Slice of Life Challenge # 16 of 15 ish

       Unfortunately, I was unable to join you fine people at school today because I spent my entire morning in the hospital. I went to the hospital earlier this week because my body hadn't been working the way it should and they suspected it was due to lack of insulin production and a hormone imbalance, so today was spent drinking tons of water and a couple different lab tests. After two bottles of water, a cup of hot chocolate and two failed attempts I was able to get a successful ultrasound done. That was crazy difficult because having the woman push on my bladder was causing me to "panic laugh" because I was scared I'd pee my pants. This slowed down the process because my laughter was making the picture move. They then tried taking my blood which also took forever because the first woman couldn't find a vein. I then jokingly mentioned to my mom that I would never make it as a heroin addict, she laughed which made me happy because I knew that the joke would go either of two ways. After I was poked and jabbed four times, we tried with another woman and she was able to get all ten vials of blood in a single prick. The first woman who tried to take my blood ended up talking to my mom about wrestling because it was Chase Peavler's step-mom while I was getting my blood drawn by Molly. Once that was all done, it was around noon and my mom had some errands to do in Anderson anyway so we stopped by Panda Express and picked up paint for the living room. While I missed some fun activities at school, I've decided that today wasn't half bad after all.

Slice of Life Challenge # 16 of 15 ish

       So I read this study on Yahoo that talked about how not having a boyfriend/girlfriend in middle school is actually beneficial. It went on to say things like kids who invest so much of their time in romance are twice as likely to use drugs and alcohol throughout high school and that their overall academic performance was much lower than those kids who didn't have a significant other. Reading that got me thinking of my younger brother, Matthew, and how he and his friends are so caught up in having a girlfriend all of the time. Also, all of the stuff he and his friends would post on Facebook and Instagram about how much they "love (insert name here)" and it just worries me that they won't be able to become the best they can be. I fear the day when he comes into my room telling me that he got some girl pregnant because he's too scared to go to my mom and step-dad. After reading that, it just makes my fears seem that much more real. I hope that he and his friends will be okay despite the many results from similar kids in the article....

Slice of Life Challenge 15 of 15 ish

     I told myself that I wasn't going to slice about Spring Break but here I am doing it. I'm so excited! While it seems like a lot of people I know are going to Florida and soaking up sun, I'll be in Illinois soaking up radioactive rays emitted from the tv in my friend Danielle's basement. It's going to be kind of weird being in Highland and having my friends be out of school too because the last few times I've gone there during break, I'd spend the mornings and afternoons with my grandma and then come 3 o'clock I'd be with my friends rounding up literally hundreds of pennies to buy chicken sandwiches in the McDonald's drive thru or something like that. I also plan to visit my adopted grandma in Effingham with my friend Heather so long as she doesn't get her license taken away.... but I really do hope we'll be able to go. I know come time Spring Break is coming to a close I won't want to face reality and come back to school but I know I will.

Slice of Life Challenge # 14 of 15 ish

     I saw this picture and thought it was unbelievably strange. I guess I've never thought about a backwards world where instead of humans picking fruits from trees, fruits would pick us. That made me think of all the other strange things that would happen in a backwards world. Would actors in a play clap for their audience or would the audience clap with their feet? Instead of us owning pets, would we be pets for cats and dogs? There are so many different possibilities out there. I couldn't imagine fish fishing for people but I suppose that very well could happen too. Would that mean whales would capture us and harness our blumber? It's all much too strange for me so thank god we'll never have to find out.

Slice of Life Challenge # 13 of 15 ish

      I seriously think that Disney movies have the best soundtracks ever. I'm actually listening to "I Won't Say (I'm In Love)" from Hercules. It's probably one of my favorite songs from all of the Disney movies. I really love the entire Hercules soundtrack. I also really like the songs from Aladdin, Pocahontas and Mulan. Even A Goofy Movie was amazing and had great music in it! I really wish that Disney movies wouldn't have changed and were the same type of stories that we all grew up loving with similar music that even at such a young age we were able to appreciate. Now their movies are blah and they don't even have catchy music. Too bad we don't have that time machine yet.

Slice of Life Challenge # 12 of 15 ish

       Lately, I've been listening to Marina and the Diamonds a lot because I used to be pretty into her music and for some reason just stopped listening to her. I absolutely love the sound of MArina's voice! It reminds me a little of Regina Spektor and while I know they don't sound the same Marina just kind of reminds me of her in that way. She makes such a variety of different sounding songs from super fun and poppy ones such as Oh No!, to more personal and not as lively ones like Obsessions. I think that all of the music she makes is awesome and I hope to one day see her in concert.

Slice of Life Challenge # 10 of 15 ish

       So, almost as soon as I got Roscoe I knew that I would eventually train him to use the toilet to keep me from waking up to the stench of cat poop in the morning, and besides I thought it was super neat when I saw it on Meet the Parents. I have recently looked more into it and have officially bought the CitiKitty training kit after reading tons of reviews. I'm still a little weary about it because it'll cost me a little over $30 and whatnot but hopefully it'll be well worth the money. I'll have to slice about it more once I get it but as of right now I'm super excited!

Slice of Life Challenge # 9 of 15 ish

        I was extremely hisitant about writing this but I will anyway... I hate how sometimes I can't bring myself to say what I'm truly feeling. It doesn't matter what exactly it is, whether it be nice and compassionate or rude and yet completely honest. I feel as though whenever I hold back the hurtful things I'd like to say, I'm lying to the person to save their feelings despite my own. I often find myself getting not really annoyed but bothered by some people and their habits and I want to say something but because they're my friend I refrain from saying anything at all. With Her I feel like all we can ever talk about is movies I've never seen and actors I've never heard of. We never talk about anything new really, it's always the same conversations that we've had over and over again months ago just regurgitated. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do I spare their feelings and keep everything I feel inside, or do I tell them how I really feel in hopes that maybe, just maybe, they'll cut back on the consistent need for my attention and aproval? I know it probably sounds awful that I say these things, I mean, I should just be glad to have any friends at all, right? I know I should be and everything because some people don't have many friends and it's hard for them to make any, but ugh I don't know.... Alright, well I've completed my mission of feeling like a jerk today, but I know that each and every one of you fine blokes have felt this way at least sometime in your life and if you haven't then you most certainly will.

Slice of Life # 8 of 15 ish

     Growing up I remember that the only way my grandma could get me to stop crying was by letting me watch Scream or some similar thriller. Surprisingly, none of those scared me. It wasn't until I watched Small Soldiers was I deemed traumatized. If you haven't seen the movie, it's about this feud that two different sets of action figures had. There was a group called the Gorgonites who are these monteresc looking dolls who are in all reality very nice and peaceful. However, the Comando Elite were an entirely different story. The Comando Elite were essentially G.I. Joes but they, along with the Gorgonites, have been programmed with military grade technology and so they come to life. All in all, this movie is basically Toy Story but real instead of a cartoon. Even now at the ripe age of sixteen, I still get the willies whenever I see the movie.

Slice of Life # 7 of 15 ish

       Last week, Sydney sliced about her dreams and I got me thinking about some of the past dreams I've had that've stuck out to me. I remember last year I had this dream that I was on a train and out of nowhere it took flight and I saw this map of the train and it hopped off of the map in the U.S. and landed in Africa. It was as if I felt the train crash too because whenever the scene switched from the map, it was now showing a train that was partially on its side. I had almost twenty bags and the nearest village was miles and miles away. Then all of a sudden, these two women drove by me on one of those tram like deals that some amusement parks have for people who have to park at the very back of the parking lot, and they offered me a ride. I was extremely grateful and they helped me throw my bags onto the tram. They then began driving and not long into the ride, I had them stop because I saw my grandma standing on this pier next to a pond/lake and if that wasn't weird enough, she was wearing a hula skirt and a coconut bra... at the time that was totally normal I guess. Anyway, I was greeted by her and the women said they'd take my bags to my room and they drove off. We conversed for a while then I was on my way. I can't remember more than that but it was just so bizarre. I wonder what it is that makes us dream the things we do. Some say it's our subconscious desires, however I don't imagine that even subconsciously I'd want to see my grandma in such a state....

Slice of Life Challenge # 6 of 15 ish

       Even though I feel as though I rant a lot via Slices, I shall rant once more. People couldn't be more inconsiderate and hypocritical. As humans, we should be able to have compassion and empathy however we lack this quality. If you're wondering what brought on this slice topic, it started with the lack of people who take the .05 seconds to plug in their laptops after using them. EVERYONE complains about when the derpy person who used the computer before them fails to do this simple deed. A friend of mine often says that there's a special place in Hell for those certain people and I certainly agree. And while that doesn't directly go with to the beginning of this slice, I feel as though it certainly relates because it's the small things that really show other people how you really are, but I'm not saying that you're an awful person for not plugging in your computer but it shows that you're rushing too much to make life a bit easier for another person. Why is doing a nice deed for someone else can be so difficult?

Slice of Life Challenge # 5 of 15 ish

     I seriously think that radio DJs have some sort

 of magical powers where they know exactly

when you're about to get out of the car and so

they must play your favorite songs. For example,

yesterday my mom and I were coming home

from buying laundry detergent and just as we

were pulling into the subdivision that I now no

longer live in, Kids by MGMT began playing

and I seriously almost lost it. This isn't just an occasional thing either, it's an "always-happens-to-me"

kind of thing and I feel as though listening to songs on the radio in the car has a certain satisfaction

to it that Pandora or YouTube just lack, so I've decided that one day I'll become a DJ and use my

powers for the greater good rather than evil by playing only moderately decent music when people

leave their vehicles.

Slice of Life Challenge # 3 out of 15-ish

     Captain Planet and the Planeteers was one of the many highlights of my childhood. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it centers around these five kids from every area of the world that recieved these magic rings from the Earth spirit, Gaia, who was woken by Hoggish Greedly who was drilling over her sleeping chamber. Anyway, it was up to these kids to defend the planet from mass destruction and teach others how to take care of the planet that they called home. Whenever they couldn't handle a certain tast they would call upon Captain Planet who had all the powers the kids had but his were way more powerful. The girl on the far right, Linka, had the power of wind and was from the Soviet Union. To her left is Wheeler who's from New York and was able to control fire. In the middle of the picture is Gwame, who came from Africa, had the power of Earth, to this day I'm not quite sure what that is exactly but he was essentially the leader of the group. Coming from China is Gi. She was in charge of anything that had to do with water. And finally there's Ma-ti. He had the power of heart. Growing up I thought he seriously got the short end of the stick because I didn't know really what it was but it didn't seem important because it wasn't an element. I now know that "heart" is really the ability to instill caring and compassion into that episode's enemy. Unfortunately, the show ended after five years and kids now don't really have the oppertunity to enjoy what showed me the importance of keeping our planet clean.

Slice of Life Challenge # 2 out of 15-ish

     Everyone gets in disagreements with others, it's impossible NOT to but it bothers me so much when so much time has past since the dispute and you come up with all the amazing things you could've and should've said but it's way too late and would just sound stupid if you brought it up again. For example, a few weeks ago, an unnamed boy came over to my lunch table and called a friend of mine a "f****** fag" and unfortunately, I wasn't clear as to what the jerk said to my friend until much later and he walked away. Had I been alert at the time, I would've laid down the verbal smackdown of the century. It wasn't until that night after my friend left my house that I came up with a great monologue for that situation that included some debatably tasteful insults about him and how his mother was unable to raise a decent humanbeing. I think that eventually I'll make a book with different situations and comebacks for them so this tragic affair doesn't happen to anyone else.