High School called. . .

It said it wants its drama back.

Oi! I mean really people, the sheer magnitude of drama in the past year or so at Saint Joe is staggering. I think I have been through more drama in the past year and a half than my entire high school career and 2/3 of my college career. . . and those earlier years included both September 11th, the beginning of the Iraq war, and the 2004 election.

Now, some of this drama involves friends, while other apparently involves me (some warranted, some confusing, some as a result of relativity). Apparently some things have been said about me that don't jibe with the way I remember things. I think that this discrepancy between versions of the story might have led to some of the awkwardness between me and some other people, so I am just going to say the following (and this doesn't just apply to this situation or just to me): If you have heard something about me (or someone else) ask me to hear my side of the story (or ask them to hear theirs). Drawing assumptions from one side of the story leads to some false assumptions. Sure, my version of events might not be what other people remember, but every person's views are tinted by their own emotions and perceptions. If they say A and I say C, well maybe B is right and we are both wrong, but at least you know where each of us is coming from. If you are friends with someone, you owe them at least the courtesy of hearing their side of the story before you decide what you think about a situation.

My rant is finished, now for a few random quotes and a poem that has no relevant connection to anything other than the fact that I was listening to a radio program that was talking about the sun on my way home:

Could you imagine how horrible things would be if we always told others how we felt? Life would be intolerably bearable. – Randy K. Milholland

Perhaps nobody ever accomplishes all that he feels lies in him to do; but nearly every one who tries his power touches the walls of his being. - Charles Dudley Warner

All it takes to fly is to hurl yourself at the ground... and miss. - Douglass Adams

I ran into someone the other day and we started to talk. Somehow the conversation mentioned your name, and they asked me if I knew you. Looking away I thought of all the times we had together and then how, without an explanation, you were gone. I looked to where they were waiting for an answer and said, "Once ... or I thought I did..." - ????

Five billion years from now - maybe to the day, the sun burns 90% of its hydrogen.
The balance is destroyed.
More energy is created than released.
Quickly - a few million years - the sun radiates all of its potential power.
The star swells...
Mercury - Venus - the Earth - Disappear... swallowed.
The sun truly, finally touches the sky.
Life vanishes beneath the glow.

Eventually the sun shrinks, decreasing to the size of the Earth, which reappears from the red dwarf's grasp.
With no gravity to hold it, the Earth slowly floats away.

Elsewhere, stars are born.
Other solar systems, older, larger, continue to breathe.
The solar system dies a cold death.

If that's what it takes, then ok.
If I must wait that long, then all right.
Because when I think of this, nothing is more desirable than the hope of watching that last day
When the sun flickers out
With you beside me. - Poem by ?? (Found in JP's away messages)