First Things First

Just a small update this month. I'm working on some new additions to the site.  Two new features will appear in American Bliss.  I wish I could tell you what they are going to be.  But, for suspense purposes, I can't.  Watch for those in the coming weeks.  In the meantime check out Vista Drive for two new pictures to the Color section.

Afterthoughts : Never Lone Your Toys

For my sixth birthday I got a radio controlled car.  It was red, with blue racing strips, and stars running on the hood.  It wasn't the greatest, it wasn't the fastest, it wasn't the best, but I loved it nevertheless.  Man did I have fun driving it in the back patio of our apartment building.  The walkways were like a miniature autopia.  I hardly ever drove it in the parking lot.  It was too rough a surface, and the little car would bounce up and down on it.  I've always took care of my toys because I didn't have that many.

One day a friend of mine came over.  Matthew was a good guy, but he was a little rough around the edges.  He didn't take care of his toys, like I did.  He probably had truckloads of toys.  This time that he came over he saw my radio controlled car in my room and said that we should drive it around.  He quickly grabbed it and drove it in the parking lot.  The poor thing bounced up and down until we got to the office building that was next to our apartment building.  The smooth floor there was great.  We reached the end, and the Boulevard.  Next to us was a school, with a huge parking lot.  Matthew saw this, picked up the car, and told me that we should drive it around in the huge parking lot.  I didn't have any trouble with that, the bigger the space the better.

About the only problem with the parking lot was the fact that it had speed bumps.  A bigger radio controlled car might have been able to pull a General Lee and use the speed bumps as a ramp to jump off of.  But, not my tiny car.  Matthew was driving the car at full speed when he hit the speed bump right on the edge with the left front wheel.  Right away there was a smashing sound, and the car didn't move.  The rear tires were spinning, but it wasn't moving.  We ran to see what happened, and found the front left tire was completely broken off.  Only the steering forks were keeping it from falling completely off.

The first thought that came to my mind was of my mother killing me for breaking my toy.  It wasn't that I broke it, but that it cost my mother a lot of cash.  Not so much, but more than we could afford for a toy.  She saved up so that I could have it, and now it was broken, useless.  I felt horrible.  Matthew asked me if I had any glue.  I didn't, nothing stronger than Elmer's glue.  And there was no way that Elmer's was going to mend this break.

We looked around for some kind of glue, anything that might be able to repair the break before my mother got home.  No luck.  We thought we stumbled on some glue that would hold.  This real sick looking dark gray glue.  I'm not even sure that it was glue.  Matthew said it was glue, but I was too nervous to even check the label.  We smeared a lot of the stuff on the broken point and hoped that it would set.  It didn't.  It was useless, I had to face the music.  I went to look for my mother and found her.  I showed her the car, and then waited for the storm to start.  But it didn't.  I think she was more disappointed than angry.  Later, after Matthew had gone home, she told me that next time I should be more careful who I lend my toys to.  Not everyone was as careful as I was with their toys.  That day taught me a valuable lesson, that I still heed to this day.  Never lone your toys to anyone.  For that sake, never lone anything to anyone.

Editorial : Clean Break

Some times you just need to make a clean break with things.  A lot of us cling to thing, people, situations, that are not healthy for us.  But why?  Why do we stick around when the best thing to do is to walk away?

What it comes down to is this, people stay put because it's comfortable and safe.  It's familiar, so we know what to expect.

The other day in class I overheard a couple of girls talking to each other.  One of the girls was saying that she's in a dead-end relationship.  Yet, she told the other girl, she couldn't leave her boyfriend.  I wanted to interject, but I thought better of it.  What I wanted to say is, "Grow up and get out."  If I had said that I would have looked like a bad guy.

But really, the simplest solution would be to get out.  Nevertheless, so many of us cling to the bad because we're afraid of what might be out there.  We stay in bad situations because we fear that anything new might be worse.

That's a bad way to look at change.  Change is good.  You change your underwear every day.  Right?  Why?  Because a dirty pair is just not right.  But, when a relationship gets to be as smelly as that dirty pair of underwear people don't change it.

What everyone should do is have the strength to put up with a little discomfort.  Breaking up isn't a happy time, but that feeling does pass.  Especially when you turn around one day and notice how you don't have to deal with all the shit you had to before.

There was a time when I would hold out in a bad relationship, be it romantic, and platonic.  No more.  If a scene is getting old, I'm out the door.  Otherwise, I'm simply wasting my time.  I'm not getting any younger.  Time is getting to be quite precious.

So, my advice to you is, if your in a bad situation, walk away from it.  Don't wallow in the bad feelings.  Walk away and never look back.  No regrets, ever.  Do what you have to do to be happy.  Never let someone else bring you down, because your not responsible for what they do with their lives.  Only with what you do with yours.