"The Phone"

It's amazing really.
How it has a great memory, remembers all the numbers that you want.
Of all the people you want to talk to or call.

It's a great thing. Really, it is.

You save time that it would take for you to dial the numbers in

And you can also take pictures; isn't that wonderful?
Games are another perk of the wonderful cell phones.
When you're bored of chatting the night away with your friends, games are there for you.
So simple, yet oddly enough, you love them. Come to think of it, the simplicity is probably why you love them.

And that explains why I quietly play Tetris on my phone late at night, feeling nothing but joy.

"Joy"

What happens when it seems that nobody loves you, like nobody pays attention to you?
Do you move on with it, or do you accept that lonely fate?
I know. It's painful. It always is.
Do you try to find the spotlight?
Do you try to find that elusive love that you so desperately crave?

Well you know what?
I love you
I love you for who you are. I love you for how you make me feel.
Don't fear.
You have somebody who will talk to you. Play with you. Stay with you.
Be that person you can always trust, that shoulder to lean on when you're crying.

And you know what?

I always will love you

I'm basically a dog, come to think about it...

So for this post I'm basically going to address my perceived issue of not getting recognition/enough recognition. Lately, I've been pondering about how some people seemed to be blessed with constant attention and/or have a ton of good things happen to them, as well as seemingly being more loved than I am. Yesterday, I saw that my amazing girlfriend Alexis got accepted by the National Honors Society, for which I'm amazingly proud of her (that's a huge understatement). Maybe I'm a bit jealous that her g.p.a. is higher than mine, as NHS inductees have a minimum g.p.a. of 3.5 (I have a 3.409). Or even, maybe I'm jealous that she's even in NHS, which I came valiantly close to getting in this year. Really though, I shouldn't be envious, as it's my fault that I didn't work as hard in the past to get that high of a g.p.a.; also, she'll have a bright future in that, as she has three years of being in it, which is amazing. But alas, she has it better than I have. However, it kinda brought the topic up of how seemingly everybody gets those prestigious honors when I'm shut out. Then again, that's not true. I've put in hours working at soup kitchens, which have been without a doubt the most fun I've ever had. I've been to the Hoover Dam. I've been snorkeling with sharks in the Bahamas. I've been to the aforementioned Bahamas, Vegas, Canada, the whole United Kingdom (minus the Shetlands, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and the Isle of Wight; but hey, who's asking?), Austria, Switzerland, France, and Germany, and this coming Spring break I'm going back to Germany as well as Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Any does anybody know that? Nope, cause nobody asks me this, or even cares to ask me. Hell, I'd kill to have just a bit more attention. I never have been in a position to be recognized for being a first chair musician in a premier band ensemble. Same goes with sports, I've never been recognized what I can bring to the table. Also, in school I see people who have way better g.p.a.'s than me, and sometimes those people don't even try (or at least appear not to). This ties in with this odd title, as I feel like I'm the dog that you don't mind, but when it's gone, you realize what you miss. But that's okay, I'll take it. Like a dog, I'll be there for you always. I'll be there to comfort you when you need a shoulder to lean on. I'll be there for you as a person to talk to. Does it hurt that I never seem to get recognition? Maybe. Come to think about it, I don't mind too much. If nobody wants to call me and hang out (this happens and is happening right now, actually), then I see it as their loss. I've learned to make friends, as well as sharpen my friend making skills; it has helped me to make a ton of friends. My skin has thickened, as I have been in a wide variety of situations, so my mental toughness is super high. Lastly, I'm going to say that like those shot blocking defensemen in hockey, they never get the due credit they deserve (and for the record no, I'm not biased as one of said defensemen), so I feel like them. Then again, I'm proud to have taken the road less traveled by. Life has two sides to it, and I feel that I'm all the better for it, for not being like so many other people are. And please, I beg you guys (scratch that, nobody reads this blog of mine other than me), just talk to us underrated folk, it means a lot to us; I'd do it to you, regardless of who you are. Thank you, and god bless you.

World Juniors today!

So taking a break from all the sincere and deep posts I've just published today, the World Junior Championships start today, along with pickup hockey again! I've literally been waiting all week for this, and yes, that means even more than Christmas. As my friend Bobby said, he imagined me saying, "Christmas? Screw that, I want some hockey!", which more or less is the case here. And the best part is, I have enough shirts to cover the teams that I want to win today (go Latvia, Czech Republic, and the US!).

- Latvia vs. Canada. As much as I'm pulling for the perennial underdogs the Latvians, realistically this could be ugly. But hey, that's always why they play the game.
- Czech Republic vs. Sweden. Sweden is one of the favorites to play in the championship game and the Czechs have been tapering off in their recent showings, but I'm gonna support them to do well, for this game and in general for the duration of the tournament.
- US vs. Slovakia. This is huge, as Slovakia beat us and knocked us out of medal contention. This should be a very intriguing matchup; however, the Slovaks don't have Jaroslav Janus this time around, and the US's goalies are highly thought of.

Remember back in the day?

Another pretty deep thought I had was last night when I was attempting to fall asleep. I remembered back when I was like 6-ish when I was at my friend's house and we were playing hide and seek throughout his house. Anyways, it just reminded me how pure we were a long time ago, as well chronicling how much we've grown up. I guess part of me doesn't want to give up that innocence that we all possessed back in the day, especially since I'm going to be going to college very soon.

So there was another part to this thought that I had. When we were in the theater and watching Avatar (great movie by the way, I highly recommend it), there was this preview for Toy Story 3. And in it, it was how this one kid had a blast with his toys when he was young. And I mean that they were the defining part of his life as a kid. However, now that he is going off to college, that meant that he has to give up what was an integral part of his life. In a way, that embodies what I'll have to do. My stuffed animal cat, Eeschwee, has been with me for 17, almost 18 years now, and I don't want to give him up. My fear is that when I'm off to wherever I get accepted to, something bad will happen to him. Should I take him to the dorm or should I leave him behind at home? I don't want to lose him, because he really was there for me my whole life.

The Real Chrystanthemum in Winter

So yesterday was Christmas Day 2009, and I'm just going to be reflecting on my opinions of a rather, in my humble opinion, unspectacular Christmas this year. I saw on Facebook that people were getting Wii's, 360's, PS3's, and even cars. I feel that it kinda defeats the purpose of Christmas. Has America really become obsessed with receiving rather than giving, and at what cost will this have when it's time to enter the real world? Maybe I'm just bitter that other people to the lavish gifts while I got a hockey stick (to replace my old broken one), a bath robe, and a long sleeved American Eagle shirt. These actually are practical cause hey, I can use them for practical purposes. I dunno, I just feel that most people, or at least a good portion of them, forget the initial charm and goodwill behind these gifts. Me? I personally believe that Christ's birthday has been turned into a mass consumer shopping spree. That, and I just like sticking it to the man and not asking for much.

One a semi-related note, I'm planning on asking to go to work at a soup kitchen for my birthday; I feel that I should celebrate by good fortune in life by helping the other less fortunate people out there. Yeah, there probably are stuff that I'm going to want to get, but really, if I actually wanted them badly enough, I'd go buy it myself; it's not like I wouldn't have enough money to do so anyways. Besides, I don't want anybody to go out of their way to make me feel happy for one day when I'm not really that special at all.

Anyways, I'm going to conlude this little thought of mine by saying that I hope everybody else had an awesome Christmas!

My First College Acceptance

I just received the admissions decision from Randolph-Macon College today saying that yes, I got accepted there! And they're going to give me the Dean's Scholarship of $12,500 a year (provided I keep up with my grades), and then the FAFSA $3,000! Life is feeling pretty good cause of this!