From the Blue Notebooks, Vol. 6

     This sixth installment of my spiral-bound high-school off-an-on attempts at journaling. Editorial comments are in brackets. As this post begins, it's late July 2010, and I'm to head to SGYC for the third time.

     7:16 am Monday, July 26, 2010
     Hey,
     Well, I get to break in this journal as I'm headed to camp. We're gonne get to the Missouri line in about an hour. Mariah had her birthday party yesterday, me, Courtney, Brenna, Roy, Levi, Annette, Quinton, Alton, JB, Julie, Emily, Evan, Billy and Kyle were there. [It was held at the YMCA pool.] It was a good time, & I discovered that Brenna looks TERRIFIC good in a bikini. ["Sighs". I hate swimming. Talk about shallow....the Scrabble board on my theme night T-shirt would prove this.] Well, I had a good time, & hoping camp goes well. [It didn't, really. But that was my fault; as I was extremely shallow and self-centered.]

     2:19 pm Wednesday, August 4, 2010
     Hey,
     The above sentence, while true, most likely should not have been written, specially on the way to church camp. Camp was very different, but it was another good year. Made some new friends, got a lot out of the teaching, & a couple of people were saved. [Got to know Jed and Jon really well this year, met Ashland's siblings Austin and Alexa, and I have no idea what the sermons were about, but I do remember some of them made me uncomfortable.] The Hollises gave us some apples Saturday night, we've been drying them on the trampoline. Our new kittens, Skittles & Benjy, are doing well, things are going okay.

     Wednesday, 8-18-10
      Hey,
      Well, I wrote five articles last week, two for the Free Lance & three for OKBlitz.com. The temperature finally cooled down, been doing school, cleaning, reading, & acting Spider-Man to thwart Skeet's boredom. He leaps the fence, then chases Skittles & Benjy, or some of the chickens. It's hard work keeping them in one piece. Haven't really been able to get any type of song wrote down, just partial lyrics. Same thing w/stories, some ideas, but not many. I'm the oldest guy in the youth group now, which is kinda odd. And since Josh, Dylan & Bennett can't really sing, all the guy parts in songs will be like solos, almost. 2 weeks and 2 days til football season, softball started Monday. This will be my 4th year of writing, which seems strange. What seems stranger is next year I'll be a senior. Trevor's birthday was yesterday, he was extremely enthusiastic about opening his presents. It was funny to watch. :) NaNa's gong to have her foot amputated Tuesday & I got to go to the dentist, AND it's a doubleheader softball day. Not really good, but good. If she doesn't have it taken off, she could die, my teeth need cleaning(and braces, but that's another story..), & softball means articles,  & possible contacts, & if the paper's budget can handle it, money. So, there's alot of good things, but also some not so great things. I'd play my guitar, but Jon Lange snapped the low E string at camp. And I don't really know how to play banjo, lol. [Still want to learn, though!]

     Monday, August 30, 2010
     Hey,
     Dylan & Paige Steeley were baptized last night, church was good, we didn't make it to Sunday School, still haven't fixed my guitar, Skeet's been jumping the fence & sometimes capturing chickens. Not a pretty sight. Football starts Friday, HHS is probably going to do badly again, but bad football is better than no football, right? School is going all right, trying to get through this year, & then plan ahead. Its kinda scary. Tomorrow it'll be 3 years since I first covered a game, gosh, has life sure changed. Dado hadn't been gone for long, Grandpa had just married hadn't been married long, I'd never been to Missouri in July, & we hadn't started watching AI yet. I've grown a lot as a person since then, but I still have a ways to go. Getting things ready to go to a new chapter in life, but knowing, hey, I'm only 17, I still have a lot to learn. Watched Paul Blart, Mall Cop tonight, it was good. [No, it isn't....it's stupid.] So is A Knight's Tale, those are the only two movies I've seen lately. [Yes, A Knight's Tale is a very good movie, if you can overlook Georffrey's habit of gambling his clothes away. That's awkward.]

     6:50 am Saturday, September 3, 2010
     Hey,
     Football season started last night, Henryetta 28-7. They played pretty well. Caleb & Amy have been sick all week, so we missed the HECNO(official name of homeschool group) meeting yesterday, which was a major bummer. I also missed a youth group movie night, which is only a slight bummer. NaNa had her foot amputated last week, rebab is going okay, I think. Jake Brown & Brenna Hollis both got on Facebook this week. Going to Tahlequah tonight for Harry's birthday party, that'll be cool. School's going okay, no word about if we'll do drama this year.

     Tuesday, September 14, 2010
     Hey,
     Well, we didn't go to Tahlequah, we missed the homeschool meeting(major disappointment), the church group meeting & church, didn't see anybody I knew really at the Morris game, haven't had any softball to write about, it's just been a dull, tiring three or four weeks. Got some strings, so I can practice again, a dog showed up on our porch last night. [This dog was Copper.] The library's book sale is Thursday thru Saturday,, & drama starts Friday, those are good things. Mom's birthday is tomorrow, MiMi's would be Saturday. I've kinda felt a little depressed lately. We installed an electric fence to keep Skeet in.

     Tuesday, October 5, 2010
     Hey,
     The homeschool group went to the Creation Museum in Cincinnati over the weekend, & I think they had a great time. Kyle & Breann are together, it seems, that's interesting. We babysat the Gundersen's Sheltie Teddy for a while, which went pretty well. Copper(the stray dog above) is doing well, and the backyard dogs, Swifty, the chickens, goats & cats all are doing okay. Sunday it was a year since we moved back in, it seems longer in some ways. How is it most of these journal entries are about other people? And what am I going to do with my life? I don't know, but I hope I find some answers.

     Saturday, October 23, 2010
     Hey,
     The dogs(not Copper) killed Skittles & Benjy. :'( I've had a need to write again, lately, so I penned a song & finished the outline of Dusty's story. Annette & JB wrote the script we're working on, it's funny, but it's another shallow, mindless comedy. It's frustrating, wanting to create something, but being saddled with mediocre talent. Guitar hasn't gone great, but I had a front page story in the Free Lance a couple weeks ago. Saw Brenna yesterday, we were at this mini-zoo in Okmulgee, it was pretty cool. Things have been a bit more stressful than usual. Thursday night was Beggs Senior Night, I've always wondered what that or Homecoming would be like. Henryetta's a pretty good town, but Morris is home, & Beggs is the county's tradition center. I was glad Beggs won. [Not sure what I meant about 'tradition center', but the Demons and Knights were facing each other at the new Beggs field. It was great to work with those guys in the press box again. Also, Kenny Chesney's newest single was "The Boys of Fall".]

     Wednesday, November 3, 2010
     Hey,
     Toy Story 3 came out on DVD yesterday, Mom found a great deal, & so we got it. It's great, but sad in a good way, like some country songs. Watching a Pixar movie is great inspiration, it makes you want to make something. Not just something shallow, or topical, or typical, but something that is above most things, that makes you think. I'm not there yet, but I hope to be, someday. Just need to do the best I can, when I can, and in the normal everyday times keep trying to plow through school, & understand it.

     Tuesday, November 9, 2010
     Hey,
     It's been 59 1/2 pages, two notebooks, 2 moves, & 2 years since I started this. OSU is ranked again, they'll probably lose to Texas like they fell to Tech. Nobody came for the discussion last night, I went & looked at old stuff I've kept in the barn. Good memories, but kinda bittersweet. I wondered if "that Brenna Hollis thing would go anywhere." Yes, because if I wanted, ti would. No, because I don't want to tear her apart like I did to Maddie. So, no, not really. Thanksgiving is coming up soon, we'll be headed to Tahlequah. I wish Mimi were here to talk to, that would be nice. It would also be nice to be able to move on forward with some plots that won't go, & know what I should be doing. Til I know, I'll keep doing algebra, Greek, writing, playing guitar, & spending time w/the animals. Well, I better go.

     11-10-10, 6:34 am
     I forgot to mention this last night, but Beggs & Kiefer are in the HS football playoffs again, like they were the first day. Henryetta & Dewar are as well.