. How much of the outcome of such situations depends on a man’s approach to them after all? How much can be accomplished with the right attitude, a powerful façade? If I could put on a good front, if I could act, I mean, a bit like Bishop, cool and deadly like Bishop, or authoritative and just and inexorable like Weiss, surely these men would hesitate before attempting to get past me. If I could dominate them enough with my sheer presence, perhaps I could even keep them harmlessly at bay for the five minutes Weiss needed inside.
So—quivering within though I was—I set my face as if my soul were made of iron. I hooked my thumbs in my belt. I smiled—I actually smiled a slow, easy, dangerous-looking Bishop-style smile—as the two men pulled to a stop in front of me.
“Sorry, gentlemen,” I said quietly. “I can’t let you go in there just yet.”
Now here’s an interesting thing some of you may not know about getting punched in the head. It is thoroughly unnerving. It’s not just painful—though, take my word, it is extraordinarily painful. It also completely alters your worldview. In a single instant, you are transformed from a person of varied, multidimensional interests to a person whose sole interest on earth is not getting punched in the head ever again. A man’s principles, a woman’s virtues, a lifelong dedication to the good—all of them, I’m convinced are susceptible to a good punch in the head. In fact, this is why head punching is generally acknowledged to be impermissible in a free society and why people who do it must, after civil discussion and agreement, be punched in the head back.
Unfortunately, I was no longer in any condition to implement such retaliatory measures. Because one of these monkeys—the one with the shaved head—had just socked me in the side of the face with a fist the size of a very big fist.
I went reeling backward. My ankle hit the edge of the House of Dreams’ raised porch. Down I fell, my backside landing hard on the wooden platform. The barrel-chested ape kicked me in the side for good measure. Then both men stepped over me, heading for the door.
It was now no longer my goal to stop these guys or to help Weiss. My only goal was not to get punched in the head anymore. It was a good goal—I think so even today. But was it admirable? No, I couldn’t say that it was.
So I scrambled to my feet. I leapt upon the rear man—the barrel-chested man—grabbing him by the belt and collar. The attack took him by surprise—hell, it took me by surprise. Though my head was ringing like a church-tower bell, though my eyes felt as if they were rattling in my skull like dice, I was able to swing the bigger man around and hurl him off the porch so that he tripped and fell into the mud and concrete.
I stumbled off the porch after him. I regained my balance just in time to see the shaved-headed thug turn away from the door and come for me. He hit me in the stomach first, and when I bent over with my lunch in my throat, he really clobbered me with another one of those head punches.
I have a hard time remembering much about what happened after that, but I think I know the gist of it. The barrel-chested guy got to his feet and kicked me a couple of times in revenge. Then, muttering with annoyance, both men headed for the door again.
And I got up again and went after them.
A pattern developed. Again and again, and yes, again, I flung myself ineffectually at these two sadistic gorillas. Again and again, and yes, again, they hammered me to the damp earth and kicked me where I lay beneath the pattering rain. Then we repeated the process. I don’t know how many times. By the end, I think, these guys were staying around just to watch the show. Standing there with their hands on their hips, shaking their heads in disbelief, laughing in wonder, as I clawed my way up off the pavement, one more time, in order to stagger toward them and get myself pummeled and battered and kicked back down.
So it was, in that rainy Nevada backwater, that I became admirable, beaten to jelly in the mud outside a whorehouse door, trying to buy Weiss another second, another minute, to do whatever it was he had to do.

Review for Friday 03-09-07

This might look like a pathetic excuse for a blog review but we didn't do that much on Friday. After I did my blog and Dom did her review, we had an essay test for Fahrenheit 451 and that took the whole class period so that's why there's nothing much to say. After the test, Mrs. Hillestad introduced our new book Brave New World, which everyone should've read the first three chapters for by Monday. xoxoxoxoxox

Found the poem that Mrs. Hillestad was talking about

What if God by Sharon Olds

And what if God had been watching when my mother
came into my bed? What would he have done when her
long adult body rolled on me like a
tongue of lava from the top of the mountain and the
tears jumped from her ducts like hot rocks and my
bed shook with the tremors of the magma and the
deep cracking of my nature across-
what was He? Was He a bison to lower his
thundercloud head and suck His own sex while He
watched us weep and pray to Him or
was He a squirrel, reaching down through the
hole she broke in my shell, squirrel with His
arm in the yoke of my soul up to the elbow,
stirring, stirring the gold? Or was He a
kid in Biology, dissecting me while she
held my split carapace apart so He could
firk out my oblong eggs one by one, was He a
man entering me up to the hilt while she
pried my thighs wide in the starry dark-
she said that all we did was done in His sight so
what was He doing as He saw her weep in my
hair and slip my soul from between my
ribs like a tiny hotel soup, did He
wash His hands of me as I washed my
hands of Him? Is there a God in the house?
Is there a God in the house? Then reach down and
take that woman off that child's body,
take that woman by the nape of the neck like a young cat and
lift her up and deliver her over to me.

review per 7 march 2007

class started a little late. but that was okay, at least we know that ms. hillestad wasn't talking to herself. instead, she proudly announced that dylan and sam did well for JSHS. i read my piece of writing from The Book of Guys by Garrison Keillor. Becky did her review and we moved on to poetry. we read two poems from Sharon Olds, a contemporary poet. the first poem "Why My Mother Made Me" focused on a mothers wish for her child to be better than herself. we decided that the poem was more about her mother. the second poem, "When My Son Is Sick", described a mother's fear when her child becomes sick. parenting is "irrational", we agreed that moms always think the worst. the class went off on a tangent about marriage, then we continued to discuss F451. this dystopia ends with a sense of hope when guy montag makes a reference to Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (KJV).

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Review for March 5, 2007

On Monday, I read my quality writing, which earned a few laughs. Brittany did her review for Friday. Lindsey shared her research on the parallel between "Hollow Men" and The Power and the Glory. Lindsey explained how the prayer was changed, to add the words "the power and the glory". Then we dived into Fahrenheit 451. The class agreed on the fact that the mechanical hound is past the "line"; Bradbury is a technophobe. Then the class got in a very heated debate on where the needle is located on the hound. Some thought it was on his hand, some thought it was coming out of his mouth. Will the truth ever be revealed? Probably not. Ms. Hillestad then explained, again, how people are motivated by fear, which explains why Mildred called the firefighters about the books. Then we talked about how Faber is scared, but at least he admits to be a coward. A common theme in dystopia is a constant state of war, which is portrayed in the book. We also went over the 3 important things about book that Faber tells Montag:
1. Details and texture.
Books show the flaws and imperfections of people.
2. Leisure
Books give people time to think.
3. Right to carry out actions based on what was learned from the previous two.

The Book of Guys/ Garrison Keillor

The Book of Guys
By Garrison Keillor

Girls had it better from the beginning, don't kid yourself. They were allowed to play in the house, where the books were and the adults, and boys were sent outdoors like livestock. Boys were noisy and rough, and girls were nice, so they got to stay and we had to go. Boys ran around in the yard with toy guns going kksshh-kksshh, fighting wars for made-up reasons and arguing about who was dead, while girls stayed inside and played with dolls, creating complex family groups and learning to solve problems through negotiation and role-playing. Which gender is better quipped, on the whole, to live an adult life, would you guess?

Women know about life and social life and how to get along with others, and they are sensitive to beauty, and at the same time they can yell louder. They know all about guys, having been exposed to guy life and guy b.s. since forever, and guys know nothing about girls except that they want one desperately. Which gender is better equipped to manipulate the other?
The father of a daughter, for example, is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, "Daddy, I need to ask you something," he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan. The butter thinks to itself, "This time I really am going to remain rectangular," and then it f eels very relaxed, and then it smells smoke.

For Thine is the Kingdom

1662 BCP
Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
But deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever. Amen.


Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV)
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Luke 11:2-4 (KJV)
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Hollow Men- 1925

Power and the Glory- 1940

Power and the Glory is parallel with "The Hollow Men". The hollow men wander in a lost and confused land, trying to remember the line after "For Thine is the Kingdom" in the Lord's Prayer. The phrase happens to be "the Power and the Glory".

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Dear friend,
Girls are weird, and I don’t mean that offensively. I just can’t put it any other way.
I have now gone on another date with Mary Elizabeth. In a lot of ways, it was similar to the dance, except that we got to wear more comfortable clothes. She was the one who asked me out again, and I suppose that’s okay, but I think I’m going to start doing the asking from time to time because I can’t always hope to get asked. Also, if I do the asking, then I’ll be sure to go out with the girl of my choice if she says yes. It’s just so complicated.
The good news is that I got to be the one who drove this time. I asked my father if I could borrow his car. It happened at the dinner table.
“What for?” My dad gets protective of his car.
“Charlie’s got a girlfriend,” my sister said.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I said.
“Who is this girl?” my father asked.
“What’s going on?” my mother asked from the kitchen.
“Charlie wants to borrow the car,” my dad replied.
“What for?” my mother asked.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out!” my father said with a raised voice.
“No need to get snippy,” my mother said.
“Sorry,” my father said without meaning it. Then, he turned back to me.
“So, tell me about this girl.”
So, I told him a little about Mary Elizabeth, leaving out the part about the tattoo and belly button ring. He kind of smiled for a little while, trying to see if I was already guilty of something. Then, he said yes. I could borrow his car. When my mother came in with coffee, my father told her the whole story while I ate dessert.
That night, as I was finishing my book, my father came in and sat on the edge of my bed. He lit a cigarette and starting telling me about sex. He gave me this talk a few years before, but it more biological then. Now, he was saying things like…
“I know I’m your old man, but…”
“you can’t be too careful these days,” and
“wear protection,” and
“if she says no, then you have to assume she means it…”
“because if you force her to do something she doesn’t want to do, then you’re in big trouble mister…”
“and even if she says no, and really means yes, then quite frankly she’s playing games and isn’t worth the price of dinner.”
And finally
“I’m glad we had this talk.”
Then, my father ruffled my hair, smiled, and left the room. I guess I should tell you that my father isn’t like on television. Things like sex don’t embarrass him. And he is actually very smart about them.
I think he was especially happy because I used to kiss this boy in the neighborhood a lot when I was very little, and even though the psychiatrist said it was very natural for little boys and girls to explore things like that, I think my father was afraid anyway. I guess that’s natural, but I’m not sure why.

Updates...

I guess google bought blogger and in order for it to work anymore, i had to sign up for google. you may have to do the same thing. all you have to do is give them an email and a password. Write it down though...