And now back to real life...

So what has it been, less than a month? Wow. I'm early.

Lots...lots and lots to say, lots to talk about. Too much. But let's get started anyway.

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Just got back this morning from a short trip to America's... well, I was going to quote Homer Simpson, but on second thought... Florida. My family went to Florida, home of "The Stupidest Tenth Graders in the World". Why oh why does a family of five go to Florida? What else? DISNEY WORLD.

I forgot how much fun that was. I had only been there once before, the famed and much discussed "eighth grade trip" (that was before they started sending all you CCCS kids to Washington D.C.--haha, suckers!). But I had forgotten how much fun the park actually is. My mom and sister couldn't go to the actual park with us (a death in the family occured our first night, and the two of them were desperately needed in Michigan), so it was just my dad, myself, and a demon-possessed five year old. My sister Olivia, who currently has the sarcastic mouth of an early teen. Ah, fun times. But we had a good time there. O. got her picture taken with six or seven Disney characters, including Cinderella, who was pretty hot. [Someone tell Elizabeth Mitchell to put in a good word for me with Cinderella, if she goes back there to work this summer?] Fun time had by all. Oh, and we found out that my sis is a roller coaster fanatic, which was good, because that meant that we could actually ride the fun rides. So yeah. Good times.

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The afore mentioned family death was my cousin Dustin, who died of heart failure on the baseball field. He was born with a heart defect, and his past two years of smoking, drinking, and moderate drug use couldn't have helped him much. He was nineteen years old.
My real sorrow is for my Aunt Tempy, who is a sweet woman and has already gone through enough grief in her life. If you could, pray for her and her family.

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As many of you know, I was recently in Oklahoma, seeing The Adding Machine and visiting old friends. Although difficult at some points, it was a very useful and constructive visit for me, in retrospect. Thank you to my friends who lended a compassionate ear and patient heart when I needed it. You are my second family, and i love you all dearly.

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That's all the personal news. Next post: media commentary, world events, and other fun facts...