I think the thing I love most about Southern Illinois, besides the big forest filled with cliffs and bluffs and waterfalls, is the thunderstorms in the spring. I love sitting outside with my brother on his swing, watching the lightning light up the night sky over the horizon to the west, knowing that it's on its way toward me. I can smell the rain before it gets here.Now these severe thunderstorms...

So I spent last week at my brother's house, hanging out and painting his entire kitchen along with various other objects throughout his house. Really, I love being over there. He's just so chill and funny. It's a very nice change in atmosphere compared to my parents' house. Anyway, let's get to the point of this journal: the Motion City Soundtrack concert yesterday.My brother left his phone in the...

I sat outside on the white swing with no cushion, swinging slightly back and forth, watching my brother play basketball while thinking how good my palms felt after my brother and I played catch with a partially deflated pigskin. I sat outside as the sun set, facing west and watching it slowly set beyond the horizon. The sky turned purple, pink, dark blue, and orange. As a few stars poked their...

So my brother has this thing where he desperately wants someone to watch him play his video games. No, not actually play with him, but just sit there and watch him play. Maybe this would be considered fun to some people, but not me. I get bored easily.Anyway, we went to Wal-Mart (like always), and as we were getting ready to turn a corner, Dustin just stopped right in his tracks and I swear I saw...

Rebecca told me she would really like to be an author for a career, but now she says she's going to go into the medical field.Remember that bit from my last journal? Well, now she says she's going to go into Pre-Law. I swear that girl can never make up her mind. I think I'll make a list of all the things she's told me she is going to go to college for.- theater- writing- CNA (medical)- EMT...

Last Thursday, my friend Jasmin IMed me through Google chat to tell me that John Green (if you don't know who that is, please stop reading and click any of the following links: twitter, website, ning, vlogbrothers) would be speaking and giving a writers' workshop on Monday (yesterday). At first, I was a bit sad because I didn't think it would be possible to attend either of the events due to the...

I'm not going to start this journal with 'It's been a while since I've written one of these,' even though it has, 'so I figured I'd let you all know what I've been up to as of late,' even though I am; I'm just going to jump right in.2009 was a crazy year for me with tons of ups and downs. Let me break it down by months, yeah?January, I was in love with this boy named Josh. I got very little sleep...

Kafka and I recently went back and forth about whether people are really as different as they think and if anyone is really actually unique. I've been thinking about that recently. I still stick to my answer, but I believe she has a point when it comes to people not really being all that different in many ways. I think most of the emotions we experience that we would think are very strange are...

On Wednesday, my cousin had surgery to remove a small mass from his body that may or may not be cancerous. He was very nervous because, even at thirty years of age, he had never been "under the knife" before. The doctors were unsure how he would react to the anesthetics, which is completely normal, so they ask that the patient be under twenty-four hour supervision after the surgery is performed....

Last night, just like every other Sunday night, I went to my cousin's house to watch Dexter. A few weeks ago, my mother came home with a surprise for me: something I was "going to love and be thankful for." When she revealed that while she'd been out to pay the cable bill, she added Showtime, HBO, and many other channels to our listing, I just raised my eyebrows in surprise. I'm already quite...