What is the Difference Between Awake and Asleep?

When you fall awake
Into your own world and
Slumber up to face the day,
Is there a difference?

When you open your eyes
To a brand new world,
With new and familiar
Characters every night and
Every day,
Is there a difference?

You dream that you are awake
And wandering,
And when you sleep,
You awake and continue
The journey that paused
The night of nights ago.

So I ask you,
What is the difference
Between awake
And
Asleep?

Two (or three) mini sagas

"Mini sagas are stories written in 50 words, not more, not less. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, it's not. You might have the perfect story laid out, and the execution is flawless until you count the words."
"54 words?"
"No problem, just compound a few words."
"It's perfect!"
"Count again."
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Ramone, a grand intellectual, once stupored in front of the television for a week. Slowly, his thoughts became not his, but a corporation's. His brain stewed by propaganda and a need for material wealth, he went out into the world a new man. He now resides in a ditch, decomposing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once, my clone appeared, claiming that I was her clone. We had a seat on the floor and sat for hours chatting away merrily, or at least I was, she didn't have much to say. Someone knocked on the door and startled me. My foot shattered her into silvery shards.

Stay Classy

I'm sick of babymamas,
Prostitutes in disguise.
Many sirens screaming at night,
Gunshots bursting through any meagre silence offered.
I'm sick of police roaming the school
And walking the beat, observing the street.
People in poverty buying cellphones and iPods, and
Selling drugs out of their baby's stroller.
I'm sick of idiots strolling around
With their pants on da ground.
I'm sick of names like Sheniqua, Latifa, and Jamal.
I'm sick of domestic disputes between toothless lard bags,
And their common-law breakfast
Of chips with mayo.
I'm sick of white kids from the burbs
Trying to be gangsta, while the real gangs
Shoot and leave each other in the gutter.
I'm sick of corruption and poverty and hopelessness,
And the rappers that the four-year-olds drinking
Coke from the bottle adore and emulate.
I'm sick of the man-child, hanging on to his girl
For dear life,
And seeing the best people
Living out on the street.
I'm sick of smoggy sunsets and starless skies.
I'm sick of the crack, the cranks, and their city.
I'm leaving home.

A Special Person

Shown the most care by her parents, she still feels alone, unloved. She depends heavily on many friends and activities but still is isolated. She cannot walk easily, and is passive and fierce alternately. She doesn't talk to many, but once she does, she can't stop. Having always depended on people to help her do the most basic things, she craves independence, but is afraid to be alone. A very passionate person when it comes to her friends, she is often confused or left behind, simply because she cannot walk alongside them and know what they know.
She is a tiny person with many sugical scars, a strange posture, and a lazy eye. This is what most people see. But to those who know her, who listen and understand, she is a beautiful person with a large heart, an empath. You can count on her to be an unconditional friend from the moment you treat her with respect, even in passing. Love can be a difficult thing to share, but she spreads it in abundance every where she goes.
She is a weirdo, my best friend.

Happy Birthday (Catcher-in-the-Rye-esque)

Friday was my birthday. I stopped having real birthday parties once people decided that not letting me know that they aren't actually coming was in vogue. Instead, I now enjoy spending the day with my family and being the center of attention which, being the middle child, is a big deal.
We haven't had the whole family together without the extended family crashing our get-together since Christmas 2008. It is difficult to adjust to having to share the bathroom with two extra people, and not knowing when someone is going to be a bit strange on whatever day. One thing that really gets me is the fact that I'm ill equipped for dealing with even more highly intelligent people traipsing throughout my home. My emotions go off the charts because it's almost like I know what they are feeling before they even know. It's always been that way, but it's even worse after finally getting used to not seeing my siblings around and then being suddenly bombarded with their prescence in the house. The thing that kills me is that usually their responses are illogical and do not match with what they are emoting at the time, and I overreact as a result.
I love them, I really do, but it seems that we all have to relearn how to deal with each other or else someone is going to go off the deep-end.
Happy Birthday.

Kingdom Animalia

Animals are heterotrophic multicellular eukaryotes. These organisms ingest food and most digest it in a central cavity. All animals reproduce sexually, although some members of some phyla can reproduce asexually.
CHARACTERISTICS:
All animals, excepting poriferans and cnidarians, have three germ layers of cells. These layers are as follows: the ectoderm (outer layer), the mesoderm (middle layer), and the endoderm (inner layer). The ectoderm develops into the skin, nerve tissue, and sense organs of the organism. The mesoderm becomes the muscles, blood, kidneys, and reproductive organs. The endoderm develops into the lungs, liver, pancreas, bladder, and stomach lining.
Except for sponges, all animals digest food extracellularly in a wholly or partially developed digestive system. Animals can be classified according to two digestive plans. The "sac body plan" has only one opening to the gut. Food and wastes enter and exit through one opening; this plan is termed "incomplete." The "tube-within-a-tube body plan" features two openings to the gut. Food enters through one opening and leaves through the second, earning this system the designation of "complete."
Most animals have symmetrical body plans, one that is regular and balanced. Some possess radial symmetry, in which the organism's body is organized equally around a central vertical axis. Others possess bilateral symmetry. This is when the body can be cut into two equal, mirror-image halves through only one vertical plane. There are four body surfaces on a bilaterally symmetrical organism: the anterior (front), the posterior (behind), dorsal (top), and the ventral surface (bottom). The sense organs are concentrated at the front to help orient the organism in its environment. There will always be an exception to the rule, however, and that would be sponges. Sponges do not move as adults and are asymmetrical.
The coelum is a fluid-filled body cavity completely surrounded by mesoderm. It provides space for the development and suspension of organs and organ systems. Animals with a coelum are known as coelumates, and those without: acoelumates. A coelum gives animals a structure to brace their muscles against, allowing them to respond and move more quickly. A coelum allows for more complex organ systems to develop.
Some animals produce asexually as well as sexually. Poriferans and many worm species can develop entirely new organisms from fragments of the parent. All animals produce sperm or eggs, and can carry out sexual reproduction. Less complex animals can have both male and female organs; these hermaphrodites produce sperm and egg cells, enabling them to reproduce without a mate.
IN SUMMARY:
Characteristics such as body symmetry, the presence or absence of a coelum, and the number of germ layers may be used to classify animals. Animals are multicellular heterotrophs. The simplest animals have two cell layers and a single body opening. The evolution of three cell layers and a coelum allowed animals to become more complex and mobile.
Use some of the words from this entry next time you play Scrabble!

United States of America, 1786-1800

The central government's strength grew out of the Constitution created in 1787 by delegates from all of the North American British Colonies.
Nationalists had long argued for a strengthened union of the states. The nationalists were drawn from the elite circles of American life. Nationalists included merchants, former officers of the Continental Army, and conservatives who wanted to restrain what they believed to be the excessive democracy of the states.
In March 1785, a group of men from Virginia and Maryland, including James Madison, George Mason, and George Washington (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRom1Rz8OA), drafted an agreement to present to legislatures recommending uniform commercial regulations, duties, and currency laws.
Only five states sent strong nationalist delegates to the Annapolis Convention in September 1786. Alexander Hamilton drew up a report to call on Congress to endorse a new convention to be held in Philadelphia to discuss all matters necessary to render the constitution of the federal government adequate for the newly formed union's present and future needs.
Despite serious disagreements between localists (supporters of state autonomy) and nationalists, most Americans agreed that the Articles of Confederation needed strengthening, especially in regard to commercial regulation and the generation of revenue. Early in the year of 1787, the Confederation Congress cautiously approved the plan for a convention for the sole purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.

Hosses, pt.1

I am a very fortunate person. Even when things go wrong, something is always going right. Since I moved to PEI, everything has been moving according to a plan that I've had since I was very young. New things, even, have been worming their way into this plot line. For instance, I've always wanted to move to PEI (check), have horses to work with and build my equine reputation (check), graduate early (in progress), and work with a large animal vet (next year).

Before we continue any further, you'd best be warned that this is going to be a looonngg story, mostly about horses. Ready? Okay.

When I was really little, I always wanted a horse. Not a pony, a big horse! I had a rocking horse, who I named Sal. She was my mom's rocking horse when she was a little girl, and you could tell that she had been loved very much, as she was missing large patches of her velvet coat. I made up all sorts of adventures with this rocking horse, including cattle roundups and the Kentucky Derby. Sal was my gal. I still have her today, up in my room with a big duct-tape patch on her back, which had been worn down to the straw from so many long hours in the saddle. After a few years, there was a new arrival: a spring horse, who I promptly named ClipClop, after my favorite video ever. I think he was supposed to be Kathryn's or Aaron's horse, but that was no deterrent for a horse-loving little girl. I spent hours on that thing, bouncing around at a gallop.
There was, of course, an enabler for this addiction. Her name was Auntie Mal. My cousin Kerry took riding lessons, so every now and then, I would get a trip to the tack shop where I could buy a brush, or maybe a stuffed horse to play with. Those trips were the best.* One time, they took me for a short riding lesson with Kerry's teacher, Jill. That was a blast, and I was not afraid to let people know it.** After that, I was especially keen to go for pony rides when ever I could, eventually moving up to trail rides on dead-sided horses. I lived for those days! Every summer when we would go to PEI (thanks Harvey!), I would get a pony/trail ride, which would only make my excellent stay better. I was ready to stick my foot in the door of the horse world. Maybe.

to be continued...


*I still get at least one of these trips per year, but now it's for things like grooming supplies, treats, and tack.
**Auntie Mal still loves to tell me how funny it was when I yelled from the saddle "I'M THE BEST RIDER IN THE WORLD!"

*bonus*
-Mom used to dress me up as a cowgirl.
-All of my pictures as a little kid show me wearing cowgirl clothing or playing with horses.
-It was all thanks to Harvey that we ever went to PEI in the first place.

Valentine's Day!

Ah, Valentine's Day. A day for spreading the love, buying yourself chocolate hearts, and for women to make futile attempts to "look pretty." On that last note, how many you, my dear readers, have heard of the fashionable abomination of "Bumpits"? These things are phenomenally ghetto, and I suspect that people in some cities (*cough*Lowell*cough*) will be seeing these hair-humps on the Puerto Rican fashion scene.
When I hear the word Bumpits, I don't think of 60s-era-marine-dinosaur-dorsal-combs. I think of someone having bums in their pits. As in, when the person raises their arms, they have little butts in their armpits! Disgusting! Hopefully, now that we are all educated in the underlying meaning of this word, we, the denizens of the world, will know better than to put such atrocious things in our hair.
The bottom line of all of this is: If you are going to humiliate yourself, do it for a good cause, such as the SPCA, not a lost cause, such as thinking that men actually care what you put in your hair.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hopefully your loved ones love you for who you are, not what you look like. Love, Love, Love.

An Intro

I am me.
An almost adolescent mind,
Always more, seldom less.
My life is ruled by equines,
And my future is uncertain.
I have many grand plans.
School is important,
But knowledge,
Even more.
Art is intrinsically
Woven through my mind,
Yet analyses are
My game in life.
Neither graphic,
Nor mundane,
I am interesting and odd.
I dress conservatively,
As style beats fashion every time.
I'm not quite a girly girl,
But I'll still play with ponies
Any day.
When I grow up,
At the age of 90,
Maybe I'll upgrade
To Abby four-point-oh.