I've had the time of my life!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially one of those sleep-deprived people who generally populate campuses. I'm at school now! Yay! Mom and I left on Wednesday for Ohio and got in Thursday afternoon. It was about a nine hour drive. I'm in the apartment complex on-campus, so I have a kitchen! And a living room! And I don't have to share a bathroom with twenty other girls! My roommates are really nice. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better. :)

a hard truth

I was going to name this post "THE hard truth", but I realized (thankfully before I posted it) that all truths are hard in some way or another. I wanted to confront something on Facebook that I see making the rounds occasionally.

new beginnings and ideas

Hey there all my rabid readers. If you didn't know, I actually am an authoress. (Is that even a word?) I have a separate blog at the moment for my writing that focuses on my current series, The Zephanaian Chronicles. (Go to the other blog to read more.) I am seriously considering consolidating the two blogs. I have reasons for this that I shall give you, and I'd like your input.

espionage, passion, and betrayal

I picked up Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal from the library recently. I like reading about World War II. Generally, I stick to stories of the Holocaust when picking my WWII books. However, I was browsing through the library and saw this one. The cover intrigued me, as did the blurb they released. Here is what they give you for this book:

youth of the nation

Last day of the rest of my life
I wish I would've known
Cause I didn't kiss my mama goodbye


I didn't tell her that I loved her and how much I care
Or thank my pops for all the talks
And all the wisdom he shared


Unaware, I just did what I always do
Everyday, the same routine
Before I skate off to school


But who knew that this day wasn't like the rest
Instead of taking a test
I took two to the chest


Call me blind, but I didn't see it coming
Everybody was running
But I couldn't hear nothing


Except gun blasts, it happened so fast
I don't really know this kid
Even though I sit by him in class


Maybe this kid was reaching out for love
Or maybe for a moment
He forgot who he was
Or maybe this kid just wanted to be hugged
Whatever it was
I know it's because


We are, We are, the youth of the nation


Little Suzy, she was only twelve
She was given the world
With every chance to excel


Hang with the boys and hear the stories they tell
She might act kind of proud
But no respect for herself


She finds love in all the wrong places
The same situations
Just different faces


Changed up her pace since her daddy left her
Too bad he never told her
She deserved much better


Johnny boy always played the fool
He broke all the rules
So you would think he was cool


He was never really one of the guys
No matter how hard he tried
Often thought of suicide


It's kind of hard when you ain't got no friends
He put his life to an end
They might remember him then


You cross the line and there's no turning back
Told the world how he felt
With the sound of a gat


We are, We are, the youth of the nation


Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim
No matter what you say
It don't take away the pain


That I feel inside, I'm tired of all the lies
Don't nobody know why
It's the blind leading the blind


I guess that's the way the story goes
Will it ever make sense
Somebody's got to know


There's got to be more to life than this
There's got to be more to everything
I thought exists


We are, We are, the youth of the nation


Watch the video here.


This is a song by P.O.D. They're a hard rock band. For some reason, I'm not a huge fan of most of their music. This song, however, Youth of the Nation, really strikes a chord with me.

The first verse is the victim of a school shooting. The second verse has a young girl desperate for love but looked in the wrong places and a boy who didn't think life was worth anything.

WE ARE THE YOUTH OF THE NATION.

We are the product of our society.

WE ARE THE YOUTH OF THE NATION.

We've pulled God out of schools. The Pledge of Allegiance is not allowed in schools because it has the name of God in it. We fill minds with meaningless blather about material stuff and never look within. We fill our ears with sound and eyes with visions of all sorts of things. We never slow down. We never stop to think about our inner needs as well as our outward needs.

WE ARE THE YOUTH OF THE NATION.

We are the result of a materialistic culture. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young adults 15-24. School shootings aren't very common, thankfully, but they still happen and wreak devastation among the kids, parents, and communities. Girls and women sell their bodies to men and allow themselves to be used as toys for their pleasure, since the media constantly tells them that their bodies are the only worthwhile part of them.

WE ARE THE YOUTH OF THE NATION.

What kind of legacy is THAT?

-enna

looking to the future

Looking Out - on my DeviantArt
http://bit.ly/nto4mm

School starts soon. Kids hear the mournful bell of back-to-school shopping for all their supplies as well as the new clothes (since they've already outgrown the stuff they had gotten three months ago). Back-to-school feels different now.

For me, back-to-school this year means I'm outfitting an apartment. I'm transferring this year, and since there was no room left in the dorms for a junior, they stuck me into the student apartment complex on campus. So I need all kinds of stuff - kitchen supplies, bathroom supplies, cleaning supplies (most of my list of needs is cleaning supplies). We have minimal furniture - bed, desk, chair, rod, toilet, shower, two chairs, loveseat, stove, oven, sink, fridge, dining room set. Nope, no dresser. No bookshelves either. It makes it kinda fun.

It's much more like actually having a place of my own. Well, almost - I do have two roommates. But I get to choose how I decorate my room and how I want to keep house and all kinds of other fun stuff. Yet it's kinda scary. I'm not a kid anymore. I no longer will have my parents to depend on for groceries and help with tough decisions. I'm going to be three states away, living on my own, working fifteen hours and taking eighteen credit hours' worth of classes a week. (It isn't as heavy a load as I took first semester of senior year of high school, so that's a plus.)

Plus I'm going to try swimming again. Yay! I must admit, I've missed the water. You can take the fish out of the water, but you can't take the water out of the fish. Not only is this their inaugural swim team, but they have diving too. I've wanted to learn how to do fancy diving longer than I've wanted to be a competitive swimmer - I just need to convince them to teach me. ;) We'll see how much actual competitive swimming I do. I don't know how my shoulders will handle it.

This is the future I see looming in front of me. While I'm very excited, I'm also very nervous. I guess I have to have both ends of the spectrum. I don't know anyone out there, and I'll be three states away from my family and most of my friends. It's a huge step to go out like this, even if you're just going to a state college. And I'm out of state.

So I keep telling myself chin up! It'll be an adventure! New places, new people, new experiences. Plus it's not like I have no method of keeping in touch with anyone. I have a phone, a computer, a mailbox, paper and pens...I will be all right.

So I just need to keep looking out.

-enna

P.S. The picture puts me in mind of a story - but I don't know what it is yet. I'll let you know when I figure it out!