• my mom and dad just bought a new used-car. it's the family run-around car, but i get to drive it to school. so here's a letter of commemoration to my old pickup, my trusty old friend, The Rocket.

my dearest Rocket,

we have shared many experiences together over the past few months. for example, being pulled over by a state cop and getting a very expensive ticket, crashing into my cousin, sliding on the slick roads, and trying to keep your driver-side door from falling off.

let me be honest, Rocket, when i first saw you, i was very disappointed in how you looked and sounded. you had paint peeling off your hood, you were dirty, your door was basically off, and you sounded like a dying dinosaur. but after spending 4 months with you, i really came to appreciate how hard you worked just to get me to school and back. but i don't think i ever fully appreciated you until the day you died. you were stranded at the smelly old station, just waiting for my dad to fix you up. i truly did miss you, dear friend.

now you are retired, you are almost 20 years old you know, so don't feel bad. i really miss your automatic shifting. this new used-car is stick-shift, and i am having troubles adjusting to it. but thank-you for your patience with me, and remember me always.

your admiring friend,
presli

top 10 reasons why i am a nerd/dork/weirdo

1. i have had braces since the 7th grade
2. i have to wear headgear at night
3. i wear glasses/contacts
4. i use nasal spray for my allergies
5. i use an inhaler during track
6. i have a tender tummy that can not handle certain foods
7. i read books and magazines while on the john
8. i get good grades in my classes
9. sometimes i take 3 hour baths because i get absorbed in my book
10. i am very clumsy- i trip over the same rug every day

i personally believe that these qualities that i possess qualify me for the title of "nerd". if i had 2 or 3 of these things, i wouldn't be such a dork. but i have all 10. lucky me.

my 1st day

i opened my eyes and had to squint. the lights were so close, and so bright. they gave me a headache and i started to cry. my body ached and i felt so weak, worse then i'd ever felt. the cold, dry, air was raw on my tender throat, and my crying only made it worse.

a tired looking giant leaned over my head and gibbered and crooned while i cried. i was rocking back and forth and bouncing up and down, which didn't help my headache at all. i couldn't move my arms or legs or fingers or anything. my body was wrapped in a very tight cloth, and i was claustrophobic. so i continued to cry.

on top of all my other problems, my stomach was empty. why couldn't the giant just feed me and then leave me alone? all i wanted was to go back to my warm, safe home that i had just left.

a day as my sister

me and my sister don't get along very well sometimes, so i decided that i would look at what she has to go through every day and hopefully gain some perspective on why she says and does certain things. so here's the daily story from my sister's point of view:

my alarm goes off at 6 a.m. every morning, and i never, ever push the snooze button. my mornings run a tight schedule, and i hate when it gets messed up. my morning ritual is as follows:
1- wake up at 6 and practice my piano
2- get in the shower (if i didn't the night before)
3- get dressed in the clothes i picked out the night before
4- do my hair and makeup
5- eat breakfast
6- enjoy a ride in the old rocket w/ my crazy, loud, obnoxious siblings who constantly tease me

after i get to school, i talk in the halls with my "friends" who are happy that day. the boys are just plain stupid, as all junior high boys are, so i don't like being around them. and some girls in my class are bipolar, so i never know when they're going to ignore me, or when they want to be friends. so i just talk to the people who seem like they're in a good mood, since i don't really have a best friend.

one of my teachers doesn't like me, i swear. he wouldn't let me give my report when i asked, then gave extra credit to the girl who he picked to go first. he also gave me detention for being late, even though he never gives detention to people who are late every day.

at lunch time, i just starve, since i am a pretty picky eater. i'm starving for the rest of the day, and get in a grouchy mood from not eating.

after going to school and dealing w/ my stupid "friends" and dumb teacher, i have to go home with a sometimes grumpy sister and brother who don't share their food in the pickup. so then i get angry because they are so selfish, and i snap at everything they say. then when i get home, my mom gets mad at me for being grumpy, and she has to ask me if i'm "doing my part to make our home a happy one."

when i finally get some food in my stomach, everyone teases me about being moody because i switched from mad to happy so fast. i don't bother to tell them about my day at school, because they'd probably just tell me to be nice to my friends, even if they're mean to me; and that the teacher doesn't hate me; and that if i was really hungry, i would eat the lunchroom's food.

my day ends on that note, and i go to bed. only to start the whole process over the next day.

the less than average ____________ (fill in correct name for a sentence that starts w/ the same letter)

• tangy tropical trees tangle together tonight


• many moms mumble morbidly and melt macaroni marbles


• candy corn crumbles causing kooky cranes to crack


• yellow yaks yodle yet yearn to yell yucky yoyos


• doggy doo doo does devasting disastrous damage


• frumpy frogs frown from frilly frocks full for fumble


• amazing alligators anticipate aftershock afternoons


• silly serpents slither silently sassing slyly


• porcupines prick pigs producing piercing peals


• giraffe genders jump on jumbled juniper juice


• little lilly laughs loudly licking lollipop licorice


• vicious vans venture very vigorously


• horace heaves heavy herfords having hefty herfords


• rosy reports radical responses resisting reverant radishes


• zulu zebras swindle zigzagging zesty zingers

i-can't-remember-the-name-poem

the
cell rings loud
from inside my bag.
it sounds off like a warning,
cautioning against heartache ahead.
i am addicted to him,
so i choose better,
and let it
ring.


light
boom, crackle;
it is a show of
light dancing above the heads
of amazed onlookers who wait for
the next fire flower to
have its moment of
glory and
fame


a
b, c, d,
sweetly sings the boy.
his voice is soft, innocent,
pure. not yet infilterated with
the harsh slang that comes with age.
but soon the song is
sung no more.
z.

*^*food*^*

• if you think about it, food is really quite gross. for example, we eat the muscles of other animals. not only do we eat it, but we go to expensive restaurants to have it cooked to perfection. and then some of us eat the muscle nearly raw, with blood oozing out of it. or in restaurant lingo, we eat it rare.
  
• we also eat things that come out of a bird!!! how gross! eggs are very, very disgusting to me. when i eat them, i try not to think where they came from, or what they were supposed to be. yuck!
  
• and then, crazy people eat things like cavier and es cargo. who in the world decided to eat snails? or fish eggs of all things? slimy, slithery, mucusy, snails do not sound appetizing to me.
  
• plants and vegetables are also weird things to put in your mouth. carrots, potatoes, radishes, lettuce, corn; all of these grow from the dirt, which is full of worms and feces and bugs. so why, if all of these things are so disgusting,do we stuff these things in our bodies?