4/09/2004
Whoo...
Spring Break is finally here. Much to my surprise, today (Good Friday) was a snow make up day. But it was a half day, so it could've been worse. Now, 9 days of screwing around. Golly, I hope I get drunk at least once.
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3/27/2004
Once Again.
NC School Restricts Book on Gay Prince
WILMINGTON, N.C. - A children's book about a prince whose true love turns out to be another prince will be available only to adults in an elementary school's library, a committee has decided.
The book, called "King & King," will be locked up at Freeman Elementary School in response to complaints by some parents, a school committee ruled Friday in an 8-3 vote.
The parents who initially complained after their first-grader brought home the book say the decision satisfies them. Michael and Tonya Hartsell said they never wanted the book banned.
"It might be appropriate in certain situations," Michael Hartsell said. "But a child of this age shouldn't have a choice."
In the book, a queen tells her single son, Prince Bertie, that she had already been married twice at his age. The prince dismisses a line of eligible princesses before finally falling for Prince Lee. The final page of the book shows the two princes kissing with a red heart covering their lips.
The Hartsells submitted a written complaint about the book to the school Monday, which resulted in a review by the committee of parents, educators and community members. A second couple, Channing and Beth Hatcher, filed a similar complaint Tuesday.
The authors, Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, of the Netherlands, have said they didn't set out to write a controversial book. School officials have said they didn't intentionally order a book with a gay theme.
One parent on the committee, Heather Stoker, said the book promotes diversity and focuses on love, not homosexuality, she said.
"I feel like it's my responsibility to make it clear that these things exist," she said. "It doesn't mean we have to agree with it. It's not about right or wrong. It's just different."
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And this is why the south is so notorious for shit like this. I have to see these tacky, huge propaganda posters that say "This school focuses on diversity", or some shit to that effect, yet a fictional book on a gay prince isn't allowed. That's so diverse. Shutting out people of other sexual orientations. And then the schools have the nerve to ask why hate crimes exist and why our kids are so generally fucked up. What they've failed to realize is, you really do reap what you sew. And if you start first graders thinking gays are outcasts, then that's pretty much established in their minds for good. Tolerance my ass.
Welcome To The Machine-[ comments.]
WILMINGTON, N.C. - A children's book about a prince whose true love turns out to be another prince will be available only to adults in an elementary school's library, a committee has decided.
The book, called "King & King," will be locked up at Freeman Elementary School in response to complaints by some parents, a school committee ruled Friday in an 8-3 vote.
The parents who initially complained after their first-grader brought home the book say the decision satisfies them. Michael and Tonya Hartsell said they never wanted the book banned.
"It might be appropriate in certain situations," Michael Hartsell said. "But a child of this age shouldn't have a choice."
In the book, a queen tells her single son, Prince Bertie, that she had already been married twice at his age. The prince dismisses a line of eligible princesses before finally falling for Prince Lee. The final page of the book shows the two princes kissing with a red heart covering their lips.
The Hartsells submitted a written complaint about the book to the school Monday, which resulted in a review by the committee of parents, educators and community members. A second couple, Channing and Beth Hatcher, filed a similar complaint Tuesday.
The authors, Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, of the Netherlands, have said they didn't set out to write a controversial book. School officials have said they didn't intentionally order a book with a gay theme.
One parent on the committee, Heather Stoker, said the book promotes diversity and focuses on love, not homosexuality, she said.
"I feel like it's my responsibility to make it clear that these things exist," she said. "It doesn't mean we have to agree with it. It's not about right or wrong. It's just different."
---
And this is why the south is so notorious for shit like this. I have to see these tacky, huge propaganda posters that say "This school focuses on diversity", or some shit to that effect, yet a fictional book on a gay prince isn't allowed. That's so diverse. Shutting out people of other sexual orientations. And then the schools have the nerve to ask why hate crimes exist and why our kids are so generally fucked up. What they've failed to realize is, you really do reap what you sew. And if you start first graders thinking gays are outcasts, then that's pretty much established in their minds for good. Tolerance my ass.
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3/14/2004
Argh...
Well, Maryland beat Duke 95-87. Yes, I'm a Duke fan. We somehow lost a 12 point lead over Maryland in the second half with maybe 4 minutes left to play. Then we tied them and it went into OT. Sheldon Williams (Duke) fouled Maryland about 3 times in OT, got his 5th personal foul, went back to the bench and cried. It was a miserable ass game. The good news is...I saved a load of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico. Oh, screw it.
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3/10/2004
Had To Come.
As life goes, you always have these peachy little stretches of fairly smooth day to day. Nothing really upsets the balance for quite some time. Well, that all exploded today, as per usual. It was really everything building up (stagnating in this town, never being challenged by school, etc.), and then the one thing that really added that extra weight to the load. And I'm not going to say what. It's not worth the waste of space. I'm sure those of you (all 3) who read this, read Lauren's blog. So, use your minds for once. Anyway, that's it. And now I'm back into this cycle of being depressed, and thinking "Shit" when I wake up everyday. It really becomes unbearable. What net impact this has on the world, I couldn't say. It bothers me. A great deal. But, life goes on.
On the non-angsty side of life, things have been pretty good. We had this all day trip to Raleigh for chorus today to sing in some competition. We closed out 8 other schools with an overall score of 96. So, fun. And I've been "invited"/locked in to the All State Percussion Ensemble Concert in Raleigh on May 1st. Don't I feel speshul. That's about all. School remains the same. Slow, unbearable, etc. Oh, and Durham has a movie based around it: "Welcome 2 Durham". The "2" is so ironic, considering there's a high illiteracy rate. The movie critques how Durham is pretty much ball-gripped by the local gangs. You risk your life everyday, in a sense. Not to say that you wouldn't anywhere in the world, but you risk getting shot here by a larger margin than most "white" and/or "decent" cities. So, good. I said it from day one--Durham is a hell hole. My mom refuses to move. We have a weekly drug team turning the school upside down, also. All because of fools starting fights over getting ripped off on a drug deal, and then coming back to get revenge on campus. I love life.
Welcome To The Machine-[ comments.]
On the non-angsty side of life, things have been pretty good. We had this all day trip to Raleigh for chorus today to sing in some competition. We closed out 8 other schools with an overall score of 96. So, fun. And I've been "invited"/locked in to the All State Percussion Ensemble Concert in Raleigh on May 1st. Don't I feel speshul. That's about all. School remains the same. Slow, unbearable, etc. Oh, and Durham has a movie based around it: "Welcome 2 Durham". The "2" is so ironic, considering there's a high illiteracy rate. The movie critques how Durham is pretty much ball-gripped by the local gangs. You risk your life everyday, in a sense. Not to say that you wouldn't anywhere in the world, but you risk getting shot here by a larger margin than most "white" and/or "decent" cities. So, good. I said it from day one--Durham is a hell hole. My mom refuses to move. We have a weekly drug team turning the school upside down, also. All because of fools starting fights over getting ripped off on a drug deal, and then coming back to get revenge on campus. I love life.
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2/21/2004
That Train A'Comin'.
Well, the-hg.com is slowly forming. Enjoy the splash page, by the way. Seems after a year, it's getting off the ground. The question is, will it stay off the ground. Something tells me it'll do better than the ezHitler HG. Seeing as its a separate domain and Invision is the board over any of that ezBreakdancing or VBulletin shit.
In other fun shit, it's been unusually warm here (upper 60 degree range). Tis fine with me. I'm pretty much hoping anything to end this damn winter. Even a musical interlude by Michael McDonald. I finally bought "Isle Of Wight"-Jimi Hendrix and "Vitalogy"-Pearl Jam last night. Hendrix is amazing, as expected, and "Vitalogy" is some of their better stuff. Before any of these live bootlegs surfaced, and the whole "Riot Act" thing.
School has been...better. English remains the exact same though. I've got a novel to read and a project. Honors my ass. That class is more like college level. But, more importantly, I'm not hating going everyday like I was before Christmas. Don't know what changed, but I'm glad it did. Besides that, life goes. Adios.
Welcome To The Machine-[ comments.]
In other fun shit, it's been unusually warm here (upper 60 degree range). Tis fine with me. I'm pretty much hoping anything to end this damn winter. Even a musical interlude by Michael McDonald. I finally bought "Isle Of Wight"-Jimi Hendrix and "Vitalogy"-Pearl Jam last night. Hendrix is amazing, as expected, and "Vitalogy" is some of their better stuff. Before any of these live bootlegs surfaced, and the whole "Riot Act" thing.
School has been...better. English remains the exact same though. I've got a novel to read and a project. Honors my ass. That class is more like college level. But, more importantly, I'm not hating going everyday like I was before Christmas. Don't know what changed, but I'm glad it did. Besides that, life goes. Adios.
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2/14/2004
Today
Ah, Valentine's Day is finally here. Now I have reason to drink. The infamous skanks from school are all out, partying, giving head, worrying about their cell phone bill, etc. The goths are all having their non-judgmental poetry slams. The gangsters are out shooting at city buses. And the normal people are smoking pot and talking about their latest music purchase of "Probot". Ah, the life. I'm being cynical. Surprise. With nothing to do, I re-did my drumset setup. Whee. And now I'm here, hoping for snow on Monday. And I have liquor.
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Welcome To The Machine-[ comments.]
2/12/2004
The Grey.
Tis been quiet as of late. My schizophrenic english teacher is throwing inordinate amounts of work at us every day. She evidently wants twenty journal entries of a page of more by next Friday. Uh huh. Twenty collective pages of shit in a week. That won't be happening. I have other classes to worry about. You would think teachers of all people would have even the slightest sense of reality, being they're underpaid, depressed, and drive '93 Honda Civics. There's a dose of reality for you right there. Now, tell me, how is 20 pages of whatever realistic for a week. That's about 3 pages a night. Again, it's just not happening. You can set the bar too high, believe it or not. And one 0 in that class just brought my 97 average down to a 69. Sometimes, you really just want to break someone's spine out of sheer disgust. Aside from that, I've been slipping back into my fun depressed cycle: not eating, always feeling tired--of course, that could be attributed to school--and generally wanting to squeeze the life out of something.
And, to add to the depression, and you'll love this classic; I like a girl at school, Laura, who's already with some bumbling jackass 11th grader. Ah, irony. I think I'm a close second to Rie's shitty relationship luck. Oh well. Might as well turn gay, move to New Hampshire, and start an organic cattle farm. Yes, I'm pessimisstic. And with damn good reason. Now, I have work to do. Later.
Welcome To The Machine-[ comments.]
And, to add to the depression, and you'll love this classic; I like a girl at school, Laura, who's already with some bumbling jackass 11th grader. Ah, irony. I think I'm a close second to Rie's shitty relationship luck. Oh well. Might as well turn gay, move to New Hampshire, and start an organic cattle farm. Yes, I'm pessimisstic. And with damn good reason. Now, I have work to do. Later.
Welcome To The Machine-[ comments.]
