Sweeping Out 2006.

We used to spend New Years Eve at the Nieft's house just down the street. Craig would bust out a broom at midnight, open wide the front door, and sweep all the old junk out the door. I always think of that at New Years, even though the Niefts have moved to Belvedere. It's a great metaphor for what everyone should be able to do at the new year. Brush off all the old problems and start a new year with a clean slate. I wish I was still a kid so that the problems of the previous year would vanish with the coming of the new.

Out with the old and in with the new. This year will be a great one. May 2007 be as phenomenal as it can possibly be.

Happy New Year, everyone.

The Mint Shack.

I'm so. Upset. There was this ancient, abandoned shack on Bartlett Road. It was mint green and the door hung off the hinges. Sometimes it was closed and sometimes it was open. I drove past today. And it was all in pieces, packed in big ol' dumpsters. I always meant to explore it.

This is what happens. When you put things off.

Also, I just found out that an old asylum on Munger Road was knocked down in 2003. It kills me, the loss of these places, so full of stale pain and dusty memories.

The fact that my camera will never capture their honesty. Just tears me up.

Maybe I can find something interesting in the wreckage of the house. If I don't do it tomorrow I may never get to.

It's Not.

Horace said, "Carpe diem."

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans said, "Qué Será, Será."

Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Dr. Seuss said, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

I'm going to change the world, let me tell you. Even in bitty little ways. I'm gunna do it.

Christmas Break Premonitions.

Hmm. Shouldn't Christmas Break be an enjoyable recess from all the shit you've got to worry about? Time to spend with your family, time to ignore school, time to relax.

Well. Not for me. No. My mother works for the school district. You know what that means? That means she's home all through the break to make my life a living hell. I'd rather go to school.

I, stupidly, let slip that I took time off from work during the break. It's my senior year. It's my last chance to fuck around during my break before having to accept all the adult responsibilities that are going to come with college life. I'm very good at managing my money. I have a set amount that I take out of the bank every time for gas and spending and I usually don't even use all of that. I only take out $40, max, every two weeks. $20 usually goes to gas. Which leaves $20 for me to spend over two weeks. Usually, I have leftovers. I only opened a bank account two months ago and I've got nearly a thousand dollars in it.

I have new expenses, what with shareboarding Legacy now. $125 a month. It's not a problem. I make at least $125 each paycheck. Which means, each month, at least another $125 is going into my bank account. I'm in no hurry to save. I've still got six months till I graduate and that leaves all summer for me to work my ass off and save even more money for college. I was going to offer to pay for my room and board for freshman year. It's about a thousand and I've got that in my bank account already.

Now every time I try to relax over break I'm going to have to endure snide commentary about how I could be using my time better. Fuck that. I'm tired. I want a break from everything, including this stupid house.

Anyone want to adopt an extra child for the holidays?

Movie List

forces of nature
stepmom
transamerica
the crying game
the craft
practical magic
requiem for a dream
braveheart
benny and joon
crash
fight club
pulp fiction
sin city
office space
can't hardly wait
american beauty
renaissance man
the hound of the baskervilles
swing kids
the squid and the whale
thumbsucker
gummo
junebug
the ugly dachshund
art school confidential
the big sleep
my first mister
brokeback mountain
memoirs of a geisha
the family stone
the chronicles of narnia
13
a clockwork orange
elephant
girl interrupted
donnie darko
the breakfast club
can't hardly wait
napoleon dynamite
carrie
strangeland
ferris beuller's day off
american graffiti
the lost boys
dazed and confused
half baked
fast times at ridgemont high
risky business
cocktail
the order
dogma
edward scissorhands
amelie
run lola run
fight club
st. elmo's fire
michael
splash/overboard
schindler's list
one flew over the cuckoo's nest
pulp fiction
the shawshank redemption
life as a house
pi
garden state
matchstick men
white oleander
animal house
windtalkers
saving private ryan
forrest gump
goodfellas
se7en
memento
cidade de deus
y tu mama tambien
phonebooth
eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
war of the worlds
elizabethtown
the trumann show
about a boy
the whole nine yards
pretty woman
indecent proposal
a walk to remember
lolita
secretary
riding in cars with boys
mona lisa smile
west side story
steel magnolias
collateral
rainman
much ado about nothing
spanglish
ocean's eleven
pay it forward
titanic
as good as it gets
jerry seinfeld: live on broadway
robin williams: live on broadway
fahrenheit 9/11
he loves me, he loves me not
the notebook
bridget jones's diary
the amityville horror
the ring
saw
saw 2
lords of dogtown
finding neverland
tristan and isolde
george lopez: why you crying?
Du poil sous les roses
the chumscrubber

Stewpot the Hobo.

So, I just had this sudden memory of fifth grade. We used to do these "reading group" things where we'd pick a book and like...five other people would read the book and we'd all have to discuss it.
And I remember this one book...I don't remember the title, but there was this character named Stewpot and he was a hobo. He lived in an old train car or some shit. Anyway. We all HATED this book. So we called Stewpot the Hobo...

Stupid the Homo. Instead.

HAHAHAHAHA. Oh, man. HAHAHA.

XD

P.S. Today was a snow day, but my mother insisted on making my life hell instead of allowing me to enjoy it. She told me, and I quote, "Nobody wants you here." Yeah. I can't wait to go to college.