A Great Tragedy in our Country

Today I want to tell my readers a story that could either be inspirational or disturbing. If you think you've heard this story somewhere else, you probably haven't and should shut your big mouth.
This is the story of two young girls, Mary-Ann and Wanda. They were best friend in high school and were both members of the 4-H club and active in the FFA. After graduation, Mary-Ann decided to move on with her life and move to Atlanta, presumably to get away from the small town they grew up in. Wanda was more of a homebody and found a husband in their hometown. His name was Earl, and he wasn't exactly a catch.
They had only been married for less than two weeks, when Earl first began to strike and abuse Wanda. She had to wear dark sunglasses, long-sleeved shirts and make-up to cover up all the bruises that Earl had given her.
Finally, Wanda decided she'd had enough and filed for divorce, presenting Earl with a restraining order as well. However, this angered Earl deeply, and he walked right through that restraining order and put Wanda in intensive care.
When Mary-Ann heard the news, she immediately flew in from Atlanta on red-eye midnight flight. She arrived at Wanda's house and held her hand for comfort. Together, they hatched a plan to finally rid themselves of Earl and protect Wanda. That's when they decided - and it didn't take long to come to this decision - that Earl had to die.
They served Earl a nice dinner of black-eyed peas. Little did he know, the legumes were poisoned. He commented that they tasted a bit strange, but Mary-Ann and Wanda insisted that they tasted all right to them.
Earl's strength began to decay rapidly. He started to feel weak, and Mary-Ann and Wanda encouraged him to lay down and take a rest. They then proceeded to wrap the now dead Earl in a black tarp. From there it is a bit unclear what they did with Earl, but I presume they decided to stuff him in the trunk of Wanda's car, drive to lake for a picnic, and perhaps threw Earl in the lake.
Not long after, the police came to search Wanda's house for Earl and arrest him, I assume for walking right through his restraining order. They searched the house, but couldn't find Earl. They instructed the ladies to alert him if they ever found Earl.
A year went by, and Earl still hadn't been found. Now, Mary-Ann and Wanda own some land and a roadside stand on Highway 109, where they sell Tennessee ham and strawberry jam. To this day, they don't seem to lose any sleep over Earl's death, which I guess is for the best.
Yes, Earl wasn't a very good man. But did he deserve to die, and who gets to decide this? 

My prayers go out to the families of all individuals involved in this story.
Sparkles

The Worst

So, this is an embarrassing thing to admit, but last week I was watching an old Family Feud rerun at my good friend Jani's house. One of the surveys' top answer to "Age I Wish I Was" or something of the like, was 18. Well, Family Feud respondents, I'd like to let you know that 18 was not an age I'd ever like to relive. Being 18 in the 2000s sucked. It's the age where you're expected to do all the things that grown ups do, minus all the fun or good things. When I was 18, I was kicked out of my parents' house and cut off financially for reasons that I'll probably explain some other time. I basically lived on my rich friends' couches, until I had no rich friends left. That's when I found a job another state, moved away from everything and everyone with the little money I had saved up through the years, and met my friend Bill, who has provided moral support for me despite him homelessness and affinity for cocaine. Anyway, my point is, 18 is not an age anyone would want to repeat. If you think otherwise, please let me know why, because I really couldn't think of one reason.

Now, 23 is another story. 23 was pretty good.

Sparkles

Have You Seen My Childhood?

So, after a relaxing holiday I decided I'd get back to work on my writing. I had gotten a little frustrated and any loyal reader would probably notice that my posts were beginning to get more and more uninspired.
Anyway, today I want to talk about my childhood.
I'm not going to go WAY back - some of it is still painful to talk about, but I'll go into detail as I become more accustomed to sharing personal stories on the Internet.
I wasn't always this poor - when I was a teenager and still lived in my hometown, I went to an expensive all-girls Catholic high school. Naturally I had friends much wealthier than I, and one year a friend asked me and another girlfriend to attend her family vacation to Florida over spring break.
We had so much fun. It was the good old days, days I'll never forget. I will always remember the feeling of having these two girls that I could really let my guard down with. Over the years we drifted apart, but I still check in with them from time to time.
We may have seemed like innocent, 17-year-old schoolgirls at the time, but each night, we really partied hard. The drinking, the recreational drugs, it was like something straight out of a movie - one of the movies that I aspired for my life to be like. One night I met a guy named Drew. He was stunning - tan, broad shoulders, exactly my type. He looked like he jumped out of an Abercrombie catalogue. I assumed he was my age. I ditched my friends for the night and went with him to his own condo, and we had a very...romantic night to say the least. I would say that this was one of my most exciting sexual experiences, and it was one of my first.
The next day, Drew and I parted and I dished to my friends about our night together. My friends had been with Drew's friends talking while I was gone, and it turned out he was not who I thought he was. In fact, he was a 25 year old construction worker who was engaged to be married later that week.

I guess you could say he knew how to drill...ok, you're allowed to groan at that one.

Moral to the story - be careful who you hook up with when you're 17. You might just become an accidental homewrecker.
Sparkles

The Perils of Online Dating

I know it has been a few days since I've used this blog as my outlet so I don't begin to go insane, but I'm back and I might have gone just a little insane.
Well, I finally caved in and decided to try online dating. Bill thinks I really need to get laid and I can't say I disagree.
I can't afford to buy a subscription to any of the trustworthy sites like Match.com, so instead I logged on to okcupid.com and created a profile.
Boy, have I been popular on there!
I'm not sure if I should be flattered or afraid.
I'll keep my loyal readers updated on my adventures to come.
Oh, and if you want to reach out to me on the website, my screen name is sparklesvan.

I Hope I Don't Get Abducted,
Sparkles

Protect Your Home

Hello again,
Today I want to write about mice.
Mice are small mammals with pointed snouts and long tails.
They are usually nocturnal and nearly blind, so they rely on their hearing, because their ears are so big and stuff.
Baby mice are hairless and very creepy-looking.
Some people keep mice as pets.
Some people think mice are cute, and some think they are repulsive.
I found a mouse in my house once, and I felt kind of bad just squishing it with my shoe like a bug. So I decided to keep him a little cardboard box with holes poked in it. He didn't really like me though, because he scratched his way out, ate all my cereal then literally chewed a hole in my wall and now it seems like his whole family enjoys staying in my home and raiding my cereal boxes.

Everyone kill your mice,
Sparkles

A Synopsis of Emma Nelson's Life (And How It Relates To Mine)

Emma Nelson starts out as just a normal teenager who was born when her spiky-haired mother was four-freaking-teen, with an online boyfriend from Africa...or something.
But not an episode of the fine television show that is Degrassi: The Next Generation goes by without something incredibly life-threatening happening.
Jordan, the love of her life, turns out to be a 40-something year old creepy rapist who wants to meet her in a hotel room, and she takes the bait.
In a very un-Degrassi fashion, however, she ends up not getting raped.
Anyway, her goal in life seems to be meeting her estranged father.
She ends up finding him!
And he is in a mental institution because he dropped acid once and jumped off a bridge. He later tries to terrorize Emma and her pregnant mother by following them to their home.

He's Shane McKay!

One time, she embarrassingly got her first period at school. So naturally she starts a campaign to add tampon dispensers to the school bathrooms, the humble beginnings of her hippie-ness and annoying extreme feminism.
However, she starts dating the misogynistic bad boy, Sean.
Emma's mom marries her teacher - well that must suck.
You know what also sucks?
Performing oral sex on the bad boy Jay by the lake in exchange for a colored bracelet and contracting gonorrhea of the throat. Another day in the life of Emma!
And when her new step-dad kisses her boyfriend's mom/school principal.
It's a small world in the town of Degrassi.
Anyway, Emma goes through a bunch of other ridiculous stuff that hardly happens to any actual people in this large of a combination, including a high school pregnancy scare, an eating disorder, streaking at school, and becoming a pothead. Then, her best friend Manny becomes famous and she is never seen in Degrassi again.
She was replaced by more people who go through the same exact things as her!

I find it unfathomable how bad these kids' fictional lives are.
It can't just be one thing - everyone knows you can't be a character on Degrassi without approximately 93482034 horrible things happening to you.

Anyway, I can relate to Emma not because I am a hippie or like chatting with perverts online, but because I didn't know my biological father either.
I didn't know either of my biological parents, actually, as I spent my childhood in foster care.
When I found out about this special thing called the Internet, I tried to track them down, but I gave up shortly after because, why bother?
I was also scared they would be like Shane McKay, to be honest. 

Whatever it takes,
Sparkles

Guess Who's Back?

Diligent non-readers!!!
I want to apologize deeply for taking 3 whole days off from telling you about my life.
I wasn't able to make it to the library because I was really busy with work.
Actually, I want to tell you all about this fantastic book I just discovered, to you readers out there who take your reading beyond your computer screen.
It's called A Million Little Pieces.

Can't believe I'm just hearing about this book!

I just found it in the library today, and wow, it is amazing! It's by James Frey and you wouldn't believe how much this man has been through. He can be a true inspiration to just about anyone! The best part is that this is a TRUE STORY. I found it in the nonfiction section, and apparently he's even been on Oprah and everything. I haven't finished reading it yet, but it sure is a page-turner. Of course, the most impressive thing is that this man really went through all of this; I couldn't even imagine. What a tough life.

Keep reading!
Sparkles