High School is finally almost done!! Folk fest is coming up soon, after graduation, and I can finally do as I please with my life. I start my Massage Therapy courses in the fall, and everything is falling into place.

McKenzie found a baby hare in a parking lot a few days ago. It was cute and really small, and it seemed to really like him. He brought it back last night, and he really doesn’t seem too happy about it. I think he got attached to the little guy.

Just proves that you can be close to someone for only a short time and still grow very attached to them. How long you know someone doesn’t matter. All that matters is how you feel. 

“Travelers are a different breed of people. They are musicians, artist, semi pro snowboarders and surfers. Writers, archery masters, and sometimes nudist? Getting robbed is nothing but an inconvenience or a reason to just stay put in a city for a while longer and injuries are simply conversation starters into a good story. Cliffs are there to be jumped off of. Your poor physical appearance is … nothing a few beers and a dip in the pool can’t fix. The sentence “I have a private room” is the sexiest thing a traveler can say to another. They run out of fires to dive into tidal waves. Know more languages then number of countries most have visited. (unless you are me who only communicates through English and dance.) Some people save their money to spend on a nice house, car, or their retirement. Travelers spend everything they have on experience, the now, the present. Sacrificing stability, possessions, relationships and financial security to invest in living, laughing, dancing, sweating, learning, searching, and discovering the world and themselves. A lot of travelers are considered unique in some way at home or others wild. So what a wild experience to get unique people from all over the world into one room where all of the sudden these individuals who are a different breed at home are now in a community of like minded people. The traveling world is a community of its own. A family away from family. Everyone and everything is accepted, and you are friends with everyone in the room by just walking through the door. Which is the hard part of travel. It isn’t the cold showers or sleeping on uncomfortable beds in a room with 10 other people. The bug bites, lack of cleanliness, or crowded buses. It is when it comes time to say good bye to these people you meet. People who have loved you for just being yourself, inspired you to make happy decisions, shared an experience with you that no one else can quite understand without being there. I’m having a hard time saying bye to people that I know I may not ever see again… but happy that I was lucky to meet you.”

— the Traveler.

So Im chilln in the metro, just waitin’ for a train and I can’t help but notice these two kids who’ve managed to get so close to each other that they’ve practically morphed into one! It’s beautiful, for a second, but ten minutes later they still haven’t pulled apart!

I step onto the train and there’s person working on a massive piece of art right there on the metro. Montreal magic, that’s what it is.

Looking around, there are all sorts of people sharing these moments of waiting. They’ve all got stories, but for now we’re trapped on this train together, trying to catch a sneaky glimpse of the other faces.

I survey the art.  It’s amazing, done in marker, graffiti style, and abstract.  I’m still looking at it when I notice her looking at me.  I raise my gaze from her creation to her mind… and our eyes meet.  For five or ten seconds, we have this friendly connection full of warmth and wonder.

The doors open, and I walk off the train.

Hey Carlene!

So.. I meant to have this up a couple days ago.  I stayed up pretty late on the night before your birthday making it, then realized that I couldn’t changed the Popestone site because your account was in control.  But, here it is!  The photo of the door is one that dad took from Folk Fest.. I just sort of morphed it a little bit.

It’s a poor man’s birthday present, I know.  But I put a lot of hard work into it and hope you like it!  I really want to start posting on here more, I hope you do to!  The only thing is, you can only post text posts here.  (no photo / quote / link / chat / audio / video posts).  Though, if you open up a text post you can still post links and images in it.  SEEE:::

Can’t wait to see ya lil sis.  I’ll be out west in 16 days!

CONNORBODE!!

Connor,

Things change quickly when you’re not here. Me and Brandon broke up, which is really unfortunate but then again, it is only high school. I got a job I love, I’m reading a lot again, I’m writing a lot again, I’ve now passed my bronze medallion course and I’m planning on taking my bronze cross in the fall, eventually my lifeguarding before I move.

This entire world is spinning so much faster than we realize, and yet I wish time would speed up with the spinning of the earth. I’m tired of this high school drama, and I want it done with!! Luckily I’m almost done. I’ve decided that instead of finishing in January, I would be much better off taking chemistry, threrefore I’m enrolled in grade 11 first semester and 12 second. Graduation is coming close, then in June, I also have to go back to Ontario in order to attend Gillian’s and Noelle’s graduations. Hope cherry picking’s hoping well !!

- Carlene

Dear Carlene,

Sleep is coming quickly.
It’s 8pm, and when
The cherry sun rises
Before the real one
Eyes tend to droop early.

The sleeps are short;
My body ever tiring..
And how i long,
For the warmth if another beside me.
(Temptation flares, but i do not dare)
Soon enough i’ll be sharing
This small home with a happy soul..
I can’t wait for the moment.

(it’s odd to be so hopelessly in love..)

-Connor

Who could have possibly guessed that the existence of a social life during the summer is crucial to your popularity scale during the school year? 

Oh wait.. Probably everyone who actually gave a rat’s ass. 

It seems as though that’s all everyone is concerned with; “How are my friends doing today?” seems to have magically changed to “How many friends do I have on facebook this month?” I seriously believe that those people who, like me, sit around their house and read during the day rather than sleep, and sleep during the night, rather than drink, are the ones who will, one day, come out on top. 

Then again, my social life consists of a boyfriend and three friends, so I have to make these arguments, considering I don’t see a very bright future for anyone that, well.. Isn’t me. 

There’s something strange about the adolescent mind. It’s nearly as if highschool is the time for everyone to go through their narcissistic stages before it becomes socially unacceptable. That might explain all the preening, the bitching, and this constant, nagging need to impress everyone, to have everyone love you. I’m so glad that I’m over that. Sure, I had my phase, my hairdying to make myself look ‘better’, wearing makeup day in and day out, my bitching and complaining about everyone that everyone else bitched and complained about, and the feeling that if one person disliked me, everyone did. 

Following this painful, disgusting display of adolescence, I started to realize something. I really don’t give a flying rat’s patootie about what everyone else thinks of me. There are three groups of people I need to like me: My family, my friends, and my potential employers. If you do not fit into any of those groups, until you do, you are just another person in this hell trying to make it through to the next day… And if you manage it, good on you. It’s not as if it’s the easiest thing to accomplish.

-Carlene