Different

I've met some cool people on my trip. No one life changing, but different. It's always fun for me to find out how other people live.

It gives me hope that there's more than the suburban life: college, work, marriage, two and a half kids and a trampoline in the back yard.

I don't know what I want in life. Instead of becoming a teacher/proff, I could become a rancher, a cowgirl, a ranger, I could travel to a different country to work for a summer, I could bike across a continent.

I like to hear about these different things people have done or want to do with their lives.

I like hearing some if the options.

If you could do anything with your life, what would it be?

Let's get lost in the woods...yeah, let's not!

My family decided that we should drive up into yellowstone national park today so we could see some of the attractions today and save time tommorrow, when we will drive up again the same way to our next hotel.

As a result, I ended up at old faithful (the geyser), two to three hours from our hotel.

The problem here?

It was ten thirty at night. It was dark. And do you know how many parking lots there are for old faithful?

Very, very many. You see, old faithful has a complex of buildings with it. Including, but not limited to two hotels, gas stations, employee dorms, cabins, gift shops... That all look similar in the dark.

It took thirty minutes and directions from five people to find our fucking car. Oh, an then the drive back to the hotel. Oh, how I love Old Faithful!

Damn geyser.

Shady

I keep hearing of a lot of shadiness going around. But, it's mostly just people calling people that. And...it doesn't always seem justified.

I would like to accuse myself of being shady. Trust me, there're reasons. But, let's just say that I don't feel like the most scrupulous person to date.

That's about it. Being a teenager is fucked up sometimes, isn't it?

Yee-Haw!

I'm in cowboy country.

I saw a rodeo.

A young man was stomped on by a bull.

It was terrifying.

The paramedics have deemed him okay.

I feel high.

My head feels cloudy.

I hope that I get to play cowgirl pretty soon.

Yee-Haw?

Whining in Wyoming

Dear Abby:
I"m stuck in a desolate state (both meanings). With my parents. It's really not that bad. I just...want to be someplace else. Now isn't a good time. It's the beginning of summer, and I have books to read and people to visit. I don't have time to do this crazy hiking in the woods thing. Not to mention this chaotic social stuff.

I feel like my summer is slipping away to commitments. I don't like commitments. Abby, why did I even get involved in things?

I want...to be able to make a decision about things-anything.

I miss my August family vacations in Banff and Lake Placid. That actually included the whole family (my brother).

Abby, why can't I act like I'm five? Life would be so much easier then.
Sincerely,
Whining in Wyoming
----------------------------
Dear Whining,
Stop your bitching already! Stop trying to solve other people's problems and focus on yourself. Clearly you need it right now.

As for making decisions, just do something. Then live with whatever you decide. Enjoy your stupid vacation. You're lucky enough just to go. Use it to think about shit.

Suck it up,
Sincerely,
Abby

It's all relative

This is going to be short. It's on my iPod after all.

I spent my morning flying a good distance west. Six hours later, I'm still managing to keep in contact with my friends like ever before. I don't feel that far away from home.

I don't feel that far away from my friends in other states, either. I talk to them as much, if not more than some of my hometown ones.

Sometimes distances seem huge to me. The seven miles across town to Nate's when I'm running late for dinner? Huge distance. Wanting to go to the beach with a friend in Chicago? Not bad, just two and a half hours to a meeting point on lake Michigan.

It's all very relative for me. I'm glad that the distance doesn't matter as much now as it did a millinia, a century, a decade ago.

So...I've Come Crawling Back

Somehow, I guess I miss blogging. Making mental notes of things that I would say blogging, but not actually type them out has been difficult. So, I'm back.

School's out. And I feel similar to what Emaline said. Or I think what she said. I was in school just a couple days ago. But I'm determined to make this one of my favorite summers. It's the first one that I can drive, and therefore, I'm automatically busier. It's awesome. But I do have QB stuff to do at some point. Ugh.

I actually have a lot of summer stuff to do. Read books for Lit, keep a sketchbook/do projects for Studio, and read some stuff for APUSH. I may be crazy for taking APUSH, but I am.

Despite some crazy shit bouncing around in my personal life (which, of course, most of the world knows about), I feel good. It's summer. I'm headed to Yellowstone. And I have a bag of brand new art supplies calling my name